To deal with Prince Yu's rebels, Ling Rucheng used force first and then diplomacy. After ambushing the rebels, he sent an envoy to the rebel camp to inform Prince Yu that Princess Huayang would come to negotiate with him tomorrow.
As night fell, Prince Jing and commander-in-chief Guo Jixian were both in Prince Yu's tent.
Having just suffered a defeat, Guo Jixian looked solemn, Prince Jing also looked unhappy, and Prince Yu was frightened.
In the past few days, the army was invincible and Prince Yu dreamed of sitting on the dragon throne. But after today's disastrous defeat, Prince Yu's beautiful dream instantly turned into a nightmare.
After the imperial envoys left, Prince Yu looked at the official document in his hand, and his small eyes, which were almost squeezed into two slits by his fat face, secretly glanced at Prince Jing. Although he said nothing, his intention to retreat was clearly expressed.
King Jing sneered, "My dear nephew, do you think that Queen Mother Qi is really willing to let you go?"
Prince Yu muttered, "It's clearly written in the document. If she dares to break her promise, won't she be despised by the people of the world?"
King Jing: "My dear nephew, you are so naive. Empress Dowager Qi is used to using this kind of trick. Believe it or not, if you really surrender, Empress Dowager Qi will naturally pretend to be righteous in front of the ministers, but those officials will scold you to death and use their eloquent tongues to beg Empress Dowager Qi to punish you. By then, Empress Dowager Qi will have a way out. How can she leave you a way out? Even if she saves your life openly, she will imprison you. Later, she won't even need to do it herself. She can just hint to her subordinates to do something and send you to the underworld to reunite with the late emperor and his son."
Prince Yu: …
He looked at Guo Jixian again.
Guo Jixian agreed with King Jing's opinion. If he surrendered at this time, King Yu might have a chance to survive. As a traitor, he would surely end up with his entire clan being exterminated.
"Victory and defeat are common in the military. Your Highness does not need to worry. You still have 170,000 troops under your command. As long as you defeat Ling Rucheng's 100,000 troops and pass Wuyi, you can continue to march north and the capital will be within your reach."
Previously, Guo Jixian suggested that King Jing withdraw his troops, but now there was no way to retreat, so he could only face the challenge head-on.
Deep down in his heart, Guo Jixian also wanted to try out who would win in a fight between him and Ling Rucheng.
Prince Yu was persuaded by the two: "What about the peace talks tomorrow?"
King Jing: "What kind of peace talks are these? They are just a face-saving job. Princess Huayang can persuade you to surrender, or you can persuade her to turn from evil to good. She should be the biological daughter of the late emperor, but the young emperor may not be. Tell her not to give her heart and soul to outsiders and give up her ancestors' kingdom to others."
Prince Yu's eyes lit up: "Yes, if she is willing to command Ling Rucheng's army to surrender to me, then what do I have to fear?"
King Jing: …
Although he doesn’t have much brains, he’s quite good at dreaming sweet dreams!
.
Between Huer Mountain and Wuyi County is a flat and vast area.
On the morning of the next day, the 170,000 rebels led by Prince Yu and the 100,000 troops led by Ling Rucheng met head-on here.
The two armies were one mile apart. A canopy had been erected in the middle, with a coffee table and two chairs placed there.
On this side, Huayang rode on horseback, taking Chen Jingzong and Ling Rucheng to Huagai, while Prince Yu also came to the middle with Prince Jing and Guo Jixian.
Soon, the six people met under the canopy.
Chen Jingzong dismounted first to help Huayang.
Huayang was noble and Prince Yu was too fat, so Guo Jixian had to come and support him.
Prince Yu stood firm, his eyes fixed on Huayang who had already walked under the canopy. Her white dress made her look even more elegant and graceful, like Chang'e descending to earth.
Prince Yu thought that it would be best if Huayang was not the late emperor's flesh and blood. When he succeeded, he would favor Huayang first.
"I haven't seen you for many years. My sister is still as beautiful as ever."
Pushing Guo Jixian aside, Prince Yu walked towards Huayang with a smile.
Huayang looked at Prince Yu opposite him with disgust.
She remembered that before Prince Yu became a fief, although he was fat, he was just ordinary plump, and his face still showed some of the charm of a prince. How come he has become as fat as a pig now
"My father's body is still warm, yet you can still smile so brightly. It's obvious that you don't take my father seriously at all. No wonder you dare to send troops to rebel."
Prince Yu was shocked by the contempt and disdain in her eyes, and became embarrassed.
In fact, since childhood, he, as an elder brother, has never been able to successfully put on the airs of an elder brother in front of Huayang. Every time they met, Huayang looked at him as if he were a grasshopper, with contempt etched into his bones. Although Prince Yu was unhappy, after a long time, he actually felt that it was nothing. After all, Huayang looked like a fairy, and even her father did not have the dignity of an emperor in front of her.
