After Zhao Jinshi left the city, the gate of Zhengyang Gate was soon opened, and Zhao Jinshi knelt at the door with several deputy generals to welcome Ma Cheng into the city.

Ma Cheng rode to the city gate, dismounted and helped Zhao Jinshi and said: "General Zhao can open the city gate in accordance with the will of heaven today, and avoid the citizens of Nandu from being ruined, this is a great achievement!" ”

Although Zhao Jinshi is sleek, after all, he is also a man who fought on the battlefield, and his heart twitched when he heard Ma Cheng say this. There are no houses in Zhengyangmen, and even if there is a fight, there is no loss. Jubaomen is a commercial area, and I don't know how many people will die after this time.

Ma Cheng didn't want to be a hypocrite when he said this, this time the banner was to support the Lord and eradicate the traitorous party, so he had to firmly stand on the moral high ground.

"General Zhao, this time you open the city gate, you are the first hero of Jingnan, and when the governor rescues the emperor, he will definitely ask the emperor to reward you!"

Zhao Jinshi dared to accept Ma Cheng's words, so he had to nod his head again and again, saying that he would definitely follow the Marquis of Zhenguo and carry out the righteous cause of Jingjing to the end.

Ma Cheng stepped forward and patted Zhao Jinshi on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Chief soldier Zhao, in a while, this governor will take someone to save the emperor, and Zhengyangmen will work hard for you here!" ”

"Please rest assured, the last general will definitely guard the Zhengyang Gate!"

Ma Cheng didn't care how ridiculous Zhao Jinshi's answer was, a general who had just lost the defense area actually said that he could defend it impregnably. However, Ma Cheng's attention is not in the inner city now, and all his attention is on Zhu Lunkui in the palace.

Ma Cheng left Zhao Jinshi and marched to the imperial city with his nine thousand protectors. Zhengyangmen is only two miles away from the Chengtian Gate, the gate of the imperial city, and outside the Chengtian Gate is the thousand-step corridor, which is the central organ of the Ming Empire. Although it is now the first month of Xiumu, there are officials on duty in each yamen.

These officials on duty did not know about the great changes at the top level, and when they saw the Zhenguo Marquis Ma Cheng entering the Thousand Steps Corridor with a large number of troops, they immediately remembered the bloody coup d'état in Wuyingdian four years ago.

Ma Cheng led the army to Chengtianmen, where the palace gate was closed, and the figures on the city wall swayed, Ma Cheng did not reply to the Jinyi guards guarding the city at all, and ordered to go directly to the cannon. The thickness of the Chengtian Gate is not comparable to the Zhengyang Gate, and it was quickly shattered under the attack of artillery, and the loss of the Chengtian Gate also represented the loss of the imperial city.

After entering the Chengtian Gate, Ma Cheng saw more than a thousand brocade guards standing in front of the end gate, holding embroidered spring knives in their hands, as if they were ready to resist.

Ma Cheng came to these brocade guards and said: "Brothers, many of you are Lao Tzu's comrades-in-arms, and you also fought side by side with Lao Tzu in Jubaomen back then. Since this is the case, Lao Tzu will not hide it from you, now that the emperor has bullied Lao Tzu to his home, he actually sent Lu Siye, a bastard, to kill Lao Tzu, and now Lao Tzu is leading troops into the city to go to the emperor to ask for an explanation, if you still think Lao Tzu is a comrade-in-arms, put down the knife and gun and stand aside, if you still want to resist to the end, then don't complain that Lao Tzu does not remember the feelings of comrades-in-arms! ”

Most of these palace guards were Ma Cheng's comrades-in-arms back then, and these people looked left and right, put down the embroidered spring knives in their hands one after another, and then stepped aside to give up resistance.

But in addition to these people, there are some Jinyi guards who have nothing to do with Ma Cheng, they are basically the descendants of those nobles in the past, and they have an indissoluble hatred with Ma Cheng, so it is naturally impossible for them to surrender to Ma Cheng. this

There were more than 200 people in total, and under the leadership of a few middle- and low-ranking officers, they were still in front of the end gate.

A brocade-clothed guard Qianhu held an embroidered spring knife, pointed at Ma Cheng and scolded: "Ma Cheng, you are a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, what do you want to do with people in the palace now?" Want to rebel? ”

Ma Cheng smiled and didn't answer, waved his hand, and the musketeers in the guards opened fire one after another, killing more than 200 people in front of the end gate.

After entering the end gate, it is the noon gate, and then there is Miyagi. Guarding the noon gate were those Han generals, and these guys did not have the will to fight of the palace guards, and saw Ma Cheng come to the noon gate with thousands of wolf-like troops, and surrendered on their knees one by one.

Now that these guys have surrendered, Ma Cheng no longer bothered with them and entered the palace through the noon gate. Now the palace is in chaos, and those eunuchs and palace maids are busy fleeing one by one. Ma Cheng doesn't care whether these guys steal the property in the palace or not, and now it is the most important thing to catch Emperor Zhu Lunkui.

Ma Cheng hurriedly came to the Qianqing Palace with people, the house was empty, and the empty Qianqing Palace was empty. Ma Cheng saw that this was not good, if Zhu Lunkui was allowed to escape, it would not be a good thing to gather a group of magistrates to do something Qinwang.

Ma Cheng shouted angrily: "Search for Lao Tzu!" Be sure to catch this faint king! ”

Ma Cheng's order was passed down, and a group of guards began to search inside and outside the Qianqing Palace. To Ma Cheng's disappointment, Zhu Lunkui didn't catch it, but he caught a little eunuch who was about to escape.

