The first prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 533 Mantis Catching Cicadas
The atmosphere in the imperial palace seems to be wrong today, the huge Kunning Palace is unusually deserted at this time, although today is a small year in the lunar calendar.

The 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is a small year in the lunar calendar. After this day, the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year has already entered. From this day to after the Chinese New Year, the place is full of excitement.

The imperial court also pays great attention to these things, which are celebrated every year, and this year is no exception.

Jiying Hall is brightly lit, because today is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, which is the day to give banquets to officials.

The Jiying Hall is the place where all the officials are given banquets. In the past, the emperor personally presided over it, but now it is of course the King Jin.

Everyone is not polite, everyone is drinking happily, and the sound of feasting can be heard in the distance.

Not only is the palace brightly lit, but there are also many more torches at the gates entering the palace at this time than before.

It is as if the gate of the entire city wall is illuminated like day, as if it is not night.

Although the guards guarding the door were still vigilant, they were more relaxed than before on New Year's Eve, chatting and laughing about these interesting things.

Men's topics are always inseparable from women, and the men guarding here are discussing lewdly which chick in the brothel is more interesting.

These old gentlemen only have these topics, otherwise you can let them talk about Marxism-Leninism.

There was a sound of neat footsteps coming, but the guards didn't pay attention.Because of usual habits, soldiers on patrol often pass by here.

However, these patrolling soldiers did not pass by like before, but stopped at the gate of the city.

The guard looked up and saw that this person was not an ordinary person, he was Zhang Qiong, the Marquis of Duyu, the emperor's favorite general, and these people were under his control, but it was strange how he came from the outside.

These people are also the elite of Ouchi, this is the last barrier to enter the palace, so it is not guarded by ordinary people.

"Brothers, don't be busy. I have nothing else to do here in the future, just to reward the brothers. This year, the brothers have been very worthy of my Lao Zhang. Today I brought a lot of good wine. Brothers enjoy Let's drink."

Zhang Qiong stepped forward, patted the guard's shoulder with a smile and said.

The guards were slightly taken aback, none of them could figure out which song was being sung today.What's going on, who doesn't know that this general is notoriously unselfish.

On weekdays, everyone is asked to stick to their duties, and they must not neglect their duties. Whoever dares to drink will be courting death.

Now why the general personally let them come to drink, this is really strange, but no one dared to say anything.

But doubts are doubts, a small guard like him really can't do anything to the general in front of him.

Among them, some courageous people were afraid that this was Zhang Qiong's temptation, so they smiled and said to Zhang Qiong:
"General, your beloved brothers appreciate it, but we also have our own responsibilities. If it's drinking, we can't explain it to the court, can we?"

Although these people belong to Zhang Qiong, they can't lose their heads in a daze, can they?
"The good brothers are all very enlightened. This general has also taken this into consideration. You have been guarding here every night for the past six months. It has been very hard."

"Today is the new year. I decided to bring other brothers to replace you. You should each take a jar of wine and go home."

After Zhang Qiong finished speaking, she patted the guard's shoulder. Zhang Qiong said with a smile:
"Your vigilance is very high, the general is very happy, you work hard."

"Thanks a lot to the brothers upstairs, General, General Zhang who opened the city gate gave our brothers a holiday today, we can go back, and each of us still has a jar of wine."

Following the shouts of the guards, there was a commotion on the top of the city tower, and then the city gate slowly opened, and after a while, it was fully opened.

The guard who asked the question just now waved a gesture of please to Zhang Qiong, and then walked in behind Zhang Qiong.

Zhang Qiong waved his hand to the back, leaving a few people in charge of the gate, and Bian Dang walked up the city wall first.

After handing over all the formalities, Zhang Qiong waved his hand fiercely, and the soldiers of the left guard suddenly attacked and knocked down all the guards on the city wall.

Some people who were lucky enough not to be knocked down passed out after only a moment. He couldn't guarantee that he would be killed with one blow. Even if he could do it, the smell of blood would be noticed by others.

After patrolling around and seeing no other movement, Zhang Qiong ordered someone to open the gate of the city.

As soon as the door was opened, a team of more than 100 people came out from the outside. These people were not many in number, but they all seemed to be elites.

One of them was slightly fat, with a slight smile on his face, and the others followed behind him.

This person is actually Huang Fuxing, the current Shangshu of the Ministry of War. After Cao Bin was forced to go down by Zhao Guangyi, Huang Fuxing, the original left servant of the Ministry of War, temporarily took over as Shangshu.

He should have attended the banquet at Jixian Hall today, but he didn't because he asked for sick leave.

It's an honor to say that you can't participate because of your illness, and no one will say anything if you don't go.

But no one would have thought that he would appear here, and he would lead someone to bring down the person guarding the last barrier of the palace.

Behind the two of them were twelve guards exuding a violent aura, and looking back, there were some people in night clothes.

However, their faces were all exposed, and they didn't. If Qinhu or Dong Zhenhai were here, they would definitely be surprised.

Many of these people are today's martial arts masters. If these masters are placed above the rivers and lakes, they are all famous figures.

What are they doing behind Huang Fuxing? Could it be his subordinates? It's a bit unbelievable.

Seeing these more than 100 people coming, Zhang Qiong hurriedly walked down the city wall, came to Huang Fuxing and said respectfully:

"Master, this is the only place to pass in and out of the palace. Now it is under our control, so you can rest assured."

Zhang Qiong actually called him young master, what's going on? Could it be that Zhang Qiong was originally Huang Fuxing's person? This...

"Well, it's very good. I will reward you according to your merits. Don't worry, I won't treat you badly. Let your people stay here. Let's go and catch all these ministers."

Huang Fuxing said excitedly, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him, basically all the ministers are here, as long as he can control it, his big business will be half done.

"Hmph, I'll let Zhao Guangyi do it first, and then we can take advantage of the opportunity. We have to wait and see what happens. Let Zhao Guangyi be that praying mantis, and we'll watch the show later."

Huang Fuxing meant that they would watch a good show first, and the name of this play was Mantis Catch the Cicada.

(End of this chapter)