Chapter 51 Confrontation
When Empress Dowager Chi asked about the events of five years ago, Zhao Yuzhang's face showed that bitter smile again.
"Tangzhou City five years ago..."
Should we say that we are isolated and helpless?
At that time, King Motuo of Xiqi led his powerful cavalry to launch a fierce attack. The soldiers defending the city were defeated one after another, and the atmosphere of despair enveloped the entire city.
It was at this time that Zhen Rui led 3,000 soldiers to break out and flee the city.
Originally, there were only 40,000 civilians in the city, of which there were no more than 10,000 officers and soldiers, and less than half of them were able to defend the city.
Zhen Ruicai's escape caused an uproar in the army and great chaos among the people.
Zhao Yuzhang's husband, Zhen Ruizhi, was not as cowardly as his brother. As the defender of Tangzhou City, he decided to defend it to the death and die for his country.
But before that, he had to kill Zhao Yuzhang first.
He looked at Zhao Yuzhang and said with tears in his eyes, "Once the city is broken, the princess and the women and children in the city will surely be humiliated by the barbarians of Xiqi. The women of our Darong Dynasty must not fall into the hands of foreigners."
Therefore, in order to preserve the chastity of the women of the Darong Dynasty, he decided to kill them first and then commit suicide.
At this point, Zhao Yuzhang's wry smile turned into a sneer. "This is Zhen Ruizhi, the hero praised by the world for his sacrifice for his country."
Zhao Mingyue's eyes widened in disbelief. "What? He actually wants to kill my aunt and all the women in the city? If he wants to die, why can't he just die on his own? Why does he have the right to decide other people's lives?!"
The more she spoke, the more angry her tone became. She looked at Zhao Yuzhang anxiously, "Aunt, you definitely didn't listen to that idiot, did you? What happened next?"
Zhao Yuzhang has been imprisoned in the princess's mansion for many years. No one in the court has ever said a word for her. It can be said that she has long been disheartened. Now, when she hears Zhao Mingyue being so indignant for her, a rare feeling of sadness wells up in her heart.
"Good boy..." She reached out and grabbed Zhao Mingyue's hand, but unexpectedly felt a thin layer of calluses on her palms and fingers, like those of someone who practiced archery. She couldn't help but be stunned.
Just as he was about to ask her, the palace attendant who had gone to summon Zhen Ruicai came in and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, Lord Zhen is here, but..."
When Zhao Yuzhang heard Zhen Ruicai's name, a hint of cold murderous intent immediately flashed in his eyes, but it only lasted for a moment before it was concealed.
Although judging from Zhao Mingyue's attitude, the child is definitely on her side, but she still doesn't know what Empress Dowager Chi thinks. She still has to be careful and not be as reckless as before.
So he took a deep breath, regained his composure, and waited for Empress Dowager Chi to speak.
But she asked coldly: "Just what?"
"However, Lord Zhen said that if Princess Zhaoqing saw him, she would definitely kill him. He dared not enter the palace alone. Please allow Qian Qian, the commander of the Left Eagle Guard, to come with him to the audience."
Zhao Yuzhang sneered in his heart. Zhen Ruicai really valued his life. He knew that she was a reckless lunatic. Even with Empress Dowager Chi around, he didn't dare to meet her alone.
However, would Queen Mother Chi really agree to such an absurd request?
Before she had time to think, Empress Dowager Chi had already approved it.
While Zhao Yuzhang was surprised, he also understood a little. Zhen Ruicai had been in charge of military and political affairs for many years, and the twelve guards of the imperial guards were under his command. Empress Dowager Chi had just come to power, so it would not be easy to offend him.
Otherwise, if we are not careful, it will cause a mutiny in the army.
You should know that 70% of the twelve imperial guards are stationed near the capital, and only 30% are stationed in local areas and border areas. The branch commanded by Qian Qian, the commander of the Left Eagle Guard, is the strongest among the twelve guards.
Such a powerful army is stationed near the capital, but it is not under the control of Queen Mother Chi, but is managed by Zhen Ruicai. Even though he has already sat in that position, Queen Mother Chi must still feel uneasy.
So, her enemies are the same as those of Queen Mother Chi.
It was precisely because she was clear about this that she submitted the memorial accusing Zhen Ruicai of dereliction of duty, and as she expected, Empress Dowager Chi immediately summoned her.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yuzhang slightly curled the corners of his mouth, but in the eyes of others, this smile seemed to have a bit of ridicule.
As soon as Zhen Rui walked into the hall, he saw the sneer on Zhao Yuzhang's face and became immediately annoyed.
He turned his head away angrily, walked to the center of the hall and saluted, and Qian Qian, who was wearing armor, also knelt down.
"Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen Mother."
The cold voice of Empress Dowager Chi came from above, "Zhen Ruicai, you said Princess Zhaoqing wanted to kill you, what's going on?"
Zhen Rui subconsciously wanted to stand up, but as soon as he moved, he was stopped by Qian Qian. Then he realized that Empress Dowager Chi didn't call him to get up.
He had no choice but to kneel and reply, "Your Majesty, Princess Zhaoqing is resentful of me because I sent soldiers to guard the princess's mansion and forbade her to leave. She wants to kill me the moment she sees me. But I was honestly following the late emperor's orders and guarding her diligently without any selfish motives. I am truly wronged!"
Chi Li looked at Zhao Yuzhang, "Is that the case?"
Zhao Yuzhang sneered, "Of course not. Your Majesty, I've already told you that Zhen Ruicai abandoned the city with his troops and fled. This alone is enough for me to kill him!"
When Zhen Rui heard this, his face suddenly turned red. He knew that as soon as Zhao Yuzhang came out, he wanted to bring up the old score from five years ago.
