Noble First Daughter-in-law

Chapter 1278 Justified

Shi Yuxin hesitated for a moment, but still said in a deep voice: "No matter what, we must stop the King of Qi from killing Xiao Yuansui. If we have to kill him as a last resort, it must be done by us, even if it is the princess."

"...!"

Shang Ruyi took a breath.

Although, ever since Xiao Yuansui surrendered to the prince and Yuwen Ye decided to take action, she had expected this day to come sooner or later, but hearing these words clearly spoken by the people around her still made her feel heavy in her heart.

She said hoarsely, "Why?"

Shi Yu thought to himself, "Because Xiao Yuansui's rebellion is now a foregone conclusion, and he is from the Eastern Palace. His rebellion... means that the Eastern Palace is not clean either."

"..."

"As long as this matter is confirmed, it means that the East Palace has ulterior motives and the Crown Prince wants to rebel! Princess, if we take action again, we will suppress the rebellion."

"..."

"This way, we are legitimate!"

Shang Ruyi's heart skipped a beat and his eyes suddenly became sharp.

As Shi Yuxin followed her out the door, she whispered, "Although I don't know the King of Qi, I have worked with Xiao Yuansui for such a long time, so I know him to some extent. How he treats the princess..."

Having said that, she consciously shut her mouth.

Shang Ruyi did not feel embarrassed. After all, she was captured by her and taken to Hulao Pass. Everyone saw Xiao Yuansui's attitude towards her, and his feelings were no secret.

So he just said calmly: "Go on."

Shi Yu thought to himself, "I just want to remind Princess, if it really comes to that... don't be lenient."

At this time, they had walked out of the gate and stood at the front of the team. Woxue had already walked over with her horse. Shang Ruyi had just taken the reins when he saw a short sword hanging on the side of the saddle. He reached out and weighed it. Although it was lighter than an ordinary sword, it was also very heavy. When he pulled out half of it, it shone with a cold light.

Looking back at Shi Yuxin's expression, I knew that she had prepared it for me.

Shang Ruyi calmly sheathed the sword and hung it on his waist, then said calmly: "Now it has come to a life-and-death situation. If you are still soft-hearted, you will be throwing your life away. I want it!"

After saying that, she jumped on the horse, grasped the reins tightly, shouted "Go", and rushed out.

Shi Yuxin then mounted his horse and led everyone to follow.

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In front of Mingde Gate, the situation was tense and people were in panic.

Guarding the city gate is not a troublesome job on weekdays. After all, this is the capital of the Great Sheng Dynasty, the best place under the feet of the emperor. Except for the previous outbreak of plague, it has not experienced any war chaos. Therefore, the captain of the Xiaowei Army on duty has a light responsibility and only needs to lead his men to patrol the city wall every two hours.

However, things have changed during this period.

The main reason was that the contradictions between the King of Qin and the Crown Prince and the King of Qi became more and more obvious. Of course, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the fight between the King of Qin, who was so powerful that he threatened the emperor, and the Emperor was becoming more and more intense. Therefore, the guards in Chang'an City were constantly increased, and the captains on duty no longer dared to be as leisurely and lax as before, and could even secretly hide in the watchtower to drink. They had to be sober at all times and could not slack off when they reported for duty.

Especially today, the situation is even more urgent!
Originally, it was a good thing for the entire prince's camp that the King of Qin left Chang'an with his trusted generals from the King of Qin's Palace. However, as soon as the King of Qin left, Xiao Yuansui, the right general of the Qianniu Guard under the Eastern Palace, rebelled. As soon as the emperor issued an order, not only were the city gates closed in broad daylight, but the number of soldiers guarding the city also increased several times more than before. Everyone was on edge, guarding the city gates with swords half drawn.

The most nervous among them was Zhao Tiefu, the captain of the Right Guard, who was on duty guarding the city gate today.

At this moment, he was standing on the city wall. Because of the glaring sunlight, he could hardly see the situation in the distance. The scorching heat made him sweat profusely. He kept wiping the sweat off his face, and then asked the people around him: "How is it? Did you see clearly? Is Xiao Yuansui here?"

Several other soldiers standing on high ground also found nothing: "We haven't seen it yet."

Zhao Tiefu was furious: "What do you guys do for a living?"

After saying that, he kicked a soldier and was about to hit him again when another young soldier squinted his eyes and looked ahead and suddenly shouted, "I saw it, I——"

A sharp sound suddenly interrupted his words.

