Chapter 502: Killing King Heng
Chapter 502: Killing King Heng
From the moment the Shenjiying's artillery fire covered the battlefield, there was no suspense in this battle anymore.
On the watchtower, King Heng's face was pale, his hands tightly grasping the horizontal railing in front of him, and veins bulged on the back of his hands.
He stared straight ahead. The counselors and officials around him dared not breathe. There was no more confidence and pride on their faces.
There was only shock, disbelief, and... fear!
No one expected that the Qingzhou soldiers would be defeated so quickly. When artillery fire covered the battlefield and chariots fell one after another, the smiles on their faces disappeared.
By the time the "young master" began to charge and strangled the nearly collapsed Qingzhou rebels with high morale, this "chess" game had reached its "closing" stage.
"Your Highness!" Everyone saw Prince Heng suddenly stagger and almost fall, and they were all shocked.
But soon, King Heng stood firm again, but his face was as pale as gold paper.
Lost! Lost!
Even though Wei Xianzong was still trying his best to resist below, the elite rebels in Qingzhou still had the strength to fight, but in the eyes of King Heng, with just this one battle, his ambition to capture the capital and ascend the throne to become emperor was completely ruined.
"My Lord, we have found the Thousand Mile Tube!"
At this time, the follower ran up to the observation tower panting and presented a "telescope" in his hand.
King Heng closed his eyes, took a deep breath until his chest swelled, then exhaled deeply, trying his best to regain composure.
He calmly reached out and took the exquisitely shaped and expensive lens tube, raised it, put one end on his right eye and aimed the other end at the battlefield.
Then, the originally vague scene suddenly filled his eyes. He saw the central army, Wei Xianzong, who had already put on armor and mounted his horse, urging the military officers to join forces to resist.
I saw Tang Ping, wearing silver armor and a silver helmet, charging into the army with a sword as if he was in an empty space.
I saw a beast lying on the ground, breathless, with its head blown apart.
Finally, King Heng raised the camera and looked at a group of generals from the five military camps who were also watching the battle on a hill in the distance, and...
A handsome young man who had just dropped a pear core.
In the camera, Zhao Duan seemed to sense King Heng's gaze. His bright eyes looked straight at him, with a smile on his lips.
Zhao Duan raised his right hand, put his five fingers together, and gently made a "throat-cutting" gesture at his throat.
"what--"
King Heng took two steps back in shock, and the Qianli Tube in his hand lost its grip and fell to the ground, rolling under the feet of the crowd.
"Your Highness..." The strategist was startled, and hurriedly bowed flatteringly. He picked up the telescope tube on the ground with both hands. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly heard a low cannon sound.
Everyone on the lookout looked up subconsciously, and immediately a terrifying fear came over them, as they saw a shell wrapped in flames flying straight towards them.
……
"What a pity, the accuracy is still a little off."
On the top of the mountain, Zhao Duan looked at the rebel camp with disappointment. Although the shell was successfully delivered to the enemy camp, its landing point was hundreds of meters away from the watchtower.
The range was too far, and the accuracy dropped uncontrollably. After this shot, Prince Heng and others fled, and the best opportunity to "bombard the prince" was lost.
"We are still lacking in actual combat experience, but after this battle, the Shenji Battalion's mastery of new firearms will be taken to a higher level."
Zhao Duan sighed, then turned back and smiled at the large group of generals from the Five Army Camps behind him:
"Commander Yuan, why aren't you talking?"
At this moment, the senior generals of the five military camps headed by Yuan Feng were all dumbfounded, staring blankly at the one-sided battlefield below the mountain, with the word "shock" written all over their faces.
Is this the Shenjiying we remember? Is this the power of the new firearms? It was clearly not like this during the exercise last year...
The square-faced commander stood there in shock, the roar of artillery fire still echoing in his mind.
And when he saw that in the camp at the foot of the mountain, after Tang Ping's charge, the musketeers led by Shi Meng came out of the camp and used muskets to help push back the Qingzhou rebels, this shock and fear reached its peak.
