People are selfish and always have weaknesses, even loyal ministers like Zhou Pu are no exception.
If he was alone, even if he was shattered to pieces, he would not frown.
But if the entire family is buried with him, that would be unfilial and unjust.
On the one hand, he was loyal to His Majesty and fulfilled his duty as a soldier, and on the other hand, he wanted to protect the entire family. Zhou Pu could not help but fall into a dilemma.
But this entanglement did not last long. Zhou Pu took a deep breath and made up his mind.
"Even if the nine tribes are razed!"
"As the country faces a crisis, we should die generously."
"Even if we know it's meaningless, we should still go to the national crisis together. Naturally, my Zhou family will not live in an ignoble way."
Hearing this, Li Yu raised his eyebrows: "You alone decide the life and death of everyone in the Zhou family? Or did you ask for everyone's consent with your impassioned speech?"
Zhou Pu shouted coldly: "You are sophistry!"
Li Yu showed a deep sneer: "General Zhou, there are only you and me here, so there is no need to act loyal and courageous. Who can we show it to?"
"If you were so loyal, you would have killed me the moment I opened my mouth to persuade you to surrender."
"Is it possible that you still have concerns now? I am just His Majesty's minister, but you are the guard with military power. Now in the palace, who is bigger between us, does it need to be said?"
"You understand how troubled you are."
"Death may be heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather. As General Zhou said, if your death is meaningful, it doesn't matter if your body is broken into pieces. But the problem is that your death has no positive significance for what happens next. , but it is all disadvantages.”
"Everyone will die because of your stubbornness. Your so-called generosity in going to the country is just an excuse for you to take other people's lives."
"Hahaha, let's not talk about it. Is your wife willing to go to the country generously? Is your child willing to sacrifice his life to become a benevolent person?"
Having said this, Li Yu turned around and glanced in the direction of the harem.
"Even the heirs of the royal family are unwilling to die."
Zhou Pu's eyes that finally calmed down flickered again. In fact, Zhou Pu had already felt the negative atmosphere in the palace long before Qin Feng entered the city.
Even the Imperial Guards under his command assumed a posture of waiting to die.
As Li Yu said, the so-called bloody battle is meaningless.
But what's the use of knowing this? Zhou Pu could never get over the hurdle in his heart. He would rather die as a traitor.
Of course Li Yu knew Zhou Pu's difficulties, but he had to face the cruel reality.
"Why am I willing to betray Dadi? Betray His Majesty? But no one in this royal capital should die, but because of our so-called generosity in going to the country, all life in the royal capital will be devastated."
"Everyone, including the royal family and the common people, will be involved in the war, and it will be a losing battle."
"Whether I want to die meaninglessly or live with humiliation and humiliation, I can only choose the latter."
Faced with Li Yu's earnest persuasion, Zhou Pu's position finally began to waver.
Looking at the prosperous royal capital, if it was really burned down and turned into ruins because of this battle, even if he went to the underworld, Zhou Pu would not be able to repay this huge sin.
Li Yu did not continue to press, but said seriously: "General Zhou, there is no need to answer me in a hurry. You can go back and think about it."
"Next, you can directly bring people to kill me, or you can work with me and endure the humiliation in order to protect the entire royal capital."
Just when Li Yu was about to turn around and leave, Zhou Pu's voice sounded.
"No need..."
"Master Li, you are right. You die generously but your country will perish. You endure humiliation and live quietly but your country survives. You cannot destroy Dadi because of our righteousness..."
"If Qin Feng really doesn't see any blood, I will surrender!"
Hearing this, Li Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around and took the initiative to salute Zhou Pu.
"General Zhou, on behalf of the people of the royal capital and the heirs of the royal family, thank you for bearing the humiliation!"
Zhou Pu also finally understood that Li Yu's move was to preserve the royal family's heirs.
Zhou Pu felt guilty for a while, and immediately returned the salute with his fists clasped.
"I'm afraid it's hard to persuade the commander over there. If you want Kaicheng to surrender, you can only..."
Zhou Pu did not say anything further, but his meaning was extremely obvious. The next step was to kill the commander of the forbidden army. There was no other choice.
Of course, Li Yu also understood how resolute the position of the commander of the Forbidden Army was, so he did not take the risk to find the commander.
The two agreed to start in the early morning and left separately.
After Zhou Pu returned to the barracks, he directly summoned twenty cronies and told them exactly what Li Yu said.
Originally, Zhou Pu was worried that he would encounter resistance, but the result was just the opposite. These cronies strongly supported Zhou Pu's decision.
"General, I deeply admire your ability to make up your mind."
"True loyalty does not necessarily mean fighting to the death, but rather how much strength you can retain for the country."
"That's right. Even if you die in a majestic battle, but there is rubble behind you, then instead of being a hero, you are a sinner."
Facing the words of his cronies, Zhou Pu certainly knew that they were just looking for a reasonable excuse to comfort himself.
If given the choice, who wouldn't want to be a loyal minister who is praised by others?
However, now that he had the support of his cronies, Zhou Pu's hanging heart was relieved. He no longer struggled, and asked his cronies to prepare, and when the time came, he would directly give the order.
Two close aides went to contact all the forbidden troops who were willing to be loyal to Zhou Pu, and gathered towards the commander's barracks.
At the same time, Zhou Pu took the remaining eighteen people and entered the commander's barracks unimpeded on the pretext of reporting military information.
When the commander of the imperial army, Bingzhu Dadan, saw the cronies around Zhou Pu, all fully clothed and with fierce looks in their eyes, he already understood something.
He immediately turned around to grab his saber, preparing for a desperate fight.
Zhou Pu felt heartbroken, but had no choice. He waved his hand, and the cronies around him swarmed up and hacked the commander of the imperial army to death.
Zhou Pu couldn't stand it any longer. He turned around and left the barracks. He looked at the commander's subordinates and shouted: "The commander is dead. Everyone, listen up. You are now under my control. Anyone who dares to resist will be killed."
"We are not rebelling against the party, but we are doing this as a last resort in order to preserve the heirs of the royal family."
"Qin Feng has promised that as long as we are willing to surrender Kaicheng, he will not commit any crimes and will never see blood."
The commander's cronies, who originally planned to rush forward and cut Zhou Pu into pieces, could not help but slow down after hearing this. At this moment, the troops that Zhou Pu had assembled in advance also rushed over.
Seeing this situation, the commander's cronies also lost their will to resist.
