Chaos in the Chu Palace

Chapter 41 The Palace Gate Transformation (1)
The two vermilion lacquered doors opened slowly, and behind Ouyang Ruo followed more than a dozen guards of the Marquis Mansion, looking nervously at the gradually opening gap.General Su stood in front of the mansion in a silver armor and white robe. His figure was just like the one in his memory, as mighty and straight as a sword.

Ouyang Ruo only felt hot flushes in his eyes and almost wanted to call out his name.Su Yanqing stood in front of the door, with a gloomy and murderous look in her clear voice: "Your Majesty has an order, anyone who trespasses in the Marquis's Mansion will be killed without mercy!" The voice was not loud, but it was heard by everyone below. Presumably it was due to internal strength.

It was only then that Ouyang Ruo discovered that in front of the gate of the mansion, the brigade of Crow Crow's Gyeonggi guards were all holding swords and staring at this place covetously.And outside, soldiers in navy blue uniforms were outside, holding spears and heavy knives, with a strong murderous look.Although he didn't wear a shining armor, the aura honed from the battlefield was enough to defeat a hundred.The heavy vermilion-lacquered door was fully opened, and thousands of pairs of eyes stared at the people coming out of the door.

Ouyang Ruo collected himself and walked out steadily.In this tense situation, thousands of pairs of eyes were stunned to see an unparalleled woman walking out.She walked to Su Yanqing's side, her clear eyes couldn't hide her eagerness.

"General Su, are you here?!" There was an imperceptible tremor in her voice.

Su Yanqing turned her head and clasped her fists and said: "Madam was shocked. This subordinate is under the order of the Marquis to protect the safety of the Hou Mansion. Please let Madam enter the mansion to rest."

Ouyang Ruo looked at his much thinner face, and felt an inexplicable feeling in her heart. In front of these thousands of people, she watched him silently for a while, then nodded and said: "General Laosu, General Wan privately Chuanghou's Mansion has been taken down, please General Su to decide. I will resign as a concubine."

She gave a silent salute, turned around and returned to the mansion.And General Wan, who was tied into rice dumplings, was escorted out, and several soldiers were robbed from below to try to rob him, and there was an uproar among the Gyeonggi Guards.

Su Yanqing yelled: "Whoever dares to step forward, General Wan will be decapitated!" Only then became quiet, Su Yanqing walked up to General Wan, looked him up and down, clasped his fists and said: "General Wan offended, For the safety of the Hou Mansion, the general can only be wronged."

As he spoke, he turned his head and said to the guards on both sides: "Tie General Wan in front of the door, anyone who wants to trespass will be killed without mercy!" As he spoke, he glanced at the people below, then turned and entered the Hou's mansion.

When we arrived at the main hall, Ouyang Ruo was sitting in the hall and lost in thought alone. The afterglow of the setting sun drew a long and brilliant golden thread on the sapphire slab in the hall. Shocked like a bird, so beautiful that it doesn't look like a real person.It was only at this time that Su Yanqing realized that she was well-dressed and well-dressed, making it difficult to look directly at her. Her usual cool beauty was now like a blooming peony, unreservedly and proudly exuding astonishing shock to everyone who saw her.

In the summer evenings for many years to come, he could always recall such a woman, delicate and beautiful, as if so weak that one couldn't help but want to hold it in the palm of his hand, but there was an inexplicable power in her delicate body, Firm and powerful.He just looked crazy like this out of time.

Ouyang Ruo was in a daze for a while, and when she turned around, she saw Su Yanqing standing outside the hall looking at her.She was taken aback, and hurriedly got up and said: "General Su, please come in." Su Yanqing's handsome face flushed red, and she hurriedly took her seat.

Ouyang Ruo suppressed the tens of thousands of thoughts in his heart and only asked: "What will General Su do next?"

Su Yanqing frowned with two long sword eyebrows and said: "Master Hou means to leave the capital as soon as possible and go to the Northwest Camp, but the situation outside may make it difficult to even leave the Hou Mansion."

Ouyang Ruo nodded, and said: "Mr. Zhao Da also told us to leave. But what about the princess and the other wives? They are all in the palace!"

Su Yanqing looked up at her before slowly saying: "Now I don't care about the princess, almost all the family members and children of the ministers were invited to this palace banquet. So they should be fine, but they were just trapped in the palace as bargaining chips .”

Ouyang Ruo turned pale when she heard the words: "What! General Su means that they are all hostages?! Could it be..." She didn't dare to say any more.

Su Yanqing stared at her face, seemed to know what she was thinking, and nodded slowly after a while.Ouyang Ruo only felt a buzzing in his head, and his heart couldn't help but tugged.The bustling inside the palace gate seemed to be turning into a Shura field in a blink of an eye, and she could almost smell the blood in it.Who is the final winner of this fight.Who is the final loser?Winner and loser, she hardly dared to imagine how Chu Huotian would solve this extremely dangerous chess game.

