It doesn't matter what the lord is.

"I heard that if you make a wish during a fireworks display, it will definitely come true."

"Hey~ Then we will be together forever."

"Okay~"

"Baby~"

"My dear~"

The two of them walked away together. Not only this couple, but also the people around were talking about this year's fireworks festival. It seemed that everyone in the capital knew about it and was looking forward to it. I just stuffed the last piece of bread into my mouth, patted the biscuit crumbs left on my hands and sleeves, and said to Alaiya:

"Shall we go over there too?"

Alayya nodded and said:

"it is good."

Bai Huang asked:

"Do you have any wishes this year? I just heard someone say that if you make a wish during a fireworks display, it will come true."

"If it were really that magical, the capital would have been setting off fireworks every day."

I smiled and muttered something, then took the three of them to watch the fireworks.

As the sky darkened, a gorgeous firework bloomed in the night sky.

The lights are flickering, and the sky is full of fireworks.

I looked up and silently watched the sky. I didn't pray for anything, but simply watched the fireworks, enjoying the feeling of watching fireworks with girls. Because the crowd was a bit crowded, Alayya and Bai Huang were on my left and right, so who would have the mood to think?

I watched the fireworks silently and couldn't help thinking, it would be great if times like this could last forever.

I had only thought for less than five seconds when I heard the sound of horse hooves trampling behind me. Looking back, I saw many soldiers in military uniforms riding tall horses, galloping on the bluestone road, shouting at the same time:

"Please all the city lords return to Xuanqing Palace immediately! I repeat, the city lords who are still outside, please return to Xuanqing Palace immediately! City lords who have not returned after an hour will be treated as treason! Guards, seal the city gates, and don't let anyone out!!"

56. Changes in the Palace

“I repeat, all city lords and guards, please return to Xuanqing Palace immediately! Those who do not return within an hour, unless there is a special reason, will be treated as treason! Others are not allowed to make noise, and the fireworks display will proceed as normal! Get out of the way, and don’t block the way!!”

The soldiers naturally couldn't tell who was the city lord and who was not, so they just rode past on horseback, yelling at the top of their lungs.

——Plotting treason.

When these two words reached my ears, I frowned slightly.

In my impression, whenever these two words are mentioned, nothing good will happen next. And to put such heavy words on the city lord, the dog king must be really crazy. Unreasonable suspicion and detention of the city lord will definitely be an important reason for the various territories to rise up in the future. Or is he determined to prepare for the war and intend to catch the most promising heirs of each territory first? Isn't this courting death?

Bai Huang looked at me, his eyes full of doubt:

"Lid, what happened?"

I shook my head:

"I don't know. I need to see the king to understand why he gave such a strange order."

Bai Huang looked at the fireworks in the sky reluctantly and asked me:

"Then do we want to go back?"

He Ji was afraid that Bai Huang would disobey the king's order again, so he hurriedly said:

"Go back, young lady. Once it is really linked to treason, the situation will be very difficult to deal with."

Bai Huang retorted angrily:

"We haven't done anything bad, so why can't we watch the fireworks? We have nothing to feel guilty about! Lid, don't you agree?"

I guess Miss Bai Huang is angry and cannot be persuaded by ordinary methods, so I said:

"Yes. But this matter is somewhat strange. There might be some changes in the palace. If you are not here, those good-for-nothings alone may not be able to handle this strange situation."

“Oh, I see…”

Bai Huang nodded and continued:

"Then there is nothing we can do. Since Lid has said so, I, Bai Huang, will try to pull myself together and exert 1% of my strength to demonstrate to you my ability to defeat ten opponents with my own strength. Let's go back!"

Heggie breathed a sigh of relief and hurried after him.

I also took Alayya, Bai Huang and the others back with me.

When the four of us arrived at Xuanqing Palace, the strange atmosphere was almost overwhelming. None of the city lords stayed in the room, all of them stood in the corridor. Some gathered in the middle of the corridor, some leaned against the wall of the corridor, discussing something with each other. After Bai Huang and I arrived, everyone's eyes suddenly focused on the two of us, and after a few seconds they looked away again and started discussing something else.

The guards surrounded the Xuanqing Palace, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. But so far, there had been no clear conflict between the city lord and the royal family's lackeys, and the guards were very tolerant, and they would not let anyone go even if they were beaten or scolded, and would not answer any questions.

