Xue Shu and He Shan led their troops to cut off the major land and water fortresses heading south.

Yin Chengjing's last trace was at the Huangxian ferry. When Xue Shu led his troops there, the ferry had been guarded by Dongchang guards and the area had been cleared and operations were temporarily suspended.

"Did Yin Chengjing leave by boat from here?" Xue Shu rode his horse and ran along the river for a distance. The river was narrow and shallow, and large ships could not pass through it. Most of the ships were small boats, and most of them were small merchants or ordinary people who came here to take the boat.

The captain who led the pursuit team replied: "The horse hoof and wheel tracks stop here, and no other traces were found around. Based on the traces left in the forest, it is speculated that they left by boat."

Xue Shu said nothing, and walked around the forest again to check for traces. Abandoning the horses and carriage, it is indeed possible that Yin Chengjing had already left by boat, but it is also possible that he deliberately set up a false formation to mislead them and actually went in another direction.

"Have the people who followed the river to the next ferry returned?"

The captain said, "We should send someone back soon to report the news."

Xue Shu lowered his head and looked at the horse hoof prints on the ground, his brows slowly wrinkled. On the way here, he had paid careful attention to the horse hoof prints on the ground. At first, there were many and dense horse hoof prints, which obviously meant that there were quite a lot of people. Then, they gradually split into different forks. Only the carriage and a dozen horses were left.

From this we can guess that Yin Chengjing did come to the ferry.

But the quantity is wrong.

According to the confessions of the rioters captured by the foreign officials, Yin Chengjing hid 5,000 private soldiers outside the palace.

But judging from the traces at the scene, the troops that came out of the farm and joined Yin Chengjing were at most a few hundred people. If there were more troops hiding somewhere else, Heshan should have reacted. A few thousand troops were not many, but even if they were scattered, they were still a very conspicuous force.

The state governments along the way received the news and stepped up inspections. Since these troops could not enter the city, it would be even more difficult for them to conceal their whereabouts.

But there was no news from Heshan.

Something is not right.

"Where are the confessed rebels?" Xue Shu asked.

"Imprisoned in the imperial prison."

The rebels were far away in the capital, so it was impossible to interrogate them once. Xue Shu could only send someone to deliver a message to He Shan while leading his troops to the next ferry.

Fortunately, they met a bandit who came back to report the news halfway.

"Have you found any trace?"

The guard shook his head. "We chased them to the next ferry, but we were a step too late. The passengers on the boat had already left. We questioned the boatman, and he said that there was indeed a group of people on the boat, but they got off the boat and left when they arrived at the ferry. It is not clear where they went. Our people searched the nearby towns, but found no trace of them."

"Yesterday morning, there were three ferries that docked at Huangxian Ferry. Have they all been checked?"

"I've checked it all, and the statements are pretty much the same."

Xue Shu's eyes brightened when he heard this: "Is what you said similar?"

Fanzi was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

"Although the Huangxian Ferry is not big, many small ferries are willing to go there because of the convenient waterway and the peaceful route. There are also many small merchants who come here to take the boat every day. It can be said that it is a mixed bag. If Yin Chengjing wants to hide his whereabouts, he must dress up and act low-key. These boatmen meet countless people every day. How come they all remember them?"

And it wasn't just the boatman who remembered it, but also the other two boatmen who were docked at the ferry together.

This can only mean that someone taught them to say this, or that these boatmen were disguised as other people and were waiting for him here on purpose to provide him with false information and disrupt his judgment.

This is not like Yin Chengjing's behavior.

Since Yin Chengjing had taken such a big risk to act alone, and was accompanied by a woman from the Yao family, he was probably desperately hoping to go south to Guangdong by water as quickly as possible. As long as he moved quickly enough, even if the imperial court reacted, they would not be able to catch up with him. When he reached the coastal areas where there were all kinds of people, it would be easier for him to hide. So there was no need to waste energy and manpower at the ferry.

If it wasn't Yin Chengjing's arrangement, then who could it be?

Xue Shu went through the possible candidates and finally locked on Yin Ci Guang.

If we try every possible means to delay his steps, the only ones who will benefit will be in the capital.

The guard immediately came to his senses and said, "I will go and capture him right now!"

Xue Shu divided his troops into two groups and said, "Arrest the boatman and bring him to justice. Then send a message to General He and immediately withdraw the troops back to the capital and meet at Wulipo outside the capital."

After saying that, he immediately retreated to Wangjing with his men.

It was already the morning of the third day when he led his troops back to the capital.

