Chapter 9: Thankfully, There's Still Good Looks to Sacrifice

Wang Cheng'en and Empress Zhou were the two key figures determining whether Zhu Cilang could safely leave the endangered city of Beijing.

Both of them had been temporarily strung along by Zhu Cilang — though in truth, he didn't need to string them along for very long. Tonight, word of Juyong Pass's fall would arrive; tomorrow, Li Zicheng's great army would reach Changping, and his vanguard might even appear outside the walls of Beijing...

By then, no matter how wooden-headed the Chongzhen Emperor was, he would not stop the Crown Prince and Wang Cheng'en from planning a breakout and escape. In the original history, hadn't he himself ended up fleeing in a panic? In truth, fleeing was a matter of "reading the imperial will" — he thought it in his heart but never said it aloud, and as his trusted confidant, one ought to have sensed it. It was just that he had no treacherous eunuch like Wei Zhongxian at his side, only an honest eunuch like Wang Cheng'en, who was oblivious and never arranged an escape route for him. So all that was left was to go to Coal Hill and end it himself!

But having the cooperation of two honest people like Wang Cheng'en and Empress Zhou was not enough — at the very least, he also needed the protection of that crafty old warlord Wu Xiang.

If he couldn't win him over, then he'd have to travel light and slip away quietly... He could get out, but once out, he'd be far too passive.

Just as he was calculating how to make that old warlord boss Wu Xiang choke on his dreams too, Zhu Cilang arrived back outside his own Duanben Palace.

Before he even entered, he saw Wang Cheng'en hurrying out from inside to greet him, saluting him, then lowering his voice and saying nervously, "Thousand Years, Wu Xiang has already arrived at the Inner Parade Ground. You may go see him at any time."

"Good!" Zhu Cilang nodded, and said to the lead guard Zhu Chunjie behind him, "To the Inner Parade Ground — right now."

The Inner Parade Ground was not inside the Forbidden City, but in the northeast corner of the Imperial City, north of Taiye Pool, right up against the northern wall of the Imperial City. It was where the Imperial City garrison and the eunuch-composed Pure Army trained and held reviews. If Zhu Cilang wanted to practice archery and horsemanship, he too had to go to the Inner Parade Ground.

Wang Cheng'en now commanded the inner and outer military camps and supervised the Nine Gates, so the Inner Parade Ground and the garrisons and Pure Army within the Imperial City naturally fell under his command as well. Wu Xiang held the assignment of supervising the Capital Camps, and was likewise subject to his authority... At least for now, Wu Xiang did not dare disobey Wang Cheng'en's orders.

So early this morning, Wang Cheng'en had suddenly visited Wu Xiang's residence and ordered him to come at once with him to the Inner Parade Ground to take part in defense affairs. It was still the morning of the fifteenth, and no one in Beijing yet knew that Juyong Pass had been lost, so the court's authority still held. Wu Xiang naturally said not a word of objection, and brought his third son Wu Sanfu with him into the Imperial City.

After arriving at the Inner Parade Ground, Wang Cheng'en arranged for the Wu father and son to wait in a hall, then went himself to the Eastern Palace — Duanben Palace — to find Zhu Cilang.

"Wu Sanfu is in the capital too?" Zhu Cilang asked as he walked, upon hearing that Wu Sangui's younger brother was also present. "Who else from the Wu family is in the capital?"

"In reply to Thousand Years: apart from Wu Sangui and Wu Sanfeng, the two brothers who are not here, most of the rest of the Wu family are present — over thirty people! This old slave also made inquiries about their guard retainers: more than eighty men. In addition, one of Zu Dashou's sons is living with them, so there are also a dozen or so Zu-family retainers serving as guards."

Wang Cheng'en was, after all, the chief of the Eastern Depot, and his intelligence-gathering skills were passable; he had found out everything very clearly. Wu Xiang had three sons. The eldest, Wu Sanfeng, had followed Zu Dashou during the Song-Jin campaign and had by now surrendered to the Qing. The second son was Wu Sangui, and the third was Wu Sanfu, who had now come to Beijing with his father.

"Over thirty people, that many?" Zhu Cilang was taken aback. "Who are they all?"

"Besides Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu, there is an unmarried daughter of Wu Xiang, several of Wu Xiang's grandsons and granddaughters, and the wives and concubines of Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu. Oh, and there is also one of Wu Sangui's concubines, named Chen Yuanyuan, one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai..."

"Oh." Zhu Cilang nodded, thinking to himself: Apart from Wu Sanfu and Chen Yuanyuan, none of them had the look of long life. Without him, in just over a month they'd all be slaughtered by Li Zicheng!

Judging by this whole big family being trapped in Beijing, Wu Sangui had either not expected Beijing to fall so quickly, or he truly had no way to make his thirty or forty thousand pampered soldiers work for free...

