The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 732 Rendezvous

Jia Lian was about to meet Princess Zhaoyang, but Princess Zhaoyang came to see him first.

On the fire-lit mountain road, Princess Zhaoyang saw Jia Lian riding a white horse, wearing a golden sword and golden armor.

Princess Zhaoyang didn't know the story of the Prince Charming, but in her eyes, Jia Lian at this moment was her Prince Charming, her true love.

She left the soldiers at the princess's mansion, rode her horse up to Jia Lian, and showed her usual warm smile.

"Zhaoyang wanted to go down the mountain to meet the general, but he didn't expect the general to be here."

In one sentence, she not only made her purpose clear, but also expressed her surprise and admiration for Jia Lian's quick ascent of the mountain.

Seeing Princess Zhaoyang like this, Jia Lian also showed a long-lost smile on his face. "I can get here so quickly, thanks to General Pei's deep understanding of justice and his surrender. Otherwise, I don't know how many lives of soldiers would have been sacrificed to get here."

As Jia Lian spoke, he glanced at Pei Fengnian, who was frowning beside him.

Princess Zhaoyang also glanced at him.

On the way down, she also heard and saw the situation here, and roughly understood that the general guarding the mountain in the Beidaying should have raised the white flag to Jia Lian.

Nodding casually, Princess Zhaoyang looked at Jia Lian again, her expression becoming more serious.

"General, you've arrived just in time. The situation on the mountain is in chaos, the soldiers are causing trouble, and my father is trapped in the palace. We urgently need you to lead the troops to rescue him."

Jia Lian's expression changed, and he asked in a deep voice, "What exactly happened?"

"The Cavalry Battalion and the Infantry Battalion are working together to attack the palace, so the Guard Battalion that was supposed to support the general and General Xie has already returned to defend.

There is no time to lose, General, please follow me up the mountain to protect the emperor immediately."

Princess Zhaoyang's beautiful face looked bright and glorious under the light of the fire.

Although she had said before that she would not favor her father or grandfather.

But when things came to this, she still made a choice.

The Emperor lost, and it was only the Emperor who lost.

If my father loses, the country and people of Wei will be shaken.

In the eyes of the people of the world, the honor and life of the retired emperor was a matter of course, but the dethronement or even killing of the emperor was undoubtedly a shocking event.

By then, all kinds of monsters will probably emerge, bringing endless chaos and killing to the empire.

Jia Lian took a deep breath, then looked at Pei Fengnian and said sternly, "General Pei!"

"The subordinate is here."

"From now on, you and your officers and soldiers will follow Princess Zhaoyang's orders until the rebels are wiped out and His Majesty is rescued!"

"Yes……"

Pei Fengnian glanced at Princess Zhaoyang.

To be honest, although he was a defeated general, he was still a general of the third rank. He could barely accept being ordered to obey Jia Lian, after all, the strength of Jia Lian and his firearms battalion really convinced him.

But to ask him to obey a woman...

Jia Lian seemed to be able to see through his thoughts, and his tone became harsh: "Don't you think that Her Highness Zhaoyang is a woman? Back then in the desert outside the Great Wall, Her Highness only had a few hundred guards at her disposal, and she was able to manipulate tens of thousands of Wala troops in the palm of her hand.

Even His Majesty highly praises your talent, are you still not convinced?"

"I dare not! I will obey the orders of the Marquis and will do whatever His Highness commands!"

Everything else is false.

His current life and whether he can preserve his own future and the lives of his entire family all depend on Jia Lian's thoughts. Pei Fengnian certainly does not dare to offend Jia Lian.

Moreover, Jia Lian reminded him that Princess Zhaoyang was favored by Emperor Ning Kang, so he dared not show any "resentment".

Princess Zhaoyang, however, seemed to know nothing. She kept looking at Jia Lian with a smile, and only glanced at Pei Fengnian indifferently at the end.

This glance made Pei Fengnian lower his head even more.

Princess Zhaoyang then let him go and smiled at Jia Lian again, saying, "Finally, I can fight alongside the general again."

Jia Lian also nodded at her.

At night, too many soldiers would hinder mobility. Moreover, his firearms battalion had been specially trained and had its own rules for how to cooperate in any situation. If he brought a few thousand "trash", it would definitely be inconvenient.

This is also the reason why he let Princess Zhaoyang lead the surrendered soldiers from Beidaying.

……

On the mountain.

Emperor Ning Kang stood in the west tower of the palace, staring intently at a large group of imperial guards fighting each other in the distance.

I don’t know how many waves of attacks the enemy has launched.

The power of the Cavalry Battalion is so outrageous!

