Chapter 24 The Dust Settles
On the second day after the Mid-Autumn Festival, Lu Rongshi had enough evidence against the He family, and the roundup operation officially began.
During this time, Di Qing and Wei Hong worked in secret, while the old patriarch worked in the open, collecting the letters from the He family's branch branches, from the beginning of the plan to the list of hostages currently in their hands. Among the information they uncovered in these letters was the poisoning of the Twin Saints.
This time, even the favor of the late emperor could not save the He family. The day of action was set for the first day of October, but the He family had already caused trouble before that.
Rather than saying that the old patriarch couldn't control his temper, it would be better to say that the He family pushed too hard, and the old patriarch changed his cowardly nature, broke off relations with the side branches, and wanted to split the family.
Di Qing was watching in the inner room with fear, fearing that the old patriarch would do something extreme and disrupt Lu Rongshi's plan.
Just because of this, Lu Rongshi had to advance his plan.
Part of the original plan was for Lu Rongshi to gather troops to encircle and suppress the He family. This move had the highest success rate and the lowest casualties, making it a foolproof strategy.
Now that the He family has changed, Lu Rongshi has no time to gather the army, so she has to set out to persuade her two sisters.
"This matter concerns your reputation and the safety of the royal family. If you still have any feelings for this huge empire left by the late emperor, you should lend a hand." Lu Rongshi said solemnly.
"Since he is a traitor to the country, I will naturally do my part to help him, but..." Xue Xi hesitated to speak.
"Big sister, please feel free to speak. At this moment, the three of us sisters should unite as one." Lu Rongshi thought to himself. As expected, he changed his tone and said, "I will naturally arrange for someone to protect Fifth Sister. If Big sister is concerned about this, you can rest assured."
Xue Xi realized her thoughts had been guessed, and she coughed twice to ease the awkwardness. "If we mobilize the Imperial Guard, it will take three days, which won't be enough to keep up with the changes in the He family. I will leave my guards to you."
"This is the best move." Lu Rongshi turned to look at Lu Xuan. "What do you think, Fourth Sister?"
Lu Xuan didn't know what disease she had contracted today, but her health was getting worse day by day. She dragged her sick body to the meeting today.
She said weakly, "Eldest sister, this is a move that shows great righteousness. I am naturally willing to hand over all my men to help Third sister succeed."
Lu Rongshi looked at Lu Xuan, whose face was sickly pale, and felt mixed emotions. After all, she was his sister. Even if they didn't get along, they were still blood-related sisters.
She stood up, bowed, and said, "Fourth sister, I misunderstood you a while ago and did something very wrong. I'm deeply sorry. If you're still unhappy, I'll let you handle it. But can you wait until after the operation? This operation is of great importance and we can't be careless."
Lu Xuan covered her face and coughed twice, then said with a smile, "Third sister, what's the point of saying this to a dying man like me?
In my life, I have never had to worry about food and clothing, but you have taken away my only spiritual support. Now I am terminally ill and have no other thoughts. I just want to see my mother as soon as possible."
Lu Rongshi: "My fourth sister has been planning all her life, but luck has changed. She got a terminal illness at such a young age."
To be honest, he could save her, but that would require asking his master for help. Lu Rongshi weighed the pros and cons, but he really couldn't find the right measure in his heart.
Xue Xi then spoke up, "Catching the traitor is the most important thing right now. Once that's settled, it won't be too late to treat Fourth Sister."
Lu Rongshi thought it was correct, so he began to mobilize manpower.
In order to prevent the He family from any more incidents, Lu Rongshi arranged for Jiang Li'an to live in an inn not far from the He family compound, so that he and Weihong could take care of each other.
At Weihong's request, Violet was protected by Lu Rongshi and was not allowed to participate in the operation.
Even so, it could not prevent the He family from usurping the throne by armed force.
On September 30th, as night fell, torches were lit everywhere in the He family. The firelight illuminated a crowd of people, who were looking to kill the old head of the family and replace him.
Di Qing had already learned the news and called Wei Hong and Jiang Li'an to the bedroom of the head of the He family. Today was bound to be a long night.
With a loud bang, the crowd rushed towards the dormitory door, only to see a man falling from the sky, holding a three-foot-long sword in his hand, his beautiful beard moving in the wind. Upon closer inspection, they saw that it was the guard of the head of the He family - Jian Gong.
This person was the third generation Sword Master, a position Shirley had appointed as a personal guard to protect the He family's rotational system of patriarchs. After all, the He family controlled military-industrial enterprises, and Shirley was worried about the He family's own guards.
