As Xie Sheng hesitated between leaving or launching a full-scale attack on the Marquis's residence, his deputy general spoke up.
"Your Highness, if the princess hadn't arrived, we might have had a chance of winning. But now that she's here, we have no chance at all."
The Crown Prince's tutor also chimed in, "Your Highness, the Empress is waiting for you. It's important to get down to business. If everything goes smoothly, won't the entire empire be yours in the future? Then you can do whatever you want with anyone you desire!"
Xie Sheng's furrowed brows relaxed. He glanced at Yun Chuwei, turned around, and raised his voice, "Go to the city gate! Reunite with the Empress Dowager!"
After saying that, he walked away.
The army that had followed him also quickly departed.
Seeing that Xie Sheng had chosen to leave, Xie Xin immediately had his men make way for him.
After seeing Xie Sheng leave with his men, Xie Xin leaped up and landed next to Yun Chuwei.
She looked at Yun Chuwei and asked, "Are you alright?"
Yun Chuwei shook her head: "It's nothing! I have to thank the Fifth Princess. If it weren't for her arrival, the Crown Prince might not have let it go so easily!"
"Why are you being so polite?" Xie Xin said, glancing in the direction Xie Sheng had left, and sneered, "He's stupid too. Does he think that just because no one in the capital is stopping him, he can act recklessly? Little does he know, the reason no one is stopping him is simply because no one from the Emperor has given an order."
Only half of the army in the city followed Xie Sheng. If he were to make a move in the capital, various forces would have to get involved, and he wouldn't even be able to leave the capital!
However, even after leaving the capital, he didn't really have any way to make a living.
My father must have deployed countless troops along the road from the capital to the Hot Spring Palace.
A hint of sympathy suddenly appeared in Xie Xin's eyes. Xie Sheng was still unaware that no matter which way he went, it was a dead end.
Xie Xin withdrew his gaze and said to Yun Chuwei, "Should we go out of the city and take a look?"
Yun Chuwei didn't reply immediately, but instead asked Xie Xuan beside her in a low voice, "Should we go take a look?"
She actually had no interest in Xie Sheng's path to death.
But she didn't know whether Xie Xuan should go see it or not.
Xie Xin hadn't noticed Xie Xuan beside her, assuming she was just a maid protecting Yun Chuwei.
Upon hearing Yun Chuwei's question, she couldn't help but glance at Xie Xuan again.
Although Xie Xuan was dressed in black women's clothing and wore a veil, Xie Xin still recognized her.
"Xie Xuan? You...you all..."
She looked at Yun Chuwei, her lips twitching slightly: "You guys are too good at this?"
Yun Chuwei coughed softly but did not speak.
Xie Xuan ignored Xie Xin and simply answered Yun Chuwei's question in a low voice: "I want to go and see!"
His feelings for Xie Sheng are now very complicated.
On one hand, he hated Xie Sheng. He hated him for leading the massacre of the Xuan Prince's mansion in his previous life.
On the other hand, he felt that Xie Sheng at this moment was the same as him in his previous life.
Because of hatred, he wanted to watch Xie Sheng die.
Because he felt Xie Sheng resembled him, he wanted to see how he would inevitably meet his end.
“Then let’s go!” Yun Chuwei said gently.
"I'll go with you!" Xie Xin said.
-
The three followed Xie Sheng's army out of the city at a distance.
Xie Sheng's army headed straight for the Hot Spring Palace.
When they were still three miles away from the Hot Spring Palace, Xie Sheng's army was stopped.
It was Lin Ji who led the troops to stop Xie Sheng.
“Your Highness, according to His Majesty’s decree, you should be in the Eastern Palace now. Not only are you not staying in the Eastern Palace, but you have also led troops out of the capital and are heading straight for His Majesty’s carriage. Is Your Highness planning a rebellion?” Lin Ji said coldly.
"I want to see my father!" Xie Sheng said.
Lin Ji said coldly, "Your Highness, you will never see His Majesty. If you drink the poisoned wine His Majesty has given you, I will allow His Majesty to see your corpse!"
"You..." Xie Sheng gritted his teeth, then said in one sentence, "Lin Ji led troops to obstruct my journey to see His Majesty. I suspect that His Majesty was murdered by Lin Ji. It is our duty to punish the traitor and protect His Majesty. Whoever can take Lin Ji's head will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold!"
After Xie Sheng finished speaking, the crowd behind him rushed forward.
The two sides clashed with swords, and the scene was chaotic.
At first, the two sides were evenly matched, with casualties on both sides.
However, not long after, two armies arrived in haste.
Xie Xin explained in a low voice, "These two armies are both trusted troops of Father Emperor. They were kept hidden and never used. I didn't expect them to be used this time! I'm afraid the Crown Prince won't be able to hold out for long."
As Xie Xin said, after these two armies joined, the battlefield became one-sided.
Xie Sheng's army suffered heavy casualties and was quickly wiped out, with blood flowing like a river on the battlefield.
Xie Sheng panicked completely when he saw this scene.
He grabbed the arm of the Crown Prince's tutor beside him and asked, "Teacher, what should we do now?"
The Crown Prince's tutor was deathly pale, as if he had lost all his options.
Or rather, he had resigned himself to his fate the moment he saw reinforcements arrive.
The fact that these reinforcements were able to arrive here in such a short time proves that they had been lying in ambush all along, waiting for their arrival.
In other words, His Majesty was prepared all along and had no intention of letting His Highness the Crown Prince see him.
Seeing that his teacher remained silent, the Crown Prince could only look at Empress Wang and asked, "Mother, what should we do now? How can we see Father? How can we plead our case to him?"
Empress Wang opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
Her son is still too naive.
They now know that His Majesty has no intention of seeing them at all.
Therefore, no matter what they do, it's useless.
What he didn't understand was why—even a tiger wouldn't eat its own cubs!
Xie Sheng refused to admit defeat and said to the Empress, "Mother, speak up! Say something!"
After thinking carefully for a long time, Empress Wang said, "Sheng'er, it is your father who wants us dead. No matter what we do, we cannot escape! Sheng'er, I have prepared a group of secret guards who can take you away! From now on, live in anonymity and live a good life!"
After Empress Wang finished speaking, a group of black-clad guards came from a distance.
They were agile and rode exceptionally fine Akhal-Teke horses.
The horses wore no armor and ran lightly and swiftly.
The group rushed towards the direction of Empress Wang.
Empress Wang directly tied her shawl to Xie Sheng's hands, which meant that the team would rescue Xie Sheng.
Xie Sheng understood what Empress Wang meant. He grabbed her wrist and said, "Mother, let's go together!"
Empress Wang pushed Xie Sheng's hand away.
She laughed and said, "Silly child. We can die together, but we can't escape together. If we escape together, your father will be angry and send troops to chase us. Then, we'll be in even worse shape!"
Xie Sheng's escape could not possibly escape His Majesty's discerning eyes.
She must stay, she must die.
The more tragic her death, the more it will stir His Majesty's compassion.
Only if His Majesty takes pity on him will Xie Sheng have a sliver of hope.
As they were talking, the guard rode up to Xie Sheng's side.
They dragged Xie Sheng onto a horse and started running away from the battlefield.
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