Bastard's Counterattack [Rebirth]

"The assassin's whereabouts were revealed in the rockery behind the East Taige, killing the eunuch on duty at night, and then fled. According to eyewitnesses, there are five masked assassins, all of whom are highly skilled in martial arts. Two of them carry burdens, and the possibility of stealing treasures cannot be ruled out! The messenger was panting, his face was white and his head was sweating profusely.

The commander of the imperial army, Cao Liqun raised eyebrows and asked sharply, "Five masked assassins? Where are they now?"

"The brothers along the way immediately rounded up as soon as they received a call for help, but the assassins seemed to be very familiar with the imperial palace, and they were extremely cunning. Two jumped over the wall near Nan'an Gate and entered the harem, and the other three were fleeing to Qianming Palace."

"what?"

Cao Liqun gasped, and yelled angrily: "You bastard! There are so many guards guarding the road, but you can't stop five assassins? Let them escape into the harem and flee to Qianming Palace?"

"I know my mistakes in my humble position, I beg the commander to calm down—"

"Calm down! If something happens tonight, we can't even think about living. Let's wash our necks and wait for death!" Cao Liqun turned around and rushed forward with a dark face, and said decisively: "Xue Zheng, you are responsible for hunting down the harem assassins, and the rest Follow me to Qianming Palace to escort you!"

"Yes!"

At the same time, the front of Qianming Palace has become a mess.

"stop!"

"Without decree and decree, no one is allowed to step into Qianming Palace!" Zhuo Kai brazenly drew his sword, and led his men to forcefully block the gate of the palace.

The eldest prince put his hands behind his back and asked loudly: "Under the watchful eyes of everyone, assassins break into Qianming Palace as if they are in no one's land. You keep defending the palace, but you can't even stop the assassins. What are you doing? It's just trash!"

"Your Highness, please calm down. The humble officials and others are closely guarding the Qianming Palace. Although they heard shouts of 'catch the assassin' outside, they haven't found any clues here. Why do some people insist—"

The eldest prince glared at him, and interrupted aggressively: "You are negligent in your duties, and you still have the face to argue? Since someone points out that the assassin fled into Qianming Palace, for His Majesty's safety, shouldn't there be an early search? In case of disturbing the holy car or even assassinating, who will be responsible? "

Zhuo Kai was full of doubts, and replied neither humble nor overbearing: "When the situation settles down, I will be guilty of my humble position. Please be safe, Your Majesty, the Imperial Army is doing its best to search for it. The assassin who trespassed in the palace will undoubtedly die. You are a prince, how can you put yourself in danger? Moreover, I have already sent people to quickly report to His Royal Highness King Rui and Fifth Highness—"

"What are you? Are you worthy of commanding His Highness?"

The eldest prince was furious immediately, his eyes were cold, he felt contemptuous and contemptuous, as if he had suffered a great humiliation, his fists were clenched and his veins were raised, he wished he could tear him to pieces on the spot!

Zhuo Kai hurriedly explained: "You have misunderstood. The humble official knows his humbleness, so how dare he order the prince? But there is no order and no edict. Please forgive the humble official who cannot give in according to the law."

The eldest prince ran out of patience and asked impassionedly: "This is His Majesty's bedroom, and now the assassin has broken into it. You don't hurry to arrest the assassin, but only obstruct my Highness's rescue and escort. What is your intention? Could it be that you put the assassin in on purpose? "

"No way!"

Help?Escort?

According to recent secret observations, His Majesty may have passed away, but it has not been announced to the world - I, an outsider, can guess that you are the eldest son of the emperor, how could you not know?Leading the crowd to forcibly break into the emperor's bedroom tonight, what do you want to do?

The two sides confronted each other, and the imperial army was overwhelmingly supporting the eldest prince, and their swords were on the verge of breaking out.

Zhuo Kai is single and weak, the more he thinks about it, the more frightened he becomes!However, before he tried to mediate, the eldest prince issued an order:

"You have all seen that this person tried his best to obstruct the rescue, and clearly colluded with the assassin. He has ulterior motives and should be punished for his crime! Listen up, everyone, your chance to perform meritorious deeds has come, go! Kill the assassin and protect His Majesty!"

