The Empror's Trap-Chapter 71: Ch - The Imperial Rescue

Kenji had received the news early. There was no way he couldn’t have - he had just returned to his mansion, taken a nap, eaten breakfast, and was preparing to go to the Imperial Family Court with Lina to handle some documents when he heard the sounds of fighting in the streets.

Battle cries in Luminara City were no good omen. Kenji reacted almost instantly, quickly gathering the private soldiers and cultivators maintained within his Duke’s mansion, assembling a force of over a hundred men.

Of course, a mere hundred men would not be enough to contend with the enemy. By Kenji’s estimation, the enemy had at least a thousand men, and without cultivators, these rebels would never have dared to revolt. So rather than sending his hundred-man force directly to support the palace, Kenji did the opposite - he had the cultivators among them mount fast horses and rush out of the city carrying his seal to find the garrison troops stationed from Luminara.

This was one of the main camps of the Red Kite Army, containing at least two thousand men.

Strictly speaking, the Red Kite Army was more loyal to the emperor, but as the supreme commander of all Camelot’s armies, Kenji’s seal still carried significant weight. When the general of this Red Kite Army camp received the mobilization order and learned that the palace was in crisis, he immediately had his soldiers arm themselves fully and march into Luminara.

Of course, Kenji also had his own agenda.

This was an opportunity to seize partial command of the Red Kite Army during the chaos. This particular camp was no mediocre force, but an elite regular army that originally took orders directly from the emperor. At this moment, he could legitimately take control of this army, thus putting the empire’s Capital more firmly under his grasp.

While gaining the Empress’s trust was good, sometimes it was necessary to have more forces under his direct control.

If he could truly secure such a force now, why not take it? Who would be foolish enough to refuse such power?

Meanwhile, Kenji had his private army run wild through the city, disrupting the rebels’ rhythm. When the rebels went to attack the palace, Kenji’s private soldiers would rush over to block major roads with iron spikes and barricades. Once the rebels were tied down, his private army would make a symbolic attack before swiftly retreating.

Taking advantage of Luminara’s layout, Kenji’s private army tied down large numbers of rebels, managing to throw everything into chaos with just over a hundred men. Kenji even had his private army wear the same identifying marks as the rebels. After all, the Crown Prince and Fifth Prince’s private soldiers didn’t normally know each other well, and could only identify allies by their markings. In the chaos of battle, even though both sides had other means of identification besides cloth strips, there was simply no time to check.

When the Red Kite Army camp entered the city, Kenji immediately began taking over its command. The general in charge of this camp was very dissatisfied with Kenji’s arrangement, believing that protecting the emperor should be his personal responsibility, but Kenji didn’t give him the chance. Using the excuse of needing to meet with the emperor directly, he took command of the camp.

Subsequently, Kenji made the decision to first break the siege of the palace, since the enemy forces were weakest there. Although the Fifth Prince’s soldiers generally had stronger fighting spirit, the empire’s regular army actually had more formidable combat power, with the Red Kite Army being one of the most veteran regular forces. Thus, they completely blocked the Fifth Prince’s forces just as they were about to charge the palace.

Two thousand men against one thousand, and regular army against a prince’s private forces - anyone could see who had the advantage.

Accompanied by the soldiers’ battle cries, the rebels were scattered by the charging cavalry. The previously invincible rebel forces dispersed like birds and beasts, while the few private soldiers loyal to the prince were cut down by the Red Kite Army.

After dealing with the external enemies, Kenji ordered five hundred Red Kite Army soldiers to follow him into the palace, while the remaining forces went to stop the Crown Prince’s forces and prevent them from attacking the palace again.

Those five hundred men followed Kenji into the palace. In the past, this would have been a major offense, as outside troops riding horses into the palace was extremely improper - no one was allowed to ride horses in the entire palace unless specially permitted by the emperor.

But Kenji rode straight toward the main hall with his five hundred men behind him.

At the entrance to the hall, Kenji made a gesture and all the soldiers halted and dismounted. Kenji also dismounted, casually tying his horse to the white jade railing beside the hall before quickly running inside.

Looking into the great hall, he saw the ministers discussing the rebel situation, with Pluvia seated above.

Pluvia appeared fine, neither frightened nor harboring any thoughts of hanging herself from a crooked old tree, which rather surprised Kenji. After all, the rebels had advanced to within a few km of the palace - honestly, if Kenji had arrived any later, these rebels might have actually stormed the main hall.

Though whether they could actually kill the emperor was another matter - that would depend on whether the emperor was willing to let the Celestial Masters out to resolve the crisis.

"Your subject arrives late to rescue Your Majesty - I beg your forgiveness!"

Kenji bowed deeply. Behind him, outside the hall, five hundred blood-stained soldiers stood emanating killing intent.

Most outrageous of all, some were still holding freshly severed heads.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёnovelkiss.com.

"You’re not late at all - I think you arrived at just the right time. Someone, quickly bring a seat for the Grand Marshal."

Pluvia sat relaxed in her position as nearby guards hurriedly brought over a chair. Kenji, still catching his breath and ignoring proper etiquette, simply plopped down into it.

He had just led troops in fighting their way here after all, so he was somewhat tired.

"Your Majesty, your subject saw about a thousand private soldiers of the Fifth Prince in the city. I urgently mobilized a Red Kite Army camp from outside the city to come rescue Your Majesty. I know this violates protocol, but given the sudden situation, I beg Your Majesty’s understanding."

"It doesn’t matter. By the way," Pluvia asked, "did you see that traitor Yunis?"

"No, Prince Yunis likely escaped in the chaos," said Kenji. "But Your Majesty need not worry - once the situation stabilizes, I will order garrisons everywhere to urgently pursue Prince Yunis. He won’t escape even if he grows wings."

He wasn’t boasting - at this critical moment, Kenji’s power to mobilize troops was extremely important. Unless Yunis could flee beyond the borders within a few days, he would find it very difficult to escape the military’s dragnet.

"I treated Yunis quite well in the past, yet..."

Pluvia raised her head and sighed.

Kenji immediately understood her meaning with a glance:

"Your Majesty speaks true - Your Majesty treated Prince Yunis with great favor, yet he disregarded Your Majesty’s kindness and instead plotted to usurp power. This is truly an unforgivable crime. Your subject suggests that once he is captured, he should be immediately executed as a warning to others."

Seeing the Grand Marshal speak thus, the other officials immediately agreed:

"Your subject concurs - Prince Yunis has repeatedly betrayed Your Majesty’s trust. Nothing short of death will satisfy public anger."

It would be foolish not to agree with the Grand Marshal at this point - he was now a great meritorious official who had led troops to rescue the emperor at a critical moment, so of course they had to follow his lead.

Moreover, Yunis had indeed gone too far this time.