It was late at night, but the lights were brightly lit in Guanju Palace.

Outside the Ai Pavilion, Empress Zhezhe and Concubine Zhuang Bumubutai were in a hurry. They wanted to push the door in and see what was going on, but they didn't dare to act rashly. Finally, the closed door opened a crack, and an elderly imperial doctor walked out with a tired face. Zhezhe and Concubine Zhumubutai quickly surrounded him and asked anxiously: "Imperial Doctor, how is Concubine Chen?"

The imperial physician shook his head and sighed: "Empress, the slave has done his best."

"Ah?" Zhezhe exclaimed in a flash, "Cein Concubine..."

"No," the imperial physician said sadly, "The Empress Chen may have been trying to see the emperor for the last time, so she was reluctant to return to heaven."

Zhezhe was already confused: "What should I do? What should I do?"

Bumubutai seemed very calm at this time and said to Zhezhe: "Empress, Concubine Chen is the emperor's favorite concubine. If we hide the news of Concubine Chen's critical illness and do not report it, the emperor will definitely blame him. The most important thing now is to send a quick horse to Songshan and let the emperor return to Shengjing to see Concubine Chen for the last time."

"Yes, yes." Zhezhe said repeatedly, "Come here, hurry up to Prince Li's Mansion and Prince Zheng's Mansion, and ask the two princes to send Kuaima to Songshan immediately, tell the emperor that Concubine Chen is critically ill, and ask him to return to Shengjing as soon as possible."

The eunuch who was serving next to him rolled out of the inner court and passed Zhezhe's decree to Prince Li and Prince Zheng who were staying in Shengjing. Prince Li Daishan went out, and Prince Zheng Jiergalang did not dare to neglect him. He immediately condemned the fast horse to report the emergency to Songshan front with 600 miles.

[Tell me about the 600-limit rush: During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were shops and posts in ten miles and 30 miles. There were special post horses in the post station. The 600-limit rush means that you kept changing to post horses in the middle of the journey, and never stopped, and sending the letter to 600 miles within twelve hours.

There are four hundred miles of speed, three hundred miles of speed and two hundred miles of speed.

There is a more urgent eight hundred miles above the six hundred miles. Eight hundred miles is not as simple as running only eight hundred miles in twelve hours, but running to death. It can even run more than one thousand miles in a day. Finally, the letter was delivered, and the horse ran to death and the people were exhausted! During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Ming of Tang often did this in order to allow Yang Guifei to eat fresh lychees.]

The long street was silent, and the night was late, and a sudden sound of horse hooves suddenly shattered people's dreams. Jiannu, who was guarding the gate, was slept in a daze. He heard the rapid sound of horse hooves in his ears. He looked up and saw a horse flying towards him. He shouted loudly under the night sky: "Open the city gate quickly, and the remaining minister, Prince Zheng, rushed for 600 miles..."

The three Jiannu guarding the gate stepped forward to block the way. The leader of Jiannu spread his hands and said in a deep voice: "Close the defense."

The messenger took out a piece of letter from his arms, which was indeed covered with the purple seal of the minister left behind in Shengjing. The gatekeeper then turned around and shouted: "Open the city gate!"

More than a dozen Jiannu rushed out of the gatehouse and swarmed up to push the door bolt open. The closed city gate had just opened a crack, and the fast horse was already blowing out like a gust of wind and disappeared under the vast night sky.

■■■

Changgong Fort.

While Wang Pu was about to take a nap, Xiaoqi suddenly pushed the door and reported: "General, that Zhen Youcai was clamoring to see you, saying that there was something important."

Wang Pu said: "Where are people?"

Xiaoqi said: "I'm waiting outside."

Wang Pu said: "Let him come in."

“Bring in.”

Xiaoqi turned around and greeted him, and the two servants escorted Zhen Youcai into the hall. Wang Pu frowned and asked, "Zhen Youcai, what's wrong?"

Zhen Youcai lowered his head, secretly glanced at Wang Pu and then quickly lowered his eyes, and said softly: "General, do you want to take advantage of the fact that Jiannu in the city of Heihei was not really good and send someone to pretend to be Prince Li to trick the gate of Shengjing?"

"Um?"

Wang Pu's face darkened and looked at Xiaoqi. Xiaoqi quickly shook his head. Of course, he would not tell Zhen Youcai about such a major military secret.

Zhen Youcai seemed to guess Wang Pu’s thoughts and whispered: “Sir, don’t be surprised, this is all guessed by villains.”

"Caught it?" Wang Pu asked in a secret surprise, "How did you guess it?"

Zhen Youcai said: "The villain saw a military master collecting the armor of Prince Li’s guards outside the village. Later, the general asked the villain if he would speak Manchu. He guessed that General, you want to send someone to pretend to be Prince Li’s guards to cheat the city gate. General, if you really have this intention, the villain advises you to give up your thoughts as soon as possible. It is not that easy to cheat the city gate of Shengjing."

