Martial Arrogance Dragon Soul-Chapter 165 - 155: A Forged Token?

The Great Qian Palace, located at the very center of Luochuan Imperial City.

Following the grand avenue of the royal city straight ahead, the majestic palace gradually became clearer.

At the same time, an ancient and stern aura also enveloped the area.

Qin Qing, Qin Shuang, and Jiang Ruorong walked past.

Before them lay high walls covered with glazed tiles and painted with vermilion lacquer, a succession of magnificent halls rose one after another.

"Is this the Imperial Palace? Does the current Emperor live inside?" Qin Shuang asked in a low voice.

"That’s right!" Qin Qing nodded.

"Brother, is our father also here?" Qin Shuang asked again.

"He should be here as well!"

"Oh!" With an "oh," Qin Shuang fell silent, with a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

"Let’s go. Let’s go inside," Jiang Ruorong said.

The three of them walked on.

Naturally, the entrance to the palace was heavily guarded.

As Qin Qing’s group approached, the soldiers guarding the gate stopped them.

"Who are you, and do you have any documentation to enter the palace?" one of the soldiers asked.

"We are here to see the Third Prince; this is the token from the Third Prince!"

As he said this, Qin Qing took out a dark gold-colored small cauldron engraved with the character "He."

On hearing this, the soldiers’ expressions changed slightly. If this young man was not deceiving them, then they were the privileged guests of the Third Prince.

The Third Prince’s guests were not something they dared to provoke.

However, the soldier clearly did not recognize the token Qin Qing had produced.

"Please wait here for a moment!"

The soldier’s tone was much more respectful than before. He took the small cauldron from Qin Qing and immediately ran to a city gate not far away, finding a soldier with more sophisticated equipment who looked like their team leader or someone of similar authority.

The team leader saw the small cauldron passed by the soldier and immediately glanced over in Qin Qing’s direction.

Without delay, he hurried over.

"I’m sorry, sir. You are a guest of the Third Prince, and we have neglected you!"

With that, he hastily returned the small cauldron to Qin Qing, "My subordinates are ignorant, please don’t take offense, sir!"

He bowed to Qin Qing while the soldiers behind him, not daring to say much, quickly bowed respectfully.

"It’s no trouble!"

Qin Qing waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Sir, would you like me to arrange for someone to accompany you to Wanhe Palace? I see you are unfamiliar with our palace, perhaps you are not acquainted with its layout," the team leader offered again.

"That would be appreciated," Qin Qing nodded, "Thank you very much!"

However, just as Qin Qing had just entered the gates of the Imperial Palace.

Suddenly, a cold and angry shout came from inside the palace.

"Seize them!"

The sound of horse hooves striking the ground came simultaneously, and at the same time, a troop of well-equipped soldiers clad in golden soft armor rushed over and surrounded Qin Qing’s group tightly in the middle.

The leader was none other than Sikong Tu, the head of the Imperial Guards!

"Sikong Tu?"

Qin Qing’s brow furrowed slightly.

Back when Shangguan Yong led his troops to slaughter into the Great Qian Martial Institute, laying siege to the Qiushui Villa, it was Sikong Tu who led the imperial guard’s massive army.

If it were not for the timely arrival of Zhao Tianyin, the Prince of Zhennan, entering the capital, I’m afraid the imperial guards would have flattened Qiushui Villa that time, and Qin Qing would have been directly captured into the heavenly prison.

"Lord Sikong!" The leader who had spoken before saw Qin Qing and his companions surrounded and hurried over swiftly, explaining to Sikong Tu, "These people are here to see the Third Prince, they have the Third Prince’s token..." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Token, what token? The token is a fake! These three are criminals wanted by the Imperial Court, how could they possibly have any tokens from the court?" Sikong Tu said coldly, with a wave of his hand, "These three have forged a token, their crime is compounded, seize them quickly and throw them into the death cells!"

Over a dozen soldiers immediately waved their long spears, besieging Qin Qing and the other two.

"I advise you to give up resistance and surrender! Otherwise, committing violence within the Imperial Palace with the intent of assassination is a grave crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of a family!" Sikong Tu said with a cold laugh.

"I’d like to see who dares!" Qin Qing roared angrily, taking out a small cauldron, "This is the token given to me by the Third Prince, Sikong Tu, as the head of the Imperial Guards, can you not discern the authenticity of this token?"

The soldiers attempting to capture Qin Qing all hesitated, showing signs of uncertainty.

But Situ Kong immediately scolded, "How audacious, on the verge of death and still spouting nonsense. How could a few country bumpkins possess the Third Prince’s token?! Seize them!"

Those imperial guards, of course, understood what Sikong Tu meant.

This was to put these three to death without distinction.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

At once, several long spears stabbed towards Qin Qing and the others.

"Qin Shuang, be careful!"

Qin Qing quickly shielded Qin Shuang behind him and, together with Jiang Ruorong, knocked away the incoming spearheads.

"How audaciously reckless. To commit violence inside the Imperial Palace," Sikong Tu sneered.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, a stern voice came, and a young man walked over from the side.

This young man was dressed ordinarily, his features rather handsome, but his demeanor soft, giving off a very calm impression.

"The Ninth Prince!"

Upon seeing this person, the imperial guards stopped in their tracks, and Sikong Tu quickly came forward to salute, as all the guards knelt on one knee.

"Sikong Tu, I saw everything just now. That object in his hand was clearly something from the Third Brother, why did you claim it was forged?" the Ninth Prince’s voice became a bit stern.

"This..." Sikong Tu found himself at a loss for words. He knew that the token was real, but how could he explain this to the Ninth Prince now?

"Alright..." The Ninth Prince seemed not to want to pursue the matter further, and he waved his hand, "Since it’s the Third Brother’s token, there is no need to make it difficult for them. It’s not good to cause a fuss inside the palace. Let them go!"

"Yes!" Sikong Tu dared not defy the words of the Ninth Prince. With a wave of his hand, the soldiers quickly retreated to stand behind Sikong Tu.

The Ninth Prince nodded slightly, then glanced at Qin Qing and the others, nodding slightly as a friendly gesture, and then left straight away.

Qin Qing watched the Ninth Prince leave and then glanced at Sikong Tu.

Sikong Tu’s expression was somewhat gloomy, he had not expected the Ninth Prince to suddenly appear; clearly this was an unforeseen complication.

Qin Qing didn’t want to waste any more time with Sikong Tu. What he needed to do now was to see the Third Prince as soon as possible to inquire about his father’s whereabouts.

"Let’s go!" Qin Qing said in a low voice, but just as he was passing by Sikong Tu, accompanied by Qin Shuang and Jiang Ruorong, Sikong Tu suddenly said coldly, "Qin Qing, when your father was taken to the palace, it was I who had him thrown into the death cells. Now, it is I who oversee him... I can torture him however I want, he is no different from a dog under my control!"

"No, that’s wrong... He is even less than a dog! Hahaha..."

Qin Qing looked deeply at Sikong Tu, as if to engrave Sikong Tu’s ghastly smiling face into his memory.

He did not respond to Sikong Tu, but took step by step deeper into the Imperial Palace, disappearing among the layers of pavilions...