Upon receiving the signal flare, the stationed soldiers immediately mobilized and moved out to encircle and annihilate the black-clad assassins from both sides, the sounds of battle echoing through the sky.
"Reinforcements have arrived, retreat!"
Aunt Lu's expression changed on the spot. How could she let go when the dog emperor was still alive?
Aunt Lu flicked her long whip, wrapped it around the guard's neck, and slammed him heavily to the ground. Her bloodthirsty gaze was fixed on the retreating emperor.
"Sect Master, it's too late! Run!"
No sooner had the disciple finished speaking than a rain of arrows fell from the sky, and screams rang out one after another. After three waves, half of the Three Pages Sect's members were gone. The soldiers drew their longswords and shouted, "Save the Emperor!"
With the arrival of reinforcements, the situation that was on the verge of defeat instantly reversed. Xiao Lingshou's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, relaxed, but his breath caught in his throat. A sharp pain shot through him, and he staggered two steps, barely managing to stay upright.
"Sect Master, retreat quickly! I'll cover the rear."
The woman speaking while wearing a mask took out a curved knife strapped to her back. The weapon was familiar; it was the one Chang Lili had given her.
"If we're going to retreat, we'll retreat together!" Aunt Lu said coldly. "Heaven has spared our Great Shun Dynasty until now; I refuse to believe we'll perish here!"
"It's too late." Burlan stood in front of Aunt Lu and said to Guo Yan, "Take the sect leader away!"
"Sect Leader, the greater good is at stake!"
Guo Yan called her accomplices to pull Aunt Lu back together. Aunt Lu turned around and saw that Boerlan was holding a knife in one hand and a sword in the other. He was outnumbered by ten and was not at a disadvantage at all! However, the number of enemies and friends was far outnumbered, and he gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. His body was covered with bloody cuts.
The emperor's face darkened: "Leave them alive; I will interrogate them myself!"
Burland burst into laughter: "Hahaha! I won't let you have your way!!"
"Oh no! Stop her!"
Bollland sneered, then casually chopped off several heads. She then picked up her scimitar and slashed across Bai's neck, the spurting blood staining the sky red. In her hazy consciousness, she vaguely saw familiar people walking towards her.
elder brother……
The only survivor was dead, and the emperor flew into a rage: "They're all a bunch of useless trash!"
The ancestral worship ceremony was to be handled by the Minister of Rites, but an assassin suddenly appeared. The Minister of Rites was uneasy and subconsciously looked at Xiao Lingshou, only to see him sway and fall heavily to the ground. He exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness!"
"Return the carriage to the palace and summon the imperial physician. He must revive the Crown Prince!"
The eunuchs lifted the unconscious crown prince and placed him into the imperial carriage, the emperor's expression complex.
He had always disliked this son. Knowing that he had made friends with ministers while he was seriously ill, he gradually dismissed him from his post and gave him military power after he recovered, but only to check Meng Yuxiu.
Unexpectedly, he was willing to die to protect her.
The soldiers regrouped and returned to the palace, leaving Xiao Shu'er standing aside as if she had been completely ignored. Dissatisfied, she sat back in the spare sedan chair when she was dazzled by a flash of silver light—the soft armor worn by the woman who had just committed suicide.
She clearly remembered that the woman in charge also had one that ordinary weapons couldn't scratch; it was made of a very special material, and she didn't know where these rebels got it from.
"Bai Mei, take the soft armor back to me and investigate its origin."
Bai Mei followed suit.
When the emperor returned to the palace, he ordered a thorough investigation of the Three-Page Gate's strongholds, only to discover that half of those people were women from the Northern Border.
Meng Yuxiu was summoned to the palace.
The emperor's face was grim: "Minister Meng, I have entrusted you with the affairs of the border. You also need to tell me that the barbarians will not invade again. Now that barbarians have appeared in the capital, I hope you will give me a satisfactory answer."
The emperor assigned Meng Yu a memorial to draft.
When Meng Yuxiu picked it up, he saw that it was about the assassination attempt during the ancestral worship ceremony.
