Chapter 149 – Capturing Flag, Capturing Power, Capturing Heart

The crossbow arrow of the Capital Crossbow was like a short spear, piercing through the flesh and blood of man and horse, and deeply piercing into the gap between the green stone slabs on the square. The iron arrows, as thick as a child’s arm, quivered incessantly, emitting a buzzing sound, bringing the cavalry corpses underneath the arrows to gush with blood.

Many people didn’t react, including the rebels and the forbidden army on the imperial city, tens of thousands of people looked at this scene dumbfounded, not quite daring to believe their eyes. Such a huge one crossbow arrow shot through the cavalry’s body, more like an iron rod of heavenly punishment, ruthlessly smashing down from beyond the clouds of the ninth heaven.

A deathly silence, a cold and icy fear, spread across the square.

Behind the cavalryman who had fallen gloriously, the three flag-carrying school officers also did not react, they foolishly looked at the cavalryman before them who had turned into a bloody froth, and looked at the juices of the viscera that had been squeezed out on the ground, not knowing how to react.

Horses are different from humans, even if they are the top war horses among ten thousand, seeing this scene and feeling the fear of that crossbow arrow, the biological instinct made those three stallions neigh in unison, and ran chaotically towards the side and back after being frightened.

A moment later, two military flags facing the morning wind fluttering …… however very wretched back to the rebel camp, while the other bright yellow dragon flag is miserable fall in the square on the ground, rolled into a ball, look very unbearable.

Because the soldiers holding the flag by the city crossbow a shock, under the seat of the horse and frightened wild gallop, a moment did not hold steady, the dragon flag fell to the ground!

The imperial city up and down tens of thousands of Qing troops at this time is still dead silent, but the eyes have moved from the square that mass of blood and mud to the flag, that represents the royal dignity of the Qing country, on behalf of the Qing army invincible will of the dragon flag – this seems to be should always fly in the front of the army’s flag, not fall down the flag, actually so miserable fall on the ground! !

The emotions in the tens of thousands of pairs of gazes were complicated, angry, and out of place.

Above the Imperial City Fan Xian narrowed his eyes at this scene and smiled at the Grand Prince beside him, saying, “It worked well, didn’t it?”

The eldest prince did not respond, thinking to himself that the crown prince had risen up today, but at this moment it was even the dragon flag that had been thrown away, truly a disgrace to his lordship.

The forbidden soldiers above the imperial city suddenly burst out in unison with a cheer. These cheers are undoubtedly in the face of the tens of thousands of rebels under the imperial city, a hard whip.

Right at this moment, the cavalryman who had lost his flag empty-handed had already returned to the rebel army’s center camp. He sat on his horse with his head bowed and trembling, knowing that he was facing what would surely be the harsh disposition of military rules. As a flag bearer, this is such an honorable position, but he even lost his hand and dropped the dragon flag on the ground.

The rebel army middle camp hundred riders gradually separated, wearing a bright armor of the crown prince Li Chengqian, under the arch of several generals, slowly walked out, only looked at this cavalryman a glance, did not say anything more.

The Crown Prince’s eyes were gentle, but the cavalryman felt incomparably ashamed, he gritted his teeth and twisted his horse’s head, ready to go to the square to snatch back the dragon flag that had fallen to the ground, even if he died, it didn’t matter.

Right at this moment, out of everyone’s expectation, a general beside the Crown Prince urged his horse out, came to that cavalryman’s side, and said, “When two armies are fighting, the one who loses the flag, behead!”

As soon as the word beheading was uttered, the cavalryman was shaken and subconsciously closed his eyes, but he struggled to stand up straight and then felt the coolness on his neck.

The general withdrew his sword and returned, not even glancing at the corpse of the cavalryman that fell to the ground beside him, squeezing out a cold snort from his nose, clipping the belly of his horse, the steed underneath his seat swept out as if it were a flash of lightening, instantly galloping out of the rebel army’s middle camp, stabbing straight into the middle belly of the square under the Imperial City.

Right in front of that curled up on the ground of the dragon flag!

