knife

Chapter 243 Our true intention is to destabilize the Yuan Kingdom.

There were originally hundreds of warriors surrounding the Hall of Diligent Governance, which Akodun used to suppress the old men inside the hall.

What if they don't know what's good for them?

Since they can't kill him, it shouldn't be a problem for those few people to serve him.

However, the operation to surround and kill Tiele from the Xuanwu Gate was completely unexpected. Tiele actually had a backup plan in the palace. Although we don't know where they had been hiding, the most urgent task is to keep Tiele here.

If the Tiele people escape from Yandu, then things will be in serious trouble.

So, amidst the sound of drums and horns, half of the warriors here were transferred away, leaving the other half to guard the gate.

In fact, there's not much to see at the gate.

Because all the old guys in the main hall rushed out one by one. Those who practiced martial arts went up to the roof, those who climbed trees, and those who didn't know anything could only look up and listen to the explanations from those above.

These people, however, showed no sign of nervousness whatsoever.

Especially some old men with white beards.

They had already experienced something like this when they were young.

That time, they followed Ying Zhuo in starting a rebellion, and after their success, they and their families enjoyed decades of wealth and honor.

And this time, there was nothing new either.

Akton shouldn't lose!

Regardless of what tricks the Tiele had up their sleeves in the palace, their numbers were limited, while Akdun had as many as 30,000 men in Yandu.

If the Tiele still managed to escape, then we should reconsider Akdun's abilities. Is he overrated and unworthy of being entrusted with important responsibilities?

At this point, everyone became excited.

This is what the struggle for the throne in the Great Yuan Dynasty looks like!

It would be truly meaningless if the Tiele were slaughtered like chickens by Akdun.

These old men had thought of everything, but they never expected that someone would come to kill them!

So when He Zheng led a group of men out of that house, one of the warriors who was very close to them exclaimed in surprise, "Why haven't you gone to support the front yet? We don't need you here anymore!"

He Zheng laughed heartily: "We don't need you here anymore!"

Before he finished speaking, the knife in his hand had already plunged into the gap in the armor plate with a thud.

Then he drew his sword, kicked the unseeing warrior high into the air, and he landed with a thud in the courtyard.

"Kill them all!" He Zheng roared, raising his crossbow.

The sound of hissing arrows was incessant. Assassins rushed out of the house, each carrying a crossbow bolt. The bolts rained down, and in an instant, the courtyard was filled with high-ranking Yuan officials dressed in red and purple.

Yelü Chongguang was sitting cross-legged on the roof of the Qin Zheng Hall, watching the battle in the direction of Xuanwu Gate. He didn't pay any attention when He Zheng and his group came out, but when He Zheng killed the first person, he immediately realized something was wrong.

"Assassin!" he shouted as he swooped down, grabbed Li Zhun, who was standing on the threshold with a gloomy face, and rushed into the house.

At the same time, several other veteran generals also grabbed some civil officials around them who were not skilled in martial arts and fled into the palace.

With a bang, the door to the main hall was slammed shut by Xian Shi.

He didn't care that there were still many people outside who hadn't had a chance to come in.

Xian Shi could see very clearly that the assassins were incredibly fast. If he hesitated even slightly, they would likely follow the fleeing men into the main hall, and then everyone would be truly doomed.

Curses and pleas for the door to be opened came from outside, but Yelü Chongguang and Xian Shi, who were highly skilled in martial arts, ignored them and fled directly to the back hall.

Behind them, a dozen or so samurai stood guard at the door with swords, giving them a final look-back.

There is only one gate in front of the Hall of Diligent Governance; if you want to get in, you have to start your attack from here.

The wailing and screaming outside soon stopped.

Dozens of warriors and nearly twenty high-ranking officials of the Yuan Dynasty were inexplicably killed outside the gates of the Qin Zheng Hall.

"What happened?" Akdun, who had just fled into the back hall, asked in surprise as he looked at Yelü Chongguang, Li Zhun and their entourage who had fled in a disheveled state.

"Your Highness, how many people are still in the rear hall?" Yelü Chongguang asked sternly.

"More than two hundred!"

"Gather all of you and obey my orders!" Yelü Chongguang roared. "What do you want to do?" Akdun asked angrily.

"Third Prince, if you don't want to die, you'd better listen to General Chongguang!" Li Zhun said sinisterly from the side, "The Tiele are not as easy to deal with as you think. Their men are about to kill their way here."

"What?" Akdun took a few steps back and plopped down on the couch, his buttocks facing his dead father's large face.

If Yingzhuo were still alive, he would probably be driven mad by Akodun in the current situation.

"Guards! Guards!" Akdun shouted.

In the rear hall and side hall, the warriors were quickly gathered together. Yelü Chongguang arranged for Akdun, Li Zhun, and the others to stay around Yingzhuo's large couch, while he himself, along with Xian Shi and a few other generals, tightly surrounded this last stronghold.

Fortunately, this is where Yingzhuo usually stays, and the security measures are quite adequate.

