Jiuxi

Chapter 428 Chapter 426 [Floating clouds cover eyes]

Xiudefang, Kuanzhai Alley.

When the bright fireworks exploded above the palace, more than a thousand people in this alley raised their heads in unison, looking at the gorgeous firelight in the night in the southeast, and then looked forward with great expectation at the man wearing a military uniform. A's second prince.

They are the elite guards of Wangfu and Moyuan.

After the second prince finished his impassioned mobilization speech, before they had time to go out and rush to the palace, they were blocked by a middle-aged man in the palace, who then took them here again.

The person who came was none other than Xue Nanting, the right prime minister.

It can be inferred from the time of his arrival that when the first wave of rebels invaded the palace, he had already set off from Xue's house and rushed straight to the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The second prince could ignore the princess's dissuasion, but he could not ignore the prime minister's request.

Tonight, the capital city was in chaos. Noisy shouts of killing could be heard from both the north and the south. The second prince was extremely worried about the safety of the emperor in the palace, but he knew that Xue Nanting must be following the will, so he could only suppress his anxiety. Uneasiness waits here.

Seeing the fireworks rising into the night in the direction of the palace, the second prince couldn't help but asked eagerly: "Xue Xiang, is this a signal for help sent by the emperor's father?"

Hearing the words of Lu Chen and the frontier cavalry from the other party, the second prince couldn't help but said excitedly: "Great! Father will be safe and sound!"

"Army?"

A large army moved forward quickly.

The three capital camps are not close to the capital. In fact, the military stations are scattered in dangerous places in the capital. Regardless of whether they can detect the movement in the distant capital, even if they can detect it immediately, if they are not prepared in advance, it will take a long time to rush to the capital.

Xue Nanting finally revealed the answer to the mystery.

In the front military formation, the elegant and elegant Yongding Hou Zhang Xu's eyes were calm, showing no sign of panic or anxiety.

He looked at Xue Nanting's calm face, an idea flashed in his mind, and he said excitedly: "Xue Xiang refers to the three capital camps outside the city?"

He looked up at the night, his eyes full of heroism.

Xue Nanting shook his head and said softly: "Your Highness, this is your Majesty's clarion call to summon the army to encircle and suppress the rebellion."

But most of them have forgotten that the official who recommended Zhang Xu to join the army many years ago was none other than Right Minister Xue Nanting.

Many people know that Zhang Xu is an extremely rare example of a civil servant turning into a military general in the Qi Dynasty.

Just like Hu Hai, the head coach of the Heroic Camp, asked his Guowei Army to march ahead of schedule and enter the North City immediately after the rebellion broke out, these troops from the Wuwei Camp were equally prepared.

On the surface, the second prince is obsessed with culture and romance, but in fact he knows the power structure of the capital quite well. Naturally, he knows that the most important Beiya Sixth Army in the city is basically under the control of the Jiangnan clan. Liu Shouguang can at most subdue one or two troops. Now The movement in the direction of Beicheng also confirmed this.

Xue Nanting looked at his expression and couldn't help but feel relieved, and then said: "Your Majesty has made arrangements at the north gate, and the frontier cavalry can drive straight in. One of the reasons why Your Majesty asked me to come to His Highness is to dissuade His Majesty from prematurely Rush to the palace, because the rebels have an absolute advantage there at this time. The second is to ask more than a thousand elites around His Highness to go to the west gate, cooperate with the manpower prepared there to open the city gate, and welcome the troops of the Wuwei Battalion led by Yongding Hou Zhang Xu. ”

Under the same bright moon, more than ten miles away in the western suburbs of Kyoto.

Looking at the upright back of the second prince, Xue Nanting whispered to himself: "Your Majesty, after this battle, there will no longer be any constraints in front of you."

In the biting night wind, Zhang Xu raised his eyes and looked at the capital gradually emerging in the east, and said loudly: "Send the order to the whole army to speed up and reach the capital within half an hour!"

