Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

In early December in the west of Youzhou City, the dark alleys were filled with the cold and damp air unique to after the rain.

Puddles of water, large and small, formed on the bluestone pavement, reflecting the fragmented moonlight. Gongsun Yi's wolfskin boots squeaked as they stepped through the puddles.

The four Scorpion guards behind him kept their hands on their scimitars, vigilantly scanning the shadows of the eaves on both sides.

"General, the old place is ahead." The captain of the guards lowered his voice and pointed to the large house with blue bricks and gray tiles at the end of the alley.

Gongsun Yi narrowed his eyes and saw that the faded red lantern hanging at the gate of the house was still lit. This was the agreed-upon secret signal.

He took a deep breath, and the cold air mixed with the smell of mold filled his lungs.

Success or failure depends on this.

"boom!"

Gongsun Yi kicked open the half-open door, and the wooden door hit the wall with a loud noise.

The grain merchants who were talking in low voices in the room jumped up in shock, and the three bronze-masked men in the corner simultaneously pressed down the weapons at their waists.

"General Gongsun, what are you doing..." A grain merchant with a ferocious face was about to speak.

"Snapped!"

Gongsun Yi slammed his palm on the Huanghuali wood table, causing the teacup to jump half a foot high:

"We agreed to ship out 100,000 dan of grain in batches, but now we haven't seen a single grain! Ma Qingsheng's head is still hanging on the city gate. You almost killed me!"

The short and fat grain merchant, Manager Liu, blushed. "General, that's unreasonable! We've already delivered the grain to the border, and it was your people who picked it up!"

"fart!"

Gongsun Yi grabbed Manager Liu by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "The border patrol couldn't even get a mouse through. Are you transporting ghost food?"

"General Gongsun, calm down!"

Another grain merchant hurried forward and said, "It's actually because the Crown Prince's concubine Feng Mulan was training troops in Youzhou, and our grain transport team happened to run into her patrol and was captured."

"Now that our grain has been delivered, do you think we should also be given the silver?"

"boom!"

Gongsun Yi threw Manager Liu heavily to the ground, and the latter curled up in pain.

He looked around at everyone in the room and sneered, "So what you're saying is that these 100,000 dan of grain are just gone? And yet we still have to pay the silver?"

Gongsun Yi almost laughed out of anger.

He didn't receive the grain, but this group of unscrupulous merchants actually wanted him to give him money. This is simply outrageous.

If he had not already cooperated with Chu Ning, he might have really wanted to kill these greedy guys.

At this moment, the sound of metal friction came from the corner, and a man with a bronze mask slowly stood up: "General Gongsun, watch your attitude."

"manner?"

Gongsun Yi turned around suddenly, and his wolf fur cloak drew a sharp arc in the air.

"Your people didn't do their job well, and they almost cost me my head. Now you're talking to me about your attitude?"

"This time, Chu Ning summoned me to the East Palace and even asked me to supervise the execution of Ma Qingsheng. This was just a show of force for me. Do you understand?"

"You haven't accomplished your mission yet, yet you still want me to give you money and be more careful about your attitude?"

"Huh, is there such a good thing in the world?"

But just as he finished speaking, the masked man drew his sword with a swish, the tip of the sword pointing directly at Gongsun Yi's throat:

"This is Chu Territory, not a place for you Scorpion Clan to run wild!"

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.

Gongsun Yi's personal guards drew their swords at the same time, and the metallic sound of the blades being unsheathed was particularly harsh.

The grain merchants shrank into the corner in panic, and two of them had already moved towards the back door.

"What a Chu realm!"

Gongsun Yi laughed wildly and suddenly kicked over the table in front of him.

"Then today I will show you how the Scorpion Tribe runs wild in Chu Territory!"

The masked man's heart moved, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes. He wondered in his heart why the other party dared to speak to him like that.

Almost at the same moment, the sound of armor clashing suddenly rang out around the house.

The roof tiles shattered and dozens of Jinyiwei fell from the sky.

The main door was knocked open by a huge force, and Jia Yu rushed in first with the Jinyiwei holding embroidered spring swords.

"Jinyiwei is investigating the case! Everyone, stand still!"

The grain merchants were so frightened that they knelt down and begged for mercy.

The three masked men reacted very quickly. One of them blew a sharp whistle, and more than 20 black-clad guards hiding in the wing rushed out immediately.

"Protect your lord!"

The leader of the guards shouted and rushed towards Jia Yu with a knife.

The two steel knives collided in the air, sending out a string of sparks.

Jia Yu turned around, and the Embroidered Spring Sword in the hand of the Jinyiwei captain beside him drew a strange arc, and the right arm of the guard leader fell off, and blood splattered on the mottled wall.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

The Jinyiwei archers on the roof began to shoot arrows, and three crossbow arrows accurately pierced the backs of the guards who wanted to break through.

Upon seeing this, a masked man suddenly threw out three poison darts from his sleeves, and the two Jinyiwei fell off the roof with a groan.

"Stop them!"

Zhao Yu's roar came from outside the yard.

There was a flash of silver light, and his bright silver spear had pierced the throat of a guard.

The white horse cavalry poured into the yard like a tide, stabbing down the men in black who tried to escape over the wall one by one.

The most burly masked man suddenly jumped up, his two swords dancing in a flash of silver light, instantly chopping down three Jinyiwei.

A cold light flashed in Jia Yu's eyes, and the Embroidered Spring Blade suddenly changed its tactics, the tip of the blade accurately picking open the opponent's mask straps -

"Zheng!"

The mask fell to the ground, revealing a face covered with scars.

Jia Yu's pupils suddenly shrank. "The previous Youzhou Sima, Zhou Huan? Didn't you die three years ago?"

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Huan suddenly pulled out a dart from his waist and threw it out, and a ball of blood burst out from Jia Yu's shoulder.

The whole yard was in chaos in an instant.

"Protect the Commander!"

The Jinyiwei rushed over like crazy.

Zhao Yu roared angrily, and the bright silver spear shot out like a dragon out of the sea, aiming straight at Zhou Huan's heart.

Zhou Huan hastily raised his knife to block, but was knocked back seven steps by the force of the shot, and his back hit the screen wall heavily.

"Crack!"

Half of the screen wall was knocked down, Zhou Huan vomited blood, but he raised the dart in his hand with a grim smile.

At the critical moment, Gongsun Yi suddenly swung out the scimitar from his waist, and the rotating blade accurately cut off Zhou Huan's wrist.

"Ah!" Zhou Huan screamed and fell to his knees.

Zhao Yu's silver spear was already against his throat.

"Capture this man!"

Seeing this, the other masked man suddenly took out a porcelain bottle from his arms and threw it hard on the ground.

With a loud bang, thick, pungent smoke instantly filled the entire yard.

"Be careful of the poisonous smoke!"

Jia Yu covered his shoulder and shouted.

When the smoke cleared, the masked man had disappeared, leaving only a few drops of fresh blood on the ground.

"Chase!"

Zhao Yu was about to lead his men out, but Jia Yu grabbed him and said, "Wait! Let's see who these people are first."

When Zhao Yu lifted the bronze mask of the second masked man, his hands suddenly froze.

In the moonlight, this face made all the Jinyiwei gasp.