Chongzhen returned to the East Warm Pavilion of the Ganqing Palace, and the ordinary eunuchs and palace maids stayed on the Danqi, only Wu Xiang and Wei Qinghui followed Chongzhen into the Warm Pavilion. Chongzhen turned around and ordered: "Hurry up and get the wine!

Suddenly, he heard a cry in the Zhaoren Palace, and he commanded: "The wine will be sent to the Hongde Palace, and Wang Chengen will also wait in the Hongde Palace!"

After Chongzhen instructed, he pulled out the front of the plain satin dark dragon yellow robe, turned the king's white robe upwards, spread the imperial case evenly, lifted the red pen, trembled, and scribbled the last words: "I am not the lord of the darkness, but the ministers who mislead the country and lose the country." I have no face to see my ancestors in the ground, and I dare not finally go to bed. When a thief comes, he would rather destroy the corpse than hurt the people. ”

Chongzhen wrote the edict on the placket, threw down the red pen, heard the cannon fire on the city suddenly stopped, guessing that the eunuchs and soldiers and civilians defending the city had opened the city gate and surrendered. He looked back at Wei Qinghui, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't say it. The people of the Wei Palace had already seen the edict he wrote on the placket, and at this time they thought that the emperor also wanted her to commit suicide, so they quickly knelt down, straightened up, stretched out their necks and waited, and said generously: "Please give the slave and maid a sword!"

Chongzhen shook his head: "I will be martyred immediately, you and the people of the capital should go out of the palace and flee for their lives!"

Hongde Hall is on the right side of the main hall of Ganqing Palace, and the Zhaoren Hall is symmetrical and the form is the same. In the past, Chongzhen summoned his courtiers, in order to avoid the etiquette of red tape, they were not in the main hall of the Ganqing Palace, usually in the east and west warm pavilions of the Ganqing Palace, and sometimes in the Hongde Palace, that is, the side hall of the so-called Ganqing Palace.

When Chongzhen hurriedly left the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Ganqing Palace and walked into the Hongde Palace, Wang Chengen was already waiting outside the palace gate, and a pot of palace-made amber jade spring wine and a marigold, and the four kinds of cold dishes for the wine had been placed on the square table that had been temporarily moved. Chongzhen came in, sat down abruptly on the chair facing south in the middle, and said, "Pour wine!"

Wei Qinghui, who followed him in, immediately picked up the silver pot with gold wire and filled the golden cup for him. He took off the heavy sword hanging from his waist, put it on the table with a sonorous sound, picked up the golden cup, drank it all, and said, "Pour it again!"

Then he asked to the door of the palace, "Where is Wang Chengen?"

Wang Chengen hurriedly came in, knelt down and replied: "The slave and maid are waiting here! Just now, the slave and maid have already knelt at the door of the temple to receive the holy car. ”

Chongzhen looked at Wang Chengen, and remembered that Wang Chengen did pick up at the gate of the palace, but he didn't see who it was in the chaos. Because he was about to commit suicide, knowing that Wang Chengen was willing to die comforted and moved him. He instructed the eunuchs standing at the entrance of the palace: "Bring a chair for Wang Chengen and get a wine glass!"

Wu Xiang, who was standing at the gate of the palace, and several eunuchs were taken aback, and said in their hearts: "The emperor's rules and regulations are messed up!"

But they didn't dare to delay, and immediately took out a chair from the warm pavilion of the side hall, and found a porcelain wine glass of pastel grass insects commonly used in the palace. Wei Qinghui immediately filled the porcelain cup with wine. Chongzhen said: "Wang Chengen, sit down!"

"Slaves don't dare!" Wang Chengen was surprised and kowtowed.

"I have commanded you to sit down, for this is a special favor to reward you for your faithfulness. Time is running out, sit down!"

"Your Majesty, the ancestors customized, no matter what position the ministers have in the palace, they will always be the emperor's domestic slaves, and there is no reason to sit down. ”

"It's not usual, sit down!"

Wang Chengen bowed to the ground in fear and thanked him, then stood up and sat down on the chair opposite Chongzhen, not daring to sit down. Chongzhen picked up the golden cup, looked at Wang Chengen and said, "I am about to be martyred, you have to go with me." Come, drink this cup with me!"

Wang Chengen quickly knelt on the ground, his hands trembled slightly, and he held the wine glass and said, "Thank you, Shengshanghongen!"

He drank half of the wine in the cup, poured the other half on the ground, and said, "Emperor Qi, the sound of cannons in several places on the head of the city suddenly stopped, presumably the defenders of the city opened the door to welcome the surrender." Since the emperor has decided to die in the community, he must not delay. How about ordering the ministers to carry the dry wood to start the fire?"

