In order to prevent Prince Lu from harassing Shen Qionglian during the day, Hu Shanwei added a hundred soldiers to guard the gate outside the side hall. At night, when there was an unknown invasion from outside, these one hundred soldiers guarding the tomb were just right to protect the two female officials who went to hide in the underground palace of the Xiaoling Mausoleum.
Xiaoling Mausoleum is a joint burial site for the emperor and empress. Empress Xiaoci passed away first and her coffin was carried into the underground palace for burial. In order to welcome the coffin of Emperor Hongwu in the future, the road leading to the underground palace has not been sealed. In order to prevent theft, the underground palace has been equipped with layers of mechanisms and protective measures, making it the safest place.
The two men arrived at the gate of the underground palace. Almost at the same time, Prince Lu was carried over by his servants wrapped in a quilt, and Gulu was spread out like an egg roll, wearing only a thin nightgown. He had not had time to put on clothes because he came in a hurry.
Hu Shanwei said: "Put on the armor for the King of Lu and let him go into the underground palace."
At this time, the sound of fighting could be heard from the foot of the mountain.
When Prince Lu saw Shen Qionglian, he immediately forgot his fear and stepped forward, "I am a man, and a prince of the Ming Dynasty. How can I retreat when the thieves invade the resting place of Empress Xiaoci? Please ask Hu Siyan and Shen Jiaoshi to hide in the underground palace. I will command the troops guarding the tomb to fight."
No one believed that King Lu had this ability.
Hu Shanwei gave a signal, and everyone rushed forward, wrapped him in the quilt again, tied him up forcibly, and carried him into the underground palace.
Prince Lu struggled in his quilt like a silkworm, "Let me go! I can still kill a few more thieves!"
Shen Qionglian said calmly: "Your Highness, please don't humiliate yourself."
When King Lu heard that his beloved actually evaluated him in this way, he suddenly felt disheartened, stopped moving, and lay down in the quilt, feeling ashamed and angry.
The protective stone doors of the underground palace closed one after another, and everyone hurried to the deepest part, where the coffin of Empress Xiaoci was vaguely visible. Shen Qionglian felt relieved and turned around and said, "Hu—"
Hu Shanwei did not follow, so she led people to guard outside.
Shen Qionglian said nothing more. She found a smooth stone step, brushed off the dust, spread out the drawing paper, knelt on the ground, and continued to paint her "Pine and Deer Picture" on the grave.
Who is coming? I don't know.
How many people? I don't know.
Why? I don't know.
However, Hu Shanwei knew that once the thieves broke into the underground palace and destroyed the remains of Empress Xiaoci, according to Emperor Hongwu's temper, all the survivors would have to be buried with her. Since they would all die anyway, they might as well give it a try.
Hu Shanwei put on a soldier's leather armor and stood on the city wall looking down. Judging from the direction of the fire, the thieves were heading straight for the underground palace.
Hu Shanwei speculated that the secret of Concubine Da Ding's poisoning might have been leaked, and the remnants of Prince Han wanted revenge: the bandits did not come earlier or later, but waited for Prince Lu to come and then started attacking the Xiaoling Mausoleum, perhaps wanting to capture Prince Lu in exchange for Concubine Da Ding.
If successful, the master's mother, Mrs. Da, will be saved.
If he failed, he could die together with the Prince of Lu, because the Prince of Lu was half of the Guo family. His second uncle, Guo Ying, Marquis of Wuding, shot through the head of Chen Youliang, the Prince of Han, with an arrow.
Judging from the speed at which the fire moved towards the underground palace, the thieves were very brave and had already broken through the road barriers and defenses of the tomb guards.
Guarding the Xiaoling Mausoleum has many advantages, such as high salary, fast promotion, low risk, good resume, and proximity to home, making it the preferred career for second-generation military men and other wealthy young men.
Therefore, the troops guarding the mausoleum were useless and there was not a single capable fighter. Even with Hu Shanwei's advance warning and the erection of roadblocks for defense, they were still defeated.
