After He Miao's death, Wu Kuang tied his head to his armor, and he and Dong Min carried him to the foot of the palace wall. One held his feet and the other pulled his shoulders. The two swayed back and forth twice, and then threw the body over the wall with a thud. . The eunuchs behind the wall all knew the chariots and riders, and when they saw He Miao's broken body, they all looked at each other in silence, wondering if they would still have the whole body left when they died.
This night was really unbearable. After removing He Miao's body, the soldiers outside the wall continued to throw corpses into the palace. The majestic palace of the Han Dynasty was praised by Zhang Heng in his "Ode to Two Capitals", which said, "The Yin Pond flows quietly, and the Xuanquan is clear. Bulbuls roost in autumn, and falcons sing in spring." Now there is only the smell of corpses painted on the walls. The red eaves are smoldering with smoke, the arrows are dragging against the mysterious wall, and the flags are burned out, making it look like a scene from the hell of the Buddhist kingdom.
The eunuchs of the Beigong saw the fire in the Nangong from a distance and learned about He Miao. How could they not know that the situation was over? However, the regular attendants gave orders to stick to it, and the guards at the gates of the North Palace also performed their duties loyally and refused to let anyone go. The two sides were in dispute for a while, and several Zhonghuangmen discussed privately, entangled a group of young eunuchs, and attacked Yongle Palace with distributed swords. The guards of Yongle Palace were caught off guard and were killed. These Zhonghuangmen were able to open Beigong Shuo. Pingmen, quickly fled outside the palace.
Fortunately, Shuoping Gate was closed in time, preventing Yuan Shao and others from directly leading the army to attack. Zhang Rang looked depressed after hearing the news. He hesitated for a moment and sent envoys to discuss with his co-conspirators: "The gates of the Nangong Palace are all set on fire. It will only be a matter of time before the gates are broken. Moreover, the gates of the Nangong Palace have been trapped by Yuan Wei and Yuan Shao's heavy troops. Our men can't do anything." There are more than 4,000 people, and we really can’t hold on! We think that the chariots and horses are dead, and there is no foreign aid outside the palace. But as long as the Emperor and the Queen Mother help, we still have a chance. The Beigong cannot afford to lose anything. We have reported to the Queen Mother to withdraw. Let’s go to Yongle Palace!”
All the eunuchs had already lost their will to fight. After hearing Zhang Rang's proposal, they quickly withdrew the guards at the gates of the Nangong. Before dawn, these eunuchs reunited in front of the Jiade Hall. When the regular attendants met again, they saw that the other party's fine clothes were dimmed by smoke and dust, the fingers and boots were filled with sand and mud, and the faces were full of frustration and fear, so they were silent. They had no intention of cleaning, and after greeting each other, Ten people walked up the steps to the feet of the Queen Mother.
When the Queen Mother heard that the attendants had returned and did not want to see them, she hid behind a mandarin duck screen. She held the emperor in one hand and held King Chenliu in the other. She sobbed in the arms of her mother Wuyang Jun. Duan Gui stood beside the screen. He turned to his side and shook his head slightly to his colleagues below, to show that the Queen Mother was extremely sad and needed to do her best to comfort her.
She and other regular attendants knelt down in front of the door, covered their faces with their hands, and complained with tears in their eyes: "You said in advance that everything was planned, and as long as you kill the eldest brother, the disaster can be eliminated. I was so stupid for a moment that I actually protected you. Wait, I trapped and killed my eldest brother in the forbidden area, and caused the death of my second brother and my younger sister without any body parts. At this point, do you still dare to come to see me? Why not follow the eldest brother's words and kill them all? This is so troublesome!"
At this point, the Queen Mother felt so sad that she buried her face in Lord Wuyang's arms and wet her clothes with unbridled tears. Lord Wuyang also made a loud lamentation, making the attendants kneel at the foot of the steps and did not dare to say anything. Zhang Rang waited for a moment to stop crying, and finally raised his head and lamented: "Your Highness, even if you die of old age, how can the party members outside the palace treat your highness? At this point, your highness has no external support. If you lose power to the party members, what will happen to the emperor?" ?What about the world? I hope His Highness can move to Beigong and there is still a glimmer of hope."
