Wang Dehua waved his robe, retreated from everyone to ten zhang away, and no one could hear how the three powerful ministers stood together and discussed with each other, only to see Wang Dehua and Cao Huachun with heavy expressions, and shook their heads resolutely twice.

Later, Wang Dehua nodded reluctantly in hesitation, sighed and said, "Du Xun, you like to bet on weekdays." If this treasure is not accurate, it will be a miserable loss. ”

Wang Dehua asked Du Xun to wait at the back door, and he plucked up the courage to go to the Ganqing Palace to meet Emperor Chongzhen. When he entered the Dongnuan Pavilion and knelt in front of Chongzhen, Chongzhen could see his frightened look at a glance. Chongzhen thought that something had happened in the city, and he was very surprised, and said sharply: "Wang Dehua, do you have any bad news to play?"

Wang Dehua didn't dare to raise his head, prostrated himself on the ground, and replied in a trembling voice: "Back to the emperor, Du Xun has entered the palace......"

Chongzhen's frightened eyes widened, and he asked loudly, "What did you say?"

The slave and maid played to the emperor, and Du Xun entered the palace. ”

"How many shrines are there?"

"There's only one honor. ”

"Nonsense! Du Xun is dead. Is this Du Xun you brought into the palace a ghost or a human? Is it his ghost who has come into the palace?"

"Not ghosts. The emperor, it was he himself who came to the palace. ”

In a moment, Chongzhen was stunned with fright, looking at Wang Dehua who was kneeling in front of him, and couldn't help but think of the ghosts that had appeared in the palace several times recently, and he couldn't speak anymore.

About 20 days ago, after Li Zicheng broke the Xuanfu, he received a report from Tang that Du Xun, the eunuch of the prison army, Wang Chengyin, the chief military officer, and Zhu Zhifeng, the governor of the army, had all been caught by thieves, and they were generous and unyielding, and they scolded the thieves to the fullest. In particular, the Tang newspaper said that Du Xun was very loyal and brave, and there were many thieves with his hand, and he was about to break out of the siege and continue to command the killing of the enemy, but unfortunately he was injured and captured, and the enemy persuaded him to surrender, Du Xun scolded endlessly, so he was killed, and died the most tragically.

He ordered the ministers to discuss with the officials of the Ministry of Rites how to give the clan table a reward for loyalty. Although there were people in the official at that time, saying that Du Xun had surrendered to the thief, and the spread was false, please behead Du Xun's younger brother and nephew in the capital, but Chongzhen never believed that Du Xun would live up to the emperor's favor and surrender the traitor, and thought that the news that Yuan Tang reported that Du Xun was in the Xuanfu was true.

Chongzhen firmly believes that Du Xun is a well-known soldier and minister he personally raised, loyal and reliable, and there is no doubt about doing everything for the country. Because Li Zicheng's army was rapidly coming east at this time, the court was in a state of panic, and the question of whether the emperor should move south and whether Wu Sangui should be transferred to King Jingqin was being debated endlessly, affecting the hearts of the subjects of Jingshi, so everyone no longer cared about Du Xun's question. Now Chongzhen heard Wang Dehua say that Du Xun had indeed entered the palace and had something important to do to him, he was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but scream in his heart.

"Another strange thing!" After a pause, he looked at Wang Dehua and asked, "Wang Dehua, what's going on?"

Wang Dehua timidly replied: "It is true that Du Xun surrendered to the thief, and the prequel scolded the thief for his death. ”

"Why didn't you make it earlier?"

"The slave maid was also deceived, and only thought that Du Xun had done his best for the emperor, but he didn't know that he had surrendered to a traitor. ”

"What did he come to see me?"

Wang Dehua didn't dare to tell the truth, and said: "He refused to explain to the slave maid, he only said that it was very important, and in order to save the emperor from the current danger, he risked his life to enter the city." ”

Chongzhen asked again, "How did he get into the city?"

He called the city on the edge of the city, saying that he was Du Xun, the eunuch of the Xuanfu Prison Army. At first, the city thought that Du Xun's ghost had appeared, but later the ministers who knew him at the head of the city saw it clearly, and only then did they believe that he was not dead, so they tied him up with a rope. ”

"Who sent him into the city?"

"I heard him say that it was the thief Li who sent him into the city. ”

Chongzhen's face turned blue with anger: "Damn traitor! Go, order someone to arrest him and behead him immediately!"

Wang Dehua pleaded: "Please let the emperor take a break from the wrath of the thunder, and it will not be too late to kill him after seeing him." At least a little bit of the thief can be known from his mouth. If you don't ask, you will be killed, and you don't even know the slightest situation of the traitor. ”

Chongzhen hesitated for a moment, feeling that Wang Dehua's words also made sense. However, he could not tolerate a domestic slave who defected to the enemy and led the enemy to besiege Beijing. He couldn't wait to kill Du Xun with his own hands, and gritted his teeth and said repeatedly: "Kill, kill, must kill!"

After thinking for a while, he decided to ask Du Xun to kill him in the future, and never let Du Xun get out of the city alive. Wang Dehua asked, "Emperor, do you want to call Du Xun in?"

