Chapter 409 Finally here
In the morning breeze, Helian Xuan took the lead, galloping at lightning speed, the wind whistling in his ears, the flags fluttering, the blood in his heart burning, with excitement, anger, and worry.

What’s exciting is that after a year and a half and many hardships, he finally returned to Jinling, his home.

What makes people angry is that the shameless Prince Yu is colluding with the Fifth Uncle and is attacking the city. Such a prosperous and peaceful place, a thousand-year-old capital, is now being trampled under iron hooves.

What he was worried about was that his relatives were in danger and the Song Dynasty was in jeopardy, and he was afraid that it would be too late for him.

He broke through all the way, escaping many dangers. He kept going and was exhausted to the extreme, but he could not stop, not even for a moment.

I’m just afraid of the three words “too late”.

The three words "too late" sometimes really have the destructive power to destroy the world and overthrow everything in their path. He has fought in hundreds of battles and his heart is as hard as steel, but when he thinks of these three words, he still can't help but tremble.

Your Majesty, Your Highness the Crown Prince, you must hold on. I am here with reinforcements.

Xiaojing, Chunyu, and all the brothers, you must hold on. I will fight alongside you.

Naya, you have to hold on too. You left home thousands of miles away for me, and we haven't even gotten married yet. You have to give me a chance to fulfill the oath I made to Eternal Heaven on the grassland.

Thinking of this, Helian Xuan became extremely anxious. He raised his hand and whipped, shouting, "The rebels are right in front of us. Brothers, follow me and charge..."

The prince received a report that an unknown army appeared in the distance, so he immediately climbed up the city wall to look into the distance.

"Your Highness, it's too dangerous here, please leave immediately." A general used his body to block the prince. Arrows were flying everywhere and there were enemy soldiers who could attack at any time. Life and death meant nothing here.

The prince looked at the general covered in blood, not knowing whether it was the general's own or the enemy's, and asked, "What is your name?"

The general bowed and said, "I am Ling Tong, the captain of the Five Cities Military Department."

The prince nodded slightly and patted his shoulder, ignoring the blood on his armor: "Good job."

After saying this, he gently pushed the captain away, walked to the battlement, and looked into the distance.

In the distance, I saw a black flag with a gold border fluttering in the wind.

A faint smile appeared on the prince's lips, and that smile gradually spread to his deep eyes, igniting the light of hope. This guy, after rushing so hard, finally caught up.

That flag, like the dazzling golden light leaping out of the horizon, became the bright dawn that shone into his heart.

Because he knew that it was Helian Xuan's flag.

Helian Xuan is here.

"Those are our reinforcements." The prince said softly.

This sentence was like a magic medicine that could bring the dead back to life. Everyone's eyes lit up, and their originally numb hearts suddenly became full of blood.

"Reinforcements are coming, brothers, kill them..."

Suddenly, the defenders' morale increased greatly.

As soon as the reinforcements arrived, the Fifth Prince's troops were attacked from all sides and were in a dilemma. They had no time to attack the city and turned around, with the reserve team becoming the vanguard. If they could not charge out, they would be trapped in a jar and would surely die.

Unfortunately, he was facing Helian Xuan, the most powerful general of Huai Song, and it was not easy for him to break through.

In the imperial palace, as the first ray of golden sun shone upon the towering palace, the last enemy soldier was killed by Xia Chunyu.

A hard-fought battle finally came to an end.

But no one cheered. Everyone looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground with a tragic look on their faces. Victory came so hard and at an unimaginable heavy price.

Of the one thousand guards, only more than a hundred are still standing, and the rest are either seriously injured or dead.

Zichen Palace, the core place of Huai Song Dynasty and the symbol of imperial power, is now a hell on earth and a pool of blood.

Chirp... Suddenly, a firework like a shooting star rose in the east and bloomed brilliantly in the sky.

Xia Chunyu, who was already extremely tired, suddenly fixed his eyes.

Immediately revealed a look of surprise.

That was the signal that reinforcements were arriving, as he and the prince had agreed upon.

The reinforcements finally arrived and Jinling City was saved.

Xia Chunyu had originally wanted to defend the palace, but now he has nothing to worry about.

Turning his head to look at the bewildered brothers, Xia Chunyu said loudly: "Brothers, that is the signal of the arrival of reinforcements. Our blood has not been shed in vain. We have defended the dignity of Huai Song, the dignity of the royal family, and our own dignity with our blood."

Everyone looked stern.

"Now, I order you, Cheng Yi, to take fifty people and stay behind to clean up the battlefield. We cannot let our brothers die without a complete body. The rest of you, follow me to charge out of the palace and capture the traitors alive." Xia Chunyu issued the order.

Naya followed Xia Chunyu and asked, "Will the reinforcements be Helian Xuan?"

Xia Chunyu could not be sure about this question, although he felt that it was very likely Helian Xuan.

"probably!"

Naya was delighted: "Then I'll go to the East City Gate to wait for him."

