Chapter 86 Revenge: Even Ants Have Their Own Anger
When it comes to forcing someone to abdicate, the key is to act swiftly and decisively; if you delay, it often means that your chances of winning decrease.
So when the second master of the Xie family led his men through a difficult battle to the palace gates, and saw no sign of Prince Ning coming to meet them, he knew that the situation was hopeless.
They had been plotting for years, but they couldn't even step through the palace gates, let alone storm the Qin Zheng Hall.
Why, exactly why?
Even if the incident was sudden, it shouldn't have ended in such a rout!
Didn't Prince Ning say he had already led his men into the palace and would cooperate with the Imperial Concubine to open the palace gates and receive them? Then what is this welcoming them now? Why aren't there reinforcements, or open city gates, but instead a hail of swords and arrows?
Where exactly is Prince Ning, and what is Consort Jia doing? Master Xie was completely bewildered.
One by one, those around him fell, and it was clear that total annihilation was imminent. He had no choice but to order: "Retreat!"
After all, they were doing something as dangerous as forcing the emperor to abdicate and rebel, and their actions were sudden and unprepared. They had already considered the possibility of failure and arranged an escape route. If they had retreated in time, they might have been able to save their lives.
But when he retreated according to plan, he found that his retreat route had been blocked. They were trapped in a large net and could not break free no matter what.
At this point, Master Xie understood perfectly well that the Emperor had known about the Xie family's plans all along, but simply hadn't taken any action.
Now they are trapped, and the emperor can catch them like turtles in a jar, trapping them here to die.
But who in this world would want to die? Master Xie looked at the remaining people around him, then at the surrounding environment, and finally his gaze fell in one direction.
"Go to the Prince Ping's residence!"
He shouted.
"Prince Ping is the emperor's most favored son. If we capture him and use him to coerce the emperor, we might still have a chance to survive. Otherwise... we'll only face certain death!"
As he spoke, he led the way and rushed towards the Prince Ping's residence. The others around him, in order to survive, gritted their teeth and followed.
The imperial palace was heavily guarded and difficult to breach, but the Prince of Ping's mansion was just a small residence. No matter how large or sturdy it was built, the walls were only so high and thick, and the number of servants and guards was only so small.
The Imperial Guards, determined to protect the capital, will inevitably remain here; only a small force can be sent to reinforce them. If they can capture the Prince of Ping's residence and take down the Prince before reinforcements arrive, they will still have a chance to escape the capital!
The group changed direction and headed towards the Prince Ping's residence. Qi Jingxuan was watching the commotion from his own wall when he suddenly saw these people running towards him and was startled: "Why are they coming this way?"
He Yuan reacted quickly, pulling him down from the wall: "Xie Er can't escape, he's probably desperate and wants to capture you to threaten His Majesty! You and the Princess should go back to the inner quarters and not come out until things calm down."
"The manor is well-stocked with men and weapons, and we should be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive. In case, and I mean in case, we fail to hold the gates and they are breached, you and the princess should leave through the secret passage as planned."
"The Xie family only has so many people left. If they see that you are not in the mansion, they will not have the strength to search for you. They will just scatter and flee. As long as you hide well and are not discovered by them, your life will not be in danger."
While he was speaking, Qi Jingxuan had already helped Shen Yan down from the ladder, and hurriedly agreed before pulling her towards the back courtyard.
Shen Yan took two steps and then stopped, looking at He Yuan: "If I wait until you're about to collapse before returning to the inner quarters, will it be enough time?"
He Yuan was puzzled: "What does the Princess mean..."
Shen Yan looked outside through the wall, her usually gentle voice now tinged with coldness: "I have a deep-seated hatred for the Xie family. If possible, I would like to avenge this hatred with my own hands."
Then he added, "Of course, if it causes you any trouble, then forget it. I just... want to give it a try."
He Yuan couldn't understand why she harbored such deep resentment towards the Xie family. In his view, it was Prince Ning who framed Shen Yan, and even if the Xie family had participated and provided assistance, they weren't the masterminds. Besides, apart from damage to her reputation, Shen Yan seemed unharmed in that incident. Neither she nor her parents were seriously injured. Yet, judging from her expression, it was as if she had a mortal feud with them.
However, he was quite confident in defending the Prince's Mansion, replying, "It's possible. Those remnants of the Xie family's army won't find it so easy to breach our mansion, but..."
He looked at Qi Jingxuan and said, "We still need to ask the Prince's opinion."
He couldn't make that decision himself; it depended on whether Qi Jingxuan agreed.
Qi Jingxuan had died eight times, so of course he felt that saving his own life was the most important thing. But when he looked at Shen Yan's determined gaze, the words of refusal circled around his lips but he couldn't bring himself to say them.
He knew that in the previous life Shen Yan had lived, she not only lost her reputation and was forced to leave the capital, but also witnessed the tragic deaths of her parents. The cause of all this was the earthquake caused by the Xie family's illegal iron ore mining near Ganning City.
In the eight lifetimes that Qi Jingxuan experienced, Shen Yan did not hesitate to commit suicide time and time again in order to save her parents' lives, which shows that she valued her parents more than herself.
The Xie family had ruined her entire family and the people of Ganning City. Now that he had the chance to take revenge himself, how could he possibly stop her?
Qi Jingxuan pursed his lips, then finally gripped her hand tightly: "Then promise me that if you're not up to the task, you'll leave with me immediately, and you'll never try to be strong!"
