〖Wuwei twenty-five years on September 20th, the emperor went to the hunting palace, and at night, the prince was betrayed, and King Yong was in critical condition.
—"Yong Shi·Gaozu's Chronicle"
On September 20, the second year of Tongtai's reign in Southern Chu, the thief Jiao Zhao ordered King Yong to see him. For Zhe to see it through, Zhe was ordered to command Ruoding, and King Yong was able to break through.
— "The History of Chu in the Southern Dynasties: The Biography of Jiang Suiyun"〗
I slept in a drowsy carriage in the Hunting Palace. The Hunting Palace was the palace used by the Dayong royal family for their autumn hunting every year. Among them, the emperor is naturally driving in Xiaoshuang Hall, the main hall of the palace. The queen, Ji Guifei and Yan Guifei live in several nearby palace courtyards, while Changsun Guifei and Princess Changle live in Hanxiang Garden on the east side. There are chrysanthemums everywhere, and Li Yuan intends to let Princess Changle, who has been unhappy recently, relieve her sadness. The prince lives in the Yulin Hall on the east side, while King Yong lives in Yaningxuan on the west side, and King Qi lives in Xuanhua Garden on the west side. I know that I can't stand the rush now, so I took the medicine specially. I fell asleep all the way, and didn't wake up until I settled down.
Xiao Shunzi told me that the emperor had already issued an edict that today’s journey is exhausting, so there is no need for your Royal Highnesses and ministers to say hello, and you can go to worship tomorrow when you will be hunting. I asked, "Is there any information from the Prince and Fengyimen?"
Xiao Shunzi said: "Not yet, except that General Qin led General Qin Qing to set up the defense in person, there is nothing abnormal."
I took the defense map handed over by Xiao Shunzi. General Qin is worthy of being a famous general, and his defense is impeccable. The one who protects the emperor’s residence is the three thousand Dongying Imperial Army led by Qin Qing, and the guard on the east side of the Hunting Palace is the Yang Commander of the Nanying Imperial Army. , Protecting the west side is Pei Yun, the commander of the Beiying Imperial Army, and the guard in charge of the inner guard is Leng Chuan. Being closely controlled by the imperial guards and the inner guards who protect the middle palace, it may be impossible to mutiny.
However, I smiled bitterly. General Qin was still a little biased towards his son. Although this arrangement put Qin Qing under control, he also planned to let Qin Qing make contributions when something happened.
In the middle of the night, King Yong and I were drinking tea and discussing the situation. I was a little uneasy, but King Yong was very calm. For him, I don’t know how many risks he has experienced, and he will no longer worry about it. A day later, Sima Xiong suddenly came in and reported, "Your Highness, Lord Wei is here to deliver an edict."
King Yong and I were both stunned for a moment. Wei Ying came, and then I thought about it. It's no wonder that this time the emperor only brought Wei Ying to draft the decree for him, and the rest of the civil servants did not bring it. He is very favored, and is by the king's side every day. I don't know how many edicts are written by Wei Ying. King Yong is unusual. If the emperor has a will, it should be Wei Ying. I accompanied King Yong into the main hall, and saw Wei Ying wearing a purple robe and sash, graceful and graceful, and when he saw King Yong, he smiled and said, "Your Highness, I have come here to pass the decree, please kneel down to receive it. "
King Yong glanced at me, leaned down and bowed down, I followed and knelt down, and although Jing Chi and Sima Xiong also knelt down, they looked at Wei Ying eagerly. In today's situation, no one dared to slack off. of.
Wei Ying seemed unaware of this tense situation, and said, "The emperor has spoken, Li Zhi, the king of Xuanyong, will go to Xiaoshuang Palace to meet him."
Li Zhi said that he obeyed the decree, but after getting up, he smiled and said, "Master Wei, I don't know what the emperor's father has ordered. Didn't he say earlier today that we don't need to ask hello?"
Wei Ying said: "The emperor was very tired, but after taking a nap, he was in better spirits. The empress and several noble lords were driving with them, and they shared tea and gossip. The emperor was only interested, so he ordered a few His Royal Highnesses and Princess Changle to go. Participate in the family banquet. The minister has already passed the decree to the Crown Prince and Princess Changle, so I will go to invite the King of Qi."
King Yong felt a little relieved, and said: "Master Wei, please go and pass the decree, and this king will go to see the father and emperor."
Wei Ying's edict was over, and he saluted and left. King Yong smiled and said to me: "Wei Ying has talents that can complement each other, and can be reused in the future."
