The guard then realized that Zhou Youan was planning to use the lives of these innocent palace maidens and eunuchs as human shields to buy time. He was immediately horrified, and while looking around, he whispered to Zhou Youan: "General, how can you use this method? These eunuchs and palace maidens are all innocent people. How can we let them be shields for us guards? We eat the emperor's food and train all day long in order to fight in battles and serve the court and protect the people of the Great Zhou from the war. With us here, how can we let innocent people lose their lives in vain?"
"Once the war starts, not to mention the eunuchs and palace maids, even the common people in the city will have to be captured and sent to the battlefield. This is the order of His Majesty. So? Do you want to disobey it?" Zhou Youan looked at the guard coldly and said slowly.
The guard seemed to be frightened, or perhaps it was a huge blow. He drooped his shoulders and was speechless for a long time. Zhou Youan looked at him coldly, then turned and left. Suddenly, a loud shout came from a distance -
"Achieve great achievements! Defeat the rebels!"
"Achieve great achievements! Defeat the rebels!"
…
The sound was like an overwhelming tidal wave, shaking the entire capital city as if the earth was shaking. The soldiers defending the city were all shocked and frightened, and timidly leaned forward to look out through the gap in the city gate. They saw the dazzling armor reflecting the light outside the city and stretching as far as the eye could see. They heard the soldiers outside the city shouting slogans, and they were all shivering and sweating profusely, but could not utter a word. Finally, the soldiers huddled together in silence, as if they were trying to keep warm, but it was clearly not cold at all that day.
"General! If His Majesty really treats the people like grass, I'm afraid that before the rebels attack, the city will be opened from the inside!" The guard was first startled by the movement outside the city, and then suddenly chased up, blocking Zhou Youan, and then gritted his teeth and said, "General, in order to let the people in the city have a perfect Mid-Autumn Festival, the rebels outside the city did not take advantage of the victory to attack the capital, but gave us a day to breathe. Even the rebels know that they love the people like their own children, but in the eyes of our emperor, the people are not even as good as animals! Such a emperor is probably a hundred times more violent and cruel than the rebellious Prince An. If he insists on his own way, I'm afraid that before dawn tomorrow, the people of the capital will unite and welcome the rebels into the city!"
"Yes, you are right," Zhou Youan nodded, patted the guard's shoulder, and said slowly, "So we have to make preparations for both situations."
"General, what do you mean?" The guard was stunned, obviously not understanding what Zhou Youan meant.
Zhou Youan didn't say anything else. He walked straight forward, took the whip from his personal guard, mounted the horse, and galloped towards the palace.
…
Imperial study.
"Your Highness, you can't drink any more! You can't drink any more!"
As soon as Cheng Shunfu entered the imperial study, he frowned at the strong smell of alcohol. He was even more shocked when he saw the wine jugs scattered on the floor and Zhong Mingzheng holding the wine jug and drinking on the couch. He hurried over and tried to snatch the wine jug from Zhong Mingzheng's hand, but was pushed to the ground by Zhong Mingzheng. He must have hit his calf. Cheng Shunfu covered his leg and gasped with a grimace, "Your Majesty, you...you can't drink like this anymore! You...if you keep on drinking like this, there will definitely...definitely be a big mess!"
Prince An's army was approaching the capital little by little, but the capital had no reinforcements and none of the guards sent out to deliver the imperial edict came back alive. Instead, the army from the northwest, southern Xinjiang, and even Tibet all came, but they were not coming for the Emperor. It was not until this moment that all the civil and military officials realized that Prince An was not the destitute and disabled person they thought he was. Under the cover of his seemingly pitiful and humiliating broken leg, he already held almost all the military power of the Great Zhou. How could they have always thought that such a dangerous and powerful figure was a pitiful creature?
It's really ridiculous.
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