A cloud-piercing arrow, a thousand troops rush to meet.

When that dazzling firework bloomed in the silent night sky of Kyoto, though only for a moment, it startled countless hearts.

The internal purge of the Imperial Guard was the first work to begin. It didn't take long for the First Prince to successfully seize all the power. The more than three thousand Imperial Guards remaining in Kyoto became the strongest military force guarding the imperial city from then on.

At the same time, the subordinates of the Overwatch Council lurking in the darkness also saw this firework. They emerged from the night and began to advance towards their respective designated targets.

The Ministry of Justice has always been eerie, especially on such a night. In the silence, a burst of rapid footsteps suddenly rang out around the Ministry of Justice. The officials on night watch were surprised to watch the movement outside the yamen, and then they were stunned to find that a large group of people in black official uniforms were pressing towards the Ministry of Justice.

The officials' faces turned pale. They immediately beat the gongs to sound the alarm, intending to wake up the officials in the Ministry of Justice and the guards of the prison behind the Ministry of Justice. As for themselves, they immediately retreated into the yamen hall of the Ministry of Justice, because they knew that these black official uniforms were officials of the Overwatch Council, and they were definitely not their opponents.

As the alarm sounded, all the subordinates of the Ministry of Justice rushed to the rear. Everyone knew that the prison of the Ministry of Justice was the top priority, because the Crown Prince did not dare to imprison those civil servants who opposed his ascension to the throne in the Heavenly Prison of the Overwatch Council, but locked them all here. Although these people were just prisoners in the Ministry of Justice, they were ministers who even the Empress Dowager had to be wary of when they spoke out in the court.

……

……

There were not many terrified screams of fighting, only a few miserable shouts and a burst of chaos. After that, a team of about three hundred people from the Overwatch Council entered the depths of the Ministry of Justice yamen and rushed to the large square.

The constables of the Ministry of Justice and the guards of the prison were surrounded in the center by the officials of the Overwatch Council, and the chief officials of the Ministry of Justice, who were disheveled, felt their hearts grow cold as they watched this scene.

The number of people on both sides was about the same, and it seemed that they had the strength to fight, but this Minister, who was like a commander of the Imperial Guard and dared not go home, but only dared to guard the Heavenly Prison in the Ministry of Justice, could not raise any thought of resistance at all.

Because those men in black were holding crossbows, because the other party were officials of the Overwatch Council, whom the Qing Kingdom officials feared the most, and because this Minister knew that since the Overwatch Council dared to act so presumptuously, that Master Fan must have begun to set off a bloody storm inside Kyoto.

The remaining prestige of the Overwatch Council was still there, and Fan Xian's dark reputation was even more shocking to everyone's hearts. Without the help of Princess Royal's forces, not many people dared to confront this team head-on.

Moreover, he had also heard that a firework arrow had been fired in the palace. Then, waking up in panic, he also clearly heard the earth-shattering shouts from the imperial city that soared into the sky.

He didn't know that it was the Imperial Guard's action, but he knew that something had changed in the imperial city.

……

……

Some corpses were lying scattered on the ground. The leading official of the Overwatch Council looked coldly at the surrounded Minister of Justice and said word by word: "This official is acting on the decree of the Empress Dowager and the military order of Prince He, and has come to take the old ministers out of prison. Please, Minister, hand them over."

Hand them over? No, this is a prison break, but the Minister of Justice trembled and dared not shout and scold, because last night, a Vice Minister whom he relied on as his right-hand man died inexplicably in this yamen hall. No one knew how the Vice Minister died, and the Minister didn't want to become the second ghost.

If he surrendered, would there still be a way out? The torch shone on the Minister of Justice's face, making it look a little strange.

As if guessing his thoughts, the leading official of the Overwatch Council stared into his eyes and said: "The Empress Dowager said that as long as those who have rebelled sincerely repent, their past will be forgiven."

The Minister of Justice smiled bitterly again and again. Even the Empress Dowager's decree had been brought out. It seemed that Duke Danbo had controlled the palace. There had been no news from Princess Royal's side, and it was likely that something had gone wrong as well. Given this general trend, why should he struggle so hard?

But in an instant, he suddenly thought that if the struggle in the palace had not been resolved, and Fan Xian had not gained the upper hand, if he surrendered so easily, how would he explain it to His Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Royal afterwards?