Seeing her pale face, Su Yanqing thought she was worried about her life, so she comforted her, "Don't worry, Seventh Madam, Master Hou ordered me to take Madam out."

Ouyang Ruo nodded blankly, and suddenly she turned her head to look at Su Yanqing and said, "How many troops did General Su bring this time?"

Su Yanqing was startled, gestured with a finger, and said softly, "One thousand."

one thousand? !Ouyang Ruo almost wanted to laugh.The Gyeonggi guards outside the gate had at least [-] troops. If the tied up General Wan didn't tell lies, there would be almost [-].

One against three? !Ouyang Ruo suddenly felt a little cold.

Su Yanqing saw that her complexion was getting more and more disheartened, so she could only say: "Madam, don't worry. Su has his own plan."

Ouyang Ruo smiled bitterly and said, "General Su can come and go freely among thousands of troops by himself, but there is also a pregnant Mrs. Lin in the mansion, as well as other managers, big and small. General Su can't leave them behind, can he?"

Su Yanqing hesitated for a while before saying: "The matter is urgent, I can only take the two wives first."

"No!" Ouyang Ruo stood up immediately: "How can it be possible? There are at least three hundred lives in this mansion, and they must not be left here!"

Su Yanqing was also a little annoyed: "They are just servants, and those from the Jingji Guards won't do anything to them. Seventh Madam don't have to worry about them!"

Ouyang Ruo was also angry: "Do you dare to guarantee?!" Su Yanqing suddenly said coldly: "Su doesn't dare to guarantee, but Su dares to guarantee that if Madam refuses to leave, she won't be able to leave after tonight !"

When Ouyang Ruo heard the words, her anger suddenly drained, she sat back on the chair slumped, and murmured: "I can't leave them, aunt, and Mingying, Dexuan... There are many, many people."

A trace of pity flashed in Su Yanqing's eyes, and she wanted to comfort her, not knowing how to say it.There was a long silence between the two of them, and the sky was completely dark.

Ouyang Ruo said after a while: "Mrs. Lin is pregnant and timid. Is General Su completely sure about the plan to leave the house?"

Su Yanqing looked serious, and called Guanshi Zhang who came to the side and asked, "Do you know any trails around the outside of this Hou's mansion?"

Zhang Guanshi thought about it carefully before he said: "Normally, there is no such thing, but there is a small bamboo forest in the northwest, there may be fewer officers and soldiers there, and it will be easier to go out."

Su Yanqing's eyes lit up, her expression relaxed, and she couldn't help saying: "That's very good."

Seeing his expression, Ouyang Ruo couldn't help but wondered: "Didn't Mr. Zhao Da give you a good plan to get out of the house?"

Su Yanqing glanced at her, then at Guanshi Zhang, who was full of expectations, and shook her head in embarrassment: "The generals will not accept their orders abroad, and besides, they don't know what's going on when they come here. The soldiers are also temporarily pulled in."

After hearing this, Ouyang Ruo's heart started beating again, and her head hurt more and more.

Su Yanqing discussed several details with her, and at the end, Su Yanqing said to Guanshi Zhang: "You are servants of Dinghou's mansion, they will not make things difficult for you, this time they came here to trap Lord Hou and his family members , now that we're gone, you're a bit safer. Can Guanshi understand this reason?"

Guanshi Zhang had seen the world, so he understood some of Su Yanqing's words, so he nodded in agreement.Su Yanqing asked him to do a few more things before letting him go.

Ouyang Ruo was worried again, and said worriedly: "General Su, is it really all right?"

Su Yanqing glanced at her strangely, and said, "Mrs. Cai was able to tie up General Wan Biaowan without saying a word. Why is she suddenly timid at this moment? The general really doesn't understand."

Ouyang Ruo was stunned for a moment, and saw that there was a strong smile in his eyes, as if the snow in early March would melt, so he couldn't help but whispered, his face turned red immediately.

After hastily eating dinner, Ouyang Ruo and Wan Hui hugged Lin Xiang and brought Mrs. Lin quietly into the light carriage and left the gate of the northwest courtyard.There are many bamboos in the forest, and it is very difficult to walk because they are not taken care of.Su Yanqing got out of the carriage and pushed the cart from time to time, and the guards on both sides of the carriage also helped.The forest was silent, and the grass and insects seemed to be scared and hid.Lin pulled Ouyang Ruo tremblingly, almost crying: "Sister Ouyang, is something really wrong?"

Ouyang Ruo broke away her tightly clasped fingers, and reluctantly said: "Sister Lin, just trust me once, okay, don't ask anything, just stay in the car."

