#551 - Stealing Home
At this critical juncture, Li Huaizhong barged in like this, so it was obvious that something major must have happened.
"What is it?"
His heart sank, Ning Yongnian slowly turned his head to look at Li Huaizhong, and even Wu Ding and Sima Cong temporarily stopped in their tracks.
"Your Majesty!"
Ignoring the shocked gazes of the crowd, the old eunuch quickly ran to Ning Yongnian's side and whispered a few urgent words into the latter's ear.
And Ning Yongnian's face underwent earth-shattering changes within a few breaths.
From gloomy, to shocked, to boundless anger.
When a twisted and ferocious expression appeared on the face of the Great Ning Emperor, everyone felt a bone-chilling cold.
"When did this happen?"
The cold wind was biting, and Ning Yongnian's voice was somewhat hoarse.
"A quarter of an hour ago."
Li Huaizhong lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze: "Your Majesty, although this matter happened suddenly, Wei Xianzheng must have been planning it for a long time. All parts of the capital have fallen into the hands of the Wei family before they could even react."
"What about the Imperial Guards?"
After a pause, Ning Yongnian took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the irritability in his heart: "Immediately send a message to Han Zhao! Tell him to defend the palace to the death and wait for朕 (zhen, the emperor's personal pronoun) to return!"
"This..."
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back, and Li Huaizhong's expression immediately made Ning Yongnian realize that something was wrong.
"Speak! Could it be that Han Zhao is already dead?!"
"Saying, saying that Han Zhao is actually..."
"Actually what?!"
"Actually, he is also a rebel..."
"..."
A quarter of an hour ago, Great Ning Capital.
When Zu Yu in the Suspended Mirror Division's main office was burned for the third time in two years, Han Zhao received the news almost immediately.
In less than an incense stick's worth of time, the entire capital was in chaos, and 50,000 Imperial Guards were also urgently assembled in the palace, awaiting his orders.
"General! The people of the Suspended Mirror Division have taken control of all four city gates!"
"Reporting, General! The people from the Capital Garrison Command have appeared on the west side of the palace!"
"Report!! The city defense army is transporting heavy crossbows, stone catapults, and other items to the outer perimeter of the palace!!"
"..."
Messengers ran into the Imperial Guard's main tent one after another, as if the situation in the capital was changing every few breaths.
Along with them came the current prince of Great Ning, Ning Wenjun.
"..."
"General Han!"
The four-clawed python robe wasn't very straight, and upon closer inspection, one of the buttons was even fastened incorrectly.
Accompanied by a small eunuch, Ning Wenjun, so shabbily dressed, passed through the vast torches outside the tent and hurriedly ran into the tense main tent of the Imperial Guards.
His face was extremely unsightly, but his words still maintained the most basic respect for Han Zhao.
"I heard that the Wei family's movements this time are very big?"
"What is the situation now?"
"Your Highness..."
Cupping his fist towards Ning Wenjun, Han Zhao's gaze was calm: "Now, except for the palace, all other parts of the capital have fallen into the hands of the Wei family."
"Wh-what?!"
His body swayed, Ning Wenjun's breathing was rapid: "Does Father know about this yet?!"
"This general has already sent someone to inform the Emperor."
Han Zhao stepped to Ning Wenjun's side and comforted him in a deep voice: "Your Highness, don't panic. Now, all 50,000 Imperial Guards are in the palace. There is still a chance to fight the Wei family."
"Even if we can't defeat them, it won't be difficult to defend the palace."
"As long as we can protect the palace, no matter what the Wei family is plotting, they won't be able to succeed when the Emperor returns from Huailing."
"Yes, what the General said makes sense."
Ning Wenjun was not an incompetent person after all, so after a brief moment of panic, he had regained some composure at this time.
He took a deep breath and nodded heavily:
"General Han, if that's the case, then quickly set up defenses in the palace!"
"This general obeys."
Lowering his head and cupping his fist, Han Zhao immediately turned his head and ordered: "Immediately summon all the deputy generals in the army to the main tent to discuss matters!"
"Yes!"
The messenger took the order and ran out of the tent, the curtain of the tent was lifted and then dropped.
In the temporarily erected main tent, the firelight flickered, and there was a chaotic sound of footsteps outside the tent.
