Late at night, although Yang Lin's troops had already stopped bombarding and the capital had returned to calm, however, the air was still filled with a faint smell of gunsmoke, which made people feel nervous everywhere, and the depression made people almost suffocate and breathless. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Groups of patrol soldiers wandered between the streets and alleys, carrying lanterns of dim light, cheering up the spirits, paying attention to the movements around them, their eyes were as open as copper bells, and their eyes flashed with a deep light, and they did not dare to slack off in the slightest step by step.

At this moment, whether it is the nine gates of the inner city or the five gates of the outer city, they are all brightly lit, the soldiers are waiting for the battle, the torches are crackling and burning, in the dark night, the body of the red-clothed cannon is glowing with a faint light, the basket on the side is full of shells, and the artillery is waiting for each other, ready at any time, and the torches are always in their hands.

The outer city is located in the south of the inner city, the north is connected with the Xuanwu Gate, Zhengyang Gate and Chongwen Gate of the inner city, and extends dozens of miles to the south, which is the Yongding Gate of the south gate of the outer city, and the left and right are Zuo'anmen and You'anmen respectively.

The fierce battle during the day made the outer city full of light and shadow, the figures flickered, there was hardly a vacant area, the cries of the wounded came one after another, and they continued to wail, and a group of Qing soldiers wearing armor passed quickly, and there was a loud friction sound between the armor clothes, and they walked quickly with birds on their backs, neatly lined up, and their expressions were solemn.

A large number of Qing troops were stationed in the outer city, mixed with the people, and the outer city was very chaotic at the moment, not only with the wounded and sick***** but also the riots caused by the Qing soldiers breaking into the people's homes.

Fires were dotted all over the outer city, and the soldiers sat around the fires, yawning or sleeping next to each other. In his sleep, there was a hint of uneasiness between his eyebrows.

In the Forbidden City, in the Palace of Nourishing the Heart, He Shen and Fukangan knelt there, dressed in plain clothes and wrapped in a white cloth on their heads, in the quiet and uninhabited palace, the two talked quietly.

"Hezhongtang, something is wrong, we've been keeping vigil here for two days, why hasn't there been any movement? In the past two days, I saw the palace maids, eunuchs and guards of the Palace of Cultivating the Heart wearing filial piety clothes, and the guards outside were still as usual, wearing armor and majestic, guarding the gate of the Palace of Raising the Heart. ”

He Shen still knelt there, looked straight at Qianlong's coffin, and said calmly: "There is nothing wrong, if it is not like this, it is not normal, the current situation of the imperial court is surrounded by layers of anti-thieves, if the news of the death of the Emperor Taishang is publicized, it will definitely affect the stability of the capital, in order not to let those thieves outside the city know, with the assistance of Wang Jie and others, it is not difficult to understand that the emperor will have such an arrangement, temporarily suppressing the news of the death of the emperor, secret." ”

Speaking of this, He Shen paused for a moment, and then continued: "Today's burst of artillery in the south, if you are not mistaken, it must be those anti-thieves who have started to act and are attacking the outer city. ”

Although he had such an idea for a long time, hearing He Shen say this and say it so surely, Fukangan still moved in his heart, as if he thought of something, and asked hurriedly: "He Zhongtang, according to the current situation, the emperor wants to move us, and Zhongtang, what should we do next?" Is it just left to the slaughter? ”

"What else can I do, I can only leave it to fate." He Shen responded lightly, no longer speaking, still like this, kneeling there quietly, but secretly said in his heart: "He Lin, I hope your plan can be implemented smoothly..."

At this moment, there was a slight sound of footsteps outside the Heart Cultivation Palace, and then two little eunuchs walked in, tiptoeing, very cautious and cautious, looking sneaky, and slowly approached He Shen.

Of course, the two of them noticed the movement, and Fu Kangan, who was a military general, was the first to react, and turned around to ask, only to see one of the little eunuchs make a silent movement, and at the same time whispered: "Lord Fu, don't get me wrong, the two of us were entrusted by He Lin and Lord to take the two adults out of the Heart Cultivation Palace." ”

However, Fukangan didn't believe it, and when he was about to continue to ask, when he heard the words of the little eunuch, He Shen had already turned around, kept a kneeling posture, and said first: "Xiao Wang, it's you." ”

At the same time, He Shen waved his hand at Fu Kangan, stopped what the other party was about to say, and said in a low voice: "Lord Fu, don't worry, this is my own person, and the little eunuch I planted in the Heart Cultivation Palace." ”

