Imperial Temple, the city gate, Sutton Manor, and the Forbidden Palace. On the same day, at the same hour, four major events erupted. Unless Grand Heir William Wang Jinling were a god who could see the future, there was no way he could anticipate everything and prepare for every contingency.
Even if William Wang Jinling had anticipated everything, he couldn't prevent problems from arising within his own ranks—people betraying their own side.
First, Storm Cloud Bu diverted the guards; then, Lady Min struck against her own people. If Lady Min doesn't face consequences, it would truly defy the natural order.
For safety, the shadow guards led Lady Min away first. Lady Min kept walking ahead, putting distance between herself and Empress Dowager Xie and the others.
To ensure Lady Min's safety, the shadow guards didn't dare stop to wait for Empress Dowager Xie, constantly protecting Lady Min and taking a side path back to the Capital. Ironically, this gave Lady Min the perfect opportunity.
As the shadow guards escorted Lady Min away, she took advantage of their vigilance and suddenly attacked one while they were scanning the surroundings.
The shadow guard was completely unprepared and was stabbed directly by Lady Min. As he fell, he turned to glare at Lady Min, eyes wide with disbelief, refusing to close them even in death!
He died with his eyes open!
He died unwilling!
Even in death, the shadow guard couldn't understand why Lady Min would kill them. They were sent by Prince Nolan to protect her. Although they were tasked with monitoring her, they never did anything to harm Lady Min and had always protected her.
Even in death, the shadow guard couldn't understand how such a frail woman as Lady Min could possibly kill them. Was this woman truly Prince Nolan's mother, the Grand Empress Dowager of Eastlyn?
The shadow guard died tragically, Lady Min disappeared, and William Wang Jinling's arrangements at the Imperial Temple failed!
The incident at the city gate was outside William Wang Jinling's expectations. Fortunately, the general in charge of the gate and the Commander of the Nine Gates were both men newly appointed by Prince Nolan and William. Though they couldn't fully control the situation, they at least prevented it from worsening, and the war machines did not break into the palace.
Similarly, the events at Sutton Manor were completely beyond William Wang Jinling's expectations. Though clever, some things cannot be deduced by logic alone. For instance, he had no idea about the various ties between Vincent Su and Liancastle, and he never imagined Lady Min would send people to massacre the Su family at this moment.
This time, the order to blood-wash the Su family was carried out by death-soldiers personally trained by Lady Min. Their actions were swift and ruthless. Vincent Su could have escaped, but in order to destroy information in the manor related to Prince Nolan, and to ensure others received the warning and escaped safely, Vincent had to turn back, destroy the secret chamber, and send messages to the intelligence department to withdraw quickly before being wiped out.
But because of this, he was a step too late.
When he was about to leave, the black-clad death-soldiers had just finished slaughtering all the shadow guards in Sutton Manor. Only his half-brother, who had always protected him in secret, managed to hold on, blocking his way and urging, 'Go, hurry...!'
How familiar this scene was—when he sent Wenhang away, he said the same thing to him. Now, this half-brother who had never acknowledged him was blocking his way, telling him to run.
'Big brother...' Vincent Su finally called him that.
To hear you call me big brother once, I can die without regret.
The black-clad man's blade struck his left arm, but he acted as if he felt no pain, dragging his bleeding arm as he blocked the attack: 'Go...!'
Vincent Su choked up, stopped hesitating, and ran out of the manor.
Vincent Su blew up all the secret passages and hidden rooms in the manor. He couldn't let these people use the tunnels to reach Feng Manor or other places that must remain hidden. By blowing everything up, he also destroyed his own escape route; all he could do was run outside.
But as an ordinary merchant, he was no match for these death-soldiers. He barely made it out of the front courtyard before being caught. A broadsword sliced through the air, pain shot through his back, and the next moment his legs gave out and he collapsed.
A black-clad man stepped forward, ready to strike again, but at that moment, there was a loud bang—the main gate was smashed open and well-trained guards rushed in with long spears.
Seeing this, the death-soldier immediately sheathed his blade, grabbed the unconscious Vincent Su, and before the guards could react, vanished from the manor with him in a single leap.
'Chase them!' The newcomers were from Prince Nolan's manor. Though they didn't know Vincent Su's true importance, they knew he was valued by Prince Nolan. Seeing him in trouble, they dared not slack off.
The Feng Manor people followed close behind, but they were a step too late—not even catching a glimpse of Vincent Su, only seeing the chaos left behind.
'Not good, quickly send word to Miss Tong and ask her to find a way.' The Feng Manor people knew Vincent Su's connection to Serena Feng and dared not delay. They immediately notified Jada Tang and Mira Tang to help search for him.
They were certain Vincent Su was still alive!