Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

When Dugu Jia heard the news, he felt a black screen before his eyes.

Then, the world spun around her, and a sweet and fishy taste rose to her throat. She suddenly grabbed the Panlong pillar next to her and avoided falling to the ground.

Shen Congwen...Zhou Yong...are all dead?

Her last hope, her desperate gamble... was completely lost! Completely lost!

It's over...it's all over...

An unprecedented, cold despair completely engulfed her in an instant.

All her cruelty, all her calculations, all her majesty, at this moment, seemed so pale and powerless.

She stood there blankly, her eyes empty, as if all her soul had been sucked out.

At a loss.

This word has never been so appropriate to describe her condition as it is now.

She didn't know what to do next, what else to do.

Breakout? That's a joke.

Surrender? Chu Ning would never let her go.

Committing suicide? She was unwilling to do so!

The immense fear and confusion made the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had once been powerful and decisive in killing people, feel truly vulnerable and helpless for the first time.

She was like a broken ship that had lost all its oars and sails. In the raging sea, she could only watch herself crash into the reef called "destruction".

Her son Liu Xiang was curled up in the corner, so scared that he had lost any reaction, like a soulless puppet.

Inside the Weiyang Palace, there was only deathly silence, and the sound of the Chu army's footsteps outside the palace, which were getting closer and closer, symbolizing the end.

At this moment, the dead silence and despair were like thick ink, almost suffocating.

The shouts of "Surrender and save your life" from the Chu army outside the palace, as well as the sounds of troop movements and footsteps that were getting closer and clearer, were like a tightening noose, making it hard for Dugu Jia to breathe.

The news of the deaths of Shen Congwen and Zhou Yong in battle completely shattered her last hope of a comeback.

It was an extreme fear and unwillingness of suddenly falling from the pinnacle of power and being about to be shattered!

She suddenly raised her head, and in her eyes, which were originally empty due to despair, there was now burning with an almost crazy, hysterical fire!

No! She can't die here!

Absolutely not!

She was the Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty, the wife of the late emperor, and the woman who once controlled the power of the world!

How could she be humiliated and beheaded by Chu Ning like those lowly prisoners?

A strong desire to survive, mixed with extreme unwillingness to fail and deep hatred for Chu Ning, burned in her chest like a poisonous fire!

"No! I will never sit still and wait for death!"

Dugu Jia let out a sharp roar, his voice distorted by excitement:

"We haven't lost yet! We just need to escape, escape from Chang'an! Go find the Tang Dynasty, find other vassal kings! We still have a chance! The Han Dynasty is not dead yet!"

Like a she-wolf trapped in a cage, she fiercely swept her eyes over the trembling eunuchs and palace maids in the hall and gave a stern order:

"Listen up! Everyone! Take up your weapons! Protect me and His Highness as we break through the siege! Anyone who dares to retreat will be killed immediately!"

This order made the already terrified palace servants even more shocked.

Take up arms? Break out?

Outside are tens of thousands of Chu troops as fierce as wolves and tigers. The imperial palace has been surrounded and no one can get in or out. This is clearly a suicide mission!

An older eunuch who had followed Dugu Jia for many years mustered up his courage, trembling as he knelt on the ground, his voice filled with tears:

"T-Thou-Sire...it's not that we are afraid of death...it's just...it's just that this palace has been surrounded."

"There are Chu troops everywhere outside. How can we...how can we break out? This...this is like hitting a rock with an egg..."

This question brought out the fear and doubts in everyone's heart.

Dugu Jia stared at the old eunuch intently. Instead of anger, his face showed an extremely weird and cold smile, which made people shudder.

"Force your way in? I'm not that stupid!"

She lowered her voice, her tone full of conspiracy:

"The Chu army surrounded the palace, their target is none other than me and Xiang'er! As long as we're not inside the palace, they might not search every corner carefully!"

She walked up to the old eunuch, squatted down, and in a voice that only a few people around could hear, she told him her wicked plan to escape:

"Listen! Immediately find two palace maids and eunuchs who resemble me and Xiang'er! Have them wear my and Xiang'er's court robes and phoenix crowns!"

She pointed to the gorgeous empress dowager's dress on herself and the prince's robe on Liu Xiang.

"Then……"

Dugu Jia's eyes flashed with a cunning and cruel light: "Let them sit on my imperial carriage and Xiang'er's royal chariot!"

"Send another team of loyal guards to escort them. With great fanfare, rush out through the main or side gates of the palace! Make it look like a desperate breakout!"

She seemed to have seen that scene, and her tone was a little excited:

"When the Chu army sees the imperial carriage and the royal chariot, they'll definitely think Xiang'er and I are trying to escape, and their main force will be drawn in to pursue us!"

"By then, the guards around the palace will surely be empty!"

She stood up, a ferocious look of confidence on her face. "As for me, Xiang'er and I will change into the clothes of you servants and blend in with the crowd."

"After the Chu army is lured away, we can sneak out through a remote and unnoticed door!"

"Chang'an City is so big, there must be a hiding place! As long as we can avoid this initial raid, we have a chance to get out of the city!"

This plan is neither vicious nor risky.

It was entirely using the lives of the two substitutes and the sacrifice of the escorting guards in exchange for her and Liu Xiang's slim chance of survival.

After hearing this, the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall all turned pale and trembled all over.

They were terrified of the Queen Mother's cruelty in using other people's lives as bait, and they were also terrified of the huge risks of the plan itself.

Once discovered, everyone will be killed without a burial place!

The old eunuch's lips trembled, and he wanted to say something else: "Empress Dowager, if this... if this substitute is discovered..."

"Shut up!"

Dugu Jia interrupted him harshly, her eyes fierce: "Do as I say! Immediately! Right now! Anyone who dares to delay or leak the news will be wiped out by me right now!"

Under Dugu Gan's crazy and murderous gaze, no one dared to object.

The instinct for survival and fear of the Queen Mother forced them to carry out this crazy plan.

"Yes... yes! Your servants obey your order..." The palace servants responded tremblingly.

Soon, two young palace maids and a young eunuch who looked somewhat similar to Dugu Jia and Liu Xiang, but were now terrified and pale, were called over.

When they learned that they had to wear the royal robes of the Queen Mother and the Prince to act as bait to attract the Chu army, they were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, burst into tears, and kowtowed for mercy.

"You useless bastards! Being able to serve me and His Highness with such loyalty is a blessing you've earned over several lifetimes!"