I was about to agree, but there was a chill in my heart for no reason. Wei Ying's performance was perfect, but why did I feel that something was wrong? Subconsciously, I listened with all my strength. At this time, Wei Ying had already walked to Yaningxuan. Outside the door, at this moment, I heard his relieved voice, and then a low chuckle, a kind of smug laughter.
I suddenly thought of a lot of things. The Wei family, which has always been neutral, has always been calm, and the Fengyi family has tried their best to win over the Qin family. Although it may be because the Qin family has military power, they should not do nothing to the Wei family. Thinking again, when the incident happened in the Prince's East Palace, Wei Ying was ordered to guard the Prince, and Zheng Shizhong accused the Prince in a clear-cut manner at the meeting before the imperial court, and then he was assassinated in front of Suzaku's gate. On the bloody night in Chang'an, the masked person who attacked King Qing's guards and the assassin who assassinated Zheng Shizhong were both men. Wei Ying should have good martial arts skills. This is what Xiao Shunzi once said unintentionally. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I had been caught in a snarl. What would happen if Wei Ying or even the Wei family had colluded with Fengyi's clan.
I said categorically, "Xiao Shunzi, go and see if there is an ambush outside, remember, don't show your traces."
The expressions of King Yong and the others changed greatly, Xiao Shunzi's expression turned cold, and his figure was hidden in the night. After a while, Xiao Shunzi came back, his face was pale, he said coldly: "Yuehuamen has the Dongying Imperial Army ambush, and there are Fengyimen disciples hiding everywhere, I saw Wen Ziyan, but I didn't dare to approach. "
King Yong's complexion changed sharply, and he said after a moment, "Wei Ying and Fengyimen have colluded."
In this short period of time, I have already figured out a lot of things, my expression became cold and calm, I gently shook the folding fan, I said lightly: "This is my miscalculation, Wei Ying's identity can convince many people in the hunting palace to believe His words are the emperor's will, and I have already thought of Fengyimen's plan, they use King Qi's army to draw our attention, and what they really use to rebel is the forbidden army."
Li Zhi raised his eyebrows and said, "How could the forbidden army be used by them?"
I smiled wryly and said, "His Royal Highness and ministers both have a wrong idea, if you can't get the control of the Imperial Army, then it's impossible to drive them to rebel, and only General Qin and Qin Qing can get control, now we can I was convinced that Qin Qing could not completely control the forbidden army, so I neglected a little, and there is another person who can control the forbidden army, that is the emperor."
Sima Xiong and Jing Chi both exclaimed, I ignored them and continued: "Li Hanyou is the princess and the daughter-in-law of the Qin family, if she takes the emperor's will and says that she is ordered to command the forbidden army, what will happen to you? ."
Everyone felt a chill in their hearts, and I continued: "Li Hanyou has already had a considerable influence in the Imperial Army. Although Qin Qing has not actually been in charge of the entire Imperial Army for the past two years, at least the Dongying Imperial Army is still under his direct jurisdiction. Li Hanyou is a princess. Those banned troops are also directly related to the Qin family, so what is Li Hanyou bribing thousands of people, plus Wei Ying is the minister who plans the decree, and the prince is the prince, as long as he controls the Xiaoshuang Palace, the emperor's will cannot be passed , then His Highness is alone and helpless, and now His Highness's army is hundreds of miles away, and it can only be slaughtered by others."
Sima Xiong, Jing Chi and the others were all shocked, but King Yong said calmly: "Since Suiyun has figured out the layout of Fengyi Gate, he must have a way to deal with it."
I sighed and said: "His Royal Highness really knows the heart of being a minister. The only flaw in their method is that they can't arouse our suspicion, so they dare not eradicate General Pei in advance. Now His Highness's only life is here. It is also the reason why they forced their Highness to go to Xiaoshuang Palace. They wanted to ambush at Yuehua Gate and kill His Highness in one fell swoop. At that time, General Pei would have to bow his head and obey orders. After all, General Pei still has a life. If you can see through their layout, then there will be vitality, please act according to the arrangement of the minister."
Li Zhi said lightly: "Suiyun, this king believes that you have a way. Today, this king's life will be handed over to you. You can order it."
I bowed my body and said: "It's all because of my heartbreak these days, so I didn't discover the enemy's tricks. Your Highness doesn't blame the minister. It's already a thousand blessings. Thank you, Your Highness, for still trusting the minister's judgment."
Li Zhi returned the ceremony and said, "Please don't worry about Suiyun. It is because this king has deliberately kept you from knowing the outside world these days, so today's change has happened. Please order Suiyun, and this king will respect the general's order."
