The cousin is beautiful but ruthless.

The road they had to travel was so long that they ran into a group of people with knives shortly after they left.

Shen Hanyu dodged around and picked up a long sword from the ground. It wasn't the kind used by foreign tribes, but rather the kind commonly used by soldiers of the Dayong Dynasty. These people were not foreigners.

"Girl, over here!"

Miao Cui called out, and Shen Hanyu went over there.

There was some blood on the short sword, and Shen Hanyu wondered where the thieves here came from.

Pei Du said there was unusual activity in the northwest. Could it be the large camp in the western suburbs of Beijing?

Shen Hanyu rubbed her temples; she still hadn't received enough information.

She looked up and saw the Wei family's carriage lying on the ground, with the wooden plaque engraved with the character "Wei" not far away.

"Why are the Wei family's carriages here?"

Shen Hanyu picked up the wooden sign. There was no one in the carriage, only some bloodstains.

She didn't know the situation with the Wei family yet, but given Wei Zhengting's personality, he would definitely send Yang Yueying and Wei Ming away.

The carriage was here, but the person was nowhere to be found. Shen Hanyu couldn't find them for a while, so she could only continue walking forward.

Li Jing changed his clothes and left the house at a leisurely pace.

"Have the arrangements been made at the city gate?"

"Everything is arranged, Your Highness. There's some activity at the palace."

Li Jing smiled and said, "Father must be very angry right now. Let's go see him. It'll be the last time we see him."

After years of feigning virtue, Li Jing never imagined that the truth would be revealed in this way.

On the day he received the imperial edict, Li Jing felt both anger and a sense of relief.

Over the years, he had always remembered what happened in Lizhou. As long as Li Sheng was alive, Li Jing would never be at ease.

Now that this has been discovered, Li Jing no longer needs to pretend.

Where is Zhao Jiahe?

"After you brought your box here, we disposed of it."

That's enough, Li Jing doesn't need this kind of person dragging him down right now.

"Let's go to the palace."

Li Jing wouldn't personally make the trip to the city gate; he was going to the palace to see how his father, the emperor, would look at him now.

Everyone in the house went out, but Shen Hanyu went in the opposite direction. She arrived at the city gate much slower than she had expected, and some of Pei Du's men who stayed behind also suffered losses.

As Shen Hanyu walked toward the city gate, she saw many city defense officers lying dead there.

They crouched down in the corner, watching the situation on the other side of the city gate.

There were several people patrolling outside, dressed in black and wearing armor, but their style was somewhat different from that of the soldiers of Dayong.

"This armor looks a bit strange."

Shen Hanyu whispered, "Is it to make it easier to tell?"

She didn't know when Pei Du would be able to return, but there were quite a few people at the city gate.

"There are more than we expected. I'm a little concerned about that person on the city wall."

Jin Chui trotted over, and they hid in the shadows to extinguish their torches so that the people on the city wall wouldn't see them.

Jin Chui thought that the person standing on the city wall must be the one giving orders. Li Jing must have some special abilities to have placed him here.

Shen Hanyu thought for a moment. A direct attack wouldn't work; she had no experience in troop deployment and would only cause these people to be lost here for no reason.

“Tell them to step back and hide in a corner; it’s too high there and they’ll easily spot us.”

As soon as Shen Hanyu finished speaking, a group of people ran over from a distance. Judging from their clothes, they were all ordinary people from Chang'an.

"Let us out! Let us out!"

They woke up in the middle of the night to find out what had happened, and their first reaction was to flee the city for their lives.

As soon as they arrived at the city gate, the men surrounded them and killed the man who was running in the lead.

"No one is allowed to enter or leave the city now. Get back!"

They held knives, ready to kill anyone who came within a step.

It was only then that the common people noticed that the armor these people were wearing was different.

This group of people were traitors who broke into Chang'an.

"Go back now, and we might spare your lives after this is over. If you don't leave, you'll stay here."

Startled by these people, the people cried and ran away.

The rebels didn't have time to deal with all the people; they still had to go to the palace.

The men on the city wall watched the people leave.

"Do not act before Your Highness gives the signal. We must guard this place well. If we call in the nearby garrison, it will affect Your Highness's plans."

Several people agreed.

"Lord Zhang, that Pei Du is on his way here."

Zhang Jue frowned, recalling the fireworks from earlier; it was most likely a signal to Pei Du.

"Have someone intercept and kill him outside the city; don't let him in."

If Pei Du were to return, that would be the biggest change, which is why they were able to suppress Wei Zhengting.

The place with the largest number of troops now is the palace, where they are stationed to cut off any further reinforcements.

It would be best if Pei Du could die outside, as he was someone Li Jing had entrusted to him.

Shen Hanyu couldn't hear what they were saying. She and Jin Chui discussed it for a moment, thinking about where to start.

"It will take at least an hour and a half to get back to the city gate from there. If something unexpected happens on the way, it will take even longer. During this time, we need to do something to distract them."

Shen Hanyu beckoned to Jin Chui, who was quick-witted and knew this was the task to be done.

"Take a group of men and head towards the palace. It would be best to cause some commotion there to reduce the number of people at the city gate."

We're still quite far behind; it's difficult to break through head-on.

Pei Du left these people behind only to protect her; he probably didn't expect Shen Hanyu to escape and intend to open the city gates.

In addition, Shen Hanyu also considered other issues. There should still be people at the city gate. Once the city gate is opened, they will definitely rush here in a frenzy after receiving the news.

Shen Hanyu knew how many people she had under her command, so she had to do this quickly and without causing chaos in the city.

"Go ahead."

Shen Hanyu believed that Jin Chui could accomplish the task, and Jin Chui nodded, leading a team away.

Shen Hanyu looked up and glanced at the figure. She couldn't make out who was on the city wall, but the figure seemed familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.

"Miao Cui, look at that person, haven't you seen him before?"

Shen Hanyu pressed her fingers to her forehead, thinking about those who were on good terms with Li Jing.

Miao Cui was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "He looks a lot like Minister Qin's student. I saw him during the spring hunt."

When the spring hunt was mentioned, many faces flashed through Shen Hanyu's mind. Qin Shoujie had a student named Zhang Jue. For some reason, the two had a very strained relationship. During the spring hunt, Zhang Jue wanted to apologize to Qin Shoujie, but Qin Shoujie ignored him.

Shen Hanyu only met Zhang Jue briefly and did not have a deep impression of him.

"It turned out to be him."

Zhang Jue has defected to Li Jing and is now guarding this side of the city gate. Shen Hanyu lowered her head, feeling a little regretful that she didn't understand Zhang Jue's character.

Jin Chui left the city gate. The streets were quiet, which meant he was heading towards the imperial city.

He held a torch; he couldn't let this place remain quiet any longer.

The flames began to burn intensely.