Jiuxi

Chapter 957 955 [The Disappearing Princess]

Jing State, Dadu.

This winter is particularly cold.

As the north wind blows, the chill in the air seems to penetrate into the bone marrow, making it unbearable and making people unwilling to go out unless necessary.

The second day of December was supposed to be an ordinary day, but in the evening a secret report came from the south and was urgently delivered to the palace. After reading it, the Regent Crown Prince Wu Yan almost fainted.

On November 25th, six days ago, in the far south Lei Ze Plain, the main force of the Jing army fought a decisive battle with the Qi army.

In this battle, Jing's army suffered a crushing defeat, with more than 70% of the 130,000-strong army lost. The most terrifying thing was that Emperor Jing died on the battlefield!

"Father! Father!"

In the study room, Wu Yan's crying was heart-wrenching.

The three important ministers were also heartbroken.

After a while, the chief musician Tian Jue, with tears streaming down his face, bowed and said, "Your Highness, now is the moment of life and death for Da Jing. Please be patient and mourn for the time being. The overall situation is more important!"

"Yep."

Shangshu Ling Zhao Siwen said anxiously: "Now that His Majesty has passed away, I feel as if my heart is broken. But as the regent, Your Highness must not let His Majesty down!"

Wu Yan finally stopped crying and asked anxiously, "What should I do now?"

Zhao Siwen said in a deep voice: "The news of His Majesty's death will definitely not be concealed for too long, and it will inevitably cause greater chaos. Your Highness, the plan now must be decisive. This old minister suggests that the nine gates of Dadu be sealed immediately, and then tomorrow morning, all the princes, nobles, and all the civil and military officials of the court will be summoned to the Daqing Hall to announce the results of this battle in public. Although His Majesty did not leave a will, Your Highness is the regent prince, and you should ascend the throne directly. If anyone stirs up trouble at the court meeting, General Lu will be held responsible--"

He looked at the tall and strong man next to him.

This time, Emperor Jing led his troops south, taking away most of the Jing army. Most of them had the most powerful force, the more than 10,000 Hezha warriors in Jiao Lu's hands.

This elite force is directly under the royal family Alihe clan. They have no problems with either combat capability or loyalty. They are the trump card that Emperor Jing left for Wu Yan to control the overall situation.

Seeing Wu Yan looking at him, Jiao Lu said without hesitation: "Please rest assured, Your Highness. No matter who dares to rebel, I will take their head as long as Your Highness gives the order!"

Wu Yan felt a little relieved.

As long as the Heza warriors stand firmly on his side, Dadu will not get out of control, and he can smoothly inherit the throne.

As for the war situation in the south, he is currently out of reach. He must first stabilize the internal situation and take control of power before he can free up his hands to resolve external troubles.

The four discussed for a while, and Zhao Siwen, as the head of the civil servants of this dynasty, immediately contacted those loyal and reliable colleagues to ensure that there would be no mistakes in the court session tomorrow morning.

Jiao Lu mobilized the Hezha warriors to impose martial law in the imperial city and ensure that the princes stayed obediently in their mansions, because no one could be sure whether these people had received the news from the south.

At the same time, at sunset, the entire city of Dadu was blocked, and the guards at the nine gates received orders from the regent prince one after another and quickly entered a state of combat readiness.

After making these arrangements, Wu Yan's grief came back again.

The battle reports he had received before showed that the armies of Dajing had the upper hand. The armies of Shanyang and Wengusun advanced side by side, trapping many elite troops of Southern Qi. His father personally led an army of more than 100,000 south, determined to break the situation with one battle. Moreover, Changshan Prince Qing Yugong led the Western Army to directly break through the western line of Jingzhou of Southern Qi.

Who would have thought that within ten days, the situation would collapse so drastically, as if the sky was falling and the earth was collapsing.

"Your Highness, there is one more thing."

Tian Jue was not idle. He was responsible for commanding the Main Music Department to control the situation in the city. After making arrangements, he hurried back with an extremely solemn expression.

Wu Yan asked, "What's the matter?"

Tian Jue took out a letter from his sleeve and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, His Majesty left me a secret decree before he left. If there is any danger on this trip, I am ordered to kill the Qing Yu family at all costs!"

