The Human Emperor

Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Consort Taizhen’s expression was composed, her footsteps confident. There was not even the slightest hint of fear on her face.
“Stand aside! Even if Li Ying has complete control of the Imperial Palace, this consort will never fear him! There exists no record in history telling of a principal consort fearing a rebellious subject!”
Consort Taizhen’s face was intimidating as she descended the cold jade steps out of the hall.
“Your Majesty, you must not! Since they’ve dared to rebel, they no longer care for status! Your Majesty must not act on emotion! Quickly, come and hide with the servants!”
Several of Consort Taizhen’s palace maids anxiously tried to stop Consort Taizhen, but she shook them all off.
“There’s no need to try and persuade me. His Majesty is the Sage Emperor of the Great Tang, a sovereign to be hailed throughout the ages. This consort is his and will never damage His Majesty’s reputation in front of these treasonous scoundrels!” Consort Taizhen righteously proclaimed, not a single shred of fear to be seen on her beautiful face.
Clang!
A sword suddenly swept through the air, its sharp blade pressing up against Consort Taizhen’s chin.
Countless soldiers had appeared, surrounding Yuzhen Palace. Their leader was the general gripping the sword.
“Your Majesty, I am just following orders and do not mean any offense! Your Majesty, please do not make things difficult for me!” the mounted general coldly said.
Seeing that Consort Taizhen had no intention of backing down and was going to push herself onto the sword, the general suddenly flipped the sword around and struck Consort Taizhen on the neck with the flat of the blade. Her vision went dark as she fell unconscious.
“Take her away!”
The general waved a palm, and his men surged forward.
……
Creee!
At the northwest corner of the Imperial Palace, a large gyrfalcon shot out of the darkness like a sharp arrow.
As the gyrfalcon passed by, on the ground, numerous soldiers brandishing weapons and torches were charging into Jinyang Palace.
“Seize them! Don’t let anyone escape!”
“Have you found the Fifth Prince?”
“Hold on! The Fifth Prince isn’t here!”
Harsh bellows came from Jinyang Palace, but as the soldiers discovered that their target was not present, the cries soon dissolved into chaos.
Far away from this place, a man dressed in Imperial Army armor stood in a shadow on a high wall and quietly watched all this transpire.
“Your Highness, the King of Foreign Lands was right! He really did make his move tonight!”
Li Jingzhong stood next to Fifth Prince Li Heng, counting his blessings as he looked at the vast crowd of soldiers in the distance.
“That was risky! Fortunately, we moved ahead of time, or the First Prince really would have succeeded!”
Li Heng had always been a thorn in the First Prince’s side, and no one understood this more than Li Jingzhong. If the First Prince had managed to succeed, Li Heng’s death would have been assured. Li Heng had been targeted countless times as he was growing up by the First Prince. In the face of imperial authority, there was no such thing as brotherhood. It had been extremely difficult for Li Heng to reach this point.
Li Heng said nothing. Upon realizing that Li Heng wasn’t present, those soldiers sent by the First Prince had begun to search the nearby palaces.
“Your Highness, this place is no longer safe! Let’s hurry and leave!” Li Jingzhong said.
All of them were wearing suits of Imperial Army armor, and Li Jingzhong was no exception. The Imperial Palace was in chaos, and Imperial Army soldiers were running around everywhere. Mixing in with the crowd to escape would be quite easy.
Li Heng silently stood on the wall, his eyes in turmoil.
“Uncle Jing, how many soldiers do we have?” Li Heng suddenly asked.
“Ah?”
Li Jingzhong was taken aback by this question, but he instinctively replied.
“We have around four thousand soldiers!”
As a Prince, Li Heng could raise an army of one thousand personal soldiers, and in order to guard against the First Prince, Li Heng had also recruited men and planted them in the Imperial Army.
Now that the Imperial Palace was immersed in rebellion, Li Heng had naturally summoned his soldiers. Four thousand soldiers wasn’t a lot, naught but a cup of water for the burning cart that was the rebellion, but it was enough to protect himself.
Slowly, Li Heng turned toward Taiji Palace.
The fires were blazing and the shouting created a deafening din. The primary force of the rebellion had been gathered there.
The Imperial Palace was fraught with danger, and the First Prince’s men were seeking him out, but Li Heng’s greatest concern was not his own safety.
“Imperial Father…”
The image of Taiji Palace reflected off Li Heng’s black eyes. For a moment, there was great concern on his face, but Li Heng quickly composed himself.
“Pass on my order! Gather the men! We’re going to Taiji Palace!”
“Your Highness?!”
Li Jingzhong was overcome with shock, and he grabbed Li Heng and anxiously shook his head.
