Chapter 157
Below the palace, a large number of cavalrymen moved in unison, while the two camps on the Yanchi Building were also facing each other, ready to strike.
However, there was a sound of a sharp blade being unsheathed in the military formation behind the Meridian Gate Square. Wei Yan tilted his head slightly and saw the cold light of a sword reflected in the fire.
Xie Zheng raised the corners of his lips, twisted the reins of the horse in his hand, and smiled casually but with a sense of oppression: "Let him continue."
Only one step away from the truth, he remained calm with a smile on his face, but there was only endless coldness in his eyes.
There was another noise from outside the crowd. A carriage came speeding over, the curtains were lifted, and the shadow guards pressed Wei Xuan and Madam Wei out of the carriage, shouting, "Madam Wei and Wei Xuan are here!"
On the top of the city wall, Qi Min's smile became more and more wild. His pale hands, which were tinged with pale blue, rested on the cold bricks of the city wall. He looked at Wei Yan and said, "It just so happens that your wife and children are here. I guarantee that if your people take one more step forward, they will be beheaded!"
Madam Wei and Wei Xuan were both tied up, with cotton cloth stuffed in their mouths. Madam Wei saw the sadness and guilt in Wei Yan's eyes. She wanted to speak but could only make a series of sobbing sounds, so she shook her head at him vigorously.
Wei Xuanze's eyes were bloodshot, and he seemed to be extremely angry. Because he had been struggling with the ropes tied to his body, the veins on his neck were bulging. The ropes around his head and neck rubbed against his skin for too long, and his neck was broken.
When Xie Zheng saw Madam Wei, his cold eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his lips, which were originally raised in a cold manner, also shrunk a little.
The people who followed Wei Yan looked at him one after another, waiting for his instructions. He was silent for a moment, then gave the order again: "Attack the city."
This time, Wei Yan's trusted men did not hesitate, and drew their swords and shouted, "Attack the city!"
For a while, the two major camps of the five armies on the city wall were fighting in a mess. Some of the 3,000 cavalrymen under the city wall went to ram the palace gate that had been blocked again, while the other part continued to confront the people brought by Xie Zheng.
Qi Min gestured to the shadow guard below from the tower, and the shadow guard immediately took out the cotton cloth stuffed in Wei Xuan's mouth. Wei Xuan was very strong-willed by nature, and without the stuffing in his mouth, he was like a mad hyena, with bloodshot eyes and angrily shouted: "Kill me if you dare!"
The shadow guard did not kill him, but forced him to kneel, inserted the blade into his shoulder blade from the back, and then twisted him hard. Blood immediately soaked through his clothes and oozed out.
Wei Xuan screamed so loudly that it shook people's eardrums.
By the time Shadow Guard had taken out the knife, he could hardly kneel any longer and fell to the ground, his face pale with pain and covered in sweat. His hair, which was sticky and dirty, was soaked in the pool of blood gushing from his own wound.
After he regained some strength, he moved his lips and said only one sentence: "Kill me..."
Mrs. Wei was being controlled by another shadow guard next to him. Her mouth was stuffed with cotton cloth and she couldn't make any sound. She wanted to run towards her son but the shadow guard held her shoulders. Only her eyes were red and swollen from crying and she was almost fainting.
Xie Zheng watched all this with cold eyes, and his hand holding the halberd tightened a little.
On the tower, Qi Min sneered: "The Prime Minister's heart is really as cold as iron. He doesn't even care about the life of his own son."
As he spoke, he looked at Madam Wei, who was crying so hard that she could hardly stand, and said calmly, "But Madam Wei, there is no need to feel sad. After all, it is not the first time that Prime Minister Wei has killed his son."
These words undoubtedly caused a huge uproar. Not only was Li Taifu standing by shocked, but even Xie Zheng's eyes darkened.
Did Wei Yan have other children?
Wei Yan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly raised his eyes coldly and said in a stern and dignified voice: "Shut up!"
Qi Min's eyes finally fell back on Wei Yan. He looked at him from a distance across the city wall. After seventeen years of revenge, he felt very happy. He chuckled and said, "What are you afraid of, Prime Minister? When you went in and out of Qinghe Palace with Concubine Shu, and planned the Jinzhou tragedy for the bastard in Concubine Shu's belly, killing my father and sixteenth uncle, why didn't you think about today?"
Compared to Qi Min's pleasure at getting his revenge, Wei Yan's eyes were filled with murderous intent and no other emotions. He slowly ordered, "Everyone present today will be killed without mercy."
His confidant released a signal bomb, which was about to rise into the sky with a long trail of sparks, but was shot down by an arrow. The sparks exploded in the crowd like a firecracker.
