Seeing that Wang Qi and Dao Chi were shocked, but still responsible, the prince secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, he was only thirteen years old. Even if he pretended to be calm in front of Yuan Zonggao and Lu Dian, he was not afraid in his heart. Rebellion was just a word, but who knew how far the war would spread.[]
If the Jingnan incident were to happen again, it is hard to say whose hands this big world will ultimately fall into.
He didn't know who he should trust, but he thought that the Wang brothers must be trustworthy, not only because there was Mrs. Wang in the palace, but also because the second and eldest sons of the Wang family were in Beijing, and Wang Qinghong, the twelfth brother, was the elder of Yangge.
Niece-in-law.
If the rebels invade the country, other gentry may waver and surrender, but the Wang family will definitely persist until the end. Otherwise, in order to establish their authority, the rebels will attack the Wang family.
Wang Qi, Dao Chi, and Lu Bing were divided into three places. Wang Qi took Huang Jin and the Fifty Yi Guards to the east gate, Dao Chi took Gao Kang and the Fifty Yi Guards to the west gate, and Lu Bing took another chamberlain and the Five Guards.
The Shiyi Guards go to the south gate.
Before leaving the house, Dao Chi couldn't help but ask Lu Bing in a low voice: "There are people from the east, west and south, who is at the north gate?"
Lu Bing whispered back: "Jiang Erlang."
Dao Chi thought about it and was not surprised. Regardless of whether the prince likes Jiang Lin or not, they are both direct cousins. If the palace is unstable, others may not be reliable. The Jiang family is indeed the closest relatives of the palace.
Although the Taoist idiot was only twelve years old, he was tall, stern and silent, and some people believed him when he said thirteen or four. Dressed in plain clothes, he took his servants and guards to the west gate, and easily took control of the city gate.
Hold it in your hand.
In fact, the world has been at peace for a long time. The Taoist idiots have the prince's order and the ceremonial guards following them, and no one questions their identity. All the officials in the city gate tower have gone to the palace, and the remaining ones are only Shichang and Wuchang. There are so many people in this world.
A few strong necks.
In Anlu City like this, even if there is no need for rebels to go south, as long as three to five hundred people are gathered, it will be enough to cause chaos.
Dao Chi and Gao Kang went up to the tower and looked down at the people going in and out of the city, somewhat idle.
After calming down, the Taoist idiot began to guess the prince's intention of arranging everyone to guard the city gate.
If there is any unusual movement at the city gate, what can these fifty guards do to stop them? There are three thousand guards in the palace, so the prince must have other plans.
If the rebels go north, the state capitals along the way will send messages to the provincial capital and here; before the army arrives, the first thing to arrive is the messenger. Perhaps the prince is just afraid of being deceived, so he does not use the palace officials, but a few and a half senior officials.
The children came to the city gate to act as his eyes and ears.
I just don’t know how long I’ll have to wait here.
Today is June 18th, and King Ning raised the flag of rebellion on June 14th. Whether he goes north to the capital or east to Nanjing, accurate news should be delivered today and tomorrow.
If King Ning goes north, the army will go due north by east, and Anlu will be due north by west of Nanchang Mansion. Even if the rebels pass by Anlu, as long as King Ning's head is not beaten, they will not divert and delay in Anlu City.
time.
Thinking like this, Dao Chi felt at ease again.
Gao Kang was always smart. At this moment, he found a teapot and tea cup from somewhere and brought a tea tray over.
The Taoist idiot didn't care, stood up and said, "I just ordered Jingzhe, why are you doing this?"
Although Gao Kang is much older than Dao Chi, we have already known each other well after spending a year together in the government school.
Although Dao Chi didn't talk much, and he didn't deliberately make friends with the two house servants who were on duty at the school, these two people got along most comfortably with Dao Chi. There was no other reason, but Dao Chi was the youngest. They deceived themselves and others into thinking that Dao Chi was the youngest.
Because I don't understand the relationship between men and women, I don't know the difference between these servants and ordinary people.
The Taoist idiots also followed their wishes and treated them no differently than they treated other royal officials.
Gao Kang smiled and said: "If you just serve a cup of tea, what's the point?"
Putting down the tea tray, he took out a paper bag from his sleeve and opened it. Inside were a few sesame seed cakes: "I just bought them at the sesame seed cake stall at the gate of the city. Let's put them down first."
Dao Chi Fang devoured three or four vegetarian pies in the twelfth room. His stomach was already full, but his face still showed joy and he thanked Gao Kang.
After eating half of the sesame seed cake, he put it down and looked miserable.
Gao Kang wondered: "What's wrong?"
Dao Chi sighed and said, "I feel so bad that I can't eat anything."