This is also why the side branch has imprisoned the head of the He family for a long time instead of replacing him.
It is said that only those with extraordinary martial arts skills and integrity can be selected for the position of Sword Master, and this person is exactly that.
The people in the front were shocked to see this man and retreated in a hurry as if they had seen a ghost. The people behind him were unaware of the situation in front and kept rushing forward, causing themselves to lose their composure before the fight even started.
Someone shouted, "He's just one person, hack him to death!" Everyone rushed forward again.
Sword Master's strikes were fatal or wounded. The bearded man wielded his sword, securing an impenetrable defense, preventing anyone from approaching him. Emperor Qing had given instructions early in the morning to delay the fight and avoid a direct confrontation.
Lord Jian disagreed, saying they were just a bunch of rabble and there was nothing he could do to them.
After a long standoff, the thieves fell one after another. Sword Master put one hand behind his back and danced the sword lazily with the other hand, and stopped all the thieves.
Until a man came from behind with two hammers in his hands and ran straight towards Jian Gong.
The Sword Master gathered his strength, raised his sword to relieve the force, and fought with the man.
Seeing that there was a space at the door, everyone wanted to rush in, but they heard a dragon's roar from inside the house, resounding through the sky.
A black mist flew out and landed on the ground, transforming into a humanoid figure. It was Di Qing. He drew his sword, blocked the door, and said, "Let's see who can pass through this door today!"
Everyone didn't know this person's identity and was just frightened by Long Yin.
These subordinates did not know this person's identity, but those who planned this operation knew it very well.
In the dark, one of them said, "Damn it! Lu Rongshi has suspected us for a long time. He's been hiding here for so long."
Another person thought to himself, "This way, the situation will be hard to control."
Another person said, "I'll go meet him, you guys take control of the situation!"
At first, the man said again: "Brother, are you itching to fight? It's been a while since you met an opponent, right?"
The eldest brother said, "Hmph, if he can survive five rounds of my sword, I will respect him as my opponent!" Then he picked up the sword and left.
Di Qing alternated between drawing his swords with both hands, and no one dared to approach. Suddenly, he felt a gust of wind behind him, and he dodged sideways as a silver-backed broadsword slashed down at his side.
Di Qing said angrily, "Why, you can't afford to play so you just sneak attack?" The elder brother didn't even answer, but attacked Di Qing with one fierce sword after another. For a moment, it was unclear who was the winner.
The two of them guarded the main door tightly, but the thieves were not only at the main door. Wei Hong in the house used magic to seal all the windows on all sides, but she did not have enough magic power to take care of the back door.
Jiang Li'an then made a sword gesture with her hands. This time, she brought out the Gan Jiang sword and stood at the back door. Her long hair flowed in the wind and she looked heroic, a true woman who was as good as a man.
For a moment, everyone was deadlocked in the bedroom, and no one could do anything to anyone else.
As the night deepened, the He family compound was filled with shouts and cries of killing. However, because it was located in a remote area, it did not alarm the patrol police.
Soon a group of men in black joined the battle. These people were obviously well-trained and had good coordination. Three of them took turns fighting Jian Gong. Jian Gong gradually couldn't hold on anymore, so he made a feint and retreated towards Di Qing.
The men in black were chasing him relentlessly, and Jian Gong fought and retreated at the same time, but he didn't notice that Di Qing was also in danger.
There were fifteen people in the group of men in black, only three of them went to fight Jian Gong, and the other twelve all rushed towards Di Qing.
Di Qing frowned slightly, placed his left hand on the scabbard of the mother sword, but ultimately did not pull it out.
Born into the Dragon Clan, he possessed the art of swordsmanship, but he had divided this art into two parts, giving it to the Son Sword and the Mother Sword. The Mother Sword possessed the art of splitting mountains and widening seas. The Son Sword was relatively gentle, and if he was dealing with a human, he only needed the Son Sword.
A group of people surrounded Di Qing, and Di Qing felt that he was gradually losing his strength. If he did not draw out the mother sword and use it together, he would not be able to unleash the maximum power of the sub-sword.
Just as he was thinking about it, the three people in front of him pretended to attack, forcing Di Qing to raise his sword to defend. The five people behind him suddenly attacked, pointing their swords at his vital points, wanting to take down Di Qing in one fell swoop.
