Imperial Study Room of Qianqing Palace.

The prince knelt on the ground, not daring to raise his head. The little eunuch serving in the imperial study had already hid. The Jurchens had broken through Juyong Pass. The prince was horrified when he heard the news. He ignored Ye Minchun's strong dissuasion and left Ye Minchun to guard it alone. In Tongzhou, he ignored his errands and hurriedly fled back to the capital with his guards.

He had thrown away millions of shi of food in Tongzhou. Now that the army was approaching, people in the capital were panicking, and the price of rice in the capital had soared. The importance of food is self-evident.

Such a prince... really can't hold up the wall. But the emperor has no time to blame the prince now. The emperor sighed and said softly: "Get up! Sit next to me!"

"Thank you, Father!" The prince's voice trembled with excitement. He stood up flattered and carefully sat down on a brocade stool under the emperor's head. He was prepared to be scolded by his father, Ye Minchun He persuaded him that he had defended Tongzhou, and with this great contribution, his position as prince would be stable. It’s not that Ye Minshu didn’t know this truth, but no matter how great his contribution was, it was not as important as his own safety. The son of a rich man could not sit down in court, and he was Wouldn't it be unjust if the deputy general of a dignified country died in Tongzhou in such a confused way?

As for being afraid of death? Who is not afraid of death! Especially people like them who grew up in fine clothes and good food! Fortunately, Ye Minchun was so confident that the Jurchen soldiers had already arrived in Tongzhou, and Tumutu also knew the importance of food and personally sent several thousand soldiers to Tongzhou. The troops went to grab grain, and Ye Minchun led his troops and horses to fight several battles with the Jurchens, and finally managed to defend the granary in Tongzhou without falling.

Fortunately, Ye Minchun is a capable person. If so much food was lost, the prince would be blamed no matter what! The prince was really afraid that he would die in the hands of the Jurchens, and he would lose a right-hand man from now on.

"I have sent an order to Ye Minchun, telling him to burn down the granary in Tongzhou!"

"Father?" Ye Minshu couldn't sit still after hearing this. The grain in the Tongzhou granary accounted for 10% of Dachu's annual treasury income, so it was burned down like this?!

The emperor waved his hand for him to sit down, and then dropped another shocking news: "The Jin Yiwei sent back a secret report that the Tuwu people have mobilized 30,000 troops and have entered the capital through Juyong Pass!"

Ye Minshu's face turned pale: "How is this possible?"

Now, even people like the Emperor and Prince, who are not very intelligent, finally understand the strategic intentions of Zuoyan, the Tuwu Khan. He now dispatches a large army to the northwest to hold back the elite troops of Da Chu, and then combines with the Jurchen cavalry to break through Juyong Pass in one fell swoop. Their goal is not to grab a handful and run away, they are very ambitious, they want to overthrow the Chu Dynasty and occupy the hinterland of the Central Plains!

With Tuwu's small population, Zuo Yan was able to muster a total of 120,000 soldiers and horses, which shows that he has even exerted all his strength to suck milk.

At least so far, Zuo Yan and Tumu Tu's plan has been mostly successful. The two parties combined have a total of 60,000 cavalry, which is enough to attack the capital.

Cold sweat broke out on Ye Minshu's forehead. He was not too stupid, so he immediately asked a key question: "How many available soldiers are there in the capital?"

The emperor's voice deepened: "I asked people to count the number of soldiers in the capital. Now the number of soldiers in the capital is less than 100,000, and they are all old and weak. In such a large capital, not even a thousand war horses can be found! It's shocking. , shocking!”

The prince said anxiously: "Three thousand, divine machine, where are the three major battalions of the fifth army? How come there are only 100,000 old and weak men left among the 170,000 troops and horses? How can these troops defend the capital?"

The emperor said exhaustedly: "The elites have been transferred to Xuanfu and Datong by them long ago!"

The emperor didn't need to explain too much, but the prince also understood that over the years, the camp affairs had been neglected, the camp commanders were corrupt and incompetent, and free money had become a common practice. The three major battalions that were so powerful during Taizu's time were now inferior to even the frontier troops in terms of combat effectiveness.

The prince trembled with his hands and said: "The Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army, the Ministry of War, and the eunuch in charge of the three battalions should be killed! They all should be killed!"

