Lu Xiao, Minister of the Ministry of War, is a very regular person. He eats at regular times and goes to bed at regular times, because in his opinion, if he cannot protect his body and energy, he will not be able to handle state affairs well.
After midnight, Lu Xiao, who was already sleeping, was awakened by a burst of noise. He stood up suddenly and asked in a deep voice: "Who is making the noise outside?"
"Master, it's not good...!" The voice outside was extremely anxious, even full of panic: "They are coming in, they are coming in...!"
Lu Xiao lifted up the quilt and put on a coat. When he opened the door, there were two people standing anxiously outside the door. They were old people in the mansion. They appeared in front of the bedroom door in the middle of the night. It was very abnormal, but such an abnormality was not surprising. Lu Xiao immediately knew something was fishy and asked, "What's going on?"
"Outside the city... there are soldiers and horses coming in from outside the city." One person said out of breath: "I don't know where the soldiers and horses came from. They entered the city from... several gates at the same time...!"
Lu Xiao was shocked, grabbed the man's collar, and said sternly: "What nonsense are you talking about? Where are the troops entering the city?"
"Master, it's absolutely true." Another person said anxiously: "Some people saw flames shooting into the sky, and a large number of soldiers and horses carrying torches entered the city. It was late at night, and I didn't know who led the troops into the city."
Lu Xiao was horrified. The capital was an important place for the country. The Xuanwu Camp and the Black Blade Camp stationed near the capital could not even leave the main camp easily without the order from the Ministry of War, let alone enter the city. However, except for those two soldiers near the capital, Horses, it is impossible for a third army of soldiers and horses to appear.
Once the local garrison enters Gyeonggi territory without the will of the imperial court, it is tantamount to treason.
Moreover, any troop of soldiers and horses cannot approach the capital quietly. Once the inns along the way find a large number of troops and horses appearing, they will definitely report the emergency to the capital as soon as possible. Therefore, a troop of troops and horses wants to approach the capital quietly. , almost impossible.
The most important thing is that there are three thousand soldiers from the Tiger God Battalion in the capital. These are elite soldiers and horses, stationed at every gate of the capital. Even if soldiers and horses come to the city and the Tiger God Camp defends the city gates, it is absolutely impossible for outside soldiers and horses to enter the city.
Ye Jingcheng was built as the capital of the Chu State. The city walls were high and thick. Even if the opponent had siege weapons, it would be wishful thinking to easily break through the city.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong, the city wall of Jianye was made taller and thicker many times. During the reign of the previous emperor, it was also repaired twice. The former emperor even climbed to the top of the city in person. Looking at the city wall like a copper wall and an iron wall, he once said that even if A hundred thousand troops came to the city, and the defense of Ye capital was so thick that even if it took a year, the enemy would not be able to break through.
But at this moment, soldiers and horses entered the city from various gates without the knowledge of the Minister of War. This was simply unbelievable.
He suspected that the news was wrong and ordered: "Send someone over quickly to find out what happened."
As soldiers and horses entered the city, Qi Ning, who was in the palace, naturally did not receive the news immediately. Looking at the dying Qu Xiaocang, Qi Ning felt complicated.
Qu Xiaocang had attacked and killed Xuanyuan Po in a clean and tidy manner. If Chi Danmei hadn't come to the rescue, he might have died in his hands.
He originally thought that Qu Xiaocang was doing whatever it took to get the title of Shenhou, but today he finally understood that everything Qu Xiaocang did was just to save the emperor.
He could not judge whether Qu Xiaocang's actions were good or evil. He felt that Qu Xiaocang's aura was weakening, and he knew that the ghost king had indeed severely injured Qu Xiaocang. If Tang Nuo was here at this time, Qu Xiaocang might still be able to escape death. , but Tang Nuo is far away from the palace. Even if he can take Qu Xiaocang out of the palace unimpeded now, it may not be too late.
"The emperor... is not in the palace!" Qu Xiaocang coughed: "Xiao Shaozong... Since Xiao Shaozong is not in the palace, he will never... never leave the emperor in the palace...!"
Qi Ning's heart trembled.
Qu Xiaocang's words reminded him.
The Ghost King claimed that Xiao Shaozong was no longer in the palace, which was probably true. If it was true, Xiao Shaozong would certainly not leave the emperor in the palace to Qi Ning.
Xiao Shaozong is able to hold great power now, not because Xiao Shaozong has such strength, but because this person has been using the emperor's name to make trouble. Because of this, Xiao Shaozong will definitely keep the emperor firmly in his hands, otherwise once the emperor breaks away from Xiao Shaozong's control Control, as long as he appears in front of civil and military officials, all Xiao Shaozong's previous arrangements will be in vain.
For Xiao Shaozong, killing the emperor is of course the easiest way. As long as the emperor dies, no one can shake Xiao Shaozong's current power.
But as Xiang Tianbei said, Xiao Shaozong had planned hard for many years and finally got to where he is today. For this big show, Xiao Shaozong needed an audience, and his only audience was the emperor.
Xiao Shaozong needed the emperor to see it with his own eyes. He believed that the throne that should belong to him should be taken back by him personally.
Therefore, before he ascends the throne, he will never attack the emperor easily.
"Where will the emperor be?" Qi Ning asked immediately.