Wei Yan glanced back and saw Xie Zheng sitting on horseback, holding a bow in one hand, looking at him with a cold expression and a bone-biting hatred: "Is this why you killed my parents?"
Qi Min laughed loudly on the tower: "What's the big deal about killing your own sister and brother-in-law? After the truth was revealed, the late emperor wanted to hold Concubine Shu responsible, but Wei Yan burned down the Qinghe Palace, burning Concubine Shu and the unborn child in her belly to death, destroying all traces!"
He emphasized the last four words.
The palace gate, which was originally filled with fighting, seemed to be silent for a moment.
Wei Yan stood in the chilly wind, and the only word that came out of his lips was the cold word "kill".
The three parties clashed again. Seeing that Wei Yan really didn't care about the life and death of Madam Wei and her son, Qi Min's face flashed with sternness, and he said to the shadow guards below the tower: "Prime Minister Wei is so cold-blooded, so let's send Madam Wei and Master Wei to hell first!"
When Wei Xuan heard Qi Min tell the truth, he fell in a pool of blood, staring at the silhouette of Wei Yan standing with his hands behind his back in the distance. The muscles on his face were tense, but bloodshot eyes still surfaced a little bit. Tears rolled down the corners of his eyes, slid down the bridge of his nose and fell into the pool of blood below.
When Shadow Guard's knife fell, he didn't even want to struggle.
Only Mrs. Wei was still looking at him, shaking her head and crying. She seemed to want to say something but her mouth was blocked again.
When the knife flashed towards Madam Wei, Xie Zheng swept his long spear and knocked the shadow guard back a dozen feet.
The knife that was aimed at Wei Xuan was blocked by a Wei Mansion assassin who appeared out of nowhere.
Seven or eight signal bombs rose up into the night sky at the same time. Even if we wanted to shoot arrows to intercept them, we couldn't.
The Central Army Camp and the Right Army Camp were still used by the Li family. The Central Army Camp had the equivalent of two camps. Even though Wei Yan had the remaining two camps of the Five Army Camps and the support of the Jinwu Guards and the Three Thousand Camps, there were still Xie Zheng and Tang Peiyi, a tough nut to crack, outside the city. The three forces could barely check and balance each other.
However, as soon as a huge explosion sounded from the imperial palace, dozens of soldiers from the central army camp were blown away by the artillery fire. Everyone knew that the balance of this game had completely tipped towards Wei Yan.
The Jinwu Guard traitor who was bribed by Li Taifu had already had his throat slit. Li Taifu looked at the artillery and weapons that the Jinwu Guard commander had pulled out of the palace, and his hand pointing at Wei Yan was trembling slightly: "You...you have already moved the weapons of the Shenji Camp to the palace?"
Snow was falling heavily. Wei Yan stood on the blazing Wumen defense path, letting the cold wind blow into his sleeves and making a sound: "If I don't throw out the bait of the Shenji Camp, how can I lure you to fight for it?"
Qi Min's hands were supported on the bricks of the city wall with such force that his knuckles were bulging. He clenched his teeth and looked coldly at Wei Yan who was standing below him with a sinister expression.
Tang Peiyi and the others also looked unhappy and asked Xie Zheng: "My Lord, General Fan went to the West Garden. Did he fall into the trap set by the old thief Wei?"
Xie Zheng did not answer, but his eyes were filled with anger. He suddenly shouted coldly, pulled the reins, raised his spear and rushed straight towards Wei Yan. The gust of wind from the horse's passing by made Tang Peiyi breathe a cold air.
He quickly ordered his subordinates to follow and provide cover for him, and then said to He Xiuyun: "My nephew, the Marquis and I are here to fight with the old thief Wei, you quickly take people to the West Garden to help Yu!"
He Xiuyun knocked a cavalry general off his horse. His long hair was all scattered, making him look a little frightened. He took the time to reply, "If Wei Yan really has set up a trap in the West Garden, no matter how many people go, it will be useless. Only by capturing the old thief Wei can we save General Fan and the others!"
Tang Peiyi looked at Xie Zheng, who was beating Wei Yan's generals like a killer, and said, "Then I will go and help you, Lord!"
A golden mace came sweeping over from the side, and Tang Peiyi quickly lay back almost flat on the horse's back to avoid the attack. Then a heavy mace fell down, aiming straight at Tang Peiyi's waist and abdomen. He quickly raised the handle of the gun in his hand to block it, and then he took the mace, but his hands were numb from the base of the thumb to the entire arm.
"General!"
