Sun Chengzong's sudden appearance was unexpected by everyone.

Guan Ning took the opportunity to break free from Zhu Youzhen, and said stupidly: "Inspector Sun, didn't you rush to Jizhou to inspect, why did you turn back again?" ”

"There is such a big thing in Tongzhou, and several people are about to merge, how can the old man still have the heart to inspect!" Sun Chengzong said with a wry smile.

It turned out that although he was concerned about the front-line battle situation, he only stayed in Tongzhou for a moment yesterday, and then chased Liang Yonglie's forward troops to Jizhou. However, he was not at ease with Guan Ning, the prison army, for fear that he would command indiscriminately and cause some trouble, so he also left henchmen in the city to monitor the movements of people from all walks of life.

In the afternoon of today, Sun Chengzong had almost arrived in Jizhou, and was fighting in a small village, when his henchmen suddenly rushed over and reported to him in detail that Guan Ning did not allow the former army to enter the city. Sun Chengzong knew that something was going to happen, so he hurried back.

But he was still a step slower, and when he arrived at the city of Tongzhou, Zhu Youzhen had already led the front army into the city.

Sun Chengzong was so anxious that even cold sweat broke out, thinking that this was in the land of Gyeonggi, if there was a mutiny, which would lead to the collapse of King Qin's soldiers, he would not be able to cut off a few of his heads.

He hurriedly drove his horse into the city, and while pacifying the former sergeants along the way, he inquired about the whereabouts of Guan Ning and Zhu Youzhen.

Fortunately, the former sergeant was put into the city by Zhu Youzhen, although the food and lodging have not yet been settled, it is better than being frozen in the ice and snow outside the city, so the mood has stabilized a lot, but there has not been too much chaos.

Sun Chengzong was a little settled in his heart, and finally found Zhu Youzhen and Guan Ning in the Menghong Mansion. As soon as he entered the hall, seeing this scene, he hurriedly stepped forward to separate the two and said, "Your Highness, Father-in-law!" The two of you are in high positions, and the whole army is watching you! It seems to be pulling and pulling, what kind of system! If you have something to say, speak slowly! ”

Zhu Youzhen originally grabbed Guan Ning but didn't dare to beat him, he was riding a tiger and it was difficult to ride, Sun Chengzong came, he happened to have a step, he immediately let go, and said angrily: "If it weren't for the face of the superintendent, this king would have beaten you so much that you don't even know your mother!" ”

Sun Chengzong saw that Zhu Youzhen's words and demeanor were vulgar, and he was very disapproving, and hurriedly asked the reason for the dispute between the two.

Zhu Youzhen and Guan Ning were busy fighting to complain to Sun Chengzong, one saying that the other party deliberately discriminated against the former army and deliberately harmed others; One said that the former army did not obey the general's orders and plotted against him.

Sun Chengzong listened patiently and understood a general idea.

He knew very well in his heart that this Guan Ning was Wei Zhongxian's henchman, and this time he was appointed as the superintendent, basically to make trouble for himself.

As a member of the Donglin Party, he was deeply suspicious of Wei Zhongxian. This time, Wei Zhongxian persecuted the Donglin Party members on a large scale, and only because he was the enlightenment teacher of the Apocalypse was spared great disaster. On the one hand, he was worried about the crisis in eastern Liaodong, and on the other hand, he also had the idea of staying away from Beijing to avoid trouble.

This incident made it clear that Guan Ning was unfair and deliberately rectified the former army, but in fact, it was Zuo Guangxian, the chief general of the former army, because Zuo Guangxian's elder brother Zuo Guangdou was a member of the Donglin Party.

Although Sun Chengzong was extremely angry at this kind of selfish interest and regarded major military affairs as child's play, he was unwilling to tear his face with Guan Ning. Because in the final analysis, Guan Ning is a prison army, and he is theoretically above himself. And offending him is tantamount to offending Wei Zhongxian, at this juncture, Sun Chengzong doesn't want to stimulate the eunuchs anymore.

Moreover, he also had a lot of opinions on Zhu Youzhen's method of breaking into the city. If this really causes a fire, the consequences are unimaginable!

Thinking of this, Sun Chengzong smiled slightly and said: "Your Highness, Father-in-law, in fact, the two of you are both thinking about my Ming soldiers, but the starting point is different. There are some inappropriate considerations for the overall situation, but it is by no means deliberately difficult for the former soldiers, right, the father-in-law? ”

Guan Ning nodded again and again and said, "Master Inspector is discerning, our family admires!" ”

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen's face changed in anger, Sun Chengzong said unhurriedly: "But it is rare for His Highness to be able to think about what the soldiers think, and to be anxious about the soldiers' urgency, but he is a little reckless." Now that the former army has entered the city, instead of arguing here about who is right and who is wrong, it is better to seize the time to arrange the food and lodging of the army, what do you think? ”

Zhu Youzhen saw that Sun Chengzong had a friendly attitude, so he didn't want to say anything more, so he only muttered in a low voice: "This king is also very busy, as long as the former soldiers have food and lodging, who has time to take care of this dead eunuch!" ”

Guan Ning rolled his eyes angrily and said, "Inspector Sun, look, the prince is also too deceitful!" ”

Sun Chengzong had no choice but to persuade: "Okay, Your Highness, this Qinglou is a place where dirt is hidden, how can you stay here for a long time?" Come and come, and although the old man goes to the mansion to rest, let the old man take care of the affairs of the former army! ”

Zhu Youzhen knew that Sun Chengzong was the teacher of the Apocalypse, and Wei Zhongxian didn't dare to do anything to him, of course, he had to give him a face, so he immediately smiled and said: "With the master of the superintendent presiding, this king is naturally relieved." ”

Sun Chengzong finally coaxed Zhu Youzhen out of the Dream Red Mansion, and tonight's farce will be over.

