Arrow in the back
At this point, she knew that her plan to intercept the Grand Marshal had completely failed.
If Gongyi Xiu hadn't had that Imperial Guard behind him, she would have definitely ordered them to be killed on the spot.
But at this moment, the opponent's strength is clearly superior to his own, and even if he forces his way through, he can still get through.
Not to mention that Gongyi Xiu, a mere civil official and Left Chancellor, was able to mobilize the Imperial Guard, originally under the jurisdiction of Sikong Zhao, to support Li Chongyu. This action implied many other meanings.
Looking at the corpses of the crossbowmen scattered on the ground, and recalling the thirteen white-clad men who had suddenly appeared on the city wall like ghosts, Pei Yu felt his mind in turmoil.
There were too many surprises.
She pressed her hand to her head, forcing herself to calm down, and after a moment said, "The Marquis of Guannei has not given orders to leave the city. I am here to fulfill my duty of defending the city."
My father is gone, and I must not be accused of rebellion and murdering a loyal minister unless I am absolutely certain of victory.
But Gongyi Xiu seemed to have come prepared. He immediately took out a yellow imperial edict from his brocade sleeve and said, "His Majesty has ordered that the Marquis of Guannei be released from the city at any time. No one is allowed to detain him along the way. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed."
Your Majesty... Your Majesty actually has time to issue an edict, which means that the situation in the palace, which was previously dominated by Mother, has already largely collapsed.
Pei Yu stood on the city tower, his expression a mix of anger and amusement, and retorted sharply, "Those who disobey orders will be executed? Who will execute them? You, the Left Prime Minister who only knows how to write essays and compose poems about the wind and moon?"
Gongyi Xiu was speechless.
It's not that he lacks the ability to strike, he just can't reveal it.
He straightened his expression and said in a calm tone, "The Marquis of Guannei can execute her personally. Even if he can't kill Miss Pei, he should have no problem killing this battalion of Divine Hounds."
Upon hearing this, everyone in the Divine Hound Camp paled, and the crowd descended into panic and chaos.
If this were an army composed of ordinary laborers, Gongyi Xiu's words would have immediately provoked a mutiny. His threat was clear: the Divine Hound Camp had rebelled, defied imperial orders, and deserved to be executed.
But this is the Divine Hound Camp, a camp where most of the clan's fathers and brothers serve as officials in the imperial court. It's not something that can be easily betrayed.
Seeing that if they didn't give way, and if Li Chongyu made a move, they would only be slaughtered without being able to fight back, otherwise it would be considered treason.
Pei Yu was the daughter of Mu Huaying and Pei Yuanli. Even though her father had passed away, the emperor, out of respect for her mother and out of old affection, would not harm her. But these ordinary soldiers would naturally not receive such favors. Li Chongyu could simply behead them without hesitation, and no one would dare to hold him accountable afterward.
At this moment, a small portion of the senior officers in the Divine Hound Camp were still looking at Pei Yu on the city wall with hesitant eyes, while the majority of them had begun to disperse to both sides of the city gate, making way for Li Chongyu and A Qiu.
With an imperial edict, a disciple of the Junior Tutor accompanying him, and the Imperial Guards protecting him, even the Heavenly King himself couldn't stop Li Chongyu from leaving the city.
Pei Yu's expression was inscrutable, his eyes deep and unfathomable, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
After a moment, she finally made her decision, biting her lip and saying, word by word, "Open the city gates."
Upon hearing this order, the members of the Divine Hound Camp finally breathed a sigh of relief, as they no longer had to be caught in the middle between the imperial court and Pei Yu. Immediately, soldiers took action, working together to open the two vermilion-lacquered and studded doors, allowing Li Chongyu and A Qiu to pass through.
Gongyi Xiu rode up to Li Chongyu and handed him the imperial edict with both hands. At the same time, he glanced meaningfully at A Qiu behind Li Chongyu and said, "I wish you a smooth journey and a safe trip, my lord."