He Xiuyun saw Tang Peiyi's predicament from a distance, and the spear head with a white rope hanging on it danced in the air and stabbed straight at the man's vital point. The man raised his mace to block, allowing Tang Peiyi to take advantage of this gap to quickly urge his horse to escape and stand with He Xiuyun.
He spat on the ground and said with a lingering fear: "Damn, who is this guy? I have been in the army for decades, but I have never seen such a person."
The man used his golden mace to deflect the spear that He Xiuyun was stabbing at, and then hit the spear with his mace again. He Xiuyun was directly shocked and took several steps back. He opened his numb fingers slightly, grasped the spear handle again, and said, "He is a ruthless guy."
The person on the other side just laughed: "He Jingyuan's son? Your kung fu is far inferior to your father's."
He Xiujun asked, "Do you know my father? Who are you?"
The man said coldly: "The dead don't need to remember my name, and the traitorous son of He Jingyuan is even less worthy of knowing my name."
He Xiuyun clenched his jaw muscles, and he rushed towards him again with his gun raised, "My father has served the people all his life. How can a lackey of Wei Yan judge him? I will kill you and then kill Wei Yan to avenge my father!"
The man on the opposite side just turned his head slightly to avoid the spear that He Xiuyun stabbed at him. The golden mace was swung up and hit He Xiuyun's arm. He Xiuyun suddenly felt that his hand bones were about to break and he groaned. The man on the opposite side rode his horse again and hit the warhorse under him heavily. At the same time, another mace hit He Xiuyun's abdomen.
All his internal organs seemed to be ruptured by that blow, and He Xiuyun spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backwards from the horse's back.
"My dear nephew..."
Tang Peiyi's eyes were bloodshot and he roared and attacked the man again, but he was soon knocked off his horse by the mace.
The man on horseback looked down at Tang Peiyi and He Xiuyun and sneered, "Revenge? What revenge? If the Prime Minister hadn't picked him up from the disaster victims, he would still be fighting with wild dogs for a bowl of stale porridge in the snow. How could he be so successful today?"
He Xiuyun covered her aching abdomen and stared at him with hatred, struggling to speak: "This... kindness of recognition, my father also spent most of his life serving Wei Yan loyally, he Wei Yan... why would he kill my father?"
The man on horseback sneered: "If He Jingyuan were still alive, your He family would not be promoted to higher positions, but would be imprisoned!"
He was unwilling to waste any more words, and swung his mace down to kill He Xiuyun directly. A dull sound of heavy weapons colliding was heard in the air.
A long halberd engraved with strange patterns intercepted the golden mace.
The man looked up at the stern young man on horseback who was holding a halberd in one hand and trying to block his weapon, and grinned: "Young Marquis's martial arts have improved a lot in recent years, and he did not lose face for General Xie."
When Xie Zheng heard Wei Yan's people mention Xie Linshan again, his eyes seemed to hide an ice knife, but he did not even glance at this person, and only ordered Tang Peiyi: "Take him away."
Tang Peiyi and He Xiuyun were both injured and knew they could not help much by staying here, so they supported each other and retreated to a safe place for the time being.
The man took back the mace that Xie Zheng had cut off, flexed his wrist, and in his smiling eyes there was a murderous intent as sharp as a knife: "Wei Sheng is not talented, but at least I have been your martial arts teacher for a few years. Today I will learn from you."
He was the oldest member of the group of warriors following Wei Yan, and was given the surname Wei a long time ago.
As soon as he finished speaking, the golden mace in his hand pressed some mechanism and it turned into a nine-section golden whip. Each section of the whip was connected by an iron lock, and it was swung straight towards Xie Zheng like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.
Xie Zheng coldly watched the golden whip that looked like a golden python approaching. He did not even raise his halberd to block it. Only when it was about to reach his face did he duck to the side and at the same time, he moved as fast as lightning to intercept the golden whip.
Wei Sheng pulled hard and found that he was on equal terms with Xie Zheng. He did not show any surprise but smiled at Xie Zheng.
The next moment, many golden hooks and barbs sprouted from the joint of the golden whip, and Xie Zheng's hand holding the golden whip was immediately covered in blood.
The Nine-Section Whip has always been known for its viciousness among weapons, and many people use it as a hidden weapon. The Nine-Section Whip that Wei Sheng improved using the golden mace is even more vicious.
He said nonchalantly, "The last lesson I taught you is that rules only apply to people who follow them. For those who don't follow them, talking about rules and morality is a joke."
-
On the city wall, with the suppression of the Jinwu Guards' firearms, the two battalions under the command of Li Taifu and Qi Min were quickly at a disadvantage.
