Suddenly, a strange silence fell in front of the palace. No matter above the city or below, inside or outside the palace, everyone seemed to have been cast by a immortal Buddha. Their bodies were completely frozen. Not to mention their hands and feet, even their eyes could not move. After moving for a moment, almost everyone's eyes were blankly staring at the man and the horse who had been transformed into hedgehogs in the corridor. All kinds of thoughts filled their hearts in an instant, but they could not express them.
The soldiers outside the city couldn't believe their eyes - how could such a drastic change happen? Obviously, the people on the palace walls are all people whom Taiwei Sun trusts enough. Yang Zhi, they were the generals who he had taken under his command in his early years. They accompanied him in the northern and southern campaigns for many years and made great achievements in battle. As for Di Huchen, He was Sun Tu's brother-in-law, a true member of his family, and they had been working together for many years. Why did they suddenly switch sides and commit this murder
At this moment, the soldiers were so stunned that they forgot to avenge Captain Sun. They just stared blankly ahead, with only one thought left in their minds: "This is not true, this is not true..."
The people in the palace were also greatly distracted at this moment. So Sun Tu was eliminated? That great man who had opened up territory for the Song Dynasty for many years, repeatedly defeated powerful enemies, and in the end was so overwhelming that all the emperors and ministers could only sigh in admiration, died so easily under random arrows? How come all this is so illusory and unreal
The expressions on the faces of Yang Zhi and Di Huchen were extremely complicated. They were both regretful and relieved, but most of them were confused. There were even a few tears in the eyes of the former, as if he was worried about Sun Tu's violence. Feeling sad to die. After all, the friendship between him and Sun Tu for many years ended in such a way today.
In this silence, there was a burst of crisp applause from the queue outside the palace. Immediately, a horrifying voice that shocked everyone came out: "Okay! Very good! It is indeed you, you are the one Li Gang, or Zhao Ji in the palace, used his last move against me. Fortunately, I was prepared, otherwise, I would have died unjustly here this time!"
This tone and voice turned out to be that of Sun Tu, who had just been shot into a hedgehog with his men and horses! When everyone who knew him looked horrified, a man dressed as an ordinary soldier shook his reins slightly and walked out slowly from the middle of the team. Who else could it be if he wasn't Sun Tu
"How is this possible?" Even though he was a calm person like Di Huchen, he couldn't help but exclaimed when he saw Sun Tu appear, and then his eyes fell on the guy who was shot into a hedgehog inside the palace gate. Suddenly, he realized that the person who had just entered the palace was just a stand-in, and the real Sun Tu had been hiding among his cavalry guards!
No wonder Sun Tu was so talkative just now. No wonder Sun Tu on horseback couldn't even dodge when the arrows flew. There was a huge gap between the martial arts skills he had shown in the past. Just because the result of "shooting" Sun Tu just now was too shocking and his heart was too excited, he and others actually ignored it!
Sun Tu's eyes were as cold as a knife, and he stabbed the two betrayers fiercely: "Why, is it you? In fact, Brother Di, you have long been listed as a key suspect by me. Two years ago, On the day Cai Jing and others were executed, something happened in the capital. In addition to the participation of Cai Jing and others' subordinates, there were also soldiers and soldiers of unknown origin who were also fishing in troubled waters. But no matter how my people checked, they could never find this person. There are no traces of an army, let alone the leader behind it. I think that person should be you, right
"But what I can't understand is that you are obviously very close to me, and you can even say that we will both prosper and suffer, but why do you want to be my enemy today, and even risk your life to kill me?"
Now that things have happened, Di Huchen no longer has the need to hide anything. He straightened his body and looked directly at Sun Tu without any avoidance: "You are right, I also wanted to take the opportunity to get rid of you two years ago. However, those people were too useless at that time and were easily eliminated, so they could only lurk and wait quietly for the next opportunity. And this opportunity finally appeared again today, two years later. Li Xiang is worthy of being a famous minister of the Song Dynasty, even if it is In such a desperate situation, I am still loyal to His Majesty and still want to risk my life.
"Since he, a civil servant, dares to do such a shocking act, how can I, Di Huchen, the descendant of the dignified Di Wuxiang, be willing to be the second one? Even if there is only a slight chance, I will not let it go!
"As for why you asked me why I did all this, of course it is because my Di family has been favored by the imperial court for many generations, and as a loyal and good person, how can I associate with a traitor like you who steals the country and rebels?"
These words were so righteous and upright that they even affected Yang Zhi around him. Originally he had lowered his gaze and did not dare to look at Sun Tu below, but now he used his courage and looked back at Sun Tu: "Sun Taiwei, I am the same. Don't forget, I am the queen of the Yang family, and I, Yang, My son has been fighting for the Song Dynasty court for generations, no matter how unworthy I, Yang Zhi, am, I will never do anything that will bring shame to my ancestors!"
Such impassioned speeches by the two men really reversed the momentum of the failure of the conspiracy. Even the soldiers and horses in the palace now had firm faces and no fear at all.
