In the cold spring season of the Ming Dynasty, Zhenla is still like summer.

It's just that the cool season isn't over yet, and unless the sun is out at the right hour, most of the time the climate is not too hot to bear. At this time, the state and condition of the royal city of Chenla Angkor were very chaotic, the people in the city were panicked, and the palace was full of haze.

The great general, who had fled back to the royal city by sea, spoke of the current situation in front of King Benhaya, and suddenly said angrily: "The stupidity of the queen's family has caused the kingdom of Chenla to be doomed. ”

And at this time, Queen Issuda was next to the king. The atmosphere in the hall was immediately very embarrassing, and the general seemed to realize that this sentence was a blurt out of words, so he stopped talking and stopped talking.

Izuda immediately replied coldly: "What happened to you in Saigon Bay is probably no better than that of Anen." How can you say that? ”

Such heavy words are said that only King Benhaya is qualified to say them. But the king was sad and silent.

The situation faced by the Zhenla Kingdom is far more than the defeat of the naval and land armies and the humiliation of the country. After the victory of the Ming army, the army has withdrawn, at least temporarily, the Zhenla country will no longer face the victory of the Ming army; However, the fall of Siam became the final fatal blow.

The outcome of the Battle of Saigon Bay put an end to the Ayutthaya dynasty of Siam. The royal family clearly chose the victorious side, not only to protect themselves, but also to profit from it, taking the opportunity to expand the land and improve the status of the Ayutthaya dynasty.

As soon as the news of the defeat of the main force of the Zhenla army spread, the state of Siam immediately declared that "the Ming Dynasty is the suzerain". They then responded to the previous edict of the Ming State and sent troops to attack Zhenla.

Siam also sent envoys south by sea, intending to contact the people of the Ming Kingdom. But their ships were intercepted by the only remaining ships of the Jinla army.

At present, the Siamese army is marching straight into Angkor Thom from the land. And the Zhenla royal family was powerless for a while, and it was temporarily unable to gather an army that could compete with it.

This ancient fortified royal city is about to face the siege of the Siamese army; And this crisis is when Angkor Thom is at its weakest.

The situation was so grim that Issuva also restrained the shame in her heart and did not continue to speak ill of the general. She just looked at the general coldly for a moment, with undisguised anger in her eyes.

At this moment, the king finally spoke: "Why hasn't Ann come back yet?" ”

The general said angrily: "He knows that there is a great sin, and he hides in the territory and does not obey the order, because he is afraid that the king will punish him." ”

Ixuva's deep eyes glanced at the general again, but she didn't speak. She had already guessed the king's intentions, and she might want to take An En and go to the Ming people to sue for peace.

As expected, the king then said, "Perhaps we should abandon Angkor Thom as soon as possible and move to Phnom Penh." ”

The general immediately asked, "What will happen to the people of the Ming Kingdom?" He paused for a moment and added, "The Ming army can reach Phnom Penh directly from the Mekong River." After the Battle of Saigon Bay, the Ming fleet passed through the river next to Phnom Penh and destroyed the pagoda of the Buddhist temple in the city with cannons on board. ”

The king said: "Our country cannot go to war on the east and west at the same time, it is time to negotiate peace with the people of the Ming Kingdom." ”

Everyone in the hall fell silent.

After a long time, in the passage in front of the hall, a guard walked in and asked to see the general guarding the west gate of the royal city. Benhaya let the generals in and speak.

After waiting for a while, the Simon guard came to the king's hall with an entourage. The garrison claimed that the patrol of the Chenla army had met the Siamese in the west and had been given two wooden boxes.

The king asked, "What is in the box?" ”

The guard did not say anything, but asked his attendants to bring the box, and then carried it forward and presented it to the king. Issova could already smell a disgusting rancid stench, and guessed what might be something bloody and unsightly.

The king ordered the guards to open the box.

In the first box was a somewhat rotten human head, with a scroll of paper in its mouth. That head is the messenger sent by the King of Zhenla! And most of the documents are the peace talks letters written by the royal family of Zhenla to the royal city of Ayutthaya.

Such a horrific scene, in the rancid air, made people feel a deep hatred.

The Ayutthaya dynasty of Siam was established only a few decades ago, and its royal family once ruled the kingdom of Rahu and served as a vassal of the kingdom of Chenla for a long time. It was not until a few decades ago that the royal family of Luo Hu migrated to Ayutthaya and established the Ayutthaya Dynasty, and then gradually broke away from the rule of the Zhenla Kingdom. There are many old grievances between the royal families of the two countries, and the defeat of the Jinla army in the general battle seems to have quickly intensified the old hatred.

When the guard opened the second box, Issuva took a look, and the whole person suddenly froze. She looked shocked in disbelief.

The head in the box turned out to be the head of her only younger brother, Ahn.

Izova suddenly stood up from her chair and staggered over to the box and crouched down. She trembled slightly and reached out to caress the already stinky head. Tears welled up from her deep bird's nest, quickly smearing the paint that had been applied around her eye sockets.

