Chapter 270
Ye Guhong’s shout caused a commotion inside and outside the palace.
The guards who had been in hot pursuit of him stopped in an instant, all of them looking shocked and surprised.
The generals hurriedly reorganised their troops and reformed their battle formation. It didn’t look like they were going to pursue Ye, but rather prevent an attack from outside forces.
At this time, Ye was located to the south of the Daming Hall, not far from the Daming Gate. Further out was the south gate of the imperial city, Chongtian Gate. From here, if you went south past Hupu Bridge, you would reach the south gate of the inner city, Lingsheng Gate. Lingsheng Gate led south to the Qianbu Corridor, which led directly to Lizheng Gate in the outer city.
If we go back to the later Ming and Qing dynasties, there were still Zhengyangmen and Yongdingmen outside Lizhengmen. The city walls were high and thick, but the city was not as large as it would later become. Once you broke out of Lizhengmen, you were outside the city.
At this moment, Damingmen was wide open. Prince Ruyang led more than a thousand elite soldiers and stationed them outside the gate. Hearing Ye Kuhong shouting, and seeing the palace guards suddenly fall back into formation, these elite soldiers from the prince’s family were also at a loss as to whether they should advance or not.
Just as they were at an impasse, suddenly there was a clatter of hooves, and outside the Chongtian Gate, a gallant horse came galloping.
On the horse was a slender man in his thirties, dressed in red, with long hair, a handsome appearance, an arrow feather stuck in the saddle, an iron bow in his hand, shouting, 鈥淭he Left Chancellor Tuo Tuo is here! Since you, Prince Ruyang, have led your troops here, why don’t you arrest the thief now!鈥�
Hearing this, the King of Ruyang was overjoyed and hurriedly explained, 鈥淧rime Minister, I was waiting to catch the thief, but unexpectedly the other party spoke blasphemous words. I was afraid of being misunderstood, so I hesitated.鈥�
Tuo Tuo was furious and said, 鈥淵our Highness, you are the backbone of the country, how could you be afraid of the thief’s slanderous words and be too weak to go in? Your Highness only cares about catching the thief, but I will go with you to the emperor to explain the facts.
Ye Kuhong stood under the gate of the Ming Dynasty and nodded to himself. So this person is Tuo Tuo, and he is indeed decisive.
Prince Ruyang said happily, 鈥淭hank you for your advice, Prime Minister!鈥�
His face fell, and he waved his hand, saying, 鈥淪oldiers, go and capture this traitor for me.鈥�
The elite soldiers of the royal court received the order and lined up.
Ye Guhong laughed heartily, dragging his golden melon hammer with one hand as he strode forward.
His pace quickened, and when he was close enough to attack, he was already running. Suddenly, he twisted his body and jumped, dragging his hammer as he leaped out, sweeping across the front with a single blow. A flash of golden light was followed by the screams of seven or eight elite soldiers as their spears snapped and their armour shattered, and they fell backwards. Ye Guhong took this opportunity to step into the formation, and his golden melon hammer smashed straight ahead, creating a bloody path.
The men under the command of King Ruyang had long fought alongside him in battles both north and south, and were also brave and fierce. Although they saw that Ye Guhong was unstoppable, they all shouted and charged forward, desperately brandishing their weapons.
For a time, the sound of killing in the formation was like a tidal wave, and those palace guards were all trembling with fear.
Ye Kuhong’s hammer in his hands became like a golden ball of death, flying around his body. In no time, he had already smashed hundreds of people. The hammer handle could not withstand his tremendous strength, and suddenly broke in two places. Ye Kuhong threw the broken hammer away, and with a pair of fists, he struck ten people in a row, causing them to scream and fall.
Seeing that he was unarmed, several of the Wangfu’s generals scrambled to take advantage of the situation. Ye Guhong wrapped his body around, ducked and snuck into the chest of one of the generals, knocking him far away with a shoulder charge, and snatched a phoenix-mouthed knife out of his hands, slashing and knocking over a group of people.
He brandished the knife and charged forward, slashing and hacking his way through the crowd. He didn’t know how far he had charged, but suddenly his vision cleared and he found himself outside the formation, staring at the King of Ruyang, who was riding a horse and surrounded by more than ten guards.
Ye Guhong raised his arm, wiped the blood that had dripped down his face, and grinned, 鈥淚 have long admired the King of Ruyang as the pillar of the Yuan dynasty. I, Ye Guhong, am unworthy, but today I want to break one of the pillars of the Yuan court!鈥�
The King of Ruyang swallowed, drew his sword from his waist and held it in his hand. He wanted to go forward, but was afraid; he wanted to retreat, but felt ashamed. When he was at a loss, the four generals around him shouted together, 鈥淲e are indebted to the king for his great kindness. Today is the time to repay him for his troubles!鈥�
After drinking, the four generals galloped out together, their maces, halberds, golden-plated spears and copper clubs raised high, and they charged Ye Kuhong directly.
