The corner of Zhao Kai's elegant mouth raised a hint of undisguised sarcasm.
He raised his head on the horse and looked up at the familiar and unfamiliar faces on the city gate tower. Some of them were angry, but more of them were shocked and afraid.
At this moment, he no longer wanted to pretend.
His forbearance and planning over the past few years had fattened the sheep, and finally it was time to slaughter them and serve them on the table.
Behind him, Lin Lin, a school secretary with a background as a Jinshi, took out the "Execution of the King" originally written by Qin Hui, the new champion scholar, from his arms, and recited it loudly in a cadence.
More than 15,000 rebels raised their spears high in the air and roared like thunder: "Kill the king, kill the virtuous prince Huan!"
Zhao Kai smiled calmly and waved his hand, and the rebels fell into silence.
There are 50,000 forbidden troops in the capital camp, 20,000 are stationed and trained in Shangqiu, Nanjing, 10,000 of the other 30,000 are used by him, and 10,000 are isolated in the outer city.
Except for 2,000 of the 10,000 Longxiang troops who were truly loyal to Zhao Huan to guard the palace city, the rest were stationed in the imperial city camp. At this moment, they were either dead or surrendering. The palace city had become a chess piece in his hand and could be destroyed easily.
Upstairs at the city gate, Zhao Ji could barely stand, and could only hold on with two small yellow gates holding him up.
On Zhao Ji's left side, Zhao Huan's heart sank to the bottom.
He had thought that Zhao Kai would take risks, but he always believed that he had the imperial army in his own hands. As a result, looking at it now, everything was just an appearance. His third brother was hiding deeper than anyone thought.
Zhang Shuye looked extremely embarrassed.
As the helmsman and direct commander of the Beijing Camp Forbidden Army, when he was the Taiwei, part of his Longwei Army fell against King Yun, but he did not know it. This gave him a loud slap in the face!
Li Gang was furious.
His pale hands with bulging veins clung to the city wall, and his ravaged face was almost ferocious as he shouted: "Prince Yun! You are a nobleman of the Song Dynasty, the current prince, and you have liaison with the imperial army and raised troops in the palace. You are treating it as treason."
!”
Zhao Kai smiled. This old guy is really funny. The window paper has been torn, so what are you yelling about? Let's leave these righteous words in the main hall.
Now, it's only you and me who live and die!
Zhao Kai then said calmly: "Prime Minister Li, don't get so angry that you get hurt. I still hope that in the future, Prime Minister Li will be able to govern the country for me and lead the world."
As soon as Zhao Kai said this, the expressions of Lu Yihao and others who were also on the city gate changed slightly.
To be honest, Zhao Kai made this last move without negotiating with them, and people like Lu Yihao never thought that Zhao Kai would stage a mutiny and directly surround the palace city.
Zhao Ji said in a trembling voice: "Niezi, what do you want?"
Zhao Kai laughed loudly: "Father, today we are raising troops to clear the emperor's side. We also ask father to destroy the East Palace, kill Zhao Huan, take the throne as emperor, and establish a new king!"
"Gu is the new king, and my father is the emperor. In Gu's hands, the world of the Song Dynasty will surely be in peace and harmony, and the world will be unified!"
"If not, the palace city will turn into powder, and no one will survive tonight!"
The desolate sound of military drums shook the heaven and the earth. Fifteen thousand King Yun's troops shouted "Long live King Yun" in unison. Their bows and arrows were strung, their swords and guns pointed outward, and they were ready to attack the city at any time.
Zhao Ji and his son's faces were earth-colored.
In fact, let alone them, even the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty on the city tower were like a mirror in their hearts. Even if Zhao Ji deposed Zhao Huan tonight, Zhao Kai would definitely not let Zhao Ji go.
If he was above the main hall just now, perhaps what he wanted was a superficial righteous status, and now, the last layer of fig leaf has been lifted.
He wants to splatter the palace with blood and change the dynasty!
King Yan, King Wu and other royal families squeezed out of the crowd, bowed and said in unison: "Please also ask the officials to make a decision quickly, depose Zhao Huan and establish King Yun, so as to calm the hearts of the people in the world!"