Chongzhen's expression became very calm again, he was silent and did not answer, with a wry smile on his face, and motioned for Wei Qinghui to fill the golden cup for him again. The people of Wei Palace knew that Chongzhen rarely drank alcohol on weekdays, thinking that he was borrowing wine to strengthen his courage, and he was afraid that he would get drunk, so he whispered after filling the golden cup: "Emperor, the thieves have entered the city, please drink one less glass, so as not to miss a major event." ”

At this time, Chongzhen became very calm again, and his expression was generous and calm. Death is coming, it is a foregone conclusion, he is no longer afraid of death, nor is he worried, all he has is endless hatred of the country. For three days, he slept and ate nothing, lived in the unending stormy waves, and after a whole night of tossing, he experienced the tragedy of the palace, he needed to drink a few more glasses of wine, and use the wine to pour out the hatred in his chest, increase a little strength, and make it easier for him to die calmly.

He thought that Beijing City was big, and after the enemy entered the city, he would not enter the palace soon, so after drinking the third glass of wine, he said to the people of Wei Palace: "Pour another cup for me!"

When the people of the Wei Palace poured wine again, Wang Chengen urged for the second time: "Emperor, the slave and maid estimate that the thieves are rushing towards the Forbidden City, and there are many dry firewood piled up in the kitchen courtyard, and the order should be made to prepare how to set fire to the three major halls and the Ganqing Palace, and it will be too late if you don't give an order!"

Chongzhen picked up the golden cup and was silent, silent for a moment, sighed deeply, and put the golden cup down. Only the people of the Wei Palace knew that the emperor had no intention of burning down the palace. She saw him sitting in the East Warm Pavilion of the Ganqing Palace a moment ago, with an edict written on the inside of his robe. Although she stood three feet away behind the emperor and couldn't see the content of the edict, she knew that the emperor was going to commit suicide in her clothes, and she would never set himself on fire. She didn't know whether she wanted to swallow gold, take poison, hang herself, kill herself, or throw water into the water.

As for Wu Xiang and several other eunuchs who were more prominent in the Ganqing Palace, they overheard that Gong Yonggu and Liu Wenbing personally suggested to the emperor that they set fire to the palace and burn down the three major halls, and they did not know that the emperor wrote an edict on the placket of his clothes, so they all thought that the emperor would set fire to the three major palaces and the Ganqing Palace. They also told Wang Chengen the news. Wang Chengen also thinks that this method is the most appropriate, not only the emperor died a heroic and clean death for his ancestors, but also did not leave the majestic palace to the traitors.

Wang Chengen was worried that the enemy soldiers would come soon, so he couldn't help but ask Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, can you order the ministers to hurry up and carry firewood?"

He shook his head, didn't speak, and glanced at Wei Qinghui sadly. The Wei palace people asked softly, "Emperor, what do you command?"

Chongzhen sighed and said to the people of the Wei Palace: "How I will kill myself has been decided in yesterday's afternoon nap. ”

The people of Wei Palace said with tears in their eyes: "Yesterday afternoon, the emperor had a fierce dream, and he cried in the dream, and it was the slave who woke up the emperor. But the emperor dreamed of something and didn't tell the slave maid. ”

At this moment, Chongzhen's eyes appeared in front of the image he saw in the nightmare, a last emperor, the crown fell to the ground, the dragon robe was untidy, his hair was scattered, his tongue was slightly spitted out, one eye was open, the other eye was closed, and he hanged himself. But he didn't tell Wei Qinghui the terrible image he dreamed of yesterday, drank the wine in one gulp, put the golden cup on the table, and said loudly: "Pour wine! Pour another glass!"

Wang Chengen was taken aback: "Your Majesty, the slaves and maids have been waiting for the emperor for many years, and they know that the emperor is working hard, diligent and loving the people. But the emperor, you heard that the Xuanwu Gate has already fought the fifth watch, and it will be too late to burn down the palace if you delay it any longer!"

In the past few days, Chongzhen has often thought about some major mistakes in state affairs, so that there is a disaster of today's country. He has a set of habitual ideas, has strong self-confidence, and believes that many major mistakes are due to the ministers misleading the country, and he himself has no mistakes. In recent days, he has seen that he is about to lose his country, and every time he thinks about the various reasons for the loss of the country, there are several major events that make him hate the ministers of the court and the central government, and he cannot forget it.

A few years ago, Manchuria was not as strong as it is today, and it was intent on making peace with the imperial court. He and Yang Sichang both advocated peace with Manchuria, and sought to rest the army with Manchuria for several years, so that the imperial court could get rid of the dilemma of fighting on both sides and concentrate on dealing with thieves. Unexpectedly, the news leaked again, the court was in an uproar, and the group attacked and made peace with Manchuria, and Yang Sichang was forced to leave the imperial court, go out to supervise the division, and died in Huguang.

Chen Xinjia, who succeeded Yang Sichang in presiding over the center, also knew that the country's top priority was to make peace with Manchuria in order to get rid of the situation of fighting on two fronts and being in a difficult situation both internally and externally. The peace talks were about to succeed, but unexpectedly, the news leaked, and there was another uproar, which was more violent than the last attack on the peace talks, and he had no choice but to put Chen Xinjia in prison and behead him. If the Chinese courtiers of the DPRK at that time had the slightest foresight, avoided the dispute over the gateway, and were willing to consider the overall situation, so that the peace policy would be successful, the imperial court would have suspended the worries of the east, and the national strength would not have been exhausted, how could there be today? If Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia had an immortal and stayed in the imperial court, how could they be today?

