The carriage galloped through the night and disappeared at the end of the sight.
"My lord! My lord!"
At the main entrance of the Prime Minister's Mansion, a man on horseback came, wearing red and black armor, and shouted to the inside of the door, "I am Liu Yi, the commander of the Imperial Guards of the Imperial Capital. I have an urgent matter and need to see you! Please inform me as soon as possible!"
"What is it?"
A cold voice sounded behind him, and Liu Yi looked back while sitting on his horse.
A figure stood against the red lights of the street, his face invisible in the darkness.
Liu Yi jumped off his horse and said, "Sir! We have discovered that an enemy vanguard is approaching the imperial capital and is about to reach the city gate. Judging from this momentum, there must be tens of thousands of barbarian troops following behind. The emperor wants you to come to the palace immediately to discuss countermeasures!"
Pei Zheng nodded slightly, walked to the horse, jumped on it, pulled the reins and said coldly, "Pass the order down, evacuate the people on the street, reinforce the city gates, and wait for instructions."
"Yes!" Liu Yi responded.
Then Pei Zheng rode his horse towards the palace.
All the people along the way consciously gave way when they heard the sound of horse hooves. Then, teams of neatly-equipped soldiers holding torches patrolled the streets and dispersed the people who were still celebrating.
The crowd saw fully armed soldiers running around the city, and with people already in a state of panic, the streets suddenly became a mess, with people crowding around and fleeing.
"There's a war! There's going to be a war! Hurry! Go home!"
"The barbarians are about to invade! Our Celestial Empire is about to be destroyed!"
"Are we really going to fight? What should I do? I don't want to die yet. I haven't lived enough."
The palace was brightly lit, and all the people who had come to the palace to attend the celebration had been sent out of the palace, and all the other officials in the court had moved to the
Pei Zheng rode his horse straight over the palace gate and stopped in front of the steps of the palace.
When he stepped into the court, everyone's eyes were focused on him, including the new emperor Qi Changfeng who was sitting in the upper seat.
"Prime Minister Pei," Qi Changfeng frowned, his face tense, "Do you know what the situation is outside now?"
Pei Zheng did not stop, his face was stern, his thin lips were slightly pursed, and he walked through the people standing in the court, walked up the jade steps, walked to the front of the dragon throne, then turned around and faced the court officials.
"The Celestial Empire has stood firm for a hundred years. It is a great country with cavalry fighting across thousands of miles of mountains and rivers. You and I have never witnessed its most prosperous period, but we have witnessed its most dilapidated and declining years. It should be a light that is high above, relied on by thousands of people, and should be the faith of all soldiers and civilians. But today, the country is broken and the wind and rain are blowing. If the holy light will eventually fall in our hands, then you and I..."
Pei Zheng said word by word, "They are all sinners."
"Since you are a sinner, you must die with your country. If your country is destroyed, you will die too."
All the officials who were standing lowered their heads. As much as they disliked Pei Zheng in the past, they were now even more touched by his words.
There is no heart that is not sad. One's own country and one's own home have come to such a tragic and sad end. Even if one dies to atone for the sin, one cannot face the deceased ancestors.
Pei Zheng stared outside the palace, no one knew what his eyes were on, and no one knew what he was thinking.
There was silence in the court for a long time. The atmosphere of sorrow was thick and depressing, and no one was willing to speak out to break the silence.
After a while, Pei Zheng withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes slightly, and his emotions were hidden in a dark pool.
He walked up to Qi Changfeng and whispered a few words. Qi Changfeng widened his eyes and shook his head repeatedly.
"No! You can't go! You have to stay in the palace at this moment, stay by my side and help me!"
"It doesn't matter if Your Majesty disagrees. I am not asking for your opinion."
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Pei Zheng raised his eyes slightly, his eyes showing a turbulent undercurrent that he was trying hard to suppress. "After all, I only helped you get to the top, and I didn't say I would submit to you."
He casually pointed at the ministers who were standing obediently with their heads bowed, "Besides, there are so many people here to help the emperor, not one minister is missing, but they are few."
Pei Zheng started walking out of the palace gate. Qi Changfeng stood up and stared at his back with bloodshot eyes, his face was angry and the corners of his eyes were slightly red.
"Pei Zheng! How dare you disobey my orders? You are disobeying my orders, do you know that?"
"I know. I did it knowingly. If the emperor is angry, please dismiss me. I won't be in office for long."
Pei Zheng stood at the door and looked back. He was wearing a dark robe that was so dark that it seemed to blend into the darkness. His handsome face was illuminated inch by inch by the candlelight in the hall. His hair fluttered behind him in the night breeze. He looked so gorgeous and noble, like a god.
He raised his hand and bowed, nodding slightly to all the officials in the court.
"Goodbye, everyone."
Pei Zheng rode to the gate of the imperial capital on horseback. All that was left on the street were red lotus lanterns and a mess of debris thrown on the ground.
All pedestrians along the street have been dispersed, and people have returned to their homes to hide, with their doors and windows closed.
The huge and towering iron gate of the imperial capital was tightly closed, firmly propped up by several thick logs.
The city walls were filled with archers, all of them tense and ready to go. Soldiers coming and going were preparing powerful crossbows and stray arrows. Everyone was already in a state of readiness for battle, and everything was proceeding in a half-chaotic and half-methodical manner.