Faced with the attitude of the two of them, Sun Tu didn't get angry. Instead, he laughed: "I didn't expect you to be so loyal. It seems that the one in the palace didn't do you any favors before. Yang Zhi, do you think I let you go?" Is being in the palace just a cold shoulder for you? Isn’t it because I don’t trust you enough? You are wrong. In fact, I planned to transfer you out of the palace after this year and let you go to the Western Army to gain some experience. However, you failed. All my hard work. I never imagined that you would be resentful of me because of this arrangement, and even betray me!
"Do you think that Zhao Ji and the imperial court will really use you after this incident? You, and you, all think about things too naively. If I, Sun Tu, were not in the imperial court, it would be you mindless warriors They will only be played around by those guys who talk sweetly but are cruel, and kick them away after being used. Having an idle title is the best ending, and maybe they will clean up and eradicate them, and die without a burial place. !
"After so many years in the Song Dynasty, haven't you understood the character of those civil servants? You are actually trying to cooperate with them and want to kill me. You are really stupid to the extreme. Since you are so stubborn, why don't you? If you seek death, I can only help you!"
As Sun Tu spoke his last few words, the soldiers beside him stepped forward with shouts and set up an attack formation. In fact, many of them really didn't know that Sun Tu had made this arrangement early on, so they were still a little confused and confused until now. It wasn't until they saw the actions of others that they realized and prepared a strong attack. Preparation of the palace gate.
Although they were outside the palace, and the enemy troops across from them were more powerful than themselves, these elite soldiers showed no fear at all and were full of morale. As long as Taiwei Sun is still there, they will have faith
The heart can defeat any enemy and conquer any fortified city.
"Crossbowmen, prepare!" Seeing that the enemy was about to attack the city, Yang Zhi and the others did not dare to neglect, and quickly gave the order loudly. Suddenly, hundreds of crossbows appeared on the palace wall, all aimed downwards.
But Sun Tu grinned slightly. Just as he expected, these guys gathered all the crossbows here in order to kill him here.
In fact, even if he was suspicious of Yang Zhi and Di Huchen, he could not produce conclusive evidence to prove that they had indeed betrayed him. He was able to make Li Daitao's strategy, and he was convinced that they still had a killer move here. In addition to Li Gang's final reaction, he was not really desperate. More importantly, he didn't even watch the battle in the imperial city. To the crossbow.
This is obviously extremely unreasonable. Since Li Gang has roped in Song Jiang to join forces with him, how could he not be able to produce just a few hundred or even thousands of crossbows? The only explanation is that the opponent gathered all the crossbows and prepared to use them together at a more critical place. I would like to ask, apart from the ambush in the imperial city, where else can the lethality of crossbows be displayed better? The only answer is the palace, which Sun Tu will definitely come to once he succeeds.
It was at that moment that Sun Tu confirmed that Yang Zhi and Di Huchen who were guarding the palace had betrayed him and set up an ambush here. This was the result of Li Daitao's use of a substitute to expose their identities.
Precisely because he had guessed that there would be a large number of bows and crossbows waiting here, it was naturally impossible for Sun Tu to not be prepared accordingly. Seeing the crossbow aiming from above, Sun Tu immediately pulled his horse back and shouted loudly: "Let me shoot the bullets and thunderbolt arrows!"
As soon as the order was given, the hundreds of soldiers were already moving at the same time. The soldiers with crossbows raised their hands and pointed the crossbows that had been loaded with thunderbolt arrows at the enemy above, and mercilessly pulled down the hanging knives. Others, on the other hand, struggled to smash the spherical bullets in their hands like raindrops. They had prepared these firearms early in the morning.
Suddenly, arrows flew across the sky and explosions were heard. The front of the palace was covered by explosions and screams. A moment later, with a thunderous boom, a section of the city wall collapsed and shattered, resulting in The defenders above screamed again and fell to the ground.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sun Tu took the lead and charged forward with a spear in his hand. Behind him, the soldiers were also rushing to be the first, like a group of tigers and wolves who saw their prey, rushing towards the palace defenders who were already panicking and losing their fighting spirit - these defenders were not the elites who had followed Sun Tu in many battles for many years. When faced with such a situation, he quickly lost his will to resist.
When Sun Tu rushed all the way into the corridor and turned around for a killing spree, the walls of the city were filled with corpses of the enemy. Although Yang Zhi and Di Huchen struggled hard, they were ultimately defeated by the soldiers who came from all directions and were quickly killed. take.
When the sky darkened, the battle was over. But at this moment, Sun Tu no longer rushed to deal with the two betrayers who were also prisoners. Instead, under the protection of dozens of soldiers, he rode his horse step by step into the depths of the palace.
Behind him was a series of blood-stained horse hoof prints, which was the blood shed when the palace defenders died in battle.
The string of bloody hoof prints fell on the palace walkway floor tiles paved with bluestone and white marble, which looked so eye-catching and dazzling, just like the red plum petals falling in the heavy snow, bleak and sad...