When Zhu Zhi saw the two of them, his eyes widened in surprise.
"You, you, you, aren't you the girl who helped Miss Lu extort a whole restaurant from Lao San at the entrance of Lianfu Restaurant?"
Zhu Heng also remembered. That's right, he was on the second floor of Lianfu Restaurant at the time and saw everything that happened downstairs clearly.
When she came downstairs after the meal, she saw that she had left with Lu Yucheng and his sister, and was said to have become Miss Lu's personal maid.
But he clearly saw this maid on the street yesterday. She was with Miss Lu at the time, and even bowed to him.
I haven't heard Xiao Song mention that she and Feng Yan went to the palace.
Zhu Heng seemed to have thought of something.
Since ancient times, every imperial palace has had a secret passage, which only the emperor and the crown prince knew about.
So, they came in through the secret passage?
So, they actually knew about his actions today a long time ago?
Could it be that there's a traitor among his men?
Zhu Heng naturally thought of Ren Yushan.
His daughter is now a concubine in Zhu Zhi's household and is pregnant with Zhu Zhi's illegitimate child.
Zhu Heng's face grew increasingly ashen.
Upon hearing Zhu Zhi's words, the woman looked over with a cold gaze: "Your Highness, I am now Qi Yu, a maidservant of Miss Lu."
"Qi Yu? What a nice name!" Zhu Heng sneered. "I didn't expect that the ignorant Miss Lu would give your little servant such a good name."
“That’s still better than the Second Prince trying to usurp the throne by framing someone else.” Qi Yu’s words were sharp and unforgiving.
"Ha!" Zhu Heng snorted coldly.
At this moment, a staff member from the Second Prince's residence rushed in, panting heavily, and said, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened! Zhu Yu has left the residence again! I thought Prince An was just trying to lull us into a false sense of security; his leg might not be paralyzed after all..."
The staff member stopped abruptly before he could finish uttering the word "paralyzed".
Because he also saw Feng Yan.
With this person here, what more is there to say?
The staff looked at Zhu Heng with a look of horror.
Zhu Heng sneered: "Useless!"
"Where is Ren Yushan? Is there any movement from the examination hall?" Zhu Heng asked.
The aide, pale-faced and flustered, said, "Your Highness, we have all been deceived by Ren Yushan. The Fifth Prince, leading several dozen Northern Army soldiers and Prince Lu, is attacking the palace gates. I had no choice but to sneak in through the secret passage we dug."
The old emperor's eyes darkened as he roared, "Second son, how dare you dig a secret passage in the palace!"
Zhu Heng's sinister gaze shot towards the old emperor, who was being protected by Feng Yan and Qi Yu: "So what!"
The old emperor shuddered in fright and involuntarily took two steps back, only to be caught by Zhu Zhi.
When Feng Yan heard Zhu Heng's advisors say this to Zhu Heng, he realized that they actually suspected Ren Yushan.
Before Feng Yan could speak, Qi Yu said, "Commander Feng, since Prime Minister Ren has already helped the Fifth Prince to attack, we should protect the Emperor even more."
Feng Yan nodded and said to Zhu Zhi, "Please, Your Highness, protect the Emperor."
"Ren Yushan betrayed you, Your Highness. It was Ren Yushan. No wonder when I arrived, the examination hall was extremely quiet, and the candidates were even still answering questions."
Enraged, Zhu Heng slapped his advisor across the face.
The words that the fifty-something-year-old advisor, who had served in Zhu Heng's household for more than a decade, were about to say abruptly stopped.
Feng Yan and Yu, one on each side, charged towards Zhu Heng and the others, swords drawn.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Zhi immediately escorted the old emperor to a side hall.
The old emperor clutched his injured abdomen tightly with one hand.
Zhu Zhi then led the old emperor into the secret passage.
A month ago, after Zhu Dan told the emperor about Zhu Heng's plot to rebel, the old emperor revealed this secret passage to Zhu Dan.
At that time, Qi Shaocheng had just led the Northern Army to the southern border to attack Chen.
After several discussions, the group immediately changed their strategy.
Zhu Dan then told Lu Xiaoyun and Zhu Yu about the secret passage, and they decided that Feng Yan and Qi Yu would lead five hundred Northern Army soldiers through this passage to rescue the emperor today.
However, after taking the pills given to him by the alchemist early in the morning, the old emperor, under the seduction of Consort Ye, could not control himself and did something unplanned.
Seeing the old emperor leave, a ruthless glint flashed across Zhu Heng's face.
He waved his hand, and the Imperial Guards behind him immediately surged forward, instantly engaging Feng Yan, Qi Yu, and the others in battle.
During the time when Lu Xiaoyun was injured and Zhu Yu and Qi Yu were taking care of Lu Xiaoyun at the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion, the two masters found them annoying and always sent them away.
So Jiang Chuan made all sorts of snacks with Li Feng, turning Li Feng's small face into a round one.
At the martial arts training ground of Prince An's mansion, Feng Yan often practiced martial arts with Yu.
The two were evenly matched in martial arts, and within a month they had developed an extremely good working relationship.
The two sides fought their way back outside the palace.
Moments later, a fierce battle broke out outside the hall.
At this moment, Zhu Heng was no longer the kind and benevolent man he once was; his eyes were now dark and filled with bloodthirsty ruthlessness.
"Kill them!" Zhu Heng shouted, and more than a thousand imperial guards surged toward Feng Yan and Qi Yu like a tidal wave.
The two men, swords in hand, charged out.
In an instant, a gap was opened in the Imperial Guards' formation, and with each swift stroke of the blade, blood splattered and limbs flew from both sides of the Imperial Guards.
The remaining several hundred Northern Army soldiers flanked the Imperial Guards from both sides, cutting through the Imperial Guards' ranks piece by piece.
Even Zhu Heng's advisors, who came to deliver the message, didn't have time to dodge before they were killed by the charging blades.
The Imperial Guards were, after all, also guards of the imperial city, and their combat strength was not weak either.
While being killed by Feng Yan and his men, the swords in their hands also slashed and killed one Northern Army soldier after another.
Within half an hour, a pile of corpses lay on the ground.
This magnificent imperial palace, the most powerful palace in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, instantly became a living hell where countless people perished.
At the palace gate, Zhu Dan and Lu Yucheng had already killed all the imperial guards who had not retreated back to the palace, and now the two were doing their best to breach the palace gate.
However, the palace's double doors were made of black iron, making them extremely difficult to breach.
At this moment, Lu Xiaoyun and Zhu Yu, leading more than two thousand Northern Army soldiers, had already arrived at the palace gate.
They left a large number of soldiers to guard the four city gates in case Zhu Heng had any other rebel troops.
When Xiao Song, who was guarding the palace gate, saw Prince An leading several thousand black-clad soldiers charging towards them, his legs immediately went weak.
He was already struggling to deal with the Fifth Prince and Lu Yucheng, let alone the Prince of An.
But when I looked up, why was there a woman in purple?
The woman was dressed in a purple, close-fitting outfit, riding a horse, holding the reins in one hand and carrying a large bow in the other.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Miss Lu?
Xiao Song stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Everyone knows that Miss Lu, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, is a good-for-nothing, but no one knows that she knows martial arts.
After all, given what she did with Prince An at the palace banquet before the new year, it's impossible for others not to remember her.
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