Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

Later, he felt somewhat embarrassed and ashamed, but Cui Qi didn't seem to care—she already knew her future husband had a concubine, so after so many years together, was it strange that his concubine was pregnant? Could she force her to have an abortion?

Cui Qi simply asked, "Then where are you going?"

“Tonight’s events are definitely not simple,” Li Ji said in a low voice. “To be honest, the Emperor is seriously ill, and there is a risk of unrest in the palace. At this critical juncture, Jingjing’er lured me out of the city, and her men are armed with many military weapons. This cannot but raise suspicions. I would better hurry back to the palace.”

Cui Qi frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "During the chaos of battle just now, your horse ran away..."

"Do you have a horse? And give me a sword."

"The city gates are closed..."

“I will not enter the city, but go straight to the Daming Palace and enter through the Taihe Gate or the Zuoyintai Gate—the guards are all my Yingwu Army soldiers, and they will let me in.”

"How many people do you need to help?"

Li Ji shook his head: "The situation is still unclear. Bringing more people would be pointless. Besides... if there's nothing wrong, entering the Forbidden City privately is a serious crime. Don't worry, as long as the Yingwu Army lets me into the city, they will have their own manpower. If they don't let me in... there won't be any more danger outside the palace."

Chapter Twenty-Six: Brotherly Love and Respect

Li Ji asked Cui Qi for a horse and a sword, and galloped toward the nearest gate, Taihe Gate, in the central court of the Daming Palace.

Upon reaching the gate, he called out loudly, "Who's on duty tonight?"

Unexpectedly, a strange voice rang out: "Who are you?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji realized something was amiss. This person didn't seem to be one of his men. He immediately became alert, stopped asking questions, and rode away.

He headed for the Left Silver Terrace Gate again, but this time he didn't dare to shout. He carefully observed the area from below the gate for a while, but it didn't seem safe either. Li Ji thought to himself, "Maybe I should go to the Chongxuan Gate instead."

There's an acquaintance at the Flying Dragon Stable outside Chongxuan Gate—Cheng Yuanzhen, whom I knew back in the imperial court. He's an old servant of Li Yu, so he's probably trustworthy. We can discuss it with Cheng Yuanzhen and have him send someone to scout out the movements of Chongxuan Gate and Xuanwu Gate before deciding on a strategy. That would be a safer approach.

Ultimately, he was alone and the enemy's situation was unclear, so he dared not take any risks at this moment.

Fortunately, Cui Qi and Qing Luan are both outside the city. At worst, I won't go to the palace. If I find that the situation is not good and I can't defy fate, I'll just take my two wives and run to Longyou to seek refuge with Li Tan.

The main gate of the Flying Dragon Stables was on the south side, directly opposite the Chongxuan Gate. Before Li Ji even got close, he could already see the palace gates wide open and a troop of men rushing out, heading straight for the Flying Dragon Stables. He was forced to ride quickly around to the side of the stables, climb over the wall, and enter. He originally planned to hide in the shadows and observe the situation first, but he immediately heard Li Yu's voice—although they hadn't seen each other for several years, he hadn't forgotten that voice.

Then came Cheng Yuanzhen's voice: "Where is the Prince of Fengjie at this time? And where is Li Ji?!"

Li Ji felt his blood boil, and he immediately leaped out, shouting, "Here I am!"

The "Six Stables" were located within the palace, while the "Six Stables" led by "Flying Dragon" were located outside the palace. However, due to repeated wars and upheavals, all the stables in the palace were abandoned, leaving only the "Flying Dragon Stable" outside the palace. The number of horses raised also plummeted from over a thousand at its peak to less than two hundred.

However, the size of the "Flying Dragon Stable" remained unchanged, still covering a vast area. The government office was located to its south, a three-courtyard complex, with the courtyard gate only a dozen steps away from the stable gate. After Li Yu entered the stable, he was invited to the stable office. Cheng Yuanzhen invited him to sit in the hall, but Li Yu was uneasy and only agreed to stand at the front of the hall, waiting for news.

Afterwards, Prince Yan, Li Xian, called out outside the stable. Cheng Yuanzhen climbed over the wall to look, and Li Yu also took a few steps closer to the door. At this critical moment, it was not appropriate for him to show himself. Cheng Yuanzhen had to speak to Li Xian. But he could not stray too far from Cheng Yuanzhen. How could he ask a little eunuch to help relay the message?

