Xiao Rongyan clenched his fists at his sides, then turned to bow formally to Lu Ping: “I ask Guard Lu to immediately send people to secretly watch the four gates of the palace. If there’s any movement at these four gates… promptly report it to Miss Bai!”

Lu Ping could see that this Master Xiao was probably far from simple, but since Master Xiao was acting for the Bai family and had gained the eldest miss’s deep trust, Lu Ping didn’t hesitate to respond affirmatively.

Young General Wang led his troops in pursuit, chasing through several alleys before realizing that Bai Qingyan wasn’t trying to leave the city, but was heading to the Crown Prince’s mansion!

The Crown Prince’s mansion was surrounded by patrol camp soldiers. Whether they could kill Bai Qingyan if they followed was uncertain, and it would also cost them their forces.

After realizing this, Young General Wang endured the pain as he reined in his horse and raised his hand to signal the soldiers to stop. As long as Princess Zhenguo didn’t leave the capital, she posed no threat without troops under her command.

What was important now was to guard the four gates of the capital well and not let Princess Zhenguo escape. He understood this point, and Prince Xin’s people understood it even better.

Since there was no way to kill Bai Qingyan at the moment, it would be better to return and preserve their strength before being exposed, then strike when Prince Xin and the Crown Prince’s forces had worn each other down!

Young General Wang covered his arrow wound that was steadily bleeding, gritted his teeth and said: “Send word to have the soldiers who went to the East Gate withdraw.”

With that, Young General Wang turned his horse around and headed back.

Today, the streets of the capital were silent and deserted, with common people hiding in their homes to avoid becoming innocent victims.

The usually bustling main streets now didn’t even have a ghost’s shadow. The sky hadn’t yet brightened… inside the houses, it was pitch black, yet ordinary citizens and merchants dared not light lamps.

Especially after sounds of battle cries and clashing weapons came from the direction of the palace, the East Gate suddenly also erupted with earth-shaking battle cries. How many common people huddled together with their wives and children, entire families crowded together, too frightened to even breathe loudly, afraid of making any noise that might anger those soldiers.

How had the capital changed so suddenly?

No one knew who was raising troops in rebellion, much less whether the victor would go on a killing spree after determining the outcome, not even sparing ordinary common people.

Young General Wang’s face was pale from blood loss. Before he could lead his troops back, he heard that… the Nandu troops he had sent to block Bai Qingyan at the capital’s East Gate had begun fighting with the gate guards, requesting Young General Wang to come provide reinforcement.

Originally, Prince Xin had received information that Prince Xin’s people had already taken control of the capital’s four gates. After all… Prince Xin had to guard against those twenty thousand Anping Camp soldiers, so Young General Wang’s men had disguised themselves as Prince Xin’s people.

But unexpectedly, the Crown Prince’s people had already quietly replaced Prince Xin’s people. Upon hearing that Prince Xin’s people were here to intercept Princess Zhenguo, the gate commander said nothing, led his troops downstairs, and with one stroke beheaded Young General Wang’s deputy, ordering the East Gate guards to capture the rebels. The East Gate immediately erupted in battle.

When Young General Wang heard this, he thought to himself that this was bad…

If any Nandu soldiers were captured alive, there would surely be weaklings who would implicate Prince Xin. Young General Wang gritted his teeth and led a hundred archers racing toward the East Gate.

From afar, he could see below the East Gate severed limbs and broken bodies, corpses strewn everywhere, metal clashing against metal with sparks flying, battle cries and screams of agony woven together.

Seeing the Nandu army being pressed into an encirclement by the gate guards, Young General Wang gritted his teeth and shouted: “Archers prepare!”

The archers immediately stopped, orderly nocking arrows and drawing bows, aiming toward the East Gate…

The gate commander was no pushover either. Having just seen those soldiers approach with ill intent, he had already been on guard. Now seeing the newcomers nocking arrows and drawing bows with the clear intention of wiping them all out, he quickly shouted: “Retreat! Heavy shields prepare! Archers prepare!”

