Peach Blossom.

Chen Ji did not look back, but just used two fingers to push Chen Xi's hand away slightly, and said with a half smile: "It's just peeing. Big brother, are you going to send someone to follow and "protect" me?"

"Second brother is the prince's bodyguard, so he naturally doesn't need to be protected." Chen Xi's hand slowly passed over Chen Ji's shoulder, his eyes flashed with unprecedented warmth, and his voice was so gentle that it reached the extreme: "We are family, second brother, please do as you please."

As soon as these words came out, Princess Si Yao, Meng Hong and other members of the Meng family looked at Chen Ji with a look of shock and anger...

Chen Ji immediately realized that his brother was trying to sow discord and sabotage the cooperation that he had agreed upon with the Meng clan.

But Chen Ji had no time to explain and continued to walk quickly towards the corridor.

Over there, Mrs. Meng suddenly broke free from Si Yao's hand and started to act coquettishly, still a little drunk: "I don't want to go back to rest, I still want to have a few more drinks with my good grandson!"

As she said this, Meng had already wandered over to Si De and Qing Xiu.

Qingxiu hurriedly stood up and gave her her seat. Si Yao and the maids also followed Meng in panic.

Chen Ji walked up the corridor and quickly came to Tao Ye. He had no way to explain the current situation, so he just pushed her and said, "Accompany me to go out for a while."

"Don't push me." Tao Ye's attention has always been on Qingxiu. Now seeing the Empress Dowager getting closer to Qingxiu, she was more worried. How could she understand Chen Ji's intention?

As Tao Ye had guessed, as soon as Meng sat down, she stared at the bowl of soup on the table. Her smiling face suddenly turned pale, and she turned around to question Qingxiu: "Why didn't you take even a bite of the soup I gave you? Do you think I'm not serious?"

"I dare not." Qingxiu was startled by the change in Meng's attitude and hurriedly picked up the soup from the table.

Tao Ye ran straight over from the corridor without thinking. When the soup was about to reach Qingxiu's lips, she reached out and knocked it away.

With a "splash", the porcelain bowl fell to the ground and broke into pieces. The soup formed large white foam on the ground, and even the little bit of soup that splashed onto Qing sleeves and Tao Ye's dress instantly turned the fabric black.

"It's poisonous!" Si De pulled Qingxiu in surprise and took a step back.

Meng Hong saw this and pointed at Queen Mother Zhou and shouted, "How dare you, the evil woman Zhou, openly poison your mother-in-law!"

As he spoke, Meng Hong had already rushed towards Zhou surrounded by Meng's relatives, and showed the daggers they had hidden on their bodies.

Zhou hurriedly dodged, but accidentally stepped on the hem of her skirt and fell to the ground. When she looked up again, it was too late to dodge. As she was screaming in fear, she saw her maid Xin'er step forward to block it for her.

Meng Hong's sword was extremely sharp, and with one swing he chopped off Xin'er's head.

The bloody head actually flew towards Si Yao in the direction of being chopped off, scaring Si Yao and the maids so much that they let out wolf-like howls.

Tao Ye was also frightened out of her wits. She immediately heard the sounds of countless swords being drawn. She turned around and saw the ministers at the banquet leaving the table and running away, including members of the Wang family. Wang Dun protected his wife and daughter, and Wang Min pulled Wang Jing, and they quickly dodged.

The Chen family soldiers standing near Zhou, Si De and others had already drawn their swords and stepped forward to protect Zhou mother and son, fighting a bloody battle with the Meng clan members, which dazzled the ministers and palace people.

Xu Mu ordered the Yongchang soldiers to protect Prince Si Xiu. They also took out the short knives hidden in their sleeves and surrounded Si Xiu, defending without attacking.

The Chen family had more soldiers, and the Meng family members were soon at a disadvantage. Meng Hong whistled with his hand, and the actors, singers and dancers on the stage and in the palace behind the stage rushed out with the weapons they used for performances and attacked the Chen family soldiers from behind.

Caiwei and Xueyi saw this from inside the house and realized that they were the only two people who came here purely to perform, and the others all had other intentions.

Chen Ji grabbed Tao Ye's hand, and hurriedly dodged while fighting, and urged: "Hurry up, it's dangerous here."

The distance was too close. Tao Ye could clearly see the two scars on the corners of Chen Ji's eyebrows. They looked like two tiny centipedes, which was so weird that she didn't want to look at Chen Ji anymore. At this moment, she understood Chen Ji's desire to tear down Meixiangxie.

Meng and Si Yao were surrounded and protected by the Meng clan members. However, Si Yao was still watching Chen Ji in the midst of the swordplay. Seeing that he wanted to take Tao Ye away, while the mother and daughter were trapped and unable to move, Si Yao angrily yelled, "Chen Ji, you liar! You traitor! You shall not die well..."