The Minister of Justice gritted his teeth, his eyes changing constantly.

The official of the Overwatch Council looked at him coldly, stopped communicating with him further, and slowly raised his right hand. Hundreds of officials of the Overwatch Council around him raised their crossbows, some drew their iron picks, and began to prepare to attack the heavy gate of the Ministry of Justice prison.

"Three sounds." The official of the Overwatch Council counted expressionlessly: "Three, two..."

"Wait!" The Minister of Justice was finally overwhelmed by this monotonous counting and shouted hoarsely: "Wait! I want Duke Danbo's word!"

A mocking smile appeared on the corner of the Overwatch Council official's lips. In this critical situation, the Minister of Justice's courage had been shattered, but he had not become demented. He knew that now the Empress Dowager's decree was just a piece of waste paper. The only thing that could really save his life was the will of the Commissioner.

He took out a document that had been prepared long ago from his pocket and threw it over.

The Minister of Justice picked it up from the ground and looked at it under the faint light of the torch, confirming that it was a writ written by Master Fan himself.

It was not known when this writ was written or when it was prepared, but it clearly stated that Princess Royal and His Highness the Crown Prince had conspired with assassins from Dongyi City and Northern Qi to assassinate His Majesty on Mount Dadong! Each crime was very clear, and it was also written that Yan Xiaoyi, the Grand Commandant of the Northern Expedition Army, was involved in the treasonous affair and had been personally killed by Fan Xian!

The crime was not the key. What the Minister of Justice cared about was the words at the end. Seeing the end, his expression finally eased a little. In this document, which was called the Edict to Condemn the Rebels, there were about four hundred words in total, and in the last hundred words, it was clearly written that any ministers in the court who had been deceived by Li Chengqian, as long as they repented and made contributions to the new dynasty, their past would be forgiven.

The Minister of Justice's hands were trembling as he held the writ. There was no seal of the Empress Dowager on this writ, but it had His Majesty's traveling seal!

Most importantly, there was Fan Xian's personal signature at the end!

The Minister of Justice knew that at this moment, any seal was probably not as effective as Fan Xian's signature, and he believed that Fan Xian was not a man who went back on his word.

His face became paler and paler. He glanced at the constables, clerks, and guards of the Ministry of Justice around him, who were mustering their courage but looked like they were made of dirt. He lowered his head and knelt in front of the official of the Overwatch Council, saying in a miserable voice: "This official... pleads guilty."

……

……

Disarmament, finger binding, rope tying, all the armed forces of the Ministry of Justice were controlled in a very short period of time. It was just that this group left some face for the Minister, only sparing him from his official uniform and hat, which he had not even put on properly.

All kinds of swords, spears, sticks, and clubs were piled in the corner. All the officials of the Ministry of Justice had their arms bound behind their backs with specially made steel thimbles from the Overwatch Council, and these thimbles were connected together with strong hemp ropes, like a string of grasshoppers waiting to be fried in the years of famine.

All of this action seemed extraordinarily familiar and fast, because from the first day of its birth, the Overwatch Council had been using these means to deal with the various ministries and yamens in the vast national machine of the Qing Kingdom.

So it cannot be said that the Minister of Justice was timid and cowardly, nor can it be said that the ministries and yamens of the Qing Kingdom were too useless. It was just that for many years, the terror of the Overwatch Council had been deeply rooted in the hearts of all the officials of the Qing Kingdom. Like natural enemies, the officials could not muster any courage to resist when facing this group of men in black.

This terrifying royal secret service agency, the Overwatch Council, became the sharpest blade in Fan Xian's hand after Emperor Qing's death and Chen Pingping's poisoning.

While dealing with the remaining affairs of the Ministry of Justice, the two heavy prison doors of the Ministry of Justice had already been opened. Officials of the Overwatch Council entered and sent out many people to help out forty or fifty officials who looked disheveled.

The official uniforms on these officials had not been stripped off yet, but they had been beaten with scars all over their bodies, which showed how hurried and chaotic the Crown Prince's arrest of these officials in the Taiji Hall that day was.

Many officials were unable to walk after being tortured, and they could only barely move out of the prison door of the Ministry of Justice with the support of these Overwatch Council officials.

