Chapter 65: The Imperial City

  "But there's one thing that's a bit of a hassle."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Park Jeong-ung and Lu Wenjun, at least one of them is a Japanese spy, maybe even both! Na Ha-wu and Yao Xi are with them, we can't go find them now. Now it's just the two of us left, going to the capital to find your father will be even more difficult." Zhou Xianzhang said with furrowed brows.

  The situation is not good. Zhou Xuan Zhang is a Qing national, and he has never been to Korea before, so he knows nothing about the situation in Korea. Jin Shu is a Korean, but after all, she is just a girl with no experience in the world.

  "Big Brother Zhou, you'd better not go to Beijing."

  "Why don't you go?"

  "If Park Chung-hee and Lu Wenjun are Japanese spies, they will tell the Japanese our purpose, and the Japanese will set up an ambush around the capital to catch you."

  Zhou Xuanzhang's eyes widened, and he hugged Jin Xiu tightly in his arms. He casually hooked Jin Xiu's nose: "Xiu'er, you're really clever!" What Jin Xiu said was something Zhou Xuanzhang hadn't thought of for the time being.

  Jin Shu leaned into Zhou Xuanzhang's arms: "Didn't you say that when one is in the world, they should have multiple hearts?"

  "What about your father's remains?"

  "Brother Zhou, you go back to the Qing Empire, I'll go to the capital city to find Father myself."

  Zhou Xuanzhang's chest suddenly felt warm, and when he looked down, he saw that Jin Xiu's eyes were streaming with two lines of scalding tears, which fell onto his chest.

  Jin Shu was bidding him farewell! She knew that going to the capital would be a matter of life and death, and she didn't want Zhou Xuan Zhang to follow her to death in the capital.

  Zhou Xuanzhang stroked Jin Yu's hair, laughing: "Yu'er, if I return to the Qing Empire, those 105 brothers of mine will lose their heads! Dammit, this group of fools has lost face for me, but I still have to save them. No choice, who asked me to become a battalion commander?"

  "But if you go to Beijing, the Japanese won't let you off!"

  "The Japanese won't let me go? I'm not going to let them off either!" Zhou Xuan Zhang shouted: "These dog-day little Japanese, want to mess with our Xiaoyu, I, Zhou Xuan Zhang, will not agree a thousand times, will not agree ten thousand times!"

  "But..."

  "Alright, don't say anything else! Just lie down and sleep honestly, take care of your spirit. Tomorrow we'll rush to the capital, stir up a huge commotion! Let those damn Japanese see what happens when they offend us, the consequences will be severe!"

  "Mmm!" Jin Xiu snuggled into Zhou Xuanzhang's arms and closed her eyes.

  Soon, Zhou Xuanzhang heard Jin Shu's soft nasal breathing - she was too tired!

  The silvery moonlight shone on Jin Xiu's handsome face, and Zhou Xuan Zhang lovingly hooked Jin Xiu's nose.

  Jin Su furrowed her brow, without opening her eyes, and murmured: "So itchy." She buried her face in Zhou Xuan Zhang's arms.

  Zhou Xuanzhang hugged Jin Shu and secretly scolded in his heart: "Damn Mingshu, should learn from Jinshu!"

  The bright moon is in the sky, the mountain wind is gentle, the summer insects are chirping, there is no roof to block the wind and rain, no bed, no quilt, Jin Xiu lies in Zhou Xuan Zhang's arms, sleeping the most stable sleep of the past year.

  The sky is showing a pale white color at the horizon, and the light is hazy. The mountains and forests are filled with the chirping sounds of birds.

  Jin Shu opened her eyes, but her body couldn't move at all.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang held Jin Shu tightly in his arms, and he was still snoring loudly.

  Jin Shu raised her face from Zhou Xianzhang's chest and said softly, "Brother Zhou, it's dawn!"

  Zhou Xuanzhang opened his eyes but didn't loosen his arms.

  "Zhou Dage, you should let me go now!" Jin Shu cried out.

  Zhou Xuanzhang opened his mouth wide and let out a yawn, looking pained as he said: "Rou'er, my arm can't move anymore."

  Jin Xiu suddenly shrunk her head and slipped out of Zhou Xianzhang's arms, only to see Zhou Xianzhang sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, his two arms still in a embracing position, truly unable to move - he had sat motionless for an entire night, hugging Jin Xiu, his arms numb.