The Queen Mother didn't know how to answer for a moment. She wiped away her tears, swallowed her voice and asked, "What else can I do?"
Zhang Rang kowtowed to the ground again. He replied: "Waiting for the opportunity, waiting for the enemy's siege to relax a little, we will escape from the Eastern Capital and enter the Western Capital. We will ask Huangfu Song to assist the government, and then use Taiyuan Liu Bei, Yizhou Mu Liu Yan, and Youzhou Mu Liu and Yu will come to the rescue and announce to the world that Yuan Wei and Yuan Shao will be the traitors and lead the border troops to fight against the rebellion. This can turn the situation around."
The Queen Mother asked: "How many troops does Huangfu Song have? How many troops do Liu Bei, Liu Yan, and Liu Yu have?"
Zhang Rang coaxed her and said: "Huangfu Song is a loyal minister, and he has fifty thousand troops, all of whom are elites in Liangzhou. Liu Bei, Liu Yan, and Liu Yu together have 400,000 soldiers, and they are relatives of the Han Dynasty. Once the Queen Mother issues an edict, they will We will definitely comply. By that time, Yuan Wei's Northern Army, Xiyuan Army, and Foreign Army will only have more than 40,000 troops, and they will be nothing more than a fan in front of the imperial army."
The Queen Mother was very encouraged when she heard this. She didn't know how far away Chang'an was from Luoyang, nor how difficult and dangerous the journey was. She only knew the joyful scene of the imperial cavalry and the destruction of all the rebels, so she said to Zhang Rang: "Let's go to the North Palace." As she spoke, she adjusted her clothes, applied make-up in front of the bronze mirror, and arranged her hands In the bun of the fallen horse, put on a golden phoenix winding hairpin. After finishing the care, the Queen Mother took the two children by the hand and walked outside the screen, looking charming.
In order to build momentum, Zhang Rang planned to coerce all the palace officials in the Nangong Palace to go north together, so he asked the Queen Mother to wait for a while. Zhang Gong was quite embarrassed after hearing this discussion. With his face red and swollen, he told Zhang Rang about the situation at the Chancellery: It turned out that Lu Zhi led all the officials in Taichung and relied on the strength of the crowd to force Zhang Gong and his party out of the stage. At that time, more than a hundred guards in Taichung also turned to Lu Zhi and closed the gate to resist the edict. Zhang Gong led people around the stage three times, not knowing where to start.
Seeing Zhang Gong's failure in doing things, Zhang Rang was very frustrated. He had just mustered up three points of courage, but at this moment he gave up. He waved his hand and said to his colleagues: "Take as much as you can! When the late emperor was here, Yuan Shao was secretly raising the dead soldiers. Could it be that he can tolerate me waiting for a while now? If you can't take it with you, you can't take it with you!"
Two more hours later, it was already broad daylight. The servants managed to hold more than 400 palace officials in the palace, and then evacuated to the North Palace. Yuan Shu also occupied the complex road, but there were still overpass pavilions between the north and south palaces. When the roads connected, they turned to the pavilion road.
The pavilion passage is about one hundred feet long and two feet wide. It leads directly from the Xuanwu Gate Tower of the South Palace to the city wall of the North Palace. When a group of people stepped onto the pavilion passage, the attendants could not help but look back at the Nangong Palace. The smoke from the palace walls spread to the sky, and even the clear sky looked yellowish. But they couldn't cover the reflection of the blade. The flags outside the palace wall were cruising back and forth like a long dragon, but they were at a loss in their hearts.
Duan Gui calmed down first. In order to protect the Queen Mother, he walked in front first. He was about to pass the first window in the pavilion, and as soon as he appeared, there was a sudden whistle under the window, and a strong wind blew across the bridge of his nose and nailed the door beam beside him. It was a four-foot-long hammered arrow. The arrow was only one foot away from Duan Gui. Duan Gui trembled all over and quickly hid behind the window. Not long after, Lu Zhi's words came from below the window: "You are holding the Queen Mother and the Emperor hostage. , what do you want?!"
