Li Zhen pursued the case of serial murders and even visited the family members of the deceased in person, but he still could not find out the cause of death of the murderer. These people who died of unknown causes seemed to have committed suicide. The reason could not be found, but they died for seven consecutive days. It is obviously impossible for a person, and any one at that, to commit suicide.
This kind of thing is definitely premeditated.
Li Zhen speculated like this, but could not find enough reasons to prove it, and even the suspects could not be identified. Li Zhen sat in the Admiral's Yamen all day long, and the time passed by and it was the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th.
On this day, the city of Beijing was very lively.
Countless people walked out of their homes and went to the streets to celebrate the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It seemed that they had forgotten about the continuous deaths of people some time ago. In addition, there had been no deaths for a long time, so the anxious officials also relaxed. Come down, don’t worry anymore.
Li Zhen failed to solve the case, but he felt very uncomfortable in his heart.
During this period, everyone was staring at him, all eyes fell on him, waiting for him to solve the case. However, Li Zhen's answer was failure and the case was not solved. On August 15th, Li Zhen Counting that the time was approaching the date agreed with Sushun, knowing that it would be difficult to solve the case, he took the initiative to pack his bags and ordered Long Ao and the nearly fifty soldiers from the Jiandao Battalion who stayed in Beijing to be on standby, preparing to leave Beijing for Jiangbei Camp. .
It's not that Li Zhen doesn't want to solve the case, it's because he can't solve the case.
Moreover, there was not much time given to Li Zhen, because Sushun would not let Li Zhen stay in Beijing longer.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Li Zhen went to the palace to resign.
He first went to the East Palace to meet Empress Dowager Ci'an. After expressing his intention to leave Beijing to Empress Dowager Ci'an and obtaining Ci'an's consent, Li Zhen then went to the West Palace to meet Cixi.
In the palace, Cixi's pretty face was full of frustrated applications, with a look of reluctance in her eyes.
Now she was only the Queen Mother of the West Palace, and Zai Chun had only ascended to the position of emperor. She did not hold the power herself, so Cixi was unwilling to accept it and wanted to hold more power.
Cixi looked at Li Zhen and said seriously: "Admiral Li, isn't there any other way to stay in Beijing? If Admiral Li leaves Beijing, we orphans and widowers will definitely be bullied by Sushun. Please consider it, Admiral Li." The other way around is to try to stay."
From the bottom of her heart, Cixi wanted what Li Zhen left behind.
As long as Li Zhen stays in Beijing, he will confront Sushun and his group. In this way, with Li Zhen in front and her behind the scenes, Li Zhen attracts the attention of Sushun and others, and Cixi can slowly accumulate strength. , once Li Zhen left Beijing and Sushun and others had no enemies in the court, Cixi would definitely be suppressed by Sushun and others.
Li Zhen was well aware of Cixi's thoughts and understood that Cixi was using him, and Li Zhen also hoped to stay in order to expand his rights. Unfortunately, God's will is not up to man...
Li Zhen shook his head and said: "Reporting to the Queen Mother, I really can't think of a way."
Cixi sighed: "Is this God's will?"
After a pause, Cixi continued: "That's all, that's all, don't think about these annoying things. Today is the annual Mid-Autumn Festival, which is a good day. Today, you will accompany the Ai family to watch the theater in the palace. After today , tomorrow you will set off for the Jiangbei camp. I hope you will pacify the bandits as soon as possible and lead the army back to the court, so that the emperor and I will not be bullied."
Li Zhen clasped his fists and said, "I will do my best and will not hesitate in the slightest."
Next, Li Zhen and Ci Xi had dinner together and then watched a play.
On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the sound of firecrackers, firecrackers, and hustle and bustle filled my ears with an atmosphere of joy. The whole city of Beijing was boiling, just like daytime, like a city that never sleeps.
Li Zhen was sitting at the bottom of the stand, listening to the singing and singing on the stage. He glanced at the lively atmosphere around him and suddenly felt a little sad in his heart. He felt like a bystander and was out of tune with the current atmosphere. He clearly saw a world in chaos in front of him. It was a strange scene, but everyone in front of them was immersed in the memory of the prosperous times, as if they were still in the period of Kangxi and Qianlong.
Li Zhen felt sad in his heart, but did not express his thoughts.
"Boom! Boom!!"
Suddenly, the sound of artillery fire was heard in the city.
The sound of the cannon was so loud that not only Li Zhen, but also Cixi and the palace maids and eunuchs heard it clearly. However, Cixi was stunned for a moment and then laughed, thinking that it was for celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival. She ignored it and continued to stare at the excitement. The noisy stands are immersed in the bustling hustle and bustle.
Li Zhen raised his head and looked at the place where the cannon sounded, which was in the direction of the east gate of Beijing.
Li Zhen had a bad premonition in his heart and felt uneasy.
He sat for a while, still feeling uncomfortable, so he stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I still have some trivial matters to deal with. I cannot accompany you to the theater. Please forgive me!"
"It doesn't matter, go ahead!"
Cixi's interest continued, as if she had forgotten the impact of Li Zhen's departure on her.
Li Zhen stood up and left, but did not walk out of the West Palace, but saw Long Ao running in quickly. When Li Zhen saw Long Ao entering the palace, he frowned and asked: "Brother Long, what happened, why did you come into the palace? "
Long Ao bent over, breathing heavily, and after a moment of rest, he said: "Foreigners, foreigners suddenly appeared outside the east gate of Beijing City and fired artillery attacks. The soldiers defending the east gate did not resist, and they actually took the initiative. Open the door and surrender. Now, thousands of foreigners are heading straight for the inner city of Beijing. Sir, please retreat quickly. If you don't leave, it will be too late."
When Li Zhen heard this, he knew something was wrong. Thousands of foreigners suddenly appeared outside Beijing without anyone noticing. This was obviously against common sense and was probably premeditated.
After all, it is very difficult for thousands of foreigners to hide their secrets from officials and common people.
At present, the foreigners attacking Beijing are falling from the sky, which is incredible. When Li Zhen was thinking, he decisively ran back to Cixi, stopped the opera singer, and loudly said: "Queen Mother, the foreigners are attacking Beijing and have already invaded." We have arrived at the outer city and are approaching the inner city. There are internal thieves in the city who are cooperating with the foreigners. Hurry, take the emperor with you and we will retreat quickly."
Li Zhen's mind turned quickly and he figured out part of the problem.
When Cixi heard this, she was immediately confused.
Foreigners are coming.
To evacuate.
This, what is going on?
Cixi looked at Li Zhen blankly and opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. She only heard Li Zhen say loudly: "Queen Mother, if we don't evacuate, we will all be caught by foreigners. Hurry." Li Zhen looked at Cixi's side. The palace maid yelled: "Why are you so stunned? Why don't you help the Queen Mother to take the Emperor with you? Hurry up and hurry up."
After that, Li Zhen ordered the maid to go to the East Palace to inform Empress Dowager Ci'an.
Immediately, Li Zhen looked at Long Ao again and ordered: "Brother Long, when the foreigners are attacking, they are well prepared. You immediately summon the people from the admiral's office and dispatch soldiers from the fifth battalion to patrol. Remember, you cannot let the patrol People from the fifth battalion entered the inner city because the foreigners had entered the city previously because the soldiers who were guarding the city opened the door. At the same time, Zhang Guodong and Zhang Zhiping were asked to mobilize the Eight Banners Army in the inner city to defend the inner city, and they must delay time."
"As commanded."
After Long Ao received the order, he immediately took his people to convey the order.
