The girl's face was gloomy, and she uttered two words coldly: "Get out of the way!"
“Naive!” Zhuge Yue sneered and snorted.
There was a muffled whooshing sound, and Chu Qiao moved as fast as the wind. She threw a heavy punch, twisted her waist, and flew forward like a leaf.
Zhuge Yue did not expect her to start fighting right away, and he immediately fought back. The two of them were agile and their moves were wonderful, and for a moment they were evenly matched. Suddenly a cold wind blew, and there were two muffled bangs. The two men's fists crossed and hit each other in the chest with such force that both of them groaned and took two steps back at the same time, and were in a confrontation again.
"Yan Xun's rebellion will not succeed. Barre and Wei Shuye have already laid a net to oppose the empire. The only way out for this traitor is death."
Chu Qiao snorted coldly, wiped the sweat from her chin with the back of her hand, and said coldly: "Slave!"
Zhuge Yue was immediately furious and said in a deep voice: “What did you say?”
“Zhuge Yue, I used to think that you were just a self-righteous nobleman who looked down on others and had no humanity. Today I learned that you are actually a slave and lackey of the Zhao family.”
Zhuge Yue's face turned pale, "I am not loyal to the Zhao family, but to Daxia."
"What's the difference?" Chu Qiao sneered, "Stop talking about traitors and traitors. The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. How do you know that the history books won't say that you are a vassal and a lackey of the tiger? History only listens to the words of the victors."
“You do have confidence in him.” Zhuge Yue smiled coldly, “I’d like to open my eyes and see how he escapes from the gate of Zhenhuang.”
Chu Qiao narrowed her eyes, and murderous intent suddenly appeared, "I'm afraid you don't have this chance."
With murderous intent and intertwined moves, the girl drew out her dagger and started fighting with Zhuge Yue. Under the moonlight, two people could be seen moving swiftly, like two shadows, leaping and moving among the flowers, trees and grass.
“If you follow him, you will die sooner or later!” The wrist holding the dagger was lifted up, and Zhuge Yue took advantage of the situation and rushed forward swiftly.
"Thank you for your concern, but you should take care of yourself first!"
Chu Qiao leapt into the air, kicked Zhuge Yue hard on the shoulder, and stabbed him with her knife without mercy.
"If you do too much evil, you will eventually perish. Don't force me to be ruthless!"
"You and I are mortal enemies, so why should we hold back?"
"Who's that over there?"
Suddenly, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps. The two men were startled and stopped fighting at the same time. They all ran towards a dense flower bush on the left. However, after they took two steps, they found that the other party was also coming in the same direction. They immediately forgot about their pursuers and started fighting again.
"It's on the east side, follow me!"
The palace guards approached quickly. Zhuge Yue frowned and grabbed Chu Qiao's wrist, shouting angrily, "Do you want to die? Still fighting?"
Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows and asked angrily, "Why are you following me?"
Zhuge Yue was also angry, "Who followed you?"
"It's just ahead, hurry up!"
With a swish, Chu Qiao kicked Zhuge Yue on the calf. Zhuge Yue's eyes flashed with ferocity as he cursed, "You crazy woman who doesn't know how to live or die!"
The girl half-knelt on the ground and replied coldly: "You stalker!"
"Hurry!" The voice was getting closer and was already ten steps away. The two of them were startled, and they withdrew their hands at the same time, rolled sideways, and hid in the dense flowers.
"Where is it?"
"Boss, did you hear wrong?"
The leading guard shook his head cautiously, "Impossible, I clearly saw several shadows."
"Boss, it's a cat, right? There are many cats in this garden."
"No, I saw it with my own eyes." The leader said in a deep voice, "Everyone search everywhere. Tonight is His Majesty's birthday. Don't make any mistakes."
"yes!"
The crowd gradually went away, and two pairs of vigilant eyes looked outside cautiously, watching the guards go away.
There was a sudden thud, and Zhuge Yue felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen. Before he could even fight back, Chu Qiao's body suddenly rushed over and pinned him down. Zhuge Yue had not expected her to attack at this time, and was caught off guard by her attack. Chu Qiao's skills were amazing. It was enough to make Zhuge Yue lose consciousness at that moment. She hit him hard with her knee. Zhuge Yue almost cried out in pain. The next second, he was tied up tightly with ropes.
“Since you didn’t call for someone to arrest me just now, I won’t kill you today.” Chu Qiao stood up and looked down at Zhuge Yue who was glaring at her. Her face was cold and she said in a deep voice, “Zhuge Yue, eight years ago you didn’t expose me and gave me a way out. I’m very grateful to you, but this doesn’t mean that the grudges and hatred between you and me can be eliminated. As a noble family, you killed a few slaves. That's understandable, but these people are the ones I value. Then you shot Yan Xun, which prevented us from escaping the imperial capital and caused us to suffer eight years of imprisonment. You and I have been in opposition from the beginning, and there is no way to reconcile or change. I hope you understand this. I won't kill you today, but it doesn't mean I won't kill you in the future, so next time you see me, you'd better be careful."
Zhuge Yue’s face was ashen, and he was extremely angry. When he saw her turning around and leaving, he suddenly said in a deep voice: “If you walk out of the Imperial City now, you will definitely die. How can you kill me in the future?”
