The rebel soldiers still have half of their fighting spirit, Zhu Chenhao is nowhere to be found, Liu Yangzheng's body is gone, Wang Lun threw himself into the city and died, and no one can take the role of leader.

A quarter of an hour after the northern city was broken, in the face of the fierce attack of artillery fire on the river, the rebel soldiers at the southern city gate held high the white flag and opened the city gate to surrender, Song Nan led 18,000 soldiers and horses to abandon the ship and landed, and the wind swept into the city, and Xu Tai advanced in the south and north directions, and the sporadic resistance of the rebel diehards was only a dying struggle; After the soldiers and horses accompanied by the east gate Ma Ming finally broke through the east gate and entered the city, the rebels in Anqing Mansion completely gave up resistance, and at the end of noon, Anqing Mansion fell into the hands of Song Nan.

When the generals and soldiers were busy cleaning up the stubborn enemies in the city, taking prisoners and chasing down the fleeing rebel generals, Song Nan was leading people to find Zhu Chenhao's figure, and after the city was broken, he didn't see where Zhu Chenhao was, and he would never escape in the flooded Anqing Mansion.

Soon, there were surrendered rebel soldiers informed Zhu Chenhao's whereabouts, it turned out that he went to the Huiming Temple in the east of the city, the soldiers in the temple and Taoist temples and other places were unwilling to disturb, this year the belief in Buddhism is the trend, ordinary soldiers also know not to disturb the people outside the party to desecrate the pure place, I am afraid that because of this, Zhu Chenhao's traces have not been found.

Song Nan immediately got on the horse, and ran to Huiming Temple with Xu Tai, Jiang Bin, Wang Yong, Li Daniu and others who were gathered together, and arrived at the left side of Huiming Temple. Song Nan stepped forward and knocked on the temple door, and soon an elderly monk opened the temple door in an uproar, and the monk was very panicked when he saw the formation of heavily armed soldiers and horses.

Song Nan smiled and said: "Master don't be afraid, I came here to capture the head of the rebellion, Zhu Chenhao, there is news that he is hiding in Huiming Temple, tell me, where is he hiding?" Tell him to come out and surrender, lest the soldiers and horses trample down the pure land of the temple. ”

The old monk hurriedly said: "Amitabha, the donor's surname is Song?" ”

Song Nan smiled and said, "Exactly, how does the master know?" ”

The old monk said: "How can the old man know, it's just that Zhu Shizhu left a message and asked the old monk to greet him in front of the temple, and Zhu Shizhu had expected that Song Shizhu was coming." ”

Song Nan glanced at the people around him, turned around and said, "Then where is Master Zhu now?" ”

The old monk said: "In the meditation room in the backyard." Donor, please come with the old man. ”

Song Nan bowed his hand and followed the old monk to the temple, and a large number of guards and generals followed him to the inside, the old monk turned around and frowned: "Master Song, can you let your family stay outside the temple and wait, the pure place of Buddhism, your envoy with a murderous sword, it is inevitably a little inappropriate." ”

Jiang Bin glared and shouted angrily: "Old bald donkey, do you want to die? Your temple harbors the traitor leader Zhu Chenhao, and there are a lot of fucking tricks. Believe it or not, Lao Tzu ordered someone to set fire to your broken temple? ”

The old monk was startled, and said in a continuous voice: "Amitabha, good and good, sinful and sinful. ”

Song Nan hurriedly stopped Jiang Bin's scolding and said, "You all stay outside and wait, the land of Buddhism is supposed to be more restrained." Wang Yong and Da Niu went in with me, rest assured, Zhu Chenhao couldn't play any tricks. ”

Jiang Bin, Xu Tai and others had no choice but to sit cross-legged on the bluestone at the door to rest, the old monk showed gratitude, shouted kindness to Song Nan, led the way in front of his head, and led Song Nan and the three of them around the hall to the backyard; Huiming Temple is not big, the temple in the city covers a limited area, and it only takes a moment to reach the place where the Zen house in the backyard is located.

The old monk stood still in front of a small courtyard, clasped his palms together and said: "Donor, Zhu Shizhu is here, please donor yourself, it is inconvenient for the old man to accompany him." ”

Song Nan smiled and saluted: "Thank you, master, all the masters of your temple, please don't go out, stay in the temple, it's very chaotic outside, so as not to be hurt." ”

The old monk hurriedly nodded in agreement, but he understood in his heart that this was Song Nan warning them not to think about escaping, Zhu Chenhao was hiding in this temple, and the temple would be implicated, and he was afraid that someone would come to inquire about the secret in the near future.

