Urgent hoofbeats rang out along the main avenues of Far Capital, while the messenger soldier continued shouting the same words.
All pedestrians instinctively stepped aside, clearing a path leading to the royal palace.
After the messenger soldier passed them, everyone began discussing what exactly had happened.
"What happened at the front? Did something happen with the Southeast Legion?"
"Impossible, right? That's the Southeast Legion led by Prince Lin, the empire's strongest legion."
"Prince Lin is the foremost of the Empire's Five Tigers. He's won every battle against the Demons. He once wiped out two hundred thousand Demon troops in a single battle around Yellow Stone Mountain. How could Prince Lin be the one with a problem?"
"Exactly. Prince Lin has guarded the Southeastern Plains for years. With only a few cities, he led five hundred thousand Southeast Legion troops against a million Demon soldiers for ten years without falling behind. Nothing should have gone wrong!"
"I think Prince Lin has won another great victory and sent back an urgent report to inform the Emperor. Looks like our empire is about to enjoy double happiness!"
After putting their heads together, no one believed Prince Lin was in trouble. Instead, they thought more good news had arrived.
"Hey, I heard our Third Prince is also at the front. Could something have happened to him?"
"Wasn't the Third Prince sent by the Emperor to Jiashan Fortress as a staff officer to pad his credentials? What could possibly happen to him?"
"That's not certain. I heard the Third Prince is useless in both letters and martial arts. He was already daring enough to visit Fragrant Pavilion at fourteen. Maybe he caused some trouble at the front."
"Yeah, he's a prince with no ability at all, yet he dared to run off to the front. Do you think there's something wrong with his head..."
"Shut up! Is a prince someone we can insult? Are you trying to get us killed? No matter how useless he is, he's still a prince. Be careful, or the Imperial City Guard will drag you away and cut out your tongue."
"Most likely, something happened to that prince. And Jiashan Fortress may be in trouble too!"
Some veteran soldiers among the crowd were not as optimistic as the others. They quickly connected the matter to the imperial fortress that was still under construction.
"Ah, who cares? The front is so far away. What does it have to do with ordinary folk like us in Far Capital? Let's keep celebrating."
Outside the heavily guarded gates of the royal palace, the messenger abandoned his horse, which was foaming at the mouth from exhaustion, and hurried to the guards.
"I bear an urgent report from the front. Please present it to the Emperor at once. It is a matter of utmost urgency!"
After checking the messenger's identity and the seal on the letter, the guard immediately headed for the banquet hall to report it.
At that moment, the dignitaries in the banquet hall were still reveling. Some had even pulled over serving maids to flirt with them, enjoying themselves immensely.
"Report! Urgent report from the front!"
The banquet hall doors flew open. A guard clutching a letter hurried past the ministers and rushed straight to the Emperor, kneeling and presenting the letter with both hands.
Lin Huang calmly took the urgent report, then slowly swept his gaze over the ministers and generals before smiling.
"It seems our prince has brought us more good news. Last time, he annihilated two hundred thousand Demon troops in one battle. Could it be that this time he has sent word of wiping out a million Demon soldiers and conquering the Southeastern Plains?"
Hearing the Emperor's confident words, the ministers and generals eagerly joined in, congratulating one another as they discussed it.
"Hahaha, precisely!"
"Once the prince occupies the entire Southeastern Plains, our eastern campaign into the Far East will face no further obstacles!"
"What a pity that I cannot fight alongside the prince and accomplish such a feat!"
"With Prince Lin and the battle-hardened Southeast Legion, a mere million Demon troops are nothing but lambs awaiting slaughter!"
"I propose that we petition the Emperor to make the Southeast Legion the vanguard of the empire's eastern campaign!"
"We share that thought! Let us petition him together!"
The crowd was still excitedly fantasizing about the front and the future eastern campaign, discussing their request to appoint the Southeast Legion as the vanguard. None of them noticed that after opening the letter, the Emperor's expression had grown darker with every line!
Bang!
Lin Huang slammed the letter onto the table with such force that the entire table shattered and collapsed.
His face was ashen, completely unlike the smiling, cheerful expression he had worn while celebrating his birthday earlier.
All the ministers and generals in the hall were jolted awake by the deafening blow and dropped to their knees!
"Please calm your anger, Your Majesty!"
Their words were like oil on a fire, instantly igniting Lin Huang's rage!
"Calm down? The Demons have deployed one hundred thousand elite troops to launch a surprise attack on Jiashan. Jiashan Fortress now has only Zichuan Shengxing and fifty thousand men barely holding on. Is Lin Xingyuan and his five hundred thousand Southeast Legion soldiers sitting around doing nothing? He actually let one hundred thousand Demon elites break through his defense zone and charge straight for Jiashan Fortress?"
"Doesn't he know how vital Jiashan Fortress is to the empire's eastern campaign? Yet he acted like this! Or is he planning to use his five hundred thousand Southeast Legion troops to rebel against me?"
Every prince, minister, general, maid, and guard in the palace fell to their knees, not daring to make a sound.
No one had expected Prince Lin, who had faced a million Demon troops with five hundred thousand men for years without suffering defeat, to make such a basic and dangerous mistake.
If Jiashan Fortress fell, the empire would no longer have any possibility of marching east. Instead, it would have to worry about a massive Demon offensive and could only retreat into defense.