Wu Yan took it from him, confirmed that it was written by his father, and said with a somewhat grim expression: "Why didn't my father tell me in advance?"

"His Majesty said that this matter is of great importance and must not be leaked in advance. Your Highness is responsible for the important task of supervising the country and does not need to be distracted by this matter, so only I know about it."

Tian Jue explained briefly, and then said: "Your Highness, now the princes and princes have no power and no soldiers, and they cannot threaten your throne. Only the Qingyu family has a deep foundation. When Your Majesty was here, they naturally dared not make any unusual moves. However, now that Your Majesty has passed away, the Qingyu family will definitely rebel! I ask Your Highness to issue an order to let General Jiaolu dispatch 2,000 Hezha warriors to cooperate with the Main Music Department to completely eliminate the Qingyu family before they react!"

"You want to kill Yongping?"

Wu Yan looked hesitant.

Tian Jue was anxious, thinking to himself, if Crown Prince Nalan were still alive, how could even Fourth Prince Hai be so indecisive at this moment?

He said patiently, "Your Highness, His Majesty has already decided to deal with the Qing Yu clan before the expedition, so both Qing Yugong and Qing Yuzhongwang will die on the battlefield. Once they die, only Qing Yu Huaijin can gather the hearts of the Qing Yu clan. For now, I think that if you first deal with the Qing Yu clan's apparent power and kill Qing Yu Huaijin at the same time, Your Highness will be able to firmly control the overall situation. As for the Huiluo clan, the Juntugu clan, the Huite clan and other tribes, they have already been divided and weakened by His Majesty over the years, and even if they have the intention to rebel, they do not have the power to shake the royal family!"

Wu Yan paced back and forth, frowned and asked, "Where is she now?"

Tian Jue replied, "Your Highness, since His Majesty left the capital, I have been keeping a close eye on Qing Yu Huai Jin. Previously, she would hang out in various clubs in the city during the day and return to the Prince's Mansion in the evening. Five days ago, in the morning, she went to a manor in the eastern suburbs of the city with a group of personal guards. The Chief Music Department's spies kept a close eye on her and took turns monitoring her for twelve hours a day. Although my people cannot enter the manor to avoid alerting the enemy, I guarantee that she is still there and has not left."

"How sure are you?"

"Your Highness, both the Prince's Mansion and the manor outside the city are under our surveillance. With just one order from Your Highness, I will have people take control of the Prince's Mansion and capture Qing Yugong's wife and concubines. Then I will personally lead people to the manor outside the city to capture Qing Yu Huaijin! In addition, according to Your Majesty's instructions, I have arranged a large number of people, who can act at the same time to destroy as much of Qing Yu's forces as possible in the city."

"Now that it has come to this..."

Wu Yan said in a deep voice: "Then do it. Remember, don't give Qing Yu any chance!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Tian Jue bowed.

About a quarter of an hour later, Tian Jue walked out of the imperial city. By this time, night had fallen.

More than a dozen trusted officials who hold authority in various parts of the Ministry of Rites have already been waiting here, and the two thousand Hezha warriors transferred by Jiaolu are ready to go. "I have already assigned tasks to each of you. You must not let go of any of the targets you have set. If you make a mistake, you will be sentenced to death."

Tian Jue looked at his confidants and said coldly, "If anyone makes a mistake at this time, don't blame me for being merciless."

Everyone said in unison: "Please rest assured, sir!"

"set off!"

At Tian Jue's command, everyone went their separate ways. He personally led hundreds of elite soldiers from the Main Music Division and two thousand Hezha warriors to the east gate in the cover of night. After leaving the city, they rode non-stop to the manor in the suburbs.

Information continued to arrive along the way.

The spies in charge of surveillance at the front reported that the manor was brightly lit and there was nothing unusual from the outside. No people of unknown origin approached the manor, and no one came out of inside.

There was a series of good news from the rear.

Tian Jue has been in charge of the Ministry of Music for many years, and with the order of Emperor Jing, he has never relaxed his control over the power of the Qingyu family in recent years.

