Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

Xi Ping never realized why he had died so suddenly until his death.

Seeing this, Mo Xuan quickly shielded Shen Yujing behind him.

Wen Yuening and several experts from Qingzhi emerged from the shadows. "Your Highness, aren't you afraid of being condemned by the world for doing this?"

Immediately afterwards, the top assassins of the Soul Hook Pavilion surrounded and protected Shen Yuchen.

"It's really you."

Looking at the men dressed in black, Shen Yujing sighed softly, "Empress, you don't naively think that these few people can withstand my tens of thousands of troops, do you?"

Wen Yuening strode forward, “Even if these men under my command were to fight against a hundred men, they would not be a match for the elite troops under the Ming King. I have never thought of throwing an egg against a rock.”

These words puzzled Shen Yujing, who frowned deeply.

"The Princess is currently far away on the frontier. Even if she travels day and night, she probably won't be able to take care of the capital. Therefore, Your Majesty, it would be better to issue this edict sooner rather than later to avoid causing more bloodshed."

Wen Yuening gave Qingzhi a look and attacked Mo Xuan directly. Wen Que was not idle either, and he drew his sword and stabbed at Shen Yujing. The scene instantly became chaotic, and the rebels outside rushed in.

The people from the Soul-Hooking Pavilion quickly helped Shen Yuchen retreat from the back of the hall, away from this place of trouble.

The ministers were completely baffled by Wen Yuening's actions; how did a fight suddenly break out?

Because the military officers had to remove their weapons before court, they were all unarmed at the time. Some fought hand-to-hand, while others fled with the civil officials.

If Shen Sangwan were there, she would probably start a吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for complaining/criticizing) session with Xiaotong.

Shen Yuchen had guessed that Wen Yuening must have some kind of organization, but he was surprised to find that it was the Soul Hook Pavilion. However, this also increased his chances of winning this game.

"Master, where are we going?"

Wen Yuening handed over the front hall to Qingzhi and Wenque, while she herself protected the young emperor.

After the assassin and Shen Yuchen withdrew from Xuyang Palace, they asked each other which way to go next.

"Your Majesty, I have now stirred up the trouble. Shouldn't it be your turn to step in?"

Although Wen Yuening was anxious, her expression remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic.

Shen Yuchen did not back down. He wanted Wen Yuening to reveal all her hidden plans. Today, he needed to fight to the death to survive.

Seeing that Shen Yucheng did not react, Wen Yuening had a momentary illusion that this little emperor might be pretending to be profound, but in fact he had not prepared anything!

Once the thought took hold, Wen Yuening frantically tried to find ways to fill in the gaps in her mind.

"His Majesty?"

"Today, I will follow the Empress's arrangements."

Shen Yuchen had a smile on his face, looking quite composed.

"???"

They've already been put on the hot bench, how could they possibly have the leisure to laugh and joke with her?

Seeing the critical situation, she knew that the people she had could only hold out for a quarter of an hour at most, so she had to take them away quickly. "Go to Phoenix Palace and take the secret passage out of the palace."

"Empress, are you asking me to desert?"

"You yourself are about to write your abdication edict, and now you're playing the hero to me?"

Wen Yuening was already filled with black lines in her heart. "Your Majesty, if you neither want to leave the palace nor take action, no matter how powerful my people are, they cannot stop the Ming King's troops. They are assassins, not soldiers in battle."

The people of the Soul Hook Pavilion are only good at assassination. Their ability to fight quickly is absolutely top-notch, but they are not good at protracted wars.

"The Empress had already had the Imperial Guards under control, so why did she pretend to be at a loss and let the Prince of Ming's men march in unimpeded?"

I must say, Your Majesty, you are truly clever. You cast a bait to lure a big fish while simultaneously having the imperial city besieged, trapping the fish in a jar. I hadn't even had a chance to do that before Your Majesty beat me to it.

Furthermore, if I don't stay in the palace and accompany the Empress in this charade, how will the Ming Prince's contingency plan be revealed? Why is the Empress in such a hurry now?

"It seems you are the one who has been hiding the deepest secret. This palace coup will likely lead to a major reshuffle in the court. I wonder if the Northern Witch and Eastern Rui will give Southern Jing a chance to breathe."

Seeing that she had been exposed, Wen Yuening was too lazy to pretend with Shen Yuchen anymore and directly led him to Weiyang Palace.

Fuyu Pavilion is the highest point in the imperial city. When it was built, many traps were set up around it. Wen Yuening had passed by there many times and knew the situation very well.

Moreover, from the top floor, one can observe the battle situation.

Shen Yujing's bodyguards were entangled with Qingzhi. After Shen Yujing broke free, he led his private soldiers in pursuit of the direction Shen Yuchen had fled.

Meanwhile, Qinzhou also experienced unusual activity. Taking advantage of the war between Nanjing and Dongrui, and having received news of internal troubles in the capital, the Northern Witches directly dispatched troops to press on the border, threatening the outskirts of Qinzhou.

"Your Majesty, I gave you a chance. Since you are unwilling to write the edict, then today I have no choice but to personally kill the tyrant and rid the people of this scourge."

Looking at Shen Yucheng standing atop the high-rise building, Shen Yujing raised his sword and shouted, "Shoot him dead!"

The archers behind them stood outside the high wall, raising their bows and crossbows to aim at the tall building. Upon receiving the order, they drew their bowstrings.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—" The silver arrow shot out at lightning speed.

At first, the people from the Soul-Hooking Pavilion were able to block all the arrows, but this was a multi-round battle, and they couldn't hold out for more than a quarter of an hour before some of them ran out of energy and were accidentally shot and injured.

Shen Yuchen and Wen Yuening glanced at the sky outside simultaneously.

There were no fireworks signals, which means the situation outside is not very optimistic.

"Does Your Majesty intend to wait for the Eldest Princess to come to your rescue? By now—her corpse is probably already completely cold!"

Upon hearing this news, Wen Yuening's heart seemed to skip a beat.

Hadn't she already warned the other person to be wary of those around them? How could this happen again—

"you are lying!"

He nearly roared in anger, sword in hand, about to leap down, but was stopped by the person beside him, "Master, please don't be impulsive."

"That's quite strange. When the eldest princess was in trouble, His Majesty, as her younger brother, remained calm and composed, showing no sign of panic. On the other hand, the empress lost her composure and looked extremely anxious."

Seeing that the people from the Soul-Hooking Pavilion had exhausted most of their energy, Shen Yujing waved for the archers to stop shooting and instead ordered the infantry to move forward.

"Shen Yujing, what did you do to the Princess?"

At this moment, Wen Yuening no longer called Fang Mingwang, but addressed him by his name directly, which surprised Shen Yuchen, who was standing to the side.

This is clearly a provocation tactic by the other side, deliberately trying to provoke them and throw them into disarray. How could the Empress take it so seriously?

Little did he know that Wen Yuening's mind was filled with the horrific image of Shen Sangwan's tragic death, pierced by a thousand arrows, in her previous life.

She feared that Shen Sangwan would die in the exact same way in this life, and she couldn't accept that fact.

"At this moment... he is probably already dead in Xuzhou. If the Empress chooses to surrender, I can give you a chance to examine the body for the Eldest Princess."

"Oh—Is Fourth Brother talking about me?"