Lu Yihao and others retreated silently.
They wanted to support King Yun to ascend the throne, but they were unwilling to commit such a treasonous act.
Wu Min stood in front of Zhao Ji and Zhao Huan with a vigorous step, and angrily said: "The king of Wu, the king of Yan, and you, as the royal family of the Song Dynasty, actually colluded with the rebels and forced the officials here. What crime should you do?"
A look of determination appeared on Uncle Zhang's face at night.
He suddenly raised his arms and shouted: "I am Taiwei Zhang Shuye! The Long Xiang army obeyed the order, and King Yun rebelled and raised his troops to force the palace. We must defend the official family and the prince to the death, and we will live and die with the Song Dynasty!!"
Zhang Shuye personally stepped forward with a sword and said coldly: "Take down the King of Wu and the King of Yan! Anyone who confuses the public with his evil words or oppresses the official prince will be killed without mercy!"
The officials upstairs were silent and had different expressions on their faces.
Zhao Ji looked at Zhao Huan in front of him with trembling lips. At this critical moment of life and death, the father and son finally truly reconciled.
Zhao Huan burst into tears and knelt down in front of Zhao Ji with a bang: "My crime deserves ten thousand deaths. If I die, my father and the Song Dynasty will be consolidated forever. I am willing to die for my country!"
Zhao Ji tremblingly helped Zhao Huanlai up and sighed: "Even if you die, I will not be able to escape this disaster. Only now do I understand that it is not you who is plotting against you, but me!!"
Father and son hugged each other and cried.
At this moment, the harem was shaken, and the three thousand concubines all ran out of their respective palaces, looking in the direction of Mingde Gate with panic-stricken expressions.
Xiaoyue Garden.
Zhao Fujin's pretty face was covered with frost. She hurriedly changed into a smart outfit, grabbed a bow, and ordered Mulan Yancui to prepare a mount. She wanted to go to the front line to help in the battle, and would rather die than stay by that man's side.
Concubine Wei hugged her thin waist tightly: "Maode, you can't go! Stay calm!"
"Auntie, I want to go to him, I want to fight side by side with him, even if we die, we will die together..."
Zhao Fujin coughed violently as if struggling too hard.
Concubine Wei sighed faintly: "Maode, have you forgotten what he said? He said that everything has been prepared for a long time. His cavalry has arrived in the capital. With his ability, King Yun will definitely not be able to succeed."
Concubine Wei gently stroked Zhao Fujin's back: "Didn't he also say that if it was really necessary, he would lead his army into the palace and take you away from the capital to live in Qingzhou... So what you have to do is to feel at ease
Just wait and everything will pass."
There was a ripple in Concubine Wei's heart, and a trace of mist flashed across her narrow beautiful eyes, but the sadness in her heart could not be expressed.
If it really comes to that point, who will take her away?
And in this huge world, where is her place?
Zhao Fujin gradually calmed down, but she was still confused and couldn't stay in the room at all: "Auntie, let's go to Wangxiang Tower and take a look. We can see everything clearly over there."
Concubine Wei smiled bitterly: "Maode, there is chaos in the palace at this time. For safety reasons, it is better to guard the door and not wander around."
Zhao Fujin shook his head and walked out: "No, aunt, I'm worried, I want to go take a look!"
Zhao Fujin quickly ran out of the garden. Concubine Wei was stunned and could only call Mulan Yancui and two eunuchs to follow closely.
By the time Zhao Fujin and Concubine Wei arrived at Wangxiang Tower, King Yun's army had officially launched a fierce attack on the palace city.
Arrows rained down on the palace city, but they still couldn't stop King Yun's army, which carried huge radium wood to hit the city gate and set up a ladder to rush to the city tower at the risk of death.
Although Long Xiang's army fought tooth and nail to defend, there was a huge disparity in numbers. If they defended one end, they could not defend the other. King Yun's army rushed to the top of the city like a tide and fought with Long Xiang's army.
Upstairs in Wangxiang, Zhao Fujin was wrapped in a fur cloak, his pretty face extremely pale.
