Chapter 109: Grand Finale (Part I)

At Liang Wei's command, no one dared to resist. They all followed in her footsteps, heading toward the city gates.

"Zhong Aotian, today is the day you die," Liang Wei thought with icy resolve. Ever since Zhong Liyu had severed ties with the Dongling imperial family, she had been filled with confidence in her ability to capture Zhong Aotian alive. Today, she would make him watch as she tore apart everything he cherished, forcing him to pay the price for the insults he had heaped upon her years ago.

A quarter of an hour later, Liang Wei reached the city gates. The guards were startled by the sheer number of people approaching, but before they could react, flying daggers thrown by Liang Wei pierced their throats. With a powerful strike of her palm, Liang Wei shattered the iron-reinforced gate and turned to her followers, shouting, "Charge in!"

With that, she took flight and raced toward the imperial palace. She was unaware that as soon as her forces had entered, the gate she had smashed slowly creaked shut.

Hearing the commotion at the city gates, Zhong Liyu opened his eyes and said tenderly, "Yan'er, that person has finally made her move."

Zhan Yan had been awake for some time. "Yes, go quickly. Don't let the big fish get away."

Zhong Liyu nodded. He rose gracefully and dressed with unhurried composure. Once ready, he turned to Zhan Yan and said, "Yan'er, go back to sleep. With Grandpa Wuli here, no one will be able to harm you. I’ve already spoken with him; he will arrive the moment he hears any disturbance. He should be here very soon."

"I know, go now," Zhan Yan whispered. If she could actually sleep at a time like this, it would mean her composure was far too deep—which it clearly wasn't. Instead, she sat up and listened quietly to the activity outside.

Zhong Liyu exited the room, using his fastest movement technique to vanish from Lixiang Courtyard and head toward the palace. Li Hun and the others tried to follow, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not keep up with Zhong Liyu, who had become a mere black dot on the horizon. Fortunately, they knew his destination, so they did not fall behind.

Qing Yun and the others stayed to attend to Zhan Yan. Gu Yan, whose martial arts were the strongest, had been sitting up since the moment the thousands of troops entered the city, carefully monitoring the situation. Only when he sensed Zhong Liyu had departed did he walk toward Lixiang Courtyard.

The entire city had been awakened by the unusual noise. Terrified, the residents sat up in the dark, listening to the thundering hooves and the sound of rushing footsteps.

Upon reaching the palace gates, Liang Wei paused to wait for her subordinates. Once they were assembled, she struck the heavy palace doors, and they swung open. "Kill!" she commanded. Instantly, the air was filled with the sounds of slaughter.

Zhong Liyu had arrived at the palace before them. Dressed in pale blue silk robes, he stood resolutely before the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The massive lanterns hanging from the eaves illuminated his face with startling clarity. Inside, Emperor Zhong Aotian sat upon his golden throne, watching the chaos unfold.

Liang Wei was stunned to see him. "Zhong Liyu?"

Zhong Liyu cast a cold glance at Liang Wei before turning his attention to Yang Yuxiong. "Yang Yuxiong, what is the meaning of you bringing your woman to invade my Dongling palace in the middle of the night? Do you feel that Xiyuan no longer needs to exist?" His voice was calm, but the underlying dominance could not be ignored.

The crowd was shocked. The man standing beside the woman was the King of Xiyuan? Was his abdication a lie? Had he come to invade Dongling? All eyes turned to Yang Yuxiong, but he stood with a vacant, glassy-eyed expression, as if he hadn't heard a word. It became clear that something was wrong with him.

Liang Wei looked at Zhong Liyu with annoyance. "Zhong Liyu, you are quite loyal, aren't you? Even after the Dongling King stripped you of your rank, you still appear here. You truly have a magnanimous heart." Unaware of the secret agreement between the King and Zhong Liyu, she continued to sow discord.

Zhong Liyu looked at her with resignation. "Whether my heart is magnanimous or not is none of your concern. You are a woman whose son is already King of Xiyuan; why aren't you staying in Xiyuan as the Empress Dowager instead of running to Dongling?"

Liang Wei’s expression turned icy. "Enough nonsense. Today, I am taking Zhong Aotian's life."

Zhong Liyu raised an eyebrow. "Does His Majesty have a grudge against you?"

"Yes, a grudge."

Inside the hall, Zhong Aotian was bewildered. How could he possibly have a grudge against this woman? Just as he was about to step out to ask, Liang Wei ordered, "Kill him! Ten thousand taels of gold to whoever captures Zhong Aotian alive!"

A gasp rippled through the crowd. Driven by greed, the thousands of men—even knowing they were targeting a monarch—felt their resolve harden. They were tens of thousands; surely they could capture one man?

As Liang Wei's followers drew their weapons to charge, Zhong Liyu let out a thunderous shout: "Stop!"

His voice was so resonant that it seemed to echo across the entire capital. He stood before the palace hall, radiating such an aura of nobility that few dared to look him in the eye. He scanned the thousands of faces, his gaze locking onto the various sect leaders of the martial arts world. "Leaders, do you truly have the heart to see your centuries-old sects destroyed here today?"

The leaders were startled. They hadn't realized that Zhong Liyu could identify them in such a crowd. Upon closer inspection, some recognized him—he was the man who had saved them from Mo Qing on Mount Xianyun, the one who had called himself Feng Youran, the master of the Youran Pavilion. They owed him a debt, yet they were currently helpless.

"Are you the Master of Youran Pavilion?" an old Daoist asked first. Zhong Liyu nodded.

"Master Feng, we are helpless," another leader confessed. "The leader of the Thousand Poisons Sect forced us to take a poison. If we do not obey, we die."

