The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 739 Cruel

Tiewang Mountain is located in the mountains and forests to the north.

The prince sat on the ground with an embarrassed look on his face.

After a series of fierce battles and breakouts, most of the Beijing camp soldiers under his command had died, scattered, or escaped, leaving only a few left.

Until now, the only ones who still followed him firmly were several hundred guards and soldiers from his prince's mansion.

"Your Highness, we have reached a dead end. Why don't we surrender?"

Looking at his confidants and guards, who were all dirty and no longer as majestic as they used to be, the prince's heart was filled with regret.

He originally thought that he knew the situation in Tiewang Mountain very well and that he had made the best choice for himself.

However, he never expected that his father's plan was so thorough that he could mobilize reinforcements so quickly and turn defeat into victory.

It is impossible to climb up the mountain now, and there has been no news from the retired emperor for a long time. It is very likely that he has fallen into the hands of Emperor Ning Kang.

He only had these few defeated soldiers left, and for a moment he didn't know what to do.

"Your Highness! His Majesty is your biological father after all. As long as you are willing to turn back and admit your mistakes to His Majesty and beg for forgiveness, I believe His Majesty will definitely forgive you..."

Some of his scheming confidants were actively giving him advice.

He also thought about going back to admit his mistake and surrender to Emperor Ning Kang.

But when he thought of Emperor Ning Kang's usual severity and the disappointed and indifferent face he had when he found out he had turned against him yesterday afternoon, he couldn't help but shudder inwardly.

Another ambitious person said: "According to your majesty's temper, if your highness goes back now, even if he can escape with his life, he will definitely not be able to become the crown prince again.

Your Highness has been the crown prince for so many years. If you lose the position, it would be tantamount to waiting for death.

  In this case, why not follow the original plan and break out from the north!

The emperor's decree to support the king was issued yesterday afternoon. It has been almost a day now. I believe that many armies are already on their way.

As long as His Highness can escape, once he joins up with the various armies that are loyal to the emperor, he can raise the banner of loyal to the emperor, counterattack Tiewang Mountain, and rescue the emperor. Then everything will be fine!"

This is actually what more confidants think.

Because most of them knew that once the prince chose to surrender, he might be able to survive, but the people around them would most likely not survive.

Listening to the advice from his confidants, the prince was extremely confused.

At this time, those who were sent out to gather information came back one after another.

"Your Highness, I have already found out that we are less than two miles away from the main road at the foot of the mountain. There are not many soldiers stationed at the foot of the mountain, and they are scattered, so it is not difficult to break through."

"Report ~ Your Highness, a large number of soldiers and horses have emerged from the mountain and are heading towards us to kill us!"

The successive news made the prince unable to sit still. He stood up and asked, "How many troops are chasing us? Who is leading them?"

"We dare not approach, we do not know how many troops there are...but we saw many people from Prince Yun's Palace!"

  The prince's expression suddenly turned cold and gloomy: "Prince Yun? He has been wishing that I would die for a long time. Now that he has this opportunity, how could he let it go?

Let’s go down the mountain and head east to Shanhaiguan!”

The prince acted decisively. Not wanting to fall into the hands of the third prince, he was ready for a desperate fight.

However, he ultimately overestimated his ability to escape, or rather, underestimated the determination of Emperor Ning Kang to capture him.

Half a day later, they were in a dense forest only a few dozen miles away from Tiewang Mountain.

At this time, there were only a few people left by the prince's side, and all of them were injured.

Looking at the cavalrymen surrounding him from all directions, he fell into deep despair.

In particular, when he saw his own brother, whom he had always regarded as a thorn in his side, riding a horse and marching towards him arrogantly, surrounded by many guards, he felt infinite shame and resentment in his heart.

The Third Prince rode forward slowly, looking at the Crown Prince who was wearing ordinary clothes and armor and was protected by several guards in tattered armor, and said jokingly:

"How could my eldest brother become so embarrassed after just one day of not seeing him?"

Facing the proud Third Prince, the Crown Prince's face turned pale and he finally sighed dejectedly, "Third Prince, you should be proud.

Yes, I am no match for my father, so I lost. Now that I have fallen into your hands, I have nothing to say. "

After saying this, the prince's voice suddenly became sinister: "But, do you think you have won?

You and I have been fighting for so many years, and you and I know our father's character better than anyone else.

Do you think that without me, you will be able to sit safely on the throne of the crown prince?

Don't be naive!

Just as my father treated me in the past, he will treat you the same way in the future!

