Since Wu Chaoyue's crusade against the puppet Manchukuo was transmitted to Shenyang, Cixi carefully found that there were suddenly more eyes around her, secretly watching her every move, and even some eunuchs and palace maids who had followed her for many years seemed to have become no longer so reliable.

This is most evident when Cixi is in contact with her relatives, and when she meets her eldest brother Zhaoxiang, who has become a former imperial guard, needless to say, the palace maids and eunuchs around her have hardly shifted their attention, and have been staring at herself and Zhaoxiang's siblings. The same is true when I met with my two underage younger brothers, Gui Xiang and Fuxiang, at that time, I just wanted to check the recent studies of my two younger brothers, and asked my two younger brothers to memorize the book, so that they could stay in the palace for a little more time, Ci'an ran over that night and mentioned this matter, and there was no sentence to pay attention to his identity, less contact with his mother's family, and not to leave his relatives to interfere in politics, so scared that Cixi never dared to meet the three younger brothers again from that day.

Of course, there are comings and goings, and the shrewd Cixi is also staring at Ci'an in secret, and An Dehai, the chief eunuch who has received Cixi's great grace, is doing this specifically for Cixi, and Ci'an can probably know what important things Ci'an said and did in the palace. However, Ci'an is much more open than Cixi in this regard, rarely meeting with her mother's family, and never hiding from Cixi to communicate with foreign ministers in private, so even if there is a gap with Ci'an on whether to go north to Heilongjiang, Cixi has always been able to maintain peace with Ci'an, and there are no new contradictions.

This situation may be destined to change, and on the afternoon of this day, without any warning, An Dehai suddenly quietly came to make a small report, saying that the devil six had entered the palace to meet Ci'an. Cixi was shocked when she heard this, and hurriedly asked in a low voice, "When did Prince Gong enter the palace?" ”

"I don't know exactly, but it's definitely been a while." An Dehai replied in a low voice: "It was the news that Xiao Bozi delivered to the slave, he saw that after Prince Gong entered the palace, he tried to find a way to report to Chen Fu, the chief eunuch of the East Palace, and then sent the news out." ”

Cixi sneered on her rather upright and delicate face, and said secretly: "I went directly to the Empress Dowager Dong when I entered the palace, and I haven't informed the mourning family until now, it seems that Prince Gong and the Empress Dowager Dong are planning something big behind my back." Wait, nine times out of ten, something big will happen. ”

was still expected by Cixi, and about half an hour later, the Eastern Empress Dowager Ci'an really sent someone to invite Cixi to come over to meet, and said that there was a military matter to discuss with Cixi. Cixi was not panicked when she heard the news, and came to see Ci'an very calmly, but when she saw Ci'an and the devil Liu, Cixi carefully found that on the table in front of Ci'an, there was also a yellow satin box with a seal - the size and length were just enough to put a holy decree.

"Sixth? Why are you there? When did you enter the palace? ”

After saluting Ci'an in a proper manner, Cixi was very surprised and asked the devil six about the above words, and the devil six replied respectfully: "Back to the imperial sister-in-law, the younger brother has just entered the palace, because the matter is urgent, he did not immediately report to the imperial sister-in-law, and if the rudeness is made, I hope that the imperial sister-in-law will forgive the sin." ”

"Oh, what's so urgent?" Cixi asked again quietly.

"Back to the emperor's sister-in-law, it's bad news, Xinmin City was attacked by Wu thieves."

Devil Six's answer really surprised Cixi, and when Cixi hurriedly asked for details, Devil Six gave a general account of the before and after the loss of Xinmin, and also introduced by the way that the firepower of the main force of the Wu army was strong and irresistible. As a result, obedient and obedient, before the sixth devil finished speaking, Cixi's heart was prepared, and she secretly said in her heart: "The one who should have come has finally come, Ci'an, this bitch is going to force me to take the emperor and her to Heilongjiang together." ”

There were no accidents, after the devil six finished speaking, Ci'an really wiped the corners of his eyes and said, "Sister, you already know the situation, the matter has come to this point, we must also make a decision." Just now, the sixth child had already gone to meet the Rakshasa minister Remeni, and that Remeni put forward two conditions to us, one was to let their army enter Shengjing City, and the second was to ask our sisters to take the emperor to Heilongjiang immediately, and said that if we did not agree to these two conditions, they would withdraw their troops and no longer help us fight Wu thieves. ”

