Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 1 The Fake Prince

1645

Yingtian, the Ministry of War Prison

In recent years of war and chaos, the prison has often been packed, but since the "Prince from the North" case broke out two months ago, the Ministry of War prison has become the young man's single cell.

"Go get a doctor! We can't let him die here!"

The middle-aged man dressed as a prison boss saw that the young prisoner was about to die and yelled to the jailer beside him.

"Boss, he is just a fake prince. Even if he dies, what does it have to do with us?"

"Snapped!"

The jailer had just opened his mouth to ask the question when he felt a hard slap on his neck. Then he heard the prison boss yell, "You are so stupid! Go find a doctor!"

After being hit like this, the jailer naturally felt a little resentful, but under the accumulated pressure, he had no choice but to leave the prison and go out to find a doctor.

Seeing that the person had left, the jailer knew that the young man's condition was not optimistic, so he squatted down and pressed hard on his philtrum, obviously not wanting to let him die here.

Honestly speaking, the death of a few prisoners in a big prison is not a big deal at all, and it is normal for the jailer to be indifferent. But the jailer is an old jailer after all, so how can his knowledge be compared with that of ordinary people?

The new emperor could lock up the "old prince", torture him, and even drag him out and behead him, which was expected, but if he died in prison, these petty officials could not bear it.

Besides, who can guarantee that this "prince" is definitely fake?
"The Eastern Palace attendant cried bitterly in front of him" and "The eunuch commander did not dare to deny his identity" were all rumors that came from the palace.

If some people can't do anything to Your Majesty, can they not do anything to him?

After forcibly dispelling these thoughts that might bring disaster to his family, the prison boss turned his attention back to the young man.

I don’t know if it was because of the pinching of the philtrum, but the boy’s face, which was originally as pale as gold paper, gradually became rosy.

Seeing this, the prison boss was very surprised, but in the end he just stood up and walked out after observing for a moment.

Since the "Prince" is temporarily safe, it would be better for him to wait for the doctor outside and give him some instructions in advance to prevent someone from really curing him without knowing the extent of the situation.

However, the jailer did not notice that when he turned and walked out of the cell, the "Prince"'s eyelids opened slightly.

"Boss, something terrible has happened. Something terrible has happened!"

Anxious shouts of the jailer were heard outside. The "Prince's" chest rose and fell violently a few times, and then returned to its previous state.

"Where is the doctor you asked me to find?"

"Why are you still looking for a doctor? The emperor has run away!"

"You're going to die! Is that something you can just yell?!"

After yelling a few words, the jailer dragged the jailer a few steps inside before signaling him to continue.

"The Tartars have crossed the river! The Emperor and Lord Ma have both fled!"

After hearing this, the jailer froze in place.

The news of the massacre in Yangzhou had already spread a few days ago. He thought that the emperor and the others would find a way to hold on to Yingtian City, but who knew they would...

"When I came back, I heard that Chen Si from the north of the city was contacting people everywhere, saying that he wanted to ask the prince to go out and take charge of the situation."

When the jailer heard the jailer's words, he had no reaction at first, as if he was still digesting the shock brought by the "emperor's escape."

But after a moment, his eyes suddenly became vicious, and he grabbed the jailer's arm and asked in a low voice: "Boy, do you want to live?!" The jailer was confused and obviously didn't understand why his boss suddenly acted like this.

He thought that after Chen Si welcomed the prince, his family could have a leisurely life, so how could it be related to his life?

"Your Majesty and the adults have already fled. If the Crown Prince gains power, won't he take his anger out on us?"

The boss's voice became lower and lower, and the jailer had to move closer. But when he heard it clearly, he couldn't help but want to stay away from this place of trouble.

It's true that he hadn't experienced as many dirty things as the jailer, but that didn't mean he didn't know how dirty and vicious those nobles who looked so glamorous on the surface were in private.

Even though the "Crown Prince" lying inside is harmless now, as long as he returns to the high platform, he will definitely return everything that has happened in the past few days.

"Boss! I'll listen to you on what to do next!" The jailer expressed his loyalty firmly to the prison boss, and then pretended to wait for your arrangements.

"After so much punishment, I don't think he can hold on for long. He is not as good as us..."

At this point, the jailer glanced at the jailer inadvertently, and seeing that he was still listening attentively, he cursed in his heart before continuing, "Why don't we do a good deed and send him off?"

Hearing the words of the prison boss, the jailer was not surprised at all, but hesitantly asked the question in his mind: "But Chen Si and the others are coming, what should we explain?"

The jailer felt depressed. Although Chen Si had more than a thousand strong men under him, he was ultimately just the head of the coolies. In the past, it would have been Chen Si's good fortune to even look at him straight in the eye.

"What do you want to explain? Without the crown prince, what does Chen Si mean to you?" After saying this, the jailer seemed to feel uneasy and continued, "We will stay out of the spotlight for a while. After the Tartars have finished killing and robbing, they may need us to serve them."

“Water~~~~~~.”

At this moment, a faint shout came from the cell.

The two men looked at each other, the jailer nodded slightly, and then walked into the cell. The jailer did not go with him, but walked out instead.

As footsteps sounded, the weak voice said again: "Is it the prison boss?"

"it's me."

The jailer answered calmly, then stood at the cell door and looked inside intently.

At this time, the "Prince" was half leaning against the wall. Although he still looked weak, he did not look like he was about to die.

"It seemed like I was going to die soon. Although my wounds are very painful now, I feel much better. Could it be that the prison boss saved me?"

After saying this, the prince bowed from a distance with a look of gratitude on his face, but his slightly narrowed eyes were inadvertently observing the expression of the jailer.

Hearing this, the jailer first put his hand on the hilt of the knife, but the hilt seemed to have thorns and he could not hold it firmly. Then he stood there with an uncertain expression.

"When Chen Si arrives, I will need the prison guard to protect me."

Seeing the warden's hesitant expression, the young prisoner became nervous and even his voice became hurried, but his words woke the dreamer up.

Chen Si said that he came to ask the prince to take charge of the situation, but he has many people and the prince is alone, so it is hard to say who will be in charge of the situation at that time.

In such a situation, whoever can protect the prince from becoming a puppet will be the prince's closest person. What's more, the imprisonment was ordered by the emperor and the punishment was carried out by the adults themselves. What does it have to do with me?

Just when the prince was about to be nervous, the jailer clenched his fists, knelt on one knee and said in a trembling voice: "When Your Highness was framed by the villain, I have been thinking about how to rescue him. Now that Your Highness is out of trouble, I will not let Chen Si show any disrespect to Your Highness even if I risk my life!"

The jailer was crying as he spoke, and the prince's tense body began to relax.

"Luckily I met a smart person right after I crossed over."

(End of this chapter)