Chapter 5: A Glimmer of Hope

Fortunately, the door opened quickly, and Zi Xu stepped out holding the swaddled infant.

"Is it the heir or the princess?" Ren Qianyang quickly stepped forward.

"The heir," Zi Xu replied, "just over one year old, recently weaned."

"The child is hidden in your chest, give me the swaddle," Shi Qingshan said urgently.

Without hesitation, Zi Xu immediately complied.

The Princess, who had been sitting anxiously in the hall, stood up upon seeing the swaddle opened and hearing the infant's cries. She quickly moved toward them but, knowing the gravity of the situation, stopped herself at the door, gripping the door frame with both hands, her eyes filled with tears as she watched.

In this critical moment, Zi Xu wasted no time. She quickly undressed the child in front of everyone, sealed the mouth to prevent noise, and bound the child tightly to her chest.

Only then did Yao Beilin and Ren Qianyang realize that Shi Qingshan had carried the bamboo basket to mislead the enemy. At such a moment, whoever carried the basket would appear to be the most dangerous. Unfortunately, there was no time left to debate or argue over it. Once Zi Xu was properly dressed, the four immediately turned to kneel and bid farewell to the Princess.

The Princess knelt, weeping in sorrow, "Generals, I entrust Xuan'er to you."

The four nodded solemnly, quickly got up, and rushed out the door.

Seeing the four leave, the anxious Dong Yue hurried forward, but before he could speak, the four were already on horseback and galloping away.

At that moment, a voice from the direction of the imperial palace rang out, "The rebel Summer Mu has been executed. Close the gates immediately and wipe out the remaining rebels."

Hearing the call, Dong Yue froze, exchanging glances with his subordinates. After a moment, he snapped out of his daze and quickly drew his sword, shouting, "Surround the rebel den completely, not one can escape!"

As Dong Yue shouted, Yao Beilin and the others had already turned onto the main road.

The cries from the palace pierced their hearts, but they could not afford to mourn. A large group of imperial guards were already charging from the north, while soldiers at the southern gate rushed left and right, trying to close the gates.

The imperial guards who had left the palace were originally heading toward the mansion, but upon seeing the four rush out of the street where the mansion was located, and seeing someone carrying a bamboo basket, they immediately guessed that they had taken the heir of Summer Mu. The leader gave a command, and the guards immediately shouted in unison and pursued relentlessly.

At this time, the people in the city had already learned of the huge turmoil at the imperial palace and were all hiding behind closed doors, leaving the streets nearly deserted. The four spurred their horses and sped toward the south.

A few hundred yards later, they arrived at an intersection. From here, they could see that the guards at the west and east gates were slower in their responses, having not yet begun to move the gates. However, knowing that the resistance on the east and west sides would be smaller, they could only head toward the south gate, which was about to close, because Ji Youde and his 300 iron-armored soldiers were on their way from the south, and only breaking through from the south could they have a chance to meet up with him.

The city gates were massive and sturdy, each door was over two yards wide and weighed several thousand pounds. Even with the support of the upper and lower door hinges, it took ten or more people working together to move them.

Seeing the massive gates closing halfway, Zi Xu, frantic, immediately knocked an arrow and shot at the gatekeepers.

The gatekeepers had gathered in large numbers at the gates, and realizing that killing one person wouldn't slow things down much, Zi Xu quickly switched to shooting three arrows at once, which finally slowed the closing of the gates.

Looking back at the pursuing soldiers, they were still only a few dozen paces behind. These imperial guards were riding mixed-blood dragon steeds, which were much faster than ordinary war horses. Though the four were riding purebred dragon steeds, the horses had already been worn out after a whole night of running and were now at their limits. There was no way they could outrun the pursuers now.

At the gates, the gatekeepers had gathered in large numbers, and there were casualties already. Soon, others would take their place. With no other choice, Zi Xu continued shooting arrows to delay the gate's closing.

After a while, the four finally reached within a hundred paces of the gate. Seeing them coming, the city guards quickly formed a line and raised their spears to block them.

Zi Xu was at the forefront. Faced with a dazzling array of spears and polearms, her dragon steed was not intimidated. It neighed and exerted all its strength to accelerate and charge forward.

The dragon steed, experienced in battle, had charged through similar formations countless times. However, this time was different because they weren't wearing armor. The full-force charge not only disorganized the enemy's formation but also resulted in the steed being pierced by numerous spears and polearms.

Though severely wounded, the dragon steed endured the pain and pressed forward with all its might.

Surrounded by soldiers, each leap of the dragon steed brought it into contact with enemy spears, and the area outside the gates was now barren. To the dragon steed, breaking through the gates was its only hope of saving its master. Yet, as it neared within fifty paces of the gates, the steed, exhausted and injured, collapsed.

Before Zi Xu could fall, Yao Beilin, who had caught up, quickly pulled her onto his own steed, and spun his lance to clear a path, urging his horse to charge forward.

Even with Yao Beilin and Zi Xu's combined resistance, Yao Beilin's mount could not escape. The horse, with its last strength, managed to carry the two out of the gate before it collapsed and died.

As the two dismounted, Shi Qingshan and Ren Qianyang charged out after them. With Yao Beilin and Zi Xu clearing the path ahead, their horses remained unscathed.

At this moment, there was still a gap of over a yard wide between the two gates. Once they broke through, Ren Qianyang immediately dismounted and joined Yao Beilin in turning back to fight.

Yao Beilin and Ren Qianyang said nothing, and neither did Shi Qingshan or Zi Xu. Zi Xu swiftly mounted Ren Qianyang's dragon steed, and with Shi Qingshan, they charged toward the south.

Yao Beilin and Ren Qianyang fought fiercely, forcing the city guards back and then pushing the gates shut. They knew that if they didn't trap the pursuers inside the city, the two would soon be caught.

After dashing a hundred paces, Zi Xu and Shi Qingshan turned back to look, only to see that Yao Beilin and Ren Qianyang had successfully closed the gates.

As the gates slammed shut, they saw thick smoke rising from the city, and the smoke was coming from the direction of the mansion.

Zi Xu and Shi Qingshan knew that the fire at the mansion was the Princess' sacrifice. They also knew that Yao Beilin and Ren Qianyang, who had stayed behind in the city, would surely die, but at this moment, neither of them could afford to dwell on sorrow. They knew that they might die here today as well, and their greatest wish now was to meet up with Ji Youde, and fight for a sliver of hope for the heir.

Before they had even covered two miles, the gates behind them were suddenly reopened, and a group of cavalry guards charged out.

At that moment, they heard the urgent sound of hooves coming from the south.

Not long later, Ji Youde appeared in their line of sight, leading a team of bloodied iron-armored cavalry. At a glance, there were less than a hundred riders.

Upon seeing them, Ji Youde immediately shouted orders, turning his cavalry around and charging south, meeting Zi Xu and Shi Qingshan. "Where is the King?"

"The King has already been killed. We have brought the heir out..."