The injured were holding on, thanks to Su Xiaoqi's elixirs, but the masked men in black were like a tide, repulsed only to surge forward again. They were as numerous as ants, endless. If this continued, only death awaited them.
"Retreat," the Old Madam commanded, seeing the exhausted crowd. She called everyone back, reinforcing the doors. A moment's rest was better than none.
However, the masked men below knew they couldn't hold out much longer. They surged forward in unison, intending to capture them. The "thump, thump" of the battering ram struck Su Xiaoqi's heart with each blow. Her mind was in turmoil.
The Old Madam took her hand, smiling. "If the door breaks, I'll have Chang Feng escort you away."
Su Xiaoqi shook her head. "No, Grandmother, I won't leave. I will face this with you." She still had her spatial escape, and bringing the people around her with her should be possible. She figured there wouldn't be any immediate major issues. With this thought, knowing she had a final escape route, her heart relaxed.
She thought of someone. Someone they had strived for a long time to win over, but ultimately, they didn't know if they succeeded. Regardless, she wanted to try now. She signaled Zhang Yu to fire a red signal flare out the window. The blood-red smoke rose into the night sky.
Someone not far away saw it, and their heart tightened. Without a moment's pause, they rushed towards the location of the flare with their men.
At this moment, Su Yuru was immensely pleased. She could already see the battered and broken main doors. A cruel smile touched her lips. Ever since Su Xiaoqi appeared, she had hated her with a passion, constantly wishing for her to disappear. Then Shen Yun would still belong to her, and everything she now possessed would be hers. Unfortunately, after thinking about it for so long, she had never succeeded. Tonight, at this moment, her dream was finally about to come true.
She loudly commanded, "Kill them all. Leave no one alive." As the order was issued, the masked men in black behind her immediately swarmed towards the door. The first two who had entered the front suddenly cried out and collapsed, foaming at the mouth and convulsing. The people following behind them quickly retreated and shouted outwards, "Ah, an ambush! An ambush!"
Su Yuru snorted. "What ambush? She's a physician, she uses poison. Be careful!" The crowd immediately recalled previous events. They were still somewhat apprehensive, but Su Yuru told them that they had no turning back now, they could only go forward.
After three waves of fierce attacks, Su Xiaoqi had used a large amount of medicinal powder from her space. However, they couldn't withstand the sheer number of enemies, and they were finally pushed towards the main hall. The two sides confronted each other, separated by a mere ten feet. Su Xiaoqi's space was vast, but the medicinal powder she could produce was limited. By this point, it was all used up. As enemies pressed forward, the guards of the Duke of Yu's mansion once again moved to the front lines, vowing to protect the Old Madam of the Duke's mansion.
"You can't escape now. Die!" Su Yuru saw hope and was filled with excitement. She raised her hand, delivering a killing blow. Su Xiaoqi tightly gripped the hands of the Old Madam and Madam Zhao, and others. At the last moment, she could only activate her spatial abilities…
The final wave of attack had not yet begun when a troop of galloping horses intercepted them. The person at the forefront coldly commanded, "Stop. The orders received were not for a massacre. Who are you?"
Su Yuru's eyes were bloodshot from killing. Tonight was too wild; she had never experienced such a frenzied moment. Victory was within her grasp. How could she give it up now? "Who are you? My business doesn't concern you."
"I am Su Ze, the vanguard general of the guerrilla forces. The team you are leading belongs to me. You are leading them to their deaths, how can I not care?" The person was indeed Su Ze, whose nickname was Xiao Ze, the one Su Xiaoqi had suddenly remembered and had been trying to win over. As a fourth-rank guerrilla general, a large portion of the people he commanded that night had been dispatched by the Crown Prince to attack. For the sake of the so-called greater good, he had tacitly agreed to General Huang's method of dividing the forces into small teams.
However, temporary division did not mean he lost command over his troops. The people in this team had fought against the Tubo and the Northern Di alongside him in the Western Frontier. Their loyalty was no less than that of the renowned Northern Frontier Army. When Su Ze had not yet appeared, they naturally followed Su Yuru. But now that their commanding officer, Su Ze, had appeared, they automatically fell in behind Su Ze. Su Yuru, who had been a formidable female general leading a hundred cavalry, instantly became isolated.
