Chapter 409 Counterattack
When Marquis Wenxin and Xiao Yan hurried into the palace, Emperor An was furious. His wrists were wrapped in white cloth, and the ground in front of him was littered with debris.
When the Second Prince and several other princes and princes heard that the Forbidden Palace had been robbed and an assassin had entered, they all rushed into the palace overnight. Even Cui Lin, Grand Tutor Liang, Cao Dejiang and others rushed non-stop, fearing that something might happen to the emperor.
However, the person who set the fire in Emperor An's rage was not caught, and even the assassin only captured a few "corpses". Yu Yanfeng, who was in charge of the palace security, was scolded bitterly, and even the Second Prince and others who tried to show their courtesy were severely beaten and stood in the palace covered in dust.
"What can I expect you to do? The assassins have gotten right under my nose and even burned down Fengxi Palace. Will they burn down my Imperial Dragon Platform next? I have to keep this head on display for those who want to take it away whenever they want?!"
Yu Yanfeng knelt on the ground, and Canglang was also hit by the wind.
Emperor An, however, seemed not to have finished scolding him. He turned and scolded the Second Prince, "And you, unfilial creature! I treat you well on a daily basis, but you, upon entering the palace, first come to Feng Lai to ask if anything happened to me. You even dared to stop the Black Armor Guards. What? Are you waiting for me to give you my place on the throne?"
"Do you want me to slit my throat right now so that your Highness the Second Prince can ascend the throne immediately?!"
The Second Prince's face turned pale, and he sank to his knees: "Your Highness, I dare not, Your Highness, Your Highness, I dare not..."
There was a sudden fire in the palace, and there were rumors that Emperor An was assassinated. He just wanted to find someone to get information.
Feng Lai is a man in front of the Emperor. There is nothing wrong with him asking about his father's safety. As for stopping the Black Armor Guards, it was even more unfair. It was Cang Lang who greeted him and told him to be careful tonight. Because of his cooperation with Xiao Yan, he took the opportunity to ask Cang Lang a few more questions about the palace, but he didn't expect to be caught red-handed.
Emperor An was very angry and looked at everyone with ill intentions.
The Second Prince was burdened with a huge blame, yet he couldn't even defend himself. He couldn't tell Emperor An that he had a long history with Xiao Yan, and that Canglang and the Black Armor Guards were his men, right?
It would be strange if Emperor An didn’t chop off his head directly, as he didn’t want to die.
The Second Prince kowtowed: "I was only concerned about your safety, Father, so I asked them a few questions. I absolutely do not dare to have any rebellious intentions. I hope your Majesty will understand..."
Bang!!
A piece of jade flew towards him, and the second prince's words were cut short.
"You don't dare? I don't think you have anything to fear. Don't think I don't know about your dirty deeds."
"You secretly murdered your brothers, you are cunning and despicable, your mother is of humble origin, yet you dare to covet the support of court officials and favoritism, vainly coveting imperial power..."
Emperor An roared and cursed in a very harsh tone. The words "my biological mother was of low status" made the Second Prince's face suddenly turn pale, and even Cui Lin and others beside him changed their expressions slightly.
Seeing that Emperor An continued to say this, he was afraid that the second prince's possibility of seizing power would be completely cut off.
Cui Lin hurriedly stepped forward and was about to speak, but at this moment, eunuch Feng came in quickly from outside.
"Your Majesty, Governor Xiao and Marquis Wenxin are here."
Emperor An stopped cursing. After what happened in the palace tonight, he felt that everyone else was extremely incompetent. He suddenly missed Xiao Yan, who was thorough and decisive. He quickly looked up and said, "Let them in."
The two people outside walked in. Cao Dejiang felt relieved when he saw Xiao Yanshi, whose face was slightly pale but as stern as usual.
Canglang looked up in surprise: The Governor has returned to the capital?
Xiao Yan and the other two arrived before the Saint and bowed.
"Your Majesty."
"stand up."
After Emperor An asked them to stand up, he looked at Xiao Yan and asked, "Aren't you seriously injured and unwilling to enter the palace?"
Xiao Yan said indifferently, "I simply do not wish to get involved in external troubles and do not want to embarrass Your Majesty. However, tonight someone has come forward and is determined to kill me. He has even treated the Imperial Palace and the capital as his hunting grounds."
"If I continue to be tolerant, I am afraid that next year the grass on my grave will be three feet high, and Your Majesty will be deceived and even lose his life."
Emperor An's face darkened: "What do you mean by that?"
Xiao Yan glanced at Marquis Wenxin, who stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, when the palace was in danger tonight due to a fire, there were disturbances throughout the capital. Thieves appeared out of nowhere and were running around everywhere, prompting me to lead the troops of the Capital Patrol to search the capital city."
"I originally thought it was just some scoundrel causing trouble, but later I realized it was a deliberate act to distract the night patrols in the capital. Sensing something was amiss, I sent people out to patrol the area, and discovered a large number of thieves had entered Governor Xiao's residence in Jiyun Lane. They were colluding with Governor Xiao's men and were plotting to murder him."
Marquis Wenxin was a smart man. He did not mention the Marquis of Luyang, nor did he say that he was deliberately led to Jiyun Lane. Instead, he said that someone deliberately led away the people from the Beijing Patrol Camp so that they could take the opportunity to cause chaos.
He was certain that even if Marquis Luyang knew what he said, he would not dare to refute it. Moreover, since Xiao Yan wanted to attack the Lu family, he had also revealed some information on the way here.
Although he couldn't help openly and didn't want to side with anyone, he hated Lu Chongyuan, so it was a favor for him to add fuel to the fire and curry favor with Xiao Yan.
Marquis Wenxin said calmly, "When I led my men there, the Xiao Mansion's gates had been breached. The people inside had suffered heavy casualties. Princess Xiangning was nearly captured by the thieves, and even Governor Xiao was trapped in the mansion recuperating. If someone hadn't just happened to break through and kill some of the thieves, Governor Xiao would have died."
Not only was Emperor An shocked, but even Cui Lin and the others looked astonished.
Who is so bold as to send people to kill directly in Jiyun Lane?
There are many people in the capital who want Xiao Yan's life, and countless people wish he would die soon, but he is the first one who dares to be so reckless.
Emperor An angrily asked, "Can you catch the person who did it?"
The sickly look on Xiao Yan's face faded slightly, but his eyes darkened. "It was a close confidant of mine named Yue Fengcheng. He took advantage of my serious injury to collude with the foreign invaders. Fortunately, Marquis Wenxin and his men arrived just in time and helped me capture him. They also captured a few of his surviving assassins."
When Emperor An heard the name "Yue Fengcheng", his eyebrows jumped, and his expression became extremely ugly as Xiao Yan spoke.
"That Yue Fengcheng, seeing his plan fail, started to talk nonsense. He first blamed Your Majesty, saying that he was executing me on Your Majesty's orders, and then he said that he would kill everyone in Jiyun Lane without mercy..."
"How outrageous!" Emperor An cursed, "I have never seen this man before, let alone when did he issue such an order?!"
It's true that Yue Fengcheng is his man, but he only asked him to stay by Xiao Yan's side to monitor Xiao Yan's actions. When did he ask him to kill Xiao Yan without mercy?
Moreover, it was obvious from what happened tonight that Yue Fengcheng was colluding with others to kill Xiao Yan. At this time, he absolutely could not admit that he knew that guy.
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