Under the protection of the guards of the East Palace, Zhu Cihong, Empress Zhou and others tried their best to avoid the road in the direction of the palace attacked by the thieves, and came to Zhengyang Gate safely.

"Your Highness's expectation is not bad, Zhengyangmen really does not have a thief stationed there." Zhang Kuishan said in surprise.

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and cross the Zhengyang Gate." Zhu Cihong and the guards safely crossed the Zhengyang Gate and came to the outside of the city without encountering a trace of resistance, and then the group galloped away to the south.

Just when Zhu Cihong thought he had escaped, a person suddenly reported to Li Yan, one of the generals under Li Zicheng, that he had found a Ming army wearing the uniform of the Imperial Forest Army of the palace escorting two carriages out of Zhengyangmen.

Li Yan was shocked, afraid that Emperor Chongzhen might be in those two carriages, so he said to his cronies: "General Liu, Emperor Chongzhen is likely to be in those two carriages, you go and report this matter to His Majesty King Chuang, I will lead a group of soldiers and horses to chase them up and intercept them first." ”

After Li Yan finished speaking, he led the cavalry forward to gallop in the direction of Zhengyangmen, and sure enough, he caught up with Zhu Cihong and his party twenty miles outside Beijing.

Hearing that a thief was chasing after him, Zhu Cihong's face was panicked, and he stretched out his head from the window to see that the other party was only about a thousand cavalry, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

The cavalry led by Li Yan was naturally faster than Zhu Cihong and the others, and it didn't take long for them to block the way of Zhu Cihong and the others.

"Line up and protect Your Highness and the Queen Mother!" With Zhang Kuishan's roar, 1,500 guards with arquebuses divided into three columns, one column and a half squat, and two columns stood behind, protecting Zhu Cihong and the queen's carriage behind.

Zhu Cihong's face was gloomy, knowing that it was impossible not to solve the cavalry in front of him.

"Who are you waiting for in the carriage?" Li Yan stepped forward and shouted.

"Who are you?" Zhang Kuishan asked back, while letting the guards prepare to defeat the gang of thieves in front of him.

"Under the command of King Xiachuang Li Yan, I hope that you will lay down your weapons and follow me to see King Chuang, and I promise you that I will not hurt the lives of you and others." Li Yan seduced.

"Stop talking nonsense, let's fight!" Zhang Kuishan shouted, 1,500 guards were ready, and when Li Yan's cavalry rushed over, he lit the arquebus.

Li Yan looked at the formation, there are some muskets and other things, all of which were captured from the Ming army, Li Yan naturally understands its power, although the musket loading speed is slow, and the speed of the cavalry can almost only be fired once, but if his thousand cavalry really rushes over like this, there will be many casualties in the face of the blow of hundreds of muskets.

"General, the Ming army is weak and vulnerable, why don't we immediately rush over and strangle this group of Ming troops?" A staff general said to Li Yan.

Li Yan smiled faintly and said: "Don't worry, I expect that even if the people in the carriage are not Chongzhen, they must be a certain prince, although we have the ability to defeat this group of Ming troops, but there must be a lot of casualties, the cavalry is precious, and the entire Dashun army is less than 10,000 together, there is no need to lose it like this, we just need to wait for the arrival of the reinforcements from King Chuang, and when it falls, tens of thousands of legions will besiege it, and we are not afraid that they will not surrender!" ”

"The general is smart, and he can take down this group of Ming troops without abandoning a single soldier, and his subordinates admire him." After listening to Li Yan's explanation, the general smiled in admiration, and suddenly stopped being in a hurry.

In this way, Li Yan's cavalry and Zhu Cihong's East Palace guards were far away, but they did not act rashly.

"His Royal Highness the Prince, something is wrong, this group of thieves will block the way, and they will not attack and kill, how can this be good." Wang Dequan was so anxious that he jumped to his feet.

In the carriage, Lanxiang Begonia accompanied Queen Zhou.

"Emperor, what's going on outside?"

Empress Zhou wanted to lift the curtain to take a look, but was stopped by Zhu Cihong.

"The queen mother is a little safe, there is just a group of thieves blocking the way ahead, the sons will solve it, the queen mother sits inside, don't expose it." The bigger the target, the more dangerous it is, originally he had a big goal as a prince, if he added a queen, Li Zicheng would have to chase him down the Yangtze River endlessly.

After Zhu Cihong finished speaking, he got out of the carriage, pinned one hand to his waist, and walked towards Li Yan's cavalry.

"His Royal Highness the Prince, by all means." Zhao Dequan was taken aback and quickly stopped Zhu Cihong.

"Yes, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, you are the hope of the Ming Dynasty, and you must not take risks." Zhang Kuishan was also taken aback.

"Xiao Dezi, General Zhang, time is pressing, you don't have to worry about this prince, this prince has his own way to lead this group of thieves to attack, you have to be prepared again, and this prince's life will be handed over to you."

Zhu Cihong came to the position between the guards of the East Palace and Li Yan's soldiers and horses.

"Is it General Li Yan ahead? Can you come over and talk to this prince? Zhu Cihong shouted forward with a smile.

"Haha, general, I didn't expect it to be the prince of the Ming Dynasty, if the general can capture him alive, it must be a great merit." The general next to Li Yan laughed at Li Yan.

Li Yan also showed joy on his face, although he was just a scholar, but in his eyes, Zhu Cihong was a teenager, and he couldn't imagine any danger at all.

Li Yan arched his hand towards Zhu Cihong and said with a smile: "Li Yan has seen His Royal Highness the Prince of Daming, where is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince going?" It is better to go with Li Yan to see His Majesty King Chuang, Li Yan promised that His Majesty King Chuang will definitely not touch a single hair of His Royal Highness the Prince. ”

"Really? But General Li Yan, you don't seem to have a chance! Zhu Cihong looked at Li Yan who was close in front of him, smiled evilly, and had a taste of conspiracy succeeding.

Well? What do you mean? Li Yan's expression changed, and before he could react, he saw that Zhu Cihong's hand, which was originally pinned behind him, suddenly flickered, and a fire came out, pointing directly at his chest.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out, and the musket in Zhu Cihong's hand was extremely shocked by Li Yan, and it shot a dead lead bullet at him without any ignition.

Li Yan was frightened, although he avoided the vital point, but he was still hit in the left shoulder, and the powerful impact force made him only have time to let out a scream, and he was suddenly lifted off the horse's back, fell to the ground, and rolled twice after life.

"General-----!

"Kill, kill this group of bright dogs, and avenge the general!" Li Yan's staff general was heartbroken, pulled out the sword in his hand, and rode towards the East Palace guards, and thousands of cavalry followed, roaring and shaking the sky, like a tiger descending from the mountain, rushing towards Zhu Cihong's 1,500 East Palace guards.

And Zhu Cihong had already shot Li Yan at the moment when he turned around and rushed back in the direction of the East Palace guards.

"Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, hurry." The eunuch Zhao Dequan shouted in fear.

Originally, a distance of 100 meters, Zhu Cihong came to a place less than ten meters away from the guards of the East Palace in less than ten seconds, and the time was pressing, Zhu Cihong rolled to the ground without thinking about it, and returned to safety at once.

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