  Jin Shu hastily rubbed Zhou Xianzhang's arm and shoulder, scolding in her mouth: "You're stupid, you don't even know to change your posture for a whole night."

  I'm scared.

  "What are you afraid of?"

  "Holding a little beauty in his arms, afraid she would run away."

  "Pshaw!"

  The rosy light from the mountain gap shines down and falls on Jin Xiu's face, red and glowing.

  Zhou Xuanzhang swung his arm and stood up, looking around in all directions.

  The view is extremely broad, with a vast expanse of mountains surrounding it. At the foot of the mountain, there is a north-south highway that runs through the mountains. Along the highway to the south, at the end of the mountains, a city wall can be faintly seen.

  That castle is different from the opening city, with towering walls and vaguely visible tall and magnificent buildings in the morning glow and light mist, like a mirage.

  "That's the capital! The tallest building is the palace." Jin Xiu said, looking at the city walls with a faint sadness on her face.

  Zhou Xuanzhang nodded, his gaze fixed on a mountain outside the city wall of Beijing.

  Unlike other hills, there were no forests on that hill, but there were clusters of shrubs along the ridge, lined up in a row from east to west, with a total of fifteen clusters.

  Zhou Xuanzhang's eyebrows furrowed into a big knot.

  That's an artillery position! Under the bushes, it should be the Japanese army's standard artillery - 7cm field gun.

  Because the distance between Shanbao and Wanggong is about 3-5 kilometers, which is within the range of field artillery, but mountain guns cannot reach that far.

  The Joseon royal palace was within range of the Japanese army's cannons!

  Since the Japanese army has already set up its artillery positions, their infantry should be on high alert, ready to capture the capital at any moment.

  The North Korean court has managed to hold on until now, this court is corrupt but its bones are really hard.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang dug a hole under a big tree and buried the committee's rifle, hiding it well.

  "Big Brother Zhou, why are you burying the gun?" Jin Shu asked.

  "With guns on our backs, we can't enter the city, neither the palace guards nor the Japanese will let us go."

  "But without guns, how can we rob the execution ground?"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang started singing: "No guns, no cannons, the enemy is giving us..." Zhou Xuan Zhang was tone deaf, and his singing sounded like a wolf's howl.

  "Sounds terrible!" Jin Shu burst out laughing: "Don't sing anymore, I understand, you're saying to grab those bad guys' guns."

  "Alright, our daughter is smarter than others!"

  Zhou Xuanzhang hooked his arm around Jin Yu's small nose and pulled her hand, heading north.

  The most convenient way to enter Beijing is to take the big road along the mountain and go straight to Beijing, entering the city from the west gate of Beijing.

  However, this road can no longer be taken. After last night's events, the Japanese have already discovered Jin Xiu's trail and must be waiting for them on this road. Moreover, the Japanese army has an artillery position near the West Gate, and there are bound to be heavy troops stationed there, with the West Gate completely under Japanese control. If Zhou Xuan Zhang and Jin Xiu want to enter the city through the West Gate, it would be like walking into a trap.

  The two of them drilled north into the depths of the Great Mountain, following Zhou Xuanzhang's plan to circle around the capital city and enter from the East Gate. The East Gate was the road that led from the capital city to Quanzhou, and also in the direction of Yashan; if things didn't go well, they could also escape towards Yashan, where there were Qing troops.

  This road is very rugged, the mountains near the capital are not very high, but they are very steep and crisscrossed with gullies. Jin Xiu couldn't walk anymore, so Zhou Xianzhang carried her on his back, waiting for Jin Xiu to catch her breath before walking again. The two of them took turns carrying each other, walking a bit, until in the afternoon they finally saw the East Gate of the capital. Both of them were famished and exhausted.

  The two of them arrived at a small stream and hid in the woods, gazing from afar at the city gate.

  On the city gate, large cannons were set up, and groups of Korean officials and soldiers patrolled the city walls. Most of the officials and soldiers held long spears and knives in their hands, while a small number carried old-fashioned muzzle-loading guns. The equipment was extremely poor. However, it could be seen that facing the Japanese army's aggressive posture, the Korean officials and soldiers had entered a state of alert, with everyone's expression serious and military discipline strict.

  A long east-west road leads directly to the eastern gate of Beijing, and on this road, people are crowded, mostly dressed in simple attire, ordinary Korean civilians.

  The city gate was blocked with a roadblock, and a team of government soldiers stood guard at the entrance, strictly checking passersby.