As soon as they met, Prince Yu was at a disadvantage. Prince Jing sneered and looked at Huayang and said, "The late emperor died in his prime for unknown reasons. Prince Yu came to the capital to seek justice for the late emperor."
Huayang looked at him and said coldly: "I am talking to Prince Yu, who do you think you are? How dare you interrupt?"
King Jing: …
Prince Yu hurriedly introduced: "Huayang, you must not be rude. This is Prince Jing's uncle."
When King Jing was enfeoffed, Huayang was not yet born, so how could she recognize him
In his previous life, Huayang knew about Prince Jing. When Prince Yu was captured and brought to the capital, he kept saying that it was Prince Jing who instigated him. However, Prince Jing had already died in the battle by then, and Guo Jixian's confession from the Jinyiwei pointed out that Prince Yu was the mastermind. Prince Jing, like several other princes who assisted Prince Yu in the rebellion, had all his property confiscated, his throne abolished, and his affiliated clan members reduced to commoners.
However, for the imperial court, it made little difference who was the mastermind between Prince Yu and Prince Jing. Except for Prince Jing himself who died in battle, the other princes were all beheaded.
At that time, Huayang was hit by the death of her father and Chen Jingzong in battle. She stayed in the Princess's Mansion all day long. She only needed to know that the court won and the rebels lost, and she didn't care about anything else. When she recovered, people around her were afraid of evoking her sorrow for her late husband, so they basically didn't mention the rebellion.
Seeing King Jing at this time, who looked strong and powerful with a brilliant look on his face, Huayang had a vague feeling that King Yu was probably instigated by King Jing.
But this is not important, because the outcome of this war has already been decided. With the advance planning of my father-in-law and mother, Prince Yu and Prince Jing will only be defeated faster in this life.
The only thing she had to do was to save Chen Jingzong's life.
Without even looking at King Jing, Huayang sat on the chair and directly persuaded King Yu to surrender.
Prince Yu listened to Huayang's words and waited for him to stop. He said, "Sister, don't be deceived by Empress Dowager Qi and Chen Tingjian. There have been rumors of them having an affair..."
Just as he said this, Chen Jingzong, who was standing behind Huayang, suddenly rushed over and punched Prince Yu's extremely fat face across the table!
Prince Yu had no reaction at all and was thrown to the ground, with the chair legs and his two legs raised high into the sky.
King Jing was stunned. Guo Jixian was the first to react and suddenly drew the sword from his waist!
Ling Rucheng also drew his sword and looked at Guo Jixian with regret: "I have heard of Brother Guo's reputation for a long time, but I didn't expect that this would happen when we first met."
Guo Jixian avoided his sight and looked at Prince Yu who was screaming while grabbing Prince Jing's arm. He smiled bitterly, put away his sword, lowered his eyes and said, "There is no point in talking any more. Let's meet on the battlefield."
After saying this, he and King Jing worked together to help King Yu's bloated body onto the horse.
Chen Jingzong also helped Huayang up.
Huayang glanced and saw blood on the back of his hand.
Chen Jingzong also noticed that after Huayang sat down, he rubbed against him casually.
If Chen Jingzong had not acted in time, Prince Yu would have only uttered more filthy words, throwing dirty water on his mother and father-in-law, and would have put both her and Chen Jingzong in an embarrassing situation.
Negotiations are all about saving face. If they break, they break. From now on, it will all depend on swords and guns!
When the two armies clashed, Princess Huayang's carriage temporarily took refuge in Wuyi County.
Guo Jixian had not expected that the imperial court's 50,000 reinforcements had arrived, so he suffered a defeat. This time he was well prepared. In addition, Ling Rucheng had 70,000 fewer soldiers. In the first two days, the rebels had the upper hand.
Afterwards, more than 50,000 troops from the three prefectures of Daming Prefecture finally arrived and attacked the rebels from the front and back together with Ling Rucheng's army, catching the rebels off guard.
After the reorganization, Guo Jixian still wanted to break through Wuyi and continue northward, but several attempts ended in failure.
This time, not only did many rebel soldiers defect to the imperial army camp, but even Prince Yu was frightened out of his wits.
King Jing finally accepted Guo Jixian's initial proposal and withdrew his troops through Henan, Huguang, and entered Shu to temporarily avoid the conflict.
Prince Yu didn't want to go, but his words were of no use and he became a prisoner of Prince Jing, leaving behind all his beauties, palace maids and eunuchs.
Of course Ling Rucheng would lead his troops to hunt them down.