Shen Yan smiled gently: "Of course, I don't want to die yet."
She took off her helmet as she climbed down the ladder, her hair sticking messily to her forehead. Qi Jingxuan was dazzled by her smile, and his heart skipped a beat.
He quickly put the helmet back on Shen Yan and said, "Revenge is important, but protecting yourself is also important."
Then he had someone bring over a lightweight breastplate and personally dressed her in it.
Shen Yan nodded, and the helmet wobbled because of the movement, almost causing her to stumble again.
She struggled to support her neck and readjust, then asked Aqing to help her find a suitable spot in the yard.
It was a tree in the courtyard, its shadow so dense that people were hardly noticeable.
Aqing is strong and has a stable stance, so she can shoot arrows at will while standing on a tree, something Shenyan cannot do.
So she set up a wooden ladder just like she had climbed over the wall earlier, not too high, just stable enough to see outside the courtyard wall.
The trees in the Prince's mansion weren't that thick, so to hide one's figure and make oneself invisible from the outside, only one ladder could be placed under each tree. Qi Jingxuan couldn't move freely among the branches like A Qing, so he could only build a ladder behind another tree not far away and also take a bow in a proper manner.
Before long, Master Xie led his men to the vicinity and launched a fierce attack on the Prince's Mansion.
They thought taking over the palace would be easy, but to their surprise, arrows were shot at them as soon as they got close. Clearly, the people inside were not unprepared.
Xie Er was already furious at failing to capture the capital, and now seeing that the Prince of Ping's mansion was so well prepared, he was even more enraged.
The Xie family had clearly favored a son from another branch of the royal family and had strongly advocated for him to become the crown prince. However, the late emperor, based on the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's assessment that the current emperor had a strong affinity for offspring, directly chose him.
How ridiculous! The ruler of a nation, the affairs of the world, are given to him simply because he is fond of having many children.
Despite the Xie family's repeated attempts to dissuade him, they finally had no choice but to give in. After the emperor ascended the throne, they sent their most outstanding daughter to the palace, hoping she would become empress. But the emperor, that worthless scoundrel, was nothing more than a country bumpkin. He dared to defy the Xie family's wishes, giving the empress title to someone else and only bestowing upon their daughter the title of Imperial Concubine.
Otherwise, Prince Ning would be the legitimate heir and the rightful heir apparent, so why would the Xie family need to go to such lengths to plot a coup?
The emperor not only suppressed the Xie family, but also favored Consort Shu and her son for many years, and doted on the good-for-nothing Prince Ping.
It's clear that Prince Ning is his most outstanding son! Yet he let that good-for-nothing Prince Ping beat him up, and then ignored the whole thing afterwards!
Master Xie had always thought the emperor was blind, but this very stray dog that the late emperor had picked up from outside had now bitten them hard!
The more Xie Erye thought about it, the angrier he became. Seeing that he hadn't been able to capture the Prince of Ping's residence yet, and that reinforcements would arrive soon, leading to certain death either way, he decided to take a gamble and personally led the charge. Capturing the Prince of Ping alive would be ideal, but even a dead one would do; at least it would make the emperor suffer!
As he thought this, he unconsciously leaned further forward.
Shen Yan stood on the ladder, hiding behind a tree, constantly bending her bow and drawing the string, shooting arrow after arrow.
She knew that her archery skills were not as precise as A Qing's, so she didn't aim for a direct hit to kill; she just wanted to hit the target.
Yingzhou is a border region where enemy troops frequently harass the frontier. She is not the kind of sheltered young lady who never leaves her home; she has seen bloodshed, and the scene before her is not enough to frighten her.
When she finished using one quiver of arrows, she took another from a servant and calmly continued to draw the bowstring.
It was the Xie family who illegally mined iron ore, it was the Xie family who caused the collapse of the mine, it was the Xie family who killed her parents, and it was they who killed the entire population of Ganning City!
Even though everything could have been stopped in this life, she and her parents were still inexplicably implicated, and the people of Ganning City were still forced to leave their homes.
To these high-ranking imperial relatives, ordinary people were like ants; their deaths were insignificant to them.
But even ants have their own anger!
As Shen Yan continued firing arrows, her gaze remained fixed on a person surrounded by the crowd outside. The person drew closer, ever closer…
She paused briefly with the arrow in her hand, and after confirming that the person was within her range, she bent the bow, drew the string, aimed, and released.
With a whoosh, the arrow pierced the air, heading straight for Xie Er's left eye.
Aqing was stronger than Shenyan and used a three-stone bow, so she could have killed Xie Er long ago.
But after learning that the earthquake in his previous life was caused by the Xie family, he understood Shen Yan's hatred for them and knew that she would definitely want to take action herself, so he waited and did not make a move.
Seeing that Shen Yan's arrow was aimed at that person, he also drew his bow and shot an arrow straight at Xie Er's right eye.
Although the two arrows were fired one after the other, they hit Xie Er at the same time.
Suddenly everything went black before his eyes, and he fell backward uncontrollably, tumbling off his horse with a thud.
The attendants cried out in alarm, and the remaining soldiers were thrown into chaos, scattering and fleeing.
As Shen Yan looked at the corpses and scattered deserters outside, her hand holding the bow gradually loosened.
Finally, revenge was achieved.
finally.
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