Wang Pu asked expressionlessly: "How do you say this?"

Zhen Youcai said: "When Nurhaci raised his army, Jiannu only had tens of thousands of troops, but repeatedly conquered the important military cities of Fushun, Kaiyuan, Tieling, Shengjing, Liaoyang, etc., which were heavily guarded by our Ming Dynasty. The bravery and good at fighting were one reason for the Eight Banners soldiers, but the most important reason was that Nurhaci was very good at using his inner circle to open the city gate. Several major military cities in Liaodong had only ten feet high walls but could not play their due role as a barrier."

Xiao Qi said: "What does this have to do with us?"

"Of course it's relevant." Zhen Youcai said, "Nurhaci used to trick the city gate to seize the entire Liaodong. How could he leave the same opportunity for others? The general sent someone to cheat Prince Li's guards to cheat the city gate. Wouldn't he be seeking death?"

"I don't believe it anymore." Xiaoqi asked back, "Is it possible that the king of Jiannu called the gate under the city, and the Jiannu who guarded the gate was not open?"

Zhen Youcai said: "Two generals, you don't know anything. When the old slave chief Nuerhaci was alive, he set strict rules. All cities should be closed after nightfall. If there is no guard against the slave chief or the left-behind minister, unless the slave chief emperor Taiji came in person, the Jiannu who guarded the gate would never open the gate!"

Wang Pu said: "Daishan is Prince Li of Jiannu and a left-behind minister in Shengjing. He must be on guard!"

"It's too late." Zhen Youcai said with regret. "Of course Dai Shan has the relevant defenses on him, otherwise how could he return to the city? But now, I'm afraid he's destroyed it long ago."

"Damn it!" Xiao Qi clenched his fists and said in a bad tone, "General, go down and take a look. If that old slave really checks and prevents the destruction, it's useless to keep him anyway, it's better to kill him."

"Xiao Qi, don't act irritably." Wang Pu stopped Xiao Qi and said to Zhen Youcai, "Zhen Youcai, this is all you want to tell me?"

Zhen Youcai's eyes rolled and then said, "Oh, there is something besides these."

Wang Pu said: "Say, what's the matter?"

Zhen Youcai said: "The general wants to capture Shengjing City by surprise, but the villain has a way."

"What's the solution?" Wang Pu said coldly, "Let's hear it."

Zhen Youcai said: "The guards of Jiannu were strict at night, and it was absolutely impossible to succeed if he wanted to open the city gate. However, the guards during the day were relatively relaxed, and it was not difficult to get dozens of people into the city."

Zhen Youcai's words are true. In recent years, the Ming army was unable to invade Liaodong, Korea and Mongolia had already surrendered to Jiannu.

In such a general environment, Jiannu never thought that Shengjing would be attacked! In fact, this is all human inertial thinking, because since Nurhaci started the army, Jiannu has been very smooth. Except for Ningyuan City's two losses, he has never suffered much defeat. It is impossible not to breed arrogance in such a situation.

"Daytime?" Xiao Qi shouted, "What a joke? How can more than a thousand people in broad daylight get close to Shengjing City? Are you all Jiannu in the city dead?"

Wang Pu waved his hand to stop Xiaoqi and said to Zhen Youcai: "Say, continue to say."

Zhen Youcai said: "The general may not know that this manor is actually an imperial farm. Every once in a while, it will transport grain, vegetables and some fresh mountain delicacies to the palace in Shengjing City. It is time to deliver grain again in the past few days. The general can let your subordinates dress up as a coachman and hide their weapons in the grain truck. The Jiannu who guards the gate is already familiar with the villain and generally will not check it. He should be able to sneak into the city."

If what Zhen Youcai said is true, this is indeed a solution.

First, in broad daylight, Jiannu was not very vigilant. Second, since Changyong Fort is an imperial village and often transported food, vegetables and wild game to the palace, Jiannu, who was guarding the gate, would not be suspicious. However, the risk of doing so is also great. If Zhen Youcai opens his eyes and tells lies, the consequences will be serious. If he fails to cheat the door at night, he can leave while it is dark. It will be difficult to escape during the day. Jiannu’s riding and shooting is not a vegetarian.

"Zhen Youcai." Wang Pu narrowed his eyes and suddenly said an irrelevant sentence, "Should I thank you? You saved the lives of more than a thousand Ming soldiers, right?"

"Don't dare." Zhen Youcai hurriedly lowered his head, dared not look at Wang Pu's Leng's eyes, and bowed and replied, "The villain did this for his own life. If the general defeated Shengjing, the villain would probably not be able to survive. Only General, you will accomplish your work, can the villain live well. Hey, hehehe..."

Wang Pu said: "So, I should believe you?"

"General, you can't believe him." Xiaoqi said anxiously, "Be careful that this guy cheated us."

Zhen Youcai didn't dare to say anything, but his eyes were rolling around and he looked like a cunning person no matter how he looked.

...
Chapter completed!