Chapter 114 Dark Hour 2
As the sky darkened, the cries of battle shook the air outside the city walls. Artillery fire rang out sporadically, but the streets were deserted. Two lanterns swayed in the wind in front of the Zhou residence. The gates were tightly shut, and the occasional wind blew dust across them, landing on the stone lions at the entrance. The scene was bleak.
Wanshan had been staking out the area since dark. Zhou Kui's residence wasn't large. It had just two gates, front and back, guarded by General Zhou and his men. Wanshan wondered, "Why haven't they come yet?" Could Chongzhen have changed his mind and sent them to someone else's house? But then he thought, it seemed unlikely. He couldn't possibly be sending them to Concubine Yuan's house! After all, she wasn't the legal wife. In this era, men considered legal wives to be family, and concubines to be property. Even if you were a concubine, it would still be the same. Especially at this critical moment, Chongzhen probably wouldn't dare send the princes to other concubines' homes.
Just when Wanshan and the others were about to fall asleep, someone suddenly said, "Captain! Someone's coming!"
Wan Shan suddenly perked up after hearing this and asked, "How many people are there?"
"There are twenty people! There are a few children in the middle!" said the team member.
"Get ready!" Wan Shan said, raising his rifle. The other fifty men also raised their rifles, aiming at the adults around them. These men were none other than Chongzhen's four princes: Crown Prince Zhu Cilang, Prince Yong Zhu Cizhao, Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong, and Prince Daoling Zhu Cihuan. They were all protected by the Imperial Guard. They walked leisurely towards the Zhou residence, while the soldiers hiding on both sides of the street aimed their guns at the Imperial Guard.
Seeing that they were less than 50 steps away, Wanshan gave the order: "Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Dozens of gunshots rang out, emitting a dazzling light in the darkness. Before the Jinyiwei could even draw their swords, they fell in pools of blood.
Several children were frightened and cried loudly. Wanshan shouted, "Charge!"
The team members slung their muskets behind their backs, drew their swords, and charged at the crowd. Due to the darkness, visibility was limited. This lowered their chances of success, leaving six or seven Jinyiwei untouched. They then drew their embroidered spring swords and surrounded the four princes and an adult.
A Jinyiwei shouted loudly: "Who dares to harm the prince? If you want to be executed along with your entire clan, come here!"
"Don't talk nonsense! Hand him over, and I'll let you live!" Wan Shan said. He was wearing a mask, so no one knew who he was.
Seeing that revealing his identity was no use in threatening him, the Jinyiwei immediately rushed towards Wanshan and slashed at his head. Wanshan didn't even try to dodge, but raised his pistol and fired. The Ming Jinyiwei fell to the ground, motionless.
"Kill!" Wanshan commanded. The other team members, with their swords drawn, attacked the remaining Jinyiwei. With the three of them working together, even the Jinyiwei's martial arts were difficult to resist. Within three moves, the Jinyiwei were chopped to the ground, unable to rise again.
At this moment, a sharp voice shouted, "No, these are princes! How dare you!"
Wanshan took a closer look and realized he recognized the person who spoke. He had been with Zhao Xiaofei and had often seen this person delivering imperial decrees. It was none other than Eunuch Wang Erxi. Wanshan felt that if he went to Nanjing, he would definitely need a eunuch from the capital to serve him.
Wan Shan stepped forward and was about to say something when he heard shouts and cries of killing from behind. It was General Zhou with his men. They had already agreed that whoever saw the princes coming would take the first step, while the others would pretend to be Zhou Kui's servants coming to rescue the emperor.
Zhao Xiaofei was going to play this trick of crying wolf to the end. Wanshan immediately pulled out Prince Ding Zhu Cijiong from the four children. At this moment, Zhu Cilang reacted and suddenly grabbed Wanshan's hand. Wanshan didn't have time to waste, so he raised his leg and kicked Zhu Cilang, knocking him face up. Zhu Cijiong burst into tears, and Wanshan raised his hand and gently hit Zhu Cijiong on the neck, causing him to faint. Then he picked up Zhu Cijiong and ran away, with the team members behind him following closely. Wanshan didn't forget to remind the team members behind him: "Capture that eunuch too!" The team members behind grabbed Wang Erxi and ran away!
At this time, Zhou Shuai's men also approached. He saw three children standing in the middle of a pile of corpses. An older child was coaxing the two younger ones. Zhou Shuai approached and asked, "What happened just now? Why did they kill you?" Zhou Shuai had seen Zhao Xiaofei provide the photo of the prince, but at this time, he could only pretend not to know him.
Zhu Cilang, dressed in the clothes of an ordinary child, said, "Big brother! I am a relative of Zhou Guozhang! They wanted to take us hostage so they could demand a ransom from Zhou Guozhang. Fortunately, this big brother brought people to rescue us! I thank this big brother!"
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Zhou Shuai said.
"Please take us to Zhou's house. I will definitely thank you!" Zhu Cilan said.
"Okay! There's only a few steps in the Zhou Mansion! Let me help you!" Zhou Shuai said and went to help the other two children. The two children were so scared that they couldn't walk.
Just like that, General Zhou brought the three princes to Zhou Kui's doorstep. General Zhou personally knocked on the door. After a few knocks, a servant-like man came to open the door and said coldly, "What do you want? This is the Zhou Mansion! Don't disturb our Lord's rest! Be careful or I'll have your legs broken!"
"Just say that the grandson of Earl Jiading is here to see him! Go in and report it!" Zhu Cilang said.
"What? You are..." The servant was so surprised that he could hardly close his mouth.
"Don't make any noise! Go quickly! My grandfather will reward you handsomely!" said Zhu Cilang.
The servant nodded and hurried inside. A moment later, dozens of servants accompanied an old man to the gate. The old man said with tears in his eyes, "Why are you out? Who are they?"
"Grandpa! They saved us on the way! Can you give them some reward?" Zhu Cilang said.
Zhou Kui said to the housekeeper, "Zhou Xing! Give them a hundred coins!" Then he said to Zhu Cilang, "Come in quickly!"
Zhou Shuai curled his lips and said, "Seeing injustice, I'm willing to help! Forget the reward!"
Zhou Kui immediately laughed and said, "Thank you very much!" He turned to Zhou Xing and said, "Close the door quickly!"
Seeing Zhou Kui's stinginess, General Zhou felt deeply saddened by the fate of the Ming Dynasty. "With a father-in-law like this, how can the Ming Dynasty survive?" "You, old man, will be left with nothing. If you hand over your grandson to Li Zicheng, you won't have a good ending either." "What a jerk!"
After leaving the vicinity of Zhou's residence, Commander Zhou asked the team members to take off their outer clothes, revealing the Jinyiwei uniforms underneath. They were about to proceed with the next step of their plan, which was to go to the homes of the ministers on the list given by Zhao Xiaofei and falsely convey the imperial edict.
Zhou Shuai and his men's clothes were all borrowed by Zhao Xiaofei from modern society. Each of them wore a brocade-green uniform, the uniform of the Jinyiwei (Emperor's Guards), which was their standard attire. The "Flying Fish" uniforms you see in movies and TV dramas could only be worn when granted a reward by the emperor.
However, everyone was wearing casual clothes, except for General Zhou, who wore a Feiyu suit. This was because he was trying to fake an imperial decree, and he had to wear this outfit to intimidate the other party and prevent them from suspecting anything.
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