Chapter 153 – And the Black Rider is the Prologue

All around is the faint smoke, the thick smell of blood, there is a trace of seemingly still burnt horror flavor. The whole Kyoto has been chaotic, in addition to the palace around, I do not know where else in the killing, strangling, vaguely heard the killing sound will not stop.

The second prince frowned beautifully, staring blankly at the imperial city above the not clear scene, lowered his voice and whispered: “They can’t defend, just see how long they can hold on to it……. Auntie’s layout of the periphery of Kyoto, all the messengers have been killed, there is no way that there will be reinforcements to come. With Fan Xian’s temperament, knowing that it was a dead zone, how could he fight so bravely against it? If it were business as usual, he would have run away long ago.”

Ye Chong’s armor was a bit old and glowing with a dull light, this important figure of the Qing military glanced at his son-in-law, his eyes flickering slightly as he slowly said, “There are so many people in the palace, how is he going to run?”

Everyone recognized that if Fan Xian led the people of the Supervisory Academy to run away as soon as he saw that things were not right, in Kyoto where hundreds of thousands of people resided, even if the Princess had so many soldiers under her command, it would still be extremely difficult to dig him out again, and everyone acknowledged Fan Xian’s formidable strength and ability to run away.

Ye Chong said after a moment of silence, “And since Fan Xian didn’t run, he must have some sort of credentials to do so.”

The Second Prince’s face calmed down. This celestial nobleman had listened to his aunt’s advice and temporarily held back his ambitions, standing behind the crown prince and waving the flag, but the string in his heart had long since flicked an unknown number of times; it was just that the general situation was not yet settled at the moment, so he wouldn’t do too many crazy things, especially since he was even more afraid of Fan Xian’s existence as opposed to the crown prince’s.

Fan Xian’s blow to the second prince had caused him great damage not only in terms of strength, but also in terms of spirit. The second prince took a deep breath and said, “Fan Xian, this person, will always pull out his bottom card when one doesn’t expect it, and I will never underestimate him ……”

Ye Chong suddenly coldly cut off his words, “However, we can no longer save our strength …… The Grand Prince led thousands of forbidden troops to defend the palace to the death, and there is the Supervisory Academy secretly assisting, the strength is much stronger than we initially envisioned, the Taiping Fang side, if we no longer do not go down to death to attack, I’m afraid that dragging it out will generate Changes.”

The second prince slowly lowered his head, pondering something in his mind. This time Qin Ye two family synthesized rebels besiege the palace, nominally are naturally in support of the crown prince to succeed the throne, but everyone knows clearly, at least at the moment, Dingzhou Ye family is his second person …… so since the morning since the number of attacks, the Ye family and did not pay full force, in the main attack in the direction of Taiping Square, because of the fear of their own strength is too much loss, but also extraordinarily careful.

It was also because of this that the rebels’ attack did not appear to be continuous enough, and all of this was something that the Second Prince had secretly acquiesced in.

Ye Chong glanced at his son-in-law and said soberly, “I believe that Fan Xian has already seen this, and I think that right away he will take advantage of this to provoke the relationship between you and the Crown Prince……. When this is a major event, I ask Your Highness to put aside your past thoughts for the time being, and to help the Crown Prince enter the palace first.”

The second prince took a deep breath, a gentle smile appeared on his face, and nodded, “Your father-in-law is right, we can’t give Fan Xian any opportunity that he can utilize. Any further mutual suspicion between His Highness the Crown Prince and I at this time will only make those three brothers in the palace happy.”

He twisted his head to look at Ye Chong and said solemnly, “Let the Crown Prince and Master Qin feel free to attack …… I will go to the center camp and ask the Crown Prince for any instructions.”

Ye Chong frowned slightly, knowing that His Second Highness was preparing to use himself as a hostage, using his own safety to ensure the unity and will of the tens of thousands of rebels at this point in time, and not giving Fan Xian a single chance to take advantage of it.

“It’s too dangerous.” This Dingzhou army commander slowly closed his eyes and said, “As a vice general, I should go to the center camp to receive military orders, I’ll just bring a few of my own soldiers over there, and leave the Dingzhou army to your highness’ disposal. As for all siege matters, all military orders will be issued from the center camp, so there will not be a situation where military orders are difficult to deliver.”