Su Yanqing led them out of the bamboo grove, looked around, suddenly felt a burst of strength in her hand, and a bullet popped out. "Pa!" was heard far away, and after a while there was a "boom" in the southeast corner, and a pale blue firework rose into the sky.Su Yanqing jumped into the carriage, patted the horse with a whip, and rushed out.

The black night was heavy and dull, Ouyang Ruo hugged Lin Xiang tightly and leaned against the carriage.Lin shrunk herself into a shrimp and hugged Wanhui beside her.The carriage was jolting very violently, and Lin Shi was feeling overjoyed, and couldn't help but vomited.The night wind lifted the curtain of the car door and poured in. After an unknown period of time, there was a sound of shouting, mixed with the sound of weapons clashing, and Su Yanqing swung his whip even more urgently.Ouyang Ruo closed her eyes, as if she had returned to the ambush on the post road that day, the lingering smell of blood filled her heart again, she almost wanted to vomit.Lin Xiang is well-behaved, neither crying nor fussing, Ouyang Ruo hugged her tightly to his chest, her small body was like a warm fire, comforting her, making her heart gradually settle down.

Suddenly Su Yanqing yelled: "Everyone sit down!" He swung the long whip violently in his hand, and the several black figures running in front of him were immediately rolled up by his waist and thrown out.The horses were startled, neighing and galloping.Ouyang Ruo's head hit the carriage hard, and he let out an exclamation.Lin also hit her back and was crying.Su Yanqing stood on the shaft and struggled to control the frightened horse. Gradually, the mountain road gradually opened up, and the carriage became more and more stable. Ouyang Ruo peeked at it, and the big city gate was getting closer.

The night is as dark as ink, and even the stars in the sky have disappeared. The silent and silent night is like a prehistoric monster with its mouth wide open, ready to eat anyone at any time.The curfew in Chujingli made the whole capital quiet like an empty city without people, and the rushing wheels of the car yelled forward, but it seemed to be crushing on the heart, making it even more disturbing.Ouyang Ruo turned his head and looked back from the swaying curtain of the car. The huge palace city stood coldly like a cold and lifeless tomb.She was about to escape from the city, but her heart was still heavy, and the ominous premonition enveloped her again, and the lights at the city gate were flickering, and there were shadows of people, how should she rush over?

In the Chu Palace, the Emperor Chu's bedroom was lifeless, and the night wind passed through the main hall, bringing a strange and unknown atmosphere outside.Marigold glazed lamps are hung on the four walls, and the flickering candlelight illuminates the entire inner hall as if it were an illusory realm or a place of darkness. There are layers of curtains on the bright yellow dragon bed, and a bloated body is lying on it, coughing from time to time. With a sound, his chest rose and fell, proving that he was still a living body. The golden dragon beast copper tripod was burning with soothing incense, making it ethereal and more spacious.

The hall was silent, and a needle could be heard falling.Suddenly there was a rapid knock on the door outside, and the eunuch Sun Gonggong, who was hidden somewhere in the palace, almost jumped up, but his old body seemed as agile as some kind of animal at this moment.

He opened a corner of the palace door and shouted angrily softly: "The emperor is sleeping, if you disturb the emperor, ten of your heads are not enough to cut off."

The little eunuch who sent the message wiped off his cold sweat, and stammered: "Slave...Slave can't help it. The Queen insists on coming in. Slave...Slave can't stop it."

Just as he was talking, the palace lanterns moving from a distance meandered all the way, and the golden phoenix crown could almost be seen shining a compelling cold light under the lights.The cold light in Eunuch Sun's eyes flickered and then disappeared, and he waved back the little eunuch with a cold face.The group of people walked quickly, and in a blink of an eye they had already reached the gate of the hall.

Eunuch Sun knelt to greet him and said: "The empress is a thousand years old. The emperor is lying down and resting after drinking the soup. The emperor said that no one will be seen tonight. Please go back."

The queen didn't even look at him, and said coldly: "I have urgent matters to discuss with the emperor, and I will see you even if I don't see you."

Eunuch Sun stood up, holding back the door with suppressed anger in his soft voice: "The emperor has a decree, I won't see anyone tonight, please go back to the palace to rest."

The empress raised her phoenix eyes, and slapped him firmly with a "slap", causing him to stumble and fall to the ground: "Damn servant, I want to see the emperor, and you dare to stop me, don't you want to live?!"

Before Eunuch Sun could struggle, the servants on the left and right of the queen had already swarmed up to hold him down, and the rest hurriedly opened the palace door to let her in.The heavy palace door opened quickly, bringing in a strong smell of medicine, and the soothing aroma couldn't cover it up, it just made people want to vomit.The queen covered her mouth and nose, with extreme disgust in her eyes, but she still stepped in.The door of the hall was opened to bring in the refreshing coolness of the night, and the people on Longta coughed more and more, with every sound, it seemed as if they were about to cough up all their heart problems.

