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Although this place was remote and quiet, it was not very far from Lin’an City. It only took three days to travel between the two places, so news from Lin’an City quickly arrived.

Hence, Mu Yangling and the others learned that on the second day after they left, that the Second Prince had joined forces with Minister Qin to force the Emperor to abdicate. However, in less than two days, Bai Li brought back fresh news from the county.

Emperor Jingyan was not dead. He had gathered the 60,000 loyal imperial guards and now stayed 30 miles away from Lin’an City. Also, he had already ordered the generals to protect him. Therefore, Bai Li, who was not far away from them, also received the news.

“Fourth Madam, although this place is remote, if a war breaks out in Lin’an City, I’m afraid the refugees will flow here. Should we find another safe place?” Mu Yangling shook her head. “How can there be a safe place in this world? It’s even more dangerous to run back and forth. Let’s stay here and get someone to guard the courtyard.”

Mu Yangling lowered her head and thought for a moment. “Since the Emperor isn’t dead, we have to be even more careful. Don’t contact Eldest Master and Fourth Master for the time being.”

This small mountain village was indeed remote and quiet. In addition, it was self-sufficient to begin with, so even if there was a war outside, it did not affect them much. Although they still did not have enough to eat or wear, they were much better off than the refugees outside who had lost their homes because of the war.

Originally, the village chief and junior officer were worried that the Imperial Court would forcefully conscript soldiers. After all, there were wars every year, and such things were unavoidable. However, with the chaos outside and the change in political power, everyone was capturing able-bodied men nearby. And because this small mountain village was remote and there was no political power in the vicinity, the chaotic Imperial Court had not disturbed this place up till now.

Apart from rejoicing, the village chief and junior officer restrained the villagers even more, preventing them from leaving the village casually to avoid provoking outsiders.

The nearby small villages did the same. As a result, the seven or eight nearby villages were isolated from the world. Of course, the Zhu family was an exception.

The village chief and junior officer knew that people from the Zhu family went out of the village to the city every day, but they only bought some things. After observing for a while, the village chief’s heart was put to ease.

The entire village seemed to be separated from the Zhu family. Although there was a clear line between them, things were peaceful.

Life in the village was leisurely, but outside, it was as chaotic as boiling oil. The situation was different every day.

Emperor Jingyan ordered all the generals to lead troops to protect him, but there were only four generals who were willing to comply. One was General Yuan, one was General Qi, and the other two were General Guo, who led 100,000 soldiers, and the last one was an assistant commander who led 30,000 soldiers.

Qi Xiuyuan had personally led his troops from the east of Tongchuan Prefecture, while General Yuan had also personally led his troops south. General Guo was one of the five generals whose families had been detained by the Emperor and had always been filial. Although his eldest grandson had already escaped to his side, he was still unwilling to let his old mother be in danger in Lin’an City. Hence, when the Emperor gave the order, he immediately abandoned those rebels and rushed over.

General Guo only thought about his mother wholeheartedly, but General Yuan could not do it. This time, he only brought 50,000 people south, leaving more people at the border. They still had to remain on guard against the Jin Kingdom. Even under the orders of three golden medals from the Emperor, who asked him to bring all his troops, General Yuan pretended not to see it.

Meanwhile, Qi Xiuyuan rushed over to take advantage of the situation.

Although the other generals who did not heed the edict did not come, they did not immediately rebel. However, their attitudes were extremely ambiguous. They all stopped fighting and just kept a keen eye on Lin’an City.

If Emperor Jingyan won in the end, they would have to consider whether they should rebel or not. If Emperor Jingyan lost, there was a very good reason for them to rebel—the Second Prince was a murderer who killed his father and brothers. How could they allow someone like that to become the Emperor?

When Emperor Jingyan received the news from the various armies, his body became even more hunched. He asked, “Qi Haoran is not back yet?”

Although Qi Haoran was only a fourth-grade assistant commander now, he led nearly 120,000 troops and was much more powerful than General Guo and the others.

This time, the ministers did not crusade against Qi Haoran. Instead, they exhaustedly spoke up for him. “Your Majesty, General Qi is busy with West Xia and can’t escape at all. But he has already sent a message back that he will send half of his troops back as soon as possible.”

A minister who had escaped with the Emperor paused and said, “Your Majesty, we have to leave a chance for the people of Great Zhou.”

If Qi Haoran retreated, West Xia would definitely slaughter the commoners to vent their anger. Although the ministers were corrupt and often exploited the people, they really could not still prioritize self-interest at this moment.

The Emperor was silent for a moment. In the end, he did not insist on making Qi Haoran return. “Any news from the Yuan family?”

The ministers lowered their heads. “The families of the generals have all been brought back to the palace by the Second Prince to be guarded closely. The Yuan family is no exception.”

The Emperor’s expression was obscure, but everyone could sense that he was not in a good mood.

Back then, he had used these generals’ families to control them. Now, the second prince was just following his old path.

When the Emperor left the palace through the secret passage, the first thing he did was to immediately get someone to secretly send the Yuan family out of Lin’an City. If they really couldn’t be sent out, he ordered for them to be immediately executed. He definitely couldn’t let them fall into the hands of the rebels.

However, the imperial guards protecting the Yuan family couldn’t even leave the intersection. The Second Prince and Minister Qin clearly knew the importance of the Yuan family to General Yuan, so they sent many people to stop them. Unlike the Emperor, they ordered that the Yuan family must be kept alive.

It was of greatest benefit to them if the members of the Yuan family lived. In any case, they definitely wouldn’t kill them. Otherwise, what if the Emperor framed the deaths of the Yuan family members on them?

The imperial guards escorting the Yuan family could not charge out, so they could only return to the Yuan residence. They originally wanted to carry out the Emperor’s orders, but the Yuan family was not to be trifled with. The guards and servants fought the imperial guards, and with the Yuan family as their backing, they actually managed to hold on. Furthermore, there were rebels attacking from the outside. The imperial guards were attacked from the front and back, causing their operation to fail. As for the Yuan family, exhausted from all that fighting, they were eventually captured by the Second Prince’s men and sent to the palace alongside other generals’ families.

Including Qi Feng’s family.

That’s right. After Mu Yangling and the others left, Qi Feng’s family became hostages.

The Emperor did not know what choice General Yuan would make, but he had no choice but to decree them to rescue him. This was because he only had 50,000 imperial guards, which was totally incomparable to the rebels.

Emperor Jingyan had given up and left everything to his subordinates. But he valued the two young princes who were brought out of the palace very much and put almost all his protection on them.

Based on his understanding of General Yuan, after his death, General Yuan would definitely choose one of the princes to ascend the throne. Perhaps that prince would become a puppet, but this world would still belong to the Guo family. In the future, when the prince grew up, there would be hope of regaining his power.

Emperor Jingyan had a good plan, but the heavens evidently did not love him enough. He thought that this was a rebellion between the Second Prince and Minister Qin, but in fact, this was another form of invasion by West Xia.

Just as he was waiting in the tent for Qi Xiuyuan and the others to arrive, an army gradually appeared 20 miles away from them. It was an army of only 20,000 people, but they were powerful cavalrymen.

The commander of the imperial guards came in with a pale face and reported, “Your Majesty, those are West Xia’s cavalry. The Second Prince sent an envoy and Minister Qin to welcome them.”

The Emperor fell onto the chair and said with a bitter laugh, “Yes, Minister Qin just came back from West Xia…”