nucmednet Chapter 333 Changes in the Capital
Chapter 333 Changes in the Capital
The atmosphere around the capital became weird and abnormal. How could Zhao Hui, the person involved, not notice it?
"Be careful when you go out in the future. It would be best if you have Zhu Biao's special forces accompany you along the way." He was really scared and feared that there would be another assassination attempt.
In the Chuigong Hall.
When Zhao Hengzhen went to court, General Hong Kui had already returned.
"Recently, rumors have been spreading outside the capital. I suspect someone is fanning the flames. The General of the Left Guard should mobilize troops outside the city and be on standby at all times."
"I obey your command!" Upon hearing the emperor's order, Hong Kui walked out of the queue and responded with a fist salute.
Wei Rong still did not attend the court. It seemed that the incident involving Zhao Heng had a serious impact on him.
The court was silent as no one wanted to offend the emperor at this time.
"Your Majesty, more guards and patrols should be sent to the capital to prevent anyone from causing chaos in the city." Fan Wenyuan stepped forward, bowed, holding the tablet in his hand, and said respectfully.
"My dear minister, what you said makes sense. I will ask someone to handle this matter." Zhao Hengzhen knew the key to the matter very well and did not dare to be negligent at all.
Everyone in the hall sighed, and in their hearts, they had already realized the seriousness of the situation.
Zhao Hui stood in front with a tense expression, lips tightly closed, and said nothing.
Seeing that no one submitted any more memorials, the emperor ordered Wu Wei to submit his petition.
"Retreat from the court..."
The ministers dispersed one after another.
Zhao Hengzhen hurried to the imperial study.
He was not there to review the memorials, but to summon Cao Dezhi from the Guard Bureau.
"You must keep a close eye on the imperial palace, and also pay attention to the movements of the commander of the imperial guard and the patrol camp in the city." Cao Dezhi's Guard Bureau is mainly responsible to the emperor, and naturally shoulders the responsibility of monitoring the city defense and the safety of the imperial palace.
"I will send Xia Ren to monitor the patrol camp. As for the imperial guards, I will monitor them myself."
The Imperial Guard is the emperor's last trump card and an elite force within the palace.
After thinking about it, Zhao Hengzhen still felt uneasy, so he summoned Xu Hu from the Dark Cavalry Division.
"Your Majesty, what are your orders?"
"Hmm..." Zhao Hengzhang rubbed his brow and uttered a long "hmm" through his nose. "Supervise all officers of the Imperial Guard and check who they are in contact with. All matters, no matter how big or small, must be reported to me."
"Yes, Your Majesty." After Xu Hu finished speaking, he flew out from the window behind the imperial study.
……
After receiving the order in the hall, Hong Kui returned to the general's mansion to give some instructions, asking his subordinates to guard their homeland, while he himself left the city through Xizhimen with ten guards.
Although it is still chilly in April, the sun is shining brightly today.
The scorching sun shines on your face, giving you a warm and comfortable feeling.
The shadows of the trees kept moving backwards, and the horse galloped forward.
People in the fields have begun to turn over the soil, digging up the wheat seedlings that were frozen to death by the spring cold, intending to sow new seeds when the weather warms up again.
The eleven people raised a cloud of dust behind them as they ran wildly. Everything seemed normal and nothing out of the ordinary!
Suddenly, the horses' hooves of the two guards walking in front suddenly bent, and they both fell headfirst.
When Hong Kui saw this, he thought to himself that something was wrong.
The reins were suddenly tightened, and the warhorse raised its front hooves high and let out a shrill neigh.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa..."
On both sides of the road, countless arrows shot towards us like locusts, making sharp sounds of breaking through the air.
Because Hong Kui's warhorse stopped in time and raised its horse high, most of the arrows hit the horse's belly or legs.
Unfortunately, the arrow still pierced Hong Kui's calf.
The horse did not die immediately after being shot by the arrow. Instead, it neighed in pain and suddenly rushed forward.
But the trip rope in front was very tight, so the horse fell forward and threw Hong Kui out.
