Chapter 5: The City of Sorrow in Nanjing (Five)

The city is broken!

God knew whether this sound was shouted by the soldiers who siege the city or the soldiers who guarded the city. In short, this sound was not heard of whether it was sad or happy. The end of the eunuch party and the empress dowager in Nanjing.

The first thing that was broken was the most solid Jubao of the thirteen city gates in Nanjing. The Jubao of the Three Mountains and Tongji three gates, which is one of the main attack directions of the uncle Xiong Zhaolian, who won the first merit of the city breaking the city. Since the two sides had hundreds of attacks and defense contacts, they knew themselves and enemies, and the major general of the Nanjing city was not even unified. The eunuchs and supervisors of each city gate sect of Wei Zhongxian were completely blindly commanding, and they took away the command power of the city gate general as soon as they came up. If Yuan Chonghuan had not intended to adopt the most formal method of siege, otherwise the day the city would have been broken would have been ahead of schedule.

The ending of the war is often inevitable with chance. Yuan Chonghuan, the commander-in-chief of the siege battle, was stunned for a moment when he received the report of the city breaking. When the news that the army had captured Jubao Gate came, he was convinced that the fact that Nanjing City had broken was just now.

The chain effect brought by the breaking of the treasure gate was soon opened, and the Xuanwu gates were broken one after another. Two hundred and 40,000 troops rushed into Nanjing. There was no fierce street fighting, no fierce resistance, and even a decent battle did not appear. Wei Zhongxian acted against the people and the people in Nanjing had long been disloyal to the pseudo-government court. When they saw the imperial court's army quelling the rebellion into the city, they opened the door to welcome them.

Of course, there was no resistance. Wei Zhongxian and other officials of the eunuch party were not willing to accept the fate of failure. They actually organized more than 15,000 followers, including many eunuchs and the Jinyiwei who had escaped from Beijing with Xu Xiancun and others. They relied on the palace walls of the Forbidden City for the final dying struggle.

In the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace, Empress Dowager Xu Rongrong sat upright on the dragon throne with the little emperor Zhu Cirui who was less than two years old, looking straight and looking solemn.

"Empress Qi, Nanjing City has been captured. Eunuch Wei, Shangshu Cui and others are mobilizing troops to fight the enemy in the streets." Gao Qiqian was not panicked at all. The ending was already destined. He even felt a little pitiful to the young woman sitting on this dragon throne, because he had received a secret order to secretly execute the mother and son, and no one could see it.

"Qi Qian, the only people who can trust in the Ai family are you and Mr. Qian. The current situation is in crisis, and the Ai family and the emperor are responsible for the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty. In any case, neither the palace nor the emperor can fall into the hands of King Xin." Empress Dowager Xu Rongrong said with a hint of empty eyes.

"Empress, for the sake of the present, we must hold the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. Only by aggrieved Empress Dowager and the Emperor disguised themselves as civilians, and then took advantage of the chaos to break through. The King of Shu and some steadfast selfishness are still resisting. As long as we can contact the King of Shu and the others, we will definitely regain the kingdom belonging to the Emperor in the future." Gao Qiqian pondered for a moment. He was about to find an opportunity to solve the problem of the mother and son without any traces. When he saw Xu Rongrong ask, his heart moved. Why not create a illusion of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor being absconded and fled and was killed by the rioters?

"Eunuch Gao, this matter must not be done. The Empress Dowager and the Emperor are both wealthy. How can they live a life of a civilian status? Besides, there are no soldiers outside, and there is no eyebrow. What if the Empress Dowager and the Emperor accidentally injured by the rioters?" Qian Qianyi was afraid of death. All he thought of now was surrender, and naturally he tried his best to oppose Gao Qiqian's disguised escape strategy.

Xu Rongrong glared at Qian Qianyi without too much blame, and there was disgust in her eyes, and she said, "What else can the Ai family do to protect the emperor?"

