Chapter 190: Night in the Capital (㩙)
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The palace maid dared not speak again. As she stood in front of the hall in silence, the two of them fell into that heavy silence again. The sound of the night wind blowing gently was filled with a suffocating and dull feeling. The palace maid lowered her head and silently followed this uncomfortable silence. Concubine Tian still raised her face, and the tiny starlight was reflected on her beautiful face, like a fairy in the night. However, at this moment, no one appreciated her beauty.
What Concubine Tian didn't know was that in the original history, she should have died of illness long ago, but now because of the appearance of Tang Tian, she did not get the serious illness that would take her life. She still had the opportunity to stand in the night and sigh at her own appearance, and still had the opportunity to sigh at the changes in the world and sigh at the vicissitudes of life. What she didn't know was that at this time, Brother Tang no longer remembered her, the younger sister of the Tian family, and did not remember the various grievances and feelings between the two of them.
Because this brother of the Tang family is not the boy of the Tang family that Concubine Tian knows. What's more, even if it is, so much time has passed, and many things and many people will disappear and be forgotten in the years, just like in Concubine Tian's heart, most of the time the only person she can remember is her current man. If it weren't for the fact that Brother Tang was the one who miraculously destroyed the Ming Dynasty, Concubine Tian would probably never remember that silly and crazy man again in her life.
Tang Qi had no idea that at this moment, in the imperial palace in the capital, an imperial concubine would actually remember him. He was a victorious man. He did not have the sadness in the heart of Emperor Chongzhen, nor the worry in the heart of Concubine Tian. At this moment, he even had the leisure to appreciate the beautiful night and watch the disappointed eldest princess walk out of her camp.
At this time, the eldest lady was standing in the night, her white dress fluttering in the wind, like a fairy. Tang Qi, who was standing beside her, couldn't help but feel a little moved. A beautiful woman always needs a man to appreciate her to have her value. Tang Qi didn't know why he came up with such a sentence, but at this moment, Tang Qi really felt that he was very lucky.
This kind of luck is because he discovered that he can control his own life and the lives of others. This kind of luck is also because Tang Chen discovered that he now has a woman he likes and someone who cares about him around him. It's like a kind of enlightenment in his heart, which makes Tang Chen look back at Yuan'er. If there is anyone who can truly care about Tang Chen wholeheartedly, it is Yuan'er and Chen Yuxian. The other women around him more or less have other thoughts.
"Can't you really let my father go?" The eldest lady looked at Tang Qi and asked softly. This question would only be asked between her and Tang Qi. She was a filial daughter, and Tang Qi did not give her the impression of being a cruel and ruthless person. This gave her a one in ten thousand hope in her heart, but this hope was very fragile, like a bubble, easily disappearing and dissipating without leaving any trace in front of others.
"I cannot give you a definite answer to this question. This is not a feud between two families, but a war between a dynasty and another power. It's not a question of whether I am willing or not. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that I will not let my men harm your family, but your father will obviously not live in vain." Tang Chen heard the eldest princess' question and looked back at her. In response to her question, Tang Chen could only smile bitterly. He could not kill Emperor Chongzhen, but with Emperor Chongzhen's personality, as long as he broke through the capital, Emperor Chongzhen would definitely die.
Tang Qi could spare the life of Emperor Chongzhen as a victor, but he could not let the capital go without attacking. The eldest prince also understood this, so after listening to Tang Qi's answer, he just sighed softly, gave up the last bit of hope in his heart, and after silently bowing to Tang Qi, walked towards the city wall of the capital.
Tang Qi and Yuan'er watched the eldest prince's departing figure, and they all felt different emotions. In Yuan'er's opinion, the eldest prince's figure at this moment was so helpless and sad. Yuan'er turned around and said to Tang Qi, "This prince is so pitiful now."
"No, Yuan'er, she is not pitiful now." Tang Qi shook his head slightly. Yuan'er and the others would not understand what he said. Tang Qi was just speaking from his heart. In Tang Qi's heart, at least now because of his existence, the eldest princess's ending would not be as tragic as in history. At least, with him, Tang Qi, the eldest princess could still maintain her identity as a princess.
