Chapter 9: Chapter 9

After similar events continued to occur, suspicion naturally flowed towards the Princess, and even if the ministers complained to the emperor, without any definitive evidence, they could only swallow this dumb loss. However they all took something to heart, and that was, the Princess was not nearly as weak as everyone thought.

Now everyone in the capital knows, if you offend the Princess, you will not die cleanly or painlessly.

...

The carriage arrived outside the palace gates and the Princess disembarked according to the rules. She followed the eunuch towards the mourning hall and could hear the crying and weeping from her brothers and sisters. When she entered she swept her eyes over these siblings of hers, seeing them so deep in their acts, a sneer flashed on her face.

She wasn't going to bother to play this scene with them. She wasn't afraid of what they would say, and many of them are now too busy trying to get as many benefits, to even deal with her.

She looked at all the brothers in the room, greed and calculations flashing through their eyes. She could see that the capital would become a bloody storm in a short period of time. Her best bet was that her eldest brother would pave his way to the throne with the bones of all the brothers standing here today. Only her second brother had enough power to survive, and the rest weren't bright enough to see the danger looming. 

She walked to the coffin and gazed upon her dear father's remains, she was surprised they were willing to show his corpse. Burnt flesh could be seen on the visible skin, the makeup on his face was so thick to cover up his embarrassment, that it made his head look a size bigger. Unfortunately for them, his painful and frightened expression seemed to have been etched into his face. 

The princess looked down at the once proud emperor, and a tinge of pleasure crept along her spine. 

"My Siraya, ever powerful" she thought. 

After seeing the corpse, she didn't bother wasting her time staying with these hypocrites. She walked out as gracefully as she entered. All the prince's and princesses had witnessed her actions, but the princes were preoccupied, and the princesses knew her methods and dared not be her next victim. 

After leaving the palace, she returned to her mansion and sealed it off. She increased the amount of guards and hunkered down to watch the fun. 

She didn't have to wait long, soon soldiers of different banners flooded into the capital, their were small groups, large forces, private and professional soldiers. There were even powerful martial artists mixed among the ranks. Night after night the shouts and shrieks could be heard. Footsteps always passing by, armour and weapons clanging. The smell of blood permeated the once prosperous capital. 

Of course there were some people that wanted to take advantage of the chaos to earn some benefits for themselves. Thieves and bandits attacked some of the mansions that were poorly guarded or were too busy to defend themselves. 

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The sounds of womens screams were added into the cacophony of noise in the capital. The Princess sat in her study indifferently. Some reckless people tried to attack the mansion, but her regular guards were more than enough to deal with them, their heads were cut off and put on pikes in front of the gate. A warning for any other rabble that dared to have untoward thoughts on the princess. 

After the chaos had ensued for weeks, the noise became less and less. Soldiers in strict formation could be heard passing by. The Princess knew that the winner had been decided. She sent a few of her shadow guards out to assess the situation, and the news brought back didn't surprise her much. 

Her eldest brother was the victor. His maternal family was also a military commander, and held a force close to the capital, add to that the palace guard that the emperor had bestowed to him and it was hard for him to lose. However he didn't win easily, the other princes were more cunning than the Princess thought. 

Although she knew they had private soldiers, she really didn't expect such a large number between them, although it's because she didn't care much, but still she thought she should pay more attention to the information she was receiving. 

In the end, out of eleven brothers; excluding the eldest, nine of them rebelled. Seven of those were killed, the other two fled with what was left of their allies. The two that didn't participate escaped the first moment they could. Among those two, was her second brother who was given the title of King, and a fief, by the emperor. 

He knew he was at a disadvantage, so he didn't mind retreating at the moment. After all, his eldest brother wouldn't come out of this unscathed, and he was right. 

The eldest prince wanted to kill the second prince. He felt that the second prince was his biggest threat, but he was also surprised by the intensity of the other princes attacks. 

After cleaning up, nearly two hundred thousand soldiers were killed collectively. Many of the ministers that colluded with the other princes either fled if they could, or were arrested and are awaiting trial. The lower level ministers were forced to endure the robbery and attacks of the bandits. Along with that were the female relatives who had been either kidnapped or defiled. 

The eldest prince was exhausted dealing with the aftermath of his ascension, but he had finally won. The matter of him becoming emperor was put on the agenda, and the positions that were left empty in the court were quickly filled up. He put those that he wanted in, but how many of them are truly loyal to him, remains to be seen. 

The princess enjoyed the news brought to her. There were no innocent people in the centre of power, she felt no sympathy for any of them. If they failed, it's because they were too weak. What she was happiest about was simply, that her Siraya could be at ease for a while. However the Princess was very worried about her mentality. Based on her actions, the princess has guessed that Siraya might be on the verge of insanity. 

She hoped that Siraya could come back, and she would take care of her beloved General. 

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