The eldest prince waved his hand with a blank expression on his face, and the guards around him drew their knives and gritted their teeth to attack the palace gate.

"stop!"

"Are you crazy?" Zhuo Kai was startled, and was forced to swing his knife at his comrades, and there was danger everywhere.Soon, people were stabbed or fell down, blood was splashed everywhere, and there was chaos.

King Rui, the Fifth Prince and the others rushed to the scene, and without knowing it, they mistakenly thought that the imperial army was fighting with the assassins, so they shouted repeatedly before they could stand still:

"Defend Qianming Palace! Try to capture the assassin alive!"

"Where is Commander Cao? Hurry up and call him." As soon as King Rui finished speaking, he ran a few steps, saw the eldest brother who appeared suddenly, and immediately became suspicious, stopped in a hurry and grabbed his younger brother.

"Elder, elder brother?" The fifth prince was out of breath, and he came back to his senses after being shocked, and preemptively asked: "The palace gate has already been locked, and there is no order in the middle of the night, how dare you ask how elder brother entered the palace?"

"Where is the assassin? Who told the imperial army to kill each other?" King Rui asked sternly, staring straight at his elder brother.

The eldest prince was so excited that his cheeks were flushed, he squinted at his siblings, and said coldly: "Fourth brother, fifth brother, the safety of the father is the most important thing. After the assassin is taken down, I will talk to you in detail."

"Don't stop now? Are you against you? Those who resist orders are considered treason!" The fifth prince shouted.

However, the fierce fighting continued, and Zhuo Kai and his companions were unable to resist, and retreated steadily.In the midst of rage, Zhuo Kai yelled: "His Royal Highness King Rui and Fifth Highness, please take care of yourself. Forgive your humble and incompetent position. I'm afraid I'm going to die at the gate of Qianming Palace tonight!"

another part of the palace

In the stillness of the night, Cao Liqun was so anxious that he led his men to rescue Qianming Palace.

Suddenly, when crossing a threshold, there was a slight "poof" in the wind, and then Cao Liqun's neck felt cold, and he lowered his head in surprise. The cavity shot up to the sky, the body shook, then collapsed and then fell down, blood spattered three feet.

"what--"

"My lord? My lord?"

"Commander Cao?"

"Assassin, assassin? Catch the assassin!"

The commander was attacked and killed, and the rest were scared out of their wits. No one gave orders, and they were in a mess all of a sudden.

At this moment, the Northern Camp was far away in the northern outskirts of the capital. After nightfall, except for the soldiers who were patrolling conscientiously, the rest of the soldiers had already fallen asleep.

Zhao Zeyong raised his eyes and looked at the blazing tung oil pot standing on the four corners of the camp. He felt at ease—a person who has fought for many years must have elite soldiers and generals under his command. For him, the Northern Camp is far safer than the imperial palace. , so he chose to personally inspect the military situation first.

The night was like water, the horseshoes were removed and wrapped in cloth, and the ground was light. The group gradually approached the gate of the camp, generously revealing their whereabouts to the watchtower guards.

Wearing casual clothes, Zhao Zeyong controlled the horse with one arm, dismounted and walked in front of the camp gate. Unsurprisingly, he was asked from a distance:

"Stop! Trespassing is strictly prohibited in the northern camp."

"Who are you? Report your name immediately!"

With a smile on his face, Xie Ting hurriedly walked for a while, lowered his voice and said helplessly: "Little bastards, His Highness has returned triumphantly, why don't you open the door soon?"

"Thank you, thank you——" The little head of the guard was very pleasantly surprised. He probed his head to look at the commander in chief and the personal guard camp who walked into the fire zone. When he happily shouted "Congratulations to Your Highness on his triumphant return", Zhao Zeyong stopped him in a low voice:

"Excuse me, don't make a fuss."

"Uh... yes!"

"Where is Deputy General Guo?"

"In the barracks."

Zhao Zeyong nodded, and said: "Continue to guard the gate of the camp without any mistakes."