Not everyone in the tens of thousands of rebel troops recognized this general, but they knew what this general was going to do, and could not help but feel their hearts shaking, their hot blood rushing upwards, and tens of thousands of people roared in unison, shouting rhythmically.

In the midst of this iron-blooded and awe-inspiring sound of tens of thousands of people shouting and shouting, the war horse under the general’s seat was like a flying dragon, with four hooves that seemed to take off into the air, stabbing straight under the imperial city like a sharp arrow.

Ride in the attention of the open square, riding on the imperial city crossbow piercing, how magnificent.

Horse speed is extremely fast, the horseman horse art is even better, seems to be a straight line straight above the Imperial City, in fact, is in accordance with an odd trajectory in the forward movement. Although some way around, but how can we say that the momentum is full, and even only used a few breath of effort, will be rushed to the square in the center.

Until this time, the imperial city above the crossbow still did not send out a branch.

The forbidden army and the officials and soldiers of the Supervisory Board beside the huge crossbow were sweating coldly, they were simply unable to capture the rebel general’s route of advancement, and the other party seemed to be able to keenly capture the Imperial City’s crossbow’s rate of fire and range of defense even at such high speeds.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and stared at this scene, feeling as if he had only blinked, and the rebel general had already rushed to his feet and in front of the dragon flag.

The strong power of the defending crossbow had just been demonstrated once, and this rebel general resolutely rushed over, this kind of momentum and courage was really heartbreaking, and for some reason, Fan Xian suddenly thought of Wang XIII Lang, and his heart moved slightly.

His hand was about to be raised, but with great fortitude he ordered himself to slowly lower it. This small action did not fall into the eyes of the Grand Prince, for the Grand Prince was also looking with awe at this single act of two armies seizing power in front of the Imperial City.

When two armies meet, the first momentum, the flag is the momentum, capture the flag is to capture the momentum!

The rebel general on the horse drove to the dragon flag, did not slow down, with very skillful riding skills, one foot hanging stirrups, a hand probe down, easily picked up the dragon flag.

At this time, although Fan Xian lowered his arm, but the team responsible for operating the city crossbow, but refused to let go of this great opportunity, keyed the heavy crossbow spring buckle.

There was a muffled sound of shinning, and the thick imperial city seemed to tremble as that huge crossbow was fired.

A horse hissed in the sky, only to see the imperial city under the rebel general actually seems to be guessed when the city crossbow, even half a minute ahead of time, a mention of the reins of the horse, feet in the love of the horse on the belly of a kick, wildly bellowed, even let the mount people stand up!

The horse’s front hooves hovered in the air, the huge body was forced to twist up, in the air also made a dazzling hover. The rebel general a hand holding the bright yellow dragon flag, one hand violently lifted the reins of the horse, diagonally hanging on the human standing on top of the horse, by the sunrise a light, fierce and peerless.

And it was only then that the huge defensive crossbow was shot in front of them.

Rubbing against the horse’s abdomen, diagonally and fiercely stabbed down!

The iron crossbow as thick as a child’s arm pierced into the square’s lapis lazuli, debris flying about, but not even a single hair of that rebel general was bruised.

The rebel left elbow a turn, the reins again, the seat of the steed horse head to the left, hissed, both hooves landed, the muscles of the body a loose and tight, like a light smoke, straight back, dashing back to the rebel camp, running back to the side of the Crown Prince.

The rebel general did not dismount, but just heavily inserted the bright yellow dragon flag into the ground. The flagpole went into the ground and stood, and the dragon flag once again waved in the morning breeze, shining brightly.

Then he twisted his horse’s head and fell silent, looking at the two small black dots above the Imperial City.

In just a few breaths of time, this rebel general had done what the vast majority of people could never do. From the moment he leapt out of the center camp, tens of thousands of rebels began to shout, and as he recaptured the dragon flag and ran back to the center camp, the tens of thousands of people’s mountainous cheers grew higher and higher ……

And when this rebel general put the dragon flag back on the ground and the flag fluttered in the wind, the rebels’ cheers finally reached the extreme!

