Chapter 76: The Change in Hanyang Palace

  Queen Min was a woman with an extremely strong desire for power. Although the historians have beautified her as if she were a holy mother, in reality she is no different from Empress Dowager Cixi. During her reign, Joseon was a standard example of external relatives' dictatorship, and the Min family, young and old, almost completely monopolized all levels of officials. The people suffered greatly due to heavy taxation and exploitation, which led to the outbreak of peasant uprisings.

  Moreover, this old lady has been superficially obedient to China over the years, but in reality, she has been colluding with Russia. There is an essential difference between her and the pro-Japanese faction. After Japan took control of Seoul, they supported Daewongun's rise to power, but the actual ruler was the pro-Japanese Gaehwadang party. Neither of these two factions liked her, so Daewongun directly sent her back to the palace to read books, and then cleaned up her brothers outside.

  These days of losing power were simply unbearable for her. Thinking about how Empress Dowager Cixi grasped power, even going so far as to invite the Boxers into Beijing and declare war on eleven countries at once, it's clear that this woman was incredibly desperate at this time. They wouldn't let go of any straw that could save their lives.

  She summoned her trusted aide Li Jin-fan and several of her brothers to discuss the matter, confirming that Yang Feng was indeed as powerful as Sun Ze had said. Li Jin-fan even brought in a few old foreign newspapers, including one with a photo of Yang Feng walking out of his private car with Alice, taken in front of the German Imperial Palace, along with rumors about their affair. This further solidified her conviction, and she personally penned a letter to the Russian Emperor seeking help.

  She even regarded herself as a vassal state, and the content was even more cruelly describing the Japanese people, she and the king were humiliated to the point of being insulted, then hoping that the Russian emperor would send troops to save Korea from water and fire, after which Korea would be grateful for generations to come. Of course, what she didn't know was that since Sun Zehan's advice, all her actions had been under Japanese surveillance, because the Japanese minister to Korea, ōtori Keisuke, received an anonymous letter of betrayal.

  Min Fei is a high-risk character, although it's unclear who the informant is, but Dai Niao still reacts quickly and buys off one of Min Fei's palace maids to monitor her every move. When the content of the Min Group's discussion reaches the Japanese Embassy, it scares Dai Niao. Yang Feng's energy he naturally understands, if this letter falls into Yang Feng's hands, with sufficient benefits, he will truly hand over the letter to Princess Aleksey, and then this woman, who has actually become the Russian Empress after Alexander III's death, will give the letter to her husband. With Nicholas' hatred for Japan, they will definitely send troops. Now is the time of the Sino-Japanese decisive battle, if another hungry wolf is killed, it won't be a big deal for China, which has vast lands and resources and doesn't care about losing Korea. But for Japan, which sees this as its only way out, it would undoubtedly be despairing.

  At this moment, the big bird immediately moved to kill, to know that even if there was no such thing, Queen Min would still be a scourge. This woman has been stirring up trouble for years and it's clear at a glance that she can't be controlled. Moreover, she has basically gained control over Li Xi. Such a woman cannot be kept, just look at China's old woman.

  Of course, this kind of thing can't be done by the Japanese themselves. They would find a few die-hard Koreans who have defected to Japan and dress up some Japanese ronin or even soldiers in Korean clothes. Then they would say it was an internal conflict within Korea. In recent years, bloodshed has become common on the Korean political scene. Before the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War, Queen Min had even sent someone to assassinate a political enemy who had escaped to China. More than one member of her family had been stabbed to death, and her mother had died in a bombing. As the leader of the Min faction, it wouldn't be surprising if someone were to assassinate her.

  This woman is unpopular, and there are many people in the folk who hate her and the Min family to the bone. If a riot breaks out and she is killed, there will definitely be many people clapping their hands in celebration.

  "I'll leave everything to you, and I'll definitely thank you heavily after it's done." Under the newly installed electric light, Empress Min didn't know that she was in a huge trap. She finished writing the letter with an expectant face and handed it over to Sun Ze, who also knew that she and her trusted people were now under surveillance. Sending letters was something that could only be entrusted to Sun Ze, as she was the aunt of the Russian envoy and a German herself, making her the safest choice for this task.

  "Your Majesty, please rest assured, I'll take care of everything." Sun Ze hastily said. In fact, her brother-in-law knew about this matter. The Russian Weiber would certainly welcome it. To be honest, for a small ambassador like him to deliver the letter to the Tsar's hands, who knows when that would happen! Especially during this time of national mourning. But as the Empress's confidant, Yang Feng could deliver it directly to the Empress's hands at the fastest speed. Sending troops to intervene or mediate was what he had been expecting all along.

