My Lord, the princess doesn't want you anymore.

at this time.

More and more people gathered at the three city gates: east, west and north.

Originally, in order to prevent the prince's men from sneaking into the city, the four city gates of the capital were strictly checked these days, allowing only one person to pass through at a time.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and there are already a lot of people going in and out of the city these days, and there are even more today, as people go home to visit relatives, come into the city to sell things, and buy New Year's goods.

Early in the morning, a large group of people who wanted to enter the city blocked the East Gate.

It was fine at the beginning, everyone lined up obediently.

Someone outside the city shouted, "My mother is dying. She said she wanted to see me one last time before she passed away, but I don't know how long we have to wait in line like this. I can't even see my mother one last time. This is a sin. The government can't just arrest people and ignore the lives of the people..."

Then someone immediately agreed, "Yes, it's too immoral. If I can't enter the city, all the vegetables in my cart will rot, and my family is waiting to sell these vegetables for the New Year. This is damn..."

……

More and more people started to make a fuss. The crowd, which was already full of resentment, was suddenly ignited like dry grass encountering sparks, and the crowd was instantly furious.

"Stop, stop pushing and shoving..." Before the soldiers guarding the city could finish their words, a large group of people had been pushed to the ground at the city gate, and the people behind them immediately stepped on them.

"Who dares to step into the city? He will be like this man!" The general guarding the east gate saw that things were not going well, so he swung his sword and chopped off the head of the person who rushed in front.

The round human head, dripping with blood, rolled on the side with its eyes still wide open, which had a great deterrent effect.

Everyone was so shocked that they froze for a moment, but after a child screamed "Ah", the people became even more angry.

"That's Li Ergou from our village. He didn't do anything wrong, so why was he beheaded..."

The crowd attacked the city gate again with greater violence.

"Close the city gate!" The general defending the city gave an order, and the east gate slowly closed. However, many people had already rushed in and clashed with the soldiers defending the city.

In addition, the people in the city poured in, clamoring to leave the city, while those outside the city clamored to come in.

Under attack from both sides, the scene became even more chaotic, with cries and screams from adults and children.

"Go and report quickly, and ask for reinforcements--" the general defending the city shouted.

……

The situation at the West Gate and the North Gate is roughly the same.

Only the South Gate, although not in perfect order, is still under control for the time being.

Although there were many people outside the city making noise and making trouble, the generals did not dare to simply and rudely close the city gates without receiving orders, for fear of arousing public resentment that could not be controlled.

Therefore, among the four city gates, only the South Gate is still open to people, and there is a long queue of people holding passes and waiting for inspection to enter the city.

But people's emotions began to become unstable, and they were about to crash into the city gate.

The person who has the most headache at the moment is Minister Wang of the Ministry of War.

The emperor ordered him to maintain order in the capital, but early this morning, the entire capital seemed to be in chaos.

Fires broke out in dozens of places in the city at the same time, and all the places that caught fire were flammable.

For example, coffin shops and furniture stores, because they were doused with oil, caught fire quickly when they encountered fire, and affected a large number of adjacent houses.

Even the snow on the ground was melted by the heat, and the snow water overflowed, mixed with burnt charcoal, making a mess everywhere.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and in the vast whiteness, there were cries and shouts everywhere. Some people were grabbing things from the fire, some were running away, and some were crying for their parents.

The originally orderly capital city was in chaos.

Minister Wang urgently arranged for personnel to rush to various fire sites in the city, and at the same time sent people to the city gates to reinforce and quell the riots.

At this moment, he was standing on the west gate city wall and directing the operation personally, because the west gate was closest to the imperial palace and he could not be careless at all.

"Sir Shangshu, the emperor has ordered the dispatch of troops to the South Gate immediately! Be careful to prevent the deposed crown prince from entering the city through the South Gate." A subordinate suddenly came to report.

Minister Wang was stunned. Wasn’t it said that the order at the South Gate was the best?

But since the emperor had given the order, he immediately dispatched 5,000 soldiers to the South Gate.

On the other hand, Prince Xiao Cui Hongxiao had also arrived at the South Gate first.

When he arrived, a large number of people had already begun to ram the city gate. Many people who wanted to escape from the city also gathered in the city. However, the situation was not as chaotic as the other three gates, so the city gate had not been closed and was still allowing people to pass through.

Although Cui Hongxiao is young, he is a veteran of many battles.

Compared with the killing on the battlefield, this wave of chaos is nothing.

"Those who lead the riot will be arrested. Those who resist will be killed on the spot." After Cui Hongxiao finished his order, he shouted, "Where is the general guarding the city?"

"Your humble servant is here!" The general guarding the South Gate stepped forward and knelt.

"Capture him!" Prince Xiao had a cold face.

"Your Majesty?" The man tried to resist. "Even if you are a prince, you need a reason to punish me!"

"The situation is so urgent, why don't you close the city gates?!"

"I am also worried about arousing public resentment." The general snorted.

