Noble First Daughter-in-law

"Xuanwumen."

He spoke these three words in a low voice, and the tone was exactly the same as when he whispered to Shang Ruyi just now. Almost no one in the front heard what they had just said. But when he finished these three words, Yu Mingyue suddenly turned around and looked at them. His eyes were illuminated by the flames, and his nervous expression was evident.

Feeling her gaze, Yu Wencheng turned his head and said, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

"..."

Yu Mingyue didn't say anything, but just stared at Shang Ruyi with a frown, as if she was examining her reaction.

Shang Ruyi lowered his eyes indifferently.

Yu Mingyue looked at her for a while but got no result, so she could only continue riding forward. Yuwen Cheng looked at the Crown Princess and the Princess of Qin, smiled slightly, and a cunning light flashed in his eyes.

After walking for about a meal's time, the sky became darker.

Finally, a tall palace gate appeared in the pitch-black night. From a distance, they could see with the help of the firelight that the plaque above the gate clearly read "Anli Gate". Yu Mingyue subconsciously took a deep breath.

What she didn't notice was that Shang Ruyi, who was following the horse team, was also holding his breath nervously.

As they approached, several soldiers immediately came forward to knock on the door. Just like before, the gatekeeper's panicked voice came from inside, but the response was almost the same: "Your Highness, please forgive me. The emperor has ordered that we cannot open the palace gate tonight."

"Bastard thing!"

This time, Yu Mingyue spoke first. She angrily shouted, "How dare you stop the prince from driving!"

"Your Highness, this is the Emperor's order."

Although the people inside were still polite, they had made it very clear that neither the Crown Prince nor the Crown Princess was higher than the Emperor, and there was absolutely no way they would risk disobeying the Emperor's order and open the door for them tonight.

"you--"

Yu Mingyue was furious and was about to dismount and knock on the door herself, but Yuwen Qian raised his hand to stop her and looked ahead - the road was too long, even though their team had a large number of people and many torches in their hands, they still couldn't illuminate the entire corridor.

He could only say: "Then let me ask you, the emperor has ordered me and the prince of Qi to come to the palace to see him. If none of you open the palace gates, how are we supposed to get in?"

"..."

"Does this count as you disobeying the order, or is it me and the King of Qi disobeying the order?"

"..."

The other party hesitated for a moment, and then heard another sound of footsteps. It seemed that someone came to pass on a message. After a while of whispering, the person inside immediately said, "Your Highness, our palace gate cannot be opened, but the Xuanwu Gate in front is still open. You can enter the palace from the Xuanwu Gate."

"...!"

Upon hearing these words, Yu Mingyue and Shang Ruyi gasped almost at the same time.

But Shang Ruyi was still calm and worried, while Yu Mingyue's face turned pale and she immediately said to Yuwen Qian: "No!"

The person inside finally said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Prince of Qi, I have come to the end of what I have to say. This Anli Gate must not be opened tonight. Please step aside a little."

After saying this, the man walked away.

Yu Mingyue became even more anxious, and turned to Yuwen Qian and whispered, "We can't go to Xuanwu Gate!"

"..."

"Prince, have you forgotten? I once told you -"

When she said this, she suddenly choked. Perhaps she also understood that some things could not be said in front of everyone, so she bit her lower lip and looked at Yuwen Qian anxiously. The latter also looked at her and his expression became solemn.

The two of them stared at each other, and the people around them began to become confused.

After all, their first task now was to enter the palace, and the emperor had sent the decree at noon, but now when night fell and it was pitch black all around, they had not entered the palace to see it. This was almost "disobeying the emperor's order". If they delayed any further, it would not be a matter of explaining Xiao Yuansui's rebellion.

So Yu Dingxing urged in a low voice: "Didn't I tell you that Xuanwu Gate is still open? Let's go over there quickly."

Yu Mingyue ignored him and just looked at Yuwen Qian: "Prince!"

The people on horseback looked anxious, while the two people standing on the ground on the other side had flickering eyes, each with their own thoughts.

If she was still unsure about Yu Mingyue's reaction at Xuande Gate, Shang Ruyi understood it completely after passing through Anli Gate. She could feel that Xuanwu Gate was a dangerous place. This feeling came from Yu Mingyue's "resurrection" on her. She had taken some cognition from her, which made her have an ominous premonition about the place.

