The sky has just become a little white, and the clear morning light outlines the distant city wall and the ridge of Baohua Mountain further away. Qian Zerui and Qiao Jien sat at the chess table for half the night, and walked to the corridor to stretch their muscles. , I heard the guards running in to report that Emperor Shaolong was going to leave the capital, and he ordered hundreds of officials to accompany him.
They stood in the corridor in a daze, as if struck by thunder.
After looking at each other for a long time, Qiao Jien stamped his feet and shouted: "Your Majesty is confused! Your Majesty is confused!"
Qiao Jien thought about all the things that had happened in the past few days, but he believed that the story of Emperor Shaolong leaving the capital was true. He didn't know whether Jingxiang was prepared, but he knew that as long as Emperor Shaolong walked out of Jianye City, the sky would collapse again. .
However, at this moment, besides stamping his feet and complaining, he had no idea what to do.
Qian Zerui stuttered and asked the guard who rushed in to report:
"Yes, will there be an edict coming to the palace?"
Qian Zerui asked this not because he wanted to comply with the imperial edict, but because the news was so shocking that he couldn't believe it was true until he saw the imperial edict.
"The palace has not received the edict yet, but at that moment the palace gates opened wide, and hundreds of palace attendants carrying lanterns came out of the palace carrying the edict and rushed to the houses of various ministries and departments officials - which ones are closer to the palace???? The mansion of the ???????????? family was the first to receive the edict, and the news came from these mansions!" the guard gasped.
The guard commander Chen Fan said with a serious expression:
"The humble post has sent someone out of the palace for verification. If it is true, the palace will probably have an edict coming soon! However, if this is true, the edict who came to the palace this time may not be dismissed so easily. Already..."
Xu Huai had a lot of titles, and one of them, "bringing imperial equipment", was an honorary title. However, Chen Fan, Geng Jingzhong and others who were "bringing imperial equipment" at that time were actually the marriage officers who joined the Imperial City Department and were Emperor Jianji's relatives. There is a decent personal attendant in front of the imperial court.
Their taste at this time was not very high, but after being with Emperor Jianji for so many years, their knowledge was beyond the reach of ordinary generals. Of course they could think of what it meant for Emperor Shaolong to leave the capital at this time, and they also knew about Princess Yingyun. The value of His Highness the King of Qi is far higher than that of other officials. Worried that Emperor Shaolong might take a tougher attitude, he sent an emissary and led the imperial guards to take His Highness the King of Qi away.
"I don't care what rumors are outside, Yin'er and I will not leave the capital." Yingyun said flatly.
"The captive soldiers have long been expelled from Huainan, and the Jianghuai Jingping. The Holy Emperor's departure from Beijing was such a big deal that the Privy Council and the Political Hall were not allowed to hear about it? Furthermore, it was dark and unclear at this time, and His Majesty suddenly issued an edict. There must be something fishy in Beijing, you don't need to pay attention to it, Her Royal Highness and I will take care of everything." Qian Zerui was shocked, but he still did not forget to express his attitude in front of Chen Fan and other guards and generals.
Qian Zerui almost said directly that if there was another edict coming, it would be regarded as a fake edict.
There had been preparations for resisting the imperial edict before. Chen Fan, Geng Jingbiao and several military attachés who came to the back garden after hearing the news saw Princess Yingyun and Qian Zerui once again expressed their stance and saluted together: "Finally, general. Understood! As long as the general is still breathing, no one should think of taking the young highness away from the great highness and Mr. Qian!"
Princess Yingyun was still worried and took her personal maid to the bedroom to wake her brother up.
Chen Fan, Geng Jingbiao and other generals were busy ordering all the guards to be fully armed, light more lanterns, strengthen the guards inside and outside the palace, and be truly prepared to resist the decree with force.
Qiao Jien sat down on the steps in a daze, and asked Qian Zerui with a sad face:
"What kind of drama is this? Does Your Majesty really believe that Duke Pingliang wants to Qingjun before crossing the Huaihe River? This time he is going to Yangzhou to meet Ge
General Yu meets up? If Dai Viet really continues to struggle like this, can it not fall apart?"
Qian Zerui stared at the dim morning light with solemn eyes and said nothing for a long time. When he saw Princess Yingyun walking over with the sleepy King Qi in hand, he stood up to greet her.