Gao Kang said: "If you can't eat, you have to take a few more bites, and then the funeral begins. The local officials and gentry are okay, but they just make a show and schedule a few days of work. Those of us who are close to the prince must always accompany the prince."
Dao Chi nodded, drank the tea, and ate the remaining half of the sesame cake.
When they came out of the palace, it was already midnight (two o'clock in the afternoon). The two of them were sitting on the tower, talking every now and then. The time passed very quickly.
It was getting dark and the city gate was closed.
When everyone came out, the prince did not tell him when to return. After Dao Chi discussed with Gao Kang, he ordered Jingzhe to bring two ceremonial guards back to the palace to report. Ximen was peaceful in the afternoon. Should he and Gao Kang continue to be on duty or what?
, please also ask the prince to show me.
After about half an hour, Jingzhe returned from the palace.
The prince sent word that the two of them should continue to be on duty at the west gate and wait for news from the palace on when they would return to the palace.
In addition to spreading the message, the prince also asked someone to pack two food boxes and asked Jingzhe to bring them over.
In the food box, there were all kinds of fried fruits and rice cakes. Dao Chi asked Gao Kang to pick out two plates of his favorite food and set them aside. The others asked Jingzhe to take them downstairs to check in and share them with everyone.
There were nearly 100 room guards and city gate guards downstairs, so there was not enough room for this box of snacks. Dao Chi took out two more pieces of silver and gave them to Jingzhe, and told him to go to the sesame cake stall to buy more sesame cakes for everyone to make as a midnight snack.
Seeing the Taoist idiot arranging these things like a little grown-up, Gao Kang couldn't help but be stunned.
The Taoist idiot looked uncomfortable at him and wiped his face, as if it was stained with something.
Gao Kang withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyelids and said, "I have a brother who is slightly two years older than you, and he also became sensible earlier..."
Gao Kang, like Huang Jin, was both transferred from the imperial palace.
Dao Chi said: "Now in the palace, not in the palace, my family will not be able to see each other for half a lifetime. When will I ask His Highness to send someone to pick up your brother and bring him to Anlu?"
Gao Kang smiled bitterly and said: "Since I entered the palace, I have lost contact with him twice. After all, he is still young, and his family may not be willing to let him get involved with me. Having an eldest brother who is a eunuch is not a glorious thing.
.”
It turns out that Gaokang, a man from Baoding Prefecture, was the son of a farmer. Due to the epidemic in his hometown, his parents fell ill and died one after another. Only the two younger brothers were left to depend on each other and struggle to survive. But the two brothers, the older one is seven or eight years old, and the younger one is seven or eight years old.
When you are five or six years old, it is not so easy to make a living.
A wealthy family in the village had no children and wanted to choose one of the two brothers as his adopted son-in-law. An old eunuch who had left the village returned to his hometown and wanted to select a few children from his hometown to enter the palace. Gao Kang asked his younger brother to be the adopted son-in-law of that family.
He followed the old eunuch to Beijing.
For a moment, the Taoist idiot didn't know how to comfort him.
I made such a life-changing decision when I was seven or eight years old. How can I not regret it now that I have grown up?
Dao Chi thought for a while and said: "When the prince succeeds to the throne, you might have the opportunity to go to Beijing to see him... Then if you want to go to Baoding, you may not be able to do it... As for other things, don't think too much, no matter how you live.
, it’s all a way of living.”
Gao Kang hesitated and said: "Do you feel resentful in your heart? He is obviously the son of an official family, and he can grow up in fine clothes and fine food.
But he was adopted into a poor family and lived a hard life."
Dao Chi thought for a while and said: "If I think bad things, I will be full of resentment; and if I think good things, my grandmother is kind and my eldest sister is also gentle and considerate to me. Although the food and clothing expenses are not as good as those over there, they still do their best.
Maybe it’s the best thing for me. If I’m not satisfied with having such a family, God will look down on me.”
Gao Kang thoughtfully said: "This is reasonable. I should be optimistic about it. If I had not chosen to take this path back then, I might have starved to death long ago. How could I think about anything here? I'm hungry.
The taste is so unpleasant that I don’t want to taste it again in my life..."
This rare opportunity brought the two of them closer together by mentioning their personal matters.
Gao Kang put aside his worries, picked up a piece of rice cake, and began to eat it.
Dao Chi lowered his eyes. There were four closest servants around the prince, and Gao Kang was one of them...
Fu Xue, Le Qun Yuan.
Chen Chizhong, Liu Congyun and Lu Wenzhao stood in the courtyard, looking at the unlit rooms in the courtyard with unpredictable expressions.
Not only are the Wang brothers absent, Huang Jin and Gao Kang are also absent...