Chapter 142: The Amorous Eunuch Ruthless Arrow
Seeing Fan Xian walk in with a calm face, the dejected Hong Zhu got up from the ground, knelt in front of him, lowered his head, and said nothing.
At this time, there was no one else around this room in the East Palace, only Fan Xian who was standing and Hong Zhu who was kneeling, and the ghostly light from the outside penetrated in, hitting the shadows of the two on the wall, which looked a little weird.
Fan Xian stared at Hong Zhu's distracted face, the hand hanging on his sleeve clenched into a fist, and slowly let go, and said a little tiredly: "I need an explanation for this matter." ”
Hong Zhu raised his head and glanced at him, his eyes were full of apology and deep self-blame, but he just lowered his head again and kowtowed, and did not explain anything.
Yes, Hong Zhu is Fan Xian's biggest help in the palace. The reason why Fan Xian dared to break into the harem with two hundred people and control the Hanguang Hall in one fell swoop relied on his complete grasp of the situation in the harem, his understanding of the distribution of the Ouchi guards and the details of the lives of the nobles from all sides.
And all of this is the information that Hong Zhugan risked to pass outside the palace in the past two days. This young eunuch who was straight up was originally transferred to the Hanguang Palace, but after the prince returned to the East Palace, he was very reluctant to go back.
Since the Queen Mother is interested in the crown prince succeeding to the throne, she naturally will not stop him from making this small request. So Hong Zhu became the most peculiar person in the palace, he once held a chapter in the imperial study, once served the queen mother in the Hanguang Palace, and once lived with the queen in the east palace for two months.
Surprisingly, all the nobles admired him. loves him, and Fan Xian is no exception.
It's just that no one has ever known that Hong Zhu is Fan Xian's eyeliner in the palace. The reason why those C-duty guards on the way from the palace gate to the Hanguang Hall were strangely poisoned could not be preemptively warned. It's all the credit of this eunuch.
Fan Xian was able to succeed in the palace, and Hong Zhu made great contributions, but at this time, Fan Xian's eyes looking at him were not very gentle, and he needed to give an explanation.
The crown prince and the queen were in the East Palace, under Hong Zhudi's nose, how could they react in such a thunderous palace raid, so that they escaped before Fan Xian's sword arrived?
Fan Xian's fists clenched. A gloomy voice seeped out from between his teeth, and he sneered, "Is it your letter?"
Hong Zhu didn't dare to look at Fan Xian's cold eyes, and nodded heavily.
Fan Xian gasped, looked at him in disbelief, and said, "Do you know what you're doing?
For fear that the people next to him in the East Palace would hear it, his voice did not rise, but the mood inside gradually became irritable.
"What's wrong with you?" Fan Xian's brows furrowed extremely tightly, and he said in a very fast voice: "Your soft-heartedness will harm the entire Qingguo!"
He spat on the ground at his feet, and scolded hatefully: "I have worked hard to enter the palace. As a result, you played such a game, and you didn't want to live, but what about these people in the palace? You forced me to prepare to run away before dawn!"
Fan Xian was rarely angry, because he couldn't understand how such a well-thought-out plan mobilized the nails that he had spent countless hours trying to hide in the palace, but for reasons that he couldn't figure out, there was such a big leak!
Why? Why! Fan Xian stared at Hong Zhu's face, his eyes flashing with yin fire.
"The prince is very good to his minions. Hong Zhu knelt in front of Fan Xian. Hur began to cry, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes and down his young face into his clothes, "The queen is pitiful. I thought about it and thought about it, but in the end I couldn't hold back. ”
Hong Zhu burst into tears. Snot and tears crisscrossed his face: "Kill me, I don't want to live anymore, Xiu'er was killed by myself." I don't know how many more people I'm going to kill...... It's all my fault...... My sins. ”
Fan Xian gasped, although he had already scolded before, he didn't expect that the reason why Hong Zhu let the prince and queen go was really ...... Softhearted!
"What's going on over there in Guangxin Palace?"
"I don't know. ”
The corners of Fan Xiandi's eyes twitched, his heart felt a little cold, he looked at the eunuch kneeling in front of him, and suddenly said, "You stand up." ”
Hong Zhu knelt on the ground, not daring to get up.
