maidservant

Inside the palace, the atmosphere was tense. The rebels had stormed in from the hills behind the palace gate, their force unstoppable.

Lin Yu's heart was in her throat, and she pretended to coax the child in the palace. She swiftly wrapped the quilt layer by layer, skillfully shaping it into the appearance of a young child.

The dim and flickering candlelight clearly reflected the figures of a "mother and son" on the window. At first glance, they looked exactly like real people and could almost deceive everyone's eyes.

At this moment, the sound of killing outside Liuhua Palace was deafening.

The main force of the Yulin Army is fighting desperately. Their figures shuttled through the flames, barely resisting wave after wave of crazy attacks from the rebels. Every moment seems to be hovering on the brink of life and death, and no one knows how long they can hold on.

The shrill shouts of killing were intertwined with the heavy sound of war drums, and each sound hit the palace wall hard, heading straight for Xiyun Palace.

The eldest princess had just given birth and was already very weak. Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down her forehead, wetting her hair.

But at the critical moment of life and death, she endured the physical discomfort, and with the support of Li Song, she resolutely stepped out of the palace and faced the rebels.

In the rebel camp, the general with a scar on his right eye stood out.

The princess recognized him immediately, recognizing him as a former subordinate of the deposed crown prince, one who should have been exiled long ago. His face was hideous, his eyes gleaming with ferocity, and he held a bloodstained long knife as he inched closer to the princess.

The situation on the battlefield took a sharp turn for the worse. Our troops were far inferior to those of the rebels. If we resisted head-on, defeat seemed imminent.

She took a deep breath, forced herself to remain calm, and shouted at the rebels, "Wait a minute! As subjects, why are you leading troops into the palace and committing rebellion?"

The general with a hideous scar across his right eye snorted coldly, stepped forward, and said viciously, "Princess, at this point, there's no need to hide anything. We're following the orders of the young prince, and today we're going to seek justice for the deposed crown prince!"

The eldest princess frowned slightly, pretending to be puzzled, and continued to ask:
"Fair? The deposed Crown Prince committed a grave offense and was deposed. This was the will of the late Emperor. Are you blatantly violating the late Emperor's will?"

General Scar's expression froze for a moment, but he soon became tough again and said through gritted teeth:

"The late emperor was deceived by today's dog emperor, which is why he mistakenly deposed the crown prince. Now, the young prince cannot bear to see his elder brother suffer injustice, and is determined to set things right!"

After the princess quietly got the rebels' details out, her brain was working rapidly, but on the surface she remained calm and continued to deal with the rebel generals.

She spoke calmly, her voice steady:

"General, I am only a woman. No matter whether the current emperor or the young prince sits on the throne, I am still the eldest princess of Dali. Why do you have to embarrass me?"

Seeing the rebel general's expression eased slightly, she continued:
"Furthermore, it's difficult to tell right from wrong in what happened back then, but I was never involved. If the general kills one more royal bloodline for no reason, and the historians later write about it, it will become a stain on the general's life."

The princess paused slightly, looked directly into the rebel general's eyes, and emphasized her tone:

"If the general is wholeheartedly assisting the young prince, it must be because he hopes he will achieve great things. If the young prince ascends the throne in the future, I have considerable prestige among the royal family. At a crucial moment, a single appeal from above would surely remove many obstacles to the new emperor's ascension. The young prince would undoubtedly appreciate the general's foresight."

After hearing this, the rebel general frowned and pondered for a long time. After weighing the pros and cons, he felt that every word the princess said made sense. If he acted rashly, it might cause trouble.

Then he waved his hand and ordered: "Surround Xiyun Palace for the time being, and do not harm the Princess and her family!"

The crisis at Xiyun Palace was temporarily alleviated. Yunshan huddled in the dim underground granary, the unique aroma of food hanging in the air, only to make her even more flustered.

She kept rubbing her hands, and the images of Lin Xiao and the emperor flashed through her mind like a kaleidoscope. What happened to them?

Is it in deep danger, or has it escaped danger?

Yunshan didn't dare to think about it at all, and could only pray silently in her heart over and over again, hoping that God would bless them and keep everything safe.

The old man at the side suddenly stretched out his hand and gestured quickly and forcefully to the deputy general, indicating that there were two swords hidden in the interlayer of the bed.

The deputy general understood what he meant, and following the direction of the old man's finger, he found the buckle and pressed it lightly. With a "click", his fingers touched the cold hilt of the sword.

After getting the sword, the deputy general hurriedly smeared a handful of black soot from the bottom of the pot on his cheeks and lay down on the shabby bed with the old man.

The old man was lying on the outside, and the deputy general was on the inside. His right hand was always stretched under the bed, tightly gripping the hilt of the sword, his muscles tense, ready to draw the sword at any time to deal with any danger that might come at any time.

Yunshan was under overwhelming pressure.

She knew that the safety of the two princes was closely related to the lives of herself, her sister, and others. If anything happened to the princes, they would have no chance of survival.

She didn't dare close her eyes all night, staring at the upside-down grain jar above her head. Her thoughts were in a mess, and time seemed to stretch infinitely in fear.

The night seemed to have no end. Finally, before dawn, the second prince woke up.

The Second Prince was frail, and Yunshan hadn't dared to use a higher dose of the sleeping drug. Now, the Second Prince was so hungry he cried loudly, his cries piercing the small granary.

Yunshan was extremely anxious and paced back and forth in the cramped space. There was really no other way, so she could only carefully hide the eldest prince deep in the granary and pick up the second prince to go out to find food.

The old man worked swiftly, quickly making some porridge. Yunshan had just finished feeding the Second Prince and coaxing him to sleep when she heard light footsteps outside the door.

The deputy general's ears pricked up, and he instantly sat up from the bed, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword, concentrating his attention. Fortunately, the footsteps paused briefly in front of the door and gradually faded away.

"It seems like they are going to search house by house." The deputy general lowered his voice and said solemnly.

Yunshan took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart. She reached out and took the old man's shawl, wrapped it firmly around her head, and carefully covered her eyebrows and the conspicuous mole between them.

Then, she quickly picked up the remaining porridge paste from the bowl, dipped her fingers in some, gently pinched her eyelids, and slowly pulled them down, gluing the eyelids to the skin at the corners of her eyes. She then applied it to her cheeks and the corners of her mouth, fanning them dry with her hand until wrinkles formed, resembling those of constant labor.

Suddenly, there was a rapid "bang bang bang" sound coming from the door. The sound was like a heavy hammer, hitting Yunshan's heart hard.

She was so nervous that her hands and feet turned cold, and her throat felt like it was blocked. When she looked at the deputy general, she struggled to squeeze out a few words from her throat: "We are a family of four, and we make a living by running errands and delivering cakes and food."

The lieutenant and the old man understood. The lieutenant immediately dropped his tightly grasped sword, deliberately tilted his shoulders, pretending to be naive and non-threatening, walked towards the door, and stretched out his hand to open it.

(End of this chapter)