In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

The fifth quarter of Hai hour.

Outside Qingshun Palace, a deafening battle cry suddenly erupted, instantly silencing the entire deathly quiet palace.

Half-asleep, Ha Ji-hyo leaned against the bedside and suddenly woke up as if from a nightmare.

"kill!"

"Kill them!!"

The clear, audible shouts of killing were not an illusion, much less a nightmare.

Ha Ji-hyo was terrified and rushed out.

boom! !

A tremendous roar suddenly exploded, like a thunderbolt striking the earth, startling her so much that she fell to the ground, her face turning pale.

Li Yuanchang remained seated, glancing at her sideways.

But his face remained calm.

boom!

At that moment, the door was pushed open, and the swirling snow, shouts of battle, and flames outside the wall were instantly reflected in the room.

A large number of guards quickly moved along the corridor and surrounded the area.

Guo Chao rushed in: "Your Highness, as you predicted, Li Daxun has rebelled and is leading his troops to attack!"

Li Yuanchang nodded: "How many people?"

"Your Highness, it's too dark to tell yet, but they are likely no fewer than a thousand strong, and they've already fallen into our ambush zone!"

Li Yuanchang sneered, "A force of a thousand, suddenly launching an attack in the dead of night."

If he hadn't been more vigilant, tonight might have been a repeat of Cao Cao's Five Phoenix Tower incident, where one cannon shot killed three sages.

at the same time.

boom! !

Boom!

The ground shook and debris flew everywhere; that was Han Lei's continuous bombardment.

The gate was smashed down, and flames shot several meters high.

A piercing scream tore through the night, and the rebel army that had just stormed in was wiped out. The terrifying Han Lei was truly an equal force to all!

The Tang army shouted battle cries one after another, and they jumped out from all directions in the darkness.

The Qingshun Palace, which had been loosely defended, was instantly transformed into an impenetrable encirclement, with swordsmen blocking the way and archers climbing to the rooftop.

And then came the continuous volleys of bullets, falling like dumplings being dropped into a pot, making the thousand-strong rebel army that attacked them like live targets.

Li Yuanchang stood up, a cold smile appearing on his lips: "Leave no one alive!"

"yes!"

Guo Chao handed over the immediate tasks to Huang Tu and rushed out to direct the battle.

Li Yuanchang originally wanted to go out himself, but the situation was too one-sided. Han Lei's presence was like a cheat code, and the momentum of the enemy's thousand-man night raid was suppressed in one fell swoop.

All that was left was slaughter and encirclement; there was no suspense whatsoever.

One bomb can kill at least a dozen people, leaving them mangled and bloodied, with countless others injured.

Those armored soldiers were a joke in front of Han Lei.

"Left side, left side, break through!!"

Realizing he was ambushed, Li Daxun screamed until he was hoarse, knowing that failure meant death. So, like a cornered beast, he tried to break through from the side.

But just as the panicked rebels burst through the side door, they were met with more than a hundred repeating crossbows raining down on the ground and in the air.

"put!!"

shhhhhh!

The repeating crossbows fired continuously, unleashing seven hundred indiscriminate shots.

Puff puff……

boom!

"what!"

"Let me have it, let me have it!!"

Click...

The screams were deafening as large numbers of rebels were riddled with arrows, unable to even touch the guards.

The massive army of a thousand was trapped outside the palace, unable to enter or retreat, and its numbers continued to dwindle. Blood pooled in the water tank, flowing out with a gurgling sound.

Li Yuanchang stood outside the threshold of the palace and could see the large-scale massacre scene under the snowy night.

Ha Ji-hyo's fair face had turned deathly pale with fright, completely devoid of color.

When she came to her senses, she burst into tears and pleaded with Li Yuanchang, "Your Highness, please don't kill me, I didn't know anything about this."

"Please, spare me!"

She seems to have realized that the consequences are serious!

Assassinating Li Yuanchang is tantamount to assassinating the emperor. In such a situation, even the rats in the city lord's mansion would be torn to pieces, leaving no one alive.

Li Yuanchang initially thought there would be some danger, but he was overthinking it. Li Daxun's men were only capable of this much; without gunpowder, they probably wouldn't even be able to break in, at most causing some casualties.

At this point, he had completely lost interest and spread his arms wide.

"Remove my armor."

Ha Ji-hyo's legs trembled, but she forced herself to stand up and removed Lee Won-chang's armor.

But because of fear and crying, she couldn't muster any strength in her hands, and several attempts were unsuccessful.

"My lady, do not be afraid. The grievances have their source and the debtors their debtors. I only target the rebels; I will not deal with the loyal ones."

"Do you want to rebel, or remain loyal?" Li Yuanchang asked casually.

Ha Ji-hyo knelt at his feet, driven by both the instinct for survival and reverence for Lee Won-chang, her voice trembling as she said, "Your Highness, I wish to be loyal!"

"..."

The next day.

Martial law was declared in Lugan City, and the stench of blood permeated the area for miles around the palace.

The fighting has completely stopped, but the devastation and ruins left behind remain.

A large group of officials from Lugan City arrived outside the palace, all of them restless and anxiously awaiting news from inside.

During this time, countless corpses were carried out, all of them belonging to the city's garrison. The horrific state of each corpse, some even incomplete, horrified the officials of Lugan City!

"vomit!!"

Some people even vomited on the spot.

Even losing one's head wouldn't cause this much damage; it was the first time they had ever seen a human corpse blown to this extent.

Inside the hall.

Li Yuanchang took a sip of hot tea.

Li Daxun was defeated, captured, and brought up here.

boom!

"Ah!" Li Daxun screamed, an arrow still lodged in his knee.

"Lord Li, why the rebellion?" Li Yuanchang asked.

Li Daxun gritted his teeth, feeling fear, but even more so hatred.

"How did you know I was going to kill you? Did you set up an ambush?"

Li Yuanchang said calmly, "It seems you don't quite understand the situation."

"Hahaha!" Li Daxun laughed loudly, his hair disheveled, then his eyes turned ruthless: "So what if I die? I came here expecting to die!"

"There's one thing you want to know, but you shouldn't know it!"

Li Yuanchang did not get angry; he simply stood up slowly and said, "Haven't I treated you well?"

"Pooh!"

"You're just an outsider. What right do you have to boss us Goguryeo nobles around? What gives you the right to make decisions? Are you even worthy?"

"Since you came, you've made all sorts of demands and imposed all sorts of restrictions. Before you came, we were the masters of this land!" Li Daxun cursed and complained.

Li Yuanchang knew very well that he was not the only one who thought this way.

The nobles in Goguryeo were also xenophobic and unwilling to be restricted, just like the nobles of the Tang Dynasty. They were determined to protect their own interests.

"Confess yourself."

"Who ordered it? And who were their accomplices?"

"I will leave you an heir."

"Dream on!" Li Daxun roared in defiance, struggling on the ground.

"You can still say it now, but once I find out for myself, you won't get this preferential treatment anymore," Li Yuanchang said.

"Ah!" Li Daxun suddenly lunged forward, leaping two meters.