The emperor sighed and said: "Now is not the time to hold people responsible! The Jurchen and Tubul coalition forces are coming in a blink of an eye. Your Majesty, we have to find a way to deal with the enemy!"

The prince swore solemnly: "But please give me my father's orders, and I will definitely die!"

The emperor said gently: "Your Majesty, my father is getting old and wants to pass the throne to you. I will abdicate and become the Supreme Emperor. What do you think?"

The prince came to have an audience today and was prepared to be scolded by the emperor. Unexpectedly, a huge pie fell from the sky and almost knocked him unconscious. Now let him become the emperor? Did the Buddha open his eyes?

Ye Minshu was so excited that she was shaking all over, but she still tried her best to suppress her joy. She knelt on the ground with a bang. Although she was eager to agree immediately, she still said humbly: "Father, you have a prosperous spring and Autumn period, but your son has no good fortune and no virtue. All these things

Absolutely no, absolutely no!"

The prince was also afraid that the emperor was just testing him!

The emperor's voice above the head slowly sounded: "I have made up my mind. Yujia will set off to inspect Nanjing today. However, the capital is an important place and one person must be left to guard it. If you are willing, I will pass the throne to you.

You lead the troops to guard the capital."

I see!

It was like a basin of cold water being poured down on his head! The prince's heart immediately became cold and cold! He thought to himself: Your Majesty, you are so kind to your son!

The inspection of Nanjing was just a nice cover. In fact, the emperor was scared out of his wits by the Jurchens and the unexpected army, so he found a high-sounding reason to escape from Beijing. As he said, of course the capital could not be surrendered to

Foreigners, always looking for them

One person comes forward to support him. The most ideal person is the prince. The emperor said nicely, passing the throne to him and becoming the supreme emperor himself. But once the capital is destroyed, he will become a sinner for the ages, and may even be captured by foreigners.

Go, there are no such examples in the past!

The prince finally understood that he was the scapegoat pushed out by the emperor!!

No wonder he didn’t mention anything about me escaping from the battle. It turns out that my father had this idea too!

After thinking about all this, he was unwilling to accept the emperor's throne even if he was killed. He thought: The throne will be mine sooner or later anyway, why should I take such a big risk?

"Father, I will never dare to accept this!"

The emperor's eyes showed a look of extreme disappointment. He himself is a cowardly person. He also thought about coexisting with the city, but he could not make up his mind after all. The eunuchs and concubines around him came to cry to him, and the ministers also complained.

The previous article asked him to temporarily avoid the enemy's attack, so he decided to go to Nanjing, the companion capital, to take shelter.

People are like this. He is weak and incompetent, but he hopes that his son will be capable. He sincerely hopes that the prince can take on the task of saving the country at this time, so he will sincerely pass the throne to him and will not interfere too much in his governance in the future.

But now, the prince's performance is so disappointing!

"Go down! Go down!" The emperor waved his hand tiredly. Now he didn't want to see the prince again.

The next day, it was the fourth day of the fifth lunar month in the eighth year of Dachu Zhengtong. The day after that was the Dragon Boat Festival, but people in the capital were in panic. No matter the wealthy families or the common people, they had no intention of celebrating the festival. Suddenly, 30,000 soldiers and horses also entered. The news of Juyongguan soon spread to everyone. There was a sign of national subjugation everywhere. The capital's troops were empty, and the Jurchens and Jurchens were so capable of fighting. Officials and ordinary people, smart ones, were all dealt with. Once the box and cage are ready, just wait for the city gate to open and escape.

Early in the morning, the emperor will hold a large court meeting at Qianqing Gate. Officials of fifth rank and above must participate in a court meeting of this scale. As a prince, Ye Yichen also needs to participate.

Ye Yichen got up early in the morning, had breakfast and saw that it was still early, so he went to the small courtyard where Yulan lived. Yulan had already gotten up and washed herself. She had just recovered from a serious illness and could not get out of bed. When Ye Yichen came in, Dou Lu Zheng took a small bowl and fed her bird's nest porridge in small bites.

"The prince is here!" Seeing the prince come in, Yulan hurriedly bowed on the bed. Ye Yichen said, "You eat what you have. I just came over to take a look."

In fact, Yulan had almost finished eating, so she said, "I'm full, sister, please clean it up." Doulu responded, packed up the dishes and went out.

