Ming Dynasty: The Jingnan Rebellion has just been successful, and Zhu Yuanzhang has been resurrected

Chapter 86 The smoke of war and the dark clouds covering Yingtian Prefecture
"Tiehyun? Betrayal?"

Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai looked at each other, all of them extremely confused.

These two words don't seem to be able to be put together.

They all knew very well who Tie Xuan was.

When Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Di were fighting for the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang was hesitant. At this time, Tie Xuan, who was originally on good terms with Zhu Di, stood up and risked his life to ask Zhu Yuanzhang to make Zhu Yunwen the crown prince.

There is no need to question the loyalty that is willing to sacrifice one's life.

But what did they hear now? Tie Xuan betrayed Zhu Yunwen?

Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, and Qi Tai looked at each other, took a deep breath, and asked, "Your Majesty, what happened?"

"Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong, these two bastards, betrayed me and ran away to join Zhu Yunwen!" Zhu Yunwen's face was gloomy, and there was a cold murderous intent in his eyes.

He was almost mad with anger. He had transferred Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong to the south because he believed in their loyalty, but now these two people had directly surrendered to Zhu Yunhuan.

This not only led to the direct fall of Jiangning City, but also indirectly reflected his lack of vision.

"Your Majesty, is there any misunderstanding here? I believe Sheng Yong surrendered, but Tie Xuan is pedantic and stubborn. He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would surrender." Huang Zicheng said.

"Yes, Your Majesty, Tie Xuan risked his life to make a desperate appeal to Emperor Hongwu for your sake. He should not have surrendered to Zhu Yunhuan." Fang Xiaoru also said.

"Your Majesty, I know Tie Xuan, but I don't believe that he will surrender." Qi Tai shook his head.

All three of them believed in Tie Xuan's character and felt that Tie Xuan would never surrender.

Zhu Yunwen took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and said: "I don't believe Tie Xuan will surrender to Zhu Yunhuan, but now it is written in black and white. If you don't believe it, you can see it for yourself."

After saying that, he handed over the letter.

"This..." Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng, and Qi Tai hesitated for a moment, took turns reading the letter, and all fell silent.

"Your Majesty, could this news be false?" Huang Zicheng asked.

Even though it was clearly written in black and white, he still found it hard to believe.

Fang Xiaoru nodded and agreed, "Yes, Your Majesty, be careful, this is Zhu Yunhuan's trick."

"Your Majesty, I think we should not worry about whether Tie Xuan surrendered or not. Instead, we should let the princes speed up their march. Regardless of whether Tie Xuan surrendered to Zhu Yunhuan or not, Jiangning City will definitely be captured. Next, Zhu Yunhuan will attack Yingtian Prefecture." Qi Tai said in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, Lord Qi is right." Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng said in unison.

Zhu Yunwen's expression changed for a while, and he shouted to the outside of the hall: "Someone come!"

"Your Majesty, what are your orders?" A young eunuch trotted over and asked respectfully.

"Go and call Duke Cao Li Jinglong to me." Zhu Yunwen waved his hand.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The young eunuch agreed and turned to leave.

Zhu Yunwen took a deep breath and looked at Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng, and Qi Tai with a serious expression: "My three beloved ministers, Yingtian Prefecture is now depending on you. You must hold on until the princes arrive!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng, and Qi Tai spoke in a deep voice with firm expressions.

"Go and do your work. If you need me, just tell me." Zhu Yunwen waved his hand.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai nodded, then turned and left.

Zhu Yunwen took a deep breath, feeling a little upset. After hesitating for a moment, he walked towards Kunning Palace.

Zhu Yunhuan's advance speed was much faster than he had imagined, which would be a huge test for Yingtian Prefecture at this time.

In the small courtyard!
Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Jiang Lin in front of him with wide eyes: "What did you say? Tie Xuan defected to Yun Hun?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Jiang Li nodded.

"How is this possible? Why would Tie Xuan defect to Yunhu? This shouldn't be possible!" Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were blank and his face was full of disbelief.

He knew Tie Xuan well. With his pedantic and stubborn character, he would never surrender no matter what. In comparison, he felt that Tie Xuan would choose to die calmly.