"Stand up!" Fan Xian roared in a low voice. Hong Zhu stood up with a cower, but suddenly felt a pain in his crotch, and couldn't help but exhale in pain. Fan Xian slowly withdrew his hand, with extremely complicated emotions on his face, looking at Hong Zhu without saying a word, and after a while, he just shook his head and sighed.
Hong Zhu's face turned pale and looked at Fan Xian in horror, but he immediately thought that since he had secretly informed the queen and the crown prince to flee before the incident, he was afraid that this life was gone, and the matter had come to this, so why should he be afraid of anything.
So he stood up straight and looked at Fan Xian without saying a word, but the deep guilt in his eyes lingered.
To his surprise, Fan Xian didn't say anything, nor did he take out his sword to cut off his head in a fit of rage. Fan Xian just sighed, waved his hand, and walked towards the outside of the East Palace alone, his back looking a little lonely and lonely.
Hong Zhu looked at Fan Xian's back in a daze, and cried again for some reason.
Fan Xian walked out of the main gate of the East Palace, and he could no longer hear Hong Zhudi's crying, and his anger was much less for no reason, but his heart was a little empty.
He waved his hand to summon his subordinates and ordered him to escort all the palace maids and eunuchs of the East Palace and Guangxin Palace to the cold palace area at the Chen Corridor to take care of them collectively, and then walked into the darkness of the palace alone.
Hong Zhu's temporary soft-heartedness brought irreparable damage to his plan. In an instant, the angry Fan Xian did have the urge to kill, but this impulse disappeared immediately, because he heard the word Xiu'er.
When I was in Hangzhou. He had thought about what kind of impact the death of that palace maid would have on Hong Zhu's state of mind, because he knew from the beginning that Hong Zhu was not an ordinary eunuch. He is a loving and righteous eunuch, otherwise Fan Xian would not dare to entrust him with so many important things.
It's just that Fan Xian didn't expect Hong Zhu to be so affectionate, and he would be soft-hearted in such a major event as the palace change.
It can be seen that the prince is really a generous person and a loving person. And Hong Zhu, who has a secret, lived with the poor queen in the East Palace during the months when the prince was expelled from the Southern Zhao. Maybe something different has happened.
Hong Zhu is an amorous eunuch and has affection for Fan Xian, so he will take great risks to set off palace chaos and help him enter the palace. He has affection for the prince and the queen, so he will let go at the last moment. Human beings are inherently very complex animals, especially Hong Zhu, a eunuch who is more like a scholar than a scholar.
"Maybe I was too ruthless to imagine that people would be so affectionate. ”
Thinking in his heart, he involuntarily thought of Xu Maocai in Jiaozhou Sailor, and a self-deprecating smile appeared on the corner of his lips.
Xu Maocai and Hong Zhu are the two deepest nails he has planted in the Qingguo court. But in this chaos that shocked the world, these two nails both had their own ideas, which brought great harm to Fan Xian's plan.
But without Xu Maocai, Fan Xian would not be able to get out of the deep sea under Dadong Mountain at all, and without Hong Zhu, Fan Xian would not even be able to enter the harem, so he knew that he was not qualified to blame these cronies for anything.
He was reluctant to kill Hong Zhu, and he couldn't bear to blame Hong Zhu, but he thought of it helplessly. In terms of moving people with emotion, the prince has cultivated to be stronger than himself - the prince occasionally has a true temperament, but he is hypocritical to the end in this life.
The forbidden army has cleared the harem with the help of the subordinates of the Supervision Yuan, and the Ouchi guards have all been captured. There should be no more waves. Fan Xian returned to Hanguang Hall with a calm face, and did not go in to see the Queen Mother. comforted the third child's family members, and just whispered a few words to Jing Ge, who was guarding outside the palace.
Jing Ge's face was slightly different, as if he didn't expect Lord Tisi to win this great victory. He was actually thinking about failure, but he didn't ask anything, stretched out his right palm and pressed the silver mask on his face, knelt down on one knee to receive the order, and took some of the black horse masters who entered the palace and left the palace.
The security control of the Hanguang Temple was transferred to the forbidden army from this moment.
