When the two juniors volunteered at the same time, Dai Li's lips trembled, and at first, she couldn't speak.
Tonight was different from that bandit suppression. In the bandit suppression, the enemy was outnumbered by her side, and the sheer numbers largely guaranteed safety, plus Qin Changgeng was with them at the time.
But tonight...
It was true that they lived next door to the Qingzhou party, but it was not as if they could reach the opposite residence just by climbing over a wall.
There was a not-so-narrow alley between the two mansions. If the city patrol surrounded this mansion entirely, there would definitely be people in that alley too.
Just the thought of gleaming swords and arrows that seemed coated in poison raining down on her children made Dai Li's heart feel as if it were being dragged down into an ice cellar.
Seeing Dai Li remain silent, Qin Qinian grew anxious. "Mother, Miss Nangong has seen Second Brother and me. She even promised to go out with Rongrong later, so we are not complete strangers. Going to find her now, the Qingzhou soldiers shouldn't draw their swords against us, so it couldn't be more appropriate to leave this to us."
Qin Yanzhou understood her worries. "Mother, Qinian and I can act during the chaos. Once a gap in the mansion's defenses opens, the patrol will definitely rush there upon hearing the noise. This way, the soldiers guarding other areas will be much fewer."
Luring the tiger away from the mountain, they would use this chance to leave the mansion.
Dai Li opened her mouth, but the word "Okay" felt like it was covered in thorns; she just couldn't spit it out.
There was a stagnation in the air for a few breaths.
Qin Yanzhou suddenly cupped his hands to Dai Li. After a deep bow, the young man turned and walked quickly toward the Qingzhou mansion.
Qin Qinian was stunned. When he reacted, he followed suit, cupped his hands, and immediately went after his older brother.
Dai Li watched the two figures, one tall and one short, gradually fade away. Her eyes, facing the moonlight, slowly filled with moisture. But until the brothers disappeared around the corner, she did not call them to stop.
"Madam, there are guards following them. The young masters will be fine," Qiao Wangfei comforted her.
Time was pressing, and there was no room for delay. Dai Li slowly exhaled a breath. As she turned and closed her eyes, a barely visible crystal tear fell from the corner of her eye.
"Let's go. Tonight allows for no mistakes," she said in a cold, deep tone, showing no sign of abnormality.
This mansion used for hosting guests covered a very wide area, and every part of it was built grandly, naturally including the main gate connected to the front courtyard.
At this moment, rows of torches stood inside and outside the main gate, the flames soaring to the sky, illuminating the area as bright as day.
Just outside the door, the sounds were mixed and chaotic. There were footsteps of boots, muffled whispers, and the light clashing of weapons.
Inside the wall, the armored Northern soldiers had already drawn their swords. Their eyes were like torches, ready to strike, like wolves waiting for the wolf king's command.
"Madam, please wait a moment," Qiao Wangfei called out to Dai Li at this time.
It turned out to be a foot soldier carrying armor. Qiao Wangfei said, "The situation tonight is ever-changing, and swords have no eyes. Everything must be done with the utmost caution. This is new armor; please put it on, Madam."
Dai Li did not refuse. She put on the armor, which was much too large for her.
When she arrived at the main gate, it just so happened that someone outside was shouting, "Has the Marchioness arrived yet? If not, then don't trouble her to make the trip. I will personally enter the mansion to find her."
As soon as these words fell, a burst of laughter erupted outside, and someone immediately chimed in:
"The Lieutenant is right! But in the middle of the night, how can we make a beauty go through so much trouble? Why don't we just march straight in, talk to the Marchioness, and take a look at her fragrant boudoir while we're at it."
"The beauty is married. The room has been tainted by the foul air of a man; it's not as good as it used to be."
"What does that matter? Anyway, the Marquis of Wu'an and the Marchioness will be separated in the future and will never see each other again. If we go find the Marchioness for a chat and a meeting, the Marquis of Wu'an can't control it."
"Hahahaha, exactly!"
They not only laughed out loud but also started banging on the door, making the rather thick mansion gate rattle loudly.
Inside the gate.
Qiao Wangfei and the group of Northern soldiers were gnashing their teeth, their eyes red with hatred.
"Bastards! How can you casually discuss the wife of a Marquis appointed by the imperial court!" Qiao Wangfei couldn't help but shout angrily.
