C142 – The Emperor Is Very Very Interested!
After drinking quite a bit at night, Zuo Shaoqing felt suffocated just by sitting there for a while. Then, he found attendant to lead the way. The Peony Garden was located at the back of the Jiang’s Mansion, a distance away from the latrine.
attendant, who was leading the way with a lantern in his hand, slightly bowed. His attitude became extremely respectful when he saw that his subordinate had dared to casually kick a court official.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com
If he offended this old man, he would be crushed like an ant. Moreover, from the looks of the situation just now, the Jiang Zuo family and Jiang Zuo would soon become relatives.
As the latrine was a bit far, he was afraid that Third Master Zuo wouldn’t be able to hold it in. He picked a convenient path and walked for a while. Then, he heard some movement from the flower beds on both sides of the path.
attendant thought that since it was another midnight rendezvous between a pair of wild mandarin ducks, he did not mind at all. However, he heard the tall man shout: “Who’s there? Come out!”
Yinyi immediately pulled Zuo Shaoqing behind him, vigilantly staring at a part of the garden. Zuo Shaoqing didn’t dare to be careless, and secretly touched his belt.
It was the most suitable weapon that Lu Zheng had mentioned before. Zuo Shaoqing didn’t even know what it was when he got it. It was thin, soft, but extremely sharp.
After Lu Zheng’s demonstration later on, he found out that it was a flexible sword. Lu Zheng was very meticulous and had customized a variety of waist seals so that he could hide the flexible sword inside the waist seals.
attendant saw that the two grandfathers looked as if they were facing a great enemy. He snickered and said to the flower beds, “Who’s inside. Hurry up and apologize to the two grandfathers!”
A few more rustling sounds came from the flower beds, and then two figures stumbled out.
But... When Zuo Shaoqing saw the two’s faces, he instantly coughed unnaturally.
There was no other reason. The ones hiding here were actually two men, and judging from their messy clothes, it was obvious that they had done something shameful.
Although attendant was suspicious as to why he had never seen these two servants before, he was agitated by the matter of the two men together and didn’t think much about it.
There was a good manly young master in the Jiang’s Mansion, so naturally, he would have to accept this kind of situation. attendant only lectured the two, “Hurry up and apologize to the two lords. Will you be able to take on my honored guest?”
The two people walked over with their heads down and waists down, looking like they were going to kneel down. However, just when the three let their guard down, the two people suddenly jumped up, took out a sharp sword from their sleeves and stabbed towards Zuo Shaoqing.
Zuo Shaoqing stood behind Yinyi. His first attack was successfully neutralized by Yinyi, but the two swords also separated him from Yinyi.
Zuo Shaoqing could tell that they were not kind people from their skill and eyes, so he quickly took out his flexible sword to meet the enemy.
“The royal guard?” Yinyi’s face completely darkened. He was Lu Zheng’s confidant and naturally knew that the fourth prince had made a move, but he was not sure that these two were sent by the fourth prince.
Yinyi’s kung fu was obviously much higher than that assassin’s, and he quickly gained the upper hand. Although Zuo Shaoqing was not as good as him, but he could still protect himself, and was currently fighting against one of the assassins.
However, just as Yinyi was about to win, a few rays of cold light flashed in the flower beds on both sides. In the blink of an eye, a dozen or so black-clothed men drilled out.
Yinyi did not dare to be careless. He slapped his palm heavily on the assassin’s chest, snatched the sword from his hand and approached Zuo Shaoqing.
The two of them had their backs to each other, confronting the dozen black-clothed men with serious expressions on their faces.
The Jiang’s Mansion’s attendant was stunned by the chain of events. After a long while, he raised his voice and shouted: “Someone come...”
A sword blade slashed across his neck, instantly stopping his scream. attendant’s body twitched a few times and then fell to the ground without a sound.
“Yes.”
Lu Zheng turned his head, scanned his surroundings, and said loudly: “Those who are afraid of death, retreat first, don’t be so scared that you can’t even hold your sword steadily, and harm yourself and others!”
Janissary Guard was a descendant of a noble family and most of them had never seen blood before, but he had quite a bit of pride. After being mocked by Lu Zheng, their faces immediately turned red.
“We will protect the Imperial City with our lives!” It was unknown who shouted first, but then the entire palace’s Janissary Guard responded loudly.
Lu Zheng looked at Janissary Guard, who looked a bit more spirited than before, and felt a little satisfied. He then followed the attendant to the imperial study room.
In the imperial study, Zhan Yuanfeng wasn’t sitting on the dragon throne, but sitting cross-legged on the soft couch at the side. Before him was an unfinished game of chess.
Lu Zheng walked into the imperial study unhindered. When he saw Zhan Yuanfeng, he couldn’t help but mock him, “Your Majesty, you’re in a good mood!”
Zhan Yuanfeng rubbed his chin, waved his hand and messed up the game of chess. He got up and said with a smile, “It looks like our beloved official has a way. I was just thinking about how to improve Janissary Guard’s morale.” Even Zhan Yuanfeng heard the cataclysmic sound of the horn.
There were still several ministers standing in the study room. When it came to court, not a single one of them was the head of the six courts. However, a few of them had a blank look on their faces, clearly not knowing what had happened.
“Janissary Guard has a total of ten thousand guards, but the Nine Guards have thirty thousand. This palace is very hard to defend!” As Lu Zheng spoke the truth, the officials who were listening broke out in a cold sweat.
Those who were able to reach the second rank were not idiots. Just two short sentences were enough for them to understand the seriousness of the situation.
Moreover, they had just seen the changes within the Imperial City. After making a few guesses, it wasn’t difficult for them to guess the truth of the matter.
It was still fine during the day, but the imperial palace was already on guard at night. Thus, it was definitely not an invasion by a foreign enemy. It could only be internal rebellion.
As for the remaining princes of the late emperor, other than Prince Ruiqing, who had matured into an adult, the rest of them were still brats. Other than Prince Ruiqing and the others, they could not think of anyone else.
However, he had never expected that the fourth prince, who had always been an uninterested and uninterested painter, would also have such ambitions. Moreover, he had managed to capture the Nine Guards of the capital at some point in time.
“Your majesty, forgive me for being caught off guard, but I didn’t know when that Xu Ze had a rebellious heart.”
Chief Shang took a step forward and said in a clear voice, “Commander Xu is the nephew of Grand Concubine Xu. Back then, he was highly regarded by the late emperor, and he never expected to step on this rebellious path. This subject believes that His Majesty’s safety is the heaviest right now.” He didn’t forget to look at Lu Zheng deeply after saying that.
Everyone understood what he meant. Ten thousand soldiers and horses from the capital’s military camp and Duke Zhen’s army guarding the outskirts of the capital were enough to fight against the Nine Guards of the capital.
Lu Zheng was a heavy soldier, but there were only 10,000 soldiers left in the vicinity of the capital. Firstly, it was a waste to leave a large number of soldiers and horses here, and secondly, it was to not arouse the fear of the officials.
Zhan Yuanfeng didn’t make a decision immediately, because he still couldn’t guarantee that the men of the capital’s military camp wouldn’t be bought by Prince Ruiqing.
Just as he was weighing the pros and cons, Chief Janissary Guard brought an urgent report, “Reporting to the Emperor, the rebel army has surrounded the palace.”
“How many people are there?”
“It doesn’t look to be below ten thousand.”
Zhan Yuanfeng glanced at the ministers, decisively took out a military token from the secret compartment and handed it over to Lu Zheng cautiously. “My love, I have given the commanding authority of the capital’s military camp to you. If anyone disagrees, kill him on the spot!”
“This official obeys the decree!”