Heavy snow had been falling all night long. On a deep winter morning that the people of Luojing thought was just an ordinary one, a shocking change had already begun.
Taiwei Zhan Quan, just returned home last night, and received a letter.
How dare the concierge present letters from outside at will? Perhaps this is why the letter was stamped with a bright red seal.
King of Qi.
Zhan Quan snatched the letter, opened it hastily, and was terrified. He managed to calm himself down, ordered the guards to go out in a hurry, and found a house as described in the letter, and indeed found a large box of official documents and letters.
Without caring about his image as a general, he rushed over and looked through it hastily, his heavy clothes soaked with cold sweat in the middle of winter.
Zhan Quan did not care that the curfew had arrived, and immediately ordered his confidant to carry a large box, rush straight to the palace, and knock on the palace gate which had been keyed.
"Prince An, how is it possible for Prince An?"
Emperor Wei Xian hurriedly put on his clothes and stood up. His confusion and anger suddenly turned into shock. He did not care for a moment that the writer of the letter was his lifelong enemy. After a quick glance, his blood froze.
"Impossible! This must be a plan by the rebel king to sow discord!"
He was furious and didn't believe it, but unfortunately, the evidence of all sizes in the big box was clearly organized, and many of them matched the information from Luo Jing.
It seems nothing if viewed individually, but when combined with the clue of the rebellious King, Wei Xian really couldn't continue to tell himself that King An was truly loyal.
The earliest clues can be traced back to a few years before Wei Ping ascended the throne when Prince An had just taken office.
In other words, Prince An has always been unruly. He had harbored the desire to rebel early on and made secret plans, waiting to defeat them one by one after Wei Xian ascended the throne.
The outbreak point of the chaos in the world, the bursting of the Yellow River dike, was planned and promoted by him. Ding Hua, the father of Princess An, was his confidant.
Wei Xian flipped through the official documents one by one, his body shaking uncontrollably, and he shouted angrily, "What a Wei Ping! What a Prince An!!"
A lackey that he used to keep by his side, a lackey that could only wag its tail and beg for mercy, actually destroyed his empire single-handedly.
Wei Xian pushed suddenly, and with a "bang", the pile of official documents and letters fell to the ground. His eyebrows were twisted and ferocious: "Wei Ping! I will peel off your skin and pull out your tendons, grind your bones and scatter your ashes!"
Zhan Quan, who was holding his breath, said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, if you want to capture this thief, the sooner the better. Something might happen after dawn."
It has to be said that Wei Jing's determination to kill Prince An gave the emperor great convenience.
Six days ago, 40,000 elite troops under Prince An rushed to the front line and are currently stationed in Zhangcheng. Zhangcheng is a full seven hundred miles away from Luojing.
Prince An has been operating for many years, and his cronies and spies have been planted all over Luoyang. However, Han Xi deliberately chose to deliver the letter at night, and the curfew began immediately, so the four gates of Luojing were closed. During wartime, no one could open it without the emperor's written order.
Catch the turtle in the jar.
Wei Xian hated Wei Jing so much that he gnashed his teeth, but he had to do it quickly, as fast as lightning.
With anger and malice that exploded his heart and lungs, he clenched his fists and made a "crackling" sound. He suddenly raised his eyes and said, "Send Lü Zhang and Yuan Tan here!"
Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan were both captains of the Imperial Guard and the emperor's most trusted confidants. They commanded the most elite guards of the Imperial Guard.
"You two must lead five thousand guards to Prince An's mansion immediately, surround it with an arrow array, and capture everyone in Prince An's mansion, leaving no one behind!"
"Especially Prince An, if he resists, you can kill him on the spot!"
"If there is any loss, you will be brought to me with your heads!"
There was a series of harsh and stern imperial edicts, and the central figure was actually Prince An, who could be killed on the spot.
Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan were startled and immediately said in a loud voice: "Your Highness obeys your command!"
…
Prince An is indeed as well-informed as expected.
Not long after Zhan Quan led the palace guards out, he received the letter. Not long after, he received a message from the former, who, despite the curfew and the palace gate decryption, hurried to the palace, carrying a large box.
"What happened?"
Prince An was at a time when his sense of security had hit rock bottom. Zhan Quan was the Grand Marshal, a pillar of the imperial court, and the emperor's confidant. This sudden and unusual behavior immediately attracted his attention.
"That box must have been found in the courtyard."
Wei Xu, wearing a snow-white wide-sleeved robe and with his hair tied up with an ebony hairpin, sat at the desk with a teapot in front of him. He slowly poured the slightly boiling spring water into the cup. The veins of the tea leaves stretched out and the fragrance of tea filled the air. He looked up.
"If that's the case, it's not a military report."
