A murderous aura silently permeated the area outside Chengtian Gate.
The elite Imperial Guards dragged away the corpses of the diehard defenders while pushing the heavy palace gates open from both inside and out.
The Warrior Camp, Imperial Guards, the Prince's personal guards, household servants and guards from the various estates, and the troops defending Yujing City gathered together in their various armors, forming an iron torrent that rumbled into the palace city.
There were so many of them that the mass stretched beyond sight.
Prince Su Gu Jinxi sat astride a magnificent Wuzhui horse, dressed in a four-clawed python robe, stationed at one side of the army.
Behind him stood the current Grand Secretary, Grand Scholar Wu Daoqi, riding abreast with two other Cabinet Ministers and the four ministers of the Revenue, Personnel, Rites, and War ministries.
Farther back were even more officials of lower rank who had thrown in their lot with them.
No one moved. Ignoring the army continuously pouring in beside them, they all held their breath and gathered their focus.
At last, a faint patter of footsteps came from the base of the palace wall.
Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a group of eunuchs hurrying over with a sedan chair.
Behind the pearl curtain of the sedan sat none other than the Empress Dowager, Prince Su's birth mother, the chief plotter of this Palace Coup, and Grand Secretary Wu Daoqi's legitimate daughter—Madam Wu!
Her face, partly concealed behind the pearl curtain, was slightly pale, and a trace of alarm and lingering fear still showed in her eyes.
"Mother!"
The moment Prince Su saw the sedan chair, he swung down from his horse, hurried forward a few steps, and bowed in formal salute.
Wu Daoqi and the group of Cabinet Ministers and ministers also