Chapter 1 All Alert

Everyone in the hall became vigilant, their expressions serious, their gazes sharp.

Without the Emperor's order or permission, a large number of troops approaching the Emperor's palace in the dead of night was abnormal under any circumstances.

"Lights out!" Zhang Yuanqing commanded his teammates, then gave Hongjige a look: "Prepare your defensive magical artifacts and come out to take a look."

Palace Master Xiaoyuan and the others quickly blew out the candles in the bedroom and outer hall, plunging the hall into darkness.

Hongjige's expression was solemn. Without Zhang Yuanqing's reminder, he had already taken out a set of rattan armor and put it on. He quickly walked through the outer hall and stopped outside the tall lattice door.

He then took out a stone tablet and held it in his left hand. Instantly, his shoulders sank slightly, as if a mountain was pressing down on him. He laboriously raised his right hand and pushed open the lattice door.

Looking out, he saw a troop of imperial guards, each holding a torch, running along the lake towards the plaza outside the palace. Leading them were Zheng Wenhan, with a long sword at his waist, and a thin, middle-aged general.

Hongjige stood behind the threshold and shouted sternly, "Stop! This is His Majesty's palace. How dare you bring weapons and intrude? Are you planning to rebel?" As soon as he finished speaking, the senior general drew an arrow, nocked it, and shot it forcefully.

"Boom!"

The arrow, filled with abundant sword energy, rubbed against the air and produced a shrill whistle. In the darkness, a yellow light bulged, forming a spherical shield.

Hongjige ignored the shattering stone tablet, quickly closed the door, and ducked back into the palace like he was avoiding bullets.

"Damn it, the Zheng family is rebelling!" Hongjige said through gritted teeth, pressing his bleeding shoulder. "There are experts among the enemies, sword masters at the peak of the Saint realm."

"A level 6 Earth-type monster's defensive item. Among the Lawful professions, only a sword master's sword energy can draw blood with a single arrow. If it's just one level 6 sword master, then it's still manageable."

Xiaoyuan glanced at the sturdy Concubine Wan. This one was a level 6 Plague God.

At this moment, the chaotic footsteps grew closer. Zhang Yuanqing said urgently, "It's not that simple. There's no reason for the Zheng family to assassinate tonight. No, this is no longer an assassination. This is a rebellion. It means the Zheng family has already found out the real cause of Zheng Longtu's death. The act has failed!"

"Maybe it hasn't failed. There's no use talking about this now. Set up the traps and prepare to welcome the enemy. I'll buy some time. If it's a rebellion, they can't possibly bring only one level 6 Saint."

Hongjige, Palace Master Xiaoyuan, the Queen, and Xie Lingxi tacitly opened their item bars and took out humanoid puppets, repeating crossbows, thousand-needle tubes, armor-piercing beast spore launchers, and other mechanical weapons, methodically setting them up.

Since obtaining the art of mechanical engineering, the members of the Returned have become accustomed to carrying a set of mechanical weapons, ranging from the Extraordinary to the Saint level. There are even more in the gang's warehouse.

Mechanical weapons can be used to set traps, as well as serve as cannon fodder to scout the way. They are versatile and have multiple uses.

Xiaoyuan took out two black clay pots. From one pot flew out hideous black beetles that attached themselves to the doors and windows. From the other pot crawled out brightly colored poisonous snakes, wriggling towards the thresholds and windows. Some climbed up the pillars and hung from the roof beams.

Jiang Jingwei was not a member of the Returned, and having nothing to do, thought about ambushing behind the door, but Zhang Yuanqing pulled her back. "Looking to die? Don't get close to the door!"

He pulled Jiang Jingwei behind him, summoned the Yin-Yang magic robe and the red dancing shoes, put them on, and while his teammates were setting up the traps, he walked out of the outer hall and loudly questioned, "Chancellor Zheng, Uncle, I have treated your Zheng family well. Why are you rebelling? How can you face my deceased mother?"

As soon as he finished speaking, an arrow filled with sword energy pierced through the lattice door and shot towards the sound. The red dancing shoes lit up with a faint light, causing him to turn gracefully, avoiding the arrow.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately shouted loudly, "Shooting cold arrows, who is it? A cowardly rat?"

The arrow pierced again, and the red dancing shoes easily avoided it again.

Although it was a rule-based item at the Extraordinary stage, dodging this kind of ranged attack was not difficult at all. If a level 6 sword master were to attack at close range, the red dancing shoes might not be able to dodge.

"I'm standing right here. If you have the ability, shoot a few more arrows!" Zhang Yuanqing shouted.

After two unsuccessful arrows, the sword master outside the hall stopped, unable to figure out the situation inside the hall.

Zheng Wenhan no longer remained silent and responded loudly, "His Majesty has been kidnapped by assassins in the palace. I have led troops to surround the summer palace. Today, all the gates of the imperial palace have been sealed off by me. No one is allowed to enter or leave. Surrender obediently, release His Majesty, and you may be left with a whole corpse. Otherwise, I will burn down the summer palace. You will have no reinforcements."