Pei Zheng dismounted, grabbed a soldier who was running by and asked, "Who is your commander?"
The young soldier pointed to the city wall and said, "That's the one standing in the pavilion, Liu Yi, the commander of the Imperial Guards."
Pei Zheng recognized Liu Yi and turned around to go up to the city wall.
The young soldier quickly stopped him and said, "You can't go up! The enemy is about to reach the city gate. There will be a battle here. You should go home quickly!"
"Don't you know me?"
The little soldier shook his head, "I don't know him."
Pei Zheng saw that he seemed young, "How old are you?"
The little soldier scratched his hair, "Ten."
Also ten years old.
Pei Zheng's cold eyes faded a little, and he glanced at the bow and arrow in the soldier's hand, "Crossbowman?"
"Well!" The little soldier proudly raised his bow and arrow and waved it, "I'm a very good archer, and my arrows never miss their targets! No enemy soldier on the battlefield who I aim at can escape!"
Soldiers were gathering not far away, so the little soldier quickly ran with his bow and arrow, looking back and telling Pei Zheng, "Don't stay here, it's very dangerous here, you should go home quickly!"
After saying this, he disappeared among the crowd of soldiers.
Pei Zheng glanced in his direction.
go home
He still has no home.
Pei Zheng turned around and walked up to the city wall. Liu Yi was very surprised to see Pei Zheng here.
"Sir, why are you here?"
The wind on the city wall was quite strong, causing Pei Zheng to narrow his eyes slightly.
Looking far away, one can see that the line of fire is still approaching this side, gradually turning into a ferocious and terrifying fire dragon.
But looking back at the imperial capital, it was eerily quiet.
"Why can't I come here?"
Liu Yi quickly explained, "That's not what I meant. I'm not saying you can't come. It's just that the front line is dangerous. You might as well stay in the mansion or the palace to hide.
"Hide? There's no way to hide."
Pei Zheng placed his fingers on the cold, hard stone wall, his white joints protruding slightly. "We are at the end of our rope, let's fight to the bitter end."
"The barbarians have sent a large force to the imperial capital tonight. They will first let the vanguard kill us by surprise, and then the barbarian cavalry will break through our city gates. My lord, we are in great danger tonight."
Pei Zheng opened his thin lips and said in a light tone, "I know, the emperor knows, and the people in the city all know."
“Knowing the truth but not retreating, even though you may lose miserably, it is extremely tragic and heroic.”
"Report!"
Suddenly, a soldier beside him shouted, "Report to the commander, we just captured an enemy spy outside the city gate. He is now at the city gate and has not entered the city. I would like to ask the commander how to deal with him?"
Liu Yi said angrily, "At this time, the barbarians are still trying to gather intelligence about our army. They should know the current situation in the Imperial Capital very well, right? Do they still need to gather intelligence?"
Pei Zheng said, "Bring the people up."
The soldier looked at Liu Yi, and after Liu Yi agreed, he hurriedly ran away again.
Liu Yi was puzzled and couldn't help asking, "Sir, it's troublesome to open and close the city gates. It's better to just kill them. The vanguard of the barbarians will arrive soon anyway, and they will definitely start a war at that time."
"This person is not a spy," Pei Zheng lowered his eyes, "Amul does know the situation in the imperial capital better than we do, so he will not send spies to gather intelligence."
"Then this person is coming"
Pei Zheng lowered his eyes and looked at the already opened gate of the Imperial City below, "Persuade them to surrender."
Several soldiers brought the barbarian up. Pei Zheng found him familiar and thought he had seen him with Amul before.
The barbarian was forced to kneel on the ground, with a look of resentment and unwillingness on his face, and he twisted his head tightly and refused to lower himself.
"Let him go." Pei Zheng said.
The soldiers let the man go. The barbarian was a little surprised. He looked up at Pei Zheng, but did not stand up.
"You go down first."
"yes!"
The soldiers retreated, and only three people were left around.
The barbarian smiled at Pei Zheng, stood up calmly, and took two steps forward.
Liu Yi suddenly stood in front of Pei Zheng, with the sword in his hand already unsheathed.
Pei Zheng held down his sword and walked past him.
"Master Pei, long time no see."
The barbarian said, "You are a forgetful person, so you must have forgotten me. We met in the barbarian tribe before. At that time, you were an envoy to our barbarian tribe, accompanying the great general of your Celestial Empire to escort the prince to marry in our barbarian tribe."
Pei Zheng ignored his attempts to talk, his coldness and impatience clearly revealed in his eyes and brows.
"If you don't speak directly, you won't be able to say anything else."
"Hahaha, Lord Pei, don't be angry. I did come here for another mission." The barbarian laughed happily.
"Our noble barbarian leader likes your Celestial Empire's capital very much, so he no longer wants to use violent and bloody means to seize it. Instead, he hopes that your dynasty can be more sensible and voluntarily hand over the Imperial Capital to you."
Pei Zheng also smiled suddenly, his narrow eyes raised, but the cold smile did not reach his eyes.
"It just so happens that my Celestial Empire also likes the barbarians. I wonder if Chief Amul is willing to give in?"