I have suffered enough in my previous life, my cousin will never marry me

Chapter 196 Choice
The fighting in the palace grew increasingly intense. A eunuch bribed by Prince Qi rushed back to the palace guardhouse and urgently reported, "Your Highness, all the Imperial Guards have been mobilized to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the battle is raging right now."

Ji Ningxi was secretly delighted: "What else did you find out?"

The young eunuch thought for a moment and said, "The cavalry has routed the Imperial Guards and is poised to take over the palace."

"Gu Tingzhou has indeed not disappointed me," Prince Qi exclaimed excitedly. "Everyone, quickly follow me to reinforce the cavalry headquarters."

"Your Highness, please wait."

Ji Ningxi pondered for a moment. If Gu Tingzhou and her elder sister were to remain alive now, Prince Qi would certainly not allow her to kill them after ascending the throne. It would be better to take this opportunity to eliminate them.

"The Imperial Seal and Empress Dowager Gu are still in Cining Palace. Why doesn't Your Highness personally lead a thousand men to storm Cining Palace, seize the Imperial Seal, and take control of the Empress Dowager and the court officials?"

Ji Ningxi advised, "As for the Hall of Mental Cultivation, why don't I and the Crown Prince go and clean up the mess?"

Prince Qi nodded: "Alright, it'll be Yixi'er, yours."

After saying this, she did not forget to instruct her son: "Your Highness, you must protect your Aunt Ji."

Having been delayed for so long, the Crown Prince felt extremely uneasy. He glanced at Ji Ningxi with displeasure and could only reply, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will definitely save the Emperor. When Father holds the Imperial Seal and the old Emperor, there is no need to worry about the success of our great cause."

The father and son each led half of their men out of the palace guardhouse in high spirits, heading separately towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation and the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.

Gu Tingchen led the Imperial Guards around the abandoned Yangxin Hall and chased Gu Tingzhou to the western inner palace gate. Seeing that Gu Tingzhou had closed the gate tightly, he rushed forward with a furious expression and grabbed an arrow from Gu Tingzhou's chest: "Get out of my way."

Despite the blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, Gu Tingzhou smiled slightly upwards at him.

"Drag this bastard away immediately! We absolutely cannot let the old emperor and his cousin escape!" Gu Tingchen roared.

Liu Zhang led his men forward and forcibly dragged Gu Tingzhou aside. Just as the palace gates were about to reopen, Gu Tingchen was about to take a step when he suddenly tripped over his own feet.

He turned around and saw that Gu Tingzhou's blood-soaked hands were tightly holding his ankle.

"Damn it."

Gu Tingchen drew his sword and, enraged, stabbed it into the man's chest and abdomen, twisting it several times. But the bloody hands seemed to have taken root and clung tightly to his ankles.

Liu Zhang felt a pang of heartache at the sight and had no choice but to have someone forcibly pry open Gu Tingzhou's fingers one by one.

Having been delayed for so long, Gu Tingchen looked at his elder brother, who had already died, and his hatred surged like a raging tide.

He kicked Gu Tingzhou's corpse far away with a powerful kick, and was about to continue the pursuit westward with his men when a palace servant rushed in to report.

"Your Highness, something terrible has happened! Prince Qi has led his men into Cining Palace."

"Does this scoundrel really dare to rebel?" Gu Tingchen shook his head with disdain.

The palace servant added, "This old servant saw that Prince Qi split his forces into two groups. One group headed straight for Cining Palace, while the other group, led by Prince Qi's heir and Consort Ji, went to catch up with Princess Jinghe and Emperor Zhaolie."

Liu Zhang immediately sensed something was wrong: "Your Highness, Aunt Ji and Miss Biao already have a grudge. If Miss Biao falls into her hands, she will probably have no way to survive."

"What are you waiting for? Immediately follow me to stop Prince Qi's heir."

Gu Tingchen was about to take a step in a hurry when the palace servant frowned and quickly stopped him: "Your Highness, the Imperial Seal is still in the Empress Dowager's hands. If Prince Qi gets the Imperial Seal and controls the Empress Dowager, the country may change hands."

Upon hearing this, Gu Tingchen was immediately stunned.

“Your Highness, Prince Qi is not popular. Even if we obtain the Imperial Seal and control the Empress Dowager, as long as we take back the Emperor and capture Prince Qi’s heir, he will not dare to act rashly.”