He picked up the teacup and sniffed it. "Asking to see the emperor in the middle of the night must be a big deal. Maybe he has some evidence against his political enemies."
Wei Xu made a very objective comment, and Prince An was moved when he heard it.
Zhan Quan, Qi Tian's successor, is the leader among the current people left by the late emperor. In fact, his biggest political enemy is King An himself.
As an old man in the Qiandi Palace and the emperor's younger brother, all the old confidants in the Qiandi Palace have always followed his lead. Even though he was away for a long time, Prince An always remotely controlled his followers to compete with the Zhan Party.
An unknown sense of danger suddenly came over him, his heart skipped a beat, and he immediately called his confidant in.
"Quick, send a message to the palace and have everyone closely monitor the movements everywhere. Especially your majesty and Zhan Quan. Let Jinxi be more careful."
Jinxi was a eunuch in front of the emperor. Although he was not a confidant and was not favored by the emperor, and could not do personal work, he was an old man who had served the emperor for many years. After the emperor ascended the throne, he was promoted to a minor steward.
Prince An endured humiliation, acknowledged the thief as his mother and brother, and lived with him in the same palace for many years, which was not without benefit. Whether it was the emperor or Empress Dowager Feng, he had people around them. These people will most likely be purged soon, but they are still very useful for now.
Jinxi easily learned the news that the emperor was furious and had summoned Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan.
"Lü Zhang? Yuan Tan?"
As the night deepened, Prince An couldn't sleep. Today was Princess Ding's birthday, and he hadn't been seen. Princess Ding and the second son of the crown prince came to the outer study to invite him in person, but he angrily said, "No, go back!"
Prince An knew very well what Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan represented. Being summoned in the middle of the night made him feel even more threatened. His heart was pounding, and he felt a chill down his spine.
Wei Xu put down the teacup and slowly frowned.
Outside the study, Princess Ding's voice was faintly heard, and she seemed a little unhappy with the guards, but the study was quiet. Prince An and Wei Xu looked at each other.
Both of them had a vague sense of foreboding.
Even if one racks one's brains, no one could have guessed that Wei Jing had known about Prince An's ambition for two years, and had been slowly collecting evidence but kept it secret, choosing to reveal it now.
But in the next moment.
A burst of rapid running sounds came from far away. The person was not only running in the outer study, but also running very fast as if he had lost his life, shouting loudly as he ran: "Your Highness! Your Highness!"
He is one of Prince An's trusted personal guards, and was specially sent to the back door to receive the letter. Prince An's heart sank, but his personal guards rushed open the door, still in shock and gasping for breath.
"Your Highness, Lü Zhang and Yuan Tan have selected five thousand elite guards, equipped with swords, bows and crossbows, and they have already left the palace without stopping!"
The guards looked solemn: "According to the latest report, they are coming from the northwest!"
Why is it used?
So it just happened that Prince An's Mansion was located in the northwest of Luojing City.
Prince An stood up with a "whoosh". The noise inside and outside the study fell silent at the same time. Princess Ding and her son raised their eyes and saw Prince An behind the desk with an extremely tense expression.
"This Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan must have come here for Prince An's Palace."
Wei Xu's face also turned serious. He threw down the teacup with a "pa" and stood up suddenly.
The east is rich and the west is noble, the south is poor and the north is humble. In fact, there are quite a few mansions of officials and nobles in the northwest of Luojing City. But there are really few that are worth the Imperial Guards being dispatched in the middle of the night.
He looked at Prince An and asserted: "You have been planning for many years, and the emperor must have known about it!"
Led by Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan, there are 5,000 imperial guards on high alert, ready to capture the main rebel.
Prince An was shocked and asked in a lost voice, "How is it possible?"
But it's impossible. It will be too late if we don't leave now. All five thousand guards were equipped with bows and crossbows, and they were going to set up an arrow siege. It takes time for the news to be transmitted back, and Lu Zhang, Yuan Tanhe are not just standing there doing nothing.
The sound of five thousand horse hooves and the clatter of military boots hitting the ground was particularly loud in the silent night. Even as he was speaking, Wei Xu tilted his head slightly and could faintly hear them.
"not good!"
He raised his eyes and shouted: "The Imperial Guards are heading for Prince An's Palace! They are now at most two miles away!"
"Let's go now!"
Prince An said it was impossible and was shocked and unwilling to believe it, but he knew that Wei Xu's judgment was absolutely correct. It's really too late if we don't leave now.
"Go to the back door!"
The situation was critical, the city gates were locked on all four sides, and they were trapped. However, no matter what, they could only have a chance of survival if they escaped from Prince An's Mansion first.
Prince An acted decisively. He gave an order and rushed out of the outer study with Wei Xu. They gathered the guards on duty and immediately went out the back door.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!"