Xue Shu ordered the army to stay at Wulipo to hide their tracks and wait for He Shan to come and join them. He also sent spies to the city to gather information.

As expected, all the city gates were under martial law, and the guards at the gates of the Prince of Yan's palace were all replaced by new faces. No news came out of the palace, but it seemed that many officials had been summoned to the palace and had not come out, and there were many more patrol officers and soldiers on the streets than usual. The people were unaware of the changes in the palace and lived their lives as usual, but the atmosphere in the city was inexplicably tense.

After exploring all nine city gates, the spies returned to report the news.

"The guards at Dongzhimen, Xizhimen, and Chongwenmen are extremely strict, and all the guards are new faces. The guards at the remaining five city gates, such as Deshengmen and Andingmen, are all the same. I also found the Dongchang secret sign near Andingmen and Chaoyangmen. It must be that the palace has some precautions and left it there on purpose."

Military vehicles were transported through Anding Gate, and grain was transported through Chaoyang Gate. The roads were wide and few people were on them. They were adjacent to each other from the north and east, so there was enough space for soldiers to quickly enter the city and coordinate with each other.

Xue Shu looked at the city gate with deep eyes.

There may have been some action in the palace, but Yin Ciguang had no foundation, and Gao Xian's power was diluted by him and was no longer as strong as before. Even if he was not in the capital, he could only control three city gates.

Before leaving, he left Wei Xihe to guard Dongchang. His Highness must have noticed this, so he ordered people to leave a secret sign on the city gate as a reminder.

Xue Shu remained calm and waited until the evening, when He Shan and Ying Hongxue gathered their scattered troops and rushed to Wulipo to reunite.

Seeing the two men had arrived, Xue Shu said quickly, "There may be changes in the palace, so I will go back first. You and my sister will lead the people to ambush outside the city. Use three arrow shots as a signal. Once you hear the news, enter through Anding Gate and Chaoyang Gate and surround the palace."

Even though he tried his best to suppress it, he held the hilt of the knife with one hand and tightened his jaw, but the murderous aura that he couldn't control still leaked out between the lines.

Ying Hongxue knew why he was like that, and nodded solemnly: "You go, leave this to me and He Shan."

Xue Shu nodded, and led a small team of Dongchang elite soldiers towards the city.

Xue Shu led his men to explore the city, and only after nightfall did they sneak into the palace.

The guards at the palace gate have been replaced by a new group of unfamiliar faces.

But since Yin Chengyu had made arrangements at the city gate, it was impossible for the palace to be completely defenseless.

In the darkness there was a cry of an owl.

A moment later, a group of East Factory guards sneaked in. The two groups exchanged secret signals and then attacked together.

Xue Shu suppressed his anger and showed no mercy when he attacked. He quickly dealt with the palace gate guards before the commotion got out of hand. Xue Shu asked the small group of guards to guard the palace gates before he asked about the situation in Ciqing Palace.

"In the evening, Gao Xian came with His Majesty's handwritten order. His Royal Highness was confined to Ciqing Palace. Now there are many imperial guards guarding outside Ciqing Palace." Seeing that his expression was getting more and more terrifying, the guard swallowed his saliva before he had the courage to continue: "But His Royal Highness had already prepared for it. He had asked Eunuch Wei to ambush people in various places in the palace in advance, and asked us to wait at the palace gate to prepare to meet the governor."

Your Highness knows he will come back.

Xue Shu's sinister expression eased a little. After instructing the guards to contact other ambushes to capture the palace gate, he led his men to Ciqing Palace.

The guards in the palace tonight are much stricter than usual, with almost one guard post every ten steps.

Xue Shu and his men tried to avoid the enemy if they could, and killed them silently when they couldn't avoid it. It was after midnight that they arrived near Ciqing Palace.

The Ciqing Palace was surrounded by imperial guards, and teams of them were patrolling.

Xue Shu looked at the imperial guards, his knuckles bulging as he pressed on the hilt of his sword. After a long while, he suppressed his anger, picked a place where the guards were weak, ordered the guards to kill the guards, put on armor, blend in with the imperial guards to hide from others, and then he quickly climbed over the wall and entered the Ciqing Palace.

As soon as he landed, a patrol team heard the noise and shouted, "Who is it?!"

Xue Shu looked face to face with the person leading the team, and raised his eyebrows when he realized it was Zhao Lin: "The defense of Ciqing Palace seems to be in good shape this time."