Chu Qiao turned around and smiled, "Do you have so little confidence in him? I don't think so. How about we make a bet?"
Zhuge Yue looked at him coldly, his lips curled up in sarcasm, but he said nothing.
"You bet that we can't escape and we will all die without a burial place. But I am sure that not only can we get out, but we can also go out with great fanfare, so that everyone in the entire Simon land will know, and let the people of Yanbei all know that their king is back!"
At that moment, the girl's face suddenly radiated an unconcealable light, as if she was standing under the bright morning sun, with a divine glow, so radiant in the dark night.
It was a wholehearted trust and admiration, complete certainty, without the slightest doubt or worry. Suddenly, Zhuge Yue felt that smile was so dazzling, he even felt a little resentful, why was he not the one who was trusted?
The girl looked at him and said confidently, “Zhuge Yue, just watch!”
That night was a day that Zhuge Yue would never forget. Many years later, he would still think of the girl's expression when she left, and her confident words: Zhuge Yue, just wait and see.
So he really just watched like that, watching her briskly leave his sight, like a gust of wind, like a cloud, just like that night eight years ago when she shouted fiercely: Zhuge Yue, Lin Xi will not die in vain!
She has always been a person who keeps her word. When the world changes drastically and the tide of chaos sweeps across the land where they live, disrupting the rhythm of their walk and overturning their former dreams, he always recalls that night with regret. If he had known what would happen next, would he still have watched her leave? Will he let her go without saying a word? But there is no "if" in this world after all, so he lay quietly in the cold grass, watching the girl's figure disappear into the layers of darkness. Like a proud phoenix, she left his sight and entered another vast world!
The sky is full of splendor and the fireworks are unparalleled!
“Your Majesty!” A panicked voice suddenly sounded outside the palace. A eunuch ran in with small steps, knelt on the ground with a plop, and said in a sobbing voice: “Your Majesty, Princess Chun, Princess Chun…”
"What's wrong with Eighth Sister?" Zhao Song stood up and said angrily.
The old man's face fell and he shouted, "Princess Chun, she ran away!"
"What?" Concubine Shu raised her eyebrows and said sternly, "Why did you run away? Where did you run to? With so many of you watching, you still let the princess run away? What's the point of keeping you around!"
"This old slave is guilty of death, this old slave is guilty of death!" the old man cried, "Your Majesty, please spare my life!"
The wedding was approaching, but the bride ran away, and everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.
Zhao Che stood up and said in a deep voice: "Shut up and tell me clearly when the princess ran away and where she went."
The old man was about to speak when he suddenly heard a loud gong outside. Then a sharp horn sounded. The urgency in the sound was enough to make people tremble.
"What's going on outside?" The emperor frowned and asked in a deep voice.
"Report!" A long voice came from afar. A blue-clothed guard ran in without waiting for the people inside to call him. He said in a sonorous tone, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine, the Prince, and all the adults, please move to a safe area. The palace is on fire. The fire is huge and out of control."
"On fire?" The third prince Zhao Qi was stunned and said in disbelief, "Where is the fire? Where is the Water Dragon Bureau? Why is there no one putting out the fire?"
"We have sent people to the Water Dragon Bureau to report it, but there has been no response so far. As for the fire, I don't know where it started, but there are flames everywhere. Your Majesty, please leave quickly, the fire is about to reach Fang Gui Palace."
"How dare you!" Zhao Qi shouted coldly, "Sun Yunpu, the head of the Water Dragon Bureau, doesn't want to do this job anymore!"
"It's meaningless to argue about who is responsible at this moment. Father, the fire is urgent. Let's leave here as soon as possible." Zhao Che said in a deep voice.
Emperor Xia frowned, nodded, and stood up. The eunuchs on both sides hurried forward to serve, but before they could smooth out the wrinkles on the emperor's clothes, another cry was heard. A soldier knelt on the ground and shouted, "Your Majesty, please do not leave Fanggui Palace. It is not safe outside. A large number of assassins have sneaked into the palace and have killed more than 60 people. The death toll is still rising!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the officials, who were already in a panic, became even more panicked, and a buzz of discussions suddenly arose.
Zhao Che frowned and asked quickly, "Who was assassinated?"
The soldier replied: "There are Lieutenant General He, the commander of the Imperial Guard, Lieutenant General Lu, the chief of the West Gate, Commander Yu, the chief of the South Gate, the sentries at the interrogation stations, Lord Sun Yunpu, the head of the Water Dragon Bureau, and the soldiers standing guard at the southwest gate..."
Listening to the lists that the soldiers were constantly reporting, Zhao Che and General Meng Tian, who had the most military experience on the field, looked at each other and saw unspeakable fear in each other's eyes. Although these assassinated names seem to be messy and unrelated, a careful analysis reveals that they are an extremely sophisticated and optimal channel for rebellion. The death of these dozens of people instantly wiped out the empire's middle-level commanding generals, causing the huge imperial army to fall into a temporary state of powerlessness. It also paralyzed the empire's high-level command system, and no one was able to pass on the orders.
What happened that night that they didn't know about?