When the news of the Xiliang War came, when the emperor sent the third school of the Northern Army, a curfew was imposed in the capital.

Now that the queen is at funeral, the streets are quieter at night.

The sound of the hooves of the horses riding heavily on the Praetorian Guards was particularly loud, and through the night and the courtyard wall, it was heard more and more clearly in the Five Princes' Mansion.

With the fury of the five princes, the men around him also seemed to be ruthless, throwing their torches on the ground.

The entire ground seemed to be on fire.

"Your Highness, have you really made up your mind?" A man at the head asked.

The fifth prince looked at the burning fire and said sadly: "My brother and queen mother were killed, what am I doing alive alone!" ”

Since he was a child, his mother told him that his brother was his closest person in this world, and he must protect his brother with his life.

He didn't help his brother several times, and now his brother and mother have been killed, and he is still worried about letting him escape.

Without his brother and mother, he didn't know how to live.

"Live or die together!" He said word for word.

The leader gritted his teeth and said good: "The prince treats us like a mountain, and we don't want to leave him to live, just like the Fifth Highness said, either live together or die together." ”

The people around immediately shouted one after another, living and dying together.

Now that you've made up your mind, things are easy to do.

"Your Highness, didn't Your Majesty send someone to arrest you? We will take the opportunity to follow you into the palace. The man at the head said, "Enter the palace and kill Chu Xiurong, so that Your Majesty can restore the identity of the crown prince." ”

The fifth prince sneered: "It's all come to this point, and you only have to restore the status of the crown prince?" The father and emperor were confused, and he was able to fall for Chu Xiurong's plan to abolish his brother, so he should abdicate as soon as possible to retire. ”

Killing a prince, persecuting the emperor, making such a fuss, if you want to survive, of course, you have to change the emperor.

The man at the head looked at the dim night and listened to the sound of horses' hooves becoming clearer and clearer.

"Good!" He whispered, "Then we will escort the Fifth Highness into the palace and save the crown prince!" ”

With his words, the people around him lifted the black cloth behind him, and the burning torches illuminated several heavy crossbows.

"Not bad." The fifth prince came over and nodded with satisfaction, "You can bring in all the heavy weapons in the army." ”

The leader smiled proudly: "I didn't expect it to go so smoothly, but just in time for the invasion of Xiliang, the northern army was in turmoil, and there was chaos in the capital - Zhou Xuan was a young man in the end, he couldn't control the scene, and there were omissions everywhere." ”

"yes." The other couldn't help but say, "If the Iron Mask General is still here, let alone the heavy crossbow, we won't be able to enter." ”

So the Iron Mask General really died well.

The fifth prince laughed: "What does this mean, it shows that the prince is the true son of heaven!" He grabbed a heavy crossbow, "No one can stop him!" ”

......

......

In addition to the guards running out of the palace, the streets are now full of patrolling soldiers.

"Be vigilant." The general led by the leader rode around while shouting in a deep voice, "Xiliang's thief heart is not a day or two, although he was stopped outside Xijing, but maybe there are spies who sneak into the capital and catch up with the queen's funeral, so we must be strictly investigated and guarded." ”

The soldiers and horses agreed in unison, divided into four teams to go to different places, and there were horses' hooves behind them, and a team of soldiers and horses galloped forward.

"Marquis Zhou, let us increase our troops." The leading general said, raised the command flag and shook it.

The previous generals recognized the general flag and nodded, Zhou Xuan was not assigned to Xijing to face the Xiliang people this time, the emperor asked him to guard the capital, which was his trust in him, after all, the capital has also been eventful recently.

"Let's go to the new city." The commander who had come in for reinforcements then said, "The inner city will be handed over to you." ”

The previous general said hello, took back a team of soldiers and horses that was supposed to be separated, and watched this team of soldiers and horses go to the new city.

The new town is now very prosperous, because of the curfew, the shops are closed, the streets are empty, although many homes are lit up, they are trapped in the houses and become dotted, and the night almost swallows the streets.

When the group of soldiers and horses walked through a street, there was a sudden shouting in the street, and there were men and horses in iron armor in the darkness.

"Who?" The patrol asked.

