Before Chengdu's gates, the stillness of the night was long gone.
Torches blazed, casting a scarlet glow over cold iron armor. Countless soldiers had already gathered, their blades and spears forming a forest, their murderous aura soaring into the heavens.
Clad in armor, one hand resting on his sword hilt, Fa Zheng stood proudly atop the towering battlements. Driven by his internal energy, his voice rolled like thunder across the entire square.
"Soldiers, fellow townspeople!"
"Liu Zhang is muddleheaded and incompetent, weak and indecisive. Under him, the people of our fertile Yizhou languish while powerful clans run rampant."
"How can we entrust our lives and families to such a mediocre ruler? How can he safeguard this land of heavenly abundance?"
He paused, then shifted his tone, his voice brimming with fervor and passion.
"Now, all beneath heaven is in chaos, but the savior of the world has descended!"
"With the Heavenly Screen as witness, Yang Feng, emperor of the Great Yang Empire, is the peerless emperor of the ages, chosen by Heaven's mandate!"
"We are all willing to join Lord Yang and build an imperial legacy that will endure for a thousand autumns!"
"Now, let us go inside and offer that benighted ruler's head to our new sovereign as our pledge of allegiance!"
"Kill Liu Zhang!"
"Tomorrow, open the gates and surrender to Yang Feng, emperor of the Great Yang Empire!"
Every word Fa Zheng spoke was a spark, instantly igniting the dry tinder that had long been heaped below.
After a brief silence came a roar like mountains collapsing and seas surging.
"Kill Liu Zhang! Welcome Lord Yang!"
"Kill Liu Zhang! Welcome Lord Yang!"
Wave after wave of voices rose higher, merging into an unstoppable torrent.
Fa Zheng and Li Yan exchanged a glance, each seeing the same resolve in the other's eyes.
They drew the long sabers at their waists in unison, their blades gleaming bloodthirstily in the firelight.
"Follow me!"
With a fierce shout, Fa Zheng took the lead and dashed down from the gate tower.
Li Yan followed close behind.
Like two sharp blades, they plunged savagely into the street leading to the provincial governor's residence.
Behind them came thousands upon thousands of soldiers whipped into a frenzy. Weapons raised, they shouted as they merged into a torrent of steel, charging unstoppably toward Liu Zhang's sleeping quarters.
The guards defending the sleeping quarters were already panic-stricken. Faced with this earth-shaking mutiny, they were swept aside in an instant, barely putting up any meaningful resistance.
The palace gates were smashed open with a crash.
Reeking of blood, Fa Zheng and Li Yan charged straight into Liu Zhang's bedchamber.
On the bed, the ruler of Yizhou who had been pondering how to eliminate them not long ago had only just been startled awake, his face still clouded with the confusion of a hangover and terror.
Before he could even let out a full cry of alarm, he saw a flash of snowy blade-light sweep past his eyes.
The next moment, a still-warm head rolled across the floor.
Its eyes were wide open, as though he still had not understood what had happened.
Without so much as glancing at the headless corpse, Fa Zheng bent down, picked up the head, and held it in his hand.
He and Li Yan rushed out of the sleeping quarters again and made their way to Chengdu's gates, where he raised the bloody head high.
"Liu Zhang is dead!"
"From this day forth, I, Fa Zheng, and Li Yan shall jointly hold the post of grand commander of Yizhou, overseeing all military and civil affairs as we await His Majesty's arrival!"
"From now on, Yizhou belongs to Yang!"
The whole of Chengdu erupted.
Amid deafening cheers, an enormous banner slowly rose above the gate tower.
Embroidered on it in golden thread was the character "Yang," its strokes sweeping like soaring dragons and dancing phoenixes.
It stood out strikingly in the faint light of dawn.
The common people hurried about spreading the news, while soldiers raised their arms and cheered, as though they could already see the arrival of a brand-new era.
Meanwhile, a letter penned by Fa Zheng himself and stamped with Li Yan's seal was placed in the hands of their finest courier.
The courier mounted the best swift horse and, not daring to delay a moment, galloped day and night toward distant Huainan with this letter that could change the balance of power beneath heaven.
Early the next morning, in Shouchun, Huainan.
Yawning and rubbing his bleary eyes, Yang Feng sat up in bed.
He had slept fairly peacefully, except that he kept dreaming of Cao Cao and Lü Bu, one carrying a three-pointed, double-edged saber and the other wielding a heaven-piercing painted halberd, chasing after him and insisting on becoming sworn brothers. They had given him quite a fright.
What kind of nonsense was that?
The only thing on his mind now was what the Heavenly Screen would say today.
In that so-called cannon shot at the camp gate, had he won, or had Cao Cao and Lü Bu?
This was the key to whether his "grand plan to flee to Shu" could proceed smoothly.
If he won and his prestige reached its peak, there would be far less resistance when he announced the move west.
If he lost... things would get really lively. Cao Cao and Lü Bu would probably march their armies over to attack him on the spot.
Ugh, why was being a salted-fish emperor so hard?
Just as Yang Feng draped an outer robe over himself and prepared to call for water to wash up, hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall.
Then an attendant's voice rang out beyond the door.
"Your Majesty, Chief Administrator Yan Xiang requests an audience outside the hall. He says it is a matter of the utmost urgency."
Yan Xiang?
Yang Feng froze for a moment.
It was so early, barely even light. What was that old man rushing over here for?
Could it be... something really had happened at the border?
His heart lurched, and his drowsiness vanished instantly.
That couldn't be.
Even if Boss Cao wanted to make a move, gathering troops and provisions would take time. How could he be so fast?
Then what was the old man here for?
With all that fuss about "a matter of the utmost urgency," it surely couldn't be anything good.
Yang Feng inwardly ranted away. After all, experience told him that eight or nine times out of ten, the "good things" these old ministers saw were enormous pitfalls for him.
The last time they had thought something was a tremendous blessing, they had forcibly planted him on this dragon throne.
What was it this time?
Urging me to lead the army in person and fight Cao Cao to the death?
Oh, give me a break.
Still grumbling inwardly, Yang Feng spoke in a low voice.
"Let him in."
The hall doors were pushed open the moment he finished speaking.
Yan Xiang all but jogged inside, his aged face filled with mingled excitement and wild joy. His complexion glowed, and even his beard trembled slightly, as though he had won five million in the lottery.
He rushed to Yang Feng's bedside in a few strides, no longer bothering with the formalities between sovereign and subject, and dropped to his knees with a thump. His voice had changed pitch from sheer excitement.
"Your Majesty!"
"Heaven blesses the Great Yang Empire! Heaven blesses Your Majesty!"
"Wonderful news!"
"A tremendous blessing!"
Yang Feng was left dazed by this sudden performance.
Seeing Yan Xiang looking as though he might have a heart attack from excitement right there, he grew even more wary instead.
This old man... was he trying to screw me over again?
What on earth was going on?
Yang Feng hurriedly told Yan Xiang to rise.