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The scorching sun was shining on the blood on the steps, and it seemed that it would soon dry up, but the white throat bone on the corpse made people's eyes hard and cold. The officials in front of the Purple Palace, all of them were stiff and closed their mouths.
Shifting their sight upwards, they saw a person in a purple robe standing tall on the steps facing the sun, with one hand behind his back and the other hand holding up his sleeve to curl it in front of the gold and jade belt around his waist. His phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, revealing a strange smile in his eyes.
After nine years of ups and downs in officialdom and the sharpening of knives and stones, they suddenly realized that a scholar had actually developed a momentum as powerful as thunder and lightning and a lofty aura. Just standing there and looking down from above was enough to make people speechless.
At this point, their suspicion of Lu Shiqing's intentions had gradually turned into certainty.
But it was useless to confirm it. As early as an hour ago, someone noticed that the defense of Daming Palace was not properly guarded, and several generals hurried to notify the three camps of the Beijing Army to warn them. However, seeing that the letter was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response, their hearts sank inch by inch.
Lu Shiqing came prepared. Not only did he empty the entire palace, he also made arrangements in the three major camps of the Beijing Army. As for the reinforcements from other places that were temporarily sent to Chang'an due to the war, the military orders to dispatch them were in the hands of the saint.
The war was turbulent, and the saints were afraid of everything, so they refused to hand over the military token to anyone. Now he was trapped in the Purple Palace, and his life or death was unknown. Unless he broke in by force, it would be useless. But the generals had gone to support the army, and none of them returned. Most of the people present were weak and unarmed civil officials. The remaining few princes and grandchildren were also like Zheng Pei, who were not capable of such a big task. How could they break in
In the dead silence, Lu Shiqing looked at the corpse at his feet and said calmly, "The sun is bright. If you want to lie down and rest like Zhu Shaojian, I will help you."
When he said this, he made it clear that he was going to rebel.
An old official with white hair and beard spoke first, pointing his index finger at him tremblingly: "Minister Lu, you... you know what you are doing!"
Lu Shiqing smiled and said, "No need for you to remind me, Minister Sun. I know it very well."
This Minister Sun was his immediate superior in the Ministry of Personnel. Although he had never formally paid homage to him, he could be considered his teacher.
Elder Sun's face flushed red when he heard this: "If the Saint fails to do anything wrong, the Great Zhou can only be called Zheng. How can we allow you to take advantage of the country's crisis? This is treason... This is treason... I have treated you like my own grandson for all these years!"
As he spoke, he staggered forward, pulled out the sword from the waist of a guard right in front of him, and slashed forward.
The Jinwu guards on all sides immediately drew their swords to stop them. Lu Shiqing frowned almost imperceptibly, and a stone in his palm flew out and hit Old Sun's knee.
The man, who was already unsteady on his feet, fell to the ground with his knees weak, and the knife that was originally intended to stab his heart missed.
Those who were unaware of the inside story immediately started cursing.
Those who helped helped others, those who cursed cursed, and those who were afraid to help huddled at the back of the crowd.
Lu Shiqing turned a deaf ear and tilted his ear slightly to hear the sound of horse hooves coming from afar. Only when the sound got closer and closer did he stretch out two fingers, put them together and press down, indicating that all the disobedient ones should be killed.
The Jinwu Guards received the order, drew their swords, formed a triangle formation and rushed down the stairs. However, the next moment, they heard earth-shaking shouts of killing coming from the entrance of the palace.
With the killing move in front of them, everyone turned around in shock and saw a man in black armor riding a horse towards them. He threw out a long spear in his left hand, blocking the horizontal sword in front of an old minister's heart, and shouted in a deep voice: "Retreat!"
It was Zheng Zhuo. There were also thousands of Great Zhou soldiers who came to rescue.
The court officials were shocked to realize that the Sixth Prince had not been at the Heavenly Steps the whole time.
As if they had been pardoned, they hurriedly retreated with tears in their eyes, running to hide behind the reinforcements. Lu Shiqing made another "kill" gesture, and the moment his finger pressed down, his eyes collided with Zheng Zhuo who was riding a horse, and after a glance, they calmly looked away.
The two sides immediately fought each other. Zheng Zhuo was like a sharp axe, rushing to the steps of heaven in the blink of an eye.
Lu Shiqing was protected by the Jinwu Guards and said coldly, "Archer."
A Jinwu Guard holding a heavy arrow stepped forward, aimed the arrow at Zheng Zhuo's heart, bent his knees and pulled the string, the bow became a full moon, and the next moment, the arrow broke through the void.
The courtiers who were hiding in the back watching the battle shouted in unison: "Your Highness, be careful!"
Zheng Zhuo tilted slightly when he heard the sound, narrowly avoiding the vital point. The heavy arrow grazed his right arm, leaving a streak of white and red flesh.
Some old ministers could not help crying and said, "Your Highness, please come back soon!"
The court officials who had usually been pessimistic about Zheng Zhuo were completely won over by this arrow.
Zheng Zhuo did not retreat, but continued to kill forward with the knife held firmly in his left hand.
His right hand was already disabled.
Lu Shiqing smiled faintly, suddenly turned around and retreated into the hall. When he came out again, he had a dagger in his hand, and his crown and hat were gone, looking half-dead.
He whispered, "If Your Highness gets one foot closer to me, the knife in my hand will be an inch closer to Your Majesty."
Zheng Zhuo suddenly reined in his horse, and the horse's hooves were raised high and then dropped heavily.
Everyone around was horrified: "Your Majesty!"