"And so you would commit such heinous acts just to survive?" Zhong Liyu asked, his voice heavy with disappointment. "You have spent decades in the Jianghu, yet you would sell your conscience for a few more years of life?"

Those with a shred of pride hung their heads in shame. Their disciples, shocked to learn their masters had been poisoned, were torn between loyalty and morality.

"Brothers!" the leader of the Qingcheng Sect suddenly cried out, pointing his sword at the sky. "I nearly committed an unforgivable sin to save my own life, but I have finally awakened! Even if we die, we shall not commit such atrocities. Today, do not help these Xiyuan thieves, or I will take you down with me before I perish!"

"Kill this demoness and avenge us!" The martial arts practitioners turned their blades toward Liang Wei. The opposing forces were now divided: on one side, Yang Yuxiong’s hidden guards and the Thousand Poisons Sect; on the other, the martial artists who had now turned against Liang Wei.

Zhong Liyu looked on with satisfaction. "Leaders, rest assured, the antidote you received last time has already cleared the poison from your bodies. You are no longer under anyone's control."

"Master Feng, is that true?" they asked, disbelieving.

"Why would I lie to you?" Zhong Liyu replied.

"Zhong Liyu, stop your fear-mongering!" Liang Wei shrieked. She didn't believe it—the poison had been crafted by her own senior brother, who himself claimed there was no antidote.

Zhong Liyu glanced at her coldly. "Concubine Liang, you didn't know? Your senior brother, Zhou Lan, worked with the divine physician Meng in my residence over a month ago to create the antidote. He even sent it to the Xiyuan palace for you to distribute. You were the one who unwittingly gave it to them."

Liang Wei trembled with rage. "Impossible! My senior brother would never betray me!"

"There is nothing impossible. Zhou has awakened; he no longer wishes to help you harm others."

Enraged, Liang Wei drew her sword and lunged at Zhong Liyu. The two began to trade blows. The onlookers were mesmerized by the clash of such legendary experts. Taking advantage of the distraction, Liang Wei used a secret sound-transmission technique to order Wang Xueru: "Xiao Ru, go capture the Dongling King!"

"Yes, My Lady." Wang Xueru flew toward the hall. The imperial guards intercepted her, but she fought with lethal speed.

Zhong Aotian recognized her. "The Princess of Zhennan?"

"You recognize the wrong person," she spat, her blade cutting through a guard's shoulder.

"Indeed," Zhong Aotian replied calmly, drawing his own soft sword. "You are the wife of Yan Kuan, not of my Dongling Prince. My Prince would never fancy a woman like you."

Wang Xueru was momentarily silenced by his composure. She lunged, but Zhong Aotian, rarely seen in combat, moved with a speed and precision that shocked everyone. He was not merely a monarch; he was a formidable warrior.

Meanwhile, Crown Prince Zhong Yifei and the Imperial Guards surrounded Liang Wei’s forces, while Zhong Yilan and thirty thousand elite soldiers locked down the palace. When Liang Wei saw her men hesitating, she shrieked, "What are you waiting for? Attack!"

The hidden guards and the Thousand Poisons Sect members clashed with the Imperial Guards. The battle raged for an hour. Liang Wei’s forces were slowly decimated by the combined might of the Dongling army and the awakened martial arts sects.

Liang Wei, locked in a duel with Zhong Liyu, was finally defeated. She collapsed to the ground, eyes wide with disbelief. Why was it always Zhong Liyu who ruined her plans? She looked toward the hall just in time to see Wang Xueru being struck down by Zhong Aotian.

As Zhong Aotian approached, Liang Wei looked at him with a mixture of hatred and lingering obsession. "Zhong Aotian, do you remember me?"

"Should I?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Twenty-two years ago, at the selection ceremony, you looked at me with disdain. Even when I went to your chambers, you ignored me! I fell in love with you at first sight! What was so wrong with me?"

Zhong Aotian coughed, embarrassed. "I truly do not remember you. And even if you loved me, that does not justify this massacre."

"I hate you! You humiliated me!" she laughed hysterically.

"I did not humiliate you," Zhong Aotian retorted. "I simply had you removed. You were the one trying to seduce me."

Enraged by her lack of remorse, he signaled for her end. Liang Wei, in a final act of desperation, lunged at him and seized his throat, roaring, "Stay back, or I will kill him!"

"We die together then," she whispered, her strength fading.

Zhong Aotian focused his inner energy into his neck and delivered a powerful shock, throwing Liang Wei backward. She fell with a heavy thud, her eyes staring at the dark sky, breathless and dead.

With the mastermind gone, the battle concluded. Wang Xueru was captured, Mo Qing and Du Feiying were dead.

Zhong Aotian looked at Zhong Liyu. "What of these prisoners?"

"Send a letter to the current King of Xiyuan," Zhong Liyu suggested. "Let him bargain for the lives of his former rulers."

Zhong Aotian agreed. He then turned to the martial arts leaders. "You trespassed, but you redeemed yourselves. We shall call it even."

The leaders knelt, grateful for their lives. After they departed, Zhong Aotian ordered the morning court to assemble. The officials, witnessing the carnage, were struck with a newfound respect for the military strength that protected their nation.

In the hall, Zhong Aotian confronted the officials who had been manipulated by Mo Qing. Though they pleaded for death, Zhong Liyu interceded on their behalf, suggesting leniency. Zhong Aotian decreed they be exiled to the harsh frontier to redeem themselves through labor.

Finally, Zhong Aotian introduced Xie Qingshan, the young scholar who had dared to petition the palace, and appointed him as the Minister of Rites, signaling a new beginning for the court.

The sun rose over the palace, the scent of blood slowly fading into the morning air.