Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 435 A critical moment

After being reminded by Concubine Rong, Prince Yan ordered his men to bring along Empress Cao and the concubines who were slightly more favored in the palace.

All the palace maids and eunuchs who served the emperor and Empress Cao were found and brought to the Wende Hall.

Prince Yan ignored the emperor's angry scolding and told the emperor to give him half an hour to consider. If he was still unwilling to write the edict of succession, he would take action against those close to the emperor.

When leaving, he also told the concubines, palace maids and eunuchs, who were so frightened that their faces turned pale, to persuade the emperor to do his best. Only if the emperor was willing to write an edict of succession could these people save their lives.

……

The closing of the palace gates was a help to Li An.

All the imperial guards patrolling outside the imperial city were summoned into the palace, so he didn't have to worry about being discovered.

After the palace gate was closed, Li An waited for more than half an hour and suddenly heard a swish sound.

Suddenly, a pair of hands stretched out from the weeds at the entrance of the cave, and then a man dressed as a eunuch struggled to get out of it.

Through the hole, you can faintly hear noisy sounds.

"who are you?"

The person who crawled out of the cave just got up, looked around panickily, chose a direction and was about to leave when Li An and Zhuzi, who had been hiding for a long time, rushed out.

"what!"

The young eunuch was already like a frightened bird, and was startled by Li An's sudden appearance. The hat on his head fell off, and his hair slipped down. It turned out to be a woman.

The woman pleaded in fear: "Don't kill me, don't kill me!"

Li An saw this and rushed forward to control him, covered his mouth, and said in a low voice: "I am Li An, a scholar of the Imperial Academy. Why did you come out of the dog hole? The palace gate suddenly closed. What happened?"

He naturally knew what had happened, but in order to appear normal here, he naturally needed a set of excuses.

Otherwise, even if the blood edict was sent to Zhao Zongquan, he would become suspicious after investigating it afterwards.

"Ugh~" The little palace maid struggled violently.

Li An then remembered that he was still covering the other person's mouth, and said, "I'm going to let you go, don't scream, okay?"

"Hmm." The woman nodded vigorously.

After Li An released his hand, the woman said in surprise, "Sir Li, I have heard of your name. The King of Yan is plotting a rebellion, and the emperor has asked me to deliver a blood edict to the Yuzhou Tuanlianshi, asking him to mobilize troops to quell the rebellion. I beg Sir Li to help me."

It was really difficult for her to deliver the blood edict. She was a palace maid and had been in the palace for several years and had never left the palace.

Not to mention where Yuzhou was, she couldn't even figure out the way around the huge city of Bianjing.

She never thought about whether Li Ang was reliable or not, because in her eyes, Li Ang was her life-saving straw.

Li An's face changed when he heard this, and he said, "Zhu Zi, run and get the horse!"

Upon hearing this, Zhuzi hurried to the inn where the horses were kept.

"Come with me, I will escort you to Yuzhou!" Li An said.

Just as Li An and the palace maid were about to leave, there was a sudden creaking sound.

When Li An heard this, he knew that the pursuers were about to come out, so he grabbed the palace maid and ran away.

After meeting up with Zhuzi, Li An took the horse, climbed on it, and stretched out his hand, saying, "Hurry up."

Upon hearing this, the palace maid quickly stretched out her hand, and Li An held her hand and pulled her onto the horse.

"Zhu Zi, let's go. This is an emergency and we can't care about anything else. Go!"

Li An held the palace maid in his arms, held the reins, squeezed the horse's belly hard, and rode towards the west gate.

Although the imperial guards have not discovered their trace yet, he dare not delay and must leave the city quickly.

Otherwise, if the city gates were closed, he would be unable to escape.

Upon hearing this, Zhuzi mounted his horse and chased after him.

"Quickly open!"

There were many people in Bianjing, and usually people could only travel slowly on horseback. But now some people were riding horses at full speed, and the people were dodging in panic. Many people bumped into each other, and many stalls on both sides of the street were hit, causing chaos.

However, Li An had no time to care about anything. He shouted and galloped on his horse.

The imperial guards who chased out of the palace did not find the whereabouts of the palace maid, but learned that two people were riding horses towards the west gate, and one of them seemed to be holding a person in eunuch clothing in his arms. They quickly arranged for someone to go back and report the news, and took people back to get the horses to chase after them.

Li An and Zhuzi rode their horses all the way to the west gate. The guards at the gate were unaware of the situation and by the time they discovered it, it was too late to stop them. The two men rode their horses straight through the gate.

After running for a few miles along the road, I heard the sound of horse hooves behind me.

Li An looked back and saw dozens of riders chasing after him.

The Song Dynasty was short of horses, and civilian horses were naturally inferior to military horses. In addition, Li An brought another person with him, which increased the burden on the horses. After running for such a long time, the horses were a little overwhelmed.

Although he rode out of the city as soon as possible, there were many people on the street, and he was ultimately unable to make up his mind and speed up his horse to the maximum.