Li Chongyu's eyes flashed as he openly sized up Gongyi Xiu, saying, "Among the younger generation of ministers in the Southern Dynasty, there are those as capable as Lord Gongyi. It is indeed a completely new dynasty."
Historically, when military generals rebelled, civil officials would avoid expressing their opinions if possible. This was because in times of great chaos, a scholar would be powerless against soldiers, and any words spoken would be useless. It was better to stay at home to avoid humiliation.
It is truly rare for someone like Gongyi Xiu to not only be able to speak eloquently but also to lead an army to resist Pei Yu.
Gongyi Xiu felt ashamed. He was neither that great nor did he have that much real power. He was only worried because he heard that A Qiu was escorting Li Chongyu out of the city alone. Xie Tiao and Shangguan Yuqi felt the same way. So he only mentioned it briefly, and the two of them immediately assigned troops to him, ordering him to rush out of the palace to rescue him.
He encountered Zhao Lingying, who was returning with his hands behind his back, on the way. The latter made some sarcastic remarks to him, leaving him unsure of the truth and feeling uneasy. He only felt relieved when he saw that A Qiu and Li Chongyu were unharmed.
Gongyi Xiu's handsome face showed a wry smile, and he said, "I am only serving the emperor by eating his food. Besides, I am just a lowly errand boy. Your Excellency, please do not flatter me."
Upon hearing this, Li Chongyu was also moved and said with a wry smile, "To be able to be loyal to one's duties while receiving one's salary is already the mark of a good official. Lord Gongyi, there is no need for you to be modest."
Gongyi Xiu waved his hand, ordering the soldiers to bring two purebred horses. Li Chongyu and Aqiu each leaped onto the horses. Aqiu held the Louyue sword horizontally and then had time to bow to his senior brother, saying, "Thank you for your timely help, sir. I will never forget this kindness."
Gongyi Xiu almost rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "You're something else. With just one order from Gu Yi, you even mobilized the thirteen shadow warriors of the Divine Weapon Hall for him. You don't care about your own life, and you still make this senior brother rush back and forth between the military camp and the palace in the middle of the night. You're a typical traitor who picks trouble out of nothing."
But remembering her master's calm words, "A daughter is like a tree that cannot be kept at home, let her go," she composed herself, regained her composure, and smiled freely, saying, "Dian Le, come back soon, His Highness the Crown Prince is very concerned about you."
This time, it was A Qiu's turn to roll her eyes inwardly. Her senior brother hadn't forgotten the "shortcut to the clouds" he had planned for her last time; he was subtly hinting at it. She was about to retort sarcastically when she saw Li Chongyu already galloping ahead towards the city gates, so she had no choice but to give up and catch up with him on horseback.
Gongyi Xiu watched with a smile as the two figures disappeared into the city gate before turning back to look at the city tower.
Upon looking up, they discovered that Pei Yu, who was on the city wall, had disappeared without a trace.
According to what Gongyi Xiu had heard about Pei Yu, Miss Pei was definitely not the kind of person who would suffer such a great loss without uttering a sound and would simply disappear.
His mind raced, and he immediately sensed something was wrong. Ignoring the Imperial Guards behind him, he spurred his horse and charged alone towards the direction where A Qiu and Li Chongyu had disappeared.
As soon as he passed through the city gate, he realized that things were indeed as he had thought.
On the front of the city gate, above the plaque with the imperial calligraphy of "Grand Marshal's Gate," Pei Yu, dressed in fiery red robes and covered in golden armor, with her long hair flowing freely, and a resolute expression on her beautiful face, held an arrow in her left hand and a bow in her right, steadily aiming at the two figures that were constantly moving away in front of her.
Gongyi Xiu felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured down his spine.
Pei Yu was known as one of the "Twin Heroes of Archery and Spear" in the Jianzhang Army. Her Sun-Shooting Bow and Dragon-Returning Spear were equally famous. In the past, it was common for her to hit a willow leaf from a hundred paces away in the military camp. She had excellent eyesight and strong arms. At the age of fifteen, she could draw a bow with a draw weight of three stones. If we only consider archery skills, there are few people in the entire Jianzhang Army who can match her.