"See you in the picture." Cixi replied very calmly: "The Rakshasa people forced our sisters to take the emperor to Heilongjiang for one purpose, they wanted to take the opportunity to kidnap our sisters and the emperor, and coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes to take the opportunity to annex our Manchurian state. ”

"Of course I understand the purpose of the Rakshasas." Ci'an wiped the corners of his eyes again and said: "But things have come to this point, our sisters and the emperor have only one way left to go to Heilongjiang quickly, just now I discussed it with the sixth child, and I feel that we have no extra choice, so we can only take the emperor and leave quickly, leaving the sixth and Chonghou with the army to guard Shengjing." In this way, it is of course best to be able to keep Shengjing, our sisters and the emperor can come back in the future, if we really can't keep Shengjing, we can also rebuild the Manchurian court in Heilongjiang and continue to deal with Wu thieves. ”

"Yes, sister-in-law, we only have this one choice." Devil Zi Liu also said: "Although the Rakshasa people don't have any good intentions to ask you to go north, but you and the emperor continue to stay in Shengjing, if there is anything wrong in Shengjing City, our Manchurian country will be wiped out by the Wu thief army immediately, and there is no hope of a comeback." Only by asking you to hurry up and take the emperor north to Heilongjiang can we leave the last hope in Manchuria. ”

The critical moment of the final showdown finally arrived, and the shrewd Cixi of course behaved more calmly than usual, first glanced at the yellow satin box in front of Ci'an, Cixi hesitated slightly, and soon nodded, and said: "Okay, since my sister and the sixth brother both feel that they should go, then let's take the emperor to Heilongjiang." ”

"Promised?!"

Ci'an and Devil Six were a little dumbfounded, they didn't expect Cixi to agree so quickly, but Cixi looked calm, and said, "But sister, and the sixth child, how do we go?" Xinmin has been lost, Wu thief's army along the Liao River traced up, can directly drive the army to Tieling City, cut off our road to the north, if we bring a large number of troops, it is difficult to hide the eyes and ears of Wu thief, attracting Wu thief to send troops to intercept, so what should we do? Is it a light car and a simple follower, disguised as a common man to go north? Or take the path of Salhu to Jilin? ”

"The road is too long and rugged, and it is easy to be caught up by the cavalry of the Wu thieves. Moreover, at the moment of the great enemy, Shengjing's side cannot draw too many troops and shake the morale of the army. Ci'an said: "I have discussed with the sixth child, and I am going to take the emperor to disguise himself as a common person, and go north from the road of Tieling, sister, what do you think?" ”

"Sister, then we have to gamble with our own lives and the emperor's life." Cixi said in a deep voice: "Once the news of this matter leaks out, so that the Wu thief has prepared in advance, or we are unlucky and encounter the Wu thief's scout sentry team, we and the emperor will be in danger." ”

"Please rest assured that the imperial sister-in-law is here." Devil Zi Liu said: "The courtiers can guarantee that they will try their best to keep it secret, and they will never let anyone know that you and the emperor have left Beijing." In addition, Tieling is one hundred and fifty miles away from Xinmin, and you take the road of Puhe City to the north to Tieling, and the possibility of being encountered by Wu thieves is very small. ”

Cixi nodded, and said thoughtfully: "Sixth, for the sake of safety, can you think of any way to attract the attention of the Wu thief to Shengjing, so that our sisters and the emperor can go north to Tieling more safely?" Otherwise, if the Wu thief divides his troops and moves all the way south to fight Shengjing, and all the way east to fight Tieling, we and the emperor will be in danger. ”

"This ......." Devil Six was full of embarrassment, and said: "This courtier brother really has no choice, sister-in-law, do you have any ideas?" ”

"If there is a way, why do you ask you?" Cixi complained and asked, and after a little calculation, she said: "There is no way, I can only ask the ancestors and ancestors to bless me, sister, when will you leave?" How to go? Have you and Prince Gong decided? ”

"Prepare tonight, and we'll leave early tomorrow morning." Ci'an said: "The fifth child took some guards to protect us. ”

"Okay, if there is nothing else, then my sister will go back and prepare now."

