The general of the cavalry vanguard ordered the troops to halt their advance, and then rode their horses back.

After a while, the second prince and the treasurer rode to Mink and dismounted, because the four had known each other for a long time, and in this special period, there were no polite words after they met, and Mink and the two would tell the second prince and the treasurer in detail what they had seen and heard outside the palace.

After hearing this, the second prince said calmly: "Thank you two benevolent brothers for your inquiry, it seems that there is indeed something wrong in the palace." But it was hard for this prince to believe that it was the Ming Emperor of Qizhou who was making trouble, because there were more than 20 legions inside and outside the palace to defend it, how could the Ming Emperor of Qizhou use a group of Qizhou soldiers to manipulate thousands of guards in the palace to make trouble?

Unless it was the old emperor of Qizhou called the ghost spirit who descended from the sky into the palace, but listening to the story of the outer heaven told by the prince's envoy, that kid would have been destroyed in the outer world a long time ago. ”

The treasurer's face was full of worry, and he said, "Lord Wang, it's not a big deal for other civil and military officials to be locked up in the palace, but what the treasurer is most worried about is that the fourth general and his corps commander are also trapped in the palace. In this way, how can the defenders of the ancient city defend the city without a leader? ”

Ming Dao: "Second General, Lord Treasurer, the time is such a coincidence, could it be that the people under the sea and the Emperor of Qizhou jointly planned the mutiny of the ancient city palace?" ”

The second prince said in a firm tone: "No matter who did it, as long as our two cavalry regiments enter the palace, everything will fall into place." ”

Ke Dao: "Second General, Lord Treasurer, the situation in the palace is unknown, Your Majesty and the ministers are trapped in the palace and their lives are unknown, so I think that before the two of you lead troops to break into the palace, you should get more information in the ancient city before acting, and it is best to get the support of the garrison and then join forces to quell the civil strife in the palace." ”

Both the second prince and the treasurer nodded in approval.

The four said goodbye, and the second prince and the treasurer led the troops to continue to march towards the ancient city.

Minke and the others watched the cavalry team disappear from view, they all felt uneasy in their hearts at this time, if the palace was really controlled by the Ming Emperor of Qizhou, once they heard that the second general had brought two cavalry regiments to come, they would definitely use the order of the king of the ancient land to prevent them from entering the city, and then a civil war was inevitable, if the gene people took the opportunity to sneak attack the ancient city, the defenders of the ancient city were already leaderless, and they were even more unable to resist the gene people by killing each other.

Once the ancient city is lost, the situation of the Anti-Japanese War in Xizhou will be even more severe.

Haidong's guards were anxious to return to Langcheng to report the news, and said to Ming Ke: "Two elder brothers, you take care, junior brother, I will return to Langcheng to report to the eldest brother." ”

Ming Dao: "Brother Rong is careful all the way, tell the eldest brother that a civil war is likely to break out in the ancient city, and let the eldest brother make arrangements as soon as possible." We will now go to the village to the east of the ancient city and settle down, and if the eldest brother wants to do anything, he will send someone there to find us. ”

A trench has been dug out of the avenue 500 meters in front of the south gate of the ancient city and hundreds of meters of wasteland on both sides, and a drawbridge has been erected to connect the avenues into the city on both sides of the trench.

At this time, dusk had just fallen, and the defenders in the trenches saw from afar a large number of cavalry rushing straight into the gloomy sky, and although they were coming under their own flags, no one dared to slack off in the war, and they immediately erected the drawbridge to cut off the road into the city.

The cavalry vanguard rushed to the front of the trench and stopped, and the vanguard general shouted: "Hey! Brothers, we are the cavalry regiment of the second general of Langcheng, we have urgent military affairs to enter the city, you quickly lower the drawbridge and let us pass! ”

The leader of the soldiers in the trenches replied loudly: "Your Majesty has an order, no corps is allowed to enter the ancient city without an edict, please show your Majesty's edict!"

At this time, the second prince and the treasurer rode horses to the front of the trench, and the leader of the defenders in the trench recognized them at a glance and immediately shouted and saluted.

The second prince asked kindly, "Little brother, which corps of the four generals are you?" ”

"Report to the second general, we are the sixth corps of the fourth general!"

"Okay, please go and find your regiment commander immediately, and say that the second general has something urgent to see him."

The leader of the defenders responded: "Report to the second general, our regimental commander received an order from the fourth general this morning to go to the palace for a meeting, but he has not returned. ”

The second prince and the treasurer exchanged glances with each other, and their worst fears had happened.

The second prince looked at the leader of the soldiers in the trench and continued to ask, "Do you know if the commanders of other corps have received the same warrant from the four generals?" ”

"Report to the second general, when the last general went into the city to receive lunch, I heard that all the corps commanders had gone to the palace, and the last general saw the third general and his escort riding into the city from the avenue outside the west gate about an hour ago."

The second prince and the treasurer were even more shocked when they heard this.

The second prince looked at the soldiers gathered in the trenches and said loudly: "Brothers, this prince has received information that the Haibin people and the Emperor of Qizhou planned a palace coup, and they imprisoned Your Majesty and many civil and military ministers, including your three generals and the commanders of the corps. Therefore, General Ben and the army led two cavalry regiments to enter the palace to quell the chaos. I hope that you will cooperate with the actions of this general, and those who make meritorious contributions will be rewarded, and those who resist the order will be dealt with by the general! ”

"Yes, we are willing to follow the second general!" The leader of the soldiers in the trenches did not hesitate to respond.

