Xiomi the warlord of the Ming Dynasty

Looking for the rebels

All of the rebels listened attentively, and after hearing what they heard they were all in shock. Although the rebels did not fully understand what happened yesterday, they still could tell that it was all part of a big scheme and that these two men, whom they thought as outsiders were actually from the Imperial Army. So the fact that these two men had managed to evade capture for so long meant that they were probably powerful enemies. These men didn't seem to be lying or acting against the government, thus this could probably mean that they were indeed part of the rebel army. And the fact that these two men were from the same clan gave them even stronger confidence in their chances of winning this battle. They knew that no matter how many troops that they brought along, they couldn't possibly take back the imperial capital and destroy the palace. What they needed to do now was to defeat those two men, and get their hands on the imperial power once again.
After telling their story, Zhao Lian and Cheng Ho stood up quickly and bowed their heads towards the Emperor before turning around and marching towards the gate. Once he saw them leave, the guards immediately grabbed Zhao Lian's arms and dragged him back in their direction. However, they stopped when they heard the Emperor ask someone to bring their things to the Imperial Palace. Then the Imperial guards returned to where Cheng Ho and Zhao Lian were imprisoned, and placed all of their weapons on the ground before leaving again. When the guards walked away, Cheng Ho turned his attention back to the Imperial Guards, and ordered the guard next to him, "Guard Chen, please escort the two of them out of the prison". The guards bowed their heads at him and moved over to the prisoners' side as Cheng Ho waited patiently for one of them to open the door. After a short while, the doors opened slowly, and the two Imperial Guards walked inside the room. One of them opened the cell to let the prisoners out, while the other stayed outside waiting for Cheng Ho and his friends to finish escaping. Cheng Ho and his group left the jail in front of the Prison House and started to walk towards the exit. Just after they were already far enough from the Prison House, they both saw that two more Imperial Guards were coming towards them. Without any hesitation, Cheng Ho and his friends hid themselves between a bunch of trees nearby, and watched the two Imperial Guards approach their direction.
When the two Imperial Guards walked past them, Cheng Ho immediately stepped forward and pointed his gun at the head of one of the guards as soon as the soldier came close to him. He pulled the trigger, but his weapon was locked and refused to release the safety. Cheng Ho cursed angrily as he tried again and again to pull the trigger, but failed yet again. Eventually, the second guard arrived behind the other Imperial Guard and pulled out his sword as well, and began fighting the two of them without fear.
As the fight continued, the Imperial Guards seemed to realize something was wrong and decided to stop trying to catch the intruders. Instead of continuing to attack Cheng Ho and his companions, the guards began running off in different directions. Cheng Ho cursed loudly once the Imperial Guards had vanished from his sight. He quickly ran through the forest after them, trying to keep an eye on their movements, which seemed to change every second. Cheng Ho eventually reached a clearing, where there were several Imperial Guard stationed, and realized that he could not continue following them without being detected by them. His heart sank as he looked at his surroundings and realized he would need to choose a direction to escape in. He thought hard about what direction he should take, as he began considering the best strategy to make his escape. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice calling out from somewhere within the forest "Hey, Cheng Hu!" The moment he heard his sister's voice, Cheng Hu immediately snapped out of his thoughts and turned around, only to see that Li Qing had come to stand next to him "Where are Qiaofeng, Cheng Ho and Tianchai now?" he yelled impatiently "We lost track of them after we entered the forest!" Li Qing responded and told him the location they were in at, "Then you guys need to find them and get them out! Don't let them stay here!" he exclaimed.
Li Qing turned around and rushed into the forest. Cheng Hu and Cheng Hu followed closely behind. They passed through a small hill and spotted a clearing filled with tents. As they drew closer they saw that many Imperial Guards were standing in front of the tents. There was also a woman sitting in the middle of a tent. She seemed very tired from all of the activity, which was surprising for her. Seeing that she noticed Cheng Hu and Cheng Hu's arrival, the woman's eyes widened in excitement. She stood up, walked towards them, and hugged Cheng Hu tightly after seeing him, saying, "Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're here! We were so worried about you guys!" Cheng Hu sighed as he patted Li Qing's shoulder and then walked towards the woman while saying "Qiaofeng, don't worry anymore. The two rebels will be executed tomorrow and we'll be free once again."
Cheng Ho looked confused as he looked between Li Qing and the woman, saying "Wait a minute! I think I know you! You're Qianqian, right?" Li Qing nodded his head and replied "Yeah! That's right, I am Qianqian!" As she spoke, Qianqian removed the cloak from her body and handed it to Cheng Ho to put on himself. At that moment a loud sound rang out through the air. Cheng Ho, Li Qing and the rest turned towards the source and saw that a large number of Imperial Guards were charging straight towards them at full speed. Before the soldiers in charge of leading them had even made it to their destination, the Imperial Guards charged directly into the group of soldiers. At that moment, Cheng Ho's mind went blank, as he forgot about everything else. All he remembered was that this woman had saved his life, and that he owed her. As soon as Cheng Ho regained his senses from the confusion, he felt a sharp pain come from the bottom of his feet, and then realised that someone was stepping on his foot. At first he thought it was someone trying to step on the soles of his shoes, and he didn't say anything, but he suddenly remembered that Li Qing and the others were present and he quickly stepped on the foot of another Imperial Guard. This time, he did not care whether it was a girl or boy, as he didn't want anything to interfere with him and Qianqian's reunion.