If he had not had the advantage in military strength and had not been prepared in advance and was able to defend himself based on the advantageous terrain.

If not, he had already deliberately focused on building the personal army camp, so that the overall strength of the personal army camp should not be underestimated...

I'm afraid that at this moment, he is either on the way to escape or has been captured by the emperor.

But even so, the defense line outside the palace had been completely broken, the palace fences were toppled by the impact, and raging fires were burning everywhere.

Soldiers fell one after another in a pool of blood. The air was filled with the smell of blood and the pungent smell of corpses burning in the raging fire. Even Emperor Ning Kang, who was standing on a high building, could clearly smell it.

These are the most elite soldiers of the empire.

Emperor Ning Kang did not speak, but one could get a glimpse of his thoughts from the fists he unconsciously clenched at his sleeves.

Many of the trusted ministers who were serving Emperor Ning Kang couldn't bear it and turned their heads away.

Faced with such blood, even the most cruel conspirator might lower his noble head.

"Boom boom boom!"

Iron boots stepped on the wooden building, and the two generals with blood on their armor quickly walked to Emperor Ning Kang, "The enemy's attack is too fierce. For the safety of Your Majesty, we beg Your Majesty to evacuate the palace!"

As the two highest-ranking generals on Emperor Ning Kang's side, their words caused a commotion among the civil officials around Emperor Ning Kang.

But Emperor Ning Kang did not move. He did not even turn his head or speak. His eyes were still looking at the soldiers fighting bloody battles in front of him.

Feng Sheng and the other man looked at each other, knelt down and said, "The cavalry of the Xiaoqi Battalion has a sharp attack, and there is no strategic location in the palace. The temporary trenches and fences cannot stop a few charges.

  Once the defense line is breached and tens of thousands of troops are engaged in a chaotic battle, we, your servants, will be unable to guarantee the safety of Your Majesty!

I have discussed with the commander of the guards, and have him escort Your Majesty to a safe place at the foot of the mountain, while I will lead the guard battalion to cover Your Majesty’s retreat, to ensure everything is safe…”

"All right?"

Emperor Ning Kang slowly turned his head.

At this point, there is no foolproof solution.

Thanks to his rebellious son, even if he wins this time, he is destined to be accused of being rebellious and unfilial. By then, it is unknown how many loyal or self-proclaimed loyalists will rebuke him, oppose him, and criticize him.

He was ready for this.

Therefore, he cannot retreat. He must win this battle fairly!

"Just kill the enemy without worrying about me. If the defense line is breached, I will personally take up my three-foot sword and work with all the soldiers to defeat the enemy."

Emperor Ningkang's calm but powerful words not only deeply moved generals such as Feng Sheng, but also greatly encouraged the attendants on his left and right. They all knelt down and expressed their willingness to follow Emperor Ningkang until death and to work together with the other soldiers to defeat the enemy.

Feng Sheng and the commander of the personal army camp, Helian Xiong, looked at each other and said nothing more. After bowing deeply, the two of them went back to arrange the defense.

As commanders, they naturally didn't need to personally fight the enemy. At least not now.

The bloodstains on his body were only from the execution of a few wealthy soldiers who deserted from the battlefield.

Just a moment after Feng Sheng and his companion left, they heard sporadic gunshots coming from afar, followed by a large-scale riot behind the "rebels" who were attacking the palace at all costs.

Emperor Ning Kang was startled and quickly leaned on the railing to look into the distance.

Unfortunately, the attic was too low and the night was too dark, so it was impossible to see the battle situation in the distance.

But just by looking at the gunshots that shone with unique charm in the night sky, Emperor Ning Kang knew that it must be Jia Lian's troops who went up the mountain.

finally come!

Many people around guessed that it was reinforcements coming from the mountain, and they were overjoyed and congratulated Emperor Ning Kang.

But Emperor Ning Kang still had an indifferent expression, as if everything was under his control, and the situation before him did not cause any emotional fluctuations in him at all.

until……

"Your Majesty, Princess Zhaoyang is leading a large number of troops and horses to protect you!"

Emperor Ning Kang had actually seen it long ago. A troop from the southwest easily broke through the enemy's already flimsy defense line, and then was blocked by the guard camp and could not move forward.

The leader's figure looked very familiar to him.

"How many men did she bring with her?"

Emperor Ning Kang did not ask Princess Zhaoyang where the troops came from.

"There are about several thousand people, all of whom are originally from the Beidaying Army, and Pei Fengnian, the deputy commander of the Beidaying Army, is also with them!"