In addition, the thieves had the support of an insider. They broke through the Jinshui Bridge and reached the first gate of the Xiaoling Mausoleum, the Wenwufang Gate. This gate had similar construction specifications to the Nanjing city wall and should have been able to hold out for some time. However, at this time, the Wenwufang Gate was wide open, the soldiers defending the city fell to the ground, the insider's blades were dripping with blood, and the thieves broke through the first checkpoint and began to attack the second gate, the Beidian.
There are a total of 200,000 guards in the capital. Apart from the imperial guards in the palace and the garrisons patrolling the city gates, most of the troops are stationed in the northwest of the inner city, a certain distance away from the Xiaoling Mausoleum on Zhongshan Mountain. They also have to open the city gates, lower the drawbridge over the moat, and so on, so for the time being, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst.
The thieves calculated the time difference and rushed forward regardless of their lives, like a sharp arrow, directly shooting towards the underground palace of the Xiaoling Mausoleum.
If they could capture Prince Lu alive before the imperial guards arrived, then the 200,000 guards from the capital would be helpless and could only negotiate with them in exchange for Concubine Dading.
Seeing the enemy getting closer and closer, Hu Shanwei is not a person who will sit and wait for death. She only knows a little military boxing to strengthen her body, and her fighting ability is not as good as that of ordinary mausoleum guards. What should she do
That’s right! Raise a deer for a thousand days, use it for a moment!
Hu Shanwei led the remaining mausoleum guards on horseback and galloped towards the deer shed. "Everyone! We don't have to defeat the bandits. We just need to delay time and wait for reinforcements to arrive. We can imitate Tian Dan's fire bull formation in the Warring States Period and set up a fire deer formation to disperse the bandits."
Arriving at the deer shed, Hu Shanwei dismounted and found that the shed was brightly lit. A group of people were already busy in the shed where the adult deer were kept, tying knives to the deer's antlers.
It was Shi Qianhu, Chen Xuan and others led by Mu Chun.
Mu Chun tore his clothes into strips and smiled at Hu Shanwei, "Hu Siyan and I have a tacit understanding and are on the same page."
It turned out that when the green light rose in the sky, Mu Chun was having an indescribable erotic dream and was awakened by Chen Xuan, who was on duty, who lifted the quilt.
Mu Chun was on vacation, and he had only about fifty men under his command. If he went up to resist, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg. Fortunately, Mu Chun was good at thinking crookedly. When he saw the peacock feathers in the vase, he thought of the fat deer.
"Fuck, let's go recruit soldiers." Mu Chun said.
Chen Xuan asked: "Where are we going to recruit soldiers in the middle of the night? Is Lord Mu still dreaming?" After following Mu Chun for a long time, one would forget that superiors need to be respected.
Mu Chun dragged out a box of weapons from under the bed and said, "Go find Brother Lu for help."
Mu Chun and Hu Shanwei had the same idea, which was to use the huge herd of deer to charge at the thieves.
Hu Shanwei brought bean cakes and other food from the feed warehouse. "Don't light the deer's tails. Once they catch fire, they will be in great pain and will flee in all directions. They won't listen to us and may even come up the mountain and hit us. We use food as bait to reward them."
She worked as an animal keeper at the Xiaoling Mausoleum for a year and was familiar with the deer's personalities, knowing that they would respond to soft tactics rather than harsh ones.
Baskets of bean cakes were placed on catapults and catapulted far away. The enemy troops that were attacking the Xiaoling Mausoleum had already broken through the second gate - the Stele Hall.
The stele hall was just a palace without any tower protection, so it was quickly captured and the thieves continued to advance.
In front is the Hall of Worship, a palace protected by a tower, where the tablet of Empress Xiaoci is enshrined. This is the third gateway leading to the underground palace of the Xiaoling Mausoleum.
