In Yulan's small courtyard.

Yulan sent away the imperial doctor who came to see the doctor and returned to the west wing. Yuan Zi was lying on the bed with a white cloth wrapped around his arm. That day, the man in black suddenly appeared and dispersed the princess's guards. If Yuan Zi hadn't desperately protected him,

If Yu Lan and Yu Xin are trapped, they may both die from the enemy's sword.

A eunuch outside shouted: "The Crown Princess has arrived!"

Yuxin walked in, surrounded by a group of maids. Yuan Zi rolled out of bed and was about to give Yuxin a gift. Yuxin supported her and said, "Don't move, your arm is injured. Just lie down, noisy"

What are you doing with these false gifts? If you hadn’t sacrificed your life for each other, Seventh Sister and I would both have lost our lives. Speaking of which, you are still my savior!"

Luzhi and Lurui came forward and pushed Yuan Zi back to the bed. Yuxin asked Yuan Zi's injury in detail, and Yuan Zi said: "The injury is on the arm. It's not serious. The imperial doctor also examined it just now and prescribed it."

Just take a few doses of medicine and you’ll be fine!”

Yuxin gave her a few words and glanced at Yulan. Yulan understood that she had something to say to him, so he led her into the main room. The maids brought tea to them, and Yulan waved her hand: "All of you, go down.

Bar!"

For a while, only the two sisters were left in the house.

Yuxin gritted her teeth and said, "It's Xiao Yunqian, this cheap maid!" Although Yuxin and Yulan were not injured in this assassination, several of the maids and eunuchs brought out by Yuxin were killed. One of them, a nanny, was a child.

She was Yu Xin's mother and had always been loyal to Yu Xin, but she died in such an unreasonable disaster. Of course Yu Xin hated her to the core.

"Long Xiang Wei Qianhu Shi You is her distant cousin, and he has always been interested in Xiao Yunqian. Before the draft, Xiao Yunqian always liked to instruct him to do this and that!" After all, Yuxin is by the prince's side and is well-informed. She will listen.

Inform Yulan one by one of the arrival news.

"This bitch, I really want to cut her into pieces!"

"Did Shi You confess?"

Yu Xin shook her head: "He took full responsibility for the crime and refused to confess to the instigator behind the scenes!" Although Shi You was rude, he also had some sense of loyalty. He committed the serious crime of having his whole family executed, but he refused to kill Xiao Yunqian.

Offer it up.

Yulan said calmly: "It depends on who will interrogate!"

The chief inquisitor is leaning towards the prince or towards the king of Zhao. I am afraid that the interrogation will have two different results. This matter is already a big deal, but it can become even bigger. In the end, it may be possible to involve the king of Zhao who is far away in the capital.

It's also involved. It depends on how Xiao Dang and the prince play this game.

Yulan asked: "What are your plans?"

Yu Xin said solemnly: "The prince asked me to cry in front of my father!"

This is playing the tragedy card, Yulan thought.

"...But I don't want to go like this!"

Yulan was surprised: "You still can't forget that him?"

Yuxin looked gloomy and was speechless for a long time. Yulan also sighed and gently persuaded: "Eighth sister, now that you have entered Yuqing Palace, you are the husband and wife of His Royal Highness. It is useless to think that these useless things are a disaster."

What a blessing!"

"It's not just for him!" Yu Xin said with a cold smile: "Don't you think it's a coincidence that the ambush soldiers who saved us appeared?" Just when they were in a desperate situation, the ambush soldiers came from all directions to kill them. Shi You rushed to kill them, and unexpectedly

He was still captured.

I have to say that this is all too coincidental.

After coming back, Yulan kept thinking that she and Yuxin had been used as bait for the prince. Yuxin said bitterly: "His Royal Highness the prince knew that Shi You was going to assassinate him halfway, but he didn't even give a warning or even send a few more people."

It’s so cruel to protect us!”

Yulan also felt that the prince was indeed not a good person!

In the emperor's palace.

The orthodox emperor's illness has just improved. This place is no better than Qianqing Palace. Two eunuchs, Meng Chong and Wang Ying, are waiting on the side. The emperor is having a meal when a young eunuch comes in and reports: "Your Majesty, the Imperial Concubine Xiao Huang wants to see you!"

The prince had just left, and the emperor was holding back his anger. Hearing this, he placed the jade bowl on the golden nanmu dining table and said, "She still has the nerve to see me. Tell her that I won't see you!"

