Chapter 262 Misunderstanding, the Feng Family's Counterattack

If Pei Yuan had been awake, there is no doubt that His Majesty would have ordered him to lead the Imperial Guards there.

He had anticipated this situation, so he deliberately pretended to faint.

Firstly, he couldn't see anything, and there were no of his trusted confidants here.

Secondly, Pei Yuan mouthed something before leaving.

He was referring to Li Ming.

Li Ming should have already returned to the city by now. The fact that he was able to knock on the city gate shows that there were people from their side at the city gate as well.

His Majesty's return to the capital is such a momentous event that it's impossible for the Crown Prince and the Feng family to have been completely unaware of it.

Pei Yuan wanted to return to the capital with His Majesty, so he arrested Li Ming first.

Having figured this out, Shen Chu clenched her hands.

Now it remains to be seen who will act faster, them or the Feng family.

She led the Imperial Guards straight to Leigong Mountain.

The soldiers on Leigong Mountain were already asleep when Shen Chu led his men straight in.

She led her men straight to the camp next to the commander's tent.

That bearded man was probably the highest-ranking general besides Li Ming.

To catch the thief, first catch the king; once the bearded man is captured, the soldiers are no longer a threat.

Kicking aside the patrolmen who rushed to block her way, Shen Chu pushed open the tent flap and rushed inside.

As soon as I entered, I was met with a pair of wide, staring eyes.

The bearded man slumped in a chair, a dagger stuck in his chest, which was stained with blood.

He has already died.

Shen Chu frowned slightly; they had been gone for less than an hour.

When he left, the bearded man and Li Ming were still drinking and chatting happily.

So, Li Ming killed the bearded man?

Her heart sank as she heard deafening shouts of battle outside.

The remaining lieutenants led their soldiers in a chaotic battle with the Imperial Guards.

Shen Chu had the bearded man's corpse dragged out and placed on the high platform.

She slammed the gong used for night watchmen.

Ding ding ding!

The crisp, resounding sound of the gong jolted everyone's eardrums, and they all stopped.

Shen Chu pointed at the bearded man and shouted, "Your general is dead, why don't you surrender?"

The crowd's expressions changed slightly when they saw the bearded man with a dagger stuck in his chest, his eyes wide open in death.

Shen Chu sneered, "His Majesty already knows of your existence and has specially sent us to annihilate you."

Not only you, but Li Ming is also not doing well in the capital.

Your masters are about to be arrested, are you still foolish enough to risk your lives for them?

The lieutenants looked at each other in bewilderment.

Shen Chu continued, "Now that His Majesty has returned to the capital, if you surrender without resistance, I will plead with His Majesty on your behalf, considering that your hands are not yet stained with blood, and spare your lives."

If they persist in resisting, kill them on the spot without mercy.

The soldiers all looked terrified, dropped their weapons, and knelt down to beg for mercy.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the lieutenants knelt down dejectedly.

The deputy commander of the Imperial Guard who followed him raised an eyebrow and looked at Shen Chu with a hint of appreciation.

He was originally resentful that the emperor had sent Shen Chu to lead them to suppress the private army.

He was just a civil official; all he could do was guide them.

I never expected that Lord Shen, though a civil official, would be so knowledgeable about military strategy.

The deputy commander cupped his hands and said, "Young Master Shen acted decisively and ruthlessly, killing the general of the private army camp as soon as he entered. This tactic of capturing the leader first is excellent."

Chen Chu.....

This is a complete misunderstanding. The bearded man died simply because the other side gave him a free kill.

I wonder if Pei Yuan will be able to catch Li Ming once he enters the city.

With her heart filled with concern, she said to the deputy commander, "Please trouble the commander to arrange for someone to collect their personal information and escort them back to the capital one by one."

Shen Chu had other important matters to attend to and returned to the capital ahead of time.

The deputy commander took a great liking to her and readily agreed.

"Young Master Shen, please go ahead and attend to your business. I will take care of the rest."