Immediately afterwards, a bolt of lightning whizzed towards him, and before the soldier could even finish his words, he let out a short scream and fell on his back.

Everyone around was terrified and rushed forward, only to see that he had been hit in the face by an arrow and was dead!

Zhao Tiefu was shocked and rushed forward hurriedly, holding onto the parapet and looking down, but the dazzling sunlight once again pierced his eyes like a needle tip. He only vaguely saw several black spots appearing on the official road outside the city gate leading to the distance, moving towards them rapidly, but before he could see clearly what they were, he heard a few whooshing sounds and several cold rays of light shot towards the city wall.

"Quickly open!"

He shouted loudly and at the same time bent down and hid under the parapet.

The other soldiers had no time to react and were shot by arrows and fell to the ground. The others were so scared that they turned pale and hurriedly bent down to avoid.

"It's Xiao Yuansui! It's Xiao Yuansui who's here!"

"They're coming to kill us!"

"be careful!"

The shouts, screams and flying arrows turned the entire city wall into a mess. Everyone prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to move. Some young soldiers had never experienced such a scene and were so scared that they wanted to run down the city wall, but as soon as they stood up, they were shot by arrows. At one time, there were several corpses lying on the ground, and blood was all over the ground.

Zhao Tiefu shouted: "Don't make a fuss!"

Everyone was stunned by his thunderous shout and stopped to look at him. Zhao Tiesheng was hiding under the battlements of the city wall and said to everyone, "They don't have ladders or crossbows. What are they afraid of?"

The soldiers finally calmed down.

The city of Chang'an was strong and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Although Xiao Yuansui was famous, the Qianniu Guards he led were not a large army after all, and they had no siege equipment. Apart from shooting arrows, they had no other way to deal with the people in the city.

Zhao Tiefu continued: "Let the archers prepare!"

At his command, the archers who were on standby on the stepway immediately came up with their backs bent, and hid behind the parapet as arranged in advance. When a rain of arrows flew by and a gap appeared, they immediately drew their bows with agility, turned sideways, and shot arrows at the bottom of the city wall!
All I heard was a whooshing sound like countless hornets flying by, and immediately, several sharp screams came from far away under the city wall.

Zhao Tiesheng immediately stood up and took the opportunity to look down. The black spot that was previously too far to be seen was now less than a shot's distance from the city wall. He could see their attire clearly and they were indeed the Qianniu Guards. The leading rider let go of the reins with both hands and pulled a strong bow into a full moon. The arrow on it flashed with cold light and was aimed at Zhao Tiesheng at once!

Zhao Tiesheng's eyes were bloodshot, and he quickly dodged. He felt a chill in his ear and the arrow flew past his temple! "Captain!"

The people around him saw blood gushing out of his face, immediately staining half of his face red, and screamed in fear. Zhao Tiesheng reached out and touched his cheek, only to find that there was a deep and long cut on his cheek, almost exposing the bone. He immediately gritted his teeth and said ferociously: "Archer, shoot!"

At his command, the archers drew out the second arrow, put it on the bowstring, and shot it towards the bottom of the city wall again.

Another burst of arrows rained down.

However, this time, the soldiers below also shot arrows at the city wall. There was a hail of arrows, and several nearby archers were hit by arrows, with blood splattering everywhere. At the same time, several shrill screams and the panicked neighing of war horses were heard from under the city wall again.

They were getting closer and closer to the city gate.

However, the city gates were tightly closed, and even if they reached the bottom of the tower, there was no way for them to get in!
Zhao Tiesheng wiped the blood off his face with the back of his hand, stepped back a few steps, stood up, and said to the people around him: "Don't panic, they don't have siege weapons, they can't enter the city at all. Just fight them like this until they run out of arrows!"

"Yes!"

The people around also calmed down at this time. Several soldiers came forward and dragged away the archer who was shot by the arrow. Another group of archers were already ready for battle and immediately stepped forward to fill the position. Another dense rain of arrows flew towards the bottom.

For a moment, countless cold lights flashed in the air.

At this time, a group of people and horses came rushing down Suzaku Avenue in the city. One of the two people walking in front saw the panicked figure on the city wall and immediately said to the other person, "Your Highness, Xiao Yuansui is here!"

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Cheng quickly raised his head.

As soon as they looked up, they heard a long, sharp whooshing sound in the air, and then an arrow flew over the city wall and shot towards them.

"Be careful, Your Highness!"