Although there were fewer than two hundred men, under Yelü Chongguang's arrangement, they managed to form several respectable military formations.

Unfortunately, the warriors on the side of the Hall of Diligent Governance were mostly armed with waist knives; they didn't have crossbows at all, while the assassins outside each carried a crossbow.

When Yelü Chongguang fled into the palace, he saw clearly that a man who had been hit by a crossbow bolt had turned blue in the blink of an eye.

They even poisoned the crossbow bolts so that the enemies wouldn't die!

Tiele, you are truly ruthless!
If Yelü Chongguang had previously been indifferent to whether Akdun or Tiele would become emperor, he was now quite angry with Tiele.

Such an assassination could not have been a spur-of-the-moment decision; it must have been planned and prepared over a long period of time.

While Akdun was scheming against Tiele, Tiele was also scheming against Akdun.
However, Akdun had been in power in Yandu for a longer period and firmly controlled the defense of Yandu and the imperial palace. With no other options, the Tiele had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure.

He not only wants to kill Aktun, but he probably wants to wipe out everyone in the palace!
"I'm not done with you yet!" Yelü Chongguang was furious: "You killed people and wanted to frame Akdun, so you killed the Renjia family and the Xifeng family. Hehe, that's quite a method."

Li Zhun leaned back in front of Ying Zhuo's dragon bed, and with a tilt of his head, he could see Ying Zhuo's seemingly calm face.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, your sons are indeed formidable! Did the Tiele deliberately walk into their trap? Once they escape, the blame for all the deaths in the capital will fall on Akdun's shoulders. The Renduo and Xifeng families will turn against Akdun. Haha, this will break the tradition of these two great families never getting involved in the struggle for imperial power. Offering themselves as bait, they've truly mastered this! The people you've chosen are indeed wise. This whole process is breathtaking!"

Akton sat next to Li Zhun and listened to Li Zhun's words. His face turned green. What did Ying Zhuo mean by someone he had taken a liking to?
Logically speaking, Lao Tzu is the one Ying Zhuo chose!

You agreed to it too.

Li Zhun seemed to only then remember that Akodun was beside him, and turned to look at him, saying, "Third Prince, you didn't expect things to turn out this way, did you? You should now consider how to deal with the upcoming army's attack on the city!"

"A large army is attacking the city?" Akdun blinked, not quite understanding.

“That’s right!” Li Zhun said, “The Tiele have escaped, but this matter is not over yet! The tens of thousands of troops in the Eastern Camp are under the command of the Tiele. When the time comes, the Tiele will surely accuse you of killing the emperor and many important officials and plotting to seize the throne. Naturally, he will lead his army to kill you, this treacherous official. Also, how do you explain the deaths of so many important officials outside?”

"They were all killed by the Tiele!"

"Besides those of us who experienced it firsthand, who else would believe it?" Li Zhun sneered. "Yandu is in your hands, the palace is in your hands, Wutu is your man, and Azaxi is your man. Yet you say that the Tiele people killed so many important court officials in the palace in one go. Do you think the Xifeng family and the Renjia family would believe that? They would think you are treating them like fools!"

“But it’s true!” Akdun cried out in grievance.

"Akhdon, is it really that important whether it's true or not?" Li Zhun sighed. "You are indeed inferior to the Tiele!"

“Lord Li, as long as you speak, they will believe you!” Akdun grabbed Li Zhun’s sleeve, his voice pleading.

"How did the emperor die?" Li Zhun suddenly asked.

"His Majesty truly died of a stroke!" Akdun shouted. "Does Lord Li suspect me of regicide?"

“You dare to alter even the imperial edict, what else wouldn’t you dare to do!” Li Zhun stared intently at Aktun.

“So what if I altered the will? In my Great Yuan Dynasty, isn’t it a case of the victors taking all? Lord Li, I have already sent men to the Renjia and Xifeng families to tell them that as long as they support me, I will make them hereditary princes and grant them the power to participate in government affairs,” Akdun roared.

"I've finally seen a glimpse of your scheme!" Li Zhun sighed. "But in doing so, the unified system that your father and I worked so hard to build over our entire lives will be completely destroyed by you. Hereditary succession is one thing, but do you know what it means to give them the power to participate in government affairs?"

“Lord Li, I must first survive and become the Emperor of the Great Yuan before we can talk about anything else!” Akdun said, “There’s always a way, isn’t there?”

Li Zhun sighed, lowered his head, and stopped talking, no longer wanting to.

He Zheng hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. Having completed their mission, they immediately began to retreat along the route they had come from.

"Captain, I saw Aktun in that hall, why don't we go and kill him?"

"Kill him my ass!" He Zheng said, "If we kill him, who will fight the Tiele? We're here to disrupt the Yuan Dynasty, not to help the Tiele ascend the throne!"

As he spoke, He Zheng kicked his talkative subordinate deep into the tunnel, quickly pried a brick off the wall, and then turned and ran.

As he walked, the tunnel began to collapse.

(End of this chapter)