At the same time, Wu Sangui, who rushed back to Shanhaiguan, also suddenly received a letter.
He had no intention of looking at it, but he accidentally glanced at it and found that the envelope was signed with the three characters "Zu Dashou". He felt chilled in his heart. He immediately dismissed the servants in the room, picked up the envelope and sat down next to a candle.
Holding back his inner excitement, he slowly opened it, spread the letter in his hands and read it carefully. There wasn't much in it, but it made Wu Sangui feel a little frightened, and his eyes became more and more fearful.
There were only a few words of content, but he read it for a few moments. When he read this letter, he was always in a state of turmoil and could not calm down for a long time.
Finally, after taking a long breath, he put the letter on the table and fell into deep thought.
He really couldn't imagine that the current situation was so unpredictable that his uncle Zu Dashou would actually write to him at this time. If His Majesty knew about it, his act of collaborating with the enemy and treason would be confirmed.
But the content above is so thrilling and even a little tempting.
Everyone with a discerning eye knows that the Ming Dynasty is already in the sunset, and one day it will end up being divided up by bandits. But after all, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Although the Ming Dynasty is very weak, it can still hold on for a while.
day.
The Shanhaiguan side is still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, or it can be said to be in its own hands. Therefore, if Dorgon and the others want to go south, they must first continue to detour from Mongolia and follow the route of the city gates at Rixifengkou, but that side has already
With the Chuang Army in charge, it was no longer the Ming Dynasty that demolished the east wall to make up for the west wall.
He has already sent 10,000 of his most valued people to King Qin. At least his reputation will not be bad, but future arrangements are something that requires careful planning.
Should we surrender to the Qing Dynasty? Or should we continue to support His Majesty?
Suddenly it became his biggest problem right now.
…
Taking advantage of the darkness, the team kept walking. Most of the officials and family members in the carriage had fallen asleep under the moonlight. The accompanying imperial guards were also quite tired, but their loyalty to the emperor deep in their hearts kept them going.
No matter how powerful and elite the Guan Ning troops were, after experiencing two battles, they were a little tired after walking such a long distance. However, due to the order of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Yang Kuo, they had no choice but to hold on and ride their horses.
Running around.
Zhu Ling didn't look sleepy at all, and he was marching in the procession with Kira behind his back. At his side, Wang Guoxing was always holding a long sword on his waist, and his sharp eyes were scanning the surroundings.
On the other hand, the eunuch Wang Chengen, the eunuch Wang Chengen, who was responsible for the rituals, looked like he was about to fall asleep. He was holding the reins in his hands, but he was swaying a little. It looked like he hadn't eaten for a long time.
The queens and princes had already fallen asleep in the carriage. A few of them leaned on the carriage quietly for fear of waking up the queens. The eunuch driving the carriage was even more cautious. Queen Zhang, who was in the carriage behind, was already a bit old. After being surrounded by the invading army before, she
After a long journey, my body was already a little unable to hold on, but in order not to affect the march of the team, I ordered the maids not to inform His Majesty.
The team kept marching like this, and no one dared to say anything to stop. Everyone knew that if they stayed for a while, they would have a chance to rest as long as they escaped the roundup of the intruders.
Finally, the sky became bright and the belly of the fish in the distance gradually turned white.
The people in the team had already reached a certain level of sleepiness, even though Yang Kuo still insisted on continuing to march, but the ministers unanimously requested to stop the team to rest.
In the end, with Zhu Ling's acquiescence, Yang Kuorao had military power, but under the imperial power, he had to accept the ministers' request and let the team stop and rest.
As soon as the team stopped, all the people on horseback immediately dismounted, squatting or sitting on the ground to rest. They drank heavily from the water in the kettle. They had not stopped for a day, and their energy had already been exhausted.
overdraft.
Not only people, but also tall horses must stop and rest after walking for such a long time.
"Your Majesty, please drink some water." Wang Chengen helped Zhu Ling off the horse and asked the eunuch next to him to bring a kettle and immediately handed it to Zhu Ling.
He just took a sip and handed it back. Looking at His Majesty's haggard and pale face, Wang Chengen couldn't bear it and said quickly: "Your Majesty, you didn't drink water almost all day yesterday. You finally took a rest.
Drink more."
After gently pushing the kettle open, Zhu Ling said weakly: "No, just save it. I have passed many villages this day but I haven't seen a single family. Where have all the people gone?"
After putting the kettle away, Wang Chengen thought and hesitated: "Maybe they were harassed by the intruders and ran away one after another."
