On the night of July 15th, news came that the Regent had escaped from prison.
The secret guards of the prison guarded the prison for eight days but failed to defend it. However, the delay was enough time for Feng Xian and his team to transport the latest artillery to the southern region.
After all, even if the news of the regent was sent urgently over a hundred miles, it would take three to five days to reach Zhang State. If the commander of Zhang State launched an attack, it would take another three to five days. This time was just right, so they could attack and have a taste of the new artillery.
When Duan Changchuan got the news, he was lying in Baisu Palace.
The pregnant Omega was woken up and was in a particularly bad temper: "I know, you are making trouble in the middle of the night. Let the guards come back, and we will discuss the rest tomorrow."
After saying that, he lay back down.
Bai Su held the man in her arms to comfort him, and whispered to Chang Le: "Do as your majesty says. We have already made arrangements. Even if he breaks in now, it won't be a problem."
Changle quickly bowed and responded: "Yes."
Just as he was about to leave, he heard Yiman Tong say, "Your Majesty, the Minister of the Dali Temple, Lord Jiang, wants to see you. He said he has been working day and night and has finally sorted out the case. Come and present the case to Your Majesty."
This time the boy was completely awakened.
This time is rushing...
The case file was sorted out on the night when the Regent escaped from prison. Even if it was one day earlier, Duan Jing'an would not be allowed to act rashly.
But the entire Dali Temple was working day and night, and it was very hard...
Therefore, he had no choice but to get up, put on his clothes, and go to the front hall to meet the emperor.
We must not discourage the court officials who are working hard and wholeheartedly.
So, all this anger was directed at the Regent.
"Duan Jing'an simply disregards the laws of the country! He is escaping from prison today, but will he rebel tomorrow?"
"I am so angry!"
"Mr. Jiang, go and convey my order! Do your best to capture the Regent. If anyone in the public can provide clues, there will be a reward of 10,000 taels!"
As he said this, he wanted to throw something, but when he thought about the precious things in the palace... he withdrew his hand.
Keep on cursing.
When he got tired of scolding, he sent the person away and sat at the table sulking.
There was a creaking sound from outside the door, followed by Changle's very soft voice, saying, "My lady, be careful where you step."
"Well, give me the light and go down."
“Hey.”
When I turned around, I saw a woman wearing only a silk dress, holding a lantern in her hand.
The light flickered with her steps.
"You've seen it all, you've asked all the questions, why don't you go back to sleep?"
The woman put the lamp on the table and sat down next to him.
"I get so angry when I think of Duan Jing'an that I lose all my sleepiness."
The boy said angrily.
Bai Su was stunned at first, then leaned in front of him, lifted up the Omega's chin, and looked at him quietly with her narrow and beautiful eyes: "Oh, are you angry with Duan Jingan? Why do I feel that... Your Majesty was woken up and is in a bad mood?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the boy's body stiffened.
Her beautiful eyes dodged subconsciously: "No... No way. I'm not that childish."
Alpha held back a laugh and touched the hairline on his head: "No? Then Your Majesty, calm down and go to bed with me, okay? I'm sleepy."
The next moment, the Omega, smelling like gardenia, snuggled into her arms.
His arms were wrapped tightly behind her and he let out a long inhalation through his nose.
"… baby?"
Bai Su patted his back.
I heard the young man respond in a muffled voice: "Sister..."
"Um?"
"I... want to eat spicy noodles."
It's also a matter of laughter and tears.
He immediately slapped someone on the butt: "I think you just need to be punished."
After saying that, he picked the person up horizontally, carried him all the way back to the bedroom, and threw him back into the **.
"Go to bed. Now, immediately!"
"I'm used to you."
…
-
The Regent's offensive was launched three days later, on July 13th. Just after a quarter after the hour of Yin, loud drumbeats were heard outside.
Changle came over in a hurry and said, "Your Majesty, the Regent has led his troops to surround our village."
Duan Changchuan was once woken up:…
Turning to look at Bai Su, he said, "Why doesn't he sleep at night? Is he saving it for the day? It's so hot during the day. I couldn't sleep on the mountain even when I was pregnant. I don't believe he can sleep during the day."
Bai Su was amused by him: "He may not be able to sleep all the time."
The young man stood up and dressed: "I did something wrong, so of course I can't sleep."
Bai Su pushed him back directly: "Guess what he would do if you didn't get up for a long time and there was no movement in the whole villa?"
Duan Changchuan blinked, took off his clothes in an instant, and lay down obediently: "That makes sense."
The Regent is suspicious by nature, so he might think this was an empty city plan, but he still has to carefully consider in his mind whether this was really an empty city plan.
