Hearing what Wang Shangshu and Gao Wencai said, even if Sima Jingru didn't want to kill his subordinates, he probably couldn't help it. His hesitant expression made the two of them gradually impatient.
Gao Wencai directly called the person next to him and whispered a few words in his ear. The person understood the meaning and quickly informed the surrounding Jinyi guards. Immediately, the Jinyi guards began to gradually move closer to the seventeen people standing together.
But Sima Jingru's seventeen subordinates did not know what happened, nor did they know the actions of the surrounding Jinyi guards.
Seeing that the Jinyi guards were about to take action, if Sima Jingru didn't make a decision himself, then only a dozen of his brothers would die in the end.
Just when the Jin Yiwei had completed the encirclement of the seventeen people, Sima Jingru immediately stepped forward and pulled out Gao Wencai's sleeves. His face was red and his whole body was trembling, obviously suppressing the anger in his heart.
"you dare!"
"You are just a small guard, and those brothers behind you are just soldiers. In the face of His Majesty's safety, they are nothing more than ants!" Gao Wencai did not show any weakness, and just shook him off and gave the order.
Even if they could overwhelm the 5,000 intruders with eighteen men, they were now without armor or horses, and were just a dozen strong soldiers trapped here. And none of them were vegetarians.
"etc!"
Sima Jingru finally grabbed Gao Wencai at the last moment and said harshly to him: "I'll go!"
Then, he directly walked into the big tent again alone. Gao Wencai behind him finally smiled in relief, causing the royal guards to disperse quickly, and Wang Jiayan also showed a knowing smile.
It seems that this Sima Jingru can still be cultivated into one of his own.
Sima Jingru walked in with a sullen face. As soon as he entered the tent, the thief saw him and taunted him: "Are you going to die for your dozen brothers?"
"nature."
"That's great. Why don't you take your dozen or so guards and kill those royal guards and rush out? Why do you have to sacrifice your life for the emperor?" The thief was obviously very curious about his actions.
"I am loyal to Your Majesty and to the imperial court. I don't want my brothers to die. Instead of a dozen people dying, why not die alone." Sima Jingru's answer was also very upright and did not cover it up at all.
"Your master Wu Sangui is not that loyal to the court. Are you worthy of it?"
"I don't care what Uncle Ping Xi does, but I am still loyal to His Majesty, and there is no conflict." Sima Jingru replied carefully, and then said: "On the contrary, you rebels, instead of thinking about His Majesty's kindness to you, want to
You always think you are rebelling for the benefit of the people, but in the end you don’t know how many people died because of you.”
"Are you really going to die for the emperor?" The thief was not annoyed, but stood up and asked him loudly again.
"That's right!"
As he spoke, Sima Jingru took out a dagger, and a large number of imperial guards rushed in behind him. He felt confident in his heart and said to him: "Now, walk away from there, I will fulfill my promise."
"Okay, okay!"
After the thief said hello several times, he immediately took off his clothes and armor, turned and immediately knelt down to His Majesty on the dragon couch, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Meng Zhangming, congratulates and congratulates Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty Wang Jiayan."
"My subordinates are highly literary."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"
Suddenly, everyone knelt down and shouted congratulations to His Majesty in front of them.
This scene instantly made Sima Jingru a little overwhelmed. He had no idea what was going on, but he suddenly saw the thief turn over and knelt down on the ground. A respectful voice of congratulations immediately came from behind him.
And His Majesty, who had been held hostage, was now sitting on the dragon couch, looking at Sima Jingru with interest, and seeing his confused look, he said: "Wang Jiayan, please tell him what is going on.
?”
"I obey the decree."
Wang Jiayan stood up slowly, smiled at Sima Jingru and said: "Sima Shou, I have been offended today. What you saw was just a test. His Majesty was held hostage just now, it was just a show. The real purpose is
Test whether you are loyal to His Majesty."
"What?"
When Sima Jingru heard this, he felt like he was struck by lightning. If it weren't for His Majesty who was in front of him, and those who plotted against him were all high officials of the imperial court, he would have wanted to take out his sword and kill them.
"His Majesty!"
"I also feel that I have gone too far, and I hope you can forgive everyone present." Zhu Ling finally spoke. He had previously ordered Wang Guoxing to give medicine to the wounded soldiers, and he brought the people back, but he was reported by the Jinyi Guards.
Wang Jiayan and Meng Zhangming are plotting something.
Only then did he inquire and find out, but he also knew that the two of them had no intention of telling him.
"Wang Shangshu and others didn't plan to tell me before. If I hadn't been smarter, I would have been kept in the dark." He said this to comfort Sima Jingru, who was angry at being deceived.
"Your Majesty, if it is just to test my loyalty, wouldn't it be too much to use my brothers as a bet..."
Sima Jingru still didn't finish speaking. After all, no consequences occurred. His Majesty also comforted him a little. He was still loyal to His Majesty in his heart, but he still felt a little uncomfortable with what happened today.
At this point, Zhu Ling also asked Wang Jiayan to take out the imperial edict at the right time. Wang Jiayan immediately handed in the seventeen people outside and read loudly to them: "The emperor is destined to be carried by heaven. The edict says that Sima Jingru's loyalty can be a lesson.
In order to share my worries, the seventeen men under his command are all loyal to the emperor. To show their loyalty to the emperor, each of them will be given a special reward of ten thousand silver taels. They will be granted the title of guerrilla general and form a separate army. This is God's punishment for the soldiers. I admire this."
"Sima Guards, please accept the order."
When Sima Jingru heard about the reward, his heart was filled with anger, but he was finally calmed down a little. Only when Wang Jiayan called him for the second time did he react and hurriedly accepted the order.
"I thank your Majesty on behalf of my subordinates!"
"Sima Jingru, do you know why I want to test you like this? Why don't I test others? Why don't I even try Yang Kuo's loyalty?" Zhu Ling waved his hand to the seventeen people to retreat, and then stood up.
Ask him loudly.
"I don't know."
Sima Jingru actually had his own answer in his heart, because it was so shocking that he brought seventeen people that day, which made His Majesty admire him, but he couldn't say these words casually.
"Let me ask you, King Pingxi asked you to go back to Shanhaiguan, will you go back?" Zhu Ling suddenly asked an extremely sensitive question, which instantly made everyone present nervous.
He didn't dare to speak, and he didn't know how to answer. He didn't even know who Wu Sangui was. He was just a border merchant before, and he finally joined the Guan Ning Army because he defeated three hundred Jiannu Eight Banners soldiers.
Being favored.
But he really had no idea what kind of person Wu Sangui was. When he heard His Majesty's question, he had a keen sense that Wu Sangui seemed to be at odds with His Majesty.
"minister……"
Everyone's eyes were on him at the moment, waiting for him to speak. After all, whether Sima Jingru could completely control this Guan Ning Army in the future, Sima Jingru had a large part of the reason.
"I am willing to serve the country. Although Shanhaiguan is resisting Jiannu, I think your Majesty needs me more here."
Finally, after hearing Sima Jingru's words, Zhu Ling breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that he did not hold a grudge against anyone regarding this matter today. He didn't know whether it was because he rewarded his brothers or because his attitude was effective.