"Chengqian, just surrender …"
Fan Xian's warm and gentle words made the tens of thousands of people inside and outside the Royal Palace dumbfounded at the same time. They felt it was incomparably absurd. The rebel army had surrounded the city. The people in the Palace couldn't escape even if they wanted to. Sir Fan junior was shamelessly speaking on top of the palace walls at this moment to urge them to surrender.
Crown Prince Li Chengqian, dressed in martial attire, sat on his horse. He sucked in a cold breath and thought to himself that An Zhi's skin was indeed becoming thicker and thicker to be able to say such things. Furthermore, he had said it so naturally. If someone who didn't know the situation had heard this, they would probably think that he, Li Chengqian, was the pitiful person being chased like a rabbit and not Fan Xian.
In just one night, Fan Xian had changed from a court criminal to a so-called regent. He had shaken off his life of exile and broken into the Royal Palace. He had almost captured the Crown Prince in one move and successfully reversed the situation. Immediately after, in the early hours of the morning, the Crown Prince had luckily escaped. The army entered the city and instead surrounded Fan Xian in the Palace.
The so-called changing of the royal flag on top of the palace walls probably referred to the story of what had happened that night. The story had always been absurd. What was the point of Fan Xian saying such absurd words?
Li Chengqian raised his head to look at his two brothers on top of the palace walls. After smiling bitterly, he shook his head and thought self-mockingly that after the old Qin Master had spoken, he should have been the one to sincerely urge his brother to surrender. Unexpectedly, Fan Xian had rushed to say such words and stuffed his own words in his mouth. Fan Xian was indeed sinister to the extreme.
The sound of messy horse hooves rang out from the square to the right. Li Chengqian unconsciously turned his head to look and saw the Dingzhou army entering the capital from the west gate slowly moving toward the center of the army he was in. He furrowed his brows. In front of the thousands of people, he saw the Second Prince's handsome face. A faint chill rose in his heart. The things in his brother's heart were not simple. His face was very similar to Fan Xian's. The calculations in his heart were probably just as sinister.
The Dingzhou army slowly stopped on the right flank of the rebel army and carefully maintained a respectful attitude toward the rebel camp.
"Big brother, you and I …" Crown Prince Li Chengqian glanced at the Second Prince and finally opened his mouth. He could not wait for the Second Prince to speak. However, he did not have the support of internal Qi. He had to shout to be heard by those on the palace walls. Although he still maintained the dignified royal aura that he had cultivated as the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace for a dozen years, in comparison, it was not as valiant as when Fan Xian had berated the Qin family.
…
…
Fan Xian picked his ear and glanced at the Great Prince. He didn't say anything because the Great Prince was listening very seriously. The Crown Prince's words were all within his calculations. He was trying to use brotherly affection to convince the Great Prince. At the same time, he was still pushing the Dong Mountain incident onto Fan Xian.
Although the Crown Prince knew that the Great Prince would not believe that Fan Xian was the assassin, he still had to say it. Any brotherly bond had to be built on a logical foundation.
The Great Prince's expression darkened. The Emperor had five sons. If one did not count Fan Xian, who had grown up in Danzhou, and the Third Prince, who was the last to be born, then he, the Crown Prince, and the Second Prince could be said to have grown up together. Although the Crown Prince's status was respected, the three brothers had a good relationship, particularly before the Emperor showed favor to the Second Prince. The interactions between the three princes were more valuable than the bloody plots and stories in the history books.
Everyone had thought, but no one wanted to imagine, that one day, these three brothers, who had grown up together, would meet with swords and weapons.
The Second Prince, who had remained silent since the rebel army surrounded the Palace, also opened his mouth. He gently used the heel of his boot to tap the horse beneath him and allowed the horse to take him ten feet out of the rebel army ranks. Gazing at the palace walls, he followed the Crown Prince's words and began to speak sincerely to the Great Prince.
It had to be said that the Second Prince did indeed have a way of winning people's hearts. He did not mention the matter of the Great Prince surrendering. He only used the friendship of the past to describe his displeasure at the Great Prince helping Fan Xian in an angry tone. He also faintly mentioned that the Qing Emperor's attitude toward the Great Prince was not like that of a father toward his son.
Fan Xian glanced at the Great Prince and found that beside him, the Great Prince's expression was growing darker and darker. He was not worried that the Great Prince would fall under the pressure of the situation and the Crown Prince and Second Prince's familial attacks. When he analyzed something, he would always start from a person's personality. He knew that the Great Prince's personality was like a raging fire.
He turned to look at the still shouting Second Prince and furrowed his brows slightly. He recognized the general beside the Second Prince as Ye Zhong.
Thirty years ago, Ye Zhong was already the Commander of the Jingdou Garrison. Now, he was in his 50s, but he did not look old at all. Furthermore, he did not have the imposing aura of other famous Qing generals. His figure was a little short and a little fat.
