Chapter 367 I Was Wrong

The Imperial Guards were responsible for protecting the emperor's safety and had their own set of secret instructions. When Liu An received the order, he only ordered the Imperial Guards under his command to be taken away, but did not care about the soldiers under the Nine Gates Admiral.

The other soldiers were fighting fiercely with the Yanling Army, trying their best to save their lives. How could they have the time to care about what others were doing?

Therefore, it was not until all of Liu An's men equipped themselves with bows and arrows, walked up to the roofs on both sides of the street, and shot at the chaotic crowd below that they finally attracted everyone's attention.

Those with great martial arts skills can still block and dodge the arrows, but the first ones to die in the hail of arrows are naturally the innocent civilians who are powerless.

For a while, the streets were filled with the cries and screams of men, women, young and old.

"No, spare us, we are just ordinary people, spare us!"

"Dad... Mom... save me..."

"Child, my child, don't squeeze my child..."

…

Most of the people had nowhere to hide or retreat. Those who were lucky enough could squeeze out of the crowd and run back home to hide, or hide in the corners of some nearby buildings.

Those who were unlucky were either accidentally injured or trampled on the way to escape, or were surrounded by the flashing of swords and sabers wherever they ran, which frightened them to death and squeezed them so hard that they couldn't tell east from west.

Ling Jingyu was well prepared, so how could he let the Qin family be rescued so easily? Not only were the prison vans and shackles around their necks special, but the handcuffs and shackles on their hands and feet were also huge iron chains as thick as an adult's arm, which could not be cut at all.

Dugu Yu and Jin Feiang brought so many people and spent half a day's effort to get Madam Qin out of the prison car after countless sieges and obstructions, but they were helpless against the restraints on her.

Dugu Yu acted decisively and led his men to fight their way out. He asked Jin Feiang to take some of his men to personally protect Madam Qin and leave first. However, before they could break out of the crowd, arrows were shot from a high position.

Dugu Yu and the others could hide, but Minister Qin was locked in a prison car and had no place to hide.

Dugu Yu had no choice but to hand Madam Qin over to Jin Feiang. After that, he looked at the arrows falling like raindrops, used his lightness skills to soar into the sky, but before he landed on the prison cart, he was entangled by several masters.

He knew that these people were endless to kill, and he had no intention of continuing the fight. He only wanted to go to the prison car to protect Minister Qin. He broke free from the entanglement and returned to the prison car, wielding the sword in his hand and creating an illusion.

But even so, he was still a step too late. A sharp arrow pierced through Minister Qin's left thigh, and he was leaning weakly in the corner of the prison car.

If it weren't for the shackles on his neck that helped block two arrows, his chest would have been shot through by now.

Arrows were flying in the sky without any order. Those people were just shooting at the crowd without aiming at all. Dugu Yu frowned, he also found that those people were attacking indiscriminately.

Just to put him to death, Ling Jingyu didn't care about his own people, not even the innocent civilians. Judging from this posture, it seems that in order to kill Dugu Yu alone, Ling Jingyu might not hesitate to massacre the entire city!

If such a cruel and absurd person were to sit firmly on the throne, how could the people of the world have a good life!

Dugu Yu was guarding Qin Shangshu's prison car and did not dare to relax at all. However, by doing so, he exposed himself in a high position and became a sitting duck.

Seeing this scene, Liu An and others were so excited that their blood boiled. "Quick, King Wu Ling disguised himself and led his troops into the city. He openly hijacked the prisoners and defied the emperor's will. This is simply treason and he deserves death!"

"Concentrate your attack immediately and shoot down these traitors. Whoever can hit King Wu Ling will be rewarded handsomely!"

Not to mention shooting him to death, as long as we can injure him, it would be a great achievement!

The Imperial Guards are different from the soldiers in the barracks. They can go to the battlefield to kill enemies and gain military merits, while they patrol and stand guard every day. It is difficult for them to make a name for themselves unless their families have the ability to make connections or the support of powerful forces.

After all, the palace has a hundred or eighty layers of defense. If a few rare and daring assassins really come, you may not be lucky enough to encounter them.

Therefore, for them, there will never be an easier opportunity to achieve success than today!

That's the famous King Wu Ling. If you shoot him, you can brag about it for the rest of your life!

Dugu Yu became a living target. He wanted to protect Qin Shangshu, but he attracted more attacks to Qin Shangshu. However, he could not leave. If he was distracted for a moment, Qin Shangshu would be shot into a sieve.

Fortunately, Dugu Yu standing on a high place was not only seen by Liu An and others, but also by the soldiers in Yanling Army, so they retreated without any desire to fight, and only focused on moving closer to Dugu Yu.

No one knew how many arrows Dugu Yu had shot down. He seemed tireless and didn't know what tiredness was. He surrounded the prison cart, guarding it firmly and never leaving.