"Lord Zhao... this is..." Yuan Feng's Adam's apple rolled down fiercely, and there was a barely perceptible tremor in his voice.
The other military officers beside him had similar expressions and looked at Zhao Duan almost for confirmation.
"Yes, this is the new firearm of my Shenji Camp." Zhao Duan nodded with a smile and said modestly:
"It was my first appearance, luckily I didn't embarrass myself."
More than just not embarrassing, it was simply a crushing defeat!
After being shocked, the generals suddenly became excited, not only for the victory, but also because, as members of the same Beijing camp, they could also use new firearms as long as there was an adequate supply of firearms.
"No wonder Prince Jing rebelled and went to so much trouble to steal the firearms blueprints."
A senior military officer sighed, with deep fear in his eyes:
"If the Jianchengdao rebels also have such weapons, I'm afraid even Privy Councilor Xue may not be able to defend Linfeng."
Zhao Duan smiled but said nothing.
The version of firearms stolen by Prince Jing was far behind the times. Not only was there a generational gap in the weapons, but also a whole set of tactical understandings, which were far behind.
However, there is no need to tell these people.
"Well, the battle is over, but it's not time to celebrate yet. We can't let King Heng run away." Zhao Duan restrained his smile and walked down the mountain:
"Commander Yuan, I'll leave the cleaning of the battlefield to you. I'll capture the king first."
Arrest the prince? Did he expect Prince Heng to escape? Yuan Feng's mind moved and he nodded in agreement.
After watching Zhao Duan fly away with his Qinggong skills, he cheered up and led his men down the mountain and returned to the military camp, preparing to capture the rebel prisoners and expand the victory.
The Fifth Army Battalion can no longer take any credit, but it cannot just do nothing.
Just as he was returning to the camp, a low-ranking military officer suddenly ran over in a hurry:
"Commander-in-chief, the prince of Heng couldn't stand the torture and confessed a lot of things."
What? You can't handle it anymore? Yuan Feng looked weird.
The Qingzhou army was defeated and you surrendered...
"Let me see it." Even though he felt it was of little significance, Yuan Feng still took Xu Zudi's confession curiously and read it quickly.
Then, the people around noticed that their commander was suddenly stunned, staring at part of the content in the confession, motionless.
"Oh no, Lord Zhao is in danger!"
Yuan Feng's face changed and he looked up suddenly:
"Quickly bring back Lord Zhao!"
……
……
"Your Majesty?"
Inside the Qingzhou military camp, a servant from the palace who stayed behind in the rear camp was surprised to see Prince Heng running towards them in a hurry.
The military camp is huge and has been isolated when camping. The area where the royal tent is located is at the back of the entire camp and is also the safest area.
The two armies were fighting in the front. The royal guards in the rear camp and the accompanying royal servants were unable to see the full picture due to their vision. They could only hear the rumbling of cannons and shouts of killing in the front.
We still don’t know what the battle situation is like at the front, we just habitually think that it is another great victory.
It was a great surprise to see King Heng suddenly return.
"Prepare the car immediately and wait for me behind the camp!" King Heng's face was gloomy and he urged urgently.
The servant was stunned for a moment and wanted to ask what happened, but when King Heng gave him a fierce look, he dared not ask and responded to go and prepare.
King Heng's face was as gloomy as water. He finally turned his head to glance at the shouts and screams from the camp in front of him. After he was almost hit by artillery fire, he immediately fled from the lookout tower, found an excuse to leave the rest of the people behind, and hurried back alone.
At this time, he walked quickly to the outside of his own big tent and opened the curtain. The floor of the tent was covered with mats. At this moment, the two concubines looked at the returning prince in surprise, and their rouge and powdered faces instinctively smiled: "Prince..."
A concubine saw the prince's expression and felt nervous. She subconsciously asked:
"My Lord, there was an accident in the battle ahead..."
King Heng suddenly stopped and stared at the two beautiful concubines who were brought to the army to sleep with him even when they went to war. He suddenly muttered nervously, "If I keep you here, you will be defiled and lose my face."