Victory was just ahead, the bandits' morale increased greatly and they charged forward bravely.
Suddenly, "hail" began to fall from the sky. The enemy soldiers raised their shields to cover their heads. There was a loud thud, but when the hail fell to the ground, they found that it was not hail or stones, but pieces of bean cakes for feeding horses.
The gate of the Xian Hall burst open, and Mu Chun and his men galloped towards the enemy camp, throwing bean cakes to attract the deer with razor blades tied to them. "Come and chase us, if you catch us, we'll have a midnight snack!"
The deer came in search of the scent, and with their sharp horns, they passed through the gate of the Xiandian Hall and rushed towards the enemy.
The Muchun Suicide Squad jumped on horseback and grabbed the rope hanging from the city wall.
"Pull quickly!" Chen Xuan gave the order on the city wall, and all the officers and soldiers pulled the rope together and pulled the suicide squad to the second floor of the city wall.
Hu Shanwei stood on the city wall and saw the deer herd scattering the enemy troops, just like a speeding arrow suddenly shattered into wood chips.
The enemy troops were scattered, losing more than half of their troops to the knives and hooves of the foraging deer. Meanwhile, reinforcements had arrived at the foot of the mountain and were advancing at full speed.
The enemy fought a desperate battle, regrouped, and holding torches, drove the deer with knives stuck in their horns to the stele hall. The deer were afraid of fire, so they ran into the stele hall one by one. The enemy closed the door, shutting off the "trouble", and resolving the crisis.
The enemy attacked the Xian Hall again. This time they used fire. One flaming arrow after another shot into the wooden Xian Hall on the second floor. Mu Chun quickly protected Hu Shanwei with his body. "We can't hold on here. Let's retreat to Fangcheng Minglou!"
Below the Ming Building is the underground palace, the last line of defense.
Hu Shanwei climbed onto the altar in the Xian Hall and picked up the tablet of Empress Xiaoci. "Withdraw!"
The Xian Hall could no longer be defended, but at least the shrine could be saved. Although it was just a wooden plaque, Hu Shanwei had been cleaning the shrine for a year and had developed feelings for it.
Everyone evacuated the Xian Hall and ran to the Fangcheng Ming Tower. They closed the door and went up to the Ming Tower to take a look. The Xian Hall had become the "Fire Hall".
Mu Chun was so furious that he shouted, "Quickly bring me my Portuguese cannon and blow these bastards to death!"
Chen Xuan said, "Lord Mu, this is the Mausoleum Guard, not the Imperial Guard. Besides, this is a quiet place, how could there be something like a cannon that would disturb the heroic spirits?"
Hu Shanwei held the tablet of Empress Xiaoci and watched the thieves break through the gate of Xiangdian and swarm towards Minglou like locusts.
At this time, there were only two hundred tomb-guarding soldiers with shoddy combat effectiveness and fifty or so elite soldiers under Mu Chun who were experienced in battle.
The only consolation was that the reinforcements had already reached the first gate, the Fang Gate. The Fang Gate was already controlled by the thieves and the city gate was closed, but the first reinforcements to arrive were from the Shenji Battalion, which had a variety of newly manufactured artillery and □□ from the gun/powder factory.
Xiaoling Mausoleum is the final resting place of Empress Xiaoci. At this moment, there was no time to care about so many things. The Shenji Camp pushed the artillery to bombard the square gate, and soon conquered the square gate and headed for the side hall.
The noise of the artillery was earth-shaking. The bandits' rear was lost and they attacked Minglou more and more frantically. Their rocket arrays suppressed the defenders so much that they could not fight back against the bandits who were banging on the door downstairs with siege hammers.
Mu Chun dragged Hu Shanwei, who was holding the tablet, to the door of the underground palace. "You hide inside. The stone door of the underground palace can only be opened from the inside. Once the reinforcements arrive, we will work together to annihilate the thieves. I will send out a signal of three slow and two fast knocks on the door, and you can open the stone door."