Chen Ji looked back at Si Yao and felt a little hesitant. Being misunderstood by the Meng family was not a big deal, and the Meng family could not stop him from staying or leaving. However, the original purpose of his trip today was not just to escort Tao Ye to escape.

Tao Ye was also hesitant. The Meng family warriors, Chen family soldiers, and Yongchang soldiers had already been fighting in a mess. She saw that although Si De and Qing Xiu were hugging each other tightly and were protected by the Chen family soldiers, they were still at risk of being injured by swords from time to time. Qing Xiu was also howling in fear.

"I can't just leave like that. If I have to leave, I have to take her with me, otherwise I will really become a complete liar!" Tao Ye shook his head and took two steps back, not daring to move forward, and unable to retreat.

Chen Ji was confused: "What do you mean?"

The Meng clan members not only fought with the Chen clan soldiers, but also attacked the Yongchang soldiers.

The Yongchang soldiers were all elite soldiers led by Chen Ji, and it was impossible for them to be easily injured by the Meng family. However, the orders they received before coming here were to work together with the Meng family to deal with Chen Xi, and they would not rashly attack the Meng family.

Si Xiu was very worried when he saw that some Yongchang soldiers were injured by Meng clan members because they were concerned about the cooperation agreement. He bent down with difficulty, got under the fighting soldiers and got to the side of Meng Hong, pulled Meng Hong, and persuaded him with a smile: "Master Meng, don't let your own people hurt your own people!"

"Who says we are one of us?" Meng Hong pushed Si Xiu away, turned around and swung his sword at him.

Xu Mu jumped over from not far away and stood in front of Si Xiu, using his short knife to block Meng Hong's sword, but he could hardly hold on. He turned his head and shouted, "Chen Ji! What are you doing? Why don't you come to protect the prince?"

When Chen Ji heard the shouting and recognized it as Xu Mu's voice, he couldn't help but feel anxious, but swords have no eyes, so he didn't dare to leave Tao Ye alone here, so he had to look for Mada in the chaotic crowd.

As if by telepathy, Mada sensed Chen Ji's need, quickly jumped out from the Yongchang soldiers and rushed to Chen Ji's side.

When they were back to back, Chen Ji glanced at Ma Da, who had fully understood Chen Ji's instructions.

So Mada stayed with Taoye to protect her, while Chen Ji rushed towards the Chen family army with a sword, which had surrounded Meng, Si Yao and other members of the Meng family like an iron barrel. He cut a bloody path and stepped on the corpses to rush to the Meng mother and daughter.

The entire Hualin Garden was surrounded by Chen Xi's soldiers, and no one could get out. Those civil officials and palace maids who were not good at martial arts were only concerned with avoiding the swords and knives. They hid in groups of three or five behind trees, in corners, behind rocks, or even under tables, where they could temporarily hide. Many of them were accidentally injured or killed because they failed to avoid the swords.

The Wang family did not participate in any struggle, and no one was deliberately targeting them. Naturally, all they were thinking about at this moment was to escape.

Because Wang Dun had been a companion to Emperor Xiaozong Si Yu since childhood, he had hidden in Hualin Garden many times when playing with Si Yu as a child. He knew that there was a corner of Hualin Garden with dense grass, but there was a small hole behind the grass that could lead him out of Hualin Garden.

Before entering the palace today, Wang Dun had already informed the Wang family members who were attending the banquet of the location of the cave in detail in case of emergency.

Therefore, when the war just broke out, the Wang family began to help each other and hide in that direction.

Wang Jing couldn't see clearly, so he had to be pulled away by Wang Min. But he kept looking back and asking, "Where is she? Have you seen her?"

However, Wang Dun, Wang Min and other clansmen were busy taking care of safety and finding a location, and had no time to pay attention to Wang Jing's concerns.

When they walked into the bush with the hole, Wang Jing could vaguely sense the presence of taller bushes around him. He knew that the destination was not far away. He suddenly stopped, grabbed Wang Min's sleeve and asked, "Tell me, did she ever go back to Hualin Garden?"

When Wang Dun heard this, he just lied to Wang Jing and said, "She never came back to Hualin Garden after she avoided you."

Wang Jing didn't quite believe it and still held Wang Min's arm tightly: "Is what he said true?"

Wang Min hesitated for a moment and looked back. There were already countless corpses lying at the birthday party venue.

He felt that he couldn't lie: "No, she has returned to Hualin Garden a long time ago and has been here..."

After hearing this, Wang Jing let go of Wang Min's hand and was about to walk back.