As the blade pierced into his body, Di Qing laughed and said, "Oh, it's been a long time since I encountered such a tough opponent. Apart from Qi Yu, you are the first one!"
As he spoke, his left hand unsheathed his mother sword, and the longsword unsheathed, shaking the earth. The three men before him were instantly killed, their bodies cut in two, their deaths horrific. The mighty sword energy only withdrew after it had split the entire bedroom.
Seeing this, the five people behind him wanted to retreat, but the figure in front of them disappeared in a flash. Just as they were looking for someone, a long sword pierced through their body, and another short sword slid across their throats. The five people were killed instantly.
When the eldest brother saw this, he quickly retreated and returned to the dark.
Leaning on the knife, he said, "Damn it! This person has been hiding his strength. His true strength is unfathomable. This operation has failed. Prepare to retreat."
They wanted to retreat, but the men in black who kept pouring in didn't think so.
No one knew where these men in black came from, nor what their purpose was. They simply infiltrated the battle and killed anyone they saw.
The number of people in black gradually increased. Even though Di Qing used his invincible skills in front of the door, he could not care about the few people who had escaped the net.
Jiang Li'an felt much less pressure at the back door. After all, the narrow space was only enough for two people to pass side by side, and Jiang Li'an could only fight one against two at most.
These men in black, however, took an unconventional approach. Four of them crowded into a single corridor. Jiang Li'an silently recited a sword technique, one of which was the Gan Jiang sword technique: advance and retreat with measured precision, leaving no room for obstruction. His sword, like a swimming dragon, clashed with the weapons of the four men, severing them with a clang. The four men in black were visibly startled and retreated rapidly.
Seeing the thieves retreat, Jiang Li'an wanted to go to the front door to help, but suddenly she felt something strange at the door. She saw an arrow passing by her face like a meteor, cutting off several strands of her hair.
Jiang Li'an frowned slightly, recited the sword techniques, and rushed towards the place where the person who shot the arrow was.
Gan Jiang's sword technique focuses on body movements, so the man didn't hit the target with his arrow. However, the arrow was so powerful that it was all in vain if it didn't hit the target.
Jiang Li'an thrust his sword forward, pushing the man back. She didn't pursue him, but turned back immediately, fearing that the opponent was trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
When he returned to the bedroom, he found that there was no movement in the front yard. A group of palace guards in golden armor were cleaning the yard.
One of them looked familiar. Jiang Li'an walked up to her and saw that she was holding a sword against three tied-up men.
The person who came was Lu Rongshi. When she received the news, she was gathering people. When she saw the letter from Di Qing, she immediately set off and rushed towards the He family compound.
At this time, the chaos outside had died down. The imperial guards brought by Lu Rongshi were no pushovers. They took control of the situation in just a moment.
Lu Rongshi had an expressionless face as he looked at the three people with cold eyes. Just by staring at them, the three people broke out in cold sweats. However, even though they had all the strength, they couldn't move even if they were tied up like this.
Not long after, Di Qing found Lu Rongshi and came over with Wei Hong.
Jiang Li'an and the other two came to Lu Rongshi's side, and Lu Rongshi slowly spoke: "You treated the lives of the royal family as a joke, disregarded human life, and plotted to poison the two saints. You also planned to usurp the throne and regarded the imperial power as worthless. These crimes are enough to tear you into pieces. But you are lucky to have met me. I don't ask for much, just one life for another, and I will give you a quick death."
As he spoke, he raised his sword and swung it down, a sword energy of 100% strength was released, and the three people were killed instantly.
Today, revenge has been taken, and the thieves who plotted to poison the two saints have all been brought to justice.
Lu Rongshi breathed a deep sigh. It was finally over. The intense work of the past few days had left her exhausted. She had just used all her strength to unleash a burst of sword energy, and now her strength was at its limit. As she fainted, Jiang Li'an stepped forward and pulled her into his arms. Jiang Li'an looked at the dark circles under her eyes and sighed silently.
After resting for a while, everyone set off back to the palace.
No one noticed that the group of men in black seemed to have never been there, and even the corpses were dealt with cleanly.
At a road junction not far from here, in front of a carriage, a man in black half-knelt on the ground and said, "Your Highness, the operation failed and the losses were heavy."
There was no sound in the carriage. The man in black gradually felt something was wrong. Just as he raised his head to speak, he saw an axe coming down on his head, killing him instantly.
The carriage drove silently onto the main road and headed towards the palace.
The author has something to say:
This chapter, this chapter is a nesting doll, Mission Impossible
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