Confiscating property? A stunningly beautiful substitute bride empties the national treasury and is

The Empress Dowager forcefully shoved Lu Jingchuan aside, pulled a dagger from her sleeve, and held it to her neck, threatening him:

"Your Majesty, you must either save Lin'er immediately, or I will die before your eyes. I have already wronged the Consort, I cannot wrong Lin'er as well..."

"Mother, what are you doing? Aren't you just making things worse?"

Lu Jingchuan pursed his thin lips and gritted his teeth, saying, "Not only are you not helping him, you're also harming him. How can you be so foolish? Listen to me and go back now."

"Lu Jingchuan, have you been on the throne for too long and forgotten your roots? Without the Imperial Concubine, you wouldn't be where you are today!"

The Empress Dowager flew into a rage.

Lu Jin'an tried to take the dagger from her hand, but the Empress Dowager refused, looking at the two brothers as if they were two enemies.

Lu Jin'an interjected, "Mother, please put the dagger down first. We will definitely save Lin'er. Please don't hurt yourself by accident."

Emperor Zhao was very pleased to see the scene of arguing below the city. The Dowager Empress had arrived; her presence made things much easier.

He then stood on the city wall and threatened, "Lu Jingchuan, you'd better not try anything funny, or I can't guarantee when this rope will break."

Lu Jingchuan said, "Emperor Zhao, if you release Lin'er, everything is negotiable. Please feel free to make any requests you may have."

"I order you to withdraw the army from the capital immediately! A few of you may remain!"

"Alright, put Lin'er down first!"

Emperor Zhao shouted, "Withdraw your troops first!"

Lu Jingchuan turned around and whispered a few words to Bei Chu, after which Bei Chu led all the soldiers away.

"Brother, if anything unexpected happens later, you will be responsible for protecting Mother. I will go to rescue Lin'er."

Lu Jingchuan leaned closer to Lu Jin'an and whispered, his eyes calculating the distance between Lin'er and the ground.

Lu Jin'an nodded and instructed, "Then you must be extra careful."

"Ok!"

Emperor Zhao was relieved only after seeing that the army from Nanyuan had all left and there was no trace of them left. He then smiled slyly and gave the order:

"Release the arrows! Whoever kills Lu Jingchuan will be richly rewarded by me!"

In a flash, a barrage of arrows was unleashed. As Lu Jingchuan dodged, he swiftly threw two hidden weapons at the rope, which snapped instantly, and Lin'er plummeted downwards.

"don't want…"

The Empress Dowager cried out in alarm and tried to rush forward to save Lin'er, but Lu Jin'an held her tightly. In an instant, an arrow pierced straight into his back.

"Auntie, be careful!"

Seeing another arrow flying towards the Empress Dowager, Hu Huairou didn't have time to think and immediately blocked it. In an instant, the arrow pierced her shoulder, and Hu Huairou fell into the Empress Dowager's arms.

Just then, Wu Yanshu led his army to surround the palace from both sides. The soldiers quickly formed a sturdy shield wall, protecting the Empress Dowager, Lu Jin'an, and others inside.

At the same time, thousands of arrows retaliated against the city wall, intersecting with the arrows aimed at Lu Jingchuan.

"Escort!"

Wu Yanshu and several soldiers charged directly at Lu Jingchuan with their shields.

Lu Jingchuan rushed over and hugged Lin'er tightly before he even landed.

With a whoosh, several arrows pierced Lu Jingchuan's back in an instant, and he rolled towards the city wall with Lin'er in his arms.

A dense hail of arrows shot toward him, but Lu Jingchuan seemed not to hear them, tightly protecting Lin'er beneath him.

"Third Uncle..."

Lin'er trembled and sobbed in his arms. He never expected that his third uncle would risk his life to save him. He had been wrong before, terribly wrong...

Despite his own pain, Lu Jingchuan used his last bit of strength to whisper a comforting message: "Don't be afraid, everything will be alright."

