Chapter 108: "Your Majesty, Save Me~~~
A sword had been viciously thrust into Xiao Sheng’s shoulder. The wound was deep, blood gushing out. He hadn’t been this badly injured in years, and the pain made his vision swim.
He glared resentfully toward Prince Jing. "Xiao Xuan, what are you waiting for?"
Prince Jing, who was cowering on the sidelines with a group of officials, jumped at the shout.
Then he brazenly roared back, "My martial arts are garbage! What’s the use of calling for me?"
Despite his words, he still drew his sword.
As everyone watched Prince Jing walk toward the Little Emperor, for a fleeting moment, he became their last hope.
However, when the Little Emperor gave him an encouraging look, Prince Jing feigned terror and scrambled over to Xiao Sheng’s side.
"I can’t do it! Even though she’s a woman, she’s the only child our sixth brother left behind! He treated me so well. How could I kill his daughter for the throne?"
Xiao Sheng was so furious he wanted to kick him, but the pain from his wound was too intense, and he had to grit his teeth and bear it.
He had no choice but to blow a whistle and play his final card.
A group of people disguised as eunuchs and palace maids entered, holding several people hostage.
They were Marquis Pingchuan and his wife, Anyang Bo and his wife, Xiao Jinsu and her two younger brothers, Xiao Lan’s younger siblings, as well as Xiao Hong and Xie Liuzheng.
"Stop! I said, stop!"
Xiao Sheng bellowed, "If any of you dares to move, I’ll kill them all!"
Seeing the hostages, Prince Jing cursed, "You’re shameless!"
Xiao Sheng sneered. "I didn’t want to be this ruthless. You forced my hand!"
He, too, had wanted to depose the Emperor without a fuss, seizing the throne without damaging his reputation. But nothing had gone smoothly, and now he was injured. This was his only remaining option.
"Xiao Cheng! Xiao Lan! If you want your families to live, drop your weapons!"
Xiao Cheng and Xiao Lan had no choice but to retreat to the Emperor’s side.
Xiao Sheng turned to Rong Yin. "Rong Yin, I know you don’t care about this fiancée of yours, but if you dare make a move, she will die because of you!"
Xie Liuzheng couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. "You can’t even get your threats straight. And you think you can pull off a rebellion?"
She batted her eyes at Xiao Yang. "Your Majesty, saaaave me~"
Xiao Sheng sneered back at her. "Girl of the Xie family, it seems you still don’t grasp the situation. This Emperor is a woman. She disguised herself as a man to deceive the world and steal the throne."
Xie Liuzheng loudly retorted, "Who did Your Majesty deceive? Wasn’t it the Empress Dowager who did the deceiving? Is Her Majesty not the most innocent party here? Besides, the late Emperor had no sons! So what if Your Majesty is a woman? As his eldest child, what’s wrong with her inheriting the throne?"
"What the nation needs is a wise, powerful, and just Emperor—one who knows right from wrong! I’ve never heard a rule that only a man can rule. Your Majesty has purged corrupt officials and punished the wicked. What’s wrong with her being the Emperor?"
Xiao Sheng finally understood. "Ah, you’ve gone to great lengths just to stop me from using you to threaten Rong Yin."
’Moron!’
Xie Liuzheng rolled her eyes dramatically. "The only one I love is Your Majesty! I only want Your Majesty to save me!"
Xiao Sheng said, "She’s a woman."
Xie Liuzheng retorted, "Who says I can’t be in love with a woman? Your Majesty being a woman is precisely why I love her most!"
Everyone: "..."
’Aren’t we in the middle of a coup right now?’
’During a matter of such monumental national importance, what is this nonsense?’
Xiao Sheng was so angry he could feel the blood from his wound pooling on the floor. He finally realized he had been arguing with a fool.
Turning back to the matter at hand, he announced, "Whoever among you kills Xiao Jin, I will forgive your past transgressions, release your family, and give you a chance to earn wealth and glory."
Xiao Lan and Xiao Cheng didn’t budge. Rong Yin and Meng Xuechen moved to stand closest to the Emperor.
And so did Xiao Lv.
Xiao Sheng was livid. "Xiao Xuan, tell your son to get lost!"
