Just as everyone was about to set off, they saw a small group of people galloping towards them from the west. The person leading them was Kang Huojian. He was patrolling the city and was surprised to see the people from Hu Yasi.
"Master Zheng, why are you here? What are you doing?"
Kang Huojian felt doubtful when he saw the officials brought by Zheng Xian.
Zheng Xian didn't know Kang Huojian's background, whether he was His Majesty's or King Kang's. He cupped his fists and said, "General Kang, I'm here on the Emperor's orders to investigate a case outside the city. I hope Lord Kang will open the city gates and let us pass."
Kang Huojian was clear-headed: Do we need so many people to investigate this case? The Tiger Yasi has almost come out in full force. The Tiger Yasi are so powerful! They must have found evidence of King Kang's rebellion and they want to leave the city to rescue the emperor.
Kang Huojian initially wanted to tell Zheng Xian that the emperor knew about the rebellion, but then he changed his mind and thought: why not let the Hu Yasi's men out of the city and have them go to Maoer Mountain to rescue the emperor? The emperor would be surprised that the Hu Yasi could solve the rebellion case, and he would also look up to them.
The members of the Tiger Yasi were mostly selected from the Imperial Guards, and many of them were subordinates of Kang Huojian. Like Wang Zongchu, he hoped that the Tiger Yasi would be given important positions.
"Your Majesty has decreed that no one may leave the city. However, your Tiger Yamen is handling the case with special permission from the Emperor, and no one may interfere. The two decrees contradict each other, which makes it difficult to deal with. But as we are colleagues, this general agrees to open the city gates."
Zheng Xianyuan had no hope. He wanted to take the risk of capturing Kang Huojian as a hostage and force him to open the city gate.
I didn't expect that Kang Huojian would actually let me out of the city. I immediately clasped my fists and said, "Thank you, General Kang!"
Kang Huojian clasped his fists in return, "No problem," and turned to the captain of the city gate guards, waving his hand, "Open the gate!"
The Suzaku Gate slowly opened, Zheng Xian mounted his horse, and bowed to Kang Huojian in farewell.
With the sound of horse hooves, a group of Tiger Yamen officials rushed out of the city gate.
…
Everyone was riding horses, and Nangong Lian'er was extremely happy. She was like a bird just out of a cage, chirping and talking non-stop along the way. The boring life in the palace had suffocated her. Nangong Lian'er was not the kind of canary in a cage, she longed for the outside world.
Zhao Huan was forcing a smile. Although he was leading Wu Ge's team of experts, he was still a little nervous.
Prince Kang Zhao Gou was accompanying him. Zhao Gou seemed a little absent-minded and it seemed that he was even more nervous inside.
Li Chen followed silently beside Zhao Gou on the right side of Zhao Huan, while Nangong Lian'er and Wu Geren were on the left.
"Brother Kang, is Maoer Mountain the one ahead?" Zhao Huan asked, pointing to a small hill ahead.
Zhao Gou nodded hurriedly. "Brother, we are right in front of us, Maoer Mountain. Look at that stone platform below. That's the Sunset Terrace. Every evening when the sun sets, the sunlight falls right on that stone platform, hence the name Sunset Terrace."
Nangong Lian'er yelled, "I want to go, I want to go, I want to go up and take a look."
Zhao Huan smiled and said, "I will take you up there later. We are here today to catch that strange beast."
The closer they got to Maoer Mountain, the more sweat covered Zhao Gou's palms. Actually, there was no such thing as a bullshit monster; this was just a trick they had made up to lure Zhao Huan away.
At that time, they would create an "accident" to have Zhao Huan die on Maoer Mountain. This would allow them to crown Prince Zhao Chen on the throne. Since the crown prince was still young, Prince Kang Zhao Gou could preside over government affairs as regent. Once they had control of power, they would begin to remove the other powerful figures, execute the crown prince, and ascend the throne themselves.
This was a good plan, but it seemed they were a bit naive. Zhao Huan was not the incompetent and incompetent ruler he appeared to be, and the Tiger Yasi officials were not just there to eat.
Finally we arrived at the foot of Maoer Mountain, which got its name from its shape that resembles a cat's ear. Maoer Mountain is not very high, just a small hill.
Zhao Huan looked up at the mountain and asked, "Why hasn't the strange beast appeared yet?"
Li Chen rode out from the side and said, "Your Majesty, I will take someone to take a look."
Zhao Gou also said: "Your Highness will go over and take a look as well."
Zhao Huan nodded, and Li Chen and Zhao Gou, along with their followers, rode their horses towards Maoer Mountain.
"Your Majesty, would you like to hide first?" Wu Ge asked.
Zhao Huan waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I'll wait here and lure the snake out of its hole."
Nangong Lian'er looked at the conversation between the two and felt a little puzzled. Zhao Huan was worried that she couldn't keep the truth in her heart, so he didn't tell her the truth.
"What are you talking about?" Seeing their heavy faces, Nangong Lian'er finally couldn't help asking.
Zhao Huan no longer concealed the truth and pointed at Zhao Gou and others in the distance: "Prince Kang is plotting a rebellion. He and the infantry commander Li Chen want to kill me and usurp the throne!"
Nangong Lian'er was shocked and pale: "What? Your Majesty, please run away."
Zhao Huan smiled and said, "I am here to lure the snake out of its hole on purpose. There will be something interesting to watch soon."
While Nangong Lian'er was hesitating, she saw Li Chen and Zhao Gou running towards her with a group of guards. Those people were Li Chen's subordinates, the imperial guards' infantry.
Wu Ge drew his sword and led his men forward: "Protect the Emperor!"
The two hundred palace guards brought by Wu Ge are all masters carefully selected from thousands.
Wu Ge pointed his sword at Zhao Gou and asked, "What does King Kang want to do?"
Zhao Gou pointed behind him and said, "Brother, the Qilin beast is right in front. It saw that there are too many of us and didn't dare to come out!"
Zhao Huan sneered and said, "Zhao Gou! You are plotting to usurp the throne and are plotting rebellion. I have already investigated the matter, why don't you surrender?"
Zhao Gou and Li Chen's faces changed drastically when they heard this, and Zhao Huan was furious. Now that things had come to this, they had no choice but to fight to the death.
Li Chen drew his sword: "Go to battle!"
With a loud "crash!", hundreds of infantry guards emerged from the jungle in the distance and surrounded Zhao Huan and his companions.
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