Only six days after leaving the palace, the emperor looked even more haggard, as if he had not slept well for a long time. His eyes were dark and cloudy.
"Xiao Shuo?!"
The emperor looked at him in disbelief.
"Someone come! Someone come!"
The emperor let out a loud cry.
Where are the guards? Where are the imperial guards?
"Your Majesty, please be at ease." Xiao Shuo smiled slightly, his smile was light and gentle, "It's no use for you to yell. Now that we are here, I still have the final say."
The emperor looked shocked.
In order to avoid Xiao Shuo, he accepted Zheng Zhongming's suggestion and hid in the garden. There were only imperial guards and some palace maids in the garden. He didn't even dare to use eunuchs. He didn't know who he could trust in the court. Xiao Shuo had been in control of the government for so long that he had already conquered the court. No matter Prince Li or Prime Minister Lin, no one could be trusted.
He dared not see them!
Each of them wants to coax Xiao Shuo back to the palace just to show their loyalty to him. They are all bad people!
He didn't come until Zheng Zhongming told him that Xiao Shuo would be captured today and this trouble would be eliminated, and asked him to wait in Chonghua Palace.
Why is Xiao Shuo here? Where is Zheng Zhongming? Where is Zheng Zhongming?
It was Zheng Zhongming who forced him out of the palace. Shouldn't he have protected him?
"Your Majesty," Xiao Shuo said with a smile, "Do you really think I can't get involved in this garden?"
"Otherwise, how would I know you were hiding here?"
The emperor shrank back, subconsciously looking around at the empty space around him. The palace maids who were supposed to serve in the palace had disappeared without a trace. Now only he and Xiao Shuo were left!
There was no doubt that Xiao Shuo could not have come to visit him!
Xiao Shuo walked towards him, as elegant and calm as ever, but in the emperor's eyes, Xiao Shuo was like a monster that crawled out of the abyss of the underworld, baring its sharp claws and fangs at him.
If we talk about the past, the emperor trusted Xiao Shuo.
Then came hatred and disgust.
Well, now, after six days of recurring flashbacks and nightmares, all he had left was fear.
Xiao Shuo is Xue Yao, who walked out of the sea of fire in Zhan Ancient City and came to claim his life.
The emperor shuddered and tried his best to push the four-wheeled cart, wanting to leave. However, he was so weak that no matter how hard he pushed, the cart could not move as fast as Xiao Shuo's pace.
Xiao Shuo walked slowly to the front of the four-wheeled vehicle and hooked his long legs, causing the four-wheeled vehicle to trip and fall to the ground.
The emperor fell off the chariot.
He supported himself on the ground with his hands and tried to crawl, but he could hardly move at all.
He looked up at Xiao Shuo in fear and said in a trembling voice: "Ah Shuo, Ah Shuo... I treat you well."
The emperor could not see any emotion in his eyes, his cold gaze was as if he was looking at a dead person.
"Your Majesty." Xiao Shuo opened his lips slightly, "Do you know what it feels like to be burned by fire?"
"It's very hot, very scalding, and the thick smoke makes it hard to breathe. I keep coughing and gasping for air."
"The flames devoured me inch by inch, from my clothes to my body. I couldn't hide or escape. I could only struggle in pain in the fire."
"Later, even when it hurt so much, I couldn't scream. As soon as I opened my mouth, smoke would pour into my throat, and it felt like fire was burning inside my body."
"I will be awake for a very long time, watching myself being burned to black, and then I will die..."
Xiao Shuo said these words in an exceptionally calm tone.
The emperor kept shrinking back, his face becoming more terrified.
"Tens of thousands of people, young and old, died in Zhan Ancient City just like that."
And his mother, such a beautiful and gentle woman, was also burned to ashes in the fire. Until the last moment, she was still conscious and she told herself calmly:
Hide.
Stay alive...
The emperor shrank up.
Xiao Shuo in front of him was the same as always, even with a faint smile on his lips, as if he was just joking with him. However, the emperor clearly saw the ferocity and unresolvable hatred in his eyes.
"Ashuo."
The emperor regretted it.
Originally, Xiao Shuo was just in control of the government. It was all Zheng Zhongming's fault. It was Zheng Zhongming who insisted on bringing him out, which annoyed Xiao Shuo now.