Chongzhen said: "Nonsense! This Ganqing Palace is a solemn and sacred place where I have respected the heavens and the ancestors and run the world for 17 years, how can I let this damn slave come in?"

Wang Dehua asked again: "Du Xun is waiting for the order on the platform, can he be summoned on the platform?"

"No, the platform is where I listen to the government on weekdays, and Du Xun is a damn minion, and he is not worthy of being summoned by me on the platform. ”

"So...... Emperor, where can you summon you?"

Chongzhen pondered for a moment, remembering that ten years ago he had interrogated and executed a criminal eunuch in Ganqingmen, so he asked out the window, "Where is Wu Xiang?"

Wu Xiang, who was standing outside the window, immediately came in and knelt on the ground. Chongzhen instructed Wu Xiang to prepare to interrogate Du Xun at Ganqingmen, and told him to prepare everything quickly, and asked him to send someone to the noon gate to call ten Jinyi Banner schools to come to Ganqingmen to serve. After Wu Xiang went out, Chongzhen said to Wang Dehua hatefully: "I want to interrogate Du Xun in Ganqingmen, you go and bring him in personally!"

Wang Dehua heard the emperor use the word interrogation twice, not to summon him, knowing that Du Xun would definitely die, and he himself could not escape the responsibility, his heart was pounding, full of panic and regret. He kowtowed on the ground, his legs couldn't stop fighting, and he withdrew from the Ganqing Palace. When he walked down the steps, he almost fell because of panic and limp legs.

The eunuchs of the Ganqing Palace all understood that Du Xun would die, and thought that he deserved it, and at the same time pinched a cold sweat for Wang Dehua, complaining that he had always been cautious and cautious, and he was firmly in the high position of the eunuch who held the seal of the eunuch. Wu Xiang knew in his heart that Wang Dehua was at this juncture of the country's demise, in order to protect his net worth and property, so he was willing to be used by Du Xun, and it was also appropriate to plant a heel.

Du Xun stood in a corner of the right back door platform waiting for news, the more he waited, the more frightened he felt, and the more he regretted that he should not enter the palace. Seeing Wang Dehua walking out of the right back door, his face was very heavy, his heart was beating wildly, and he secretly shouted: "I'm finished!"

He hurriedly caught up with him and asked in a low voice, "Sect Master, what did the emperor say?"

Wang Dehua said: "The emperor summoned him at Ganqingmen, come with me." You know the emperor's temper, he is already very angry at your surrender to the enemy, and after hard persuasion, he did not give the order to arrest you and behead you. For the sake of your head, you must be careful when you speak, and don't add fuel to the fire. ”

Du Xun's legs were paralyzed, he was trembling all over, and he walked towards Ganqingmen with Wang Dehua. When Du Xun arrived at the Ganqing Gate, the imperial case and the throne had been arranged, and the eunuchs of the Ganqing Palace stood in two rows to wait. After a while, ten Jinyi Banner schools stationed at the noon gate ran to arrive and stood solemnly under the steps in two rows. This unusual atmosphere simply made Wang Dehua and Du Xun unable to breathe.

After a long while, a eunuch hurriedly walked out and said, "The Holy Driver has arrived!"

Du Xun quickly knelt down and bowed to the ground with his head, not daring to look up. Immediately a yellow umbrella took the lead, and Chongzhen walked the royal road of the white marble shop surrounded by several attendant eunuchs, went out of the Ganqing Gate, and ascended to the throne. A long-standing eunuch followed him, and after he was seated, he took out a sword from the yellow satin sword holster embroidered with the four characters of the imperial dragon spring, and respectfully held it on the imperial case with both hands.

This is a dragon sword that is rumored to have been used by the Yongle Emperor, sharpened iron like clay, painted dark green shark skin scabbard with gold wire inlaid with a vigorous flying dragon, inlaid with silver wire into white clouds, and also with some dazzling small gems, coral, shells, etc. inlaid into the sun, moon and stars. According to the official legend for generations, the Yongle Emperor once used this Longquan sword to personally behead the traitors.

Chongzhen once practiced riding and archery, and also knew a little about swordsmanship. A few years ago, when the internal exercise was held, Chongzhen ordered the eunuch to take out the Longquan sword from the inner library to wear it for himself because he was envious of Emperor Chengzu's style of military affairs, and ordered someone to use this sword to behead a late eunuch leader in front of the Shouhuang Palace to enforce military discipline. Later, this sword was hung on the pillar in Yangdezhai at the back of the Ganqing Palace, and it is said that sometimes it would make a whistling sound on the night of wind, rain, thunder and lightning.

At this moment, a long-standing eunuch took out the Longquan sword, which was easily invisible, and put it on the imperial case, coupled with Emperor Chongzhen's angry face, it filled the Ganqing Gate with a terrifying atmosphere.

