The sudden influx of black shadows surrounded the old empress dowager's courtyard, and the guards of Prince Cheng's Mansion who did not have time to stop were either beheaded or had their hands and feet chopped off.
The Privy Council's Owl Guards were cunning and vicious. Compared to the open swords and guns of the Black Armor Guards, these shadows that seemed to exist only in the dark were more brutal.
Every time they attacked, they took a life.
In just a moment, the blood dyed the rain on the ground red.
Prince Cheng stood behind the crowd with an unpleasant look on his face: "Xiao! Yan!"
Xiao Yan didn't even look at him, he just felt the person in his arms clutching the clothes around his waist and seemed to be trembling. He put his arms around the girl's body and covered her eyes from the side, tilted the umbrella towards her head, then lowered his eyes to look at the people in Prince Cheng's Mansion in the night. His voice was like cold jade and crushing stone in a cold mountain, captivating through the rain.
"Give up your hands, and you can live."
"Otherwise, kill!"
The sound was not loud, but it drowned out the wind and rain outside and was heard by everyone in the yard.
The servants in Prince Cheng's Mansion looked at the dark shadows in black clothes who were glaring at them from all around, then raised their heads to look at Xiao Yan who was standing on the wall. For some reason, they suddenly remembered the day when the Song family was defeated, when the black-armored guard broke into Prince Cheng's Mansion and was nailed to death in front of people by Xiao Yan's sword.
King Cheng saw the fear in these people's eyes and shouted angrily: "No retreat!"
He raised his head suddenly and said in a hoarse voice: "Rong Yue, you killed my mother and colluded with Xiao Yan and Gu Helian to have someone break into the palace. I never thought that you would be so cruel and want to collude with the eunuch party to put me to death."
After he finished speaking, he turned his head and looked at Xiao Yan with a fierce look on his face.
"Xiao Yan, I have been tolerant of you, but you have been pushing your luck. You have repeatedly broken into my residence and killed people wantonly. If I give in again, where will I be able to stay in this capital in the future?!"
"Come here, take them all down. If they dare to resist, kill them!!"
The old empress dowager's courtyard was very large, with many houses on the side of the main house, and a Star-Watching Tower connected to a Buddhist temple at the back.
The corridor over there led all the way to the side wing. As soon as King Cheng finished speaking, people suddenly broke out of the originally quiet houses around him, and countless figures appeared densely on the corridors and high railings of the Wangxing Tower.
Each of them held an iron crossbow that was shining coldly in their hands, with the crossbow strings stretched tight and pointed directly at the courtyard.
"Brother..."
Tang Ning noticed the sudden silence and quietly pulled Xiao Yan's hand away, his face turning pale instantly.
Ayane also had an unpleasant expression on her face. Previously, her mind was completely focused on Princess Chen, and these people were intentionally keeping a low profile. After they entered, the servant suddenly attacked again. She was only paying attention to this side, and she didn't even realize that there were so many people hiding in the courtyard.
Xiao Yan held the umbrella in one hand, his eyes unpredictable: "Are you using Rong Yue as bait?"
"You are only allowed to use her as bait to plot against me, but I am not allowed to set an ambush for once? Xiao Yan, how stupid do you think I am to let you and Gu Helian succeed every time ?"
The panic on Prince Cheng's face faded away. He looked at the man standing on the wall with a cold smile on his face. "Last time, I was careless about the incident at Duke Song's Mansion. That's why you stepped on my face and caused me to fall into this situation. Now, you and Gu Helian, don't even think about doing it again."
"You two bewitched Rong Yue and plotted to murder the Concubine Dowager. You led people to break into the palace and attempted to assassinate the king, and cover up the crime."
Now that his secret hoarding of military weapons had been exposed, he had no intention of letting these people leave the palace, whether it was Rong Yue, Xiao Yan, Gu Helian, or Song Tangning.
As long as they all died here, what would it matter if they confronted each other in person? He would have many reasons to complain about his "grievances" by then. The death of the concubine and their breaking into the palace in the middle of the night were his biggest mistakes, and even Emperor An could not do anything to him.
Gu Helian had already reached Rong Yue's side and cursed, "Xie Tianyu, you are shameless!"
Prince Cheng looked up at Gu Helian and sneered: "No matter how shameless I am, I am not as shameless as you in coveting other people's women."
"Back then, you were like a mad dog, guarding Rong Yue, your precious treasure, but not daring to take a step further. You watched helplessly as she married me and abandoned you like a worn-out shoe. Unfortunately, I didn't expect that you would be like a stray dog away from the capital for many years, yet you still hadn't given up on her. If I had known this earlier, I would have killed you for your affair with Rong Yue."
Gu Helian looked at Rong Yue, whose face was already pale, and said coldly: "Rong Yue and I are innocent and have never violated the rules..."
"That may not be the case." King Chen sneered, "Rong Yue has been childless for more than ten years, but she got pregnant after meeting you."
"Xie Tianyu!"
After Gu Helian understood what King Cheng meant, her eyes were red with anger, while Rong Yue, who had already felt chilled, felt a chill down her spine.
This is Xie Tianyu's child, his own blood. He actually wants to use the child's life to slander her and Gu Helian. If he does it, the child will not be able to survive.
"Have you been planning to give up this child since you saw me in the morning?" Rong Yue's eyes were red.
Prince Cheng looked at her pale face. The deep affection that had been in his eyes from beginning to end faded for the first time, and he looked frighteningly cold.
"This prince loves you, but you are still dating Gu Helian. You let him stay with you even though you know he has feelings for you. You killed my mother, and the child in your belly is not my blood, so why do you want to keep him?"
Even though he felt he had already won, he would not allow himself to be disgraced.
It was raining heavily and Rong Yue was soaked from head to toe. She looked at the man not far away in a state of embarrassment. King Cheng spoke her words with his gaze.
"Don't blame me for being ruthless. You were the one who betrayed me first."
If she had always been so stupid, they could have continued their "love".
If she didn't get to the bottom of the matter and didn't touch upon the past for Song Tangning, he would have always "loved" her, treated her like a treasure, loved and spoiled her as he did in the past, and "grown old" with her.
They were living a good life, but she ruined it all.
King Cheng said coldly: "Kill them all, leaving no one alive!!"
"retreat!"
The bows and crossbows were drawn, and the cold light pierced through the rain and headed straight towards the crowd. King Cheng was taken behind and protected by someone.
When Xiao Yan held Song Tangning and waved his umbrella to block the short crossbow that was shot at him, the ribs of the umbrella made a sound of iron colliding. He spun around and landed on the ground, protecting the person in front of him.
"Gu Helian, let's go!"
Gu Helian grabbed Rong Yue and turned around to try to break out. The Privy Council's guards and the Gu family surrounded them and protected them. They each grabbed someone from Prince Cheng's mansion and used them as human shields to protect themselves, but people were still bleeding.
As Rong Yue was being taken out in a trance, she heard screams from time to time. She watched more and more people fall down in the yard. When King Cheng ordered his men to take action, he didn't care about the lives of those people he had brought into the yard before.
The crossbows from high above almost blocked their way, and the servants of Prince Cheng's mansion who were used as meat shields had become hedgehogs.
She had never been so aware of how cruel the man she had slept with for more than ten years was, and she had never understood so clearly how stupid she was.
Just to understand her heart knot and make herself give up, he dragged so many people into death.