Looking at Ning Wenjun, who was frowning in front of him, Han Zhao's expression gradually became serious at this moment.
"Your Highness, the situation is urgent now, and there are some things that this general must ask. I hope Your Highness can truthfully inform me."
"Hmm?"
Ning Wenjun was stunned when he heard this: "What does the General want to ask?"
"It is all the secret passages and mechanisms in the palace..."
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Han Zhao's tone was serious:
"Your Highness, since this general is ordered to command the Imperial Guards, I will naturally do everything possible to ensure that the palace is not lost."
"However, this general does not know the layout of all the secret passages and mechanisms in the palace, and I am worried that the Wei family will take advantage of this."
"Therefore, I hope that Your Highness can temporarily tell me all of this, so that this general can make preparations in advance."
"This..."
His eyes widened slightly, Ning Wenjun was obviously a little hesitant.
The vast Great Ning Palace naturally had many secret passages and mechanisms.
Some of these were not highly confidential and were known to the Imperial Guards.
However, there were also many that only a few members of the royal family knew.
Of course, under normal circumstances, this kind of thing could definitely not be told to Han Zhao.
After all, if the palace fell, the members of the royal family, including the Empress, would still need to use these secret passages to escape.
However, just as Han Zhao said, what if the Wei family also knew the location of these secret passages and used them to sneak into the palace?
Things happened suddenly, and Ning Wenjun didn't have time to think too much.
After only a moment, he no longer hesitated and immediately answered Han Zhao's question.
"General, there is a secret passage in the dry well in the backyard of the Zilu Palace that leads directly to Qing Nian Lane outside the palace, and there is also a secret passage under the desk in the Shiqu Pavilion that leads to..."
"..."
In the flickering firelight, Ning Wenjun revealed all the arrangements made by Ning Yongnian without any concealment.
If viewed from God's perspective, he seemed a bit foolish, truly lacking the vigilance that a prince should have.
But it should be known that even Ning Yongnian did not suspect Han Zhao's identity, so how could Ning Wenjun have thought that the General of Zhenguo, the commander of the Imperial Guards, in front of him, was already Wei Chang'an's man.
"Your Highness, is what you just said everything?"
Glancing at the swaying tent curtain, Han Zhao asked one last time: "Is there anything else?"
"No more."
Ning Wenjun shook his head, his gaze falling on the several deputy generals who had already arrived after hearing the order.
"Your Highness!"
"Your Highness!"
The several deputy generals hurriedly lowered their heads and clasped their fists after seeing Ning Wenjun, and then looked at Han Zhao together, waiting for the latter to arrange the deployment.
However, not only did Han Zhao not speak, but even the solemn look on his face slowly faded at this moment, replaced by a meaningful smile.
"General Han, you!"
Seeing this smile, Ning Wenjun immediately felt that something was wrong, his pupils shrank sharply, and his heart seemed to stop beating.
He wanted to question Han Zhao, but before he could say anything, the latter's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot in the next moment.
"Bang!!"
"Bang bang bang!!"
"Ah!!!!"
The sudden explosion echoed around him, and miserable and unprepared wails sounded one after another.
In just the blink of an eye, four Realm 3 deputy generals, who had no defense at all, flew out of the main tent, spitting blood. Two died on the spot, and two others were seriously injured.
Han Zhao was in the late stage of Realm 2, and his strength far surpassed these deputy generals by a large margin.
In addition, he launched the attack suddenly, and did not encounter any resistance at all, so it was not an exaggeration to achieve this kind of result.
"Shua!"
Amidst countless horrified gazes, Han Zhao did not stop after launching a surprise attack. Instead, he flashed to the side of the two deputy generals who had not yet died and unhesitatingly added two more palms.
"Bang! Bang!!"
The red light of the torch was miserable. These two deputy generals, who had just been alive and kicking, did not even have time to figure out what had happened, and followed the other two who had died earlier on the road to the Yellow Springs.
And only at this time did someone from the Imperial Guards outside the tent finally come back to their senses.
"General Han, General Han is also a rebel!!"
"Quick!!"
"Protect His Highness the Prince!!"
"..."
After a few breaths, the belated crowd swarmed into the main tent.
However, Han Zhao and Ning Wenjun had long since disappeared.