Li Ji responded and darted out of the shadows. Li Yu spotted him immediately, and was both surprised and delighted. He instinctively wanted to step towards Li Ji, but suddenly felt his legs go weak, and with a twist of his waist, he stumbled and fell to the ground. Cheng Yuanzhen was alarmed and rushed over to help him up, but Li Yu waved his hand, saying, "I've been standing for too long, and my legs are a little numb."

Struggling to his feet, he looked at Li Ji and smiled slightly: "Changwei, you've finally arrived."

Li Ji clasped his hands in greeting and hurriedly asked, "Who is outside the stable?"

Cheng Yuanzhen replied, "It is the Prince of Yan and Shence."

Li Ji gritted his teeth in resentment: "Shence is indeed unstable!" He then asked Cheng Yuanzhen: "How many soldiers and how many weapons are in the stable now?"

Cheng Yuanzhen spread his hands and said with a wry smile, "We only have some servants, where would we get soldiers and horses? We only have some horse feed, where would we get weapons?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji was taken aback.

He thought to himself, "Why didn't you say so earlier? I thought Li Yu was here, with at least dozens or hundreds of guards by his side, which is why I dared to rush out and answer... If I had known there were no soldiers or troops, I would have preferred to stay hidden! No matter how important the Li Tang dynasty is, is it more important than my own life? Besides, even if the Li Tang dynasty changes its crown prince or even its emperor, it might not collapse. I haven't even married yet, and I don't even know if Qingluan is carrying a child!"

But now that he had revealed himself, he couldn't just turn and run, or simply surrender to the Prince of Yan. Gritting his teeth, he drew his sword with a clang and shouted, "Your Highness, please take a seat in the hall, and watch me, Li, slay the traitor!"

By this time, the Shence Army had already broken through the stable gate and were now trying to break through the courtyard gate. The courtyard was small, and the gate was even smaller, with only a single leaf, making it incomparable to the stable gate. Li Ji glanced at it casually and thought—I could break it open by myself.

He immediately darted forward, and just as the door swung open with a loud bang, dust billowed up, and Li Ji, shielding his face with one hand and brandishing his knife with the other, shouted, "Li Erlang is here! Who dares to come and fight to the death?!"

Firstly, since the passageway is narrow, fighting in front of the gate can guarantee a one-on-one, or at most one-on-two, situation, and Li Ji is confident in defeating the enemy. Secondly, he fears that if he retreats even a step or two, the enemy soldiers can bypass him and attack Li Yu—look at that poor crown prince surrounded by pale-faced eunuchs, how could he possibly stop the Shence Army?

Li Yu, seeing this from behind, was taken aback. Fortunately, he wasn't stupid and didn't raise his voice to ask, "Changwei, did you come alone? Where is the Yingwu Army?" He simply asked Cheng Yuanzhen in a low voice. Cheng Yuanzhen looked around, his face contorted with worry, and said, "I'm afraid Li Ji received the news at home and couldn't go directly into the palace, so he was forced to ride alone around to the back of the palace..."

He quickly ordered his men to summon all the eunuchs, grooms, servants, and even horse doctors from the stable, to use pegs as weapons and saddles as shields, and to surround Li Yu in the middle.

Li Yu shook his head: "It's no use... If Li Ji can defend against the bandits, then so be it. But if Li Ji is in trouble, you should all go and escape for your own lives. There's no point in dying for me."

Cheng Yuanzhen wept and said, "This servant is Your Highness's servant. How can I abandon Your Highness? Everyone else may leave, but please let this servant die with Your Highness."

Li Yu reached out and patted his shoulder: "I have always known of your loyalty... Do not die, spare your life and collect my remains."

In the short few minutes that followed their conversation, even as they made their final arrangements, Li Ji had already taken up residence at the gate, slaying several men in succession. The Shence soldiers were originally fierce and skilled in combat, but they had been guarding the Forbidden City for quite some time and had gradually acquired the habits of the old Imperial Guards, becoming somewhat cowardly and afraid of death. Moreover, this was ultimately an internal strife, not a defense against foreign invaders, so they were bound to have doubts. Thus, Li Ji firmly kept them outside the gate.

However, Li Ji felt that he probably couldn't hold out for long... Although the courtyard wall wasn't low, it wasn't a city wall after all. Once the enemy recovered from their initial shock, they would naturally think of climbing the wall, bypassing him, and going straight for Li Yu. He thought to himself that today he could only do his best and leave the rest to fate. If Li Yu was captured or killed, he would find a less crowded place to fight his way out and would never die for the Li family.