By the time he had weighed everything up, he estimated that it would be noon. By then, his group of soldiers wearing heavy armor would be half dead just from the consumption. The army that the uncle of the emperor came to help had been stationed in the valley behind the villa a few days ago. The air was cool and there was no shortage of food and water. After feeding the soldiers, they were just waiting for a battle.
When the time comes, when they are exhausted and I am full, it will be clear at a glance who has the advantage.
So Duan Changchuan slept peacefully. Not only did he sleep well, he also asked Changle to remind other people in the farm to get enough sleep and not to look at him.
As a result, life in the village went on as usual, and even at the hour of Mao, the smell of food from the imperial kitchen could be smelled.
Duan Jing'an, with a gloomy face, led a group of soldiers who had been rushing on the road since night, almost all night long, and had not slept for 24 hours. They were still hungry and stood under the increasingly scorching sun, their stomachs rumbling.
"Your Majesty, they are still standing outside. It seems that Prince Cheng is discussing something with someone, so we won't be able to see him now."
Changle was arranging the dishes while talking to Duan Changchuan.
Duan Jing'an's title of regent was stripped, and everyone started calling him Prince Cheng.
Duan Changchuan picked up a pickled cucumber with chopsticks and said calmly: "Has Bai Xiang done anything unusual?"
"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister's Mansion is following your instructions and is keeping quiet."
"Well, his lack of movement is the biggest help this time. Otherwise, I would have to distract myself to see if he was backstabbing me."
"Your Majesty is right."
"… "
Several people were chatting while eating. After the servants cleared the plates, Duan Changchuan set up a chess game.
Calling Yun Xie and Feng Qian together, the four of them divided into two camps and fought fiercely on the chessboard.
Before I knew it, it was noon.
Changle came over and asked, "Your Majesty, would you like to order food? The imperial kitchen has prepared roast goose, steamed shrimp, steamed pork with rice flour, fish jelly, and pickled cabbage. You said it must be fragrant, so I smelled it and it smells really good."
The four of them looked at each other and stood up together.
Duan Changchuan brushed his clothes and said, "Send it, and remember to tell them that I feel like eating on the city wall today, and have the imperial kitchen deliver the food to the city wall."
Afterwards, he walked leisurely towards the other side of the city wall with Bai Su and the others.
Therefore, the soldiers who had been waiting outside the village since midnight were already so hungry that they were dizzy. They had to maintain morale without food, and they were also exposed to the scorching sun... After seeing the group of well-dressed people who suddenly appeared on the city wall, they almost suspected that they were hallucinating.
The rich aroma of meat drifted over with the wind, causing a lot of excitement.
These soldiers were all dispatched by the deputy generals in the army who belonged to the Regent Party. Many of them had no idea what they were here for, but due to military discipline, they could not communicate and could only stand there while guessing.
Now seeing the emperor holding a banquet on the city wall, he was even more confused.
Just as he was stunned, a huge bronze "morning glory" suddenly fell from the city wall by a man in gorgeous clothes. The morning glory was hanging with a rope, and suddenly there was a coughing sound
Not only does it cough, it can also talk!
"Duan Jing'an, you are a criminal and a traitor! You intended to spread the plague in Huainan and destroy our Datong River and Mountains! You ignored the people in order to seize the imperial power. His Majesty, for the sake of the unborn heir, detained you in the Heavenly Prison and spared your life, but you escaped from prison. You are guilty of treason and are guilty of an even greater crime!"
As soon as the words fell, there was an uproar among the soldiers.
Everyone turned around and looked at the tent behind them.
There, the Regent and their general, who had been discussing military strategies inside since morning, finally opened the door and came out.
Hearing the young man on the city wall shouting, his steps became noticeably more hurried.
"This is simply nonsense! Since I became regent, I have worked diligently and have been loyal to Datong and the people! Your Majesty is the one who created a fake plague in Huainan in order to seize the imperial power, and put all the blame on me! You can always find a pretext to accuse me of something!"
He looked up at the well-dressed people on the city wall, and was so angry that his body was shaking.
He turned around and looked calmly at the tens of thousands of soldiers behind him.
"The general could not bear to see Datong fall into the hands of a tyrant, so he rescued me from the prison. I have learned my lesson! For the sake of Datong's future well-being! For the sake of the suffering people of Datong! I will bear the infamy of plotting rebellion and stealing the country for thousands of years!"
"With a powerful enemy at hand, they are still holding a banquet on the city wall! Even King You of Zhou, who played tricks on the princes in the past, would feel inferior to him! This arrogant and extravagant tyrant, I will eliminate the evil and treacherous for Datong today, and bring peace to the people!"