However, Fan Xian would not underestimate him because he knew that he was a ninth-level ace who had long made a name for himself. Ye Liuyun's closest nephew, who had once fought with his terrifying mother, was not a simple person. Furthermore, a person who could become the Commander of the Jingdou Garrison at the age of 20 could not be described as simple.
Fan Xian's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter. They were as bright as a star that refused to retreat under the light of the rising sun.
…
…
The Great Prince suddenly yelled loudly at the rebel soldiers below the palace walls, "Enough!"
The Second Prince smiled helplessly and stopped talking.
The Great Prince said in a severe voice, "What time is this? You still don't forget to frame Fan Xian! I know that for the sake of the throne, you are willing to do any ugly things, but don't forget, there are some things that I cannot do! If you want to attack, then attack. Don't be so long-winded like a woman! "
These words were said resolutely and with great vigor. They did not give the Crown Prince and Second Prince any room to maneuver.
The Second Prince's usually gentle face finally became dark. For some reason, he had become so angry. Angrily, he roared toward the palace walls, "Big brother! Don't forget, we are the brothers! "
"Brothers?" The Great Prince had been worried about the guards of the Royal Palace and the major plan with Fan Xian for many days. His mind had been exhausted. His eyes were deeply sunk in, but they only made his gaze appear even sharper.
He looked at the Crown Prince and then at the Second Prince. Suddenly, in a severe voice, he said, "Brothers! You aren't even willing to be sons, yet you are willing to be brothers! "
There was a silence. These words had exposed too many things. The imperial soldiers on the palace walls had long known of this matter from the posthumous edict. Immediately, their eyes revealed grief, anger, and pain. However, the expressions of the rebel soldiers below the palace walls became strange. Although the Emperor had been assassinated on Dong Mountain, the Emperor's might still existed. As a disciple of the Qing army, he carried the Crown Prince's banner. In reality, what he was doing was killing the Emperor and usurping the throne. Who would not be terrified? Who would not have their stomachs drumming?
The Great Prince stood between the battlements of the palace walls and furrowed his brows deeply. Looking at the Crown Prince, he said sorrowfully, "The Dong Mountain incident was done by the Eldest Princess. I know you don't have this ability, but you must know! Even if father wants to depose you, you are still a son. How could you do such a thing that is worse than an animal? "
The Crown Prince's expression was dim. He maintained his silence and allowed the Great Prince to angrily rebuke him. The old Qin Master furrowed his brows and waved his hand. The rebel soldiers behind him began to prepare to attack the palace. Gradually, the sound of bowstrings being pulled rang out from behind them. The teeth-numbing sound of bowstrings being pulled rang out.
… …
As the three princes fiercely discussed the dark secrets of the royal family and were angry with each other, no one noticed that Fan Xian had already left the top of the palace walls by himself. Following the long stone steps down into the Royal Palace, he walked across the spacious square and headed toward Taiji Palace.
Along the way, Fan Xian watched intently. He found that although the Great Prince was skilled in field battles on the grasslands, he was also very skilled in the defense of the palace. Preparations had been made everywhere. Beside the entrance of the stone steps, he had even taken down two corner towers of the Royal Palace and prepared stone and heavy wood. It looked like he was preparing to attack the palace later.
At the side of the three palace gates below the Imperial City, there were already some grotesquely shaped stones that even had moss on them. Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and wondered if the fake mountains in the Palace had also been taken down by the Eldest Prince. Just as he was thinking this, a group came in front of him. Under the escort of a few imperial soldiers, a hundred or so tired-looking eunuchs were using carts to push the moss-covered stones. It was indeed the fake mountains in the Palace.
There were three palace doors in the Royal Palace. Usually, only one would be open. When the rebel soldiers attacked, they would not only choose one. Fan Xian knew that the Great Prince was preparing to use the fake mountains and stones to firmly block these three palace doors. This work had probably been prepared since before dawn.
Blocking the rebel soldiers outside the Palace and trapping himself inside the Palace was what was called defending to the death. Fan Xian sighed. He knew that the Eldest Prince had already made up his mind to die.
Compared to the spacious Royal Palace, there were not many imperial soldiers. Compared to the spacious Royal Palace, they were sparse. There was not much confidence.
Fan Xian sighed again. He knew that the thousand-odd imperial soldiers had already been moved to the palace square where the eunuchs and serving girls lived. First, it was to suppress the restless factor in the Palace. Second, it was because in the entire Royal Palace, that was the easiest place to break through.
Entering Taiji Palace, he saw the worried officials, the heavy-faced Lady Ning and Yi Guipin, and the restless Third Prince. Fan Xian sighed three times in his heart. He bowed to the scholars Hu and Shu, but he piled a smile on his face and said to the Third Prince, "Chengping, the battle is about to start. Do you feel excited?"
