After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

As it ascended, sparks on the dark object gradually extended in all directions, forming lines that eventually became a fireball encircling the lines of fire!

Although seven or eight fireballs rose from various alleys, they seemed to have been planned in advance, and all descended from the sky towards Dong'an Gate.

"Raise your shields! Take cover!"

At the city gate, the captains, commanders, and officers of each squad shouted at the top of their lungs!

Footsteps sounded, and the crowd raised their shields and scattered to the sides.

hiss.

Carrying the sound of the wind.

The fireball was getting closer and closer to Dong'an Gate.

The military commander standing atop the eight-zhang-high city gate tower had eyes bulging with fury.

"A catapult?"

"How come there's a catapult?"

"Where would you find catapults in the capital?"

A terrifying series of questions arose in his mind.

"Rebellion? Someone's planning a rebellion?"

From his vantage point, he could see that the fireballs were rising from about seven or eight courtyards.

But the night was too dark, and he could only see a few sparks rising.

To throw such a fireball so high, a catapult would be essential!

But where would such a large catapult come from in the capital city? How could it possibly be brought in?

hiss.

The wind howled.

A burnt smell was already wafting through the air.

The fireball was getting closer and closer.

Using the bonfire on the city gate tower.

The military commander guarding Dong'an Gate gripped his sword tightly, gritting his teeth. In a fleeting glance, he saw the falling fireball... it seemed to be... a bamboo basket?

And inside this bamboo basket covered in fire, there seem to be... several small balls?

"Bang bang bang bang bang!"

There wasn't enough time to figure out the question.

The bamboo basket that fell from the sky has already crashed down!

Some landed in front of the city gate, causing a series of explosions!

Some landed on the heavy city gate, causing it to tremble.

One bamboo basket even landed on the city gate tower...

"Bang!"

An explosion.

Next came sparks flying everywhere, followed by a series of explosions!

"——Bang bang bang bang bang!"

A flash of light, pupils contracted, vision went blind, and a rumbling sound rang in the ears!

Two of his facial features were temporarily disabled.

The military commander hurriedly hid behind the city gate battlements, while several guards were unable to escape in time.

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Caught in the blast of the bamboo basket, the person was thrown backward, their face torn and bleeding, and something stuck to their armor caught fire.

fire.

In an instant, flames ignited in various parts of Dong'anmen.

The city gate tower was ablaze, and there were also patches of fire on the city gate and in front of the city gate.

Red flames suddenly burst open in the night.

"Squeak—bang bang bang bang bang!"

The explosion caused the bonfires in front of the city gate and on the gate tower to fall and explode, scattering in all directions and further intensifying the fire.

Clang.

The military commander, having steadied himself, drew his sword and roared at the top of his lungs:

"Form ranks! Hold the city gates! Call the fire brigade! Call the fire brigade immediately!"

But as he roared, his mouth suddenly became dry and burning, and his eyes also began to burn.

"Sir! Lime! It's lime!" a soldier shouted with his eyes tightly shut.

These thieves mixed lime into the gunpowder?!

The military commander quickly retreated, squinting as he shouted:

"Vegetable oil! Tell someone to fetch some vegetable oil!"

The smell of burning spread through the air, along with the smell of pine oil and pine ash.

"No wonder the fire started!"

At the same time, thick smoke billowed from the city gate tower and the city gate itself, and an indescribable pungent smell filled the air.

"Smoke signal!"

The thief infiltrated the beacon fire.

The soldiers who were not affected by the explosion now had bloodshot eyes from the smoke.

In the blink of an eye, the military commander's eyes, red and swollen from the lime and smoke, gritted his teeth and roared towards the city gate:

"Linzi Hutong! Hurry to Linzi Hutong! There are two dens of thieves there!"

He had a sore throat, and he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but while he smelled pine resin and burnt smells, he also smelled pork. Could it be lard?

It was at this moment.

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!!"

From each alley, another roar of battle cries rang out.

Hiss... and then seven or eight more fireballs rose into the air...

…………

Explosions erupted at Dong'anmen, accompanied by flames shooting into the sky.

On the verdant Jingshan Mountain, the Shouhuang Hall stands majestically, covered with yellow glazed tiles fired in the best brick kilns of the Northern Dynasties.