The leading official of the Overwatch Council's eyes narrowed, and he quickly stepped forward, knelt on one knee in front of these officials, performed a heavy salute, and said in a deep voice: "This subordinate, Murong Yan, the Registrar of the Second Bureau of the Overwatch Council, is here to welcome all of you on the order of the Empress Dowager. You have all worked hard."

The civil officials who were helped out of the door looked at the official of the Overwatch Council in black official uniform, and they couldn't help but feel mixed emotions and couldn't say anything.

Murong Yan did not get up, but turned to the two leading officials and saluted solemnly, saying in a low voice: "Commissioner Fan asked this subordinate to thank the two Grand Secretaries on his behalf."

Yes, these two officials were the two first-rank ministers who bravely challenged in the Taiji Hall and forcibly prevented the Crown Prince from ascending the throne, the leader of the Department of Ministries, Grand Secretary Hu, and the old gentleman Shu Wu.

Shu Wu still had wounds on his face. He looked at this official and sighed. He didn't have much joy in escaping from death, but only had a deep worry about the situation in Kyoto. He knew Fan Xian's character. Since he risked breaking into the prison tonight, then the palace must be in great chaos. His Majesty... His Majesty, he didn't know how many of His Majesty's relatives would die in this turmoil.

Grand Secretary Hu smiled and said, "Duke Danbo is wrong, I didn't help him, so why thank me?"

Murong Yan was stunned when he heard this.

Before he could describe the detailed situation in the palace, ten carriages had already driven outside the Ministry of Justice to take these ministers who had been injured onto the carriages, and then they went to the palace. The situation in Kyoto was still very dangerous, and these ministers who had just escaped from prison could not return to their mansions for the time being.

Watching those carriages under the protection of the Overwatch Council heading towards the palace along the long street, Murong Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief as he stood at the gate of the Ministry of Justice. Although there were still many things to be dealt with in the Ministry of Justice behind him, his heart had settled down.

He was the Registrar of the Second Bureau, and he was originally responsible for intelligence gathering, but in this incident of the Overwatch Council, he was given the task of forcibly attacking the Ministry of Justice by Master Xiao Yan. Perhaps it was his calmness that was valued.

Forcibly attacking the Ministry of Justice was not difficult. The difficult thing was to rescue the adults in the prison intact. Murong Yan knew this very well, otherwise Commissioner Fan would not have given him hundreds of people when there were so few people in Kyoto.

The specific task was issued by Yan Bingyun, but the requirements were personally drawn up by Fan Xian. For the prison of the Ministry of Justice, Fan Xian gave a death order, striving to ensure the safety of the two Grand Secretaries Hu and Shu, as well as those civil officials.

Because he knew that if it weren't for these civil officials who were not afraid of death and challenged in the Taiji Hall, forcibly delaying the date of the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne, causing the government to be in chaos and Kyoto unable to be stable, it would have been difficult for him to find an opportunity to successfully break into the palace.

These civil officials, who seemed to have no power except for speaking out to die, were the greatest contributors to Fan Xian's operation this time. Fan Xian borrowed their bones and had to ensure the integrity of their bones. This was gratitude and a faint sense of guilt.

……

……

When the fireworks moved and thousands of people came out, the Kyoto Prefecture, which looked even more difficult to attack than the prison of the Ministry of Justice, was now wide open and brightly lit, looking very strange.

The Kyoto Prefecture was in charge of Kyoto's security, and had a large number of constables and clerks under its command. When the firework arrow sounded in the imperial city, Sun Jingxiu, the Second-Rank Minister and Governor of Kyoto, with a solemn expression, walked to the main hall with a heavy face.

His subordinates, who did not understand what was happening, stared dumbfounded at the Governor, thinking why Master Sun was still wearing his full official uniform so late at night?

Just a few moments later, footsteps arrived like thunder. Sun Jingxiu looked at his subordinates with a complex expression, sighed with incomparable regret, and ordered his subordinates to open the gate of the Kyoto Prefecture.

As soon as the gate opened, officials of the Overwatch Council poured in. Under the gazes of the Kyoto Prefecture officials who looked at each other in dismay, they occupied favorable positions in the main hall and surrounded Sun Jingxiu in the center.

The black-uniformed officials of the Overwatch Council separated, and a man walked out from among them. It was Mu Tie, the head of the First Bureau of the Overwatch Council. This steel-faced official looked coldly at Sun Jingxiu and asked: "My lord ordered this subordinate to ask you, have you finally thought it over?"

