With the experience of the previous life, Zhu Qiyu now attaches great importance to his work and rest, but today is particularly different.
It was still dark, so he put on his big cloak, stood up and walked out of the palace door. The eunuch with him followed him quietly, not daring to make a sound.
Not long after, candles in the temple were lit, but they could not dispel the thick darkness before dawn.
There was a sound of hurried footsteps, and under the swaying lantern, Shu Liang, dressed in a python robe, walked over in a hurry, not caring about the bit of spring cold on his body, and prostrated himself in the tunnel.
"Your Majesty, there is news from Xuanfu that Xi Ning was captured by the army in Xuanfu. Zhang Fu and others wanted to kill him on the spot, but the army stopped him. Naha took advantage of the chaos and escaped. Wait, we have all been detained by Jin Yiwei and are being taken to the capital."
Zhu Qiyu turned around, took the secret report from Shu Liang's hand, read it twice, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhang Fu and others are finished this time!
That day, he received a secret report from the Jin Yiwei hidden in the mission, saying that he wanted to raid the sand nest first, and he felt something was abnormal.
During the Battle of Oara, soldiers on the border suffered heavy losses. In order to ensure border security, most of the imperial court's energy was actually placed on important towns like Datong and Xuanfu.
Whether it is troops, grain, horses, or other supplies, these important towns are all supplied in limited quantities so that they can prepare for unexpected events.
But as a result, many small pass cities will inevitably not be taken care of quickly.
Shawo is a small town in this area.
During the Battle of Wala, it was severely damaged, with most of the city destroyed and almost all the troops defending the city destroyed.
Over the past few days, although the city has been repaired a lot, the manpower is still insufficient.
There are many such small towns on the border, and Shawo is not that eye-catching.
To raid Sand Wo, you need to cross the Soonseongcheon River, so from a geographical point of view, if you want to plunder Sand Wo first, Sand Wo is not the best choice.
And more importantly, although Shawo seems to be just one of many insignificant small towns.
But in fact, it is one of several grain transfer points heading towards Datong.
This is not a big secret for the Ming Dynasty, but for Wala, it is a military secret.
He chose this place instead of choosing other places first, so Zhu Qiyu had to become suspicious.
Therefore, he ordered the Jin Yiwei spies in the mission to investigate carefully, and finally discovered that it was Zhang Fu and others who passed by Shawo during their mission and learned the basic defense situation there.
Later, when the delegation arrived in Oara, they were unexpectedly given a cold reception. Under the guidance of Yuan Bin, they felt that Xi Ning was bewitching Ye Xian, so Ye Xian refused to release the Emperor.
In order to get rid of Xi Ning, Zhang Fu and others made a plan with Yuan Bin. They pretended to agree to Ye Xian, saying that they would use several border cities in exchange for the return of the Supreme Emperor to the south, and encouraged Ye Xian to send Xi Ning to the Ming Dynasty for peace talks.
Ye Xian was cunning. Although he had the protection of the Supreme Emperor, Xi Ning was his confidant after all. In order to gain Ye Xian's trust, Zhang Fu and others leaked the information about Shawo.
Only then did Zhu Qiyu receive two military reports at the same time that day.
Shaking his head and handing the secret report back to Shu Liang's hand, Zhu Qiyu ordered.
"Send a message to Lu Zhong and keep them under good supervision, especially Xi Ning. I want him to enter the capital alive!"
Shu Liang nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked.
"Your Majesty, I don't understand. This is a heinous crime. Why don't you just kill him?"
Xining was not only a traitor to his employer for the sake of glory, but he also collaborated with the enemy and treason.
To be blunt, without Xi Ning, it would be impossible to know the topography of Guanzhong well.
Even after the Battle of Zijingguan, many places on the border of the Ming Dynasty were plundered, and it was Xi Ning who led the way.
Therefore, although they were both eunuchs, Shu Liang also hated Xi Ning and wished he would die soon.
Zhu Qiyu shook his head, glanced at Shu Liang, and asked.
"Do you know why I am so mobilized and have Lu Zhong make this trip in person?"
Shu Liang frowned and said nothing. To be honest, he didn't understand this matter.
In his opinion, whether it was to capture Xining or to ambush Xining, it was enough for the officers and soldiers of Xuanfu to do it.
There is absolutely no need for Lu Zhong, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, to go to the border in person and make this trip.
But now, in connection with the previous question, Shu Liang had some vague understanding and spoke carefully.
"Could it be that, Your Majesty, you were just afraid that Xi Ning would be killed, so you sent Commander Lu there?"
Zhu Qiyu glanced at Shu Liang approvingly, making the latter feel a little embarrassed.
Shu Liang rubbed his hands and continued.
"But I can only guess this part. I still don't understand why you want to save Xi Ning's life."
Shaking his head, Zhu Qiyu pointed to the secret report in his hand and said.
"Look carefully at this secret report. Xining has been arrested. What are Zhang Fu and others doing?"
Why did Shu Liang open the secret report, read it again, and suddenly understood, saying: "I understand, they don't want Xi Ning to speak!"
Logically speaking, the ultimate goal of Zhang Fu and others was to kill Xi Ning. Whether they ambushed him or lured him into Xuanfu City and trapped him to death, the result would be the same.
But the problem is that the secret report clearly stated that Xining had been captured, but Zhang Fu and others still pounced on him to kill him. Shu Liang, who had been in charge of Dongchang for so long, naturally knew what this move meant.
What.
Zhu Qiyu said: "Zhang Fu would not have noticed that the Jin Yiwei had manpower in the mission, but they still dared to do this because they were sure that the imperial court would have nothing to do with them."
Shu Liang nodded and said: "Yes, leaking military aircraft is a serious crime, but as long as Xining dies, no one can prove that they leaked the information about Shawo."
"Zhang Fu's original plan was to have Yang Xin and others set up an ambush in Yehuling, and then take advantage of the chaos to kill Xi Ning, once and for all."
"But unexpectedly, the Xuanfu army accepted the military order and stood still, so they took the risk and wanted to kill Xining on the spot. No wonder the emperor wanted to send Commander Lu to go there in person. If not, I'm afraid they would have succeeded.
.”
Zhu Qiyu did not answer. In fact, the real reason why he sent Lu Zhong there was.
Tao Jin, the chief military officer of the Xuanfu, had received great favor from the British government.
Because of this, Zhang Fu dared to lure Xi Ning to the Xuan Mansion, because he knew that even if Tao Jin found out something, he would turn a blind eye and watch them kill Xi Ning without any evidence.
However, with Lu Zhong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, by his side, it was impossible to do anything he wanted to do.
Xi Ning is still alive, but Zhang Fu and others will not!
The Xuanfu side is already understood, so what happens next depends on Guo Deng’s abilities...
Zhu Qiyu looked through the night to the north.
The darkness before dawn gradually faded away, the faint morning light broke through the sky, and the heavy and loud bells rang, beginning to wake up the sleeping Forbidden City.