After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The manure cart blocked the side gate of the city.

"push!"

The commander's face turned deathly pale, and he waved his hand and roared!

The four soldiers quickly closed the wooden lid of the chamber pot and jumped off the cart.

Together with Ning Nan and Lu Zhong, they struggled to push the manure cart out the side door.

Bang!

A few breaths later, the side door closed.

Ning Nan took a few steps, turned his head to look at the tall city gate tower, and heard the commander inside shout something.

A series of thunderous footsteps echoed from the city gate tower!

At least half of the archers came down from the city gate tower.

The sergeant's terrified shouts came from behind.

"Qianqing Palace is under attack! You all come with me! The rest of you, guard the city gates! Lower the weights on the gates! No signal! No reinforcements are allowed to enter the city!"

In a very short time, this commander of the Plain Red Banner made the most correct choice.

There must not be many people who can break into the palace. The most important thing is to prevent the thieves from luring us away and taking advantage of the chaos.

He then led nearly fifty armored infantrymen and fifty archers to reinforce the Qianqing Palace.

"yes!"

Several roars came from the city gate tower.

Ning Nan clenched his fists, his heart sinking suddenly!

"Qianqing Palace...!"

"What do the people of the Heavenly Principle Sect want to do?!"

Just then, bang bang bang bang, several fireworks burst forth from within the Forbidden City…

Green fireworks, red fireworks, purple fireworks.

Outside Di'anmen, numerous patrolling and search soldiers changed their expressions upon seeing the fireworks.

Ning Nan's heart almost stopped at that moment.

Lu Chong said in a low voice:

"There are fireworks for the Heavenly Principle Sect's mass gatherings, and signal fireworks from the Northern Dynasty... and some other miscellaneous ones, probably used by the Heavenly Principle Sect to confuse the public. Let's go."

The old spy glanced at the prince consort beside him with a slightly worried look, explained the situation, and reminded him that they were not safe at the moment.

Ning Nan took several rapid breaths. His face was pale. He had intended to ask the old spy beside him, "What exactly is the Heavenly Principle Sect planning to do tonight?"

But at this point, such a question is already a rhetorical one.

Tenrikyo tonight...

Ning Nan's pupils kept contracting.

Is this the second regicide rebellion...?

"Let's go."

The sound of footsteps and military orders thundered like lightning, and the soldiers at Di'anmen were mobilized. Lu Chong tugged at Ning Nan's sleeve and said again in a deep voice:

"We have to go...we still have to leave the city."

Ning Nan exuded a chill, his eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty, and his face turned deathly pale.

After hesitating for a couple of seconds, he closed his eyes, and his whole body seemed to suddenly go limp.

But his body remained stubbornly upright, and his voice was dry and hoarse as he said:

"good……"

…………

They were summoned and questioned by the garrison.

Lu Chong looked terrified and kept taking out his household register for inspection by the guards.

After being scolded several times, the two finally pushed the manure cart into a special manure path, intending to transport the manure to Andingmen.

The hour of Yin (3-5 AM) has arrived.

This alley is called Mao'er Hutong.

When passing by an ordinary-looking courtyard house.

Around the corner ahead, perhaps hearing the sound of a manure cart passing by, two dark figures cautiously peeked out from behind the wall of the courtyard house.

After seeing them.

The two figures climbed over the wall from inside.

They were two young eunuchs dressed in eunuch clothes.

Lu Chong raised his hand to signal Ning Nan, whose expression had become somewhat blank, to put down the handlebars.

The gate to the courtyard house was closed.

Lu Chong tossed his and Ning Nan's household registration documents into the car, glanced around the alley, led Ning Nan inside, and clicked the door shut behind them.

Two eunuchs rushed over, collected the gate register, and continued pushing the manure cart forward.

The two of them had come out with an old eunuch from the palace to buy fresh mutton. It took them a while to wait for the butcher to slaughter the sheep, and they didn't return until the hour of Chou (1-3 AM).

After returning to the palace, the two went out to transport manure carts, passing through the manure channels of Mao'er Hutong, and continued transporting manure carts... There was nothing wrong with their actions.

The sounds of fighting and shouting began about 15 minutes ago near the Qianqing Palace.

After someone entered the courtyard house.

The shouts of battle reached their peak.

He closed his eyes and sat quietly in front of the stone bench. A female Taoist nun removed the gauze from his left arm and calmly said to him:

"Master, your wounds have all reopened."

His eyes remained closed, and his lips had long since lost their color.

"Has Han Qing... come tonight?"

"They're here."

"Where?"

"By order of our leader, the old leader has led our Heavenly Principle followers into the Qianqing Palace to uphold the Heavenly Way, punish the tyrant, and rally the world to rebel against the Qing Dynasty!"

"Whose orders are you following?!" Bang! Ning Nan opened his eyes, slammed his right fist on the stone table, and glared at the Taoist nun, suppressing his anger.

Xu Xiyin calmly replied, "I am acting on the orders of Ning Jiexiao, the leader of the Heavenly Principles Sect."

Ning Nan's eyes widened, blood seeping from the wound on his left hand. His right fist pounded on the stone table as he suppressed his rage and fear, saying:

"Kill Yongzheng? How could they possibly kill Yongzheng with such a small number of people? Not only could they not kill him, tonight would be nothing short of suicide! Even if they did kill Yongzheng, what good would it do? Would killing Yongzheng mean the end of the Northern Dynasty? What kind of pipe dream is he having?"

The time of Yin (寅时).

A few points of light appeared on the horizon.

The young man's tone was indignant and fierce, his eyes seeming to bleed.

Lu Chong, who had been busy all night, ignored the question, yawned, picked up a sheepskin blanket, draped it over himself, and went to sleep with his arms crossed.

Xu Xiyin looked up, meeting the gaze of the young man whose eyes were already bloodshot, and said:

"The old cult leader told me to tell you... not to forget what you once told him."

talk?

What did you say?

Ning Nan's expression froze for a moment.

…………

It was March 14th.

The moon hanging in the sky is almost full.

The floating clouds seemed to have dispersed a bit.

The stars in the sky appeared more numerous. However, the thick smoke at Dong'an Gate cast a shadow over the sky above Beijing.

As the starlight fell, Ning Nan blinked... He... had already forgotten the cause of that day.

I only remember that the weather was nice that day.

The sun shines brightly, and the fields are lush and green.

He was carrying a lasso when he met Han Qing on his way to catch rabbits in the back mountain.

He had forgotten what the two had said at the beginning.

It seems... it seems like I said something like, "Which village are you from? What are you doing in our village? Stealing someone? Which auntie are you stealing?!"... I started with such impolite words.

The other person smiled and replied, "Just passing by, wondering if I could have a bowl of tea."

I don't quite remember what they said to each other.

All I remember is Han Qing urging, "Boy, whether it's you or anyone else in your village, you're being exploited and oppressed by your village head, Master Li, and the clerks and tax collectors. Why don't you fight back?"

Lijia Village is located in Jiangnan. In those years, the Yangtze River rarely flooded, so it was relatively prosperous.

At the time, I thought it was a pedantic scholar trying to stand up for justice.

Looking back now, I think that old guy probably wanted to develop followers of the Heavenly Principle Sect in Lijia Village.