Chen Fan followed closely and rushed over to report: "Mr. Zhu Hang is here. He wants to see Mr. Qian. We are temporarily stopping him in the front yard."
"What, Zhu Hang is here to deliver the message?" Qian Zerui asked in surprise.
Zhu Hang's reputation in the capital was not inferior to his Qian Zerui's, and the Jianye Mansion Army was organized by Zhu Hang and Liu Yan. Qian Zerui was worried that Zhu Hang would be involved in the plot to leave the capital, so he came with an imperial edict to arrest him.
Taking King Qi away, he doubted that he could stop it.
Not to mention that Qian Zerui was shocked. When Yingyun heard that Zhu Hang was coming, her face turned pale with fright, and she was worried that Zhu Hang was involved.
"Xiangong Zhu Hang said that he went to see Xianggong Qian after receiving the edict in the palace. Only then did he find out that Xianggong Qian had not returned here, so he rushed over to meet him - it was said in the palace that the imperial edict had nothing to do with Xianggong Zhu Hang." Chen Fan said.
Seeing that it was not the worst case scenario as he had guessed, Qian Zerui secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"Then please invite Mr. Zhu Hang to come over and talk."
After a while, Zhu Hang came over in embarrassment with his family general Lu Wenhu. When he saw Qian Zerui, Princess Miaoyun and Qiao Jien together, he stepped forward and said:
Lai grabbed Qian Zerui's sleeves and pulled him out, saying anxiously: "You and I will go and persuade your majesty that you can't leave the capital at this time. This must be Xu Huai's plan to lure the snake out of its hole! Your majesty hasn't set off yet, and things are still going on.
There is room for redemption.”
"Mr. Zhu, do you think His Majesty will be able to hear even a single word of what you and I say?" Qian Zerui said bitterly, "If what you and I are saying is useful, why is this?"
Although the world and the Qiandi family had long believed that Zhu Hang and his son were in cahoots with Jingxiang Hang, Qian Zerui had known the Zhu family for many years. After careful consideration, he realized that it was actually Zhu Zhi, and the Zhu Tong brothers had already had their own ideas.
.
After the victory at Pikou, the powers of the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council were redistributed. Zhu Hang, whose reputation and qualifications were high enough, failed to be among the prime ministers, but Qian Zerui temporarily took charge of the Privy Council as a scholar, which is enough to explain everything.
Already.
"The sky is going to fall," Zhu Hang shouted, stamping his feet when he saw that Qian Zerui could not be held back. "Your Majesty is also confused. He really wants to leave Beijing and rush to Runyang. How can he act in a hurry before Xu Huai leads his army to cross the Huaihe River?
What's the use of joining Ge Yu's troops? Confused, confused! That thief Wang Boqian killed Your Majesty this time!"
"No matter whether Duke Pingliang secretly contributed to this matter, as long as your majesty takes half a step out of Jianye City, the big mistake will be irreversible," Qian Zerui sighed. "If Mr. Zhu Hang still thinks about the kindness of the late emperor, he should know
King Qi must not get involved at this time. Last night, His Majesty sent an edict to take King Qi into the palace, but Her Royal Highness the Princess blocked him. I was worried that something else might happen, so I stayed here to play chess with Duke Qi last night, but nothing happened.
I didn’t expect to hear such news until now.”
Zhu Hang looked back and saw Princess Yingyun and Qi King Zhao Yin, who had just realized that the situation was serious. His face turned pale with fright. He bowed and saluted, then sat down on the stone steps in frustration and said:
"If Jingxiang appears to have nothing to do with this matter, perhaps Prince Qi's palace has no arrangements. There are still more than a hundred soldiers in my palace. I will immediately transfer them to block the road. I should be able to ensure that His Highness stays in Jianye!"
Qian Zerui handed over his hand and thanked Zhu Hang for making this arrangement.
The world and the Qiandi clan have long believed that Zhu Hang and his son were in cahoots with Beijing and Xianghang. I am afraid that even the soldiers of the Zhu family thought so. Zhu Hang arranged for the soldiers of the Zhu family to block the passage outside the Qi Palace, and they might be able to directly scare the emissary.
Go away to prevent the edict and the imperial guards from breaking into the Qi Prince's Mansion.
"You and I
That's probably all we can do." Zhu Hang asked Lu Wenhu in frustration to return home immediately to make arrangements.
