Li Yuechan Establishes Her Authority, A Mere Hundred Thousand Iron Cavalry

"Your Majesty, one hundred thousand iron cavalry surround the city, and two Grandmasters are overseeing the siege. This battle is lost without a doubt!"

"The only plan now is... is to move the capital. Only then can we preserve the royal bloodline and plot a comeback."

"Move the capital? To where? The Qing Army's iron cavalry can cover eight hundred li in a single day."

"Can we outrun them? In this old official's view, it would be better to... better to open the gates and surrender. Perhaps we can save the million souls in the city and spare them from slaughter!"

Inside the imperial palace, in the court hall.

The emergency morning assembly had already descended into utter chaos.

Facing the aggressive Qing Army outside the city, these civil and military officials, usually so high and mighty, completely tore off their masks.

They all revealed their truest, ugliest sides.

The officials advocating for moving the capital were simply looking to pack up their gold and silver and flee for their lives.

The officials advocating for surrender had long since colluded with the Qing Army in secret, hoping to sell out their country for glory.

The entire hall was filled with shouting and wailing, as if the end of the world had arrived.

Li Yuechan, sitting upright on the dragon throne, watched these ministers displaying their grotesque behavior below.

A flash of deep disappointment crossed her clear eyes.

But more than that, there was a composure that belied her young age.

"Enough!"

She slammed her hand onto the armrest of the dragon throne, producing a loud BANG.

The crisp sound was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable imperial majesty that instantly suppressed all the noise.

Everyone was stunned, looking in shock at the petite figure on the dragon throne.

"Prime Minister, say that again."

Li Yuechan's gaze fell upon the old official who had just advocated for surrender.

That old Prime Minister, relying on his status as a veteran of three reigns, did not take this young girl seriously.

He stiffened his neck and played the elder card.

"Your Majesty, this old official is only thinking of the common people."

"The enemy has two Grandmasters; this is a force that cannot be resisted."

"Forced resistance will only lead to mutual destruction, making the million souls of the Capital City pay with their lives for Your Majesty! Surrender is the only way to survive."

"Well said."

Li Yuechan nodded, a gentle smile even appearing on her face.

But that smile made the old Prime Minister feel an inexplicable palpitation.

The next moment, Li Yuechan performed an action that left everyone dumbfounded.

She slowly drew the sword from beside the dragon throne, a blade that symbolized the authority of the Son of Heaven.

Under the old Prime Minister's gaze of sheer terror, she walked down from the dragon throne, and with a swift motion, the sword fell.

"SPLAT!"

A fine head rolled onto the floor.

Fresh blood stained Li Yuechan's golden dragon robe, making her imperial majesty even more pronounced.

"Those who spread treacherous words and disrupt the morale of the army shall be executed without mercy!"

Li Yuechan's cold, emotionless voice echoed through the deathly silent hall.

Everyone was completely terrified by her sudden, iron-fisted display.

After killing him, she walked back to the dragon throne and sat down, her gaze sweeping over the ministers who were now as silent as cicadas in winter, as she spoke word by word.

"Flee? Tell me, where are we to flee?"

"The Qing Army's iron cavalry is right outside the city, with two Grandmasters in command. Once we leave the city, it is a dead end."

"Surrender? Do you still remember the three-day massacre at the Liao Province border ten years ago?"

"After the Qing Army breached the city, they slaughtered all three hundred thousand soldiers and civilians, regardless of age or gender."

"Do you really think you will survive by surrendering?!"

"I am the Son of Heaven of the Great Gan, and behind me are the million citizens of the Capital City!"

"I cannot flee, and I will absolutely not surrender!"

"Now, we only have one final path left to take."

At this point, her voice suddenly became high-pitched and impassioned.

"That is to fight to the death! Defend the Capital City to the end and wait for reinforcements to arrive."

"I will personally ascend the city walls and swear to defend the capital of our Great Gan alongside the soldiers."

"Who among you is willing to live and die with me?!"

