"Father."

She set down her teacup. "If I hadn't struck that blow, would the Yu Family still have had a way back?"

Yu Huaiyuan did not speak.

Yu Zeyun was the first to lose patience: "Father, what is there left to think about? The dog emperor has already held the butcher's blade to our necks. Are we supposed to kneel and thank him for his grace?"

"Thank him for what? Thank him for taking Sister into the palace to be humiliated? Or thank him for leaving our whole family a clean way to die?"

Yu Zeyue sneered: "He wants us dead, and we're still going to talk about loyalty and righteousness as subjects? I'm not that shameless."

Yu Zechuan glanced at his two younger brothers, his voice much more composed: "Father, the imperial guards brought by Eunuch Li have been completely wiped out. This news can be suppressed until tonight at most. When no one returns to the palace, they will definitely notice something is wrong. We don't have much time."

Yu Huaiyuan closed his eyes.

Of course he knew.

From the moment Yu Wantang struck that blow, the Generals Mansion had been pushed to the edge of the cliff.

But throughout his life, the words 'loyalty to the sovereign and love for the country' were engraved into his bones. He had guarded the country for the Zhao Family for half his life, enduring the wind and snow of the borderland, bleeding in battles for over ten years; every scar on his body was a blade he had taken for this dynasty.

Now, turning the edge of his blade toward the imperial city—it wasn't that he didn't dare, but that he was unwilling.

Yu Wantang looked at him and suddenly spoke: "Father, are you still thinking that His Majesty was merely misled by treacherous people? Are you still thinking that as long as we go into the palace and explain clearly, he will remember the Yu Family's past merits and rescind the decree?"

Yu Huaiyuan did not answer.

But silence explained everything.

Yu Wantang picked up the first imperial decree and threw it in front of Yu Huaiyuan.

"This isn't an imperial decree; it's a death warrant. First, making me enter the palace as a maid to humiliate the Yu Family and test our bottom line. If you accept it, it shows that the Yu Family can still endure it. Then the second decree comes down, seizing military power, framing charges, and executing the whole family."

She picked up the second imperial decree, her fingertip pointing at the four words 'amassing military power'.

"If you don't accept the first one, he will use the charge of defying imperial edicts to confirm the second one. Either way, it's death."

The room fell silent for a moment.

The way Yu Zeyue looked at Yu Wantang had completely changed.

In the past, he only thought his younger sister was a secluded lady, gentle and quiet. Only now did he realize how bold she truly was, and how clear-headed her mind was.

Yu Zeyun stood up with reddened eyes: "Father, Sister is right! We aren't rebelling against the court; we are rebelling against that treacherous villain! How many of our Yu Family have died at the borderlands? Uncle died at Yanmen Pass, and Second Uncle died in the Northern Snowfields. And what is the result? As soon as he sat securely on that throne, he wanted to send Sister into the palace as a servant and murder our entire family! Why should we be loyal to such an emperor?!"

Yu Zechuan said in a deep voice: "Father, I know you are loyal to the court. But if we surrender without a fight right now, the Yu Family Army will be left leaderless, and five hundred thousand soldiers will sooner or later be harmed by him one by one. By then, the borderlands will be left empty, and the common people will be the ones to suffer."

Yu Wantang's tone was calm: "The Yu Family Army has five hundred thousand men. The reason the emperor fears our Yu Family is because he knows these five hundred thousand men are not in his hands. He fears us, which is why he wants to kill us. Since he fears us, let him fear us to the very end."

She paused. Her voice wasn't loud, but it fell clearly into everyone's ears.

"Father, if you kneel and accept the decree today, the entire Yu Family will surely die. If you stand up, there are at least five hundred thousand soldiers of the Yu Family Army, and still a way to survive."

"It is not that we want to rebel, but that the one above leaves no way out for the Yu Family. For the soldiers who went through life and death with us, and for the people under heaven, we must rebel."

These words finally hit Yu Huaiyuan's deepest sore spot.

He could die.

