At the gates of Kyoto, the sentries saw the approaching army from afar and immediately sounded their horns.
The soldiers nearby immediately shouted, "The Holy King has attacked the city! Quickly go and inform the two princes!"
The soldiers on the city wall immediately became alert.
Before long, General Cao Qi of the Kyoto Reserve Army, Commander Shan Jing of the Imperial Guard, and Deputy Commander Liao Fan of the City Protection Army went up to the city wall together.
Upon seeing Xuan Yuanzhan's vast army, the three exchanged a meaningful glance.
On the same side, the three generals of the Su family army, Li Jinyuan, Yun Songquan, and Wu Liping, also gathered together with strange expressions.
After a cup of tea, the three brothers, Xuanyuan Yu, Xuanyuan Zhi, and Xuanyuan Duo, also led Jin Lu, the commander of the Imperial Guard, up to the city wall.
"Your Highness, Second Prince, Third Prince." All the generals and commanders bowed to the three of them in unison.
When Jin Lu came up, he subconsciously exchanged glances with Cao Qi, Shan Jing, and Liao Fan.
Xuanyuan Yu and his two companions rushed to the edge of the city wall, watching the army rushing towards them, getting closer and closer.
"They really arrived quickly!" Xuan Yuan Yu said with a sinister look.
Xuan Yuanzhi also had a gloomy face.
He truly hadn't expected Xuan Yuanzhan to arrive in the capital so quickly. If it were him, it would probably take at least a year, if not a year or two, to fight his way from the north to the capital. But Xuan Yuanzhan only took less than three months. Even if you include the time Xuan Yuanzhan spent in the north providing disaster relief and suppressing bandits, it was only five months.
The past six months have been enough to prove Xuan Yuanzhan's ability to lead troops. Unfortunately, he is Xuan Yuanzhan; if he were an ordinary general, he would have recruited him.
Seeing Xuanyuan Zhan leading so many soldiers to attack the city, Xuanyuan Duo's heart pounded, but when he saw the three generals of the Su family army beside him, his heart instantly calmed down: "It's alright, we have the Su family army to defend the city, they can't break through!"
Xuanyuan Yu and Xuanyuan Zhi glanced at the three generals of the Su family army beside them, and then at the 300,000 Su family soldiers below, and calmed down.
That's right. This time, in addition to the three main armies and reserve forces, they also have the Su family army. Xuan Yuanzhan's ragtag army is definitely not going to be able to break through the capital city.
Even if he had 300,000 troops, it wouldn't be enough to conquer the city!
However, now that Xuanyuan Zhan has returned to the capital, they absolutely cannot let him escape again. This time, they must take advantage of the Su family army's presence and kill him no matter what!
Compared to the relaxed expressions of Xuanyuan Yu, Xuanyuan Zhi, and Xuanyuan Duo, the expressions of the other commanders and generals were much more serious and complicated.
Unfortunately, none of the three noticed anything unusual about them at that moment.
In the blink of an eye, Xuanyuan Zhan's army had already rushed to the gates of the capital city.
Mu Lingchen looked at the Su family army guarding the city ahead, then solemnly turned to Xuan Yuanzhan: "They really did manage to mobilize the Su family army."
Xuanyuan Zhan glanced at the Su family army at the city gate and raised his hand to stop the soldiers from advancing.
On the city wall, Xuan Yuan Yu and the others looked at Xuan Yuan Zhan, who was clad in armor, and said in a sinister tone, "Xuan Yuan Zhan, how dare you report a rebellion!"
Xuan Yuanzhan spoke coldly: "Xuan Yuanyu, there are no outsiders here, so why do you have to say such nonsense? Others may not know why I raised an army, but don't you know?"
Xuanyuan Yu wouldn't take that lying down: "What else could it be about raising an army? Isn't it because you want to rebel and usurp the throne?"