He looked around. Although the Ciqing Palace was surrounded by the Imperial Guards, the defense inside the Ciqing Palace was no less numerous than the Imperial Guards, and the defense was tighter than usual. No wonder the Imperial Guards only dared to besiege the palace from the outside.

Zhao Lin was surprised and delighted when he saw him: "Master Xue! His Highness has gone to bed. I will go and tell him now."

"No need for that. Commander Zhao, just patrol the area and we will go by ourselves." Xue Shu stopped him and went straight to the bedroom.

Zhao Lin thought it was common for him to go in and out of the prince's bedroom, so he didn't stop him. He just asked his men to continue patrolling and he went to inspect everywhere himself.

Xue Shu entered the bedroom.

Yin Chengyu had already gone to bed, and only two lamps were left on in the outer hall.

Xue Shu dismissed the guards and pushed the door open. When he saw the person sleeping peacefully on the couch, all the emotions that were surging in his heart sank and became real.

Although I knew he would have a plan to deal with it, I couldn't help but worry about accidents when I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Xue Shu strode to the couch, hugged him, buried his face in his neck, and called out "Your Highness" softly.

When he strode in, Yin Chengyu was already awakened, but before he could react, he was hugged forcefully.

The two of them hugged each other tightly. Yin Chengyu smelled the blood and knew that he must be rushing back to the palace in a hurry.

Inserting his fingers into his hair, Yin Chengyu rubbed his face soothingly, his voice still hoarse with sleepiness: "How come you came back so soon? It seems that the messenger I sent out didn't meet you. I thought you would arrive tomorrow at the earliest." "I rushed back as soon as I realized something was wrong."

Xue Shu was like a thirsty person, his nose moving in the hollow of his neck, absorbing his scent to soothe his restless heart.

Yin Chengyu did not push him away, and continued to talk to him in this awkward position: "Yin Chengjing must have fallen into the hands of my eldest brother. Yao informed him of the incident, so he was one step ahead of us. I heard that he took two people to the Qianqing Palace today. Although the prisoner car was sealed and their faces were covered, they must be Yin Chengjing and Concubine De."

Xue Shu said "hmm" and didn't really care what Yin Ci Guang did to the two men.

Yin Chengyu paused and sighed, "I can save him once, but I can't save him a second time."

Xue Shu then raised his head and looked into his eyes: "If I don't get back in time, what will Your Highness do?"

"If you don't return before the day after tomorrow, I will have to do it myself. Prince An has colluded with my father and committed treason. As the crown prince, I should execute him." Yin Chengyu supported himself on his elbows and sat up, tracing the lines on his cold face with his fingertips: "However, there are only more than 10,000 soldiers and horses available in the palace. Although some arrangements have been made in advance, Gao Xian and the people given by the emperor make up a large number of people. If a fight really breaks out, there may be too many casualties. It would be best if you return in time."

Xue Shu's gloomy expression eased a little, and he stood up and took the clothes on the screen to help him put them on: "Then leave it to me from now on."

Yin Chengyu nodded and said, "I have ordered Wei Xihe to deploy people everywhere. Go find him."

In Ciqing Palace, three arrows rose into the sky.

When the imperial guards outside were about to report the news, they saw the gate of Ciqing Palace opened wide, and a man came out with a knife in his hand, his face hidden in the dark, like a life-grabbing Asura.

Behind him, well-armed soldiers marched out in an orderly manner.

The commander of the imperial guards saw that the situation was not right and quickly ordered someone to report the news. However, as soon as the messenger took two steps, he was stabbed in the back by a heavy knife and fell to the ground dead.

Xue Shu glanced coldly at the shocked guards and said in a deep voice, "Those who surrender will not be killed, but those who resist will be killed."

The fighting in front of the Ciqing Palace soon came to an end. The imperial guards who had been living a life of luxury in the capital were not good at fighting, but the guards who had been trained in the East and West Factories had their hands stained with countless blood.

What's more, there was Xue Shu, the god of death, who killed the commander of the imperial guards with one sword as soon as they met.

The morale of the imperial guards plummeted.

Soon, people began to surrender one after another.

Leaving behind some people to clean up the battlefield, Xue Shu led his troops straight to the Qianqing Palace.

The defense of the Qianqing Palace is even better than that of the Ciqing Palace.

Xue Shu stood with a knife in his hand, blood dripping down the blade, and he looked murderous: "The rebels are holding your Majesty hostage, and we are here to protect you. If you don't move aside, you will be considered a rebel and will be killed without mercy!"