"Father!"
In this situation, even though Princess Ding didn't know the whole story, she knew something was wrong. Seeing that Prince An didn't even glance at her and her son, she panicked and rushed over to him, saying, "Your Highness, please take me with you!"
Prince An's eyes swept over, and Princess Ding's heart immediately sank. She caught a glimpse of her two sons and called out in a hurry, "Your Highness, it doesn't matter if I don't take them with me. You can take Dalang and Erlang with you!"
As a mother, Princess Ding avoided the guards’ obstruction and rushed forward to hug Prince An’s legs: “Da Lang and Er Lang are your legitimate sons, smart and filial, you…ah!!”
Prince An raised his foot and kicked Princess Ding right in the heart. The force was so strong that Princess Ding screamed and fell backwards, crushing her two sons who rushed to help her.
At such a critical moment, is there anyone who dares to come out and block the way? He shouted coldly: "Get lost!"
Princess Ding felt a sharp pain in her chest and was unable to get up. She could only watch Prince An and his entourage quickly turn the corner and disappear without a trace.
Soon, the sound of military boots hitting the ground could be heard faintly by ordinary people, as rapid as the rolling of thunder.
She hugged her two sons and cried desperately, "Your Highness!"
…
Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan arrived quickly, and the imperial guards quickly surrounded Prince An's mansion. The two led their troops to break in.
Anyone who resists will be killed on the spot.
But soon, the two discovered that Prince An had escaped first.
Lu Zhang was furious: "Chase him!"
Prince An was the real target, so Lu Yuan immediately left 500 men in Prince An's mansion and led the crowd in pursuit. At the same time, he notified Jingzhao Yin and Luojing City Defense Captain Dong Liang to conduct a city-wide dragnet search for the fugitive Prince An.
It was curfew at that time, and Prince An and his entourage came out suddenly. It was hard for them to leave no trace, and they were soon encountered head-on by a search team led by Yuan Tan.
"The rebel king is here!"
A series of arrows whizzed up into the air, and with a "bang" a burst of light was emitted. Yuan Tan roared, "Arrow formation!"
Arrows whizzed around like rain, but fortunately the search team consisted of only a few hundred people and there were many houses around them to provide shelter.
Wei Xu did not stop. He grabbed Queen An's heart and jumped into the nearest house. There were several screams of "Ahhh" behind him, and several of his personal guards had been killed.
"We can't stay in Luojing for long, we need to leave the city as soon as possible!"
Wei Xu was solemn. When the news that Prince An had escaped from the palace reached the imperial palace, more and more guards would be sent to search for him. There is no doubt that the city gate will not be opened until the matter is over.
In other words, now is the best time to break through, and it will become more difficult as time goes by.
Prince An naturally understood: "Be careful!"
He was extremely grateful that he had Wei Xu, otherwise the city of Luojing was deep and deep, with heavily guarded gates, and no matter how skilled the dozens of personal guards around him were, they would probably have no chance of escaping.
The group ran quickly towards the nearest city gate, but when they arrived at the place and took a look from a distance, their hearts sank.
When the emperor sent out Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan, he also issued an oral order at the same time. The city gates were as bright as day, rockets and crossbows were fully equipped, and soldiers were guarding them all, so that no water could get in.
Not only was the group unable to escape from the city gate, but their tracks were exposed. Another signal arrow was fired and they were chased.
After finally getting rid of the pursuers, Wei Xu frowned and said, "We can't break through the city gate. We can only climb the city wall."
The "climbing the city wall" here means breaking up by force.
The city of Luojing is extremely large, and the defenses on the city walls are certainly far inferior to those at the city gates. This is the best solution at the moment. But the difficulty was extremely high. The defenders were in a dominant position and the bows and crossbows had great lethality. Wei Xu himself was quite confident, but he happened to be carrying a burden.
He was not completely sure of success when he took Prince An out, not to mention the other personal guards.
The leader of the imperial guards, Chen Qi, stopped, knelt on one knee and bowed: "Your Highness, I will lead the pursuers away for you!"
These loyal guards, knowing that they could not escape, immediately decided to make a feint to the east and attack in the west, trying their best to make it easier for their master to escape.
Prince An patted Chen Qi on the shoulder and looked around at everyone: "Yes!"
…
Wei Xu found a long hemp rope, put it on one hand, held Prince An in his hand, and held a knife in the other hand, hiding in a house under the city wall.
In the distance there was a stone staircase leading to the top of the city wall. There were fire sticks and armored soldiers standing in rows. Arrows flashing with cold light were pressed on the top of the city wall, aiming at the open space dozens of feet wide under the city wall.