The frightened celebrant Wang Dehua, the eunuch who was in charge of the palm seal, retreated to the side and waited. Seeing the Imperial Throwing Longquan Sword on the imperial case, knowing that Shexun would inevitably be beheaded, and he was going to die in a row, he was so frightened that his face was colorless, and he thought to himself: "I fell for Du Xun, and today a catastrophe is coming!" He glanced at the emperor's angry face again, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

"Du Xun, are you guilty?" Chongzhen's majestic voice was murderous.

Du Xun kowtowed again and again, trembling and said: "Slave and maid are guilty of capital crimes! Slaves and maids are guilty of capital crimes!

Chongzhen said hatefully: "I ordered you to go to Xuanfu to supervise the army and defend against the traitors, but I regarded you as a confidant and retainer, and I didn't want you to have no conscience, live up to the emperor's grace, and surrender to the traitors." You can't do everything for me, but you lead thieves to commit crimes, and the crime cannot be punished, why do you dare to come to see me?"

Du Xun said: "At that time, the slaves and maids saw that the officers and soldiers of the Xuanfu were flocking out of the city, welcoming the thieves, and the ban was ineffective, and they were about to draw their swords to kill themselves, but they were robbed of their swords by their subordinates, and they were coerced by the noisy soldiers, and they were forced to go out of the city, and they met the Li thief, so that the slaves and maids could not die. Later, the slave maid thought about it, since the military spirit has changed, the Xuanfu has been lost, and the slave and maid are useless to die, it is better to leave this small life, and in times of emergency, you can also give Your Majesty a little power of dogs and horses, in order to repay Your Majesty's kindness. ”

Chongzhen suddenly had a glimmer of illusion, sneered, and asked in a slightly calm tone, "You have already surrendered to the thief, what else can you do for me?"

Du Xun said: "The slave and maid risked death to enter the palace this time, just to be loyal to Your Majesty and dedicate the power of dogs and horses. ”

Chongzhen was amazed in his heart: Could it be that he could tell me the way to make me escape out of the city? Then he asked: "What are you doing in the palace, quickly tell me that you must not hide it!"

Du Xun kowtowed and said, "The slave is a capital crime." If the emperor thinks it is wrong, he offends Dawei, and begs the emperor to think that this is not an ordinary time, suspend the wrath of thunder, and forgive the slave and maid the crime of death. The slave dared to risk death to enter the palace at this time, after all, it was out of the loyalty of dogs and horses. ”

Chongzhen said: "You say, as long as there is a way to save me, it does come from loyalty, even if it is wrong, it doesn't matter." ”

Du Xun asked: "At present, the capital must not be defended, what is the emperor's plan?"

Chongzhen said: "Three days ago, Wu Sangui led the Guanning Iron Cavalry to Shanhaiguan and was rushing to King Qinwang in Beijing. Once the Guanning Iron Cavalry arrives, the rebels will inevitably flee, and the capital will be foolproof. ”

Du Xun was silent, lying on the ground, waiting for Chongzhen to continue questioning. Chongzhen really went on to ask: "Du Xun, what did the thief Li order you to enter the city for?"

Du Xun knew that Chongzhen was very inward, and said with the intention of intimidation and threat: "The emperor is a saint through the ages, please listen to the advice of the slave and maid. Li Zicheng personally led 200,000 elite troops to attack the Beijing Division, and hundreds of thousands of horses were still behind to respond. Although Wu Sangui is related to the Yongbian soldiers and is known as the elite, there are only tens of thousands of people, and they are far from being the opponents of the thieves. Now that he heard that the thieves had surrounded Beijing, he would inevitably stay between Shanhaiguan and Yongping to wait and see, and did not dare to venture forward. The slave maid heard Song Xiance say that the subjects of Jingshi were looking forward to Wu Sangui's rescue and only wished to quench their thirst. The slave and maid heard the legends among the thieves again...... "Du Xun didn't dare to say it directly, he was frightened, and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Chongzhen's face changed greatly, his heart beat wildly, he looked at Zhuang Xun angrily, and shouted: "What legend? Don't spit out, play it quickly!"

"Please forgive the slave and maid for the death penalty, the slave and maid dare to speak out. ”

"Say it, tell the truth!"

"Legend among thieves that Song Xiance made a fortune on the way to Beijing, and now it seems that it has come true. ”

"What does his hexagram say, and how has it been fulfilled?"

The slave heard the legends in the old camp of the thief army, and Song Xiance made a hexagram on the way to Beijing from Juyong Pass, and the hexagram said that if there was a light rain on the 18th, the city would be broken on the 19th. If the 18th is sunny, the city will be broken a few days later. Around midnight today, there was a light rain, and the slaves and maids were frightened, and they looked at the city and sighed. ”

Chongzhen trembled all over, and scolded angrily: "Nonsense! You are my family slave, dare to be a lobbyist for the traitor? Do you dare to use this to intimidate me? Damn it! Damn the beast!"

Du Xun knew that Chongzhen's temperament was irritable, sometimes very cruel, and he had no mercy for the minister, killing when he said he would kill, and he would kill him if he said that the court staff would be the court staff, so he saw Chongzhen angry, and he was so frightened that he trembled all over his body, and touched his head to the ground: "The slave is a capital crime!