"Who's here, Empress?" Emperor Chu's old voice came, tired and helpless.

"The concubine kowtowed to the emperor." The queen lowered her body a little, and said slowly, dragging away in her long phoenix dress, with indescribable grace and luxury.She walked to the couch, lowered her head, and carefully looked at Emperor Chu's face.Suddenly he said softly: "How does the emperor feel about his body? May I ask the imperial physician to give me a diagnosis and treatment again?"

"No need... I understand this illness in my heart." Emperor Chu closed his eyes and said slowly: "Is there something important for the empress to barge in?"

"Your majesty, can't the concubines come to see the emperor if they have nothing important to do? Or is it the concubine the emperor wants to see, not the concubines?" The queen's rouged and bright red lips pulled a strange smile, and her voice But more and more soft.

"Ahem... You came here so late because you want to see if I'm in good health, and I can survive tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow... Isn't it?" Emperor Chu finally opened his eyes, and a flash of pain flashed in his cloudy old eyes.

The queen giggled when she heard the words: "Does the emperor treat the concubines like this? The emperor and the concubines have been married for more than [-] years. In the end, does the emperor really no longer like and trust the concubines?"

Emperor Chu gave a long sigh, and struggled to hold up half of his body: "If you cared about me, you wouldn't come here until now. I knew that with your temper, you would never be able to bear tomorrow. You are afraid... I am afraid that I will suddenly issue an imperial edict , all your painstaking efforts will be wasted in vain, am I right?"

The queen heard the deep hatred in the slender and charming eyes, and stared at his old face: "Yes! I can't help it, I can't help but want to see the emperor, for fear that the emperor will be seriously ill and confused. , to send our great state of Chu into the hands of that bitch, to make her son the crown prince, and to let her trample on my palace!"

Emperor Chu didn't look surprised, but his old eyes showed pity for her: "You are wrong, the country of Chu is not ours, nor yours, nor hers. ... It belongs to the people of Chu. I will tolerate it." For 20 years, I watched you go crazy step by step. It was my fault. I always thought you were still the proud but kind girl back then, and I kept persuading myself to forgive you. But three years ago, I found out that I was wrong. Your ability It's bigger and more powerful than I imagined..."

He coughed for a while, then lowered his head and murmured: "I was wrong. It's a big mistake, even if I want to make up for it, I can't make up for it." He sighed and closed his eyes again.

After hearing this, the queen couldn't bear it anymore and rushed forward, grabbed his sleeve and shook it fiercely: "Can I forgive you for all your mistakes if you make a mistake? If you didn't favor that woman back then, I wouldn't That kind of jealousy, that kind of feeling tortured me so that I could not sleep peacefully every night and had nightmares every day. Your Majesty, tell my concubine, what is she better than my concubine?! Is she only more beautiful than my concubine? But she is just a little girl. A small family, her origin is far less noble than concubines!" Her eyes became more and more red, her expression was ferocious and strange, with inexplicable hatred and fanaticism, shaking the terminally ill emperor, the emperor showed pain, It seemed that he couldn't bear such violent shaking.

"Empress!" Eunuch Sun was shocked, he broke free from the person who was holding him, and rushed to pull her away: "The emperor is seriously ill, empress, how can you disturb the emperor like this!"

Pushed away by him a few steps, the Queen was startled, and suddenly sneered and said, "Okay, okay, you will pretend to be dead. But today, I am here to let you face me soberly." As she spoke, she straightened her clothes and pulled herself out of her arms. He took out a scroll of brocade and said with a sneer, "Today, as long as you stamp this imperial decree with a jade seal, I won't force you anymore."

As she approached slowly, Eunuch Sun felt chills in his heart. She was clearly insane.

crazy…

"Queen! Are you trying to force the palace?!" Eunuch Sun suddenly shouted out in a soft and old voice with the courage he didn't know where he came from.

The queen was stunned, and only stared at Emperor Chu with a sinister smile: "Forcing the palace? How is this a forced palace? This palace is just for the emperor to make a decision early, and to appoint a worthy prince as the prince. A legitimate heir."

Emperor Chu sighed and looked at the queen who was gradually approaching: "Bring it."

The queen didn't expect him to be so easy to discuss, so she handed over the brocade in her hand tremblingly.Eunuch Sun took it, but Emperor Chu didn't look at it, and said to him, "Go get my jade seal..."

"Your Majesty!..." Eunuch Sun wept heavily, knelt down and sobbed, "Your Majesty, you have to think twice. The century-old foundation of Great Chu...can't be ruined by her hands..."

After hearing this, the queen was full of anger and was about to attack again.

Emperor Chu closed his eyes and said slowly: "Go and get it. Jiangshan and life, I still choose life."

(End of this chapter)