Chapter 89: The Enemy Is in Tianjin, Part Six (Please Add to Favorites, Please Recommend)

"Eunuch, don't worry — His Majesty has gone upstairs!" Cao Youyi answered, panting for breath.

"Upstairs? That's not so bad..." The old eunuch had just let out a breath of relief when a thought suddenly struck him, and his aged face went pale. "Aiyo, that's even worse!"

With that, he dashed off to find the staircase and scrambled up it, all the while shouting as he climbed: "Your Majesty, do not be hasty! Do not be hasty! The young master's troops have fought their way in! We are saved..."

What he said was actually a deception of the sovereign! He had no idea whether Zhu Cilang's troops had broken through. But deceiving the sovereign was unavoidable, because he understood the Chongzhen Emperor all too well. The Emperor had gone upstairs to kill his wife... a tragedy against all human decency! How could the old man not try to stop it?

Zhu Cilang had privately instructed him back at Wangqingtuo that he must look after Empress Zhou... but had said nothing about the Emperor! The old eunuch's own interpretation was this: if Chongzhen the Imperial Father died, it did not matter, but Empress Zhou the Imperial Mother had to be preserved no matter what.

The Crown Prince losing his father would be a good thing! Once Chongzhen was dead, Zhu Cilang would be Emperor!

But Empress Zhou must not die. If she died, for whom would Zhu Cilang play the great filial son?

And the Chongzhen Emperor believed that starving to death was a trifling matter, while losing one's chastity was of the utmost gravity! So he would certainly kill Empress Zhou before the enemy broke in, to preserve her honor.

At this very moment, upstairs, the Chongzhen Emperor was holding a sharp sword and advancing step by step toward Empress Zhou, who had raised a shield and retreated into a corner, while he murmured: "The time has come, the time has come. Empress, put down the shield..."

Beside the Empress were two old-maid palace women. They were remarkably lucky, having practically crawled out of a pile of corpses, and were still completely unharmed. But they were devoted women too, already resolved to die for their country alongside the Chongzhen Emperor, so they joined in earnestly urging Empress Zhou.

"Your Highness, give the shield to this slave..."

"Your Highness, you are the mother of the nation. Your honor is greater than heaven itself — you must not let the rebels defile you."

How could Empress Zhou heed them and put down the shield? She knew her husband was a stubborn man who could not be swayed. If she lowered the shield, she would surely be run through with a single thrust. So she only shook her head desperately: "Chun Ge'er will be here any moment. Chun Ge'er is so filial; he would never abandon his parents. Your Majesty, put down the sword..."

Chongzhen stamped his foot: "At a time like this, you still believe in him? The imperial family is the most heartless of all! Once We are dead, he will be Emperor! Why would he come to save Us?"

Empress Zhou bit her silver teeth and retorted: "Is not today's disaster because you refused to trust Chun Ge'er? If you had let Wu Xiang escort you with the three Kenan battalions, how could the rebels have succeeded?"

At Empress Zhou's retort, the Chongzhen Emperor was momentarily speechless, unsure how to lecture this death-fearing woman. Just as he stood dazed, Cao Huachun's shout reached him. Chongzhen was easy to deceive and did not suspect anything; he let out a breath and returned his sword to its scabbard. At that very moment, a thunderous cry suddenly erupted from the courtyard: "Kill the fatuous ruler! Kill the fatuous ruler and all under heaven will be at peace!"

The moment Chongzhen heard this shout, his whole body began to tremble. The "fatuous ruler" surely meant him! The roving bandits had already burst into the courtyard and were about to come kill him!

At that thought, Chongzhen moved to draw his sword again, but Cao Huachun had already thrown himself forward and was clutching the sword tightly. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, wait a little longer... the young master will surely come!"

Cao Huachun's words were not entirely a deception of the sovereign. For Zhu Cilang's troops had at that moment already charged into the city of Tianjin!

Although Wu Sanfu's ability in battle could not match his second brother Wu Sangui's, he was still competent in command. Before long he directed strong men to batter open the west gate of Tianjin with a log. Then he personally led the Han generals disguised as Yi Ding shock cavalry in through the west gate, and in an instant routed the rebel troops who had been besieging Feng Yuanyang on the west gate's main street — the Han generals were of course for show, but show troops, used well, could still win battles!

These ceremonial-guard fellows were no good at single combat, nor at mounted archery, but riding in formation was their stock-in-trade. Not only could they advance, they could even hold formation at a gallop — that was what they ate for a living!