"If you were worried about arousing public resentment, why did you chop off the heads of the people without asking any questions? What was your intention?"

"..."

Seeing that he was hesitant and unable to answer, Cui Hongxiao ignored him, waved his hand, and had him dragged away.

His eyes, like a falcon, searched the crowd.

After a while, he locked onto a hunchbacked old man.

This old man was hiding behind a family of three, trying hard to squeeze into the city.

With a sneer, Cui Hongxiao flew down the city wall like a roc spreading its wings.

"Brother, how are you?" He slowly placed the knife in his hand on the old man's shoulder.

The old man was so scared that he knelt down quickly and said, "Sir, please spare my life. I just want to go to the city to visit my married daughter. Please spare my life."

"Humph!" Cui Hongxiao's hands did not move at all. "Brother, you were once the crown prince of a country. How can you kneel down casually? Father is right. My face has been completely disgraced by you!"

After hearing this, the old man no longer concealed his true intentions and slowly stood up, a mocking smile on his face, "Sixth brother really is worthy of being my Great True God of War. Your eyes are even more poisonous than an eagle's."

"Big brother, do you want to go by yourself, or do you want me to tie you up and then go to the palace to meet father?"

The deposed prince chuckled, "Even if Sixth Brother kills me right now, I'm afraid it won't change the situation."

"Just you?" Cui Hongxiao smiled indifferently and looked at him with extremely disdainful eyes, "Do you think that you can sneak into the palace by setting fires everywhere in the city, causing riots, and leading the people to other city gates?"

The deposed prince sneered and did not respond.

"Oh, I see. Big brother, are you talking about the people you placed in the palace?"

The deposed prince's eyes moved slightly, but due to his disguise, there was nothing unusual on his face.

Cui Hongxiao looked at him arrogantly, as if he was looking at a dead man. "Brother, do you want to talk about the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards? Do you think that father really doesn't know how many people you have in the palace? Haha, brother, you have been the crown prince for many years, but you haven't learned even a little bit of father's shrewdness. In addition, let me tell you one more thing, the Emperor of Xiling has already sent Wei Mengyun's head to father! Qian Weimin has also secretly returned to the capital and taken over the Imperial Guards. Your deputy commander of the Imperial Guards has been thrown into the Heavenly Prison."

The deposed prince was really dumbfounded this time.

He was mentally prepared for Emperor Xiling's rebellion, but he never expected that Qian Weimin would secretly return to the capital and take over the imperial guards again.

Then who has been fighting guerrilla warfare with me in Bingzhou these days?

He thought that since there were chaos in the palace, inside the city and outside the city at the same time, he would have the opportunity to sneak into the palace under the cover of the imperial guards, kidnap his father and force him to abdicate.

Unexpectedly, his father had already got him under his control.

He rolled his eyelids and sighed deeply, "Sixth brother, if you are willing to let me live, all my people are at your disposal. You are now the only prince among the princes. If our father is gone, you will naturally be the most qualified person to inherit the throne. As long as you are willing to let me live, I will bear the infamy of regicide and patricide for you, and you can sit on the throne. I'm sure Sixth brother will be interested in this proposal."

He really couldn't think of any reason why Cui Hongxiao would refuse this proposal.

As soon as his father died, he could immediately and legitimately inherit the throne. What a great temptation!

However, Cui Hongxiao just sneered, with a trace of disgust and disdain in his eyes, "Even if I want to sit on the throne, I will sit on it openly and honestly. I will never be like my elder brother, who will be criticized by thousands of people in the future."

"Forget it." The deposed prince closed his eyes in despair. "Since my sixth brother is so stubborn, I have no choice but to..."

As he spoke, he drew out a soft sword from his waist like lightning and stabbed Cui Hongxiao.

Of course he knew that he was no match for his sixth brother.

This sword was just meant to distract him so that he could find a chance to escape.

Cui Hongxiao seemed to be prepared and dodged, but the knife in his hand never left the shoulder of the deposed prince. "Brother, please follow me into the palace!"

At this moment, three people dressed like farmers suddenly rushed over from the side and stabbed at the same time with three swords.

Caught off guard, Cui Hongxiao reflexively drew his sword to meet the enemy, and the deposed prince took the opportunity to slip into the crowd.

Cui Hongxiao and three assassins also rushed over at the same time.

The person the assassin wanted to kill was the deposed crown prince, but Cui Hongxiao was ordered by the emperor to capture him alive. In the stalemate, the deposed crown prince actually had a glimmer of hope.

But the three assassins soon discovered this flaw. Two of them entangled Cui Hongxiao, while the other assassin focused on dealing with the deposed prince.

Although the deposed crown prince was also skilled in martial arts, over the years he had mostly been focused on debauchery, and on how to please his father and deal with other princes, so naturally his skills were not that agile.

After a few moves, danger was rife.

The assassin pierced his abdomen with a sword.

At this moment, Cui Hongxiao's men arrived. Seeing that the prince had no hope of survival, several assassins jumped and disappeared in the chaotic crowd.