Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 53 Stay or Go
The beacon fire on the Yaofang Gate had been burning for quite some time, but due to the length of time, most people were still unaware of this matter of life and death.

Of course, this only applies to ordinary people. For example, the mansions of noble ministers naturally have servants who always keep an eye on the movements in the city.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

After a series of rapid knocks on the door, a gate in the Duke of Baoguo's mansion was finally opened from the inside: "You're going to die! Can you afford to offend the Duke by startling him?!"

"Please tell the young lady that a beacon fire has been lit at Yaofang Gate."

When she heard the word "beacon fire", the maid who was about to scold the servant outside the door immediately ran into the yard.

"How come it's so fast?"

This was Zhu Guobi’s first reaction after being woken up.

He originally thought that it would take at least five or six days for the Qing army to officially attack the city. During this period, he could calmly contact the various forces suppressed by that kid.

But who would have thought that the Qing army began to attack the city before he even made any move?

How can he earn credit for his achievements and keep his family business?
"Quickly bring me the Lord's armor!"

"Ok?"

"Sir, won't you go and help His Royal Highness defend the Crown Prince?"

The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.

In the concubine's concept, all under heaven belongs to the king, so if her master goes to defend the city, she would naturally be helping the prince. However, when Zhu Guobi heard this, he had another idea.

Prince?

Go!
It seems that the kid is going to stay at Yaofangmen tonight!
Zhu Guobi had a thousand thoughts in his mind, but his concubine thought he was thinking about how to deal with the current situation.

It's not that the concubine is simple-minded, but Zhu Guobi has never told anyone his true thoughts, so that until now the concubine still thinks that the Duke is the pillar that protects His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"If we can defend the outer city, then we can. If we can't, my presence won't help," Zhu Guobi said. Seeing that he was dressed, he left the maid who was dressing him and walked out of the courtyard. "The most important thing right now is to defend the inner city!"

When the concubine heard this, she felt that her master was a hero who held up the sky and protected the country. But when she came to her senses from her lustful thoughts, she saw that the master had disappeared, and the armor was still in the maid's hands.

"Master! Armor! Armor!"

The concubine called out a few times, but Zhu Guobi did not return. Instead, she heard a voice from outside the courtyard: "Prepare the horses! Go to the Duke of Wei's mansion!"

If he could follow his original intention, it would be best if he could ignore the powerful people in the city and take charge of the inner city alone. But if he didn't bring Xu Yinjue with him, how could tens of thousands of militiamen obey his orders?

As for how to convince them.

In Zhu Guobi's opinion, Xu Yinjue was not decisive enough and had no opinions of his own, and most of the time he just went with the flow.

Now that the outer city is no longer safe and we don't know whether that kid is alive or dead, am I really afraid that he won't change his ways as long as I spend more time talking to him?
Duke of Wei's Mansion
"I do not go!"

As Xu Shaoyue's voice sounded, Xu Yinjue, who had already reached the gate of the mansion, couldn't help but stop.

After learning about the Tartars' night attack, he was stunned for a moment before he remembered to order people to send his daughter and third brother out of the city from the west. However, when he was fully armed and ready to leave the house, these two evil creatures had not left yet.

"Nonsense! The Tartars are attacking at night, the outer city will certainly be difficult to defend," Xu Yinjue glared at his third brother who was hiding behind his daughter before continuing, "If we don't leave now, do we have to wait until the city is breached?!"

He knew that subtle changes had taken place in the army in the past few days due to His Highness's seemingly simple methods, and he also knew that if this change could be sustained, the Yingtian garrison would be reborn.

But no matter how much you say, it has only been five or six days since His Highness escaped from the siege. How can this amount of time be enough for the Yingtian garrison to transform into a strong army that can stop the Tartars? "Daddy won't leave! I won't leave either!"

"Bastard!"

Hearing this, Xu Yinjue raised his whip and was ready to give this ignorant guy a good beating, but when he saw the tears in Xu Shaoyue's eyes, the whip stopped in mid-air and wouldn't come down.

"Daddy, you go too."

The events in Yangzhou weighed heavily on the hearts of all the people in Yingtian like a mountain. Even though Xu Shaoyue had never seen with her own eyes what kind of hell that was, as the only child of Xu Yinjue, how could she bear to leave her father alone to struggle here?

"Yue'er..." Xu Yinjue opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but after a pause, he finally said to the servant, "Send the young lady away."

As soon as he finished speaking, several maids and strong women lifted up Xu Shaoyue. Even though she knew some martial arts skills, she was unable to break free.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Xu Shaoyue's cries hit Xu Yinjue's heart like a heavy hammer, but in the current situation, he had no time to care about anything else except trying his best to keep her safe.

A moment later, Xu Shaoyue's figure disappeared in the porch. Even though Xu Yinjue felt reluctant, he had to suppress it.

After staring blankly for a long time, he turned to his third son and said, "Third brother, the Xu family and Yue'er are now in your hands."

"Brother! You..."

Hearing these words that sounded like entrusting an orphan to someone else, Xu Laosan suddenly became anxious, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was interrupted by Xu Yinjue.

"No need to say more. Your Highness treats me as a national hero, and I should repay you as a national hero."

Xu Laosan had great respect for his eldest brother, but he always felt that Xu Yinjue's approach of putting family first in everything was too selfish.

But as Xu Yinjue spoke, the memories that had been buried in his heart suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"It seems that my eldest brother often insisted on going to the north, and was even severely punished by my father for running away repeatedly."

Xu Laosan opened and closed his mouth, and opened and closed it again. He seemed to have a thousand words in his heart, but when they came to his mouth, he swallowed them all.

How could he not know what "repaying a favor with a patriot" meant? But since His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was able to hand over the inner city's greatest power to his eldest brother, how could he stop his eldest brother from "repaying a favor with a patriot"?
In the end, all the words turned into a single sentence, "Take care, big brother." Then Xu Laosan bowed deeply to Xu Yinjue and walked straight to the inner courtyard, as if he had accepted his big brother's decision from the bottom of his heart.

It's not that he doesn't worry about his two brothers, nor is he afraid of death, but his second brother may have died in the battle, and his eldest brother will also stay in the isolated city. If he dies here again, what will happen to Yue'er?
"Once Yue'er is settled, I will..."

With his mind made up, Xu Laosan's steps became more determined. The naughty Mr. Xu San seemed to have grown into a warrior on the battlefield who did what he knew was impossible.

Xu Yinjue didn’t know why his younger brother was so “sensible”, but since there was no need to force him, he was happy with it. After all, it was the last time they would see each other in this life.

After resolving his last concern, Xu Yinjue suddenly felt a sense of heroism in his heart.

"Those who wish to leave can follow the young lady out of the west gate, and those who do not wish to leave can follow me to the camp in the north of the city!"

After saying this, he took a few quick steps, and when he reached the warhorse that had been prepared for a long time in front of the door, he suddenly jumped and sat on it.

"Wait a moment, nephew!"

"Sir, wait a moment!"

(End of this chapter)