Yes, Xiao Shuo didn’t want to kill him originally!
"A Shuo, please let me go... okay? Considering how well I've treated you over the years, please let me go."
The emperor begged. He thought he had been very kind to Xiao Shuo and had promoted him to his current position!
Xiao Shuo looked at him steadily.
That year, after he was rescued from the palace, the imperial guards stayed in Lingnan for a long time, and he had seen this man from afar.
He knows who he is.
We also know that it was he who ordered the fire that burned down the ancient city of Zhan.
In the past twenty years, he has never forgotten the fire and the people who died in it.
His mother.
His uncles, aunts, cousins.
His playmate.
His guards...
And his cat.
The cat that always hovered around his feet and would lie quietly nearby playing with a ball while he was practicing martial arts or studying.
All died in the fire.
Everything he had, was gone.
Only he is still alive!
He was the only one who still had his life left.
But it's just living...
They are all dead, and the fire-setter should be buried with them.
It was twenty years late to be buried with him!
Xiao Shuo turned his wrist and a small blue and white porcelain bottle appeared in his palm. He slowly opened the piston of the porcelain bottle and raised his hand, and all the liquid inside splashed out.
The emperor was startled and raised his hand to stop it, but unfortunately, his movements were slow and all the liquid splashed onto his raised arm and flowed down his sleeves. A strong smell of kerosene hit his nose.
The emperor was very familiar with this taste.
Twenty years ago, it was he who ordered people to sprinkle kerosene around the ancient city of Zhan. Hundreds of barrels of kerosene were sprinkled one by one. The smell in the air was exactly the same as the smell now.
The emperor stared at the water stain on the sleeve of his dragon robe, his face full of fear.
He subconsciously tried to shake off the water stains with his hands, and then, even his hands were covered with kerosene.
"ah!"
The emperor was so frightened that he cried out: "A Shuo, please spare me..."
"Someone come! Someone come!"
"Help!"
However, no one came to pay attention to him, let alone save him.
He was horrified to see Xiao Shuo pick up the lit candlestick beside him and throw it away.
The emperor shouted and climbed desperately, but his limbs were weak and his retreat was blocked by the four-wheeled carriage. There was no way to retreat in this narrow space.
The candlestick fell to the ground and ignited a soft pad, which was the wheel pad of the four-wheeled vehicle. When the four-wheeled vehicle turned over, it rolled out with it.
The cushion was still a little distance away from the emperor. He breathed a sigh of relief and said in a tearful voice, "A Shuo, if you have any conditions, you can propose them. You can propose them."
"Whatever you want, I will grant you. This country... I will make you the regent and the 9,000-year-old king!"
"A Shuo, Xue Yao... Can I help your parents get their name vindicated?"
"I, I will return the fiefdom of Lingnan to you and the Xue family!"
"You spared me, spared me..."
The emperor offered one tempting condition after another, but he dared not move at all, for fear that the fire would burn him.
At this moment, he was so close to the flames that the scorching breath hit his face. After a while, he was sweating all over. He didn't even know whether it was because of the fear or the heat.
He stared at Xiao Shuo, his cloudy eyes filled with pleading.
"Your Majesty, instead of begging me, you should go out by yourself. By the way, you have had a stroke and can't walk." Xiao Shuo smiled and asked softly, "But, did you really have a stroke?"
The emperor thought of Zheng Zhongming's words. He was originally skeptical, but at this moment, all his hopes were shattered by Xiao Shuo's words.
He wasn't having a stroke.
Before he had a stroke, the court officials still respected him. He had the Twelve Guardians and he was a loyal subject.
It’s Xiao Shuo.
Xiao Shuo turned him into a half-human, half-ghost, and left him with nothing.
In the past few days, he had actually thought about it carefully. If he had not had a stroke, if he was still on the right track, he would never have ended up like this.
The stroke is fake!
In the past few months, Xiao Shuo had no idea what he had been fed to eat that had turned him into what he is now.
"Why ..."
Why do you want to hurt him?!
"The will is also fake, isn't it?" the emperor blurted out excitedly, "It was you who caused me to kill my own mother, it was you!"
