The fifth watch of the night.
Silence returned to the area for two li around the garrison residence. The Embroidered Uniform Guard stepped over blood and severed limbs as they entered the official residence.
Nearly twenty trusted retainers and eunuchs lay prostrate on the ground.
In the main hall, Xue Fu sat in a grand armchair. He seemed to have aged thirty years in an instant, his face utterly drained of vitality.
His lips moved as he said bitterly:
"A pack of wine sacks and rice bags. I've fed you all for nothing."
Every kneeling eunuch trembled like chaff in a sieve.
Everything had happened too suddenly. Their opponents were the Embroidered Uniform Guard, acting under imperial authority, with nearly two thousand elite men. It was only natural for the soldiers in the camp to hesitate.
A dense clatter of footsteps rang out.
An imposing figure in flamboyant red entered the hall, his official robe covered in blood.
"The Shuzhong Garrison Eunuch embezzled military pay, murdered innocents to claim military merit, and slaughtered eighteen thousand innocent civilians. Furthermore, to satisfy his own selfish desires, he listened to a shameless Daoist's malicious counsel and harmed nearly a thousand pitiful children and dozens of young women in the flower of their youth."
"His sins are grievous. He has betrayed imperial favor and failed the State and Altars and all its people. Place him under arrest!"
The cold voice fell silent.
Several members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard fitted Xue Eunuch Dog with a cangue and leg irons.
Xue Fu said nothing. Weeping and wailing would serve no purpose; he might as well preserve a little dignity.
The military commanders arrived one after another, standing to one side with bowed heads and bent backs.
Jia Huan scrutinized them.
"Submit to questioning!"
Then he