Hou Junji's heart trembled.
He recognized the voice instantly; it was Qin Qiong!
And the chaotic sound of horseshoes, there must be quite a few people arriving.
"Take these artisans! Retreat!"
He roared at his soldiers.
With these artisans, he could create firearms! He didn't need to rush this matter.
Outside the artisan dormitory, only eight men were left standing in the entire second company.
The more than two hundred men Hou Junji had left to entangle them had been mostly killed by the second company!
Shi Zhen spat out a mouthful of blood, looked at the enemies before him, and chuckled.
"Brothers, reinforcements have arrived! Hold them!"
"This life was given by Lord Hou! It's time to show our loyalty!"
"Follow me and kill!"
His seven subordinates, dragging their heavily injured bodies, raised their blunted Tang sabers and waveringly hacked at the enemies.
The more than a hundred enemies had been scared witless! Although they had surrounded Shi Zhen and the others, no one dared to pick up their weapons!
Shi Zhen's Tang saber swung towards a burly man, aiming straight for his head.
Cold sweat trickled down the burly man's forehead. His hand trembled, and his weapon dropped to the ground.
"I quit! This isn't human!"
Mustering his courage, he shouted, then turned and fled.
Shi Zhen watched this scene and roared with laughter!
"Brothers, look clearly, they all have two shoulders and one head!"
"As long as we are fierce enough, no matter how many they send, they'll be for nothing!"
"Kill!"
"The company commander is right! We're already doomed either way! Kill!"
"Yes, kill!"
Seeing Shi Zhen and his men with grim expressions, and hearing the approaching hoofbeats, these men were terrified!
They all dropped their weapons and chased after the man who had fled, like startled birds.
The hoofbeats finally arrived!
On horseback was Qin Qiong, holding his Golden Zuan Ti Lu spear, with a four-sided Golden Zhuang Jian hanging from his saddle.
The moment Shi Zhen saw Qin Qiong, the tension he had held finally released, and he collapsed to the ground.
From behind Qin Qiong, a rider emerged – it was Sun Simiao!
Old Sun dismounted and helped Shi Zhen up. Seeing the wounded and scattered bodies, he sighed heavily.
"Duke of Qin, leave this place to this old man. Go to the workshop and see to it that young Fang's efforts are not in vain!"
Qin Qiong nodded and led his men towards the workshop.
After only a few steps, he saw Hou Junji and his entourage carrying artisans out.
"Hou Junji! It's you!"
Seeing Hou Junji leading the way, Qin Qiong was filled with indescribable rage!
"You embezzled rations and confiscated spoils, the Emperor's mercy meant you were never pursued, yet you've raised a white-eyed wolf!"
Hou Junji, however, chuckled sinisterly.
"We have different paths; we cannot plan together!"
With that, his expression changed, and he pointed resentfully at Fang Family Village.
"A mere youngster, and he can already be a marquis! If he returns now, perhaps Li Shimin will enfeoff him as a duke!"
"My merits were earned through actual combat with real sabers and guns, why did he catch up in just one year?"
"He has humiliated me several times, and Li Shimin has never spoken a fair word for me!"
"Bah! I don't care for a duke granted by the Li family!"
"Do you really think I dared to rebel with only these men? Fire the signal!"
A soldier behind Hou Junji drew an arrow from his back, nocked it, and shot it into the sky.
*Jiu~~~~!*
After a sharp whistle, in moments, countless torches appeared outside the workshop!
Qin Qiong was dumbfounded!
"When did this scoundrel hide so many soldiers around the workshop, only to reveal them at this moment?"
Seeing Qin Qiong's expression, Hou Junji arrogantly pointed at him and said,
"Do you think those military funds were really embezzled by me?"
"Do you think those spoils were really pocketed by me?"
"Hahahahaha! Look! These are the elite soldiers I raised with that money!"
After boasting for a moment, he shouted, "By my order! Attack!"
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
Countless voices responded from the surroundings.
Then, holding their torches high, they charged directly towards the workshop.
Qin Qiong's heart sank to the bottom.
With so many torches, it was almost impossible to see the end; there were at least ten thousand men!
It wasn't just him.
Even the Eight Directions Allied Forces, who were fighting the Qi camp, were stunned!
Especially the members of the Four Great Clans. They had never imagined that Hou Junji had planned such a grand scheme, keeping even them in the dark!
The young lords of the Four Great Clans in the imperial palace had no idea they had been manipulated by Hou Junji!
Time rewound half an hour.
Wu Yong, leading the Fourth Battalion, finally arrived at the Hall of Ganquan.
At first glance, he saw Empress Changsun, Li Chengqian, and Li Ke standing at the entrance of the hall.
"Fourth Battalion Commander Wu Yong of the Heavenly Fire Army, greetings to Her Majesty the Empress, His Highness the Crown Prince, and His Highness the Prince of Han!"
Empress Changsun finally showed a trace of joy when she saw him.
"Commander Wu, thank you for your trouble!"
Wu Yong bowed to her, "I dare not, this is my duty!"
He then turned to look at the dead and wounded imperial guards, and Wu Yong's eyes turned red.
These were his former brothers! Now, they were all separated by life and death!
"Attack them! Kill all these rebels without mercy!"
"Yes!"
The soldiers of the Fourth Battalion quickly set up their firing formations.
With volleys of fire and the bombardment of grenades.
The ones leading the attack here were Wang Zhigang of the Taiyuan Wang Clan and Cui Zhichong, the young lord of the Boling Cui Clan.
The two were shocked by this sudden assault.