She clawed at the wooden fence and tried to the limit of her field of vision, but she could not find Wang Lin.
But what she saw was that her father and brother Zhao Huan, as well as a large group of noisy courtiers, were retreating from the city tower under the desperate escort of more than a hundred Longxiang troops, preparing to go to Yanfu Palace.
As night fell, a loud bugle sound suddenly sounded in the palace, clear, distant, and exciting.
Concubine Wei suddenly exclaimed: "Maode, look!"
From the direction of Wangxiang Tower, the direction of Yanfu Palace, and the direction of Longyue Palace, three groups of people meandered silently, whipping up three strong winds in the night, and rushed to reinforce Mingde Gate.
Zhao Fujin was overjoyed: "Auntie, that must be his tiger guard. It seems that he was really prepared for it."
Concubine Wei was stunned: "But with so many people, how did he avoid King Yun's eyes and ears and sneak them into the palace quietly?"
Zhao Fujin's mouth raised a happy smile: "Auntie, this is a secret!"
In the current palace, the only people who know about the secret passage are Wang Lin and Zhao Fujin, besides Zhao Ji.
On that day, Wang Lin rescued Zhao Fujin from Gaoqiu Mansion. In order to avoid the pursuit of the imperial army, he sent her to the palace through this secret passage.
Concubine Wei's beautiful eyes paused.
Secret? What secret?
…
Although the two thousand Tiger Guards are not many in number, they all have extraordinary skills, and there is no problem if one is equal to ten.
Therefore, these tiger guards almost descended from the sky to join the battle group, and the palace defense that was about to collapse instantly stabilized.
"I, the official of the Central Guard, are in charge of the Fuhu Army, and Yan Qing, the observation envoy from Denglai, has led the army into the palace to rescue me on the orders of the envoy. I ask the officials, Your Highness and all your lords to follow me and retreat to Yanfu Palace!"
Zhao Ji saw Wang Lin's army and horses seeming to appear out of thin air in the palace, just like heavenly soldiers and generals, reinforcing the palace city like lightning. He quickly assisted Zhang Shuye in stabilizing the city defense, and he felt calm.
Of course he understood where Wang Lin mobilized his troops into the palace.
He knew that Wang Lin had not failed him in the end.
Zhao Ji's voice was still trembling: "Yan Aiqing is alive, everything will be as Aiqing said, I will retreat to Yanfu Palace now!"
Yan Qing took five hundred tiger guards to protect Zhao Ji and others and fled to Yanfu Palace. If the palace city was destroyed, at least Yanfu Palace could resist for a while.
Zhao Huan ran for a while, then suddenly turned to Yan Qing and said urgently: "Where is Wang Lin?"
Yan Qing took a deep breath, cupped her hands and said, "Your Highness, please rest assured. You must have personally led your troops into the city to quell the rebellion at this moment!"
"Although there are many rebels, they will surely turn into powder under the iron hoof of the envoy's iron cavalry."
Although he knew that Yan Qing was trying to cheer him up and build up his confidence, Zhao Huan still had endless hope in his heart.
It's just that he doesn't know whether Wang Lin can succeed like last time this time and turn the tide!
Zhao Ji, his father and his son, and other ministers entered Yanfu Palace.
Dozens of tiger guards quietly climbed onto Wangxiang Tower.
Concubine Wei squinted at the large group of sword-wielding tiger guards around her, protecting them, but Wang Lin's heroic face with sword-browed eyebrows and starry eyes appeared in front of her.
There was a fire in her eyes.
"Maode, check it out. He has arranged for people to protect us in advance. What are you worried about?"
The tenderness on Zhao Fujin's face gradually deepened, and a silent blush appeared again.
Seeing that her pretty face suddenly turned red, like a ripe apple, and her eyes became as charming as silk, showing a sweet and happy look, Concubine Wei's eyes were like water, and she thought about it again and again.
If this rescue operation is successful, Prince Yun's rebellion is quelled, and Wang Lin makes another unparalleled feat, he may be able to use this to ask the officials for a marriage, and he and Zhao Fujin will finally have a happy life.