Traveling through the emperor, overthrowing the empress dowager at the beginning

After Shen Qiu came in front of Kou Qing, he took out the imperial guards badge.

Seeing this, Kou Qing's face darkened slightly, but he jumped off his horse, then clasped his fists towards Shen Qiu and said, "I didn't expect that the Imperial Guards were here to do something. However, with the refugees entering the city today, it is my duty to maintain public order. I hope you will not interfere."

"The emperor has issued an oral decree: all the people causing trouble here will be taken to the Ministry of Justice's prison!"

Shen Qiu's tone was cold and completely inhuman.

"Since this is the emperor's order, I will not care about these refugees. However, regarding my adjutant, Mi Cheng, the Imperial Guards have no right to detain him. I hope you will hand him over."

Kou Qing's face looked a little ugly, but his tone remained polite.

"Mi Cheng's disobedience to the emperor's will is already a crime of treason!"

Shen Qiu scolded angrily.

Hearing this, Kou Qing snorted coldly, his expression suddenly becoming stern. He said, "Mi Cheng was only following orders from his superiors, fulfilling his duties. Moreover, Mi Cheng is a sixth-rank military officer. How can you detain him at will? Release him immediately."

After Kou Qing finished speaking, his hand had already grasped the hilt of the sword at his waist. There were a thousand armored soldiers standing behind him, which was obviously more than the number of the imperial guards on the scene. This gave him the confidence to take action. He used Mi Cheng's incident as an excuse. When a real fight broke out, he would not let those suffering people live.

"Is it the order from Shangguan?"

Kou Qing was shocked and looked to the side in surprise, only to see Ye Chen, dressed in a thick robe, walking towards him.

"You, who are you?"

Kou Qing frowned slightly. As a Jinwu Guard in charge of the city defense troops, he had always stayed outside the palace and had never entered the palace. Naturally, he had never seen Ye Chen.

"Commander of the Imperial Guards."

Ye Chen looked at Kou Qing with a sharp gaze and said.

"Humph!"

Kou Qing snorted coldly, but frowned slightly. Although Ye Chen claimed that he was only the commander of the imperial guards, he felt a strong pressure invisibly.

"You are just the commander of the Imperial Guards. What qualifications do you have to question me?"

Kou Qing didn't look at Ye Chen, and said in a low voice.

"I am following the orders of the Emperor and acting on his behalf!"

Ye Chen's voice was like thunder, loud like a bell, and like a tidal wave rolling away.

"Answer me, who is the Shangguan you are talking about?!"

Kou Qing was shocked and couldn't help but take a step back, then cursed in his heart.

After his retreat, his momentum weakened a lot.

"The City Defense Military Department obeys the orders of the Secretariat!"

Kou Qing calmed himself down and said.

"Can the orders of the Secretariat be compared to the orders of the Emperor? Mi Cheng can disobey the imperial edict just because of the orders of the Secretariat? Is that what you mean?"

Ye Chen walked towards Kou Qing step by step.

Kou Qing's face tightened.

"I, I, I didn't say that."

"Snapped!"

Kou Qing staggered and almost fell to the ground. He then covered his swollen face with his hands. He was surprised and angry. His eyes turned red in an instant and he glared at Lin Ziyun.

"You, you dare to hit me?"

"I am acting on behalf of the Emperor. Mi Cheng is a traitor for defying the Imperial Order. You are shielding a traitor and are citing the Zhongshu Province's decree as your justification. Are you trying to imply that the officials in the Zhongshu Province also want to be traitors?"

"Is it not possible for me to hit you for saying something like that?"

Ye Chen's questioning instantly made Kou Qing's face turn pale.

"You, don't spit bloody words at me! How could the officials in the Secretariat rebel?"

Kou Qing didn't care about the injuries on his face and quickly explained.

"The officials from the Secretariat didn't rebel, so you're going to protect Mi Cheng? Are you going to be a rebel like Mi Cheng?"

"I-I didn't!"

Kou Qing was a little panicked. The burning pain on his face made him feel humiliated. He felt great resentment towards Ye Chen, but he was even more afraid of being accused of rebelling by Ye Chen.

"Oh, even if you didn't, Mi Cheng is still your subordinate. You have to take responsibility for what he did!"

"Come here, drag him away and give him sixty strokes of the cane!"

Ye Chen waved his hand and said.

Several imperial guards immediately stepped forward and tried to drag Kou Qing away.

"Let's see who dares!"

Kou Qing was furious and couldn't help but draw his sword, but he soon met Ye Chen's teasing eyes.

In an instant, Kou Qing felt as if a basin of cold water was poured over his head. He immediately became much more sober and loosened his hand that was holding the knife handle.

He did not resist until the imperial guards came forward and arrested him.

Behind him, the one thousand soldiers from the city defense army looked at each other. When they saw Kou Qing being stripped of his armor and beaten with a stick in public, these soldiers all showed expressions of horror.

And looking at Kou Qing who was gritting his teeth and enduring the beating without saying a word.

Ye Chen felt a little disappointed.

It would be great if Kou Qing was willing to resist, which would directly prove that he wanted to rebel.

Then Ye Chen can take down Kou Qing immediately.

Even though there were many people in the City Defense Army, few of them dared to be charged with rebellion, not to mention that there must be some powerful descendants of Dayu in the City Defense Army, so it was impossible for them to be completely in cahoots with Kou Qing.

In addition, with Chu Ji, who can use steel needles as hidden weapons, next to him, Ye Chen is confident that he can capture Kou Qing.

But unfortunately, Kou Qing was obviously not a simple person and chose to retreat at the most critical moment.

"This Kou Qing's surname is Kou. He might be related to Mr. Kou from Lu Merchants. It's a pity that he can't be arrested."

Ye Chen shook his head and turned to Shen Qiu.

"Qiu'er, clear the surrounding streets and seal off all the inns and storefronts. Bring the imperial guards with you and follow me to the Lu Shang inn and Chamber of Commerce. I want to see with my own eyes what kind of dangerous place that is."

Ye Chen strode towards the inn and the Chamber of Commerce.

Shen Qiu quickly led his men to follow him.

When Ye Chen arrived at the courtyard of the inn, the imperial guards had already rushed in and conducted a carpet search.

Ye Chen stood in the courtyard, watching the imperial guards and Chu Ji, Liu Zhong and other martial arts people coming in and out of the inn. He stood with his hands behind his back and waited for a while before an imperial guard came forward to report.

"Your Majesty, we discovered a tunnel! Both this Chamber of Commerce and the inn have tunnels!"

"Go down and see!"

Ye Chen waved his hand, but he was not surprised. He had vaguely guessed it before. After all, the scale of this inn could not accommodate so many recruited workers.

"Yes!"

A large number of imperial guards poured into the inn and the Chamber of Commerce and rushed into the two tunnels.

quickly.

Then another imperial guard came up to report.

"Your Majesty, there is a vast space beneath the tunnel, filled with numerous cells. It's also connected to the moat, where many water dungeons have been constructed. It's estimated that thousands of people can be held there."

After communicating with the imperial guards, Shen Qiu immediately came to Ye Chen to report.

"Qiu'er, come with me and take a look."

Ye Chen's face darkened slightly, and he immediately walked towards the inn, wanting to see the underground layout with his own eyes.