Ye Yichen found a chair and sat down by himself. He saw that her complexion was much better than yesterday. There was already a trace of blush on her innocent little face, which made her look particularly charming. The prince was happy and said, "What do you think?"

Yu Lan smiled and said: "I'm much better, thanks to the prince inviting Dr. Xue to save my life. I really don't know how to repay the prince for his great kindness to me!"

Ye Yichen twitched the corner of his mouth and thought to himself: "Is this girl really ignorant or just pretending to be confused? She is like this now. Of course you will serve me in the future. You will have the time to repay me at that time!"

Ye Yichen said: "Old Mrs. Yang and Miss Yang Jiu have returned home safely. Don't worry." Ye Yichen knew that she was worried about her relatives, so he told her the news without waiting for her to ask.

"Really? It's God's blessing!" Yulan was overjoyed. This is really good news.

Seeing her happy look, Ye Yichen also felt happy. "There is also good news. The big head of my bodyguard has also escaped!"

"General Yuan is still alive? It's great!" Yulan was sincerely happy for Big Head. "How did he escape from so many Jurchen soldiers?"

A smile appeared on Ye Yichen's lips: "He was seriously injured, so he simply pretended to be dead. The Jurchens were busy looting, so we just let him get through like this!"

Yu Lan nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "General Yuan is really smart, and he deserves to be the royal guard next to the prince!"

Ye Yichen's eyes twitched, thinking, are you praising me or hurting me?

The two chatted for a few more words, and Yu Lan secretly glanced at the prince's face. When she saw that the prince had placed her in his inner house, she felt a little upset. What did he mean? At that time, great emphasis was placed on the relationship between men and women. To be careful, she and Ye Yichen fled all the way, and Ye Yichen carried and hugged her. It was really a "reciprocal relationship". According to the rules at this time, I was afraid that she had only one way to go: marry him!

It's just that... Ye Yichen is a dignified prince, and even if he wants to continue his marriage, there are a lot of daughters-in-law from famous families rushing to his door. Why don't you think that such a top diamond king Laowu can't get his turn?

Is her status worthy of being Princess Jin? She feels discouraged just thinking about it!

Doesn't he want to take her as a concubine? Although Yulan has a good impression of Ye Yichen and is grateful to her for saving her several times, but let her marry the prince as a concubine... I'm sorry, let's forget it

!Although this girl is just a concubine, she still doesn’t want to be humbled by others!

Yulan's imagination grew wider and wider, and the more she thought about it, the more it made sense! She was betrayed by her boyfriend once in her previous life, and she really lacked confidence in her own charm! She always thought that Ye Yichen was such a good man... I'd better stop thinking about it!

Thinking about it this way, she felt that Prince Jin's Mansion was like a dragon's pond and a tiger's den, and she didn't want to stay here for a second.

Yulan immediately tried and said: "Your Majesty, I am almost well. Can you...send me back to Yang Mansion? I have been bothering you for too long and caused you too much trouble..." After Ye Yichen

Under the sharp gaze, Yu Lan's voice became smaller and smaller.

Although she tried to keep her tone calm, who was Ye Yichen? Prince Jin could hear the impatience in her tone as soon as she opened her mouth. She looked over with a cold look, which made Yu Lan feel guilty.

Yulan cheered herself up in her heart!

Anyway, only the two of them knew about these things. As long as she spoke out and begged Ye Yichen, he would definitely be able to handle the matter properly and not damage her own reputation. The prince's credibility still belongs to her.

If you are trustworthy, as long as you don't go out and talk nonsense, it won't affect you in any way, so you should just marry Xie Zhiyuan honestly.

After all, she was not a real ancient person. In fact, she didn't really pay much attention to the defense between men and women, not to mention that the two of them didn't have any substantive relationship. She didn't feel that she could feel sorry for Xie Zhiyuan.

Ye Yichen was originally in a good mood, but her words immediately made him feel bad: What do you mean? You still look down on me! Do you think you have been wronged by serving me?

Ye Yichen stood up as soon as he brushed his sleeves and said coldly: "I'm not busy with this matter! You have a good rest, I have to attend the court meeting!"

After that, he turned around and went out.

"Your Majesty!" Yulan called out, but Ye Yichen left without looking back!
Chapter completed!