In the stillness of the night, groups of fully armed soldiers hurried through the streets. Their movements did not attract the attention of the people who were sleeping soundly at midnight.
This was thanks to the market square system and the curfew system. The streets were completely empty. The gutters on both sides of the wide street, the tree walls inside the gutters, the market square behind the tree walls, and then the houses. All of these separated the people from the streets. In the middle of the night, who would notice the movements of the army?
The thousand rider general Lu Maofeng slept soundly that night. He had made love with his new concubine for a long time. Even though his body was strong and healthy, he was still somewhat tired. From beginning to end, he did not notice the slightest movement in the outside world.
To him, this was a good thing. Second Zhang had promoted him. With his temperament, it was difficult for him to sit and watch Second Zhang die. But he also attached great importance to his future in the army and Yang Fan's appreciation of him. There was also his family, his son, and his new concubine. If he really discovered something, it would be a very painful choice.
"Not good, not good!"
In front of the Welcoming the Immortals Hall, a little eunuch staggered over, shouting as he ran. Before he could reach the door of the hall, two little eunuchs suddenly appeared in front of him, carrying palace lanterns in their hands. One of them stood in the middle and sternly shouted, "Stop! You dare to run around in the palace? Do you know the rules! "
The little eunuch looked over and saw that it was Little Eunuch Hai. He hurriedly said, "Eunuch Hai, something has happened, something has happened. There … there is a group of people coming to the Sage's palace. They want to harm the Sage. Quickly report this to the Sage."
A strange expression suddenly appeared on Little Hai's face. "Is this true?"
"Yes!"
The little eunuch nodded repeatedly. "This servant saw a group of people coming from the distance in the Ning Yin Pavilion. This servant was puzzled. It was so late at night, how could there be so many people walking around the palace? This servant became suspicious and hid to the side to watch. This group of people all carried shining swords and sabers. They didn't wear the clothes of soldiers patrolling the palace at night. Eunuch Hai, tell me, they were carrying swords and spears. If they didn't want to rebel, then …"
Before he could finish, the back of his head received a heavy blow. His eyes immediately went blank and he fell forward to the ground. A young eunuch appeared behind him, holding a wooden club in his hand. It seemed that this was the first time he had hit someone with a wooden club. He knocked the man unconscious with one blow, while he himself stood there in a daze.
Little Sea shouted in a low voice, "Hurry up and drag him away!"
"Oh! Oh! "
The eunuch who hit him suddenly woke up and hurriedly dragged the fainted eunuch away.
Little Hai looked around and then ordered the two eunuchs with the lanterns, "Stand guard here and prevent any accidents!"
As soon as Little Hai finished speaking, he hurried towards the Violet Orchid Hall next to the Immortal Welcoming Palace. In the Palace, they were also anxiously waiting for the progress of the matter. It seemed that the Crown Prince had entered the Palace without a hitch, perhaps he would arrive very soon. He had to hurry to report the news. Shangguan Shouzhi and Princess Taiping were waiting for the news in the Zi Lan Hall.
Little Hai was only concerned with knocking out the person who had accidentally discovered the whereabouts of the military remonstrance troops and dragging him away. She had no time to carefully investigate the situation, and as a result, she missed an important piece of information. It wasn't just this young eunuch who had discovered the military remonstrance troops, but two others. When the two of them saw that the situation was not good, they were indeed afraid. However, they also felt that this was a great opportunity to gain merit and be promoted. After a brief discussion, the two of them split up. One rushed back to report to the Emperor, and the other … went to get reinforcements.
These two young eunuchs could be said to be quick-witted. To be able to adapt to the situation to this extent, they could be considered to be quite quick-witted. However, to say that they were stupid, they were really stupid. They didn't even consider that the troops had come from the direction of the Black Tortoise Gate. It was clear that they were on the same side as the thousand cavalrymen guarding the Black Tortoise Gate. Perhaps they were from the thousand cavalrymen. How could they go to the thousand cavalrymen to get reinforcements?