“Magnificent ……” Fan Xian gently wiped the cold sweat from his palms, and at this moment expressed an opinion that he definitely shouldn’t have expressed as one of the commander-in-chiefs, “There are really countless fierce generals in my Daqing army. No wonder it is unrivaled across the world.”

Fan Xian smiled and said, “It’s Gong Dian …… He’s been the vice commander of the forbidden army for so many years, and his knowledge of the city defending crossbow is of course a lot better than you or I. What’s more, he himself is an expert of the eighth rank, and with the general’s golden body, he is brave enough to risk his life to capture the flag, this kind of courage is really admirable.”

The Grand Prince frowned slightly and said, “So it’s him …… No wonder, no wonder …… General Gong has been herding horses in the borderlands of Dingzhou since he was a young boy, and has practiced all of his riding skills from the Hu people, and is known as the number one in the army.”

Fan Xian was not the first time he had heard of Gong Dian’s origins, and as he quietly looked at the rebels’ center camp, he realized that most of the generals surrounding the crown prince were generals of the Qin family, while the Ye family of Dingzhou seemed to be the only one Gong Dian to appear there.

Gong Dian, the former deputy commander of the forbidden army and minister of the guards of Qing, once a close subordinate of Emperor Qing, but because of Emperor Qing’s suspicion of the Ye family, he chose to take advantage of the matter of the Hanging Temple, and chose a trumped up reason to put Gong Dian in prison.

Fan Xian had been involved in the Temple of the Hollow from beginning to end, and had even been seriously injured once, and many of the secrets inside were still unclear, but he knew that His Majesty, because of his suspicions, had brought about a number of terrifying opposing forces to today’s Kyoto.

Fan Xian’s heart stirred once again, both Eldest Princess Chen Pingping and Lin Ruofu had said on different occasions that His Majesty did not have any major weaknesses in his life, and that he could be defeated only because of his paranoia.

The Grand Prince suddenly looked up and said, “It’s a tie.”

Fan Xian nodded, he knew what the Grand Prince meant by a tie. The rebels had surrounded the palace with great force, and with the palace’s defense force, it would not be able to support them for a few days in any case, so they had to grab the very beginning and use the most direct means to strike off the rebels’ momentum. Although I do not dare to hope to be able to capture the flag to capture the heart of their army, but at least to make the other side can not charge in with a bang, to form a process of slower momentum.

That’s why there will be before the gate of zhengyang tragic to the extreme sniping, will have to defend the city crossbow half a century since the first use, even if only sniping a person, but also to snipe to the rebels heart cold.

However, Gong Dian’s dashing capture of the flag caused this momentum to turn back again. The good thing is that at this time, although the rebels are once again full of vigor, but looking at the other side’s posture, they should not come to attack immediately.

The rebels occupy a clear advantage, why do not immediately come to attack, Fan Xian can calculate a few points. Palace defense has a natural advantage, the city high wall thick crossbow sharp heart Qi, the power in the palace has been to the death, if the rebels to attack, this kind of killing power in the death, can not help but the prince consider again and again.

And the more critical question is, who actually come to attack?

“Though the heavenly soldiers and generals I was hoping for have been slow to arrive.” Fan Xian smiled gently at the Grand Prince, “But I think the rebels actually have a headache. They’re not ironclad, and nominally, both Ye Qin’s families are in favor of the crown prince, but what will the crown prince think in his heart? Ye Chong is the elder one’s father-in-law ……”

He raised his hand to point to a distant military horse on the right and said, “Lao Er and Ye Chong should be over there, do you think the Crown Prince would be willing to let the old Qin family charge into battle but let Lao Er pick the big bargain?”

The eldest prince said in a calm voice, “Of course the oldest two can’t afford to let his oldest husband go out, he has a lot of things on his mind, if the last of his capital is fought out, how will Chengqian clean him up in the future, I think he knows it in his heart.”

