Translator: Lordbluefire
“Ah?”
Li Xuan was somewhat panicked.
“Currently, Chang`an is your home ground. When Li Xiu’s soldiers come here, you are finished!”
Han Cangshui spurred him on. “Kill them tonight!”
“B…but that’s my aunt!”
Just as Li Xuan’s voice faded, Han Cangshui launched a slap on his face.
“Since ancient times up until now, which emperor wasn’t a ruthless individual?”
Han Cangshui hated iron for not being steel and gave a backhand slap to Li Xuan. “Besides, do you think that I won’t notice? Your words are an excuse. What you are afraid of is that you might not live up to the responsibility of being an emperor!”
Bluntly speaking, Li Xuan was a coward. He didn’t dare to do major things like this.
Li Xuan clutched his face and didn’t dare to rebut.
“Right now, the strongest troops in Chang`an are the Chang`an guards. As long as you control them, we will win for sure!”
Han Cangshui analyzed.
The Chang`an guards were stationed in the capital. Without the emperor’s order, the armies from other places were not permitted to enter, or they would be punished according to military law.
“Li Cheng has pledged his loyalty to me in the past. But if my aunt is here, things might change!”
Li Xuan was worried.
Li Cheng’s original name was Niu Cheng, but because of his outstanding achievements in battle, he was bestowed the right to use the nation’s surname. He was one of the highest officials in the military.
“What aunt? It’s Li Xiu!”
Han Cangshui scolded. “I’ll handle Li Cheng. But you have to be the one to surround Li Xiu and Li Ziqi!”
“Right!”
Li Xuan understood that if he wasn’t at the helm, no one would dare to kill the two princesses.
Han Cangshui left and Li Xuan first got his own soldiers to lay low to avoid alerting the enemies.
At this moment, Li Xiu would surely send people to monitor the crown prince palace. They would absolutely not think that the Chang`an guards would act, becoming a decisive force.
Late at night, in a residence.
“Teacher, why don’t you meet with my other martial siblings?”
Li Xuan felt somewhat worried. At this moment, it was naturally for the best if their combat strength was at its peak. If not, how could they deal with the experts around Li Xiu?
“They are all being monitored. If they appear suddenly, they will definitely draw Li Xiu’s attention.”
Han Cangshui explained.
Honestly speaking, this was a part of Han Cangshui’s preparations.
If their plan failed, he could say that this was done by Li Xuan alone, and he had tried persuading Li Xuan but failed. But once his disciples took part in the plan, he wouldn’t be able to clear his name no matter what.
“The time is no longer early. Let’s move out!”
Han Cangshui urged.
“General Li, I’ll have to leave this to you!”
Li Xuan clasped his fists. However, he discovered that Li Cheng was too wooden tonight. He couldn’t even be bothered to speak.
Bang! Bang!
A signal flare shot up the sky.
The Chang`an guards that were stationed in the city suddenly emerged from various places and galloped toward the eldest princess manor.
Roughly 20 minutes later, the fastest troops had arrived there and surrounded the gigantic manor. Very soon, more and more soldiers gathered here.
“Li Cheng, what are you doing? Are you planning to rebel?”
The manor gate swung open. Li Xiu walked out as she berated loudly.
But no one responded.
“We’ve confirmed her presence, why are you still in a daze? Quickly give the order!”
Han Cangshui felt somewhat unhappy when he saw Li Xuan still didn’t give the order.
“Gurgle!”
Li Xuan was somewhat nervous. His palms were filled with sweat.
“Do you think you can still retreat now?” Han Cangshui roared in a low voice. “Give the order!”
“S…should we discuss this further?”
Li Xuan asked.
Pak!
Han Cangshui lifted his hands and launched a slap. “Trash, how can you be certain that there’s no secret tunnel within? If you continue delaying, everyone inside might have fled.”
Li Xuan sank into conflict. All of a sudden, his brain short-circuited and it seemed that he said something but he wasn’t sure what. When he regained his senses, he discovered that the troops were already attacking. Countless fire arrows were fired toward the Eldest Princess Manor.
“Ah?”
Li Xuan clutched his head.
Under the suppression caused by the fire arrows, the soldiers charged in. If it wasn’t that they had to personally witness Li Xiu’s death, the most efficient way would be to set this entire place on fire.
Resistance was very weak, so weak to the extent that Han Cangshui felt a sense of unease.
“Reporting to the crown prince, only a few slaves are in the manor!”
