Multiple crimes

Chapter 31 The Emperor Lost

As soon as Er Zhurong left, there was no news.Yuan Ziyou lived in the barracks like a year, arresting people every day to inquire about the battle situation on the front line, and learned that Chen Qingzhi led the troops across the Yellow River first, and the two sides had been facing each other for three days under Zhonglang City.

"Can we win?" Yuan Ziyou asked Yan Shuo secretly.

"It's hard to say about Chen Qingzhi, but it shouldn't be difficult to win Luoyang."

"What do you mean? Isn't Er Zhurong in Zhonglang City now?"

"Chen Qingzhi is not that easy to deal with. Er Zhurong is not stupid. It is impossible to spend all his troops in Zhonglang City." Yan Shuo said, "He left an order before sending troops. If he can't break the city within three days, let He Basheng led people to smuggle across the Yellow River from the south to take Luoyang."

"Luoyang doesn't know what's going on right now."

"Chen Qingzhi went to intercept Er Zhurong before entering the city. There should be only Yuan Hao in the city. The soldiers who entered the palace with Yuan Hao that day and the vanguard that Chen Qingzhi sent to him are all dead, and the rest must be nothing more. Some rabble."

"Where is He Basheng?" Yuan Ziyou stood up, "I have something to ask him."

He Basheng received the notification and was about to leave the tent, when he lifted the curtain Yuan Ziyou had already come to him, so he could only salute and invite people to sit down.

Seeing that he was a neat and tall young man, Yuan Ziyou felt a little fond of him, and inadvertently put a smile on his face.

"Er Zhurong let you enter Luoyang?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Tonight."

"What else did he order?"

He Basheng raised his eyes to look at Yuan Ziyou, and replied: "The general ordered me to send someone to escort the emperor into the city immediately after taking Luoyang."

Yuan Ziyou fell silent.They thought they could wait until Er Zhurong returned to go back with him, but unexpectedly they had to split up.

"The troops will be dispatched in a few hours." He Basheng bowed slightly, "If the emperor has nothing important to do..."

"I'm asking you something, sit down!"

He Basheng sat up straight again as he said.

As expected of the person brought out by Er Zhurong, he is as virtuous as his master.Yuan Ziyou could see that he was impatient with him, but he didn't care much.

"Is Chen Qingzhi difficult to deal with?" He continued to ask, "Er Zhurong has been deadlocked with him for three days, does he have any chance of winning?"

"The general at Zhonglang City has his own ideas. The task of the last general is to take down Luoyang and escort the emperor into the city."

"I'm asking what do you think Er Zhurong's chances of winning are?"

"The last general believes that the general has his own way."

"Okay, you go down." Yuan Ziyou was impatient, "If he doesn't come back, you don't want to live."

He Basheng stood still, Yuan Ziyou suddenly realized that it was in the other party's tent, got up and angrily flicked his sleeves and left.

Before dawn, He Basheng marched into Luoyang City, and as expected, news of the city's destruction came just after noon.The troops who had come to fetch the emperor back to the city turned back to Shangdang, and the rest of the troops were packed up and ready to go.Yuan Ziyou has no reason to stay in Shangdang, but when asked about the battle situation in Zhonglang City, he learned that the two sides are still fighting fiercely.

Seeing that Yuan Ziyou was reluctant to get in the car, Yan Shuo knew that his heart was in Zhonglang City, so he persuaded patiently: "Master, go back to the palace and wait for news. You don't need to worry about Chen Qingzhi."

Yuan Ziyou heard something in his words: "What do you mean? He won't last long?"

"Master, think about it, it has been a few days since the capture of Luoyang City? Why hasn't Nanliang sent troops to reinforce it?"

"Why? Didn't Chen Qingzhi ask Xiao Yan for help?"

"Nanliang went north this time to help Yuan Hao seize the throne. Chen Qingzhi was only sent by Xiao Yan to help him open the way. It is up to him whether to ask for Yuan Hao's assistance." Yan Shuo said, "The few Yuan Hao who came with Yuan Hao After all, the surname Wang Ye is not from Nanliang, and Chen Qingzhi is well-known, so it is impossible for them not to guard against him."

"Are you saying that they deliberately did not allow Nanliang to reinforce them, in case Chen Qingzhi became too powerful?" Yuan Ziyou was stunned.

"Yuan Hao needless to say, if the remaining people want to ask for help, they won't delay until now."

Yuan Ziyou understood, even though he was still uneasy, he got into the carriage as promised.

A group of people headed for Luoyang City, and halfway Yuan Ziyou called Yan Shuo to him and said, "I'm a little sleepy, I want to sleep for a while, call me again when you enter the city!" Yan Shuo thought of Yuanzi's past three days You hardly had a good night's sleep and really needed to catch up on sleep, so he ordered the emperor to rest alone and not to disturb him.

After walking for more than an hour, the city sent people to find Yan Shuo, saying that He Basheng asked him to enter the palace first to identify Yuan Hao's body.

Yuan Hao's death was ugly, Yan Shuo moved his body and limbs to a hidden place before leaving, and He Basheng's people might not be able to find him for a while.Seeing that there was no movement from Yuan Ziyou's side, Yan Shuo nodded and followed the visitor.