Therefore, Xuanwu Gate must be a key place, where there is danger.

She has always believed so.

But now, a strange, unprecedented thought suddenly popped up in her mind - where did the danger come from?
In other words, if it is dangerous for Yu Mingyue, what about for herself?
Shang Ruyi had an idea.

Her mind was full of thoughts. Yu Wencheng, who was standing beside her, had been quietly watching Yu Mingyue's expression and listening to her words more carefully. At this time, he seemed to realize something and said lazily, "Sister-in-law, whether we want to obey the order or for something else... now, we have to go to the palace. But the gates of the palace are all closed. If only the Xuanwu Gate is open, how can we not go?"

"..."

"You don't let my brother go to Xuanwu Gate. Is there any danger there?"

"Of course!"

"Oh? What danger?"

"of course--"

Yu Mingyue was about to say something, but she stopped when the words came to her lips. She just looked at Shang Ruyi with a troubled look. The people around her also looked in the direction she was looking, and some of them understood.

Yu Dingxing said: "The King of Qin has already left the city!"

Yuwen Cheng also said: "So that's what you're worried about. The Duke is right, he's gone. We saw it with our own eyes. Could it be false?"

"..."

"Besides him, who else in Chang'an City can be a threat to us?"

"..."

"Sister-in-law, don't be so timid."

"I don't!"

Yu Mingyue still wanted to refute him, but she could hardly form any words to refute him - after all, in her understanding, she had already heard about what would happen at Xuanwu Gate. But the fact was indeed as Yu Dingxing and Yuwen Cheng said, Yuwen Ye had already left Chang'an. Although he was not dead yet, at least now, at Xuanwu Gate, the threat there had been eliminated.

It seems that she really doesn't need to be so cautious and secretive. But...

The uneasiness in my heart is really hard to explain.

After struggling for a while, she could only say: "I'm just, just worried..."

Yuwen Cheng said impatiently: "No matter how worried we are, we can't hesitate. Otherwise, if we really cause the wrath of our father, we will be in big trouble. Brother, what do you think?"

His last question was directed to Yuwen Qian.

Yuwen Qian had been sitting on the horse, listening to their conversation in silence. At this moment, he just lowered his eyes and thought for a while, then said, "It has come to this... Let's go."

After hearing what he said, everyone spurred their horses and continued to move forward.

Yu Mingyue seemed to want to hold on to something, but everyone was moving forward. If she didn't move, she would become a stumbling block for everyone. Gradually, she was also swept along by everyone and began to ride her horse slowly forward.

Yuwen Cheng smiled and turned his head to look at Shang Ruyi beside him: "Second sister-in-law, let's go?"

Shang Ruyi said nothing and just followed them forward.

Along the way, whether it was because the night was getting darker or the wind was getting stronger, the torches in everyone's hands were almost extinguished. Without enough light to illuminate the way ahead, they moved much slower than before. The distance between Xuanwu Gate and Anli Gate was already long, and everyone stumbled along like this for a quarter of an hour before finally seeing a dark shadow swaying in the wind, making a rustling sound, in the inky night ahead.

That is the pine and cypress forest in front of Xuanwu Gate.

Although there are several palace gates on the north side of the imperial palace, there is only one main gate, which is the Xuanwu Gate. Therefore, this palace gate is the tallest and most majestic, almost the most majestic palace gate except for the Chengtian Gate on the south. Moreover, the open space in front of the gate is the largest and widest, leading directly to the north gate. Tall pines and cypresses are planted along the way. Even if you pass by there during the day, you will feel cold under the shade of the trees. At night, the wind blows the branches and leaves shaking constantly, as if there were thousands of troops hidden inside, which is terrifying.

Yu Mingyue was already nervous, and when he saw the swaying black shadow in front of him, he immediately pulled the reins.

"Is there anyone in front?"

Yu Dingxing glanced at her impatiently but was too lazy to say anything. He just waved to the soldiers behind him, and several of them immediately rode forward. After a while, they arrived at the pine forest, and the torches held high in their hands illuminated the swaying shadows of the trees.

Everyone could see clearly that there was no one there.

Yuwen Qian said calmly: "Let's go, it's okay."