Qian Qianyi's old face turned red. He was the one who opposed disguising himself as absconding, and he was the one who could not relieve the worries of the Empress Dowager. He said, "Empress Dowager, I believe that King Xin will not attack you and the Emperor. After all, the Emperor is also his nephew, and you are his sister-in-law."

The Tian family has no affection, and I don’t understand such a simple principle. Qian Qianyi is not worthy of being the chief minister of the cabinet. Thinking of the past, his eloquence is so full of love, but now he is cowardly and afraid of death and selfish. Xu Rongrong regrets deeply that he actually had an ambiguous relationship with such a man. His hatred suddenly increased. His phoenix eyes turned cold and said, “Has Mr. Qian forgotten how Emperor Yongle of this dynasty treated Emperor Taizu and Grandson.”

"This..." Three black lines suddenly rose on Qian Qianyi's forehead, and he smashed his mouth and said nothing.

Qian Qianyi didn't want to die, and Xu Rongrong didn't want to die, but Xu Rongrong saw it more clearly. Even if she surrendered, she would only hold her life temporarily. How could the emperor let the existence of someone who could threaten her at any time? The king of Xin Zhu Youjian dared to launch the palace-taking change, which shows that he was a person who was unwilling to be inferior to others and had a strong desire for power. It was said that the king of Xin Wang was kind and clever. In her opinion, this was all for fooling the people. The real king of Xin Wang was extremely terrible. He even knew that the empress dowager was not worthy of his name, and the little emperor was not the flesh and blood of the late emperor. No matter how generous the king of Xin Wang was, he would not allow a person who kept the blood of a foreign surname to become a royal family, even the prince, the future emperor, and he had an endless hatred with him!

Even if Qian Qianyi knew it, he had a deep understanding of the cruel struggle caused by the imperial family for the throne, but he knew better that his life was more important than the lives of others. Even if that person's former status was intimate with him, he could abandon it. What is the integrity of a literati? Whoever kowtowed to whom is the integrity of a literati, and these people are at most "pseudo-literati". However, China has never lacked these literati who "judged the situation". Qian Qianyi is the best among them.

"Empress Dowager, it's not time to go. Please make a decision quickly. While the army has not yet formed an encirclement of the palace, we will escort the Empress Dowager and the Emperor out. It will be too late if it's too late." Gao Qiqin urged.

"Eunuch Gao, Wei Zhongxian's exit is guarded by Wei Zhongxian. Can we go out?" Qian Qianyi seemed to have found evidence that could refute Gao Qiqian.

Xu Rongrong's expression slowed down and nodded and asked Gao Qiqian, "Old Qian Ge said it well. Now there are Wei Zhongxian's people inside and outside the imperial city. He wants to defend the imperial city to the death, just to pull the Ai family and the emperor to bury him!"

In his words, Xu Rongrong has already turned to Gao Qiqian's disguised escape strategy, but how to get out of the palace is still a huge problem. Wei Zhongxian will not seek death alone. Xu Rongrong is definitely the one who is in charge. This is also that Wei Zhongxian does not care about Xu Rongrong's conspiracy and only sends his confidant people to guard any exit in and out of the imperial city. Even if Xu Rongrong and others have the ability to be able to go all the way, they can only be buried with them.

"The Empress Dowager, the matter is man-made, and no matter how tight the defense is, there are loopholes." Gao Qiqian smiled confidently.

Empress Dowager Xu Rongrong was shocked when she heard this, and a charming smile appeared on her face, saying, "Gao Qiqian, the Ai family has promoted you in an extraordinary way. Sure enough, I did not misunderstand the person."

"The Empress Dowager knows the kindness of her husband, and she will never be repaid for her death." Gao Qiqian pretended to be grateful and she said.

"Okay, the strong wind knows the strong grass, the swaying of the swaying of the loyal ministers, and the hearts of the family are so small." Xu Rongrong was not stingy with praise, and praised Gao Qiqian very much.