After the words were spoken, the soldiers began to discuss in low voices in groups again.
At this moment, the horn sounded again. This time, a calmer voice came, saying, "Although I cannot hear what Duan Jing'an is saying, I can guess that he is accusing me of something wrong. I only have three questions. First, when the drought in Huainan caused a crop failure, the court sent 40 million silver taels and 10,000 tons of grain for disaster relief, but the people were still in mourning. Silver was extorted at every level, rice was hoarded at an exorbitant rate, and there were countless starving people on the road. Who was in power during this period? Was it me? Second, when the plague in Huainan was as fierce as a tiger, the uncle king had been in power for 13 years and had countless talented people under his command. Did he ever... More than half a move? I am worried about the people, and I have no talents, so I have to urgently summon the old ministers who are fighting the epidemic to the palace for discussion. It was also my queen who went all the way against the flow and went to Huainan to take charge of the situation! Uncle, what did you do? Why did you secretly send the prince and his wife to Huainan when Dr. Sun reported the great victory in Huainan? You have ulterior motives and you deserve to be killed! Third, I have the Imperial Guards to protect me and the Zhenbei Army to patrol outside, but Uncle dared to privately mobilize troops to besiege me in the villa. It's just tens of thousands of soldiers. Who gave you the courage? Is it the ten cities promised to Zhangguo?"
After the three questions were asked, all the soldiers started discussing.
"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense! The famine in Huainan happened around this time last year! The regent was still in power then."
"The regent was thrown into the prison for his mistake, but he was still able to use his military power. Your Majesty hasn't even seized all the power yet... Your Majesty hasn't even grasped the power yet, but he has managed the Huainan incident so well!"
"I heard that the floods in Huainan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang were extremely severe this year, greater than in the past ten years, but there were no casualties among the people."
"Then you won't tell us if the civilians are injured or killed, right? We didn't even know about the Huainan Ten Thousand Corpse Pit beforehand."
"I don't know, but there were rumors. So many people died in Huainan. How many rumors were there at the time? The scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang discussed politics in teahouses every day, and they were all angry to death. Do you think there are any rumors this year? No!"
"Are we being cheated?"
"This is treason, brothers!"
As they were discussing, the bronze "Morning Glory" under the city wall was smashed to pieces by a huge rock thrown by the general.
The clanging sound of metal collision made everyone quiet down instantly.
"What nonsense! Confusion of right and wrong, calling white black! What nonsense! What nonsense!"
The general said angrily...
But the next second, a blanket of paper pages floated down from the city wall, fluttering like snowflakes.
Most of the men in the army were illiterate, but there were some who had read books. Those who had read books started reading them one after another, and they discovered that these were all letters between the Regent and the officials of the time, and even the State of Zhang!
What Your Majesty said just now is not false at all!
"Brothers, we have all been deceived!" Someone stood on a high place waving a weapon and shouted, "Brothers! The regent is a traitor, he is the scourge of Datong!"
Just as he finished his sentence, an arrow pierced his heart... and he fell to the ground, unable to get up.
The Regent had not yet put down the bow in his hand.
"So what if it's true? So what if it's treason? There are tens of thousands of people here, besieging the emperor for six hours. No matter if it's voluntary or forced, the crime of treason has already been committed. If you succeed today, you will be the heroes who helped the emperor ascend the throne! If you fail today, Duan Changchuan will not let any of you go! It's useless to judge right and wrong... Staying alive is the most important thing. Think about your wives and children, think about your elderly mothers at home. They are all looking forward to your return home in glory day and night."
These are truly heartbreaking words.
If you go horizontally, you will die; if you go vertically, you will die too; but if you fight hard, there is still a glimmer of hope.
Although the soldiers still looked grim, they all calmed down surprisingly after this "persuasion".
They looked at the Regent with hatred in their eyes, but they had no choice but to pick up their swords and spears...
During the stalemate, a clear female voice came from the battalion commander, saying, "Your Majesty will not! Your Majesty is kind-hearted and will never execute tens of thousands of innocent soldiers! The people were displaced, and Your Majesty was bedridden for several months. The plague in Huainan was not yet resolved, and Your Majesty stayed in the palace until June 15th when he received the news of the great victory and then came to the mountains to escape the summer heat. Your Majesty is happy with the happiness of the people, how could such a king kill tens of thousands of soldiers at will?"
Then I noticed that a girl in goose yellow clothes also lifted the door curtain and came out.
It was Duan Qinxue who had followed along the way.