The two concubines instinctively sensed the danger and stopped walking, their smiles frozen: "Your Highness..."
The next second, Prince Heng suddenly drew out the sword from his waist, and with two slashes, he killed the two concubines in a pool of blood.
Without any hesitation, he quickly walked to the corner, squatted down, took out a bronze key from his waist, and opened a special metal box on the ground.
He picked up a piece of half-body armor from the box. It was a fiery red piece with a black human face pattern on the front.
Prince Heng quickly took off his gorgeous outer coat and put on his armor inside. Then he took out a set of low-key and simple clothes from the bottom of the box, which were no different from those worn by servants in gray, and hurriedly changed into them.
He then threw the gorgeous clothes into the box and locked it. After doing all this, he walked around the bodies of the two beautiful concubines on the ground and hurriedly left the tent.
After a slight hesitation, he turned around and rushed into another remote large tent nearby.
"Your Highness?" The two family guards outside the tent were stunned for a moment, with doubts in their eyes.
King Heng said sternly: "Is anyone inside?"
"We are here. Don't worry, Your Majesty. We are here to guard it. It will be absolutely safe."
"Well, that's good." King Heng nodded with satisfaction, then suddenly jumped up, the knife flashed, and the two unsuspecting family generals were stabbed to death.
Stepping over the corpses, King Heng used the bloody blade to pry open the tent, only to see a woman tied up inside.
The woman had black hair, a round and majestic face, and a good-looking appearance. She was wearing a dark horse-faced skirt made of extraordinary silk. She was Xiao Dong'er, the female head of the Xiao family in Donghu, Qingzhou.
Mrs. Xiao's hands and feet were tied with hemp ropes, her legs bent sideways, sitting on the ground with her back against a box.
With his head down and eyes closed, he looked drowsy. His once smooth skin had become dull and lifeless, and he had lost a lot of weight.
Hearing the noise, he raised his head, opened his eyes, and saw King Heng rushing in wearing plain clothes and holding a blood-stained long sword. He was instinctively stunned.
Then she listened to the shouting and killing outside, and suddenly laughed sarcastically:
"Have you finally lost the battle? Ha, you are a prince dressed like this, are you planning to escape?"
Xiao Dong'er has not had a happy life in the past six months. After the meeting at Huting last year, she openly defected to the court and became an "imperial merchant", which completely broke off relations with the Heng Palace.
The situation of the Xiao family in Qingzhou became worse, but at that time Prince Heng's Mansion did not dare to go too far and only used some covert means of attack.
It was not until the empress failed in her Fengshan ceremony and the Eight Princes rebelled that Prince Heng immediately ordered the takeover of the Xiao family.
However, because the Xiao family's foundation in Donghu is deeply rooted, it is not easy to eradicate it in a short period of time. Prince Heng is eager to go to Beijing and has no time to deal with the Xiao family.
He was also worried that this big family was causing trouble behind his back, so he simply locked up some of the clan members in the dungeon of the palace, and tied up the female head of the family, Xiao Dong'er, in the army.
This will contain the Xiao family and make the local big families afraid to act rashly.
However, according to Prince Heng's plan, once he took control of the capital, the Xiao family would lose its usefulness, and Xiao Dong'er's fate could be imagined.
"Bitch!"
Prince Heng was enraged by Madam Xiao's sarcastic remarks. He slapped Xiao Dong'er hard, causing the female head to turn her head to the side. A palm print appeared on her fair cheek, and blood oozed from the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes were filled with even more contempt. She spat softly and raised her palm-sized face crazily:
"Coward, kill me if you dare. It seems that I was right to join the Zhao Shijun. What else can a loser like you do besides being arrogant, dreaming of becoming an emperor, and bullying women?"
Prince Heng's face suddenly turned gloomy, but he did not really move his knife. Instead, he held the knife in one hand and roughly dragged Madam Xiao out of the tent with the other hand, sneering:
"Then you'd better hope that that pretty boy surnamed Zhao can come and rescue you."
Xiao Dong'er was stunned for a moment, and caught the hidden message in King Heng's words.