Liu Zhang advised, "The Prime Minister Ji's illegitimate daughter acts without any rhyme or reason. If she wants to harm Miss Gu, we won't be able to control her." Gu Tingchen hesitated.

He has worked so hard to get to where he is today, how could he possibly give it all away to someone else?

"No, the Imperial Seal must not fall into the hands of Prince Qi." Gu Tingchen's eyes gradually became firm: "As long as we take down Prince Qi, as long as I am still Prince Dao'an, that illegitimate daughter of the Ji family will not dare to harm Wanwan."

"Your Highness."

Just as Liu Zhang was about to persuade her again, Gu Tingchen's eyes suddenly turned fierce: "No need to say more. Wanwan has always been intelligent. Since she is determined to protect the old emperor, what can a mere concubine from the Qi Prince's mansion do to her? Immediately come with me to Cining Palace to protect the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Seal. If that illegitimate daughter dares to harm Wanwan, I will make sure she dies without a burial place."

After saying this, he led his men and hurriedly headed towards the Cining Palace.

Outside Lin'an City, Zhu Wencai and Yan Jin led their suicide squad in more than ten attacks on the city walls. Seeing that nearly half of their troops had been lost, and Ji Yunze and the Shenwei Army still refused to open the city, Zhu Wencai was furious and started cursing loudly below the city.

"Ji Yunze, you heartless bookworm, have you forgotten who rescued you when you were imprisoned in the Yuezhou Garrison Command?"

Zhu Wencai angrily rebuked, "If it weren't for my princess's rescue, you'd be overgrown with weeds by now."

"General Zhu, stop wasting your breath and leave immediately," Ji Yunze said, unmoved.

"If I had known you were so stubborn and heartless, I should have advised His Highness to kill you back in Yuzhou," Zhu Wencai cursed bitterly.

Fu Mingchi calmly observed the city wall, silently counting the arrows embedded in it. He noticed that the sun was already setting, and if anything happened inside the palace, Wan'er would have a hard time dealing with it.

"All soldiers, listen to my command! Go all out and protect me as we charge into the city!"

At Fu Mingchi's command, he picked up his spear and rode his black horse towards the city wall, leading the charge.

"Fire arrows! We must not let Prince Yongning get even a step closer to the city wall!" Ji Yunze shouted.

In an instant, arrows rained down, even more fiercely than before.

Zhu Wencai led dozens of skilled men to be the first to climb up the steep slope using the feathered arrows.

Arrows struck the soldiers, and many fell from the city wall, but they became even more courageous, continuing to climb one after another.

Seeing that more than ten people were about to climb up the city wall, Fu Mingchi seized the opportunity, spurred his horse and leaped up, stepping on the soldiers' shoulders to quickly climb to the center of the city wall.

“Prince Yongning, stop being so stubborn.” Ji Yunze panicked and snatched a crossbow, aiming it at Fu Mingchi: “For Wanwan’s sake, I can let you go. If you dare to climb any higher, I will shoot you dead with an arrow.”

"You dare call me Wanwan?" Fu Mingchi's eyes darkened. He gripped his silver spear and leaped upwards. Just as he was about to reach the top of the city wall, Ji Yunze suddenly shot out an arrow. Seeing this, the other archers also drew their bows towards him.

"Your Highness."

Seeing the dense swarm of arrows hurtling towards the prince, Zhu Wencai shouted and leaped with all his might toward the direction from which the arrows came.

The sharp arrow pierced his body, and the powerful force sent him plummeting straight down from the city wall.

Ji Yunze was startled. Before he could even react, a figure stood stiffly in front of him, a cold spearhead pressed against his neck. The feeling seemed familiar.

"You insolent fool, can you bear the responsibility if His Majesty suffers any mishap?" Fu Mingchi gripped his silver spear tightly, his face full of anger. "Open the city gates immediately and come with me to the palace to rescue His Majesty."

"General Qian, don't worry about me. We must not let Prince Yongning set foot in Lin'an City." Ji Yunze's resolute attitude made the commander of the Divine Might Army extremely troubled.

Just then, a patrolling soldier rushed up the city wall, sweating profusely, and shouted, "General Qian, something terrible has happened! Prince Qi has rebelled!"