In a fit of rage, he snatched the dagger from Prince Wei Yangwang’s hand and without hesitation, stabbed it toward him.

Prince Wei Yangwang, trained in the agility of polo on the field, managed to dodge the blow before the dagger fell.

However, his martial skills were lacking, so while he avoided a fatal strike, the blade landed firmly on his right arm.

“Ah!!” He screamed in pain and staggered back a few steps.

Xiao Rui, however, turned red with fury and chased after him.

The dagger continued to descend, accompanied by his loud command, “Someone, catch him!”

No matter how quick Prince Wei Yangwang was, he could not escape the grip of the several skilled generals.

Blood streamed from his right arm, and under the intense pain, he was drenched in cold sweat.

The generals behind him forcefully pinned him to the ground.

With the pain, he yelled out, “Xiao Rui, you bastard, do you think you can usurp the throne? You can’t even take a good look at yourself! Look at you, a cripple! Do you think you deserve it?!”

“You bastard, when Father Emperor killed Fu Rui, he should have killed you as well, so you wouldn’t be here, a cripple with rebellious thoughts!”

“You…”

Prince Wei Yangwang’s mouth did not stop even as Xiao Rui, dagger in hand, closed in. Despite the situation, he still refused to yield.

“Slap!” Xiao Rui raised his hand and without hesitation, slapped him several times, silencing him.

He crouched in front of Prince Wei Yangwang, reached out, and grabbed his hair, forcing him to look into his cold, dark eyes.

“I didn’t want to be the first to kill you,” he said with a wicked smile. “After all, aside from your filthy mouth, you’re just a complete fool. You don’t deserve to die like the second or fourth brothers.”

He slapped Prince Wei Yang’s face again with the dagger. “But since you can’t shut that filthy mouth, I’ll make your tongue the gift to Father Emperor.”

He laughed madly, bringing the dagger closer to Prince Wei Yangwang.

“Hold him down!” In the face of danger, Prince Wei Yangwang suddenly exploded with strength, struggling fiercely.

The generals who were holding him momentarily loosened their grip, and he almost managed to escape from Prince Heng Guang’s grasp.

Prince Heng Guang roared angrily, “Didn’t you hear me? What are you doing? You can’t even hold a useless man down?!”

“Where’s Ren Fang? Bring him here!” he yelled.

Ren Fang was one of the leading generals under the Duke of Xu, and one of the masterminds of the palace coup. He was also the most skilled martial artist among them.

Prince Heng Guang had originally planned to kill his other three brothers in the palace, leaving only himself as the heir to the throne.

Even with a severed arm, the emperor would have no choice but to pass the throne to him, and then to his son.

Furious, he wanted to use Prince WeiyYangwang’s blood to force the court to submit.

Just as he finished speaking, the previously noisy courtyard suddenly fell silent.

In the silence, a cold voice echoed through the courtyard.

This voice was particularly familiar to Prince Heng Guang.

It was the voice he had dreamed of every night since he was imprisoned in the Crown Prince’s residence.

He hated it so much that he wanted to peel off the person’s skin, strip their bones, and feed their flesh to the dogs!

“Is this the person you were looking for?” the voice was emotionless and cold.

Prince Heng Guang looked up sharply, and his eyes were filled with disbelief as he saw the figure before him—an unforgettable sight.

Wen Yuesheng, dressed in a dark black gown, appeared in the palace courtyard.

Behind her, she dragged a person with a silver nine-section whip.

The whip was wrapped around the neck of Ren Fang, a muscular man nearly three times her size, and she dragged him to the front.

Under the glaring sun, Wen Yuesheng, wearing thin clothes, appeared even more chilling than Prince Heng Guang, who had been wreaking havoc, tormenting everyone.

The nine-section whip was Ren Fang’s weapon, but now it was wrapped around his neck.

And the person Prince Heng Guang had been calling for—Ren Fang—was already silent.

She walked forward step by step, and the entire courtyard was stunned into silence.

The Duke of Xu was the first to react, his face turning pale.

He yelled, “Protect the Crown Prince!”

The generals regained their senses and rushed forward to surround Wen Yuesheng.

Her sudden appearance caught everyone off guard.

The dagger in Prince Heng Guang’s hand, which had been poised to strike, was now protected behind a general.

From behind the crowd, Prince Heng Guang’s face changed dramatically, and he shouted, “How did this bitch get in? What happened to the guards at the door? Are they dead?”

“Meng Qin, where’s Meng Qin?”

Meng Qin was the commander of the Imperial Guard and a conspirator who had been working with the Duke of Xu and Xiao Rui.

It was thanks to Meng Qin’s inside help that Prince Heng Guang had been able to enter the hot spring palace.

“All generals, obey my orders!” Compared to the frenzied Prince Heng Guang, the Duke of Xu was still calm. After everything, he knew that Wen Yue Sheng was no ordinary general.

Especially since she should have been in Fuzhou, but somehow, she was now in the capital, and more strangely, at the hot spring palace instead of the city.

“Anyone who injures Wen Yuesheng will receive five thousand gold; the person who kills her will be promoted and heavily rewarded!” the Duke of Xu declared coldly.

With his command, a sea of black-armored soldiers surged in from all directions, surrounding the palace.

