Escape South
Qiu Feng fled south with the common people and finally saw the fleeing Song army. In the middle of the group was a man in plain clothes and a hat. He looked decadent and no longer had the charm he had when they first met him. That man was Zhao Ji, who had just abdicated.
"Official..." She wanted to call him "Official", but then she remembered that he had just abdicated. If she called him "Emperor Retired", it might make him unhappy. Just when she was in a dilemma, Zhao Ji suddenly turned around, and after seeing her, his eyes suddenly regained their spirit.
"Miss Qiufeng." he called her.
She had originally looked exhausted from the difficult journey, but now she managed to pull herself together, a smile returning to her face as she said, "My lord, it's great to meet you."
Zhao Ji said with embarrassment: "Miss Qiu Feng, I have already abdicated. Please don't call me your Majesty anymore."
Qiu Feng pretended to be surprised and asked, "How could this be?"
At this time, Tong Guan, who was beside him, tried to smooth things over for Zhao Ji and said, "Miss Qiu Feng, why are you here?"
"Replying to the Grand Tutor, I heard from the little girl that it's hard to escape with you and me, so I'll follow you and take care of you along the way."
Qiu Feng's call of "sir" not only relieved Zhao Ji's embarrassment, but also made Zhao Ji feel very happy.
Zhao Ji couldn't help but feel overjoyed. He didn't expect that even though he was in such a miserable state, he still had a beautiful woman by his side. This must have given him some comfort on his way to escape south.
Zhao Ji laughed and said, "We were just about to board the boat, but you caught up with us." As Zhao Ji spoke, he pulled Qiu Feng onto the boat.
Qiu Feng looked at the huge ship, as wide as a building, about 30 meters long and 15 meters wide, with the masts and sails hoisted high. It was said that it could carry five to six hundred people. Thousands of ships were spread out on the sea, so majestic and imposing that Qiu Feng felt that it was not going to escape to the south, but rather to a decisive battle.
Qiu Feng looked around and saw that these ships were only carrying troops fleeing south, while the common people could only sigh from the other side of the river. They were probably going to flee south along the land route.
Along the way, due to the rampant bandits, the whole way was deserted. The ship passed through Yangzhou. Although the scenery was beautiful and pleasant, the former Yangzhou city no longer had the prosperity of the past. Qiu Feng was far away in the capital and had no idea what the once prosperous Yangzhou had experienced.
The mighty ship was heading south, and no one knew where it was going. Qiu Feng couldn't help but ask, "Sir, where are we going?"
Zhao Ji stared ahead. Since he was fleeing south, he naturally wanted to be as far away from the Jin army as possible. "Go to Jingkou."
When Qiu Feng heard the word "Jingkou", the corners of her mouth rose unconsciously. This was the place she thought about day and night. During the year in Bianjing, although she lived a life of luxury and was sought after by thousands of people, her heart was lonely like the surface of a lake wrinkled by the river breeze, which could never be smoothed out.
The tower ship was about to reach Jingkou when the faint sound of a zither came from not far away on the river. The sound gradually became clearer and a boat came along the river. Zhao Ji signaled the tower ships to stop. Thousands of tower ships stood along the river. A huge iron anchor was thrown out from each ship and sank to the bottom of the river, with the hull firmly fixed on the river surface.
A woman appeared in the boat. She was dressed in red, with a face as rosy as a peach and beautiful eyebrows and eyes.
When Qiu Feng saw that the person was Liang Hongyu, she was about to step forward to greet her, but Liang Hongyu gave her a look. Qiu Feng immediately retracted her steps. She was so happy to see her that Qiu Feng, who was usually cautious, almost made a mistake.
Liang Hongyu bowed and said, "My servant pays homage to the Grand Tutor."
Upon hearing this, Tong Guan searched his mind for a moment before realizing that this person was none other than Liang Hongyu, the most popular courtesan in Zuixianglou in Jingkou.
Tong Guan asked suspiciously, "Why is the young lady here?"
"I was moored here playing the lute when I saw a mighty ship approaching, filled with men in armor. I assumed the commander of such a vast army was none other than you, Grand Master."
Tong Guan was very pleased with the compliments.
At this time, Zhao Ji beside him asked: "Master, who is this woman?"
Tong Guan introduced her, "This woman, Liang Hongyu, is a famous courtesan in Jingkou. She is not only an exceptional dancer, but also a master of calligraphy."
"Oh, I'd like to see that."
Tong Guan knew very well that Zhao Ji could not walk when he saw a beautiful woman, so he took the initiative to invite Zhao Ji to go to the boat together.
Qiu Feng also boarded the boat.
"There is a place not far ahead where you can go fishing. I have some fishing gear on my boat. I wonder if you, sir, would go with me."
Liang Hongyu knew that Zhao Ji had abdicated from Qiu Feng's letter, but at this time she could only pretend not to know.
Zhao Ji did not explain much, but simply replied: "We have been traveling for so many days, it is time to take a break. I would like to go with you."
Seeing that the place they were arriving at was not far from here, Tong Guan did not let the tower ship behind catch up.
Zhao Ji and Tong Guan fished together for a while. After they caught a few fish, it was getting dark.
