At the beginning, no one could understand the entire battle process. They only remembered that they were fighting bloody battles, struggling hard to find the enemy, and also looking for their own people. However, everyone had a similar feeling: at some point, the enemy soldiers began to flee, not at the same time, but one after another.

Not long after dawn, everyone "remembered" more facts and patted their chests to ensure that the enemy was scared away by the momentum of the Chu army.

Han Ruzi gathered scattered soldiers everywhere, and was soon recognized and no longer dared to accompany him around. He immediately divided a group of people to escort the emperor to the capital.

Han Ruzi refused and still rode around the battlefield. He wanted to regroup the army and look for Meng E.

Meng E is gone. With her ability, she will never lose her. There is only one possibility. She leaves without saying goodbye.

Nearly noon, there were four or five thousand soldiers gathered. Han Ruzi gave up looking for someone and began to concentrate on investigating the battle situation, hoping to clarify the situation as soon as possible and formulate the next plan.

A small group of soldiers came out of the city. They did not intend to neglect them. It was because the city gates were blocked, making it difficult for the enemy to attack, and it was difficult for the people inside to come out. They came out of the city to ask for instructions and whether they needed to clear the road.

"Wait a little longer, find the whereabouts of Taifu Cui and the enemy."

The city was condescending, although it could not be seen more clearly, it had the advantage of watching. Moreover, they fought with the siege for many days and understood the enemy's habits, "The enemy retreated."

Last night, the Chu army drums sounded, and even the capital could not tell how many reinforcements were. They were excited, but they could not come out to help. Moreover, the siege at that time had not eased, and the enemy soldiers were still attacking wildly. If one direction was not possible, they would change to another direction.

It is hard to tell when it was, probably after midnight, an army that was sieging the city suddenly chose to retreat. At first, it was still orderly and before it left the sight of the guardian side, it turned into birds and beasts.

Strangely, in the eyes of the city guards, the enemy's retreat did not gradually spread, but was one part east and one part west. In the darkness, the enemy troops could not communicate with each other. They all made decisions alone. After more than an hour, they formed a fugitive army, and no one could stop them.

But this was not considered a disintegration. Soon someone used the sound of gongs to restrict the enemy soldiers from retreating in the same direction.

Han Ruzi found the lost guards. They were running around with the will of death. Seeing that the emperor was still alive, they all cried with joy.

Chao Jing also ran over, but he was not worried about the emperor. "Ma Da chased a enemy army and I don't know where he ran."

In a small ditch, the soldiers found Cui Hong, the Minister of War.

Cui Hong was guarded by several personal soldiers and looked dissatisfied. After a hundred soldiers gathered around him, he quickly recovered his calmness and immediately issued a series of orders. It is hard to say what the use of these orders are, but they can indeed stabilize people's hearts and let the soldiers understand that everything is under control.

When he arrived in front of the emperor, Cui Hong had basically restored the power of the Minister of War.

Kneeling down to the emperor, and Cui Hong continued to issue orders. It was simple, just to find people, collect flags and drums, clean up the battlefield, and even ask several soldiers to go to find the emperor's mount, and to see the horses and the corpse when they die.

"The enemy fled. Please take advantage of the victory to pursue it and not give the enemy a chance to breathe." Cui Hong asked for a fight.

Han Ruzi hesitated, "It is reported that the enemy troops were not disintegrated, and the number was still large..."

"As soon as the morale dissipates, no matter how many soldiers there are, they will be a mob. You must not miss the opportunity. Please make a decision quickly."

A personal soldier said bravely, "Master Taifu, you have been fighting with the enemy for a long time and have killed countless enemy soldiers with you. You really can't be tired anymore."

"Rareless, why are you still tired at this time? Even if you die, you will die on the way to pursue the enemy." Cui Hong shouted angrily to his personal soldiers, and bowed to the emperor, "Your Majesty, please give an order. I only need to lead 10,000 troops. If the enemy is ready, I will retreat at the right time."

Cui Hong rarely asked for a fight on his own initiative, so Han Ruzi had to agree, "The Taifu should not force him. If he can fight, he would fight. If he can't fight, he would retreat."

"After the order." Cui Hong took the people away in a hurry.

When Cui Hong walked a little further, Chao Jing whispered to the emperor: "The Taifu 'fighted for a long time', his body is quite clean, and the little mud on his face seems to have been wiped up by himself."

"Just look at the general idea, don't ask about the minor details." Han Ruzi had no intention of pursuing the truth. Cui Hong was not a general who charged in the battle. He was old and weak. He was willing to lead his troops into the battlefield last night, which was considered extremely brave, and there was no need to make any demands.

It was the emperor himself, although he was covered in blood, and most of the time last night he was hiding from Tibet.

"Where are you? How many enemy soldiers have you killed?" Han Ruzi asked.

Chao Jing slapped his chest, "Look at the blood in my body, all of them belong to the enemy, at least ten. Don't look at me as small as I am, but I am flexible. I put my waist on my waist and stabbed it when the enemy soldiers didn't notice it..."

Chao Jing said it was so vague.

In the afternoon, there was finally a clear news that the enemy was retreating towards Xiaozhou City. The number was unknown. He threw away his helmets and armor along the way, and vehicles and supplies piled up along the way.

Han Ruzi was alert and immediately sent someone to chase the Grand Tutor Cui Hong, ordering him to slow down and not to chase too tightly. At the same time, he issued an order to open a passage in the capital immediately.

What the capital is to guard the ground and clean it up is troublesome. It was not until nightfall that a passage was opened for the army to enter and exit.

