Chapter 98 Death Escape: A Quiet Night
A quiet night.
Moonlight, like silver foil, spilled across the jade tiles of Zhengren Hall. The chirping of insects had long since ceased. After replenishing the lamp oil, the palace servants no longer set foot inside, leaving a deathly silence. Perhaps it would rain tomorrow; the night was unusually sultry, unlike winter. The more still and undisturbed the atmosphere, the harder it was to endure. The guards could only communicate with each other through glances, occasionally stealing sips of tea from their gourds to ward off sleepiness.
Inside the hall, the fragrant pillows were delightful. A tall, slender man held a slightly shorter young man tightly in his arms, a domineering embrace, like a beast encircling its prey, not allowing anyone else to covet him. The two were covered with a brocade quilt, so only through the man's arms could one glimpse the sweet, contented eyes of the one in his arms.
But in reality, the person in his arms, Mayu, did not actually fall asleep.
Shinjuku thought that the King of the Poisonous King would cling to him affectionately as usual, but he only held him, kissed his face, and then coaxed him to sleep.
The King of Poison himself did not sleep.
Although he kept his eyes closed, he could clearly feel the gaze of the Poison King.
Nearly two hours have passed, and the Poison King remains unchanged.
Just as Shinju was about to feign wakefulness and glance at the King of Poison, a commotion arose outside the palace. It seemed someone was shouting in a shrill voice, "What? What? They're rebelling!" This was followed by the clanging sound of swords being drawn and the resounding shouts of guards, "Stop talking nonsense here! You're disturbing His Majesty's peace!!"
Then came another series of muffled "uh-uh" sounds from someone being gagged, but somehow, perhaps the person making the accusation had struggled free from their restraints, and then, the Poison King on the inner dragon bed finally heard it clearly.
The man shouted, "Your Majesty!! Prince Guangli has rebelled—"
The King of Poison immediately sat up with a graceful and swift movement, took the outer cloak hanging to the side, put it on, and then planned to tell Shinju to wait for him in bed.
In the blink of an eye, Shinju had already fastened his belt and walked up to the King of Poison while wearing only a thin robe.
The King of Zhen said nothing, but cast a disapproving glance at Zhen Su, and insisted on draping the thick red fox fur cloak over him before they walked quickly toward the front of the palace together.
In fact, Shinju had witnessed everything from his divine consciousness at the beginning, and now that he had come out to see, sure enough, the person who came was Koko.
The King of Zhen slightly raised his chin, and the two guards released Xiao Hengzi.
Xiao Hengzi knelt on the ground, anxiously saying, "Your Majesty! Prince Guangli has been raising a large private army, and they are now preparing to surround the palace!"
"How many are there?" King Zhen asked in a deep voice, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"I don't know, he didn't tell me..."
The King of Poison suddenly frowned, "How did you manage to escape?"
A look of panic flashed across Xiao Hengzi's face. He stammered, "King Guangli...King Guangli has...has those kinds of thoughts about me, so he wasn't on guard against me, and I hurriedly ran away!"
"What audacity! I'm quite impressed. It's clear how dissatisfied he is with this fiefdom." The King of Zhen was still able to laugh, causing the kneeling Prince Heng to tremble with fear.
"You have rendered meritorious service in reporting this, and I will send people to protect you." The Prince of Zhen gestured with his eyes to the two guards, who immediately nodded in acceptance.
Xiao Hengzi, however, refused to move with them to a safe place.
He hunched his shoulders and begged to stay near His Majesty, saying that he might be able to stop the desperate King Guangli.
"No need." The Prince of Zhen didn't take it seriously and was about to refuse when his gaze swept over the scarlet sachet at the waist of the person behind him. He suddenly changed his mind and said, "Fine, I'll allow you to stay by Qing Zhangyin's side. Don't let An Shijun have a chance to touch my people."
"Yes! I will go through fire and water to protect Your Majesty and Lord Qing!" Although Xiao Hengzi's body trembled, his guarantee was firm and powerful.
Then, in the short time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the King of Zhen gave his instructions on how to deal with the enemy.
