"Report!" Another report suddenly sounded, and everyone trembled. At this time, they were almost reflexively afraid of the messengers who reported it, for fear of hearing more unfavorable news. Before the soldier could speak, Zhao Qi asked, "Has anyone else been killed?"
The soldier was stunned, shook his head blankly and said: "No."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, the soldier said, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Ziwei Square outside the palace, the Southwest Ancestral Temple, Da'an Temple, Jiuwai Street, the southern part of Chishui, Xizhimen Flower Market, the West Residence, the East Antique Market, the East Bank Camp, the South School... all caught fire for no reason. In addition, thieves are burning, killing and looting everywhere, rushing into various shops to kill and set fire. Jiuwai Street is now in chaos, with countless casualties. It is initially estimated that more than 30,000 people have participated in this turmoil."
As soon as he finished speaking, several older officials almost fainted from excitement.
Zhao Song angrily asked, "What's going on? Is there a rebellion? Where are the Cavalry Battalion? Where are the Green Battalion Army? Where are the Southwest Town Envoys? Are they all dead?"
"Reporting to His Majesty the Thirteenth Prince, Lieutenant General Song led several hundred soldiers from the Imperial City to rush out to maintain order and found that those who were burning, killing and looting were all ordinary people. Some of them were local hooligans, some were students from the Imperial College, some were escorts from other places in carriages and horse shops, and some were civilians who had been robbed and said they wanted to get their things back. Oh, and there were also soldiers from various security offices."
"The soldiers from the Security Department are also robbing? Are they trying to save their lives?"
The messenger's face was sweating. "Your Highness, the soldiers of the Guard Bureau were the first to go out to maintain order, but they were robbed. Some of them were mad, some were blinded by money, and some were intimidated, so they took off their military uniforms to rob. The turmoil was too big, and a few hundred soldiers of the Guard Bureau were a drop in the bucket! Your Highness, there is no news from the Cavalry Battalion and the Green Camp Army, and the troops of the Southwest Town Envoy are nowhere to be seen. Lieutenant General Song said that this turmoil was definitely not accidental, and someone must have deliberately caused the riot and fanned the flames. Your Majesty, Lieutenant General Song said that the turmoil is getting bigger and bigger, and more and more people are participating in it. When all the people in the imperial capital join in, it will be out of control. Please make a decision as soon as possible!"
All eyes were instantly focused on the emperor. Emperor Xia stood on a high platform with a gloomy face and did not speak for a long time.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" A series of exclamations suddenly rang out, and the soldiers covered in blood seemed to have crawled out of a pool of blood.
Everyone felt a chill in their hearts, and an unconcealable great fear suddenly struck their hearts. Looking at the messenger who rushed in from outside, no one dared to ask another question.
Zhao Che stood in the crowd, frowning, but still maintaining his usual calmness, and said in a deep voice: "What happened?"
"Yan Xun has rebelled! He is leading the army of the Southwest Town Envoy to attack. There is no news from the Green Camp Army, the Cavalry Camp, the Seventh Army, the Ninth Army, the Sixteenth Camp Army, and the Imperial Capital Prefectural Government. All roads are blocked, and all the message stations in the city have been destroyed. No one survived. The South Gate, North Gate, and East Gate are all occupied by the enemy. The guards of the 12th, 19th, and 36th Divisions are leading their troops to the Imperial City for support, but they are intercepted by the mob and cannot even break through the outer ring of Jiuwei Street. Yan Xun has now attacked outside the Purple Gold Gate. Lieutenant General Song is there alone to hold on. We only have less than 3,000 Imperial City defenders, and we are about to collapse!"
It was like a thunderclap exploding on everyone's head. Everyone's eyes went dark. Several old ministers lost their balance and fell into their seats. Everyone's face was pale and bloodless.
Is this day really going to turn around?
Emperor Xia slowly closed his eyes. At this moment, he had to admit that Barre and Wei Shuye's assassination plan had completely failed. A thousand men were dispatched to assassinate a caged bird with no weapons, but he fought back beautifully and even used the turmoil to recapture the southwestern town government and use it for his own purposes. It's been eight years. What the hell has he kept around?
The elderly Emperor Xia sighed in his heart, Shicheng, how could I forget that he is your son!
In the entire Great Xia Dynasty, and even in the entire Ximeng land, no one believed that Emperor Xia Zhao Zhengde would release the Prince of Yanbei, who had been imprisoned for eight years, back to Yanbei intact, just as no one believed that the Prince of Yanbei would surrender obediently. Everyone thought so. Yan Xun, who had dared to challenge the imperial army on the execution ground, would definitely plan a series of escape plans. For example, they could poison someone, change their appearance, disguise themselves as poor people and sneak out of Zhenhuang City, and then be chased for thousands of miles by the soldiers of the Great Xia capital like a stray dog. If they were lucky, they would escape with their life and find a place to live in anonymity, and then engage in some conspiracy and sabotage. If they were unlucky, they would die at the hands of the imperial army, and not even a bone would be left.
In their eyes, the Prince of Yanbei, who had been trapped in the imperial capital for many years, could only come up with such tricks at most. After all, how much power could he have after living under the nose of the Emperor of Daxia for seven or eight years?
But no one thought that Yan Xun's final attack would be like this. He seemed humble and docile, doing nothing all day long and behaving mediocrely, but once he took action, he was as powerful as thunder, burning his boats and fighting with his back to the river. He raised swords and weapons all over the sky and stirred up rivers of blood. He instigated rebellion, assassination, mutiny, burned down the imperial capital, stirred up civil unrest, attacked the imperial city, without any scruples, and survived in the face of death, and got a son by going deep into the tiger's den.
