Chijingzi choked up, forcibly suppressing his grief as he abruptly drew in the Tai Chi Diagram with both hands, rolling it into a streak of golden light. After hovering for a moment, he unfurled it again—where the wind rose, golden radiance exploded. Yin Hong, horse and rider alike, disintegrated in an instant into ashes filling the sky. A wisp of azure soul drifted leisurely toward the Investiture of the Gods Platform.
On the night of Yin Hong's death, Su Hu received a secret report. At once, he coordinated from within and without, eliminating all four generals Yin Hong had brought with him and raising his banner in surrender to Xiqi.
News of Su Hu's treason and defection was urgently relayed to Chaoge by Han Rong, commander of Sishui Pass, in an eight-hundred-li dispatch. Before the news had even settled, Queen Su Daji had already been implicated.
Daji was standing behind the imperial screen when she heard the report. Her delicate brows knitted tightly. Without waiting to be summoned, she hurried out and went straight before the Imperial Desk, dropping heavily to both knees. Pearly tears streamed down her face as her voice, soft as water, spoke each sorrow-laden word: "This concubine dwells deep within the ninefold palace and has received Your Majesty's lavish favor. Even if I were to shatter body and bones, I could never repay a fraction of it. Yet who could have known that my father would be incited by treacherous men, betray his lord, and defect to the enemy? His crimes are overflowing; by law, nine generations of his kin should be executed, and there can be no forgiveness. I beg Your Majesty to cut off Daji's head and hang it before Five Phoenix Tower, to serve as a warning and to answer to all under