Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

Chapter 133: The Azure Dragon Case

The Empress and the Imperial Concubine rushed to check on the Emperor, and even Su Wen stood up. The ministers present also stood up.

At this moment, among the ministers, Chancellor Yao Chong said, "Where are the Imperial Guards? Quickly capture the traitorous villains!"

The old man then threw his head back and laughed loudly: "Haha... Li Longji is dead, do you still wish to resist?"

As he spoke, the old man spread his hands, and a large number of people carrying weapons rushed out from the south gate. There were at least thirty or forty of them, and it seemed that only the Illusion Troupe had entered Xingqing Palace.

As the Imperial Guards rushed out of the palace one after another, the old man frowned almost instantly, then looked down at the sword in his hand.

There was no blood on the sword. When the old man looked up, he saw that Li Longji, the empress, the imperial concubine, and several palace maids and eunuchs on the stage had all disappeared. At this moment, apart from Gao Lishi and the Qianniu Guards, everyone else on the stage had vanished.

The ministers were all astonished; this was completely unexpected. Su Wen then pointed at the old man and said, "Shi Linfeng, why don't you reveal your true form?"

The old man turned to look at Su Wen, who was slowly walking towards the cloud steps. Su Wen smiled slightly and said, "You don't think you're the only one in the world who knows this so-called illusion magic, do you?"

Shi Linfeng looked at Su Wen, then turned his head and looked around. At this moment, an old Taoist priest, Ye Fashan, slowly stepped out of the hall, and the emperor, empress, imperial concubine and others also came out one after another.

Ye Fashan looked at Shi Linfeng and pointed at Fuchen: "You traitorous disciple, I taught you the art of illusion so that you could help the people of the world in the future. I never expected that you would use the art of illusion to try to overthrow my Great Tang. Why don't you surrender?"

Seeing this, Shi Linfeng didn't hesitate at all. He ripped off the human skin mask from his face and laughed loudly, "Haha... old man, you actually came out of the mountains to help Li Longji! Today, let's see what you can do to defeat me!"

After saying that, Shi Linfeng took out a rhinoceros horn from his pocket and began to blow on it without saying a word.

Suddenly, an explosion occurred in the sky above the city. Everyone looked up and saw a firework exploding in mid-air.

At this moment, a large number of soldiers slid down from one side of the high wall using ropes. Judging by the number, there must have been at least a hundred or so.

Upon seeing this, Shi Linfeng laughed and was about to continue speaking when he turned around to look at his surroundings. However, he saw that the noblewoman who had come seemed to have made no move.

Su Wendao asked, "What? Your horn isn't working anymore?"

Shi Linfeng frowned and looked at Su Wen, saying, "It's you. They clearly took the Azure Dragon Powder, so why didn't they listen to my horn?"

Su Wen chuckled and said, "You think you can control the entire Tang Dynasty by using Azure Dragon Powder to control the women in the homes of Tang officials and noble families? You're delusional. Your little tricks have long been seen through by Daoist Ye Fashan. The reason for holding this grand birthday banquet today is to lure out villains like you who lurk in the shadows. This place will be your burial ground!"

As Su Wen finished speaking, Gao Lishi exclaimed, "The Imperial Guards!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a large number of soldiers emerged from the surrounding city walls, and a large number of soldiers on the top of the palace were armed with crossbows, all of whom were already aiming at Shi Linfeng and the other rebels.

Seeing this, Shi Linfeng smiled slightly: "Su Wen, it's you. You've ruined my plans time and time again. Even if I can't kill you all today, I'll make sure many of you here die!"

Shi Linfeng was now consumed by rage, roaring, "Kill them! Killing one is no loss, killing two is a bonus!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the members of the illusion troupe and those who had slid down the ropes picked up their knives and charged towards the wives, children, and elderly of the officials and ministers, clearly ready to fight to the death!

The problem was that they were unarmored. Under the powerful crossbows of the Imperial Guards, they fell to the ground after just a few shots. Moreover, those present were all officials from the capital city of Chang'an.

