In Chang'an City, even ordinary people began to feel that the atmosphere was a little strange. The first is that the funeral of the former emperor Liu Yutong has not been held for a long time, although the daily life is as usual, but the city gate is closed an hour earlier than before, and opened an hour later, the forbidden army in the city has joined the patrol to maintain daily security, and the envoys sent from the imperial city to the outside of the city have obviously become much more frequent.

The reason for all this is because of Liu Qian's southward journey. Since receiving the report from Hezhong Mansion, Liu Yan's spirit has been greatly impacted. Unexpectedly, this rumor turned out to be a reality, and his own uncle actually rebelled! Although Liu Qian's cavalry retreated, he dared to mobilize troops without the emperor's edict, which in itself was a crime of great rebellion, coupled with the previous rumors, Liu Yan had to consider what his uncle's true purpose was. Fortunately, with the queen's arrangement, all places have made preparations, but the guards everywhere are bound to face a difficult choice - whether the behavior of the emperor's uncle Liu Qian is the king of Qin or a rebellion, and whether he can go to war with him? This is actually the choice that Liu Yan himself has to face.

Should I announce Liu Qian's rebellion? If it is announced, no matter what the victory or defeat, the strength of the clan will inevitably suffer a huge blow, which will be in the hands of the Empress Dowager Li; However, if the charge of rebellion is not determined for a long time, and if some of the guards in various places hesitate to cooperate with Liu Qian, then not only will the number of rebels expand rapidly, but it may even threaten the safety of the Beijing Division, after all, the strength of the Beijing Division is less than 50,000 people. When Liu Yan was entangled and wanted to enter the harem to ask the queen after finishing the government affairs at hand, the news of the drum tower fire suddenly came!

The fire in the drum tower is not trivial, and the key is not its loss. It's about how messy it can be. Morning bells and dusk drums, if there is no drum tower. The signal of the night curfew is gone, and more importantly, the drum tower is the most familiar landmark building in Chang'an City. The fire there will undoubtedly cause great uneasiness in the hearts of the people. Liu Yan ordered a part of the forbidden army to be set aside to help put out the fire, and at the same time, he himself walked out of the main hall and looked in the direction of the drum tower.

Sure enough, although the sky was not completely dark, the fire in the drum tower could already illuminate the sky. Liu Yan was so anxious that he kept telling the eunuchs around him to go and find out the news. News came from outside the imperial city that not only did the forbidden army join the ranks of fighting the fire, but even some dignitaries sent their families to help fight the fire. However, the fire extinguishing operation did not go smoothly, and by the time of the shift, the fire was not controlled, but also some surrounding houses were damaged. Liu Yan really couldn't sit still this time. His hands kept rubbing, looking at the direction of the drum tower and pacing back and forth.

Ji Chonghai, who was standing on the side, hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, please relax, such a fire will definitely make the people of the whole city unite to fight the fire together, and it will be no big problem." ”

Liu Yan wanted to refute, but thinking that Ji Chonghai's words were also to make himself feel relieved, and it was not good to say anything. At this moment, Wu Sicheng hurried over with dozens of guards, his face scorched and out of breath immediately made Liu Yan have a bad premonition.

"What's so flustered?" Liu Yan asked.

Wu Sicheng finally gasped for breath. Said: "Your Majesty, Weichen also participated in the firefighting, but Weichen found that something was wrong. ”

"Nonsense, I haven't put out the fire for so long. What's the right place? ”

"The emperor forgives the sin, what Weichen said is not this. The surrounding houses were all destroyed by fire, but today it was a west wind. ”

A sentence woke up Liu Yan. Today is a westerly wind. Then it should be that the houses on the east side of the drum tower were lit by fire, where is the reason why the surrounding houses have been affected? Immediately, he said, "You mean someone deliberately set the fire?" ”

"Exactly. Weichen saw that many forbidden soldiers and ministers' families, as well as ordinary people, were involved in the firefighting. I suddenly understood in my heart that this was a trick used by someone to divert the tiger from the mountain. That's why I hurriedly brought these guards to escort me, just in case. ”

Liu Yan's face softened slightly: "You think very thoughtfully. ”

Wu Sicheng was just about to reply, when he suddenly heard a eunuch screaming softly: "Your Majesty, look! The direction of Yanxi Palace is on fire! ”

When everyone looked back violently, sure enough, there was also a fire in the direction of Yanxi Palace.