I straightened up and said, "Then the minister will be on his behalf. Now His Highness must break out of the encirclement, and before breaking through, His Highness must meet with General Pei. I believe that General Pei is still safe and sound, and the head of Fengyi's sect will not be surprised if he acts. The general is strong in martial arts and has the military heart. If he is strong, he is afraid that it will arouse His Highness's suspicion, so now Xiao Shunzi immediately goes to see Pei Yun and asks him to meet His Highness and rush out of the hunting palace together. There must be Fengyi Gate by General Pei's side. Xiao Shunzi has to protect General Pei, otherwise His Highness will have no chance to break through. Now the Jiao Zhao has not spread throughout the army, so there should be no problem with His Highness breaking through the encirclement, but before meeting with General Pei, Fengyimen The siege will be supported by His Royal Highness's guards and the masters sent by the major sects. As for the meeting point, I want His Highness to decide."
King Yong pointed to the defense map and said, "Now we can only break out from the southwest, Xiao Shunzi, tell General Pei to meet here and see the fire here, that's when we move."
Xiao Shunzi nodded, and her figure disappeared again.
I said again: "After Your Highness broke through the siege, I immediately sent this item to Qin Yong, the nearest commander of the Qin army. This was originally prepared by the minister just in case, but I didn't expect it to come in handy. With this item, at least Qin Yong Will not attack His Highness."
At this moment, Sima Xiong came in and said, "Your Highness, we are all ready, it's just..." Sima Xiong looked at me and hesitated. I smiled lightly and said, "Your Highness, this time I will not be able to accompany Your Highness to break through the encirclement."
King Yong was startled, grabbed my hand and said, "Suiyun, what nonsense are you talking about, you have no power to hold back a chicken, if you stay, you will suffer, how can you not leave."
I smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, Suiyun is weak, this time Your Highness breaks through the siege, it must be quick and fast, if the minister accompanies him, I am afraid that he will die on the road."
Li Zhi shook his head and said, "Don't worry, this king will use a horse to carry you. Besides, there is still life to break through with this king. If you stay, you will surely die. Fengyimen will never let you go."
I smiled lightly, walked into King Yong, and said something in a low voice, King Yong was stunned for a moment, his face was thoughtful, I didn't wait for him to understand, I said, "Your Highness can't waste any more time, I will let Dong Que protect me. Stay, if Your Highness can break out of the siege, even if the minister falls into the enemy's hands, there is still a chance of survival. Your Highness, now His Royal Highness and King Qi's army are far from water and cannot save near fire, General Qin's army has become the key, please believe The minister can try his best to win the support of the general for His Highness, and the general will not be willing to be ruled after a long time in the battlefield."
At this time, Sima Xiong approached and said, "His Royal Highness, the appointed time is about to arrive, please make a quick decision, Your Highness."
I said solemnly: "General Sima, Your Highness's safety is in your hands, and Zhe is entrusted to you."
Sima Xiong saluted and said, "The last general will even be crushed to pieces, and he will protect His Highness from the siege."
I looked at Jing Chi again and said, "Jing Chi, you are the general next to His Highness. This time you have a heavy responsibility, so you must not slack off."
Jing Chi said with a bitter smile: "If I don't do my best, at most, the teacher will punish me for copying a few more books."
Although they heard me say that there is a way to protect themselves, everyone knows that it is an uncertain thing. They break through, and there are still three points of life. I stay, but my life is slim, but they ask themselves that they can't carry me to break through, and the guilt in their hearts is even greater. Fill them with rage and murder.
Li Zhi looked at Dong Que, the silent young man, and said solemnly: "Dong Que, if you can protect Suiyun to meet this king again, this king will definitely reward him a lot, even if there was something wrong with you in the past, this king also No offense."
Dong Que's expression didn't change, he just gave a light salute, but I smiled bitterly. It seemed that King Yong was still suspicious of Dong Que's identity.
Li Zhi strode out of the palace gate, glanced at the fully armed people, and said, "It's all this king who has implicated you. Now the prince has rebelled and intends to kill this king. You all follow this king to break through. One day, I swear that if this king survives the disaster, you are all friends of this king, and you will be rewarded. If you are timid, you can stay and surrender, and this king will never blame."
Everyone knew that they couldn't speak loudly, so they all shouted in a deep voice: "The prince has no way, Sheng Cong is deceived, His Royal Highness is the emperor of the Dayong Society, and the ministers and other officials will die."
Li Zhi waved his hand, got on the horse under the protection of Sima Xiong and Jing Chi, and galloped away. Only Dong Que and I were left in Yaningxuan. I looked at Dong Que and said with a smile, "Are you afraid?"