There was an arrow scratching his face, leaving a long cut, and his clothes were full of holes. Dugu Yu was in a really miserable state at this time.

Minister Qin huddled stiffly in a corner of the prison van, looking at Dugu Yu's back as he stood in front of him, with two lines of turbid tears flowing from his eyes.

In this situation, he knew very well what had happened. King Wuling actually brought troops to rescue the prisoners. From today on, no matter whether they succeeded or failed, Dugu Yu and his Qin family would always be criminals and traitors of the Zhaoling Kingdom, and they would never be able to turn things around.

"It was my Qin family that implicated King Wu Ling. I was wrong!"

He should have listened to Yao'er earlier, left the Crown Prince, and supported Prince Duan. If he had been more sober, more clear-headed like Yao'er, how could the Qin family have reached this point today?

Now even His Royal Highness Prince Duan...

"It really is God's will to destroy my Qin family!"

In fact, Qin Shangshu and Yang Tingxiao are the same kind of people. They are loyal and don't like to form cliques. They will be loyal to and support whoever sits on the throne.

They recognized the rules of their ancestors and acknowledged Ling Jingyu's legitimate status as the eldest son and grandson. They naturally felt that the throne should be his and there was nothing to fight for.

Moreover, if Prince Duan really had the ability to seize the throne himself, they would not deny it, but Prince Duan has lost his life.

Although Ling Jingyu was a little clueless, they didn't think it was a big problem. After all, he was the emperor. What he didn't understand, the civil and military officials did. What he couldn't do, the civil and military officials could do.

As long as Ling Jingyu sits safely on the throne and keeps the entire court running smoothly, and with the help of civil and military officials, there will definitely be no major problems in this world.

But they are too idealistic and take things for granted.

They all forgot to ask whether Ling Jingyu was willing to listen to them, whether he was willing to let them teach him, and whether he was willing to sit on the throne peacefully and be a good emperor who accepted advice and respected the wise and humble.

Of course he didn't want to. He used to be timid and tolerant because he was just a prince.

He has been frustrated enough. Now he is the emperor, above millions of people, and he has the final say in the world. Who would like to listen to a group of old men preaching all day long?

He would not humble himself to be an emperor who would please others, because if there was anyone in this world who displeased him, he had a hundred ways to make that person die without a burial place.

He has worked so hard for so many years, what he wants is the supreme power and the happiness to do whatever he wants!

Minister Qin had no idea that Prince Duan was not dead and was rebelling in the next street. He was heartbroken at this moment. Seeing that he had implicated Dugu Yu, he felt extremely guilty and wished he could die to atone for his sins.

Unfortunately, his hands were chained and firmly shackled, so he couldn't commit suicide even if he wanted to.

…

The people of the imperial city were fleeing in all directions, all heading away from the palace, but Qin Qingyao and the others were walking against the crowd, which inevitably made their journey difficult.

Zhao Xiaohe and several of his men protected Qin Qingyao tightly in the middle, fearing that someone would bump into her.

This slow pace made Qin Qingyao anxious. She pointed at the building next to her and said to Zhao Xiaohe, "Captain Zhao, why don't we go up there?"

Zhao Xiaohe looked up. They had no problem walking up there, but the princess...

Qin Qingyao also thought about his own situation and immediately ordered, "You only need to leave ten people to follow me. The rest of you, avoid the crowd and advance at full speed from a high position to support the prince immediately!"

Zhao Xiaohe was also very worried about the prince, but he still shook his head firmly, "Princess, my subordinates and others' first mission is to protect your safety."

"Does that mean you can only help the prince after I die?"

Zhao Xiaohe was stunned for a moment, "That's not what I meant..."

"That's enough. Now that you've followed me into the city, do you think I'm just here to go shopping and relax? Can't you see what's going on? Ling Jingyu has gone crazy! Can't he still prioritize?"

"But Princess..."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Don't think that you can ignore my orders just because the prince is not here. Since the prince asked you to follow me, you must obey me."

"Today, either this princess and the prince leave the city together, or this princess and the prince will stay here forever. It's useless for you to protect me, so stop dithering and get through!"

Zhao Xiaohe no longer refused. He looked at Qin Qingyao with eyes full of admiration and conviction. Then he ordered one of his men, "Zhao Lan, you take 27 people with you to follow the princess. No matter what happens, you must not leave her side. You must ensure her safety!"

"The remaining three hundred people, follow me to support the prince!"

"yes!"

Zhao Xiaohe clasped his fists and bowed to Qin Qingyao, "Take care, Princess!"

Qin Qingyao nodded and smiled, "Take care, General Zhao!"

Zhao Xiaohe was stunned for a moment, then he laughed. He really didn't expect that the princess could still remember him after meeting him only once two years ago.