Sun Jingxiu sighed again, his face struggled for a long time, and then his legs suddenly seemed weak. With a "pa" sound, he knelt on the ground and said in a low voice: "This official is guilty and dares not beg for forgiveness from the Commissioner."

As soon as this scene came out, the whole audience was in an uproar. Everyone felt extremely shocked. They did not understand why this Governor, who had been following the Empress Dowager's decree and desperately arresting Fan Xian in Kyoto, would surrender without thinking of resisting when the officials of the Overwatch Council were at the door!

Mu Tie's face was still as hard as iron, as if he was unmoved, but he was equally shocked in his heart. He was ordered to come today to stabilize the Kyoto Prefecture, and he thought he would face the most tragic battle of his life, but he did not expect Yan Bingyun to just give a faint command and let him come like this.

As soon as he entered the Kyoto Prefecture, he saw the whole prefecture brightly lit. Mu Tie thought he was ambushed, but he did not expect the situation to be as smooth as Master Xiao Yan said!

Sun Jingxiu knelt on the ground, his face extremely pale. He held his official hat in his arms with his left hand, thinking in his heart that he was really forced to do so. Not to mention whether the Kyoto Prefecture could fight against the Overwatch Council, the main reason was that the conversation he had with the white-clothed young master in the back garden earlier had left him with no way out but to surrender!

It was not until tonight that he realized that Fan Xian had been hiding in his mansion for several days. The launch site of this Kyoto change was actually in his own back garden, in his daughter's room!

Of the assassins who stormed the palace this time, 400 of them used the documents of the Kyoto Prefecture to sneak into Kyoto!

As long as this matter was revealed, no matter how he behaved tonight, he would definitely not be tolerated by His Highness the Crown Prince or Princess Royal. They would definitely think that he was a spy for Fan Xian's side.

So he had no choice but to make a difficult decision and completely lean towards Fan Xian - anyway, he would be considered Master Xiao Fan's man, so he might as well become Master Xiao Fan's man, at least he could survive.

The future, safety... Pin'er should speak up for him, right?

Thinking of this, Sun Jingxiu couldn't help but feel his blood surge, and he almost fainted from anger. The documents and defense passes for those assassins who stormed the palace to enter Kyoto were all sent out from his study. Besides that girl Pin'er, who else could impersonate his handwriting, steal his official seal, and not be suspected by his subordinates!

He will never have a daughter again in his next life. A daughter's elbows always turn outward. Sun Jingxiu, the Governor of Kyoto who was forced to rebel, thought with incomparable sadness in his heart.

……

……

Not long after the battle in the imperial city ended, a large team of Imperial Guards forcibly broke into the harem from the main gate. In front of more than a thousand wolf-like soldiers, the palace guards and eunuchs who were already at a loss for what to do wisely chose to surrender. Even if there were some tough guys, they were just corpses under the Imperial Guards' sweep.

The harem temporarily returned to silence, and the sound of neat footsteps and the clanging of armor could be faintly heard.

Fan Xian pushed open the gate of the East Palace with a gloomy face, leaving the swordsmen who had stormed the palace outside, and walked into this newly repaired palace, looking at the corpses along the way.

In the Hanguang Hall, Fan Xian seemed very calm, but only he himself knew how disappointed he was in his heart. Not capturing the Crown Prince and Princess Royal was like tearing a big hole in his plan.

A hole that may never be repaired.

He looked at the eunuchs and palace maids cowering together, and after a long while, he silently lowered his head. He seemed to be able to hear the sound of horses' hooves already ringing out outside the distant palace walls.

He knew this was a hallucination, but he believed in the speed of the First Prince's march. Since the palace had been basically controlled, then he must have sent out a large force to start advancing into the depths of Kyoto, trying to control a larger area, but he would be careful not to come into contact with the Thirteen City Gate Division and spark a fire. Like him, the First Prince would not hold back once he made a move. The Imperial Guards and the Overwatch Council were desperately searching for the traces of the Crown Prince and Princess Royal in Kyoto at this time.

Most importantly, Wan'er and Dabao were taken away by Princess Royal. Not rescuing his relatives made him angry and gloomy. He walked into a quiet room next to the hall, looked at the eunuch sitting on the ground, and looked at the pockmarks on the eunuch's face. Fan Xian was furious, but in an instant, his heart softened and he sighed helplessly.