He was so angry that day that he pushed the queen mother angrily. The queen mother fell to the ground and hit the back of her head. She also cursed at him, and then...
He killed his mother.
Xiao Shuo smiled and said, "Your Majesty, killing one's father and mother is beyond the reach of justice."
"Your Majesty, you can't even be a wise ruler."
"No one will know you're dead."
The emperor was horrified and asked, "What do you mean?"
Xiao Shuo knew what he feared the most, so he slowed down his tone and said slowly, "No one will collect your bones or offer incense to you. From now on, you can only be a lonely ghost."
Then he reminded him in a good-tempered manner: "Your Majesty, the fire has already burned out.
"ah!"
The emperor uttered a scream, and the fire ignited the cushions, then spread to the wagon, getting closer to him.
He didn't care about anything else and moved backwards frantically, but his back was already pressed firmly against the four-wheeler and he had no way to escape.
If he hadn't been disabled, he wouldn't have been able to escape.
Xiao Shuo... No, it's Xue Yao. Could it be that he has already planned today? !
His mind was in a mess, and he watched helplessly as the flames moved along the four-wheeled vehicle and burned towards him little by little, with sparks splashing onto the hem of his dragon robe.
The emperor slapped his dragon robe with his hands like crazy, and as soon as his palms touched the flames, they instantly caught fire.
He suddenly remembered that his hands were stained with kerosene.
The fire suddenly became bigger under the stimulation of kerosene.
The emperor screamed in pain and shook his hands desperately, trying to shake off the flames on his hands, but the fire still consumed him bit by bit.
The emperor became even more afraid.
He wanted to hide and escape, but a string of sparks jumped from his swinging palms onto his sleeves and ignited the kerosene on his sleeves. In just a moment, the emperor was burned into a fireball.
"Save me, save me..."
He wailed miserably and rolled on the ground in pain, which continued without stopping.
He recalled the day in Zhan Ancient City, and the painful wails coming from the city...
Will he be like them?
"Save me..."
Xiao Shuo stood there and watched for a while, then turned around and left without looking back.
The smoke in this temple is not thick enough to suffocate him to death; he will only be burned by the raging fire until he is reduced to ashes.
The emperor should also experience the feeling of being burned alive.
Zhou Jianli was waiting for him outside the palace. When he saw him come out, he immediately followed him and reported, "Master, the Zhenbei Army has taken over the garden, and the imperial guards in the garden have surrendered."
These imperial guards are so vulnerable that they are like paper.
Their armor was more sophisticated than that of the Zhenbei Army, and their weapons were also new and gorgeous, but they were too weak.
"Give me three thousand men and I can win." Zhou Jianli said arrogantly.
Apart from other things, the Zhenbei Army is best at bullying... ahem, defeating the enemy with fewer troops!
"When we defeated Northern Yan and forced them to flee, these little brats from the Imperial Guard were still playing in the mud."
Xiao Shuo smiled and said, "What matters is not winning but time."
The current imperial guards can indeed capture the garden if Zhou Jianli is given 3,000 men. However, it will take at least twice as long, and it will not be possible to win with an overwhelming victory, which means that the casualty rate will increase.
What matters in today's battle is not defeating the enemy with fewer troops, but speed.
Therefore, Xiao Shuo transferred all the troops from Zhenbei.
In addition to the 500 people who accompanied him, the other soldiers of the Zhenbei Army had already ambushed around the garden two days ago. This garden was beautiful, surrounded by mountains and close to water, making it the most suitable place for ambush. The Zhenbei Army were all elite soldiers who were good at fighting, far beyond the reach of the Imperial Guards.
When they arrived at the garden today, the ambushed Zhenbei troops had already quietly approached, waiting for the arrows to gradually move away before launching an attack.
In just half an hour, the garden was taken.
Zhou Jianli followed his footsteps and continued to report: "Everyone else has already left Chonghua Palace."
"Zheng Zhongming took advantage of the chaos to hide."
"Lord Governor, do you want to capture the person?" Zhou Jianli asked.
What he thought was that he could use Zheng Zhongming to threaten the imperial guards in the capital.
Xiao Shuo said without thinking, "Let him run."
Zhou Jianli agreed without raising any questions.
"Master."