He continued to shake the reins and spur his horse forward. Yu Mingyue also felt ashamed and could only follow dejectedly. Everyone also moved forward one after another, except Yuwen Cheng. When he got closer and closer to Xuanwu Gate, he actually took a half step back, and half of his body fell behind Shang Ruyi.

After a while, their large group arrived at the Xuanwu Gate.

There are tall palace walls on three sides here, as majestic as city walls. In the dark night, it looks like a huge monster crawling on the ground. The open palace gate below is like a monster's bottomless bloody mouth, waiting to devour all life.

Yu Dingxing immediately said: "The palace gate here is indeed open!"

Yuwen Cheng smiled and said, "I was saying, how could the emperor summon us to the palace without even leaving a door for us?"

Shang Ruyi turned his head and glanced at him.

Yu Dingxing said: "Let's go, we should go to the palace to see--"

Just as he was talking and about to ride his horse inside, Yuwen Qian suddenly raised his hand to signal him to stop, and said in a deep voice: "Slow down."

Yu Dingxing was stunned as he didn't expect that he would stop him, but he immediately reined in his horse.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?"

"..."

Yuwen Qian did not say anything, but shook the reins and took two steps forward alone. His figure standing alone under the tall palace wall looked particularly small, as if he would be swallowed up by the shadow cast by the tall palace wall at any time.

After watching quietly for a while, he said, "It's too quiet here."

After hearing what he said, the people around him realized that if the palace gate was closed under normal circumstances, no one would walk outside the gate except the patrolling soldiers; but it was different tonight. The emperor specifically left this palace gate open, and Xiao Yuansui's "rebellion" happened in the city during the day, so it was impossible for the gate to be wide open without a single guard.

There wasn't even any light.

Realizing this, everyone became nervous. Yu Dingxing immediately waved his hand, and a group of people holding torches slowly walked towards Yuwen Qian.

The firelight shone, but it couldn't illuminate the deep darkness. It could only barely outline the tall outline of the Xuanwu Gate in front. As the flames swayed, the shadow cast by the palace gate also swayed on the ground, like a monster with bared fangs and claws, looking very hideous and terrifying. There was indeed no one in front of the palace gate, and the sound of their horses' hooves echoed between the palace walls, making the night even more empty and silent.

"wrong……"

Yuwen Qian frowned slightly and spoke in a low voice.

Yu Dingxing turned to look at him: "What did you say?"

"No, no!"

Yuwen Qian finally realized something, turned to him, and shouted to the guards following behind him: "Leave!"

Everyone was shocked, but before they could react, there was a sudden light in front of them, and they saw countless figures suddenly appearing on the empty dark city wall, all holding torches high. The flickering flames emitted a brilliant light that illuminated the entire city wall in an instant. The dazzling light was like the sun rising suddenly in the dark night, and it immediately made everyone close their eyes.

As the vision blurred, a whistling sound of wind came from the front.

Looking again, I saw that in the dazzling light on the city wall, countless soldiers stood up, holding strong bows that were drawn into full moons in their hands, with arrows tautly stretched on them, gathering tremendous force, and flashing countless cold lights under the firelight, aiming at the people below.

Seeing this scene, the people below were immediately terrified. Yu Dingxing was even more frightened and hurriedly shouted, "There is an ambush, be careful!"

A group of brave guards rushed up immediately.

They reacted quickly and immediately formed a Yanling formation to block Yuwen Qian. With a loud shout, swords were unsheathed and sharp blades stood up. They were reflected by the fire on both sides, and the cold light and flames complemented each other. In an instant, it was like a collision of ice and fire, and a dangerous and brilliant glow bloomed in front of the Xuanwu Gate.

However, no arrows were fired immediately from the city wall.

The people under the city wall also held their breath, their hands full of cold sweat as they clenched their swords tightly, as if the situation was critical, and they were so tense that even their breathing and heartbeats stopped.

At this moment, a familiar figure slowly appeared in the center of the top of the city wall.

This man was wearing armor, tall and heroic, with extraordinary talent, like the rising sun. When he appeared in front of everyone, all the lights seemed to be focused on him at this moment, and no matter how bright the light was, it could not take away the brilliance of those restrained eyes.

He looked down coldly at the people below, as if he were a god in the clouds, overlooking all living beings in the world.

It’s Yu Wenye!

He actually appeared here! (End of this chapter)