These impassioned words exploded in the hearts of everyone present.

Those Imperial Guard commanders and officials of the war faction, who had already begun to despair, were infected by her spirit of facing death with equanimity.

The hot blood in their chests was ignited in an instant.

"Your subject is willing to live and die with Your Majesty!"

Wang Jian, the Grand Commander of the Imperial Guard, was the first to kneel on one knee, his voice as resonant as a great bell.

"We are willing to live and die with Your Majesty!"

More and more officials and generals knelt to the ground, letting out roars that shook the heavens.

Just then, a calm voice drifted in from outside the great hall.

Miraculously, this voice clearly drowned out the voices of everyone present.

"A mere hundred thousand iron cavalry, and only two Grandmasters at that."

"Leave the matters outside the city to me."

As the voice faded, a young man dressed in black slowly walked into the hall.

This person was none other than Lin Hanzhou, who had been in seclusion for half a month.

He ignored the shocked gazes of the surrounding officials and simply nodded calmly toward Yue Chan on the dragon throne.

This half-month of seclusion had yielded him immense gains.

Although his cultivation realm remained at the first level of the Qi Sea Realm and had not broken through, he had replaced all his original Yellow-tier movement techniques and martial arts with Profound-tier high-grade ones, supported by a massive collection of cultivation manuals.

Furthermore, his Flowing Cloud Sword Technique had naturally broken through to the realm of perfection.

Today, his combat power had ascended to yet another level compared to before.

In addition, through the martial arts classics in the treasury, he had gained a clearer understanding of the Grandmaster realm in this world.

The Grandmaster realm of this world was divided into four stages: ordinary Grandmaster, veteran Grandmaster, peak Grandmaster, and finally, the Grandmaster.

Converted to the martial arts realms of Blue Star, an ordinary Grandmaster corresponded to the first to third levels of the third stage, a veteran Grandmaster to the fourth to sixth levels, and so on.

A so-called Grandmaster was a powerhouse comparable to the peak of the third-stage Qi Sea Realm.

Third-stage peak... although tricky, it is not impossible to kill.

Lin Hanzhou already had a clear calculation in his heart.

He was now confident that he could slay a Grandmaster.

All thanks to his perfect-level Profound-tier sword technique and his numerous Profound-tier high-grade martial arts and movement techniques.

"Mr. State Preceptor!"

Seeing Lin Hanzhou appear, the heavy stone hanging in Yue Chan's heart crashed to the ground.

Unknowingly, she had come to regard him as the backbone of her heart.

She knew that Mr. State Preceptor was her final and strongest trump card.

Lin Hanzhou said no more.

Amidst the shocked gazes of everyone, he walked with long strides toward the high walls of the Capital City, alone with his sword.

On the North Gate of the Capital City.

Lin Hanzhou's figure had arrived atop the city wall, his black clothes snapping in the wind.

Opposite him was the dark, crushing torrent of the Qing Army's iron armor.

The iron-blooded Sha Qi, gathered from the long-term campaigning of a hundred thousand elite soldiers, seemed capable of chilling one's soul.

This Sha Qi was enough to make any ordinary Grandmaster tremble with fear.

Within the Qing Army's formation, two immensely powerful auras slowly rose.

They were two burly generals clad in heavy black armor.

The two of them were the commanders of this surprise attack—the two Grandmasters of the Great Qing.

Looking at the somewhat slender figure on the city wall, they let out disdainful sneers.

"Hahaha, has the Great Gan run out of people? To actually send a wet-behind-the-ears brat here to die?"

Lin Hanzhou did not answer.

He simply drew the long sword at his waist, the blade pointing straight ahead.

One man, facing two Grandmasters and a hundred thousand iron cavalry.

There was not a trace of timidity or fear in his eyes.

On the contrary, a fierce fighting spirit was burning brightly.

For so long, he had been playing games where he simply crushed his opponents.

It seemed that having a high-level battle in the true sense of the word might be quite good.