Chapter 13 Chapter 13 I owe him.

The driver waved his whip and continued to drive the horse in a sullen manner, but he couldn't help muttering in his heart: The road just now was clearly chosen by you.

*

Less than a month after the eldest prince returned to Beijing, the Ghost Festival arrived.

The Zhongyuan Festival is a day for folk worship. On this day, the streets are ablaze with lights and bustling with activity. A grand banquet is also held in the palace.

In the Linde Hall, the empress, concubines, princes, and royal relatives sat in the inner hall, officials and wives of officials above the fifth rank sat in the outer hall, and the rest sat in the lobby outside the hall.

The female members of the family attended the banquet in their best attire, and the palace maids in gorgeous palace costumes flitted around the banquet like butterflies, creating a beautiful landscape.

Everyone had a warm smile on their face, and they took the opportunity of the palace banquet to have a great chat.

But if someone observes carefully, they will find that several people at the banquet have serious and tense expressions. They don't seem to be attending a banquet, but as if they are about to face a fierce storm.

This naturally does not include Ji Sui. He is still wearing a dark brocade robe with delicate cloud patterns outlined with silver thread on the cuffs and the bottom of the robe. He holds a glass wine cup in his hand. If someone comes forward to toast him, he will smile and nod in return.

In the hall, music and singing were lingering, and everything seemed so luxurious and gorgeous, just like the moon in the water and the flower in the mirror, which would shatter at the slightest touch.

The person who broke this peaceful atmosphere was a young eunuch who hurried into the palace. With a pale face, he whispered a few words in the queen's ear.

Ji Sui slowly tightened the wine cup in his hand. He watched the dignified and elegant smile on the queen's face quickly fade away. He averted his gaze and drank the remaining wine in one gulp.

The elegant and graceful woman sitting on the seat looked at the nobles and ministers toasting each other in the hall, and was unable to speak.

"Everyone..."

After a while, she seemed to have thought of her words, finally cleared her throat, and spoke slowly.

But it was too late. A blood-soaked guard suddenly burst into the Linde Palace and interrupted her: "Your Majesty! The eldest prince is plotting a rebellion! He has been killed at Guangling Gate!"

"Report to the Empress! The eldest prince is plotting a rebellion! He has been killed at Guangling Gate!"

"Report to the Empress! The eldest prince is plotting a rebellion! He has been killed at Guangling Gate!"

The guard held the badge of the commander of the imperial guards, shouted all the way, and finally fell heavily in front of the palace gate.

Suddenly, the drums and music stopped, and silence fell in the hall. Some looked in horror at the fallen guards in front of the hall door, while others looked at the queen in confusion.

"Empress, there must be a misunderstanding! Your Highness is kind and filial, and has guarded the border for years, performing his duties diligently. How could he commit treason?!"

The person who spoke was none other than the eldest prince's party who had been arguing in the hall a few days ago. After he finished speaking, several other officials also stood up one by one to speak up for the eldest prince.

But in just less than a quarter of an hour, three waves of people arrived from Guangling Gate, reporting the war situation and asking the queen to take charge of the situation as soon as possible.

At that time, the officials who had just pleaded for the eldest prince realized that the eldest prince would not attend the banquet tonight on the grounds of being tired from traveling, and the nobles who were closest to the eldest prince and relied on him would not come to the banquet today either.

And they are just abandoned pawns.

"Anyone who raises an army to rebel is a traitor. I, an old minister, am willing to don armor and lead the troops, serving the Great Zhou with all my might!"

An old general in the hall suddenly stood up and replied to the queen sternly.

This man was already nearly sixty years old, with gray hair on his temples, so the Queen would never allow him to fight. Most of the marquises at the banquet had inherited their titles from their fathers and had never been on the battlefield.

The Queen slowly cast her gaze on the young general not far away. Ji Sui, wearing a silver crown and tying his hair, stood up neatly and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, I would like to serve you."

The expression on the queen's face was obviously much more relaxed. Her eyes were clear and bright, and she nodded slowly towards Ji Rui.

In a moment, the Third Prince, who had been seated next to the Queen, also stood up and bowed, saying, "I, your son, am a servant of your majesty. I would like to volunteer to help the General quell the rebellion."

Ji Sui has been at the border for three years, winning many battles and enjoying a high reputation. However, now the enemy outnumbers us and we are at a disadvantage. If the royal family could get involved, it would undoubtedly be more inspiring and arouse the fighting spirit of the soldiers.

The queen lowered her eyes to glance at the five-year-old child sitting beside her, sighed slightly, and then agreed to the third prince's request.

Ji Bai led several deputy generals who came to the banquet and walked out of the hall with the third prince.

*

Unable to meet the emperor, the eldest prince claimed that the emperor was controlled by evil people and attacked the palace in the name of clearing the court of evil.

The sky, which should have been pitch black, was now illuminated red by the fires burning everywhere. Screams and cries were heard everywhere inside the palace walls. The majestic palace, which was magnificent during the day, turned into a hell on earth in the dead of night.

All the musicians from the Imperial Music Bureau in the Nanxun Palace hid behind the wardrobe under the table, holding their breath and not daring to cry out loud.