The second prince was stunned, and a moment later moved to say with concern: “Yuezhang be careful.”

Unexpectedly, the second prince and Ye Chong, seeing that the Dingzhou army was preserving its strength there, how Fan Xian refused to let go of this opportunity to leave the city, standing at the city’s head, looking at the place where the rebels’ center camp was, he once again began to shout at the prince.

At this time, the attack under the city is particularly urgent, drums like thunder, shouting and killing sound, there are rebels along the ladder, began to risk the arrows and rolling stones, climbing towards the city. But at such a tense moment, in such a noisy and dangerous environment, Fan Xian’s words were burned into the ears of all the rebel soldiers and all the generals of the Qin family.

He only shouted one sentence at the bottom of the Imperial City, “Old Thief Head Qin, so many of your men have died, doesn’t it hurt?”

Not a single word was mentioned about the Ye family, about the Dingzhou Army. But at this moment, the bodies were scattered on the square, and those ghastly rebel remains that had been burnt into charred pillars were still emitting a vomit-inducing scent, and anyone who wasn’t blind would have realized that in these waves of the offensive, the people who had died were basically the Qin family’s soldiers as well as two of the subordinates in the Kyoto Guards’ divisions, and the Dingzhou side hadn’t suffered too much of a loss.

At this statement, the heads of the rebel army’s center camp office froze. The crown prince, however, smiled and said to the generals beside him, “Only a fool would believe such childish sowing of discord.”

Yes, with Fan Xian’s open and honest provocation, even a blind man could hear his intentions, and only a fool would foolishly fall for his scheme and begin to suspect each other’s intentions. Although the crown prince and the second prince once fought in the imperial court, but after the great east mountain, in the long sleeve of the eldest princess, strong suppression, forced to close together. The two Li emperors are not fools, naturally know that at the moment, must maintain the surface of unity and cooperation.

However a clearer and simpler scheme, transformed into direct words, falling into everyone’s ears, would naturally have some sort of impact on people’s emotions. Especially the generals of the Qin family from the old man down, although they knew what Fan Xian wanted to achieve, they still couldn’t help but feel a trace of anger – so far, the Qin family had been the main force in the siege, while the Dingzhou army basically stood by and watched with cold eyes, so how could these generals of the Qin family feel comfortable in their hearts?

Since the capture of the flag and back, has been serving in the Prince’s body two riders outside of the Gong Dian, face began to become a little unnatural up, seems to be feeling a trace of shame. Everyone saw how the Dingzhou army was behaving at this moment, and knew that Ye Chong and the Second Prince were definitely playing a little game in their hearts, and although it wouldn’t have any major impact on today’s big event, the Qin family would definitely be extremely angry.

The Crown Prince gently glanced at Gong Dian and said, ”Fan Xian knows that he’s already in a desperate situation, and only then would he make such a boring move. As the saying goes, if you see something strange, it will be defeated, there are only so many people in the palace, and this palace is pressing on with a large army, so as long as we don’t mess up ourselves, the great thing will eventually be accomplished, so I hope that all of you will work hard.”

“Yes, your highness.” Beside all the generals bowed in unison, knowing that what the crown prince said is the right way, with the right combination, with the odd victory, if the right way is open and powerful, why care about the odd road?

Just a little mention, the Prince will Fan Xian’s words crumpled and thrown away, the generals began to busy again. The Crown Prince whispered a few words to Master Qin, and then simultaneously cast his eyes above the city.

Right at this moment, a flag-ordering soldier arrived quickly, and in the crowd’s slightly different gazes, he loudly reported, “Vice Marshal Ye Chong has come to ask for the Crown Prince’s order.”

The Crown Prince was slightly stunned, but his gaze brightened. And aside the old man Qin suddenly opened his eyes, cold aura out, but immediately gradually calm down. At this time, the situation has been settled, the old master Qin could not help but begin to think of his own only son Qin Heng, in the Zheng Yang Sect under what exactly suffered a blow, why at this time has not yet returned to the team, so that although Ye Chong came suddenly, but the old master Qin also just in the heart of the slightest movement to stop.