She was furious. Victory was so close, only the time it took for an incense stick to burn, or perhaps even less. The main doors had already been opened. Su Xiaoqi stood in the center of the hall, in the most conspicuous spot. Those men, with their great swords, only needed to take two more steps forward to strike her down. But now, because of this person named Su Ze, all of that was gone, gone.
Not only that, Su Ze's arrival also signaled her complete failure. These people knew her identity, and if she survived tonight, they would surely seek revenge later. She dared to be so arrogant only by relying on her backstage support. If she were to lose that support in the future, her death would not be far off. Suddenly, Su Yuru realized she had no retreat. The more she thought about it, the more alarmed and frightened she became. The fear in her heart drove her to madness, and she screamed, "You, Su Ze, die!"
She lunged at Su Ze with a dagger. Su Ze let out a cold snort, without even moving his hands, and kicked Su Yuru in the chest. Su Yuru's internal organs suffered a heavy blow, and before she could even groan, she fell heavily to the ground. The pain kept her from getting up for a long time.
With Su Yuru kicked down, the rest was easy. Su Ze glanced at Su Xiaoqi from a distance. To avoid causing her trouble, he did not enter. Su Xiaoqi had been watching him the entire time. When she decided to ask for his help, she had been somewhat apprehensive. She was afraid of seeing him hesitate, afraid he would refuse her for his own future. However, he did not. Although he had been through many things, even tempered by the brutal baptism of war, he was still that sincere and responsible Xiao Ze. Their eyes met for a brief moment before shifting away. But both understood each other's meaning.
Xiao Ze: "Don't worry!"
Su Xiaoqi: "Take care!"
Under Su Ze's command, the black-clad soldiers of the Western Frontier Army withdrew from the Chun Ya Tower. When they came to their senses and looked at Su Yuru, they found that where she had been lying, there was nothing but a pool of blood. Su Ze narrowed his eyes, his mind already working. He gathered his men and loudly asked if they knew what they were doing tonight. The answer was as expected. They all knew nothing. They were simply told not to ask or say anything, but to follow orders.
"We were tricked. General Huang told us that His Highness the Crown Prince needed our help. Little did we know, he was plotting rebellion, attempting to harm the Emperor." Su Ze's voice was loud, not only heard clearly by the soldiers before him but also by everyone in the Chun Ya Tower. They had all had some suspicions before, but hearing it directly from someone's mouth was more shocking. The Crown Prince was plotting rebellion, what should they do? Why would the Crown Prince plot rebellion? The Emperor had passed away, so the throne was his. Doing this would be a redundant act.
"What? You don't know? The Crown Prince is about to be deposed."
"About to be deposed? The Crown Prince has already been deposed. My master said the imperial decree to depose the Crown Prince has already been drafted. It's only waiting for the court to officially announce it in the next couple of days."
"Heavens, is that possible?"
"How is it impossible? The Crown Prince was deposed, so he's rebelling."
All the information became clear. Everyone successfully analyzed the Crown Prince's true intentions. They all turned ashen, unable to speak.
At this moment, Su Xiaoqi was very composed. She had no scattered thoughts, merely standing quietly at the entrance, watching Su Ze clearly explain the Crown Prince's conspiracy to his soldiers. Su Ze was a good speaker, explaining everything in a few words. They had arrived in confusion, but after hearing Su Ze's words, it was as if their minds had suddenly opened. They were just ordinary soldiers, only wanting to protect their country peacefully. They did not want to engage in internal strife, or participate in the rebellion of treacherous officials.
"General, General, what should we do now?" someone looked at Su Ze. Su Ze first removed the veil from his head, then tore off his black night-traveling clothes, revealing the silver soft armor underneath. He glanced back at Su Xiaoqi behind him and said firmly, "Since you are all unwilling to follow treacherous officials and commit the act of rebellion and usurpation, why don't you follow this general and charge forward to protect His Majesty and serve the King?"
"Good, good, protect His Majesty and serve the King!" Over a thousand soldiers responded in unison, their voices resounding. Not far from them, at the city gates, Shen Yun and Liang Jingchen had arrived with the three thousand elite cavalry. Clad in scarlet armor and red helmets, they were like a distinct flag in the dark night, emitting a dazzling radiance under the torchlight.