Meng Chong's face was filled with joy. The prince had just given him a thousand taels of gold and asked him to give more eye drops to Concubine Xiao and the Xiao family in front of the emperor. In fact, he would have done this even if the prince did not give money because Concubine Xiao recommended it. Wang Ying served as the eunuch in charge of Dongchang and wanted to replace him as the number one eunuch in the inner palace. He had already hated the Xiao family to the bone.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. As soon as the prince offered him an olive branch, he immediately grabbed it without thinking.

Wang Ying, on the other hand, opened his mouth and wanted to say something to persuade him, but he saw that the emperor was angry, and the words were swirling around his mouth, but he did not dare to spit them out after all.

The little eunuch relaxed and went out carefully. Concubine Xiao has been favored by the emperor for so many years, and today she will be rejected by the emperor. This is really strange news.

The little eunuch went out, and Concubine Xiao, dressed in rich clothes, was standing at the door of the courtyard waiting. As long as the emperor was willing to see her, she would be sure to speak in front of the emperor and turn this matter into a trivial matter. Abandoning a Shi You It doesn't matter to the Xiao family, but Xiao Yunqian must be protected, and she may be implicated in Zhao Wang Ye Minyu's back.

Concubine Xiao dominated the queen in the palace, and no one in the palace was afraid of her. The little eunuch came over tremblingly, and after saying goodbye, he said: "My queen, you'd better go back first. The emperor said that he doesn't want to see you now!"

"Bold! Your Majesty and your empress have a deep love for each other. How could you say such a thing? You must be a slave like you who is pretending to pass the imperial edict!" Before Concubine Xiao could speak, the eldest maid of Chengqian Palace who came with her had already loudly scolded the young eunuch. .

The little eunuch was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and said, "Slave, even if I have great courage, I would not dare to falsely pass on the imperial edict!"

Concubine Xiao stretched out her hand to stop the eldest palace maid from continuing to rage. Her voice was calm and majestic as before, and she said calmly: "Excuse me, father-in-law, please go back to the emperor and say that it is not good for me to discipline my mother-in-law. I came here to apologize to the emperor. Since the emperor does not want to see you, I, I will kneel here, and when the emperor is willing to see me, I will go in again!"

After saying that, she really knelt down like this. She knew the emperor too well. This emperor was soft-hearted, timid and lacked decision-making. To put it bluntly, he had a cowardly personality. If she knelt down like this, he would definitely let go over time. Go in and see him yourself.

The eyes of the eldest maid who followed her turned red when she saw this. All the empress has lacked for so many years is the title of a queen. How noble and proud that is, but now she has to kneel on this hard bluestone... She fiercely He glared at the little eunuch and knelt down.

The little eunuch stood up and crawled to the ground, and ran in to report to the emperor.

After hearing this, Zhengzheng felt really soft in his heart. He quickly stood up and walked to the window. He saw Concubine Xiao kneeling in the yard with lowered eyebrows. The wind blew by and lifted up her dress. Although she was already over thirty years old, she Well maintained, she looks like she is in her twenties, which really makes me pity her.

Wang Ying observed the words and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, your Majesty is weak. This place is not as good as in the palace. The stones in the courtyard are rough. How can your Majesty stand kneeling like this! You'd better meet her!"

The emperor's expression suddenly softened. Meng Chong was very anxious when he saw this. He knelt at the emperor's feet and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Zhengtong looked at him: "If you have anything to say, just say it!"

Meng Chong kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, please let Wang Ying go out first!"

The emperor waved his hand and said: "Wang Ying will go out first!" Wang Ying glanced at Meng Chong bitterly and had no choice but to walk out. With the support of Concubine Xiao, he took the position of the eunuch of the East Factory's palm print, seizing the power of Meng Chong. He had little power, but the No. 1 eunuch in the palace was the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, and the emperor was nostalgic. He made a lot of slanders on the emperor and said a lot of bad things about Meng Chong, but the emperor did not alienate or punish him. Meng Chong. He was also very helpless!

Meng Chong kowtowed again and said: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten what happened five years ago? Five years ago, in Qianqing Palace, Concubine Xiao also knelt outside the palace gate like this, begging the Emperor to grant the death of Zheng Meiren... …”

After he reminded her like this, the orthodox emperor suddenly remembered that five years ago, Meng Chong had presented him with a beauty from the Tutu tribe, giving him the surname Zheng. Because she came from the Western Regions, her style was different from that of the beauties from the Central Plains. The emperor was quite fond of her, but the result was unknown. When the ministers found out what had happened, the crowd became furious and people on the left and right objected. The imperial concubine knelt down outside the Qianqing Palace and begged the emperor to follow the public opinion and execute this unexpected beauty.

The emperor was forced to have no choice but to ask the palace servants to strangle Zheng Meiren to death with white silk. For this, he was sad for a while. Now that Meng Chong mentioned this, he recalled Zheng Meiren and couldn't help but feel angry.