Prince Jing replied, "Do you think he listens to me?"
Seeing that they wouldn’t budge, Xiao Sheng’s anger surged. "Do it!"
One of the captors immediately drew a blade, slashing open Marquis Pingchuan’s throat. Blood sprayed, and he collapsed instantly.
Xiao Cheng screamed, "Father!!!"
With another slash of the blade, Lady An Yang fell. Xiao Lan’s eyes instantly went red. "Mother!"
Xiao Sheng watched their anguish with satisfaction. "You brought all of this on yourselves! Lay down your weapons and surrender, or don’t blame me for being merciless!"
Xiao Cheng and Xiao Lan were torn with anguish, but they eventually dropped their weapons. Not daring to look back at the Emperor’s face, they walked toward Xiao Sheng, their hearts heavy with sorrow.
Their heads were bowed, looking for all the world like soldiers who had lost a war.
However, just as they drew closest to Xiao Sheng, they both drew daggers simultaneously and lunged at him.
The two guards beside Xiao Sheng reacted in a flash, stepping forward to block the attack.
Though these two guards were no match for the master from before, their skills were still far superior to Xiao Lan’s and Xiao Cheng’s, and they were instantly beaten back.
Xiao Sheng sneered, "How you overestimate yourselv—Ugh..."
He looked down at the blade protruding from his stomach, blood slowly dripping from its tip.
"Your Highness!"
"My Lord!"
Xiao Sheng’s men were dumbstruck. His personal guards were the first to recover, immediately charging after the attacker.
Xiao Sheng watched the man scrambling and tumbling away from his pursuers, his face a mask of disbelief. "Fourth Brother..."
’How could the one who stabbed me be an idiot like Prince Jing?’
"Your Majesty, help me!"
Prince Jing ran wildly as he was chased, and in his panic, he even went the wrong way, scurrying toward the captors and their hostages.
Just as he was about to deliver himself into the enemy’s hands, Xiao Hong grabbed the blade at his own neck, pushed it aside, and swiftly pulled his father over.
The palace maids and eunuchs who had been holding the hostages moments before all stepped forward, turning their weapons on Xiao Sheng’s men and shielding the hostages behind them.
Meanwhile, Marquis Pingchuan and Lady An Yang—the two who supposedly had their throats slit—scrambled to their feet. They hastily wiped the fake blood from their necks and retreated to the back, as if afraid they might actually get killed in the ensuing fight.
Xiao Sheng had just swallowed a life-saving pill to cling to life, but upon seeing this, the shock nearly killed him on the spot.
"You... you... how dare you betray me! Yang Xiu! Get out here!"
Xiao Sheng roared in fury, his face contorted and his eyes bloodshot—it was impossible to tell if from pain or from rage.
Nanny Yang emerged from the back and gave a composed bow. "I told Prince Qing long ago that I belong to the late Emperor. The late Emperor bestowed a great kindness upon me. I could never turn a blade against his most beloved child."
’Her Majesty is a woman, while Princess Suiyi is a man. When Bi Fang betrayed them, I did waver for a moment.’
’But then I learned the truth of Princess Suiyi’s birth. She—or rather, he—is not the late Emperor’s child at all.’
’Her Majesty is the late Emperor’s most cherished, and only, child.’
’The matter of gender is no longer relevant. Since there is only one, she is the inevitable choice.’
Xiao Sheng was so enraged he coughed up a mouthful of blood. "But... but you were the one who came to me..."
Before the Dragon Throne, Xiao Yang drew a bow and aimed it at Xiao Sheng’s head. Even with the battle reaching the steps of her throne, she remained utterly composed. Clad in the Dragon Robe, she radiated the peerless dignity of an Emperor. A corner of her mouth curled into a proud, arrogant smile. "Xiao Sheng, when you reach the Underworld, be sure to send Our royal father Our regards."
The moment her words fell, the arrow flew, piercing straight through Xiao Sheng’s head.
Xiao Sheng’s eyes remained wide in his final moment, full of unresigned fury.
In the next instant, the loyalists moved again. Any of Xiao Sheng’s remaining forces who tried to resist were summarily executed. No one was left alive.