When everyone came to the outside of the building, Zuo Guangxian, Wang Wenbin and others saluted Zhu Youzhen: "Thank you, Your Highness, for mediating for the former army soldiers!" The last general and others will return to the army to arrange various matters, and I would like to send it to His Highness! ”

Zhu Youzhen said goodbye to Zuo Guangxian while thinking about today's experience, and couldn't help but cast a shadow on his heart. Seeing that the country was about to die, Wei Zhongxian still used the army as a pawn in the party struggle, and did not care about the victory or defeat of the war at all! If this continues, this trip to Shanhaiguan may end miserably!

As soon as she turned the corner, Qi Meifeng's heart suddenly had an alarm, and she shouted at a dark corner: "What person! ”

Before Zhu Youzhen could react, a cold light shot out at him.

Qi Meifeng's eyes were fast, and she swung her sword and slashed away, only to hear the sound of "Zheng", and the thing was shot down to the ground. When I looked at the corner again, I saw a black shadow flashing, and the person who came had disappeared without a trace.

"What are you doing in a daze, don't let me go hunt down the assassin!" Seeing that she didn't even see the shadow of the assassin, Qi Meifeng suddenly felt that her face couldn't hold it, and she loudly reprimanded the soldiers of the Qi family's army.

But the sergeants searched a few streets back and forth, door to door, but found nothing but panicked civilians.

"Don't check, you must have run away!" Zhu Youzhen wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, bent down to pick up the things that Qi Meifeng shot down, and suddenly let out a "huh".

Qi Meifeng took a closer look, and it turned out to be a shining silver bracelet, with a thin rope tied to the bracelet, and a small paper bag was worn on the string.

Zhu Youzhen opened the small paper bag, and the handwriting on the note inside was revealed, only the words "be careful all the way".

Qi Meifeng suddenly realized: "The person who came just now was not an assassin, but a reminder to His Highness to be careful. Therefore, he used a silver bracelet, and even if he hit His Highness, it would not cause harm. ”

Zhu Youzhen said suspiciously: "Be careful all the way? What to be careful of? ”

Qi Meifeng also shook her head and said, "Maybe it's to remind Your Highness to be careful of assassins?" Or is it on the battlefield and beware of the enemy? However, rest assured, Your Highness, the last general will be careful and will never let His Highness be harmed! ”

Zhu Youzhen thought that if he came, he would be safe, anyway, he had experienced strong winds and waves, so he had to take one step at a time.

After a short time, everyone rushed to the Tongzhou Mansion. At this time, the government has been changed to the temporary office of the superintendent, and a lieutenant officer has already received Sun Chengzong's order to welcome Zhu Youzhen and others into the palace and said: "The superintendent has made arrangements, His Royal Highness and his entourage are invited to the backyard to rest." But Qi Qianhu, your 500 sergeants, there is no place to place them in the office. There are still some houses around here, I think they can be requisitioned temporarily..."

Qi Meifeng has been in the office since she entered the office, and saw that although this place was equivalent to Sun Chengzong's Chinese army tent, the defense was loosely arranged, and she was very disapproving. At this time, when he heard the Chinese officer say this, he immediately shook his head and said, "My lord, there is no need. The order given by the Governor to the last general is to protect His Highness, how dare the last general and the soldiers leave His Highness half a step? We're resting in the backyard, and it doesn't matter if we don't have a house! ”

The lieutenant officer couldn't resist him, so he had to lead everyone to the backyard.

There are a total of five bedrooms in this backyard. Qi Meifeng immediately made arrangements, Zhu You checked the middle bedroom, the left one lived in the accompanying eunuchs, and the other three rooms were for the Qi family's army to take turns to rest.

She also arranged for people to take turns to be on duty at night, and ordered people to guard all the exits in the backyard and on the walls.

Zhu Youzhen saw that all the soldiers on duty at night were unsheathed with swords and bows and arrows on their backs, and couldn't help laughing: "Meifeng, this is the Inspector's Office, even if the assassin has the courage to come, why be so nervous!" ”

Qi Meifeng said: "Where the duties of the last general are, no matter where they are, they don't dare to relax a little." ”

"I see that everyone uses swords or bows and arrows, so why not use birds? Isn't that more powerful? Zhu Youzhen asked again.

Qi Meifeng explained: "This is not a battlefield, if there is really an assassin who wants to assassinate His Highness, he will never rush up with great fanfare, but will only choose some strong martial arts to suddenly attack." The bird gun needs to ignite the gunpowder to fire, and in this case it is simply too late, and it is not as good as ordinary swords and bows and arrows. ”

Zhu Youzhen sighed secretly in his heart, if only he brought a semi-automatic submachine gun when he crossed over! Even a revolver! At present, he has a flintlock pistol given to him by John Tang, which does not need to be ignited by a fire rope, which is already the most advanced in this era. But it still needs to be reloaded once with one shot, and it can't be fired in bursts.

If you have a gun that can fire continuously, what kind of martial arts masters, my brother won't take them seriously!

While he was thinking wildly, he went into the bedroom, and saw that there was only a large bed in the room, and nothing else.

Zhu Youzhen rode a horse for a day during the day, and rushed into Tongzhou City at night to argue with Guan Ning, and when he relaxed, he felt a sore back and bones like falling apart.

As soon as he fell headlong into the bed, he suddenly saw a familiar and beautiful figure reflected in the window lattice.

"Meifeng, is that you?"

"Your Highness, please rest in peace, the last general is here to protect Your Highness!" Qi Meifeng's voice floated in, sonorous and sweet, causing people to reverie.