"Our family's territory is in the southern part of the Tonle Sap Lake, not in the direction of the Siamese army's advance. How did Ann fall into the hands of the Siamese? She shook her head.

Everyone was silent, but the general who entered the offering box said, "It must be the Siamese who sent an army to attack General Ahn's manor." ”

As if she hadn't heard, Ixuda was still immersed in grief.

Ahn's head was full of wounds, her lifeless face was twisted, she should have been subjected to inhuman torture for a long time before she died, and her painful appearance was frozen in death. She barely recognized Ahn a little, which was very different from Ahn Ann's usual handsome face, which often wore a cynical smile.

Then Ixuda suddenly came to her senses, if the manor on the family domain was breached, what would happen to her parents, two younger sisters, and one sister?

Isuda didn't dare to imagine it, but seeing the tragic appearance of Ahn's head, she could roughly guess what the result was.

Hatred and anger slowly soaked into her teardropping face, and she shook her head and said, "The people of the Ming Kingdom were killed by An'en, and the messenger was not so brutal. Why did the heaven-damned Siamese treat Ann like this? ”

The general's voice said coldly: "I am weakened because of the defeat of the Zhenla Kingdom. ”

Another voice said cautiously, "The Siamese don't want us to make peace with the Ming Dynasty? "The person who spoke was the minister in charge of palace affairs.

When the king saw that Ixuva's family was so miserable, he raised his hand to stop the ministers and advised Isuva to say: "The matter has come to this, the queen should not be too sad." ”

Izuda said with red eyes: "I have nothing but hatred. ”

At this time, the minister in charge of palace affairs just now said: "An En is dead, and the king should send his head to the camp of the Ming people in order to make peace." Then we can move to Phnom Penh, avoid the Siamese forces for the time being, and get a respite.

In the future, we should change our national policy and regard the Siam Ayutthaya Dynasty as our greatest enemy. reconcile with the Ming people in the east, and ease the relationship with the Ming vassal states of Zhancheng and Annam; The west contacted the state of Myanmar and jointly dealt with Siam. Burma has a grudge against Siam, and we should win over this ally in order to seek revenge. ”

Ixova said: "Ann is already so miserable, his head is in a different place, is there still a humiliation for his head?" ”

The general said: "Compared with the survival of the Zhenla Kingdom, please ask the queen to think twice about which is more important." ”

Benhaya gave him a look and asked the gatekeeper to take the box away. So the deliberations ended, and the king and the ministers and nobles left the hall one after another.

For the next few days, Izuda was immersed in great grief and hatred, cursing the Siamese for retribution.

However, the curse did not seem to work, and the Siamese army suddenly quickened its march and was soon to reach Angkor Thom. The city was in chaos, and many people managed to get out of the city and flee to the villages.

The Angkor Thom area was the central hinterland of the kingdom of Chenla, and the migration of the royal family meant that the power of the entire kingdom moved to the southeast; In order to preserve strength, the relocation of the royal family is not a simple matter. At this point, it was clear that the royal family was completely unprepared.

The confidant minister suggested that the king and queen and others could quietly go to Angkor Wat to take refuge, just in case the royal city was breached by the enemy; It is better to set out in the early hours of the morning with the guards, and not to tell the subjects, so as not to shake the hearts of the people.

Angkor Wat is a huge temple located on the southern side of the Intramuros. Although it is only a temple complex, it is known as "Little Angkor Thom", with stone walls and moats, shaped like a small city, and has not weak defense capabilities.

Due to the fact that the Chenla army in the royal city is currently seriously underarmed, it is easier to defend in a small city like Angkor Wat. What's more, the Siamese people are very likely to be unable to know that the king of Chenla is in Angkor Wat, so he should not send troops to attack.

So the king agreed to the suggestion of his confidant minister, and prepared to take his family and guards to the temple in the early morning of the next day to temporarily avoid trouble.

When the traveling brigade left the royal city, it was still dark. People go out from the South Gate and walk a little south along Intramus Boulevard, where Angkor Wat is on the east side of the boulevard.

King Benhaya and Izuda rode in a sedan chair. When the sedan turned left to go to Angkor Wat, Benhaya couldn't help but look back at the royal city again, and sighed very lonely.

Benhaya had enough reason to have such a sad mood. In the past, the Zhenla Kingdom was the overlord of this land, and it was very powerful, and many small countries such as the Siamese could only submit to pay tribute and look at the face of the Zhenla royal family and beg for survival. The Champa and Annam kingdoms were also no match for the Zhenla people, and they had to live in fear for a long time and struggle to resist the expansion of the Zhenla people.

But now, the days of prosperity seem to be gone. Even the Siamese pursued King Chenla and had to flee before dawn.

After 300 years, Angkor Wat has gradually appeared in front of people's eyes. In the dim morning light, the ancient stone walls and pagodas are very old, and the scene is quiet and quaint, like a cemetery.