The prince listened to Queen Zhou's words, and he didn't know why, but he knew that at this critical moment, the queen mother would never be untargeted, so he still nodded and said that he remembered.

After Queen Zhou finished her instructions, she thought that she was going to be separated from her son Yin and Yang, and the prince had never left the palace alone, but he would have to experience all kinds of bloody storms in the future, and sorrow came from it, and she cried loudly again. The mother and son cried again.

Chongzhen waited outside the hall for a while, heard the cry, and couldn't help but come in and urge Queen Zhou: "Now that the matter has come to this, it's useless to cry." Kill yourself, don't be too late. He said to a palace maid: "Hurry up and send a decree to urge Yuan Niangniang to commit suicide, urge Princess Changping to commit suicide, let's die quickly, don't delay until the thieves come in, and destroy the ancestor's national body." ”

At this time, the rumbling sound of artillery came from the direction of Xuanwu Gate, and the Liukou were still attacking the inner city, day and night, and they did not know how long the defenders could support it.

Empress Zhou sighed: "Alas, the two daughters can never see each other again!" She let go of the hands of the crown prince and King Yong, stood up resolutely, and said to Chongzhen:

"Your Majesty, the concubine will take the first step and wait for the holy car on the road to the underworld!"

Chongzhen watched the queen walk out of the side hall surrounded by a group of palace maids, and said to the prince and the second king sadly: "The queen mother will say goodbye to you forever." You send your mother back to the dormitory, come back quickly, I have something to say! ”

Because the fifth watch is approaching, Chongzhen knows that his time is running out. Thinking that he was about to kill people in the palace, he felt that he was already lacking in energy, and ordered the palace maids: "Bring wine!" Bring the wine! The palace maids immediately brought the wine, but they didn't have time to prepare the side dishes in a hurry. Chongzhen couldn't wait, and commanded sharply: "Pour wine!" ”

A maid of the palace poured a cup full of gold, put it on a rectangular silver platter, and placed it in front of him. He took a drink from his glass and said, "Pour it again!" ”

Although the imperial wine "Changchun Dew" brewed in the palace is not very powerful, he has drunk more than ten glasses in a row (he has never drunk so vigorously in his life), and he is already three points drunk. When he drank again and again, his demeanor was generous and composed, as if he had forgotten about life. The palace maids and eunuchs standing on the left and right saw his unusual aura, and their eyes were red, and they all lowered their heads, not daring to look up, for fear that he would swing his sword and kill people after he was drunk, and then kill himself. However, Chongzhen just borrowed wine to drown his sorrows and increase his courage, so he knew very well in his heart. He stopped drinking and commanded one of the eunuchs:

"Tell the master!"

The "master" in the palace is the crown prince. The crown prince immediately came to the side hall, and King Yong and King Ding also came, kneeling before him. The prince swallowed hard and said:

"Back to my father, my sons and the others have sent my mother back to the palace."

"Did you kill yourself?"

The prince cried and replied: "The queen mother is about to commit suicide, and the palace ladies are preparing for her." ”

"Is your queen mother still crying?"

The queen mother just sighed deeply and stopped crying.

"Good, good. As a queen, she should be martyred. ”

Chongzhen suddenly noticed the royal robes and hats worn by his three sons, and was taken aback, and said in a reproachful tone: "When is it, you are still dressed like this!" ”

Immediately, he glanced at a group of palace maids and eunuchs standing in the side hall, and said, "Why don't you hurry up and find old clothes and hats for the master to change!" Replace it for the two kings! ”

Everyone hurriedly found three sets of worn clothes of the little eunuchs, and the two palace maids changed them for the prince, and the palace maids changed them for the second king.

Chongzhen thought that the palace maids were moving too slowly, so he tied the prince's clothes with trembling hands, and choked up while tying them: "Son! You are still the prince tonight, and you will be a common man after dawn. Escape from the palace and live among the people, you have to be incognito, and you must not reveal the identity of the prince. When you see an old man, you have to call him grandpa; When you see a middle-aged person, you should call your uncle or uncle, and when you see someone of your age, you should call your brother...... O my son, you see! As soon as you leave the palace, you are a common people, a homeless person, even more pitiful than a homeless common people! You have to be careful to save your life......"

The prince was terrified, he had never left the palace alone, and he suddenly encountered this drastic change, and he didn't know what to do. And the explanation of the queen mother and the father is quite contradictory, the former let him go with the father-in-law of the celebrant Fang, and the latter let him fend for himself, who should he listen to?

When Chongzhen personally took care of the crown prince's clothes and hats, the clothes and hats of the two kings of Yong and Ding were also changed by the palace maids. At this moment of parting from life and death, he took the prince's hand and wanted to say two words, but there was a burst of grief, and he was so choked that he couldn't say a word, only tears.

He was about to instruct the eunuchs to escort his three sons out of the palace, when a palace goddess of Kunning Palace walked into the side hall in a panic, knelt in front of him and said: "Emperor, the queen ordered the slave maid to come to start Your Majesty, she has committed suicide by hanging herself from the beam in accordance with the order, and she was martyred!" ”

Chongzhen couldn't help but hide his face and cry bitterly. The three sons who stood in front of him wept so loudly that no one could lift their heads.

Chongzhen didn't dare to delay much time, he quickly stopped crying, and instructed the eunuch in charge of Zhongcui Palace to quickly send the crown prince and King Ding to the mansion of their maternal grandfather Zhou Kui, Marquis of Jiading, and ordered a reliable eunuch to send King Yong to the palace of Emperor Tian, and ordered the two royal princes to find a place to hide his three sons temporarily, and then flee south out of the city.

After instructing the eunuchs, Chongzhen pinned his hopes for the restoration of the country on the prince, and he said to the prince: "Son, your father has been in charge of the world for 17 years, respecting the heavens and ancestors, diligent and loving the people, and has not lost his morality, and he is not the king of the country. All the ministers of the court and the central government misunderstood me and the country...... To the woe of today. Son! You are the crown prince, if you don't die, when you grow up, you will restore your ancestors and avenge your parents. A thousand words, just one sentence, my son! You're going to live! Stay alive! Restore the country! ......" He wept bitterly twice and ordered the eunuchs to take the crown prince and the two kings of Yong and Ding out of the palace as soon as possible.

Chongzhen no longer called the palace dependents who were waiting in the Qian Xuan Palace, he walked out of the side hall and turned around and walked towards the main hall.

Wang Chengen knew that he was going to take a look at the queen's corpse, so he hurriedly ran in front and told the palace ladies to stop crying and take over. Chongzhen entered the Xinuan Pavilion of Kunning Palace, looked at the corpse still hanging on the beam, he pushed the corpse with his sword scabbard, nodded lightly and said, "It's already dead, go first, okay, okay!" He immediately turned around and withdrew, walked out of the gate of Kunning Palace with one foot high and one foot low, and turned towards Shouning Palace. Some of the eunuchs and palace maids followed closely behind him, and some people exclaimed in their hearts:

"Oh my God, I'm going to force the princess to kill herself!"

Princess Zhu Yujiao of Kunxing is the eldest daughter of Chongzhen, because there is a catastrophe in the fortune telling, so she has been raised outside the palace for a long time, but Chongzhen has always loved her, even if she cut off one of her arms in anger, but she immediately regretted it afterwards. Since then, he has not seen his daughter because of guilt, but now he wants to see if his beloved daughter has committed suicide and her body hangs on the beam......

Chongzhen's heart suddenly ached, his whole body trembled, and even his legs became weak. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't, and cried out in his heart:

"Oh my God, the country will be destroyed...... There is such a tragedy in the world! ”