"Praetorian Guard." In the dimness, someone stepped forward and showed the waist card, "Your Majesty has an order to escort the five princes into the palace, and the idle people and others will avoid it." ”

I should also ask the emperor's edict - this person is holding a waist card in one hand and holding down his waist with the other, and they have not yet obtained the edict, hoping that His Majesty has not given the edict to deal with the past.

But to his surprise, the guards of the city patrol only glanced at the waist card from a distance and then stepped back.

The man holding the waist card breathed a sigh of relief, and was just about to slowly retreat into the darkness, when there was a sound of breaking the air in the depths of the night behind him, mixed with muffled grunts, crashes, and human voices—

Although soon these voices were silenced.

But—

The man holding the waist card tensed his back again, and if these city patrol guards had to look—

It's just that the patrol guards don't seem to care, and they back away.

This surprised a few people who were originally guarding the street.

A person in the shadow couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "The guards under the command of the captain of the city gate have always been arrogant, and they still have to look for trouble if they have nothing to do, but now they hear the movement, and they don't even pay attention to it." ”

Those noises, even if they are disguised, as long as they are soldiers, they can detect that someone is fighting.

The person holding the waist card understood a little, and said in a low voice: "The five princes are sinners, and now that the crown prince is abolished and the queen is dead, they may have misunderstood that the emperor said that escorting him into the palace has other meanings." ”

For example, if you ask for sin, if you ask for sin, the five princes will definitely resist, and if there is resistance, there will be conflict or something-

No matter how arrogant the city patrol guards are, they don't want to get involved in royal affairs.

Sure enough, the guards quietly stepped aside, letting the distant sound of battle rise and fall, and the night fell silent, and then the night was broken by the sound of horses' hooves—

Dozens of armored guards galloped in, their faces obscured by the darkness of the night and their helmets, except for a man tied to the horse in the middle.

He was dressed in a linen shirt, his hair was a little disheveled, his face was illuminated by torches, his face was stained with blood, and his expression was fierce.

It is the five princes who have not been seen for a long time.

When the guards of the city saw the five princes, they retreated to both sides and let them gallop by.

The two janissaries at the end of the team quietly looked back and saw that the city patrol guards had walked away after they had passed and continued their patrol.

They looked at each other and made a gesture of success, the torches swayed, revealing their smug faces under their helmets, and raising their hands to reveal the different clothes under their armor—

It's not their armor, and they're not really Praetorian Guards.

Shi Cai, who really came to escort the guards, had been tricked into the Five Princes' Mansion, and was shot instantly by the waiting heavy crossbow, some died on the spot, and some were hacked to death by the mending knife, and then they were stripped off their armor and weapons and thrown into the empty room.

Next, after passing the Imperial City Gate, you will enter the palace city smoothly.

.....

.....

The Imperial City was not engulfed in night, and there were burning torches inside and out, making the Imperial City feel like day inside and out.

Standing on the city wall, you can clearly see the soldiers and horses running in all directions near the imperial city.

Zhou Xuan squinted, crossed the brightness, looked in the direction of the new city, and seemed to see a few starlight flashes, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Let's go." He turned around and said, "Ben Hou is going to guard the palace gate." ”

The soldiers around him were crowded, and as soon as they walked to the palace gate, Qing Feng galloped from outside: "Childe." ”

Zhou Xuan watched him dismount and rush, frowning: "Didn't you let you guard outside the capital?" ”

Qing Feng looked at him with a complicated expression: "Childe, let me come with you." ”

"I'm not a three-year-old." Zhou Xuan was impatient, "What you have to do now is not to follow me around, but to do things for me." ”

"But Childe, you clearly won't let me do things." Qing Feng shouted, grabbing Zhou Xuan, "Childe, what are you hiding from me?" ”

Zhou Xuan smiled: "What are you talking about, what am I hiding from you?" ”

Qingfeng grabbed him and got closer: "Then you tell me, there is a team of soldiers and horses entering the city, I have never seen them, who are they?" ”

Zhou Xuan looked at him: "There are so many people in the army, I can't recognize them all, you haven't seen anything strange." ”