He no longer cared whether Empress Dowager Chi called him to stand up. He jumped up from the ground, looked at Zhao Yuzhang, and shouted, "Nonsense! I was clearly going to Ningzhou to ask for reinforcements! If I hadn't withdrawn in time, the main force of the court would have been wiped out long ago. How could we have won such a great victory later?"
As he spoke, his face darkened. "It was you, Princess Zhaoqing, who brought your female army of less than a hundred people and forced the city guards and civilians to retreat and fight. You caused countless casualties among the people of Tangzhou City, and you even killed my brother!"
Zhao Yuzhang looked at him, his eyes sharp. "You mean Zhen Ruizhi? He deserved it. He wanted to kill me, the women and children in the city, and die for the city. He wanted to be a hero, but I don't want to be a chaste woman!"
Zhen Ruicai's voice began to tremble, "So, so you killed him!"
Zhao Yuzhang's voice was cold. "No, I didn't kill him. I simply had my personal guards lock him up, and then posted a notice telling the people in the city that if they didn't want to commit suicide to preserve their so-called chastity, then they should take up arms and fight to the death."
"Do you know how many women were among those who went out of the city to fight? All of them! Do you know how many of my personal soldiers died? Only ten out of a hundred survived! As for your brother, he committed suicide after we defeated the Xiqi soldiers."
Zhen Ruicai didn't believe her words. His eyes turned red and he angrily said, "You are lying. You must have killed my brother!"
Zhao Yuzhang couldn't help laughing at his ugly appearance. "Why would I lie? Admit it, Zhen Ruizhi is just like you, he's a coward!"
Zhen Ruicai was so angry that his face turned blue. Just as he was about to retort, his arm suddenly tightened. Turning around, Qian Qian grabbed his arm and winked at him.
Zhen Rui suddenly came to his senses. What was the point of arguing with Zhao Yuzhang now? The most important thing was not to let her leave the princess's mansion. Then he would have the opportunity to avenge his brother.
He took a deep breath and turned to look at Chi Li. "Your Majesty, I don't want to argue about what happened in the past. However, the late emperor once issued an order not to allow Princess Zhaoqing to leave the princess's residence. I'm afraid it's difficult to disobey this order."
Chi Qi's expression turned cold and she didn't even bother to respond to him.
The throne has been replaced, and you are still here using the late emperor's will to make things right? Wouldn't it be better for you to go down and serve the late emperor as a minister?
She glanced at Zhao Mingyue, who immediately stood up and questioned him, "My aunt was attacked, Zhen Ruicai, do you know about this?"
Zhen Ruicai's expression changed slightly, "I, I really don't know about this matter."
He turned around and kicked Qian Qian, "Didn't I ask you to guard the Princess Mansion? How do you do it?"
Qian Qian puffed out his chest and said, "Princess Mingyue, my Left Eagle Guard has secured the Princess's residence impenetrable. If any bad guys managed to sneak in, it would be impossible!"
Zhao Mingyue was waiting for this. With a stern face, she said sternly, "Just because outsiders can't enter doesn't mean your own people can't. Xie Qinjian, who caused trouble at my recruitment platform a few days ago, has confessed that he was ordered by you, Zhen Ruicai, to assassinate my aunt!"
As he spoke, he shouted to the Golden Crow Guards waiting in the hall, "Come here, tell Xie Qinjian to come in!"
When Zhen Ruicai and Qian Qian heard this, they immediately became nervous. They looked at each other with some panic in their eyes.
Zhen Ruicai cursed in his heart, damn Xie Qinjian, he is really not good at doing anything but causing trouble, his mouth is as loose as a belt, if he had known earlier, he would not have tried to save him, he might as well have bribed the people from Yiluansi to get rid of him, then there would be no trouble today.
We have to find a way to make Xie Qinjian shut up.
Fortunately, he was well prepared. Zhen Rui lowered his eyes, and a hint of cunning flashed in his eyes.
At this time, the Golden Crow Guards escorted Xie Qinjian in. Zhen Rui took a closer look and saw that his face was pale, he walked unsteadily, and his exposed skin was covered with scars.
He immediately took a breath of cold air. The people from the Yiluansi were too cruel!
He took a big step and ran to Xie Qinjian, looking worried. "Jian'er, are you okay? It's all my fault for not stopping you. You were so arrogant. When you heard that Princess Mingyue was a master of martial arts, you couldn't help but want to compete with her. Who would have thought that you would upset the princess..."
Xie Qinjian had been deeply resentful of Zhen Ruicai for not coming to rescue him, but he could no longer bear the torture and confessed that he had ordered him to assassinate Princess Zhaoqing.
Now seeing that he was so worried about her, she was both moved and ashamed. She was about to speak, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Zhen Rui slapped her in the face.
Then, a round meatball fell into his mouth. He swallowed subconsciously and swallowed the meatball.
"W-what...?" Xie Qinjian widened his eyes.
Before he could react, the Golden Crow Guard grabbed his arm and was about to pull him away, "What are you doing? Stay away from the prisoner!"
Zhen Ruicai hugged Xie Qinjian tightly and leaned close to his ear, lowering his voice very low, "If you don't want to be poisoned to death, shut up. I will keep you alive, otherwise-"
Before he could finish his words, the Golden Crow Guard pulled the man away and immediately drew his sword across his body. "Master Zhen, if you don't step aside, don't blame me for being unreasonable."
Zhen Ruicai had no choice but to retreat awkwardly, still saying, "I sent someone to apologize to Princess Mingyue for your sake. You should also apologize to the princess quickly. The princess is kind and righteous, and she will definitely forgive you."
Looking at Xie Qinjian again, his face turned even paler, his body was shaky and he could hardly stand.
Suddenly his knees went weak and he fell to the ground with a snap.
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