Gao Qiqian showed a look of fear and fear, which made Xu Rongrong feel that this eunuch was much more considerate. Xunshen must use him when he escaped from the queen.

Gao Qiqian didn't know that his intentional performance actually made Xu Rongrong, who was scheming, think that he would rely on his confidant. If Gao Qiqian was not really shouldering a special mission, he might be really moved by Xu Rongrong's idea and followed him wholeheartedly.

Gao Qiqian inherited the forces left by Han Zanzhou, and infiltrated many of his own people, so an internal network that was airtight in the imperial city had formed. Because it was formed too quickly and too hasty, Wei Zhongxian did not notice this and did not arouse vigilance. Therefore, Gao Qiqian was given a relatively relaxed space and took a few people to quietly leave the palace without disturbing Wei Zhongxian. This was not difficult for him.

Gao Qiqian was dressed up as an ordinary old eunuch. Qian Qianyi refused to disguise himself and stayed in the imperial city. Even if he was captured, although he was close to Wei Zhongxian, he was not Wei Zhongxian's confidant and did not commit too many crimes. At most, he would be dismissed from office and went home to farm, and the chance of survival was relatively high. If he fled with the Queen Mother and Gao Qiqian, it would be unpredictable to escape together for his life plan.

Xu Rongrong really saw through the heart of Qian Qianyi, but she had no confidence in this man. When she gave Yulu, she just wanted to make this man surrender under her pomegranate skirt and increase some strength for her speaking in the court. She did not really develop feelings. In her eyes, all men are tools, and even her own son is no exception, because she has received such education since she was a child.

Two hours later, the battle to siege the Imperial City was still in full swing. Although the battle was not very tragic, soldiers who were killed and injured were always lifted down from the front line. Such a special team suddenly appeared in the cruel battle scene.

Women, they are all women, and it is not rare for women to join the army. In ancient times, Mulan and Qin Liangyu are all famous female heroes, but these female soldiers did not charge forward with the male soldiers, but rushed to the front line in the rain of bullets. Their job is to rescue the injured soldiers.

The soldiers fought desperately to kill the enemy. Even if they were injured, there were gentle female soldiers who were desperate to save them. Many men may not know what it felt like in a woman's arms in their lives. Now they can enjoy it as long as they kill the enemy and are injured. Those who are not injured envy those who are seriously injured, so they are even more desperate to kill the enemy. They desperately want to be injured, and then they fall into gentle arms.

"Brothers, rush in, kill Wei Zhongxian, and be named Marquis of Wanhu!"

The sound of shouts of killing sounded again in front of Hongwu Gate. In order to protect the Nanjing Forbidden City built by Emperor Taizu, Zhu Yinglong ordered that artillery be used to attack the imperial city, which increased the difficulty of attack. However, there was no complaint when rushing to the generals. Although Nanjing was no longer a capital, it was once the capital set by the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, which had irreplaceable symbolic significance in the hearts of the soldiers and the people.

At this moment, the Empress Dowager Xu Rongrong, who was dressed up as a palace maid, as well as the little emperor, Gao Qiqian and others, under the protection of more than a dozen eunuchs, quietly entered a yard that Gao Qiqian had already bought outside the imperial city.

"Empress Dowager, we finally escaped." Four personal palace maids followed behind Xu Rongrong, one of whom was named Dongmei and breathed a sigh of relief.

Gao Qiqian was also a little worried. Wei Zhongxian assassinated Xu Rongrong, but the result was only a substitute for Xu Rongrong. Although he was regarded as a confidant by Xu Rongrong, he did not fully trust him. He didn't know if Xu Rongrong had a substitute. Maybe she only had a substitute. However, the closer he got to contact, the more he found that the empress dowager Xu Rongrong was not the only one available force around him. Maybe she had also secretly cultivated a force, otherwise where would her substitute come from?