“General!” The soldiers beside Young General Wang cried out in alarm, “There are still our Nandu army brothers there!”

Young General Wang turned a deaf ear, his eyes bloodshot as he shouted: “Release!”

If he couldn’t rescue them, he would shoot them all dead. He absolutely couldn’t leave any survivors to be used as evidence, exposing Prince Xin’s plan prematurely.

The gate guards retreated quickly. The Nandu soldiers, seeing Young General Wang arrive, thought he had come to rescue them. When the gate guards retreated, they immediately ran wildly toward Young General Wang’s direction, only to be greeted by… arrow points piercing their chests from their comrades.

Some gate guards who hadn’t managed to retreat behind the heavy shields were also hit and fell to the ground, then endured the pain to crawl back behind the shields.

After the first wave of Nandu archers released their arrows, the second wave with drawn bows stepped forward…

Young General Wang finally couldn’t bear it and raised his hand high, fist clenched, shouting to the Nandu soldiers who stood there stunned and afraid to advance: “What are you standing around for! Retreat!”

Only then did the Nandu soldiers come to their senses and frantically run toward Young General Wang’s direction.

Behind the heavy shields, archers crouched with arrows already nocked…

The gate commander looked at Young General Wang but couldn’t recognize which general from the Imperial Guards this was, shouting: “Release arrows!”

At his command, the archers suddenly stood up from behind the heavy shields and shot arrows toward the fleeing Nandu soldiers.

Screams pierced through the dark, rolling clouds above the capital.

Seeing this, Young General Wang turned his horse around: “Everyone who’s not dead, follow! Run!”

With that, he led the Nandu army fleeing into the small alleys.

Below the city tower, someone asked the gate commander: “General, should we pursue?”

The gate commander shook his head: “Our primary task is to defend the East Gate. Prince Xin’s people have fled, but there might be another hard battle soon! Send a squad to clean the battlefield and see if anyone’s still alive. Capture any survivors – they’ll be evidence of Prince Xin’s rebellion! Everyone else, up to the tower and prepare arrows!”

“Yes!”

·

When Bai Qingyan arrived at the Crown Prince’s mansion, the patrol camp had surrounded the Crown Prince’s mansion so tightly that not even water could leak through, with the stance of swearing to protect the Crown Prince’s safety. Fan Yuhuai gripped the sword at his waist and stood at the Crown Prince’s mansion gate like a door god.

Hearing horse hooves approaching from far to near, Fan Yuhuai immediately ordered the archers to prepare.

When he saw clearly that the person surrounded by nine guards holding torches high was Bai Qingyan in military dress, Fan Yuhuai immediately had people lower their bows and arrows. He walked down from the high steps and bowed formally to Bai Qingyan: “I greet Princess Zhenguo!”

Fan Yuhuai deeply felt that the Crown Prince’s mansion gate was not a place for conversation, and he knew that Bai Qingyan could now be considered one of the Crown Prince’s trusted confidants. When trouble arose in the capital, it was Bai Qingyan who had escorted the Crown Prince back from Dengzhou.

Fan Yuhuai invited Bai Qingyan into the Crown Prince’s mansion.

Before leaving, the Crown Prince had already sent someone to the Bai mansion to notify Bai Qingyan to immediately exit the city through the East Gate and bring twenty thousand Dengzhou troops into the city to rescue the emperor. That Fan Yuhuai saw Bai Qingyan here so quickly meant she had likely missed the Crown Prince’s messenger.

Bai Qingyan leaped down from her horse, cupping her hands toward Fan Yuhuai while gripping her black gold horse whip: “Bai Qingyan requests an audience with His Highness the Crown Prince!”

Only after entering the Crown Prince’s mansion did Fan Yuhuai lower his voice to tell Bai Qingyan, “His Highness the Crown Prince has already entered the palace!”