It was not until midnight that the news came.

At that time, Bai Huang and I were playing Go in the room with the mentality of making the best of it. Bai Huang was a little uneasy, and after losing three games in a row, he was so angry that he kept hitting me on the head with a pillow. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Alayya went to open the door and found Fang Yuan standing at the door, looking at me anxiously.

Seeing me playing chess with Bai Huang, Fang Yuan stamped his feet anxiously. He tried to rush in with his round body, but was stopped mercilessly by He Ji. Fang Yuan put his fat hand on He Ji's horizontal arm and shouted to me:

"Boss, Boss! Ouch... Are you still in the mood to play chess? Something has happened, something terrible has happened!"

I smiled and asked:

"What's the big deal?"

Fang Yuan said anxiously:

"News came from outside that His Majesty the King was assassinated and is now dying! The royal doctor is still trying to save him. His Majesty the King has woken up and ordered an immediate and strict investigation of the murderer. He said that if the murderer is not found, all the people under him will lose their heads! Kaiya, Noren, and your eldest brother Liyi took the opportunity to throw dirty water on you, saying everywhere that you and His Majesty the King have a grudge, and that you must be related to this assassination. Now many city lords believe it and are asking the guards to arrest you and clear their name!"

Bai Huang jumped off the bed and stamped his feet angrily:

"Damn it, is this something a human would do? So Li De should take the blame, right? Get out of the way, I, Bai Huang, will go and settle the score with them. They are so eager to pass on the blame right away, those people are not good people either!"

My attention was not on the second half of the sentence at all, but I was shocked by the first sentence.

The king was assassinated? Dying?

Who did it, Qingyun?

The Jinyiwei masters around the king are all above the ninth level. Such a configuration can directly wipe out the king's capital. Except Qingyun, who can assassinate the king with so many people?

I didn't have much time to react. After just a few seconds, I heard the sound of armor rubbing against each other. Many footsteps echoed in the corridor, and many people rushed in at once. They were all wearing armor, just like the Imperial Guards. There was no friendliness in their eyes. As soon as they saw us, they pointed their guns at us.

Afterwards, the imperial guards made way for him, and a familiar-looking figure slowly walked in.

It was the commander of the imperial guards who I had met once at the banquet. At this moment, he stood in front of us and asked loudly:

"Which one is Lid?"

Just like an elementary school student raising his hand to answer a question, Li Yi appeared from behind the commander of the imperial guards, pointed at me and said loudly:

"That man! That man is the murderer of the king!"

...You are such a little genius.

I was too lazy to look at Li Yi, but looked at the commander of the Royal Guards and asked:

"I'm Lid, what's going on?"

The commander of the guards looked into my eyes without any emotion and replied:

"We have received a report that you are suspected of assassinating His Majesty the King. There is no evidence for this, but the situation is urgent. We hope you can cooperate with our investigation. If it is found that you are wrongly accused, the Royal Guards will apologize to you."

I also stared into his eyes and said word by word:

"I can investigate, but I want to see His Majesty. According to the laws of the Kingdom of Eternal Heaven, the king's royal decree is required to detain the city lord of another territory. Otherwise, the city lord has the right to make a statement to His Majesty in person."

The commander of the Royal Guards frowned and said:

"It's not that I won't take you to see His Majesty, but now... no one can see His Majesty."

Shit, the dog king is dead???

The commander of the Royal Guards obviously noticed the shock and a little bit of smugness on my face. I don't know if he guessed what I was thinking, but he patiently explained:

"The palace is divided into the inner hall and the outer hall. The outer hall includes many types, such as the Xuanqing Hall, which is one of the outer halls. It is used for entertaining guests, so you can enter and exit freely. But the inner hall is similar to a bedroom. No one is allowed to enter or exit except His Majesty the King, the Queen, the concubines, the princes and princesses. The guards can only wait outside, and the Jinyiwei are not allowed to approach unless there are special circumstances. Your Majesty stays in the inner hall now, and let us find the murderer. Unless this request is completed, I have no right to take you in to see His Majesty."

57. Tit for tat

If you want to see the king, you must find the murderer first.

But without seeing the king, it would be hard for me to figure out the situation, let alone find the murderer.

Plus, Li Yi and his people followed suit, and the whole situation became complicated. If I couldn't find a breakthrough quickly, I would probably have to follow the guards to the prison today, and if I encountered any unexpected situation there, I would be completely powerless to save the situation.