Fu Kangan opened his mouth, and did not continue to ask, at this time, the two little eunuchs had already come to the front, both of them were holding eunuch suits in their hands, and the little eunuch led by him quickly and softly said: "He Zhongtang, Master Fu, you should quickly change these two sets of clothes, so that you can not be discovered, take advantage of the night and the guards to relax their vigilance, and leave the Heart Cultivation Palace." ”

In Fukangan's surprised expression, not understanding what the situation was, He Shen slowly stood up and said solemnly: "Master Fu, hurry up and change your clothes, if you continue to stay in the Heart Cultivation Palace, it will not be far from our death, hurry up." ”

Although he still didn't know what was going on, but when he heard He Shen's last urging words, Fukangan immediately stood up, and while taking the eunuch suit, he hurriedly responded: "Okay, and Zhongtang, I'll change it." ”

At this moment, the little eunuch on the side helped the two of them change their clothes and continued: "Two adults, you wait for a while, first go to the small tree by the west wall of the Yangxin Palace, and the little one will throw the rope ladder from the other side for a while, and then take the two adults over the wall, and then hide in the inaccessible place of the palace." ”

He Shen changed his clothes coldly, but nodded secretly in his heart, understanding the arrangement of the little eunuch, how to let himself and Fukangan escape from the Heart Cultivation Hall and get out of danger.

Layers of Praetorian Guards, high-walled compounds, which all hindered the footsteps of the two, making people prohibitive, there is no possibility of escaping from the palace at all, if you want to stay away from the persecution of Jiaqing, the only choice is to get out of the palace first, the palace of 999 houses, there is always a place for two people to hide.

Although he didn't confess to his younger brother and didn't know the specific details of his cooperation with Yang Lin, He Shen knew that as long as he lived and hid in a hidden place in the palace, he would have the possibility of escaping and ascending to heaven.

The moon was dark and the wind was high, and the west wall of the Heart Cultivation Hall was pitch black, and He Shen and Fukangan hid here, waiting for the rope ladder of the little eunuch to run from the opposite side.

Soon, a rope ladder fell from the tall city wall, just in front of the two of them, a slight sound, He Shen and Fu Kangan immediately found the rope ladder, at this moment, Fu Kangan has roughly understood He Shen's plan to temporarily get out of the dangerous place.

Fu Kangan dragged the rope ladder to check the safety, and at this time, an intermittent whisper came from the opposite side of the city wall: "He Zhongtang, Lord Fu, hurry up, in a while, the patrolling guards will come." ”

Feeling that the rope ladder was very firm, Fu Kangan ignored the reminder of the little eunuch opposite, and then said softly: "He Zhongtang, you invite first, I am in charge of the back of the palace." ”

He Shen was by no means an indecisive person, without any delay, he climbed straight up the rope ladder, silently, and made no noise as much as possible.

Looking at He Shen, who climbed up, did not move slowly, and when the two were one meter apart, Fukangan immediately followed neatly, grasping the edge of the rope ladder with both hands, and gently stepped on the rope.

At this time, the Dongzhi Gate of the inner city of the Beijing Division, the soldiers of the city gate tower walked back and forth, and they would change shifts every two hours, compared to the turmoil and tension in the outer city, the Dongzhi Gate was much quieter here.

Directly above the Dongzhi Gate, out of the city gate tower, a torch suddenly appeared in the dark night, a figure immediately appeared, the black shadow held the torch, began to make various movements, as if it was hinting at something, for this strange scene in front of him, the patrol soldiers as if they did not see it, Mu Ne carried out the patrol task.

Soon, dozens of meters away from Dongzhi Gate, the black shadow swayed, the figure flickered, and quickly approached Dongzhi Gate, the movement was light and neat, without the slightest drag.

Immediately afterwards, the figure of the figure became clear and entered the line of sight of the patrolling Qing army, however, the city defense battalion was still like this, as if it was not noticed, and the black shadow that was advancing in broken steps made various gestures.

These figures are like dense ants, getting closer and closer to the Dongzhi Gate, just ten meters away from the gate, only to see the two gates slowly open, making a squeaky dull sound, the black shadow led by no hesitation, but the speed sped up a few points, flashed straight into the gate, and the others followed, rushing in.

At the same time, the same scene was happening in Andingmen in the inner city, a large number of soldiers secretly poured into Andingmen, everything happened quietly, except for the city defense camp on the city wall, no one noticed.

Da Da...

Suddenly, in the northeast area of the inner city, bursts of gunfire rang out, becoming more and more intense, constantly spreading to the southwest, getting closer and closer to the imperial city.

