Xie Ming

Chapter 5: Obstacles at the Door
In the dark alley of Renshoufang, Xiao Jingchuan whistled, and suddenly two figures ran towards this side.

"General!"

"General!"

The visitors were two of Xiao Jingchuan's four personal soldiers, Ma Minglu and Wang Chuanwu.

"Chuanwu, have the troops arrived?" Xiao Jingchuan asked in a low voice.

"We have 500 men in our headquarters, and Peizhong (Sun Peizhong, one of the four personal soldiers) has all been transferred here!" Wang Chuanwu replied.

"Others?"

"In the alley further back, he's being too cautious. We were afraid something might happen, so we two should stay here to guard the place, so that we have room to maneuver if something goes wrong!"

After saying this, Xiao Jingchuan patted Chuanwu on the shoulder.

"Let's go find Peizhong."

As they spoke, the group walked forward in the dark alley.

After a while, Xiao Jingchuan reunited with his troops.

"Mount!"

At the command, the soldiers mounted their horses one after another. The Crown Prince and the eunuch Wang Zhixin were not good at riding horses, so they rode with Gu Changting and Wang Chuanwu respectively.

"Feiyu (Qiu Zhizhong), come with me."

Xiao Jingchuan pulled up the reins and took a few steps forward. Qiu Zhizhong behind him heard what he said and also rode his horse to follow.

"Go and tell the Crown Prince later. I plan to summon several ministers who have official posts in the East Palace in the name of the Crown Prince to help us break out!"

"What?" Qiu Zhizhong was very surprised after hearing this.

"Your men and women are already eye-catching enough. Whether you are mobilizing troops or secretly holding the crown prince hostage, I'm afraid you won't be able to hide it for too long!"

"Are you going to summon other ministers?"

"Whether they come or not is not important for now. The key is that there are so many people and eyes. If one more person knows about such a confidential matter, it will be more dangerous!"

Qiu Zhizhong gave earnest advice, but it was obvious that this was not a good idea from the perspective of breaking out alone.

But Xiao Jingchuan had other concerns.

"Feiyu (Qiu Zhizhong), if we're just talking about breaking through, you're right!"

"But we took the crown prince south, isn't it just to have a title and status that can command the world?"

"What I'm worried about is that once the capital is lost, the whole country will be in chaos. By then, I don't know how many people will claim to be emperors and how many will claim to be kings!"

"It's not impossible for a few fake princes to emerge from various places and take over the mountains and become kings!"

"If we just take the prince with us and run away, our credibility will inevitably be lower."

"In that case, why not just bring along a few more court officials, including the lecturer from the East Palace?"

"In this way, even if we are blocked on the way south and it delays our time, we can ask some of these people to sneak to Nanjing first."

"First, we can establish a name early to prevent the South from being leaderless and causing trouble by supporting other vassal kings to take the throne!"

"Secondly, we can also ask them to pass on the Crown Prince's order and organize troops to march north to defend the king as soon as possible!"

"As for the risks, there is no turning back from what we have done. You and I will take the crown prince and the troops and head straight for Xizhimen. Send Wang Zhixin to announce the decree, and we will meet in front of the city gate."

"Whether you come or not, whether you can catch up or not, if we see something has changed, we can break out immediately without hesitation!"

"What do you think of this arrangement?"

Xiao Jingchuan told Qiu Zhizhong all his concerns and countermeasures. After he finished speaking, Qiu Zhizhong pondered for a moment.

"From my observation, the eunuch Wang Zhixin may not be trustworthy."

"Well, you can ask a trusted person to lead a group of people to go with him. This will be more secure."

After hearing Qiu Zhizhong's additional remarks, Xiao Jingchuan also felt that they made sense, so the two of them turned their horses around and returned to the crowd without further ado.

Qiu Zhizhong dismounted and walked to the Crown Prince Zhu Cilang first, whispered a few words to him, and then turned to the attendant eunuch Wang Zhixin. After a moment, Qi Chong nodded to Xiao Jingchuan, indicating that the matter had been settled.

"Chuanwu!"

"exist!"

