Chapter 242: Cheating on Both Sides
Before Zhao Chongli came to Yangzhou, Nian Zheng met him privately.
"Are you curious about why the prince suddenly gave you this mission?"
Under Zhao Chongli's confused gaze, Nian Zheng slowly told the truth.
"The prince will not interfere in your feud with Princess Jia'an. It was me who persuaded the prince to lend you troops."
Zhao Chongli hurriedly said, "Thank you, cousin."
"You don't need to thank me," Nian Zheng said, "you have to do something for the prince."
"What's up?"
"Kill all the candidates in the Imperial Examination Hall."
Zhao Chongli was stunned.
"That's a heinous crime punishable by the death of nine generations of your clan!"
"You killed Qu Ling, isn't that a grave crime punishable by the death of your entire clan?"
In fact, Zhao Chongli is not familiar with Nian Zheng.
I met her once or twice when I was young, and I only remember that the children in the Nian family were very afraid of her.
Later, she married into Jianzhou and became a concubine.
When she casually said she was going to kill thousands of people, Zhao Chongli actually saw a familiar shadow in her.
That’s right, it’s Qu Ling.
"But......"
Zhao Chongli wanted to defend himself, but he didn't know where to start.
"You have no choice," Nian Zheng's face became fierce under the candlelight, "If you want to kill Qu Ling, you have to kill the candidates in the Imperial Examination Hall."
"I won't seek revenge." Zhao Chongli was furious when he saw this.
He is not threatened.
"Okay, then I will tie you up immediately and send you to Qu Ling." Nian Zheng said.
Zhao Chongli was furious.
How come he just escaped and fell into a trap again?
"Cousin, what's the difference between this and sending me to my death?"
"I don't intend to send you to your death," Nian Zheng said patiently. "All I need to do is make it look like a natural disaster. You immediately return to Jianzhou, and the prince will obey the will of heaven and raise an army."
"You want to rebel!?"
"How can that be called rebellion?" Nian Zheng was very unhappy. "It's just to take back the territory that belongs to the Zhao family."
Zhao Chongli was stunned for a moment.
"What the prince wants to do is the same as what your father wants to do." Nian Zheng raised his eyebrows.
Zhao Chongli thus boarded the pirate ship.
He led 500 people into Yangzhou City, and another team of elite soldiers disguised as civilians entered the city and sneaked into the houses around the Imperial Examination Hall.
The materials were secretly brought in.
Fireballs made of kerosene and saltpeter, coated with white phosphorus, are shot out with a slingshot. When they spontaneously combust in the air, they can create a disaster of fire from the sky.
Nian Zheng said that the prince would make arrangements for the bandits who broke into Yangzhou.
If the Yangzhou soldiers were transferred away, Qu Ling's guards would also be led to rescue the people, and the Imperial Examination Hall would be completely under his control.
Zhao Chongli swallowed his saliva when he saw Qu Ling's smiling eyes.
The bandits entered the city, the government soldiers were transferred away, and the Imperial Examination Hall was indeed under his control.
But the fireball didn't come.
Zhao Chongli's mind was spinning wildly.
Did Qu Ling know the entire plan, or did she only know about the fireball?
Qu Ling let him choose.
How should he choose?
Should he pretend to know nothing and return to Jianzhou, or draw his sword and kill all the candidates in the Imperial Examination Hall?
"Zhao Chongli, you're a piece of shit. You were once a prince of a noble family, but you've fallen to this point. Do you know why? Because you're incompetent."
Qu Ling's words broke the taut string in Zhao Chongli's heart.
"I'll kill you, you vicious woman!"
He roared.
"Kill them all, leaving no one behind!"
The door of the Imperial Examination Hall was kicked open.
The students in the dormitory were instantly panicked when they heard the noise outside.
"What are you panicking about?"
Nian Sihua, however, sat firmly in his original position and suddenly shouted.
The sound was like thunder, and it actually quieted the commotion.
The inspector said, "When you become officials in the future, reports of war on the border or the Yellow River bursting its banks are all more dangerous than today. If you can't even withstand such a small change, how can you expect to govern the country and bring peace to the world?"
Qu Ling's voice also rang out, "Prince Liang wants to kill you all to create the illusion of divine punishment. I guarantee with my life that I will not let this traitor succeed."
"Continue answering the questions!" The examiner wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The fighting outside was getting more intense.
A thin scholar tremblingly straightened the examination table and picked up the brush that had fallen to the ground.
"The sage said, 'He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened; he who conquers others is powerful; he who conquers himself is mighty...'"
More and more people are starting to continue writing.
Although Nian Sheng's face was pale and he was not as calm as Mo Yu, he never put down his pen.
The fighting outside was in full swing.
Zhao Chongli broke into the Imperial Examination Hall and saw hundreds of black-clad guards on the roof holding powerful crossbows, and their cold arrows were aimed at him and his guards.
"That's impossible."
Zhao Chongli's pupils suddenly shrank, and he looked at Qu Ling in disbelief. "You came to Jiangnan without many people, so how could you set up an ambush in advance?"
Qu Ling's eyes were as cold as frost. "Back at the dock, Nian Zhaofeng died, but you survived. Do you think you're capable?"
"It's you who did this!"
"You can only live if I let you live, and you must die if I want you to die."
Zhao Chongli's expression froze and he felt horrified.
It turns out that she had planned this so long ago.
"Take him down." The guards on the roof instantly pulled the trigger of the crossbow, and arrows rained down, killing a large number of people soon.
Zhao Chongli roared and swung his sword to block, but it was of no avail. Soon, most of the guards brought by Jianzhou were killed or injured, and the rest were pinned to the ground and shackled with iron chains.
Just then, Chi Yuan arrived.
He scanned the mess and said in a deep voice, "All the bandits have been captured, and no civilians in the city have been killed or injured."
He paused, then continued, "Only the Nian family. Madam Nian was kidnapped, and Mr. Nian was hacked to death in his bed."
"What?"
Zhao Chongli was struck by lightning, "Impossible, Nian Zheng said..."
He was shaken all over.
What if Nian Zheng also lied to him?
Qu Ling suddenly drew his sword and chopped off the right arm of a restrained guard beside him.
Blood splattered and the man fell to the ground howling.
Qu Ling put the tip of the knife to his throat and said coldly, "Tell me, are you from the Liang Palace?"
The man twitched in pain and trembled, "No... no..."
"If you are not from the Liang Palace, then whose are you from?"
Zhao Chongli is going crazy.
"We are from the Tiesuo Village at Broken Soul Cliff. Ten days ago, someone approached the village chief and asked for seven hundred of his men. He said if we could complete this deal, we would be rewarded with one hundred thousand gold."
Zhao Chongli felt as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke, but he couldn't laugh at all.
King Liang had no intention of really helping him, but was using him as a cover.
No, it’s Nian Zheng.
She cheated on both sides.
What rebellion?
They were all lies to him.
In the evening, a letter arrived from Jianzhou saying that King Liang Zhao Jie had died a few days ago due to a relapse of his old injury.
Qu Ling laughed, "The eldest daughter of the Nian family, the concubine of Prince Liang, is truly a wonderful person."
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