They had originally planned to perform the finale of the evening's performance, but unexpectedly encountered such a disaster. The imperial guards were dispatched to the Linde Hall, and the rebels soon arrived there.

The sounds of fighting outside the door were so close that they seemed to be right next to their ears. The painful groans in this quiet environment uncontrollably drilled into their ears, amplifying their fear.

Finally, someone couldn't bear it anymore and asked, "Will your method really work? If they come charging in, we won't even have anywhere to escape!"

The person being questioned was Lin Zhen. She leaned against the shelf with her eyes lowered and said calmly, "If you want to go out, you can go out anytime."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a "bang" sound, as if something hit the door, and then there was no sound.

The person at the door could be seen saying in a trembling voice: "Dead...dead..."

Looking at the bloodstains reflected by the lights on the doors and windows, no one spoke anymore, just hid quietly.

I don’t know how long it took, but suddenly I heard the sound of a baby crying outside the door, and he seemed to be calling for his mother indistinctly.

The child seemed to have endless energy, crying and wailing for a long time without stopping. Someone in the room grew tired of hearing it and said angrily, "If he keeps crying like this, what will happen if someone finds us? It's so annoying!"

Almost at the same time that person spoke, Lin Zhen walked out from behind the shelf.

“Hey, you—!”

Lin Zhen quickly pushed the door open and closed it tightly. Not far from the door, there was indeed a three or four-year-old child standing in the corner, holding a piece of cake in his hand and crying.

Lin Zhen took advantage of the chaos and stepped forward to hold the child in her arms. She glanced at the palace door she had just walked out of, and in the end she did not go in that direction again.

But Lin Zhen didn't know that as soon as she went out, someone had locked the door inside, so she couldn't go back even if she wanted to.

There were several corpses lying in the corner of the wall. Lin Zhen held the child and hid behind the corpses.

She has never had a gentle and lovely appearance. She has long eyebrows and phoenix eyes. Although she is beautiful, she is too cold.

But the child surprisingly stopped crying. He seemed not to be afraid of Lin Zhen at all. He even broke off a piece of cake with his little hands and handed it to Lin Zhen's mouth, saying in a soft voice, "Sister, do you want to eat it?"

Lin Zhen was stunned for a moment by the child's sudden closeness. In fact, she was not used to being so close to others. Naturally, no one dared to get close to her in the Lin Mansion before.

Apart from……

The scene of the Lantern Festival three years ago suddenly appeared in her mind. Everyone in the mansion went out for fun, and she stayed alone in her father's study, helping him organize the books on the shelf.

The young man got a plate of cakes from somewhere and started eating while sitting at the desk. Lin Zhen glanced at him and frowned, saying, "This is not the place for you to eat."

This was not the first or second time that he had behaved unruly in the mansion, and Lin Zhen did not know why his father was always so tolerant of this man.

Seeing that he had no intention of leaving, Lin Zhen placed a book on the table and said in a low voice, "Lin Chu..."

Before she could finish her words, a piece of cake with a faint sweet-scented osmanthus scent was stuffed into her mouth.

“It’s delicious.”

He smiled lazily.

“It’s delicious.”

The sweet and sticky voice in her ears intertwined with the distant voice. Lin Zhen suddenly came back to her senses. After a pause, she bit off the piece of cake with her lips and smiled at the child in her arms.

After an unknown amount of time, the child in Lin Zhen's arms slowly fell asleep on his shoulder. There were fireworks everywhere, and even Lin Zhen felt a little sleepy.

"There seems to be another woman here!"

A rough voice woke Lin Zhen up, and she suddenly clenched a long sword that she had pulled out from the pile of corpses.

A man with a dirty face ran towards her, and Lin Zhen pointed a long sword at him.

"Come quickly!"

Then, several big men came over. One of them looked at the sword in Lin Zhen's hand, his eyes lit up, as if he had discovered something surprising, and laughed out loud. The next moment, he kicked Lin Zhen's wrist.

With a "bang", Lin Zhen felt pain and the sword slipped uncontrollably from his hand.

Lin Zhen's mind went blank as she watched the man approach her step by step, and then...

He fell straight in front of her.

"Why are you here?"

A man in black clothes and silver armor appeared in front of her, with several corpses lying around him. They were the group of people just now.

His face was stained with blood, but his pair of bright black eyes were particularly eye-catching, as was that familiar voice.

Ji Wei glanced at the little guy leaning on her arms with disgust, leaned over and pulled Lin Zhen up by the waist.

The little kid fell to the ground and suddenly started crying, but his two little hands tightly grasped Lin Zhen's skirt.

Ji Sui took a breath and glared at him fiercely: "Let me go!"

The only response he got was the little boy crying even harder. Lin Zhen leaned over and picked him up, with his back facing Ji Sui.

After a moment of silence, Ji Sui's slightly impatient voice came from behind: "Take them together."

“…Thank you.”

Lin Zhen turned around while holding him, and said something in a low voice as he passed by Ji Sui.

He tightened his grip on the sword slightly, and after a moment, he chuckled and said, "No need to thank me, Lin Zhen, you owe me one."