Mei Yin, like Xu Huizu, was unreasonably suspected by Zhu Yunwen and was not reused.
In April of this year, Zhu Di defeated He Fu at Lingbi, and then captured Ping An alive and marched to the gates of Huai'an.
Zhu Di wrote to Mei Yin twice, hoping that his brother-in-law would clear the way for the Yan army to pass through Huai'an smoothly.
Mei Yin immediately wrote an angry letter and cut off the messenger's nose and ears, saying to the messenger:
"Keep your mouth shut and go back and tell King Yan what the righteousness of a monarch and his ministers means."
Zhu Di was very angry about Mei Yin's lack of oil and salt, but he also had no temper.
Mei Yin was both civil and military, and held a large number of troops, so Zhu Di did not dare to confront him head-on.
Because of Mei Yin's refusal, Zhu Di could only choose to take a detour.
Cross the Huaihe River directly from Lingbi and capture Sizhou.
Zhu Di suffered heavy losses in this battle, but he succeeded in the end.
Next, Zhu Di went straight from Sizhou to Yangzhou, outsmarted Zhenjiang, crossed the Yangtze River, and headed straight to Huanglong.
"I would like to ask Uncle Huang, General Mei has 400,000 troops, and he can definitely return to defend Nanjing to rescue Nanjing, but why not?" Xu Qin asked again.
"This matter is not as easy as rumors say."
Huang Yanqing drank a glass of wine, wiped his mouth and continued to talk.
It turns out that the entire Huaibei defense line centered on Huai'an Fucheng is said to have a total strength of 400,000, but in reality it is only a few hundred thousand.
And there are only one hundred thousand real elites.
On the other hand, Zhu Di's three groups of troops, with an elite number of 300,000, are all Mongolian and Han cavalry.
The second aspect is time.
Crossing the Huaihe River directly from Lingbi and capturing Sizhou, the Yangzhou defender surrendered without a fight. Sheng Yong was betrayed by his subordinates and fell to Zhenjiang.
Zhu Di's army arrived at Puzikou, Nanjing.
The Yan army used the large warships captured in Zhenjiang to directly attack Puzikou guarded by Xu Huizu, and successfully crossed the river.
Li Jinglong, the guard of Jinchuan Gate, and Zhu Su, the king of Gu, surrendered directly to the city.
From the occupation of Sizhou to the entry into Nanjing City, there were only more than twenty days before and after.
In other words, the road from the north to the south was actually cut off by the Yan army.
Besides, Mei Yin was ordered to guard Huai'an and had not received an order for reinforcements. It was impossible for him to head for Nanjing rashly.
Otherwise, he is suspected of treason.
At the same time, it is also very inappropriate from a strategic point of view to abandon Huai'an, the final base.
Now Mei Yin chose to bow to Zhu Di after careful consideration.
Mainly because my wife, children, and children were in Nanjing and I didn't have time to evacuate.
Perhaps, it is still a strategy.
Of course it was impossible for Huang Yanqing to tell, but Xu Qin himself guessed.
It can only be said that there are many reasons why Mei Yin bowed to Zhu Di.
After saying this, the four of them continued drinking.
During the dinner, we also talked about other matters, including Huang Yanqing and others asking Xu Qin for help.
After hearing this, Tieqin believed that it did not violate his own principles and promised to do his best.
That night, Xu Qin rested in the villa and rode back to the capital early the next morning.
…
Mid-October.
The cold wind in early winter blows against people's cheeks, causing a dull pain like a knife.
As night falls, the sun shyly hides behind the Western Mountain, leaving only the hazy sunset.
The east room of the Ouchi Clothes Bureau is collecting clothes that have been drying for a day.
"Oh, what a desperate little hoof! He ruined the clothes sent by the East Palace."
The new attendant, Nanny Hu, roared loudly, startling the busy ladies in the palace.
They all stiffened when they heard that the clothes were from the East Palace.
Those are the clothes in the prince's palace. Who is so careless?
"Nanny Hu, Yun Niang washed it."
A palace maid named Sufang trotted out of the clothes-folding room, looked at the thin and pretty figure in the corner of the clothes drying rack, pointed at the man and reported with confidence.
Aunt Hu's angry eyes struck the corner like lightning.
When Tie Xiuying heard the sound, her whole body trembled involuntarily, her back hunched and her head lowered.
I don't know whether it was because she was so cold or because she was afraid, but she kept mumbling in her mouth like she was biting a marshmallow, "Aunt Hu, it should be...it's me..."
There was a burst of chaotic sighs in the open space in the courtyard, mostly from the laundry maids who were watching the excitement and not taking it too seriously.
"Mother Hu, you may not know that she comes from a wealthy family, so how can she do such menial work?"
"She is used to fine clothes and fine food, but she can't do our dirty work."
"that is."
"???"
I don’t know who started it, but the rest was like a firecracker, crackling and chewing.
"Shut up, even though she comes from a high family, she is just a maid, aren't you?"
Aunt Hu put her hands on her hips, frowned angrily, and opened her mouth to stop everyone.
She has been in the palace for many years and knows that these low-class palace ladies like to fight, bully, and cause trouble when they are bored?
Originally, they were both descendants of Tianya, and they were both female relatives of the criminal family, but they also liked to form gangs.
This is human nature.
These despicable people, when they see Xiuying, who is delicate, taciturn and unwilling to give in, they have to overwhelm them.
"Ms. Yun, come in with me. The others should quickly pack their clothes. They must be folded and put away before dinner tonight. Otherwise, they are not allowed to eat."
Ever since she came to be in charge of the East Branch of Huanyi Bureau, Nanny Hu has always been protecting Tie Xiuying.
It should be sympathy.
When the grandma in charge spoke, no one dared to say a word, no matter how aggrieved they were.
Everyone weakly leaned forward to answer.
There are one hundred, sixty or seventy laundry maids in the east department room of the Clothing Bureau.
They knelt down on the mat and folded their clothes in an orderly manner. Even though their legs and feet were so numb that they couldn't feel anything, they still had to fold their clothes so that no wrinkles appeared.
Xiuying followed Grandma Hu into the side hall, then bent her knees and knelt on the cold ground, her shoulders trembling slightly.
"You really are the eldest lady's destiny. How can a maid in the house not do rough work?"
Aunt Hu just sat down on her buttocks and snorted coldly.
"No...no, Yun Niang knows her mistake, please forgive me."
Xiuying was so frightened that she lay on the ground begging for mercy, tears falling down uncontrollably.
She was still wearing a thin autumn coat that could not keep out the cold, wrapping her body with visible spine.
A dozen days ago, she received twenty lashes from Grandma Yan, which left her skin and flesh bruised.
She was originally lucky that Grandma Yan had been transferred out in the past few days, and the new Grandma Hu had a much better temper and took good care of her.
Unexpectedly, Bang Chui made another big mistake today by using uneven pressure on the laundry.
From the moment she entered the palace, she has been punished constantly, and the whip wounds on her body have been one after another. The old wounds have not healed, and new ones have been added.
Aunt Hu sighed, shook her head and said:
"I heard that you have been in the palace for four months and have made countless mistakes. Now you can't even do the simplest laundry. What will you do in the future?"
The look of disdain but sympathy on Nanny Hu's face was obvious.
If there are no idlers in the palace, the useless little eunuchs and lowly palace maids will be thrown into the cold room and starve to death like grass.
"I can... learn... please forgive me and don't abandon me in the cold room."
Xiuying ignored the pain all over her body and threw herself at Aunt Hu's feet like crazy, begging for mercy.
His thin body twitched and trembled, his tears kept falling, and he let out a whimpering sound like drowning.