"Childe, I'll be by your side the first day you enter the barracks!" Qing Feng shouted, the young guard who had always had a smile on his face, his eyebrows and eyes were sad at this time, "There is no soldier or horse who can hold your warrant that I don't know!" Childe, what the hell are you doing? These days, the soldiers and horses around you have been changing, changing, where did these soldiers and horses come from? ”

Zhou Xuan looked at him and seemed a little annoyed: "Really, I can't hide anything from you." "Okay, I'll tell you—"

Having said this, Qing Feng couldn't help but listen, but at this moment, Zhou Xuan's hand was raised suddenly, and with a blow on the back of his neck, Qing Feng's body went weak and fell on Zhou Xuan.

Zhou Xuan's body straightened, and his expression returned to Mu Ran.

Qingfeng spoke loudly, and Zhou Xuan stunned Qingfeng, whether it was the soldiers standing beside him, or the soldiers and horses standing on both sides of the palace gate, they didn't seem to see or hear anything.

Until Zhou Xuan said, "Send him to the barracks and lock him up." The soldiers responded.

Two of them stepped forward to help Qingfeng to drag him away, and Zhou Xuan's figure also moved, he looked down, and it turned out that Qingfeng's hand was hooked on his belt - as if he was unwilling to let go.

Zhou Xuan glanced at Qingfeng, he used to have many companions, but since his father died, he has become a person, speaking of so many years, it is Qingfeng who has accompanied him -

Qingfeng, Zhou Xuan stretched out his hand and shook it off, I can only blame you for your bad luck, I have been his follower in the army for so many years, and I have no chance to get the merits of my ability, and I will be implicated in the end-

After tonight, good luck and survival.

The thought flashed, and Zhou Xuan added one more sentence: "Tie him up and lock him up." ”

The two pro-soldiers responded and dragged Qingfeng away.

Zhou Xuan retracted his gaze, looked at a personal soldier beside him, and then looked at the guards at the city gate, Qing Feng was right, these were soldiers and horses he didn't know, because these were all soldiers and horses hidden by the old King Qi at that time.

At that time, when he attacked the King of Qi, he did not kill the King of Qi, and the King of Qi gave him the hidden soldiers and horses - of course, the King of Qi placed eyeliner or something, but after several cleanups, most of the soldiers and horses now belong to him completely.

Since the death of the Iron Mask General, he has mastered the power of the army, and slowly replaced, and these soldiers and horses can come to strictly defend the imperial city in tense and critical moments.

In other words, the Imperial City is now under his control.

Zhou Xuan put away his sigh and took out a warrant: "Martial law in the capital, no one is allowed to enter or leave." ”

In response, the soldiers took the order and turned around to give the order.

Another soldier and horse galloped over, Zhou Xuan looked over, and saw the five princes at a glance, and he raised his voice and shouted, "Ah Mu." ”

The fifth prince looked at him coldly and took a sip.

Zhou Xuan also took a sip unceremoniously, and stretched out his hand to point, "Get off the horse, you criminal!" ”

Without the defenders stepping forward, the guards had already dismounted immediately and ripped off the five princes - lest they be approached by the defenders if they were one step slower.

"Zhou Xuan, you are less proud." The fifth prince scolded angrily.

Zhou Xuan seemed to smile: "I haven't been deposed as a concubine, why can't I be proud?" ”

The fifth prince looked like he was eager to pounce on him and bite him, but he was firmly grasped by the guards.

Fortunately, Zhou Xuan also knew that now was not the time to quarrel, so he didn't say more and motioned for them to enter the palace, and he didn't even check the edict, let alone care if the number of guards escorted had increased.

The guards breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts again, straightened their backs and did not squint, and escorted the five princes in.

Zhou Xuan looked at their backs, and a hint of ridicule appeared on the corner of his mouth.

The palace door slowly closed behind him, and the show began.

However, before watching the play again, there is one more thing.

Zhou Xuan also strode towards the imperial city, and soon came to the location of the criminal division.

It's as dark as ever, even darker than ever, and the silence seems like no one.

It is indeed a no-man's land.

Zhou Xuan stood in the cell, holding a lit torch, looking at the empty room, his face was pale.

What about Chen Danzhu?