Exorcism

"What can I do?" Queen Xun asked. She had been patient for a long time. She knew that the enemy was hiding nearby, but she could not launch a counterattack. She had to pretend to be discouraged and lost her fighting spirit, which made her very painful.

She was like an old general who had retired from the army. She looked old and never talked about the past with her children and grandchildren who had never fought in the war, but she often dreamed of returning to the camp in the quiet night, and her blood boiled when she heard the horn.

She longed to return to the battlefield, not just the battlefield of armor and swords, but also the wider world.

"How did you deal with the demons?" Mu Xingqiu asked.

"I withdrew from the court and did not ask about political affairs. The demons should not know that I instigated the talisman masters and monks to compete for merit, so they never attacked me, and I didn't need to deal with them."

Mu Xingqiu did not ask any more questions, but he knew that the truth could not be like this. The schemes of mortals could not be hidden from the demons. Queen Xun must have received secret help, but she herself did not know.

"To make a long story short, more than half of the talisman masters and monks in the imperial capital have been possessed by demons. The Niwan Palace has been controlled and has become the power and position of the demons. If I want to win this battle, I must build a force that can compete with the possessed. To do this, I need to arouse everyone's emotions. Any emotions will do. They must be spontaneous and cannot be provoked by magic. The more people like this, the greater my chances of winning."

Queen Xun didn't understand the details of the magic, and she didn't ask. She just needed to know what she should do. After thinking for a while, she said, "Then we can only launch a coup."

Mu Xingqiu had to admit that he was surprised. He always had confidence in Queen Xun, but she often surprised him. "Time is very tight."

A coup is certainly one of the best ways to arouse the emotions of mortals, and it has a wide impact, but it is also difficult. There has never been a coup as unprepared as today.

"You have your spells, I have mine." Queen Xun went to the ground barefoot, still holding the brim of her hat in her hand, "Should I keep it with me?"

Mu Xingqiu checked it with illusion, "If you can keep your fighting spirit now, the straw hat will be useless.

In the past, Mu Xingqiu could only vaguely grasp the emotions of mortals, like driving sheep in the dark. After practicing the ninth level of illusion, he could temporarily deposit his soul in those high and clear emotions.

Queen Xun laughed. This was the fighting spirit that had been suppressed for a long time, which could be maintained for a long time, but she still walked out with the straw hat, with firm steps and no hesitation, as if there was an entire army following behind her.

This was the long-awaited side-by-side battle.

Zeng Fu sat up from the small bed in the outer room, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Queen Xun blankly, "Why did you get up? What time is it now? Get up at night, or drink water? Why are you not wearing shoes..."

"Come with me, Zeng Fu. "The voice of Queen Xun was not harsh, but it was clearly a command.

Zeng Fu immediately jumped off the bed, put on her shoes, and then went to get shoes for Queen Xun. She was so quick because she saw the straw hat in Queen Xun's hand.

Zeng Fu came back soon, not only with shoes in her hand, but also with a talisman short sword. It was originally pressed at the bottom of the box, and few people remembered it except Zeng Fu.

Queen Xun put on her shoes with Zeng Fu's service, holding the scabbard in her hand, walked out of the room and stood at the door.

She did not live with the Emperor Ci, but lived alone in a remote small courtyard. The official name of this courtyard was "Xiyue Palace", but it was more widely known as "Cold Palace".

"Wake up everyone. "Queen Xun said.

Zeng Fu moved very quickly. In fact, she didn't need to call. The maids in other rooms put on their clothes as soon as they heard the noise outside and waited for the call.

There were fourteen maids in total, and ten eunuchs in the outer courtyard. They all stood in front of Queen Xun. It was past the second watch and not yet the third watch. It was late at night, but these people did not show any special surprise. They were all Queen Xun's confidants. Like her, they had already made "preparations" long ago, but they didn't know what to do specifically.

Queen Xun began to arrange matters. Five maids and five eunuchs, two each, One group, each carrying the Queen's handwritten order and token, left the palace as quickly as possible to meet three ministers, a general and a great talisman master. They didn't need to say anything, just deliver the token.

Most of the remaining people stayed in Xiyue Palace. Queen Xun only took Zeng Fu and a most trusted eunuch to leave, and walked all the way in the palace.

Queen Xun whispered to herself. The eunuch didn't understand and didn't ask, but Zeng Fu knew that she was talking to Mu Xingqiu. Queen Xun was still not used to talking in her mind.

"Will those ministers and generals obey your orders?" Mu Xingqiu's voice was only heard by Queen Xun. He was very surprised. Queen Xun had clearly prepared for a coup and even arranged external aid. It seemed that she had been waiting for his arrival.