The sparks of machine guns are scattered in the northeast area of the inner city, like stars, and the stars in the sky are intertwined.

Followed by the sound of chickens and dogs in the city, barking constantly, and bursts of gunfire broke the silence of the night, and for a while, under the invisible night, Zhuge Mou, Chao Sheng and Huo Xiong's three-way army acted at the same time, decisively approaching the inner city, Zhuge Mou and Huo Xiong's respective armies attacked the inner city from Dongzhimen and Andingmen.

Boom Boom!

At this time, the army led by Yang Lin in the outer city also launched a brazen attack, with bursts of artillery and gunfire, and for a while, in the three directions of the outer city, the five city gates, the flames were soaring, and the bullets were flying indiscriminately.

At this moment, although it was late at night, most areas of the capital were in darkness, no one dared to sleep anymore, all of them were nervous, panicked to stay at home, only the soldiers were in action, hurriedly rushing to the direction of the gunshots.

In the northeast area of the inner city, on the dark streets, the sound of mixed footsteps and a loud shout echoed: "Hurry, hurry, the first division is moving towards Chaoyangmen, and answering Zhuge Staff Officers to enter the city."

"The second division continues to advance and surround the imperial city."

"The third division moved south, joined up with Commander Huo's troops, attacked the outer city with the marshal on both sides, and at the same time responded to Commander Chao's troops and broke through Xizhimen and Fuchengmen."

"The fourth, fifth, and sixth divisions are responsible for cooperating, controlling the occupied areas, keeping an eye on those treasury yamen, preventing the guerrillas from taking advantage of the chaos to rob the treasury silver and grain, as well as the safety of shops and inns, so as to avoid harming the common people as much as possible."

......

The capital has been in chaos, there is a noise everywhere, panic, the inner city has also begun to appear Qing army robbery of the people, the deafening sound of guns, has long made the Qing army in the inner city chaos, robbing the people at the same time, but also looking for a place to hide, hoping to avoid danger, until dawn, and then disarm and surrender.

At this time, even the most stupid people know that the general trend of the imperial court has gone, and there is no room for maneuver, whether it is a large or small official, or a small soldier, they are all panicked like lost dogs, they have long given up resistance and have hidden, only the four gates of the imperial city are closed, and the Praetorian Guards are waiting for the last struggle.

The crossbow is opened, the crossbow arrows are tight, the red-coated cannon is loaded with shells, and the artillerymen are holding torches, as long as they find a thief or a figure that can be seen, they may ignite the fuse at any time and carry out shelling.

Boom Boom!

The four gates of the imperial city began to sound cannons one after another, and the cannonballs fell not far away, and in an instant, the soldiers under Yang Lin were killed and wounded, not only that, but also the cannonballs fell on the houses, causing screams, and the houses began to be damaged, sparks splashed everywhere, and there was a faint worry that the fire was brewing.

Bang bang bang!

The Praetorian Guard began to pull the bird gun in his hand to block the approach of the anti-thief, the firepower was very fierce, and the combination of far and near firepower blocked the offensive of the anti-thief very well, and temporarily stabilized the situation under the imperial city.

However, everyone knows that most of the reason for stabilizing the situation now is due to the darkness of the night, and the thieves still can't figure out the situation, once the dawn comes, with the strength of the Praetorian Guard, they can't hold the imperial city at all, let alone the Forbidden City.

The fierceness of the battle and the stalemate between each other made the Praetorian Guards forget about these for the time being, and all their energy was focused on sniping the anti-thief operation.

The flames of war ignited and quickly spread throughout the city, with the imperial city as the center, burning all around, all over the inner and outer cities, everywhere there were exclamations and screams, as well as fearful words begging for mercy.

Obviously, the people of the whole capital knew the policy of Yang Lin's army, and the war would not affect the civilians, as long as they stayed at home honestly, the rebel army would never come to the door, burn, kill and plunder.

Perhaps, most people do not believe in this policy, however, the threat of death, the smoke of gunpowder and the stimulation of blood, so that they can only give it a go, choose to believe in the rebel army, and the people hide at home, which is a good proof that they did not flee the capital in a panic and took advantage of the chaos in the whole city.

Time passed minute by minute, starting from the north of the capital, the gunfire gradually weakened, the noise was still one after another, even straight up, and the guns in the outer city did not have any convergence, the Qing army and Yang Lin's army were still fighting, the casualties were still increasing, with the advantage of geographical advantages, Yang Lin's army suffered a lot of losses.