Chapter 1280: Has the Crown Prince rebelled?
The gong on Mingde Gate sounded, and the piercing sound soon reached several nearby city gates. While the soldiers there were closing their gates, they also sounded gongs in other directions to warn others.
At the same time, while Shi Yuxin was withdrawing from Mingde Gate, he also ordered his soldiers to shout warnings throughout the city—
"The Crown Prince's Imperial Guards have rebelled! Xiao Yuansui has rebelled!"
Such shouts resounded throughout Chang'an, immediately causing a great uproar in the city. After hearing this warning, all the people, in their panic, realized one thing—Xiao Yuansui and the Thousand Bull Guards were subordinates of the Crown Prince! Now that they had rebelled, what did that mean?
Has the crown prince rebelled?
Thinking about it this way, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
It should be noted that after the King of Qin left Chang'an, His Highness the Crown Prince became the most powerful person in Chang'an besides His Majesty the Emperor. Although he was only one step away from the dragon throne, too many tragedies throughout history have shown that the last step is often the most dangerous and difficult to take, to the point that countless crown princes have fallen at this last step.
It seems that only by using extraordinary means can they complete this final step.
So, is the current crown prince trying to seize power?
Thinking about this, the common people were terrified, especially after Mingde Gate was "breached" and dozens of corpses were left behind after a bloody battle on Zhuque Avenue. The people were like frightened birds, rushing to other city gates to ask to leave the city. The soldiers dared not open the city gates again, and could only draw their swords to intimidate these people, which almost caused more tragedy.
The entire city of Chang'an was thrown into complete chaos.
Seeing the chaotic scene along the way, Su Changjing was overjoyed. He now understood Yuwen Cheng's words: the more chaotic the situation, the more advantageous it would be for them. In particular, rumors were circulating throughout Chang'an that Xiao Yuansui had led the Thousand Bull Guards in a rebellion, which was actually the Crown Prince's rebellion. In this way, once they took advantage of the chaos to deal with some of the people who needed to be dealt with, then Prince Qi, who would finally stand before the Emperor, would naturally be the greatest contributor to quelling the rebellion.
And he would then have the merit of following the emperor, and his merit would be even greater than that of his father-in-law in surrendering Chang'an City, and he would be rewarded with a greater honor!
Thinking of this, he became even more excited and vigorously cracked his whip: "Giddy up!"
Before long, they crossed countless chaotic streets and alleys and finally arrived at the Qin Prince's Mansion.
While other places were in complete chaos, this place was surprisingly quiet. The gates were tightly shut, the walls were high, and even the shadows of the trees inside were still, as if there was no one there.
But Su Changjing knew that there couldn't possibly be no one here.
While at the Crown Prince's residence, Xue Daotong secretly sent someone to deliver a message: Princess Qin was staying here temporarily under the pretext of the young prince's illness. The child was so young and sick, so it was impossible to take him out of the Prince Qin's residence at this time. If something unexpected happened during the turmoil outside, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Thinking of this, Su Changjing tightened the reins and stopped his horse outside the gate of the Qin Prince's mansion. He waved to the soldiers behind him and shouted, "Break down the gate!"
Several soldiers immediately rushed forward and simultaneously rammed their shoulders into the gate.
With a "bang," the tightly closed door trembled slightly.
In an instant, the wind howled, and the shadows of the trees inside the courtyard swayed violently. It was as if countless people were walking and running around inside the mansion. Su Changjing still didn't stop and said, "Bump it again!"
After taking a few steps back, the soldiers mustered their strength and slammed into the gate again. This time, they could clearly feel the bolt on the back of the gate loosen a bit, and a small gap appeared in the center of the gate. Seeing victory in sight, the men hurriedly took a few steps back, shouted in unison, and charged forward again.
Just then, a scream suddenly rang out from behind.
They were startled, but they couldn't stop now. Some people turned around in a panic and saw countless arrows suddenly appear in the sky, shooting towards the elite guards stationed outside the gate. Those standing at the front of the formation immediately fell to the ground. The others reacted quickly and rushed forward to pull Su Changjing's horse back. He himself panicked and, caught off guard, leaned back and fell off his horse.
At that very moment, the tightly closed door creaked open from the inside!
Countless figures flickered through the crack in the door.
The men responsible for ramming the door were shocked, but they didn't have time to stop and all of them fell inside.
With a loud crash, the gate slammed shut again, but a shrill scream could be heard from inside. Although nothing could be seen, the stench of blood rushed over the wall and through the crack in the door, wafting onto the faces of the guards outside.
The next moment, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.
These people were still in shock, staring wide-eyed ahead as several bloodied heads were thrown over the wall and hurled at them.
"Ah! Ah—!"
The soldiers, already terrified after dodging a barrage of arrows, suddenly saw familiar heads of their brothers falling from the sky and rolling at their feet, and they all screamed in fright.