Lin Shoufu and his men were not far from Chonghua Palace, and they were still watching the fire in Chonghua Palace burning more and more fiercely with lingering fear. When they saw Xiao Shuo coming, they couldn't help but show surprise.
If Xiao Shuo had not ordered the Zhenbei Army to protect them and force their way out, they would have been burned to death in Chonghua Palace by Zheng Zhongming.
Zheng Zhongming had indeed lured them here, wanting them all to die, and then he could cover up everything with one hand.
"Zheng Zhongming escaped." Xiao Shuo sighed, "We haven't found the emperor yet. He might have taken him away."
"Is the emperor still in the garden?" Prince Li said without much hope. "Maybe he escaped in such a hurry that he forgot to take the emperor with him."
"Then search again." Xiao Shuo was easy to talk to. "Zhou Jianli, have someone search the garden again. We need to return to the capital as soon as possible."
He said sternly, "Zheng Zhongming has escaped. He has the imperial army's military token in his hand. I am afraid that he will make a desperate move, which will be detrimental to the capital."
As soon as these words came out, everyone became nervous.
Yes. And the capital!
What should we do if Zheng Zhongming is really desperate and intends to gain control of the emperor and control the other princes?
They waited anxiously, hoping that the emperor was still in the garden. In this way, without the emperor in hand, even if Zheng Zhongming sent troops, he would have no legitimate reason to do so.
However, not long after, a young general from the Zhenbei Army came over and reported, "The Emperor is not in the garden."
"Not here?" Prince Li blurted out.
This is not disbelief, just shock.
"No." The young general shook his head and said, "We have searched all the palaces. Someone in the palace said that Zheng Zhongming took the emperor away."
It is indeed like that!
They all looked at Xiao Shuo subconsciously, and then heard Xiao Shuo say, "Return to the capital."
Everyone was already confused, no one objected, and they all listened to him.
Zhou Jianli grasped the long sword in his hand. Zheng Zhongming suffered a severe setback in the garden, and the capital was his only trump card.
Zheng Zhongming will definitely hold on to the Zhenbei Palace firmly.
The capital was close to curfew. In the past, there were few people on the streets at this time, but now, a group of students were still on the streets. A young student raised his arms and shouted: "The imperial guards are blatantly taking revenge."
"The King of Zhenbei upheld justice for us, forcing the Imperial Guards to suppress the bandits and preserving our reputation. Now, the Prince is leading his troops outside, and the Imperial Guards are taking the opportunity to deliberately retaliate and harm the Prince's family!"
"The prince went to war for the sake of glory, but the palace was surrounded by the imperial army!"
"Instead of protecting the country, the imperial guards are bullying the families of meritorious officials!"
The students were all in an uproar. Their faces were excited, and their voices were filled with anger.
The imperial examination had just ended, but the results had not yet been announced, so most of the students had not left the capital.
It didn't take long for the whole city to know that the Imperial Guards openly surrounded the Zhenbei Palace. In particular, some civilians saw with their own eyes that the Imperial Guards were quite disrespectful to the Princess of Zhenbei and even pointed knives at her. The palace has now been surrounded by the Imperial Guards for several hours, and no one knows whether the Imperial Guards will storm it.
The Prince of Zhenbei is out on a military expedition, and I heard that only his mother, wife, and younger sister are left in the palace!
The imperial guards are actually going to attack the women and children in this mansion!
"If it weren't for the King of Zhenbei, this Great Rong Dynasty would have ended long ago!"
"Where is the emperor? Why doesn't the emperor care?"
“Could it be…”
The people in the capital city all know best what has happened recently. From the previous emperor to the present, one shameful scandal after another has been revealed, which is simply astonishing.
"We have to save the princess!"
One student said solemnly: "It was the King of Zhenbei who saved us all last time. Now that the King of Zhenbei's palace is in trouble, we cannot stand idly by!"
One call brings a hundred responses.
Although the number of successful candidates in each subject was limited and everyone was in competition with each other, the candidates in this subject were particularly united. Some of them went to the Imperial City to sit in protest, some went to beat the drum to report the incident, and some of them, who were brave enough, agreed to go to the Zhenbei Palace to see what was going on.
"Master."
When several students hurried past an inconspicuous black-painted flat-top carriage, the long-servant said, "Master, it seems they are going to the Zhenbei Palace."