“Exactly.” Fan Xian gently patted the brick wall of the Imperial City, looked at the rebel middle camp directly in front of him that was slowly closing in on the Imperial City, and said softly, “Both of our brothers have evil intentions in their hearts, and if we don’t discuss it, how can we not fight.”

“Of course, no matter how you look at it, they are lions and we are sheep …… but they don’t want to lose too much, so they will definitely persuade them to surrender.” Fan Xian bowed his head and said, “The Crown Prince is a gentle man.”

The crown prince was fighting in the name of righteousness, and was not here to rebel, so if he came to fight like this without saying a few crowning words, wouldn’t he be preparing to receive guests before the house of cards was opened?

Fan Xian expected that this was something that all rebels would never be able to do, so he quietly waited for Crown Prince Li Chengqian to speak.

Tens of thousands of rebels have been assembled, formed a formation, slowly toward the imperial city to force over, black pressurized a piece of dark clouds like the city, looking very palpitating. Black clouds of rebels, in the distance from the Imperial City two arrows outside the stop, the sea of people, the rebels in the camp part of the slowly sailed out of a number of people, it is the Prince and the side of the heavy generals.

The crown prince was surrounded by the generals of the Qin family, while Gong Dian, who had shown an extremely dashing hand earlier, fell two rides away.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes at this scene and saw many things clearly. Gong Dian was following the Crown Prince, which must be a sign of loyalty from the Ye family, but the Crown Prince did not have much trust in the Ye family.

The right hand side of the crown prince is the old man Qin, this old man today re-dressed for battle, wearing a long time not wear armor, the old face contains countless years of sand on the accumulation of the murderous spirit, in the past the cloudy eyes today as eagles staring at the imperial city on the juniors, simply do not see a trace of old age.

With the status authority of Elder Qin in the Palace of Qing, there is no doubt that he is the core leader of the rebels today. The Empress Dowager believed in him, the Crown Prince also believed in him, and he returned strong enough support to the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince.

It was just that those white hairs were seeping out of his armor, and he looked a bit forlorn as he was being blown by the morning breeze of this Kyoto.

Fan Xian’s eyesight was very good, silently looking at that Qing military patriarch, for some reason, but thought of the previous life when watching the World Cup in 1998, after the semi-final match between Brazil and Holland, Zagallo walked on the sidelines against the wind, and not many gray hairs were blown bleak and desolate.

Not to let go, not to go out of mind, just subconsciously remembered that scene, Fan Xian took a deep breath, thinking that Zagaro generation merit, after winning that one, it is ultimately a dismal end, you Qin old man and how can be an exception!

At this moment, Master Qin, who was cursed by Fan Xian, glanced at the Crown Prince and slowly opened his mouth, saying to the forbidden soldiers above the Imperial City: ”You and others are soldiers of the Qing Kingdom, why do you dare to help Fan Xian, the regicide and traitor? The Prince of Harmony will hear the announcement ……”

As soon as Elder Qin opened his mouth, the air in the entire square above the imperial city buzzed and shook!

Fan Xian’s pupils shrank, and he and the Grand Prince exchanged glances, both seeing the fear in each other’s eyes – Elder Qin was so strong, so profound!

Fan Xian quietly wiped the sweat from his palms off on top of the green bricks, he had been guessing who the real powerhouse of the Qin family was, but no matter what, he had never imagined that the ninth rank of the Qin family’s deepest hideout was Elder Master Qin himself!

That frail old man was actually a superpower on the ninth rank!

This fact instantly rushed into Fan Xian’s mind, causing his face to turn ugly. There was no falsehood in a grand reputation! The Qin family had stretched across the world for decades, and Elder Qin had always sat as the number one person in the Qing military, and even the arrogant and incomparable Yan Xiaoyi had treated him with respect, so it was true that there was a reason for it.

Fan Xian’s right index finger trembled slightly, not in fear but in excitement, when he had sniped Yan Xiaoyi so hard, today, when he sniped this old man, he thought that the sense of accomplishment would be a bit stronger.

However, when he took another look at Gong Dian who was silently following the rebels in the middle camp, his right index finger once again returned to calmness as he opened his mouth and droned at the bottom of the city wall, “Qin Ye!”