Speaking of which, it was probably to prevent military power from being too centralized. The Emperor's transfer of the various Imperial Guards was too complicated. These inner palace eunuchs didn't understand, and were also too lazy to understand, the factions and affiliations of the Imperial Guards.
The young eunuch who went to get reinforcements didn't go to the Black Tortoise Gate. Wouldn't that be going against the rebel army? He went to the Horse Racing Tower because he had just come from there and happened to see an Imperial Guard patrolling there.
This young eunuch ran so fast that his shoes almost flew off. When he rushed to the Horse Racing Tower, he saw that the Imperial Guard had just come out from the back of the tower. He hurriedly went forward and shouted while gasping for breath, "Quick! Quick! It's not good. There are traitors entering the palace. Quickly go and protect the Sage! "
"What? Someone broke into the palace? "
The team leader who came forward was shocked when he heard this. This team leader was Xiao Qianyue, who had been personally recruited by Yang Fan when the thousand cavalrymen had just been formed. Xiao Qianyue had changed his name to Xiao Yuke. His luck had probably really changed. After a few years, he had been promoted to team leader and could be considered an officer.
However, with his current position, he still didn't have the qualifications to be involved in confidential matters. He didn't know about tonight's military remonstrance. Just as he was about to ask about it, someone behind him rushed forward and pushed him to the side. The person asked anxiously, "What exactly happened?"
The person who spoke was the Palace Supervisor Tian Guidao. Tian Guidao wasn't the commander of the thousand cavalrymen, but the thousand cavalrymen patrolling the palace were led by palace officials. The official in charge of security in the palace was the Palace Supervisor.
When Tian Guidao was twenty years old, he was promoted to the position of Minister of State. Not long after, he was promoted to the position of Minister of the Left Guard. Later on, when the Khitans rebelled, the Turks Moche took the opportunity to request the imperial court to make the Liuhu Province and the Chanyu Protectorate his territory. Tian Guidao once went on a diplomatic mission to the Turks and was almost detained. Fortunately, Wu Zetian agreed to the marriage and sent Wu Yanxiu to the Turks with a large amount of betrothal gifts.
When Moche saw the fat sheep that was Wu Yanxiu, he released Tian Guidao. When Tian Guidao came back, he immediately told Wu Zetian that Moche was ambitious and had no intention of making peace with the marriage. In the future, he would definitely invade the Central Plains again. Later on, Moche really detained Wu Yanxiu and sent troops to Hebei to take advantage of the situation.
Wu Zetian appreciated his foresight and promoted him from military to civil, making him the Assistant Minister of Xia. Not long after, he switched from civil to military and was promoted to General of the Left. He worked under Wu Yizong for a while. Later on, he followed Second Zhang's path and became a Minister of the Fengchen Prison. Later on, he became the Palace Supervisor and became responsible for the palace security.
His relationship with the thousand cavalrymen was like that of the Imperial Censor and the Warden's Office. The Imperial Censor was under the Imperial Censorate, while the Warden's Office was under the command of the Five Cities Military Command. One was civil, the other was military. But when patrolling the city, the two had to work together. The soldiers of the Warden's Office had to accept the leadership of the Imperial Censor.
Xiao Qianyue's thousand cavalrymen were mostly similar. At this time, they had to accept Tian Guidao's command.
Yang Fan had thought about Tian Guidao's problem before, but Tian Guidao wasn't one of his people, so he couldn't do anything to Tian Guidao. In order to make sure nothing went wrong, he used the soldiers under him to understand Tian Guidao's patrol route and time. The reason why he set the remonstrance at a quarter to three in the morning and not right after the curfew began was because he had considered this.
Who knew that because of the two uncontrollable eunuchs and their own cleverness, Tian Guidao wouldn't be able to circumvent them. When Tian Guidao heard the eunuch's words, he couldn't help but turn pale with fright. He immediately led his men and rushed to the Immortal Welcoming Hall. Xiao Qianyue and the other thousand cavalrymen didn't know what was going on. They only knew that if the emperor made a mistake, they would all lose their heads. Naturally, they also ran for their lives.
