On the second day after Ding Prefecture was plundered, people from the various lineages had already surrounded the main gate of the imperial palace in the capital, packing it so tightly that not even water could pass through.
Aside from a few lineage heads, most of those who came were elderly people and children from the lineages. They laid their bedding down on the spot and declared that if the Empress Dowager and the monarch could not stop the Anti-Thug Campaign and the reforms, they would live there forever and never leave.
Had there been only a few hundred people, the capital's guards could have dealt with them easily. But more than ten thousand had come.
Over half were the old, the weak, women, and children. They either had no fear of death or did not know what death was.
Faced with these people, all the officials and soldiers were at their wits' end. Even those attending the emergency court session had to slip quietly through the side gates.
In the Golden Throne Hall, the Empress Dowager and the monarch sat on dragon thrones behind a hanging curtain. The officials stood in their ranks, while Fang Yun, still looking sickly, sat in the Marquis Wu Chariot at their head.
After a long silence, the Empress Dowager finally spoke slowly. "The people have blockaded our nation's imperial palace. Letting this continue is no solution. My ministers, you must come up with an answer."
Fang Yun said, "Those who dare blockade the imperial palace might be spies from the Demon Realm, agents of the Qing Kingdom, or local tyrants and corrupt gentry. They certainly cannot be ordinary commoners."
"Who they are is unimportant. How to resolve this is what matters," the Empress Dowager said.
At this point, Sheng Boyuan, Minister of Rites,