This morning, Chen Chong woke up without warning, and he was extremely surprised.
Unlike Luo Guqian, who was troubled and couldn't sleep at night, he slept quite peacefully these days, often sleeping until midnight. After all, everything has gone smoothly since crossing the bridge. The people returned like water, and his subordinates all performed their duties. In addition, after Chen Deng led Zhao and others to arrive, he could rest assured and delegate everything. Apart from ordinary inspections, there was almost no need in the army. Where he worries.
But Chen Chong suddenly woke up today. He put on his robe and went out of the tent to look around. He found that the night was still very dark and most of the bonfires had been extinguished. He could even hear the heavy snoring of many soldiers. When I asked about the time, I found that it was only three quarters to Yin hour, and it was estimated that there was still more than half an hour before dawn.
But Chen Chong did not feel sleepy at all. Instead, he was very awake. He was so awake that he once felt that the world was very empty and nihilistic. In this empty night sky, he seemed to sense a kind of fate and divine will, whispering to him silently. : Remember this day. But as for why, he doesn't know. Maybe it's just that after a series of changes, people always feel that time is passing quickly and are easily sentimental.
Since he couldn't sleep, Chen Chong simply changed into a military uniform, called a few of his sleeping guards, and said he would start patrolling to check for deficiencies in various departments. The personal guards were a little surprised to see their coach getting up so early, but they did not complain. They put on their armor hastily, took their sabers, and followed Chen Chong on the road.
While walking on the road, Chen Chong unconsciously looked above his head and found that there was no starlight visible in the dome. Although it was not yet sunrise, it was not difficult to imagine how gloomy the dark clouds above his head were. In addition, the spring breeze was already blowing. There was a little dampness, and Chen Chong couldn't help but think: Is it going to rain? His doubts did not last long. After a while, misty rain silently floated between the sky and the earth, hiding the army and Chang'an in the seemingly invisible rain and mist. This is the first rain in the New Year in Guanzhong, but it comes so late.
After Chen Chong visited several camps, the sky gradually grew brighter, and the smell of cooking rice from Huotou Camp began to float among the camps, and the soldiers were awakened by this smell. While they were eating, they pointed to the Chang'an City Wall not far away. They didn't know what they were talking about, but their expressions and tone were very excited, which showed that they were full of confidence in the coming of victory.
But when Chen Chong was inspecting the grain in Zuoying, something suddenly changed. Zhang Ji sent someone to report to Chen Chong that there was some commotion among the defenders north of Chang'an, and asked him to come to the kitchen gate to watch. After hearing this, Chen Chong couldn't help but thought to himself: "Is it possible that the palace has received the arrow letter and has already completed it?" Without further ado, he hurriedly rode towards the north of the city.
Unexpectedly, when I arrived at the Kitchen City Gate, what I saw was completely different from what I expected. There was indeed a crowd at the top of the city, but it couldn't be called a commotion. It was just a change of defense from the top of the city tower to the bottom of the city tower. It's just that this defense change seemed extremely hasty and disorderly, and there was a lot of noise. It's no wonder that Zhang Ji recognized it as a commotion.
However, after a while, the flags on the city wall suddenly began to change. They removed the "Han" flag that originally symbolized Zhengshuo, and replaced it with a "Lv" flag with a black background and yellow border.
It was Lu Bu who was leading the crowd to climb the wall. ….
After Lu Bu received the emperor's edict last night, his heart was as clear as a mirror. He has seen his end, there are only two ways: either lead the people out of the city to fight Chen Chong and die in the vast enemy army; or he can wait in the city for the emperor to take action and go to meet Chen Chong with his own head. .
The essence is the same, nothing more than death.
At the moment when he figured it out, Lu Bu's heart fell into the valley. He suddenly seemed to be a different person. The impetuous complacency and greed and low self-esteem of the past suddenly disappeared, as if they had never existed before. He felt that he had never been so calm, so calm that the anger in his chest had been beaten into a cold blade, and he planned to use this knife to fight against all those who betrayed him.
