Chapter 309 Scammed

Shen Qingci's gaze swept across the faces of these soldiers, even though their faces were almost entirely unfamiliar to him.

But the resolute expressions on their faces felt incredibly familiar to Shen Qingci.

She had seen this identical expression on the faces of countless members of the Shen family army.

Shen Qingci took a deep breath, drew the sword from the waist of the guard beside her, and shouted loudly, "Tonight, someone wants to disrupt the Great Zhou Dynasty! What do you think we should do?"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Everyone shouted loudly, and for a moment, the shouts of battle shook the heavens and the earth, making Shen Qingci's chest tremble uncontrollably.

Shen Qingci took a deep breath: "Alright, then everyone, follow me and charge into the imperial city!"

"Giddy up!" Shen Qingci took the lead, leading everyone straight towards the imperial city.

However, when they arrived at the city gate, they found it tightly closed and the city walls brightly lit, but there was no sign of the guards.

Shen Qingci reined in his horse, his gaze narrowing slightly, and gave Qingming a wink.

Qingming immediately stepped forward and knocked on the city gate: "Her Majesty the Empress is here! Why aren't you opening the city gate yet!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a voice rang out from the city gate: "His Majesty has decreed! Shen Qingci intends to gather his former subordinates to plot a rebellion and seize the throne. I have been dispatched to stop him! Do not remain obstinate. If you still attempt to force your way into the city, you will be killed without mercy!"

Shen Qingci looked up and saw a row of people standing on the city gate. The one in the lead looked familiar and should be a court official, but Shen Qingci didn't know much about the official positions of these people and couldn't recall their names.

She couldn't help but sneer: "His Majesty has issued an edict? You surely know the punishment for falsely conveying an imperial edict, don't you?"

"And I wonder if the Emperor you speak of is the same Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty?"

The courtier sneered, "Of course it is His Majesty of the Great Zhou. Miss Shen, there is no need to struggle anymore. If you surrender now, His Majesty may spare your life."

Shen Qingci's eyes were icy cold; she naturally didn't believe that Chu Jichen would issue such an order.

This person is probably one of the late emperor's men.

The "Your Majesty" he refers to is probably the late emperor.

It turns out that luring her out of the city was indeed the truth.

But their goal was to trap her completely outside the city, preventing her from entering to help Chu Jichen.

Shen Qingci stared at him intently for a moment, then raised her voice and ordered, "Break down the city gates! Force your way into the city!"

The official sneered, "Don't waste your energy! The city gates have long been sealed from the inside by huge stones and logs. Even if you have extraordinary abilities, you can forget about getting in!"

"Is that so?" Shen Qingci sneered, took the longbow from the horse's back, nocked an arrow, and shot an arrow with fluid and seamless movements!

A whooshing sound rang out, and the arrow, like a shooting star, flew straight towards the courtier's brow!

The man was startled, seemingly not expecting Shen Qingci to attack him directly.

Even more unexpectedly, Shen Qingci's archery skills were so outstanding.

He hurriedly lunged to the side, narrowly avoiding the arrow, but the tip still grazed his face, leaving a bloody mark.

Taking advantage of the chaos on the city wall, Qingming immediately asked in a low voice, "Master, what do we do now?"

"retreat."

Shen Qingci's eyes darkened: "Retreat to the camp."

"They have taken up a stronghold and are defending the city. We have no siege equipment, and a direct assault would only increase our casualties. Moreover, if they start firing arrows or rolling stones, we simply cannot withstand it."

Although Qingming was unwilling, he still agreed. With a wave of his flag, everyone immediately retreated dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.

Shen Qingci immediately turned his horse around and rode away.

Upon returning to the main camp, Shen Qingci entered Qingming's main tent.

Just as he sat down in the main seat with a stern face, Qingming stepped forward and said, "Master, I can take a few guards with good martial arts skills and use our lightness skills to fly up the city wall, kill that corrupt official, and open the city gate!"

Shen Qingci smirked: "Even if you are skilled in martial arts, who knows how many archers are lying in ambush on the city walls."

"Your lightness skill is excellent, but their arrows are probably not weak either."

“Every one of our people is important, especially you, and the other secret guards and secret agents who are skilled in martial arts.”

Qingming frowned: "Then what do we do?"

"I just heard that the commotion in the capital seems to be getting bigger and bigger. If we don't send reinforcements soon, His Majesty might..."

Shen Qingci closed her eyes and indeed faint shouts of killing could be heard.

but……

Shen Qingci raised her eyes and smiled: "We've probably been tricked."

"You've been scammed?"

Shen Qingci nodded: "Even if they raided the palace at night, the palace is still quite a distance from the city gates, located in the very center of the capital. It's unlikely that any commotion from the palace would reach the city gates."

"Moreover, we are already outside the city, and there is still quite a distance to the city gate."

Qingming's eyes suddenly cleared, and he seemed to be deep in thought: "That's true, but why would they do that?"

"Of course, it's to demoralize the troops."

"Most importantly, it disturbs my mind."

Shen Qingci let out a long breath: "It makes me feel that Chu Jichen is currently in a very dangerous situation in the palace, trying to lure me into trying to break through the city gates. They are just waiting for this opportunity to strike."

After she finished speaking, she couldn't help but frown again: "But there's still one thing I don't understand."

"I don't understand. They had clearly taken control of the city gates just now. Why didn't they devise a plan to pretend to let us in?"

"I'm in a relatively early position. They can let me in first, then quickly close the city gates, blocking you all outside, and take the opportunity to kidnap me, using me as a hostage to take to the palace to blackmail Chu Jichen?"

Qingming's eyes were dark and gloomy: "Probably because they don't know our strength, whether the Shen family's private army exists, how many people we brought, and what their situation is."

“They are afraid that once they open the door and let you in, it will be difficult to close it again.”

"Moreover, they are probably also afraid, but it's not true that they're afraid of you, Master."

"After all... there are several empresses in the city recently."

"If they go to great lengths only to seize upon a false one, and this leads to us breaking through the city gates, then it will be a net loss."

"Why not just stop us outside the city and cut off our path to support His Majesty?"

"Only then can we surround the palace and capture His Majesty."

Shen Qingci nodded, her eyes dark and unfathomable: "What you said does make some sense."

She hesitated for a moment, but the most important thing at the moment was to find a way to enter the city, or even the palace.

But given the situation at the city gate, the only way she could think of to enter the city was through a secret passage.

She was certain that there must be a secret passage leading from outside the city to the palace.

The only question is, where exactly is this secret passage located?

However, there is one person who knows...

Huo Yunting.

But Huo Yunting is in Chu Jichen's hands.

Shen Qingci frowned, deep in thought, when a guard rushed in to report: "Your Highness, we have received a signal from Commander Yuanbao."