The time for a decisive battle has come. Now we can only gamble and see which one is faster, the reinforcements or the thieves. Mu Chun is a soldier. It is his responsibility to shed blood on the battlefield. He cannot hide in the underground palace. He is the last human wall in the underground palace.
As long as the building is intact, people are alive; if the building is destroyed, people will die.
Hu Shanwei's blood was boiling, and she really wanted to defend Minglou with Mu Chun, but she knew that she could not fight the enemy head-on. Not only could she not help, but she would also distract Mu Chun and drag down the defenders.
Mu Chun saw Hu Shanwei's dilemma and said, "You have tried your best. You warned in advance, set up the Deer Knife Formation, and saved the shrine of Empress Xiaoci. You did your best and never gave up. You have always been the sister Shanwei that I admire."
He pushed Hu Shanwei into the underground palace and said, "Close the door."
Hu Shanwei pressed the mechanism with trembling hands, and a three-foot-thick stone door slowly fell from top to bottom.
The stone door covered her hair, her face, her neck...
Suddenly, Mu Chun bent down and strode over, put his arms around her waist tightly, and pressed his hot lips tightly against hers. She couldn't help but exclaim. He took advantage of the opportunity and entangled his tongue with hers, realizing a kiss that had appeared in countless erotic dreams.
For the first time, the dream came true.
Hu Shanwei used to think that dreams were so beautiful that she was reluctant to wake up, but at this moment, she found that she was extremely wrong. Compared to waking up from a seamless erotic dream, the kiss in reality was damn sweet!
Unfortunately, the kiss was too short, like a dragonfly touching the water. Mu Chun let go when the stone door was only three feet from the ground, and the cat rolled out.
Boom!
With a loud bang, the stone door fell to the ground.
Mu Chun stood up with the help of the wall, feeling satisfied, he drew his sword and rushed to the steps of the tower, shouting: "Brothers! Hold on! Reinforcements will be here soon!"
With a clang, the gate of Minglou was knocked down by the battering ram. Mu Chun formed a battle formation to fight. At the same time, the Shenjiying also used artillery to knock down the wall of Xiangdian, avoiding the Chadaolu trapped in the hall and rushed to the enemy's rear.
Suddenly, the battle situation became like a "roujiamo" (a Chinese steamed bun) battle, with both sides fighting each other...
In the underground palace, Prince Lu was tied up in a quilt pretending to be dead; Shen Qionglian was painting on the grave, concentrating deeply; Hu Shanwei was sitting beside the stone gate of the underground palace, silently guarding the tablet of Empress Xiaoci, waiting for the signal to knock on the door.
Muchun will definitely hold on to the end, and we will definitely defend the Xiaoling Mausoleum. This was the only thought in her mind.
There was a bloody battle outside. With more and more reinforcements, the bandits were attacked from both sides like a roujiamo. They gradually lost their power and retreated to the top of the city wall.
Mu Chun was surprised to find that the leader was actually Prince of Qi Zhu Bo and Prince of Tan Zhu Zi!
Hearing that Concubine Da Ding was seriously ill, the Emperor summoned Prince Qi back to Beijing. How could he come so soon when his fiefdom was far away in Qingzhou, Shandong? And how could Prince Tan Zhu Zi, who was clearly in the Palace of Heavenly Purity tending to his mother, Concubine Da Ding, join his brother in rebellion
Mu Chun shouted, "Your Highnesses! As a prince of the Ming Dynasty, why did you attack the Xiaoling Mausoleum and disturb the resting place of Empress Xiaoci? Empress Xiaoci is your biological mother! Your actions are disloyal and unfilial!"
Prince of Tan Zhu Zi and Prince of Qi Zhu Bo smiled at each other.
The fifteen-year-old Prince Tan said, "It is unfilial to attack the Xiaoling Mausoleum. Can I watch my mother being poisoned to death without taking any action? Is this filial piety? Even if the hope is slim, as a son, I must try my best to save my mother."
