Xu Ruhui stabbed a soldier in front of him through the throat with a sword, then twirled the sword in a fancy way. Ignoring the noisy sounds of battle around him, he showed off to Gong Tan beside him and said, "Twenty."
Gong Tan was speechless. "I didn't say I wanted to compete with you."
Xu Ruhui said, "Well, I'm competing with you."
Gong Tan: "..."
Xu Ruhui heard the sound of wind behind him. He turned around and swung his sword, piercing a palace guard through the chest.
"Twenty - one."
"Aren't you annoying?"
Xu Ruhui raised his eyebrows and said, "Not at all. I'm the perfect partner for Senior Brother. You'd better stay away from him."
Gong Tan was extremely annoyed. He really didn't know where Lu Yan had picked up this junior brother. He looked decent, but why was he so childish!
"Keep up. We're about to reach the Shanhe Hall." Lu Yan didn't seem to care about Xu Ruhui's untimely jealousy. He chopped off a man's arm with a single stroke of his knife, then leaped onto his horse. Immediately, he roared at his subordinates, "Support the rightful lord! Uphold the country! Charge!"
"Roar!"
The Lu family's army let out a thunderous roar. Led by Lu Yan, the whole army was like an arrow off the bowstring, charging straight towards the Shanhe Hall with irresistible force.
The palace guards in Bian Palace were used to an easy and luxurious life. Except for Gong Tan, who often trained his subordinates in battle formations, the others had long developed a lazy nature. Some of them had even grown fat. When they faced the battle - hardened Lu family's army, it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. As soon as the battle started, they were like a broken dam, falling into a complete mess.
Lu Yan galloped at the front on his horse, constantly swinging his long knife. He fought his way all the way to the entrance of the Shanhe Hall.
It was still not dawn. The palace servants had already scattered and fled because of the riot. There wasn't even a single person to hold a lamp. Some soldiers of the Lu family's army lit torches. Just by the light of three or five torches, one could see that the glazed tiles on the top of the Shanhe Hall and the jade kylins on the walls were shining brightly, showing extreme extravagance.
It was almost time for the morning court. The usually closed main gates of the Shanhe Hall were wide open. Several soldiers of the Lu family's army ran in first. After looking around, they trotted up to Lu Yan and said, "My lord, the Shanhe Hall is empty."
Lu Yan asked, "What about the palace behind the Shanhe Hall?"
Another person ran up, bowed and said, "My lord, the palace is also empty."
"He sure runs fast." Lu Yan sat high on his horse and snorted disdainfully.
"Report!" Someone dragged a eunuch over and said, "My lord, we caught a eunuch who was trying to escape. He said that King Xia Jie was taken and fled in that direction!"
Lu Yan looked in the direction the man was pointing at and saw the five - story Jiying Hall not far away. He sneered and said, "The Jiying Hall? What's the use of praying to Xing Tian at this time?"
He raised his long knife high with one hand and shouted, "Charge! Put an end to the decay of Li Xia! Capture King Xia Jie alive!"
"Capture King Xia Jie alive! Capture King Xia Jie alive!" The soldiers' blood was ignited by Lu Yan. They waved their weapons and followed Lu Yan towards the Jiying Hall.
As the name suggests, the Jiying Hall enshrined the ancestors of Li Xia. In the beliefs of the people of Li Xia, the ancestors were like gods and were to be worshipped. King Xia Jie was no exception. He even built a statue of Xing Tian in it, which was only slightly smaller than the one in the Golden Summit Temple. He had even asked Lu Yan to pay respects to it before Lu Yan went on his expedition.
Lu Yan led his troops to the entrance of the Jiying Hall. He picked up his long knife, dismounted from his horse, and several of his subordinates rushed up in time and knocked open the tightly closed main gates.
With a "boom", the gates fell straight to the ground due to the external force.
Everyone could clearly see the scene inside the hall - in the spacious main hall, under the golden - shining statue of Xing Tian, there was only King Xia Jie. He was curled up in his dragon robe, lying motionless. No one knew if he was dead or alive.
Lu Yan made a gesture, indicating that the main force should stay put. He then led Xu Ruhui and a small team and walked in through the main entrance.
Xu Ruhui ran the fastest. Seeing that the room seemed quiet and empty, he directly squatted down beside King Xia Jie, felt his pulse and said, "He's still alive."
Lu Yan nodded, looked around, and gave the order, "Surround this place and search!"
"Yes!" The Lu family's army dispersed in an orderly manner and surrounded the entire Jiying Hall.
