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

Dusk fell and the last ray of sunlight was swallowed by darkness.

The flickering candlelight in the tent illuminated a dense layer of sweat beads on Sun Simiao's wrinkled forehead.

The silver needles in his hand gleamed coldly in the firelight, and one after another accurately pierced Chu Ning's acupuncture points.

Every time a needle fell, it was accompanied by the old man's heavy breathing.

"Just three more stitches left!" Sun Simiao muttered to himself, his skinny fingers steady as a rock.

Chu Ning's face was still pale, but the pain between his brows seemed to have eased a little.

The tent was filled with the bitter smell of herbs, mixed with the scent of ambergris, creating a strange sense of oppression.

Outside the tent, all civil and military officials were still standing in silence waiting.

As the night deepened and the spring air became chilly, many elderly ministers had their lips turned blue from the cold, but no one dared to complain.

Empress Shen Wanying saw this and whispered to the maid beside her, "Go and distribute the prepared dry food to everyone."

Soon, a team of palace maids carrying food boxes shuttled among the ministers.

Under the light, the ministers took the simple bread and dried meat, gathered in groups of three or four and talked in low voices.

"Your Majesty has been unconscious for two hours!" The Minister of Rites broke the bread but had no intention of swallowing it.

"Dr. Sun is a superb doctor, he will surely be able to bring the patient back to health." Li Yan, Shaoqing of Dali Temple, comforted him, but he only took a bite of the dried meat in his hand before putting it down.

The Minister of Works looked up at the tents illuminated by torches, worried: "If His Majesty cannot wake up tonight, should we camp here?"

This question immediately resonated with several ministers around him.

The Minister of Personnel wiped the crumbs from his beard and said in a deep voice, "If His Majesty doesn't wake up, we need to set up camp as soon as possible. After all, there are so many female relatives. This matter needs to be decided as soon as possible."

Everyone's eyes turned to the Minister of Revenue Liu Shouren.

As the head of the Six Ministries, this veteran of two dynasties enjoyed high prestige among the officials.

Liu Shouren understood, straightened his clothes and walked towards the phoenix tent.

Shen Wanying was straightening Chu Tian's collar. When she saw Liu Shouren coming, she immediately straightened her posture.

Wu Zhao stood aside, staring at the old minister with a sharp gaze.

"This old minister pays homage to the two ladies."

Liu Shouren bowed and spoke in a hoarse but steady voice, "Your Majesty's condition is still unclear, and it's already late. Should we order the entire army to set up camp? Even if Your Majesty wakes up, he will need to rest."

Upon hearing this, Shen Wanying unconsciously clenched the silk handkerchief in her hand.

She turned to look at Wu Zhao, who nodded slightly, a hint of determination flashing in her phoenix eyes.

"What Liu Aiqing said is absolutely right."

Wu Zhao's voice was cold: "Pass the order down, the entire army will set up camp, Commander Zhao——"

Zhao Yu, the commander of the Imperial Guards, immediately stepped forward and clasped his fists: "I am here!"

"Strengthen the guards on His Majesty's tents, and the rest of the Imperial Guards shall immediately set up camp."

"The last general takes command!"

As the order was conveyed, the imperial guards who had been standing in silence immediately took action.

In the light of torches, the soldiers brought wooden stakes and ropes and skillfully set up tents.

The clash of iron and the sound of commands echoed one after another. Some people carried barricades to surround the camp, while others began digging simple trenches.

But in this way, the originally tight defense circle had to be dispersed, and the guarding force suddenly became much weaker.

During this period of redeployment, a sharp whistle suddenly pierced the night sky from the distant woods.

The sound was as shrill as a ghost crying, startling a flock of birds in the forest.

"The opportunity has come!"

The black-clothed leader's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he suddenly drew the long sword from his waist: "Brothers, follow me and kill!"

Countless dark shadows emerged from the forest like ghosts.

They walked with strange steps and quickly approached the funeral procession under the cover of night.

The assassin in the front flipped his wrist, a cold light flashed, and a servant who was carrying supplies was instantly beheaded.

The blood splattered on the white funeral banner, looking particularly glaring under the light of the torches.

"There are assassins!"

The shrill screams instantly set the entire camp off.

The royal family members and princes and ministers were in chaos, some of them ran away with their heads in their hands, and some stood there in a daze.

Elderly officials were knocked to the ground, their official hats rolling to the side. Young Hanlin scholars tried to draw their swords, but were pushed to and fro by the panicked crowd.

"Escort! Escort!"

"Where are the imperial guards?"

"What on earth is going on? Why would someone dare to assassinate Your Majesty?"

In the chaos, the black-clad assassin moved in unhindered.

They are well-trained, working in groups of three, and specifically targeting weakly defended areas.

An assassin swung his knife to cut the tent ropes, and the heavy tarpaulin fell down, crushing several guards underneath.

Another group of assassins went straight to the carriage where the weapons were stored and destroyed all the bows and crossbows that had not yet been distributed.

"Stop them!"

Zhao Yu roared and rushed forward, the long sword in his hand drew a silver arc, and directly split an assassin in half.

But more men in black came from all directions. They were obviously well prepared and launched attacks specifically targeting the weaknesses in the Imperial Guards' defenses.

Inside the tent, Sun Simiao's hand suddenly trembled. The cries of killing outside were clearly audible, and the silver needle trembled slightly on Chu Ning's acupuncture point.

"Not good!" The old doctor's face changed drastically: "Your Majesty's heart is frightened, and your qi and blood are disordered!"

Shen Wanying almost fainted upon hearing this. Wu Zhao held her up and shouted, "Zhao Yu! Defend the camp gate!"

Outside the tent, the battle has reached a fever pitch.

Although the imperial guards were brave, they responded hastily and their formation was broken up.

The black-clad assassins became more and more courageous as the battle went on. They were obviously all death warriors, and even if they were stabbed several times, they would drag another imperial guard with them to take the blame.

"Protect His Majesty!" A lieutenant of the imperial guards led seven or eight soldiers to form a circle and guard the entrance to the imperial tent tightly.

The black-clad leader sneered, pulled out a black ball from his arms, and threw it towards the crowd.

"boom!"

Amidst the deafening explosion, acrid white smoke instantly filled the air. The Imperial Guards coughed uncontrollably, tears streaming down their cheeks.

The men in black took the opportunity to cover their faces with scarves and pounced on the defenseless soldiers like hungry wolves.

"It's poisonous smoke! Hold your breath!" Zhao Yu shouted, but it was too late.

Three more imperial guards fell in a pool of blood, and a fatal gap appeared in the defense line.

The scene instantly fell into hellish chaos.

The wide sleeves of the officials' robes fluttered in the night wind like the wings of a startled bird. Many people were trampled to the ground and kept shouting.

Someone overturned the brazier, and the burning charcoal rolled under the mourning flag, and suddenly a tongue of fire as high as a person shot up.

The screams of the women came one after another. Several women hugged each other and trembled, their cries piercing the night sky.

The captain of the imperial guards shouted at the top of his lungs to form a battle line, but was scattered by the officials who were fleeing in all directions.

Someone shouted "Protect the emperor!" and immediately more than a dozen figures rushed towards the imperial tent at the same time, and ended up colliding in front of the tent.

The hair crowns on the heads of many officials were pushed to the ground and were quickly trampled into mud by the hurried footsteps.

This shocking scene made Shen Wanying shudder: "Quick...quickly, order the imperial guards to come and protect His Majesty!"

She knew that the other party's real target was actually Chu Ning!