He left the team in an instant.

Xia Chunyu smiled bitterly. Naya was just there to help. It was all thanks to her that night. Now she could be considered a retired hero.

Prince Yu also saw the fireworks. The color on his face instantly disappeared, his body swayed, and he almost fell down.

The tide is gone.

He was defeated, completely defeated. Although he could not take the palace, he still had hope and reliance. As long as the reinforcements did not arrive in time, the fifth uncle would be able to break into the city within half a day.

But now, all hope is lost.

"Your Highness, please follow me and evacuate quickly." A man dressed in black said hurriedly.

Prince Yu just stood there in a daze, not yet able to recover from the absolute shock brought by the cluster of fireworks.

He was filled with reluctance and disbelief.

He was unwilling to accept that years of hard work and planning would end like this.

He was unwilling to accept that his grand ambitions and high aspirations were shattered by such a blow.

He was unwilling to give up. The throne that was within his grasp slipped away from him. He was clearly more qualified than the crown prince to sit on the throne and rule the world.

What is a prince? He is indecisive and soft-hearted. The country will only become more corrupt if it falls into his hands. The reason why the prince is the prince is that he has a mother who is the queen. He was born half a year earlier than him.

In terms of intelligence, strategy, and bravery, how can the prince compare to him?
He failed just like that, and from then on, he became a traitor and lived like a rat in a gutter all his life, while the prince became a hero who protected the country and even ascended the throne.

Could it be that his painstaking planning ultimately served the Crown Prince well?

If he had not poisoned his father, he would have had enough time to deal with the prince and nibble away at him bit by bit. In fact, he had been doing this before with very good results. However, after the emperor was assassinated in the Nanshan Palace, the Shu family was involved. Although his father did not blame him, it was obvious that his father had become wary of him. Everything that happened afterwards, one by one, showed that his father was about to give up on him.

So he couldn't bear it anymore and decided to fight back instead of waiting to die.

However, the consequence of this desperate struggle was to accelerate their demise.

Thinking of this, Prince Yu felt a surge of blood and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Your Highness..." the subordinate exclaimed in surprise.

Prince Yu waved his hands and forced himself to calm down and face reality.

"Go, kill Princess Yu, and we will evacuate through the secret passage."

It was all because of that damn woman. If she hadn't leaked his plan, perhaps he would have succeeded by now.

His life was ruined by a woman.

Lin was ignorant and stupid, and Ruan was in Cao's camp but his heart was with Han. They both deserved to die.

Even if he loses, he will make those who betrayed him pay the price.

Killing Aruan would at least make Helian Jing suffer unbearable pain.

A'ruan's hands were tied behind her back, but her expression was calm. She had already prepared herself. Death was just a matter of a blink of an eye. She could die, she would rather die, but she must not see Xiaojing's head before she died as Prince Yu said.

As long as Xiaojing is alive and well, and as long as the people she loves are safe, then she will die with peace of mind.

With a bang, the door was kicked open roughly.

A Ruan looked up and saw that the person coming was a stranger.

The tension in his heart was finally relieved, and soon a faint smile appeared on his lips.

It’s good that it wasn’t Prince Yu who came, because that means Prince Yu’s conspiracy failed.

The man drew out a long knife and walked towards A'ruan.

A Ruan took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and slowly closed his eyes.

Death was approaching, but she was only filled with joy.

Because she knew that if Prince Yu lost, he would kill her without hesitation. If Prince Yu won, with his perverted mind, he would definitely torture her in various ways.

The visitor was slightly startled when he saw Princess Yu, who was ready to die.

He thought that this beautiful woman would cry and beg him, but he didn't expect that she was ready to die and didn't even have the intention of begging for mercy.

He is a man of the world. People of the world all have a sense of chivalry, and what they respect most are those who are not afraid of death.

So, he raised the long sword, but for a moment he couldn't bear to let it fall.

It's just these few seconds of hesitation.

A lithe figure broke through the window and stood in front of him with a scimitar in his hand.

"If you want to kill the princess, kill me first." The clear voice revealed an extremely resolute momentum.

Ah Ruan opened his eyes and was shocked: "Ah Man, what are you doing back here? Go away."

Ah Man stared at the enemy and said firmly, "Princess, before I came to Jinling, I promised the princess that I would protect you. If I can't protect you, you must not let you go alone. Even if I die, I will follow you and serve you underground."

A'ruan was speechless. She asked A'man not to come back because she didn't want another person to die in vain. She didn't expect A'man to be so disobedient.

"A'man, you are so disobedient." As A'ruan said this, tears flowed down her face.

The man looked at Princess Yu, and then at the young, frail maid who was ready to die. He became more and more conflicted.

He is a man of the world, and this time he was acting on the orders of the young master. If it was the young master who ordered the killing of Princess Yu, then he would not have hesitated for a moment, but this order was given by Prince Yu.

It was difficult for him to deal with a weak woman.

(End of this chapter)