The old master guessed why Ye Chong had come, but was not at all worried that Ye Chong would rob the Qin family of any of its merits. As the saying goes, “From the dragon, the Qin family’s merit of helping the Crown Prince to the throne is something that no one can erase, as long as the Crown Prince ascends to the throne as the Emperor, the Qin family can at least keep the peace for several decades after the old master’s death.

The hint of surprise and slight joy from the Crown Prince was something else. He knew clearly that Ye Chong had come because he did not want Fan Xian’s words to affect today’s plan to raise an army. However, this respect for himself and his regard for the big picture made the Crown Prince seem to see another ray of light.

Today, when Fan Xian had placed the Empress Dowager’s three divine masters’ medals at the city’s head, the Crown Prince had a heated confrontation with Elder Qin. Although in the end, the Crown Prince had forcibly suppressed the thoughts of the Qin family’s generals, some other thoughts had arisen in his mind-thoughts that Fan Xian wanted him to have.

Since a few days ago, the Crown Prince and the Empress Dowager have been planning several times, and have not made up their minds to let the Qin family lead the troops into the capital, for fear that the military will become dominant in the future. Looking at today’s situation, the crown prince knows that he is not the father of the emperor, the influence on the military is still too small, he is bound to find some means of balance.

At this time, Ye Chong’s sudden arrival, let the crown prince to look for a hint of possibility – yes, Ye Chong is the second prince’s father-in-law, by definition should be the crown prince’s most vigilant role, but the crown prince does not think that the alliance in this world will last forever, everything has to do with the interests of the relationship has nothing to do with feelings of affection – himself is the rightful crown prince, he is the rightful crown prince, he is the rightful crown prince. -He is the rightful Crown Prince and will soon ascend to the throne, and the Ye family’s support for himself will always have more benefits than supporting his second in line.

Of course, he did not dare to expect the Ye family to suddenly turn to himself, these things, too, must be a long time to consider the problem, but he found this possibility.

Li Chengqian thought with a slight bitterness in his heart, a group of people under the city are all traitors to the king and against virtue, what things can not be done?

Ye Chong entered the line and bowed solemnly to the Crown Prince, reporting the battle situation in the area of Taipingfang. His personal soldiers were far away from the center camp, although the Qin family would not defend him, they would not allow him to bring his personal soldiers inside.

Elder Qin narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded his head slightly towards Ye Chong, which was regarded as a salute. Ye Chong’s face was slightly dark and composed to the core.

The siege continued, stray vectors flew by in the surroundings, and the sound of shouting and killing did not stop. The forbidden army had already begun to suffer obvious casualties, but the imperial city was majestic and high, and the palace gate was filled with rocks and mud, so it could still be supported.

Fan Xian narrowed his eyes as he watched the deaths occurring in front of his eyes, not knowing what his heart was feeling. At this time, the Grand Prince had already finished his light armor, removed the long sword at his waist, and received the long sword he had used in the battlefield from his own soldiers, walking behind him in silence.

Fan Xian suddenly reached out, pulled him by the shoulders, and said in a deep voice, “It’s better for me to go.”

“I recognize that you’re powerful, but leading a military onslaught isn’t a one-man assassination.” The Grand Prince frowned and said, “It’s better for me to do this kind of thing. You keep an eye on the city, and my mother’s life is in your hands.”

Fan Xian was silent, knowing that he could not persuade this brother who was about to go on a military expedition.

The Grand Prince looked at him and suddenly spoke, “I doubt that I’m crazy to know nothing and have to take these hundreds of people to charge the company camp ……” He laughed bitterly and spat on the ground, “Old me After you die, if you can escape, remember to burn some paper money for me every year.”

Fan Xian smiled faintly, knowing that the custom of the place where the old Li family started was to burn paper money, and hearing this, he couldn’t help but pat the eldest prince’s shoulder, but after a long time, he didn’t say anything, but only stifled a sentence, “Big brother, be careful.”

Hearing the two words “big brother”, the Grand Prince laughed aloud and said, “On the verge of death, suddenly you have to recognize me as your big brother, which is not bad at all.”