Mu Chun was confused.
Prince Qi Zhu Bo said, "I am a descendant of Han Prince Chen Youliang, and my brother is the son of the thief king Zhu Yuanzhang. However, the thief king has a violent temper, and my mother and I have been working together for many years, but it has been discovered. With the thief king's suspicious nature, how could he spare my brother's life? I thought that we two brothers would give it a try, hold the remains of Prince Lu or Empress Xiaoci hostage, and force the thief king to release my mother. From then on, we brothers took my mother across the ocean. Unfortunately, God has no eyes, and we got stuck at the last stage, and failed."
Mu Chun understood immediately, his eyes rolled, and he instigated the two brothers, "Your Highness Prince Tan, don't be fooled by the Prince of Qi. It is true that the emperor is a strict father, and he has been strict with his children, especially the princes, since they were young, but the emperor will not hurt his own flesh and blood. When the King of Qin killed the court officials and put the blame on the bandits, did the emperor kill the King of Qin? No, now the King of Qin has resumed his title and is still guarding the northwest. Your Highness Prince Tan, it is time to turn back!"
The King of Qi said to the King of Tan, "Brother, it is up to you to choose which path to take. You are already fifteen years old, and I respect your choice."
Prince Tan said, "My two brothers and I have been embarrassed by our mother's background. People in the palace have ridiculed us since we were young. They just serve me because I am the prince of Ming Dynasty. In fact, only my mother and brother are sincere to me. Without you, I will live a life worse than death. What's the point of being monitored and guarded by others all my life? Brother, I want to go with you."
The brothers King Qi and King Tan held hands and shouted at the same time: "I would rather see the King of Hell than the King of Thieves!"
After saying that, the two men jumped down from the tall city wall of Ming Tower. With two bangs, they hit the hard stone steps, their skulls cracked, and they died on the spot.
Two lines of blood flowed between Muchun's boots...
In the underground palace, Hu Shanwei didn't know how long she had been waiting. When her legs were numb from standing, she sat on the ground with her knees hugged, as if she had been waiting for the end of time. Finally, she heard the sound of knocking on the door.
Spring is here!
Hu Shanwei pressed the mechanism, and the stone door slowly rose up. Standing in front of the door was Emperor Hongwu!
Hu Shanwei hurriedly paid her respects, but Emperor Hongwu ignored her, picked up the tablet of Empress Xiaoci on the ground, and walked to the depths of the underground palace. The female tutor Shen Qionglian was sleeping next to the "Pine and Deer Picture" which she had completed overnight, covered with a thick quilt.
Prince Lu was wearing only a thin nightgown, holding a sword in his arms, and taking a nap with his back against the coffin of Empress Xiaoci. When he heard footsteps, he immediately drew his sword without even opening his eyes, "Who are you? How dare you trespass into the underground palace! Hurry up—Father?"
With a clang, the sword fell to the ground. Prince Lu rushed over, knelt down, hugged the legs of Emperor Hongwu and cried loudly: "Wow, father, I am so cold, scared, and lonely. I thought I would never see you again, father and mother, woo!"
Emperor Hongwu lost a son at night and was sad and angry. It would have been fine if it was Prince Qi, but why did Prince Tan also rebel against him
Seeing Prince Lu guarding before Empress Xiaoci's coffin, looking so ridiculous like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, Emperor Hongwu felt somewhat comforted. Although the naughty boy was stupid and his mother, Concubine Guo Ning, was mediocre and incompetent, at least she would not betray him.
For people in the royal family, what is more valuable than loyalty
The author has something to say: The update will be a little late tonight because there are too many lunch boxes that need to be heated up.
Two years ago, I went to Nanjing Xiaoling Mausoleum and took a lot of photos. At that time, I was thinking about how to conquer this imperial mausoleum. There are some on Weibo. If you are interested, you can go and see Mulanzhou