Xie Ming

Chapter 6: Loyalty to the Country
"Bastard thing!"

"Who are you talking to?"

Behind Xiao Jingchuan, Sun Peizhong (a personal soldier) rode his horse two steps forward. Seeing that the fat man was disrespectful to his own general, he pressed the sheath of his sword on his waist with his left hand and was about to lose his temper.

Seeing this, Xiao Jingchuan hurriedly waved his hand to stop his men from taking action.

"Haha, I never thought that a soldier like you would speak so aggressively!"

"To tell you the truth, I am Xiao Jingchuan, the guerrilla general of the left camp of the Shenji Camp. I have come to Xizhimen on official business in accordance with the order of the Crown Prince."

"Fat brother, if you stop me unreasonably again, I won't be polite!"

As he spoke, Qiu Zhizhong also rode his horse forward.

"I am Qiu Zhizhong, the Imperial Scholar of the Eastern Palace. Go and call your Captain Li over!"

After Xiao and Qiu introduced themselves, the fat man realized that this matter was not something he could handle on his own, so he did not dare to be arrogant anymore and quickly bowed to accept the order.

"Ah, this"

"I just said something offensive, please forgive me, my superiors!"

"I will report this to Li Huchen right away. Please wait here!"

After saying this, the man trotted up to the city wall.

After a while, Li Huchen, led by the man, came down the stone steps from the city and appeared in everyone's sight.

But what Xiao Jingchuan did not expect was that the commander of Xizhimen City garrison, General Wu Linzheng, also followed behind.

"Old Xiao, this Li Huchen is a bit unreliable. Why is Wu Linzheng here?" Qiu Zhizhong reminded from the side in a low voice.

"Oh, how would I know? Just deal with it as it happens!" Xiao Jingchuan replied helplessly.

Deng Deng Deng!
Li Huchen and Wu Linzheng were both wearing armor and walking with great speed.

"May I ask if this is General Wu Linzheng?"

"I am Xiao Jingchuan, the guerrilla general of the left camp of the Shenji Camp, and I am honored to meet General Wu!"

Xiao Jingchuan saw the two men approaching and dismounted to greet them.

"Oh? So it's the young master of Duke Chengguo, Xiao Lang, Xiao Jingchuan. I've heard of you for a long time!"

"I already know about your heroic act of helping Hu Chen win the lawsuit yesterday."

“I just don’t know.”

"Sir, why did you come to my Xizhimen battle formation in the snow tonight?"

Wu Linzheng stared at Xiao Jingchuan with eyes as sharp as torches, with a half-smile on his face, and an intimidating aura.

Xiao Jingchuan felt the pressure from the other party, took a deep breath, and glanced behind him.

Li Huchen quickly gave Xiao Jingchuan a look, and he understood. He took two steps forward and spoke while thinking.

"General Wu, may I have a word with you?"

After he finished speaking, Wu Linzheng also cooperated quite well, walking a few steps with Xiao Lang to the side.

Seeing the situation, Xiao Jingchuan took out Zhu Chunchen's letter of treason from his arms and handed it to Wu Linzheng.

After reading the letter, Wu Linzheng's brows raised.

"General Wu, although I am the adopted son of Duke Cheng, I have a military post and I have already pledged my loyalty to my country, so it is difficult for me to pledge my loyalty to my family!"

"I am ashamed to be a bandit like Zhu Chunchen, so I secretly mobilized troops to rescue the prince, prepare to break out of the capital at night, and head south to the secondary capital Yingtian (Nanjing) to prepare for any eventuality, leaving half of the Ming Dynasty!"

"General Wu, I sincerely hope you can help me!"

As he spoke, Xiao Jingchuan solemnly clasped his fists, knelt on one knee, and performed the etiquette of a subject, asking Wu Linzheng to let him go and help him.

It is recorded in official history that on March 19, the bandits attacked the capital and Linzheng was ordered to guard Xizhimen.

He blocked the gate with earth and stones, and recruited brave soldiers to attack the city from below. After the city fell, he committed suicide and was posthumously named "Zhongjie".

He is a truly loyal and resolute person!
Therefore, at this moment, when he saw Xiao Jingchuan, a younger generation of Gaoliang, was so righteous, he was very pleased and helped Xiao Lang up.

"Okay! Okay!"

"The younger generation has great potential. Our Ming Dynasty can be saved and the future is promising!"

"Oh, Prince, where is the prince? Take me to see him!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan hurriedly took Wu Linzheng to the position of Crown Prince Zhu Cilang in the team.

"Ah! Your Highness the Crown Prince! Your Highness, the old minister Wu Linzheng, pays respect to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

"General Wu, please stand up. Tonight's incident was entirely due to General Xiao's loyalty and bravery. Now the bandits are strong."

"I have received an oral order from my father, the Emperor, and am planning to go south to gather troops so that we can quickly go north to serve the Emperor."

"I hope General Wu can help us break out of the city so that I can quickly go and do my job."

Crown Prince Zhu Cilang was exhausted and paused for several seconds before he finished speaking. In fact, even these were arranged in advance by Qiu Zhizhong in case of emergency.