The two masterminds of the first palace rebellion in the history of Qingguo finally met on the high walls of the imperial city after about half an hour of the fireworks that caused the arrows to soar into the sky.
Fan Xian bowed silently to the eldest prince in full body armor, the eldest prince's face was heavy, although the armor was on his body, he still solemnly returned the salute, the night breeze suddenly came, and the big red cloak on the big prince was blowing, and the black official uniform of the Supervision Yuan on Fan Xian's body was as stiff as a pulp.
The soldiers of the forbidden army on the nervous patrol of the imperial city looked at this scene, and couldn't help but break their hearts, and suddenly gushed out indescribable confidence, in the first year of Qingli, the eldest prince led the troops to the west, and his prestige gradually rose, and he did not taste defeat, and after Fan Xian took charge of the Supervision Yuan, he became Chen Pingping's second, but it was much more glamorous than Chen Laodean.
Such two princes, like the robes on their bodies, are blazing red, indifferently pure black, light and darkness join forces, how many people in this world can resist.
Fan Xian and the eldest prince straightened up, didn't say anything, and came to the outside of the corner tower, staring at the calm square at the foot of the high imperial city, the faint sound of fighting in the distance, and a few fireheads that attracted attention in the distance.
The two don't need to say anything, to be precise, since the outbreak of the Dadongshan incident, the two have never met or spoke, but they have single-handedly contributed to today's palace riots.
This relies on the trust and confidence of the two people in each other, and this tacit understanding is not based on interests, but on history. These two princes are the part of the family that has been insulted and ignored, their mothers and elders have fought side by side, and today these two sons have finally begun to fight side by side.
There are 3,000 forbidden troops, 1,000 people are stationed in the palace at this time, 1,000 people are in the city, and a brigade of 1,000 people has galloped away, rushing to the depth of Kyoto, and it is necessary to control the entire Kyoto before dawn. It is indeed too difficult for a thousand people to control Kyoto, but if you add the more than 1,000 officials of the Supervision Yuan who Fan Xian deliberately stayed outside the palace as helpers, it will be much smoother.
"Before dawn. They have to be caught. The eldest prince said indifferently, in this sentence, they naturally refer to the crown prince, mother and son and the eldest princess Li Yunrui, among the thousand forbidden troops responsible for sweeping, at least three cavalry squads are along the line of the laundry. In a desperate attempt to find those who had escaped from the palace.
Fan Xian was silent, as soon as he learned that the crown prince and the eldest princess had escaped from the palace, he had already given an order, and the secret swordsmen of the Supervision Yuan were also working hard in Kyoto at this time. It's just that he knows in his heart that just like when he was hiding in the vast sea of mansions in Kyoto, it was extremely difficult for the eldest princess to catch herself, and it was also extremely difficult for him to catch the other party.
This kind of thing depends on luck. And what is extremely unfavorable to Fan Xian and the eldest prince is that they only have three hours before dawn.
"Everything is fine in the Hall of Light. Fan Xian didn't answer the question of the eldest prince, looked at the soldiers under the imperial city, and said, "The queen mother is fine." ”
The eldest prince's brows furrowed, and he didn't say anything.
The eldest prince has always been a rough and generous and filial person, so it is impossible for him to do the things that Fan Xian can do, that is, even when he heard the name of the Queen Mother, his mood was a little low, and he was a little uncomfortable.
Fan Xian looked at him with a smile, as if he had seen through the shadow in his heart. opened his mouth and said: "The struggle for imperial power has always been your life and death, we are just carrying out His Majesty's edict, and the history books will give you the evaluation you deserve." ”
"I don't care about that. The eldest prince shook his head, faced the night breeze at the head of the city, and said softly: "Needless to say, since my father ordered you to handle this matter in his edict, I believe that you can handle it well, and I have confidence in you." ”
If there is no faith. The eldest prince, who has always been filial, of course did not dare to risk the life of Ning Cairen and raise troops to rebel.
"But can you give me confidence?"
Fan Xian looked at the soldiers of the forbidden army, who looked a little sparse compared to the vast imperial city, and sighed. Before and after the imperial city at this time. There are only 1,000 soldiers, and they can't give people strong psychological support.
