Ming Empire

Chapter 190 Similarities and Differences with History

Empress Zhou led the young Princess Zhaoren, Zhu Yuyu, stumbling around the palace. The emperor disappeared, and the sons whom she had just met did not know where they went. She was very anxious.While running, she called Long Live God, and the names of the prince and Zhu Cijiong.

Most of the palace people in the palace also fled, only a few eunuchs and eunuchs who followed her, two court ladies supported Queen Zhou, one court lady held Zhu Yuxi's hand, and several other court ladies and eunuchs stood beside them , everyone shouted loudly, Long Live Lord, Prince Ding, and Prince Ding.

When they were looking for Emperor Chongzhen, Crown Prince Zhu Cizhao, King Ding Zhu Cijiong and others in a hurry, a group of soldiers with muskets and sabers rushed out ahead.

"Ah!" With a scream, Queen Zhou fell to the ground. She did not expect that the bandits would break into the palace so quickly.She was planning to let Chongzhen dispose of her after she found Emperor Chongzhen.Last night, Emperor Chongzhen had expressed the idea of ​​committing suicide and martyrdom, and Empress Zhou also confirmed this intention and wanted to follow Chongzhen.She didn't want to fall into the hands of bandits and be insulted.She is the empress of Ming Dynasty, and she is so angry that she is about to die.

But when she was caught off guard, bandits broke into the palace, and she didn't even have time to commit suicide.

In desperation, she didn't care about anything else, she broke free from the maid's hand, and slammed into a nearby pillar with all her strength.

"Mother!" Zhu Xie's crying voice rang out loudly.

"Empress Empress!" The two maids who were originally supporting Empress Zhou hurried forward to pull her.But they just grabbed Queen Zhou's dress, and Queen Zhou's head still hit the pillar.However, their pull offset part of Empress Zhou's strength, and also caused her head to deviate from the direction. Although she still hit the pillar in the end, only a small bag was knocked out, not even blood.

Empress Zhou immediately struggled to get up, trying to hit the pillar again.

"Empress Empress, this subject is Cao Yue, and I am here to save you," just as Queen Zhou struggled to break free from the pull of the two maids and was about to hit the pillar again, a voice rang out in the palace, and the voice yelled several times. all over.When she heard that it was Cao Yue who led the army to rescue, Empress Zhou, who was determined to die, was suddenly surprised and happy. She struggled to get up and looked at the group of soldiers rushing over.

At this time, the group of people had rushed to the place not far from where she was staying, and the leader was Cao Yue, the husband of her beloved daughter Zhu Yuxi the most.

"Empress, I'm here to save you. Where are the Long Live Lord, the Crown Prince, and His Highness Ding Wang? The bandits have already entered the city, and there are not many people brought by me. You must leave the city immediately and leave Beijing," Cao Yue rushed forward, before he had time to salute. , without regard to etiquette, grabbed Queen Zhou's arm and asked repeatedly: "Where are the Long Live Lord, the Crown Prince, and His Highness Prince Ding?"

"Cao Yue, Brother Yue, it's really you!" Empress Zhou stepped forward and hugged Cao Yue's arm, weeping bitterly, but she knew that now was not the time to cry bitterly, so she quickly wiped away her tears, "I don't know your Majesty Where did he go, Ben Gong is also looking for him, as well as the crown prince and King Ding!"

At this moment, a eunuch rushed over, but it was the eunuch sent by Queen Zhou to find Emperor Chongzhen and others just now.The eunuch knelt on the ground with a plop, and repeatedly reported: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty and Eunuch Wang are heading towards Meishan, and Your Majesty led the escort of the Crown Prince, His Highness Prince Ding and several other princes to Zhou Guozhang's residence. "

"Ah?!" Empress Zhou exclaimed subconsciously.At this time, she didn't have any idea, and stared at Cao Yue with big eyes in horror.

Now, only Cao Yue can give her the hope of life, and give the emperor and other members of the royal family the same hope.Moreover, Empress Zhou was a little lucky, fortunately, she promised Zhu Yu to Cao Yue. In the end, Cao Yue appeared in front of her in a very heroic manner when the Ming royal family was in danger.

Hearing that Emperor Chongzhen was taking Wang Chengen to Meishan, Cao Yue immediately ordered a group of sergeants who followed him: "The first and second teams of Cao's camp follow me and go to Meishan to find your majesty and the prince. The third and fourth teams Escorting the empress and the princess out of the palace, they immediately rushed to Chaoyang Gate without any mistakes. The fifth and sixth teams immediately intercepted the prince, His Royal Highness Ding Wang and several other princes, and brought them to the battlefield outside Chaoyang Gate. On board! Teams [-] to [-] are guarding inside and outside the palace to ensure the safety of the teams in front. Anyone who encounters obstacles will be killed!"

Cao Yue brought to the palace a total of ten small units of the Cao family camp, that is, the Jia Ding troops, and two hundred soldiers of the special guard battalion.Following Cao Yue and rushing into the palace was the servant army, and the two hundred special guards were waiting outside the palace.

After finding Empress Zhou and Princess Zhaoren, and knowing the whereabouts of Emperor Chongzhen, Crown Prince Zhu Cizhao, Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong and others, Cao Yue prepared to evacuate and immediately made new arrangements.

The soldiers suddenly agreed, and immediately protected Queen Zhou and the others, and ran out of the palace quickly.After the soldiers escorted Queen Zhou and others out of the palace, they were immediately surrounded by horses, protected by two sergeants, and quickly headed out of the palace.

The men who went to chase Zhu Cizhao and Zhu Cijiong also left the palace quickly, heading towards the residence of Zhou Kui, the father of Empress Zhou.Escorting Zhu Cizhao, Zhu Cijiong and others was Gao Qiqian, another great eunuch. When Cao Yue left, he secretly ordered that the escorted eunuchs be left to the rogues to deal with. , he only takes away important figures.

Then Cao Yue led two teams of more than [-] people and quickly headed towards Meishan.

From afar, Cao Yue saw two hanging people floating on two trees on the mountainside.As he ran closer, he finally saw that it was Emperor Chongzhen with disheveled hair, and a man dressed as an eunuch was hanging there.Cao Yue hurriedly ordered the two hanging men to be untied, and when he tested his breath, he was already out of breath, and even his body became stiff.Cao Yue also saw clearly that Emperor Chongzhen was accompanied by his old acquaintance, the great eunuch Wang Chengen.

In the original history, when Emperor Chongzhen was desperate, he was hanged on the crooked neck tree in Meishan. The only person accompanying Emperor Chongzhen was Wang Chengen, the personal eunuch. The current situation is still the same as the original history.Wang Chengen helped Cao Yue a lot, and Cao Yue also admired his loyalty and courage, and never gave up on Emperor Chongzhen.

Cao Yue also immediately ordered that the corpses of Emperor Chongzhen and Wang Chengen be carried away from the palace.He had to take away the body of Emperor Chongzhen for burial, and he couldn't leave Wang Chengen's body behind either. He had to give corresponding treatment to such a man of integrity.

The family general who followed him also cut off the branches around him with a very agile movement, made two stretchers, put the two corpses on them, lifted them up and ran away.

Cao Yue stayed at the end. He looked up at the smoke-filled Beijing city, and then looked back at the crooked tree where Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself. After a long sigh, he immediately chased the people in front of him.

(End of this chapter)