Emperor Huining's hair and beard were flying, his face was pale, and he was so angry that he couldn't speak clearly. For a long while, he could only utter a few random words, probably scolding Lu Shiqing.
Lu Shiqing grabbed his neck with one hand and held the dagger with the other. He showed no fear and said calmly, "Your Highness, tell your men to take a break."
Zheng Zhuo stopped all the soldiers and was silent for a while. Finally, he spoke and said concisely: "Conditions." He was asking him the conditions for releasing Emperor Huining.
Lu Shiqing also answered straightforwardly: "Release him outside the city." The implication was that he would be allowed to escape unscathed and leave Chang'an City safely.
The two sides stood in silence for a while. Zheng Zhuo looked at Emperor Huining's fearful eyes for a long time, then looked away and ordered: "Let Minister Lu leave the city safely."
Lu Shiqing picked up Emperor Huining, mounted his horse, and galloped out towards the palace gate under the protection of a group of Jinwu guards.
Zheng Zhuo and his men followed closely behind him, always keeping a distance of thirty feet from him.
Seeing this, a soldier on the side said while spurring his horse: "Your Highness, don't you need arrows?"
His face darkened: "If by any chance His Majesty is injured, will you bear the responsibility?"
The soldiers immediately fell silent.
They chased each other all the way, and the two groups stopped outside the Jinguan Gate of Chang'an City.
Lu Shiqing reined in his horse, turned around, and threw Emperor Huining to his enemy, then turned his horse's head and galloped westward. At the same time, a hundred elite cavalrymen sent by Yuan Yizheng to support him suddenly rushed out from the road entrance and blocked Zheng Zhuo's troops who wanted to pursue.
A cavalryman followed Lu Shiqing and heard him ask, "Is the county lady safe?"
"Don't worry, Minister Lu. According to your instructions, the county lady, Old Madam Lu, and Miss Lu were all escorted out of the city half an hour ago."
He said "OK", whipped his horse, and never looked back from beginning to end.
Zheng Zhuo, who was blocked by the cavalry and could not move forward, stared straight at his back which was getting farther and farther away.
Last night, Zheng Zhuo sat across from Lu Shiqing in the Zhongshu Province Yamen, and heard him say, "A Zhuo, the Saint is determined to eradicate the Yuan family. The Yuan family has no way out, and neither do I."
He nodded after hearing this, and after a long silence, he said, "Then let's rebel. Let's rebel together."
Lu Shiqing shook his head: "The Lu family and the Yuan family have no way out, but you still have."
He asked what this meant.
At that time, there was silence all around, only the sound of the clock ticking. Lu Shiqing smiled and replied, "Whether it's rebellion or regicide, I can do it, but you can't. This dirty mud is enough for me. I don't mind being a treacherous minister who will be infamous for thousands of years, but you must be a wise monarch who will be remembered in history."
Hearing this, he suddenly slammed the table and stood up, gritting his teeth and yelling at him: "Lu Zishu!"
Lu Shiqing raised his eyes and said, "Why? Do you think it's too boring to ascend the throne without any old friends by your side? But you have to think about me too. I have been dealing with the court for you for so many years, and I have never had a day of peace. Now it's time for me to live a free and easy life. If you want to repay me, remember to tear up the notices on the streets to arrest the criminals after you ascend the throne, and fake my death. If you are really bored, I have a five-wood set in my house, you can take it and play with it."
He snorted coldly and scolded him: "You wish for it. If I really ascend the throne, the first thing I will do is to exonerate you, clear your name, and bring you back to the court to be the Minister of the Central Secretariat."
Lu Shiqing smiled and said, "Being the Minister of the Central Secretariat is not as good as fishing. You don't know that Cixian doesn't like Chang'an. When everything is settled, I want to take her back to Luoyang to live in seclusion." At this point, the usually indifferent man showed a rare look of longing, and emphasized, "I have been thinking about it for a long time."
Zheng Zhuo finally choked up and had nothing more to say. He sighed for a while and said, "How come I have a friend like you who is so obsessed with women?"
"It's not bad, if you come to Luoyang someday, I'll buy you some wine."
"Did you brew it yourself? If you're afraid of being poisoned, you'd better not come." After he said that, he turned around and strode away.
Lu Shiqing rushed behind him and said, "Tomorrow will be our last time together, so remember to act well and act vigorously."
*
So this is the last time.
Zheng Zhuo sat high on his horse, his eyes passing through the countless soldiers and the crowds of people, and fell on Lu Shiqing who was leaving in a cloud of dust.
The splashing mud stained his robe, but he ignored it and ignored it.
He was such a clean person, but he said that he didn't care about being criticized by thousands of people or being infamous for eternity, just to leave the bright and shining light to the future wise ruler of the Great Zhou in his eyes.
Zheng Zhuo, ah Zheng Zhuo, you have to live up to it.
Hearing noisy noises, Emperor Huining, who was thrown off his horse by Lu Shiqing, finally came to Zheng Zhuo with the help of his soldiers. He whispered to his son with trembling hands, "Sixth son, Sixth son... My military token is hidden in the box in the pillow... Go get it, go get it quickly, and kill that villain for me, kill him!"
When he said this, he didn't even glance at the hideous, bleeding wound on his son's arm.
Zheng Zhuo stared at him indifferently until suspicion flashed in his eyes, then he curled his lips and smiled: "Your son will obey the Majesty's command." After that, he turned his horse's head and galloped towards the direction of Daming Palace.
Before entering the city gate, he reined in his horse, turned around again, and glanced in the opposite direction behind him. He saw that Lu Shiqing was no longer at the end of the official road.
He blinked and uttered silently: The road ahead is long, take care.
I didn't have time to talk about it last night.
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