A figure dressed in armor with a yellow border and a long-plumed helmet, wearing the Plain Yellow Banner, stood up from the roof.

He had a lean and refined appearance with three long tufts of beard, giving him a gentle and scholarly air. He looked more like a schoolteacher than a military general. In the main hall beneath his feet, portraits of the emperors of the Northern Dynasties were enshrined.

The schoolteacher tiptoed and glanced at Dong'an Gate, where shouts of battle could be heard from afar.

"Heh." He chuckled and rubbed his face.

"Is this what you asked us to bring in over the past few months?" At this moment, a middle-aged man with a cold expression, also dressed in Plain Yellow Banner armor and wearing a long-plumed helmet, spoke up beside him.

The middle-aged man was thin and upright, with a short beard under his chin, a straight posture, and a serious look in his eyes.

"Hmm," the schoolteacher nodded smugly, "This is called a detachable trebuchet, and there are also pig-belly gunpowder balls in bamboo baskets... But I added some ingredients, arsenic, lime, and smoke bombs, so it's not very powerful, but it's excellent for setting fires to scare people. They wouldn't understand what I mean."

"What have you been doing all these years?" Mu Ziying, a middle-aged man with a knife at his side, frowned at the old cult leader he hadn't seen for many years.

The schoolteacher chuckled and stroked his rather magnificent beard, saying, "I learned it from that person you look down on, who is my apprentice."

Mu Ziying paused for a moment, then said, "Isn't he your son?"

The schoolteacher neither agreed nor disagreed, but said with amusement, "You should call him the leader."

Mu Ziying's cold face remained expressionless as he simply said:

"You're only enthusiastic on one side. He's a dignified prince consort who married the Queen of the Southern Kingdom. He'll be devoted to his wife and children from now on. He's not willing to be the leader of us rebels."

Hearing these unbearably sour words, the schoolteacher named Han Qing laughed:

"When he was nine years old, he was already the number one rebel in the world, a major rebel, far more rebellious than us... a mere empress of the Southern Dynasty... ha, that girl was a very kind person, but she couldn't hide him..."

Mu Ziying frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled. Nine years old? That person is now exactly nineteen years old, ten years have passed.

But his old friend, who had been missing for almost ten years, didn't say much.

"Let's go."

Han Qing felt relaxed.

He held the knife at his waist.

Time was of the essence, so he didn't say anything more.

Stepping on the golden glazed tiles, I reached the edge of the eaves.

"Let's go see Yinzhen."

The number one traitor in the world today casually uttered the emperor's name.

He jumped off the roof.

The second traitor of the Heavenly Principle Sect, Mu Ziying, stared blankly at the other party's still agile and confident back.

After a moment, the Right Protector, who was usually stern and rarely smiled, slightly curled the corners of his mouth.

He trampled a few glazed tiles off the roof, and followed closely behind...

…………

at the same time.

South of Jingshan is the North Gate.

South of the North Gate is the Divine Might Gate.

The newly appointed military commander of Shenwu Gate had a kind and honest face.

He led about ten people down the city gate tower and strode towards the North Gate, which was not far away.

The general named Han Donghu, with his hand on his waist knife, had been slaughtering pigs in Lijia Village for twenty years, and the air of a pig butcher was long gone from his body.

Next.

He was to lead a group to open the north gate of the city and welcome some people into the Forbidden City.

…………

call.

When the bells of the Bell and Drum Towers rang, the lights in the room were blown out.

It took a little time.

Their pupils adjusted to the darkness.

The experienced spy stood up, raised two fine knives, and demonstrated them in the darkness, showing the young man opposite him how to kill someone with two knives.

One knife deflects another's knife, the other plunges into his throat—it's that simple, just be quick.

That roughly conveys the meaning.

He then gestured to the young man, emphasizing that the cloth strip tied to his hand must be tied in a slipknot, not a knot.

It should be able to open with a bite of your teeth.

Otherwise, if the blade gets dull and can't cut anymore, and you can't get a new blade, you're doomed.

The young man nodded, holding two knives in his hands, his palms slightly sweaty and warm.

The old spy casually shook his neck, producing a series of crisp cracking sounds.

The south-facing entrance to the room.

The two stood on opposite sides and exchanged a glance.

"Bang!"

One person kicked the door open at the same time!