"My handwritten order is not that powerful. These ten people can't even leave the palace. "Empress Xun smiled softly, "The five ministers I asked them to meet have many followers in the court and have always been feared by the Emperor Ci. My people will be arrested soon. I know the Emperor Ci, and he will immediately order the five important ministers to be imprisoned. Within an hour, the court will be in chaos. Next is my brother and Pei Shuai. Although the two are not on good terms and have little contact with me, the Emperor Ci will still suspect that they are my backers and may not dare to arrest them, but will order martial law throughout the city, and the entire imperial capital will be in chaos because of this." This is the plan that Empress Xun made in less than two quarters of an hour. It is only part of it. If there is no practical preparation, she will not rashly propose a coup.

"As long as I'm here, you won't be taken away." Mu Xingqiu said.

Empress Xun smiled and said nothing. Mu Xingqiu was her greatest support and should not be used too early.

Not far away, a group of night guards blocked the way.

Mu Xingqiu's soul could only use pure illusion magic, which was more than enough to deal with the Fulu soldiers. However, the eunuch who had been following silently behind solved the problem without him taking action.

The eunuch was about forty years old. He had an unattractive appearance. He had lowered his head since he appeared and never raised it. He never said anything except "yes". Such a man was actually a master of ritual talismans. He could kill ten people with just one move. The guards were all knocked unconscious.

The palace guards were tight on the outside and loose on the inside. There were only ordinary guards in the inner courtyard where Emperor Ci and his concubines lived, and they were no match for the Talisman Master.

"His name is Wei Geng, a talisman master with a bright future who is willing to enter the palace and become a lowly slave. It must be a tortuous story. Empress Xun did not go into details, and Mu Xingqiu would never search her memory.

"Following this road is the palace of Emperor Ci, but he will not stay here tonight. The guards will prove that I came to see him. Emperor Ci will be more suspicious and more likely to make wrong decisions in the future if he knows it."

Queen Xun turned into another path. From then on, Wei Geng began to sacrifice talismans in advance to ensure that the group would not be noticed by other guards and to erase all possible traces of their whereabouts.

Empress Xun's temporary hiding place was Emperor Ci's inner study. Here she said to Wei Geng: "The time has come. The survival of the Shengfu Dynasty may depend on this battle tonight. It's useless to cause chaos in the imperial capital. I If you need immediate support, go to your people and tell them my words, 'I remember your promise and I will see it fulfilled before daybreak.'"

"Yes." Wei Geng still only replied with this word, he bowed out of the study room and disappeared quickly.

"A group of talisman masters and monks, about a thousand people in total. They are all aware of the existence of demon species and are regarded as crazy by their peers. I gathered them together and tried not to come into contact with other people. They are willing to fight for me."

Empress Xun was accustomed to making extra preparations. She had predicted from the very beginning that the battle for power she had started would probably get out of hand, and the demons would press forward step by step. She had to have a A force that is completely loyal to herself, just in case of emergency, but even she herself could not imagine that she would have to wait for more than ten years.

Mu Xingqiu became more and more convinced that someone was secretly protecting Queen Xun. Otherwise, she would not have been able to do these things over the years. But the protector was definitely not Wei Geng. He was a very powerful talisman master, but he did not have the ability to compete with the demon species. .

Zeng Fu couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "There are only three of us left, and then what? Won't Emperor Ci or anyone else come to the study?"

"Emperor Ci will think that I have escaped from the palace, and no one will come here before dawn." Empress Xun said with certainty. After a while, she added: "Something happened in the inner study. Emperor Ci has been there for at least five years." Haven’t come in yet.”

This was another past incident of love and hatred. Empress Xun had no intention of telling it, Zeng Fu was embarrassed to ask, and Mu Xingqiu was even more careful not to touch any of Empress Xun's memories.

Her fighting spirit has been slowly rising, like the only tall tree in the wilderness, providing a temporary perch for passing birds.

The palace is very big and has many rules. No one dares to run around and move around. Therefore, there is silence outside. Zeng Fu was silent for a while and couldn't help but ask: "How is it outside? Did Emperor Ci take action?"

Zeng Fu's mood was slowly rising. It was more complicated than Queen Xun's, with fighting spirit, excitement, and a bit of fear, but it was enough to accept Mu Xingqiu's illusion. He said to the two of them at the same time: "Let's do it." , I can feel the tension in the palace. A large number of guards outside are marching towards the inner palace, and there are many possessed people among them. They are concentrated in..."

"Yunliu Palace." Queen Xun didn't have magic, but could accurately guess what was going on outside. "That's Concubine Li's residence, and it's also the place where Emperor Ci feels the safest."

Mu Xingqiu found Emperor Ci among the many emotions. His anger and fear were like a towering tree, which would not grow so tall in a short while. As a possessed person, these emotions had existed for a long time.

The demons searched everywhere in the palace for Mu Xingqiu's whereabouts. They did not come by themselves. Instead, they cast spells through the possessed people in the palace. Mu Xingqiu also cast illusions to hide Queen Xun and Zeng Fu firmly.

The battle is about to break out. Empress Xun is waiting for a response from outside the palace, while Mu Xingqiu is waiting for ordinary people to get more excited. Now he is still at a disadvantage.

There was also Queen Xun's secret protector. Mu Xingqiu hoped to find this person. He had a hunch that he would be familiar with this person or these people.