Four miles away from the Xuanwu Gate in the Imperial Palace.
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qi Li Yuanji each led 200 elite soldiers as they slowly advanced.
With a bang, the Crown Prince's ceremonial flag in front of him was broken by the wind.
Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji's expressions changed drastically.
"Cough cough, I've been using it for several years. It's time to change it.”Crown Prince Li Jiancheng pretended to be calm.
Li Yuanji's mouth twitched, and he forced out a smile.""Cough cough, that's right. When I come back, this little brother will also change these old flags.”
"Hulu."
At this moment, the front suddenly stopped.
Soon, a lieutenant rushed over with an uneasy expression and reported,""Crown Prince…Your Highness, the arch bridge in front has collapsed…We can't pass through.”
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qi Li Yuanji could both see the doubt in each other's eyes.
This…could it be a warning from the heavens?
But now that the arrow was on the bow, he had no choice but to shoot. If he couldn't see his father today, Li Er would definitely be prepared.
"Big brother…why don't we go back to the residence and discuss it?”Li Yuanji's voice was clearly trembling.
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng gritted his teeth and his eyes revealed a resolute look."This Queen is the Crown Prince of the Great Tang, the destiny of the heavens. How can I care about these setbacks? Perhaps, this is the heavens testing us.”
"Detour."
"Yes…yes, Crown Prince." The small school left in a hurry with an uneasy expression.
It had been a long time since the sound of the wooden clapper at the fifth watch.
As usual, the people of Chang 'an City opened their doors and windows and began another busy day.
The four gates of Chang 'an City were also crowded with merchants from all over the world.
The merchants were surprised to find that the city gates, which usually opened on time, showed no signs of opening.
The soldiers on the city gate tower were all waiting solemnly, as if they were facing a great enemy.
"What happened today? Why isn't the city gate open?"
"Did General Zhang oversleep again?”
Just as the merchants were discussing, a group of carriages slowly came from the east gate.
"What…what's going on? Is the south gate not open?" The merchant who came from the east gate couldn't help but have a drastic change in expression.
"Eh, could it be that the east gate isn't open?”The traveler at the south gate asked in surprise.
The merchant from the East Gate nodded.""Yes, the east gate is not open either. No matter how much we shouted, they didn't even pay attention to us. I had no choice but to come to the south gate."
Before the people outside the south gate could react, they saw groups of merchants rushing in from the west gate.
Soon, the merchants from the north gate also rushed to the south gate.
"What…what is going on? The city is sealed?"
The commoners and merchants outside the city gate began to feel anxious and fearful.
"Not good, the city is really sealed. Something big must have happened. Let's leave this place as soon as possible.”
" You're right. Besides, it's best that you don't come to Chang 'an City in the near future to avoid being caught in the fish pond.”
In the blink of an eye, the thousands of people gathered at the foot of Chang 'an City ran away.
In the Xuanwu Sect, the Heavenly Policy soldiers waiting in the attic began to lose their cool.
The Crown Prince and King Qi had yet to appear.
At this time, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji should have arrived long ago. However, the sky had already turned white, but these two people had not appeared for a long time.
Had the news been leaked? Or did something suddenly happen?
If Li Jiancheng was able to react, then…the consequences would be unimaginable.
Hundreds of thousands of Tang elites were still stationed outside Chang 'an City. If Li Jiancheng or Li Yuanji managed to escape, that would be…
Thinking of this, the generals began to feel restless. They stood up and looked out of the window of the attic from time to time.
"You are all veterans who have been through many battles.”Li Er frowned and scolded.
"This subordinate…knows his mistake." The generals smiled.
But the corners of Xiang Yu's mouth curled up. This Li Er was really good at pretending.
Although he looked as if he would not change his expression even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him, his right hand that was holding the sword hilt had already turned slightly pale because he had used too much strength.
Suddenly, someone shouted," It's coming, it's coming."”
At this moment, whether it was Li Er or the other generals, they all stood up hurriedly and walked to the window. They were all overjoyed.
"Quick, get ready. Prepare according to the plan.”
"Yes." The generals were excited and rushed out of the pavilion.
According to the original plan, Xuanwu Sect would keep 200 out of the 2000 Heavenly Policy Troops. At the same time, the other three gates of the Imperial Palace would each send over 200 soldiers.