Li An rode his horse, causing the civilians to flee in panic, which actually provided some convenience for the pursuing imperial guards.

Therefore, not long after leaving the city, the imperial guards caught up with them.

According to the current situation, it won’t be long before we are caught up.

The best way is naturally to throw the palace maid in his arms off the horse, which can reduce the weight on the horse and increase the speed.

But Li An couldn't bear to do that. He threw the man off at full speed, and the man would be crippled if not killed.

The most important thing is that the blood edict was still on the palace maid. The situation was urgent at the time and Li An had no time to ask her for it.

"Zhong Huai, whether I can survive depends on you."

According to the agreement between Li An and Gu Tingye, he will take Zhao Zongquan to the west of the city.

This is also the reason why Ang Lee chose to leave the city from the west gate.

But the two of them had no way of agreeing on a specific time, so now they could only take a gamble.

I bet Gu Tingye and the others are not far from here.

……

About ten miles away from the west gate of Bianjing, on a hillside not far from the official road, there were more than twenty people.

It was Zhao Zongquan and his gang. At this moment, Zhao Zongquan was glaring at Gu Tingye with an ugly expression.

"Gu Tingye, I am very grateful for your desperate protection in Yuzhou and along the way! But now it is almost evening, and there is no movement in the city. It can be seen that the King of Yan has no intention of rebellion. If not, why are we going into the city to report it now? If we return to Yuzhou quietly now, we can also tell others that we hid to avoid assassins!"

Originally, there was still enough time to reach Bianliang before the Queen's birthday.

However, in order to avoid the assassins, they took small paths along the way, which delayed them.

It was not until yesterday noon that we arrived at a farm several dozen miles away from Bian Jing.

Because we will be going to crowded places next, we can't hide our whereabouts like before.

Worried that Prince Yan would arrange assassins to intercept him, Gu Tingye volunteered to go to Bian Jing to explore the way, firstly to see if it was safe along the way, and secondly to investigate the situation in Bian Jing.

As a result, Gu Tingye waited until this morning before going back.

Gu Tingye explained that he wasted time investigating the situation along the way, and when he entered the city, the city gates were almost closed, and he had no time to leave the city.

I waited until early this morning when the city gates were opened before leaving the city.

This explanation was also reasonable, and King Yan did not doubt it.

Then, following Gu Tingye's suggestion, they prepared to enter the city from the west gate.

Yuzhou is located in the northeast of Bianjing. Whether you enter the city from the east gate or the north gate, it is dozens of miles away and will not take too long if you have a horse. You are still in time.

But when it comes to Ximen, it may not be the case.

By the time they arrived at the west of Bianjing, it was already past noon. If Gu Tingye's previous guess was true, the Prince of Yan would take action at the Queen's birthday banquet at noon today.

If this is true, by the time they enter the city, it will be too late to report King Yan.

For safety reasons, Zhao Zongquan sent people into the city to investigate the situation there.

But it turned out that the city was peaceful and there was nothing unusual.

This made Zhao Zongquan somewhat suspicious of Gu Tingye's previous speculation that Prince Yan would rebel.

After all, those were just Gu Tingye's guesses. Perhaps the assassin had no connection with Prince Yan at all.

However, Gu Tingye saved his life in Yuzhou after all, and he encountered several assassination attempts along the way, thanks to Gu Tingye's protection.

He couldn't blame Gu Tingye for this.

However, since it has been confirmed that Prince Yan has not rebelled, he naturally cannot continue to go to Bian Jing to report it.

Zhao Zongquan thought of returning to Yuzhou quietly now and telling others that he was hiding to avoid assassins. This way the court would have no evidence and would not pursue the matter.

But Gu Tingye asked him to wait and see.

"Zhao Tuanlian, even if Prince Yan rebels, he will first have to take control of the imperial palace. The people in the city are unaware of the situation, so naturally there is peace." Gu Tingye said.

"Even so, what's the point of me staying here? Prince Yan has already taken action, and I have no chance to report him. Am I going to give him an advantage by staying here?" Zhao Zongquan asked.

Whether Prince Yan rebels or not, the current situation means that there is no point in him staying here.

If Prince Yan had not rebelled, he would have been sentenced to death if he was discovered entering the city and leaving Yuzhou without permission.

If Prince Yan rebelled, he would be killed if he went in.

Gu Tingye smiled bitterly when he heard this. He really had no reason to persuade Zhao Zongquan to stay. He could only pray in his heart that Li An would show up soon.

As if they had heard Gu Tingye's prayer, the guards who had been sent out to guard the surroundings hurried back and reported: "My lord, there is a team of imperial guards chasing two riders on the official road, and they are coming this way!"

"what?"

Zhao Zongquan was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly climbed up the hillside, lying on the hillside and looking at the official road.

Shen Congxing and others hurriedly followed.

"Zi Qian!"

Suddenly, two exclamations were heard, from Zhao Ceying and Gu Tingye.