Meng Chong added fuel to the fire at the right time: "Your Majesty, my servant said something that was too presumptuous. The empress was obviously kneeling down to plead guilty, but in fact she was committing coercion. Your Majesty! Although Shi You is a distant relative of the Xiao family, he is a close relative of the Emperor. Qian Hu, one of the four military guards, Long Xiang Guard, if the Xiao family can let him attack the prince today, tomorrow, tomorrow... I am really afraid that something unbearable will happen!"

These words immediately struck a chord with the Emperor. Although he did not want to see the two brothers fighting over each other to the death, he did not condone it in his heart. After being the Emperor for so many years, he also had the mentality of an emperor. The following is divided into two parts: Between the two factions, he can balance the government affairs, detach himself from external affairs, and be the supreme arbiter. He is afraid that the prince will dominate alone, and the courtiers will only know that there is a prince but not an emperor.

But the Xiao family placed people among their own personal guards. Originally, there was nothing wrong with this. However, when the prince's incident happened, it became a big taboo for the emperor. Shi You can rebel against the prince today, but he will not do it tomorrow. Conspiracy against the emperor. The emperor has made up his mind at this moment. He will immediately rectify the palace guards when he returns. Whether it is the prince's line or the Zhao Wang's line, they will be investigated carefully. They must not be allowed to be among the pro-army. No longer hold an important position.

The emperor thought about so many things in an instant, walked back to the throne, sat down, and ordered: "Meng Chong!"

"The slave is here!"

"According to my oral instructions, Shi You will immediately be sent to Dezhou Mansion Prison, under strict supervision, and no visit will be allowed without an edict! After I return to Beijing, I will hand it over to the Ministry for discussion. There must be no mistake in transferring Jin Wu's guard to the palace!"

"What about the imperial concubine?"

"Let her kneel first!"

Meng Chong was overjoyed: "I obey the order!" After saying that, he went out to deliver the order.

At this time, the battle to defend the capital was in full swing. The vanguard sent by Zuo Yan was defeated by Ye Minyu. The news spread to the camp of the Tuwu and Jurchen coalition forces, and Zuo Yan and Tumu Tu were all shocked.

Tu Mu Tu said: "I received news before that there were not many soldiers left in the city, and they were all old, weak, sick and disabled people. How can it be that they are so brave now?"

Zuo Yan said: "The matter has come to this, and there is no way to retreat. We can only gather our best troops and fight to the death with the enemy! When the capital is captured, the great Chu will be full of flowers and mountains, and you and I will be half of each other!"

On May 22nd of the eighth year of Zhengtong, the battle to defend the capital officially began. Sixty thousand troops filled the plain outside the city, flowing forward and backward, unpredictable, with banners like a tide, and swords and halberds like a forest.

When everyone in the city saw the minority coalition army in full glory, their faces turned pale.

Ye Yichen sent an order to the entire army: "All the soldiers guarding the city must kill the enemy bravely. Once the battle begins, it will be a fight to the death! When approaching the battle, the general who retreats first will be killed instantly! When the army faces the battle, the army who retreats first will be killed.

Kill the front line! Anyone who dares to disobey military orders will be killed without mercy!" This is the famous military battle company formation method, created by Ye Yichen when he was in the northwest. Military orders are as strict as mountains!

He immediately ordered Ye Minyu, Ye Minchun and other generals to guard the city gate and take the lead. In his eyes, there is no prince or prince, and once the city is captured, there will be nothing! He also ordered the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to take tens of thousands of taels of silver and place it on the city. Ye Yichen

Announcing: Officers and soldiers who are able to defeat the enemy and do not avoid danger will be immediately rewarded with a silver ingot.

Everything was ready. He took a few staff to the Drum Tower and talked about the past and present with Marquis Kate and several translators from France. He remained calm as usual. The soldiers were chatting and laughing when they saw the commander, and did not take the enemy seriously at all.

Slowly, I no longer feel so nervous and scared.

During this period of time, Tuwu and Jurchen were not idle either. They prepared siege equipment such as carts and hook ladders. Zuo Yan discussed with Tumu Tuyi that there were nine gates in the capital, and the distance between gates was quite far.

There is a shortage of civil war horses in the city. In order to guard the city gate, Ye Yichen must bring countless soldiers in the city.

The soldiers were scattered at each city gate, so that their manpower was dispersed. In comparison, the soldiers at each city gate were only 10,000 or 20,000, but they could attack one gate with all their soldiers. In fact, the number was actually occupied by the sudden Jurchen coalition forces.

It was cheap, which was the main reason why they dared to attack the capital.
Chapter completed!