Before Ye An could react, the executioner's sword descended with a force so monstrous that the heavy blade embedded into the wooden platform. Ye An could only watch in utter shock as the beheaded corpse flopped to the ground, a pool of blood rapidly spreading from it. Someone from the crowd shrieked.
"Silence!" Minister Peng yelled towards the general audience. "Or your head would be the one rolling next!"
The executioner proceeded to jerk the sword free. Blood arching into the air with the momentum. A discrete signal must've been given to the executioner when Ye An was blinded by the reddish haze of her rage. A rage had grown into a tempestuous blizzard, compelling her to take a step forward.
Xi Chen yanked her back by the elbow and hissed, "Not now!"
Ye An turned to look at Xi Chen with a furious gaze and snarled, actually snarled, at him. "Let me go. I'm going to kill those men. I'm going to slash that smile off of their faces."
Xi Chen's own incensed gaze met hers squarely but it wasn't to burn at her, only with her, as his whispers grew urgent. "It's not the time! You know it's not the time! There's only ten of us here! You reveal yourself and who's to know that five hundred archers won't be raining arrows down on us?! Then what do you think will happen? We'll die and this would continue!"
Ye An pursed her lips. With a sharp turn away from Xi Chen, she returned her gaze to the crowd, her face conflicted. Most of the crowd were trembling with horror but Ye An watched as they tried their very best to stand as stiff as the trees in a breezeless forest, as if fearing that even slightly shifting their weight without permission would make them the next target to be executed.
Sensing that Ye An won't be barreling into the crowd anytime soon, Xi Chen released her. Ye An slumped dejectedly and gritted her teeth. Xi Chen was right. She squared her shoulders and faced the small party, putting on a mask devoid of any emotion. "Let's go."
They turned away from the crowd with reluctance dragging at their feet and headed towards one of the two towers framing the city gates. Unlike the multiple towers dotting the walls at northern border, there was only a pair of towers here that were bridged by a corridor above the city gates.
Ye An's original plan was to split the party into two for an ambush above the city gates, disarming the watch guards that were sure to be there before opening the gates. However, with the crowd gathered around the execution platform, the group, however small it was, won't be able to escape their eyes if they were to cross to the other side of the city gates. Ye An had to revise the plan.
"We will be entering through this tower together." Ye An explained to the men as they huddled around her. "So we better make it count and make it fast. Anyone who doesn't surrender willingly will be slain."
"And those who do?" One of the soldiers asked.
Xi Chen was the one who answered, "Let them live."
To which, Ye An nodded while adding, "I couldn't discount those who might not have the choice to flee." Her eyes darkened momentarily as her mind returned to the man that was executed mere minutes ago. "But if they prove to be against us, or if you suspect that they are merely hindering us in any way to buy time, kill them. We couldn't afford to waste any time. Our goal is to open the city gates as soon as possible."
JE LEEST
THE DAY EMPEROR: 阳明王 【The Night Emperor Book 2】
Historische fictie"There are enough bad things in life, hold on to whatever it is that gives you joy." In the months after Ye An had ascended to the throne, she has learned about all the secrets that were kept from her. Secrets that had spanned generations. But is th...