“This cannot be allowed! The First Prince has more than one hundred thousand soldiers under his command, and the palace is almost completely under his control. The tiny amount of soldiers under our command would be like throwing an egg against a stone, little more than suicide. Our first priority should be leaving the Imperial Palace and conserving our strength, at the same time gathering the soldiers from other areas so that we return to the capital and save the sovereign!
“So as long as the green hills remain, there will still be wood to burn!”
While Li Jingzhong feared death, his exhortations this time weren’t for his own sake. Now was not the time to make decisions based on emotion.
“Uncle Jing, you don’t need to waste time trying to persuade me. Imperial Father is surrounded and in danger. If I abandon him and flee, would I even be human? I cannot leave, no matter what!”
With a clang, Li Heng pulled out his sword and jumped down from the wall.
“Your Highness, wait!”
Li Jingzhong’s face paled as he hastily followed.
……
At the same time, the Eastern Palace was brightly lit.
“Your Highness, Venerable Ghost King, our forces have successfully seized Qinyang Palace, Shangyang Palace, and Huayang Palace. We have also seized Chongyang Gate and Chaotian Gate. However, the soldiers of the Saint Martial Barracks have already mobilized, and we are in the middle of combat with them.
“The Saint Martial Barracks doesn’t have many soldiers, and there’s no way they could stop the Imperial Army, but the layout of the terrain means that not all of our soldiers can charge in. It will take some time until we can properly assault Taiji Palace!”
The Golden Guard commander bowed, his deep voice resounding through the hall.
The Saint Martial Barracks!
This was the most unique force of soldiers in the Imperial Palace. Their training ground was located to the north of Taiji Palace.
Since ancient times, the residence of the Sage Emperor had always been located in the northernmost part of the Imperial Palace. No soldier of the Imperial Army or official was allowed to enter that region. The only exception was the Saint Martial Barracks.
This army was regarded as Sage Emperor’s left and right arms, the last line of defense for the emperor. Only they were allowed to reside and train to the north of Taiji Palace.
The Saint Martial Barracks also possessed the special authority to inspect and select soldiers from the Imperial Army. Moreover, once a soldier joined the Saint Martial Barracks, they were shorn of any previous identity and would never associate with their clan or family again.
The Saint Martial Barracks was its own system, and it trained separately from the Imperial Army.
In addition, no official, including the Princes, could establish any connection with the Saint Martial Barracks or even get close.
Any Prince who tried would be suspected of rebellion and heavily punished by the Imperial Clan Court.
The Saint Martial Barracks’ recruiting standards were incredibly rigorous. Not only did recruits have to be far stronger than the average Imperial Army soldier, they also needed to be devoted to the Sage Emperor. For this reason, the Saint Martial Barracks did not have many men, only eight thousand in total, but it also meant that the soldiers of the Saint Martial Barracks could be guaranteed to never betray the Sage Emperor.
Thus, the First Prince had never even thought about trying to recruit the Saint Martial Barracks.
The greatest barrier in the attack on Taiji Palace was these eight thousand extremely well-trained soldiers of the Saint Martial Barracks.
Zhu Tong’en took two steps forward and asked, “Do you have a rough estimate of how long it will take?”
There was no taking back a loosed arrow. In any dynasty, the act of rebellion resulted in the death penalty! Failure meant paying the ultimate price.
For all of them, the moment this rebellion had started, all of them had suspended their heads above a blade. With each passing second, their heads drew closer and closer to those blades.
The only option was to quickly end the battle, seize Taiji Palace, and place the First Prince on the throne.
“The resistance from the Saint Martial Barracks is extremely fierce. I estimate… that it might take around an hour,” the Golden Guard commander said.
The Ghost King stood up from his table and coldly said, “That’s too long! I’ll give you thirty minutes to break into Taiji Palace!”
“Yes!”
The Golden Guard commander immediately broke out in a cold sweat, but he could only grit his teeth and assent.
Orders were absolute for soldiers, and it was not his place to argue.
Meng Tu suddenly stepped forward and said, “But, Milord! The King of Foreign Lands is already on his way! With their speed, we won’t even have thirty minutes!”
Wang Chong’s command of cavalry was peerless, and he also had the number one Wushang Cavalry under his command. At their speed, it wouldn’t take long for them to charge over from the palace gates.
Meng Tu voiced his true concern. “Moreover, General Huang won’t be able to hold him for long!”
Huang Tianzhao was one of the three Grand Marshals of the Imperial Army, and there was no doubting his strength, but not even he could hold off the most illustrious War God of the entire continent for very long!
“Heh.”
The Ghost King merely chuckled.
“Relax! I already have a plan! I’ve prepared a great gift just for him!”
The Ghost King shot a profound glance in the direction of the Center Gate.