Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 769 - 636: Returning to the Master 1_1

Chapter 769: Chapter 636: Returning to the Master 1_1

About three hours before the dust settled at the battle of the Chengde Qianhu Office, a group of hurriedly riding knights arrived outside the Chaoyang Gate of Beijing.

These people were all dressed in armor that reached their waist, with battle robes underneath, all dressed up in the attire of a ’feathered rider’. (Feather, in ancient times military document, inserted bird feathers to indicate emergency.)

However, after they rushed in, they did not head towards the Ministry of War and the Dudu’s mansion, but instead rode into an unassuming civilian residence on the way.

This civilian residence was empty, with only a man dressed in a scholar’s robe and wearing an iron mask, waiting with his hands behind his back.

After the group of riders gradually rode in, the one at the forefront lifted the sun-shading hat from his head.

If Li Xuan had been present at this time, he would have been utterly surprised to recognise that this man was Leang Heng, the person he had sent to Liaodong and temporarily appointed as the Great General of Zhenliao.

There was an unusual flush on Leang Heng’s face, and his eyes were cold as a knife: "What exactly is the emperor’s situation now?"

In fact, when he was two hundred miles away from the capital city, he had already received a signal from the capital city.

It was said that the emperor was seriously injured and was in a life-threatening situation. However, Leang Heng still wanted confirmation from the iron-faced man himself.

The iron-faced man smiled faintly, "Half an hour ago, when Helian Fulong and Shaofu Yu Jie carried the emperor back to the capital in the red thunder chariot, the emperor had already fainted. I looked from a distance at the time, and the emperor’s face was like golden purple, his breath weak, and his Shenpo scattered, certainly not feigned.

If it weren’t for the suppression of injuries by the ’Wulong and Jiuding Hunyuan Array’, I predict that the emperor wouldn’t live more than ten days. However, this is by no means an incurable disease. As long as he is properly cared for, recovery is not difficult. Dr. Jiang Yunqi has been summoned into the palace, and with his medical skills and martial law cultivation, it may only take a day or two for him to stabilize the emperor’s condition."

At this time, Leang Heng’s expression was somewhat complicated.

The emperor undoubtedly had shown him great kindness, but he was in no way willing for him to continue living.

The Iron Mask continued to speak: "Yu Hongchang has now given orders to activate the ’Wulong and Jiuding Hunyuan Array’, and at the same time seal off the capital city. If you’d arrived a moment or two later, General, you may not have been able to enter the city."

When Leang Heng heard the four words "Shaofu Yu Jie", he was immediately anxious: "Yu Jie has also returned to the capital? How could such a mistake occur?"

This is also his benefactor and the person Leang Heng most fears.

This was not part of their original plan.

According to the iron-faced man’s forecast, Shaofu Yu Jie should be kept restrained by the Mongolians in the area of Datong and would not be able to return to the capital.

Leang Heng knew that the True Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and even a plan to assassinate the emperor during the journey were all prepared, but since it was Yu Jie personally protecting the emperor to return, there was naturally no chance of success.

"The battle at Niujia Fort resulted in not only the Khan of Vala, Yexian, being seriously injured, but Abas and Tuotuobuhua also suffered considerable losses. The 450,000-man Mongolian cavalry was annihilated by more than 120,000 men and was unable to fight."

The iron-faced man hinted with some emotion, although he saw Emperor Jingtai as a grand enemy that must be brought down, he still greatly admired his character and personality.

Apparently, throughout the battle, despite suffering from a curse, the Jingtai Emperor fought valiantly without any fear, reaching the point of inflicting mutual damage with the Khan of Vala, Yexian.

As a result, this led to a major victory in annihilating tens of thousands of enemies.

The iron-faced man then looked casually at Leang Heng: "Don’t worry, General! We have another way to deal with Yu Jie."

However, Leang Heng’s breath seemed a bit restless: "What do you know? If we can’t keep Yu Jie out of this situation, he alone could sweep us all! When he goes mad, none of us could handle him!"

"We don’t need to be able to handle him, we just need to tie off him at the moment the incident occurs so that he won’t have the chance to interfere. After the incident, a decree from the True Emperor will be enough to kill him. Just like Yue Wumu at Feng Boting and Wu Zixu at Mount Xu."