Dong Que said indifferently: "Young Master is not afraid, what is there to fear in Dong Que? I don't know how Master will arrange it."
At this time, there was a deafening scream of killing in the distance, and I also dropped a torch, igniting the combustible objects collected by Sima Xiong and others. In the light of the fire, my pale face was a little bloody.
Outside Yaningxuan, Wen Ziyan and Yan Wushuang with fifty Fengyimen swordsmen were monitoring Yaningxuan, while Wei Ying had already arrived at Yuehuamen and commanded the imperial army to ambush Yong Wang Xingxing, relying on the prestige of the Wei family and the emperor's handwriting, those banned soldiers did not dare to disobey the order, although they had doubts in their hearts. After all, for them, the emperor was the object of their allegiance. In this place, Wei Ying arranged some of the forbidden troops that Fengyi Sect could completely control, in order to reduce the possibility of King Yong escaping.
Just when they were a little anxious, suddenly, the door of Yaningxuan opened, and King Yong was wearing a golden armor and holding a horse lance, and said loudly: "The prince rebelled, intending to kill me Li Zhi, this prince is the Marshal of Tiance, so what? Those who can be harmed by villains, I, the people of Dayong, must not be instigated by traitors." After speaking, under the protection of Sima Xiong and Jing Chi, they led a hundred cavalry and rushed away. This hunting palace was originally used by Qiu Shou, so The royal road in the palace can ride horses, and when Wen Ziyan was stunned, seeing these people rushed out in front of him.
Wen Ziyan's reaction was very fast, and she thought that their direction was the Yuehuamen. They must have wanted to appeal to the emperor. We might as well block their backroads from behind. With a soft whistle, everyone heard it everywhere, and encircled it with the Imperial Army from behind.
Wei Ying, who was ambushed at Yuehuamen, shuddered when he heard King Yong's shout and Wen Ziyan's soft whistle, and immediately ordered to prepare bows and arrows, but he brought a thousand forbidden troops to greet him. After all, he wanted to guard against Yong Wang broke through from another direction, and King Yong was proficient in the art of war. He did not think that King Yong would go to this obvious dead end.
Under the moonlight, a black arrow met the forbidden army in cyan armor, Jing Chi shouted loudly, and the horse lance flashed in his hand, sweeping away the forbidden army who had never ridden. Splashing everywhere, King Yong shouted: "My king, Li Zhi, who dares to stop me." The saber in his hand flashed, beheading a forbidden army. If the forbidden army were to face the enemy, they would naturally follow the enemy without fear, but in the face of admiration in their hearts The long-standing Dayong army god, his fighting spirit was low, but in an instant, the Fengya formation commanded by King Yong had broken through the blockade of the forbidden army. Wei Ying, who was commanding from a distance, frowned, but he was inconvenient to shoot, because he wanted to. Maintain the identity of the imperial envoy. At this time, Wen Ziyan's figure appeared, as fast as lightning, several vertical crossings had already approached King Yong's side, and then his body and swords were united, and he stabbed away at King Yong.
At this time, King Yong gave an order, and the army formation, which was already close to Yuehuamen, quickly turned around and broke out in the southwest direction. None of them are generals who are proficient in military formations, and they did not expect that King Yong would find out a plot to break through quickly, so in a stunned moment, he saw that King Yong once again broke through the weak line of defense of the forbidden army behind.
Wen Ziyan said loudly, "The rebel wants to meet Pei Yun, so he can't let him go and chase him."
At this time, Ya Ning Xuan suddenly burst into flames, the fire spread very fast, the smoke and dust blinded the eyes, King Yong's arrow array rushed over the edge of Ya Ning Xuan, and went straight to the corner gate to the southwest of the Hunting Palace. Just when King Yong passed Yaningxuan, a sword light shot out from the ground and shot straight at King Yong. A guard of King Yong jumped up from the horse, the long sword in his hand slashed down, and the sword light and the sword light disappeared in one touch. The guards fell from mid-air, blood spilled, but the sword light couldn't go any further, King Yong had already rushed past Ya Ningxuan's range.
The sword light dimmed, and a woman dressed in plain clothes quickly retreated, avoiding the long swords that were slashed by the guards of King Yong who rushed over.
Wen Ziyan's heart froze, Yan Wushuang's assassination failed. At this time, if those swordsmen from Fengyi Sect were used, although they could entangle King Yong, they would inevitably suffer heavy losses. There is no hope. When the time comes, it will be a good time for the swordsmen of Fengyi Sect to show their power, so she did not activate those swordsmen, but let King Yong kill to the southwest.