The Third Prince, Li Chengping, was, after all, a child. After learning that the Royal Palace was surrounded, he had begun to feel afraid. Although he forcefully suppressed it on his face, after hearing Fan Xian's words, he couldn't resist flattening his mouth. Amidst the fear, there was still a smile from Fan Xian's teasing. It appeared very comical.
Fan Xian turned and bowed to the pale-faced empress dowager. He then glanced at the long-haired empress and said in a low voice, "I invite the empress dowager and empress dowager to come up to the palace walls to watch the battle."
…
Since ancient times, rebellion had to be carried out. The work of clarifying righteousness and flaunting one's legitimacy had already ended amidst the Great Prince's angry rebuke and the Crown Prince and Second Prince's depression. The rebel soldiers at the foot of the palace walls were already closing in, particularly the thousands of archers in the rear barracks. They had begun to prepare to shoot in unison.
There were only a thousand imperial soldiers on the top of the palace walls. After this rain of arrows, there would probably be many casualties.
The Great Prince's hand pressed against his sword and walked silently on the top of the palace walls. Occasionally, he gave a few orders, ordering the soldiers to prepare to welcome the rebel army's attack. This was the first time the Qing Royal Palace had been baptized by a rain of arrows. No one knew what kind of bloody rain and foul wind they could withstand after the rain of arrows.
Because they had not planned to defend the Royal Palace and did not control the city guards, the imperial soldiers' defense was already at a disadvantage. They did not have enough bows and arrows in their hands. They could only rely on the four city-guarding crossbows at the four corners of the palace walls. However, there were tens of thousands of rebel soldiers. Even if these four crossbows were cannons used to kill mosquitoes, how many could they kill?
"Get ready!" The Great Prince's hand gripped his sword tightly as he stared at the black mass of rebel soldiers below the palace walls. Hearing the endless sounds of bowstrings being pulled taut, his heart involuntarily tightened.
Thousands of archers drew their bows at the same time. The heart-shaking creaking sound seemed to pierce through everyone's eardrums on the palace walls and shake through everyone's mind.
The imperial soldiers on the palace walls had already hidden behind the arrow mounds. Soldiers holding shields were also waiting behind the Great Prince.
A great battle was about to break out at any moment. Everyone was waiting for the moment the sky full of arrows whistled through the air.
However, Fan Xian did not let all of this happen. He had no interest in admiring the sight of the siege. He also did not show off until the imperial soldiers had suffered heavy losses and then bring out his good or bad hand.
A flurry of hurried footsteps came from the stone steps. Following the footsteps was Fan Xian and the dozens of panting old officials behind him. There were also a number of women half supported and half held by eunuchs.
These women were originally the most honorable women in the world. Now, they had become the most lowly and humiliating.
Fan Xian held the Third Prince's hand with one hand and walked behind the Great Prince. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the rebel army camp below the palace walls that was about to shoot. He couldn't help but feel shocked. With so many arrows shooting over, how could the Royal Palace be defended? He circulated his zhenqi and shouted loudly to the rebel soldiers below the palace walls, "Chengqian, Second Prince … quickly stop."
Hearing this, the Crown Prince and Second Prince raised their heads and looked toward the palace walls. They then saw a scene that made their hearts tremble.
"Mother!"
"Mother!"
"Empress dowager!"
Looking at the women who had suddenly appeared on the palace walls, the Crown Prince and Second Prince couldn't help but cry out in surprise. Even the old Qin Master and Ye Zhong couldn't help but furrow their brows. Then, they heard Fan Xian yell at them from beside the women, "Don't fight in a hurry.
I've brought your mother, grandmother, and brother to see you … "
— — — —
Hearing these words, many people had the urge to vomit blood. No one would have thought that Fan Xian, who was renowned as an immortal poet and had displayed his dark power as the Commissioner of the Overwatch Council, would say such shameless words.
However, only Fan Xian knew that after experiencing the life and death experience on the meadow, his life had finally undergone a welcome change. He had shaken off the dark air accumulated from two lives and was gradually coming closer. Gradually, he was going to merge with the little boy on the rooftop in Danzhou who had yelled for it to rain to collect his clothes.
Such a Fan Xian was a cute Fan Xian, a disgusting Fan Xian, a shameless Fan Xian, and a terrifying Fan Xian.
No matter how shrewd the Crown Prince and Second Prince were, seeing this frightening scene, they couldn't help but become angry. The Second Prince scolded in a stern voice, "Fan Xian! You're shameless! "
Fan Xian glared back at him and scolded, "You just realized?"
The Crown Prince was also incomparably angry, but he immediately said to the old Qin Master beside him in a panic, "Don't shoot!"