In particular, what he has been hating in his heart in recent days is that the matter of moving south is so urgent, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty have their own selfish intentions, the ministers oppose it, and the ministers dare not insist on it, so that there is today. There is also the matter of transferring Wu Sangui to King Qin, how urgent it is, the court has been discussing and discussing for many days, delaying the military plane, and waiting for the thieves to come east day and night, so that there is today.

"Pour it!" he said, gritting his teeth.

Wei Qinghui trembled all over, and hurriedly filled the golden cup again. Chongzhen stretched out the middle finger of his right hand, dipped it in the golden cup, wrote a sentence on the case for Wang Chengen to see, and then took the golden cup and drank it all. What he wrote on the case was: "All the ministers can be killed!"

Seeing this sentence written by Chongzhen, Wang Chengen and Wei Qinghui both felt inexplicable. Especially Wang Chengen, he concluded that the enemy soldiers were rushing towards the imperial city, and after entering the imperial city, it was the Forbidden City with no defensive ability, and if he didn't hurry up and prepare firewood for the burning of the Ganqing Palace and the three major halls, it would be too late to regret it.

He looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, ...... the Qing Palace"

Chongzhen was distraught and didn't hear clearly, thinking that he was urging him to commit suicide, he said calmly: "Don't worry, it's still too late, it's too late." ”

At this moment, another burst of artillery was heard from outside the West City. Chongzhen was shocked. Wang Chengen urged again: "Your Majesty, you need to prepare quickly......

Chongzhen said: "I have already thought about it repeatedly and made up my mind. You wait, and go out of the palace with me. ”

He glanced at Wei Qinghui: "Pour another cup! Pour a cup for Wang Chengen! Wang Chengen, after drinking this glass of wine, you will go out of the palace with me!"

Wang Chengen said: "But the emperor, now there is nowhere to go, only to set fire to the palace......

"The three major halls and the Ganqing Palace don't need to be burned. ”

"Aren't you left to be an enemy?"

Chongzhen didn't have the heart to answer, drank the last glass of wine, and ordered Wang Chengen to also drink the wine in the cup, get up from the chair, and prepare to leave. Wei Qinghui hurriedly picked up the sword from the table and prepared to tie it around the emperor's waist. But Chongzhen knew in his heart that this sword was useless, and he shook his head lightly to stop her. He said to Wu Xiang, the eunuch in charge of the Ganqing Palace, and Wei Qinghui, the housekeeper: "You guys hurry up and escape, you don't need to wait." ”

He said to Wang Chengen: "Out of the Xuanwu Gate!" and then came out of the Hongde Palace.

From the palace courtyard of the Ganqing Palace to the Xuanwu Gate, you should go out of the Rijing Gate or the Yuehua Gate and turn north, but Chongzhen kept going forward and went out of the Ganqing Gate. Standing in front of the door, he turned around, looked sadly for a moment, shed tears, and said in his heart: "I will never come back!"

He glanced south again at the tall shadow of the Jianji Palace, sighed, and said in his heart, "I can't see it anymore!" He endured it and did not cry bitterly, because there was no time to cry.

At this time, Wang Chengen, Wu Xiang and others knew that the emperor had no intention of burning down the Ganqing Palace and the Second Great Palace, but they didn't understand the reason and didn't dare to ask again. Wu Xiang and Wei Qinghui led all the eunuchs and palace maids of the Ganqing Palace to send the emperor out of the Ganqing Gate. A eunuch waited outside the Ganqing Gate with a Taiping horse, another eunuch moved a horse stool, and four eunuchs waited with four sheep's horn palace lamps with a vermilion lacquer dragon head short stick.

Chongzhen got on the royal horse, took the apricot yellow silk reins, and waved his hand so that the eunuch who led the horse and the eunuch who played the lantern did not follow, as long as Wang Chengen followed the horse. He went east from the outside of the Ganqing Gate, turned north to the inner left gate, and walked in the direction of a long street to the east.

The eunuchs and palace maids followed all the way to the inner left gate, knelt down and kowtowed, Wu Xiang and Wei Qinghui choked up at the same time and said, "The slaves and maids send off the emperor!"

Although the sky is already numb and bright, there are very high red walls on both sides of Yongxiang, and the red walls are full of palaces, and the sky is gloomy, and the night in Yongxiang is still very thick. The shadow of Chongzhen riding towards the Xuanwu Gate quickly disappeared into the shadows of Yongxiang, and he could not be seen, but the sound of horses' hooves could still be heard fading away.

On weekdays, the emperor goes out of the Qing Palace at night, always taking a step, and the luxurious lanterns form a array, surrounded by eunuchs and palace maids. Wei Qinghui saw the emperor going out of the Qing Palace like this for the first time, and couldn't help but look sadly at the direction where the sound of the emperor's horses' hooves gradually moved away, and whimpered. As soon as she whimpered, many palace maids and eunuchs cried.