In particular, this time, my father openly rebelled against my grandfather, the emperor. Even if my father wins in the end, he will inevitably be in trouble.

Under such circumstances, do you think your father will be content to let you be a crown prince with a stable position?

He was able to support you against me in the past, and in the future he will be able to support the fourth or fifth brother against you.

My today is nothing but your tomorrow."

Facing the crown prince's curse, the third prince smiled broadly, as if he didn't care at all.

Not only that, he even sighed and said: "It seems that my eldest brother has a deep misunderstanding of my father. What a pity, what a pity..."

The prince felt insulted: "What do you mean??"

The Third Prince asked, "Do you really think that I was specially supported by my father to oppose you?"

"Is not it?"

"of course not."

  The Third Prince said: "The reason why I am fighting with you is just because I want to fight with you, because I think you are not worthy of sitting in this position!

In terms of status, your mother is just an ordinary concubine, while my mother is a noble concubine!

In terms of intelligence, from childhood to adulthood, whether it is a classroom debate or a teacher's examination, how many times have you been able to beat me?

In terms of morality, I have always been careful in my words and deeds, and have always abided by the duties of a prince. But after the death of my second brother, you relied on your status as the eldest son and the crown prince to bully your brothers, and you spent your days pursuing women and doing whatever you wanted. After becoming the crown prince, you even went around collecting money, colluding with local people to form cliques for personal gain...

Obviously, I am more qualified to be the crown prince than you!"

Hearing the third prince say this, the prince suddenly felt guilty.

His mother died early, and her status was indeed slightly lower than that of the third prince's biological mother, Concubine Wu.

When it comes to studying, he is no match for the third prince.

As for his reckless behavior... When Emperor Ningkang was still the Prince of Chang, his second brother, who was born to the Queen, died young due to his frailty, and he became the Crown Prince. I vaguely remember that he seemed to have done some things that made him lose his temper. After all, he was still young at that time...

As for after he became the crown prince, everything he did was to deal with the third prince whose ambition was exposed.

This is not his fault.

"Humph, there is order of seniority, it has been like this since ancient times."

"Yes, there is an order of seniority. Because you are the eldest son, your father appointed you as the crown prince.

Because you are the crown prince, your father chose to turn a blind eye even though he knew you had done all those wrong things. Even when I tried to collect all the evidence of your crimes and presented it to your father, he would raise it high and drop it lightly.

  Because I am not the prince, I dare not take a wrong step!

"Brother, aren't you surprised? I have been fighting with you for so many years, but why have I never placed my own people in the army? I have made friends with so many children of famous families, but there are almost no children of military officers and generals who control the military power. Aren't you curious?"

The prince was stunned.

He was not sure whether the Third Prince had interfered in the military, but it seemed that among those who had dealings with the Third Prince, few had anything to do with military power.

Everyone said that the Third Prince was elegant and didn't like dealing with vulgar people.

The Third Prince laughed at himself and said, "I once made friends with a senior general of the Beijing Camp and took his daughter as my concubine. Not long after, my father-in-law was transferred to the local area.

I didn't realize what my father meant at the time. Later, I secretly got a handle on the deputy commander of the imperial guards and made him pledge his loyalty to me and secretly pass on some information from the palace for me. Then, he was confiscated and executed by my father for the crime of reselling arms. Moreover, I personally supervised the execution.

Hehe, you will never know how well your father protects you."

The third prince's words made the crown prince's expression change. He vaguely realized that he might have overlooked something in the past.

"By the way, didn't you ask Father yesterday why he didn't let me bear the blame for him? Perhaps I know the answer to this question."

The Third Prince looked down at the Crown Prince from a high position: "Because only you, the Crown Prince, the heir to the throne, can bear this infamy for your father. In your father's heart, no one else has the qualifications."

The prince was shocked.

Really, is that so?

Could it be that he was really wrong?

Seeing that the prince was moved by his words and became dazed, a trace of pity appeared in the eyes of the third prince, but it was immediately replaced by coldness.

He looked back at the road he had come from, as someone could be looking for him along the battlefield at any time.

So he raised his hand gently.

Following his action, dozens of his guards who had been prepared immediately raised their shoulder crossbows.

He had borrowed these crossbows from the Guard Camp before.

The actions of the Third Prince and his companions startled the Crown Prince, whose face changed drastically and he shouted in a stern voice, "Wei Yan, what do you want to do?"

"What?"

The Third Prince laughed loudly, his laughter was full of madness: "Of course I will send my eldest brother off."