The four of them drank together in the cabin. Liang Hongyu performed a dance on the deck, and Zhao Ji applauded. After the dance, Liang Hongyu kept toasting Zhao Ji, and Zhao Ji eventually fell drunk on the table. After drinking a few glasses, Tong Guan also felt weak and powerless.
When they got on the boat, Liang Hongyu secretly gave a packet of medicine to Qiu Feng. Qiu Feng secretly smeared the medicine powder on the wine glasses of Tong Guan and Zhao Ji while they were fishing.
Seeing that the drug had taken effect, Liang Hongyu's eyes showed a fierce look, and she said to Tong Guan: "Master, do you know who I am?"
Tong Guan didn't understand what she was talking about. Wasn't she Liang Hongyu?
Liang Hongyu approached him step by step and continued, "Grand Master, do you remember Liang Yan? Liang Yan is my grandfather."
Tong Guan was shocked to realize that she was going to avenge his grandfather. He felt cold in his heart and hated him for not letting the boat behind catch up. Tong Guan had been cautious all his life. Was he going to die here today?
"You framed my grandfather and father for having a personal relationship with Fang La, which led to their unjust deaths. My entire Liang family was raided, the women were forced into prostitution, and the men into slavery. It was all thanks to you. Today, I can finally avenge them. Your death has come."
Liang Hongyu's eyes were wide open with anger. She bent down and pulled out a dagger from her boot. She raised her hand and stabbed Tong Guan's heart with the knife. She held the knife and crushed and twisted it. Blood gushed out like a fountain. Tong Guan could no longer hold on and fell in the cabin. He convulsed a few times and died.
The cabin was suddenly filled with blood, and Tong Guan fell in a pool of blood. A generation of treacherous eunuchs fell in the torrent of history.
It was already dark. The officers on the ship had not seen the retired emperor and the grand tutor for a long time, so they went to the front to look for them. However, they heard no sound from the boat. They felt something was wrong, so they boarded the boat, only to find that Tong Guan was dead and the retired emperor was crawling on the table.
When Zhao Ji woke up, he saw Tong Guan lying in a pool of blood and exclaimed in surprise: "The Jin people are coming!"
The officers under him laughed secretly, thinking that the emperor must have been scared silly by the Jin people. They had already fled to the deepest part of the south. Where did the Jin people come from? He was a man, but when the foreign enemies invaded, he could only run for his life. He was no better than a woman.
It must have been the woman who dealt with the treacherous eunuch Tong Guan, whom they hated so much. Many of his men did not die at the hands of the Jin people, but died at the hands of this treacherous eunuch.
The officer explained, "Your Majesty, there are no Jin troops here. We have received reports from the front saying that the Jin troops have withdrawn. Why don't we return to Bianjing?"
Only then did Zhao Ji show his joy, tidied his clothes, followed him onto the ship, and turned back to Bian Jing.
As for Liang Hongyu, he didn't bother to hold her responsible for killing Tong Guan.
Just after Liang Hongyu killed Tong Guan, she tied the message "The Jin people have withdrawn" to an arrow and shot it accurately at the pillar of the front ship. She expected that Zhao Ji would return soon after receiving the news and would not chase them anymore.
After Liang Hongyu and Qiu Feng saw the mighty building ship sailing away from afar, they returned to Zuixinlou with peace of mind.
As for Tong Guan's body, it was thrown into the river by his men.
Zhao Ji stared at the surging river in front of him and sorted out the cause of Tong Guan's death in his mind.
He thought that Miss Qiu Feng was in cahoots with Liang Hongyu, who assassinated Tong Guan. He had no doubt about Qiu Feng's identity at all.
Fortunately, the person they wanted to kill was Tong Guan, otherwise, he would probably be the one to die under the knife.
He shuddered at the thought.
Zhao Ji returned from Jiangnan and set foot on the land of Bianliang again.
As soon as he entered the palace, several guards came and lined up in front of him.
"Your Majesty, the Emperor invites you to live in Longde Palace."
Without waiting for his reply, the guards took him to Longde Palace, where he lived after abdicating before heading south.
Not long after, Zhao Heng transferred away the attendants and guards around Zhao Ji under various pretexts, leaving only a few concubines living with him.
Afterwards, Zhao Heng sent guards to strictly guard the place, nominally for "protection" but actually under house arrest.
After being placed under house arrest, Zhao Ji also saw the reality clearly. He was no longer the emperor and naturally had no rights. So he lived peacefully in the palace, playing the piano, painting, drinking and reciting poetry, and was quite happy and comfortable.
As for the ministers who fled south with Zhao Ji, Zhao Heng liquidated them one by one, demoting those who should be demoted and exiling those who should be exiled.
Cai Jing was demoted to the bottom of his official rank and banished to the frontier. At the time, Cai Jing was eighty years old. He had enjoyed a life of wealth and luxury, but only then did he realize the bitterness of life and began to suffer.
He traveled south alone, and because of his notoriety, he was cursed by the people along the way. When he wanted to eat, he was cursed by street vendors, and when he sat in his sedan chair, he was cursed by passers-by. He endured the curses all the way to Tanzhou, where he finally fell ill and died.
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