Although Zhang Zhidong agreed to invite Zeng Guoquan and Li Tangjie to meet, but after Zhang Zhidong left, he never appeared in front of Li Tangjie again, Li Tangjie waited anxiously for a long time, and only waited for a team of Wu soldiers, and the leader said to Li Tangjie very politely: "Lord Li, our nine marshals are busy with military affairs, and we really can't spare time to see you, so we can only ask you to move with us outside Chaoyangmen, and see you again when our nine marshals are free." Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

After that, the Wu soldiers did not allow Li Tangjie to say anything, and forced Li Tangjie to leave, and Li Tangjie had no choice in the enemy camp, so he had to obey his orders. Fortunately, Wu Jun has always had a good reputation in treating envoys, and he has seen Baojun and Jingshou retreat from Hubei, Li Tangjie is not particularly worried about his own life, but just hopes that Zeng Guoquan can be true to his words and see himself.

It was also with the departure of this group of Wu soldiers from Huayue Temple that Li Tangjie found that the main force of the Wu army had already been marching to the north, and tens of thousands of people held high the banner of the Wu army, holding the best weapons generously given by the monk and the prince, and marched north in a barely neat formation, with swords and guns like a forest, and flags like the sea.

After marching to Chaoyang Gate with the Wu army brigade, Li Tang's carriage was directly led by the Wu army soldiers to Liulitun, where the camp fortifications had been established, and he was helped off the carriage by his accompanying family members, and led to a manor with Zeng Guoquan's handsome flag, and was invited to the hall of the manor alone, and then immediately a soldier dressed as a soldier came up and said: "Lord Li, right?" This is our Zeng Jiu Shuai's temporary handsome hall, please wait a moment, our Zeng Jiu Shuai will come in a while. ”

After thanking Zeng Guoquan's personal soldiers, and being invited by Zeng Guoquan's personal soldiers to the corner of the hall to warm up, drinking the hot tea sent by the personal soldiers, Li Tangjie made up his mind to look at the situation in the hall, and saw that there were not only handsome chairs in the hall, but also a relatively rough sand table map of the capital, which was obviously Zeng Guoquan's handsome appearance. Li Tangjie was also suddenly more relieved, and said secretly: "It seems that there will definitely be a chance to meet Zeng Guoquan's traitor, whether he can save the society from danger and help the building to fall, it depends on whether the old man can use the ethics program to educate Zeng Guoquan's traitor." ”

It was also a coincidence that just as Li Tangjie was thinking about what he would say after meeting Zeng Guoquan, an excited shout suddenly came from outside the door, "Nine handsome!" Exultation! Great joy! ”

Alarmed by the loud shout, Li Tangjie hurriedly turned his head to look at the door, but saw a man in civilian clothes covered with snowflakes and ice chips striding in with a token in his hand, and shouted before he could see the situation in the hall clearly: "Congratulations to the nine marshals!" Congratulations to the nine handsome! General Wei Junwei has succeeded, and the old thing in the official document has already fallen to the ground! ”

With a bang, the teacup in Li Tangjie's hand fell to the ground, and it was suddenly shattered, and his old face suddenly turned pale. And Zeng Guoquan's soldiers in the hall were also dumbfounded, and they scrambled to ask: "Wei Jun killed the old official thing for us?" How can it be? Isn't that long-haired head Wei Jun our Zhennan prince not sharing the sky, how can he help us so much? ”

"Hahaha!" The man in civilian clothes who came to report the news laughed and said, "What do you know? If General Wei Junwei didn't deliberately pretend to be different from our prince, would he be able to deceive the trust of the old official and the old thing? To tell you the truth, General Wei Junwei has actually been our man for a long time! ”

Laughing, the man in casual clothes who hurriedly came in also showed the package he was carrying, opened it to reveal a bloodstained wooden box, and said proudly: "Do you see it?" The head of the old official thing! General Wei cut it with his own hands! ”

Zeng Guoquan's personal soldiers in the hall immediately cheered, and a pro-soldier commander immediately led the plainclothes man who came to report the good news to see Zeng Guoquan, and the rest of the pro-soldiers were so happy that they rubbed their hands again and again, all of them smiled, "I didn't expect Wei Jun to be our person, and he helped us kill that thing in Guanwen!" Okay, now I'm not afraid that the reinforcements of the rebellious party will come to save the capital, and I can finally attack the capital with all my might. ”

"The king of Zhennan was clever, strategized in the middle of the battle, and won a decisive victory thousands of miles away, and even pulled Wei Jun's long-haired head over early and became our person! Now I don't have to worry about not being able to take the capital. ”

"It's over! The capital is over! ”

Zeng Guoquan's personal soldiers present were all smiling, and Li Tangjie, who was famous for his unfounded personality, felt that the world was spinning one after another, and his mind was completely at a loss, and he said secretly: "It's over!" Unexpectedly, Wei Jun was so capricious, and he secretly colluded with Wu thieves to harm the official system, and once the official system died, the imperial army would inevitably be in chaos, how could he come back to save the capital? How could he come to defend the court against Zeng Guoquan's rebels? It's over, this time, it's really over. ”

