conspiracy to rebel
In the scorching summer sun, the imperial garden, once filled with the fragrance of flowers, is now filled with a solemn and desolate atmosphere.
A crowd of black, armed assassins surrounded the octagonal pavilion, led by Zhou Ruoyan and Xiao Junqi, standing side by side.
Xiao Junluo was blocked by many palace servants. He could only stick his head out, his eyes darting around helplessly.
The imperial concubine seemed to have experienced a lot, and there was no trace of panic on her beautiful face. She said with interest, "Your Majesty left the palace to worship the ancestors. If you want to rebel, why did you come to the palace?"
Unfortunately, there was no thought of reminiscing about the past between the two of them, and they turned a deaf ear to Qi Qinghe's previous questions.
Xiao Junqi smiled nonchalantly, playing with the dagger. When Zhou Ruoyan waved her hand, signaling the assassins to attack, he suddenly jumped up, pointing the sharp dagger directly at Qi Qinghe.
Qi Qinghe stood on the steps, the pearls on her temples untouched, she raised her eyelids and looked coldly, not taking a single step back.
The dagger chopped down in an instant, but was blocked by another dagger. The force was so great that Xiao Junqi's wrist shook and he stepped back slightly.
Suddenly, two more people appeared in the octagonal pavilion, a young and energetic boy, and a strong and sturdy middle-aged man. They stood in front of the steps with sharp weapons in hand, blocking the two ladies.
The imperial concubine suddenly opened her eyes wide. She never thought that someone would protect her. The golden hairpin she was holding hurt her hand, and she subconsciously glanced at Qi Qinghe beside her.
The assassins who rushed forward were frightened by the sudden appearance of this person and took a step back. They surrounded the person in a semi-circle and pointed their swords at him.
Xiao Junqi's face turned ashen, he clenched the dagger in his hand, and his gloomy eyes fell on the young man.
Zhou Ruoyan raised her eyebrows and told someone to rush forward.
At this moment, Qi Qinghe slowly spoke, "You two have so many people and so much power, why are you so stingy and don't even explain my doubts to me or say a few more words?"
Xiao Junqi retreated again and again, until he was behind many assassins, waiting for the opportunity to succeed in one fell swoop, without saying a word.
Zhou Ruoyan looked around. The imperial concubine did not bring many people with her when she visited the garden. Most of them were palace maids and eunuchs. They were weak and frail, huddled together and shivering, looking as if they could not resist.
Even if these two people show up, I'm afraid they won't be able to last long.
Zhou Ruoyan sneered, "Your Majesty, don't dream of using this to buy time. Your Crown Prince won't be back for a while."
Qi Qinghe's face suddenly changed, her fingers unconsciously tugged at her dress, her clear eyes full of unwillingness.
"Your Highness, the Crown Princess, has always been aloof and disdainful of associating with others. How could you have imagined this would come to pass? Now your life is in my hands. You'd better be sensible and surrender obediently, otherwise..." She took in the man's expression, snorted coldly, put on her hood, concealed her figure, and waved her hand slightly. "Your Highness, may you wish for the best."
The waiting and watching soldiers rushed forward.
In an instant, the flashes of swords and the shadows of knives dazzled the eyes, and the sounds of swords clashing were endless.
Qi Qinghe helped the imperial concubine move away for a while, calmed himself down a little, and glanced around with a worried look in his eyes.
Qin Song and Yu Xie, with their swords raised and their movements swift and agile, blocked the way in front of the pavilion.
After a while, the situation began to decline.
Xiao Junqi watched silently, his figure rushing through the crowd. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the person on the steps and was about to draw his sword to stab him.
But Qi Qinghe suddenly said in a cold voice: "Your Highness, have you forgotten that Ning Yu's body is still in my hands?"
Xiao Junqi paused, pointed his sword at the man, and asked in disbelief, "What did you say!"
Ning Yu is already dead, why don't you let her go?
Xiao Junqi was filled with anger, with nowhere to vent it. His eyes were sinister and short-sighted, as if he wanted to tear people into pieces.
Qi Qinghe swept away the panicked look from just now and said calmly, "If you give in, everyone will be happy. If you don't give in, you will never find her."