Shen Chu bowed in thanks, left Leigong Mountain, and headed towards the capital.

As we entered the city, the sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

As soon as we entered the city gate, we could vaguely see thick smoke billowing from the city.

Judging from the direction, it seems to be General Li's residence.

Chen Chu's heart sank.

Were they still a step too slow?

"Master Xiao Shen."

There were eunuchs guarding the city gate who saw her coming and bowed.

"His Majesty has decreed that Lord Shen must immediately come to the palace to see the Emperor upon his return."

Shen Chu followed the eunuch toward the palace.

On the road, they encountered Sun Yan, who was galloping towards them on horseback.

Sun Yan nodded to the eunuch, "I will escort Lord Shen into the palace. You may go ahead and attend to your duties, Your Excellency."

The eunuch bowed and left.

Shen Chu quickly asked, "What happened to the Li family?"

Sun Yan said: "Last night, Feng Wenhan, the son of the chief minister, led a group of people into the general's mansion, saying that Li Ming had plotted to murder the prince and court officials, which was a heinous crime and had been executed. He wanted to detain the rest of the Feng family in prison."

"Feng Wenhan had the Crown Prince's warrant, and we couldn't stop him. We could only watch helplessly as he arrested the entire Li family."

"Li Ming has been executed, Your Highness? Didn't Your Highness return in time?"

Sun Yan shook his head, his expression grave.

"I have been guarding the Li residence with my men. Yesterday at noon, Li Ming went into his study and hasn't come out since."

As night fell, our group realized something was wrong. I rushed into the study but found that Li Ming was gone.

They searched the entire Li residence but couldn't find him. Then Feng Wenhan led his men in, saying that Li Ming had been shot and killed by the Crown Prince's men at the city gate.

When His Majesty and His Highness returned to the capital, Li Ming had already passed away.

Shen Chu felt it was a bit tricky.

The Feng family reacted far too quickly. If I'm not mistaken, that old fox, Chief Minister Feng, wants to pin everything on Li Ming.

The Feng family's move of sacrificing a pawn to save the king was both ruthless and decisive.

Or rather, when they instructed Li Ming to burn them to death, they had already decided to abandon Li Ming.

They first instructed Li Ming to kill the bearded man in the private army camp, and then to shoot Li Ming when he returned to the capital.

She stopped and looked at Sun Yan.

"His Highness sent you to greet me, didn't he say anything else?"

Sun Yan quickly pulled something out of his pocket. "And this is what I found in Li Ming's study. His Highness asked me to give it to Lord Shen."

Shen Chu's eyes lit up slightly.

"Sun Yan, before it's fully light, could you do something for me..."

-------

The atmosphere inside Longquan Palace was somewhat tense.

The Crown Prince was angrily reporting Li Ming's crimes.

"Previously, two bodies were carried out from the fire at the Li residence. I thought that my sixth brother and Lord Shen had unfortunately been killed, so I sent people to the Li family to question Li Ming and his family."

Unexpectedly, Li Ming, feeling guilty, attempted to flee. The men I sent lost their composure and shot Li Ming dead.

Afterwards, Wenhan found a large amount of gold and silver treasures in the Li family's residence. I have already had them compiled into a list and will present it to Your Majesty for review.

The Longqing Emperor sat behind his desk, listening expressionlessly.

Seeing Shen Chu step in, he finally spoke, "Shen Chu, you've come at the right time. How did things go?"

Shen Chu bowed and said, "Your Majesty, all the generals of the private army have surrendered, and Deputy Commander Gao is currently leading men to detain all the soldiers and bring them back to the capital."

"What? Private soldiers?" The Crown Prince suddenly jumped up, his face full of shock. "Could it be that Li Ming is secretly raising a private army? This... is simply a wolf's ambition, an act of treason!"

Shen Chu turned to look at the Crown Prince, who was feigning shock, a cold smile flashing in her eyes.

Well, the prince's acting wasn't very good.