Cixi is very decisive, and after making up her mind, she will not hesitate anymore, and immediately propose to leave, and immediately go back to prepare to go north to Heilongjiang. However, after Cixi left, after no other outsiders were present, Devil Six said to Ci'an very suspiciously: "Sister-in-law, why did the Empress Dowager Xi agree so happily this time?" The younger brother thought that he would have to spend a lot of tongues, and he would have to turn his face with her. ”

"Don't worry, she can't play any tricks, and she'd better not play any tricks, otherwise she will ......." Ci'an patted the yellow silk box in front of him and said coldly: "The mourning family has a way to deal with her!" ”

…………

Let's take a look at the situation on Cixi's side, after saying goodbye to Ci'an and returning to her bedroom, Cixi first immediately ordered the palace maids and eunuchs who served her to prepare for the escape, and then sent someone to pass An Dehai to see her, and then sat down and carefully considered the future, and picked up a decorative peony flower twist, carefully calculated in her heart, and said secretly: "It's time to make a decision, is Wu Chaoyue a traitor?" Or is it a Rakshasa foreign devil? ”

"Wu surpasses the traitor, the mouth is honey-bellied, the sword is hypocritical and treacherous, and he takes the emperor to join him, he may not be murderous and get rid of future troubles forever, but it is also possible to fulfill his promise, let the mourning family be rich and old, and give the mourning family a good death."

"Rakshasa foreign devils, brutal, greedy, ruthless, they have been used by them, and the mourning family is afraid that it will be difficult to escape death, even if they can survive and steal their lives, they will inevitably suffer humiliation, cold and hunger. But it is not ruled out that the possibility of relying on the Rakshasa foreign devil to keep a piece of land, so that the mourning family can continue to be the queen mother of Manchuria. ”

"Alas, the former wolf and the tiger, in a dilemma, please bless the heavens and show the mourning family a clear way."

Sighing and entrusting her fate to God, Cixi, who had been prepared, pulled up the petals of the peony in her hand, and silently muttered in her heart, "Wu surpasses the traitor, Rakshasa foreign devil, Wu surpasses the rebel, Rakshasa foreign devil, Wu transcends the rebel...... ”

It was also a coincidence, just when Cixi pulled to the last petal left, An Dehai was ordered to come to Cixi's front to meet, looking at the peony with only one petal left in her hand, Cixi made up her mind, first picked up the pen and quickly wrote a letter, signed her name and stamped it with her own hands, and put the letter into an envelope, handed it to An Dehai and instructed: "You immediately go to see Guixiang, the younger brother of the mourning family, give him this letter, tell him to go out of the city immediately, go to Xinmin to contact the Wu thief's army, and hand the letter to the Wu thief's general, ......." ”

An Dehai was sent out by Cixi, and after seeing him leave, Cixi sighed again, and then ......

…………

An Dehai failed to send the letter out of the palace, and before he left the palace gate, the other eunuchs who had been secretly staring at him and Cixi had already sent the news to Ci'an, and Ci'an was immediately furious, and immediately sent someone to hunt down An Dehai while sending someone to announce Cixi's arrival. But at this time, the news of Cixi's request to see came from outside the door first, Ci'an listened to it for a while, and then immediately said with a cruel smile: "Good come!" Call her in! Chen Fu, tell someone to prepare poisoned wine! ”

What happened next made Ci'an extremely unexpected, and when she was introduced to Ci'an by the palace maid, Cixi just hurriedly saluted Ci'an, and then immediately said: "Sister, I have thought of a way, I have a way to let Wu Thief go to Tieling without dividing his troops, so that we can take the emperor to Heilongjiang smoothly!" ”

"Oh, what's the solution?" Ci'an asked suspiciously, forgetting about An Dehai for a while.