"What I'm afraid of is that those families have been "harassed" by us." After Zhu Ling said this, he walked alone to the field ridge by the roadside. Wang Chengen behind him hurriedly followed.
After waving his hand, Wang Guoxing and Gao Wencai immediately put down the kettle in their hands and followed him with a dozen or so imperial guards.
"Master, there shouldn't be anyone else around here."
Seeing His Majesty's emotional eyes looking at a village not far away, and unable to bear to disappoint His Majesty, Wang Cheng'en also stated the reality on the side.
"Come on, come with me and have a look!"
After that, Zhu Ling called Ji Liang, who was eating grass on the roadside, to get on his horse. When Wang Chengen saw this, he hurried forward to stop Zhu Ling and hurriedly tried to dissuade him with a voice that was about to cry.
"Master, please don't bother me anymore. If a bandit suddenly appears nearby and scares the Holy Master, I will definitely die!"
Wang Guoxing and Gao Wencai, who was standing behind him, saw this and immediately knelt down to dissuade him: "Your Majesty, I am only a hundred miles away from the intruder. If the other party's cavalry catches up and lurks around my team, once you go deep into danger,
That’s really…”
Seeing this, Zhu Ling just smiled coldly and said, "Do you think that my fate is unlucky? Will it attract intruders?"
"I don't dare!"
"I don't dare!"
When Wang Chengen and the other three heard this, they were so frightened that they immediately fell to their knees and hit their foreheads on the ground, not daring to respond.
"Don't worry, with Wang Guoxing and the others here, it's nothing serious. Besides, I'm just out of boredom to go and have a look." After saying that, he called up Wang Guoxing and Gao Wencai who were kneeling on their knees, and ordered them to lead dozens of people to get on their horses and run with him.
And go.
Looking at His Majesty who disappeared into the woods after a while, Wang Chengen was extremely anxious and immediately turned back to inform Yang Kuo and Wang Jiayan about the matter.
Of course, Zhu Ling's behavior was not due to his temper. It was just that when he was looking at the village just now, he faintly saw a vague figure walking through the village.
However, because the distance was too far, he could not clearly see his face. However, his curiosity was too strong, so he immediately summoned people to search for him on horseback.
Everyone reined up their horses and arrived at the entrance of the village. The first thing they saw was a dilapidated scene. The houses were all in ruins, some of them had been burned down, and some of the other houses looked very desolate.
The crowd slowly rode horses and looked around. They found that these houses had been uninhabited for at least a month and were desolate. As they walked further, they found several rotting corpses. The stench immediately made them cover up.
Cover the mouth and nose.
"Your Majesty, it's time to go back. There is no one here anymore."
Wang Guoxing endured the stench and persuaded Zhu Ling, "This place looks like a ruin. I don't know why your Majesty is here."
Zhu Ling did not answer, but continued to lead people deeper inside, but as he went deeper, he could already vaguely feel the past of the miserable village. Officials imposed excessive taxes, and thieves attacked and plundered. Under the double blow, this originally peaceful little man
The village was reduced to rubble.
Suddenly, an almost inconspicuous object attacked Zhu Ling at an extremely fast speed. Its speed was no less than a powerful crossbow, and it was about to hit Zhu Ling at the moment.
Wang Guoxing jumped directly into the air, drew his sword and there was a crashing sound, knocking the object to the ground. When he lowered his head and looked down, he saw that it was a small stone!
He immediately looked around with sharp eyes, and then quickly said: "Wang Baihu, you lead people to protect His Majesty, and the others will search for me! We must catch this assassin!"
"yes!"
The Jinyi guards acted quickly. Wang Baihu immediately led a dozen people to surround Zhu Ling in the center, while Wang Guoxing and Gao Wencai led people to search everywhere.
After a while, there was movement in a nearby room.
I saw Gao Wencai striding out carrying a little girl wearing rags and cotton wool, who looked very pitiful, and said at the same time: "Your Majesty, I only found this little girl."
But before he finished speaking, the same small stone suddenly hit Gao Wencai's wrist directly. Gao Wencai groaned in pain. The little girl fell to the ground, but she immediately got up and tried to escape, but was pulled away by other Jinyi guards.
The knife stopped him.
"If you don't come out, this girl may die!" Wang Guoxing drew his knife across the little girl's neck and shouted in the direction of the pebble.
"I'm going out, let go of my sister!"
[Author's digression]: Two updates will be resumed tomorrow, and three updates will be possible!