"Wu Xiang has a daughter too?" Zhu Cilang suddenly asked. "What's her name? How old is she?"

"Her name is Wu Sanmei, sixteen this year," Wang Cheng'en said with a smile. "She is Wu Xiang's youngest daughter, and is said to be greatly doted upon."

"Has she been betrothed?" Zhu Cilang was already setting his sights on someone's maiden daughter... Not out of lust, of course — he was a gentleman of upright character, not one to be swayed by female charms.

But in order to win the devoted service of Wu Xiang and his son, sacrificing a bit of his looks and marrying the man's daughter was worth considering.

Besides, having Wu Sangui as his second brother-in-law seemed rather good too... Even if he kept on being a traitor, Dorgon's side would have to be five parts wary of him and only five parts trusting — and that would weaken his effectiveness considerably.

If he could then use his connection to Wu Sanmei to plant some discord, and get Wu Sangui and the Eight Banners troops into a bloody fight with each other — no matter who killed whom, he would have no objections.

"Thousand Years, would that not be inappropriate?" Wang Cheng'en seemed to have guessed Zhu Cilang's thoughts, and reminded him in a low voice, "It would violate the ancestral house laws... Wu Xiang is a great general; his daughter cannot enter the palace."

Zhu Cilang smiled. "The ancestors have all appeared to Us in a dream... We now bear the responsibility of saving the Ming realm, so naturally We may exercise discretion."

"That..." Wang Cheng'en still shook his head. "I fear the civil officials will have much to say."

"No fear — in two more days they'll have nothing left to say!" Zhu Cilang said with absolute certainty. "Companion Wang, when We meet Wu Xiang shortly, watch Our cues and act accordingly — arrange this great match for Us!"

Seeing Wang Cheng'en still hesitating, Zhu Cilang hurriedly lowered his voice. "Wu Sangui has thirty or forty thousand elite Guanning troops! We don't have a million, so let's give him a Crown Princess! In fact, We should have given it long ago... Give it, and perhaps Wu Sangui's troops will arrive! Even if only three thousand elites could come, Beijing would have a chance of holding out. Zhou Yuji had only three thousand men at Ningwu Pass, of which just one thousand were Valiant Guard Camp elites — and didn't he hold out for over ten days?"

Hearing this, Wang Cheng'en actually found it reasonable. There was no money, but a handsome Crown Prince was ready at hand! For the sake of the Ming realm, for the sake of the people of the world, what harm was there in the Crown Prince sacrificing a bit of his looks?

Zhu Cilang and Wang Cheng'en discussed it the whole way, and by the time they reached the Inner Parade Ground, they had finally settled it... The marriage was to be promised first, and then they would find a way to work on the Chongzhen Emperor and Empress Zhou.

To save her own life, Empress Zhou would certainly help Zhu Cilang. Even that wooden-headed Chongzhen Emperor should not be hard to persuade. After all, Wu Sangui held a life-saving army in his hands!

Unless Chongzhen no longer wanted Beijing, no longer wanted the ancestral foundation, and no longer even wanted his own life — what was so terrible about sacrificing his son's good looks?

Besides the honey-trap plan, Zhu Cilang and Wang Cheng'en had also worked out a set of tall tales to fool people with.

At present, a Crown Princess alone was not enough to make Wu Xiang serve with utter devotion. If it had been ten days or half a month earlier, perhaps it would have worked — but now Beijing could not be held, and the entire Guanning Army needed a good place to go. Leaving them stranded in that dead-end position northeast of Beijing, caught between the Qing and the Shun, the final result would surely be their choosing a new master to serve.

...

"Your subject, Capital Camps Supervisor Wu Xiang — and Wu Sanfu — pay respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!"

In the main hall of the Inner Parade Ground, Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu were performing the full ceremonial prostration before the suddenly arrived Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.

Father and son were both somewhat taken aback. They had thought they were there to help Wang Cheng'en arrange the city's defense, and never imagined they would meet the heir apparent of the Great Ming Empire, the foundation of the state, His Highness himself.

Zhu Cilang raised a hand to bid them rise. Before the formal discussion began, the room was cleared. Apart from Wu Xiang, Wu Sanfu, and Wang Cheng'en, all idle personnel were shooed outside.

Wu Xiang and Wu Sanfu were also somewhat baffled; father and son exchanged glances, neither knowing what had happened.

Zhu Cilang, meanwhile, was sizing the two of them up. Both were well-favored — tall, broad, and powerfully built, with sharply defined features and great bushy beards, every inch the stalwart warriors. Only Wu Xiang's face carried a bit more shrewdness, his gaze flickering and unsteady. The twenty-something Wu Sanfu seemed more plain and straightforward by comparison.

But compared to the swindlers Zhu Cilang had seen in later generations in finance, venture capital, and listed companies, these two probably couldn't be counted as especially cunning, could they?

(End of Chapter)