Perhaps he himself had realized that there had been a change in the palace, and even if it was not, he understood that the order of the second general could not be disobeyed, otherwise he would be dead now, and a small trench and a few hundred infantry could not stop the horse steps of two cavalry regiments.

The drawbridge was quickly lowered, and the second prince led the cavalry to rush across the drawbridge.

At this time, the south gate of the ancient city was closed, because he had already seen the cavalry of the second prince surging forward, undoubtedly to enter the city, although no one dared to be rude to the second general, but the king's order was first, whether to let them enter the city must obey the king's instructions.

The leader of the defenders at the head of the south gate hurried down the tower, and then hurried to the palace to report the news.

The vanguard of the second prince rushed to the south gate and shouted loudly for the defenders to open the door, and the defenders at the head of the city responded loudly that because the king had an order, no brigade of men and horses was allowed to enter the city without the king's edict, and the leader had already hurried to the palace to report, and asked the second general to wait for His Majesty's approval.

The general of the vanguard shouted loudly: "Our second general has received information that there is a rebellion in the palace, and Your Majesty, the third general, the fourth general, and your corps commander are all trapped in the palace. We are here to enter the palace to quell the chaos, Your Majesty's edict may not be true, open the door quickly, and those who resist the order will be killed! ”

The defenders at the head of the city did not immediately give in, and said in a loud voice: "For the sake of my brother's life, please wait a little longer, maybe Your Majesty will send an order to the second general to enter the city." If someone really carries out a coup d'état in the palace to endanger His Majesty and the two generals, my brothers and I will definitely follow the two generals into the palace to crusade against the rebels!"

The second prince and the treasurer exchanged views, thinking that it was best to wait first, after all, it would be beneficial for anyone to fight a civil war, not to mention that the price paid for the siege of the city was too great. Even if the city is attacked, the general will not have enough combat power to enter the palace and quell the chaos.

Everyone waited patiently outside the city for about half an hour, and an excited shout came from the city: "Second general, Your Majesty is safe and sound, and in order to clarify the rumors, Your Majesty, the third general, and the fourth general will personally go to the top of the city for the whole city and the soldiers inside and outside the city to watch, please wait patiently for a while!" ”

The second prince and the treasurer and all the cavalry all looked at the city with doubt, and when night fell, the sky was dark and the clouds obscured the light of the stars and moon, and the people on the city saw only figures but their faces were blurred.

After a while, a few windproof lamps were lit on the top of the city, and the soldiers on the head of the city looked even more numerous in the lights.

The people under the city waited patiently for about half an hour, and suddenly the city was full of people, and then a large group of new figures appeared on the city.

The three men at the head stood under a fire lamp hanging high on the flagpole at the head of the city, and those standing in the front half of the cavalry outside the city gate could vaguely recognize the faces of the three men at the head of the city.

"Your Majesty! Three generals! Four generals! It looks real! ”

The two commanders of the cavalry regiment standing on either side of the second prince and the treasurer said in surprise.

Without the words of others, the second prince and the treasurer had already seen it. Their eyes were fixed on the figures above the city, trying to see a little facial expression on their hazy faces, but they were too far away and too dim to see.

"Lord Wang, have you seen it? The few guards around His Majesty are indeed His Majesty's original personal guards. The treasurer whispered.

Before the second prince could speak, a deep voice came from the city: "Your Majesty has ordered that the cavalry regiment of the second general is temporarily stationed outside the south gate, and the second general and the treasurer join the army and the cavalry commander immediately go to the palace to discuss the military affairs of the ancient city defense, there must be no mistake!"

The sound was still lingering in the night sky, and the new figures on the city's head had disappeared from view one by one.

"Brother Treasurer, what do you think we should do?"

The unexpected scene that happened just now made the second prince lose his mind for a while.

The treasurer pondered for a moment and said, "Lord Wang, although this series of events is a bit strange, since Your Majesty and the third and fourth generals have appeared in front of all the soldiers, we can't break into the palace by force, otherwise it will only cause a civil war and hurt innocent soldiers." What's more, when it really starts, we have too few people. ”

"Brother Treasurer means to do what he is told?" The second prince then asked.

"Yes and no, the two of us entered the palace, but the two cavalry commanders can't go, otherwise if something happens, the cavalry regiment will fall into chaos. We brought two guards into the palace instead of the two cavalry commanders. If the palace is fine, Your Majesty will not embarrass the second general, and if there is something in the palace, two more people will have more combat effectiveness. ”

The treasurer was talking, one hand touched his pocket, the treasurer was a civil official without a sword, but he hid the pistol sent by Kapok in his pocket, this extraterrestrial weapon gave him a lot of courage.

The second prince turned his face to the two cavalry commanders and said, "You have set up camp here, but you must strictly guard against the enemy's sneak attack, and even if you rest at night, the two corps must take turns to be on guard." If Prince Ben and the army members still do not show up from this gate before eight o'clock tomorrow morning, it means that something has happened to the two of us, and it also shows that His Majesty and the third and fourth generals have already been controlled. You hurriedly raise your troops and return to Langcheng to discuss countermeasures with the old head of Haidong and the other seven regiment commanders, to attack the palace, in addition to our ten corps, we must have the support of the expeditionary force to have a chance of victory. ”

"Obey!" The two cavalry commanders replied in unison.