A scout reported.
“I…it failed?”
Li Xuan’s expression was like a waxed candle. He stared pleadingly at Han Cangshui.
Han Cangshui was greatly anxious. “Just give the order, what are you waiting for?”
(Truly worthless!)
Also, the Li Xiu that had appeared earlier should be a fake one. It should be another person whose facial features were changed by Sun Mo using cosmetic surgery.
The galloping sounds of the Chang`an’s guards shattered the silence of the night as several thousand soldiers rushed straight for the royal palace.
The soldiers of the royal palace were as though they were facing their archenemies!
Seeing that the gates are tightly shut, Han Cangshui urged. “Quickly make them open the gate!”
“I…I’m the crown prince Li Xuan. Open the gate quickly!”
Li Xuan rode on his horse and moved in front of his troops
The soldiers didn’t dare to delay and hurriedly opened the door.
Seeing the ‘hole’ that was lit up by torches, it was unknown why, but Han Cangshui began to feel some dread.
“Forget it, we have reached this step, so we have to give it a try!”
Han Cangshui didn’t want to involve himself in danger, so he could only get the crown prince to act. “Crown Prince, to the victor goes the spoils. Tonight is the night of your destiny, go and seize it!”
Li Xuan’s expression changed. When he spoke again, his voice was now filled with confidence. “Everyone, come with me!”
Rumble~
The sounds of horses galloping rang out as the troops charged in.
There was an inner city in the royal palace. At the second city gate, when Li Xuan got near, he discovered that no matter how he shouted, the soldiers stationed in the inner city refused to budge.
“As expected, we have fallen into a trap!”
Han Cangshui turned and discovered that the outer city gate had closed.
They were now like trapped turtles in a jar.
The soldiers panicked. This was a bad location. Once those soldiers on the city walls fired arrows, they would die for sure because there were no covers.
“Princess Li Xiu is publicly harming the Great Tang Crown Prince. She is rebelling!”
Li Xuan roared. “If you guys renounce the darkness and seek the light now, I can exempt you guys from death!”
The soldiers on the city walls didn’t move.
“There’s no need to shout anymore. They are all my men!”
Li Xiu was clad in deep-red leather armor and a blood-red cloak. She walked out along with Li Ziqi who was similarly armed.
“How is this possible?”
Li Xuan was stunned. Not long after Li Yingqi had suffered a stroke, Li Xuan had changed the people around Li Yingqi to his own trusted subordinates.
“Because I have a longer time to prepare compared to you. These people were merely acting when they pledged their support to you!”
Li Xiu coldly laughed. “Also, Han Cangshui, there’s no need to pretend anymore. I know it’s you!”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Li Xuan coldly snorted. “I’m the Great Tang Crown Prince!”
“Ze, do you think that only you alone know about the forbidden puppetry technique that uses alchemy to create a puppet? Very coincidently, although Great Teacher Sun doesn’t know them, he is a grandmaster puppeteer and ultimately has some understanding about such a forbidden technique.”
Li Xiu mocked.
“What? The crown prince is a puppet?”
“That’s impossible, right?”
“Speaking of which, I was wondering why the indecisive crown prince suddenly became so decisive. So, he was being controlled?”
The nearby guards were all whispering in discussion.
Some people were truly worried for Li Xuan, while others intentionally chose to agree with Li Xiu’s words whether there was proof or not as they wanted to ‘bleach’ themselves.
This situation was very clear—the crown prince would lose. Hence, they wanted to disassociate themselves from him.
“Great Teacher Han, you are using a gu-bug to control the prince and you intend to rebel. This is a major crime!”
Sun Mo appeared on the city walls and glanced down at the people below. He suddenly felt the same as Emperor Li Shimin of his world, when Li Shimin killed his siblings to secure the throne.
“Do you have any proof?”
Li Xuan roared.
“When we participated in the Five Empires War Discussion in Western Jing, I could already tell that you aren’t a good person. The eldest princess basically had no dreams of supporting Ziqi to take the throne. She did so because she wanted to force your hand so you would reveal some clues!”
Sun Mo explained.
Naturally, he said this, so their side would seem to be on the side of justice and righteousness. In reality, Li Xiu truly wanted to usurp the authority.
“To the winner goes the spoils, there’s nothing much that needs to be said. I admit defeat but you are not to implicate my teacher!”
Li Xuan howled.
“What should we do since this fellow refused to admit it?”
Li Ziqi asked in a low voice.