The second prince had no hidden resentment at all, because he knew that secrets should be kept secret, and every more person who knew it would increase the risk of exposure. Moreover, the emperor arranged for Xue Nanting to come to him as a sign of his love and care.

Guo Congyi obviously did not guess that the person the emperor truly trusted in the capital camp was not only Lu Chen, but also the Marquis of Yongding, who was of ordinary origin but was both civil and military.

The second prince looked solemn and said without hesitation: "Okay, I will make arrangements now!"

"There is only one soldier and horse from Wuwei Camp, and they will enter the city from the west gate. There are also frontier cavalry led by Shanyang Marquis, and they will enter the city from the north gate."

"Follow the order!"

There was a murderous response from all around.

While the soldiers and horses of the Wuwei Camp accelerated their march, the Jinwu Camp garrison on the eastern outskirts of the capital was in a tense situation.

Since Lu Shen entered the main Jinwu Camp, the Dingwei Army and the Zhenwei Army have been stationed in this repaired and expanded camp, while the other two armies are stationed elsewhere.

At this moment, two soldiers and horses were confronting each other in the camp.

Marching Chief Chen Lanyu looked at the Zhenwei Army Commander Le Minghong in front of the opposite formation, and said solemnly: "Commander Le, do you know that this is the following crime?"

When Lu Chen was away, Chen Lanyu took charge of the military affairs of Jinwu Camp. Le Minghong naturally lacked confidence, but he still held on and said: "General Manager Chen, how can I not understand the superiority and inferiority of superiors and inferiors, but you are leading the army late at night. There must be a clear explanation for leaving the camp, otherwise wouldn’t it mean that we will end up in an unjust place?”

"You want an explanation?"

Chen Lanyu's tone gradually rose, and he said with a strong murderous aura: "I have just received your Majesty's secret order. There will be rebellion in the capital, so I dispatched my troops to the capital to rescue him. Now you heard clearly, hurry up Step aside!"

There was a commotion among the officers and soldiers of the Zhenwei Army. Le Minghong was shocked and asked with a frown: "May I ask what Mr. Chen's intention is? Can you give me a look at it?"

Chen Lanyu said coldly: "This is His Majesty's oral instruction."

Le Minghong was silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said: "In other words, Mr. Chen doesn't have any evidence? In this case, Shu Mo will not be able to let you out of the camp. If someone plots rebellion in the capital tonight, and you are an accomplice of the rebellion, I will Isn't the general working for the tiger?" Chen Lanyu leaned forward slightly and said meaningfully: "Commander Yue, are you sure that your troops can stop the general's Dingwei army?"

At this moment, the sentry outside the camp still issued the warning dutifully, and then dozens of cavalry were seen galloping into the camp. It was Zuo Yushan, the commander of the Chongwei Army, and his personal entourage.

"General Manager Chen, I have just received a military order from the Privy Councilor, Lord Guo. Someone is plotting a rebellion in the capital tonight. The Northern Yamen troops are suppressing the rebellion. To prevent the situation from becoming more chaotic, all troops in the Jinwu Camp must stay in the camp for the time being and not move rashly!"

Zuo Yushan’s voice echoed throughout the surroundings.

Le Minghong finally felt relieved.

Although he had acted extremely firmly and refused to give in, he was actually uneasy in his heart.

Lu Chen went westward this time and took away more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, all of whom were drawn from the Zhenwei, Chongwei, and Liwei armies. He did not use any soldiers from the Dingwei army under Chen Lanyu.

In other words, Le Minghong was not confident that he could stop Chen Lanyu when his troops were at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, Zuo Yushan arrived in time with the Chongwei Army.

Since Wang Yan and Guo Congyi wanted to take risks, they would certainly not ignore the power in the hands of the emperor. In addition to the eight thousand forbidden troops in the palace and the soldiers and horses in the hands of General Liu Shouguang, there was also the Dingwei Army under Chen Lanyu who deserved the emperor's absolute trust, because Chen Lanyu It has been more than two years of hard work, step by step, to kick the Jiangnan family's forces out of the Dingwei Army.

