The Breeze of Dusk with the Scent of Musk

Chapter 13: The Aftermath of the Ordeal

In the Crown Kingdom in the Peace Province in the Jasmine City, after Zixin Quon completed the coup successfully, Yingjie Zhuang, The Deputy Imperial Minister of Intelligence, sent a detailed message to his leader, Junjie Song, the Imperial Minister of Intelligence, conveying the latest news for him. Here is a snapshot of the message:

"Dear Junjie Song, I hope you are doing well. It is confirmed that Zixin Quon is the leader of the coup. He armed his farmers, trained them well and then carried out the coup. Not only did Zixin execute the coup in the Jasmine City, his cousins also carried out the coup across the other four capitals of the four kingdoms. Zixin killed our emperor and empress. His cousins captured the kings and the queens of the Ruby and Star kingdoms. The kings and queens of the Crown, Pearl and Cloud kingdoms fled securely to safe houses under the supervision of the Ministry of Intelligence. Please take the greatest security measures to ensure the safety of Yueliang, Taiyang and yourself.

At this point, I must admit my grave mistake. The Ministry of Intelligence was aware of certain moves of Zixin such as his arming of his farmers across the five cities. I personally summoned Zixin for investigation but during the investigation he convinced me with his good intentions. I fell prey to Zixin's deceitful words. Please forgive me for not informing you about this matter earlier because I thought everything was under control. I never expected that Zixin will go that far with his farmers. Please forgive me, Junjie. Had I informed you about this matter on time, you could have better vision and anticipation than me. I am ready to sacrifice my life in order to atone for my grave mistake. Stay safe and keep Yueliang and Taiyang safe."

When Junjie received this message, he called Yueliang and Taiyang to inform them about the news:

Junjie: Yueliang, Taiyang, it has been confirmed that Zixin Quon is the leader of the coup.

Taiyang: What? Zixin Quon? Is not he the new Minister of Finance?

Junjie: Yes, that is true. You father trusted him and appointed him as the Imperial Minister of Finance after the assassination of Wesheng Zihao.

Yueliang: Could it be that Zixin assassinated Wesheng Zihao in order to take his place?

Junjie: That is very likely. The pointers of events support this assumption.

Yueliang: How could my father trust such an evil person. I know my father is farsighted.

Junjie: Do not blame your father because everything was going in Zixin's favor. All the apparent information we had about Zixin supports the assumption that Zixin is a good person.

Taiyang: Where is the Ministry of Intelligence? Why could not they monitor and discover Zixin's evil moves upfront?

Junjie: The Ministry of Intelligence knew about Zixin's arming of his farmers and carried out an investigation with him. Yingjie Zhuang was convinced about Zixin's good intentions and he did not inform me about this event. This was the major failure of the Ministry of Intelligence.

Taiyang: How are my parents?

Junjie: They are detained by Zixin.

Yueliang: Could Zixin harm them?

Junjie: It is difficult to anticipate Zixin's moves. Let us hope for the best.

Zixin is now the new emperor of the Chinese Empire. He wants to consolidate his dominion and exercise his influence over the Chinese Empire. Zixin wants to keep the operations of the empire running smoothly uninterrupted and minimize the damage caused by his coup. Therefore, he started to ask the ministers he detained to render their allegiance to him so that they keep their positions in his new government. Some ministers agreed to render their allegiance to Zixin while others refused to do such. Those ministers who refused to render their allegiance to Zixin were either imprisoned or executed. Zixin also appointed new ministers that were either his acquaintances or recommended to him by his entourage.