Truth Mixed With Lies
“Bring along Duan Mu Qing’s corpse.” Xuan Tian Hua ordered Ban Zou then grabbed Feng Yu heng: “Don’t look anymore. Let’s go back to the city.”
Five people and one corpse quickly ran in the direction of the northern city gate.
The capital was filled with soldiers carrying longer lanterns. The citizens had already begun to notice that something was off, thus they all returned home and tightly shut their doors and windows. Even brothels and bars stopped their singing and dancing.
Xuan Tian Ming rode his horse with Wang Zhuo. Behind them were countless hidden guards blending in with the night. In their hurry, who knew how many stalls were knocked over, nor did anyone know how many long lanterns were collected. From time to time, the sound of people groaning for the last time in their lives could be heard. Following these groans, thumps could be heard. The long lanterns would fall to the ground and catch fire then quickly get put out. It was as though they never existed, to begin with.
As the group passed through the streets, Bu Cong let his team of heavily armored guards looked up into the distance. To his side, a high-ranking military official said: “General, the direction we are looking in is the direction of the imperial palace.”
Bu Cong nodded, “Over the course of this night’s activities, we have suffered no shortage of losses from all of the killings. Following this, it’s about time that we take the stage outside the imperial palace. Whether this matter succeeds or fails, we will be able to see the importance of his many years of planning.”
“General is correct.” The official said: “According to the plans, we should be going to the Yu Palace to meet up with his Highness the fourth prince.”
“What’s the rush.” Bu Cong slightly raised his head, and a complicated expression appeared on his face, “This general cannot be certain whether the ninth prince will successfully be stopped outside of the palace’s gates. If there were any unexpected difficulties, and his Highness the fourth prince was to come out now, wouldn’t things be a little troublesome? This general and his Highness the fourth prince are allies. I definitely cannot allow him to be put in harm’s way.”
The official nodded and looked at him with gratitude and admiration: “General has great foresight. This subordinate admires that greatly.”
“Enough, quickly go and patrol the area. Gather our people. We cannot allow for any more casualties.” Bu Cong pushed the official, “Everyone should split up and act on their own. Gather everyone in the central square of the city. Go quickly!”
“This subordinate obeys!”
Bu Cong gave the order and everyone dispersed in all directions. They were thinking the same thing as the official. They all thought that he was thinking of his Highness the fourth prince; however, who knew that the area that Xuan Tian Ming had just been through was now filled with Xuan Tian Ming’s troops and not their own. With them separating now and not focusing their power, they were gifting their lives over.
Whether or not they gave away their lives was not something that Bu Cong cared about. Seeing the people walk off, he curled his lips into a smile full of conspiracy.
Go ahead! Everyone should go! Dog eat dog, it was best if they fought a battle to the death. It would be best if they all died. That would be the best ending.
What fourth prince and third prince. What of the ninth prince. He was only too anxious for all of them to die. He was an older brother. He could not choose to not get revenge for Bu Ni Shang, but he could not bear to get revenge against Feng Yu Heng. That was why he hated the Feng family, he hated Xuan Tian Ming and he hated the fourth prince, Xuan Tian Yi, who treated the Bu family like a tool. None of these princes were any good. It would be best if they all died in this mess. Either way, this world did not belong to his Bu family. Either way, he had already secretly transferred all of his relatives in the Bu family. Right now, Bu Cong did not fear anything. He was just waiting for the imperial Xuan family to also need to experience a funeral. He wanted the old emperor to also experience the taste of losing a family member.
He turned around and quickly departed, turning into a small alley. He finally saw a person with two horses waiting for him.
“Get over here quickly!” The person that had called to him was a girl. Her voice was clear and sounded nice. It sounded a bit relaxed and did not have any of the nervousness that came with preparing to fight a battle.
Bu Cong smiled and walked toward her. Leaping onto his horse, he took a look at the girl to his side and could not help but become absent-minded.
The girl patted him: “What are you looking at. Regain some composure! I wonder, which gate has not been taken over by you?”
Bu Cong was startled and recovered, saying in a quiet voice: “The East gate.”
The girl giggled a couple times, “Sure enough, you have plans of your own. The East is your territory. If you want to escape, you would naturally escape toward the East.”
Bu Cong did not speak any further. Whipping his horse, he rushed out first. The girl followed behind him, swinging her horsewhip.
The two finally arrived near the eastern gate of the city, and Bu Cong stopped to wait for the girl behind him. The girl continued to urge her horse forward and rushed straight for the gate.
The guards at the gate were given a fright. They had noticed the abnormal changes in the city, and they had heard that the guards of the other three gates had already been changed. They were beginning to worry when it would become their turn; however, at this time, two people had charged over. The treated them as enemies and surrounded them with their weapons raised.
But after surrounding them, the guards were dazed. This state of hostility was immediately changed. The guards put down their weapons and kneeled on the ground, loudly saying: “This subordinate greets county princess Ji An!”
The girl nodded and loudly said: “Open the gate. This county princess and General Bu need to leave the city for a matter! Quickly!”
Her voice was sharp, and the guards did not dare delay. In fact, they did not even dare ask why she needed to leave the city! Everyone just knew that county princess Ji An was someone that was favored by the Emperor, and she was doted on by the ninth prince. Not to mention leaving the city in the middle of the night, even the imperial guards at the imperial palace would allow her entrance if she went in the middle of the night.
The guards quickly opened the city’s gate then watched county princess Ji An leave with Bu Cong on horseback. They then quickly closed the gate. One of the people felt fortunate and said: “County princess is feeling alarmed. It seems that the capital will not fall into chaos.”
