Chapter 513: Zuo Menggeng, Do You Know Your Crime?

"Don't Cry, My Prince — the Princess Consort Is Fierce" — Zuo Menggeng was now completely dumbfounded. The matter of surrendering to Li Zicheng was known only to himself, Huang Shu, and a very few trusted household retainers. Even Zuo Mengmei did not know... How had He Tengjiao found out?

Huang Shu looked at Zuo Menggeng's stupefied expression, steeled himself, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "The Young General has already surrendered to the Roving King and been enfeoffed as Duke of Xiang — he is master of Huguang! All of you who wish to share in wealth and rank, just follow the Young General and hold the city... The Roving King has personally led a hundred thousand troops to Jiangling, and they will arrive by tomorrow at the latest!"

What? He really surrendered to Li Zicheng?

The Regional Commanders and Vice Regional Commanders under Zuo Menggeng were all stunned.

None of them had been mentally prepared for this... For the moment they were all speechless, their faces shifting between dark and bright.

At this moment Zuo Menggeng also suddenly came to his senses. His household retainers had collapsed; even if some could make it back, it would only be thirteen to fifteen hundred men, and they had completely lost their fighting edge. They could not possibly hold down the many Regional Commanders and Vice Regional Commanders here in Jiangling. The only thing he could rely on now was Li Zicheng's fearsome might... He could only hope that this Son of Heaven of the Shun had really brought troops!

Only if he arrived in time would the Zuo family have a way out!

"That's right!" Zuo Menggeng said through gritted teeth. "The Roving King's hundred thousand troops will be here at once! At once..."

He drew a sharp breath and said to those around him: "Pass the word to the whole army: say that I, Zuo Menggeng, have gone over to the Roving King and been enfeoffed as Duke of Xiang... The Shun's hundred thousand heavenly troops will be here at once! Once the Shun's heavenly troops arrive, Jiangling will be our world of pleasure — three days of free looting!"

If Li Zicheng really did arrive, how would he permit looting in Jiangling? The Shun army was now under strict discipline and did not allow arbitrary plundering!

But the officers and men under him did not know that, so when they heard that their Young General had truly gone over to the Shun, that Shun reinforcements would soon arrive, and that they would even be allowed to loot, they all burst into cheers.

Jiangling was a world of pleasure — half of Huguang's gentry had gathered in Jiangling, yet Qiu Lei and Zuo Mengmei had kept blocking them from looting. Damn it all, what a frustration!

Now at last they could loot... As for whether they could keep their positions long under the Shun after the looting, they would deal with that when the time came!

"Long live the Shun! Long live the Roving King! Ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years..."

Li Zicheng's army had not yet arrived, yet cheers had already erupted atop the walls of Jiangling.

This truly took people by surprise!

Because the Shun's Li Zicheng was approaching, the morale of the Zuo family army in Jiangling had actually revived — while He Tengjiao outside the city was dumbfounded.

He was an expert at internal strife. If Li Zicheng came, it would be an external fight, and he was an amateur at that! Moreover, he had only a little over two thousand men in hand; the ten thousand-plus under Chang Yanling's command had not yet arrived!

What was to be done?

"Governor He," Tang Laosi beside him was also growing anxious, "didn't you say there were still our inside agents in the city? Now that Li Zicheng is coming, can the inside agents still act?"

He had almost forgotten... there were still inside agents!

"They can act — they certainly can!" He Tengjiao nodded emphatically. "That person is the Princess Consort of Chu, Zuo Mengmei... Zuo Menggeng can surrender to the Roving King, but she cannot!"

"What? Zuo Mengmei is an inside agent?" Tang Laosi had truly had his eyes opened this time. He Tengjiao's skill at internal strife was indeed superior to his own!

Tang Laosi laughed. "In that case, we'll hold the pontoon bridge and go nowhere... Even if Li Zicheng's great army comes, there's nothing to fear!"

Not afraid? He Tengjiao glanced at this Shaanxi bumpkin and thought: Go on, brag. Two thousand men not afraid of a hundred thousand — if you were really that capable, would the Great Ming be in its present state?

The news that "the Roving King is about to arrive" seemed to have real effect. At any rate, it cowed the Ming troops outside Jiangling. They stopped shouting, stopped shooting the thirteen or fourteen hundred Zuo household retainers who had already crossed the moat, and instead pulled back to the pontoon bridge to build a bridgehead — and this was a deadly fortification! If Zuo Menggeng could not knock it out, the reinforcements led by Chang Yanling would be able to cross over by the pontoon bridge.

Then even if Li Zicheng came, the battle for Jiangling would be a real fight!

Zuo Menggeng, breathing a sigh of relief, also noticed this problem, but he had no strength to send troops out to fight. Better to set up the defenses first.