In other words, only a few hundred soldiers from the Heavenly Policy Army could fight against the Crown Prince and King Qi's Changlin Army.
Fortunately, the Heavenly Policy Army had peerless generals like Cheng Yaojin, Yuchi Gong, and Qin Qiong.
When Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qi Li Yuanji were several hundred meters away from the Black Tortoise Gate, they suddenly realized that something was amiss.
"Big brother, I remember that the soldiers of the Black Tortoise Sect came out to welcome us when they saw us from so far away. Why haven't they shown up today?”Li Yuanji said anxiously.
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng also frowned. Usually, most of the civil and military officials would come to the morning court, but today it was exceptionally quiet. At the foot of the palace walls, there were only the two brothers.
" Big Brother, do you think that Li Er will…" Li Yuanji seemed to have thought of something, and his expression changed drastically.
"No, there are many of my people in the palace. If there was anything unusual, they would have come out to warn him.”Crown Prince Li Jiancheng shook his head.
Although he comforted Li Yuanji like this, anyone could hear the trembling in his voice.
"Big brother…why don't we leave this place quickly?”Li Yuanji once again observed his surroundings, and the chill swept through his entire body once again.
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng looked at the city wall that was just inches away from him and was still hesitant.
At the same time, the Tiance soldiers who had been hiding behind the Xuanwu Sect were also extremely nervous.
Cheng Yaojin couldn't stand the torture anymore and said,"Qin Wang, why aren't those two leaving? Did they discover our ambush?”
Li Shi Min looked out through the gap in the door and said in a deep voice,"Let's wait and see. It won't be easy to chase after them at such a long distance. If they escaped to the streets, it would be troublesome.”
"They should be alerted by now. Why don't we let Chang He lead a few people out to dispel their doubts?”Qin Qiong suggested.
Li Shi Min nodded his head and then ordered the soldiers behind him,""All of you, mount your warhorses and prepare your bows and arrows. As long as they were within 300 feet, they would first shoot the arrows and then charge out.”
"Yes, King Qin." The soldiers of Heavenly Strategy nodded in a low voice.
Following that, Chang He brought a few imperial guards and went up to welcome them as usual.
When he arrived, Chang He bowed to the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qi Li Yuanji, then shouted,""This subordinate was delayed by some matters. I hope that the Crown Prince and King Qi can atone for their sins.
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qi Li Yuanji secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
"Why is it so deserted today?" Crown Prince Li Jiancheng pretended to ask casually.
Chang He's eyes flashed with panic, but because he had his head lowered, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji did not notice anything unusual.
"Reporting to the Crown Prince, because…His Majesty has thought about it over and over again, he said that today's morning court session is a family matter, so he instructed all the civil and military officials not to attend the morning court session today.”Chang He answered.
Crown Prince Li Jiancheng nodded his head. In his opinion, today's discussion was really a family matter.
As the saying goes, one should not wash one's dirty linen in public. Perhaps his father did not want the civil and military officials to see them killing each other, so he gave such instructions.
Following that, under Chang He's lead, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and King Qi Li Yuanji walked towards the Black Tortoise Gate.
1,000 feet, 800 feet, 500 feet…
"Xilvlu!"
The closer King Qi Li Yuanji got to the gates of Black Tortoise Gate, the more restless his snow-white Ferghana Horse became. No matter how hard he tried to drive it, it wouldn't move forward.
"Third Brother…your Ferghana Horse is full of intelligence and has always been docile. What's wrong with it today?”Crown Prince Li Jiancheng frowned.
King Qi Li Yuanji's face was pale as he whispered,"Big brother, I suspect…Li Er is waiting for us behind the Black Tortoise Gate City.”
"What?" Crown Prince Li Yuanji immediately reined in his Ferghana Horse, his voice laced with a hint of fear.
"Big brother, look at that city gate. Moreover, Chang He's subordinates seemed to be a little nervous. Look at their right hands. From the beginning to the end, they never left their weapons.”
After hearing Li Yuanji's words, Crown Prince Li Jiancheng seemed to have a bad feeling.
"Third brother, aren't you…worrying too much?”
"Big brother, just in case, please allow me to test it.”King Qi Li Yuanji stared unkindly at Chang He, who was leading the way.
"Third brother, feel free to try." Crown Prince Li Jiancheng gritted his teeth.
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