klisemfg Chapter 178 Zhongyuan Chapter 2
Chapter 178 Zhongyuan Chapter 2
The hour of Hai (9-11 PM) is approaching.
It's quiet at night.
Perhaps King Ping was not good at military affairs and failed to notice some small details, or perhaps he was just really unlucky. In any case, Lin Shiming, who was hiding in the lush tree canopy, was quite speechless when he looked at the gleaming armor below.
It's said that a dark and windy night is the perfect time for murder and arson. That fool, Prince Ping, not only didn't consider the weather, but he also had to pick a full moon. Now, the moon is bright, the stars are few, and the sky is cloudless. Lin Shiming sees the Yizhou garrison as if he were looking at a shimmering river under the moonlight, winding its way from the mountains to the vicinity of the palace.
There was really no need to keep an eye on him. Lin Shiming silently scorned the Prince of Ping's intelligence, and then, taking advantage of the sound of a gentle breeze, he flew away without a trace, disappearing into the forest on one side in the blink of an eye.
Hidden in the woods are five thousand scouts trained using Lin Shiming's methods. Compared to the Yizhou garrison, which has not seen battle for a long time, these five thousand soldiers can be said to have been trained by Lin Shiming's modern warfare experience.
To fully equip this secret force, Lin Yunyue even went so far as to raid Emperor Longyun's private treasury, providing the soldiers with ancient-style camouflage uniforms to wear over their armor. You get what you pay for; the money that Emperor Longyun hated so much was exchanged for top-tier concealment equipment that couldn't even be reflected by moonlight or torches.
Therefore, Hu Jiao, who was still nervously waiting for the Prince of Ping to give a signal, had no idea that they had been surrounded.
"What time is it? Is there any news from the Prince?"
Hu Jiao, at the head of the group, asked in a low voice, and his deputy quickly stepped forward to answer.
"Reporting to the General, it will soon be the hour of Hai..."
“Swoosh—bang!”
Suddenly, a huge firework rose from the palace, bursting into crimson sparks that filled half the night sky and were clearly visible for a mile.
The lieutenant, who was giving his reply, looked excitedly at the fireworks still lingering in the sky and blurted out, "It's the prince's signal!"
The time has finally come for him to achieve great deeds and rise to the highest position in the court!
Unable to contain his joy, Hu Jiao drew his sword from his side with a "whoosh" and shouted loudly, "Gentlemen! I have received word that a traitor is harming His Majesty and disrupting the court. His crime is unforgivable. Soldiers, follow me into the palace, eliminate the wicked traitor, and cleanse the court of evil!"
"Eliminate the treacherous officials, and fame and fortune will be within your grasp!"
"kill!"
"kill--"
In an instant, deafening shouts resounded through the sky, followed by the thunderous sound of horses' hooves and footsteps, as countless people and horses charged straight toward the palace gates, pouring into the palace within moments.
In the dead of night, countless torches were lit one after another, twinkling and then quickly spreading out, illuminating the entire palace and valley, with the sounds of battle never ceasing.
Dressed in black, Lin Shiming stood atop the mountain, holding a long sword, watching the commotion below with an expressionless face.
“General.” Yu Sheng stepped forward and walked to Lin Shiming’s side and behind. “Nearly two thousand men have already stormed into the palace.”
"Notify Teams A1, A2, and C4 to begin operations."
Yu Sheng bowed and clasped his hands in greeting, then took out a signal flare from his pocket, took two steps forward, and set it off.
Another sharp sound pierced the sky. Soon, the faint sound of boulders rolling down came from behind the bend in the road not far away, and suddenly countless arrows shot out from the hillsides on both sides of the palace gate. The moment they landed, they did not hurt anyone, but instead a thick white smoke quickly spread out.
In the blink of an eye, the Yizhou garrison in the valley lost their strength and collapsed to the ground, unable to utter a sound.
