Content Warning: death, blood, it’s a revolt.

In the backyard of Prince Wu’s palace, a servant led Du Changsheng slowly towards the banquet hall. Every time they passed an intersection or gate, the servants of the palace would extend their hands to invite him in as a gesture of courtesy.

“Master Du, please come this way.”

“Alright!”

He walked through the front patio and the gardens, then between pavilions and larger buildings for some time, before they finally arrived at the venue for the tonight’s banquet. A group of servants was preparing for the banquet, but Du Changsheng looked around and found no other guests.

“Uh… Did the gentlemen from the prince’s side just now not come over?”

Du Changsheng asked the people around him.

“To answer the Heavenly Master, perhaps the prince is still busy with something. You can wait here for a while. Please enjoy the pastries and dried fruits on the table!”

As they were speaking, another servant hurriedly came over from the front hall and greeted Du Changsheng outside the banquet hall.

“Master Du, the lord has instructed that the Heavenly Master and the guests may dine first. He has something to do today, so he will not be joining you.”

“So, what about the other guests?”

“They will be here shortly. Master, please take your seat first!”

Du Changsheng nodded with a smile.

“Alright.”

Just as he was waiting for the messenger to leave, Du Changsheng glanced around, then towards the front hall of the palace. Suddenly, he saw the illusion of billowing red flames.

He shook his collar out, and it was saturated with sweat.

‘Oh my god, why did I not come here earlier or later? Today was such a terrible time to choose. Didn’t the reference book from the Astronomical Observations Department say that today was auspicious? Forget it, if I don’t leave now, I’m afraid I will be caught up in a major event…’

Sweat seeped from Du Changsheng’s body, but his face showed nothing. He asked a servant with a smile.

“Excuse me, may I ask if there is a restroom near the banquet hall?”

“Master Du, the restroom is at the end of the long corridor to the left behind the banquet hall. This servant will take you there.”

“Oh, no, no, I can go there myself. You must be busy, please go on ahead!”

Du Changsheng escaped under the guise of needing to pee. He skirted around the banquet hall and walked along the back corridor until he reached the latrines. He glanced around to see if anyone was there, then pulled out a small bag from his inner chest pocket and carefully removed a small piece of yellow paper cut in the shape of a human.

“Ah…”

With a sigh, Du Changsheng frowned, bit his index finger, and dabbed a drop of blood on the yellow paper.

“I call upon the Warrior!”¹

The human-shaped yellow paper fluttered to the ground. A yellow glow flashed, and it rapidly expanded. A figure expanded from its shriveled form to a sturdy body in an instant. From a distance, it looked like a real person, but upon closer inspection, it resembled the delicate paper figurines used in funeral parlors.²

“Quick, help me escape this palace!”

Master Du said impatiently. The Warrior crouched down to serve as a stool, and the Heavenly Master stepped on its back. Then, the Warrior stood up, and helped the Heavenly Master climb the wall.

“Hey, hey, be careful, slow down… Ouch!”

He hurriedly scaled the wall and fell down as he landed. Fortunately, he had been cleansed by spiritual energy and his body was strong, so the fall was not too painful.

Looking at this secluded alley outside, Du Changsheng raised his hand to retrieve the falling yellow paper and quickly leave, but the paper did not fly back to him.

‘Oh no! Did it fall back into the courtyard? What should I do?’

He had to get it back. This item was too important. Just when he was about to retrieve another piece of yellow paper, Du Changsheng looked up to see a strange paper bird sitting on the corner of the wall to the palace courtyard. It seemed to be holding the yellow paper in its beak.

‘Whom does this belong to? Did the yellow paper get stuck when it flew over? ’

Du Changsheng was stunned for a moment. He looked around, found a fairly long dead branch, and raised it up to pull the paper bird and yellow paper down. However, just as he poked it with the branch, the paper bird on the courtyard wall actually flapped its wings and took flight by itself, startling Du Changsheng.

“It can fly? Hey, wait! My paper warrior!”

In a moment of anxiety, Du Changsheng chased the paper bird all the way down the street and into a side alley. After passing through the long alley, he suddenly stopped and came back to his senses.

‘How can there be a paper bird that can fly by itself? Could I just have encountered some monster? Or a real expert? Should I give chase or not? ’

While he was thinking, he found that the paper bird had landed on the wall to one side of the alley, with the human-shaped yellow paper sandwiched between its beak and neck, facing him. Although the paper bird didn’t have eyes, Du Changsheng somehow felt that it was watching him.