Qi Min's shadow guard saw that Xie Zheng below was not getting any favor from Wei Yan, so he immediately said, "Your Highness, we will escort you to escape! As long as you have the green mountains, you will not be afraid of running out of firewood!"
After years of business, it is all destroyed today. I don’t know when I can make a comeback.
Qi Min clenched his teeth tightly and uttered one word with hatred: "Retreat!"
They said they were retreating, but there was almost no way to retreat. Blocking the two sides of the passage inside the palace gate were troops from the two main battalions of the Five Military Camps and the Jinwu Guards. Outside the palace was another battalion of three thousand cavalry.
The guards around Qi Min fell one by one. Even with the highly skilled shadow guards clearing the way, it became extremely difficult to move forward.
Li Taifu was left behind. He had been a man who had not shown his emotions in the court for more than ten years. Now he looked pale and called him in panic, "Your Highness!"
Qi Min just looked back and continued to move forward with his shadow guard.
When a cannonball shot out from the barrel, flew through the long palace gate corridor, and fell straight towards Qi Min and his group, Qi Min felt that the whole world was full of noise, but he could not hear anything clearly.
The most loyal shadow guard shouted something and pushed him to the side. Qi Min didn't feel any pain when his back hit the cold and hard bricks. His eardrums were almost broken by the explosion of the artillery fire, and his ears were buzzing for a long time.
When he was pulled up and continued to run forward, Qi Min looked back and saw that the huge gun pit was charred and several bricks of the city wall were blown off. Several of the shadow guards who had protected him before were dead.
Half of Master Li's face was not blown off. The intact half was still looking in his direction with eyes wide open.
Countless arrows were still flying towards this side, densely packed like a big net.
There is no escape...
Qi Min thought with some despair.
He suddenly recalled the time when the East Palace was full of flames, and his mother pressed his face against the charcoal basin, crying and saying to him: "Min'er, this is the only way you can survive..."
Seventeen years ago, he had half of his face burned off and was able to survive. Today, seventeen years later, what will he have to do to survive?
When the sharp arrow pierced his chest, he staggered, and in the panicked sight of the shadow guards, he slowly knelt down, holding onto the cold palace wall. Blood spit out of his mouth, but he was surprisingly calm at this moment.
He laughed hoarsely and said, "I pride myself on being well-planned, but I never thought that I would still be inferior to the ruthless old man of the Wei family."
The Shadow Guard leader cut off the long arrow behind him and said, "As long as we have a breath left, we will take His Highness out!"
Qi Min just shook his head slightly. He sat against the wall. The sounds of fighting below the city reached his ears at this time and slowly became clearer. He tilted his head and looked down through the carved stone railings. When he saw Xie Zheng surrounded by Wei Sheng and a dozen Wei family assassins, he laughed to himself: "My father died in Jinzhou with Xie Linshan. I didn't expect that seventeen years later, Xie Zheng and I would still die together at the hands of Wei Yan, an old man."
-
The golden hook hidden in Wei Sheng's golden whip had barbs on it, and if it was pulled out forcefully, it could tear off a large piece of flesh and skin.
Xie Zheng's face had turned a little pale, but he didn't even groan. The coldness and murderous intent in his eyes became even stronger, and the hand holding the golden whip had a tendency to tighten faintly.
A hint of surprise finally emerged in Wei Sheng's eyes, but before he could make any further move, Xie Zheng had already wrapped his golden whip around his hand and pulled it hard. Wei Sheng was unable to react for a moment and was pulled off the horse's back by Xie Zheng and fell towards him.
However, Wei Sheng was an old hand after all, and he quickly activated the mechanism of his other golden mace, turning it into a whip and swung it directly towards Xie Zheng's neck.
Having your neck entangled by this nine-section whip with hidden golden barbs is tantamount to death.
Just as Xie Zheng raised his halberd to block, another Wei family soldier came towards him with a knife. Xie Zheng's long halberd was still entangled with Wei Sheng's golden whip. He pushed Wei Sheng hard and forced him to let go. He then used his halberd to block the opponent's blade.
With one hand, he forced his opponent to hold the knife with both hands and he was unable to press down even a single point.
All this happened in the blink of an eye. Wei Sheng caught another golden whip. He seized the opportunity, grabbed the golden whip that Xie Zheng was still holding, swung towards him like a swing, and used his backhand to claw at his throat.
This was almost a dead end, but no one expected Xie Zheng to suddenly loosen his grip on the whip. The half-inch long barbs dug deeply into his palm. He let go abruptly, and the barbs, pulled by Wei Sheng's whole body, scraped his entire palm, leaving it bloody.