The eldest prince returned to the palace dejectedly. It was already very late at night, and the stars in the sky were getting brighter and brighter. The whole capital city was very quiet, except for the sound of patrol teams walking on the streets and the sighs of a few sleepless people in the palace. After dawn the next day, Tang Qi finally made up his mind and asked his men to prepare for the siege.
The first wave of siege was a sky full of leaflets. Countless leaflets were shot into the capital by bows and arrows. The content of these leaflets was mainly to recruit the Ming soldiers guarding the capital to surrender. There must be brave men under a big reward, and there must be people willing to surrender under a big reward. Under Tang Yi's big reward, the Ming soldiers in the capital became even more panicked. The second wave of attack was to persuade the officials and gentry in the capital to surrender. If anyone could go out of the city and surrender before the city was broken, everything in his family would be guaranteed. If he surrendered after the city was broken, all the property of these families would be confiscated.
After all the work of disrupting people's hearts was done, Tang Qi finally launched an attack on the capital. Hundreds of artillery pieces cleared a section of the city wall in a short time, and tens of thousands of troops forcibly climbed onto the city wall of the capital. At this time, the morale of the Ming soldiers in the capital had completely disappeared, and many of them had been thinking about surrendering. After Tang Qi's men occupied a section of the city wall, these Ming soldiers surrendered one after another. At the same time, some officials and gentry organized some families in their homes to help Tang Qi's army open the city gates of the capital.
If Zhou Kui and Tian Hong had met the families of those wealthy families, these people would have secretly defected to Tang Qi before Tang Qi surrounded the capital. At this time, they would naturally try their best to show off in front of Tang Qi. The last soldiers in the Ming capital were far behind Tang Qi's soldiers in terms of morale and training, as well as in weapons and equipment. The battle scene was almost one-sided. From the moment they occupied the city wall, Tang Qi's soldiers never encountered any resistance. Those Ming soldiers either surrendered or fled as fast as possible.
Emperor Chongzhen had not attended court for the past few days. At this time, it seemed that there was no need to go to court to deal with any matters. He had been in the palace of Empress Zhou and Concubine Tian these days, waiting for the moment when the city would be broken. Emperor Chongzhen knew about the leaflets distributed by Tang Yu outside the city, but at this time, he was powerless. At this time, not only the people in the capital were in panic, but also those ministers in the court who used to be passionate in the hall were in panic. Emperor Chongzhen knew very well what those ministers were thinking. Although the capital was still there, he, Chongzhen, was already truly alone, and there were not many people who were willing to devote their last loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Chongzhen was holding Empress Zhou's hand, recounting their past lives. Wang Chengen stood quietly not far from them, as if he were a stone statue. A young eunuch, with a shrill, tearful voice, hurried in and shouted from a distance, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... hurry up! The rebels are breaking into the city..."
"What..." Although he knew that this kind of thing would always happen, when it really came, Emperor Chongzhen's heart still skipped a beat, and his hand couldn't help but tightly grasp Empress Zhou's jade hand. His face, which was already very pale, became even paler at this moment, and his eyes were blank for a moment.
"Are you finally here?" Wang Cheng'en muttered to himself. His expression didn't change much, but a bitter smile flashed in his eyes. Then, he threw away the bitter taste in his heart and hurried to the side of Emperor Chongzhen and knelt down: "Your Majesty, please leave quickly. Before those rebels attack, take the Empress and the others with you. As long as Your Majesty and the Empress are here, the Ming Dynasty will eventually be revived again..."
“Will there really be a day of revival… Cheng’en, get up. I will not leave. I want to stay with the capital of the Ming Dynasty… What’s more, although the world is big, it has no place for the Ming Dynasty. Where can I go?” After being absent-minded for a moment, Emperor Chongzhen smiled sadly, and his expression seemed to have regained its composure. He walked to the back of the hall.
"Your Majesty...", "Your Majesty...", Queen Zhou and Wang Chengen shouted after a few seconds.
"Yufeng... I'm sorry for you, you... just commit suicide..." Emperor Chongzhen waved his hands and said with difficulty. The words were very ruthless, but after he said it, Emperor Chongzhen felt a pang of pain in his chest. He gritted his teeth, drew a sword from the wall outside the hall, and walked towards the residence of the two princesses behind the hall. Wang Chengen was about to follow Emperor Chongzhen to the back of the hall, but a loud noise came from outside the hall.
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