Jiang Li was silent. He was also extremely shocked when he heard the news.

"Do you know the specific reason?" Zhu Yuanzhang calmed down and asked.

Jiang Li shook his head and said, "I don't know. I only found out that Emperor Yunhu and Tie Xuan were alone for a while, and then Tie Xuan surrendered."

"How did Yunhu do it?" Zhu Yuanzhang stared blankly, with a strong curiosity in his heart.

He thought about it and asked himself, if he were in Zhu Yunhuan's situation, could he persuade Tie Xuan to surrender? The final answer was no, he could not persuade Tie Xuan to surrender.

Shaking his head, Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his doubts and asked, "Has Jiangning City fallen into Yun Hu's hands now?"

"Yes." Jiang Li nodded.

Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless for a while. The speed of the troops' advance was so fast that even he didn't know what to say. It was too fast!
"How long will it take for the fastest among the princes to reach Yingtian Prefecture?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked after calming himself down.

"The fastest one is Prince Lu, and it will probably take more than three days." Jiang Lin said.

"Can Yunwen hold on for more than three days?" Zhu Yuanzhang was at a loss.

He didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, Zhu Yunhuan would be able to enter Yingtian Prefecture. Everything seemed like a dream.

"Alas," Zhu Yuanzhang sighed inwardly, and said, "Go and bring Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying to see me."

Given the current situation, he could no longer continue to trust Zhu Yunwen, otherwise, Zhu Yunhuan might really invade Yingtian Prefecture.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Jiang Li nodded and turned to leave.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked bewildered and murmured, "How did things turn out like this?"

He couldn't quite understand.

Before faking his death, he had clearly paved the way for Zhu Yunwen and removed all obstacles. As long as Zhu Yunwen honestly followed his plan, he could rest assured.

As a result, not long after this, Zhu Yunwen's throne was in danger of being taken away.

"Is it that Yunwen is too bad, or Yunhu is too good?" Zhu Yuanzhang fell into deep thought.

Duke Cao’s Mansion!

When Li Jinglong received the news that Zhu Yunwen was going to summon him, he breathed a sigh of relief and showed an unconcealable joy on his face: "I did it!"

Although he knew that if Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai took action, the matter could be resolved, but knowing it did not affect his excitement after receiving the news.

Before, I was just confident, but now that I have received the news that Zhu Yunwen has summoned me, the matter has been completely settled.

"Duke, His Majesty is still waiting, let's go quickly." The young eunuch reminded.

"Okay!" Li Jinglong nodded, casually took out a gold ingot from his pocket and threw it to the young eunuch: "This is your reward!"

After saying that, he walked out of the house with a smile on his face.

"Ah, this." The young eunuch was a little confused. After he realized what was happening, he was ecstatic and chased after Li Jinglong: "Thank you, Duke. Duke, please go slower."

In front of the gate.

Li Jinglong was about to get on the carriage.

At this moment, a servant came running over breathlessly: "Master, wait a moment."

Under normal circumstances, Li Jinglong might have gotten on the carriage directly, but he was in a very good mood at the moment, so he did not get on the carriage.

"Master, there's an urgent report from Jiangning City. Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong have surrendered to Emperor Yunhu's grandson. Now Jiangning City has fallen into the hands of Emperor Yunhu's grandson." The servant came to Li Jinglong and whispered in his ear.

"Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong surrendered to the grandson of Emperor Yunhu?" Li Jinglong was stunned and a little surprised.

Even if Sheng Yong is the one, will that guy Tie Xuan surrender?

"I guess there is something wrong with the intelligence, but Jiangning City should have fallen." Li Jinglong shook his head and did not worry about whether Tie Xuan surrendered or not. To him, that was not important.

"Grumpy"

The carriage slowly started moving towards the palace.

Li Jinglong sat in the carriage, thinking about what to say when he met Zhu Yunwen.

He is only one step away from defending the city and taking the initiative, and he absolutely cannot mess things up.

Courtyard!

Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying came before Zhu Yuanzhang and said respectfully, "Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "We just received news that Yunhuan has captured Jiangning City."

"So fast?" Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying's pupils contracted violently when they heard this, and they were extremely shocked.