Emperor Ning Kang's eyes lit up. Combined with the news that Jia Lian had already gone up the mountain, Emperor Ning Kang roughly guessed the beginning and end of the matter.

"Let her come to see me!"

Emperor Ning Kang originally wanted to wait for Princess Zhaoyang to come and see him, but seeing the increasingly chaotic situation outside the palace, he suddenly turned around and walked quickly down to the attic.

Although he could contact the outside world through carrier pigeons that had been arranged in advance, the palace had been blocked by the emperor since yesterday afternoon.

He was eager to meet Jia Lian and others to understand the current situation on the mountain and below.

After waiting for a while at the gate of the palace, Princess Zhaoyang and several of her personal entourage came towards us.

"My son, I will meet my father."

Seeing Princess Zhaoyang leap off her horse and then kneel on one knee in front of him, Emperor Ning Kang didn't waste any words. After letting her stand up, he asked directly, "Where are you from?"

"Your son has just returned from the mountain..."

Princess Zhaoyang also knew what Emperor Ning Kang wanted to know, and continued to reply: "I saw a large number of rebels attacking your father's palace earlier, and I was very worried about your safety.

I originally wanted to return to my father immediately to protect him.

However, I knew that I had no soldiers or generals, so it was useless to come to my father's side. Suddenly, I remembered that I had heard that there were soldiers coming to the mountain to rescue the emperor, so I thought about going to meet them for my father. Even if I could only lead the way for the generals who came to the rescue, so that they could lead the troops to the mountain a moment earlier, it would be considered as my son's contribution.

Unexpectedly, he ran into Marquis Zhenyuan who came to protect him on the southeast hillside.

At that time, Marquis Zhenyuan had just defeated the enemy forces in the east and won over thousands of soldiers in the Beidaying with righteousness.

After hearing that the palace was in danger, Marquis Zhenyuan immediately decided to lead the vanguard troops to provide assistance.

Now, the Marquis of Zhenyuan is leading the musket army to launch an attack from the rear of the rebels to save the palace, and he is worried about the safety of the emperor, so he asked me to lead the soldiers of the North Camp to protect the emperor. "

Princess Zhaoyang quickly explained the situation.

As soon as she finished speaking, Pei Fengnian, who had been preparing for a long time behind her, quickly knelt down in front of Emperor Ning Kang and kowtowed, saying, "I am the guilty minister Pei Fengnian. I listened to the prince's words and almost caused a great disaster. Please, Your Majesty, sentence me to death!"

His actions and words made Emperor Ning Kang look at him unconsciously.

After a moment, Emperor Ning Kang said calmly: "Since you misunderstood the Crown Prince's words and returned to the right path, what crime have you committed?"

"I, your Majesty, thank you for your grace in not punishing me."

Pei Fengnian pretended to wipe the sweat from his forehead and felt relieved in his heart.

The reason why he turned against them so easily and listened to Jia Lian and others so much was because he saw the situation clearly and was afraid of being liquidated by Emperor Ning Kang.

Just now, Princess Zhaoyang wanted to come to see Emperor Ning Kang, and he came along begging.

He knew very well that Emperor Ningkang was still in danger and still needed their loyalty, so this was definitely the time to be most tolerant.

If he waits until everything is settled before explaining, I'm afraid Emperor Ning Kang may not listen.

Now that Emperor Ning Kang has promised in person not to blame anyone, it is unlikely that he will go back on his word.

Although Emperor Ning Kang didn't care much about Pei Fengnian, as Pei Fengnian thought, Emperor Ning Kang now needed people to be loyal.

"You and your troops will temporarily obey the orders of the Princess. If you can achieve success this time, I will not only forgive your previous mistakes, but also reward you generously."

"I will definitely live up to your majesty's high expectations..."

After nodding and seeing that Pei Fengnian was relieved, Emperor Ning Kang looked at Princess Zhaoyang again.

"I still have my own army camp and guard camp around me, they are safe.

As for Jia Lian, he didn't have many soldiers under his command to begin with, and now he was alone and trapped behind enemy lines. He would be in danger of failure if he was not careful.

You lead your troops to support us. I will also order the personal army camp and the guard army camp to cooperate with you and try to put an end to the war before dawn."

Upon hearing this, Princess Zhaoyang looked at Emperor Ning Kang with a rare bit of sincerity in her eyes.

"Your Majesty, please be careful."

No matter whether Emperor Ning Kang is more worried about Jia Lian's safety or the safety of the "Firearm Battalion".

But under such circumstances, Emperor Ning Kang was able to express this, which somewhat warmed the hearts of his loyal subjects.

Isn’t it true? I am also a subject.

……