"Damn! Sure enough, it was a plan to divert the tiger from the mountain, and this group of people had already invaded the palace! Liu Yan was shocked and angry, and couldn't help scolding.

"Your Majesty, do you want to send someone to put out the fire?" I don't know who asked that.

"Nonsense! If the Queen Mother is lost, how can I face the people of the world? Liu Yan shouted and scolded: "You all go to Yanxi Palace to put out the fire!" Be sure to ensure the safety of the Queen Mother! ”

The eunuchs took the order and departed. Wu Sicheng was about to speak, but Liu Yan preemptively said: "Old Ji, you take ten guards to the queen to protect quickly!" Then I will come! ”

Seeing Liu Yan's order, Wu Sicheng breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately ordered the remaining guards to protect Liu Yan's group, and then sent a guard to summon the others to come, and then the group left the main hall and headed towards the harem.

Entering the palace, I saw the panicked palace maids scurrying around, and the eunuchs who came and went back and forth carried some water by hand, and some with their shoulders, hurried to Yanxi Palace. As soon as these chaotic crowds saw Liu Yan, they hurriedly stopped and knelt down to salute Liu Yan.

Before Liu Yan could speak, he only heard the sound of the bowstring cracking, and then countless sounds of breaking the air flew towards him!

"Escort!" Wu Sicheng shouted. Before the words fell, four guards had already been killed by arrows, and Wu Sicheng was also hit by an arrow in the arm!

"There are assassins! Escort! The guards shouted in unison. The eunuchs and palace maids were suddenly in a mess. The screams of the ladies drowned out the sound of a second wave of bows and arrows breaking through the air, and this time the guards were prepared, but two were still wounded. After these two rounds of bows and arrows, the guards had discovered that the Assassin's position was on the south gable. Liu Yan picked up a steel knife from the dead guard and shouted, "Lean on!" Don't let them shoot arrows again! ”

The decision was correct, and the guards moved extremely quickly, and several of them had already jumped onto the gable. At this moment, the assassins on the gable wall lit a trumpet cannon, and then they also jumped down and rushed towards Liu Yan, and in the blink of an eye, the two sides were already fighting each other with swords.

Although the number of assassins in this group was small, they were all vigorous and were by no means under the guards, but fortunately, the guards were superior in numbers, and the assassins fell behind for a while. However, Liu Yan knew that the assassins must still have allies on the left and right, otherwise they would not have lit a cannon to summon them, so they had to deal with this group of assassins as soon as possible, and then deal with the reinforcements that came to them. Thinking of this, Liu Yan personally went into battle, with a sword in his hand, and fought with the assassin in one place.

Liu Yan's martial arts are much higher now than when he traveled to Quanzhou, and since he realized that he lacked actual combat experience, he often asked Ji Chonghai for advice and training, so his strength was already above that of ordinary guards. In the blink of an eye, two assassins had already died under Liu Yan's knife, but Liu Yan's action frightened Wu Sicheng, and he hurriedly asked the emperor to return, but Liu Yan ignored it.

At this moment, he heard many footsteps approaching in the distance, and when Wu Sicheng hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound, he saw about fifty more assassins rushing towards him. Wu Sicheng was shocked, ignoring the pain in his arm, he waved the sword in his hand to block the front, and shouted loudly: "The assassin's reinforcements have arrived!" Here's to Weichen, the emperor is leaving! ”

"Nonsense! As a son of heaven, was scared away by a few thieves, aren't you afraid of other people's jokes? Besides, with your few blows, it is simply a death, and I have not degenerated enough to let this guy sacrifice his life to protect! Liu Yan withdrew from the battle group and rushed to Wu Sicheng's side.

"Now is not the time to be rash, you have to focus on the overall situation!" Wu Sicheng was in a hurry, he even forgot the honorific title and called out directly.

Liu Yan used his knife to open the assassin's attack, and said, "If you lose a courtier like you, then what is the big picture!" If you can be impressed, you will kill a way out with me! (To be continued......)