Inside the palace.
Cao De discovered it too late. The assassin stabbed Qi Yu in the back. The boy staggered a few steps and fell to the ground, barely breathing.
The assassins fled quickly before the Imperial Guards could surround Qi Yu, but he had a vague feeling that something was wrong; it seemed to be going too smoothly.
This turn of events completely stunned the three generals.
The entire battlefield, where the fighting had taken place, was deathly silent.
Qi Yu is dead?!
Then who are they fighting for?
At this moment, the Northern Guards, who were originally on and below the roof, suddenly began to retreat from the four gates of the east, west, south, and north like a tide, and some even pointed their arrows directly at the other three armies.
The Northern Martial Cavalry have defected? The three generals, completely unaware of the situation, looked at each other in bewilderment.
At this moment, Xia Jingfeng, who had been silent until now, suddenly rode out from the shadows and bowed to the three of them.
"The young emperor is dead. There is no point in us fighting any longer. Farewell!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the three generals were trembling with rage.
Even the most foolish among the others knew that the assassination attempt on the young emperor was definitely related to him. The general was furious and shouted, "You traitor!"
The general took the lead and charged towards Xia Jingfeng, and the two fought in front of thousands of soldiers.
The remaining lords were dumbfounded. They watched helplessly as the swords that had been at their necks were withdrawn. The Northern Martial Iron Cavalry surged away like a black tide. Some soldiers of the three armies who had reacted shouted, "We can't let them get away!" and drew their swords to give chase. Unfortunately, the Northern Martial Iron Cavalry lived up to their reputation, and they were no match for them.
In front of the main hall, General Li San was also cut down from his horse with a single stroke.
At the same time, as the assassins Xia Jingfeng sent out were retreating, Zhao Quan, who had been lying in ambush somewhere, suddenly rushed out.
The leader of the assassins recognized Zhao Quan. Shocked to see that Zhao Quan showed no sign of grief, he immediately realized he had been deceived and angrily said, "You were originally a member of Beiwu, yet you betrayed Xiahou!"
"A scholar will die for one who understands him; we are merely serving our own masters." Zhao Quan ended the man's life with a single stroke and quietly withdrew with his men.
This sudden change occurred in the rear hall, so those in the front were unaware of it.
On the other side.
Xia Jingfeng decided not to linger and led his men in retreat.
At the same time, the palace gate on the other side was also smashed open. It turned out that Shen Shaoyang had taken advantage of the chaos to retreat with his men. He rushed to the Grand Commandant's mansion at full speed, only to find that Grand Commandant Shen had fled overnight, leaving behind his wife and children.
"Damn son of a bitch!" Shen Shaoyang smashed the table with his fist, startling Murong, the wife of Grand Commandant Shen, who had rushed over.
"Shaoyang, what exactly happened? Tonight in the palace..." Although Madam Murong disliked her eldest son, who was born out of wedlock, she was also worried about her son who had gone with her tonight. "My son..."
"He's dead," Shen Shaoyang said coldly, looking at Murong's pale face, and continued, "They're all dead. That cowardly bastard has already escaped. If you don't want to die, hurry up and leave."
After Shen Shaoyang finished speaking, without waiting for the other party's reaction, he led his men away from the Shen family and took advantage of the chaos to leave the capital. They abandoned their armor, and thousands of soldiers disappeared into the darkness.
His eyes burned with resentment, unwillingness, and confusion. Suddenly, he thought of something, turned his horse around, and headed towards Zhengjue Temple in the nearby mountains.
He had a hunch that Grand Commandant Shen, that old fox, must have gone to find the royal grandson he had hidden away. At this moment, only that child could save Grand Commandant Shen.
For example, we can shift all the blame onto them later.
However, when he arrived at Zhengjue Temple, he saw only flames and a dark mass of Northern Wu cavalry. Grand Commandant Shen's hands were bound and his face was ashen.
Tonight, the Shen family has no chance of turning things around.
At this very moment, inside the palace, blood stained the white jade bricks.
Knowing that Qi Yu was dead, the generals of the three armies looked at each other speechlessly, and could only watch as Cao De tearfully took out a brocade box.
Apart from the seriously injured general, the remaining two generals, Zhao Quan who returned from the rear palace, and the remaining soldiers all knelt respectfully upon seeing the imperial edict.
"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..."
Right now.
Xia Yixin had already left the city with Ying Qi and the others.
Just as they were about to disappear into the forest beside the official road, a dozen dark figures suddenly darted out from the shadows.
There's an ambush!
"Protect the young lady!" Yingqi was prepared and immediately dismounted to engage the enemy in battle.
Xia Yixin was escorted by three or four other shadow guards and ran in the opposite direction, but the further she went, the more she felt something was wrong. They were not heading towards the location of the Northern Martial Camp.
Upon realizing the problem, she immediately tightened the reins to turn the horse around, but the other horse was faster than her.
The masked shadow guard who had been following her diagonally behind suddenly made a move, and she was caught off guard and pulled from her horse into someone's arms.
The pungent, cool fragrance startled her so much that she forgot to react.
The other person was dressed in the same guard uniform as them, and his appearance was nothing special, but his pair of bright black eyes seemed like a lone wolf lurking in the darkness.
It's Qi Yu!?
Shocked, Xia Yixin felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck and plunged into darkness.
He spurred his horse, carrying Xia Yixin, and charged out of the encirclement. Just before plunging into darkness, he heard a mechanical voice warn, "Warning! Warning! The main storyline is in crisis!"
By the time Shadow Seven and his group realized something was wrong, it was too late. Even the Northern Martial Iron Cavalry that came to reinforce them had already passed them by.
In front of thousands of Northern Martial Iron Cavalry, this group of people who suddenly appeared openly and brazenly abducted Xia Yixin.
A few hours ago, before the storm came.
Qi Yu was not joking when he said "I don't want the world".
After confirming that Xia Yixin had been taken away, Qi Yu went to Cixi Palace.
Empress Dowager Xiaode stared at Qi Yu with a mixture of shock and disbelief at the corpse lying on the ground that looked exactly like her.
"Your Majesty, what is this...?"
Qi Yu first knelt down and bowed to Empress Dowager Xiaode, saying, "Mother, from today onwards, there will be no more Empress Dowager Xiaode and no one named Qi Yu."
After hearing Qi Yu's words, Empress Dowager Xiaode was first shocked, then furious.
Qi Yu is planning to give up the throne; he intends to fake his death.
Empress Dowager Xiaode wasn't reluctant to give up this wealth and honor, but rather she couldn't understand it.
"Qi Yu, your mother doesn't understand why you would give up this power that you've already obtained. Could it be that Xia Jingfeng is behind it?" Empress Dowager Xiaode was unaware of the temporary alliance between Qi Yu and Xia Jingfeng.
"It has nothing to do with the Xia family, Mother. Don't you know that this palace is nothing but a cage for us? Supreme power can be obtained without sitting on the dragon throne."
Empress Dowager Xiaode looked at her son kneeling on the ground and for the first time felt that she could not see through him. It was as if he had become a different person without her noticing.
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