Outside Zhaoyang Hall, there was deathly silence.
The assembled officials knelt outside the hall, staring in terror at the young emperor standing on the war chariot.
The emperor raised his longsword and rebuked them furiously.
In the sunlight, his body seemed wreathed in a halo, dazzling to behold.
Gao Rou looked at that familiar armor and listened to those furious questions.
At that moment, Gao Rou finally understood.
Only when the sword pointed at him did he realize that his opponent was not the General of the Guards, but the young Son of Heaven before him.
Gao Rou did not know how Cao Mao had accomplished all this.
He had come here alone, without a single helper.
Inside and outside the Imperial Palace, throughout the realm, they were clearly all our people.
So why was he now the one at swordpoint?
Cui Zan was deathly pale. He shook his head. "Impossible, impossible..."
"Could Sima Zhao be trying to catch us all in one net?! Does he mean to kill us by the emperor's hand?"
But this time, no minister echoed him.
Unless Sima Zhao had gone mad, he would never do such a thing. He had no need to take such a risk. If all this had been his design, he had already executed it perfectly. Why add this needless stroke?
There was only one explanation.
The emperor before them had done it all.
While the ministers were preparing to strike at the emperor, he had already begun planning to kill them instead.
He had seized control of the Central Army and deceived Sima Gan. After uprooting the Imperial Secretariat, he had subdued Sima Gan too, beating both major powers in Luoyang flat.
Xin Chang stared, dumbstruck. Even now, he had not recovered from this upheaval.
Wasn't the emperor the