Zhang Jianzhi and Cui Xuanhui led over three hundred strong men and rushed to the Immortal Welcoming Hall. Zhang Jianzhi was over eighty years old, but he still walked as if he was flying. However, the palace was too big, and he was panting heavily the whole way. Seeing that the old prime minister was a bit tired, Jing Hui hurriedly had two soldiers support him.
They hadn't traveled far when a commotion suddenly came from the side of the imperial road. Immediately after, a group of people charged through the air and blocked their way. It was Tian Guidao who had arrived with his men. When the two sides faced off, both sides were a bit shocked.
Zhang Jianzhi and Cui Xuanhui had thought that the Black Tortoise Gate and the Imperial Guards were already under their control, so they could travel as if there was no one there. Who would have thought that a group of people would suddenly appear here? They were worried that if a fight broke out, the empress would hear the news and react in time.
Putting aside the fact that there was a mysterious armed force in the palace that they couldn't control, even if the empress fled in panic, it would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens to find the empress with just the few of them in the palace. Once the empress left the palace, the consequences would be hard to predict. Not everyone had the courage to face her and disobey her orders. Moreover, the empress had been in power for over twenty years, so who knew what other tricks she had up her sleeve?
Tian Guidao was both shocked and afraid, and he didn't know what to do. He didn't think that someone would actually dare to break into the imperial palace and start a rebellion, and he certainly didn't think that the two people who would appear before him would be Zhang Jianzhi and Cui Xuanhui.
Although Tian Guidao had been a general and a civil official, he had been chosen through the imperial examinations. Deep down, he had always viewed himself as a civil official, and the peak of a civil official was the prime minister. Now that two prime ministers had suddenly appeared before him, and he was asked to denounce them as rebels and traitors, he couldn't immediately wrap his mind around this.
The two sides faced off strangely for a moment, and then Zhang Jianzhi spoke first. "Second Zhang, you are a traitor of the country! This old man and Master Cui, together with the soldiers of the northern gate and southern office, and with the help of the Prince of Xiang and Prince Liang, we will protect the crown prince and enter the palace to rid the traitor. Supervisor Tian is a loyal minister of the country, so I hope that you can join this old man in this great undertaking! "
Tian Guidao's mind wavered, not knowing what to do. Although he had once relied on Second Zhang and served as a Guardian of Fengchen Prison, his goal had only been to make his career a little smoother. He had no intention of being loyal to Second Zhang, but Zhang Jianzhi's red lips and white teeth made him not dare to easily believe him. This was a choice that would decide life and death in a single step.
Tian Guidao didn't dare to speak up. He only sternly asked, "Where is the crown prince?"
Zhang Jianzhi replied, "Great General Li Duozuo has already gone to welcome him. He will be here soon."
Tian Guidao was only half believing and half doubting, but he was still unwilling to step aside.
Cui Xuanhui said, "Second Zhang is bringing disaster to the country. Do you think that Supervisor Tian can just sit back and watch? We will protect the crown prince, purge the traitors of the emperor, kill the traitors, restore the world to its former glory, and bring peace to the world. This is a great merit that will go down in history. If Supervisor Tian is not willing to work with us, then please step aside. Once this matter is over, we will all be grateful for your kindness! "
Tian Guidao stood, sword in hand, still undecided. Xiao Qianyue and the others nervously faced off against Zhang Jianzhi's troops, not knowing whether their commander, the Palace Supervisor, would fight or not.
At this moment, another group of troops approached from the distance. In the middle of this group was a horse with a person sitting on it. Yang Fan and Xue Sixing were at the very front of the group, sabers in hand. They were in the middle of chasing after Zhang Jianzhi and Cui Xuanhui, and when they saw the two armies facing off, they couldn't help but be shocked.
Xue Sixing immediately signaled behind him to warn his men, ordering them to protect the crown prince. Meanwhile, Yang Fan raised his saber and charged forward.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
