Xia Ning and his men had already been waiting outside the city gate. When he saw the carriage approaching, he stepped forward and said, "Sir, everything has been arranged."
Cheng Ying lifted the car curtain and asked: "Has Zhu Kuang taken the medicine?"
"Taixu had already fed Zhu Kuang the medicine before leaving the Hall of Supreme Harmony," Xia Ning said.
Cheng Ying nodded and raised her hand to signal for departure.
The night was as thick as ink, dark clouds obscured the crescent moon, and a team of thousands of people quietly left the city and headed towards Jiaxing.
At the beginning of the hour of Hai, Yu Qizhe and Gu Yun arrived outside Xianyang City with 20,000 Lingnan troops. Last time, before they met Cheng Ying's men, they were attacked by the sky-high mines buried under Yanggu Pass, and were in a very embarrassing situation. This time they took a detour and did not pass Yanggu Pass. As soon as they approached Xianyang City, they used horses to explore the way ahead to prevent further ambushes underground.
Gu Yun sent out a scout team to investigate the city gate defenses and ordered the Lingnan Army to stay on standby.
An incense stick later, the scout team came back to report that there were about twenty guards at the city gate and there was no unusual movement.
Gu Yun nodded. When their 20,000-plus troops arrived in Xianyang, the guards at the city gates should have immediately reported to Cheng Ying about the deployment of defenses. However, right now the guards at the city gates had no intention of fighting, which was a bit strange.
He looked at Yu Qizhe: "Master Yu, what do you think?"
Yu Qizhe thought for a moment and said, "Cheng Ying will not be defenseless. To avoid an ambush, I want to explore Xianyang City at night."
It is impossible that Cheng Ying was unprepared. The arrival of 20,000 of them outside the city of Xianyang would cause quite a stir. Last time, Cheng Ying was able to set up an ambush with thunderbolts, so I wonder what other tricks he has prepared this time.
Yu Qizhe didn't want to cause unnecessary casualties. He didn't want any rumors to slander Yu Jiao in the future and label her as a disaster.
"You want to take the risk?" Gu Yun frowned. Cheng Ying's methods were treacherous and unpredictable. He valued the lives of his soldiers and did not dare to let the Lingnan army attack the city rashly.
"I'll go with you." Gu Yun made the decision.
"No, you are the commander. If something goes wrong, who will lead the troops to fight against Cheng Ying?" Yu Qizhe disagreed.
Gu Yun said, "You are not good at fighting. If you meet Cheng Ying, I'm afraid you will be taken down in one encounter. You will be giving away your life for nothing."
He turned around and told the Lingnan Army to set up camp on the spot, and said to Yu Qizhe with finality: "I am the commander, listen to me."
Yu Qizhe whispered after a long while: "Thank you."
Gu Yun waved his hands awkwardly: "I am trying to save Su Jian."
The two men changed into night clothes, looked for an opportunity, and while the guards at the city gate were not paying attention, they flew over the city wall under the cover of night, knocked out two guards, changed into their clothes, sneaked into the city, and successfully slipped into the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
As soon as the two entered, they realized something was wrong.
The entire Taihe Palace was too empty, with neither guards nor servants, it looked like an empty palace.
There were signs that the house had been ransacked, as if someone had hastily found something valuable and quickly fled.
Suddenly there was a noise in the inner hall. Yu Qizhe and Gu Yun looked at each other and carefully moved towards the inner hall.
I saw a figure lying on the bed, breathing heavily.
Gu Yun drew out the soft sword from his waist and silently placed the sword on the man's neck.
The person on the bed was suddenly frightened and turned around abruptly. It turned out to be Emperor Zheng of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Kuang.
Yu Qizhe and Gu Yun were both slightly surprised.
When Zhu Kuang saw that it was the two of them, his expression relaxed. He glanced at the long sword in Gu Yun's hand and said fiercely, "How dare you! It's me, Gu Yun, why don't you put down your sword?"
Gu Yun hesitated for a moment and retracted the soft sword.
Zhu Kuang felt relieved after seeing this. He cleared his throat and said, "You have done a great job in saving the emperor. I will reward you generously when I return to the palace. Cheng Ying had evil intentions and tricked me into coming to Xianyang to take medicine. He actually used the medicine to make me fall into a coma. I just woke up and found that there was no one in the palace. But have you captured Cheng Ying?"