Before leaving, Chen Jingzong rode back to Wuyi County and came to the post station where Huayang was staying temporarily. He said to her, "If the peace talks fail, there is no need for you to stay here any longer. Take Zhou Ji and the others back to Beijing later."
He was wearing armor, panting, with sweat on his face. He had no intention of staying any longer and would return to the barracks as soon as Huayang agreed.
Hua Yang asked calmly: "When are you leaving?"
Chen Jingzong: "Rest for an hour at most."
Huayang looked at Zhou Ji and said, "Prepare the carriages and horses immediately. We will continue to follow the army."
Zhou Ji was slightly surprised, but he did not question anything and went out to prepare.
Chen Jingzong looked at Huayang in disbelief: "You still want to join the army?"
Hua Yang: "I joined the army for the purpose of peace talks and to supervise the army on behalf of my brother and mother to boost the morale of the soldiers. If I go back now, the soldiers will think that I am afraid and therefore deserted from the battlefield."
Before Chen Jingzong could speak, Hua Yang continued, "I know you don't want me to suffer with the army, but I have suffered all the hardships I should have suffered, and I am used to it. If I stay, I can share the credit and gain glory when the rebellion is quelled in the future. If I leave now after the peace talks fail, wouldn't it make me look useless?"
Chen Jingzong's eyes became complicated: "Just for a piece of glory, you even ignore the danger on the battlefield?"
Huayang looked at him and smiled: "It's not just for honor. Didn't I tell you before I set out that I followed the army because I was worried about you. I had to see you safe and sound before I could rest assured."
It would be strange if Chen Jingzong believed it. She just insisted on going and didn't want to argue with him, so she just perfunctorily said such sweet words that were obviously lies.
He was so angry that he walked around the hall a few times, and suddenly looked at Wu Run who had been standing beside him: "She has never experienced the danger of the battlefield, she is so bold and reckless, why don't you try to persuade her?"
Wu Run lowered his eyes, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "The princess loves her husband deeply, I know I can't stop her, why should I say more."
Chen Jingzong: …
The master and servant together drugged him, right
"You guys step aside first. I need to talk to the princess alone."
After being annoyed, Chen Jingzong suddenly said.
Wu Run looked at the princess and saw her nod, then he took Chao Yun and Chao Yue out.
Chen Jingzong closed the door, turned around, and walked in front of Huayang.
Huayang smelled blood, sweat, and even the smell of dust on his body, all mixed together in a mess.
She covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief and glared at him.
Chen Jingzong suddenly grabbed her shoulders and lifted her up easily.
Huayang was so frightened that the handkerchief in her hand fell off. She tried to keep a distance between the two of them so as to prevent the blood on his armor from staining her white dress.
"What are you doing?" she asked angrily.
Chen Jingzong looked at her white and tender face that looked like a peony flower, his throat rolled and he said in a hoarse voice: "For my sake, you are not afraid of the dangers outside, so why are you afraid of this little bit of dirt?"
Huayang: "These are two completely different things!"
Chen Jingzong: "I don't care. Just tell me whether you will come back to Beijing or not. If you don't come back, I will be moved by your deep love. Once I am moved, I will be unable to resist kissing you."
As he spoke, he gradually approached Huayang's face.
Huayang pushed him with all his strength.
Chen Jingzong directly pulled her into his arms and bound her arms tightly: "I'll ask you one last time, will you come back?"
Huayang no longer cared about her skirt. She met his threatening eyes and looked at his gray face. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as if ready to die: "Kiss me if you want. Anyway, I won't go back."
Chen Jingzong: …
He really wanted to kiss her, but he was also really afraid that she would vomit and never give it to him again.
In this battle, Chen Jingzong was completely defeated by her.
Since he couldn't convince her, Chen Jingzong had to stay in the county town for a while. After Huayang took Chaoyun and Chaoyue to get on the carriage, Chen Jingzong rode beside them and accompanied her towards the direction of the army's station.
It was just after noon, and the sun was scorching, and the weeds on the ground were wilted.
Sweat was streaming down his face again, but Chen Jingzong was too lazy to wipe it off and just looked towards her car window.
The extremely pampered princess suddenly showed no fear of hardship and wanted to follow the army. The more Chen Jingzong thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
She had some strange abilities, as if she could predict the future. Of course, this was not true for everything. For example, if she had been able to predict what kind of person he was, she would not have agreed to the Queen Mother's arranged marriage.
Chen Jingzong could only guess, based on previous experience, that something big would definitely happen during this rebellion suppression, a big thing that she was willing to change at the cost of herself.
Who deserves her like this
Several faces, both old and young, appeared in Chen Jingzong's mind one after another.
He secretly tightened his grip on the reins.
(End of this chapter)