‘It’s too strange, let’s run away…’

Just as Du Changsheng was about to turn around, he saw a man in a green robe approaching from the other end of the alley. The paper bird immediately took flight, carrying the human cut-out paper and landing on the man’s shoulder.

“Master Du’s technique is quite unique. My surname is Ji. I wonder if I might have the honor of inviting the Master to chat and drink tea?”

Du Changsheng looked at the newcomer. No matter how he looked, he seemed like an ordinary person, but the timing and circumstances made it seem quite unusual. Upon closer inspection, the man’s eyes seemed a bit off, and plus the paper bird had landed on his shoulder.

“Uh… I have something urgent to attend to, so this might be inconvenient…”

“Oh, Heavenly Master, please come… return the item to the Master.”

Ji Yuan addressed the first half of his words to Du Changsheng, and the second half to the paper crane. However, the paper crane remained motionless, holding the yellow paper, seemingly unwilling to return it.³

“Huh? You don’t want to listen to me?”

The paper crane’s wings twitched before it took flight again, carrying the yellow paper over to the top of Du Changsheng’s head. Then it released its grip, letting the yellow paper fall.

“In that case, I will take my leave. Sorry to bother Master Du.”

Seeing that Du Changsheng had caught the yellow paper, Ji Yuan bowed and turned to leave.

“Sir, please stay! Sir, please stay!”

Du Changsheng almost instinctively opened his mouth to tell him to wait, then after a moment’s hesitation, he quickly followed Ji Yuan.

As the two chatted, they walked towards a teahouse on Yongning Street.

Ji Yuan glanced back at the rising aura from Prince Wu’s Palace in the distance. A prince was radiating such murderous intent, even shaking the atmosphere of the imperial city… He sighed with emotion.

“I don’t think there will be much peace tonight!”

Du Changsheng glanced at the person beside him, and happened to see a pair of pale eyes turn to gaze at him. The eyes were calm and deep, devoid of any reflection.

“Uh, sir, you mean Prince Wu’s palace?”

“Haha, indeed.”

. . .

In Zhang Jian’s camp, a communication expert from Prince Wu’s palace quietly entered the commander’s quarters and relayed the Prince’s commands.

“What did you say!?”

Qian Junke, who was eating, stood up when he heard the words.

“His Royal Highness has ordered us to mobilize the army and force the palace! Commander Qian, your mission in following the emperor will begin tonight!”

Qian Junke closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he looked determined.

“Now that things have come to this, there’s no turning back! Alright, let us begin!”

…

“Boom, boom, boom, boom…”

Drums roared throughout the camp.

“Quick, quick, ready your armor and weapons, everyone assemble!”

Zhang Jian’s camp was full of the sound of soldiers gathering, and the thumping of orderly footsteps, and the clatter of weapons and armor.

“Everyone, hurry! Archers, prepare your arrows!”

“The Imperial Palace has been breached. Traitors are holding His Majesty hostage. We, under the orders of His Royal Highness Prince Wu, must muster our strength and march on the palace to defend the emperor! Quick, this is a matter of national importance!”

Under such incitement, all the soldiers were extremely nervous.

Aside from Zhang Jian’s camp, despite it already being nightfall, soldiers from the Northern Black Battallion and the Southern Army assembled en masse.

A little later, Prince Wu, having donned his armor and drawn his sword, personally led a squad of military officials and martial experts, charging towards the imperial palace.

The sun still cast a faint yellow glow over the horizon, and the large lanterns in front of the palace had just been lit. The Imperial Guards guarding the palace suddenly noticed a large force approaching the Forbidden City walls, at a glance, they saw that it was led by Prince Wu.

“Stop! Your Highness Prince Wu, this is the imperial palace. You have arrived with soldiers, do you wish to rebel?”

The gatekeeper shouted, his hand on his sword. A nearby soldier had already rushed inside to deliver the news.

“Traitors are holding my Father Emperor hostage, threatening to disrupt the rule of our Dazhen dynasty. Upon receiving the news, I have led the people in defense of the throne. Anyone who stands in our way shall be killed without mercy!”

“Shiiing!”

“Shiiing!”

“Shiiing!”