As a result, the laughter outside became even more presumptuous.
Dai Li shook her head at Qiao Wangfei and said in a low voice, "It's just a provocation. Commander Qiao, don't fall for it."
Qiao Wangfei also knew it was a provocation, but the anger in his chest was like boiling water, churning uncontrollably. To him, Dai Li was far more than just his superior's lover; she was his savior.
Seeing that he was still extremely angry, Dai Li thought of a way to send him away. "Once the side door is broken, their morale will definitely soar, and we will likely face the first wave of a strong attack. Commander Qiao, go arrange the archers first."
Qiao Wangfei took a deep breath, accepted the order, and left.
Dai Li walked to the door, pretending not to hear their malicious discussions and loud laughter, and directly asked in a raised voice, "Where is the leader of the city patrol?"
Amidst the rough laughter, this female voice was so abrupt and clear, like a gentle spring breeze suddenly blowing across a wilderness piled with yellow sand.
Thus, the howling of the jackals became even more arrogant.
After a good while, it seemed that the person outside suppressed the voices of his subordinates, and the surroundings quieted down again.
"Marchioness, I am Zhong Zhuo, Lieutenant of the Northern Army. I have taken the liberty of visiting your mansion with my subordinates tonight because a petty thief stole a palace treasure, and we followed the trail, finally discovering that the thief is very likely hiding in your mansion." Zhong Zhuo stared intently at the tightly closed gate, as if piercing through this obstacle to see the beautiful woman behind the door.
At this moment, his canine teeth seemed to continuously elongate and sharpen, turning into the fangs of a hyena stained with foul-smelling drool.
Zhong Zhuo suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth. "That treasure was a tribute to His Majesty from the provinces during last year's Lantern Festival. His Majesty loves it very much, so I hope the Marchioness will open the door and cooperate with our search."
Dai Li said coldly, "There are non-stop patrols in my mansion twenty-four hours a day. The soldiers of my mansion have never seen the petty thief Lieutenant Zhong speaks of. Moreover, this mansion was carefully arranged by Chancellor Dong, and the several doors and walls are impregnable. Even if Lieutenant Zhong doesn't trust the soldiers of my mansion, can it be that he also doesn't trust Chancellor Dong's judgment?"
Bringing up Dong Zhou at the end of her words made Zhong Zhuo choke for a moment.
The adjutant beside him said, "It's just opening the mansion gate, a matter of a single word from you. You don't have to catch the thief and recover the stolen goods yourself. Why is the Marchioness making so many excuses? Could it be that the thief who stole the rare treasure is really in your mansion?"
As his words fell, there was a chorus of agreement all around.
Dai Li silently calculated in her heart.
Investigating which of the side doors had the least troops took time, assembling a hundred men took time, and passing orders to coordinate the subsequent actions also took time...
She had to delay a bit longer.
"Wait. You just claimed to be a Lieutenant of the Northern Army, but words are no proof. Throw your token over for me to see," Dai Li suddenly said.
Zhong Zhuo was astonished. "Why do you need a token for this? It's currently curfew. The only ones who can walk so openly in the city are our city defense patrols."
Dai Li retorted, "That's not necessarily true. The little thief you mentioned can even steal treasures from the palace and retreat unscathed after the theft. How could he do that without the assistance of an accomplice? Moreover, the Marquis has conflicts with several neighboring provincial governors. How do we know if you are really the Chang'an military patrol?"
Zhong Zhuo frowned. After whispering a few words to the adjutant beside him, he finally dug out a token from his pocket. "Madam Marquis, please open the door. The token is here."
Dai Li said, "Throw it over from above."
Zhong Zhuo's mouth twitched, thinking that this Marquis's wife was really not easily fooled. After a moment of stalemate, he finally tossed the token up.
Dai Li saw an object falling from above. Not waiting for it to land before picking it up, she directly raised her hand to catch it. The bronze token was not light, and it hurt her hand when it hit. Dai Li gasped.
Ignoring the pain in her hand, she stuffed the token into the hands of the soldier beside her and whispered two instructions. The latter's pupils trembled slightly, and without hesitation, he took the token and ran wildly.
"Madam Marquis, the token has been inspected. You can open the door now," Zhong Zhuo shouted from outside.
Dai Li replied, "I am just a woman and don't recognize this token. Please wait a moment. I'll call my husband's adjutant."
