Qi Shaocheng quickly pulled out a short throwing knife from his wrist guard and hurled it at Lin Yuanqing's brow with a whoosh.
A cold light shot straight toward Lin Yuanqing, carrying a murderous aura that could shatter everything, and instantly penetrated into his skin and bones.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment, like the blood between the brows, slowly sliding down, its speed actually slowing down.
Lin Yuanqing stared wide-eyed, mouth agape, desperately trying to breathe, like a fish stranded on the shore, mouth agape, struggling to breathe but unable to get a breath of fresh air.
The fear of death filled his chest, and only then did Lin Yuanqing realize that the Second Prince Zhu Heng could not possibly win.
He didn't want to die!
He never imagined that he would die in this palace coup.
Time suddenly sped up again, and blood gushed out from between his brows, instantly blurring his vision.
His eyes were wide open in despair, but his body fell straight down.
On the ground lay a corpse, lying face up with a knife stuck in its throat. Lin Yuanqing had fallen, and the sharp blade had pierced through his chest.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his lungs seemed to be freed at that moment, allowing him to breathe one last breath.
One last, unrestrained breath, and then all breath was gone.
"Lord Lin is dead! Lord Lin is dead! Surrender!" Among the fighting crowd, dozens of rebels were the first to put down their knives.
The hardest part is being the first person to step forward, when so many others have given up the fight.
Those who surrender will not be killed!
Those who surrender will not be killed!
The thunderous sound began at the head of the chaotic army and instantly resounded to the tail of the army.
The rebels threw down their knives.
·
Lu Xiaoyun and Zhu Yu turned their horses around and headed back to the city, but at that moment, the four main gates of Shengjing City—east, west, south, and north—had all been taken over by the rebel army.
Lu Xiaoyun snorted coldly. No wonder Xiong Haiquan only had more than 30,000 rebel troops at his disposal just now. It turned out that the remaining 20,000 troops were guarding the four city gates.
But so what?
Zhu Heng created such a commotion so that his own rebel army could infiltrate Shengjing City undetected. Little did he know that he was also giving them the opportunity to secretly bury the Northern Army in every corner of Shengjing City.
In addition, the soldiers who had gathered with them from various mountain valleys formed a dense, dark mass when viewed from afar.
The rebels defending the city were horrified to discover that a massive, dark army was pressing down on them from afar.
The sound of synchronized footsteps, the clanging of armor against clashing weapons, the clatter of hooves echoing from the valley, and the tremors of the ground all told them that this army numbered no less than 20,000.
They only had five thousand men.
Where did this massive army come from?
The rebel soldiers defending the city looked at each other, utterly bewildered.
Their orders were clearly to keep unauthorized personnel out of the city; they were only to guard the city gates and were not required to fight.
But isn't that dark mass below the city gate there to reap their heads?
Lu Xiaoyun, dressed in silver-white armor, and Zhu Yu, dressed in purple narrow-sleeved riding attire, sat upright on their horses.
Although the man's features were cold and hard, there was a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. His handsome eyes sparkled, and he even bent down to whisper a few words to the woman beside him.
Although the woman's features were gentle, her lips were pursed, and when her phoenix eyes looked up, it gave the impression of being stared at by an eagle.
The general guarding the city felt a chill run down his spine.
"Be on guard! Be on guard now! Archers, prepare!" the defending general shouted.
The bewildered rebels were not even able to recover for a moment.
The general guarding the city suddenly raised his whip and lashed it at the soldiers who disobeyed his orders.
The soldiers, feeling the pain, then drew their bows and nocked their arrows.
"It's His Highness Prince An! It's Prince An!" one of the guards shouted. As he shouted, his legs went weak and he rolled down the city wall.
He was so frightened that he couldn't even stand up straight.
Several bold guards peeked out, and their expressions changed drastically when they saw Prince An sitting upright on his horse and the vast army behind him.
"It's His Highness Prince An, and the Northern Army!"
"Isn't Prince An paralyzed and bedridden?"
"Didn't the Northern Army go to the southern border?"
"Wait, why is there another woman? Who is she?"
"It looks like Miss Lu from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. Yes, it's her. How could it be her?"
Prince An? The Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion? Aren't they supposed to be protectors of the country and its people?
So what exactly are we guarding?
The rebels, unaware of the situation, were completely bewildered.
Since Zhu Heng was going to start a rebellion, apart from a few of his confidants who knew his true secret, how could the ordinary soldiers possibly know?
All that is known is that they came under the pretext of protecting the emperor, who was supposedly being held hostage by the eldest prince.
Even the fifth prince, Zhu Dan, was a hypocrite with a sanctimonious appearance.
It is said that Zhu Dan colluded with the State of Chen to attempt to assassinate the emperor during the Lantern Festival, but was saved by Prince An. In desperation, Zhu Dan seriously injured Prince An.
After all, the Fifth Prince had just returned from Southern Liang, and Southern Liang and Chen were both located in the southern border region, so it was indeed very possible that Zhu Dan had colluded with Chen.
But what's going on right now?
How did Prince An, who was paralyzed in bed, end up sitting on a horse? Judging from the way he spurred the horse, his legs were clearly strong and powerful, showing no signs of being seriously injured by Zhu Dan.
It was also said that General Lu, the Duke of Zhenguo, was injured by Zhu Dan and is now lying in bed like a living dead.
But think about His Highness Prince An, could he also be a fake?
Before they could even react to what was happening, a deluge of arrows rained down on the city gate.
In an instant, before the defending general could even give the order to fire arrows, a pile of corpses had already fallen on the city wall.
"Fire arrows! Fire arrows now!" the defending general shouted hoarsely.
Only then did the soldiers shoot their arrows.
Similarly, the Northern Army soldiers below unfurled the bracers on their left arms with a series of thuds, and the giant shields spread out to block the rebel army's rain of arrows.
Taking advantage of the moment when the rebels were nocking their arrows, the soldiers below swiftly sent arrows flying upwards, once again reaping their lives.
The general guarding the city turned deathly pale. He had never seen such armor before, much less a shield that could be wrapped around the arm.
Even he himself was hit by several arrows.
Fortunately, the arrow that flew up from below was not only out of aim, but its force was also reduced by three points, so it did not hit any vital organs.
He leaned against the wall, barely managing to stay upright.
"Attack the city!" Lu Xiaoyun shouted, raising her sword. The rolling stone carts, carrying giant logs, crashed rapidly toward the city gate.
With a loud "boom," even the rebel soldiers standing on the city wall felt the city wall tremble.
A flurry of mud and dust flew everywhere.
With another deafening roar, the ancient city gate of Shengjing, which had stood for over three hundred years, began to tremble and crumble.
However, it wasn't over yet; siege ladders were quickly erected.
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