Now, Wu Linzheng has inserted himself into the plan, and this precautionary move has shown its importance.

"Yes!"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will fully cooperate with you!" When Wu Linzheng saw the prince in person, all his suspicions were put aside.

Half an hour ago, he noticed that something was wrong with Li Huchen. Li Huchen also knew that General Wu was a man of integrity and loyalty to his country, so he told him everything about Xiao Jingchuan's conspiracy with him.

Wu Linzheng was horrified after hearing this, and had two concerns in his mind.

1. Is it true that Duke Chengguo Zhu Chunchen betrayed his country and surrendered to the enemy?

2. How credible and reliable are Xiao Jingchuan and his plan to go south?

Precisely because he had these two concerns in his mind, he deliberately put on an act just now, wanting to take the opportunity to test the authenticity.

Now that Wu Linzheng has met the prince in person and confirmed the matter, he no longer has any reason to stop Xiao Jingchuan.

"Hu Chen, tell your men to open the checkpoints and let the troops pass!" Wu Linzheng ordered.

"Yes!" Li Huchen accepted the order happily.

"Qi Dayong! Open the card and let them pass!"

Following Li Huchen's order, the fat man deftly moved the deer antlers together with the soldiers beside him.

A few moments.

Just as the five hundred soldiers of Xiao Jingchuan's army passed by, suddenly another group of people came galloping from the other end of the street behind them!

"The thief will leave!"

"The thief will leave!"

Hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan, Wu Linzheng and Li Huchen, who were standing in front of the checkpoint, turned around at the same time.

"It's someone from the patrol camp!" Li Huchen has a leopard head, round eyes, a full beard and a rough appearance. At this moment, he opened his eyes wide, trying to see clearly the strength of the opposite side.

"How fast! I thought I could keep it secret for a little longer!" Xiao Jingchuan pondered.

"It's okay, Xiao Lang, just hide in the back and don't say anything. I'll help you through this hurdle!"

Wu Linzheng narrowed his eyes and looked straight ahead, stroking his beard and waving his hand, asking Xiao Jingchuan to step back.

The Cavalry Division of the Patrol Battalion came in with great force and speed. While the three of them were talking, they had already arrived in front of them.

"Is the one opposite him General Wu Linzheng, the commander-in-chief of the Xizhimen Army?" The leader of the patrol battalion rode his horse forward two steps, clasped his fists and asked.

"Yes, it is me!" Wu Linzheng replied calmly.

"General Wu, I have been ordered by the Governor-General of the Capital, Duke Zhu, to capture the traitor Xiao Jingchuan. I just saw this group of people entering your checkpoint. I ask you to put the overall situation first and quickly arrest this thief and hand him over to me to bring him back to life!"

The small commander of the patrol battalion was only a captain and did not know Xiao Jingchuan. However, when he saw a group of people dressed in the uniforms of the Shenji Battalion, he guessed that they were most likely Xiao Jingchuan's troops.

But since these people were allowed to pass so openly by Wu Linzheng, there might be something wrong with the commander of Xizhimen.

The position of a minor official was low, and his troops were limited, so he deliberately emphasized words like "Duke Cheng" in his speech, hoping to use the power of his superiors to suppress his opponent and achieve the effect of taking advantage of the power of the tiger!

But Wu Linzheng has been in the officialdom for many years, so how could he be controlled by such a little trick?

"Oh? The Governor-General's order? Do you have a letter for me to see?"

"No souvenirs." The patrol camp commander brought it back.

"Nothing? Humph! Which eye of yours saw anyone passing through my Xizhimen checkpoint just now?" Wu Linzheng asked sharply.

"Ah? Just now, the person behind you was..." The patrol battalion commander wanted to argue.

"presumptuous!"

"You are only a small captain in the army. Why don't you dismount and pay your respects to the commander-in-chief?"

On the side, Li Huchen took advantage of the situation and shouted fiercely.

Hearing this, the patrol battalion commander trembled all over, as if frightened by the noise, and hurriedly dismounted from his horse trembling.

"I, I will pay my respects to Governor Wu!"

"Okay! It's a dark snowy night, so it's possible that you made a mistake. Don't say anything more!"

"Quickly withdraw from our Xizhimen military base. Those who violate this rule will be charged with trespassing and treason!"

Wu Linzheng's voice was like a loud bell, and he reprimanded loudly.

Seeing this, the patrol battalion commander was still unwilling to give in. He hesitated and was about to say something else when Li Huchen suddenly drew his sword from its sheath and took two steps forward with his eyes wide open in anger.

Seeing the situation, the captain dared not stay any longer, so he hurriedly mounted his horse and fled away with his tail between his legs.

A moment later, the patrol battalion withdrew and left the sight.

Wu Linzheng turned around and said to Xiao Jingchuan, "Xiao Lang, let's go. If we delay, something bad will happen. I will immediately organize the army and help you break out immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan reached out to stop the other person.

"General Wu, wait a moment!"

"hold on!"

"Should be here soon!"

(End of this chapter)