Chapter 86: Hope

Han Yuan Hall has completely turned into a slaughterhouse.

The so-called ambush troops Li Xun brought were utterly useless before the Shen Ce Army's absolute superiority in numbers.

They were quickly scattered in disarray, then, under the angry eunuchs, were hacked down one by one.

Li Xun and Zheng Zhu, watching this bloody scene before them, turned ashen-faced.

They knew they had suffered a crushing defeat, letting down the emperor's expectations.

"Seize Li Xun! Don't let him escape!"

Chou Shi Liang's sharp voice rang out amid the chaos.

His appearance was utterly disheveled—his hat askew, his court robes torn in several places, his face smeared with blood—but his eyes burned with the fire of vengeance.

A large number of Shen Ce Army soldiers immediately moved to surround Li Xun and Zheng Zhu.

And Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) paid no attention to the fighting over there at all.

His sole objective from beginning to end was the emperor!

"Protect Your Majesty! Quickly, retreat to the Zi Chen Hall!"

He snatched a sword from a nearby guard with one hand and, with the other, tightly gripped the terrified Emperor Wenzong, retreating toward the inner chambers of the palace under the escort of his several hundred loyal personal troops.

The Zi Chen Hall is where the emperor lives and rests daily; its walls are high, its defenses tight, making it the most defensible yet hardest to attack place in the entire palace.

As long as they could retreat there, they could temporarily hold out and gain a chance to catch their breath.

"Wang Zong! You traitor! How dare you kidnap His Majesty!"

From behind came Chou Shi Liang's furious, exasperated roar; they all belonged to the Shen Wei Army, and now that Wang Zong was trying to abduct the emperor, he shouted "traitor" without choosing his words.

He obviously also realized Wang Zong's intention.

He could kill Li Xun, kill Zheng Zhu, and slaughter all the officials who participated in the coup.

But he absolutely could not allow the emperor to slip from his control!

A eunuch without the emperor in his grasp, no matter how great his military power, is merely a castrated man.

A eunuch who holds the emperor in his hand is truly a behind-the-scenes manipulator!

"Quick! Stop them! No matter what, we must not let them take His Majesty away!" Chou Shi Liang shouted hoarsely.

A large contingent of the Shen Ce Army immediately turned direction and surged wildly toward Wang Zong and his men.

Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) and his several hundred men were instantly plunged into a heavy encirclement.

"Form a circular array! Hold to the death!"

Wang Zong let out a loud shout.

He shielded Emperor Wenzong in the very center, and several hundred personal troops immediately stood back-to-back, forming a small circular defensive formation.

The long swords and shields in their hands formed a steel barrier.

"Pu! Pu! Pu!"

The rebels' spears frenziedly thrust at the circular formation.

"Wang Zong! Do you still want to make a last stand? Look around—how many of your men remain!" Chou Shi Liang shouted sharply from a distance, "If you now lay down your weapons and bring His Majesty over, I can spare your life; otherwise, all that awaits you is a dead end!"

Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) completely ignored him.

He knew that not a word of Chou Shi Liang's could be trusted; if he surrendered now, both he and the emperor would die a worse death than anyone.

His only chance of survival was to fight his way out!

"Brothers!" he roared, his voice drowning out all the cries of battle, "Behind us is His Majesty! Behind us is the heaven of the Tang Dynasty! We cannot retreat!"

"Today, follow me, fight to the death!"

"Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"

The personal troops he had inspired also burst forth with their final bloodiness.

They abandoned defense, followed behind Wang Zong, and fiercely thrust toward the weakest point of the encirclement!

A few hundred facing tens of thousands was nothing short of an egg striking a stone.

But sometimes, the outcome of war is not determined solely by numbers.

It also depends on will.

At this moment, Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) and his several hundred men erupted with the strongest will—the will to survive by placing themselves in deadly ground!

Each of them had eyes reddened from killing.

They cared nothing for their own lives; they only wanted to carve a bloody path for the emperor behind them.

But the Shen Ce Army soldiers surrounding them were frightened by their desperate, death-defying aura.

Although they were numerous, they had come to suppress the rebellion, to earn merit, not to fight desperately.

Facing this group of mad-as-hell opponents, many felt fear arise in their hearts.

As the one waned and the other waxed, the encirclement was actually torn open by Wang Zong and his men into a small gap.

"Now! Charge!"

Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) pulled Emperor Wenzong and was the first to rush out of the gap.

"Stop him! Quickly stop him!"

Chou Shi Liang was so angry he jumped up and down.

But it was already too late.

Once Wang Zong and his men broke free of the encirclement, they ran at full speed, heads never turning back, charging toward the Zi Chen Hall.

Along the way, although there were still some scattered resistances, none could check their irresistible forward momentum.

Finally, after paying the price of nearly half their casualties, they successfully charged into the Zi Chen Hall.

"Quick! Close the hall doors! Hold this place!"

Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) issued the final order.

With a boom, the heavy gate of the Purple Hall closed.

He, the remaining over two hundred personal guards, and the emperor, who had already been scared witless, were temporarily safe.

Wang Zong (Wang Xiu) leaned against the cold hall door, panting heavily.

He lowered his head and glanced at himself; his whole body was covered in blood, both the enemy's and his own.

He knew he had won the bet.

Although he could not change the outcome of the failed coup, he succeeded in snatching the emperor back from the eunuchs' hands.

What he saved was not merely the life of Emperor Tang Wenzong alone.

It was also the last shred of dignity of the Tang Dynasty imperial family.

Outside the hall, Qiu Shiliang stared at the tightly shut door, his face twisted with rage.

He knew that although he had won this coup, he had also lost.

As long as the emperor remained in Wang Zong's hands, he would never dare call himself the true victor.

"Surround it! Surround this place for our lord! Not even a fly may be let in!"

He issued the order to his subordinates.

A prolonged and strange standoff within Huangcheng thus began.