And the momentum of armored cavalry charging in formation was enough to make ordinary weak troops flee at the mere sight. The rebels fighting on the west gate's main street, originally from the Tianjin patrol battalion, were no elite force. When they saw a large body of ironclad cavalry charging in, what was the point of fighting? They could not even flee fast enough.

So the fake Yi Ding shock cavalry instantly produced the effect of real Yi Ding shock cavalry!

The Yi Ding shock cavalry entered the city with irresistible momentum and immediately turned the tide of battle within Tianjin. The weak troops of the two Caos, who had been hiding no one knew where, all emerged from every corner and cranny, each one impossibly brave. And the rebel troops of the Tianjin patrol battalion, along with the common folk who had joined in the uproar, at once scattered and fled — they were all Tianjin natives; could they not find their way out of Tianjin city?

The two slippery characters, Tianjin Circuit Intendant Yuan Yuzong and Tianjin Patrol Commander Yang Weihan, had long since planned their escape route! Beneath their official robes and armor, they wore commoners' clothes! They had also placed trusted men and rope baskets on the north wall of Tianjin. When they saw "Wu Sangui" fighting his way in, they did not dare put up a hard fight; they stripped off their armor and official robes and let themselves down from the north wall of Tianjin by rope. At the canal dock outside the city, Yuan Yuzong had arranged boats in advance. The two men boarded at once and went to seek the main force of Li Guo and Tang Tong.

At the same time the two of them were fleeing, Jin Bin and Lou Guangxian were being chased with nowhere to hide. The two of them were valuable: the troops of the former Tianjin garrison's left and right routes (also their old subordinates) who had charged into the city were all frantically trying to capture them for the reward.

With Yuan Yuzong and Yang Weihan fleeing, and Jin Bin and Lou Guangxian hiding here and there, the rebel troops inside Tianjin city were left leaderless, with no organized resistance.

This brought disaster upon Hao Yaoqi and his men! More than two hundred of them were all bottled up inside that large courtyard — the very courtyard where the Chongzhen Emperor was.

That is to say, Hao Yaoqi's men were trapped in the courtyard by Zhu Cilang's army, while the Chongzhen Emperor was trapped by Hao Yaoqi inside a two-story building within the courtyard...

The doors and windows of the small building were all blocked up, and Cao Youyi had organized the dozen or so young kinsmen of Cao Huachun inside the building to hold every entrance.

Within the courtyard at this moment, corpses and bloodstains were everywhere. Cao Youyi's household retainers had all died in battle, leaving only the two hundred-odd blood-soaked veteran soldiers of the Shun army's old camp.

But their situation was hardly any better! Wu Sanfu had already brought the Han generals to the perimeter of the courtyard and surrounded it completely, yet he did not order an attack. Instead he sent word for Pan Shuchen, who had just been promoted to Supervising Eunuch of the Directorate of the Imperial Horses (his actual duties unchanged), to bring musketeers as support, while also sending men to demand surrender.

Hao Yaoqi had fought until his eyes were bloodshot; how could he be willing to surrender? He bellowed fiercely: "Shields! Bring shields! I'll batter my way in today if I have to! I'm going to take the head of that Zhu traitor emperor..."

Upstairs, Chongzhen heard Hao Yaoqi's roar and trembled so badly his legs shook, while Empress Zhou wept without cease.

Looking at his wife, who had cried herself into a tear-soaked wreck, the Chongzhen Emperor sighed: "Empress, the time has truly come... let us go to the Yellow Springs together. Fortunately, Cilang is cunning and full of stratagems, the stuff of a ruler for troubled times. The Great Ming will not perish in his hands, and you and We can close our eyes in peace."

Though Empress Zhou did not wish to die, she knew there was no surviving this day. She threw aside the shield in her hands and sat in the corner weeping bitterly. Cao Huachun no longer stopped Chongzhen from drawing his sword; the old man too had wept into a tear-soaked wreck. By now the sound of the gate being battered came from below — bang, bang, bang — and after one great crash came a heaven-shaking roar: "Dog emperor, give up your life!"

Clearly, the gate had been smashed open.

The Chongzhen Emperor raised his sword and walked step by step to Empress Zhou. Empress Zhou closed her eyes and lifted her head, awaiting death.

At this moment of utmost peril, someone outside the courtyard suddenly shouted: "His Majesty the Emperor approaches! All officials, come forth to greet him!"

What? His Majesty the Emperor approaches?

Everyone in the entire courtyard was stunned. Was the Emperor not inside the small building? How could there be another Emperor? Just how many Emperors did this Great Ming have?

(End of Chapter)