Chapter 140: Forced to Abdicate◇

◎Jinjiang first release◎

As soon as Zhou Yu came out of the space, he heard the sound of soldiers breaking in from the front yard of Zhongcui Palace and the screams of the eunuchs and maids in the yard. He hurriedly closed the door of his bedroom and went into the space first to tell his brother.

As soon as Zhou Yu finished speaking, they heard louder exclamations and the screams of Princess Jingyi from outside the space:

"What right does the Fourth Brother have to carry out the imperial decree? What right does he have to arrest this Crown Princess?"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this! So the one who led the siege of the harem was actually the Fourth Prince Zhu Lin?!

"Oh no! This is bad! Zhu Xi and the twelfth uncle just followed Zhu Xu to the Imperial Stables. Something must have happened there! No, I have to go check it out!"

Upon hearing that it was the Fourth Prince who had surrounded the harem, Zhou Yu was immediately horrified and said, "Zhu Xu is the Fourth Prince's biological son. How could anything good come of him taking Zhu Xi away before his father surrounded the palace?"

Zhou Jin grabbed her,

"Don't worry! Leave Zhu Xi to me. Go back to your bedroom and wait, then we'll act accordingly!"

After saying that, he turned to Mu Qingni beside him and said,

"I'll take you back first!"

"Okay!" Mu Qingni nodded. "I'll go to the inner city government office right away. The Fourth Prince dared to surround the palace. He definitely wouldn't dare do that without enough troops to control Kyoto!?!"

After Mu Qingni resigned last time, Emperor Cheng Qian did not appoint anyone else to take over her position. Instead, he divided her responsibilities among several of her subordinates and asked her father Mu Feng to help look after her from time to time. He said that after she gave birth, he would also hand over the responsibility of defending the inner city to her!

Therefore, the control of the inner city defense is actually still in Mu Qingni's hands.

Of course Zhou Jin didn't want his wife to take risks at this time, especially since she was pregnant, but looking at his wife's determined face, he had to agree to her!

Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders like them, it didn't matter who was the emperor of Dayan, or whether the Dayan Dynasty even existed. But in his wife's heart, loyalty to Dayan, loyalty to Emperor Chengqian, seemed to be ingrained in her bones...

Zhou Jin felt that he had no right to comment on this, so he could only say: "Okay!"

…

The Imperial Stables...

After Zhang Zhen and his men surrounded Zhu Xi and Zhu Shan, uncle and nephew, a middle-aged man dressed like a scholar emerged from behind the stables...

Zhu Xu, who was at a loss, saw this person and immediately exclaimed...

"Uncle Rong!"

At this point, what else was there for him to not understand? It turned out that this aide to his father, who had been teaching him to have a good relationship with Zhu Xi in the past few days, had actually been using him!

The purpose is to lure Zhu Xi out...

"Uncle Rong! Could it be that my father really wants to rebel..."

Zhu Xu questioned Yang Rong in disbelief, still not believing that his father could do such a heinous thing as forcing the emperor to abdicate!

"Your Highness is mistaken. It's not the prince who wants to rebel, but Prince Rui who secretly concealed the news of the emperor's serious illness and wanted to usurp the throne! Your father had no choice but to take the initiative!"

"What?! Grandfather is seriously ill?!" Zhu Xu was even more shocked after hearing this! Not only him, but even Zhu Shan beside him was shocked...

"Don't listen to his nonsense! Grandfather Huang had a big bowl of noodles this morning!" Zhu Xi immediately retorted, and then suddenly realized:

"Oh! I get it. Fourth Uncle thinks Grandfather is dying, so he's rebelling!"

"Haha, we'll find out soon whether the emperor is seriously ill or not, and who is lying!

Zhang Zhen, hurry up! The prince said, life or death is irrelevant! "

Yang Rong didn't want to waste time confronting Zhu Xi. The task their prince had assigned to him and Zhang Zhen was to kill Prince Rui, the most likely person to whom the current emperor would pass the throne, before the ministers could react!

By then, even if the current emperor has already made a will and confirmed that it will be passed on to this person, the person is dead, and the will will be just a piece of waste paper!

So, as soon as Yang Rong gave the order, Zhang Zhen immediately led his eunuchs to surround Zhu Xi and the twelfth prince...

When Zhu Shan saw this, he immediately stood in front of Zhu Xi and started fighting with the eunuchs...

Although Zhang Zhen has a large number of eunuchs under his command, it is not easy for them to capture the two of them immediately because Zhu Shan is too skilled in martial arts and Zhu Xi is also not weak...

Yang Rong had never imagined that the twelfth prince was so powerful. Seeing him unleash his full power, he could even defeat ten people at once, instantly chopping down four or five people... He snatched the sword from their hands and wielded it with great vigor, protecting Zhu Xi tightly...

If their people want to get rid of Zhu Xi, they must get past him first...

