In the Qing Clan manor, Qing Ying sat in the garden as she poured herself a cup of tea before taking small sips.
The scenes was so ethereal as a woman in white robes with a veil covering her face sat in a fantasy like garden sipping on her tea.
"Brute force only gets you this far Gu Shang. I hope you don't hate me too much for this" Qing Ying muttered softly.
She had come up with the plan to stop Gu Shang. Though she didn't know what kind of counter attack Gu Shang was going to lunch to deal with the Moonshade Sect, she knew she had to stop him.
The only way to do that is to make sure chaos occure within the capital making him unable to move. The plan she had come up with was just perfect.
It was a classic example of killing three beds with one stone. With this plan she had come up with, they could get rid of Gu Shang, save the empire and boost the Qing Clan prestige all at once.
No matter how strong Gu Shang was, Qing Ying was sure that he still won't be able to handle her plan.
She had totally restrained him.
....
Imperial Palace
"Imperial Secretary, write my edit, I order the snow dragon guards to.." Just before the emperor could give his orders, the commander of the imperial guards entered the hall and went down on his knees with his hands clasped.
"Your majesty, the imperial palace has been surrounded!" The commander reported anxiously.
They all turned pale after hearing the report, they were too stunned to speak.
"What?!" All the people in the hall yelled in shock. How could the Moonshade Sect get here so quickly? Didn't they just begin mobilization of their forces? What the hell was going on?
This questions raced through their minds as fear gripped their hearts, this was too sudden.
"How many troops did the Moonshade Sect bring? And how did they breach the defense of the capital so quickly? And what happened to the prince of the north?" The emperor asked this questions in succession.
The commander was surprised after hearing all those questions, what Moonshade Sect? He thought to himself
"Reporting to your imperial majesty, we are not being surrounded by the Moonshade Sect but...." He trailed off.
"But by who?!" The emperor asked impatiently.
"We've... we've.... we've been surrounded by the purple Qilin Cavalry!" The commander reported with his head down.
The golden imperial guards were in charge of protecting the palace, When the purple Qilin Cavalry barged in, they had tried to stop them but were beaten and pushed back until they were forced back into the inner walls of the imperial palace.
"Your majesty, the purple Qilin Cavalry have taken charge of the outer walls of the palace on the ground that they are here to protect your majesty from the rebels.
We..we...we tried to stop them... But we were no match for them. Forgive us your majesty" The commander said whiles prostrating in front of the emperor.
The high ranking officials and head of noble families and lords in the hall were all dumbfounded, they didn't expect the person they were preparing to deal with make the first move on them, such anticipation.
The emperor was stunned for a moment, before getting off his throne in anger, "Audacious!!!" He roared loudly before stepping out of the hall.
His entourage following him.
They walked from the inner parts of the palace and just outside the boundaries of the inner palace, soldiers in black armor with the head of the sacred Qilin beast on both their shoulders stood guard. They wore black helmets with long black pony tail on them with long purple capes.
Their faced were covered with a silver mask making them all look identical.
A blood thirsty aura loomed around the place as they stood there still not moving an inch.
In front of them were thousands of soldiers wearing golden armors with golden spears, they wore a samurai-like helmet with a piece of white silk covering their nose to their jawbone.
On the white silk was the character, 'LIN' weaved in golden threads, They were the imperial guards.
They seem to be in a standstill with the Purple Qilin Cavalry.
"Where's the Grand General?! How dare he!!" The emperor roared in a loud voice with the aura of a sovereign.
A man seating on a dragon horse at the back line of the Purple Qilin Cavalry trotted forward on his horse, leaving the formation.
Unlike the rest of his men, the man in armor had golden Qilin heads on the shoulders of his armor, with a golden cape and mask.
The man slowly removed the mask and bowed slightly to the emperor.
"Sixth emissary of the Purple Qilin Cavalry greets the emperor" The commander spoke.
The emperor almost coughed out blood when he heard and saw this.
The emissary didn't bow to him sincerely when greeting him, also what was that voice he was using? It was almost as if someone forced him to say it.
"What's the meaning of this?!" The emperor asked coldly.
"Your majesty, we were sent by the Grand General to come and protect the imperial palace. Our spies have informed us that there may be rebels in the walls of the imperial palace, right now as we speak.
There's also a possibility they might try to infiltrate here before their attack, so we've been ordered to protect the palace at all cost.
From this moment going, no one would be allowed to leave or enter the imperial palace, we are putting it on lock down until the situation outside becomes a bit safe"
"Moreover, with the exception of the imperial family, anyone else who tries to leave would be executed and investigated. This are the General's orders"
The sixth emissary announced loudly, all the thousands of nobles, scholars and aristocratic families who had been outside the Hall Of Might protesting against Gu Shang and calling for his impeachment couldn't help but trembled after hearing this.
They remembered the first day Gu Shang entered the capital and the blood he spill on that day, the memories of that day still remained fresh in their memories.
They looked around and couldn't help but feel their doom approaching. The nobles, aristocrats and scholars were all gathered in one place.
This were all people who were against the Grand General, they were all now gathered in one place and location all together making it ideal for a massacre, they've willingly placed themselves on the chopping board. If the Grand General decides to....then...
Some began to shit themselves when they thought about it like that.
"You dare!!!!" The emperor roared loudly in rage, this was his palace so how dare Gu Shang!
He was extremely pissed off.
"Your majesty please soothe your anger, we are here to protect you, not harm or disrespect you" The sixth emissary said nonchalantly.
"Protect me?" Humph the emperor hurrumphed, "nonsense, in my eyes the only rebels I see are you guys.
What you've done here is considered high treason.
What are you waiting for, off with their heads" the emperor ordered the golden imperial guards.
Shush.. Shush sounds were heard as the soldiers of the imperial guard unsheathed their swords and released their aura.
The sixth emissary also nodded.
Sounds of swords unsheathing were also heard as the Purple Qilin Cavalry soldiers took out their swords and released their aura.
The aura of the Purple Qilin Cavalry soldiers were more dense and heavy than the imperial guards. It also carried blood lust.
The moment the aura of the Purple Qilin Cavalry soldiers was released, the aura was so strong that the wave forced the golden imperial guards seven steps back, some even fell on the ground and began to cough out blood.
The remaining guards hands began to tremble as the held their swords, it was an action they couldn't control as the stared at the emotionless masks of the Purples Qilin Cavalry.
Fear began to creep into their hearts.
"Your majesty give us, your orders!" The commander of the golden imperial guards shouted.
"Your majesty" The chief advisor said softly, but the emperor could already tell the meaning behind those simple words.
The emperor took a long sigh, from what he had seen, it was obvious that his guards were no match for the Purple Qilin Cavalry, if he remained stubborn then he'll be sending his guards to die.
"Sigh.. stand down and withdraw" he ordered.
The golden imperial guards breathed a sigh of relief before sheathing their swords and withdrawing, the cavalry also did same.
....
Rising Phoenix Manor
Gu Shang sat in his study with a smile, "Checkmate" he silently muttered.