With such a formidable presence before them, courtiers like Li Zheng and others who had just shown goodwill towards the Sacred King breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The reason they had quickly shown their favor to the Sacred King was precisely because of his unparalleled combat strength.
This was the first Sacred King in history who had intentionally vied for control over the realm…
At this moment, even Lu Chen fell silent.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to seize the opportunity to provoke the Sacred King again and push him to urge the Empress to issue an order for his dismissal. Rather, the sudden upheaval made discussing these matters inappropriate at the moment.
Some issues took precedence over others, and clearly, the matter of the cultist faction was overshadowed by this unexpected turmoil.
Furthermore, he had already fully declared his stance, and it was clear that the Sacred King couldn’t tolerate his presence in the court as an unwavering supporter of the Empress.
Dismissal was inevitable sooner or later, and there was no need to be hasty.
After a while, a series of “clank clank” sounds came from outside the hall. Before long, a junior Xuanwu Guard officer clad in heavy armor appeared at the entrance of the hall.
“Sacred King!” Upon entering the hall, the young officer half-knelt on the ground and announced in a loud voice, “The East City Gate has been attacked by enemies using a powerful explosive technique. Although the gate’s defensive formation is extremely robust and wasn’t immediately breached, the defensive array of the city’s fortifications has been shaken. Exploiting this instability, the enemy removed the illusionary formation and launched a fierce assault on the East City Gate. General Zhu has already led a thousand comrades to intercept the enemy.”
Hearing this, Jiang Chengwan pondered briefly, then asked the young officer, “Huaiyi, are these enemies from the Forbidden Army?”
Li Huaiyi nodded heavily.
“Yes, Your Highness. The enemy’s main force at the front includes the Red Dragon Banner of the Forbidden Army and the Black Phoenix Banner of the former Empress.”
“Hmph… the Black Phoenix Banner. Will they not hesitate to claim association with the witch queen in order to preserve their power?” Jiang Chengwan sneered, “It seems these parasites only care about safeguarding their prosperity and glory, even if it means accepting the title of a witch-controlled queen…”
Hearing this, the faces of the courtiers below displayed a peculiar mixture of emotions.
While it was true that the incident of the Empress escaping using forbidden arts had been confirmed by the Exorcism Department, with a skilled exorcist who had been a confidant of the Empress corroborating the story, it was almost conclusive. However, the actual truth of the matter was not so easily discernible.
In terms of legality, the Sacred King’s surprise attack on Luoyang was barely justifiable on paper.
Of course, at this point, whether Empress Zhao was truly under the control of the cultists wasn’t the most critical issue.