Among the eight people behind him, two were shot in the vitals by arrows. They fell to the ground, struggled for a few times, and then died.
Of the remaining six people, four horses were hit by arrows and one person was shot in the shoulder blade.
Fortunately, the two people in front were not trampled after they fell off their horses, but as soon as they stood up, they were pierced through the body by arrows. Their legs went soft and they fell to their knees on the ground, dying with their eyes open.
A guard saw Hong Kui lying on the ground with blood flowing from his leg, so he rode his horse to his side, dismounted, helped Hong Kui up, and pushed him onto his own horse.
"General, come back soon!" He said briefly and then slapped the horse's buttocks hard with his hand.
Seeing that there was still one man with an intact horse, he shouted loudly: "You, you must protect the general!"
The situation has arisen suddenly and I have responsibilities to fulfill. Now is not the time to be sentimental.
He turned his horse around and followed closely behind Hong Kui.
Occasionally, arrows flew towards him, but he dodged them all nimbly.
The remaining people hid behind the horse's corpse, holding their steel knives tightly, ready to fight back.
Some of them drew their crossbows to the full extent, ready to shoot anyone who approached.
However, these guards were not the target of the ambushers.
Seeing Hong Kui escape, they evacuated.
When Hong Kui arrived at Xizhimen and sent his troops there, he saw several corpses of people and horses lying on the ground, all of them riddled with arrows.
Seeing the arrival of reinforcements, several guards were able to save their lives.
……
Not only the imperial palace knew about Hong Kui's attack, but even the Eastern Palace had heard about it.
Zhao Hui said in a deep voice, "Notify Zhu Biao's special forces battalion to escort all the people from Prince Yan's residence into the palace. It looks like something unexpected might happen tonight."
Since someone wanted to tip off the outside of the city, it meant that these people were unwilling to let Hong Kui take over the troops outside the city.
The most worrying thing is that the troops outside the city may have been instigated to rebel.
A trustworthy person was selected from the guards of the Eastern Palace to deliver the letter, while Xiao Ling led the rest of the people to be on high alert.
Zhao Hengzhen received a letter from Zhao Hui, which informed him of Zhao Hui's judgment and transferred a thousand personal troops from the palace.
In fact, the emperor knew these people, but at this time he could only share the same hatred with Zhao Hui.
"Gather the four patrol battalions. No one is allowed to leave the camp without permission tonight. In addition, two teams of imperial guards will be on guard tonight."
Disrupt all plans and let trusted generals protect us in case someone suddenly launches an attack tonight.
Fortunately, among the four battalions of the Imperial Guard, at least three battalions will not have any problems, and there is no evidence that the other battalion has been subverted.
The patrol battalion has a small number of people, with a total of no more than 5,000 people in the four battalions. However, two of the battalions were obviously supported by the second prince in the past, and have now defected to the fifth prince.
Although Wei Rong is in control on the surface, it is very likely that Wei Rong has lost control.
All the guards returned to the palace to defend it, and two teams were also sent to stand guard at night.
The Guards replaced half of the people in the city defense and took over the other half to guard the city gates.
Among them, the guard camp at Xizhimen was led by generals who defected to the fifth prince.
"Your Majesty, what should we do? Should we replace the commander of this battalion to avoid any more trouble?" Cao Dezhi asked cautiously in the emperor's study.
"Don't move rashly tonight. Find a reason to transfer him away tomorrow and isolate him from the outside world." Zhao Hengzhen still held out a glimmer of hope, always feeling that Zhao Hui was a little too nervous.
At this time, many sacks were brought from the Food Bureau in the East Palace. These were bags used to store firewood and other supplies in the palace.
Zhu Biao ordered people to fill the bags with loess.
A big hole was dug in the garden of the East Palace in an instant.
Time passed minute by minute, until the hammer struck three times, indicating that it was the third watch.
Suddenly, many patrol soldiers appeared on the Xizhimen city wall and quietly killed the replacement guards.
The night suddenly became eerie and unpredictable!