Not all the imperial guards of the Imperial City Division were from the Zheng family, otherwise there would have been no need to seal the city gates.

Zhang Yuanqing instinctively analyzed the information based on the other party's words, while shouting loudly: "Chancellor Zheng, stop pretending. Now that you have found out the cause of Zheng Longtu's death, let's talk openly. Both Zheng Longtu and Wan Meiren have confessed the Zheng family's ambition to usurp the throne."

"Although I don't like reading, I also know that the victor is always right and the loser is always wrong. Even if I die today, I want to die knowing why. How did you find out the cause of Zheng Longtu's death?"

He had actually already guessed, but he still had to buy as much time as possible for his teammates to set up the traps. Outside, there was a moment of silence, then Zheng Longtu's voice came: "You know my ambition, so you should understand that if the assassin's target at that time was you, he would never have risked his life to save you."

"Just based on that?"

Chancellor Zheng's tone suddenly became stern: "I have asked the National Preceptor's disciple to summon the spirit. You foolish ruler, you killed my son and doomed him to eternal torment. Today, I will eliminate this scourge for the people of the world."

As he said this, the lattice door of the palace was suddenly smashed open. Taking advantage of the conversation, a group of imperial guards quietly approached the palace and launched an attack.

Bang, bang, bang. The crossbows facing the hall immediately fired, first hitting several armored soldiers in the front row. The armored soldiers behind used their comrades as shields to withstand a wave of arrows and swarmed into the hall.

Of course, they stepped on the animal traps laid not far from the threshold. Screams rang out, and they were immediately shot to death with crossbow bolts by the people hiding in the darkness.

More imperial guards swarmed in, not deterred by the mechanical weapons. They were all well-trained elites, and dared to charge into cities, let alone the Emperor's palace.

Screams continued to ring out. The imperial guards who rushed into the palace were either killed by the mechanical weapons or bitten and poisoned to death by the Gu worms and poisonous snakes.

In just three to five minutes, the first wave of imperial guards were all dead in the hall, and the palace door was wide open.

From the threshold to the inside of the hall, it was covered with corpses. The inside of the palace was pitch black, as if there were fierce beasts hidden in the darkness, waiting to devour people.

Zheng Wenhan said in a deep voice: "Fire attack!"

The imperial guards drew out their arrows, wrapped them in cloth, poured oil on them, lit them with torches, and drew their bows towards the palace.

In an instant, a rain of fire enveloped the summer palace, igniting the doors, windows, and roof.

In the dry autumn and winter season, the fire quickly rose, burning fiercely. At this moment, fifty meters from the summer palace, in the artificial lake,

"Boom!" Two water dragons shot up into the sky, dancing wildly, and rushed towards the fiery summer palace.

The Plague God among the imperial guards immediately took action, using water control to resist the water dragons. As the two thick water dragons approached, they swirled wildly in the air, like headless flies.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing, who was wearing the Yin-Yang magic robe, and the Queen, took action one after another. Under the force of multiple powers, the two water dragons immediately collapsed into torrential rain, extinguishing the imperial guards' torches and most of the fire in the summer palace.

The second wave of attacks was successfully defused.

For a time, the imperial guards surrounding the summer palace dared not act rashly, but Zhang Yuanqing knew that this was only temporary.

Next, Zheng Wenhan would continue to launch attacks and continue to test until he had exhausted his enemy's means of resistance.

"I underestimated His Majesty. I underestimated this palace full of beauties. How many tricks did my sister leave for His Majesty?" Zheng Wenhan's voice came from outside the hall.

Zhang Yuanqing shouted loudly: "There are a million soldiers hidden in my palace, do you believe it!"

Zheng Wenhan ignored him.

"It's not a solution to continue like this. We have to escape the palace." Zhang Yuanqing's mind raced, and suddenly an idea came to him. "If we continue to stalemate, we will surely die. I have a plan."

Waiting for everyone to look at him, Zhang Yuanqing said, "All of you put on my ordinary clothes, disguise yourselves as me, and then charge out together and escape in different directions. In this way, Zheng Wenhan will definitely split his forces, and the chances of survival for each person will be increased."

Fighting the enemy in the summer palace would greatly increase the chance of total annihilation. Escaping separately would greatly ensure the team's survival rate.

"But in this way, one of us will definitely die." Hongjige frowned. "We are all brothers, we will die together. I don't agree."

Just after he finished speaking, a dazzling fire suddenly lit up outside the hall. The next second, a huge fireball with a diameter of two meters broke through the window and smashed into the center of the hall.

"Boom!"

The fireball exploded, and the scorching shockwave overturned tables and chairs. The flames ignited the silk fabrics and wood in the hall.

Although the fireball exploded in the outer hall, the powerful shockwave made everyone in the palace feel their blood surge, and they staggered.

Before everyone could react, there was another explosion from the roof, and tiles and beams collapsed and fell.

This time, the explosion was right above everyone's heads. Xie Lingxi, who had the weakest physique, was shocked to the point of spitting blood, and the scorching flames singed their hair and charred the poisonous snakes hanging on the beams.

Hongjige cursed, "It's a level 6 fire demon. How can this old bastard have so many experts under his command!"