However, the troops who had already entered did not notice that the palace gates that had allowed them to enter so easily were slowly closing again in the night, as if the gates of hell had been shut.
"Reporting to the general, the next 10,000 or so men are blocked behind the boulder and cannot advance!"
"General! The more than five thousand people in the valley have all been poisoned and have no power to resist."
"Reporting to the General, the palace gates have been sealed off again, and two hundred men from Team A are on guard at the gate."
In less than a quarter of an hour, nearly 16,000 of the 20,000 troops from Yizhou who had come here were directly intercepted outside the palace.
With the operation going smoothly, Lin Shiming finally smiled and took an item from his waist.
"Mr. Nan Gu's gift is indeed of high quality!" Lin Shiming played with the medicine tube in his hand. "It's just a pity that the quantity is small. Even with all my strength, I can only knock out a little over five thousand people at a time."
I'll have to find a way to get a prescription later!
Have any reports come from the residences of officials around the imperial palace?
As soon as Lin Shiming finished speaking, someone stepped forward to reply.
"Reporting to the General, we have just received a message. Today is the Ghost Festival, and all officials' residences were locked up early. Furthermore, the Yizhou garrison did not pay attention to this, so no officials' residences have been in danger so far."
Those living outside were all ordinary officials, insignificant. Only those qualified to have a courtyard in the imperial palace were important officials with a voice in the court. Prince Ping and Hu Jiao would not spare any energy to pay attention to those minor figures.
Thus, only the ten thousand or so people who were trapped behind the boulder remained.
"Sun Ran".
"The end will be here."
Lin Shiming took out a secret decree and handed it to Sun Ran.
"Go and deliver the decree to those blocked by the boulder, ordering them to surrender on the spot. Anyone who resists shall be killed without mercy."
"I will obey my orders."
Mr. Nan Gu didn't give much medicine, and the first 5,000-plus people wouldn't wake up for more than a day. But the remaining 10,000-plus people could only be blocked off with huge rocks. Fortunately, although they outnumbered each other, they were leaderless and surrounded by enemies on both sides, like turtles in a jar. With the imperial decree, controlling these ignorant soldiers was more than enough.
Moreover, the several thousand Tingyun soldiers here are all elite troops, each capable of taking on ten men. Even if the Yizhou garrison, whose combat strength is average, is unwilling to surrender, with the advantages of terrain and equipment, annihilating them would be a piece of cake. Not to mention that the nearest Tingyun troops will arrive early tomorrow morning to take control of the situation.
Everything is under control.
After much deliberation and confirming that there was no longer any danger outside the palace, Lin Shiming finally made up his mind.
"I'm going to check on the palace. I'll leave this place to you few. If anything unexpected happens, send word immediately."
"Your subordinate obeys."
*
Palace.
The moment the signal flare exploded in the air, Mu Bolin, the commander of the Imperial Guards on night duty, reacted swiftly, shouting that the enemy was attacking. Then, according to the plan, under the cover of the palace guards, he immediately dispatched the Imperial Guards to escort the imperial heirs, important officials, and members of the imperial clan from various courtyards to the Zhaixing Hall.
Along the way, the Imperial Guards and the Tingyun Army did not hinder Hu Jiao's progress, minimizing clashes as much as possible, and feigning defeat to cover the panicked crowd as they gathered at the Zhaixing Palace.
Within a quarter of an hour, under Hu Jiao's pressure, all the main personnel of the palace retreated into the Zhaixing Hall, where they were then surrounded by the Yizhou garrison brought by Hu Jiao.
Inside the Star-Picking Hall, everyone was in a panic, completely at a loss, and all looked at Emperor Longyun, who was still burning incense and reading scriptures at his desk.
"Your Majesty! What is happening today—"
With a "bang," before King Qi could finish speaking, the tightly closed doors of the Zhaixing Palace were suddenly smashed open by a wooden stake.
King Ping and Hu Jiao arrived together.