The Crown Prince was dead.
This turn of events was clearly something the commander of the personal guard had never anticipated.
After all, the Crown Prince had spent two full years preparing for this day.
Han Tao had long known that his father was dissatisfied with him as Crown Prince.
Although none of his three younger brothers was any better than he was, he still could not rest easy.
His father was growing older, and with age, he was becoming increasingly muddleheaded and suspicious.
There was no telling when he might depose him as Crown Prince.
Rather than let that happen, he might as well strike first.
The Crown Prince had also bribed the Imperial Preceptor to submit a memorial proposing this Rain-Praying Sacrifice to his father.
This should have been a seamless plan, and indeed, it had been.
Until that figure in a plain white dress appeared atop the great tent engulfed in flames.
The Crown Prince's death had clearly left the commander of the personal guard momentarily stunned as well.
His backer was gone.
Even so, the emperor must not be allowed to live!
With that thought, he immediately drew the long saber at his waist.
At the very instant he drew it, his body suddenly felt weightless, and he pitched forward.
A bloody hole had appeared in his forehead.
In the blink of an eye, the two central pillars of the rebellion had become corpses.
The three hundred armored soldiers were still frozen in place.
Neither Han Yuan nor his pregnant consort had managed to grasp what had happened.
Zhong Yumo lowered her gaze.
Not one of these three hundred armored soldiers could be spared.
They would never allow Galloping Sky's King and his consort to return to the palace alive.
That meant their fate had already