Laughter started outside again.
"Madam Marquis, why go through so much trouble? Open the door, and I will teach you hand-in-hand how to recognize the token."
"It is rumored that Madam is as beautiful as a peach or plum, with the appearance of the Moon Goddess. If we see Madam Marquis later, the lieutenant might be distracted."
"Hahahaha!"
The large hand of Qiao Wangfei holding the knife gripped so hard that his knuckles turned white, wishing he could tear them apart for firewood and cut their flesh for cooking.
Dai Li gave a reassuring look.
These words were nothing to her. The most important thing was to buy more time. As long as they could successfully exit the city tonight and rendezvous with the Xuanxiao Cavalry outside the city, it was hard to say whose head would fall in the future...
After a round of laughter over there, they urged Dai Li again.
Just as Dai Li was about to find another excuse to stall, a sudden uproar came from the west side. It was like a depth charge exploding, stirring up a thousand-layer wave, completely shattering the precarious peace that had been maintained.
A bright light flashed in Dai Li's eyes.
Here it comes!
Qiao Wangfei hurriedly said, "Mistress, this place is dangerous. Please take shelter first."
Dai Li was not good at martial arts and naturally would not stay on the front line. She nodded and turned away neatly, the corner of her fluttering clothes looking like the sharp claws of a lioness in the moonlight.
...
Outside the main gate.
Zhong Zhuo looked to the west in astonishment. "Why is it so noisy over there? What exactly happened?"
The sound of galloping hooves came. The military patrol who came to report shouted, "Lieutenant, the west gate of the Qin Mansion has opened. Our brothers are in a standoff with the Northern Army over there, but the other side has a large number of people and is resisting vigorously. We are temporarily at a disadvantage. Please send reinforcements, Lieutenant!"
Zhong Zhuo abruptly turned his head to look at the tightly closed main gate. The arc of his mouth widened a bit, like a hyena celebrating before a meal. "Madam Marquis, since your mansion has already opened the west gate, I assume you won't mind if someone enters through the other gates. Men, climb over the wall!"
The prepared military patrols heard the order and moved forward with ladders.
*
North side gate direction.
The Qin brothers, who were waiting, heard the commotion on the west side and looked at each other simultaneously. Qin Yanzhou whispered, "Wait ten more breaths."
There were hurried footsteps outside the door, sounding like they were split into two, half heading west and the other half surging towards the main gate.
After counting ten breaths, the north gate creaked open.
Qin Yanzhou and Qin Qinian led ten Northern soldiers to charge out. The group held a knife in one hand and a grappling hook in the other, with a long rope connected to the hard iron grappling hook wound around their arms.
A batch of military patrols outside had left, but they hadn't completely dispersed. Seeing someone come out now, they shouted and came over with knives.
But before they could shout a few more times, a bright red spurted out abruptly. Someone was stunned, realizing belatedly that his vision was completely upside down, and his neck hurt terribly.
"Gulu, gulu," something rolled to the ground.
After dealing with a few people in succession, the brothers crossed the alley, threw their iron grappling hooks onto the wall of the opposite mansion together, and climbed up neatly.
However, just as they climbed onto the wall of the Qingzhou Mansion, everyone paused. In the cold moonlight, rows of arrowheads below were aimed at them.
"Don't shoot arrows, I'm Qin San from next door, here to play with Nangong Xiaoliu!" Qin Qinian sat on the wall.
Qin Yanzhou couldn't help but glance sideways at the young man; the latter noticed it and spread his hands helplessly towards his brother.
If they didn't act familiar now, they probably wouldn't be able to get down. Moreover, they had already shared a meal with everyone, so how could they not be considered familiar?
Qin Qinian unilaterally thought they were.
It was not safe to stay on the wall for a long time, as they would easily become targets. Seeing this, the military patrols outside also raised their arrows one after another.
"Get down first." Qin Yanzhou jumped down.
The crowd followed closely.
The Qin brothers spent some effort and finally met Nangong Zijin. At the same time, the chaos at the west gate of the Qin Mansion came to an end.
Initially, a hundred people were stationed at the west side gate.
The strong and sturdy Northern soldiers cooperated tacitly, like the bloody mouth of a giant wolf, easily breaking up the Chang'an military patrols pouring inside.
Corpses fell one by one, and the victors removed their upper garments. These garments were roughly divided into three portions.