The old monk slowly retreated, Song Nan looked at the courtyard door in front of him, stretched out his hand to push, the courtyard door creaked open, Song Nan raised his feet and entered, Wang Yong hurriedly grabbed Song Nan and said: "Humble duty first." ”

Song Nan smiled bitterly and shook his head, Wang Yong was worried that there was something strange here, but Song Nan knew very well in his heart, Zhu Chenhao was absolutely impossible to play any tricks at this time, and he was probably not hiding in this temple for the purpose of escaping, this small temple in the city could not hide people, I am afraid that there was another reason.

Wang Yong entered the courtyard in front of his head, Song Nan then walked in, the small courtyard of the meditation room was empty, but the meditation room opposite was full of smoke, and the low chanting and the sound of wooden fish knocking could be heard, the sun outside was too bright, looking at a black hole in the door of the meditation room, and he couldn't see the situation inside.

Wang Yong pressed the handle of the knife and rushed up the steps quickly, standing under the corridor to avoid the sun and squinting carefully, only then did he see the situation in the meditation room clearly, a black cloth curtain was pulled, and there were two spiritual cards on the offering table in front of the curtain, and the table full of tribute fruits was obviously a mourning hall. There are two monks sitting on both sides of the offering table, one chanting sutras and the other tapping the wooden fish, in the brazier under the offering table, a few pieces of yellow paper are burned red, and one person kneels on the futon next to the brazier, with his back to the door, and does not move.

Song Nan, who stepped forward, also saw the situation inside, and saw the words on the spirit card clearly, which was the spiritual seat of Zhu Chenhao's mother and concubine, after the coffin was returned, Zhu Chenhao placed them in the meditation room of this Huiming Temple to pay respects, and the time was too hasty, and he didn't even have time to bury them.

Looking at the back on the futon, Song Nan immediately recognized that it was Zhu Chenhao.

Wang Yong was about to ask, but Song Nan grabbed him, signaled him to silence, and then stepped into the door in full clothes, came to the offering table, took incense from it and lit it, bowed with the incense, and respectfully inserted it into the incense burner. He took a stack of yellow paper from the bamboo basket on the side, threw it into the brazier, and used iron tongs to stir it up, and burned it cleanly.

From beginning to end, Zhu Chenhao knelt on the futon with an indifferent expression, silently watching Song Nan do this qiē, and when the paper money in the basin was burned clean, when Song Nan got up, Zhu Chenhao said softly: "Thank you Zhenguo Gong for worshiping my mother and concubine, you are the only one who worships them." ”

Song Nan got up, cleaned his hands in the clear water basin on the side, and slowly turned his head and said, "The prince's day is mourning." ”

Zhu Chenhao got up, pointed to the two stools on the side, and when Song Nan sat down, he also sat down, and said in silence for a moment: "I didn't expect that you and I would meet again This is the scene, I really never dreamed of it." ”

Song Nan nodded and said: "Yes, life is like a dream, both illusory and full of variables, who would have thought what the future would be?" ”

Zhu Chenhao sighed slightly: "You are the nemesis of my Zhu Chenhao's life, if you are not in the dynasty, my big event will be done, but unfortunately, you are not from my side, Chenhao is convinced." ”

Song Nan groaned and didn't answer.

Zhu Chenhao said: "Sue me, I was interested in befriending you at the beginning, why did you always stay away, did you know from the beginning that my big thing would not succeed?" ”

Song Nan shook his head and said, "I'm not a god, so I don't know how things will develop." In fact, my initial impression of the prince was very good, but I was a bit of a stinky person, and I couldn't see people pretending to be hypocritical, and when I saw this clearly, I couldn't get close to the prince. ”

"Am I pretending? I'm deliberately close to you, why is it hypocritical? ”

Song Nan said softly: "What is fake is fake, no matter how you hide it, it is always difficult to hide the pride and domineering in your words, that is what you really think in your heart." I'm a sensitive person who sees the falsehood in your bones. In addition, I later learned about your methods of wooing other officials, and after knowing that your city government was difficult, I was even more reluctant to have a deep friendship with you. I'm most afraid of dealing with scheming people. ”

Zhu Chenhao gritted his teeth and said: "You sue me, if I, Zhu Chenhao, become the lord of the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't I be more able to make the Ming Dynasty prosperous than the mediocre and mediocre man in the palace that you loyally protected?" What did the man do? Over the years, in addition to the lustful dogs and horses, what has he accomplished? The ancestors are in his hands, why should such a person protect him? ”

Song Nan looked at Zhu Chenhao's excited face and said quietly: "I don't deny that some things in the emperor today are indeed excessive, nor do I deny that your Zhu Chenhao's talent is higher than the emperor, if you talk about governing the country, maybe you Zhu Chenhao is much better than the emperor." But there is one thing that you are not as good as him, and this is the reason why others are willing to be loyal to the emperor rather than serve you. ”

Zhu Chenhao shouted, "What is it? Where am I not as good as him? ”

Song Nan said quietly: "He is very real, and he is even a little weak; And you, hypocritical and tyrannical and overcalculating, are the fundamental difference between you. ”