Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 533 - 273: Trial Cleared!_3

Chapter 533: Chapter 273: Trial Cleared!_3

And so, they battled their way to the imperial palace.

But by then, the palace gates were already tightly shut, Qin Huizhi’s associates, Qi Dynasty high officials, and numerous royal family members, were all locked within the city walls.

Atop the walls, Qin Huizhi was furious, while Emperor Yingzong of Qi, although sovereign, dared not speak at this moment.

"General Han Fuyue! You traitor and rebel!

"Not only do you command troops and hold power, but now you also raise an army in rebellion and seek to slay your ruler and usurp the throne!

"Look well, the present Emperor stands right here, yet you do not withdraw your troops speedily! Would you have the lasting infamy of a thousand generations?"

The people by Emperor Yingzong of Qi’s side were all Qin Huizhi’s men, making the Emperor shiver with fear, yet speechless.

Indeed he feared that Qin Huizhi, driven into a corner, might just kill him on the spot.

But he kept casting suggestive looks at General Han, hoping he would bring forth the Cloth Belt Edict, so that his attack could be justified and the Emperor rescued.

Unexpected to all, Zhao Haiping, playing the role of General Han Fuyue, did not present the Cloth Belt Edict, nor did he even mention it. _{f.(r)eewe/bnov\ll.com}

Clearly, Qin Huizhi was driven to despair, holding the Emperor hostage in the fortified palace. Under normal considerations of reputation, there would indeed be no good solution for someone holding back for fear of hitting the imprisoned Emperor.

But Zhao Haiping clearly did not carry the burdens typical of the people in this era.

He gave a cold laugh: "Qin Huizhi conspires to seize the dynasty and harm His Majesty, a crime beyond pardon! It’s heard that the Zhao Yi Army has come forth for a loyal cause, incinerating themselves within this palace, dying from guilt by self-immolation!

"Poor are the royal clansmen of Great Qi, consumed by one traitor’s flame, a lamentable tragedy!"

Upon the walls, both Qin Huizhi and Emperor Yingzong turned deathly pale.

"You..."

Before Qin Huizhi could say anything more, soldiers of the Zhao Yi Army were already igniting their torches.

The sky was growing dark, and those surrounding the city threw their torches and launched fire arrows, instantaneously setting the entire palace ablaze!

Afterward, the men simply stood still and watched.

Those who attempted to flee were not to be discussed, but killed outright.

After all, the troops led by General Han Fuyue were famously disciplined.

An order given was not to be ignored.

"General Han, you! You!"

Qin Huizhi was so shocked he could hardly speak, now realizing that he had utterly misjudged this man from the start.

He had thought that a simple edict would suffice to deceive and easily dispose of Han, but...

Raising the Zhao Yi Army, the northern expedition against the Jin, distributing lands, reclaiming Yan and Yun, with thirty thousand cavalry entering the capital...

Each step had renewed Qin Huizhi’s understanding of General Han Fuyue. Such miscalculations brought him one step away from his dream of seizing power, only to plummet from the clouds into the abyss in an instant.

By now, Emperor Yingzong of Qi also came to his senses, the slim hope in his heart completely wiped out, replaced by profound fear.

"General Han, you cannot do this! I am His Majesty, the supreme ruler over all below Heaven!"

However, the General Han Fuyue below merely said indifferently, "Your Majesty, when you see the former Emperor below, don’t forget to convey a message from me.

"Next time...

"I will personally execute him!"

Amidst scornful shouts from above the palace, the fire grew larger and larger.

Qin Huizhi and the others had no choice but to flee down from the walls toward the inner palace.

But the entire palace was devoured by flames, and with the Zhao Yi Army securing the perimeter tightly, there was nowhere for them to go.

Soldiers of the Zhao Yi Army stood silently in the firelight, watching the entire palace reduce to ashes.

Any who escaped the blaze were killed and then thrown back into the flames.

The palace burned for two days before finally being extinguished.

Nothing was left but rubble.

...

The mist gradually enveloped Zhao Haiping’s vision.

Then, a system prompt appeared.

[Trial Illusion: Eight Thousand Li of Cloud and Moon]

[Cleared!]

Just like with the songs of Chu and Fan Cun, the evaluation for clearing was not comments or poetry, but a summary of a person’s life.

[Emperor Taizu of Chu, Han Fuyue, the founding monarch of the later Chu, a native of Tangyin in Xiangzhou State. Military strategist, tactician, calligrapher, poet, national hero.]

[From the age of twenty, he served in the military four times, participating and directing hundreds of battles. During his tenure as commander in the Qi, he advocated resistance against Jin, reclaiming lost territories, resulting in the people of He and Lu reporting the news and various rebel armies responding.]

[After stationing troops in Zhuxian Town, Emperor Gaozong of Qi and his chief minister Qin Huizhi insisted on peace, hastily ordering a retreat with twelve golden tablets, harboring intentions of harm. Wanyan Sheng, the commander of Jin Country, declared: Han Fuyue must be killed before peace could be achieved.]

[Disregarding chaotic orders, he disbanded a hundred thousand strong army, keeping only over thirty thousand guards, and continued resistance against Jin in Zhuxian Town. Civilians provided food and assistance, leading to another great victory. He abolished local tyrants, distributed lands, defeated the false Chu, and cleared up hundreds of years of oppressive governance in the Northern Land in one swoop.]

[Three years later, he began his northern expedition and subdued Yan and Yun.]

[Qin Huizhi installed Emperor Yingzong of Qi, poisoning Emperor Gaozong of Qi, and then conspired to usurp the throne. General Han Fuyue led thirty thousand troops into the capital to support the loyal cause, driving Qin Huizhi into a corner, leading to his self-immolation in the palace, with neither the royal family nor high officials spared.]

[General Han Fuyue, with the backing of the people’s hearts, declared himself Emperor and established the later Chu.]

[Abroad, he conducted three more northern expeditions, annihilating Jin and Xixia, once again unifying Huaxia.]

[At home, he rejuvenated the nation, eliminated corruption, and fostered recovery, securing peace in all four seas.]

[He passed away from illness in the twenty-fourth year of his reign at the age of sixty-seven, his era later referred to as the "Rule of Jingping."]

[The historians say: Emperor Taizu of Chu was a man of magnificent strategy, meeting the call of the times. Qi lost its virtue, leading to the calamity of Jingping. As the Jin raiders ventured south, the state was as fragile as a stack of eggs, leaving Central Plains vulnerable. Yet Emperor Gaozong of Qi did not cultivate virtue and, although accompanied by loyal ministers and capable generals, he clung to a misplaced sense of security, abandoning his subjects in the north and forgetting his kin covered in dust, attracting the resentment of the realm. Emperor Taizu of Chu was thus destined to raise an army, venturing north to Central Plains, expelling the Jin invaders and eradicating the Xixia thieves. The malodorous invasions of Yan and Yun that lasted over two hundred years were swept away; the grievances of two hundred provinces of Central Plains were finally redressed. Alas, his achievements were great!]

(The state’s name is likely patterned after the old dynasty’s convention of using the location of the Military Governor’s domain for the state name. Therefore, General Han Fuyue’s state was probably named Chu, historically known as the later Chu.)