Chapter 355: Duke Dingguo Leads His Troops in an Assault

Chapter 355: Duke Dingguo Leads His Troops in an Assault

Hearing the noise, the Fourth Prince turned his head to look and saw Li Jingyi standing fiercely at the door. His eyes narrowed, "Why is it... Ah..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Jingyi charged and landed a punch squarely on his face. The Fourth Prince, caught off guard, staggered and nearly fell.

"You've lost your mind, Seventh Brother!"

The Fourth Prince yelled at Li Jingyi, but Li Jingyi didn't utter a word and lunged to strike again. The Fourth Prince, not one to be trifled with, swung his fists to fight back. Li Jingyi's men, seeing this, moved to help.

But Li Jingyi shouted, "Nobody come closer!"

He wanted to personally deal with this scum. His rage was towering; the Fourth Prince was merely the outlet. However, being older and more experienced in combat, the Fourth Prince was a match for him. Their fight was even.

Eventually, the fight devolved into a grappling match on the ground. Realizing he might lose, Li Jingyi whispered to the Fourth Prince, "Have you never doubted the relationship between your mother and the Grand Tutor? Tell me, are you truly of imperial blood?"

Startled by his words, the Fourth Prince faltered, and Li Jingyi took the opportunity to grab a stool at hand and smashed it down upon him.

The Fourth Prince's head rang with the impact as he glared at Li Jingyi, accusing, "Seventh brother, you're playing dirty."

Li Jingyi paid no heed, swinging the stool again and again until the Fourth Prince could no longer rise. Towering over his fallen brother, Li Jingyi raised his foot, aiming for his groin.

"Seventh brother, I am your own flesh and blood," the Fourth Prince cried out hastily.

But his plea did not halt Li Jingyi's strike, as his foot brutally descended.

A terrible scream erupted from the Fourth Prince, who writhed in agony, even hearing the shattering sound from somewhere below.

At that moment, the fiery rage in Li Jingyi’s heart finally subsided. He commanded, "Tie him up and take him away."

He turned to leave, sparing no glance for the "Xiao Yuzhu" inside. The Fourth Prince sensed something amiss, and upon looking, saw not Xiao Yuzhu but a woman he had never seen before. It dawned on him that all his calculations had been ensnared by another's scheme.

Outside the capital, General Xiao Huai, face set with rage, selected two hundred elite troops and thundered away. After his departure, several officers whispered among themselves:

"What has gotten into the commander to suddenly take troops out in the dead of night?"

"Did something happen in the city?"

"What happened?"

"No idea."

Duan Yinghong listened to their speculation in silence before returning to his tent. Barely seated, he heard a bird's call. Stepping out and ensuring no one's attention, he headed towards a direction and entered a grove, finding a young eunuch waiting under a large tree.

Recognizing the eunuch was not his usual contact, Duan Yinghong turned to leave. The eunuch called out, "General Duan, a decree from the Emperor."

Duan Yinghong halted, and the eunuch hurried over, saying, "Eunuch Zhang was assigned other duties by His Majesty today, so I am here to meet with you."

As he spoke, the eunuch presented a jade token to Duan Yinghong, "If the General has doubts, this token should allay them."

Duan Yinghong received the jade token, inspecting it closely. It was indeed the one he had given to the eunuch he regularly met with as a mark of credibility.

"General Duan, the Fourth Prince has been secured. His Majesty orders you to act immediately," the eunuch informed.

Looking at the jade token in hand, and recalling General Xiao Huai's hasty arrival followed by his departure with great momentum, Duan Yinghong fully believed the eunuch's words.

"Very well, I shall take action at once," he declared.

The young eunuch nodded, turned, and disappeared quickly into the dense forest. Duan Yinghong looked around once more before striding out himself. Once at the camp, he called for a thousand elite soldiers, ready to depart.

Another general asked him, "Old Duan, what are you off to do?"

"I'm acting on a secret order from the commander-in-chief," he said, leaving it at that as he led the thousand soldiers towards the imperial city. At the city gates, he declared, "I am a general under the Duke of Dingguo, following his orders to enter and protect the Emperor."

The soldiers guarding the city, seeing the force he commanded, naturally wouldn't let him pass. Seeing this, Duan Yinghong commenced an assault on the city. The commanding officer at the gates had already received orders from the Emperor: When Duan Yinghong arrived with his troops, they were to put up a token resistance before letting him in.

Thus, without much effort, Duan Yinghong "conquered" his way into the city, and then made a beeline for the imperial palace. The commoners along the way, terrified by the scene, quickly retreated to their homes, locking their doors and daring not to venture out again.

Duan Yinghong reached the imperial palace unobstructed, and just as at the city gates, was casually challenged before "storming" in.

Meanwhile, the Emperor was in the imperial study reviewing petitions when the sound of a skirmish arose, followed by a young eunuch rushing in frantically, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, they've breached our defenses."

The Emperor stood up abruptly, "Who has breached our defenses?"

The eunuch stammered with fear, "It's... it's the general under the Duke of Dingguo, he's led his troops in."

The Emperor's brow furrowed. He knew that the fourth prince would make his move tonight, but they had agreed that Duan Yinghong would attack the palace tomorrow, framing it as an act orchestrated by Xiao Huai, after which the Emperor would punish Xiao Huai.

But why had Duan Yinghong come early?

He sensed something was amiss but hadn't figured out how to respond when Duan Yinghong was already at the entrance of the imperial study. Caught in a dilemma, the Emperor stood within, locking gazes with Duan Yinghong outside. Both seemed to understand yet not comprehend the other's intent.

At this critical moment, Duan Yinghong, like an arrow drawn back to its limit, had to act. He swung his sword, killing the guards at the entrance to the study, and charged in, his blade pointing directly at the Emperor's brow.

Jiao Kangsheng, guarding the Emperor's side, quickly stepped in front to protect him. While Duan Yinghong dared to kill the guards, he did not dare to kill Jiao Kangsheng. However, the play had gone far enough at this stage.

The Emperor, seeing that Duan Yinghong had no real intent to kill, breathed a sigh of relief. At least Duan Yinghong hadn't turned traitor for real. He didn't know why the play had started early, but now that it had, they had to go on with it.

"How audacious, to dare to press upon the palace," said the Emperor.

Duan Yinghong began, "I am acting under the orders of..."

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Dingguo has led his troops into the palace..."