In the two previous waves of testing, the imperial guards did not dare to launch a strong attack and chose to bombard.

"It's not surprising that a prime minister with power over the court sends a Dominator. It's just that our plot line hasn't progressed to this point yet," Palace Master Xiaoyuan said in a low voice.

"According to what Yuan, His Majesty said, do it. This is the only chance to save our lives."

Xie Lingxi and the Queen revealed a hint of worry. They had become Saints for the shortest time and had the weakest foundation. In this situation, the mortality rate would be higher than that of other teammates.

But the gang leader's (Brother Yuanshi) plan was correct. In the current situation, escaping separately was the right choice, after all, this was the imperial palace.

And they were turtles in a jar. Continuing to fight would only lead to total annihilation. Everyone quickly rummaged through the Emperor's ordinary clothes, hastily put them on. Zhang Yuanqing used the art of disguise to change everyone's appearance one by one, turning them all into Zhao Shun.

Zhang Yuanqing glanced at her, dumbfounded, "I know you are shocked, but don't be shocked now, let's escape from this place first."

Concubine Wan lived up to her reputation as a deadhead. She didn't think anymore.

"Concubine Wan, we have to find a way to increase our survival rate. The palace gates are all blocked by Zheng Wenhan's people, how can we get out?" Zhang Yuanqing asked, looking at her.

Concubine Wan understood and said in a rough voice: "The lake water of the summer palace is connected to the river in the city. As long as we pass through an underground river, we can swim to outside the city, but the underground river is narrow and long. Unless you are proficient in the art of water spirits, it is difficult to pass through the underground river."

"I can pass through." The Queen's eyes lit up, and she immediately added: "I have an extraordinary item that can turn into water, who needs it?"

Xiaoyuan said: "I can turn into a Gu and fly away."

Huang Feng was known for her speed. If she wanted to escape, no one could stop her.

Palace Master Xiaoyuan said: "I can break out of the palace, I don't need to use the underground river."

She had already completed a side quest and returned to the Saint stage. With Hong Luan Xingguan's charm, matchmaking, and hypnosis, it would not be difficult to escape from the imperial palace without being targeted.

Hongjige, Jiang Jingwei, and Xie Lingxi had no means of escape. Zhang Yuanqing thought about it and opened the item bar, took out a human skin mask and threw it over: "Lingxi, you don't need to run out of the palace, you can use it to hide in the palace."

"This item is from the Nine Elders of the Southern Faction, an extraordinary quality illusionist profession, and its function is disguise."

Xie Lingxi was clever and with its help, there would be no problem hiding in the harem.

Then Zhang Yuanqing took off his red dancing shoes and threw them to Hongjige: "I'll give you this item, use it to escape with fire magic."

"If the spiritual power consumption is too great, Yuan, then wear it to run. It can ignore the terrain, running will not consume physical strength, and can avoid long-range attacks from the Saint realm."

"Queen, give that item to you, Jingwei."

The red dancing shoes were about to demand a price from their owner, but Hongjige put them into his item bar. In the process, two more fireballs exploded in the palace.

One of them injured Zhang Yuanqing, but as a Night Watchman, he didn't care about the injury. He continued to say methodically, "You will charge out at the same time later, and Concubine Wan and I will stay behind. Zheng Wenhan knows that I have guards, he can see that I am the real body, and you are disguised as me, he dare not completely ignore it and should not send too many troops to chase you, I will try my best to buy time for you."

This step was very important. Arranging for someone to stay behind and attract the pursuers would lead to the pursuers being too strong, thereby putting the team members in a desperate situation.

And the reason why he let his teammates go first was because he wanted to rely on them to draw away some of the firepower.

After formulating the strategy, Zhang Yuanqing snatched it before the fire and thunder came, and whispered, "Action!"

Hongjige and Jiang Jingwei took the lead in rushing out, rushing towards the gap blasted out by the fireball and jumping out.

They fled in different directions, left and right. Zheng Wenhan immediately said: "Chase!"

Just after he finished speaking, his eyes turned and he added, "Twenty people each, order the imperial guards guarding the gate, anyone who approaches the palace gate within fifty steps will be killed without mercy."

Two well-trained imperial guards chased after them. As soon as they left, two more Zhao Shuns in ordinary clothes rushed out of the palace gate that had been burned by the fire, each fleeing in a different direction.

The imperial guards shot a wave of arrows at them and immediately pursued. Then, the third pair of Zhao Shuns rushed out of the hall and fled for their lives.

"Chancellor Zheng!" A level 6 fire mage among the imperial guards couldn't help frowning and asking: "Why are you only dividing up this little force? What if the foolish ruler escapes?"

Zheng Wenhan and the swordsman general ignored him, their eyes fixed on the palace.

At this moment, two more pairs of Zhao Shuns rushed out of the palace, but they did not escape separately but side by side.

Zheng Wenhan's eyes sharpened, and he drew out the long sword from his waist: "Generals and soldiers of the Southern Dynasty, imperial guards, follow me to kill the foolish ruler's head!"

Mai Bao Xiao Lang Jun