"Do you know each other?" Zhao Zongquan frowned.

"This person is a good friend of mine from the same class. He passed the imperial examination last year and was selected as a Hanlin Academy Scholar." Gu Tingye said.

"Ziqian and the teacher are friends regardless of age difference. I went to Yuzhou to find Laoshi before, and I have met him." Zhao Ceying said.

"Tuanlian Zhao, Ziqian is from the Hanlin Academy and he is being chased by the imperial guards now. There must be something wrong in the city. Please ask Tuanlian Zhao to give orders to help rescue people!" Gu Tingye said.

Zhao Zongquan was a little hesitant when he heard this. Zhao Ceying advised him, "Father, if we know what the situation in Bianjing is, we can be prepared."

Zhao Zongquan paused for a moment and said, "Hurry up and save them!"

The official road where they were was C-shaped, so although it delayed some time, it was not too much.

……

"Shu~"

There was a sound of breaking air behind him, and Li An's face changed. He knew that it was the imperial guards shooting arrows.

There was no time to think, and I didn't even dare to hide.

After all, he only knew that an arrow was shot at him, but he had no ability to determine the specific location of the arrow.

It would be fun if the shot was not meant to hit him, but he dodged and caught it.

Li An could only urge the horse to speed up again, but after galloping for so long, the horse under his crotch was almost at its limit.

"Brother Niu, I will stop them, you run quickly." Zhuzi shouted.

"No, we are unarmed. If we stop, we will die." Li An shouted.

However, Zhuzi ignored him and stopped his horse.

Li An gritted his teeth, reined in his horse and turned around.

Perhaps they wanted to capture them alive, so seeing that Li Ang and his men did not continue running, the imperial guards behind them also began to slow down.

At this moment, more than a dozen arrows were suddenly shot from the left.

Seven or eight imperial guards were shot by arrows and fell off their horses, and the rest were in chaos.

Not long after the arrow fell, another round of arrows came, and then more than a dozen people rushed out from the hill on the left, and the leaders were really Gu Tingye and Shen Congxing.

"kill!"

Gu Tingye and Shen Congxing shouted loudly and led their men to kill the imperial guards.

There were only more than thirty imperial guards in total. They were already exhausted after chasing all the way, and more than ten of them were shot and killed. The remaining people were no match for Gu Tingye and his men.

They were killed and dispersed in a short while, and only a few imperial guards mounted their horses and fled in a hurry.

Shen Congxing wanted to chase after her, but was stopped by Gu Tingye.

"Zhong Huai, Deputy Commander Shen, why are you here?" Li An, with a pale face, went up with Zhuzi and the little palace maid.

He looked pale because he was frightened, not because of the danger just now, but because of the scene in front of him.

The bodies of the imperial guards were scattered all over the ground, and some of them who were still alive were screaming.

"Ziqian, why are you being chased by the imperial guards?" Gu Tingye asked.

Li An did not answer Gu Tingye, but looked at Shen Congxing and asked, "Deputy Commander Shen, may I ask where the Yuzhou Tuanlianshi is now? I have something urgent to discuss with him."

"Ok?"

Shen Congxing was puzzled when he heard this: "Ziqian, what do you want to see my brother-in-law about?"

"Prince Yan rebelled and took control of the palace. This is a maidservant beside the emperor. She crawled out from the dog hole in the palace. There is a blood edict from the emperor to give to Zhao Tuanlian, ordering Zhao Tuanlian to transfer troops from the western suburbs camp to suppress the rebellion!" said Li An.

"what?"

Gu Tingye and Shen Congxing exclaimed when they heard this and looked at Li Ang in disbelief.

"There is no time to talk now. Let's go to Yuzhou quickly. If we delay any longer, the government will be in greater danger." Li An said anxiously.

"No need, my brother-in-law is nearby, come with me!" Shen Congxing came back to his senses and pointed to the hillside on the left.

Li An followed where Shen Congxing pointed and saw a middle-aged man and Zhao Ceying standing on the hillside.

Shen Congxing led Li An and others up the hillside and shouted from a distance: "Brother-in-law, something big has happened!"

There was a hint of surprise in his voice. If what Li An said was true, the throne would most likely belong to his brother-in-law after the verdict.

"What happened?" Zhao Zongquan asked.

Shen Congxing recounted what Li An had just said, then turned around and asked, "Ziqian, where is the blood edict?"

"Miss, the person in front of you is the Yuzhou militia commander you are looking for. Hurry up and take out the blood edict." Li An said.

That palace maid didn't know Zhao Zongquan, but she had no choice. If Li An wanted to cheat the blood edict, he didn't have to take her with him.

Thinking of this, she quickly took out the blood edict.

Zhao Ceying took it and looked at it carefully. He said happily, "Father, this is really the blood edict from the emperor ordering you to suppress the rebellion!"

"There is no imperial seal on it, and we don't recognize the official handwriting. How can we know whether it is real or fake?" Zhao Zongquan shouted.

(End of this chapter)