Compared to the composure of the King of Poison, Shinju's expression was rather uneasy.
It was only because, within his expanded divine sense that encompassed the entire palace, he witnessed a series of scenes that were completely beyond his expectations.
After the Imperial Guards focused their efforts on guarding the palace walls and blocking the rebels, and gathered at the watchtowers and below the palace walls, the vast majority of the Imperial Guards were vigilant about the outside, and thus relaxed their vigilance about the inside of the walls, the rear, and their own people.
Suddenly, the drum tower of the palace resounded with heavy drumbeats. Almost at the same moment, the traitor lurking among the imperial guards swiftly and ruthlessly slashed at the throats of the soldiers and officers who were unaware of the danger and had their backs exposed.
In preparation for the ambush, the lights were all shining outside, while the Imperial Guards were hidden in the shadows of the walls. As a result, the spray of blood was completely concealed by the darkness. Many people only felt a dampness that came from nowhere, and before they could even recognize the smell of blood, someone slashed off their arms from the side.
"Ahhh—"
"There's a mole!! The enemy isn't outside, they're inside!! Look left and right carefully—"
The instant the disturbance occurred, Shinju rushed out of the Seijin Hall, turned back and said, "Your Majesty, stay close to me!!"
Although the King of Zhen had keen senses, the incidents mostly occurred on the outskirts of the city walls, far away, and he only noticed the drumbeats that suddenly rang out in the middle of the night.
Morning bells and evening drums are customary, but drums are never sounded in the dead of night. Generally, horns are blown to report enemy activity, while gongs are used to signal unusual events like floods. However, he trusted Masakatsu, so he nodded emphatically to Masakatsu, his dark eyes filled with unwavering conviction, before they sped off together.
Xiao Hengzi was physically weak and clearly couldn't keep up with the two's amazing speed. Fortunately, the guards chasing behind noticed him halfway and carried him on their shoulders, pulling him along by his belt.
Yan Shang, who had climbed the watchtower, was also ambushed. He wasn't supposed to be on night duty, and he was even forced to drink alcohol, leaving him quite drunk. He thought it was because he couldn't hold his liquor, but now it seemed that it was all premeditated.
That wine was probably spiked!
Even though his consciousness was somewhat blurred, he still jumped out of bed in a flash to lead the guards in preparation for the unexpected situation.
In order to stay clear-headed, he was extremely vigilant. Even after climbing the watchtower, he kept an eye on his surroundings. When his consciousness wavered, he stabbed himself in the arm with a dagger, ignoring the profuse bleeding. But it was precisely because of this that when a neck-slitting attack suddenly came from behind, he nimbly retreated to the side, dodging the fatal blow.
Unfortunately, the other party seemed to be quite wary of him and did not underestimate him just because he had taken the drug. Two or three people rushed over and surrounded him.
Hearing the cries of agony and the sounds of swords and spears clashing coming from downstairs, Yan Shang knew something was wrong.
I'm afraid everyone is in dire straits.
It's more than just bad.
Yan Shang's unfocused pupils reflected the few generals before him, who had fought alongside him on the frontier battlefield. Their hands gripped the hilts of their swords tightly.
When he plunged the needle into the arm, creating a bloody hole, the force he used seemed to be mixed with hatred and sorrow.
"You...why...aren't they all brothers?! How could you do such a despicable and vicious thing!" Yan Shang roared with all his might.
But their faces showed no reluctance, no guilt, only unwavering conviction.
"You people of the Nian Dynasty are never worthy to stay here. This land belongs to the Huan people!"
Upon hearing the words "Huanren," Yan Shang's pupils constricted sharply, his ears suddenly felt like they were ringing, and his mind went blank. He almost thought he had misheard.
The Huan people... are they a force from the previous dynasty?! Wasn't it Prince Guangli who was planning a rebellion?! How did they get involved with them?!
Just then, they noticed a weakness in Yan Shang's arm and seized the opportunity to attack. They ripped a large chunk of flesh from Yan Shang's already bloodied arm, so deep that the bone was visible.