Zhu Hang's residence was not far from the Prince of Qi's residence, but after half a stick of incense, he did not wait for Lu Wenhu to mobilize his troops, nor did he wait for the edict to lead the soldiers to dispatch. However, Zhu Tong, who should not be in Jianye City at this time, followed Lu Wenhu into the palace.
Back garden.
Seeing that the second son Zhu Tong, who had been by Xu Huai's side for more than half a year, recruiting envoys and ministers, and had not returned to Jianye during the New Year, appeared in front of him, Zhu Hang immediately confirmed his previous guess. He was angry, anxious, and out of the blue.
He snatched the waist knife from the guard beside him, slapped Zhu Tong in the face with the knife and scabbard, and cursed: "You treacherous son, are you capable of doing this?"
Lu Wenhu and others hurriedly hugged Zhu Hang and took the waist knife from his hand.
Zhu Tong raised his hands to Qian Zerui, Qiao Jien and Princess Yingyun and said:
"Pingliang Duke had to report secretly that Wei Chujun, Wang Boqian, Luo Wang and others were secretly plotting to kidnap His Majesty out of the capital. However, there was no evidence of their conspiracy being announced in advance. I was worried that it would be difficult to win Your Majesty's trust. I could only wait for them to carry out their evil deeds on their own.
Expose it to the world and then deal with it..."
Now that I have made up my mind to clear the emperor first, I naturally put all the blame on people like Wang Boqian and Luo Wang, saying that Emperor Shaolong was just deceived by adultery.
, held hostage.
Zhu Hang did not play these word games with his second son, and angrily said:
"If you hadn't used the trick to scare him, how could His Majesty have left the capital?"
"Father, please don't be stubborn. If Wei Chujun, Wang Boqian, and Luo Wang have no plans secretly, how can Jingxiang be frightened?" Zhu Tong said helplessly.
Zhu Hang was so angry that his chest hurt and he didn't want to pay attention to this traitor anymore.
Qian Zerui asked: "What do Jingxiang plan to do?"
"Jingxiang has no plans to do anything, and will not do anything," Zhu Tong said. "Even if he wants to do something, he has to wait until the world sees the true colors of Wei Chujun, Wang Boqian, Luo Wang and others. That's why my father wants to mobilize his family soldiers.
When I came to seal the road, I was worried that people would misunderstand, so I didn’t stop or give in. I also came here to explain to avoid misunderstanding by Mr. Qian and His Highness. However, Mr. Qian and His Highness don’t have to worry about Wang Boqian, Luo Wang will definitely take King Qi away by force.
, after all, in their view, the top priority is to take His Majesty hostage and go to Runzhou to meet Luo Nanguang and Ge Yu as soon as possible! So please, Your Highness, Mr. Qian, please be patient..."
"Is it true that Jingxiang is not afraid of Wang Boqian, Luo Wang and the others if they don't do anything now? They are colluding with the Chihu people?" Qiao Jien asked doubtfully.
"..." Zhu Tong said with a smile, "Pingliang Duke's army has not moved, and there is no fear that the Red Husbands will cross the Huaihe River to kill them. Wang Boqian, Luo Wang and others colluded with the Red Husbands. In addition to committing an even more unforgivable mistake, they can also
how?"
Qian Zerui and Zhu Hang did not doubt Zhu Tong's words. They still had good eyesight and could see clearly that the situation was naturally very simple. The key to everything was whether Xu Huai led his army to cross the Huaihe River.
Xu Huai has not yet led his army to cross the Huaihe River. After the Huaihe River thaws, with the cooperation of armored warships, even only half of the troops and horses can hold the original defense line. He is not afraid of how much the Chihu people can mobilize after their new defeat.
A massive offensive.
This means that Xu Huai can draw tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Shouchun, Huangchuan and other places at any time to do whatever he wants.
Now Emperor Shaolong left the capital in a hurry under the instigation of Wang Boqian and others. Even if he could successfully rendezvous with Ge Yu's troops in Runzhou, what would happen?
Xu Huai had tens of thousands of wealthy elites in his hands who could be mobilized calmly. At this time, the soldiers and horses of the kings of Qin who were participating in the garrison in Shouchun and other places would even align with Xu Huai at the first time.
Will they admit that Emperor Shaolong left the capital in embarrassment of his own volition and was not held hostage by Wang Boqian, Luo Wang and others?