This discovery made Gao Qiqian feel creepy. His guess was too late to report, but the order he received was to kill the mother and son in an accident. He knew very well that the order was issued by his immediate boss Li Yongzhen, but he didn't know if it was not the top meaning.

"Empress Dowager, we are only temporarily safe now. This yard was secretly bought by someone from my servant. That person was a cousin from a distance from me, a mute." Gao Qiqian hurriedly ordered people to clean up the room and let Xu Rongrong rest first.

What should I do? Kill or not? Except for the four palace maids who escaped with Xu Rongrong in this yard, the others are Eagle Guards. Gao Qiqian suddenly realized that pulling people out of the imperial city did not seem to be the best way.

"Dadfather, should you ask for instructions?" A clever eunuch beside Gao Qiqian saw the hesitation on his boss's face.

"The order was issued by Eunuch Li before our family lurked in Nanjing. If this order was not the emperor's own intention, but Eunuch Li went private..." Gao Qiqian did not continue. Many things here cannot be said. What he was afraid of was that it was just a hint from the emperor. If he poked it out, he would probably not be able to keep this head even if he had made a great contribution.

Who is Li Yongzhen? He knew best that he was once the eunuch whom Wei Zhongxian trusted the most, a loyal dog. Now, even if he has a different owner, this owner can better control the dog and bite whoever he lets him bite. If there is no emperor's hint, Li Yongzhen would probably have done this with great courage!

Of course there is another rumor here. Before Xu Rongrong was selected into the palace, she had been in Wei Zhongxian's nephew Wei Liangqing's mansion for a few days. With Wei Liangqing's lustful personality, can she let go of a beautiful woman like Xu Rongrong? Wei Zhongxian was learning from Lu Buwei. Xu Rongrong gave birth to the little prince Zhu Cirui less than eight months after entering the palace. Although premature birth is understandable, who knows what unknown secrets are there?

There is also a girl who was originally mercilessly dictated by Wei Zhongxian, who finally became able to fight against him without losing the upper hand. How many such women can there be, let alone a girl under the age of ten. This is too terrible, afraid that the Martial Arts Queen will be able to compete in the future.

"Brother-in-law, the emperor is gone!" Gao Qiqian was thinking about his next action, and suddenly he ran over recklessly, a eunuch who was disguised as a servant, and said in his ear.

"What? Where is the Queen Mother?" Gao Qiqian felt his scalp numb, stood up with a loud voice, and then sat down decadently.

"The Empress Dowager is still here, but..." The eunuch stammered and did not dare to say it.

"But what's wrong?" Gao Qiqian asked loudly.

"The Queen Mother seems to be a fake one, maybe a substitute."

After working hard to plan, he became a wedding dress for others. "Han Zanzhou!" Gao Qiqian said such a name appeared in his heart. It's true that only he has the power to get people out of the imperial city strictly sealed by Wei Zhongxian. Could it be?

Gao Qiqian shook his head and smiled bitterly. After nearly a year of hard work, he thought he was foolproof, but in the end he was plotted against him.

The truth of the facts is no longer important, but Gao Qiqian is also a quick-witted person. He immediately turned dark to light and contacted Zhou Wenyuan. Zhou Wenyuan felt that the matter was serious and immediately reported it to Zhu Yinglong.

Zhu Yinglong was shocked when he heard the news and immediately ordered the blockade of the entry and exit of the official roads in Nanjing. Even if the mother and son could escape from the imperial city, they would definitely not leave Nanjing in chaos. However, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. If Xu Rongrong was invisible in the city and could not be stung, it would be difficult to deal with it, and blocking the city would only be temporary.

On June 17, the second year of Chongzhen, the southern army captured the Nanjing Imperial City. The city was broken, Wei Zhongxian committed suicide, Cui Chengxiu and other eunuch party officials fled in scattered and were all captured, and tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Nanjing were killed and injured, and more than 100,000 surrendered.
Chapter completed!