However, before she could confirm, she was roughly dragged out of the barracks by King Heng.
Behind the barracks, the servant had already prepared the carriage. When he saw the prince approaching with a knife, his heart skipped a beat and he trembled with fear:
"Your Majesty, what are you..."
Prince Heng threw the cursing Madam Xiao into the carriage without saying a word, and then hacked the coachman to death.
Then he jumped onto the carriage, shook the reins himself, waved the whip, drove the carriage along the road, and fled rapidly towards Qingzhou.
He actually abandoned the entire Qingzhou army and escaped alone!
……
"Drive! Drive!"
On the deserted official road, a horse-drawn carriage sped away, leaving behind the shouts and cries of killing.
Soon, Mrs. Xiao, whose hands and feet were tied and who was almost vomiting from the bumpy ride in the carriage, could no longer hear the sound of the two armies fighting.
She was lying on her side in the carriage, her hair disheveled and her forehead red and purple from being bumped. Through the shaking curtains, she could see the blood-stained sword and the back of Prince Heng who was driving.
Although the Qingzhou army was defeated, with Wei Xianzong's ability to lead the remaining elite troops, they were not without the ability to fight.
At least it can block the Shenji Camp for quite a long time, and this time is enough for King Heng to escape far away.
However, just when Madam Xiao closed her eyes and thought that Prince Heng would take her all the way back to Qingzhou.
Suddenly, the carriage stopped abruptly!
The prince, dressed in a servant's grey clothes and a small hat, acted as the coachman. He held the reins in his left hand, subconsciously touched the hilt of the knife beside him with his right hand, and stared fixedly ahead.
In the middle of the deserted official road, shaded by green trees on both sides, a team of cavalrymen quietly blocked the way ahead.
An elite cavalryman from the Shenji Camp, wearing armor and holding a sword, with an expressionless face and murderous intent, blocked his way.
On the black horse in the front, Zhao Duan sat leisurely, playing with an old bronze mirror the size of a palm in his hand.
On the mirror, ripples appeared and the image of Prince Heng driving was slowly fading away and disappearing without a trace.
Zhao Duan stuffed the "Mirror of Love and Lust" into his arms and stared with interest at the King of Qingzhou, whom he had seen countless times before.
"Lord Heng, where are you going?"
……
Beijing.
In a side hall of the imperial palace, a small closed-door court meeting was being held.
There were not many officials present, but they were all important officials in the court.
The atmosphere was depressing and heavy. The empress sat upright on the dragon throne. She folded the memorial in her hand and placed it on the table covered with yellow mat in front of her. Her bright eyes swept over the faces of Grand Tutor Dong, Yuan Li, the ministers of various ministries, Ma Yan...
"Are all of you of the same opinion?" Xu Zhenguan's voice was cold and emotionless.
Only two days had passed since Li Dang's rebellion was suppressed, and the aftermath of the coup in the city had not yet completely subsided. The news that the Qingzhou rebels had defeated the Five Military Camps had once again caused turmoil in the turbulent court.
No one among the ministers answered for a while. Finally, the Imperial Censor Yuan Li sighed, stood up, and bowed, saying:
"Your Majesty, no one in the court doubts the ability of Zhao Shaobao. However, although he is a military commander, he has never led troops into battle. Even with Shi Meng by his side, it would not be safe to rush to help. Moreover..."
Yuan Li paused and glanced at Ma Yan who was standing next to him with a sullen face.
The latter understood and took out a secret letter from his sleeve:
"Your Majesty, this is the information that the Shadow Guards of Qingzhou just sent back. According to the investigation of the spies over there, Prince Heng not only secretly raises evil beasts, but also holds a talisman called the 'Red Flame Holy Armor' in his hand.
It is said that this is a sacred object of the Jianghu Zoroastrianism that was destroyed six hundred years ago. Although Zhao Duan has entered the secular world, if he encounters this object, he will be in danger. "
The Red Flame Sacred Armor? A sacred object of Zoroastrianism?
Xu Zhenguan narrowed her beautiful eyes.
……
(End of this chapter)