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

In the bedroom, the candlelight cast everyone's shadows on the wall, twisting and shaking, just like their struggling hearts at the moment.

Li Bi's rhetorical question about "being buried alive" exploded like thunder in everyone's mind, completely tearing off the veil of self-deception.

The silence lasted for what seemed like a century.

The air was filled with the smell of blood, medicine, and a strong scent called "betrayal."

Finally, Li Bi broke the silence. His voice was weak with pain, but it carried a desperate determination. Every word he spoke struck everyone's heart clearly:

"Since all of you are unwilling to sit and wait for death, then we can no longer entrust our lives and property to that moody, vicious woman who treats us like dirt!"

He took a deep breath, endured the severe pain, and spoke out the crazy plan that had been lingering in his mind for a long time:

"The only solution now is to actively seek a way out! Place your chips outside the city! Cooperate with the Emperor of Chu!"

"Compared to that vicious woman, I prefer to trust the young Emperor of Chu!"

"cooperate?"

Wang Yu's pupils shrank. Although he had a premonition, he was still shocked when he heard it with his own ears.

"Not bad!"

Li Bi's eyes were sharp: "The King of Chu is at the gates of the city, and all he wants is to capture Chang'an without bloodshed!"

"What we seek is nothing more than to preserve our lives, and perhaps even to restore our family's wealth! If we can help him achieve his wish, it will be a remarkable achievement!"

"Taking this as a token of our surrender to the Great Chu, isn't it a hundred times better than waiting here to be tortured to death by Dugu Jia, or being killed by the chaotic army after the city is captured?"

He painted an attractive prospect: "If Chu Ning wants to stabilize the Han area, he will definitely need the assistance of old ministers like us who are familiar with government affairs and have a good reputation!"

"By then, not only will we be blameless, but we will have achieved great things! Wealth and glory will be within our grasp!"

This proposal is full of great temptation, but also comes with unimaginable risks.

The resolute atmosphere in the room that had just been instigated by Li Bi was instantly replaced by huge doubts.

Taicang Commander Zhao Ming was the first to raise the most realistic difficulty. His face turned pale and his voice trembled:

"Brother Li, this plan is good, but...how can it be easy?"

"Chang'an City is now under martial law, with all four gates tightly closed and guarded by the Queen Mother's trusted aides and elite imperial guards!"

"Especially the city gate keys and mechanisms, which are managed by different people in sections, keeping each other in check!"

"How...how can we open the city gate? Even if we want to bribe the gatekeepers, the risk is too great. If we are not careful, we will be doomed!"

He was in charge of food supplies and had some knowledge of the city's defense system, knowing how strict it was.

As soon as he finished speaking, an official in charge of documents and archives also said worriedly:

"Lord Zhao is absolutely right! Moreover, even if we are lucky enough to control a city gate, how can we guarantee that we won't be discovered by the other defenders while opening the gate?"

"Chang'an City is so large, and the defenders are scattered all over the place. Once the alarm is sounded, defenders will rush in from all directions. I'm afraid our limited manpower will be crushed to pieces in an instant!"

"By the time the city gates are not opened, we will be the first to be killed!"

Although Weiwei Zhang Tao had a hot temper and was eager to change, he calmed down at this moment and raised another fatal concern:

"And there are still troops! We don't have any troops under our direct control!"

"Although Zhang is the Imperial Guard, nominally in charge of some of the palace restrictions and city defenses, the Queen Mother has already handed over the most core military forces to her most trusted confidants!"

"If we want to succeed, we must secretly gather a group of brave men, but this action will definitely be very quiet! If the news leaks out, it will be discovered by the spies planted by Dugu Jia."

He made a gesture of wiping his neck, his eyes fierce yet powerless:

"Before the Chu army arrives, our heads will probably be hung on the city gate!"

"That vicious woman is like a frightened bird. She would rather kill the wrong person than let any suspicious person go! Brother Li, your experience today is a lesson for you!"

Wang Yu listened to everyone's concerns, frowned, and added:

"Furthermore, this matter must be carefully planned to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Our lives depend on this. If we fail, it will be a grave sin that will implicate our entire clan!"

"By then, not only will we be left without a burial place, but our parents, wives, children, clan members, and relatives will also be unable to escape!"

"This price is too high."

He looked at Li Bi and said in a heavy tone, "Brother Li, it's not that I'm timid, it's really... this matter is extremely difficult and dangerous. One wrong step will lead to a bottomless abyss!"

"Do we...really want to take such a gamble?"

For a moment, the bedroom was once again shrouded in heavy doubt and fear.

Everyone sees the huge gains that betrayal could bring, but they also see more clearly the bloody and unbearable price of failure.

Opening the city gate is easy to say, but under Dugu Jia's high-pressure rule and strict blockade, it is like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth, and the success rate is very low.

Li Bi lay on the bed, listening to everyone listing the difficulties one by one, and his face became even paler.

But the fire in his eyes did not go out, instead it burned even more fiercely because of everyone's doubts.

He knew that these difficulties were real, but it was precisely because of these difficulties that the rewards after success were so huge! Moreover, they had no way out!

He raised his head with difficulty, his eyes like a wounded lone wolf sweeping over every hesitant face, his voice hoarse but filled with an unquestionable fierceness:

"How could I not know the difficulties you all are talking about? But do you think we have any other choice?"

"If you just sit there and wait for death, you'll die sooner or later! Following Dugu Jia, after the city falls, Chu Ning might not massacre the entire city, given his style, but how many of us officials who resist to the end can survive?"

"Even if you survive by chance, you will be imprisoned and your future will be ruined!"

He took a breath and continued to whip everyone's nerves with words: "Yes! Opening the city gate is a risk, a gamble!"

"But at least, we can still control our own destiny! We can still fight for a better future!"

"Are you willing to be like fish on a chopping block, at the mercy of others?!"

"As for how to open the city gates, how to avoid being seen, and how to gather people."

A crazy glint flashed in Li Bi's eyes: "As long as we work together, we may be able to come up with a solution!"

"There's always a way out! The key lies in whether we have the courage to fight to the death!"

His words, like the final catalyst, added another chip to the wavering scale in everyone's hearts.

Should I take a huge risk to fight for a chance of survival, or continue to wait in fear for the seemingly inevitable death?

This conspiracy that took place next to Li Bi's bed that night would determine their ultimate fate and the fate of many people in the entire Chang'an City.