The iron-faced man saw that there was still a hint of hesitation and struggle in Leang Heng’s eyes. He disdained it in his heart but still said, "Don’t worry, general! Although Yu Jie’s matter was an unexpected change, we also have unexpected help."

As he spoke, he wrote four characters in the void with his finger, "The background and names of these people can’t be spoken out, and you just need to be aware of them, general. Besides, don’t you think we still have room to back down?"

When Leang Heng saw those four characters, much of the uneasiness in his heart faded, and he laughed softly, "You should have said that earlier, now that it’s them, I guess this Yu Jie should no longer be a problem. So now the problem is the Wu Gate and the Temple of Heaven!"

Leang Heng’s eyes were deep and fiery: "Eunuch Cao can indeed help us unlock the majority of the palace restrictions, but Wu Gate is currently guarded by two battalions of soldiers selected from the ’Five Army Camps’ by Marquis Zhu Guoneng of Changping. We are helpless. And as long as the Temple of Heaven exists, we are all like lambs waiting to be slaughtered."

The "Eunuch Cao" he mentioned is Cao Jixiang, the Superintendent of the Palace and the general inspector of the Jingying.

And the Wu Gate in the palace was originally guarded by the Shenji Camp. After Li Xuan’s Shenji Camp was transferred to Jizhou, it was handed over to Marquis Zhu Guoneng of Changping.

This man has been extracting elite troops from the Five Army Camps ever since he returned to Beijing and took over the defence of the Wu Gate.

There is also the Temple of Heaven, which is currently guarded by Hu Ying, the Minister of Rites.

Leang Heng knows that this man is an incorruptible, upright minister, and he is also a hurdle they must overcome.

The iron-faced man is calm: "We have a solution to both the Temple of Heaven and Wu Gate. I’ll explain in detail to the general on the way. The pressing matter at this moment is to gather our forces as soon as possible! This is the True Emperor and the Empress Dowager’s biggest worry at the moment. And once the city is sealed, many things will be difficult to handle."

After hearing this, Leang Heng gave a self-satisfied smile.

He thought that with his and Cao Jixiang’s foundation in Jingying, it wouldn’t be a problem to gather fifty to sixty thousand soldiers in a short time.

Did Li Xuan think that by transferring him to Liaodong, he would be powerless in Beijing?

After this palace coup, he will let Li Xuan know how to write the word ’regret’!

※※※※

About half an hour later, in the Qianqing Palace of the Forbidden City.

Yu Hongshang walked out of Emperor Jingtai’s sleeping quarters with a stern expression on her face.

"Hongshang, how is His Majesty doing?" Lady Hang grabbed Yu Hongshang’s hand, anxiously asking, "Will His Majesty be alright?"

Behind her, there was Emperor Jingtai’s Empress and a dozen of his concubines, all of them were visibly anxious and turned their worried gazes towards Yu Hongshang.

"Mother, do not worry."

Yu Hongshang calmly patted Lady Hang’s hand: "Father Emperor has only a minor internal injury. Dr. Jiang is looking after him. Dr. Jiang said that Father Emperor’s injury is not severe and he should wake up within a day. Afterwards, he only needs to rest and recuperate. He should fully recover within one or two months."

Yu Hongshang then turned to Empress Wang with a sincere gaze: "The palace will probably need your efforts from now on. I’m afraid someone will stir up rumors and cause trouble."

After all, she is just a princess. Although she was assigned to supervise the country, she does not have legitimate control over the palace and had to rely on the Empress at this point.

Empress Wang nodded lightly: "Don’t worry, Princess. I have ordered all the palace buildings to be locked and banned, and commanded the twelve-monitor, four-department, eight-bureau system to tightly control their subordinates. If there is such a reckless person in the palace, I will not let them see the sun of the second day."

While watching Yu Hongshang’s calm and composed demeanor, Empress Wang couldn’t help but show a hint of admiration and envy in her eyes.

She had always looked down upon Lady Hang, considering her good for nothing except for her fertility and her skill in vying for favor.