"How dare you! You...if the emperor knew about this, he would never forgive you!"

"Oh? Really."

"My eldest brother was stubborn and refused to be arrested, but he died in the chaos. I have failed to do my job well, please punish me, father.

Tsk tsk, plus the clothes that my eldest brother had changed into in advance, I thought, how could the emperor have the heart to blame me? "

The prince felt a chill in his heart, as he had never expected that the Third Prince was so cruel and would come all the way to kill him.

Suddenly, a guard beside him dropped his knife, knelt down with a plop, and said to the Third Prince: "I have done everything your Highness asked me to do. The Crown Prince is here, can I go back to your Highness now?"

The prince staggered, and his loyal guards became even more furious.

No wonder the Crown Prince, even after changing his appearance, still couldn't escape the Third Prince's hunt. It turned out that there was a traitor among them!

In anger, without saying a word, they all rushed forward with their swords drawn, and chopped the shameless traitor into meat paste in a few strokes, without even giving the prince any orders.

During this process, the third prince watched coldly, with no intention of saving this traitor at all.

Some chess pieces, having fulfilled their role, are no longer necessary to exist.

"Your Highness, we will protect you, please leave!"

Several guards, feeling very happy at having killed the traitor, turned around and shouted, then rushed towards the third prince with a roar.

“Swish swish!”

Along with the sound of crossbow arrows breaking through the air, several guards fell down.

The prince was stunned, and his instinct for survival made him turn around. However, there were dozens of guards from Prince Yun's palace in bright armor behind him, so he had no way to escape.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

The arrow pierced through his armor and pierced into his body, but he seemed to feel no pain.

Without making a sound, he fell straight to his knees, his head hitting the leaf-covered ground.

A breeze blew by, seeming to take something away.

"Da da da!!"

The sound of horse hooves could be heard, and several horses galloped over.

"Third Prince, I haven't found any trace of the Crown Prince. How is your situation?"

Tian Qu quickly came to the side of the third prince.

As Emperor Ning Kang's confidant, he was completely loyal to him.

The Crown Prince's betrayal caused Emperor Ning Kang to suffer heavy losses. Everyone knew that the Crown Prince would definitely lose power, and as a result, the Third Prince would surely rise.

In order for Tian Qu to have this opportunity, he naturally had to establish a good relationship with the Third Prince first.

Therefore, this time when he assisted the Third Prince in capturing the Crown Prince, he obeyed the Third Prince's orders and tried his best to please him.

Before, the crown prince's remaining troops had scattered and fled, so he and the third prince pursued them separately.

Unexpectedly, the prince he was chasing was just a guard in disguise.

Seeing the Third Prince and his guards gathered together and seemed to have gained something, he couldn't wait to ask more questions.

At the same time, he also looked towards the field.

Well, there are only a few bodies shot into hedgehogs...

Suddenly his expression froze, and he stared blankly at the "hedgehog" kneeling on the ground with its back to the other side.

The hedgehog's posture was different from the others, and its shape was vaguely familiar.

Tian Qu raised his head and looked at the third prince.

However, the Third Prince and the guards around him were all looking at him sternly.

Tian Qu was terrified and said awkwardly, "Well, since there is no sign of the Crown Prince here, I will check somewhere else."

The Third Prince smiled and said, "Okay, Deputy Commander Tian, ​​please do as you wish."

"it is good……"

Tian Qu suppressed his urge to look at the corpse, turned his horse around and left.

"boom!"

With a loud gunshot, Tian Qu fell to the ground.

But he did not die. He fell off his horse and ignored the severe pain in his back. He immediately turned over and knelt down and said, "Your Highness, please spare my life. I saw nothing and know nothing.

As long as Your Highness is willing to spare my life, I am willing to swear allegiance to Your Highness and go through fire and water for Your Highness from now on."

The Third Prince blew at the muzzle of the smoking musket, looked at Tian Qu who was still alive and kicking, frowned and said: "It seems that this thing is useless, it can't even kill him."

As he said this, he threw the musket into the guard's arms and rode his horse to Tian Qu.

“To be honest, it’s rare to find someone as smart and sensible as Deputy Commander Tian.

It's a pity that you know things you shouldn't know. Only the dead can keep secrets. "

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards from the palace who had also surrounded him were not polite at all and fired a volley of shots at Tian Qu, turning him into a hedgehog corpse as well.

Upon seeing this, several of his personal soldiers were frightened and fled in all directions.

Unfortunately, they didn't have time to run far before they were shot off their horses.

……