The Grand Prince knew clearly that Fan Xian was unwilling to even recognize his father, but was willing to recognize himself as his elder brother, and that there were real emotions in between.

Fan Xian looked back, looked at the great prince and those ready to go the forbidden army daredevil, watched them gently caressing the only remaining two hundred war horses in the palace, the eyes gradually gentle. He knew that if he lost this pavement bet, he might still have a chance to turn the tables, but these people, as well as most of the people in the palace, would give their lives for their gamble.

“If you all die, I will spend a few years killing all of the old Li family to avenge you.”

Fan Xian said this to himself in his heart, his gaze slowly skimming from the top of the city, from the bottom of the city, sweeping over the soldiers of the forbidden army who were bravely resisting the rebels, looking at the close associates of the Procuratorate who were holding fast to the city’s crossbows and were responsible for liaising with each other in various places, and looking at the two Grand Maestros, Hu Shu, who had a pale complexion, but who insisted on standing in the very front of the Imperial City.

Shu Wu’s white beard fluttered in the wind, messy. Fan Xian’s heart dimmed slightly, wondering if it was the last time in his life that he would see the vivid faces of these people.

He bowed his head and gave a few words of what to the third prince Li Chengping, and with a clap of his palms, his entire body rolled over and stood on those three coffins on the imperial city.

At this time, the autumn sun was already near the middle of the day, but it was drilled into the dark clouds that suddenly drifted in. The three coffins on the imperial city were painted all black, and Fan Xian was also all black, standing calmly on them, facing the slightly shocking wind, looking at all the distressing things.

Everyone up and down the Imperial City saw this scene. The soldiers who were fighting in the bloodbath did not have much time to watch, while the people in the rebel camp, seeing the black-robed man standing against the wind on the imperial city, could not help but feel a chill in their hearts.

Since the start of the war, the small means used by Fan Xian had not played much of a role. However, since Ye Chong met with the Prince, the rebel army finally had some small changes in the camp, the entire rebel army camp, began to slowly and extremely systematic change of formation.

The Dingzhou army must take over from the old Qin family, to take part of the responsibility of the rebels. This was the scene that Fan Xian wanted to see, and as he watched this, he realized that although the Qing army was well-trained, the Ye and Qin families were seldom cooperative, and at the time of the change of formation, the entire battle line was finally revealed to have a few openings.

At this time, the Dingzhou army was still far from shifting into position, and the Qin family was still occupying the center of the land, only the upper left side of the spiderweb-like streets and alleys revealed their entrance.

Fan Xian did not have any military skills, but also knew that those gaps could not be utilized by himself, he could only silently pray in his heart, has been with him for twenty years of good luck, can be at this moment to shine.

It seemed that there was a heavenly will in the underworld, and the heavenly will listened to the prayers in Fan Xian’s heart. While the rebels were changing their formation, the sound of horses’ hooves came from the long street at the gap, which was sharp and contained killing intent.

Fan Xian’s spirit lifted, and when he fixed his eyes on it, his gaze went cold.

It was not the reinforcements, but Qin Heng!

After experiencing the brutal sniping at the Zheng Yang Gate, Qin Heng, the general who had personally experienced the battle of the Southern Zhao, finally relying on the powerful 5,000 cavalry, broke through the joint sniping of the Supervisory Yuan and the forbidden army cavalry, and finally rushed to the Imperial Palace after a delay of one hour!

In an instant, the visible cavalry under Qin Heng had already rushed to the street entrance, and the bloodstained wounds on those cavalry were visible. The five thousand cavalrymen, at this time, only nearly three thousand people remained, so one could imagine to what extent the sniping under the gate of Zheng Yang had been grueling.

The tip of Fan Xian’s heart felt as if it had been stabbed by a needle, he knew that his most loyal Supervisory Court subordinates had suffered heavy losses under the Zheng Yang Gate, he did not know how many people had been killed or injured, as for the brigade of forbidden troops sent by the Grand Prince, he thought that it must have been a total wipeout.

A touch of bitter and bloody flavor tumbled between his lips and tongue, and after two coughs, Fan Xian stared with bloodshot eyes, knowing that the overbearing Ephedra Pill, while forcibly elevating his realm, had also deeply harmed his heart chakra.