Well, there are still some differences. If it's Li Heng behind me, I'll just surrender to the enemy and become a traitor. If it's Li Yu behind me, I can hold off the enemy for a while. If it's Li Tan or Li Shi behind me... I'll tuck them under my arm and try to break through the encirclement.

I'm afraid they're too heavy. If I bring one of them along, it'll be hard to get out of there... Speaking of Li Tan, since he settled in Longyou, although he's been working hard day and night, his figure has not only not become thin, but has become increasingly plump. As for Li Shi, if I had brought him along when we first met in Ding'an, even if it wasn't as heavy as Zhao Zilong carrying the young master, it wouldn't be far off. Now... I guess he's not light either.

He didn't just blindly fight; his eyes were sharp as he constantly observed the enemies opposite him. As Du Fu wrote, "To shoot a man, first shoot his horse; to capture a thief, first capture his king." He knew he couldn't possibly defeat the hundreds of Divine Strategists before him by himself, but if he could capture their general, perhaps there would be a glimmer of hope.

But when his gaze swept over Prince Yan, Li Xian, even though they were still ten paces apart and separated by three or four layers of soldiers, Li Xian still felt flustered and quickly steered his horse backward. Looking at the generals leading the troops, they were all somewhat unfamiliar faces—meaning that they had never accepted his invitation from the very beginning and were all Liu Xixian's trusted subordinates.

Li Ji figured that Liu Xixian couldn't possibly drive all the Shence Army into the inner court and had to divide his forces to surround the Yingwu Army. Logically speaking, he should send his reliable subordinates, who never accepted his invitations to banquets, to face the Yingwu Army. If he had one or two familiar generals in front of him, Li Ji would have a chance to turn them against him on the spot.

Was Liu Xixian too foolish, resulting in his own mishap and leaving him at a loss? Or were unreliable generals simply not allowed to participate in this coup?

However, if Liu Xixian were here, there would be no way to deal with him. Since he couldn't see the thief in sight, perhaps he still had a chance. So Li Ji drew his sword and shouted, "His Highness the Crown Prince is in the stable! How dare you intrude? Are you all out of your minds? Do you intend to rebel?!"

Sure enough, a commotion arose in the opposing army, but Li Xian immediately shouted, "By imperial decree, Crown Prince Li Yu is guilty of treason and should be executed. The Emperor will establish me as Crown Prince! All of you who help me quell this calamity will be richly rewarded, whether you are generals or soldiers! Whoever kills Li Yu will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold, and whoever kills Li Ji will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold! If either of them escapes, none of you will survive!"

Upon hearing this, some bold and greedy soldiers immediately charged forward, thrusting three spears at Li Ji's chest. Li Ji dodged two of them, grabbed one spear, pulled it into his robes, and then slashed down with his sword, knocking the spearman to the ground.

But then someone said, "Go inside Chongxuan Gate and fetch a long ladder..."

Li Ji thought to himself, "Useless! If you all just stacked one on top of the other, you could easily climb over the wall. Why did you need a ladder?"

Even if he went to get the ladder, it wouldn't take long. It seemed that Li Yu was doomed, and he had to consider his escape route now... Just as he was feeling anxious, he suddenly saw another team of Shence Army soldiers rush out of Chongxuan Gate, holding torches high and protecting a single rider.

Li Ji narrowed his eyes slightly and took a closer look, as if he recognized him—this was the King of Yue, wasn't he? He did look somewhat like Li Yu.

King Li Xi of Yue spurred his horse into the Flying Dragon Stable and asked loudly, "Is the Crown Prince in the stable?"

Li Xian was displeased: "Why has my elder brother come here?"

Li Xi glanced at him sideways: "Why can't I come?"

He thought to himself, "So I'm not the only one considered for the Empress's heir apparent; there's also the Sixth Prince. If the Sixth Prince kills Li Yu first, I'll probably lose the throne!"

Li Xian asked, "Shouldn't my brother go to the Right Silver Terrace Gate to eliminate Li Fuguo? Where is Li Fuguo then?"

Li Xi curled his lip: "What's so scary about that old eunuch? Let's kill Li Yu first!"

According to the Empress's faction's plan, the strongest force of the Shence Army, led by Liu Xixian, was sent to launch a surprise attack and besiege the Yingwu Army's headquarters; five hundred men were assigned to the Li faction—to send more soldiers into the palace would be too noisy and might scare away Li Fuguo—and two hundred newly-armored eunuchs were sent to surround and kill Li Yu and Li Fuguo; and another four hundred men were given to Li Xian, who was to falsely issue an imperial edict to take over the various gates.