Gu Yun said nothing, but looked at Yu Qizhe.
"Cheng Ying has not been captured yet. Your Majesty, are you going to return to the capital?" Yu Qizhe said in a steady voice.
Zhu Kuang hurriedly said, "Okay, let's go back to the palace." He almost lost his life, so he was eager to return to the capital.
Gu Yun glanced at Yu Qizhe in confusion, not understanding why he wanted to bring Zhu Kuang back to the capital. Zi Qi had instructed him to let Zhu Kuang "die forever" in Xianyang. He could understand what Zi Qi meant, and he didn't believe that such a smart man like Yu Qizhe would not understand.
Yu Qizhe glanced at the bed curtains and said, "Your Majesty, don't you want to ask what has happened in Kyoto recently?"
Zhu Kuang's expression changed slightly: "What do you mean?"
Yu Qizhe stepped forward and whispered, "The emperor is in a coma in Xianyang, and no one is taking care of the affairs of the court. Ji Wudao took the opportunity to lead his troops to rebel."
"What? Ji Wudao rebelled? Then Shengjing... is it safe now?" Zhu Kuang was furious, but he was also afraid that Ji Wudao might succeed in his rebellion and sit on the throne.
"It is still safe. Ji Wudao did not succeed in his rebellion."
Zhu Kuang's eyes lit up and he said happily, "That's great. I will return to the capital as soon as possible to take charge of the situation."
Yu Qizhe slowly pulled down the bed curtain and said calmly, "It's a pity that your majesty can't return to the capital."
Zhu Kuang stared at him: "What do you mean?"
Yu Qizhe smiled faintly: "Your Majesty, do you still remember the late crown prince? There is already a crown prince in the capital to inherit the throne."
Zhu Kuang looked alert, staring at the bed curtain in Yu Qizhe's hand, and said stubbornly: "Impossible! I have already asked Cheng Ying to kill him completely, he can't still be alive!"
Yu Qizhe smiled and said, "The Crown Prince is still alive, and the daughter of Princess Huaiyang is also alive. She is my wife. She cannot avenge you for the murder of her father and mother in person, so I will do it for her. Your Majesty, go with peace of mind."
As he finished speaking, the bed curtain in Yu Qizhe's hand had already been strangled around Zhu Kuang's neck. Zhu Kuang was already weak and tired due to having slept for many days, and he had no power to fight back after being strangled by Yu Qizhe.
He looked at Gu Yun for help and said in a hoarse voice: "Gu Yun, save me, save me, I will hand over all the military power to your Gu family..."
Gu Yun looked at him expressionlessly. When Emperor Mingzheng was about to suffocate, he suddenly said, "Do you know who the crown prince is? He is Liu Ziqi, the eldest son of the Liu family."
"Liu...Yu..." Zhu Kuang clutched the bed curtain weakly with both hands, his face had turned the color of liver due to suffocation. It seemed that he had not expected that Liu Yu, who had always been an upright minister, would actually raise the crown prince under his nose.
After a moment, Zhu Kuang's hands and feet fell limply, and he was no longer breathing.
Yu Qizhe did not let go. He did not like to leave any trouble behind. He held on for a while longer and only released the bed curtain after making sure Zhu Kuang was dead.
"If what Zhu Kuang said is true, then Cheng Ying must have run away, and I'm afraid Yu Jiao was also taken away by him." Gu Yun said.
Yu Qizhe's face was not looking good. He naturally thought of what Gu Yun could think of. He said to Gu Yun: "Let the Lingnan Army enter the city and search carefully to see if they can find out Cheng Ying's whereabouts."
Zhu Kuang's body had to be sent to the capital to be disposed of by Liu Ziqi. They only needed to let Zhu Kuang die in Xianyang, at the hands of Cheng Ying.
Soon Gu Yun led the Lingnan Army into the city. When the guards at the gate of Xianyang saw the Lingnan Army, they surrendered. Yu Qizhe sent people to investigate carefully in the city and found out that Cheng Ying had led a team of a thousand people out of the city, but their whereabouts were unknown.
Gu Yun sent people to track down the criminal along the official road, and also sent people to deliver a letter to the capital, and also sent Zhu Kuang's body back to the capital.
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