“If you want to leave the palace, let’s see if you have the ability!” General Cheng snorted coldly and said in a deep voice: “Lin Changshi secretly conspired with the traitor faction of Chu Li. Arrest him! Life or death doesn’t matter!”

Well then, he wasn’t even addressing the Crown Prince anymore. It seemed he was truly determined to rebel. Qing Xia grabbed several pebbles in her hand, waiting for the final moment to strike.

“How dare you! I am the chief historian of the current dynasty, in charge of all compilations in the Literature and History Hall. You are openly rebelling – your crimes are heinous!” The bookworm clutched a bundle tightly in his arms and shouted loudly, speaking with righteous indignation. Qing Xia cursed silently – what an idiot! These people weren’t even afraid of the Crown Prince anymore, so why would they fear some Literature and History Hall?

General Cheng sneered and slowly walked forward with his sword, saying sinisterly: “Lin Changshi, when you reach the underworld, you can continue compiling your history books there!” With that, he raised his long blade and chopped down toward Scholar Lin’s head!

If she didn’t act now, when would she? Several pebbles immediately shot out with tremendous force, whistling through the air. Several torches were instantly knocked down. Just then, clouds in the sky covered the moon, and the West Garden was plunged into complete darkness. Qing Xia quickly flashed out from her hiding place. Taking advantage of the chaos, her dagger’s cold gleam appeared in an instant.

With swift strikes, several sharp flashes passed through the darkness. Except for Qing Xia and the historian surnamed Lin, there wasn’t a single living person left. Qing Xia fumbled around on the ground and stripped off two sets of clothes from the dead bodies. Then she grabbed Lin Changshi’s hand and ran at full speed. It wasn’t because she was afraid of pursuit, but because she feared that when the clouds cleared, the bloody scene would frighten this bookworm, and she also worried about exposing the fact that she knew martial arts. After running for quite a while, Lin Changshi suddenly released Qing Xia’s hand and collapsed on the ground, gasping heavily.

“You… you little palace maid… I told… told you… to hide… why didn’t you… didn’t you listen to me? It was so… so dangerous…”

Time was running short. Qing Xia looked at this scholar who had collapsed on the ground like a pile of mud and couldn’t help but frighten him: “You’d better run quickly, or those people will catch up to us soon.”

The scholar had no idea that those people had already been killed by Qing Xia. Upon hearing this, he immediately remembered and suddenly jumped up, running forward frantically. Qing Xia was startled by his alarming behavior and stood there stunned, not following him. Who would have thought that after running two steps, Lin Changshi would actually run back, grab Qing Xia’s hand, and impatiently shout at her: “Run quickly! You’re really too stupid!”

Qing Xia was dumbfounded. This bookworm actually dared to scold her for being stupid? How truly incredible. After another frantic run, they finally reached the West Flowery Gate. But looking at the situation at the West Flowery Gate, her spirits sank. This small palace gate was tightly surrounded by more than two hundred guards. Unless they could turn into mosquitoes, there was no way to slip out of the palace quietly.

Seeing the situation here, Qing Xia knew that even finding other palace walls to climb over would be hopeless. The rebels wouldn’t be foolish enough not to set up hidden sentries – they would be even more vigilant elsewhere, not less.

“Let me go talk sense into them. They must just be deceived. Once they know the truth, they will surely let us out.” Scholar Lin made another shocking statement and suddenly stood up, about to run toward the palace gate.

Qing Xia was alarmed and quickly grabbed this bookworm, saying irritably: “I’m afraid before you even get to speak to them, you’ll be shot full of holes like a honeycomb!”

“Then what should we do?” Lin Changshi sighed and crouched down. “We finally escaped and made it this far. No matter what, I must get out.”

With your pathetic abilities, I’m afraid you can’t even get a single hair out. Qing Xia glanced at this pedantic bookworm, picked up the two sets of guard uniforms she had just stripped off, handed one to Scholar Lin, and said: “Put it on!”

“Will wearing this allow us to blend out?” Lin Changshi’s eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Qing Xia with great joy, asking hopefully. Unknowingly, he had already accepted this mysterious but very courageous little palace maid as one of his own.

“Just watch me!” Qing Xia smiled confidently, her small face radiating self-assurance.

“Are you dressed yet?”

Qing Xia turned around and looked impatiently at Lin Changshi, who was wearing the guard uniform. She saw him awkwardly dressed in the clothes, wearing the hat, with the sword at his waist – he actually looked somewhat heroic.

“I’m… I’m ready.” Lin Changshi stammered, obviously nervous and afraid.

Qing Xia found his appearance amusing and couldn’t help but smile. She said to him seriously: “Later, you just need to follow me. Remember, look fierce, understand?”

“I understand,” Lin Changshi nodded, then bared his teeth and glared at Qing Xia angrily, asking: “Is this fierce enough?”

“Heh…” Seeing his appearance, Qing Xia couldn’t help but laugh out loud, but she still had to hold it in. She nodded and said encouragingly: “That’s about right.”

“Who’s over there!” A sudden shout came. Lin Changshi was so frightened that his legs went weak and he nearly fell down. Qing Xia turned and glared at him angrily, meaning why was he so cowardly. Seeing Qing Xia look over, Lin Changshi immediately remembered what Qing Xia had instructed him to do. He swept away his fearful expression and made his eyebrows fierce and eyes menacing, looking extremely ferocious.

