SFS Chapter 328: Capturing Emperor Kun and his concubines alive
Chapter 328: Capturing Emperor Kun and his concubines alive
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Chen Qing has led a large army in rebellion and has even reached the outer reaches of the palace."
The old eunuch rushed in anxiously holding a letter and said to the emperor lying in the bedroom,
"Your Majesty, please wake up! The army has mutinied and rebelled!"
"Rebellion? Ahem..."
Emperor Kun woke up slowly, coughed dryly, and asked the old eunuch to help him sit up.
Then he took the letter and read it.
"The Prime Minister...surrendered?"
Emperor Kun seemed to have aged twenty years in an instant, and said with a bitter look in his eyes,
"How could he surrender? Why would he surrender? He's a loyal man. Didn't he say earlier that he was going to the Yan army camp to negotiate and buy us a chance? Didn't he also say that if the Yan army didn't agree, he would kill himself?"
The old eunuch said anxiously,
"Oh, my Lord, don't you understand? The Prime Minister is lying to you. He has no intention of negotiating. He is running away.
What family members were taken as hostages, what property was used as compensation? He clearly transferred his entire family and property away."
"I...I was fooled?"
Emperor Kun lowered his head in a daze.
After a moment, he laughed out loud.
"Hahahahaha... The money is gone, the army rebelled, all the officials died, and the Prime Minister ran away! Hahahaha..."
"The Yan people did nothing but station their army outside the city, and Da Kun brought about his own destruction!"
"A strategy to conquer the mind! A strategy to conquer the mind!"
"The Yan people are setting traps step by step, waiting for me to fall into them!"
Looking at the frantic emperor, the old eunuch said anxiously,
"Your Majesty, run! As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood!"
"Run? Where to run? The whole world is my enemy, where else can I run?"
"We...we can go to the south. There are still some large armies in the south, and there is also our territory."
"It's useless. Even a million-strong army can't stop the Yan people. They can't escape."
"I won't run away either. Even if I die, I will die in Shengjing, in the Imperial Palace."
"Come, change my clothes and put on the dragon robe. Even if I die, I want to die with dignity!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The old eunuch cried and called the palace maid to come and change the emperor into a dragon robe.
"Where are the rebels fighting?"
Just as Emperor Kun asked the question, faint shouting and screaming were heard from outside.
It is conceivable how close the rebels are.
The two palace maids were frightened and cried while helping Emperor Kun to put on his clothes.
"Go and give the order to have all the concubines in the harem hang themselves. Even if my women die, they cannot fall into the hands of the Yan people and be ruined!"
"As ordered!"
The harem was busy.
But the rebels were getting closer.
Even if he hanged himself, it would probably be too late.
The palace was captured, the guards were slaughtered, the rebels poured in from all directions, and the front and back palaces were broken almost at the same time.
Chen Qing, covered in blood, led the way to the outside of the bedroom. Following his bloody footprints, he stabbed to death the two last guards guarding the door with two shots, kicked the door open, and walked in.
Then, he saw Emperor Kun sitting on a chair in the brightly lit bedroom, and two palace maids were pulling hard at the white silk wrapped around his neck, trying to strangle him to death.
Seeing Chen Qing coming in, the two palace maids were so scared that they quickly let go of the white silk and shrank into the corner, trembling.
Chen Qing walked in slowly and came in front of Emperor Kun.
Emperor Kun gasped heavily and looked up at Chen Qing.
What a pity, it’s still a step too late.
"Rebellious ministers and traitors!"
Emperor Kun gnashed his teeth, his eyes looking as if he wanted to eat someone.
"General, I will pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Chen Qing placed his right fist on his chest and bowed his head to salute Emperor Kun.
"Haha, not only are you a traitor, you're also a hypocrite. You've committed every major sin under the sun."
"Your Majesty, I am doing this only to save the country."
"Really? If you kill me, or tie me up and hand me over to the Yan army, will the Yan army not destroy Kun Kingdom? You are wishful thinking!
Even if you become a dog of the Yan people, won’t I, Da Kun, die?
You are clearly pursuing your own glory and wealth, you shameless traitor who sells out your country for personal gain and betrays your master to the enemy!"
Chen Qing shook his head expressionlessly.
"Your Majesty, I am doing this only to save the country, but the country I understand is different from yours.
The country in your eyes is the destiny of Dakun, yourself, your royal family, and all civil and military officials.
The country in my eyes is the people and subjects of Dakun, the ordinary soldiers, and all living beings.
There is a country only when there are people. The people can exist without the emperor, but the emperor cannot exist without the people.
As long as I can save the people and allow civilians and soldiers to escape the disaster of war, it will be my merit.
As for you, the royal family and the officials, you are just a minority. Compared with the millions of people, you are just a drop in the bucket.
Speaking of selling out your country for personal gain, wasn't it you who first ceded territory and paid indemnity? Wasn't it you who ceded our land to the State of Yan? Didn't you want to negotiate peace, become a vassal of the State of Yan, and become its puppet emperor?
Didn't you rob your own people and give money to the Yan army?
Isn't it because you sold this country first?"
Chen Qing took a step back and said,
"Your Majesty, for the sake of the people, for the sake of their lives, I beg Your Majesty to die."
"Come, tie up His Majesty and take him to the military camp outside the city. Present him to the Yan army tomorrow!"
"As ordered!"
Everyone rushed forward, using materials available at hand, picked up the white silk that had been used to bind Emperor Kun, and tied him up tightly.
They pushed Kun Huang out.
At this time, many soldiers were pushing the concubines, palace maids and eunuchs out.
These concubines were quite pitiful. First, their property was robbed by Tang Xinyi and they were imprisoned. After Emperor Kun came to power, he released them. However, less than two days later, they were tied up and captured alive again.
This is the fate of women in troubled times, they have no control over their own destiny.
Chen Qing explained to his subordinates,
"Kill all the powerful officials and their families. After the Yan court takes over, these officials will be useless. We will clear the way for them.
Don't kill the royal family members first. Tie up all the princes, princesses, princes, concubines, palace maids, eunuchs, etc. and push them into the military camp outside.
Leave one corps to guard the palace, clean it up, and clear up the bloodstains to prevent outsiders from taking advantage of the situation. The first corps will stay behind to clean up the capital and clear up the corpses.
All the rest must leave, do not linger in Shengjing, and do not rob the people."
"As ordered!"
Every order Chen Qing gave was carefully considered.
All of this was done to show off and achieve more in front of the State of Yan.
In a war to annihilate a country, it is necessary to kill all the royal family members. No country would keep the royal family and let you revive. This has nothing to do with morality, so Chen Qing let the Yan people kill the royal family.
As for the officials, these people can be killed or not. If the Yan people kill them, it will be bad for their reputation and easily arouse the resentment of the scholars. But if they don't kill them, it will be of no use. After all, Yan has its own court.
So Chen Qing decided to use his own hands to clear the obstacles for the Yan people and take the blame himself.