Chapter 106: Princess protects the princess, and kill the rest. …
The night was as dark as ink, the sky was low, and dark clouds were hanging over the palace.
The biting night wind blew mercilessly through the long palace corridor, blowing the white lanterns on the palace walls. The lights flickered and trembled in the night.
In the Changchun Palace, candles were burning obliquely, and wisps of green smoke were curling like fog from the auspicious beast incense burner. However, no matter how precious the spices were, they could not cover up the smell of burning in the palace.
Outside the palace gate, the patrolling black-armored soldiers were heavily guarded. The guards were tight, the sound of armor clashing echoed through the quiet corridor, the flash of swords was like snow, and the atmosphere was overwhelming.
Concubine De sat in front of the couch with a frown on her face. Although her palace dress was still dignified and elegant, she looked a little haggard due to excessive worry.
Her fingertips were tightly clasping the chair armrest, her white knuckles glowing faintly green, as if she was about to embed the wooden armrest into her palm in the next moment.
Princess Guang'an sat beside her, wearing a plain palace dress. Her eyes no longer had the gentleness and softness of the past, but instead had a sharp edge.
Although she looked calm and restrained, she already had murderous intent in her heart.
Suddenly, a hurried sound of footsteps came from outside the palace.
The palace door was pushed open, and a slightly older palace maid walked in quickly. It was Aunt Chun, Defei's personal maid.
Before she could even take steady steps, she prostrated herself on the ground and said in a hurry, "My Lady, it has been confirmed that the people from the Loyal and Brave Marquis's Mansion have made a move."
"Your mother's clan has summoned the best of the clan and dispatched all the troops that can be mobilized. They have changed into plain clothes and sneaked into the capital in batches. They are now lurking outside the palace and are ready to serve His Highness the Fourteenth Prince at any time."
De Fei's eyes lit up, and her tense expression finally relaxed a little. She asked in a deep voice, "Where is father deploying his troops now?"
"To answer your Majesty, most of them are disguised as civilians in the Dazha Lane area, and another group of people are hiding in the warehouse beside the moat outside the East Imperial Garden. They are all death warriors. If ordered, they can immediately attack the palace."
Aunt Chun lowered her voice and said, "They also sent 20 strong inner warriors to sneak into the palace to assist in the secret operation. However, the palace is sealed tightly tonight, and not even a mouse can get in... So they temporarily hid outside the west corner gate and wait for the Queen's arrangements."
De Fei frowned, looked up at the night outside the window, and sighed after a moment: "We can't delay any longer. If Wei Zilin takes control of the situation first, no matter how many people the He family has, it will be useless."
She turned to Aunt Chun and said, "If they just wait like this, they will be exposed sooner or later. But if we rashly force our way into the palace, we might alert the enemy... Is there any way to get them into the palace quietly?"
Aunt Chun shook her head and sighed.
"I have already inquired about it. There are frequent changes of guard tonight. There are three layers of inspection at the palace gates, and there are even secret sentries of the black-armored army lurking. Any unidentified person who approaches will be killed immediately."
"Even the eunuchs in the imperial kitchen who deliver the night meal have to undergo a triple body check. It would be extremely difficult to get in."
Defei frowned and was about to speak when she heard Princess Guang'an say, "Mother, why don't you let me go?"
"What did you say?"
Concubine De suddenly turned her head and her expression changed drastically.
Princess Guang'an stood up, her posture straight and her expression resolute: "My son's status is special, and I know the faces of most of the generals of the imperial guards. If I use the excuse that my mother is ill and disguised as a eunuch to go back to the He Mansion to get secret medicine, I can go out of the palace and lead a few people into the palace, and I can bypass the inspection."
“No!”
De Fei stopped her sternly, her voice revealing a mother's instinctive fear, "You are my only daughter. If anything happens to you, I won't care about you, not to mention the Fourteenth Prince, even if you are the King of Heaven."
"But if they are trapped outside the palace, what awaits them is exposure, capture, and annihilation!" Princess Guang'an retorted, her voice calm but decisive, "The Crown Prince is secretly mobilizing troops, and we have lost the initiative. To break the situation, we can only break through the palace restrictions and cooperate with the outside world."
"Let this servant go and take him in."
Aunt Chun suddenly spoke up, her tone urgent, "I have been walking around in the palace for a long time, I am familiar with the routes and regulations, and I have also been out of the palace many times to do things for the queen, so I have the status to go in and out."