"In the memorial I submitted to Your Majesty before, there was a matter concerning the disappearance of women on the border. Now it seems that the Three-Page Gate kidnapped them and trained them to become their own men."
"Are these the soldiers of the Three Pages Sect? How many of their strongholds have you investigated?"
"Key evidence is still lacking."
"I order you to find out as soon as possible. If the barbarians are colluding with the Three Pages Sect, they must not be let off lightly!"
"Your subject obeys the decree," Meng Yuxiu said, taking his leave.
"Princess!"
Bai Mei searched around and finally found Xiao Shu'er at Taiye Pond. She hurriedly said, "This servant has investigated and found that the soft armor is made of rare materials. One of them is iron, which was previously in the national treasury and is now with Chang Lili. It was a gift from His Majesty to her."
"Chang Lili?" Xiao Shu'er snatched the soft armor. "Are you sure?"
Bai Mei said, "It's absolutely true. I asked the blacksmith."
Xiao Shu'er sneered: "Let's see how she tries to argue this time!"
Driven by the hatred of disfigurement and the vengeance of having her love stolen, Xiao Shu'er was determined to kill Chang Lili. Unable to restrain herself for even a moment, she strode toward the emperor's palace. Halfway there, she encountered a familiar figure—Chu Moyu!
Xiao Shu'er hated him so much she wanted to grind her teeth, and she gave him a cold look. But Chu Moyu stopped her and said, "Did the Princess steal this soft armor from the General's Mansion? Are you trying to twist the truth and ask for a marriage proposal?"
"How dare you block my way!"
Chu Moyu laughed, his eyes filled with frost: "The princess really does turn her back on people."
Remembering about Consort Lan, Xiao Shu'er became extremely wary: "The soft armor was taken from the people of the Three Pages Sect. I already know who forged it. If you stop me, you are an accomplice of the Three Pages Sect. If my brother finds out, how many lives do you have to kill?"
Chu Moyu stepped aside, and Xiao Shuer walked away triumphantly.
Chang Lili absolutely cannot be harmed.
Chu Moyu's expression turned cold. He immediately left the palace, gathered the people from the Three Pages Gate, changed into black clothes, and learned that Chang Lili was talking to her mother-in-law and that Meng Yuxiu was not in the mansion. He then climbed over the wall and sneaked into the general's mansion.
While talking to her, Chang Lili was completely unaware that someone was thinking about her. She was still trying to persuade her mother-in-law to stay away from the Three-Page Gate, pretending to be obedient and saying, "Mother-in-law, please listen to me, okay? I just want you to live a peaceful life."
The old woman said, "The people inside the Three-Page Gate treat me very well, and I am very happy here."
Chang Lili didn't believe it: "How could the Three Pages Sect be good people? They brought Bolan into the capital and didn't allow a single letter to be sent back, do you know that? Mother, her brother is almost going crazy looking for her, and he even pins his hopes on me, an outsider."
Bulgi is a good person, and Chang Lili really hopes that the siblings can be reunited.
The mother-in-law shook her head and sighed. Just as she was about to say something, she noticed Aunt Lu standing behind her and gave Chang Lili a look. Chang Lili didn't notice and continued talking until the mother-in-law spoke.
"Xin'er, did something happen?"
Aunt Lu looked tired: "It's nothing, don't worry."
Speaking ill of others in front of them made Chang Lili touch the tip of her nose. She felt uncomfortable all over. After sitting for a while, she wanted to leave.
Aunt Lu nodded: "Be careful on the road."
Chang Lili apologized sheepishly and returned to the mansion with her head down. Meng Yuxiu had not yet returned. She went to the forging place, intending to make more soft armor, when she suddenly froze.
"Where's my iron? It's such a huge lump!"
The place where the iron was stored was empty. Chang Lili searched the entire forge but found nothing. She ran out quickly, and before she could even ask the servants in the mansion, someone told her.
"Miss Chang, a letter has arrived from the palace. His Majesty summons you to the palace."
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