"Let my sister and I come out to lie to the Wu thief and lure the Wu thief to fight Sheng Jing with all his might." Cixi said quickly: "Sister, after I returned to Chuxiu Palace just now, I suddenly thought that if I came out to surrender to the Wu thief, saying that the emperor and we were going to live and die with Shengjing City, and were also preparing to open the city gate to welcome the Wu thief army into the city, then the Wu thief army would definitely not divide the troops to fight Tieling, but would only concentrate the army to fight Shengjing." In this way, our sisters can rest assured that they can take the emperor to Heilongjiang, and they don't have to worry that the Wu thieves will preemptively divide the army to fight Tieling to cut off our way back, and we can be much safer on the road. ”

Ci'an was completely stunned, and only after a while did he ask, "Then what are you going to do?" ”

"My sister forgives her sins, my sister is in charge of her own affairs, and she has already sent An Dehai to do this." Cixi blessed Ci'an with a blessing and said: "Sister, I just wrote a letter of deception, sent An Dehai to take it out of the palace, and handed it to my younger brother Guixiang, so that Guixiang would immediately go to Xin'an with the letter to find Wu thief, and deceive Wu thief to concentrate his forces to fight Shengjing. The little sister was reckless and acted without her sister's permission, and asked her sister to punish her. ”

Ci'an was even more dumbfounded, and as a result, at this time, An Dehai was also forcibly pulled in front of Ci'an and Cixi by the eunuchs of the East Palace, Cixi was furious when she saw it, and immediately asked An Dehai: "Xiao Anzi, I asked you to send a letter to the younger brother of the mourning family, why haven't you gone yet?" What should you be guilty of mistaking the great event of the mourning family? ”

"The Queen Mother of the West forgives her sins, and it is the Queen Mother of the East who ......."

An Dehai had a wry smile on his face, he didn't dare to finish his words at all, Cixi also woke up, and quickly closed her mouth, while Ci'an gradually came back to his senses and hurriedly said: "It seems to be a misunderstanding, Xiao Anzi, where is the letter from the Empress Dowager Xi?" Bring it over and let the mourners take a look. ”

Cixi's letter written not long ago was quickly presented to Ci'an, and after opening it, the truth was revealed - the good empress dowager of the Manchu Dynasty, the good concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor, and the good mother of the Kant Emperor did write a letter to the despicable and evil Wu thief army to surrender, deceiving the Wu army that the East and West Empress Dowager of Manchukuo and the Emperor Kant had decided to coexist with Shengjing City, and asked the Wu thief army to hurry up to fight Shengjing, and the Empress Dowager Xi would use the power in her hands to find a way to open the gate of Shengjing City and welcome the Wu thief army into the city!

There is no way to describe the excitement of the Empress Dowager Ci'an at this moment, as well as the deep guilt of her good sister Cixi, the Empress Dowager Cixi continued to forget her selfishness, not only did not ask Ci'an why she wanted to arrest An Dehai, but also urged: "Sister, have you finished reading?" If it can be done, let An Dehai send the letter to Gui Xiang as soon as possible, otherwise, as soon as the city gate is closed, Gui Xiang will not be able to leave the city. When the time comes, if we send someone to open the city gate for Gui Xiang, Gui Xiang is young and ignorant and leaks his mouth in front of Wu Thief, so that Wu Thief knows that someone deliberately opened the door for him, maybe Wu Thief will see the flaw. ”

Ci'an almost didn't think much about it, and immediately returned the letter to An Dehai, Cixi urged An Dehai to hurry up to deliver the letter, and instructed Ci'an's personal eunuch Chen Fu: "Xiao Fuzi, you arrange for two eunuchs to accompany Xiao Anzi to go together, watch Xiao Anzi hand over the letter to Guixiang, and come back to report the story carefully." Xiao Anzi, you also keep your mouth tight for the mourning family, and you must not let Gui Xiang know that he is going to deceive him! ”

Chen Fu subconsciously looked at Ci'an, and Ci'an nodded subconsciously, but after Chen Fu sent someone to monitor An Dehai to deliver a letter to Gui Xiang, Ci'an came back to his senses and hurriedly asked, "Sister, what about your younger brother Gui Xiang?" Wu thief found out that he was deceived, can he be spared? ”

"Wu Chaoyue rebel has an old friend with my father, and Gui Xiang also knows him, he may not poison Gui Xiang for the sake of the past." Cixi shed tears and choked up and said: "If the Wu thief really poisoned him, it is also his life, our Yeh Nara family has received the favor of the country, and we should serve ......, and the court ......." ”

Choked up and said this, Cixi was already crying, Ci'an was emotional, hugged Cixi and cried, and this time, Ci'an was really crying, and the tears shed were real. At the same time, at this moment, Ci'an even had the urge to burn the edict of Emperor Xianfeng.