Yan Xun is worthy of being the son of Yan Shicheng, the Lion King of Yanbei! With his deep scheming, great endurance and courage, he can be called the world's number one madman!
"Report!" With a bang, as the report came, the old heart of Cui Daxueshi could no longer bear it. His eyes rolled back and he fainted.
"Panic! Shouting! What happened again? Did Yan Xun break in?"
The soldier was stunned and replied, "To answer your Highness the Seventh Prince, no."
"Then why are you so flustered?"
"Your Majesty, I am here to tell you something. Please evacuate immediately. The fire is coming!"
…
That night, the entire Zhenhuang City was a scorched earth, and heart-wrenching screams were heard everywhere.
Zhenhuang City has truly turned into a hell on earth.
"Master! I finally found you!"
Flusteringly untying Zhuge Yue's ropes, Zhu Cheng said in a deep voice, "The master sent me to look for you, and I was so anxious. Let's go, the palace is on fire now."
Zhuge Yue frowned and said in a deep voice, “Zhu Cheng, what happened outside?”
"Prince Yan has rebelled! He is leading the troops of the Southwest Town Envoy to attack the imperial city gate. The people are going crazy and mutiniing. The Cavalry Battalion, the Green Battalion Army, and other divisions are all paralyzed, with no news at all. The 12th Division can't rush in, and there is chaos!"
Zhuge Yue's face darkened, and he made a prompt decision, "No, I want to go home and lead the Zhuge family army to quell the rebellion."
"Master, the master told you not to act rashly. Other families have not responded. We..."
“It will be too late if we don’t take action now!” Zhuge Yue was furious, his eyes red as he said angrily, “What is father thinking? Are you still fighting against each other at this time? I have already said that that idiot Barre can’t kill Yan Xun!”
Zhu Cheng looked panicked, "The master said that the elders will handle this matter. This is not within the scope of the young master's authority. You don't have to interfere."
“Council of Elders?” Zhuge Yue laughed in anger. “What do they know? They only know how to scheme against each other, sabotage each other, amass money and fight among themselves, and seek profits. The rise and fall of the country, the life and death of Daxia, how can they have time to care about those trivial matters! Zhu Cheng, get out of my way!”
"Master," Zhu Cheng said tremblingly with a pale face, "Why are you doing this? If no one else sends troops, what will others think if it's just our Zhuge family?"
“I don’t care what they think!” Zhuge Yue frowned and sneered, “If the country is gone, how can the family survive? If Daxia is destroyed, where will the Zhuge family go? I am not doing this for the Zhao royal family, I am doing this for the people of Zhenhuang in the city, for the millions of people of Daxia!”
"Is it... is it that serious? The master said that the walls of the imperial city are strong and can withstand the attack of a hundred thousand troops for three consecutive days, and the rioters outside can only hold out for an hour at most. Once the guards of the 12th Division arrive, Yan Xun's troops will be courting their own destruction. It's just a small rebellion."
“Little rebellion?” Zhuge Yue was so angry that he laughed instead. “Do you think Yan Xun is a fool? Will he fight to the death until reinforcements come to rescue him? Just wait and see. He is about to escape. The imperial capital is in chaos. Who can chase him? Letting such a meticulous and hateful person escape from Zhenhuang and return to Yanbei, what consequences will it bring? He is ten thousand times more terrifying than Yan Shicheng.”
"Master!"
"Let me go!"
A club suddenly hit Zhuge Yue on the head. Zhuge Yue frowned and fainted on the ground.
"Master, I'm sorry. This is what the master ordered." Zhu Cheng shook his head slowly. "You are right, but we are a clan, and clans have their own rules. Besides, are you really just trying to get rid of Prince Yan?"
Having lived in the imperial capital for eight years, Chu Qiao had never seen such a magnificent sight.
There was burning, killing and looting everywhere, there were cries of grief everywhere, there were crazy laughter and cursing everywhere, there were fires, looting, blood and blood colliding with each other, the good people of the past had taken off their skins of morality and righteousness and turned into ferocious beasts.
The thugs pried open the roadside shop and rushed in, killing the owner who was begging for mercy. The owner's son saw this and picked up a knife, killing the thugs. Then he laughed wildly as he looked at the blood all over the room, and then rushed out of the house and followed the crazy crowd to loot and kill. Some people rushed into stores and took away everything edible and usable. They smashed and burned anything they couldn't finish eating or take away. They were not robbing for profit, but simply wanted to destroy and vent their anger.
People were killing people everywhere, people were being killed everywhere, and there were dirty corpses and raging flames everywhere.
The air of despair and the emotions of madness were floating in the sky above Zhenhuang City, and the thick atmosphere of death filled the entire imperial city.
This is what Yan Xun said. Will there be anyone to help them block the divine troops from the 12th and 19th Divisions?
Chu Qiao suddenly felt cold all over, with cold hands and feet. Setting fire to the imperial capital and creating chaos had always been their firm strategy, but she had not expected it to have such serious consequences. Too many people went crazy, too many people died, and too many innocent people were implicated. When the mood of despair and unexpected disasters suddenly arrived, when people with ulterior motives instigated and the mobs cheered and celebrated, the entire Zhenhuang fell into the Avici Hell, burned and calcined by the fierce fire, unable to be reborn.
The people of Zhenhuang, who had been under high-pressure rule for many years, finally collapsed completely on the night of May 20th.