"Your Highness, do not worry. To prevent the Prince of Qin from resorting to desperate measures, General Lin and I have already made an agreement. Once the signal is detected, he will immediately lead the Changlin Army to attack Xuanwu Gate. Therefore, until then, we only need to protect ourselves."
At the same time, Shi A took out a small ball and gently lit it. The ball immediately emitted thick smoke. This smoke was black and of excellent quality, no less than the beacon fires used at the border. It shot high into the sky, forming a column of smoke.
"Alright, the signal has been sent," Shi A said happily.
“Alright, in that case, let’s just run around this huge palace and wait for Feipeng to come in,” Li Jianchen said happily.
Meanwhile, Li Shimin's expression was extremely grim. His original plan was to kill Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji in a surprise attack. Then, he would launch a full-scale assault on Linhu Palace, imprison Li Yuan, and force him to appoint him as crown prince.
But now, not only is Li Jiancheng safe and sound, but he is also surrounded by twenty guards. This truly shows that plans can't keep up with changes. Moreover, looking at the thick black smoke in the sky, Li Shimin is no fool. He immediately guessed most of Shi A's intentions.
"Damn it, damn it all! Charge! Especially Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji! Once you encounter them, show no mercy, kill them or leave them to their own devices!" Li Shimin roared.
Just as Li Shimin was chasing Li Jiancheng throughout the palace, Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, and more than 700 elite soldiers arrived at the Linhu Palace.
"Gentlemen, we have now reached the vicinity of Linhu Palace. If we cannot control His Majesty, I fear that a single imperial decree will be enough to kill us all without a burial place."
"Right now, His Majesty is unprepared, and there are only a thousand Imperial Guards around the Linhu Palace. Moreover, there are many spies we have planted among them. When the time comes, with the help of both inside and outside, the chances of victory are still very high."
"Therefore, for wealth and glory, for the sake of lasting generations of nobles, all soldiers, follow me and charge!" Changsun Wuji shouted, holding his sword.
"For wealth and glory!"
"For the sake of nobles and dukes for generations to come!"
"kill!"
...
"It's terrible, Your Majesty!"
"What's wrong? What happened?" Li Yuan asked, as he was leisurely fishing.
"It's the King of Qin! The King of Qin has rebelled! We're already surrounded!"
"What? This is impossible." Then, Li Yuan looked to the side and his expression immediately turned sour.
It turned out that he was surrounded by the Imperial Guards, essentially the descendants of noble families. These men were masters of posing and putting on airs, but when it came to actual combat, they were nothing more than showmen. If the King of Qin were to truly rebel, how could they possibly be a match for him?
I was careless, so very careless! I never imagined that my second son would rebel. You must know, the palace is heavily guarded and has many elite soldiers.
However, this led to a rule: without an imperial edict, no one could act on their own. Otherwise, what if someone in the Imperial Guard rebelled? But at this moment, this very rule was truly a matter of life and death.
Surrounded by the King of Qin, the imperial edict could not be sent out. Without the edict, the imperial guards of Chang'an would not be mobilized in the slightest. The numerous guards within the palace would also remain unresponsive. However, to resolve the threat posed by the King of Qin, someone needed to come to their rescue—truly a dead end.
"Your Majesty, rest assured, we are on the defensive. Although we cannot match the Qin King's elite troops in terms of combat strength, we can still hold our ground for a period of time by utilizing the terrain. I believe that given enough time, the generals of the Twelve Guards will surely realize what's happening."
"Alright, I'll sit here and not go anywhere," Li Yuan said with a smile. As the founding emperor, his temperament was undoubtedly quite good. He knew what to do at this time.
However, Li Yuan's smile soon faded.
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Chen Yi, the commander of the Thousand Bull Guards, has betrayed us, and the defense line is in grave danger."
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened. The entire defense line has been breached, and we won't be able to hold out for much longer."
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened..."
Hearing one bad news after another, Li Yuan felt a headache coming on. This was indeed his second son's usual style—ruthless and decisive. Once he made up his mind, he was completely committed. This time, he was finished. He could only hope that the Crown Prince could escape this calamity.
"Why panic? The key to today's battle lies not here, but with His Highness the Crown Prince. Even if His Majesty is captured, as long as the Crown Prince is safe and sound, His Majesty will naturally be fine as well," Cai Yan shouted.
At the same time, he added a touch of literary flair to his speech. This truly had a profound and enlightening effect. In an instant, the mood of everyone who had plummeted to rock bottom rebounded.
“That’s right, and there’s also the Crown Prince,” Li Yuan said.
“Your Majesty, the situation is urgent. I urge Your Majesty to board the dragon boat directly and sail on the lake. On the lake, you can engage the Prince of Qin. At that time, using the dragon boat as the battlefield will greatly reduce our pressure,” Cai Yan continued.
Indeed, once on the dragon boat, escape would be much easier. At this moment, the seven hundred elite soldiers of the Qin Prince's mansion had only surrounded a few intersections. But once on the dragon boat, could they really surround all the exits?
"Yes, Your Majesty, why don't we board the dragon boat quickly?"
"Alright, get on the dragon boat! Today I want to see what fate awaits my son who has gone against the tide!" Li Yuan roared.
...
"Oh no, the signal has appeared, which means the King of Qin has really made his move. Chang He, I'll ask you one last question: will you open the Xuanwu Gate or not?" Lin Yang shouted.
"Without His Majesty's decree, the Xuanwu Gate will not be opened!" Chang He said.
"Hmph, since that's the case, then there's nothing more to say. Attack the city!"
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Chapter Twenty-Nine: Hehe, as the saying goes, if you have three long and one short, choose the shortest; if you have three short and one long, choose the longest.
The deep, powerful beat of war drums echoed continuously. Two thousand Changlin soldiers immediately launched their attack.
Under Lin Yang's command, five hundred well-trained archers stood a hundred paces away and exchanged fire with the soldiers on Xuanwu Gate. Although Lin Yang had more archers, the actual losses were greater.
"Haha, I thought Lin Yang was such a brilliant general, but it turns out he's nothing special. It seems he's just another Zhao Kuo who only talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk. He's still too young."
"You know, with our superior position, our archers have a huge advantage. This time, after the King of Qin wins, we might have to thank him properly," Chang He said with a smile.
To be honest, seeing Lin Yang do this, Chang He felt somewhat relieved. After all, he was a traitor, and if the Crown Prince won, he would definitely die without a burial place.
Therefore, for Qin Qiong, Fang Xuanling, and others, they might be able to surrender after Li Shimin's death, but they would definitely die, because traitors were always more despicable than Japanese devils.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Gongjin showed no sign of laughter; instead, his expression turned serious. Looking at the current situation at Xuanwu Gate, he sensed something was amiss.
Speaking of Zhang Gongjin, he was one of the twenty-four meritorious officials of Lingyan Pavilion. Although he was not as good as Li Jing and others in military strategy, he was much better than the average person. Therefore, he was assigned to be in charge of defending Xuanwu Gate.