No one expected Li Yu to suddenly decide to enter the palace through the north gate. Therefore, Li Xian traveled all the way from the west. When he arrived at Lingxiao Gate, he saw dozens of people linger at the gate for a short while before disappearing into Feilong Stable. He suspected that it was Li Yu's group, so he sent someone back to report to Empress Zhang while simultaneously searching and killing them at Chongxuan Gate.

Li Xian thought to himself, "Empress Yunyue is dull-witted and incapable of handling important matters. I was initially skeptical of being offered the position of Crown Prince—after all, there's an order of seniority." However, having been summoned to the palace, he was now on a dangerous path and couldn't disembark hastily. If he obeyed, even if he didn't secure the Crown Prince position, he could at least win the Empress's favor; if he refused, firstly, he might not be able to escape the palace alive, and even if he did manage to escape temporarily, given the Li family's character, they would surely kill him afterward…

Who would have thought I'd have the chance to capture and kill Li Yu! With this achievement, the Empress will surely be pleased, and perhaps she will even grant me the throne, bypassing the Li faction—is this a gift from Heaven? I cannot abandon it! To defy Heaven is inauspicious!

However, his thoughts were not much different from Li Xi's. Li Xi was lying in wait near the Right Silver Terrace Gate, watching from afar as Li Fuguo, surrounded by his personal guards, stood in front of the gate to await Li Yu's arrival, but he could not see the Crown Prince's mount on the left or his carriage on the right... Then he heard that Li Yu's figure had been spotted in the Flying Dragon Stable in the north of the palace.

—Li Xi has long harbored ambitions, and naturally he has also planted spies in the palace. Although they can't accomplish anything major, it's not difficult for them to keep track of Li Xian's movements.

Li Xi panicked on the spot. If the sixth prince killed Li Yu, his position as heir apparent would be unstable! He also understood that Empress Zhang hated Li Yu the most—because he blocked her son's path—not Li Fuguo. The reason she wanted to eliminate Li Fuguo first was merely to cut off Li Yu's arm. Even if he successfully killed Li Fuguo, as long as Li Yu was still alive, with his status as regent crown prince, he could either unite with court officials or summon foreign troops, and still have a chance to turn the tide, making it difficult for his family to establish an heir apparent. But if Li Yu died at Li Xian's hands, he might have to compete with the sixth prince next!

He hurriedly rose up and ordered the Shence Army to besiege Li Fuguo, while he himself led the two hundred eunuchs and rushed north to the Flying Dragon Stable to pick the peaches.

He glanced at the situation, then sneered, "You're all being held back by one person—Sixth Brother, how can you shoulder such a heavy responsibility with such cowardice? Step aside, and I'll kill Li Ji first, and then Li Yu!"

The two brothers kept shouting "Kill Li Yu!" Li Yu, who was listening in the courtyard, turned pale and burst into tears. He bowed his head and cried, "How can brothers be like this? Have I ever mistreated them? My brother's disrespect is my brother's unfriendliness. This is my fault..." He took a step forward, saying, "Enough, enough, let my brothers take my head!"

Cheng Yuanzhen and the others had to pull and drag him with great difficulty to finally hold him back.

At the gate of the courtyard, King Li Xi of Yue dismounted, drew his sword, and went to fight Li Ji.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Standing Firm with Keys

During the day, Li Ji had just returned home from his shift when he heard the news of Qingluan's abduction. He didn't even have time to change out of his official clothes before hastily riding out of Chunming Gate. So at this time, Li Ji was still dressed as a sixth-rank civil official, wearing a black gauze turban with drooping legs, a plain green silk robe with a round collar and straight sleeves, a silver belt around his waist, and black leather boots.

However, he hadn't brought the pair of iron maces that he always carried at his waist, especially not at this crucial moment.

A fierce battle broke out below Wangchun Tower, and his mount, startled, ran away—it was his own fault. He had rushed upstairs upon hearing Jingjing'er's call, hastily unsheathing his mace, without thinking to first tie the horse to a stake—even the mace in the saddlebag was nowhere to be found. Cui Qi offered to help find the horse, but Li Ji couldn't wait—he had been out for so long, and it was already dark; how could he possibly gauge the situation inside the palace?

When he finished his daytime duty, he hadn't realized the palace coup was happening that very night. But after being lured out of Chang'an by Jingjing'er and surrounded by a group of swordsmen and shieldmen, even if Li Ji was slow-witted, he would have sensed something was wrong. Between the palace coup and Qingluan, he would definitely choose Qingluan. But since Cui Qi and the others had already rescued Qingluan and were temporarily safe, Li Ji's heart instantly drifted to the palace.

