nucmednet Chapter 19 Blame-shifting and Suspicion
Chapter 19 Blame-shifting and Suspicion
Upon hearing Prince Su's words, Gu Xiaoxiao's face instantly turned ashen.
Of course she knew it was the Empress Dowager's decree, but it was precisely because it was the Empress Dowager's decree that she had to stop it!
She wanted to prove to the world and to the Empress Dowager that the world of Daliang belonged to her, Gu Xiaoxiao, not to the Empress Dowager, nor to Prince Su!
"The Empress Dowager is advanced in years and is easily deceived by treacherous people!" Gu Xiaoxiao's voice was shrill and piercing. "That imperial edict must have been forged! Guards!"
She abruptly waved her hand, her voice filled with hysterical madness: "Issue my decree! Prince Su, Gu Suyue, is plotting a rebellion, a heinous crime! Arrest him immediately! Anyone who resists will be executed without mercy!"
"As you command!"
The commander of the Imperial Guard below the city gate shouted, and five thousand soldiers instantly sprang into action, their spears forming a forest as they slowly approached the Western Frontier cavalry.
However, the three thousand elite cavalrymen from the Western Frontier showed no sign of panic when facing an enemy force that far outnumbered them.
They silently drew their sabers from their waists, their eyes cold and resolute—eyes that regarded the people before them as worthless weeds!
"kill!"
With a command given, the two armies clashed instantly.
But this was not an evenly matched contest; it was a one-sided crushing defeat.
The Western Frontier Cavalry were a battle-hardened force that had fought its way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood; every soldier was a warrior capable of taking on ten men.
As for the Jingji Guard, although they were well-equipped, most of them were just lazy bums who didn't even want to live. They found daily training tiring, so they had never seen such real killing.
With just one charge, a huge gap was torn in the formation of the Jingji Guard.
Gu Suyue didn't make any troop movement; he simply sat coldly on his horse, letting his elite cavalry do as they pleased.
Until a general from the capital region, determined to die, attempted to bypass the main battlefield and launch a surprise attack on Gu Suyue, who was on horseback.
then……
A streak of silver light, like a bolt of lightning, suddenly pierced the sky!
No one saw how Gu Suyue drew his sword.
In short, after the flash of silver light, the general who was preparing to ambush Gu Suyue was immediately beheaded!
"Anyone who dares to take another step forward will be killed without mercy!"
Gu Suyue finally spoke. His voice wasn't loud, but it resounded like thunder across the battlefield.
Those Jingjiwei soldiers who were still hesitating stopped in their tracks, looked at each other, and dared not move.
They are afraid!
They had never seen such terrifying killing intent!
I have never seen such a powerful army before!
The battlefield... fell into an eerie silence!
Gu Xiaoxiao, standing on the city wall, watched this scene with her face ashen.
Her proud Jingji Guard proved to be just as Zhao Wuji had predicted—utterly vulnerable in the face of Prince Su!
Keep in mind, from the moment she gave the order to act, it didn't even take the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, and then... she was defeated!
And it was a crushing defeat with no doubt about it!
"How could this be... how could this happen..." Gu Xiaoxiao murmured to herself, her body trembling uncontrollably.
At that moment, she truly regretted it!
She knew it! These male soldiers were unreliable!
To truly seize power, we must look at the female soldiers she is currently building!
If she had known this would happen, she should have waited until her female soldiers' battalion was fully established before taking action against Prince Su and the Empress Dowager!
At the same time, Zhao Wuji, standing behind Gu Xiaoxiao, silently shook his head.
Although he had anticipated this outcome, he still believed that since Gu Xiaoxiao dared to start a group, she must have something to offer. However, he never expected that Gu Xiaoxiao would lose so quickly and so completely!
What left Zhao Wuji speechless was that the soldiers Gu Xiaoxiao used to fight against Prince Su were all provided by him, Zhao Wuji!
This means that...
So you really don't have any tricks up your sleeve?
But if you have no tricks up your sleeve, how dare you launch an attack against Prince Su?
But... things have come to this point, and someone still has to clean up the mess!
Given the current situation, it's clear that Emperor Gu Xiaoxiao is unreliable. Therefore…
"Your Majesty!" Zhao Wuji stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Things have come to this point, perhaps... we should stop for now! Continuing the fight will only increase casualties!"
At this moment, Zhao Wuji felt quite helpless—as expected, in the end, he was the one who had to clean up the mess!
In Zhao Wuji's view, if he stopped now, Emperor Gu Xiaoxiao would definitely be looked down upon by the world, and the resistance to her taking over the government would become unprecedentedly huge. However... now His Majesty only has the "Tiger Warriors" under the city that he can barely use. If he completely loses this military force, it is foreseeable that His Majesty will be completely without soldiers!
Can an emperor who has no soldiers to command still be considered an emperor?
However, to Zhao Wuji's surprise...
"Stop? No! We can't stop!"
Under Zhao Wuji's incomprehensible gaze, Gu Xiaoxiao suddenly turned around, grabbed Zhao Wuji's collar, her eyes bloodshot, looking like a madwoman.
"Grand Tutor! I absolutely cannot surrender to this traitor, Gu Suyue, at this time!"
"Help me, help me, help me again, and I will definitely remember your kindness!"
"Speaking of which, Grand Tutor, can you mobilize the Imperial Guards? If you can, then go and bring them here! Quickly, bring them here!"
"If the Imperial Guards are willing to come, they can definitely defeat this traitor Gu Suyue!"
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Zhao Wuji let Gu Xiaoxiao grab his collar, his eyes filled with indifference and pity:
"Your Majesty, please wake up!"
"Those three thousand elite cavalrymen from the Western Frontier are all warriors capable of taking on ten men each!"
"And your capital's garrison has already been defeated. Even if you deploy the Imperial Guards to continue the fight, it will only result in our Great Liang Dynasty slaughtering itself, benefiting the Northern Xiongnu for nothing!"
"Furthermore, the Imperial Guards are under the control of the Empress Dowager and the Grand General; even I, the Grand Tutor, cannot mobilize them!"
…………
"Empress Dowager... Empress Dowager... It's the Empress Dowager again..."
Upon hearing the title "Empress Dowager," Gu Xiaoxiao felt as if all her strength had been drained away. She released her grip on Grand Tutor Zhao Wuji, staggered back a few steps, and leaned against the railing.
Yes, and the Empress Dowager too!
How could she have forgotten the Empress Dowager?
With the Empress Dowager present, how could Grand Tutor Zhao Wuji possibly mobilize the Imperial Guards?
Gu Xiaoxiao turned her head to look at the still upright figure below the city gate, her heart filled with fear and regret.
She knew she was wrong, terribly wrong!
Before she had properly assembled her own elite female army, she shouldn't have acted rashly, needlessly diminishing her prestige as emperor!
"wrong!"
Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, Gu Xiaoxiao turned her somewhat suspicious gaze to Grand Tutor Zhao Wuji.
"Speaking of which... is it possible that the reason this battle was so quickly lost is because that old bastard Zhao Wuji was playing me?"
"Zhao Wuji, who outwardly pledges allegiance to me but in reality has allied himself with Prince Su and even the Empress Dowager, dumped such incompetent troops on me solely to undermine my authority as emperor?"
"Think about it carefully, to sacrifice a mere five thousand lives to completely strip me of my imperial dignity, this deal... is practically a steal, isn't it?"
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