“One, two, three, run!” Qing Xia shouted, and the two immediately rushed out from their hiding place, charging toward the West Flowery Gate like thunder!

“Someone’s forcing the gate!” The gate guards all cried out in alarm, drawing their swords. The bright white gleam flashed on their faces, making them look pale and bloodless.

“Prepare horses! Quick! Someone escaped from the South Flowery Gate. Count the men immediately and follow me out of the palace to capture the criminals!” Qing Xia shouted loudly as she ran, her voice resonant and intimidating, sounding completely justified and confident.

The guard soldiers heard that someone had escaped – this was serious trouble! Today’s events, anyone could tell, were a matter of exterminating entire clans. If the Crown Prince returned to the palace, they would all die without burial grounds. Immediately there was chaos.

This move by Qing Xia was pure psychological warfare. These rebels were already like frightened birds – any slight disturbance could alarm them greatly, so such terrible news could shake their morale even more. Moreover, if they were really the Crown Prince’s people, they would certainly try to sneak out of the palace carefully and quietly, not march out boldly through the main gate like this. Her brazen approach could actually make them lower their guard. Even if they still didn’t believe her, she had backup plans – she wasn’t afraid these fools wouldn’t fall for it.

“Halt! Please show the Prince’s written order – no one may approach the city gate!” Obviously, just a few words couldn’t fool these highly alert Imperial Guards.

Running like the wind to the front of the more than two hundred Imperial Guards, Qing Xia raised her eyebrows and angrily shouted: “Why aren’t you preparing horses quickly? Do you all want to die? Where’s the person in charge? Come out and speak up!”

A lightly armored officer walked forward suspiciously. Seeing that Qing Xia and her companion were indeed wearing Imperial Guard uniforms, he raised his eyebrows questioningly and said in a deep voice: “Which general’s command are you under, brother? You look unfamiliar to me.”

“Fool!” Qing Xia cursed angrily, her phoenix eyes turning cold. She pulled out a token from her chest with a large character “Cheng” carved on it, and said sternly: “Still focusing on such things at a time like this – I’ll definitely report you to General Cheng when we return. Move quickly! Pick a hundred men to follow me out of the palace to capture people. The rest stay here and continue guarding. Except for the Thirteenth Prince and General Cheng, don’t believe anything anyone else says!”

“But…”

Before he could finish speaking, a long whip lashed out with a “swish” and struck the officer hard across the face. A long bloody welt twisted across his face, with flesh turning inside out – it was terrifying. Qing Xia immediately leaped forward, drew the long sword from her waist in the blink of an eye, and pressed it against the man’s neck. Before the crowd could react, they heard Qing Xia say sternly: “Are you trying to get everyone killed? Still being indecisive at a time like this – when the main army from the military camp presses forward, let’s see who will collect your corpse!”

“Listen up, other soldiers! Someone has secretly left through the South Flowery Gate. The situation is now critical. If you want to live, quickly prepare horses and follow me out of the palace to capture them. If we delay even a moment longer, we’ll meet on the road to the underworld!” These words were spoken with force and conviction. Lin Changshi stared in amazement at Qing Xia standing in the open space, raising the long sword in her hand high. The crowd of originally menacing soldiers immediately responded thunderously upon hearing this and surged forward together, leading horses.

Qing Xia nimbly mounted her horse and said to the remaining guards: “No matter who comes, if they don’t have written orders from the Thirteenth Prince and General Cheng, kill them all without exception! If today’s mission succeeds, I will definitely report to the Prince and ensure every brother here gets promoted and ennobled!”

With that, she raised her whip and galloped out of the imperial palace!

Lin Changshi followed behind Qing Xia, feeling like everything was a dream.

Qing Xia thought to herself that with the chaos outside right now, the Thirteenth Prince must be in the Forbidden Palace controlling the old emperor. As for General Cheng, he would have to be sought in the underworld.

The urgent sound of hoofbeats broke the silence of the capital. Ten thousand household lights lit up in response, and the tense atmosphere filled the entire capital city.

“Little Lin, the task the Prince entrusted must be completed properly. Crown Prince Chu Li’s conspiracy to usurp the throne is unforgivable. The lives of everyone in the world depend on this. If there’s the slightest mistake, the suffering of all living beings will be inevitable. You must handle this well yourself.”

Lin Changshi was startled, then understood. He immediately became serious, his eyes showing gratitude as he nodded to Qing Xia. His voice slightly choked with emotion as he said firmly: “Don’t worry, I will definitely complete the mission.”

“Sir!” A guard captain rode forward, his eyes flashing as he said to Qing Xia: “Since Master Lin’s mission is so important, should I assign a few men to go with him?”

“Is the Prince’s assigned task something just anyone can handle?” Qing Xia glanced sideways at the guard captain indifferently and said coldly. Her voice was icy, carrying an indescribable chill. The man immediately nodded and bowed, quickly agreeing.

“The rest of you follow me. Split into twenty small groups and search separately. Once you see any suspicious people, arrest them all!”

Everyone responded thunderously. Qing Xia led five guards and rode toward the main road to the north.