Contrary to what the emperor had guessed, Lu Bu had no intention of getting into trouble with the palace. Even though he was ridiculed for his recklessness, he also knew that once the fighting began in the city, Chen Chong would definitely take the opportunity to seize the city and reap the benefits. Therefore, Lu Bu made a choice that no one expected: he led his troops to surround Tingwei's mansion.
The person serving as Tingwei at this time was the former doctor Sun Yan. When Sun Yan saw soldiers surrounding his house, he was about to step forward to argue with them. Unexpectedly, Liang Ren was unreasonable, and the leading soldier drew his sword and waved it with his hand, causing his blood to spatter on the street.
The rest of the officials were horrified when they saw this, and they all fled in all directions. The huge Tingwei Mansion was immediately open to people from Liang.
After Lu Bu robbed the Tingwei Mansion, the news came to the palace. When even the emperor and Jia Xu knew about it, they couldn't help but scream in their hearts that it was bad. Tingwei is in charge of the country's judiciary, and Tingwei's Mansion is naturally also the place where the Supreme Court Judge is interrogated in the middle of the capital. The national imperial prison is located in Tingwei's Mansion. And now in the imperial prison, all the relatives of Chen Chong who stayed in the capital are being guarded. Lu Bu now kidnapped him and brought him to the camp, and his intention was obvious.
The emperor had no choice but to ask Dong Cheng to come forward and ask him to go to Lu Bu's camp to persuade him to hand over the hostages. However, after Lu Bu met Dong Cheng, he blocked Dong Cheng's mouth with one sentence. Lu Bu sneered and asked, "Your majesty is pleading for mercy for the rebellious subordinates, are you trying to herd pigs for Chen Chong?"
Dong Cheng was speechless. He confronted Lu Bu for a long time, and finally reluctantly persuaded him: "The general also has a wife and daughter. Aren't you afraid of Chen Chong's revenge by doing this?"
Unexpectedly, Lu Bu's expression did not change, and he said solemnly, "What's the problem? Under the Nine Springs, I have all of you walking with me, and I have my wife and daughter by my side, so why would Bu die?"
It was already dawn. Lu Bu pulled out the Zhongxing Sword from his waist, pointed at Dong Cheng and said, "I have something important to do now. If you stop me, I will chop you up too!"
Having said that, he regarded Dong Cheng as if he had nothing, ordered people to play military drums, arrange their armor, and quickly led his troops out of the camp. Dong Cheng knew that disaster was inevitable and it was useless to stay any longer, so he could only sigh and ride to the palace to report back. Lu Bu then forcibly replaced the guards at the Kitchen City Gate and took his own men upstairs. This was the scene that Chen Chong witnessed below the city.
After the flags at the top of the city were changed, Lu Bu ordered a man to stick his head out from the city wall and shouted to the Han army watching below the city: "Where is the head of Chen Chong and Chen Long? Lu Bu is here under the imperial edict. I have something to talk to him about." Shang." The man shouted twice and rested for a while, then continued shouting to the city. The news soon reached Chen Chong's ears.
When Chen Chong heard Lu Bu's invitation, he had a bad feeling in his heart. Zhang Ji was by his side at this time, thinking it was a plan to shoot Chen Chong, and hurriedly admonished him: "You don't have to take risks, why don't I go and talk to him!"...
Chen Chong thought for a while, shook his head slightly and said, "It doesn't matter. The worst thing is to bring more guards and stay within the range of the arrow. Can he still fly down and kill me? With Lu Bu's temperament, he would not come up with such an idea. .”
After saying that, Chen Chong turned over and mounted Qing Wei, asked Duan Gu to guard the flag, and led more than a hundred people to ride forward.
They reached the edge of the three-stone bow's range and stopped here. Li Liang, the personal guard, shouted to the defenders on the tower: "The dragon's head is here. If Mr. Lu has any orders, just tell him!"