What was even worse was that they would lose contact with the Southeastern Plains, where five hundred thousand elite imperial troops were stationed. Losing them all at once would severely damage the empire's foundations built over a century.
Everyone realized the urgency of the situation. They had not expected the dream of a mighty empire to shatter so quickly.
"Your Majesty! The most urgent matter is to immediately mobilize the one hundred thousand troops stationed at Danna Crossing in Binyang Province to reinforce the fortress. We absolutely cannot allow the Demon army to capture Jiashan Fortress!"
Qin Zhuo, the empire's current marshal, immediately reacted and offered his counsel. Danna Crossing had been built along the Lancang Canal, allowing troops to use the waterways to swiftly reinforce Jiashan Fortress and quickly resolve Jiashan's crisis.
However, the Emperor had previously ordered that the Danna Crossing garrison could not be mobilized without an imperial decree and the marshal's order. Someone would still have to carry those orders there to move the army, wasting even more time. No one knew whether Zichuan Shengxing could hold out until then.
"Since things have come to this, we have no choice. Ming Sichen, take my imperial decree and Marshal Qin's order to Danna Crossing at once. Join Qu Tairan and immediately reinforce Jiashan."
"Once the siege of Jiashan is lifted, lead the army to the Southeast Legion's base. Find Lin Xingyuan and tell him that I miss him a little. Tell him to surrender his military authority and return to report to me!"
"Yes!"
Ming Sichen stepped forward to receive the imperial decree and marshal's order, then turned and walked toward the hall entrance. Just as he was about to leave, another guard rushed in, bringing a travel-worn cavalryman with him.
The two passed Ming Sichen, who was hurrying out, and ran toward the Emperor, who was pacing back and forth with an anxious expression.
"Report! Your Majesty, the man beside me is a cavalryman from Danna Crossing. He has an urgent matter to report!"
The two slid to their knees before Lin Huang, and the guard immediately informed the Emperor of the matter.
A soldier from Danna Crossing? Upon hearing this, the Emperor froze. The many ministers and generals froze as well. Ming Sichen, who had been about to step out of the hall, silently withdrew the foot he had just placed beyond the doorway!
"What did you say? You are a soldier stationed at Danna Crossing?"
The Emperor stared suspiciously at this unfamiliar imperial soldier, his eyes fixed directly on him.
Under the Emperor's gaze, the soldier was extremely nervous. But when he thought of his major discovery and the chance that it might send him soaring through the ranks, he overcame his fear and answered loudly.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, yes. I am a guard from Danna Camp and one of General Qu's personal guards. I have an urgent matter to report regarding the Third Prince!"
Realizing that something was wrong and that it involved his not particularly favored third son, Lin Huang demanded harshly.
"What happened? Why does it concern the Third Prince? Tell me everything truthfully!"
Frightened by the Emperor's harsh tone, the soldier trembled as he recounted what had happened.
At the time, while standing guard in the camp, he had suddenly needed to relieve himself. He went into the grass not far from the camp, but when he came out, he saw the Third Prince's men surrounding the entire camp. Soon afterward, he saw someone throw out the corpses of two bannermen, then cut down the other eight bannermen. Finally, he saw General Qu being dragged from the camp by the Third Prince's men, bound hand and foot. Realizing something was wrong, he found a fast boat and a horse in the camp, traveled downstream by water, and hurried all the way to Far Capital.
"Your Majesty! The Third Prince has likely taken General Qu hostage and seized control of Danna Camp. He... he may be planning to use this chance to rebel and establish his own domain!"
"Indeed, Your Majesty! If the Third Prince controls the one hundred thousand troops at the crossing, he can travel along the Lancang Canal into the Lancang River. Using the Lancang River, he can swiftly seize the cities in the empire's northwest and establish himself as an independent power!"
As the ministers calculated and speculated, Lin Huang felt his vision go dark. He nearly lost his footing and collapsed.
If events developed that way, and the Demons launched a full-scale invasion, captured Jiashan Fortress, then seized the undefended Danna Crossing—
Using the canal, the Lancang River, and the Wanie River waterways, their army could march southward straight into the empire's heartland and even Far Capital. That would be a catastrophe capable of destroying the Luminous Empire!
"Ah! That unfilial wretch! How could he do this? How could he rebel against me?"
The ministers and generals who understood the situation remained silent. The Emperor's affection was limited. Once he had given it to two princes, little remained for the others. The Third Prince had neither his mother's clan to support him nor any talent of his own. He was useless in both letters and martial arts. How could the Emperor possibly care about him? The only time he had shown any interest was two years earlier, when the Third Prince presented him with a novel object that pleased him and earned him permission to go to the front as a minor staff officer.
"Strike this unfilial wretch from the royal clan register! From this day onward, I have no such son, and the empire has no Third Prince!"
The First Prince and Second Prince immediately stepped forward to support their father, speaking continuously.
"Father, calm your anger. Why be furious over Third Brother?"
"Yes, Father. Perhaps Third Brother only wished to command troops and head to the front?"
"Do not speak for that unfilial wretch! From today onward, you no longer have such a third brother. My decision will not change. Remove his name from the clan register immediately!"
"Everyone, the banquet is over. Begin the council. Until we discuss a solution, no one is allowed to leave!"
All the dancers and serving maids filed out in a rush, terrified of remaining there for even one moment longer.
After they had all left, the great doors slowly closed.
The empire's most fate-defining council in a century had begun!
Before you continue