"She died because of you, and even after death she was implicated by you, unable to rest in peace. Her bones were dug up and pulverized, and her ashes scattered. And you still have the nerve to question me here."
Xiao Junqi was filled with anger, with nowhere to vent it. It flowed through his limbs and bones, his eyes gleaming with ferocity, wishing he could tear her into pieces. He gritted his teeth and said, "What exactly do you want?"
"Threatening me? This matter is not my own fault. What's the point of threatening me?"
Qi Qinghe faced his dagger, his eyes flashing coldly. He glanced around, moved his feet, slowly forced him back, and sneered, "You think you are infallible, so you can rest easy?"
“It’s still to be determined who will live and who will die.”
After he finished speaking, a trace of confusion flashed across Xiao Junqi's eyes, and he actually had the illusion that he didn't quite understand.
The imperial concubine, her daughter, and a group of palace maids huddled in a corner of the pavilion, trembling. Upon hearing this, they looked at the Crown Princess in confusion.
A gleam of light flashed in the imperial concubine's eyes, and her expression was shocked. She looked at Qi Qinghe in disbelief, thinking that this was impossible.
How could the emperor, accompanied by the imperial guards, appear in the palace when offering sacrifices to his ancestors?
Xiao Junqi also thought so, thinking that the Crown Princess was just bluffing to scare him. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a very familiar noise.
Soon, several neatly-organized groups of soldiers rushed into the imperial garden, wearing armor and holding spears, and in an instant they were fighting with this group of death warriors.
The fighting was deafening, and a strong smell of blood spread in the garden. The blooming flowers were splashed with warmth, which added a bit of horror.
Xiao Junqi froze in place, looking around blankly, shaking his head and saying it was impossible.
The Imperial Guards had already been transferred away, so how could they appear here?
The situation changed in an instant. He pondered for a moment, thinking about what Qi Qinghe had just said, that he wanted to dig Ning Yu out and grind her bones to dust. He was filled with hatred, but there was nothing he could do.
These death warriors won't last long.
Having made up his mind, Xiao Junqi moved and headed straight for Zhou Ruoyan who was mixed in with the assassins.
Zhou Ruoyan lowered her head and hid herself in the crowd, looking for an opportunity to escape. A silver light flashed in the corner of her eyes, and she immediately felt that something was wrong.
But it is too late.
The icy touch on her neck made her shudder and tremble all over.
Xiao Junqi grabbed her with one hand and held a dagger in the other, forcing her to dodge left and right. He stopped in front of the octagonal pavilion and forced a smile. "Don't blame me, sister-in-law. I was deceived. I am deeply ashamed and want to apologize."
"Please, sister-in-law, please spare Ning Yu for the sake of our past friendship."
Xiao Junqi's words were sincere, but when Qi Qinghe heard them, she broke out in a cold sweat.
I still remember that she said this just to calm people down and prevent them from acting rashly. Why would she even hold someone hostage to apologize?
Zhou Ruoyan was trembling uncontrollably, her teeth chattering and she couldn't speak. The slight tingling in her neck and the dull pain from being shackled all reminded her that this trip had failed miserably.
All these carefully trained assassins were destroyed.
Qi Qinghe glanced at Yu Xie and took a step back.
Yu Xie understood, took out the rope from his waist, tied Zhou Ruoyan up, and threw her into the pavilion.
The fighting gradually stopped, corpses were piled up in all directions, and the disgusting smell of blood spread in the air.
Qi Qinghe looked around and was shocked.
Even though she had experienced a lot along the way and had seen many hideous corpses, none of them was as terrifying as today.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, no one will be left alive." Qin Song's face was covered in blood, and the long sword in his hand was broken and bleeding. He threw it on the ground and bowed to the Empress.
Qi Qinghe's face turned pale, he nodded slightly, stepped forward, and told Qin Song to send the imperial concubine and the princess back to the palace first.
Halfway through his words, Qin Song, who was listening with his head bowed, suddenly changed his expression, "Your Majesty, be careful!"
He exclaimed, and hurried forward, trying to stand in front of the Empress, but it was too late.
Qi Qinghe looked at the steps under his feet, only caring about walking closer to see more clearly, without paying attention to his surroundings.
