World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 991: Four Five Six: Yuwen Gai Captured! Fang Qingyi Caught!

Chapter 991: Four Five Six: Yuwen Gai Captured! Fang Qingyi Caught!

"In this battle, you must rally some nobility and officials to join you in rebellion." Fang Qingyi from Yin Zhou said, "Finance Minister Suofu should have left behind a ledger that contains all the data of officials and nobles embezzling from the national treasury over the past few years."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the City Defense Army generals present changed again. Over the years, these generals had not only embezzled military pay but also misappropriated military resources and occupied civilian property. Over the years, the amount of Gold Coins pocketed by the hundreds of generals present amounted to at least over a million.

However, they then thought, having already committed the great crime of rebellion, what does mere embezzlement count for?

Fang Qingyi continued, "Even if Suo Lun finds the gold reserves, there’s still a deficit of over four million; plus over one million needed to run the kingdom, he needs another five or six million Gold Coins. Suofu’s secret ledger lists ten to twenty excessively corrupt officials; each could be beheaded ten times over. Suo Lun won’t let them go; he will surely eradicate their entire families. And these people also know they have no way out but to follow you in rebellion to the end."

City Defense Army Great Admiral Yuwen Gai asked, "These excessively corrupt officials, how many people can they organize?"

Fang Qingyi said, "At least over thirty thousand. I have already sent someone to notify them. As soon as you raise your troops, they will respond immediately!"

Yuwen Gai closed his eyes to calculate, then said, "Our City Defense Army has fifty thousand soldiers participating in the uprising, plus over thirty thousand corrupted nobility and officials, and also fifteen thousand from the Sanctuary Legion, making a total of one hundred thousand!"

Fang Qingyi said, "Suo Lun has sixty thousand soldiers in the Forbidden Army, but they are dispersed everywhere. Over three thousand in the Princess Mansion, over five thousand in the Imperial Gold House, and over ten thousand maintaining the order in Zhi Du and guarding the city gates. Thus, only about forty thousand Forbidden Army soldiers are guarding the imperial palace, which is less than half of our number!"

Yuwen Gai nodded and said, "One hundred thousand against forty thousand, and we also have the elite Sanctuary Legion on our side. This battle is ours to fight!"

A middle-aged handsome man beside him said, "Admiral, should we go straight for the palace, or should we occupy the royal city?"

This middle-aged handsome man was none other than Ye Feidie’s father, Viscount Ye Jin, the quartermaster of the City Defense Army. He asked whether to occupy the royal city because he wanted to seize the opportunity to make a fortune.

Yuwen Gai said, "Our one hundred thousand troops should not disperse our forces. We must directly attack the palace, capture the leaders, eliminate Suo Lun and Zhi Yan, and absolutely not disperse our forces."

Great Commander of infantry beside said, "That’s right, and our slogan is to purge the royal side, kill the traitorous officials; we can only attack the palace!"

Yuwen Gai declared, "Then it’s decided! Please, Fang Qingyi, contact the Sanctuary Legion and the armed retainers of the corrupt nobility, and let the brothers from the City Defense Army return immediately to their regiments. At noon, one hundred thousand troops will assemble and officially attack the palace to execute Suo Lun!"

"Yes, sir!" All the City Defense Army generals present shouted in unison.

However, just at that moment...

"Ah... Ah... Ah..."

Screams from the Secret Scout Warriors filled the air outside!

Suddenly, several Samurai rushed in, yelling hoarsely, "General, we are exposed, we are surrounded..."

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

An arrow shower fell from the sky, nailing these Samurai to the ground, alive.

Yuwen Gai and Fang Qingyi turned pale with shock, feeling horror-stricken.

How is it possible? How were they exposed?

The location of this meeting was supposed to be top-secret; how could anyone know about it?

You must know, apart from Yuwen Gai, Viscount Ye Jin, and Fang Qingyi, none of the other City Defense Army generals knew the meeting location beforehand. They were first gathered at another place and then personally brought here by Yuwen Fa.

Of course, one might ask, why not conspire in the City Defense Army camp?

This was because not every City Defense Army soldier was willing to rebel, and both Yuwen Gai and the high-ranking officers of the City Defense Army had already been stripped of their duties. Their presence in the camp would immediately reveal their intention to rebel to many.

Moreover, for safety, Suo Lun had already scattered the City Defense Army to several encampments.

This secret location was known in advance only to Yuwen Gai, Viscount Ye Jin, and Fang Qingyi. How could it be leaked?

Instantly, Yuwen Gai’s gaze shot towards Viscount Ye Jin like lightning, as this location was arranged by him.

"No one knows about this place. I bought this place two years ago and since then, no one has lived here, and I have never been here myself," said Viscount Ye Jin.

Of course, he was lying; one of his mistresses had stayed here for a few days, but he had killed her.

Seeing that Yuwen Gai’s gaze was still full of suspicion, Viscount Ye Jin said, "I know, my daughter had an affair with Suo Lun. But I embezzled two hundred thousand Gold Coins, do you think I have a way out?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present was shocked.

Two hundred thousand Gold Coins? Viscount Ye Jin, as the quartermaster of the City Defense Army, had embezzled two hundred thousand Gold Coins, a completely shocking amount.

Viscount Ye Jin said, "Of course, this money wasn’t just embezzled from the City Defense Army. It also includes what I embezzled when I was the quartermaster of the Northern Legion over the course of more than a dozen years, adding up to two hundred thousand Gold Coins."

Fang Qingyi cried out, "Now is not the time to argue over such meaningless matters. Is there any secret passage that we can use to escape?"

Viscount Ye Jin shook his head, "This is just an ordinary residence, there are no secret passages."

At this moment, several thousand soldiers from the Forbidden Army outside stopped hiding their movements and quickly closed in, their uniform and urgent footsteps pounding on everyone’s hearts.