At this point, Prince Wu didn’t waste any more time. With a wave of his hand, the soldiers behind him pulled out their swords and charged towards the palace, and the two sides began to engage in a bloody battle.

Combat also broke out in the long alleyway outside Prince Jin’s palace, with Prince Jin himself even engaging in the battle with his sword.

Martial experts surrounded him. Besides the fierce high-level clashes of mighty weapon strikes, the fighting surrounding the constantly advancing carriage was particularly fierce. Even though they had secretly prepared hidden guards, this time there were just too many opponents — definitely over one hundred of them.

“Puff…”

Blades sliced through flesh, and an assassin was hacked to death right next to Prince Jin. The guard who had defeated him barely had time to catch his breath before he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his back.

“Be careful, Your Highness!”

Whoosh, swish…

Dozens of crossbow bolts came flying.

“Thud thud thud…”

“Clang clang clang…”

“Puff puff puff…”

At least three guards were shot to death, and Prince Jin himself was shot in the left arm.

The horses dragged the wrecked carriages behind them on a rampage amidst ear-piercing whinnies that almost seemed to tear out eardrums.

“Teacher!”

“Your Highness, you are injured!”

“Protect His Highness!”

“Stop the carriage, the Teacher is still inside!”

“It’s a Yellow Crossbow! Your Highness, move quickly, the Imperial Guard may be here as well!”

Prince Jin was drenched in sweat. He grit his teeth and endured the pain, reluctantly bandaging his wounds himself.

“Stop the carriage! Don’t panic! These are not the Imperial Guard; they have long since stolen the most powerful weapons from the imperial armory. Go and stop the carriage!”

Several guards carried Prince Jin and sprinted away at full speed. The remaining dozen or so experts engaged in a desperate battle, chasing the carriage ahead.

At this moment, the injured horses on the carriage ran like mad, charging ahead and dragging the carriage behind them. Several experts used their Qigong footwork skills and leapt onto the carriages, fighting to clear the way.

Swish, swish, swish…

This was the sound of a deadly Yellow Crossbow. Every time the bolts rained, more guards fell to protect Prince Jin. More and more assassins surrounded them. Although the men in Prince Jin’s palace were generally more skilled, they were gradually outmatched.

“Where are our people? How long will it take for them to arrive?”

“The people who scattered into the city a few days ago should be coming!”

“Fight it out, fight it out… head towards the Capital Prefecture’s government office!”

. . .

At midnight, the blood-soaked Prince Wu led his army and squadron of warriors to the outside of the imperial study. The area was only defended by two hundred imperial guards, and a dozen sword-wielding imperial guardsmen in front of him.

Even now, Emperor Yuan De was still in the imperial study, reading.

He was well aware of the slaughter and deafening fighting on this night. Even before the first few lines of defense in the palace had been breached, secret reports had arrived that Prince Jin had been attacked by numerous assassins outside the palace, and then escape into the capital’s government office compound.

“Your Majesty… if… if Commander Qian and the others have truly…”

The old eunuch’s forehead was covered in sweat. He knew that His Majesty had already made arrangements, but he couldn’t hold back in this situation.

The emperor looked at him and put down the book in his hand.

“Then let him rule the world.”

The old emperor dragged his tired body up from the couch.

“Let us go see my lonely son. Li Sizhe.”

“This servant is at your service!”

“Bring the decree of succession.”

The old eunuch froze for a moment, and asked instinctively.

“Which one?”⁴

Emperor Yuan De laughed.

“The one for Prince Jin.”

“Yes!”

The old eunuch walked slowly to the bookcase beside the dragon desk and opened an agarwood box. Inside were two scrolls of imperial edicts. To make sure he didn’t select the wrong one, he unfolded them and examined them.

These two scrolls belonged to Prince Wu and Prince Jin respectively, and both were dated on the first day of the 9th lunar month, the same day Yin Zhaoxian had arrived in the capital to meet the emperor.

T/n: I will be without wifi for the rest of this week, so once again, no translations… I think July and August are just cursed for me. Sorry. Cheers!

1. 力 (lì): power/force/strength/ability, 士 (shì): minister/scholar/soldier/honorific. 力士 (lìshì) means sumo wrestler or strongman, so I just kept it as Warrior.
2. Called zhizha
3. T/n: LOL I think our baby paper crane has a baby origami crush on the paper warrior
4. T/n: … smirk.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read