As soon as he finished speaking, the twenty-odd guards immediately nocked their crossbows and aimed them at every corner around the Zichen Palace.

The Imperial Guards immediately raised their arrows and aimed at them.

"Take one more step! If you dare take another step forward, you can all prepare to collect the dog emperor's corpse!"

The Duke of England's expression changed. He only had about twenty men. If Zhu Dan and Zhu Yu didn't care about the old emperor's life or death, they would all die without a burial place today.

After all, the old emperor was cold-hearted and ruthless; how much better could his son be?

The old emperor hurriedly shouted, "Duke of England, don't be impulsive! I'll listen to whatever you say. All of you, get out of my sight! I order you all to leave! Bring me paper and pen, I'll issue the edict right now."

"Then hurry up!" the Duke of England said fiercely.

Zhu Chen smiled excitedly.

Qi Shaocheng glanced at Zhu Dan, who said, "Go and get a blank imperial edict."

Qi Shaocheng hesitated, but Zhu Dan glanced at him and Qi Shaocheng immediately obeyed and withdrew.

"And the Imperial Seal!" Zhu Chen shouted.

Zhu Danchao nodded to Qi Shaocheng.

Seeing Qi Shaocheng leave, the Duke of Yingguo said to Zhu Dan, "I request that Your Highness the Crown Prince withdraw everyone."

Lu Xiaoyun nodded to him, and Zhu Dan immediately understood her meaning, waving for all the archers to leave.

The British Duke breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that all the Imperial Guards had retreated outside the Zichen Palace.

A moment later, Qi Shaocheng brought out the blank imperial edict and the jade seal.

He yanked the old emperor up from the ground and shoved him onto a low table: "Write quickly! Immediately write an edict to abdicate in favor of Zhu Chen! Order the deaths of Zhu Yu and Zhu Dan!"

The old emperor tremblingly picked up the pen, glanced at Zhu Dan, and then lowered his head to quickly write the edict of abdication on a piece of yellow silk.

The Duke of England snatched it away, and Zhu Chen also stepped forward to look at it. When he saw the words "Zhu Chen ascends the throne," he was so excited that he could hardly speak.

"You few, seize Zhu Yu and Zhu Dan and execute them on the spot!" the guards of the Duke of Ying ordered.

Several guards surrounded Lu Xiaoyun and Zhu Dan.

The Duke of England held a dagger to the old emperor's back: "If you dare to resist, I will immediately kill your good father with one stroke!"

Lu Xiaoyun curled her lips and said coldly, "Is that so? I'm afraid the Duke of England won't have that chance!"

Just as the last word was uttered, a golden light suddenly flashed, and the Duke of England instinctively closed his eyes due to the blinding sunlight.

The next instant, his throat tightened, and with a "plop" sound, blood spurted from his throat, and he collapsed straight down.

Before Zhu Chen and the guards brought by the Duke of England knew what was happening, they heard a whooshing sound as the air was being cut. In the blink of an eye, the dozens of people who had just been holding the old emperor hostage were lying on the ground as corpses.

The old emperor was terrified, his face splattered with blood. He stumbled to his feet and tried to run out of the palace.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her foot tightly from behind: "Your Majesty, don't you want me anymore...?"

The old emperor lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thud, his forehead hitting the low table where the imperial edict had just been written. He immediately lost consciousness.

"Father!"

"emperor!"

Everyone was shocked. The old emperor had fallen hard, and coupled with his poor health and the many poisonous pills he had taken, he immediately fell into a coma.

Blood trickled from the corner of Consort De's mouth. Gazing at the old emperor's fallen body, she revealed a strange smile before slowly closing her eyes.

Zhu Dan and Lu Xiaoyun rushed in and helped the old emperor up. Imperial Physician Jiang immediately came to examine him. Qi Shaocheng ordered people to carry away the corpse on the ground, and the entire Zichen Palace was in chaos again.

Feng Yan and Zuo Xiu flew down from the roof of Zichen Palace, each holding a bronze mirror in their hands.

It was dusk, and the late July sun was already glaring. The two men stood on the roof ridge, pointed the bronze mirror at the Duke of Ying and the others, and then used the principle of reflection and refraction that "Prince An" had told them before they came, forcing them to subconsciously close their eyes in an instant.

Taking advantage of this opening, Zhu Yu killed the Duke of Ying with an arrow.

As soon as Qi Shaocheng went to retrieve the blank imperial edict and the jade seal, he quickly selected more than twenty imperial guards with exceptional archery skills. Together with Zhu Yu, they shot and killed everyone brought by the Duke of Ying, including Zhu Chen.

At that critical moment, there was no room for the slightest mistake.

The team worked together flawlessly, but no one expected that Consort De was not completely dead. Before she died, she hugged the old emperor's feet.

Inside the palace, the old emperor lay quietly on the bed, a bloody hole punched into his forehead. Imperial Physician Jiang's expression was very solemn, and his hand on the old emperor's wrist trembled slightly.

Lu Xiaoyun, Zhu Dan, Zhu Yu, and others stood around.

Zhu Dan asked, "Imperial Physician Jiang, how is it? Is Father Emperor alright?"

Imperial Physician Jiang kowtowed to Zhu Dan: "This old minister is incompetent."

Zhu Dan staggered. In modern times, he had no father. His father died of a sudden heart attack shortly after his mother became pregnant with him. His mother raised him alone for more than 20 years, so he always obeyed her every request.

When he arrived in the Great Zhou Dynasty, he knew very well that his father was not a good father or a good emperor. Everyone said that he was heartless and ungrateful, but he poured all his heart and soul into him.

Therefore, he respected him, loved him, and was also annoyed by him, but could only offer him advice.

Imperial Physician Jiang prostrated himself on the ground: "His Majesty has injured his brain. This old minister is truly helpless. His Majesty, he..."

Everyone present knew what Physician Jiang said next: the old emperor might never wake up again and was about to die.

"Is there no one who can save them?"

Physician Jiang suddenly realized something and quickly straightened up: "No, there is someone who might have a solution. Lu Yuyan, the physician of Prince An's residence, might be able to, but..."

Zhu Dan roared, "What do you mean, Physician Jiang? Father is on the verge of death, are you stammering because you don't want to live?!"

Imperial Physician Jiang was startled. His Highness the Crown Prince was usually gentle, so why was he so angry today? He hurriedly said, "But... but His Majesty once gave this old minister a secret decree, saying that he doesn't trust Prince An, and therefore doesn't trust the doctors in his household either. He ordered this old minister not to allow Mr. Lu to..."

"What do you mean, 'forbidden'? Are you so suspicious that you'd risk your life for it?!" A majestic voice rang out from outside the hall.

"Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager! Long live the Empress Dowager!" A large row of people knelt outside the hall.

"Rise, all of you. Convey my imperial decree: summon Lu Yuyan to the palace immediately to examine the Emperor."

"Empress Dowager..." Imperial Physician Jiang hesitated, unable to finish his sentence.

The Empress Dowager glanced at him and said, "No need for further words."

Immediately, a palace attendant ran out of the palace.

"You may all leave." With a wave of her hand, the Empress Dowager left only Zhu Dan, Lu Xiaoyun, Zhu Yu, and the Empress Dowager in the hall.

There was also an old emperor lying silently in bed.

The Empress Dowager merely glanced at the old emperor, her expression unchanged.

She looked at Lu Xiaoyun and squeezed her slightly cold hand: "You've been wronged."

Lu Xiaoyun smiled bitterly, shook her head slightly, and looked at Zhu Yu. She saw that he was just staring indifferently at the door, seemingly lost in thought.