With Bu Cong not stirring the pot inside the capital, things indeed would not become chaotic. But at this time, something was definitely different outside the imperial palace.
The third prince, Xuan Tian Ye, had led a large group of soldiers and blocked the entrance. The imperial guards had already been seized. He sat in his wheelchair and was being pushed by a soldier. He pointed at the gate and said: “Get to ramming the gate.”
The person that pushed him was a soldier and looked a little like an advisor. He did not look like a scholar nor a martial artist. His eyes had a criminal glint, and his eyes were clear. Upon hearing the order to ram the gate, he quickly reminded him: “Your Highness, think carefully. Will you not wait for his Highness the fourth prince?”
Xuan Tian Ye sneered, “Something that you have already obtained, would you cup your hands and share it?”
The advisor also sneered, “Of course, I would not. We have waited for your Highness to seize the imperial palace for many years.”
“What are you still waiting for? Get ramming!” He waved his hand, and the people behind him picked up a wooden stake and began ramming it against the gate. The extensive battering brought the gate to the brink of crumbling. The extremely loud ramming sound rang through the night, and it seemed that everyone in the capital could hear it.
But who knew if the gate was too strong or the battering ram that they had brought was not heavy enough, as the gate could not be broken through after being hit more than a dozen times.
Xuan Tian Ye furrowed his brow and stared. His heart continued to race. He continued to feel a strange irritation that made him feel as though something was about to happen. It was agreed upon that Bu Cong would change out the guards patrolling the city as well as the guards at the four gates. It was agreed upon that old fourth would stall old ninth, and it was agreed upon that Duan Mu Qing would leave the city to lure the tiger away from the mountain by getting Feng Yu Heng and old seventh out of the city. It was agreed upon that he would lead the soldiers to lead the coup.
All of this was agreed upon. After the coup, he would stand atop the nine princes, and he had promised old fourth the position of king of an attached country. But he knew at heart that Duan Mu Qing and his group of soldiers from the North would not truly leave. After they took care of Feng Yu Heng and old seventh, they would return. At that time, whether it was Bu Cong or old fourth, they would all become souls that lost their souls to their swords. He would not share this world with anyone.
But why, why was it that even now when the ram was hitting the palace’s gates did he begin to feel panicked? That feeling of panic had appeared curiously. It also came with a faint feeling of despair. It seemed to tell him that this would end in failure, but he had clearly not failed!
Xuan Tian Ye furrowed his brow even tighter. The angry aura that had accompanied him from a young age became even more violent.
The advisor that was pushing the wheelchair could feel his change in mood and could not help but begin to feel shocked; however, he did his due diligence in trying to console him: “Your Highness, do not get anxious. We have control over the entire situation.”
Unfortunately, just as these words were said, the sound of hooves came from the back of the group.
Xuan Tian Ye suddenly turned his head and looked back with his angry eyes. In the night scene, he saw two large horses charging toward them. On the back of the horse was someone that he would always recognize, Xuan Tian Ming. It was the Xuan family’s ninth son.
He gritted his teeth angrily, “Damn, that old fourth is a failure!”
The advisor trembled and subconsciously pulled the wheelchair back; however, he was scolded by Xuan Tian Ye: “What is there to fear!” He then looked up at the two people that were charging over and forcefully shouted: “Surround them!”
With this order, the soldiers began to move to block the road, but who could have known that the two horses that were charging over did not show any signs of slowing. It was as though they did not even notice the people ahead. They just charged forward and trampled over these people.
The group became scared and scattered to the side. This opened up a path for Xuan Tian Ming.
By the time that Xuan Tian Ming was standing in front of the third prince, the opposition still did not know how he had managed to charge over. But he was still Xuan Tian Ye. He had still been the third prince for many years. After the initial shock had passed, he regained his determination. The sound of the battering ram hitting the gate continued, and it sounded as though it was on the verge of succeeding. He looked up at Xuan Tian Ming and suddenly began to laugh: “Ninth brother, you’re too late.”
“Is that so?” Xuan Tian Ming did not feel that this was the case. From a commanding position on the back of a horse, he looked down at his so-called third brother then curled his lips into a wicked smile.
Xuan Tian Ye hated seeing this appearance the most. It always caused him to feel as though he had a strategy, but it was clearly Xuan Tian Ye that had the advantage!
“You’re about to die, yet you can still laugh?” Xuan Tian Ye’s anger became even more profound. He raised his hand and pointed behind Xuan Tian Ming: “Hidden guards? You brought so many hidden guards, but what is the point? Old ninth, I will tell you that I have hidden guards. I have even more soldiers. There are 20 thousand soldiers outside this gate. Not only are they blocking the gate, but they have also completely surrounded the imperial palace. Not to mention people, even a fly could not get in. Nothing can get in, and nothing can get out. It would be best if you did not have any hopes.”
Xuan Tian Ming just wanted to watch the idiot below his horse, “I just don’t understand. You’ve already been beaten to such a degree by Heng Heng. Have you ever heard of any emperor that was in a similar situation to you? Also, third brother, this prince must remind you that this gate cannot be opened with brute force. If you want to surround this imperial palace, that’s also not quite possible. 20 thousand soldiers? Very well, this prince just happened to have also brought 20 thousand soldiers today. How about we compete, 20 thousand against 20 thousand. Let’s see who is better!”
After he said this, he suddenly raised his hand, and a hidden guard shot up a signal flare into the night sky. Following this, a “boom” sound exploded into a firework. The 20 thousand soldiers that had received orders from Xuan Tian Ye suddenly turned their weapons against their own master.