"Every word your majesty said is true, and I presented all the evidence to your majesty. Father, please stop. So many people died in Huainan, don't you feel guilty? Your majesty was dealing with the plague in Huainan, but you asked your brother and sister-in-law to steal the patients' underwear and poison the inn outside the city. If your majesty hadn't stopped it, how many more people in Datong would have been buried with your ambition!"
She said, "The day I saw the letter, I came to see His Majesty and begged His Majesty to forgive you for the sake of you not having done anything wrong, but what about you?"
"When a girl from the Bai family appeared in Huainan, you killed her and replaced her with your sister-in-law. You overturned the plague that Huainan had finally controlled for the sake of your political achievements, and waited until the plague was a disaster for the whole country before you controlled it all over again! In order to rebel, you even colluded with the generals of Zhang State to let them contain the military forces on the southern border, leaving Your Majesty isolated and helpless, and promised to cede ten cities to them after the success! Qin Xue grew up in the northwest military camp since she was a child. She watched the enemy's cavalry trample on so many people's homes, and so many men died in the army before they were stopped outside the border and could not even step into our territory! Today's prosperous and peaceful times are all paid for with human lives, but what about you?"
"Aren't you afraid that the souls of Datong's soldiers and civilians, and our ancestors, will take your life in the middle of the night?"
The girl spoke with tears in her eyes, and every word came from the heart.
She quietly looked around at the soldiers around her, raised her arms and shouted: "Everyone, give up resistance! As long as we surrender right here, His Majesty will leave us a way to survive! His Majesty can even let me go, he will let you go... Uh! Uh!"
Before he could finish his words, his mouth was blocked.
"Girl, what do you know? The emperor's mind is best at winning people's hearts! Do you think he is kind by sparing your life? You are too naive."
As the Regent spoke, he looked back at the four people on the city wall who were still eating calmly, then drew his bow and shot an arrow at the head at the top.
"He even uses women. He has already run out of tricks. Charge in and kill him!"
At a command, the general sounded the drum for the attack.
-
Duan Changchuan sat on the city wall, watching the arrow coming towards him, which was then caught steadily by the general behind him with his shield.
Listening to the shouting and screaming that had already begun below, his lips were pursed in silence.
"Your Majesty... It's time to give the order. We are now on the battlefield. They used to be my Datong soldiers, but now they have become the enemy... If you hesitate for a moment, more of our brothers will die!"
"Give the order, Your Majesty!"
The general persuaded him earnestly, and the young man turned his gaze away from the crowd fighting not far away, and said word by word: "Move the chess piece!"
"I obey your order!"
"Your Majesty has ordered us to attack! Encircle the rebels! Kill them all!"
The troops that had been deployed in the palace immediately sounded the drums of attack, and the generals on the highest point of the city wall raised high the battle flag representing the royal family.
Once the military flag falls, the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers below will be taken away.
Duan Changchuan couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he held Bai Su's hand and turned back to walk down the steps of the high wall: "The situation has been decided, let's go back. This meal will be used as a celebration banquet for everyone."
Just as he was about to leave, there was a commotion behind him.
The rain-like sound of arrows stopped in an instant, and later even the discussions stopped.
On the entire palace wall, the only sound that could be heard was the crackling and popping sound of the fire burning on the grass and trees.
The next moment, a girl’s cry was heard from the city: “He’s dead, he’s all dead! You’ve completely lost! Are you still going to fight?”
Then there was the sound of weapons falling to the ground with crackling sounds.
Duan Changchuan and Bai Su looked at each other and hurried back to the palace wall.
Then I saw that all the soldiers fighting below were looking in one direction. And where they were looking, in the middle of the crowd, was a man lying covered in blood.
There was an arrow stuck in the man's chest. It was Duan Jing'an who had just made such wild remarks.
The girl in goose yellow clothes was lying on his chest, her body shaking with crying.
"What's going on?"
Duan Changchuan turned around and asked.
The general guarding the gate quickly signaled a flag to the distance to order the troops to withdraw, then knelt before him.
"Just now, the princess shot an arrow at Prince Cheng, killing him on the spot."
Everyone was stunned.
They had been preparing for so many days and nights, using all their strength, but they never expected... that this would be the outcome.
"Open the palace gates. All ordinary soldiers who surrender will be assigned to the Southern Territory military camp. Those with military ranks will be beheaded and their entire clans will be exterminated."
After Duan Changchuan came back to his senses, he quickly gave orders.
"yes!"
Then the command was passed down layer by layer:
"Your Majesty has ordered! Open the palace gates!"
"Your Majesty has ordered! Open the palace gates!"
"The imperial edict has arrived! Ordinary soldiers surrender and join the Southern Region military camp!"
"The imperial edict has arrived! All those with military ranks will be beheaded and their entire clans will be exterminated!"
…