"What are you shouting for?!"
Su Changjing had just fallen off his horse in the chaos, landing sprawled on his back in a very disheveled state. Several guards dragged him away from the gate, avoiding several arrows aimed at him. Feeling utterly humiliated, he was already burning with rage. Hearing the screams of these men only fueled his fury. He jumped up and down, roaring, "There are just some ambushes inside! Are you afraid of that? Charge in right now!"
The group accepted the order and were about to rush forward to break down the door again, but when they reached the door, they all stopped in their tracks.
The person who just broke down the door is already decapitated; how could they dare to do that again?
Just then, someone shouted, "Climb over from here!"
Everyone turned their heads and saw that some soldiers were pointing to the walls surrounding the Qin Prince's mansion. These walls were not high, and those who were light and agile could easily climb over them. Even if they were not, someone could support them from below to help them climb over the walls. So these people hurriedly ran to the wall and climbed up by stepping on their companions' shoulders.
Just as they were climbing over the courtyard wall and about to jump inside, suddenly, countless sharp spikes appeared in front of them.
Dozens of sharpened bamboo poles were wielded by the people inside and thrust at them. Caught off guard, some were stabbed in the shoulders and chests, screaming as they fell to the ground. Others, unable to resist, had their bodies pierced through by the hard bamboo poles, blood splattering everywhere and staining large areas of the wall red. Some of those who were hoisted high on the bamboo poles were not even dead yet, struggling with shrill screams before being violently thrown over the courtyard wall!
"ah--"
Several corpses rolled to Su Changjing's feet, which startled him so much that he took several steps back.
When he looked up at the courtyard wall again, a hint of fear appeared on his sinister face. He gradually realized that the seemingly quiet Qin Prince's mansion might not be so easy to breach. Suddenly, countless figures emerged from inside the wall.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Gao Feng and Jiang Kesheng leading their men, using various ladders and chests brought from the mansion, with half of their bodies leaning over the wall. Before the people outside could react, they grabbed the bamboo poles that were still dripping with blood and hurled them forcefully outwards.
These heavy, sharpened bamboo poles, when thrown, are no less lethal than spears or lances.
With a series of "swish, swish, swish" sounds, bamboo poles fell from the sky, piercing through several people's bodies like giant crossbows in an instant. Even the warhorses were not spared. In an instant, people and horses fell over, screams echoed. Su Changjing was powerless to resist and turned to run to the other side of the long street.
Once he ran away, how could his men dare to fight back?
They all ran away, with bamboo poles flying towards them from behind. Some who couldn't run fast enough had their legs pierced by the bamboo poles, yet they still screamed and dragged their bloodied legs forward.
Before long, the group scattered like birds and beasts, leaving behind only the corpses lying haphazardly in front of the gate and the shocking bloodstains behind them.
Gao Feng and Jiang Kesheng, who were inside the wall, both sneered when they saw this scene.
The two men relayed their orders: "Clean up the battlefield, keep the gates tightly closed, and forbid anyone from stepping inside!"
On one side, Su Changjing fled from the Qin Prince's mansion in a panic, while on the other side, Xiao Yuansui also spent a lot of time passing through one market after another. Finally, as the sun began to set in the west, he looked up and saw the imperial city that seemed to reach almost into the clouds.
Along the way, he also encountered many obstacles. Yuwen Yuan's defenses in Chang'an were not useless. Although the incident was sudden and the Mingde Gate was opened to let the enemy in, the city's garrison troops still reacted immediately.
But it was all too late.
Although Xiao Yuansui did not enter the city as if it were empty, he had roughly figured out the city's defense mechanism during the time he had spent in Chang'an, including the few days he worked at the Crown Prince's residence. Therefore, he moved around and avoided direct confrontation with these people, quickly evading the attacks coming from all directions.
Finally, as the colossal creature in front of him gradually revealed its true form from the chaos, Xiao Yuansui's gaze once again became intensely fervent and frenzied.
This is the imperial palace, which has witnessed countless changes of power across three dynasties.
Once praised by Emperor Wen as a "pillar of the state," and having countless aspirations to achieve great things and ascend to the pinnacle of power here, he has finally returned here after stumbling and falling, experiencing countless failures and turning points.
How far is he from what he wants this time?
Is it yet another close call? Or—
In that instant, countless thoughts surged through Xiao Yuansui's mind. He had never felt his heart so chaotic. But just as he instinctively tried to spur his horse forward, the person beside him suddenly exclaimed, "There are people ahead!"
Xiao Yuansui snapped out of his daze and looked up. He saw that they were still more than a hundred feet away from the colossal palace. In the middle of this distance, there was a huge city gate, which was the final barrier of the Vermilion Bird Avenue—the Vermilion Bird Gate.
In the center of the gate, a familiar figure pierced his eyes.
It's Shang Ruyi!
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