So he only asked Qingluan for a mount and a broadsword—he forgot about the shield and crossbow, as he wasn't used to them—and spurred his horse onward toward the Daming Palace.

So at this moment, Li Ji was dressed in his official uniform, holding a horizontal sword. The only difference between his sword and his body was the amount of blood that was more abundant than usual.

King Li Xi of Yue, however, had come prepared. When he was summoned to the palace by Empress Zhang at dusk, he secretly brought his beloved horse and armor with him. Now, he was impeccably dressed, wearing a red-tasseled phoenix helmet and intricately patterned armor, gilded and adorned with silver, dazzling under the lamplight. In his hand was a precious sword crafted by a master artisan, a gift from his father when he was appointed commander; it was two fen wider and three cun longer than the standard military sword.

Although he had boasted to Empress Zhang, he didn't dare underestimate Li Ji too much—after all, Li Ji was renowned for his bravery, and as the saying goes, "there's no smoke without fire." But upon urging his horse closer, he saw that Li Ji was unarmored, wearing only a robe, and had been fighting fiercely for some time, half of his body covered in blood... Why not take advantage of such an easy target?

If I can seize the opportunity to kill Li Ji, the hundreds of Shence and eunuchs here will surely fear and respect me as if I were a god. Then, would the sixth prince still dare to compete with me for the throne?

In any case, I am a descendant of Emperor Taizong, born with a destiny bestowed upon me. Since being appointed commander last year, I have invited renowned teachers and diligently practiced martial arts. How could I possibly be unable to defeat a mere Li Ji?

So he dismounted—firstly because the place was cramped and the horse couldn't run fast enough, and secondly because... he wasn't yet proficient in mounted combat—and parted the soldiers, brandishing his sword to fight Li Ji.

Li Ji kept a close eye on Li Xi, secretly on guard.

Li Xi strode forward and shouted, "Li Ji, do you dare to raise your sword against a prince? Death penalty!" He gripped the sword with both hands and viciously unleashed a "Splitting Mount Hua" move, slashing down on Li Ji's head.

Li Ji blocked with his sword, and with a clang, the sword broke.

Firstly, Li Ji was physically fit, with broad shoulders, a thick waist, and considerable strength. Secondly, he wielded a precious sword made of fine steel, whose sharpness and sturdiness far surpassed that of ordinary military swords. Furthermore, Li Ji had already been fighting fiercely for some time, killing more than a dozen people, and his sword already had cracks.

That's the logic, but the sudden breakage of his weapon during the fierce battle was completely unexpected for Li Ji. He had to bend his left leg and kneel on the ground, both to deflect the enemy's attack and to dodge the flying broken blade.

Exclamations of surprise arose both inside and outside the government office.

Li Xi's ability to gain the upper hand in a single move was also unexpected. Inside the courtyard, Li Yu thought to himself that his life was over, while outside, Li Xian lamented that he had no chance of becoming the heir apparent... When did the second son develop such skills? He could even defeat the dignified Li Erlang, the commander of the Imperial Guard? He truly "played dumb to fool the enemy"; everyone had underestimated him before...

Li Xi was overjoyed. He didn't think Li Ji was really unworthy of his reputation or too weak. Instead, he felt that he was indeed powerful and invincible, and deserved to be called the supreme one! So he slightly withdrew his sword and then slashed down again, determined to cut Li Ji in two.

Li Ji rolled away, barely dodging the attack; Li Xi slashed the ground with his sword, then stepped forward and unleashed a third strike.

Li Ji appeared to be hiding in a rather disheveled state, but it was actually a ruse to lure the enemy. He felt that the situation was extremely unfavorable to his side, and the only way to break the deadlock was to capture the enemy's leader; however, Prince Yan, Li Xian, kept hiding in the back, not giving him the slightest chance. Fortunately, Prince Yue, Li Xi, was a fool and dared to rush forward.

However, Li Xi was ultimately clad in armor and wielding a precious sword. If he couldn't defeat Li Xi in one move and Li Xi retreated even slightly, there were still so many Shence soldiers behind him who could provide cover and help him reclaim the enemy. But if he missed this opportunity, even if Li Xi was completely out of his mind, he probably wouldn't dare to charge forward a second time.

In addition, Li Xi's precious sword was indeed powerful, and Li Ji's weapon was broken, and the break was quite low, with less than two inches of the broken blade remaining on the guard of his sword—less than a dagger! Since he had no armor and no shield, how could he dare to risk using his own flesh to withstand the attack?