The guards brought the little eunuch to Ma Cheng, who sat on Zhu Lunkui's dragon chair, glared at the little eunuch kneeling in front of him and asked, "Say, where did Zhu Lunkui go?" ”

The little eunuch was already scared of and urine, and there was a strange smell in the main hall of the Qianqing Palace.

"If you go back to the town, the slave doesn't know where the emperor has gone!"

"Well, you don't know, do you! Come on, give this guy's skin to Lao Tzu! ”

After Ma Cheng finished speaking, a few soldiers came up, ready to drag this unlucky little eunuch out and peel the skin, which frightened the little eunuch, and hurriedly howled: "Grandpa Zhenguohou, the slave maid heard that the emperor may have gone to the queen mother!" ”

Ma Cheng felt that things were not good when he heard it, the Queen Mother was his own sister, and it would be really difficult if Zhu Lunkui fled there.

However, with Zhu Lunkui's whereabouts, Ma Cheng immediately left the Qianqing Palace with a group of guards and entered the harem through the Longzong Gate.

The news that Ma Cheng got was very accurate, and Zhu Lunkui was now hiding in the Cining Palace of the Empress Dowager Ma Hongning.

After Zhu Lunkui drank too much last night, he went back to the harem to sleep. I woke up the next morning and found out what had happened last night.

After hearing that the whereabouts of Ma Shiying's father and son were unknown, the first thing Zhu Lunkui did was to order Mei Chun to mobilize all the palace guards and the Han generals to start searching, whether they were dead or alive, they must find the four fathers and sons. But to Zhu Lunkui's disappointment, Ma Shiying and the four of them were like evaporating, and they didn't even find a single hair.

At this time, Zhu Lunkui was really scared, whether it was dead or alive, if there was news of Ma Shiying's father and son, it would be good to say, but now there is no news at all, does that mean that Ma Shiying's father and son have escaped from the palace?

If Ma Shiying runs out, it's nothing, after all, Ma Shiying is a civil official, and Zhu Lunkui will lose some of it

face, but it's not easy to let Ma Cheng and Ma Xi run away.

Zhu Lunkui remembered the scene of Wuyingdian back then, the fake prince Wang Zhiming was cut off by Ma Cheng's head, thinking of this Zhu Lunkui was covered in a cold sweat, he scolded: "Lu Jiude, you waste, didn't you say that it was foolproof?" Why is this happening now? What do you say should be done? ”

Lu Jiude knelt in front of Zhu Lunkui with a sad face, he didn't expect such a thing to happen, according to his arrangement, his nephew Lu Siye took a hundred elites, and the gate in Xi'an Ma Cheng and his son corrected the law on the spot, and then casually charged with rebellion. But who would have thought that Ma Cheng was very treacherous, and found that the situation was wrong, and he could escape to the ruins of the inner library.

"Emperor, the old slave didn't expect things to be like this! Now that there is no news of these four people in the palace, they must have escaped, the old slave thought that the inner city gate should be closed, and let Lu Siye take the soldiers and horses to search the city, I believe that Ma Shiying's father and son must be hiding somewhere in the city! ”

Things have come to this point, what else can be done? Zhu Lunkui closed his eyes in pain, and said after a while: "Okay, just do as you say!" Let Lu Siye close the city gates, and then search Ma Shiying and his son! ”

Lu Jiude was just about to get up and go out to deliver the decree, but Zhu Lunkui continued: "Also, arrest the family members of the Ma family's father and son, and they want to live!" Zhu Lunkui was still thinking that if he didn't work, he would use Ma Cheng's family as a shield, and Lu Jiude bowed down and retreated after hearing this.

Zhu Lunkui thought well, but the development of the situation was out of his control, and not long after the order to close the city gate was issued, news came that all the new troops in the military camp outside the city were preparing to leave the barracks. This news frightened Zhu Lunkui, but before Zhu Lunkui issued a holy decree ordering the defenders to hold on, there was a loud bang in the southern city, and the treasure gate was captured.

Hearing the news of the loss of Jubaomen, Zhu Lunkui knew that the general trend had gone, and it was too late to say anything now, thinking of this, Zhu Lunkui regretted listening to Qian Qianyi and Lu Jiude's words, what did he have to do with Ma Cheng?

At this time, Lu Jiude stumbled in, shouting as he ran: "Emperor, Ma Cheng has entered Zhengyangmen with the army, and he is about to arrive at Chengtianmen!" ”

Hearing the news, Zhu Lunkui was no longer in the mood to scold Lu Jiude, and saving his life is the key at present. Thinking that he was about to become the second Wang Zhiming, Zhu Lunkui cried: "How is this good? What about the ancestral inheritance? How do I go to see Emperor Taizu Gao under the Nine Springs! ”

Lu Jiude saw Zhu Lunkui crying bitterly here, and hurriedly said: "Emperor, there are chaotic troops outside the imperial city, so it's better to go to Cining Palace to take refuge for now!" ”

Go to the Queen Mother? Zhu Lunkui asked, "The Queen Mother is Ma Cheng's sister, can she help me?" ”

"Emperor, although the Queen Mother is the daughter of the Ma family, she is still the daughter-in-law of the Zhu family, the Emperor thinks about Cao Jie, the queen of Emperor Han Xian, when Cao Pi usurped the throne, it was Cao Jie's protection, Emperor Han Xian can die well, and the old slave believes that the Queen Mother will be able to protect the safety of the emperor!"

Cao Jie is Cao Pi's own sister, when Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty, it was Cao Jie who protected the safety of her husband Emperor Han Xian, and finally Emperor Han Xian lived longer than Cao Pi and Cao Rong, which was Cao Jie's protection.

Zhu Lunkui has no choice but to agree now, now that Ma Cheng's army has entered the city, it is impossible to leave the city, and it seems that he can only pin his hope of life on the Queen Mother Ma Hongning.