A young man entered the room. He was dressed in a fine black brocade robe and carried a sword engraved with the fire phoenix emblem. His features were sharp and striking, and his skin held a warm tone, slightly darker than pale, giving him a steady, refined look.
Without wasting a second, Lady Cheng drew a sword from her sleeve and pressed it to the intruder's throat.
The man did not struggle. He stood perfectly still.
"You have ten seconds to tell me who you are and how you got in here," Lady Wenrou said. "Or my sword will be soaked in your blood."
"Hold on, Lady Cheng," General Jin interjected. "He is the Great General of Yancheng, General Han Ruozhi. He is one of us."
"So you are the pride of Yancheng, the youngest and most ruthless general," Madam Xie said. "We have heard your heroic stories."
General Han Ruozhi bowed once. Lady Wenrou withdrew her sword, though she kept her posture guarded.
"Now that we are all here," General Ruozhi said, "I can speak of something that will help our uprising. It has the power to dethrone the king and restore order."
"Is there really such a thing?" General Jin asked.
"What is it, and where is it?" General Jinghan asked.
"It is here, in this Red Pavilion," General Han replied.
Lady Wenrou immediately spoke. "What the hell are you talking about? How could such a powerful thing be here in our Red Pavilion?"
Madam Xie remained calm and composed.
"What is it, and how do you know about it?" General Feng asked.
General Han Ruozhi immediately showed them a ribbon that had "Yue" embroidered on it. It looked old and dusty.
The expressions of Madam Xie and Lady Wen changed slightly, because they both knew very well to whom that ribbon belonged.
General Lin asked, "What is it? Can you tell us?"
"It is the key and our last hope to find a way to dethrone the king before the ascension of the Crown Prince."
"Don't beat around the bush. Just tell us directly what is this key that holds the power to dethrone the king?" General Lian asked.
"The Imperial Seal that holds the complete power of the Royal Palace. It is the token of Heaven and the symbol of authority. It holds the power to create a king or dethrone a king."
"But the Imperial Seal is safe and secure in the Royal Palace. How are we going to get that, and how is it related to the Red Pavilion?" General Jin asked.
"No. The Imperial Seal in the Royal Palace is a fake," Han Ruozhi replied. "It is not the real one just a cheap copy. The original Imperial Seal is hidden in the Red Pavilion."
Madam Xie stayed silent, while Lady Wenrou said, "We do not know what you are talking about. We have nothing to do with the Royal Palace. What proof do you have? What witness? On what grounds are you claiming that we have the Emperor's Imperial Seal?"
Han Ruozhi again brought out the red ribbon embroidered with the character "Yue" moon. "This is my evidence," he said. "Do you not know what this is, and to whom it belongs?"
"Just tell us who she is. I know she has the Imperial Seal, and she belongs to the Red Pavilion."
"And as for my witness I am the witness of what happened seventeen years ago. I saw it with my own eyes."
Everyone was filled with questions.
"I know the real story. Seventeen years ago, the Emperor was killed, and the blame for his death was placed on the Empress. The entire family of the Empress was executed along with her," Han Ruozhi said.
"And the Emperor's younger brother took his position, punished the so-called rebels, executed the Empress, and annihilated her entire family," he continued.
"This is the truth the entire world believes now. But only a few of us know what really happened seventeen years ago," General Jin said.
"The Emperor was not poisoned by the Empress. He was killed by his own brother, who put all the blame on her and destroyed her entire family," he continued.
"Her father, the General of Yancheng City, tried everything to defend the city, but in the end he was accused of conspiracy against the Emperor and of murdering him," General Lian said.
"The new Emperor killed him and his entire family. In one night, the whole of Yancheng City was soaked in blood," she continued.
"But nobody knows that the Emperor was not killed by poison. He was brutally murdered by his own younger brother the current tyrant," General Han Ruozhi replied.
"This world is cruel as it is. Who is going to believe that? It has already been seventeen years," Lady Cheng said.
"The world demands evidence and witnesses, and we certainly have none," she continued.
"Who said we do not have witnesses and evidence? I have a clue, and I know where the evidence is," General Han Ruozhi said.
"Before the death of the Empress, she wrote a letter and placed it inside a box along with the Imperial Seal and the Emperor's dragon hairpin. She gave it to Imperial Concubine Fang Xianluo, who then took it to the Red Pavilion and gave it to the lady who wears this red ribbon embroidered with 'Yue,'" he continued.
Madam Xie said, "And can you tell us, Great General of Yancheng, how you know all this? Why should we trust you?"
General Han Ruozhi looked at his sword for a moment. Then he lifted his gaze, meeting each of their eyes with a burning intensity.
"Because I am the last descendant of Yancheng City's Yan family."
"My name is not Han Ruozhi. I am Yan Ruozhi, son of the Great scholar of Yancheng. My grandfather, Yan Wangzhi the great general of Yancheng, were wrongly accused and executed."
He drew his sword, and it had a phoenix emblem with a delicate phoenix in it the symbol of Empress Yan's family. The generals were shocked to see it and very amused.
General Jin immediately recognised the sword of his greatest friend, General Yan Wang Zhi. He immediately had tears in his eyes to find out that the last descendant of his best friend was still alive.
General Lian was also very close to the empress. She also immediately felt really sad but relieved that the last descendant of the Yan family was still alive.
Madam Xie was still cold, but she said, "Hen hao. The story has taken an unexpected turn." She signaled him to continue.
"Overnight, my entire family was killed. My aunt was the Empress of the Great Qin Dynasty. Her name was Yan Lingshu, and I am her only nephew." He continued,
"The current king, Qin Zhaoyan, killed his own brother, Emperor Qin Wenzhao, took over the throne, and blamed the Empress and her family for poisoning the Emperor."
"My father, my grandfather, and my aunt were wrongfully accused of conspiracy."
"That tyrant Zhaoyan killed my entire family in one night for his foolish ambition. I was the one and only survivor and the witness."
"I saw him kill the Emperor and my aunt, the Empress. But Imperial Concubine lady Fang Xianluo saved me and delivered my aunt's last decree and the Imperial Seal to the Red Pavilion."
"When this happened, I came to the Red Pavilion with her to save my life. That was when Imperial Concubine Lady Fang Xianluo went to meet someone. She returned with this ribbon."
"From that day on, I have kept it guarding it more carefully than my own life."
"So when we find the lady who wears this red ribbon, we will have the upper hand," General Yan Ruozhi concluded.
Everyone was shocked to learn General Yan's true identity. He had been serving the Emperor and the Royal Court for almost ten years, yet nobody knew he was the last survivor of the executed Yan family.
Even his companions the generals of the Four Great Cities had no idea.
Will the world accept this revolutionary heart, or will it all be a lost cause?
TO BE CONTINUED....