There were hardly any easy targets. The so-called civil officials who didn't know martial arts were a tiny minority, and most of them were in the back row. These people simply couldn't get through.

Seeing that the situation was extremely bad, Shi Linfeng hadn't even stepped forward when most of his men had already been shot dead, and the rest were no match for these officials.

This was also the first time Su Wen had experienced how fierce the ministers and officials of the early and middle Tang Dynasty were, some of whom would even pick up a table and start a fight.

At this moment, Shi Linfeng spread his hands, releasing white smoke once more. A large amount of smoke appeared, and Su Wen shouted, "Imperial Guards, don't let him escape!"

Several Imperial Guardsmen rushed into the smoke with swords in hand, but as the smoke gradually dissipated, Shi Linfeng vanished into thin air.

Cui Lingyu said, "He must have escaped in disguise!"

Su Wen carefully examined his surroundings, but the scene was extremely chaotic, and he couldn't tell if there was anyone unusual.

......

North Gate of Xingqing Palace.

Shi Linfeng, dressed as a dancer, hurriedly fled. Just then, a man in armor stood in the passageway, holding a long spear, a slight smile playing on his lips. He coldly said, "You must be Shi Linfeng?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Linfeng looked at the newcomer and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am Li Zheng, the military governor of Jiangnan. Is it you who killed my daughter, Li Xinyue?"

Shi Linfeng was quite shocked and wanted to speak, but Li Zheng interrupted, "The east side of Xingqing Palace is the city wall. The south and west gates are now under complete martial law. You can only escape through the north gate. I've been waiting for you there!"

Shi Linfeng chuckled and said, "Hmph, you old man, you're already in your forties or fifties. I advise you to get out of the way, or I'll chop off your head today!"

Li Zheng said with a hint of anger, "Perfect timing! I also want to cut off your head and place it in front of my daughter's tomb to comfort Xin Yue's spirit in heaven!"

Li Zheng sprinted forward, then bent to the side and unleashed a spear flourish behind his back. He then delivered a sweeping attack, and Shi Linfeng tried to block with his knife, but how could a knife withstand the sweeping spear? The spear struck Shi Linfeng, sending him staggering back several steps, and knocking the knife from his hand.

Shi Linfeng tried to escape, but Li Zheng saw this and forcefully threw the gun at him. The gun pierced the wall, demonstrating the force of the blow.

Shi Linfeng hadn't expected the old man in front of him to be so powerful. Now that his knife had fallen, he could only grab his gun and try to draw it. However, the next second, Li Zheng used the Dragon Claw Hand to grab Shi Linfeng's face and shove him against the wall.

Li Zheng's grip on Shi Linfeng's left hand caused him excruciating pain. Li Zheng then clenched his right fist and, without any hesitation, delivered a powerful punch to Shi Linfeng's abdomen.

This punch nearly killed Shi Linfeng. Then, Li Zheng loosened his left hand and clenched his right fist, slamming it into Shi Linfeng's face.

Shi Linfeng's face was smashed into a bloody mess, but Li Zhengke showed no mercy and continued to strike his face repeatedly from both sides, causing slight dents in the wall behind him. He was truly a bloody mess.

This furious beating lasted for about 15 minutes, until Shi Linfeng was exhausted and slowly stopped, his eyes still seemingly filled with tears.

Li Zheng was panting heavily.

In contrast, the turmoil in Xingqing Palace has been completely quelled.

As the soldiers dragged the rebels' bodies onto carriages and sent them out of Xingqing Palace, eunuchs and maids began to clean up with brooms. A large number of eunuchs came out carrying red carpets and used them to cover the ground of Xingqing Palace to cover up the bloodstains.

The eunuchs and palace maids quickly cleaned up the scene, then the table was rearranged, dishes were served again, and wine glasses were refilled.

All of this took less than a quarter of an hour. The entire scene was as if the rebellion had never happened. It was so fast that Su Wen himself was caught off guard.

Seeing that the arrangements were almost complete, Gao Lishi announced loudly, "Let the banquet begin!"