Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 662 Unlucky Wu Weiying
Inside the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Shenzui was meeting a man, who was none other than the former commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp, Marquis Gongshun Wu Weiying.

When the Beijing camp was broken, Wu Weiying fled in panic, escorted by his family soldiers. If it weren't for his family soldiers who risked their lives to protect him, this guy might have died in the chaos.

After being knocked unconscious by his family general, Wu Weiying didn't know how long he had been lying there. When he woke up, the entire Beijing Camp had been captured by the Jingnan Army. His 30,000-strong army was wiped out, and he, the admiral of the Beijing Camp, became a commander without troops.

Climbing up from the ground, Wu Weiying saw fallen bodies all around him. He immediately recognized the familiar figures not far from him. At this time, he could no longer care about anything else. He could only hold back his tears, fearing that he would be discovered by accident and lose his life.

Wu Weiying used his hands and feet to quietly crawl out. Since he was at the outer edge of the camp, the Jingnan Army was busy cleaning up the battlefield and taking in prisoners, and they didn't notice him at all. Moreover, Wu Weiying didn't have time to put on armor when he escaped. He was only wearing a short coat. In addition, he fled in a mess and lay on the ground for so long that his whole face was disheveled and unrecognizable. If he wasn't familiar with him, he wouldn't recognize that he was the dignified Gongshun Marquis, the commander of the Beijing Camp.

After spending some time escaping from the battlefield, Wu Weiying's first thought was to return to the capital. But at this time, the capital was no longer accessible because the capital camp had been breached. The capital was frightened and the nine gates were closed to guard the city. No one was allowed to approach.

Wu Weiying saw with his own eyes that more than a dozen civilians fled to the gate of the capital. Before they could open their mouths to shout that they wanted to enter the city, someone on the top of the city wall shouted for these people to leave quickly and not to stay near the city gate. If they lingered, they would be shot.

Some people left in a hurry, while others insisted on shouting to enter the city. The soldiers guarding the city attacked without hesitation. Amid a few screams, the people who were shot by arrows fell to the ground, their bodies twitching and blood flowing. This scene frightened Wu Weiying. How could he dare to knock on the door at this time? If he was killed by the blind soldiers by mistake, wouldn't it be extremely unlucky? Wu Weiying had no choice but to walk around the city. He ran for a long time and finally hid in a small town more than 50 miles away from the capital.

Although he avoided the battlefield, Wu Weiying had a hard time. He originally planned to wait for a few days and find a way to return to the capital once the Jingnan Army failed to capture the capital and retreated. However, he did not expect that the Jingnan Army, which had captured the Beijing camp, would start attacking the capital the next day, and the firepower was so fierce that the defenders of the capital dared not even show their heads, and the battle was extremely fierce.

Then, the reinforcements from Changping were annihilated by Zhu Shenzui in one fell swoop, and the general You Shiwei fled alone. The capital was temporarily without external aid, and the defenders dared not leave the city and could only defend it with difficulty.

At this time, Wu Weiying was in a miserable state. He escaped alone without even having time to put on his armor. He was penniless and wearing only a short coat. There was no one around him, and he dared not reveal his identity, so he hid in the small town, which was really embarrassing.

People always need to eat. Wu Weiying was temporarily safe from danger, but he could not solve the problem of stomach. He had no choice but to beg from others. But begging was not easy, because he was looked down upon because of his appearance. Even if he got some food, other beggars would often come to snatch it away.

In order to get a bite of food, Wu Weiying fought back, but his two fists were no match for the four hands and he was beaten to the point of nearly losing half his life. In the end, he had no choice but to beg for mercy and kowtow, and only then did the other beggars let him go.

In the following days, Wu Weiying joined this group of beggars for survival and became one of the lowest class. What he did every day was to beg everywhere with a broken bowl. He could only keep a small portion of what he begged, and most of it had to be handed over to the beggar leader.

Wu Weiying was indignant at first and vowed to kill all the beggars when he returned to the capital. But as time went by, the situation in the capital became worse and worse. One day, news came that Zhu Shenzhu had broken into the capital and captured the palace. Emperor Chongzhen, including his concubines and princes, had all fallen into Zhu Shenzhu's hands. Wu Weiying was shocked.

The capital was lost, Emperor Chongzhen was captured, and the entire Ming royal family fell into the hands of Zhu Shenzhui. Isn't this a change of dynasty?

As the commander-in-chief of the Beijing camp, Wu Weiying was swallowed up by the enemy as soon as he left the city. His 30,000-strong army was wiped out and the capital was lost. Wu Weiying was the culprit.

Thinking of this, Wu Weiying's world was about to collapse. As the leader of the nobles, Wu Weiying knew too well the cruelty of politics. In his opinion, Emperor Chongzhen would definitely not survive. As for his concubines and princes, they would most likely follow Emperor Chongzhen. Zhu Shenzhui, who had captured the capital, would probably start a massacre. Didn't the other party start the rebellion under the banner of clearing the court and pacifying the national crisis? As the leader of the nobles in the capital and the admiral of the Beijing Camp, how could Zhu Shenzhui spare him? Once he knew his whereabouts, he might be captured and taken to the capital, and then escorted to the Meridian Gate and killed directly.

