"A palace coup?!" Xie Jiaoying was shocked and jumped up from her seat.
"Prince An's men have surrounded the entire palace, and the Crown Prince's whereabouts are currently unknown," the messenger reported.
Where is the Emperor?
"I'm afraid the chances of survival are slim."
She looked at Qingying, "Did you already know?"
"I guessed it." Qingying calmly sipped her tea.
"You could have guessed that?"
"Naturally, I received some information and made inferences."
Xie Jiaoying patted her pounding heart and said, "Luckily you reminded me to tell my father to pretend to be sick, otherwise my Xie family would probably not have been able to avoid this calamity."
"I was just doing my best, and it's all thanks to your father for listening to me. I just don't know what the palace is like now."
"Instead of worrying about others, you should worry about your General's Mansion first. Given Prince An's temperament, if he can't find Wei Huaixu, he certainly won't let the Liu family off the hook."
"Don't worry, someone will protect them." She smiled.
When Xie Jiaoying met her determined gaze, she gradually let go of her worries.
...
When Song Changrun led his men into the Liu family's residence, they found it so quiet that it seemed uninhabited. The empty mansion was devoid of any human presence. If it weren't for the red silks hanging all over the courtyard and the lanterns adorned with large red "囍" characters indicating the previous liveliness, one would have suspected that a wedding had recently taken place there.
"This is so strange. It's one thing that the master isn't here, but why isn't there even a single servant?"
Hearing his subordinates' whispers, he belatedly realized, "This is a trap! Retreat!"
Song Changrun and his men hurriedly turned to leave, but the vermilion gate not far away suddenly slammed shut by itself.
"Oh no..."
The thought had barely crossed his mind when a sharp arrow, gleaming with cold light, shot towards him. He quickly dodged it, but was still grazed on the cheek by the sharp blade.
"What kind of villain dares to hurt me but doesn't dare to show himself!"
"I'm not happy about being called a villain by a traitor," a smiling voice said.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a person sitting on the courtyard wall not far away. His pupils shrank suddenly. "You...shouldn't you be in Quzhou?"
Liu Chengfeng put away his bow and arrows, raised an eyebrow and smiled, "My dear sister is getting married today, how could I, as her elder brother, not come back to congratulate her?"
"How is this possible..."
It's not surprising that Song Changrun was so surprised. Prince An's men had been monitoring Liu Chengfeng's movements and had confirmed beforehand that he had been in Quzhou and had never left. Liu Shushu was getting married today, and her brother was supposed to carry her out of the mansion, but he hadn't been seen at all. Everyone thought he wasn't coming back, but now he appeared at the General's mansion without any warning, which was really unexpected.
Liu Chengfeng stopped wasting words with him and stood up, saying, "My men have already surrounded the entire General's Mansion and the Song Mansion. You'd better stay here obediently, or you will see your parents' heads."
"Don't try to fool me! His Highness Prince An's men have already escorted my parents out of the city. Surrounding the Song residence won't threaten me!"
"Oh? Don't you know? His Highness the Crown Prince intercepted them when they left the city. Now all ninety-seven people in your Song family are locked up in the mansion."
As he spoke, Liu Chengfeng whistled.
Suddenly, the door opened a crack, and a large, jet-black dog ran in carrying a dripping human head.
The moment Song Changrun saw the severed head, his blood turned ice-cold. He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word.
The black dog walked up to him, placed the human head at his feet, tilted its head back and barked twice at him. Blood dripped from its teeth, and a few drops fell from the edge of its mouth onto his shoes.
He just stared blankly at the familiar head, his fingers trembling slightly.
After a long while, he finally let out a low, hoarse moan: "Big brother..."
Liu Chengfeng whistled again, and the black dog wagged its tail and ran away with great intelligence.
"Do you believe me now, Lord Song?"
With a muffled thud, Song Changrun knelt down before him, his voice trembling with suppressed emotion: "Please... spare my family."
Liu Chengfeng crossed his arms and said coldly, "You should have expected this day when you decided to become a traitor. Treason is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family. Begging me will be useless."
After saying that, he left without looking back.
As darkness fell and twilight descended, the entire city of Pandu was plunged into panic and oppression. The common people stayed indoors, officials lived in constant fear, and the palace was in complete chaos, littered with corpses.
A chilling wind howled, threatening a storm, when suddenly the city gates swung open. The oppressive silence of the night was shattered by an excited, loud shout: "His Highness the Crown Prince is back! His Highness the Crown Prince has returned with the Great General!"
At this moment, the rain broke through the clouds and poured down. The mighty cavalry marched into the capital through the rain and mist, heading straight for the palace.
The leading man was clad in silver armor, his red cloak billowing in the wind. He held the reins in one hand and a red-tasseled spear in the other. Rain streamed down his handsome face, and his deep, unfathomable eyes shone with a resolute light.
An army of 50,000 men easily stormed the palace and surrounded the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Wei Huaichong learned of this news not long ago. He was initially shocked, but gradually calmed down. He expressionlessly killed several ministers who could not be interrogated, and his handsome face, stained with blood, showed a hint of madness.
He refused Yan Jinming's offer to help him escape the palace, casually picked two palace maids, and entered the Yuqing Palace.
The young palace maid tremblingly helped him put on the dragon robe, and he gazed at himself in the bronze mirror for a long time.
He then sat on the dragon throne above the Hall of Supreme Harmony and ordered the court officials who had been escorted there to kneel and pay their respects. They all looked dejected and shouted in unison, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
He leaned on the dragon-head armrest, his posture languid, like a tyrant, his tone casual and arrogant, "Speak louder, haven't you eaten? Should I cut off two more heads to make soup for you?"
Everyone was terrified, their faces ashen, yet they had no choice but to shout at the top of their lungs, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
"Not complete enough, continue."
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
"It doesn't sound good, continue."
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
He repeated it over and over again, until his throat was hoarse and sore, but he was morbidly unwilling to stop.
As a tall, armored figure entered the palace, a mocking voice rang out: "Seventh Brother, you have quite the refined taste, needing so many people to cooperate even in your dreams."
Wei Huaichong, who was on the dragon throne, immediately sat up straight and looked at him with a smile: "You've finally come. I thought you were going to keep hiding like a coward."
"Seventh Brother is still the same as ever these years, unable to shake his stubbornness. Even when facing death, he still refuses to back down. I'm afraid even if the sky falls, it'll still be your mouth holding it up."
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