The Yu Family Army was not afraid of death either, but they could not die in vain.

Seeing Yu Huaiyuan's expression soften, Yu Wantang continued: "Father, loyalty to the sovereign and protecting the nation have never been the same thing. If the sovereign is wise, loyalty to the sovereign is protecting the nation. If the sovereign is foolish, loyalty to the sovereign is helping a tyrant inflict harm."

"Now that this man sits on the dragon throne, his first thought is not to bring peace to the country or stabilize the court, but rather he cannot wait to eliminate rivals. The longer such a person sits on that throne, the more people will die."

"What do you mean..." Yu Huaiyuan looked up at her.

Yu Wantang said casually: "He who fears nothing can pull the emperor off his horse. What I mean is, it's time for someone else to take that seat."

Her gaze swept over everyone.

"Even if we don't rebel today against such a treacherous villain, someone else will rebel tomorrow. Rather than letting others pick the fruit, we might as well sit on it ourselves."

Silence fell upon the room once more.

Yu Zeyun's blood surged as he heard this, Yu Zeyue's eyes shone brightly, and though Yu Zechuan did not speak, he was already looking at Yu Huaiyuan, waiting for his decision.

Yu Huaiyuan looked down at his hands. They were covered in calluses, with an old scar on the palm extending from the web of his thumb to his wrist bone. These hands had held a blade for forty years, guarding the country for the Zhao Family for forty years. Never had he imagined that one day, this blade would be pointed at the imperial city.

He suddenly laughed slightly. The smile was brief, vanishing in an instant.

Yu Wantang caught it: "Father, what are you laughing at?"

Yu Huaiyuan shook his head: "Laughing at myself. I've fought battles for most of my life, yet in the end, I'm not even as decisive as my own daughter."

He remained silent for a long time, then nodded heavily, the last trace of hesitation fading from his eyes.

"When do we move?"

The corners of Yu Wantang's lips curved slightly: "There is no time to lose—tonight!"

She walked back to the table and poured the remaining cold tea from the teapot into a few cups. She pushed one cup in front of Yu Huaiyuan and distributed the remaining three to her three elder brothers.

"Eldest Brother will go outside the city to the main camp to mobilize troops. The fifty-thousand vanguard battalion must be in position within an hour to surround the four gates of the imperial city. Second Brother and Third Brother will lead the mansion guards to control the main thoroughfares in the city. Of the four gates of the imperial palace, Xuanwu Gate is the closest. The Yulin Guards have three thousand men stationed to defend the four gates, with at most eight hundred at Xuanwu Gate."

Yu Wantang raised her cup of tea and drank it down in one gulp.

"Once Xuanwu Gate is breached, I will personally lead people straight into Chengtian Hall. Eldest Brother, after surrounding the four gates, do not enter the city; hold the outer perimeter. Second Brother and Third Brother will clear the way—kill anyone who offers resistance on the spot."

She set down her teacup, her voice cold and without a shred of hesitation.

"There is only one target: that useless trash sitting on the golden throne."

Yu Zeyue grinned: "Alright, got it."

Yu Zeyun clenched his fists, his eyes still red, but the corners of his mouth were already twitching upward uncontrollably: "Should have been replaced long ago."

Yu Huaiyuan glanced at Yu Wantang. Before he had even spoken, she had already thought through how to fight the battle for the next two hours in her mind.

Outside the window, the sun had not yet reached noon. The shadow of the old locust tree lay slanted in the Yard, and the wind blew over, carrying the scent of blood and the dust from the distant martial arts field.

There were still at least three hours before dark. Before nightfall, she had to calculate every obstacle in the imperial city clearly and then tear them out one by one.

"Father, then I will be going." Yu Zechuan stood up, took the blade resting on the table, and sheathed it back at his waist. When he reached the door, he paused and turned back to look at Yu Huaiyuan.

Yu Huaiyuan nodded.

Yu Zechuan hesitated no longer, striding past the threshold, his figure quickly disappearing at the end of the corridor in the front courtyard.