Chapter 338: Underground Palace Assassination
Seeing that Zhao Xiaofei was unwilling to go in, Empress Dowager Zhou said, "There's no secret in letting you in. I just want you to swear an oath in front of the late emperor. You must promise that you will never betray the Ming Dynasty and will not do anything detrimental to the Ming Dynasty!"
"Empress Dowager, if I wanted to rebel, who can stop me? Wouldn't I have rebelled long ago? Your Zhu family married two princesses to me and gave me the title of prince. What else should I be dissatisfied with? Even if it's not for the sake of the late emperor, I have to do it for the sake of Princess Kunxing. I really like the princess!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"In that case, why don't you hand over your military power?" asked Queen Mother Zhou.
"Hand over the military power? If you hand over the military power, who will lead the troops? Can he take back the Ming Dynasty? If you hadn't cooperated with the Donglin Party, could I have been defeated in Xi'an? We would have recovered the capital during the Spring Festival. Besides, if I hand over the military power, will you let me be a prince with peace of mind? Impossible! I guess you will find a reason to chop off my head!" Zhao Xiaofei didn't hide anything at this time and said whatever he had to say.
"Your power is too great, and I have to consider my son's future! But now I have to admit that the Ming Dynasty cannot survive without you. I know my own body, and I will soon go with the late emperor! But I am worried and uneasy. Now I just want you to swear an oath in front of the late emperor's coffin, then I can feel at ease and go to find the late emperor with peace of mind!" said the Queen Mother Zhou.
"I can go with you to swear an oath in front of the late emperor, but the emperor must be called! I also want the emperor to know my feelings!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
Zhao Xiaofei wasn't worried about his own safety. Zhou Shuai and Yan Yingyuan were patrolling the area. Although Gao Jie and Huang Degong also had troops, their numbers were too small to make a significant difference.
Empress Dowager Zhou said, "Okay! Call the Emperor!"
Wang Erxi immediately went to call the emperor, and Zhu Cijiong said, "Mother! There is no need! My brother-in-law is loyal to the Ming Dynasty!"
Empress Dowager Zhou coughed lightly twice and said, "I know my health condition very well. I want to leave with peace of mind before I go to find your father!"
Zhu Cijiong knew his mother was doing this for his own good. He also wanted to fulfill his filial duty. Since his mother asked his brother-in-law to swear an oath in front of the coffin, he would accompany her.
So Wang Erxi led the way, the Empress Dowager was supported by two palace maids, and Zhao Xiaofei and Zhu Cijiong followed behind. The six of them entered the underground palace and came to Chongzhen's coffin.
The underground palace was freezing cold, making people shiver all over. Without a word, Zhao Xiaofei knelt down. He pointed to the heavens and swore before Chongzhen's coffin, "Your servant, Zhao Xiaofei! I am the consort of the Ming Dynasty, the Prince Li of the Ming Dynasty! I swear here that I will never betray the Ming Dynasty. If I disobey this order, I will be punished by heaven and earth!"
Zhao Xiaofei turned around and found that one of the palace maids was missing. In addition, his brother-in-law was also missing.
"Empress Dowager! I swore an oath in front of the late emperor! Can you rest assured now?" Zhao Xiaofei said.
"Rest assured?" Queen Mother Zhou smiled coldly.
"Prince Li, only when you die can the Queen Mother feel at ease!" At this time, the remaining palace maid took out a dagger and ran towards Zhao Xiaofei, intending to kill him with one knife.
Zhao Xiaofei had no protection on him, so he dodged immediately.
The maid's knife strike missed, exposing her back. Zhao Xiaofei kicked the maid in the back, and she fell to the ground with a thud.
"Ah! Watch me!" At this time, Wang Erxi rushed towards Zhao Xiaofei fiercely.
Zhao Xiaofei jumped up with all his strength and kicked Wang Erxi in the face. He was immediately knocked to the ground by Zhao Xiaofei.