"Third Brother!"

When Wu Yanshu saw that Lu Jingchuan was about to be riddled with arrows, his heart almost stopped beating. Just then, an arrow shot straight toward his head, and Wu Yanshu hurriedly blocked it with his shield.

"Protect the Emperor!"

The soldiers blocked the arrows, and Wu Yanshu hurriedly pulled the baby out of his arms and handed it to a soldier next to him. He then helped Lu Jingchuan back.

When Lu Jingchuan saw Wu Yanshu arrive, he breathed a sigh of relief and then collapsed from exhaustion.

"Quick... don't let Lu Jingchuan get away, shoot him!"

Emperor Zhao shouted loudly, and instantly an arrow shot towards him. He hurriedly pulled the soldiers beside him to shield him.

An arrow pierced the soldier's throat, killing him instantly. General Tu quickly protected Emperor Zhao and prepared to descend the city wall.

Just then, the lieutenant rushed in to report: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Nan Yuan army, which just left, has broken through the north gate. If we don't send reinforcements soon, the gate will fall..."

"what?"

Emperor Zhao gritted his teeth in anger and slapped his thigh repeatedly. General Tu hurriedly reminded him, "Your Majesty, the overall situation is more important. Lu Jingchuan's fate is unknown, and reinforcements have arrived. It is not advisable to get too entangled with them. However, if the palace gates fall, we will surely die without a burial place."

"Yeah!"

Emperor Zhao hurriedly nodded and ordered, "Leave three hundred soldiers here to guard the palace. The rest of you go to the north of the palace to provide support. Under no circumstances should the Nan Yuan army be allowed to break in!"

The Empress Dowager was still worried about Hu Huairou when she saw the Emperor, who was unconscious and covered in arrows, and she collapsed instantly.

"Chuan'er..."

"Lin'er..."

"Grandma!"

The Empress Dowager dared not touch Lu Jingchuan, but instead bypassed him and pulled Lin'er into her arms, scolding him:

"You unfilial son, why did you have to run away when you had a perfectly good life? You almost lost your life..."

"Let's go back to camp first."

Seeing that the two were about to ramble on, Wu Yanshu quickly reminded them.

Lu Jin'an stepped forward to help, but Wu Yanshu pushed him away.

"Brother, you're injured. Let someone else handle this."

Then, the group lifted Lu Jingchuan and rushed towards the tent. The imperial physician had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Lu Jingchuan being carried in, he quickly dismissed everyone and left only Wu Yanshu to help.

puff!

Lin'er couldn't hold on any longer and suddenly vomited blood and fainted.

"Imperial Physician! Quickly, find the Imperial Physician!"

The Empress Dowager said anxiously, but the only head of the imperial physicians was currently in Lu Jingchuan's tent, and the two remaining physicians, after examining Lin'er's illness, were at a loss.

The other one went directly to Lu Jin'an's tent to bandage Lu Jin'an's arrow wound.

The Empress Dowager paced anxiously on the ground, wondering what to do. Seeing that the last remaining physician, Liu, was about to leave, the Empress Dowager grabbed him and ordered:

"You can't leave. You have to stay and watch over him. We can use any means necessary. I just want him to wake up."

Physician Liu knelt down with a thud and pleaded, "Your Majesty, it's not that I don't want to help, but my medical skills are simply too shallow to cure the young master's illness. If it were my master, perhaps he could give it a try!"

The Empress Dowager's face instantly fell, and she slumped into a chair. Imperial Physician Wei was in the Emperor's tent, and the Emperor's fate remained uncertain…

Looking at the pale-faced, unconscious Lin'er, the Empress Dowager gritted her teeth and whispered the order:

"You stay here and watch over the young master. I'm going to find Physician Wei."

"Can…"

Before Physician Liu could speak, the Empress Dowager had already left. He sighed helplessly. Had the Empress Dowager become confused? How could this young master compare to the Emperor?