The eldest prince understood what he was worried about. After a moment of silence, he said: "My father went to Dadong Mountain to take away a family of the forbidden army, and I lost some of it tonight, but don't worry." It has always been a pair of three, especially in a place like the Imperial City, where one pair of four can also be used. ”
"But the Imperial City is huge, and it is difficult to take care of it all. Fan Xian lowered his head and pondered: "If the eldest princess and the crown prince are really allowed to escape from Kyoto and meet the Kyoto garrison, how many troops and horses can the old Qin family transfer into Beijing?"
"There are 10,000 garrisons in Kyoto. Since the eldest prince has raised troops, of course, he has a very clear calculation of the military forces inside and outside Kyoto, "You and I have a combined army, a total of 5,000 people, and we should be able to withstand it." ”
"My people can't be used to guard the palace. Fan Xian shook his head, raised his right arm and pointed at the dark Kyoto Mansion Sea, and said, "They only have power in there." ”
He turned his head to look at the side face of the eldest prince, and said with a slight worry: "And you forgot one thing, the second child is not in the palace, his movements are fast, but I am afraid that he has sneaked out of the city." Ye Chong's subordinates, don't you have to think about it, not to mention that the army in the hands of the old Qin family is not just a part of the Kyoto garrison. ”
The corner of the eldest prince's eyes twitched, if it was really Ye Qin's two families who joined forces to attack, even if there were suddenly three thousand forbidden troops in the palace at this time, he would not have much confidence.
"And the palace is a lonely palace, not like the big county has grain and grass, if the palace is besieged by the army, how many days can you and I support it?"
The eldest prince Huo Di turned around, stared at Fan Xiandi's eyes, and said, "What do you want to say? Of course, I know that the palace is not easy to defend, but why do we want to guard the palace instead of the city?"
"Guarding the city, the thirteen city gates are now in our hands, and we don't know which of the nine gates will be gently knocked open by the eldest princess...... It's like I knocked on the door of the harem. ”
"Don't lie it to me. The eldest prince said: "You can't give up the City Gate Division, your people have already gone to the City Gate Division, and the nail that the eldest princess buried in the City Gate Division last night has been killed by you." ”
Fan Xian smiled self-deprecatingly and said: "The Supervision Yuan is not an immortal, it is impossible to dig out all the nails of the eldest princess, and we must prepare for the worst, if the Queen Mother's will cannot subdue the commander of the City Gate Division, you and I must be prepared to be trapped in the palace by the army." ”
"I just want to know that the Qin family's army will be able to enter Beijing in a few days. Ye Chong ordered to return to Dingzhou, even if he stopped halfway, it would always take some time to get to Beijing. ”
"If you only count the Kyoto garrison, you will arrive in one day. Fan Xian said calmly: "The army of Qinjiadi will probably arrive in four days, and it will be the time for Ye to return to Beijing. Probably about the same. ”
The eldest prince didn't ask Fan Xian why he knew so clearly about the deployment of the old Qin family, because he believed that the Supervision Yuan must have nails in the Qin family's army, just like in the forbidden army, and the previous purge would not have been so easy if Fan Xian hadn't pointed out the object in advance.
"You can control the Gate Division. The eldest prince looked at Fan Xian's eyes, and suddenly said back, "If you can't, you don't dare to do it at all, so I'm very strange." What are the reasons why you are saying these things to me now? ”
Fan Xian fell silent.
"Previously, Jing Ge led your court order, came to me to transfer two hundred horses, and then left the palace and did not know where to go. The eldest prince looked at him coldly and said, "Don't tell me, you don't have any ideas. ”
Fan Xian suddenly laughed and said, "Actually, I want to say...... Let's run. The eldest prince slapped his palm on the blue bricks of the imperial city, lowered his voice and said angrily: "Run away, you are crazy!"
Fan Xian smiled bitterly and said, "I really seem crazy...... Where can you run away? Just kidding, don't be so excited, okay?"
"What's the joke at this time?"
"Everyone's emotions are so nervous, what am I afraid of if I make a joke to ease my emotions?"
Fan Xian's words are not just a joke. If it had been before, when the situation was reversed, for his own safety, maybe he would have run away a long time ago. Because this dialogue made it very clear that if the crown prince and the eldest princess slipped out of Kyoto, what seemed to be a good situation at the moment would be ruined.