"Yes!" The guards could be said to be elated, and they got rid of the torment of the rumors of "the prince died in battle" that had been circulating for a long time.

Zhao Zeyong strode with his head held high, imposing like a rainbow, met many subordinates on his way, stopped from time to time to express his condolences, walked to Guo Da's barracks, pushed the door and entered.

next moment

"Who?!"

The vigilant Guo Da was awakened, jumped up, and instinctively drew his sword. After opening his sleepy eyes, he was so frightened that he stared blankly in place.

"Xiao Er," Zhao Zeyong sat down, poured tea by himself, and said with a smile, "Did you get sleepy?"

"cousin?"

"It's really you!"

"I thought I was dreaming. You, why did you come back suddenly? You didn't even say hello! Alas, none of the people I sent to the northwest came back. I was so worried that I was about to die. I really wanted to find out in person, but it's a pity. Such a big stall in Beiying can’t be left behind, I’m really anxious to death.” Guo Da was ecstatic, put the knife back on the bed, ran barefoot, threw himself in front of his cousin and looked around, and at the end, there was a hint of crying.

Zhao Zeyong patted his cousin on the shoulder to appease him, and asked slowly: "There are also rumors in the capital that I lost to the enemy and died?"

"That's right! Rumors are flying all over the sky, and people are in panic." Guo Da sniffed hard, kissed his cousin intimately, poured out bitterness, and couldn't wait to tell: "After the crown prince went out, some people made a mess. King Guangping was killed, and His Highness the Seventh Prince and I also Almost died in Nanshan. Then the plague broke out, Brother Rong was half forced and half voluntary, volunteered to rescue the disaster, and took risks to protect the reputation of the two of you. There are countless troubles, most of which are man-made, with the intention of bringing chaos to Kyoto! King Rui His Highness and Fifth Highness sit in the imperial palace and ordered Beiying to be on standby at all times, brothers dare not close their eyes completely at night, as if they are so tired."

"Thank you for your hard work." Zhao Zeyong sighed.

"It doesn't matter the hard work, but since we lost contact with you, we have been flustered and suffering." Guo Da let out a long breath and sighed sincerely: "Thanks to the prince's safe and triumphant return! Otherwise, the world would be in chaos."

Zhao Zeyong was about to speak, but he heard the guard outside the door saying: "His Royal Highness, Vice General Liu, General Ling Can and others are asking to see you."

"pass."

"It must be someone who came to inquire about the news. If you show your face, the brothers will be at ease." Guo Da raised his sleeve and pressed his eyes.

really!

Some of the seven or eight generals served tea, some held hot water, and none of them was empty-handed. When they saw the commander sitting peacefully, they almost wept with joy.

"The final general welcomes His Royal Highness to triumph!"

"Congratulations, Your Highness!"

Zhao Zeyong raised his hand to help him: "Get up, everyone."

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Guo Da was in a great mood, and said with a smile: "Stop crying, shame on you! Let His Highness clean up the dust first, and quickly ask the kitchen to set up a few tables of meals to feed the brothers who have come back to Beijing from afar."

The generals were all smiles, they were in a hurry, and ran happily to make arrangements: They fully supported the third son of the emperor, if Zhao Zeyong was canonized as the prince but missed the throne, the official career of the relevant old department would be ruined, it can be said that there is no fear.

After a lively moment, the guards announced again: "His Royal Highness, Qin Shaogang is asking to see you!"

Zhao Zeyong said patiently, "Biography."

"Haha, let's find out again, I won't be able to sleep if I don't figure it out." Guo Da slapped his thigh, and his colleagues nodded in agreement.

But Qin Shaogang was so anxious that he didn't even have time to congratulate the crown prince on his triumphant return. He put his seal on both hands and told him nervously:

"His Royal Highness, the last general is in charge of patrolling the camp tonight, and just now he received an urgent report from the guards of the Prince's Mansion. The other party held the personal seal of Lord Dingbei, saying that assassins broke into the palace at night and killed innocent people indiscriminately. It is extremely urgent. Please send troops to quell the chaos immediately." !"