Chapter 852 Princess Taiping was burned to death
The fire was getting fiercer and fiercer.
Even a month of continuous snowfall and the presence of melted snow everywhere could not stop the raging fire from spreading.
Cheng Wanwan knew that this must be arson; Princess Taiping had set the fire to buy them time to escape...
"Cousin, let's go!"
He Xiao grabbed Cheng Wanwan's arm and dragged her into the circle of a hundred guards.
At this moment, the streets were in complete chaos. The guards carrying the coffin were summoned back to the palace to put out the fire, and the ministers who had accompanied the funeral procession also turned back towards the palace. As for the common people on the streets, they were in utter chaos, and the disorderly crowd made it very easy for them to evacuate.
The only people watching them were the guards arranged by the King of Xirong, totaling more than three hundred people.
However, the streets were too chaotic, and the guards on surveillance could not get close.
"Gu Bing, Gu Leng, take Lady Sui and leave first!" The King of Qin pulled out a musket from his back, squinted, and said, "Finally, I can test the power of this thing!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately lit the musket. The ammunition flew out at the speed of light, and the flames instantly landed on the front-line Western Rong soldiers, igniting their fur-lined clothes.
Cheng Yi seized the opportunity, wielding his spear, and pierced the man's head.
The two worked together so perfectly that they astonished the rest of the Western Rong soldiers.
They had never seen the object in the King of Qin's hand before, and for a moment they dared not approach it.
When the people on the street saw the sudden fight break out, they were so frightened that they scattered in all directions, and the blocked road was finally cleared up a bit.
He Xiao said in a deep voice, "Let's go now!"
A hundred guards, along with seven or eight court officials, rushed quickly toward the city gate.
The city gates of the capital were wide open. Cheng Ding led his men to clear the way at the front, Gu Bing and Gu Leng were responsible for sweeping the sides, and He Xiao and the King of Qin brought up the rear...
"Don't let them get away!"
"If Madam Sui escapes, even ten of our heads won't be enough to compensate for it!"
"Go get reinforcements!"
The Western Rong soldiers roared loudly.
Originally, their three hundred men were more than enough to monitor these hundred-odd guards, but after seeing that thing, they knew they were no match for it and had to call for reinforcements.
But with the palace on fire and everyone busy fighting it, the message to call for reinforcements was sent back, but no one carried it out for a long time...
More than three hundred Western Rong soldiers chased them out of the city. Once outside the city, where it was even more open, they saw that the guards of the Great Yu Kingdom were all armed, one hand holding the gun barrel and the other lighting a fire. Flames would leap out from the dark muzzles of the guns. The small flames would explode when they landed on someone, causing excruciating pain and setting their clothes on fire. If the fire wasn't extinguished in time, the person would be burned to death...
One by one, the Western Rong soldiers fell off their horses.
"Lady Sui's creations are indeed extraordinary!" King Qin pulled out gunpowder from his pocket and added it in. "These Western Rong bastards, let me show you my power!"
Under the fierce attack of more than a hundred muskets, the three hundred Western Rong soldiers were routed. More than a hundred were killed, more than a hundred were wounded and unable to get up, and a dozen or so escaped in different places.
He Xiao put away his musket and said, "Let's go from the west side!"
Heading east leads back to the Great Yu Kingdom, and the Western Rong Kingdom's pursuers will undoubtedly take this eastern route without hesitation. By going against the grain, they can buy themselves time to escape.
More than a hundred people followed He Xiao into the woods on the west side.
Cheng Wanwan looked towards the capital. By then, the flames were no longer visible, but black smoke lingered in the sky.
"Lady Sui, stop looking. This was Princess Taiping's own choice." King Qin's voice was a little hoarse. "The reason she stepped forward to marry into the Western Rong was the best choice under the circumstances. She had no attachment to the Great Yu Kingdom, so naturally she didn't want to go back... I just didn't expect that she would burn down the Western Rong palace in order to let us escape smoothly... But don't worry, Lady Sui, now that the Great Yu Kingdom is pressing in, the Western Rong wouldn't dare to lay a hand on the princess of the Great Yu Kingdom. Besides, she is, after all, the mother of a nation, so she should be fine."
Cheng Wanwan felt uneasy.
What she feared wasn't how the Western Rong Kingdom would treat Princess Taiping, but rather, she felt that Princess Taiping was already...
She dared not think about it any further.
Moreover, the current situation doesn't allow her to think any further.
They're all barely able to save themselves, so why would they go back to rescue Princess Taiping?
After entering the woods, the group walked and walked westward.
During this period, He Xiao worked in the experimental fields during the day and would secretly evade surveillance at night to familiarize himself with the terrain and find the best hiding place.
After walking for about two hours, they stopped at the entrance of a cave deep in the forest.
Some blankets, quilts, food, and water were prepared in advance in the cave, and more than a hundred people entered the cave to sit down and rest.
Several guards handed over their muskets. Because of the excessive firing, some of the barrels cracked, and one even exploded. Fortunately, it only tore the clothes and caused some minor injuries.
Cheng Wanwan ordered them to destroy the broken muskets on the spot.
In order to quickly produce this batch of muskets, bamboo tubes were used as the main material, and only the part filled with gunpowder was made of iron. This resulted in a short range, and the bamboo tubes were very easy to crack after four or five uses. When the temperature was too high, the barrel would inevitably explode.
She also has an improved version of the blueprints, but it requires iron tools and the process is more complicated. Only skilled craftsmen from the Ministry of Works of the Great Yu Kingdom can make it.
“Ammunition is running low.” He Xiao counted the number. “We used half of our ammunition just now to kill those three hundred Western Rong soldiers.”
Because many people were using this thing for the first time, the accuracy was not high enough, and many of the gunpowders were duds, so there was no reaction after ignition, resulting in a lot of waste.
He redistributed the ammunition. "With the palace on fire, the pursuers shouldn't be coming tonight. Everyone get some rest. Tomorrow morning, we'll gather intelligence first and then decide which route to take... Remember, twenty of you will lead the way, you twenty will be the left flank, you will be the right flank, and thirty of you will follow me to cover the rear..."
More than a hundred people made do with resting in the cave.
Cheng Wanwan sat on the haystack, unable to sleep at all.
But she knew that if she didn't sleep well one night, she definitely wouldn't be able to walk the next day.
She forced herself to close her eyes, and after a long, long time, she finally fell into a light sleep. It seemed like she had just fallen asleep when dawn broke.
She had just woken up when she heard the guards reporting the information they had gathered to the King of Qin.
"Yesterday, during the funeral procession, the King and Queen of Xirong had just arrived at the palace when a fire suddenly broke out in the main hall. The fire was extremely fierce... It is said that the King had already escaped from the main hall, but the Queen dragged him back inside... The Queen was completely burned, and the King of Xirong was burned to a crisp from the waist down, barely clinging to life..."
Cheng Wanwan's heart clenched suddenly.
She immediately got up and went over: "What about Princess Xin'er? How is she?"
"They were burned to death too..." the guard reported, bowing his head. "The Queen was holding onto the Western Rong King and the Princess on the bed, the three of them tightly embracing each other... If the eunuchs hadn't acted quickly to put out the fire, the Western Rong King would have certainly died as well!"
Cheng Wanwan's face suddenly tightened.
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