With the help of the imperial edict from the Crown Prince Regent, their operation to close the net went very smoothly tonight. Thirty-seven officials in the court who were openly or secretly related to the Qing Yu family and sixteen territories of the Qing Yu family in the city were captured one after another as Tian Jue issued the order to strangle them.

When they were still six or seven miles away from the manor, a rider came galloping over and shouted hurriedly, "Sir!"

Tian Jue pulled the reins, turned his head and said, "Speak."

The visitor was also his confidant. He said in panic, "The Changshan County Prince's Mansion has been controlled. However, there are only ordinary servants and maids in the mansion. The County Prince's Consort and others are nowhere to be seen!"

Tian Jue asked sternly, "What did you say?"

On a cold winter night, the confidant was already sweating profusely, and said in fear: "I just received an urgent report. We have searched the palace inside and out, and we really didn't catch the princess!"

Tian Jue's heart tightened, and he said coldly: "Investigate further, turn the palace upside down to catch Qing Yugong's family. I have deployed so many people to keep an eye on the palace, can they just disappear out of thin air? Get lost!"

"As ordered!"

The confidant turned his horse around and galloped away.

Tian Jue suppressed the panic in his heart and shouted, "Speed ​​up, go to the manor and arrest him immediately!"

Nearly three thousand cavalrymen launched an attack in the cover of night and soon arrived and surrounded the beautiful manor.

The elite troops of the Zhuzou Division and the Heza warriors poured in one after another, causing commotion and panic in an instant.

Not long after, Tian Jue came to the spacious and luxurious main hall surrounded by a group of confidants. At this moment, his face had turned ashen.

Just as he had expected, although there were many people in this manor, they were all ordinary servants and maids. Not to mention Qing Yu Huaijin himself, even a guard could not be found!
This is exactly the same as the situation in the Prince's Mansion in the city.

The chill in Tian Jue's heart grew stronger and stronger, even overwhelming the cold wind on this winter night.

You have to know that from the time he and the prince received the secret report from the south to the time they started to take action against the Qing Yu family, less than two hours had passed in total. This can be described as decisive and swift.

Whether it was the palace or the manor in front of them, there was only one possibility for Qing Yu Huaijin and her mother to disappear out of thin air: the other party knew everything that happened in the palace.

But there was one thing that Tian Jue couldn't understand. Since Qing Yu Huaijin was well prepared, why didn't she take any countermeasures and let him wipe out all the officials of Qing Yu's lineage and the territories in the city?

At this moment, a confidant shouted: "Sir, this is the entrance to the tunnel!"

Tian Jue walked over and took a look, and immediately understood why they were able to find the reason why Qing Yu Huaijin disappeared so quickly. The entrance to the tunnel was right in the back half of the main hall. There was no disguise or cover, and it was exposed to everyone's sight. The dark cave entrance seemed to be mocking Tian Jue.

At this moment Tian Jue suddenly understood.

The reason why the surprise attack by the Main Music Department was so successful was probably also within Qing Yu Huaijin's expectations.

In other words, those officials belonging to the Qingyu family and the territories in the city are all chess pieces that can be discarded, including the manor in front of them. They are all meant to distract Tian Jue's attention, lower his vigilance, and involve most of the power of the Main Music Department!

"Sir, here is a note."

A confidant peeled off a piece of paper from a screen not far away and handed it over carefully.

Tian Jue took it and looked at it, his face immediately turned gloomy.

There was only a short sentence written on it, with the handwriting being elegant and graceful.

"Tian Jue, I'll wait for you in the palace."

The signature is four characters written in a flamboyant style.

Qing Yu Huai Jin.

Tian Jue clutched the note tightly in his left hand and said through gritted teeth, "Send the fireworks order quickly to increase the alert in the city."

Before his subordinates could take orders and leave, a man rushed in from outside and said in a trembling voice, "Sir, there are seven fireworks orders appearing in the sky above the capital!"

Everyone in the room's expression changed drastically.

Seven, that is the highest level of warning signal, which means chaos in the capital!

"Back to the city!"

Tian Jue roared, not as silent and steady as usual, and ran out wildly!

(End of this chapter)