So from the gate tower of Jiangling's south gate he assigned tasks to his subordinate generals — nothing more than pulling all the troops camped outside the city walls back inside, dividing them to hold the defenses, and waiting for Li Zicheng to arrive.

But while assigning tasks, he noticed someone was missing.

"Where has Zhang Feixiong gone?" Zuo Menggeng shouted. "Where is Zhang Feixiong?"

"Feixiong" was Zhang Yong's courtesy name. Zhang Yong was a fierce general of the Shaanxi faction in the Zuo family army. He was not particularly close to Zuo Menggeng, and the main body of his troops was not in Jiangling, but he had still brought three hundred household retainers to attend Zuo Liangyu's funeral.

Surely he had not slipped away at this moment?

Just then, someone — he did not know who — answered, and it gave Zuo Menggeng a terrible fright.

"Young General, I think I saw Zhang Feixiong take his men and head for the princely residence!"

The princely residence was the Chu princely residence, located in the central part of Jiangling near the north gate. It had originally been the Liao princely residence and then the Hui princely residence. The Prince of Liao, Zhu Zhi, had originally been enfeoffed at Guangning, guarding the Liao lands east of Yiwulü Mountain, and was one of the nine frontier princes. After the Jingnan Campaign he was recalled by the Jianwen Emperor, and after Zhu Di became emperor he did not send Zhu Zhi back to Liaodong but instead sent him to Jingzhou. The Liao princely line, however, did not survive into the Chongzhen years; it was abolished during the Longqing era. Later, the Wanli Emperor's sixth son, Zhu Changrun, was enfeoffed as Prince of Hui and took up his fief in Jingzhou in the seventh year of Tianqi, converting the old Liao princely residence into the Hui princely residence. This Prince of Hui did not last many years before Zhang Xianzhong broke the city, after which he was in constant exile. Last year he reached Nanjing and became a Prince living on idle provisions. The Hui princely residence was then given to Zhu Cizhao and became the Chu princely residence.

By this time Zhang Yong had already galloped with his household retainers to the Chu princely residence and met with the Prince of Chu, Zhu Cizhao, the Princess Consort Zuo Mengmei, the Regional Commander of Jingzhou Garrison Qiu Lei, and the Prefect of Jingzhou Du Yinxi.

"Your Highness, Princess Consort, something has happened... Li Zicheng's great army is about to arrive!"

"Waaah..."

The moment Zhang Yong's words were out, the Prince of Chu, Zhu Cizhao, burst into terrified tears.

Zuo Mengmei looked at her little husband's cowardly display and could not help frowning. "Don't be afraid, Your Highness. The Crown Prince has already sent a great army!"

"Waaah..."

He cried even harder!

Zhu Cizhao was at that age of half-understanding, and he knew he had offended his good elder brother Zhu Cilang. If Li Zicheng came, he might still have a way to live; if his brother came... heh, it would be time to sample the crane's crest poison!

"Your Highness! Stop crying!" Zuo Mengmei's face hardened, and she said fiercely, "Cry again, and you are not allowed in my bed!"

Not allowed in her bed... what a terrifying punishment!

Zhu Cizhao immediately stifled his sobs, only daring to let tears trickle down in silence.

Zuo Mengmei was a woman of decision. She said to Zhang Yong: "Brother Feixiong, there are still fifteen thousand men in the princely residence — I place them all in your hands... and I place my life and His Highness's life in your hands as well! However you say to fight, we will fight!"

Zhang Yong said: "Zuo Menggeng's household retainers have collapsed, and the Regional Commanders in the city are each harboring their own schemes and will not risk their lives. We have to go out and fight — seize the city gates... take as many as we can, one by one. If Li Zicheng really does come, we can flee!

If we stay holed up in the princely residence, it is a dead end!"

"Good!" Zuo Mengmei gritted her teeth. "I'll do as you say... Pass the word: say that the Crown Prince has personally led a hundred thousand troops to Jingzhou Prefecture! This battle — victory is ours for certain!"

"Yes!" Zhang Yong answered, and together with Qiu Lei and Du Yinxi went to muster the troops, preparing to fight to the death.

In the great hall of the princely residence, only three remained: the Prince of Chu, Zhu Cizhao, the Princess Consort Zuo Mengmei, and the chief eunuch Wang Cheng'en.

The little prince's tears simply would not stop, streaming down in torrents!

Zuo Mengmei watched, both exasperated and amused... This little prince had plenty of nerve when talking nonsense; how had he turned into such a coward now?

No matter what, his brother Zhu Cilang would not go so far as to make trouble for a child, would he? Even if he fell into Zhu Cilang's hands, was there any fear he would not still get to be a wealthy, honored Prince?

At that thought she sighed softly and murmured to herself: "Crown Prince, you must come quickly! This time Li Zicheng has very likely come with his entire force..."