"You all stay here and don't go out!" After saying that, Lu Xiaoyun glanced at Zhu Yu and rushed downstairs towards the lampstand.
She has to go save the old emperor!
The old emperor cannot die yet.
"Don't go!" Zhu Yu exclaimed, reaching for Lu Xiaoyun's hem, but the hem slipped through his fingers.
He caught nothing.
Lu Xiaoyun's martial arts skills are less than half of what they used to be. If she goes out so rashly, who knows what kind of danger she might encounter?
Zhu Yu was flustered and his face turned pale. However, he had only just recovered and, in order to help Lu Xiaoyun recover as soon as possible, he had deliberately avoided practicing martial arts extensively during this period, except for practicing horse stance with Yu Yu.
At this moment, he truly regretted not picking up his martial arts skills sooner.
But he can't just rush out like that now; it would only cause her trouble.
After rushing down, Lu Xiaoyun ordered Feng Yan and the others: "Protect the Princess and Ayan. Once the crowd has dispersed, immediately send the Princess back to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion."
At this moment, there was a barrage of arrows outside, so it was not advisable to go out rashly. Staying here was the safest option.
Obeying orders is a soldier's duty. Although Feng Yan knew he should go with the prince at this time, he still loudly agreed.
Lu Yuyan was also panicked and wanted to rush out, but then he thought that his martial arts skills were mediocre and going there would only bring trouble to his sister.
Why don't we just stay with Zhu Yu?
He glanced over; the man's face was full of worry, but he remained rational.
So Lu Yuyan let Li Feng and Qi Yu into the house, and the four of them stayed inside, staring intently at the lampstand through the wide-open window.
Unfortunately, it was too far away, and the other side was already a sea of fire. All that could be seen was a dense barrage of arrows flying towards the lampstand. No one could see what had happened to the people inside.
On the lamp-lighting platform, seemingly out of nowhere, cold arrows whizzed past the old emperor's ears, piercing the bodies of the concubines and palace servants who were running around in disarray.
Zhu Dan chopped down the arrows with his bare hands as he approached the old emperor.
Zhu Zhi turned pale with fright. He grabbed the eunuch beside him to block the flying arrows and ran down to the bottom of Zhaiyue Tower.
The old emperor was furious. He had appointed Zhu Zhi as crown prince long ago, but when danger struck, he didn't offer any protection to his sovereign and father.
The second prince, Zhu Heng, had no martial arts skills. He hid behind a palace maid, and several arrows were stuck in his arm, causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.
But he vividly remembered loudly ordering the eunuch beside him to leave, for that was his mother.
"Father, protect me! Someone, come quickly and protect me!" Zhu Heng's shouts sounded weak and feeble, as if he had shouted too much or was in pain; his voice was already hoarse.
"Second Brother, take Ruoling and leave quickly! Go first, don't come over!" Zhu Dan was closest to the old emperor.
Seeing that Zhu Heng was about to come towards them, they immediately stopped him. They were already injured, and going to Zhu Heng and their father would only be a burden to him.
Zhu Heng gritted his teeth and said, "Father, I have no martial arts skills. I will go find the Imperial Guards right away." After saying that, he grabbed Ruoling and ran away.
Ruoling cried out in fear, "Second brother, father, father, save father, and fifth brother..."
Zhu Heng pulled Ruoling down to the foot of Zhaiyue Tower: "Father will be fine. With Fifth Brother protecting him, you and I will only be a burden to them if we stay there. Come on, let's go get reinforcements."
The dense swarm of arrows was clearly aimed at the old emperor; there were only a few arrows in their area, and when they flew up from below, they didn't have enough force.
Zhu Heng easily led Ruoling to escape down below.
Ren Yushan looked over from afar.
Zhu Heng knocked Ruoling unconscious with a single chop to the neck, handed her over to two eunuchs, and then disappeared into the crowd.
Consort Chu was the most favored new concubine during this period, second only to Consort Ye. Therefore, she was very close to the old emperor. Her face turned pale, and she was so frightened that she lost all strength. She could only hold tightly to the old emperor's sleeve, hoping that he would not throw her down at this moment.
Consort Chu was sent by the Crown Prince. When the Crown Prince saw that Zhu Chen had sent Consort Ye to the old emperor, he turned around and sent Consort Chu in.
The two served the old emperor so closely that they no longer visited the other concubines in the harem.
Enraged, Consort De smashed several sets of fine teacups in her own palace.
Another flaming arrow flew towards the old emperor and arrived in front of him in an instant.
Zhu Dan was still some distance from the old emperor and had no time to block him: "Father, be careful!" His voice was almost cracking.
The old emperor's pupils constricted suddenly. Consort Ye pushed Consort Chu in front of the old emperor, who immediately pulled someone to shield him.
The arrow, with a sharp whistling sound, pierced directly into Consort Chu's heart, penetrating her body and stopping just half an inch away from the old emperor.
Consort Chu coughed up a mouthful of blood. Today she was wearing a blue-green embroidered palace dress, which made her already fair skin even more dazzling. But this brilliance came to an abrupt end at this moment.
Fresh blood quickly spread from her heart, staining her amber-colored dress with a vibrant, delicate flower pattern.
Jiaohua turned her head in disbelief to look at the old emperor who had used her body to shield her from the arrow. Wasn't he supposed to be the one who doted on her the most and cared about her the most?
Wasn't it said that she was more to his liking than Consort Ye?
Several more arrows pierced her body.
The gushing blood stained the old emperor's bright yellow dragon robe, and in the blink of an eye, the delicate flower, filled with resentment and bitterness, was gone.
The old emperor was still shaken. If it weren't for Consort Ye's quick thinking in pushing Consort Chu, who was closest to him, in front of him, and him using Consort Chu as a shield, he would already be a corpse by now.
Who dares to commit regicide!
The old emperor showed no pity as he pushed away the soft corpse of Consort Chu, who had collapsed into his arms.
What was once a great honor can ultimately be discarded at any time.
The old emperor gave Consort Ye a very satisfied look. Not bad, clever.
When the lampstand was built, it was made of nanmu wood, and hundreds of flaming arrows were nailed to it, which immediately made the fire rag.
The largest lantern's frame was set ablaze, instantly extinguishing all the smaller lanterns connected to it. The lanterns, linked together with the house, spread rapidly in all directions.
"The Northern Qi people are attacking!" Someone shouted, and the shouts of the people running around in all directions grew louder.
The imperial guards brought by Xiao Song had been stationed below the lamplighting platform, but now that the fire had started, they were pushed up by the crowd and couldn't get up to the platform at all.
Moreover, at this time, the most important thing is to find and capture the people who fired the arrows in order to save everyone.
Xiao Song then led the Imperial Guards toward the direction from which the arrows came, but there were too many panicked civilians, and they were unable to break through the encirclement of the crowd.
The five city garrison and patrol battalion numbered only two or three hundred men. Faced with the terrified and panicked civilians, they were unable to move and were even pushed out of the city by the crowd.
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