Her arrows, when fired, could shatter bricks and stones, let alone human flesh and bones.
Li Chongyu and A Qiu were flying further and further away, but that distance was just within the range of an arrow.
On the opposite side, just a few dozen feet away, a dense crowd of people stood, their armor gleaming, and the banners fluttering in the wind belonged to the Shuofang Army under Li Chongyu's command.
With Gongyi Xiu's keen eyesight, she could already see that the leader was General Fan Liancheng, dressed in black armor and standing with a silver spear in his hand. Beside her were Chu Mao and his son Chu Huaiming, who were fully armed and clad in armor. The three of them looked over with a piercing glint in their eyes, and then their expressions changed at the same time.
In this situation, it was clear that Fan Liancheng had already managed to safely bring out the 3,000-strong Shuofang Army that had entered the capital earlier, and had them gather outside the city gate to wait for their commander, Li Chongyu, so that they could return north together.
At this moment, Gongyi Xiu could no longer care about anything else and shouted loudly, "There's an arrow in your back!"
He had used all his internal strength to deliver that sound.
Fortunately, Fan Liancheng, Chu Mao, and Chu Huaiming immediately shouted, "General, be careful!" "Pei Yu has fired a sneak arrow!"
Everyone's anxious gaze was fixed on Li Chongyu, because Pei Yu's arrow was clearly aimed at him.
A Qiu heard a gust of wind whistling past his head, and with the shouts of Gongyi Xiu and the others, he roughly understood what was going on.
She had been slightly behind Li Chongyu, but now she spurred her horse to catch up, using all her strength to slam her palm heavily onto the green horse Li Chongyu was riding.
That palm strike contained her pure innate true energy, which twisted and swirled into the horse's body. The horse was in pain and stimulated by the internal force, so it suddenly accelerated and shot out like lightning.
At the same time, A Qiu rolled off the saddle and drew his "Louyue" sword. This was because it was difficult to accumulate or exert force while on horseback, and all the impact would be borne by the horse beneath him.
At this moment, on the city tower, Pei Yu had already drawn his bow with his long arm, and a golden arrow, more than two feet long and cast in fine bronze, pierced straight through with a strong wind.
A Qiu watched the arrow approach without blinking, raised "Louyue" with both hands, and chopped it down with all his might.
A heavy thud sounded, and the tiger's mouth of her hands split open, blood seeping out. She fell heavily backward, barely managing to kneel on the ground.
The Pei family's Eclipse Arrow had already been slashed through the air by her and embedded diagonally into the ground.
She also felt excruciating pain in her lungs, hands, and feet, as the arrow had carried too much force, causing her considerable shock damage.
The sound of hooves approached again, but Li Chongyu reined in his horse and turned back. He knew immediately what had happened, and glared fiercely at the city wall, a rare look of sternness on his face. He reached out to A Qiu and said in a deep voice, "Get on!"
A Qiu didn't stand on ceremony and used the momentum to leap onto his back. The two rode together on one horse and sped back to the Shuofang army camp like lightning.
The Shuofang soldiers cheered loudly when they saw their commander return unharmed. Chu Mao and Chu Huaiming were naturally jubilant, and even the usually taciturn and calm Fan Liancheng showed a rare fervor in his eyes behind his mask.
Unlike the others who fawned over Li Chongyu, she immediately pulled A Qiu aside, first checking her pulse, and then tearing a piece of cloth from her clothes to bandage the wound on her hand.
A Qiu had never seen Fan Liancheng so warm to people, and felt a little awkward, saying, "General Fan, it's just a minor injury, nothing serious."
Fan Liancheng paused, then said softly, "I'm helping you, do you think it's just for this little physical injury?"
A Qiu was stunned, but then heard Fan Liancheng say, "You are probably the only one in the world who can withstand the Pei family's 'Eclipse Arrow' head-on."
What she didn't say was that A Qiu was the only one who could ride alone, fearless of death, to escort Li Chongyu, the "immortal war god" of the Shuofang Army.
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