"But Aunt Chun has no reason to leave the palace so late at night." Guang'an interrupted, "If Aunt Chun leaves the palace, she must lie and say that she is following the orders of the Empress. But Aunt Chun is now ordered by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to stay in Changchun Palace to serve the Empress Defei. Once she leaves the gate of Changchun Palace, her every move will be monitored. How can she act freely?"
"Do you think you can escape?" Defei stood up. "If you leave the palace, you will only be more conspicuous than her!"
"But I can take a gamble."
Princess Guang'an walked up to Concubine De and spoke in a low, but clear voice, "No one knew that I had returned to the palace this time. No one would have thought that a little eunuch like me would know the secrets of entering and leaving the palace."
De Fei stared at her closely, breathing faster, and after a long while she whispered, "You know this is a risky move. If you reveal a flaw, you will die."
"But if I don't go, the He family will die, and we will lose this only chance to break the impasse." Princess Guang'an's tone was more firm than ever before, "Mother, you taught me that we can't just sit and wait for death in this palace. If we miss the opportunity, we will be doomed."
There was a gleam of light in Concubine De's eyes, but she finally did not say anything to stop him.
The wind outside the palace blew harder, and the branches of flowers under the eaves rustled.
Concubine De stared at her daughter for a long while, then she slowly sat down and said in a hoarse voice: "Go..."
Princess Guang'an raised her hands and folded them in front of her, then knelt down solemnly and kowtowed, "My daughter is gone."
Princess Guang'an slowly stood up, turned around and walked out. Concubine De suddenly raised her eyes and called out, "Yue'er!"
Her eyes were misty and she choked up, "Be careful..."
Princess Guang'an turned around, looked at her deeply, and smiled with tears in her eyes.
"My daughter has made a note of it."
She turned around resolutely, her light robe fluttering, and her slender figure quickly disappeared into the night.
Concubine De slumped down on the couch, looking gloomy, and couldn't come back to her senses for a long time.
Her fingertips slowly stroked a soft little brocade bag beside the pillow. It was a gift from Guang'an when he was a child. The orchid on it was sewn crookedly, but she has kept it until today.
Aunt Chun knelt on the ground and whispered: "My lady, the princess is blessed by heaven, don't worry too much."
Defei closed her eyes and nodded slightly.
The night outside the window deepened, and the huge Changchun Palace seemed to have sunk into deathly silence.
But the wind has moved, the situation has begun, the night has grown darker, the sky is as dark as ink, and it seems that a storm is about to come.
In various places in the palace, numerous imperial guards stood with weapons in hand, wearing eerie black armor, like iron walls rising in the cold night.
Occasionally, a patrol torch flickered as it passed, casting shadows on the brick ground, which suddenly became eerie.
The murderous atmosphere in the palace was so tense that even the night wind seemed to be holding its breath.
Princess Guang'an quietly sneaked out from the side door of Changchun Palace. It was late at night, the palace lights were dim, and the night wind blew, bringing with it a hint of chill.
The area around the palace gate was quiet and deserted, with only the occasional whispers of palace servants being heard.
She was dressed like a eunuch, wearing a slightly loose gray-green eunuch robe, with her head lowered, holding a medicine box, and slowly walking from a side path to a corner door where servants entered and exited.
She lowered her voice, pretending to be hoarse, and lowered her head to hide her sharpness, but her noble temperament could not be concealed in her steps.
At the corner gate, two black-armored soldiers were guarding it. They were dressed in cold and fierce uniforms and stood with spears in hand.
One of them raised his hand to stop her, and looked around vigilantly: "Stop, where did you come from, little eunuch? Why are you walking out at this time?"
Princess Guang'an immediately bowed her head and saluted, her voice hoarse, "Your Excellency, I am Little Li from Changchun Palace. Her Majesty's old illness recurred tonight, and she urgently needed a secret recipe of family-inherited pills. There was none in the palace, so I had to go back to the palace to get them. Her Majesty ordered that we must hurry, and I dare not delay... This is Her Majesty's token."
After saying that, she took out a carved token from her sleeve and presented it with both hands.
The black-armored soldier was skeptical. He took the token and took a closer look. It was indeed Concubine De's token.
I saw her holding the medicine box tremblingly in her hands, her face was pale, and there was cold sweat on her forehead, it didn't seem like she was faking it.