"Second brother!" Wang Dun called out, but looking at his wife Zhou Yunniang and daughter Wang Huan beside him, he did not dare to move.

Because they had long known about the possible danger today, all the Wang family members found excuses to leave their families at home whenever possible. Only Wang Dun had to bring his wife and daughter with him because his daughter was designated to perform.

At that moment, Wang Min hurriedly followed and walked back, holding Wang Jing again: "The man named Chen Ji is protecting her, you don't have to worry."

"Chen Ji has too many things to do. He can't stay with her all the time." Wang Jing pushed Wang Min away again and walked back stubbornly on crutches.

Wang Dun was furious and rebuked Wang Min, "Why do you have to be so honest?"

"He has already experienced the pain of losing his wife once, and lost half his life for it. If it happens again, do you think he will still be able to survive even if he escapes successfully?" Wang Min's question left Wang Dun speechless.

After saying this, Wang Min followed Wang Jing away.

Wang Jing used crutches to identify the direction, so he walked slowly and was soon caught up by Wang Min. So he had to be supported by Wang Min again.

The two walked forward a short distance when they suddenly saw from afar the Empress Dowager Meng, supported by Chen Ji, standing on the table with difficulty. Around the table, the Meng people and the Chen soldiers were still fighting.

The sounds of clashing swords, the shouts of soldiers, and the cries of the wounded for help were deafening to Meng.

With trembling hands, Meng took out the imperial edict from her sleeve and held it high. She gathered all her strength into her throat, trying to make a voice that could suppress the entire audience.

The next moment, everyone heard Meng's solemn announcement: "The late Emperor Xiaozong's will passed the throne to his brother, Prince Yongchang. The evil woman Zhou colluded with Grand Marshal Chen Xi, concealed the imperial edict, and disrupted the government. Now she should be executed. Anyone who can take Zhou and Chen Xi's heads will be rewarded with a marquis of ten thousand households; anyone who follows the thief in rebellion will have his entire clan executed!"

Meng Hong and others who were attacking the Yongchang soldiers were dumbfounded when they heard Meng's words. They turned around and saw Meng and Chen Ji standing together. Then they realized that they had fallen into Chen Xi's provocation. They quickly stopped and ordered their clansmen to follow the original plan and join forces with the Yongchang soldiers to attack the Chen family soldiers.

While supporting Meng, Chen Ji finally had a brief moment of peace. He noticed that it was not only the civil officials who were avoiding right and wrong. Even the military generals such as Chen Chong, the Minister of Five Armies, Chen Wei, the Captain of Western Rong, Chen Xin, the General of Wuwei, and Chen Mi, the General of Light Chariots, were only fighting in self-defense and could not see a clear position.

He thought that these people were indeed afraid of Chen Xi. Even though they were willing to assist him and surrender to King Yongchang in secret, they were still unwilling to break off relations with Chen Xi in public before the outcome was decided.

The combined strength of the Yongchang soldiers and the Meng family warriors made the Chen family soldiers no longer as dominant as before. Especially the Yongchang soldiers, after letting go of the fight, each of them could kill ten people in a row, and in the blink of an eye, the Chen family soldiers were killed and covered in blood.

Seeing the killing intensifying ahead, Wang Min couldn't help but slow down his pace, wondering whether he should take Wang Jing forward or not? Should he persuade Wang Jing not to make a meaningless sacrifice?

While his thoughts were in chaos, Wang Min heard another round of shouting, which seemed to be as overwhelming as a tidal wave. He looked back and saw countless archers jumping over the wall into Hualin Garden. The sound of their footsteps shook the earth and mountains, and they surrounded everyone in the garden from all directions.

Drawing their bows and arrows, thousands of archers aimed their arrows at the crowd fighting each other. The ministers and soldiers present stopped their actions at the same time.

The bustling Hualin Garden suddenly became quiet...

Chen Ji was shocked. How could there be so many soldiers brought into the palace?

Looking around at the archers, Chen Ji seemed to understand. His eyes fell on Chen Xi: "Have you withdrawn all the soldiers guarding the city? Have all the troops in the city gathered in Jiankang Palace?"

Chen Xi's eyes curved, and he smiled calmly: "Didn't I just tell my second brother? Your king will not attack the city. The crisis is only here, why leave soldiers to guard the city?"

Chen Ji was stunned. How could he not have thought that his brother could be so lonely and turn Jiankang City into an empty city?

"We are of the same origin, why are we so eager to fight each other? I have given you chance after chance, but you refused. Then I will have no choice but to execute all the traitors who are not loyal to the government." After saying this, Chen Xi stopped smiling and gave an order: "Shoot!"