Yu Xie was watching over Xiao Junqi and Zhou Ruoyan, and was secretly wondering what to do with Zhou Ruoyan. While he was distracted, Xiao Junqi suddenly jumped up and stabbed Qi Qinghe with the dagger hidden behind him.
"Go and be buried with Ayu!"
He roared and stabbed out with all his might.
Qi Qinghe looked over when she heard the voice, but before she could react, her body dodged subconsciously. The moment her pupils suddenly dilated, she took out the hairpin on her bun and swiped it across.
The warmth splashed on her face, blurring her eyes. She opened her mouth, and before she could even scream, the hairpin in her hand fell.
With the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, she wiped her face with a towel and saw clearly.
Xiao Junqi's eyes were wide open with anger, and he stared at Qi Qinghe with eyes full of resentment and unwillingness. The short sword in his hand slipped, and the bloodstains on it were shocking.
There was silence all around. Yu Xie lowered his head guiltily. Qin Song looked at the empress's injured arm and his scalp tingled.
The palace maids who had retreated were being led away by the imperial guards.
The imperial concubine was standing by, quietly comforting her daughter. Upon hearing the voice, she tilted her head, frowned slightly, took three or two steps closer, and took the man's arm to examine him carefully.
The wound was not deep, but the skin and flesh were turned over and blood was flowing, which looked particularly terrifying.
The imperial concubine breathed a sigh of relief and spoke softly, only ordering someone to go to the Imperial Hospital to ask for a doctor to treat the patient properly before leaving the palace.
The pain spread throughout her body, and Qi Qinghe's face became paler and paler, looking quite strange under the exquisite makeup.
She nodded woodenly and let the palace maid help her sit down in the pavilion.
The gorgeous palace dress was stained with a few shades of crimson, the hem of the skirt became even more red, a few strands of hair were scattered on the temples, and the bun on the head that was once full of hairpins and jade was now invisible.
The Free Guards cleaned up the mess on the ground, moved the bodies away and placed them in a unified place.
Qi Qinghe stared blankly at the soldiers coming in and out, secretly worrying about how she would explain her injury to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince when she left the palace later.
Thinking back to the past few days, my wrists were sore from copying scriptures day and night, and I had a splitting headache.
She was just thinking about what excuse to make when a sentence floated down her head.
"These soldiers are the prince's personal guards." The imperial concubine said calmly.
In the past, the crown prince was assassinated, and the emperor secretly set up a personal guard for the crown prince, which always obeyed the orders of the emperor and the crown prince.
Very few people knew about this matter. Even she, the Imperial Concubine and the biological mother of the Crown Prince, had only vague guesses about it over the years and could not be confirmed.
Qi Qinghe tilted her head, her clear almond eyes showing a slight hesitation. But after thinking carefully, she felt that there was nothing to hide, so she nodded without saying a word.
Xiao Junluo had been escorted back to the palace by the Imperial Guards. The palace maids were sweeping the imperial garden, and there was no one else around.
The matter of the Crown Prince's personal soldiers was told to her by the Crown Prince himself yesterday.
The two of them conspired together to come up with this plan. The token of the Imperial Guard was in her hands, and the prince incorporated his personal soldiers into the Imperial Guard and she was in charge of their deployment.
Therefore, today, I am quite confident.
If you think about it carefully, the family property, power, and the prince were all given to her.
The prince's cherishment is self-evident.
The doctor came very quickly, and after careful treatment, he prescribed medicine and gave some instructions.
The rebellion was finally over.
Qi Qinghe changed out of her bright red palace dress, washed and combed her hair, and put on a goose yellow gauze dress, looking bright and charming. The wound on her arm had been treated and was covered by her sleeves, so it was hardly noticeable.
"Thank you, mother, for your kindness today." She bowed gently and said goodbye to the imperial concubine.
Xiao Junluo held the teacup in his hand, his rabbit-like red and swollen eyes sparkling as he looked at her eagerly, "When will the emperor's sister-in-law return to the palace?"
Qi Qinghe smiled and was about to say some nice words to comfort him. Anyway, it was only two days, and the matter could be completely over.
Just at this moment, Qin Song came hurriedly, paid his respects, and informed the empress that Zhou Ruoyan was missing.
Qi Qinghe raised an eyebrow.
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