Their men fell in swathes.
Seeing that the attack could no longer continue, they exchanged glances: "Retreat!"
They directly led their troops and retreated towards Xuanwu Gate.
They couldn't even consider Chengtian Gate, as large numbers of troops would surely be rushing to rescue the Emperor from there.
Only Xuanwu Gate offered a direct exit from Chang'an City.
The two, leading their remaining few hundred men, galloped towards Xuanwu Gate.
Before they reached it, they saw Lu Xuanyi leading his men to surround and attack someone.
It was Li Yuan, who was now severely wounded. Ma Leibi and Qu Gequiu, who were guarding him, lay on the ground, blood continuously flowing from their chests.
The other imperial guards had already been killed by Lu Xuanyi's men during the battle.
Li Yuan's long spear was broken into two pieces in his hand.
Lu Xuanyi, on the opposite side, laughed heartily.
"Hahahaha! What does our former Emperor feel like dying at Lu's hands?"
"Lu is very curious, can the former Emperor satisfy my curiosity?"
"By the way, a year ago, two of your sons were buried here. Today, you too shall be buried here."
Speaking of this, he suddenly changed his tone and glared fiercely at Li Yuan.
"Blame! Blame your patricidal and fratricidal son! It was he who forced the noble clans to act!"
"Therefore, please go down and clear the path for the Second Son, be a vanguard!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he swung his long saber towards Li Yuan's neck.
Li Yuan used all his strength to block the blow.
Blood surged in his mouth as he stared at Lu Xuanyi and said, "You want to kill me! You're not worthy!"
"I will watch from below as you are all wiped out by the Second Son's family!"
"I will wait for you on the road to the Yellow Springs with the spirits of the fallen warriors of the Great Tang!"
"Hahahahaha!"
With that, he directly plunged the short spear in his hand into his own throat!
The founding emperor of the Great Tang had committed suicide!
Lu Xuanyi was stunned.
Looking at Li Yuan's fallen body, he became enraged.
He swung his saber as if to strike, but at that moment, he heard the footsteps of Wang Zhigang and the others, and quickly looked up.
With that glance, he saw the Heavenly Fire Army pursuing Wang Zhigang.
And the occasional sound of gunfire.
Lu Xuanyi was terrified and waved his hand behind him, "Retreat!"
Everyone retreated directly out of the palace through Xuanwu Gate.
At this moment, only the group attacking the Eastern Palace remained within the palace.
That group was Cui Yuzheng of the Qinghe Cui Clan and Li Shichang of the Zhaojun Li Clan.
These two spent a lot of effort breaking into the Eastern Palace, only to find that Li Chengqian was not there.
Just as they were about to retreat from the Eastern Palace, they were blocked inside by Changsun Wuji, who had come to their aid with the Jinwu Guard.
"You damn bastards! Daring to rebel against my sister!"
"Kill them all! Leave no one alive!"
Changsun Wuji waved, and the Jinwu Guard surged forward, instantly engaging Cui and Li clan forces.
Suddenly, a hearty laugh echoed from afar.
"Hahahaha! What a lively night! Shall this humble monk join the fray!"
This voice, from far to near, only took a moment.
Changsun Wuji was greatly alarmed and looked towards the source of the sound.
It was a monk!
Behind him stood over a thousand martial monks!
Changsun Wuji recognized the leading monk as none other than Abbot Yuanji of the Great Ci'en Temple in Chang'an City!
"A person outside the monastic order dares to interfere in such matters?"
"Aren't you afraid that the Emperor will deal with you and extinguish your temple's incense?"
Yuanji chanted a Buddhist name.
"Namo Amitabha!"
"Esteemed benefactor, your words are mistaken! The current Emperor is a tyrant, forbidding people from taking refuge in Buddhism, which is cutting off the incense for Buddhism. Therefore, this humble monk is acting on behalf of Buddha!"
"Please forgive this humble monk!"
"Attack!"
Yuanji gave the order, and the martial monks behind him, holding their ordination staffs, joined the fray, their target being the Jinwu Guard!
Changsun Wuji roared, "It seems the Emperor's decision was correct! If we don't restrict you, it will always come to this!"
"If it's a rash, it will eventually break out. Today, this lord will squeeze out this rash for the Emperor!"
With that, he drew his weapon and attacked Yuanji.
While the Buddhist faction made their move, Yuan Tiangang at Fang Family Village also did not stand idly by.
He was demonstrating a chemistry experiment to his disciples.
As he added the last reagent to the test tube, he confidently declared, "Next, it's time to witness a miracle!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, he was startled by the sound of gunfire and cannons from the workshop.
His hand trembled, and the reagent poured directly into the test tube.
What was in the test tube was sugar.
What he dripped in was potassium chlorate!
He had only intended to drip two drops to impress his disciples.
Instead, the entire bottle was poured in.
A large amount of potassium chlorate met the sugar!
*Boom!*
Flames shot up into the sky, and old Taoist Yuan was blown to smithereens!
His beard, eyebrows, and even his hair were not spared!
His head became a roasted egg.
Furious, the old Yuan, hearing the continuous gunfire and cannons from the workshop, realized someone was causing trouble at the manor.
"You damn bastard!"
"Boundless Heavenly Venerable, forgive this Taoist for his vulgar language."
"Dare to disturb this Taoist's showmanship, you son of a bitch, you don't know the power of the Taoist sect!"
"Follow this Taoist and kill!"
With that, he walked out of the door, carrying his blackened head and the long sword from the table.
ps: Eighty thousand words. Feeling accomplished. Hahahaha!