Chapter 413: War breaks out
Qin Chi stood up unconsciously.
Looking at the fighting in front of the palace gate.
Under the bright moonlight, swords shone and shadows crisscrossed, people kept falling, and others joined the battle. Not only was there fighting in this part of the city, the battle at the north gate was also fierce.
Duke Ningguo appeared with the Shenji Camp.
They recaptured the North Gate that was briefly occupied by the rebels and closed the gate again, waiting for the soldiers from the Fifth Army Battalion and the Three Thousand Battalion to go and support the Palace Gate.
The Wucheng Bingmasi confronted the rebels who were causing chaos in the city.
Unable to support the palace for the time being.
Not only did the 10,000 elite rebels rush into the city, but there were also 20,000 people who had been lurking in the city for a long time. Almost at the moment the battle started, they attacked the residences of important officials who held real power in the court.
This was a purposeful killing.
Suddenly, smoke of war rose up everywhere, as if the devil had descended upon the world. Tragedies occurred frequently, and lives were lost in an instant.
Shopkeeper Tao received a letter via carrier pigeon.
After he opened it, he immediately reported: "Sir, the North Gate has been closed again and is temporarily under the control of the Shenji Camp."
"Okay." Qin Chi breathed a sigh of relief.
Someone was walking up the stairs hurriedly behind him, making a thudding sound. A figure appeared at the stairs, holding up his clothes and breathing rapidly. When he saw Qin Chi, he immediately walked over quickly.
"Pray for peace!"
The person who came was Li Huarong. He looked at Qin Chi for a moment and then said thankfully, "It's great that you're okay! You don't know that I was scared when I saw the thick smoke over the Qin Mansion. I wanted to go out and take a look, but I happened to meet the person you sent."
"Sir." Qin Chi saluted Li Huarong.
Li Huarong stopped him, "No, it's already late, no need to be so polite, tell me what's going on outside."
"I received a message during the day saying that rebels were attacking the city."
Qin Chi estimated that if the first prince attacked the city, he would definitely not let him go. "You know that I have some grievances with the rebel leader, so I took the initiative to set a trap in the mansion. I never thought that the rebels would find me first after entering the city. I was worried about you again, so I sent someone to pick you up. You are my pillar of support, and I can't afford to make any mistakes."
"You, you."
Li Huarong pointed at him, not knowing whether to scold or praise him, "Why didn't you tell me about such a big thing in advance? I could have given you some advice."
“We are just spectators”
Of course Qin Chi couldn't reveal the entire plan.
Would that ruin his gentle image? Qin Chi had imagined that the rebels would attack the city and kill important officials, but it might not happen. In order to avoid suspicion, he did not make any extra arrangements.
Only when the rebels broke into the north gate.
Qin Chi sent someone to inform his old colleagues as a token of his appreciation, and the person he asked to send someone to pick him up personally was Li Huarong.
As for the military generals who originally belonged to Prince Rui's faction.
Qin Chi had discussed this with Duke Ning three days ago, and Duke Ning immediately contacted other people in secret to prepare for the battle and arrange for their families in advance. As the saying goes, those who do not think about the future will have immediate worries.
If he wants to win, he must calculate ten times before taking one step.
Li Huarong looked at Qin Chi solemnly, "Why did the rebels suddenly open the north gate?"
"The commander of the North Gate was bribed by the rebels. The gate was opened without a fight. This man was shot dead by the Shenji Battalion not long after the rebels poured into the city. Now the North Gate is temporarily under the control of the Shenji Battalion."
This news was just brought back by his people, which meant he was one step faster than Li Huarong.
"Catching a turtle in a jar?"
Li Huarong stood on the balcony, gazing towards the direction of the palace gate.
The guards guarding the palace gate continued to pour out of the palace, lined up in a row with large shields in hand, and defended the palace gate tightly with three layers inside and three layers outside.
No matter how brave the 10,000 rebels were, they were unable to break into the palace.
Gradually falling into disadvantage.
Li Huarong asked again: "Did you participate in the layout of the city?"
"Sir, you think too highly of me. Such arrangements are not something I can do. Besides, even if I could do it, I wouldn't dare to do it." Qin Chi quickly waved his hands to deny.
A group of people will definitely die in the city today.
Therefore, Qin Chi dared not accuse the rebels of entering the city, otherwise he would be attacked by the survivors tomorrow morning. However, seeing this situation, others would not suspect him. Among the many ministers, Qin's mansion was the first to catch fire.
Li Huarong thought of something and immediately shut up. Even if Qin Chi had the ability, he would not dare to do it openly as Emperor Mingcheng was not dead yet.
"I'm overthinking it. The only person who can mobilize so many troops in such a short time is the one in the palace." Li Huarong could not hide his anger when he said this.
There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!
Emperor Mingcheng actually ignored the safety of the people in the city and let the rebels enter the city directly, just to close the door and beat the dog! Li Huarong narrowed his deep eyes slightly, and said casually: "Recently, Xu Lao stayed in the palace and often accompanied Your Majesty."
"You are all the Lords. Sir, did you not receive any news about the rebels entering the city in advance?"
Qin Chi's words hit Li Huarong's chest a little.
Li Huarong was originally in a heavy mood.
Being interrupted by Qin Chi, he almost laughed out of anger. He said unhappily: "Don't you know? Among the three elders, I am just a filler."
Xu Lao was the chief minister, and Wen Ge Lao was the second chief minister.
Among the three, Xu Laofang was the one who was deeply trusted by Emperor Mingcheng. Xu Ge Lao was a scholar of the same period as Yan Jiangnan, and a respected scholar in the Great Xia Dynasty. However, he was in poor health in recent years and was not very involved in affairs. However, his move was exactly what Emperor Mingcheng wanted.
Emperor Mingcheng was most afraid of the power of his ministers.
Isn’t Mr. Xu the one who suits his taste the most?
Thinking of something, Li Huarong sneered again, "Wen pretends to be a decent person, but he is still the second assistant who picked up Yang Zhengkai. He is not much better than me in the cabinet."
When Li Huarong said this, he was still looking in the direction of Wen Mansion.
There was a flash of fire there, obviously there was a fire too.
Qin Chi also noticed it.
There were more than a dozen fires in the city, all in the East City District of the inner city, where important officials of the court lived.
"I suspected earlier that Lord Wen was the late crown prince's man, but now it seems unlikely." Qin Chi withdrew his gaze.
Li Huarong came to the table and sat down, pouring himself a cup of tea. "He is a villain who is good at scheming and taking advantage of others. Yan Jiangnan doesn't like him."
Qin Chi thought that with Lord Yang in charge, Yan Jiangnan really didn't need to contact Lord Wen, which would increase the risk of exposure.
Thinking of this, Qin Chi thought of Lord Yang again.
Yang Ge Lao committed suicide in prison.
His death was beyond Qin Chi's expectations.
When thinking of the "suicide note" he left behind, Qin Chi understood a little more that the old fox chose to commit suicide, not for the so-called loyalty, but to protect the family.