"Ughhhh!!" Yan Shang immediately broke out in a cold sweat, his back and hair instantly becoming soaked.
At the same time, Yan Shang was kicked in the side, his left knee was kicked and he was sent flying to the ground, causing his whole body to lose its balance and fall heavily to the ground.
When a person is lying down, they are extremely vulnerable, with their vital organs exposed, making them very difficult to defend themselves, even when lying on their side.
Thus, Yan Shang, despite his drowsy state, used his knife to block the swords. After blocking more than ten times, his defenses went from being impeccable to being full of holes, and his movements could not keep up with their excellent speed when they were in full fighting spirit.
Yan Shang finally couldn't resist anymore. His vision became increasingly blurry, and it seemed as if someone was singing a lullaby to lull him to sleep. He was so sleepy that he couldn't even feel the pain in his body.
The rebels noticed that Yan Shang's resistance was getting weaker and weaker, and with the tip of their swords at Yan Shang's neck, they were about to press down on the hilt and stab him.
However, at the critical moment, with a whooshing sound, the sword was suddenly deflected by the wooden chair that flew through the air.
The next moment, the sword fell into the hands of a ghostly figure who suddenly appeared. The sword light flashed, and in almost an instant, four rebels were cut off below the knee. One of them was pinned down by another figure with a Miao sword as he tried to crawl away, and his broad and tall body blocked the doorway.
The rebels, with nowhere to escape, were terrified when they saw who it was.
"Don't let them die like this," the Poison King ordered the belatedly arriving guards, his face as cold as ice.
The guards were well aware that they were being ordered to use torture to extract information about the person behind the scenes.
However, Yan Shang, who was already extremely confused, was still muttering to himself, repeating the same sentence as if he had an obsession.
The King of Poison knelt down and leaned closer to listen. Just as he was about to hear clearly, Shinju's golden eyes suddenly widened.
He had heard it clearly with his divine sense.
Yan Shang bit his lip and uttered a single word, which he said with difficulty: "The one who is the opposite is Huanren."
Shinjuku understood everything. From the moment he seized their "Achilles' heel," he knew that this day would be brought forward significantly, just as he had predicted.
But he didn't expect it to happen so quickly.
There was no time to say goodbye...
Suddenly, Xiao Hengzi screamed as he ran in from the doorway, rushed to the side of the Prince of Zhen, and cried out, "Your Majesty!! Something terrible has happened! It seems there's a fire at the Eastern Palace!"
The Prince of Zhen immediately stood up, his phoenix eyes flashing with a fierce light. He hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to squat down and listen to Yan Shang's words first, or to go straight to the Crown Prince and hand over Yan Shang's matter to someone else.
But when he looked down, he found that Yan Shang's mouth was slightly open and he was not moving at all.
Shinju quietly withdrew his hand after applying the acupuncture point. He had temporarily stopped Yan Shang's bleeding, but in doing so, he had inadvertently caused Yan Shang to lose consciousness.
Just as Shinju was about to tell the King of Hell the truth, Kotsune, who was standing behind the King of Hell, produced a short gun from somewhere and silently thrust it towards the King of Hell's heart.
Having honed his skills on the battlefield, the King of Poison had developed an extreme sensitivity to killing intent. Instinctively, he turned around to defend himself, while glancing at Shinju standing beside him to prevent a sneak attack from changing course and injuring Shinju.
But Xiao Hengzi's attack was almost a close-quarters assassination; no matter how fast he moved, he couldn't outrun a spear. Just as the spearhead's reflection was about to pierce the Poison King's back, a figure even faster than the spear appeared in front of him in an instant. With a muffled "thud," the spearhead pierced someone's heart, and the spear became embedded in it, unable to go any further.
The hatred in Xiao Hengzi's eyes had not subsided when he saw that the person in front of him had half-opened his golden eyes and slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth. He was stunned.
At this moment, the King of Poison finally turned around and caught the collapsed Shinju. When he realized what had happened, his whole body convulsed violently, blood and foam rose from his throat, and he cried out in anguish:
"Qing'er!!!"
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