Han Ruzi entered the city without any guards, dragon chariots, flags and drums, only a team of extremely tired soldiers, hungry and cold following, from the emperor to the soldiers, it seemed that they had emerged from the underground.

But such a team was welcomed the most solemnly. All the officials who stayed in the capital, from prime ministers to ninth-rank officials, lined up to kneel down. In the distance, the calls of "Long Live" came one after another, although they were not neat, but were even more real.

Han Ruzi immediately dismounted and personally helped Zhuo Ruhe and several other ministers, "They worked hard and made great contributions, and the Great Chu depends on the ministers to survive."

The rules cannot be as complete as before, and they must be abide by them in the end. Han Ruzi entered Tongxuan Hall surrounded by ministers. Here he announced that the enemy had not yet been wiped out, and it was not time to reward merit and give orders to the army in the city to prepare for war and set out early tomorrow morning to support the Minister of War Cui Hong.

The army needs rest, the emperor needs it, and there are more important things to do. After passing the imperial edict, we immediately go to the palace to pay tribute to the empress dowager.

There were too few people in the palace, and Liu Jie, the chief supervisor, welcomed the emperor and led the way to Cining Palace.

Empress Dowager Cining and the Wang family were both here. Han Ruzi rushed to her mother and knelt down to apologize. All the relatives of the outside world were crying. This was really crying, and the excitement after escaping from death.

The most calm person was Empress Dowager Cining. She asked for a hand towel from the palace maid, wiped the dust from the emperor's face personally, and smiled and said, "My son is safe, Your Majesty is safe."

Han Ruzi stood up, said a few words, and asked, "Where is Cishun Palace? I should go and take a look."

Queen Mother Cining said to her family: "You all retreat, I will talk to His Majesty."

The Wang family left, and Han Ruzi personally helped his grandfather and sent him to the door.

"Empress Dowager Shangguan is dead." When there were no outsiders inside the house, Empress Dowager Cining said calmly.

Han Ruzi was shocked, "When did it happen?"

"It was last night that I heard that the enemy broke through the city gate, and Empress Dowager Shangguan committed suicide by hanging the beam and ordered the eunuch to burn the body to avoid being humiliated after death."

Han Ruzi was shocked, "How could Empress Dowager Shangguan do such a thing?"

Empress Dowager Cining stared at the emperor, "It's not surprising. These days, everyone in the palace has been prepared to commit suicide. There is also a sword and a long silk in my room. I would rather use a sword. It is said that several old eunuchs are fighting for a deep well in the palace."

Han Ruzi still couldn't understand Empress Dowager Shangguan's actions, "but the others did not commit suicide."

Queen Mother Cining was silent for a while, then asked, "Your Majesty has seen Meng E."

“See it.”

"What did she say to His Majesty?"

Han Ruzi shook her head slowly, "She fought with me last night, but later she got separated. Her whereabouts are unknown. Earlier... she never said anything special. What does this have to do with her?"

"What a stern girl, it's a pity..." Empress Dowager Cining sighed, "Your Majesty, go and ask Jing Yao. I have no regrets to see Your Majesty. It's time to take a rest."

"Yes, the Queen Mother." Han Ruzi retreated in confusion and returned to his bedroom. He wanted Liu Jie to tell Jing Yao immediately, but the matter was prioritized and he had to take other matters into consideration.

"Wake me up in an hour."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Jie looked tired, although he probably didn't sleep for a day and a night.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Liu." Han Ruzi said.

"Your Majesty leads troops to fight hard outside, the Prime Minister leads troops to defend the situation inside, and I do nothing and just wait for news in the palace. Where does the hard work come from?"

Han Ruzi smiled and didn't say anything more. He had to rest for a while to accumulate energy to deal with more things.

An hour later, almost at the same time as Liu Jie's voice, Han Ruzi himself woke up.

Dizziness and swelling are more painful than before I went to bed, but I am indeed more energetic.

"Tell me, you can go to Qinzheng Hall with me."

It was late at night, and Prime Minister Zhuo Ruhe and others were still guarding the Qinzheng Hall.

"Teacher Cui sent someone to send news. He has led his troops to Baiqiao Town and occupied an enemy camp. He is preparing to rest and pursue the enemy overnight. I have also sent someone to send His Majesty's order to ask Taiacher Cui to wait a moment and wait until the defenders of the capital catch up tomorrow, and march together." Zhuo Ruhe briefly reported the situation.

Han Ruzi glanced around, his eyes fell on Qu Zixi, nodded slightly, and then asked the prime minister: "Who formulated the strategy to defend the city?"

Zhuo Ruhe couldn't take the credit, so he said sideways: "Censor Qu is fully responsible for defending the city."

Qu Zixi then spoke, "I am responsible for defending the city, but there are other people who come up with the idea. Building a wall inside the wall is a plan for flower color, and using fire to attack fire is Xie Cun's plan."

Han Ruzi was very surprised, "From now on, who dares to say that he knows people?"

Qu Zixi said: "If Your Majesty had not been kind and tolerant at the beginning, there would be no chance for Hua Bin and others to make contributions today."

Han Ruzi discussed matters with the ministers in the Qinzheng Hall and formulated a series of decrees. It was not until the early morning that he heard that the defenders in the capital had begun to leave the city, and that they came to an end.

Han Ruzi returned to the harem, and Liu Jie and others followed him. In the bedroom, Han Ruzi held everyone away and left the scenery alone.

"Why did Empress Dowager Shangguan commit suicide?" Han Ruzi asked directly.

Jing Yao knelt down, "Does Your Majesty want to sound from scratch?"

"Um."

"This matter starts with the death of Emperor Si."

a
Chapter completed!