"You will go see Yunwen later and ask to participate in the defense of Yingtian Prefecture, do you understand?" Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Before, he wanted to show up himself to stabilize the situation, but now Zhu Yunhuan is about to attack Yingtian Prefecture, so his appearance will not be of much use.

Moreover, the princes have reached a consensus with Zhu Yunwen and are currently rushing to Yingtian Prefecture. His appearance is basically to summon a group of princes to come to Beijing to rescue the emperor.

Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether he shows up now or not.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying nodded.

"Your Majesty, what if Emperor Yunwen's grandson doesn't need us?" Geng Bingwen asked.

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment, thinking of Zhu Yunwen's series of actions, and said: "You think of a way to participate in the defense of the city gate as much as possible."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying nodded.

They all smiled bitterly in their hearts. If Zhu Yunwen didn't let them participate in the defense of the city, what else could they do? Could they just force their way into the city?
At that time, if Zhu Yunwen gets angry and chops off their heads, wouldn’t that be very unfair to them?

However, they did not dare to say these words to Zhu Yuanzhang. Anyway, they would go to Zhu Yunwen first to try. If Zhu Yunwen did not let them defend the city, they would come to Zhu Yuanzhang to solve the problem.

"Okay, go ahead!" Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.

"I resign!"

Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying bowed and turned to leave.

Kunning Palace!
Zhu Yunwen found Lu and said in a deep voice, "Mother, Zhu Yunhuan has captured Jiangning City."

"So soon? Didn't Tie Xuan, Sheng Yong and the others go to Jiangning City?" Mrs. Lu was stunned and a little shocked.

If Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong did not go, Jiangning City would be directly breached. If Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong went, Jiangning City would still be directly breached. So what was the point of Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong going?
As far as she knows, Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong are both very capable!

"Don't mention those two guys, I really want to kill them now!" Zhu Yunwen said gritting his teeth.

Mrs. Lu was stunned and asked, "What's wrong? Is it because they let Zhu Yunhuan capture Jiangning City?"

"No, they didn't resist at all." Zhu Yunwen said in a deep voice.

Mrs. Lu was puzzled and asked, "No resistance? What do you mean?"

"Literally, these two damn guys surrendered directly to Zhu Yunwen." Zhu Yunwen said.

He now hated Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong to death.

"What?" Madam Lu was stunned and hesitated, "Wen'er, are you sure about this? Could this be a trick of Zhu Yunhuan? I can't say for sure about Sheng Yong, but I don't think Tie Xuan will surrender."

"Anyway, that's what the news from Jiangning City says. I have no way of judging whether it's true or not." Zhu Yunwen said.

Immediately, he waved his hand and said, "Mother, now is not the time to dwell on this issue. Jiangning City has been breached, and Zhu Yunhuan will attack Yingtian Prefecture at any time. You should go out and hide."

Although Jiangning City fell faster than he had imagined, he was not planning to run away.

The princes are moving towards Yingtian Prefecture, which also has a certain amount of garrison force. As long as he can hold on until the princes arrive, he can launch a counter-encirclement and suppression against Zhu Yunhuan.

Mrs. Lu was silent for a while, then said, "Wen'er, what about you?"

"I won't leave. The uncles are rushing towards Yingtian Prefecture. As long as I can hold on, Zhu Yunhuan will definitely die." Zhu Yunwen said hatefully.

He had been planning to reduce the power of the feudal lords, but his plan was suddenly disrupted by Zhu Yunhuan's uprising. His face was trampled on mercilessly, and now he was determined to take away his throne.

If he was isolated and helpless, there would be nothing to say, he would just run away. But fortunately, he reached a cooperation with the princes, and now a large group of princes are leading their troops towards Yingtian Prefecture. In this situation, how could he retreat?

He wants to see Zhu Yunhuan die with his own eyes!

Mrs. Lu smiled and said, "Since you're not leaving, I'll stay too. Otherwise, if the soldiers knew the Queen Mother had escaped, it would easily affect their morale."

"Mother" Zhu Yunwen was stunned and his eyes turned red.

Lu touched Zhu Yunwen's cheek and said, "Okay, why are you still acting like a child? Remember, you are the emperor of the Ming Dynasty now."