Therefore, the mission of Le Minghong and Zuo Yushan is to nail down the Dingwei Army so that they cannot leave Jinwu's camp.

Chen Lanyu looked at the two capital commanders standing side by side on horseback and said loudly: "It seems you have decided which side to stand on. Le Minghong and Zuo Yushan, following His Majesty's orders, will ask you one last time if you are willing. Get out of the way? Are you willing to let me, General Qin Wang, rescue you?"

Ordinary soldiers heard it in confusion, but Le and Zuo knew it very well. Their eyes met, and they saw hesitation and a trace of panic in each other's eyes almost at the same time.

But now that things have come to this, where can they turn back?
Chen Lanyu did not get angry, but nodded slightly and said: "In that case, I have decided to go back to camp to rest. You two might as well drink and talk and enjoy the last night."

After saying that, he led the Dingwei Army back to the camp.

Le Minghong and Zuo Yushan looked at his calm back, and a strong chill instantly surged into their hearts, almost making them unable to breathe.

They simultaneously turned to look at the capital in the west, with strong uneasiness in their eyes.

……

In the southeast corner of the capital, there is an isolated alley called Qiu Shan Alley.

Before the third prince was imprisoned here, it had been vacant for eight years.

The arrival of the third prince did not change the place. It was as if this alley was a bottomless cave, completely cut off from sight from inside and outside.

However, tonight, when the whole city was in turmoil, a middle-aged civil servant appeared in Qiu Shan Lane.

"Your Highness has been thinking about it for so long. Can you give me an answer?"

There was a lamp like a bean in the room, and under the dim candlelight, Ning Yuanfu, the official minister, looked at the young man opposite him with bright eyes.

The third prince, who had put on ordinary clothes, seemed to have lost some of his inner hostility. He shook his head with a smile and said, "I don't agree."

Ning Yuanfu's tone was slightly cold: "Does His Highness still have room to refuse?"

After hearing this, the third prince leaned back in his chair and said leisurely: "Master Shangshu, you have indeed made a good plan. You want to blame my eldest brother for regicide first. Anyway, according to your plan, my father and eldest brother I will definitely not survive tonight. If you continue to support me on the throne at this time, firstly, you can silence the world, and secondly, my power has been cut off by my father, so that you can continue to control me. But you should not have thought that I would reject you. proposal."

Ning Yuanfu's expression turned serious, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Don't look at me with such threatening eyes, it makes no sense."

The third prince smiled and then said: "So what if I don't agree to your promise? Do you dare to kill me? The boss's temper will definitely not tolerate your coercion. The second brother respects his father as a god and will never cooperate with you. The only hope you have is with me. Of course, you can also kill all the Tian family father and son. When the time comes, the border troops will definitely go south and crush your Jiangnan family to ashes. To be honest, I am looking forward to seeing that day. "

Ning Yuanfu took a deep breath and slowed down his tone and said: "What exactly does Your Highness want?"

The third prince shook his head and said: "Whether you believe it or not, although I wanted to kill Lu Chen, I never thought of doing anything bad to my father. I, Li Zongjian, was indeed a murderous beast, and some people called me a murderer before I died. Beast, it doesn’t matter, but I will not be an enemy of my father.”

He stood up and said calmly: "Master Shangshu, please come back."

Ning Yuanfu was silent for a long time, and finally said: "I believe that after dawn, His Highness will change his mind."

The third prince smiled but did not answer, and sent Ning Yuanfu to the door very politely.

Watching him leave surrounded by a group of elite guards, the third prince shook his head again.

He looked up at the night. The bright moon had already moved to the west. A few floating clouds quietly drifted under the moon, only briefly covering the moonlight.

After watching quietly for a long time, the third prince said to himself with waning interest: "Father used himself as bait, and the palace guarded by eight thousand forbidden troops has firmly attracted your attention, but you have never thought that the power in the hands of father is more than eight thousand forbidden troops? "

"Even though I'm in such a desperate state, I won't cooperate with you guys who are destined to fail."

"A bunch of idiots."

(End of this chapter)