However, Xie Zheng used his bloody hand to accurately lock Wei Sheng's throat and lifted him up with one hand.
Too much flesh had been scraped off, and the blood-stained finger bones could be vaguely seen in the surging blood. His face showed no pain, and there was even a hint of casual coldness in his eyes: "It's just a dishonest thing made by a dishonest thing. That's all."
Not far away, Wei Yan's confidant watched this scene and couldn't help but feel sympathetic. He swallowed and looked at him: "Prime Minister, look..."
Wei Yan's cold and bleak eyes rested on Xie Zheng for a long time before he said, "Shoot."
The confidant looked at Wei Yan again and did not dare to execute the order immediately.
Wei Yan still didn't look away. He stood there with his hands behind his back, as cold and hard as a stone or a lump of steel. He said coldly, "After educating him for more than ten years, he has only grown into a brave but reckless warrior. He dared to bring such a small group of people to force the emperor to abdicate. He should have realized that he would be beheaded."
A short arrow shot out from the □□ and went straight to Xie Zheng's back.
With a crisp "ding" sound, the short arrow was deflected by another arrow.
At the end of the long street, the sound of horse hooves thundered. The female general who was riding in the front had her robes soaked in blood. She held a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. She didn't even hold the reins. Her eyes were as fierce as a tiger's: "Despicable old thief!"
The heavy snow had stopped at some point and a streak of red light could be vaguely seen in the foggy sky.
It’s almost dawn.
The hair of Fan Changyu blowing in the cold wind seemed to be glowing with a brilliance as bright and brilliant as the morning glow.
Xie Zheng turned around and looked at her from a distance. Both of them had experienced more than one bloody battle, and their faces were stained with undried blood. Their fierce eyes only softened a little when they met each other's gaze.
Wei Yan looked at Fan Changyu, who was riding a horse at full speed, and narrowed his eyes slightly. After a moment of silence, he continued to order: "Shoot."
This time it was not just one arrow, but a swarm of arrows that formed a beehive. Fan Changyu almost gritted his teeth until they bled while sitting on horseback.
There were too many! She couldn't handle it all!
Fortunately, Xie Zheng was prepared this time. He let go of Wei Sheng, swung his halberd to sweep away the assassin, and blocked the dense rain of arrows.
After Wei Sheng, who was thrown away by him, recovered his breath, he picked up a long knife from the ground and stabbed at Xie Zheng's back again. Fan Changyu was extremely anxious. She was still several feet away from Xie Zheng. She reached for her back to get an arrow, but there was no arrow in the quiver. She could only shout, "Be careful!"
"puff--"
It was the sound of a sharp weapon piercing the flesh, and blood gushed out.
But the person who was stabbed was not Xie Zheng.
Wei Xuan looked down at the bloody knife that pierced his chest. When he looked up at Xie Zheng again, he grinned with his usual arrogant and contemptuous look on his face: "I've been brothers with you for ten...more than ten years, and I've never...never considered you a brother, and today...I'm not considering you a brother either. This knife is to repay you for...for saving my mother."
Yan Jie just knelt down while spitting out blood, but his eyes were fixed on Wei Yan, full of resentment and grievance as a human being.
Mrs. Wei, who had just been untied by Wei Yan's men, stared at this scene in a daze. This time she really didn't even cry, and fainted directly.
Wei Yan's expression was as cold and hard as before, and there seemed to be no trace of emotion in his eyes.
When Wei Sheng found that Wei Xuan died in his hands, he was stunned for a moment. The archers and crossbowmen in the distance looked at each other, with arrows still on the crossbows, but Wei Yan did not give any more orders, so they did not dare to continue shooting.
Xie Zheng quietly looked at Wei Xuan who was kneeling in front of him, half-crouched down with his long spear, and closed his eyes with his bloody hand.
Fan Changyu almost fell off her horse. She glanced at Xie Zheng, her anger and fear still lingering. She raised her sword and chopped at Wei Sheng, shouting, "Despicable villain, die!"
She possessed extraordinary strength, and was brandishing a Mo Dao that was taller than herself, using powerful and sweeping moves. Wei Sheng was still in a daze due to Wei Xuan's death, and had no suitable weapon in his hands. He lost the initiative for a moment, and was restricted everywhere, forced to retreat again and again.
The author has something to say:
Changyu (holding the script with starry eyes): Hey, it’s a scene where a hero saves a beauty!
A director of the group (pushing up his glasses): It was beauty who saved the hero.
Changyu (twisting his head): Am I not a hero?
Director Tuan (head full of threads): ...That seems to be true.
Xie: “……………………”
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