Qu Xiaocang shook his head and coughed more violently, as if he wanted to get closer to Qining's ear. Qining saw his thoughts and put his ear close to him. Qu Xiaocang whispered a few words in his ear. Qining's whole body was shaken and his face turned pale. But at this moment, Qi Ning only felt his arms sink, and Qu Xiaocang's arms dropped, and he died.
Qi Ning raised his hand and closed Qu Xiaocang's eyes, put them down gently, and stood up. The few remaining secret guards around immediately became alert and tightened their grip on the sword in their hands. Qi Ning glanced at everyone and sneered. Said: "You are the palace guards, responsible for protecting the emperor's safety, but you are driven by rebellion, and you still don't understand it now?"
The secret guards looked at each other in confusion. The few words the Ghost King said before his death had already made the secret guards suspicious, but no one knew what the situation was.
"How many guards are there in the palace?" Qining asked in a deep voice.
No one said anything, Qining stared at one of them and said coldly: "Say it!"
The man was stared at by Qi Ning, but he couldn't help but said: "No... I don't know. The secret guards in the palace are scattered throughout the palace. I... we don't know how many there are."
Qi Ning thought that the secret guards in the palace were like shadows. Xiang Tianbei might know how many people there were, but it seemed that these ordinary secret guards were really unclear.
At this moment, Qi Ning suddenly heard a burst of noise coming from the north. He frowned and glanced around. When he saw that no one else had any reaction, he knew that his inner strength was deep, so his hearing was amazing. There was a noise coming from the north. I'm afraid he was the only one who heard the coming sound. The noise was mixed with cries and shouts, and it was extremely chaotic. He knew something was fishy, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, follow me!" No longer hesitating, he quickly headed north. Rushing over, the few people he brought over quickly followed. The others saw this and looked at each other, but finally followed.
Qining rushed all the way to the north. The roads in the palace were crisscrossed. He had been to the inner palace twice, but he didn't move around, so he was not familiar with it. He just followed the noisy sounds to find it.
He walked quickly, and everyone behind him was soon left behind. When he arrived at the edge of a palace, he saw a large group of black figures running towards him. The figures were flashing and chaotic, mixed with crying and shouting. Ning went forward, but saw dozens of palace maids and eunuchs making a mess. He was frightened and shouted sternly: "Stop it all!"
But these people were all panicked and ignored Qi Ning's shouts. Some even ran past Qi Ning, looking embarrassed, as if there were ghosts chasing behind them.
Qi Ning reached out and grabbed the arm of one of them. The man wanted to break free, but Qin Ning's hand was like an iron hoop, and the man couldn't break free. He looked up and saw Qi Ning's face was stern, and he said in a panic: "Run, run. , the rebels came into the palace...!"
"marauders?"
"It's... it's the Yulin Army." The eunuch said anxiously: "They rushed to the inner palace, then... they wanted to rebel."
Qi Ning changed his color slightly. He naturally knew that although the Yulin Camp guarded the imperial city, the inner palace was a forbidden area. Even the Yulin Army was not allowed to step into the inner palace. Now the soldiers of the Yulin Camp actually rushed in. It is certainly no small matter to come to the inner palace, so it is no wonder that these eunuchs and maids were panicked.
At this time, the secret guards following behind had caught up. Qining turned back to one of the secret guards and asked, "Are all the nobles in the palace guarded?"
The man nodded and said, "Guards will be arranged near the nobles' residences."
The poor palace maids and eunuchs fled like locusts. Qining led everyone and rushed north for a while. Along the way, frightened eunuchs and palace maids ran for their lives. Then they saw more than a dozen soldiers in armor appearing in front of them. It was exactly what the Yulin camp was wearing. Only one person heard a loud voice: "The traitor Qi Ning sneaked into the palace to assassinate the emperor. This person must be killed on the spot. The commander has an order. Who can get Qi Ning's head?" , a bounty of one thousand taels!"
Qi Ning realized at this time that the Yulin camp who rushed into the inner palace was actually coming for him.
Xiao Shaozong naturally knew that Qining had sneaked into the palace, so he mobilized the Yulin camp and rushed directly into the inner palace.
At this time, Qi Ning finally knew why Yan Mo and Ghost King said that the palace was a trap. Xiao Shaozong was sure that Qi Ning would sneak into the palace, so after Qi Ning entered the palace, he immediately locked Qi Ning. Entering the palace to assassinate the emperor's hat, and quickly mobilized the Yulin army to attack.
Qi Ning was thinking about whether to confront these Yulin troops, but he heard someone shouting: "Who are you? No one should move." Qining followed the sound and saw another group of Yulin troops suddenly appeared. , and even discovered his own side. After all, he was followed by a group of people. The target was too big and he was easily discovered by the Yulin Army.
As soon as the man shouted, another group of Yulin troops also looked over, and then both groups rushed over.
Qi Ning stood still, but the secret guards behind him didn't know what to do.
These secret guards already felt that something was wrong. The Protector may not really be rebellious, but at this moment, even the Yulin Army rushed into the palace to look for Qi Ning. They really didn't know whether to assist the Yulin Army in arresting Qi Ning or help the Yulin Army arrest Qi Ning. Qining and the Yulin army became enemies.