The guards are not as strong as the city gates, but they are also very strict.
Wei Xu and King An held their breath and waited quietly until a huge noise was heard faintly, attracting the attention of the defenders on the city wall.
Two figures shot out from the darkness, grabbed the stone steps and rushed up. The general was startled and shouted, "Arrow formation!"
"Fire the flare!"
"Brothers, go! Kill the rebel king!"
"Swoosh, swoosh" the fire arrows shot straight into the sky, but Wei Xu and King An could no longer care about them. The rockets rained down on their heads. Wei Xu swung his sword with all his might and rushed up with a tiptoe.
Amid the flash of swords and hail of arrows, Prince An groaned as his left upper arm was pierced by a rocket. He endured the pain and concentrated, trying his best to cooperate with Wei Xu, and swung his sword to block the guards.
As he rushed to the top of the city wall, Wei Xu's arm was scratched. The rocket burned his flesh and there was no bleeding, but it was extremely painful.
He seemed unaware, and swung his sword as fast as a curtain of light. He rushed to the other side of the city wall in one go, threw the long rope in his hand, and the end was wrapped around the battlement. He jumped with Prince An holding the rope, and the two of them rushed down.
To successfully escape.
However, this was the most dangerous moment. The door in the middle of his back was wide open and arrows were raining down. Wei Xu pulled off his black cloak, raised his hand and waved, but the two were still hit by several arrows.
Blood gushed out immediately, but fortunately, it was not fatal.
After trying my best, I finally managed to escape.
Wei Xu ran for twenty or thirty miles in one breath before he stopped.
The two men lost a lot of blood and their faces turned pale. Wei Xu tore off his clothes and bandaged them, saying, "We need to leave immediately."
Leave the Gyeonggi region.
Prince An cut off the exposed part of the arrow on his leg with a knife, and the pain made him break out in a cold sweat. He looked back at Luojing City with a ferocious expression.
"Yes, we are going northeast."
Zhangcheng, Yanzhou, where Prince An's 40,000 elite troops are currently stationed, is located northeast of Luojing. Thinking of this, he felt anxious.
These 40,000 soldiers were certainly unaware of the shocking changes in Luojing, and the emperor's edict must have been sent to the front line. If one thing goes wrong, these 40,000 soldiers will be killed.
Prince An, who had finally escaped, was left alone.
Wei Xu comforted him: "We have made arrangements before. Chen Ang, Guo Huai and others are here too. We will be able to adapt to the situation."
Yes, these 40,000 trusted elite soldiers are the last foundation of Prince An. They are temporarily away from his side, and the arrangements are indeed very careful. He has also been repeatedly reminded, so it is impossible that they are completely without vigilance.
But this change was too big and too sudden.
Prince An felt depressed and didn't know how many people were left.
But no matter how many are left, the top priority is to reunite as soon as possible.
After the two were simply bandaged, Prince An immediately said, "Jinzhi, we will set off immediately."
He looked back at Luojing City again. The huge city was lurking silently in the darkness, and his eyes revealed deep resentment.
"Wei Xian!"
…
Prince An hated the emperor, and so did the emperor. He stayed awake for half the night, but what he waited for was the news that Prince An had successfully escaped.
"How can this be possible!"
"You're trying to catch a turtle in a jar, but you can't even catch Prince An?! What use do I have for you?!"
Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan bowed their heads and whispered, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, as I am incompetent."
Who could have thought that Prince An had a fighter whose skills were as good as those of the emperor's secret guards?
But the mission failed and there was no way to argue. The two men only added: "We have immediately arranged for soldiers to go out of the city to search for the suspect."
"You two should lead your troops to the northeast immediately. The rebel king will definitely rush to Zhangcheng!"
Wei Xian did not care about the punishment and immediately ordered: "The rebel king must be killed!"
"yes!"
Lu Zhang and Yuan Tan followed the order and hurried out. Veins on Wei Xian's forehead were throbbing and he was breathing heavily.
"Wei Ping, Wei Ping!"
With a glance, he caught a glimpse of the letter written by Wei Jing on the imperial desk. The other party's mocking eyes seemed to be right in front of him. With a "bang", he slammed the letter on the desk and gritted his teeth.
Rebel King!
The feeling of being suppressed for a long time but unable to resist surged into his heart again, and Wei Xian sneered with hatred.
"Hmph, come here, bring out all the personal guards around Prince An and tie them up."
He spread the paper himself, picked up the pen and dipped it in ink to write a long letter in one go, stamped it with the imperial seal, and sealed it with sealing wax.
"Send this letter along with Prince An's confidants to Pingyang."
Wei Xian sneered. Let’s see if you, Wei Jing, still have the mind to sit in Pingyang and watch the joke!
snort!
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