Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 11 Public sentiment
After leaving the Duke's Mansion, Zhu Cilang and the other person got on the carriage without any delay.

"Da Lang, I'll ask someone to find you some clothes."

"Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Xu."

Xu Yu gave an order out the window, and then seeing Zhu Cilang frowning, as if he was still thinking about something, he said, "Before we go back to the Ministry of War, you should take a rest first."

"There are still a few important points that need further consideration."

Xu Yu nodded and stopped talking, trying his best to create a quiet environment for Zhu Cilang, but the noise outside the car made all these efforts come to nothing.

"Take a quiet road."

"Sir, this is the one with the least people."

The servant replied, Xu Yu also knew that all kinds of news had spread throughout Yingtian. The emperor fled, the ministers fled, so why couldn't the common people escape?
Looking at the young man covered in blood, Xu Yu couldn't help but think: How nice it would be if I could have come a year earlier.

Judging from his actions today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise, decisive, and quick to react, making him the best candidate to inherit the throne. If he could arrive in Yingtian earlier, what would be the point of that dirty thing?
"Your Highness, why are you here so late?"

Xu Yu said this out of inspiration, but to Zhu Cilang it sounded like an interrogation.

"When the capital fell, my father asked a few eunuchs to escort me to Yingtian, but I was separated from them after just a few days due to the chaos of war."

Having said this, Zhu Cilang paused, as if he was recalling his wanderings, or as if he was recalling his father's instructions.

Seeing him like this, Xu Yu couldn't help but blame himself in his heart: You old fool, why do you have to let His Highness remember those experiences.

"Later, I was captured by the rebel army and taken to the old camp. It took quite some time for me to escape. By then, Your Majesty had already ascended the throne, so I decided not to come to Yingtian again, otherwise there would be another disturbance."

Zhu Cilang stopped his narration again, with a sad expression on his face. Xu Yu also kept imagining the unfortunate experience of the emperor's bloodline.

"After that, I lived near a village and relied on the charity of farmers for some time until they found me."

At this point, Zhu Cilang laughed at himself, and then continued, "It's funny, I stayed there for more than a month and didn't even know the name of the place."

"Da Lang has lived in the palace for so long, so it's normal that he doesn't know. I've lived in Yingtian for so many years, and I often can't pronounce the names of places when I leave the city."

"Are they all dead?"

Xu Yu understood what Zhu Cilang meant. After hesitating for a moment, he finally told the truth: "Well, they are too ostentatious. Your Majesty is really annoyed."

"I hurt them."

"Your Highness, don't blame yourself. Those people were just trying to curry favor with you. They deserve this fate."

"If the villagers themselves had not run out of food, I would have planned to spend the rest of my life there."

At this point, there was completely no sound in the carriage.

When the news of Zhu Cilang's discovery reached Yingtian, Xu Yu felt extremely conflicted.

Although the scene of identifying his identity was full of loopholes, he could only accept it, after all, the country was more important.

"It would be great if I could come back earlier." Xu Yu sighed again in his heart.

The two of them were each preoccupied with their own thoughts, and there was no more noise in the carriage.

After a cup of tea, the carriage stopped, but the noise around was not as loud as before it left.

Zhu Cilang slightly lifted the curtain and saw that the originally empty gate of the Ministry of War was now crowded with people from the city.

"Crown Prince? There's a man in prisoner clothes in the car. He must be His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Who would have thought that someone with sharp eyes would see Zhu Cilang through such a gap and even determine his identity from his prison uniform.

Soon the people rushed over and surrounded the carriage.

Thanks to the royal majesty, no one dared to take action, otherwise even the carriage would have been torn to pieces.

"Mr. Xu, thank you for your help."

In theory, this was a great opportunity for him to increase his reputation, but at this critical juncture he really didn't dare to be too ostentatious.

If Zhao Zhilong's attention is attracted here, a large number of soldiers will probably come to kill him in no time. By then, not to mention seizing the military power, even his life may not be saved. "Please make way~~~~! Please make way~~~~! Your Highness is ill and it is really inconvenient for him to see you."

Although Xu Yu shouted with all his might, he tried his best to make his tone sound friendly.

This is the only way to deal with similar situations, and it is a skill that Chinese officials have learned without any guidance.

"You dogs! Don't even think about hurting the prince again!"

"We want to see the prince!"

"The tyrant emperor has fled, and it is time for the crown prince to ascend the throne!"

The people's curses became more and more unbearable, and Xu Yu pretended not to hear anything and just tried his best to explain. However, Zhu Cilang in the carriage could no longer sit still.

If he had been allowed to develop, he might have been carried into the palace by the people and ascended the throne as happened in history, and then been suppressed by the troops sent by Zhao Zhilong, and finally became a trait offered by the nobles of Yingtian to the Tartars for advancement.

"Everyone! Zhu Cilang is here. Whatever you have to say, I am all ears!"

Zhou Xiancai is a butcher in the north of the city.

This morning, just as he put half a pig's leg on the stall, he heard people say that the emperor and the adults had run away.

As a wealthy man, he was the last person to believe such rumors, but when everyone was talking about it, he had no choice but to believe it.

The Tartars and bandits have been making trouble all these years, but they have never reached Yingtian, so life can still be bearable.

He originally thought that he would get married and have children in such a world until he died in his sleep at home one day.

Who would have thought that just a few days ago, news of the Yangzhou massacre came, and the emperor ran away last night.

What should we do?

Without the emperor, who will stop the Tartars?

Is Yingtian going to be massacred by the Tartars like Yangzhou?

Zhou Xiancai waited for a while with a lot on his mind. He closed his stall before all the meat was sold and planned to buy some food first. However, as soon as he turned into the street, he saw a large group of people.

After asking around, he found out that these people were going to the Ministry of War Prison to rescue the prince and fight against the Tartars.

After hearing the news, Zhou Xiancai immediately perked up.

The old emperor did not run away when the rebels broke into Beijing, so the prince would certainly not be scared away by the Tartars.

With him leading the team, we will definitely be able to keep the Tatars out of Yingtian City.

But those corrupt officials and soldiers are the tyrant's men after all, and the prince is alone and needs someone to help him.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xiancai didn't bother to buy food and followed the crowd to the Ministry of War.

When we arrived at the Ministry of War, the people inside said that the prince had gone out.

What a fart!
Those corrupt officials must be planning to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, so they hid the prince from anyone!

Just as those strong men standing in the front were about to rush in to rescue the prince, they heard a loud cheer from the outside of the crowd.

"Your Highness Chitose!"

When he turned around, he saw a figure in prison clothes standing on the carriage and saying something.

Seeing this, Zhou Xiancai didn't care about anything else and squeezed forward relying on his strong physique.

The closer he got, the clearer he could see. The figure was no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, and his prison uniform was covered in bloodstains. He even needed the support of a senior official in a scarlet robe to stand.

Tyrant ruler! Dog official!
The curse in his heart did not slow down his speed of approaching, but when he was still far away, His Highness was helped back into the car by the official, and he only heard the last sentence.

"I will definitely be able to defend Yingtian!"

(End of this chapter)