However, he just stared at the gaping hole, watching the group of cavalry led by Qin Heng, holding the smoke and dust and carrying the blood, appearing in front of everyone’s eyes.

“Do it.”

He covered his lips that were oozing blood and said vaguely. Although the order was vague and the voice was extremely low, the members of the Qiyan team who had been waiting beside him did not hesitate for a second, raising their own right arm and pulling it with vigor, the order arrow in their hands shot up into the sky, blossoming into a beautiful firework in this gloomy sky.

From last night until now, the second firework in Kyoto.

As soon as the firework order came out, in the private houses behind the square in front of the palace, a burst of odd sounds rang out, attracting the attention of many people. And in the middle of one of the three streets in front of the left, a rush of hoofbeats suddenly rang out.

Qin Heng’s cavalry had already arrived, so where did these hoofbeats sound from? These firm and rapid, even more rapid than the Qin family blood bath cavalry, more murderous cavalry, who exactly is it?

Like two gusts of wind destined to meet, the cavalrymen that were simultaneously advancing towards the palace square along the two roads finally met at the place where the two streets and alleys intersected, violently and suddenly colliding together!

This hidden cavalry was not large in number, but it carried an aura that was different from the general Qing army. Not only was it a murderous aura, but it also had a ghostly flavor that was cold to the extreme. Their entire body black armor, it seems that even a trace of light will not reflect out, just thick black like ink to the extreme.

The black cavalry of the Supervisory Authority, the legendary cavalry with the strongest sniping ability in Qing, however, not many people had ever seen the way they fought and their powerful strength. Within the Qing military, there were quite a few people who showed disdain for the Black Riders, believing that Chen Pingping, the old black dog, could not train the Iron Blood Riders.

However, today, this mysterious black cavalry troop, finally collided with the elite cavalry of Qing Guo, and told everyone with the blood general fact that in terms of cavalry quality alone, the black cavalry …… will always be the strongest.

The sudden appearance of the black cavalry is out of everyone s expectation. At the beginning of the eyes flashed a trace of excitement in the eyes of the old master Qin within the first time to discover the problem, eyes once again flashed a cold aura.

No one was clear on how Fan Xian had managed to hide this cavalry unit in the rolling homes behind the rebels, and even less knew how this all-black, shadowy cavalry had managed to not make a single sound.

Qin Heng led the cavalry to quickly gallop across the street, and then he saw the …… black, palpitating riding shadows that slanted over from another road beside him!

The number of this black cavalry was too small, only two hundred people. If the Grand Prince was still in the city, he would have guessed that this was the team that Fan Xian had sent out of the palace last night, the team led by Jing Ge, the Vice Commander of the Black Riders, who had disappeared without a word for a long time.

Although there are only two hundred people, this group of black cavalry is like two thousand people …… No, it is like a person fighting. The leading general wears a silver mask, tightly grips the lance, like the sharpest point on the blade, with a strange speed, rushing in front of the most face!

And the two hundred cavalrymen behind him were like the sharp blade and solid blade solid behind the dagger, maintaining a tight formation, supported by extremely skillful horsemanship, closely following the silver masked Jing Ge, towards the front of Qin Heng’s more than 2,000 cavalrymen, ruthlessly stabbing in!

To use two hundred against two thousand, only the Black Riders would have such determination and guts, because decades ago, the Black Riders’ predecessors, led by Chen Pingping, had once raided three thousand li to the north, penetrating deep within the territory of the Great Wei, capturing the Great Wei’s Tee Cavalry Chief, Sean, alive, and then retreated in one piece!

Raiding three thousand miles, the Black Riders could do it, let alone this mere three hundred feet. Only those who remembered history would understand that the Black Riders were the most powerful cavalry under the heavens, and would understand why Emperor Qing had forever forcefully ordered Chen Pingping to limit the number of Black Riders to a thousand!

The black-robed Fan Xian stood on the black coffin, watching his black cavalry, making a dark raid, his lips dry, not saying a word. He knew that the counterattack would thus begin, and that the black cavalry’s raid was only a prologue to his own gamble.