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

Wu Zhao's instructions made Chu Ning's back pause slightly, and then he strode away and disappeared into the dark night.

The muffled sound of the palace door closing echoed in the empty hall. Wu Zhao sat back on the dragon throne dejectedly. She knew that after this Lantern Festival, Luocheng would never be the same Luocheng again.

Outside the city, light snow began to fall without anyone noticing.

White snowflakes fell on the blood-stained streets, quickly dyeing them a light pink.

More and more torches gathered around the residences of the eight great families, like fire dragons, encircling the entire Luo City.

Inside the Xie Mansion, Xie Qing looked at his father Xie An with a pale face: "Father, what should we do? The Imperial Guards have surrounded the mansion!"

Xie An was surprisingly calm. He slowly straightened his clothes and said, "Why are you panicking? The eight great families are all of the same blood. That woman Wu Zhao wouldn't dare to do anything to us."

"Go and bring out the red seal and iron certificate bestowed upon our Xie family by the late emperor."

Meanwhile, Zheng Huan, the head of the Zheng family, was pacing anxiously in his secret room. "Why haven't the Han reinforcements arrived yet? Didn't they agree to meet us in the south of the city at midnight?"

The housekeeper reported with sweat on his forehead: "Master, the south of the city has been blocked by Li Junxian's personal soldiers. Our people can't get out at all!"

"Useless!" Zheng Huan kicked over the table and said, "Tell the assassins to prepare to break out!"

The situation at the Wang family was even more chaotic. The young and energetic Wang Bing, the young master of the Wang family, had already summoned his own soldiers and was ready to engage the imperial guards head-on.

"My Wang family, a century-old prestigious family, cannot sit still and wait for death! My men, follow me and fight!"

On the highest observatory in the palace, Chu Ning stood with his hands behind his back, overlooking the fires that were gradually burning in various parts of the city.

Beside him, Li Junxian was whispering about the deployment situation in various places.

"The Xie family produced a red seal and iron certificate, claiming they have the privilege of being exempt from death!"

"The Cui family sent people to try to escape through the secret passage!"

"The Wang family is gathering private troops to prepare for a rebellion!"

After hearing this, Chu Ning just coldly spat out one word: "Kill."

Li Junxian hesitated and said, "But the Xie family's red seal and iron certificate..."

"Forging an imperial gift is a serious crime."

Chu Ning's voice was colder than falling snowflakes: "Remember, after tonight, I don't want to hear the name of the Eight Great Families again."

Li Junxian took the order solemnly and left.

Chu Ning stood alone on the platform, letting the snowflakes fall on his shoulders.

His gaze turned to the distance, where the first burst of fire had already torn through the silence of the night.

"It's begun." He whispered to himself, with an almost cruel smile on his lips.

Originally, his plan was that if the eight major families of the Zhou Dynasty were willing to surrender, he could give them enough benefits.

But the other party was obviously unwilling, or was bewitched by Chen Pin of the Han Dynasty, and actually chose to collude with the other party.

In that case, don't blame him for being ruthless!

The night was as dark as ink, but the torches around Xie's mansion lit up as bright as day.

Xie An stood in the middle of the courtyard, looking at the increasing number of imperial guards outside the mansion wall. Each black shadow was like a sharp sword, pointing directly at the Xie family's century-old foundation.

"Father, two more teams of imperial guards have arrived from the east!"

Xie Qing hurried over, beads of sweat oozing from his forehead: "They are already setting up the crossbows!"

Xie An dug his fingers deep into his palms, his knuckles turning white.

He looked up at the night sky. Three red signal arrows were already on the strings, but they had not been fired yet.

The old butler stumbled over from the backyard and said, "Master, this is bad! The commander of the imperial guards said that our Xie family's red seal and iron certificate are fakes and must be...burned on the spot!"

"What?" Xie Qing's face turned pale instantly: "That was given by the late emperor himself!"

Xie An suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter was filled with sadness: "What a Wu Zhao, what a Chu Ning! They are determined to wipe out my entire Xie family!"

He turned around suddenly, his eyes bloodshot, like a beast cornered.

"Qing'er," Xie An's voice suddenly became terrifyingly calm, "Send the signal arrow."

Xie Qing was stunned at first, but then his eyes lit up with joy: "Father is wise! I'll go right away!"

He almost ran to the signal tower in the yard and lit three specially made red rockets with his own hands.

"Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-"

Three signal arrows, trailing scarlet flames, shot up into the sky, exploding into three dazzling blood-red fireworks in the night sky.

The light was so dazzling that it even illuminated most of Los Angeles.

Xie An looked up at the brilliant yet deadly light and muttered to himself, "The century-old Xie family will either rise to prominence tonight, or... be reduced to ashes."

The moment the signal arrow was launched into the air, the entire family area seemed to be injected with life.

Inside the Xiao Mansion, Xiao Hongde was pacing anxiously in the study, the teacup in his hand had already gone cold.

Suddenly, a blinding red light lit up outside the window, illuminating the study room as if it were stained with blood.

"Master! The Xie family's signal!"

The butler practically burst through the door, his voice trembling with excitement: "Three red ones, that's the signal for a full-scale uprising!"

The teacup in Xiao Hongde's hand shattered to the ground with a "crack". He was silent for three breaths, which seemed to last a century.

Finally, he slammed the table and stood up: "Shoot! Notify the assassins in each department to act according to the third plan! Tell the brothers in the silk and satin shop in the south of the city and the rice shop in the north of the city, it's time to see blood!"

The Xiao family's signal arrow immediately rose into the sky, followed by the Cui family, the Wang family... Seven signal arrows of different colors bloomed one after another, dyeing the night sky colorful.

Beneath this gorgeous scene lies the most deadly murderous intent.

Inside the Zheng Mansion, Zheng Huan stood in the attic, looking at the sky full of signals, a sinister smile curling his lips: "Finally, I've waited for this day."

"Come here! Tell the three hundred warriors in the cellar to entertain the Imperial Guard!"

He turned and took down an ornately decorated sword from the wall. The gems inlaid on the scabbard gleamed eerily in the light of the signal arrow.

"My Cui family secretly hides eighty private soldiers? Oh, that foolish woman Wu Zhao, she has no idea of the true strength of our eight great families!"

All over the city, the doors of seemingly peaceful shops and houses suddenly opened wide.

The shopkeeper of Chen's Silk Shop in the south of the city tore off his coarse cloth, revealing the fine leather armor underneath, and pulled out a gleaming sword from under the counter.

"Children of the Cui family, follow me and kill them!"

At the same time, in an inconspicuous rice shop in the north of the city, a dozen "workers" opened the rice jar and took out the crossbows that had been hidden underneath.

The chefs at Xishi Restaurant threw away their kitchen knives and replaced them with standard military knives.

Even in the teahouse next to the government office, more than twenty assassins from aristocratic families disguised as tea drinkers suddenly attacked at the same time.

Los Angeles was boiling in an instant.

Looking down from the sky, countless black shadows emerged from every corner of the city like a colony of ants, quickly converging into eight torrents and advancing towards the imperial city.

Shouts, clashes of weapons, and screams rang out one after another, and the originally peaceful Lantern Festival turned into a Shura field.