Lu Zhi was still wearing court clothes as usual, but now he was carrying a two-foot long halberd on his back, holding a seven-foot buffalo horn bow, and wearing two boxes of eighty quivers on his waist. The regular attendants saw him standing Under the pavilion, his eight-foot body was as majestic as a hill. He was only five feet away from the pavilion. The autumn wind blew through Lu Zhi's beard and hair, which made his face solemn.
Duan Gui replied at the window: "Why do you bother Shangshu Lu? There are thousands of swords and bows behind me, but Shangshu Lu is only one person. Does Shangshu think that he has the courage of Xiang Ji, but one person can be the sword of thousands of armies?"
Hearing this, Lu Zhi showed an angry and sarcastic smile, and said: "Although Lu is a man with a halberd, what's the point of cherishing his life? If we can save the emperor and save the country, even a thousand deaths will not be enough!" He said He took off the halberd from his back and swung it hard under the pavilion. It actually penetrated the floor of the pavilion and reached Duan Gui's feet. Lu Zhi shouted again: "Put down the Emperor and the Queen Mother! Otherwise I will kill you all!"
Seeing this, Duan Gui looked back and made eye contact with Zhang Rang. Zhang Rang nodded slightly and pushed the Queen Mother from behind. The Queen Mother was caught off guard and fell forward a few steps. She was hugged by Duan Gui. Duan Gui immediately pushed her out of the window. The Queen Mother With a scream, Lu Zhi hurriedly threw away his halberd and moved forward to hug the Queen Mother, almost falling under the collision.
After Lu Zhi stood firm and gently put the Queen Mother down from his arms, he raised his head and looked at the pavilion road. The regular attendants had seized the gap and led the emperor and King Chen Liu across the pavilion road. The eunuchs followed behind him on the pavilion road, and the wooden boards kept creaking and groaning. They were running towards the North Palace, escaping from one cage to another. Lu Zhi could only sigh silently.
He looked back at the Queen Mother, who was sitting on the ground with tears in her eyes, hanging her head in self-pity, and crying beside the orchid grass. Lu Zhi then remembered that the Queen Mother turned thirty years ago and was still considered young in front of him. Lu Zhi paid homage to her and comforted her with gentle words: "Chang Shi has kidnapped the emperor and murdered his ministers, which has caused a great disaster. This is the time when the country needs a wise king. Please don't cry, your highness. Although Lu Zhi is old and decrepit, , but even if you give up your life, you will definitely save the emperor."
The Queen Mother raised her head slightly and said to Lu Zhi with red eyes: "If I leave the palace, what will the Grand Master do to me?"
Lu Zhi helped the Queen Mother up and said categorically: "They are all just serving the imperial edict and have nothing to do with the Queen Mother and the Emperor!"
He brought a yellow horse for the Queen Mother and helped the Queen Mother to get on the horse. He also took out a lacquer box from somewhere and gave it to the Queen Mother. He ordered: "This is the head of the general. I will return it to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother will accompany her." After leaving the palace, the general must be buried in public to appease the troops. If any ministers ask about the chaos, the queen mother must assert that it was all done by the imperial edict of Chang Jiao!"
The Queen Mother held He Jin's head, not daring to look at it, let alone speak. She looked at Lu Zhi and nodded slightly. The rising sun rose over Dongshan, and the pavilion road was already empty. Lu Zhi held the yellow horse in hand and slowly left from the pavilion road. He passed through the ruins of Pingshuo Hall and the remaining walls of Chongde Hall. Under the guidance of the bronze man, He walked back to the chancery from the mess.
When all the officials at the Shangshutai saw that he left alone before dawn and returned with the Queen Mother after dawn, they all sighed and said: Only when the country is in danger of disintegration can we know who the heroes of the country are. Lu Shangshu Youyan is a wonderful scholar and a pillar of the world. We are all inferior. also.
Not long after the Queen Mother settled in Taichung, Sergeant Yuan Shu built a ram, and fifty strong men pushed the ram, crashing into Baihumen. The palace gate had been burning all night, and dozens of pieces of burnt charcoal jumped out with a single blow from the car. The door latch fell with a thud, and there was a series of crisp sounds of broken water tanks.
The Huben army was able to enter Nangong.