Xuanyuan Zhan disdainfully drew the Xuanwu Sword: "What a joke! The Emperor has already passed the Xuanwu Sword to me. You all know best who the Emperor intends for the Crown Prince, and the civil and military officials in the court know even better. The position of Crown Prince is within my grasp, so why would I want to rebel?"
Those present understood what Xuan Yuanzhan meant. Even if the soldiers were unaware of the situation, the commanders and generals on the city wall certainly did, and they now understood the real reason for Xuan Yuanzhan's uprising.
But how could Xuanyuan Yu possibly admit to such a thing? "Father entrusted the Xuanwu Sword to you because he trusted you and hoped that you would take the Xuanwu Sword to the North to provide disaster relief and suppress bandits, so as to resolve the crisis in Eastern Chu. But you have harbored the heart of a traitor and actually raised an army to rebel. Do you think you have lived up to the trust that Father placed in you?"
After Xuanyuan Yu finished speaking, he let out another cold laugh: "As for the position of crown prince, it's even more ridiculous. You are just a prince, not a prince. Even if the emperor trusts you, he will never make you the crown prince. You know this fact, so you started a rebellion, right?"
Xuanyuan Yu was certain that Xuanyuan Zhan would never reveal in public that he was his father's illegitimate son.
So he's determined to suffer this injustice in silence.
Xuanyuan Zhan certainly didn't have the face to publicly say that he was Xuanyuan Peng's illegitimate son.
However, even if he doesn't say it, those who need to know already know, such as the people on the city wall.
All he needed was for them to understand that he had not raised an army for the throne, but was forced into it.
"Xuanyuan Yu, I was ordered by the Emperor to go to the North to provide disaster relief and suppress bandits. The North is suffering from a severe drought, and the people have lost their entire harvest. Hundreds of thousands of people in the North have become refugees. The reason why the banditry in the North is so serious is also because they were forced into it by the disaster. There are as many as forty or fifty thousand bandits in the North. I pity them because they were forced into banditry by the disaster, and because of their large numbers, I did not want to massacre them. In addition, although they have joined the bandit camp, they have not committed such heinous crimes as rape, arson and murder. Therefore, I had the idea of offering them amnesty and submitted a memorial to the Emperor. I dare not formally offer amnesty until the Emperor issues a formal imperial decree. But I did not receive a formal imperial decree. Instead, I received three thousand Imperial Guards who wanted to kill me on the spot! I have asked myself if everything I did in the North was done with a clear conscience. I do not know who sent three thousand Imperial Guards to take my life!"
The moment Xuan Yuanzhan uttered these words, all the soldiers at the city gate and on the city tower opposite were stunned.
Is this true? There were actually so many reasons behind the Holy King's uprising?
The Holy King did not privately recruit bandits; he had already submitted a memorial and had been waiting for the Emperor's reply. Why didn't the Second and Third Princes mention this? They still insist that the Holy King privately recruited bandits.
The Emperor is seriously ill. It's likely that the Holy Prince's memorial never even reached the Emperor. Otherwise, if offering amnesty would be a good thing, why didn't the Emperor agree to the Holy Prince's offer of amnesty to the bandits?
Furthermore, the Emperor had previously doted on the Holy Prince so much, even entrusting him with the Xuanwu Sword. It's unlikely that the Emperor would send the Imperial Guards to kill the Prince, let alone execute him on the spot.
Even if the Holy King really did something wrong, the Emperor would probably just order the Imperial Guards to bring the Prince back to the capital. How could he possibly order the Imperial Guards to kill the Holy King on the spot? That doesn't seem like an imperial edict that the Emperor would issue!
So who exactly issued that imperial edict? Who was determined to put the Holy King to death?
Seeing that the soldiers were affected by Xuan Yuanzhan's words, Xuan Yuanyu once again shouted sternly: "Rebellion is rebellion. Xuan Yuanzhan, stop trying to glorify yourself. Treason is a capital offense. What you say is useless!"
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