Nevertheless, she had to admit, the two children of Lady Hang both outshine others.

Empress Wang also has two daughters, but neither of them was comparable to Yu Hongshang.

With her mind settled, Yu Hongshang deeply bowed to Empress Wang and then left the Qianqing Palace.

Outside the gate of the Qianqing Palace, Zuo Daoxing, the Dudu Tongzhi of Xiuyiwei, was waiting for her.

Yu Hongshang still looked composed. However, her words contained an intense chill: "How is the situation in the outer court?"

"The people are panicking and rumors are flying around!" Zuo Daoxing’s face was also very serious: "There are even rumors saying His Majesty is going to pass away in a few days. Some foolish people actually believe it and are preparing mourning clothes. There’s a run on shops in the city selling linen and white cloth because they fear the prices will rise in the coming days."

"Pass away," a term used to refer to the emperor’s death until the posthumous title and temple name are determined, implying that the emperor has died.

Yu Hongshang couldn’t understand: "Many of the court officials were present when Father Emperor was injured, how could things have gone this far?"

"Someone must be spreading rumors, I worry there may be a disturbance in Capital City," Zuo Daoxing replied coldly. "His Majesty was simultaneously struck with a curse during his fight against Yexian. This is definitely not a coincidence. Moreover, it must be someone close to His Majesty who carried this out. Where else could they have gotten His Majesty’s vital blood essence? After injuring His Majesty, these people definitely have more plans.

Also, I found out that there have been rumors in Capital City today saying due to the two major battles at Chengde and Niujia Fort, along with the rebellion at Lu River, the court’s finances are stretched thin. Hence, the military pay for Jingying will be delayed by half a year-"

Yu Hongshang immediately stopped in her tracks, her sharp eyes darting to Zuo Daoxing: "Is this true? Have you informed Dudu Zhu?"

"I have already sent someone to inform Dudu Zhu and Shaofu Yu, asking them to quickly come out and debunk the rumors,"

Zuo Daoxing bowed slightly: "The situation is urgent, please forgive my rudeness, Your Highness!"

"You did nothing wrong, urgent times call for immediate action, that was the right move."

Yu Hongshang waved her sleeve: "However, doing just these is far from enough. You go to Zhao Prison of Xiuyiwei now and ask Prince Xiang to be on the road! Also, invite the former Emperor in the Nan Palace to Wenhua Palace, where I will personally guard."

Zuo Daoxing was secretly relieved, Yu Hongshang indeed surpassed her father in decisiveness.

"I will go handle it right away!"

He immediately stood up and hurried out of the palace in a hurry.

Yu Hongshang turned to Wenhua Palace. She knew at this time, she should sit in Wenhua Palace to stabilize people’s minds across the capital.

However, after taking only a few steps, Yu Hongshang hesitated as she looked at a palace maid walking towards her.

Her eyes were questioning: "Luo Yan?"

Just as she finished speaking, smoke enveloped the maid.

Luo Yan appeared before Yu Hongshang. She swiftly approached: "Yu Hongshang, do you know, Liang Heng has been in the capital for half an hour?"

The color drained from Yu Hongshang’s face, but before she managed to say anything, she heard Zuo Daoxing’s roar.

The next instant, Zuo Daoxing, who had walked out of the Taihe Gate, was covered in blood and was forcibly thrown back from outside the gate.

Yu Hongshang quickly moved to catch Zuo Daoxing. To her shock, the Dudu Tongzhi of the Xiuyiwei was covered with several sword wounds, barely hanging on to his life. His Primordial Spirit also suffered a severe blow, falling directly into unconsciousness.

She was momentarily stunned, and when she probed with her mind, she found that there was not even a single figure outside the Taihe Gate.

Luo Yan also came over, inspecting Zuo Daoxing’s injuries. After a moment, she seemed bewildered: "Looking at these sword wounds, it seems like they were inflicted by Sun Chuyun?"

Yu Hongshang’s jade hands were tightly clasped within her sleeves, her entire body shaking with suppressed rage.

She knew that those people risked everything to assault Zuo Daoxing in front of the Taihe Gate within the deep palace, in order to cut off her eyes, ears, and arms.