These four generals had all built up great reputations for bravery under the command of King Ruyang, and they were known for their bravery. King Ruyang was overjoyed and said, 鈥淚f you kill this barbarian, I will reward you handsomely!鈥�
Upon hearing this, the four generals spurred their horses faster.
Ye Guhong laughed loudly, took a few steps forward, and thrust out his palm-held phoenix-beaked knife with all his strength. It seemed to be electrified in the sky, and it whistled as it knocked one of the generals’ stomachs open. The poor general’s intestines and stomach spilled out, clattering noisily, and were trampled into the mud by the warhorse.
Ye Guhong succeeded in his attack, and with a turn of his body, he allowed the general’s mace to fall to the ground. With a single sweep of his broadsword, he severed the horse’s leg. The second general on the horse was caught off guard, and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. His face smashed against the ground, and his skull instantly shattered.
Ye Guhong swung his sword around, swinging open the copper and gilt-bronze clubs to his left and right, and with a backhanded slash, he cleaved the warlord’s head in half.
In the blink of an eye, three of the four generals were dead, and the remaining one was so scared that his hands went limp, and he couldn’t rein in his horse, so he crashed straight into the remaining troops behind him. Ye Guhong, however, kept on walking, heading straight for King Ruyang.
The King of Ruyang was so shocked that his heart and liver were shattered, and he let out a strange cry and fled on his horse.
Tuo Tuo shouted from the side, 鈥淭raitor, don’t hurt the king!鈥�
He raised his iron bow and shot nine linked arrows. These nine arrows were connected end to end and extremely fast. Ye Kuhong did not expect this person to be so accomplished in both literature and military affairs, so he quickly swung his sword to defend himself.
Tuo Tuo was renowned for his marksmanship even as a young man, and his linked arrow technique was unparalleled in the capital. He had always been arrogant, but he had only brought these nine arrowheads with him in his quiver. Now that they were all shot, they did not do Ye Guhong any harm. He quickly let his horse gallop away, shouting, 鈥淵our Highness, hurry and go.鈥�
Ye Kuhong laughed continuously, speeding up to chase after Prince Ruyang. Although Prince Ruyang was on a famous horse, Ye Kuhong’s light skills enabled him to move like he was walking on clouds and mist. He could see that he was gradually catching up. Prince Ruyang was desperately beating his horse while constantly looking back. Every time he looked back, he saw that Ye Kuhong was even closer. For a moment, he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his mouth. He was already stunned with fear.
The two men chased and fled, and soon they were outside Chongtian Gate. Tuo Tuo hurriedly organized his troops to come to the rescue, but where could he catch up in such a short time? Just as he was panicking and complaining, he saw the young prince, Wang Baobao, in a brocade robe, leading dozens of palace guards, rushing over the Tiger Bridge.
At a time when the Prince of Ruyang had no way up or down, he suddenly saw his son arrive. He thanked all the gods and bodhisattvas in his heart and exclaimed, 鈥淢y son, quickly save your father!鈥�
Wang Baobao had heard that his father had gone to the palace to catch the thief and had deliberately rushed over to watch the fun. He shouted, 鈥淓veryone, quickly save my father! If you capture the man behind, my father will reward you handsomely.鈥�
Ye Guhong glanced at the scene and immediately became extremely cautious.
Among the people surrounding Wang Baobao, the others were fine, but the leader was none other than Cheng Kun of the 鈥淧ili Fist鈥�. There were also four familiar faces behind him: He Beikong, Chou Tuhui, Dongfang Bai, and the last one was Zhu Shou of the Zhuwu Manor, the 鈥淚ron Pen Rupturing the Sky鈥�!
These people should have recognized Ye Guhong, but at the moment, Ye Guhong was covered in blood from the battle, and the few people did not recognize him at first.
Upon Wang Baobao’s order, Cheng Kun flew out and grabbed the reins of King Ruyang first, protecting him. The dozens of others bypassed him twice and went straight for Ye Guhong.
Ye Guhong looked left and right, thinking that this wide street was no place to be trapped by a group of experts. He immediately abandoned King Ruyang and ran east.
The area to the east is where the Nan Yin Bureau, Du Kang Mansion, and Guanglu Temple are located. There are buildings everywhere, like a sea of houses. If you can get there first, you won’t have to worry about being trapped in a siege on flat land. The bitter monk and the others couldn’t care less. Dozens of them shouted and screamed, chasing after them desperately.