My lord? My lord?

Sun Tieniu rubbed his eyes incredulously, widening his eyes as he strained to look up at the person on the palace wall.

That tall stature, handsome face, slightly narrowed phoenix eyes, the cold gaze in his anger, and the bone-chilling intimidating aura emanating from his entire being.

It really was the prince!

Hadn’t the Marquis of Qingyang said the imperial palace was controlled by Tatar spies!

Hadn’t Prince Li just roared that His Majesty was an imposter!

What complete bullshit!

Even if His Majesty had been impersonated, how could he possibly mistake the person they had followed into battle, who always charged at the very front in every conflict?

When attacking Great Yan, he had nearly been cut down by Prince Ning’s blade. It was the prince who, taking a blade to his back, had desperately saved him. Not to mention at such a short distance – even if there were only a silhouette in a sea of people, as long as he saw this person, he would absolutely never be mistaken!

So Prince Li and the Marquis of Qingyang had clearly deceived them, using them to stage a rebellion!

Though Sun Tieniu was a rough man, his mind wasn’t dull – how could he not understand at this point?

Sun Tieniu couldn’t care about the reactions of those around him now. Looking again at that bright yellow figure, his knees went soft and he collapsed to the ground.

The centurion beside him angrily said, “Sun Tieniu, are you crazy? Get up! Are you waiting to be trampled to death!”

Sun Tieniu pointed upward: “Look who’s up there.”

The centurion looked up and likewise saw the imposing Pang Xiao and the sun-like handsome Ji Zeyu beside him.

The centurion was also stunned, going through almost the same mental process as Sun Tieniu, and knelt down beside him.

“Your Majesty, we subjects have arrived late to rescue you. Please forgive our offense!”

Like a drop of water falling into hot oil, with Sun Tieniu and the centurion as the center, ripples spread in waves around them. As long as Huben Army soldiers looked up and saw Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu, not one could continue fighting. Everyone knelt down one after another, realizing the Huben Army had been used.

With the Huben Army acting thus, the Five Cities’ Military Commission forces also began to waver.

Unlike the rough frontier-born men of the Huben Army, virtually everyone who could hold office in the Five Cities’ Military Commission had background connections – perhaps within the palace walls they were attacking were their own grandfathers and uncles?

At once, the pressure on the city defenders suddenly lessened, as the attackers’ morale wavered and their assault was no longer as fierce as before.

Seeing this situation, the Marquis of Qingyang was so anxious his eyes flashed with stars and his whole body went weak. If not for gritting his teeth and forcing himself to sit upright on his horse, not wanting to lose too much face before so many soldiers, he would have almost tumbled headfirst and fled.

No good, no good, this couldn’t continue like this, or wouldn’t he fall into Li Qitian’s hands along with Prince Li? Would he still have his life then!

“All of you attack! Don’t be deceived by the fraudsters! They’re all disguised deceivers! They’re all spies from the Tatars – act quickly!” The Marquis of Qingyang anxiously jumped down from his horse, waving his horsewhip to lash at the Huben Army men, especially seeing those who knelt and wouldn’t rise, which made smoke come out of his head in fury.

As soon as he received the imperial edict to take command of the Huben Army, he immediately replaced all the high-ranking officers with his own trusted subordinates, but he hadn’t bothered with the centurions and lower ranks.

What the Marquis of Qingyang had no interest in thinking deeply about, and didn’t know, was that the Huben Army had experienced the incident of placing Ji Zeyu under house arrest during the last impeachment of Pang Xiao. Those high-ranking confidants of Pang Xiao had long since been replaced by Li Qitian’s people, and only those with lower positions had been spared. And these people happened to be those who had campaigned with Pang Xiao the longest.

They might not have such high positions, but their influence in the army was stronger than those high officials, and their loyalty to Pang Xiao was the deepest.

The Marquis of Qingyang frantically threw his tantrum while lashing those Huben Army soldiers who had submitted.

And this action truly made Pang Xiao’s sword-like brows stand on end in fury.

His soldiers – during training he would consider their physical condition, preferring to take a blade himself rather than bear to let them die needlessly. What kind of scallion did Zhou Dayong think he was, daring to whip them!

“Zhou Dayong, damn your ancestors, what are you doing!” Pang Xiao grabbed a scabbard and hurled it fiercely down below the high wall.

The Marquis of Qingyang only heard a “whoosh” by his ear before the scabbard struck his left shoulder before he could dodge.

“Ah!” The Marquis of Qingyang screamed and fell to the ground, his shoulder bone seeming to crack, the pain making his vision go black in waves.

And Pang Xiao’s fierce curse, though it involved the Empress Dowager’s ancestors and would inevitably give people something to criticize, also made the Huben Army even more certain that Pang Xiao wasn’t some spy in disguise.

That familiar cursing voice, that familiar domineering manner – even cursing the Empress Dowager’s ancestors in such a fierce way – besides their former commander, the War God Prince, who else could it be?

Word spread through the Huben Army ranks, and gradually even those soldiers who hadn’t yet reached the plaza in front of the palace gates, still crowded in various alleys, learned of this. That black tide-like marching slowed down.

Seeing Pang Xiao achieve such an effect with one shout, while he in his yellow robes standing atop the wall with all that performance might not have had the impact of this one moment from Pang Xiao, how could Li Qitian not feel sour in his heart?

Only now was not the time to worry about such things.

Li Qitian turned back to look at those veteran ministers who had initially refused to support the rebels.

Where did those veteran ministers have the mind to think of other things now?

They could see their own family’s younger generation among the Five Cities’ Military Commission forces, even saw their family’s youth injured in the process of attacking the imperial palace, and worse yet, some had even lost their lives. Each veteran minister was furious, with several people simultaneously stretching their necks to call out the names of their own family’s youth.

Thus, even the Five Cities’ Military Commission forces began to waver.

Pang Xiao immediately gave Ji Zeyu a meaningful look.

Though he had prestige in the army, he hadn’t been the Huben Army commander for a long time, while Ji Zeyu was the previous Huben Army commander, removed by a single word from the Empress Dowager. It would be more appropriate for him to speak up now.

Therefore Ji Zeyu stepped forward and called loudly, “Huben Army soldiers, listen to orders! All who intend to attack the imperial palace are to be arrested!”

Many nearby lower-ranking Huben Army officers responded in agreement.

And those newly appointed officers whom the Marquis of Qingyang had replaced with his own people now found it very difficult to command respect.

Prince Li’s face was as pale as a ghost’s. If this attempt failed, death would be certain. He drew his sword and directed his trusted followers: “Attack!”

At this moment, it was time for a desperate fight.

If not, only death awaited them.

The subordinates who had followed Prince Li in this uprising had no choice but to follow and fight desperately. And among the Huben Army, those who followed the Marquis of Qingyang also resolved to resist, immediately engaging in direct conflict with the Huben Army soldiers obeying Ji Zeyu’s commands.

Everyone held weapons, and the space was extremely crowded. When both sides clashed, blood was immediately seen. Many people were stabbed in the back before they could properly engage. In front of the palace gates, the Huben Army and Five Cities’ Military Commission forces erupted in large-scale armed combat with Prince Li’s people, with countless casualties in the blink of an eye.