There was still a little silence on the tower. Chen Chong looked up and knew that Lu Bu was looking for him, so he waved his hands to disperse. He walked straight to the more conspicuous flag and said to the tower: "No need to look, I'm right here." , Mr. Lu and I are not pretentious people, so if you have anything to say, you might as well say it directly."
After he finished speaking, there was a commotion among the defenders, and then a burly figure emerged from the crowd, it was Lu Bu. He looked at Chen Chong for a moment, and then said: "Chen Chong, you and I were both rolled out of the sword in the border area, why are we forcing each other like this? If you don't just lead your troops back and merge, how about I pay you ten thousand gold and let's give up?"
When Chen Chong heard this, he couldn't help but laugh. He immediately replied solemnly: "How can fighting, a national important matter, be such a child's play? If I make peace with you today, I will be infamy for eternity!"
When Lu Bu heard this, he also nodded slightly at the top of the city and said, "In that case, don't blame me for being ruthless."
He immediately turned his head and gave the order, and the soldiers on both sides quickly dispersed, followed by a dozen strong men slowly walking up to the city. They seemed to be dragging something on the ground, but because they were too far away, Chen Chong couldn't see clearly. When all these people stood by the wall, Lu Bu bent down and pulled up a ragged old man from the corner. He sneered at Chen Chong and said, "Do you know who this is?"
Chen Chong looked up and almost screamed. How could he not know his father? Even though they were far apart, even though Chen Kui's figure and face were extremely blurry in the drizzle, Chen Chong could still tell at a glance that it was his father. Although he couldn't see Chen Kui's expression twisted in pain, he could vaguely see the blood stains on his clothes.
Chen Kui seemed speechless. He seemed to have turned around after hearing the arrival of his only son.
Turning his head, Chen Chong took a closer look and saw that there was none. All he could be sure of was the fact that the old man was on his deathbed.
At the same time, the soldiers pushed the remaining prisoners to the top of the city. It is not difficult to see that these people are Chen Chong's uncles Chen Chen, Chen Xin, Chen Guang, his wife Cai Yan, his cousins Chen Xiu, Chen De, Chen Qiu, and his eldest son. Chen Shi. Before Chen Chong could say anything else, Lu Bu had already shouted to his subordinates: "The emperor has an edict. If Chen Chong causes chaos, follow the law and punish the three tribes."
As soon as the words fell, the soldiers immediately cut down all these people with their swords, and then threw the corpses off the tower. The sound of every corpse falling to the ground made Chen Chong tremble.
After everyone was killed, Lu Bu's figure disappeared from the top of the city. There was silence below the city. Everyone was staring at Chen Chong, who was motionless on the horse, and at the body oozing blood in the drizzle. Many people did not even dare to say words of comfort.
At this time, Hu Zhen rushed forward and kowtowed to Chen Chong: "Please give me the order to attack the city! I am willing to wear armor and carry a sword and risk my life to kill this thief for you!" He just finished speaking. , all the generals under Chen Chong's tent also surrounded him like a tide, shouting for him to fight.
At this moment, Chen Chong only felt that they were noisy. He calmly raised his hand to signal them to be silent. Everyone immediately shut up and waited for the coach to give orders. Unexpectedly, the wait took a long time.
Finally, Chen Chong opened his mouth and spat out words. He said: "Nonsense! The fort has not been set up yet. What city should we attack?" His voice was so hoarse that it sounded like rotten wood. Chen Chong himself felt unbelievable. Then he continued to speak word by word. : "Now, please help me collect the remains of my clan members!" After that, he slowly turned his horse's head and walked towards the formation step by step.
Unexpectedly, after walking a few steps, a thought suddenly flashed through Chen Chong's mind. He thought: "The whole family has been wiped out! What am I still doing alive?" He felt a sting in his heart like a needle pricking him. He tried to struggle, but he couldn't hold his hand. He took off the reins, and then his vision suddenly went dark. Under everyone's gaze, he slumped down from his mount.
Chen Ruicong