At this point, before Master Qin’s first sentence was finished, Fan Xian had already drank out these two words, which were interspersed with his overbearing true qi, and although they weren’t as pure and grand as Master Qin’s voice, they were extraordinarily violent, and instantly silenced Master Qin’s voice!

The tens of thousands of people above and below the city all cast their gazes at Fan Xian above the Imperial City.

Elder Qin frowned slightly, as if he hadn’t expected that the domineering true qi within Fan Xian’s body was strong to such an extent, and even more so, he hadn’t expected that he would hear this name, which he hadn’t heard for a very long time, underneath the Imperial City.

Qin Ye? In this world, besides the Empress Dowager who dared to call herself this way, who else dared?

Fan Xian dared. An angry look spread across the faces of the Qin family generals beside the crown prince.

“Qin Ye!”

Fan Xian once again let out a bellowing cry that curled and swirled around the palace, shocking everyone’s minds and gathering Master Qin’s attention.

Across an extremely long distance, between all the attention, Fan Xian looked at where Elder Qin was and said quietly, “You have only one son, where is he?”

Qin Heng had entered through the Zhengyang Gate and was the closest, yet up until this moment, the rebels had already surrounded the area, and he still hadn’t arrived, and the rebel generals had long been worrying about this in secret, and when they heard Fan Xian’s words, they couldn’t help but feel their hearts palpitate.

Elder Qin’s eyes narrowed, but there was nothing too shocking about his expression.

After a slight pause for a moment, Fan Xian opened his mouth and said in a chilling voice, “You yourself should have guessed something …… not bad, your oldest son was killed by my subordinate Jing Ge with a single gunshot in the middle of the camp, and Qin Heng was sniped to death by the Supervisory Yuan at the Zhengyang Gate today!”

“If you dare to betray His Majesty, I can make your old Qin family …… severed from its children and grandchildren!”

What vicious words, what straight to the heart cones! Straight away, the battlefield instantly fell into a suffocating silence once again. The Grand Prince glanced at him and lowered his voice, “It doesn’t seem like a good choice for you to drive the old man mad at this time.”

Fan Xian’s gaze was leveled, staring at the place where Crown Prince Li Chengqian was, and he said quietly, “I just wanted to see if the old man was mad and the Crown Prince wasn’t mad yet, if there would be some more problems between them.”

The development of events did not continue according to Fan Xian’s thoughts, and after that old man Qin heard Fan Xian’s vicious words, he only slowly lowered his head before slowly raising it again, his pale face wrapped in armor indifferent, without a single change of emotion.

“Fan Xian, let me first thank you for helping my old husband solve a question that has been on my mind for many years.” Elder Qin slowly said, his voice spreading in all directions, “My eldest son was picked in the camp, and that murderous thief should have died in the prison, and later inspected the archives as well, but never found the corpse of that evil thief …… Now I realize that it was collected by that old black dog. ”

This military patriarch slowly said, “I will leave you a whole body, as for Chen Pingping, I will let him suffer death by a thousand cuts.”

“As for Qin Heng, old me has always had confidence in this child, even if you can stop him for a moment under the Zheng Yang Sect, how can you help him.” Elder Qin said indifferently, “Even if he dies, so what? Generals can’t help but die in battle, and if he dies in the midst of your trickery, then he died honorably.”

“Severing the son and grandson? …… I have never even feared that demoness birth mother of yours, you think you can provoke old me with these two sentences?” Elder Qin looked at the latecomer at the head of the city with a sneering gaze and spoke word by word.

“The old man has gone crazy, let s see how long he can pretend …… When people are old and will die, this kind of nonsense seems especially much.”

Such as the old master Qin, Fan Xian at this time also finally was informed of a hidden secret that he had guessed for a long time, he sighed in his heart, slightly turned his gaze, sincerely looked at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince next to the old master Qin, snatched at the Crown Prince before he opened his mouth, and said with all sincerity:

“Cheng Qian, surrender.”