In the desperate fantasy, I don't know how long it took, the sound of Zeng Guoquan finally arrived outside the door, Li Tangjie hurriedly got up to greet him, but saw Zhang Zhidong striding in with a middle-aged man in military uniform, Li Tangjie hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and Zhang Zhidong introduced Li Tangjie: "Master Li, this is our Zeng Jiushuai!" ”

"I have heard the name of General Zeng for a long time, like thunder, and I can see it today, it is really the old man ......who has three lives, and he is fortunate to have three lives. General Zeng, the old man, oh no, in the lower Li Tang Rank, the word Shunan, held the post of the secretary of the Ministry of Rites in the imperial court. ”

The mood was too flustered, Li Tangjie inevitably stammered when he spoke, and the preface did not match the incoherent words, but fortunately, Zeng Guoquan's temper was very easy-going, smiled and returned the courtesy, and said: "Lord Li, your intention is that the marshal has already heard what Xiaoda said, sorry, the military is too busy, and I haven't found time to see you until now. ”

Li Tangjie hurriedly shook his hand to show that he didn't mind, but he was so flustered that he didn't know what to say next, but fortunately, Zhang Zhidong next to him reminded: "Master Li, the junior of Jiu Shuai has been invited for you, if you have anything to say, hurry up and say it to Jiu Shuai." ”

Zhang Zhidong reminded Li Tangjie that he remembered his intentions, and hurriedly took out the holy decree issued by Ci'an and Cixi in the honor of Tongzhi and asked Zeng Guoquan to kneel down, Zeng Guoquan and Zhang Zhidong knelt down together, respectfully accepted the Manchu court canonized to his official title, and then kowtowed to thank him, and took the holy decree more respectfully.

Next, Li Tangjie, who had come back to his senses a little, of course tried carefully to persuade Zeng Guoquan to negotiate peace with the Manchu court, but to Li Tangjie's great surprise, Zeng Guoquan did not categorically refuse, and still showed a very interested look in his words, Li Tangjie tried to see if Zeng Guoquan could stop the war first and then start peace talks, Zeng Guoquan pondered for a moment, and even replied: "This matter has to be considered by Rong Benshuai, please go back to the queen mother of the two palaces and the emperor, please let them be restless, Patiently wait for Wechen's reply, and when Wechen makes up his mind, he immediately sends someone into the city to knock on him. ”

"Can you think about it?"

When Li Tangjie was dumbfounded, Zeng Guoquan, who was busy with military affairs, had already opened his mouth to chase away the guests, Zhang Zhidong also patted his chest and promised to try his best to persuade Zeng Guoquan to suspend the siege, Li Tangjie had no choice but to say goodbye and leave with Zeng Guoquan's own soldiers, and came to Chaoyangmen with his entourage under the supervision of Wu soldiers, and then the accompanying Wu soldiers said: "Master Li, the small one can only send you here, please go slowly." ”

After thanking the soldiers of the Wu army, Li Tangjie, who was dizzy, walked with his entourage to Chaoyangmen, which had already been heavily guarded, but after walking a distance, a fast horse suddenly ran behind him and yelled: "Master Li go slowly, please come back, we Zeng Jiushuai still have something to say to you!" Important! ”

Li Tangjie looked back in surprise, but saw that the knight on the horse yelled again: "Quick! Get them! The nine marshals have an order, and they must not be allowed to return to the city! ”

Hearing the order, the Wu soldiers who were already walking back immediately turned around and rushed towards Li Tangjie, but fortunately, Li Tangjie reacted quite quickly, and immediately ran to Chaoyangmen, and the accompanying family members also hurriedly followed, but the Wu soldiers behind were in hot pursuit, constantly shouting, "Stop!" Don't run, or we're going to shoot! ”

Shouting, the Wu soldiers really shot at Li Tangjie and the others in the back, but although the bullet did not hit Li Tangjie, it was also so frightened that Li Tangjie directly peed his crotch, fortunately, the accompanying family members were still loyal, and they picked up Li Tangjie and ran towards Chaoyangmen, and Li Tangjie also cried on the back of his family against Chaoyangmen......