The more he thought about it, the more scared he became. How could Wu Weiying dare to show his face at this time? He could only continue to be a beggar. But as time went by, Zhu Shenzhui took control of the court and the capital, and not only was he promoted to the Prince of Jiaocheng, but he also became the regent of the Ming Dynasty.

Then, Zhu Shenzhu issued an edict to the world, saying that he was not going to usurp the throne or rebel, but to raise an army to purge the emperor and quell the national crisis. At present, Emperor Chongzhen could not continue to manage the affairs due to health reasons, so Zhu Shenzhu took over as regent. The Ming Dynasty was still the same, and the people of the Ming Dynasty still had to obey the will of the court. All localities should restore order as soon as possible and withdraw the troops to defend the emperor. As long as they expressed their obedience to the central government, they would be forgiven for their past mistakes.

This news quickly spread in all directions with the release of the imperial edict, and Wu Weiying learned about it soon after. Upon hearing this, Wu Weiying, who had been disheartened, suddenly became excited. If it was true as the imperial edict said, Zhu Shenzhu did not take action against Emperor Chongzhen and the princes, and could only serve as regent and take over the power, then wouldn't he have a chance to make a comeback?
After all, Zhu Shenzhu didn't even kill the emperor, so it didn't matter whether he, a Gongshun Marquis, was killed or not. Moreover, Gongshun Marquis was a representative figure among the nobles of the Ming Dynasty and one of the leaders among the nobles of the capital.

Furthermore, if his Beijing camp had not been destroyed due to carelessness, Zhu Shenzhui would not have been able to take over the capital so easily and become the regent! If this is the case, wouldn't he have made some contributions? Thinking of this, Wu Weiying's heart, which had originally cooled down, suddenly became hot. He planned to go to the capital to test the situation. If it was really as he thought, he would have a way out and would not have to live a beggar's life with hunger and fullness every day.

Wu Weiying found an opportunity to leave the beggar group and quietly returned to the capital. After arriving in the capital, the capital had restored order. Although the entry and exit of the capital was still very strict, the soldiers in the city patrolled frequently, and the people entering and leaving the capital were strictly registered and checked, the situation in the capital had indeed improved greatly, and the people no longer had the previous uneasiness on their faces.

Wu Weiying did not enter the city immediately. He inquired outside the city for a long time. When he learned that the other captured commanders of the Beijing camp were treated well, Wu Weiying no longer hesitated. In his opinion, it would be fine even if he revealed his identity. Even if he lost his title after returning, at least he could keep his wealth. He had had enough of the hard days of begging. In just one month, the originally plump Wu Weiying had become pale and thin. If he continued like this, he might die on the street when a snowstorm came one day.

Wu Weiying immediately swaggered towards the city gate and directly stated his identity when questioned by the soldiers guarding the city. He said that he was the former commander-in-chief of the Beijing Camp, the Marquis of Gongshun Wu Weiying, and asked to enter the city.

When they heard that this filthy guy who looked like a beggar was Wu Weiying, they didn't believe it at all, because according to legend, Wu Weiying had died in the chaos, so how could he suddenly show up now? But seeing that Wu Weiying looked like a beggar, he was very impressive and his words were very convincing, they didn't dare to make a decision on their own, so they could only take him aside to keep watch for a while and report him to their superiors.

Half an hour later, Yingcheng Bo Sun Tingxun and his men hurried over. They were shocked to recognize that the dishevelled man sitting by the city gate, swallowing a large pancake, was indeed Wu Weiying. They asked where Wu Weiying had been all these days. Rumor had it that he had died in the chaos, so how could he suddenly show up, and look like this?

While munching on a piece of cake, Wu Weiying talked about his life in the past few days and said that he had no other intention in coming back this time. Since the overall situation in the capital had been settled, he, as a nobleman, naturally had to obey the will of the court and return to the capital to pay a visit to the regent and fulfill his duties.

Sun Tingxun was at a loss whether to laugh or cry after hearing Wu Weiying's words, but this was not a bad thing. Although Wu Weiying was not good at fighting and was the culprit for the annihilation of the main force of the Beijing Camp, judging from the current situation, he actually made some contributions to Zhu Shencui.

Moreover, his attitude was very clear. As the saying goes, a man who knows the current situation is a hero. Wu Weiying is a duke of Gongshun, a representative figure among the nobles. Now that Zhu Shenzhu has just ascended the position of regent, it is the time to win people's hearts. Since Wu Weiying is not dead and has taken the initiative to surrender, it is a good thing. And no matter what, when Wu Weiying was in the Beijing camp, he was one of the commanders and a subordinate of Wu Weiying. The relationship between the two is also good, so he still has to help.

So after confirming Wu Weiying's identity, Sun Tingxun took Wu Weiying into the city and reported the news to the palace. Soon Zhu Shenzhui knew about it.

Zhu Shencui was very surprised to learn that Wu Weiying was not dead and had escaped back. However, he had no intention of killing him. He was just a nobleman, and keeping him was far more useful than killing him. In addition, Wu Weiying's status among the nobles was not low, and there would be many benefits if he could sincerely surrender to them. Zhu Shencui immediately ordered Wu Weiying to go home and rest for two days to recuperate.

(End of this chapter)