"Yes!" Zhu Yunwen nodded heavily, his expression firm: "Mother, don't worry, I will definitely defend Yingtian Prefecture."

"Mother believes in you!" Mrs. Lu said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, Duke Cao is here!" The young eunuch walked over and said respectfully.

"Li Jinglong?" Mrs. Lu was slightly stunned. She waved her hand and said, "Wen'er, go and do your work first."

"Your son will take his leave!" Zhu Yunwen bowed, took a deep breath, turned around and left the Qianqing Palace.

Mrs. Lu lowered her head and thought for a while, then waved to the palace maid beside her and said, "Go, invite Marquis Changxing and Marquis Wuding to come over."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The maid nodded and turned to leave.

Mrs. Lu shook her head. She was really a little worried about Li Jinglong.

Hall of Supreme Harmony!
Li Jinglong waited quietly, feeling a little nervous.

Although everything was developing as he expected, it ultimately depended on Zhu Yunwen's wishes.

If Zhu Yunwen eventually rejected him, all his previous plans would be in vain.

"Jiujiang!" Zhu Yunwen walked into the palace.

"Shua!" Li Jinglong stood up and saluted respectfully: "Your Majesty!"

"Okay, get up!" Zhu Yunwen waved his hand.

Seeing Zhu Yunwen's appearance, Li Jinglong felt a little relieved. Things didn't seem to be too bad.

"I believe you have guessed the purpose of my summoning you?" Zhu Yunwen said lightly.

Li Jinglong knelt on the ground with his knees bent, saying, "Your Majesty, I will defend the city to the death to atone for the sins of the Battle of Fengyang."

Zhu Yunwen walked up to Li Jinglong and said in a deep voice, "This is your last chance. I hope you won't let me down again. Otherwise, I will chop off your head. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Li Jinglong said respectfully.

"Go and think carefully about how to defend the city. If you can defend the city, I will pretend that the Fengyang incident never happened." Zhu Yunwen waved his hand.

"I bow to your Majesty and thank you!" Li Jinglong bowed deeply, then stood up and left the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

"Your Majesty, Marquis Changxing and Marquis Wuding request an audience." A young eunuch came over and said respectfully.

"Geng Bingwen? Guo Ying? What are they doing here?" Zhu Yunwen was stunned. He frowned and thought for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Bring them here."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The young eunuch nodded and turned to leave.

Outside the palace.

Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying waited quietly.

Li Jinglong walked out of the palace and saw Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying waiting outside. He greeted them, "Marquis of Changxing and Marquis of Wuding."

"Gong Cao Guo?"

Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying were startled when they saw Li Jinglong, and the same thought came to their minds: "Is His Majesty going to ask Duke Cao to defend the city?"

"Duke Cao, what a coincidence." Geng Bingwen said with a smile.

"Have you also been summoned by His Majesty? That's right, you are all veterans. Now that the country is in crisis, you should gather all your strength to defend Yingtian Prefecture." Li Jinglong said.

"Your Majesty really wants Li Jinglong to defend the city!"

Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying were filled with indescribable envy and jealousy. Zhu Yunwen was really so good to Li Jinglong. Even though he had committed such a big mistake in Fengyang, he was still entrusted with such an important task at such a critical moment.

In contrast, the two of them not only had to take the initiative to find Zhu Yunwen, but it was also uncertain whether they would be requisitioned.

There is really no comparison between people!
"We came to see Your Majesty on our own initiative." Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying looked embarrassed, with a hint of embarrassment flashing across their faces.

"Ah?" Li Jinglong was stunned for a moment, then immediately added, "You two are truly the pillars of the Ming Dynasty. You are so brave to step forward in such a critical moment."

"Marquis Changxing and Marquis Wuding, His Majesty has agreed to meet you." The young eunuch ran over and relieved the embarrassment of Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying.

"You two, please go in quickly." Li Jinglong said with a smile.

Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying bowed to Li Jinglong and walked into the hall.

Li Jinglong watched Geng Bingwen and Guo Ying walk into the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The smile on his face slowly disappeared. He took a deep breath and turned to leave.

(End of this chapter)