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In the night, Chang’an was so quiet that a dropped needle could be heard.
A dark figure emerged from the Princess’s mansion and headed towards the location of the firearms camp. Carrying Yang Zhen’s handwritten order, the Princess’s mansion servant passed through several rounds of checks by patrolling soldiers and proceeded towards the firearms camp.
Meanwhile, Li San had returned to his residence. Unlike the streets outside the residential area, there were no soldiers patrolling inside the residential area. As night fell, Li San blew out the candle in his room.
Groping in the dark, Li San lifted his bed board. A faint light came from beneath the bed board. This was a secret tunnel that connected Luo Quan’s and Fei Ji’s residences.
After the secret police entered Chang’an, this secret tunnel had already begun to be excavated, so that Fei Ji and Luo Quan could secretly discuss the changes in Chang’an city and how to deal with them.
And because Luo Quan’s residence and Fei Ji’s residence were only two hundred meters apart, the excavation of this secret tunnel was not difficult, but even so, this secret excavation still took almost three months.
Every day, the secret agents responsible for the excavation would pretend to be grain merchants, storing grain and then transporting it out, but in reality, what was being transported out was nothing more than the earth from the secret tunnel.
Following the secret tunnel downwards, Li San headed towards one end of the tunnel, which was Luo Quan’s residence.
“Thump thump thump, thump thump thump.”
Upon reaching the exit, Li San knocked six times consecutively. This was their secret signal. After the sound, the exit was opened, and the butler of the general’s mansion was standing guard nearby.
“Commander Li, the Grand General has been waiting for a long time. Please come in quickly,” the old butler said solemnly.
Li San nodded and followed the old butler to the main hall of the general’s mansion. He saw Luo Quan, clad in armor with a sharp sword hanging at his waist, examining the Chang’an map on the wall.
“Grand General.” Li San bowed respectfully. Chang’an was in extreme decay now, and the only people he could truly trust in Chang’an were Luo Quan and Chancellor Fei. After all, one had a son in the Qingzhou Army, and the other was Prince Qi’s father-in-law.
Luo Quan turned to look at Li San and asked, “How is Du Heng? Did you kill him?”
“No, General Du claimed to be acting under His Majesty’s orders, and he is still in the Princess’s mansion,” Li San said.
Luo Quan frowned upon hearing this, “At this time, truth and falsehood are hard to distinguish. We cannot blindly trust him.”
“The Grand General is absolutely right. Therefore, to prevent Du Heng from leaking secrets, the Princess kept Du Heng in the Princess’s mansion. Now there are secret guards secretly watching in the Princess’s mansion. If anything unexpected happens, with my people there, neither Du Heng nor the Princess will survive,” Li San said.
Out of caution, he did not expose the secret guards in the Princess’s mansion, but had them constantly monitor the Princess’s mansion. As Luo Quan said, at this time, no one could be fully trusted.
“Hmm, as expected of Prince Qi’s people, their thoughts are indeed meticulous.” Luo Quan then looked at the map of Chang’an city again. He said, “The firearms camp currently only has eight thousand musketeers, while the Right Guard has fifty thousand troops. The outer palace imperial guards number twenty thousand, but these outer palace imperial guards are very troublesome. Alas, it’s a pity that the Jinwu Guard is stationed outside the city. If they were to assist, we wouldn’t have to worry.”
Li San said, “Grand General, our purpose this time is only to rescue Consort Zhen and His Majesty. Breaking into the palace is secondary. The real purpose is to attract the forces of the inner and outer palace imperial guards, and with the cannons of the firearms camp, the city gate can be shattered in an instant.”
Luo Quan sighed, “You’re right. This time, as long as we can rescue Consort Zhen and His Majesty, then with the support of His Royal Highness Prince Qi, we can rise again. For this, even if I sacrifice my life, it would not be a loss.”
“Don’t be afraid, Grand General, I’ll be with you.”
Just then, a voice sounded, and it was Fei Ji walking towards them.
Luo Quan said, “It’s a pressing matter now. Why are you only just arriving?”
“I have to stir up chaos in Chang’an city, otherwise how can I take the opportunity to rescue the Emperor and Consort Zhen?” Fei Ji said.
Li San had already understood everything. He explained, “Today, Chancellor Fei personally wrote letters informing the Third and Fourth Princes about the palace affairs. The Third and Fourth Princes have been suspicious during this time. Now that Chancellor Fei has personally informed them, coupled with the firearms camp attacking the city tomorrow, they will have no choice but to believe it.”
“Hmm, that makes sense. Many of the generals in the Left Guard are people of the Third and Fourth Princes. Tomorrow, even if they don’t want to help, they will certainly flee for their lives. Once Prince Zhao enters the capital, they will only be reduced to hostages,” Luo Quan said.
Fei Ji then said, “We cannot control the actions of the Third and Fourth Princes. The most reliable is still ourselves. I have already gathered all the guards in my mansion, just waiting to attack the city with the firearms camp tomorrow morning.”
“All the guards in my mansion are also ready,” Luo Quan’s face showed a hint of determination. Then he looked at Li San, “Li San, our families are entrusted to you.”
Li San’s expression became solemn. He nodded heavily.
Having settled this, the three continued to discuss the siege of the city for the next day, and then also agreed to spread the news of the Crown Prince’s regicide throughout Chang’an city early tomorrow morning to create chaos.
While the three were secretly discussing this matter, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were also like ants on a hot pan.
They were already suspicious of Emperor Xiaowenxuan’s serious illness, and now Fei Ji’s letter suddenly made them panic.
“Third Brother, this time we should help each other. The Crown Prince committed regicide and usurped the throne, and he will definitely kill us both next. Prince Zhao’s one hundred thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry are about to besiege the city. If we don’t act now, it will be too late.” Today, the Fourth Prince used the excuse of a banquet to stay at the Third Prince’s mansion, and the two had been discussing this matter.
Pacing back and forth, the Third Prince said impatiently, “What’s the rush? What if this is Xiao Ming’s conspiracy? We should just watch from the sidelines now. Consort Zhen is trapped in the palace, and Xiao Ming should be the most anxious. If he doesn’t move, we can’t move.”
The Fourth Prince’s anxious expression did not diminish. He said, “What if it’s true? How should we deal with ourselves from now on?”
“How to deal with ourselves? If Prince Zhao enters the capital, this empire might be named Zhao instead of Xiao in Xiao in the future. You and I can only return to Yan and Chu respectively.”
The Fourth Prince noticed the change in the Third Prince’s wording. He now understood the Third Prince’s thoughts. He said, “Our imperial concubines are also in the palace. Even if we go our separate ways, we should take them with us, after all, this is our imperial concubine’s maternal family.”
The Third Prince nodded, “So I said we should just watch and wait for Xiao Ming’s people to move first. Only then will we have a chance to win.”
“Since that’s the case, we’ll continue to wait,” the Fourth Prince sighed, then he sat down, his eyes fixed on the burning candle.
As time passed little by little, the night gradually receded. Just as the two were feeling very drowsy, a roar of cannons suddenly sounded.
The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince stood up at the same time. The Third Prince said, “Let’s each dispatch our troops to attack the Imperial Palace.”