Lu Yan frowned, walked forward, and also squatted down to check. The King Xia Jie on the ground looked extremely old. His eye sockets were black, his cheeks were pale, and his eyes were tightly closed. If it weren't for the faint pulse on his neck, he would have been no different from a dead man.
Lu Yan observed carefully, and his frown deepened.
Seeing this, Xu Ruhui said, "Senior Brother, is there any problem?"
Just as Lu Yan was about to speak, suddenly, Xia Chuli's voice came from the entrance, "Marquis Dingbei!"
The two of them both turned their heads and saw Xia Chuli running in from the entrance.
Because of Shen Qingfeng, Lu Yan had always disliked him, so he ignored him. He looked past Xia Chuli, trying to find Shen Qingfeng's figure, but he couldn't find him.
"Where's Qingfeng?" Lu Yan blurted out.
Xia Chuli also squatted down and looked down at King Xia Jie lying motionless on the ground. He said, "He'll be here soon."
Lu Yan really didn't want to be in the same room with him, so he stood up and said, "I'll go find him."
Unexpectedly, just as Lu Yan turned around, Xia Chuli suddenly took out a dagger like lightning. Lu Yan only felt a flash of white light in front of his eyes. His years of battlefield experience made him instinctively dodge. Then he quickly drew his knife and placed it across Xia Chuli's neck with lightning speed.
One tall and the other low, Xia Chuli looked at the blade across his neck, looked up and smiled, "Your reaction is quite good. What? Have you been on guard against me for a long time?"
Lu Yan stared at him coldly, and the blade got closer by another inch. "Qingfeng has always trusted you, but I'm not him." He paused for a moment and said sharply, "Where's Shen Qingfeng?"
Xia Chuli gave a sinister smile. He slowly stood up and looked to the side. "Marquis Dingbei, what if I don't tell you?"
Lu Yan was stunned for a moment. He followed Xia Chuli's gaze and saw that Xu Ruhui, who was also standing beside them, was standing stiffly. There was a hidden sword across his neck. Sen Ya had somehow emerged and was now standing behind Xu Ruhui, staring coldly at him.
"Se - Senior Brother..." Xu Ruhui's face was pale. He must have been greatly frightened by Sen Ya's sudden appearance.
"General!" Gong Tan, who was assigning troops at the entrance, caught a glimpse of the scene in the hall. He was shocked and was about to lead his troops in.
"Stop! If you dare to come in, I'll have him kill Xu Ruhui." Xia Chuli shouted.
Gong Tan stopped and didn't dare to rush forward rashly. He thought for a while, then turned to a soldier and said, "Go find Young Master Shen. Hurry!"
"If you dare to kill him, you won't live either!" Lu Yan gritted his teeth and said angrily, "Have you been hiding on the beams since early in the morning? What do you want?"
Xia Chuli smiled and flicked his finger on the tip of Lu Yan's knife. "Why are you so angry? I just want to have a chat with you."
Lu Yan stared at him intently.
"Lu Yan, the Lu family once swore to support the royal family of Li Xia for a lifetime. But now you're pointing your knife at the neck of the crown prince?"
Lu Yan laughed out loud and said, "How shameless. Without me and Qingfeng helping you, do you think you could have become the crown prince? I can also kill you now and support Xia Yonglin to take the throne."
"Don't be kidding. Xia Yonglin would be lucky not to kill you. You can only help me." Xia Chuli said, "It's a pity about your father, Lu Jiang. Back then, in order to protect the Lu family, he promised not to form alliances or seek personal gain and spent his whole life in the Northern Kingdom. Oh, right. When you went on your expedition last month, my father posthumously granted Lu Jiang the title of 'loyal', didn't he?"
"You're not qualified to mention my father." Lu Yan said coldly. The tip of the knife was already touching Xia Chuli's carotid artery. "Stop talking nonsense! Tell me where Shen Qingfeng is! If you say one more word, I'll cripple your limbs and make you a puppet king of Li Xia!"
"Heh, don't you care about your junior brother's life?"
"Do you think you can threaten me?" Lu Yan's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Hehe..." Xia Chuli suddenly laughed. "Lu Yan, do you think what I said is nonsense?"
As soon as Xia Chuli finished speaking, he turned his head and kicked King Xia Jie in the chest.
King Xia Jie let out a muffled groan and suddenly woke up. He covered his chest and curled up in pain. He was almost gasping for breath.
"Why don't you ask him what he's done?"