Zhao Xiaofei turned around and asked, "Queen Mother! What exactly are you going to do?"
"Only when you die can I go on my journey with peace of mind!" said Queen Mother Zhou.
"Just these two guys!" Zhao Xiaofei smiled and pointed at the two people on the ground.
Empress Dowager Zhou said coldly, "What about me?" Then she took out a pistol from her sleeve.
Zhao Xiaofei's scalp tingled when he saw this thing. He couldn't travel through time now. He was dozens of meters underground. If he traveled back, there would be dirt everywhere, and he would be buried alive.
So Zhao Xiaofei had no choice but to hide. He immediately hid behind the coffin. Empress Dowager Zhou pulled the trigger, and with a bang, the bullet hit the coffin. Stones flew everywhere, and Zhao Xiaofei dodged the bullet.
However, Zhao Xiaofei saw that the musket in Queen Mother Zhou's hand should be a Portuguese-made hand cannon that could fire three shots in a row.
Dodge one more shot, and there are still two.
Queen Mother Zhou fired a shot but failed to kill Zhao Xiaofei, so she said, "Come out here! As long as you die, my son will inherit the throne without anyone threatening him. I promise that after you die, your son Wenxian will inherit the throne. I will also grant him a red seal and iron certificate, pardoning his crimes as long as he is not guilty of treason!"
"Bah! Can your family's red seal and iron certificate save you from death? Go down and ask Taizu! No one can be saved from death!" Zhao Xiaofei and Queen Mother Zhou started playing hide-and-seek with the coffin as the center.
However, Empress Dowager Zhou hadn't exercised for a long time, so her health was naturally not good. Recently, she had been working hard. Her health had long been failing, and Empress Dowager Zhou began to cough. Zhao Xiaofei took this opportunity to step forward and kick the pistol away.
Queen Mother Zhou also fell to the ground. Zhao Xiaofei walked over and said with a smile, "Queen Mother! Why are you doing this?" Then he picked up the pistol.
"Why bother? Even if you don't want to be emperor, what about your subordinates? Can you guarantee that your subordinates will not put a yellow robe on you?" said Queen Mother Zhou.
"You've seen too many shows! Would they dare to do that without Zhao Kuangyin's orders? Zhao Kuangyin has no intention of rebelling, so who would dare to put the yellow robe on him?" Zhao Xiaofei said.
"Hahahaha, you can't run away anyway, so just stay with me! Hahahaha!" Queen Mother Zhou laughed.
Zhao Xiaofei suddenly felt something was wrong, so he wanted to run out immediately, and then he heard the Dragon-Breaking Stone in the underground palace slowly descending.
At this time, the palace maid and Wang Erxi hugged Zhao Xiaofei's legs tightly, preventing him from leaving.
Seeing the Dragon-Breaking Stone about to fall, Zhao Xiaofei picked up his pistol and pulled the trigger. With two bangs, Wang Erxi and the palace maid were killed. Zhao Xiaofei finally broke free of them and, while the Dragon-Breaking Stone was still 40 centimeters from the ground, quickly slipped out through the gap.
Behind him, he could only hear Empress Dowager Zhou's laughter. Then, Zhu Cijiong ran over and said, "Just now, I was tied up by that palace maid. I just broke free, and I..." Zhu Cijiong suddenly saw the underground palace door sealed with the Dragon-Breaking Stone. He asked, "What's wrong with this underground palace door?"
"The Queen Mother wants to kill me! She has arranged everything so that I will die with her!" Zhao Xiaofei recounted what had just happened.
Zhu Cijiong burst into tears: "Mother! Mother! Mother!"
But no matter how he called, no one responded.
Behind the Dragon-Breaking Stone, Queen Mother Zhou stood up tremblingly and began to put on makeup and dress herself up.
She said to the coffin, "I'm here to accompany you!" Then she threw down a letter and sat cross-legged in front of the coffin.
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