Liu Zongmin made a big fuss in Xi'an City, and after killing people and setting fires, he took advantage of the fact that the officials and soldiers had not yet reacted, and actually cut off the city from the east gate and left. Their horses were hidden in the villages not far from the city, and they galloped and disappeared into the night.

When Zhu Youzhen led everyone to the east city gate, because all the soldiers guarding the city were killed by thieves, a large number of officers and soldiers had not yet arrived, and the place was still in chaos. Zhu Youzhen saw that the city gate had not yet been closed, and shouted urgently: "Get out of the city!" ”

Previously, they had already prepared the carriage and horses, and the female dependents who did not know martial arts were all crowded into a carriage, and the rest got on their horses to protect the carriage and rushed out of the city.

After leaving the city, they did not pursue the thieves, but turned north. In fact, Zhu Youzhen didn't think about chasing Liu Zongmin at all, what he was worried about was the safety of Qinwangzhuang and Jingyang County!

He knew very well that since Liu Zongmin had appeared, Li Zicheng's brigade must be nearby. With his current strength, it is of course impossible to attack Xi'an City, but it is entirely possible to attack the counties around Xi'an.

The city walls of Jingyang County and Qinwangzhuang are only half built, and it is obviously unrealistic to expect such a half-finished product to prevent the army of thieves. More importantly, Jingyang County had no official army before, and now although the militia has just been reorganized into Qin soldiers, the number of troops is less than 1,000, and they are stationed in Qinwangzhuang and Jingyang County. Once Li Zicheng attacks in a big way, the battle situation will definitely be extremely dangerous.

It took Zhu Youzhen to gain a firm foothold in Jingyang County, and now that he has just improved a little, how can he tolerate thieves to sabotage? That's why he rushed back in a hurry, and tried his best to deploy the enemy's defense plan as quickly as possible.

They turned from the east of Xi'an to the north of the city, and soon got on the West Qin Highway, and soon saw the magnificent city wall of Qinwangzhuang from a distance. Seeing that everything was normal in the city, Zhu Youzhen was a little calm, so he slowed down and waited for the carriage behind to follow.

Yang Sichang has been galloping beside Zhu Youzhen, and finally got free at this time. Seeing that the people behind him were still far away, he arched his hand on the horse and said solemnly: "Weichen Yang Sichang, see His Royal Highness King Qin!" ”

Zhu Youzhen was taken aback, and wanted to deny it, but he didn't know how to justify himself, so he opened his mouth for a while, and was extremely embarrassed.

Yang Sichang hurriedly smiled and said: "Your Highness, don't worry, Weichen has long admired His Highness's fame, and the main purpose of coming to Shaanxi this time is to visit His Highness, and I don't want to meet tonight." Your Highness must have a hard time acting like this, and you can rest assured that Wechen will never leak it to others. ”

Zhu Youzhen also knew at this time that it would be boring to deny it again, so he had to laugh and said: "This king and Mr. have never known each other in their lives, and this time they are going to the meeting with ease, how did Mr. see through it?" ”

Yang Sichang smiled slightly: "Weichen doesn't know. But when everyone got out of the restaurant, wasn't His Highness trapped under the ruins? At that time, there was a woman in the crowd who exclaimed, 'Lord Wang', and Weichen knew your identity. Imagine that although there are many clans in Shaanxi with the name of king, but in the face of murderers, who can have such courage to give up His Royal Highness the King of Qin, who was born and died at the border pass! ”

Zhu Youzhen had to have a few perfunctory words with Yang Sichang, but his mind immediately began to think nervously. He thought that this Yang Sichang was the son of Yang He, the governor of the three sides, and he was also an official of the imperial court, and his identity was a vassal king, so it stands to reason that he should not take the initiative to contact him. But he risked his life and followed him all the way from Xi'an City, I don't know what his intentions were?

Moreover, after returning to Qinwangzhuang, he had to make a series of military deployments immediately. If it is discovered by Yang Sichang, with his eyesight, I am afraid that he will immediately come to the conclusion that "King Qin is secretly accumulating troops". This matter is too important, who can guarantee that Yang Sichang will not file a complaint with the imperial court?

Yang Sichang had already seen his hesitation, and said sincerely: "When Weichen was in Nanjing, he listened to the king of Nanjing's official department Shangshu tell the story of the battle in Liaodong. Every time His Royal Highness was mentioned, Lord Wang was full of praise, saying that the Ming Dynasty could destroy the captives, but His Royal Highness was only one person. Therefore, Weichen came thousands of miles to visit and wanted to ask His Highness for advice on the strategy of Pingliao.

"Now that the thieves have fled to Xi'an Mansion, His Royal Highness's palace is not in the city, and strict defense is the first priority. Wei Chen is a scholar, and he can't help much, but he will never cause trouble to His Royal Highness. If His Royal Highness can prepare a hut for Wechen and let Wechen drink tea and read in it, Wechen will be grateful. After the thieves retreat, it is not too late to listen to His Highness's teachings in detail. ”

Zhu You listened, and then he relaxed a little. Yang Sichang's words have two meanings, one is to explain why he came, and the other is to make it clear that he will not keep an eye on him, let alone have the intention of snooping on secrets. Even so, it would not be a big deal for him to stay in Qinwangzhuang for a few days. It just so happens that Zhu Youzhen also admires Yang Sichang, and he can take this opportunity to increase his understanding and see if he can become his right-hand man.

Thinking about it, Zhu Youzhen smiled and said: "Mr. is a celebrity today, and this king is trying to make friends." If Mr. Meng does not give up, please stay in Qinwangzhuang for a while. It's just that this king has a lot of mundane affairs, and if he doesn't entertain well, I hope that Mr. will forgive me. ”

As he spoke, the guards and carriages behind him also caught up. At the same time, the Qin soldiers on duty on the city wall also discovered everyone. After verifying their identities, the defenders hurriedly opened the gates and lowered the crowd into the city. At this point, Zhu Youzhen felt completely safe, and couldn't help but let out a long breath.

After returning to the city, he first sent Bao Yulian and other female dependents back to the palace, and placed Zhu Cunqi and Chen Yuanyuan in the palace together, so that the princess Rui'er greeted him and sent guards to protect him closely. also arranged a small courtyard for Yang Sichang and ordered people to entertain him.

After arranging these things, he immediately came to the council hall and urgently convened his core team to study how to deal with Li Zicheng, who didn't know where he was. Qi Meifeng and Li Dingguo were originally in Qinwangzhuang, and after a while, Sun Chuanting also hurried to Jingyang County with Xie Yong, Li Laiheng and other generals.

When Zhu Youzhen saw that everyone was about to arrive, he briefly told them about the previous situation, and finally said: "Li Zicheng's large group of thieves must be nearby, how to deal with it, everyone will talk about their opinions!" ”

Sun Chuanting was the first to speak: "The lower officials think that at the moment I am in the open and the enemy is in the dark, and the top priority is to find out the location and movement of the main force of the thieves. If the enemy situation cannot be detected, it is only advisable to hold on and inform the garrison in Xi'an to assist in the defense. ”

Everyone listened to Sun Chuanting's reasonableness and echoed it. Zhu Youzhen was about to adopt his opinion, when someone suddenly came to report: "Commander Lin is back!" ”

Before the words fell, Lin Youkun, who had not been seen for many days, rushed in like a whirlwind, and hurriedly said: "Your Highness, the last general has just discovered: a large number of thieves have infiltrated Fuping County in the northeast of Jingyang, and there seem to be signs of movement towards Jingyang!" The thief is huge, please enter the city of Xi'an quickly and take refuge! ”