"Quick."
Sheng Xingan urged anxiously in the carriage, his face showing anxiety.
That day, he finally met Wei Xiu and wanted to have a good talk with him, but as soon as Da Mei left, Wei Xiu fainted.
He didn't know why he fainted, but he finally saw his son after all the hard work, so he would be willing to be beaten up, let alone faint.
So, he fainted.
After fainting, I realized that it was my eldest sister who wanted to harm Wei Xiu.
Later, Wei Xiu told him to do what he should do in the mansion, but not to leave the house because he was sick. He was afraid that he might do something wrong by accident and harm Wei Xiu and Yan Jie'er, so he simply hid in the room and did not leave for the past few days. In fact, he really had no idea what Wei Xiu and the others were planning.
Until he heard the news that the Zhenbei Palace was surrounded, he became restless and could not help it, so he decided to go and take a look.
Could it be that Wei Xiu and his team’s plan had failed?
Sheng Xing'an became even more anxious. At his urging, the carriage drove very fast and soon arrived at the street where the Zhenbei Palace was located.
The entire street was blocked by the imperial guards at this moment. Thousands of imperial guards surrounded the street and surrounded the Zhenbei Palace tightly from front to back and left to right.
"Master, can I go and ask around?" asked the long-time attendant.
Sheng Xingan nodded and said, "Be careful."
As soon as the attendant got off the carriage, a tall horse came galloping from the other side of the street. Sitting on the horse was a soldier in the uniform of the imperial guards. Seeing this, the imperial guards blocking the street made way for him. Sheng Xingan didn't have time to care about anything else and quickly opened the curtain to look outside.
The soldier rode his horse to the gate of Zhenbei Palace, dismounted, clasped his fists and said, "Captain! The commander-in-chief has sent a letter by pigeon, ordering you to attack immediately! Take the prisoners alive."
"A living person?" Zhang Hen, the captain of the imperial guards, was slightly startled. The order issued by the governor before leaving the capital was to kill without mercy.
The soldier hurriedly said, "The governor has ordered that Princess Jingle and Princess Zhenbei be kept alive, and the rest can be executed."
"I understand." Zhang Hen nodded. If he wanted to keep the person alive, the kerosene prepared earlier would be useless.
Then...
"Prepare to attack!"
Zhang Hen raised his hand and gave the order.
The imperial guards had been surrounding the place for about two hours, but they had only surrounded it without attacking. Now, they were finally going to attack.
Zhang Hen encouraged the morale and said, "All the guards in the Zhenbei Palace have been transferred away, and the palace is under-guarded."
"The first person to take down the palace will be rewarded handsomely by the governor!"
"Attack!"
Several imperial guards came over carrying a thick log. They shouted "One, two, three... bang!" and the log hit the vermilion lacquered gate of the Zhenbei Palace.
Again and again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Heavy crashing sounds occurred one after another.
No matter how heavy the vermilion lacquered door was, it could not withstand such an impact, and after a few seconds, the door began to shake.
Zhang Henbiao stared at the scene in front of him expressionlessly.
This door can always be broken down. It's just a matter of smashing the main door of the palace.
"Keep hitting!"
"Master."
The attendant ran back with a fussy look on his face, shouting, "The imperial guards are breaking down the door."
Sheng Xingan had just heard a dull thumping sound. He couldn't see what was happening in front of the palace from here, and he was already panicking. Now that he heard the report from the attendant, he couldn't hold back any longer. He didn't care that the guards had told him to pretend to be sick, and he rushed out of the carriage.
He took two steps at a time and rushed to the street corner to reason with the imperial guards, but he saw that the people who were also gathered there and wanted to rush in suddenly became quiet.
They all looked towards the same place at the same time.
Sheng Xingan was startled for a moment, then looked over.
Then I saw a young woman standing on the wall of Zhenbei Prefecture. She was wearing red soft armor and had only a jade hairpin inserted in her tied-up black hair. She stood there steadily and asked calmly, "Who dares to trespass?!" Her voice was sonorous and powerful.
"It's the princess!"
The people who had seen Sheng Xiyan immediately shouted in surprise, "It's the Princess of Zhenbei!"