The old Qin Master furrowed his brows and thought that it was natural for these nobles in the Palace to be used by Fan Xian to threaten him. Had the Crown Prince not thought of this? The old general sighed in his heart. The Crown Prince was kind, but the cowardice that had gradually disappeared these two years had finally surfaced.
For a soldier, in this moment of life and death, there should be no hesitation. The so-called fear of shooting at the rat for fear of harming the innocent was just cowardice.
In the end, the old Qin Master did not understand that sometimes, another name for cowardice was human nature.
…
…
Without question, Fan Xian's behavior right now did not have much of a human nature. He had only calculated the Crown Prince's personality. Calmly smiling, he stood by the Great Prince's side and said, "I just don't want to be shot into a porcupine."
"Why did you bring Chengping here? He is still a child." The Great Prince sighed and looked at the officials beside him, the empress dowager, and Lady Shu. He then glanced at the Third Prince and spoke with disapproval.
"As the future monarch of Qing Kingdom, I must see this scene with my own eyes." Fan Xian gently held the Third Prince's trembling hands. The Third Prince had seen so many rebel soldiers with his own eyes. He had truly been frightened.
Fan Xian smiled slightly at the trusted aide beside him and ordered, "Please have Lady Shu stand in the left corner tower. Please have the empress stand in the right corner tower. Please …" He glanced at the pale-faced but silent empress dowager and said, "Please have the empress dowager stand by my side."
"I'll put three Master Cards here. I want to see if their arrows are as accurate."
Hearing these words, the people on the palace walls all felt a chill in their hearts.
…
…
After the clamor, Fan Xian looked at the people in the rebel army camp who were arguing fiercely about something and said, "Regardless of what the Crown Prince and the old Qin Master decide to compromise in the end, presumably they will both be very displeased with each other."
The Great Prince sucked in a cold breath and looked at him. "You even calculated this?"
Fan Xian turned his head and glanced at the cold-faced Second Prince and the short tower like Ye Zhong beside him. "There are still many things I am calculating."
"If the one leading today was the Second Prince, the rain of arrows would probably have arrived by now. Although the empress is not as amiable as Lady Shu, her fate is much better than Lady Shu's because her son is stronger than Lady Shu's son … "
"Even if they don't shoot, the rebel army will still attack …" Fan Xian lowered his head slightly. "Go and prepare. I need to think through a problem."
The Great Prince glanced at him and ordered his trusted aide to heavily protect the Third Prince. He then glanced at the silent empress dowager. Confusion grew in his heart, but it was not convenient for him to say more. He left.
Fan Xian let go of the Third Prince's hand and held the empress dowager's old and slightly stiff hand. He took a few steps to the left like a filial grandson holding his grandmother. He allowed the empress dowager, dressed in a bright yellow phoenix robe, to appear on top of the palace walls. She was like a bright lamp hanging high in the morning sky, reflected in the eyes of all the rebel soldiers.
The archers of the rebel army unconsciously loosened their bowstrings. Although the orders from their superiors had not yet come, their arms were already beginning to ache. Furthermore, everyone had guessed who the old woman in phoenix robe was. She was the Emperor's mother, the Crown Prince's grandmother, and the only remaining elder of the Qing royal family. Even talking about such a noble figure was a blasphemy, much less pointing an arrow at her. If they accidentally injured the empress dowager, who would bear the consequences?
As long as it was a Qing citizen, no one wanted the empress dowager to suffer any harm. Thus, when Fan Xian brought the empress dowager onto the palace walls, the Great Prince's mood was awkward. After the scholars Shu and Hu did not listen to their advice, they could only sigh. Those who knew the details of the Palace rebellion last night all knew that Fan Xian never used the most sinister methods to deal with the noblest of people.
The sword mark on the empress dowager's neck was the most powerful evidence.
Fan Xian gently helped the empress dowager tidy the high collar of her phoenix robe and carefully pulled out a strand of hair. Evenly, he said, "As expected, empress dowager still has to wear formal attire. Only then will it have sufficient intimidation power. It was not in vain that I wasted my time ordering those old nannies to dress you up."
The empress dowager suddenly turned her head. Boundless hatred abruptly appeared in her old and tired eyes. It was as if she wanted to swallow Fan Xian.
Fan Xian didn't even look at her gaze. By her ear, he quietly said, "I also know that it is very painful not being able to speak. Taking my medicine is also very painful. Think about it, your Li family deserves this kind of retribution. I am punishing you on behalf of my mother."
…
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We have our own club on the front page of the website, the Qingyu Year Cat Fan. If everyone is interested, you can go in and take a look. There are many interesting comments and tidbits. I personally liked the chapter today. If you also liked it, please give me a monthly reward. There are too many strong books this month. The pressure of getting a reward is too great … PS: I have some personal matters to take care of in the next two days, so I will write less. I sincerely wish everyone a happy weekend.
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