"Help me! Help me! I am Li Tangjie, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites of the Qing Dynasty, save me, help————! ”

…………

“…… It is also a loss to the old minister's life, the house slave is loyal, and he escaped the moat in time with the old minister, and the Qing soldiers in the city shot to stop it, otherwise, the old minister will not be able to see the two queen mothers and the emperor no matter what! ”

Creeping on the cold ground of Cining Palace, Li Tangjie cried so much that the sky was dark, the sun and the moon were dark, and he tearfully poured out his thrilling encounter dangling in front of the ghost gate. However, it is a pity that whether it is Ci'an and Cixi, or everyone in the Military Aircraft Department headed by Devil Liu, none of them care about Li Tangjie's Li Shangshu's life and death, but are more concerned about the life and death of the official document, Ci'an also interrupted Li Tangjie and said: "Li Aiqing and cry slowly, say it quickly, do you see clearly that the Wu thief soldier is holding the head of the official and civil official Aiqing?" ”

"I didn't see it, it was in a wooden box." Li Tangjie didn't dare to tell a lie, but added: "But the old minister clearly saw that there was blood on the wooden box. ”

Ci'an's expression became more solemn, and Cixi, Devil Six and the others were even more gloomy, and they were all thinking about the same thought, "Could it be that Guan Wen has really been killed?" ”

"Master Li, since Zeng Guoquan's rebel thief allowed you to leave, he also sent someone to see you off." Gui Liang, the old father-in-law of Devil Six, asked another key question, "Then why did you stop you from going back to the city later?" Still shooting at you? ”

"The old man is also puzzled by this." Li Tangjie shook his head and said, "The old man didn't expect that Zeng Guoquan's traitor would be so moody, and it didn't take long for him to repent, and he tried to kill the old man. ”

When Gui Liang and Devil Six and the others were still frowning and calculating and analyzing, Cixi had already vaguely guessed something, and hurriedly asked: "Li Aiqing, you carefully recall, after the Wu thief messenger went to see Zeng Guoquan's rebel thief with the head of the official document, could Zeng Guoquan's rebel thief's personal soldiers leave during this period?" ”

After carefully recalling the scene at that time, Li Tangjie quickly replied: "Back to the Queen Mother, no, the old minister can be sure that there is not." ”

"So when Zeng Guoquan came to meet you, was there a personal soldier present who spoke to him alone?" Cixi asked again.

"Nope." Li Tangjie didn't do it again, and said truthfully: "At that time, after Zeng Guoquan's rebel entered the door, he only talked to Lao Chen and that Zhang Zhidong rebel, and didn't pay attention to others. ”

After asking Li Tangjie again to confirm this answer, Cixi suddenly had an answer, closed her eyes in pain, and said secretly: "Guanwen is really dead." ”

"I see!" Devil Zi Liu also came to his senses and shouted: "Zeng Guoquan, that traitor, didn't want us to know the news that Guan Wen had been killed, so he chased and killed Li Shangshu!" ”

"Lord, what do you mean by this?" Gui Liang asked in surprise.

"Father-in-law, why don't you understand?" Devil Six complained bitterly and had to explain: "Zeng Guoquan deliberately let Li Shangshu come back before, and promised that he could consider peace talks, because he wanted to use Li Shangshu to temporarily stabilize us!" It's just that he didn't know at the time that Li Shangshu had overheard the news that the official system had been killed, so he let Li Shangshu come back. ”

"But he later sent people to chase and kill Li Shangshu, it must be because he learned from his own soldiers that Li Shangshu already knew the news about the official documents, and in order not to report to Li Shangshu back to the city, he hurriedly sent people to chase Li Shangshu!"

Gui Liang, Ci'an and the others finally came to their senses, and then, naturally, Ci'an hurriedly asked, "Sixth brother, why did Zeng Guoquan temporarily stabilize us?" Don't want us to know that Guan Aiqing has been killed by traitors? ”

"Imperial sister-in-law, Zeng Guoquan rebel thief did this, except for wanting to wipe out our Qing royal family, what else could he do?"

The helpless lament of the devil Zi Liu made Ci'an's face pale suddenly, and Ci'an immediately understood the reason - the official text was dead, and the Wu army was basically worry-free, and there was plenty of time to calmly attack the city.

Knowing this, Ci'an of course wailed again, and then hid his face and cried, but Cixi was quite calm, and whispered to her: "Sister, it's useless to cry, prepare for the worst, ask the seventh brother to arrange the car and accompanying guards, and leave immediately if the situation is not right." ”

There was no other choice, Ci'an could only tearfully agree, and Cixi beckoned An Dehai to the front again, and commanded in a low voice: "Prepare the clothes of Han women for me and the Empress Dowager Dong, immediately." ”

After the order, Cixi dismissed Li Tangjie, Shen Zhaolin, Cao Yuying and other unreliable courtiers, and asked them to keep the official document dead strictly secret, leaving only absolute henchmen such as Guizi Liu and Gui Liang, and began to discuss how to transfer the Manchu court at a critical moment and run to other places to establish another central government............

It may be that he was in a hurry, but when the time of Shen was approaching in the afternoon, when the Wu army was ready to attack the city, a Wu army envoy waved a white flag and carried the head of the official document to the Chaoyang Gate, and loudly announced the news that the official document had been killed by Wei Jun, so as to hit the morale of the defenders of the capital. Then when it came to Shen Shizheng, amid the rumbling of artillery, the attack of the Wu army on the Chaoyang Gate of the city was officially launched on time.