The eldest prince suddenly sighed, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "You have not led an army. I haven't seen what a real battlefield looks like, so it's not surprising to have such an idea. ”
As if to increase Fan Xian's confidence, the eldest prince said in a calm voice: "With the help of your people, control the City Gate Division." Even if there are 4,000 people, I can hold Kyoto for ten days!"
Below the Imperial City. The officials of the Supervision Yuan escorted a carriage close to the palace gate, and the eldest prince squinted his eyes to watch the ministers who were tortured by the prince to get out of the carriage. said: "With these ministers here, how can you and I escape? How can we bear to escape?"
Fan Xian was silent, nodded, and said, "According to your words, a big court meeting will be held today, the edict will be read, and the prince will be abolished." ”
The eldest prince frowned and said: "Spread the word to the Quartet, so that the army of the four roads will return to help quickly." ”
"The Third Route Army is far away on the border, and it will not be able to return to Beijing within ten days. And the nearest Yanjing camp, if you and I pass on the return soldiers...... Fan Xian's heart was slightly cold, "...... I'm afraid that you and I may become sinners in Qingguo. ”
Fan Xian is not worried about others, it is the unfathomable little emperor of Northern Qi, now the information transmission in this world is too slow, but Fan Xian knows that the governor of the northern camp was killed by himself, and the 5,000-person military camp does not know whether to live or die at the foot of Dadong Mountain.
I am afraid that the Yanjing battalion will not return to Beijing in time and suppress the Ye and Qin families, and the male soldiers in the north will go south!
After so many years of experience, Fan Xian knew that the little emperor of Northern Qi was the most powerful character in the world, and since he secretly communicated with the eldest princess and participated in the inside story of Dadong Mountain, he would definitely not let go of such a great opportunity.
Therefore, the Yanjing camp must not be moved!
The eldest prince's face also became heavy, knowing that Fan Xian's worry was very reasonable: "Ten days...... We can only hold out for ten days at most, and if we can't transfer troops back to Jingqinwang......"
He suddenly laughed, looked at Fan Xian and said, "It seems that what you said makes sense, our best choice is indeed to escape early tonight." ”
As soon as these words came out, Fan Xian was stunned, and then the two glanced at each other and laughed out loud for no reason.
The laughter came from far away from the imperial city, and the two scholars of Shuhu at the palace gate below looked up, and could vaguely distinguish that it was the eldest prince and Fan Xian, and the two scholars couldn't help but feel a little relieved, thinking that these two could still laugh so happily at this time, it seemed that the general trend was settled.
It's just that everyone doesn't know. There was a lot of helplessness and bitterness in the laughter of Fan Xian and the eldest prince, but the two of them did not mention the evacuation of the palace again with a tacit understanding. Then there is no reason to run again.
"Today, the unification is determined, the edict is passed on in the streets and alleys of Kyoto, the people's hearts are stabilized, and the invention is intended to be in the states. After the laughter stopped, Fan Xian looked at the eldest prince and said with a smile: "Use the will of the Queen Mother to stabilize the City Gate Division, and then control it, you said that if you can block the army for ten days, then I will give you ten days and days." ”
"It will be able to block it for ten days. The eldest prince clenched his sword at his waist. His face was resolute, but he was thinking in his heart that the palace would eventually be broken after ten days of siege, why did Fan Xian value this time so much?
"You have to fight for me for these ten days. ”
Fan Xian coughed lightly twice, took out a somewhat pungent pill from his arms and ate it, and said with a calm face: "Although I have never been in charge of the army, I also know that the most important people in the army are the generals at all levels, just imagine." If you go from a marshal to a general and then to a school official...... If they all die, what will become of this rebel army?"
"A plate of scattered sand, no attack and defeat. The eldest prince frowned slightly, looked at Fan Xian, and thought to himself that if the generals of the rebel army died mysteriously within ten days, this Kyoto would naturally be able to hold it, but ...... Even if the Supervision Yuan assassinates you again, and you pass poison, there is no way to survive the thousands of troops. To do such a thing against the sky.
Fan Xian didn't answer his doubts, and continued to say calmly: "If even the crown prince and the eldest princess suddenly died, what reason do you say this rebel army has to exist?"