  "Please inform Mr. Yang that if things go well, Jeju Island will be his fief forever." Queen Min said solemnly, this small island for raising horses was not worth mentioning to her.

  Sun Ze nodded and tucked the secret letter away, then turned around and walked out. Empress Min looked at his back with a proud and ambitious expression, starting to imagine her own glory when she regained control of the country. But just then, a sudden shout came from outside: "You bastards, what do you think you're doing? I'm a German citizen, you can't treat me like this!"

  The faint sounds of slaughter and even gunfire began to spread.

  The clever Consort Min had already guessed what was happening, and she was so frightened that her face immediately turned white. She quickly turned around and ran into the inner chamber, hiding under the bed with several palace maids in attendance. Then, she saw Sun Ze being thrown in, his clothes torn open, and two Japanese pirates outside. The secret letter carefully tucked into her breast pocket was naturally taken away, and beside her were a pair of feet wearing wooden clogs, followed by the sound of Japanese voices speaking.

  "You're Japanese!" Sun Ze exclaimed in surprise outside, and to be honest, this was indeed beyond her expectation.

  Right after that, Empress Min saw herself being dragged to one side and then struggling, amidst screams at least four men started tearing off her clothes, with one of them hastily starting to take off his pants. Empress Min was so frightened that she quickly covered her own mouth, almost simultaneously several palace maid's corpses appeared on the ground, she trembled and prayed under the bed, hoping not to be discovered, but unfortunately things went against her wishes, while praying suddenly a Japanese samurai sword came in, and then a ferocious smiling face appeared in front of her.

  The poor Empress Min struggled, being dragged out by her hair, and immediately recognized who was in charge. Unfortunately, this Japanese ronin, who had previously shown her great respect, was now gazing at her middle-aged but still charming body with greedy eyes.

  "What are you doing? I am the princess, you can't treat me like this!" The queen Min screamed and struggled among countless men. The response to her was the miserable cry of Sun Ze being roulin. Next, these Japanese rascals had a great time, but unfortunately, they didn't notice that in the not-too-distant flower cluster, two Americans were quietly enjoying the show.

  These two men belonged to the American Edison Electric Light Company, and were managers in Seoul. For some reason, they had given a new lighting system to the Korean royal family, and they had come as engineers to install it. Because their boss emphasized that they must work day and night, they were still working now. The whole process of armed personnel rushing into the palace and fighting with the guards was quietly witnessed by them.

  One of the younger ones couldn't bear it anymore and was just about to stand up and rescue the noble princess, but was pressed down by his companions.

  "You don't want to live, haven't you seen that they didn't even spare the Russian ambassador's niece? We'll definitely be killed if we go out." His companion said sternly, and this guy immediately came back to his senses and quickly lay down again.

  These Japanese had been struggling for half an hour, and finally killed the two dying people. They even cut them into pieces with knives, piled up the corpses of the palace maids together, poured gasoline on them, and then set fire to watch them burn.

  At this time, the palace guards outside had been thoroughly defeated, they only had a small number of firearms, and most were still using cold weapons, which could not compete with the actual Japanese garrison disguised as Korean rioters. The entire Manchu palace was filled with jubilant Japanese soldiers, while the screams of the palace maids echoed through the halls.

  Gaozong Li Xi, who had been a puppet for his whole life, manipulated by his father and wife for decades, was shedding tears of humiliation while tightly hugging the son he had with Empress Min. The father and son duo were trembling with fear as they listened to the mournful cries outside and watched the flames engulfing Empress Min's palace, imagining the tragic fate that had befallen their loved ones.

  The Japanese waited until Empress Myeongseong was burned to ashes, and then threw her ashes into the pond outside. They didn't notice at all that the two Americans were peeking from the flower bushes beside them, watching this scene. Only then did the so-called rioters who occupied the palace quickly retreat.

  Two Americans were frightened and ran out immediately. It was only then that they discovered that tonight's Seoul had not just one place where such things happened, but several places with flames burning. The two men did not dare to linger and ran all the way to their company, where they recounted their terrifying encounter to the company manager with a lingering fear in their hearts. An hour later, on a British merchant ship outside Incheon Port, Yuan Shikai, the director of this scene, proudly sent a telegram to Yang Feng, who was far away in Okinawa.

  "Ah, finally got rid of that stinky girl!" This guy couldn't help but sneer, it's clear he had a deep grudge against Empress Min.

  The next morning, a riot broke out in Seoul, and the mob stormed the palace. When news of Queen Min's assassination was released through official channels, the two Edison Electric employees also slipped away from Seoul and boarded a British merchant ship bound for Shanghai.

  At this time, a major naval battle also unfolded on the Yellow Sea. The Japanese Combined Fleet, which was heading to Incheon, encountered the main force of the Beiyang Fleet on the Yellow Sea.