Su Changjing shouted and hurriedly drew the sword from his waist and swung it forward - the arrow had already reached the end of its strength and did not have much power left at this time, and its speed was much slower. He cut the arrow off in mid-air with one sword!
Seeing this, the soldiers around cheered: "The general is mighty!"

Su Changjing himself was a little surprised, and then he felt a little flattered amid the cheers. He swung his sword twice before sheathing it and turned to look at Yuwen Cheng: "Your Highness, are you okay?"

Yuwen Cheng frowned, but didn't say much, just said: "Call down the guards!"

After saying this, he rode his horse back to the city gate.

Outside, the sound of horse hooves and constant roars and shouts could be heard. It was obvious that Xiao Yuansui and others had already arrived outside the city gate.

Soon, Su Changjing's men called down Zhao Tiesheng, who was leading the others to fight against the Right Thousand Bull Guards outside the gate, from the tower. Half of Zhao Tiesheng's face was stained red with blood, and even one of his eyes was red. He looked a little ferocious and terrifying, but when he saw Yuwen Cheng and Su Changjing, he immediately bowed down and said, "Your Highness, Prince of Qi, General Su, why are you here?"

Yuwen Cheng frowned and asked, "Why do I need your permission to come here?"

Zhao Tiesheng immediately said: "No, I dare not. But now——"

Yu Wencheng waved his hand impatiently and said, "I know, Xiao Yuansui has come back to kill us now."

"Yes,"

Zhao Tiesheng gritted his teeth again and said angrily, "The emperor trusted him so much and made him the leader of the Qianniu Guards, but he dared to rebel. This is simply a heinous crime. Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will definitely obey your orders and guard the city gates. I will never let them set foot in Chang'an City."

Hearing his words, a cold light flashed in Yuwen Cheng's eyes.

He said: "The emperor's order was indeed to keep the city gates closed, but now, the emperor has a new order."

When Zhao Tiesheng heard this, he knelt down again in a hurry and asked, "What is the emperor's will?"

Yuwen Cheng said: "The emperor asked you to open the city gate."

"What!?"

Upon hearing this, not only Zhao Tiesheng was shocked, but even the soldiers guarding the city gate showed expressions of astonishment, and looked at Yuwen Cheng in disbelief, as if saying, how could the emperor change his orders every day?
Zhao Tiesheng also said doubtfully: "The Emperor's previous decree was not--"

Yuwen Cheng said, "The emperor asked you to close the city gates before to prevent others from causing trouble. But now, there are only the traitor Xiao Yuansui and the Right Thousand Bull Guards outside the city gates, so they must be caught and punished. That's why he asked you to open the city gates."

"This……"

Zhao Tiesheng hesitated and said nothing.

Yuwen Cheng frowned: "Why, you dare to disobey the order?"

Zhao Tiesheng hurriedly said, "No, I dare not!" He still hesitated, looked at Yuwen Cheng, then looked at Su Changjing, and then said, "Since it is the emperor's order, can you let me see the imperial edict?"

"presumptuous!"

Yuwen Cheng was furious, pointing at him and cursing, "What do you mean? Are you suspecting that I have forged the imperial edict?"

Zhao Tiesheng kowtowed hurriedly: "No, I dare not. It's just that Xiao Yuansui is leading the Right Thousand Bull Guards outside the city now. The city gate could have stopped them, but if we let them in——"

"nonsense!"

Yuwen Cheng said: "If we only rely on the city gates to defend against the enemy, then what are you good-for-nothings for?"

Hearing this, Zhao Tiesheng was speechless. In the short time they were talking, several screams were heard from the city wall. It was obvious that the battle was getting intense. The arrows from under the city wall were shot towards the city wall more and more frequently. After a while, several wounded soldiers were carried down from the city wall.

Zhao Tiesheng was in a panic and looked at Su Changjing for help - after all, he was the General of the Right Guard, and if anything happened, he would need to take responsibility.

But Su Changjing looked indifferent and only said, "Captain Zhao, disobeying the order is a capital crime!"

At this point, Zhao Tiesheng had no choice but to stand up and said in a deep voice: "General, I will obey the imperial edict."

After that, he said to the soldiers guarding the city: "Open the door."

The soldiers looked at each other, their faces filled with fear, but no one dared to disobey the order. They could only push each other and hesitantly moved forward to remove the two heavy doorposts that had been placed against the city gate. At the same time, someone went over to remove the huge bolt.

Just when the bolt was about to be pulled out, an angry shout came from the Suzaku Avenue behind him.

"Can't open the door!"