"I'll lead people to the Sizhou Mansion. Xun He, you lead a team to the Xuzhou Mansion. Zhou Jinyuan, you are responsible for Yuzhou." The tasks were quickly assigned.
Xun He walked at the end. Just as he led his people to leave, he was suddenly stopped by a soldier running towards him.
The young soldier had probably run to many places and was out of breath, but he still neatly handed a bronze token to him, while speaking intermittently, "Mistress, the lieutenant's token... take it..."
Xun He's heart trembled. "Okay!"
*
Xuzhou Mansion.
"The military patrols outside have completely surrounded the Qin Mansion. There will probably be a fierce battle tonight. Oh, there's commotion outside. It seems there aren't many people left from the North in the mansion. Let's see how long they can hold out."
"I guess at most two hours."
"Why bother with them? Before the Lord went to Changle Garden, he said that there would likely be changes tonight, and we just need to watch from the sidelines."
"The Marquis of Wu'an has been majestic for decades, and it's time..."
Before these words were finished, the noise in the distance was like dead leaves flowing downstream, suddenly pulling closer several times, as if close to the ear.
"Commander, something bad has happened! A group of military patrols suddenly snuck in near the east gate. They killed several guards in succession and then opened the east gate."
A sturdy man stood up in anger and shock. "Are you sure they are Chang'an military patrols?"
"I'm sure. They are indeed wearing the uniforms of the military patrols, and..." The man gritted his teeth and said, "The small front courtyard is brightly lit. After they attacked there, subordinates saw someone call a person in the team lieutenant, and the latter clearly had the token of the Northern Army hanging on his waist."
The faces of everyone present changed drastically.
You could hear a pin drop in the hall, and even rapid breathing could not be hidden. The sound of weapons outside seemed closer, and the sounds of killing intertwined, forming an unfolding net.
Inside the net were suspicious and uncertain hearts.
Someone softly broke the silence. "Didn't the Lord say that their target tonight is the North?"
"It is true that it was said, but looking at it now, our lord has likely been deceived by those vermin. That fat-bellied Chancellor Dong is probably not content with swallowing just one Tiger of the North; he wants to catch us all in one fell swoop," someone sneered coldly.
"Commander, since they have acted without honor, we need not show them righteousness. We cannot just sit here and wait for death. Our lord is still at the Changle Pavilion waiting for us to rescue him!"
Commander Lei exhaled two heavy streams of air from his nose. His tiger-like eyes gazed toward the direction of the Xuzhou military camp outside the city, and his voice boomed, "Follow me, we fight our way out!"
...
Almost identical scenes were unfolding one after another at the Sizhou and Yuzhou estates.
Similar to the situation at the Xuzhou estate, everyone inside was greatly alarmed. After their initial shock came an unquenchable rage. They slammed the tables and rose to their feet, drawing their blades to fend off the enemies. They fought the so-called Chang'an Patrols until the guards were forced to retreat and eventually driven out of the estate entirely.
But looking around, there were still many patrols on the surrounding streets. Each of them held a long halberd, exuding a murderous aura.
"That brat Dong Zhou has gone back on his word! He is lower than a beast! Follow me, kill!"
The area had descended into utter chaos, like a pot of boiling porridge tossed with every kind of mixed grain—the only word for it was pandemonium.
Amidst the surrounding turmoil, Dai Li, having changed into plain clothes, took Shi Rongyue and followed Qiao Wangfei. Taking advantage of the chaotic crowds, they headed together toward the East City Gate.
Coincidentally, they ran into the Qin brothers along the way.
Looking at a scene unfolding not far away, Shi Rongyue subconsciously stopped in her tracks, her lips pressing tightly together without her realizing it.
A few steps away, Nangong Zijin, who was also fleeing, was walking in a hurry and tripped over something on the ground. Seeing this, the young man beside her lent a hand to steady her.
Under the moonlight, the illuminated space between their two figures was reduced to a tiny sliver.
Her personal maid looked at her in confusion, "My lady?"
Shi Rongyue raised a hand to press against her chest, murmuring, "It suddenly feels a little sour here."
As if sensing something, the tall and slender young man suddenly looked over. Without a moment's hesitation, he let go of the other girl's arm and started walking toward her.
Shi Rongyue pressed her chest again, a stray tuft of hair on her head perking straight up. "I think I'm all better now!"