Another person came over to take a look and whispered, "It's Concubine De's person. Let her go."
Coincidentally, the black-armored soldier guarding the gate was actually a descendant of Defei's maternal family, and the whole family had also been widely supported and favored by Defei.
Defei and her maternal family rely on each other. If anything happens to Defei, the power of her maternal family will be greatly weakened, and the future of her children will naturally be affected.
He hesitated for a moment, finally nodded, and said in a deep voice: "You can only be out for half an hour. If you don't come back after noon, you will be treated as absconder!"
Princess Guang'an thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir, I will come back as soon as I get the medicine, and I will not be late!"
After saying this, she lowered the brim of her hat, walked quickly with the medicine box in her hand, and her figure quickly disappeared into the night.
The moment she stepped out of the palace, the palms of her hands hidden in her sleeves were already covered with cold sweat.
Of course she didn't go back home to get the medicine, but hurried to pick someone up.
She is a princess and a sword.
She quickly found the hidden assassins, confirmed their identities, and led several of them to a long-abandoned corner gate hidden under the palace wall.
It was a corner gate that had been abandoned for a long time, connecting to a row of abandoned houses in the palace that were waiting to be rebuilt. Although the corner gate had been walled up, the guards there were weak, and it was the only feasible route for the mother's clan's death squad to sneak in.
"It's almost there. It's just ahead." The princess whispered, her steps hurried. The night wind blew her clothes fluttering, but her eyes were clear and resolute.
Several assassins worked together to pry open a corner of the abandoned palace door.
Princess Guang'an waved her hand and said, "Quick, change into palace maids' clothes, sneak in through the row rooms, and act separately according to the original plan."
Just as everyone was quickly changing their disguises, a stern shout suddenly came from a distance: "Who is gathering here?"
A bunch of torches were suddenly thrown over and landed at the feet of the crowd. The firelight illuminated the faces that had no time to cover themselves.
“There’s an assassin!!”
The patrol team of the Black Armor Army roared, and in an instant the horns sounded and the fire was as bright as day.
"Protect the princess!"
The assassins immediately drew their swords to meet the enemy. A female assassin, dressed in the clothes of a palace maid, rushed towards the princess, holding her tightly in her arms, and slashed with her sharp sword, but she was still no match for the larger number of black-armored soldiers.
Several assassins were chopped to the ground one after another, blood flowed into the cracks between the bricks, and the night wind was filled with a strong smell of blood.
Princess Guang'an gritted her teeth, holding the dagger tightly in her hand. There was no fear in her eyes, but she became calmer: "Leave me here, and leave quickly!"
"No!" The assassin pushed her back and threw himself to block the fatal knife. Blood immediately splashed onto the princess' face, burning her.
"Surrender and you will be spared!" The leader of the black-armored army shouted coldly. The blade had already been placed on the princess's slender neck, and the chill penetrated her bones.
She didn't take a step back, and sneered at him: "I am the Princess Guang'an of the current dynasty. If you dare to touch a hair on my head, you will lose your head!"
"Stop talking nonsense!" The leader of the black-armored army raised his sword and was about to strike, the blade flashed with a cold light.
In a flash, a deep and cold voice exploded from the night wind, like thunder:
"Let her go!"
Before he finished his words, a feather arrow came flying through the air, as fast as thunder, and accurately pierced the wrist of the black-armored army leader, causing blood to splatter with a "bang".
The big knife that had not yet fallen suddenly fell.
"It's an enemy attack!!"
The black-armored soldiers looked around in fear, and a dark shadow came galloping out of the night, wearing black clothes and silver armor, his cloak fluttering, and his horse's hooves were like thunder in the night.
He held a spear in his hand, which was cold and sharp, his eyes were like cold stars, and he was so decisive without any worldly air. He looked like Asura running out of a sea of blood.
"Shen Yunchao!" The black-armored soldiers shouted in fear.
He jumped off his horse, the spear in his hand flashed with a cold light, and with a twist of his wrist, three black-armored soldiers fell to the ground immediately. Blood splattered on his black battle robe, but it did not tarnish his power at all.
Princess Guang'an opened her eyes wide and looked at him in disbelief.
He suddenly appeared from the night, stepped through the pool of blood, and came to her.
Shen Yunchao slowly turned around, holding his spear horizontally, blocking her, and ordered coldly:
"Protect the princess, and kill the rest."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