"Since the king is staying in the inner palace to recover from his injuries, how did this order reach you?"

I asked the commander of the Royal Guards.

The Commander of the Guards said:

"Your Majesty's bedroom has a maid who is responsible for delivering messages. She brought the news outside."

I continued to ask:

"Where was the king assassinated and where was he injured? There are so many masters in the Jinyiwei, it is impossible for them to be knocked down without a sound. My maid and I, one of us does not know martial arts, and the other is only at the fifth level of swordsmanship, how could we do such a thing?"

The commander of the Royal Guards remained silent.

Li Yi saw that the situation was not good, and hurriedly shouted:

"You have a grudge against His Majesty the King, so you used your status as the city lord to get close to His Majesty and wait for an opportunity to assassinate him!"

I sneered:

"You are so smart, and everyone else is stupid? The whole world knows that there is a grudge between His Majesty the King and me, but His Majesty has no defense against me? Are the masters of the Royal Guard deaf or blind to allow me to walk away so brazenly after the assassination? Besides, when His Majesty was assassinated, Alayya, Bai Huang, Heji and I were strolling in the downtown area and bought a lot of things. The merchants there can all testify to this. Could it be that I can also clone myself?"

The commander of the Imperial Guards looked back at Li Yi, then turned to me and said:

"We, the Imperial Guards, don't know the details of the assassination attempt on His Majesty. When we received the order, His Majesty was already lying in the inner hall recovering from his wounds. Now it's important to investigate the murderer. Do you have to see His Majesty before you are willing to go with us?"

I nodded.

The commander of the Royal Guards no longer insisted and said:

"No problem. Come, take down his guards for me!"

I raised my hand to block Alayya and shouted coldly:

"Let's see who dares to move!"

The commander of the Royal Guards put his hand on the hilt of the black cross sword at his waist and took a half step forward. He was half a head taller than me, looked down at me, and said coldly:

"Lord Lide, we are interrogating your guards instead. We have given you great face. I hope you can cooperate."

I sneered and said:

"Cooperate? At the beginning, they said that because of concerns about the king's safety, each city lord was only allowed to bring one guard to the capital. My guard is Alayya. Now you have detained her. Who will guarantee my safety? You detained my guard today. Can you detain the guards of other city lords tomorrow? Disarm all the city lords and leave them without any power to resist. Is this what your guards do? Or is this what His Majesty the King wants to do?"

The commander of the Royal Guards frowned and said angrily:

"Nonsense, the Guards will ensure your safety!"

I said disdainfully:

"What guarantees can they make? I'm telling you today that Alaiya and I are one and the same. I can't live without her! Once I'm more than ten meters away from her, I'll become autistic; if I can't see her for three seconds, I'll die of depression. You might as well just kill me instead of asking a bunch of grown men to take care of me. Come on! I'm giving you this chance. Aren't you ready to draw your sword? Do it now and chop off my head and that's it. What's wrong? Didn't you hear me?!"

The air was buzzing.

Bai Huang stood beside me silently, staring at the commander of the Imperial Guards.

If he still doesn't give in, there's nothing we can do.

I hate to leave my fate in other people's hands. If Alaya falls into their hands, I can't guarantee that they will interrogate her like a gentleman. They might just accuse her of assassinating the king and then hand her over in a hasty manner.

After all, in their eyes, no matter how humble I am, I am still a city lord, but Alayya is really just an ordinary person who can be sacrificed at any time. They will not feel any guilt in attacking Alayya.

But I don't agree.

This is something that cannot be compromised. If you insist, then let's fight. Anyway, the capital is in chaos now. At worst, I can just fight my way out and escape. As long as that uncle Qingyun, who is a master of the tenth level of swordsmanship, doesn't stop me personally, the guards alone can't stop me and Alayya.

Thinking about the worst outcome in my mind, I stared at the commander of the Royal Guards, silently feeling the tense atmosphere.

Finally, the man in front of him sighed, loosened his grip on the hilt, and let it fall to his side.

He frowned and said:

"The Royal Guards naturally have no intention of harming the city lords, and His Majesty the King has no such plan either. But now the murderer must be investigated. According to the imperial physician, His Majesty is now extremely angry. If the murderer cannot be found as soon as possible, it is very likely that..."

He didn't finish his words, and a hint of annoyance appeared in his calm expression.