The palace was in a mess, and the corpses of Nanliang soldiers were still scattered on the spot and had not been cleaned up.Yan Shuo saw He Basheng who was waiting at the gate of the palace, and brought him to a well in the backyard of the West Palace, where a bloody torso was hanging obliquely on the edge of the well.

Seeing this scene, He Basheng frowned, and the soldiers who came with him also looked at each other in blank dismay.Even though he has experienced countless battles, he has rarely seen the enemy's death look so unbearable.

"I heard that the emperor killed him with his own hands?" He Basheng said to Yan Shuo after ordering his subordinates to clean up Yuan Hao's body, "It was quite ruthless."

"Yuan Hao killed Yuan Xie, the king of Pengcheng. Naturally, he hates his father deeply."

He Basheng didn't know about the Yuan family's grievances at first, so he was very sad when he heard the words.

After leading people to clean up all the corpses of the enemy soldiers in the palace, the two waited outside the palace gate to escort Yuan Ziyou's team into the city.He Basheng looked at Yan Shuo with interest, and asked, "Are you the emperor's servant brought from Changle Palace?"

"Yes."

"I never imagined that a mere domestic servant could have such skill."

Yan Shuo looked up at him, not knowing what he meant by that.

"I don't mean anything else." Seeing that he was so vigilant, He Basheng smiled and said, "I heard that Guard Xi was seriously injured, so you must have some ability to protect them both from the palace."

"The governor was joking, thanks to Xi Huwei fighting the emperor to the death, he was able to escape..."

In the middle of the conversation, a soldier came to report and whispered in He Basheng's ear.Yan Shuo saw that his expression changed instantly, and he secretly thought something was wrong, knowing that something happened.

"What's wrong? Has the situation in Zhonglang City changed?"

"No..." He Basheng turned his head and looked at him, his voice trembling slightly: "The emperor is gone."

Yan Shuo's shock was no small matter, and he and He Basheng rushed to the gate of the city.The leading soldier brought the two of them to the carriage Yuan Ziyou was riding in.Yan Shuo lifted the curtain of the car, and saw a person lying on his side in the car with Yuan Ziyou's clothes on, face down.Looking carefully, the neck has been twisted, and it has been dead for three hours.

Yan Shuo made a gloomy face, and slapped the frame of the car hard.

The soldier's face was ashen: "Sir, I ordered... I ordered not to disturb the emperor's rest. I didn't find anything strange until I got to the gate of the city..."

"Did someone suspicious approach the carriage on the way?!"

"Go back to the governor, no one is approaching."

"No one? Could it be that the emperor himself killed someone and ran away!?" He Basheng's eyes also turned red.Yuan Ziyou was lost, and he couldn't blame him.

"He killed him..." Yan Shuo stood up slowly, "The emperor killed him."

"The emperor killed it? Where is the emperor now?"

"Zhonglang City."

"What did you say?"

Yan Shuo stopped talking, turned around and went to lead the horse.

"Wait, you're going to Zhonglang City?" He Basheng stepped forward and held him back, "Zhonglang City has been broken!"

Yan Shuo stopped walking when he heard the words: "The city was broken? When did it happen?"

"The news came half an hour ago that Chen Qingzhi was defeated and fled, and the army is already on the way back to the city."

"Is there any news from the emperor?"

"Never noticed."

He Basheng still had doubts about Yuan Ziyou's whereabouts: "Mr. Yan, are you sure the emperor went to Zhonglang City?"

Yan Shuo's face softened a little at this time, and he said in a deep voice: "The emperor has been very concerned about the battle situation of the main army for the past few days, and asked about the route from the camp to Zhonglang City last night."

He Basheng recalled that Yuan Ziyou had indeed asked him about the battle situation in Zhonglang City more than once, so he believed Yan Shuo's words again.After thinking about it for a while, he ordered his subordinates to arrange soldiers and horses to enter the camp first, and then according to Yan Shuo's words, he directly sent people to Er Zhurong to inquire about the emperor's news.

Yan Shuo wanted to go there in person, but He Basheng persuaded him: "During the march, it will be inconvenient for people who are not in the army. If Mr. Yan is worried, please follow me to the camp and wait. I will inform you immediately if there is any news."

Seeing that the other party was still hesitating, he said again: "The emperor has been walking for more than three hours. He should have arrived at the front barracks before breaking the city. Since the battle is over, he must be on his way back to the city with the army." Yan Shuo It made sense, so I stopped insisting.

He Basheng was on military affairs, Yan Shuo saw that he was going in and out without caring about himself, so he went to the gate of the camp to look around alone, and after waiting for a long time, he finally saw the soldier who sent the order back.Yan Shuo stepped forward to stop him from asking about Yuan Ziyou's news, Xiao Bing recognized him, and replied casually, "The emperor is all right." Before he finished speaking, he went straight to He Basheng's place in a hurry.Yan Shuo followed closely and saw from a distance three or five soldiers listening to the soldier's report, He Basheng's face was cloudy and uncertain, changing again and again.Seeing Yan Shuo approaching, he greeted him and said: "Don't worry, sir, the emperor is safe and sound, and has arrived at the camp in the west of the city with the army."

When Yan Shuo heard this, a stone in his heart finally fell to the ground, but he didn't know why everyone was still anxious.

He Basheng saw his doubts, sighed and said, "The general is injured."