Looking around, almost all of them were his men.

Slightly reassured, the Duke of Xu quickly gave another order, “Someone, bring the emperor out here!”

At this point, he and Prince Heng Guang had no retreat. No matter the situation, even if Wen Yuesheng’s army had already returned to the capital, they had no way back.

The Duke of Xu was focused on controlling the emperor’s life, knowing that no matter how powerful Wen Yue Sheng was, she could not stop them as long as the emperor was under their control.

Prince Heng Guang also realized the severity of the situation and locked his gaze on Wen Yuesheng.

“No, don’t kill her,” he sneered, “If she must die, she can’t die too easily.”

“How else could we comfort Fu Rui’s spirit in the afterlife!”

Among everyone in the palace, the person Xiao Rui most wanted to kill was none other than Wen Yue Sheng.

He hated Prince Jingkang and his allies, but he hated Wen Yuesheng even more—the one who had brought him to this state and caused him to lose his arm.

But he knew that the only time he could act against her was when she left the capital.

If she stayed in the capital, he could never take the throne. Only by sitting on the throne could he have her tortured, to avenge the loss of his arm and the blood feud with Fu Rui.

With blood and violent stimuli clouding his mind, Prince Heng Guang could no longer think clearly. He only knew that Wen Yue Sheng had to die!

In the suffocating atmosphere of the palace, Wen Yuesheng stood alone amidst the soldiers, resembling a lone wolf walking into the enemy camp.

At Xiao Rui’s command, countless soldiers rushed at her.

This scene was even more dramatic than when she had been in Fuzhou, slaying generals among millions.

But Wen Yuesheng’s face showed not a single trace of emotion.

Before the soldiers could reach her, she casually dropped her nine-section whip.

The whip fell to the ground with a crisp sound, and along with it, Wen Yuesheng’s cold voice echoed.

“Archers, prepare!”

Her words were strange, and before the soldiers charging at her could react, one of them raised his blade to strike her head.

But before the sword could fall, the air was split by a loud whoosh.

The soldier paused, his eyes widening as an arrow pierced through his throat, sending him crashing to the ground.

In the next moment.

The courtyard was surrounded by countless archers, each with their eyes locked on the rebels inside.

The entire hot spring palace was now encircled by a ring of archers, their expressions solemn.

This sudden change left Prince Heng Guang and the Duke of Xu stunned.

A cold voice from ahead ordered, “Fire!”

With a single command, a rain of arrows poured down.

Countless arrows flooded the air like a storm.

At the same time, soldiers in armor, holding shields, charged into the palace courtyard, protecting the high-ranking officials under heavy shields.

Prince Heng Guang looked up abruptly and saw soldiers falling one by one, forcing him to retreat in panic.

As he stumbled backward, he saw Wen Yuesheng approaching, holding a soft sword that was as thin as a cicada’s wing.

Surrounded by the sounds of shouting and the Duke of Xu’s frantic orders, Prince Heng Guang’s mind went blank.

But for some reason, all he could hear was Wen Yuesheng’s cold voice.

“I heard you like to use a soft sword to harm people?”

Her words made Prince Heng Guang hesitate, but before he could react, Wen Yuesheng swiftly severed his tendons.

“Ah!!” Prince Heng Guang screamed in agony.

He crawled like a dog through the fleeing crowd.

Sweat soaked his hair as he crawled halfway and saw a pair of white boots, with familiar cloud patterns embroidered on them.

Staring up, he was met by Yan Ling’s cold, emotionless eyes.

…He remembered now.

Years ago, Yan Ling’s parents had died in battle. The barely one-year-old Yan Ling was sent to the palace for upbringing.

He had been intelligent since childhood, surpassing the other princes by far.

At that time, Xiao Rui was already over ten years old, the eldest son of the emperor, high above everyone else.

Whenever he was unhappy or dissatisfied, he would vent all his frustration on Yan Ling.

He once used a sharp soft sword to leave horrible scars on Yan Ling’s back.

Before Yan Ling had healed, he had Fu Rui pour chili water over his body.

Years had passed, and Prince Heng Guang had committed many atrocities, but he had forgotten that small act of cruelty.

He only remembered that years ago, when Yan Ling came to the hot spring palace for the winter, the scars on his back had long disappeared.

Now, Wen Yuesheng seemed to want to treat him the same way?

Prince Heng Guang turned in panic and shouted, “He wasn’t…”

Before he could finish, he heard a light sound. Wen Yuesheng’s soft sword brushed past him, leaving only a shallow cut on his body.

But he felt his entire body’s meridians snap at once.

Prince Heng Guang clutched his head tightly, his eyes turning blood-red, and he was overwhelmed with agony.

This pain reached his very bones, and under its intensity, he couldn’t even make a sound.

His body trembled, on the verge of death. His bloodshot eyes couldn’t even focus on the figure before him, only hearing Wen Yuesheng’s icy voice.

“You deserve to die.”

The next moment, the soft sword pierced his throat.

The sound of a heavy impact rang out.

Panicked, the Duke of Xu turned around, only to see Prince Heng Guang’s decapitated head falling to the ground.

Crash!

In the chaos of the crowd, the Duke of Xu, who had been scheming for days, suddenly collapsed to the ground.