The eldest prince looked at him with a puzzled expression. I thought to myself, Fan Xian can't be sick, right?
Fan Xian smiled and said, "The reason why I don't run is that I am willing to defend this lonely city with you." Not because of how strong my courage was, but because I never lost faith, but after this incident. I'm afraid I don't have a good life. ”
The eldest prince didn't understand, he naturally didn't know what Fan Xian meant, if Fan Xian really sacrificed a heavy sniper weapon, who knows what the future history will be.
At this moment, there was a sudden noise under the palace gate, a team of cavalry came in the dust, seemed to catch a person, the eldest prince looked fixedly, only to see that the captured place was a woman, but it was too far away, and it was not clear to see the face, but it seemed to be wearing ordinary palace maid clothes.
Fan Xian squinted and said, "Our luck has always been so good, look, the queen has been caught by us, are the crown prince and the eldest princess still far away?"
After saying this, he turned and walked down the imperial city, and went down the wide stone steps, ready to meet the old ministers who had suffered, and to prepare for tomorrow's great court, secretly pondering what kind of charges should be arranged for the crown prince and the eldest princess, and at the same time preparing to comfort the poor, stupid, and extremely unlucky queen mother.
"Do you want to lock the queen and Hong Zhu together?" Fan Xian suddenly had a strange thought in his heart, secretly thinking that he was actually quite affectionate.
As he walked up the stone steps, his cough grew worse and worse, as if the pungent pill he had eaten earlier had no effect. He leaned against the wall next to the stone steps, relieved himself, took another pill from his bosom and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it twice, and swallowed it into his belly.
The pungent smell was the smell of ephedra leaves, and this pill was the second time in the world that someone had taken it since Fan Xian and the three earth masters had developed it. Because the medicinal power of this pill is too domineering, ephedra leaves are similar to stimulants, which can easily make people's minds become trance and make people's true qi become disordered.
The first time I took this kind of medicine, it was also Fan Xian, and it was next to the cliff of the West Mountain in Northern Qi a few years ago, before facing the joint offensive of Wolf Tao and He Daoren.
Fan Xian gasped a few times vigorously and calmed down. After escaping from Dadong Mountain, he was bruised by Ye Liuyun's sword intent, and at the same time was chased by Yan Xiaoyi for hundreds of miles, and finally was hit by an arrow in his heart, and he was seriously injured, and he could not get good recuperation, and his whole body had reached the end of the strong crossbow.
Although he has been resting in Miss Sun's boudoir for a few days, his current realm is still only eighty percent of his peak. In order to break through the palace, he was forced to take this extremely harmful drug again, so as to ensure that his strong strength could be fully exerted.
The first time I took this medicine, it was for Sean, for the secret of the temple in the old man's mouth. The second time I took this medicine, it was for the sake of the palace and the great country of Qingguo. There are many things in the world that are more important than health, Fan Xian, whose face was a little pale, thought while going down.
Kyoto was in turmoil, and compared to the victory of the criminal department and Kyoto Prefecture without a fight, the attack on the eldest princess Beppu fell into a bitter battle from the beginning. The few fires that Fan Xian and the eldest prince saw on the top of the city were the poisonous plans that they had to use when the Supervision Yuan was attacking.
Fortunately, the eldest princess was not in the mansion, and Yuan Hongdao, the chief strategist of Xinyang, who was supposed to be in charge of the defense, seemed to have been frightened by the offensive, so the masters and palace maids in Beppu were finally shot into hedgehogs by crossbow arrows and turned into zombies by poison after making the supervision court pay the price of dozens of corpses.
The officials of the Supervision Yuan attacked it, and Mu Feng'er, the leader of the main book, had a deep cut on his left arm, and blood flowed everywhere, but he had a nonchalant expression on his face, and viciously put the short sword across Yuan Hongdao's neck.
He is Mu Tie's nephew, Fan Xian's descendant, like this kind of life-and-death struggle, he can't have the slightest soft-heartedness.
What made him strange was that the strategist of the eldest princess's mansion who was controlled by himself did not have too much fear, but was in a panic.
Yuan Hongdao looked at Mu Feng'er and said anxiously: "I have something important to report to the Duke of Tangbo!"