"You lead a small team of men and escort the eunuch to the residences of several court officials to deliver the prince's edict."

After Xiao Jingchuan gave orders to Chuanwu, he drove his horse a few steps closer, came in front of the eunuch Wang Zhixin, and bowed deeply.

"Eunuch Wang, you are familiar with the route, I will have to ask you for help this time!"

"Okay, okay." Wang Zhixin did not neglect it and returned the greeting with a smile on his face.

"First, go to the home of the father-in-law, Jiading Earl Zhou Kui, and bring back the third prince Zhu Cijiong!"

"Second, summon the Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu, the Director of the Ministry of Personnel Xu Zhi, the Director of the Ministry of War Jin Xuan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Li Shichun, the Junior Secretary Lin Zengzhi, the Junior Tutor Liu Wenbing, and the Imperial Concubine Gong Yonggu."

"Tell them that the Crown Prince will lead his troops to break out tonight. Tell them to quickly gather the servants in the mansion who can be used and assemble in front of Xizhimen!"

"Yes, sir!" Wang Zhixin was always at the palace, and all his troops were under the command of Xiao Jingchuan. He was very tactful and did not put on his usual airs.

Seeing that the prince and Wang Zhixin were so cooperative, Xiao Jingchuan felt somewhat relieved.

"Chuanwu, take the people with you! Remember to be quick!"

"Yes!" After receiving the order, Chuanwu took his men and Wang Zhixin and went ahead to complete the task.

After this group of people left, Xiao Jingchuan reined in his horse and looked at the soldiers behind him.

"Soldiers, march quickly on this snowy night and head straight for Xizhimen!"

With that said, all the men began to move in secret!
22:15 p.m. (:)

Xiao Jingchuan led the troops, with horses holding muzzles and men holding grass, and they quietly arrived at the inner city gate of Xizhimen under the cover of night!
"Who is coming!"

"Send your name!"

"The emperor has issued an order that any soldier from the inner city who leaves without permission will be executed!"

There was a roadblock in front of Xizhimen Street. A fat man, wearing a helmet askew, was shouting at Xiao Jingchuan who was riding a horse in front of him in a domineering tone.

Hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan stopped the soldiers behind him.

"Haha, young man, please go and call your Li Huchen, Li Bazong, I have something to ask him!"

Xiao Jingchuan did not put on airs as a general, but spoke in a friendly manner. In fact, he was afraid of exposing his identity too early and causing unnecessary trouble.

After all, any confidential matter will inevitably have various mistakes as long as there are many people involved. Once you are not careful, it may lead to a complete failure of all previous efforts. Xiao Jingchuan does not want to end up like this at this critical juncture because of a momentary impulse.

Just be more cautious in what you do, and you will never go wrong!
"Captain Li?"

"Our General Li is up there with General Wu Linzheng, inspecting the city's defenses!"

As he spoke, the fat man casually pointed at the city wall above the city gate, and then glanced at the more than 500 soldiers behind Xiao Jingchuan.

"Give me the token! You are not allowed to approach the city's defense area without permission!"

"Haha, your General Li and I are old acquaintances, and I do have something to discuss with him. Please, brother, go and ask him to come and see me first!" Xiao Jingchuan replied.

"Who are you, kid?"

"You said you would meet me!"

"It's so dark in the middle of the night, and you're leading your troops here. Are you planning to leave the city and surrender to the enemy?!"

"Look at your appearance, you are not a good person!"

"I don't care whose bastard you are. If you want to sneak out of the city and surrender to the enemy, go somewhere else and don't bring trouble to our commander. Who dares to break into our Xizhimen? General Wu has said that you will be beheaded on the spot!"

The stout man looked at Xiao Jingchuan, a fair-faced young man, and felt that he was not familiar with him. In the past month or so, many children of wealthy families had used their connections to escape from the capital to avoid disasters.

One of them must have thought that Xiao Jingchuan must be the son of some noble minister, who wanted to lead his troops to surrender to the enemy in exchange for a better life. So he spoke with disdain, cursing and showing his disgust.

(End of this chapter)