Upon seeing this, Yang Rong immediately shouted to Zhu Shan:

"Your Highness, you and our prince have always had a deep brotherly bond. Why are you risking your life for Zhu Xi now?! Why are you wading into this mess?!

You know, Zhu Xi didn’t just hide the fact that His Majesty was seriously ill from our prince, he also hid it from you! Our prince has always admired you, so why not…”

"Not as good as your mother!"

Zhu Shan chopped down an attacking eunuch while cursing at Yang Rong.

"The throne belongs to my father. He can pass it on to whomever he wants! Even if he is seriously ill and secretly summons the fifth brother to pass the throne to him, so what?! As long as the fifth brother has a will, I will accept it!

On the contrary, it was the fourth brother who not only came to the capital without being summoned, but also wanted to kill the fifth brother. What he wants is obvious! He wants me, Zhu Shan, to serve such a person who wants to usurp the throne as his master? Dream on! Even if he is my biological brother, it won’t work! "

"Since Your Highness the Twelfth Prince is so determined, then I can only send you and Prince Rui on your journey together!"

Seeing that more than a quarter of an hour had passed, Yang Rong had tried to persuade Zhu Shan to no avail. To prevent any changes, he could only make up his mind and decided to go all out! He might as well kill the twelfth prince as well!

Then he waved his hand again, and seven or eight sharpshooters appeared from the walls surrounding the stables. In an instant, seven or eight arrows shot towards Zhu Shan and his nephew...

…

Meanwhile, in the Palace of Heavenly Purity...

The fourth prince, Zhu Lin, had already led his troops into the courtyard of the Palace of Heavenly Purity and was now kneeling outside the palace gate, requesting an audience with Emperor Chengqian...

Mu Feng, holding a cleaver, appeared at the gate of the Palace of Heavenly Purity with a dozen secret guards of Emperor Chengqian and a dozen eunuchs from the Palace of Heavenly Purity. He asked Zhu Lin with a sad face:

"Fourth brother! You are wearing armor and leading troops into the palace. What are you trying to do?!"

"Mu Feng! Stop pretending. You've always been on Big Brother's side since you were little. Now you're conspiring with Zhu Xi to conceal the news of our father's serious illness, intending to forge Zhao's ascension to the throne. Do you think I don't know?!"

When Zhu Lin saw Mu Feng, he stopped kneeling and stood up, sneering at him:

"At this point, you're still trying to stop a chariot with your bare hands. You're simply dreaming!"

After saying this, without waiting for Mu Feng to speak, he immediately ordered his men:

"Mu Feng and Prince Rui are conspiring to place His Majesty under house arrest. Follow me and rush in to rescue Father!"

After saying that, he drew out the long sword he was carrying and rushed towards Mu Feng first!

Zhu Lin had thousands of men under his command, and several of his generals had also come with him. Mu Feng had only a few dozen men. Although each of them was skilled in martial arts, they were ultimately outnumbered and on the verge of defeat when facing an army ten times their size.

At this moment, the gate of the Palace of Heavenly Purity suddenly opened...

Afterwards, Prince Kang and Lord Su each supported Emperor Chengqian on one side and walked out...

Zhu Lin...!!!

…

Zhu Xi's side...

The uncle and nephew managed to dodge the arrows shot by the assassins, but in the blink of an eye, a second wave of arrows came at them...

Zhu Shan hurriedly pulled up a nearby eunuch to stand in front of the two men, narrowly avoiding the second wave of arrows...

"We can't go on like this! Lao Wu, run to the door quickly and see if you can escape! I'll hold you back here!"

Zhu Shan was extremely anxious while trying to block the attack of arrows.

"Uncle Twelve! They've already blocked the door! There's nowhere to run! They're going to kill me! Get out of the way! There's really no need to die with me!"

Zhu Xi tried to push Zhu Shan away several times, but he couldn't. He could only dodge the arrows while yelling at him...

Zhu Xi was regretting it to death at this moment! If he had known that this trip would be ambushed, he would have asked Ayu to come along. If Ayu had been there, he would have put them in the space by now...

But he was annoyed that Lao Ba always looked at his wife in admiration, and out of jealousy, he didn't let A Yu come along... As a result, he ended up in this situation!

I'm afraid he will be separated from his wife forever!!

Their agreement to build their fiefdom together is probably doomed to fail!

Zhu Xi thought sadly, and seeing that he probably couldn't escape now, he just wanted to save as many lives as possible!

So, seeing that his uncle was determined not to escape on his own, and seeing an arrow shot straight at his uncle's back, when his uncle could no longer dodge, he quickly leaped in front of him...

He thought that if he died, his fourth uncle would probably let his twelfth uncle go...

Zhu Xi felt that he was doomed this time, and could only helplessly and fearfully wait for the excruciating pain of the arrow piercing his flesh.

However, he didn't expect that just when the arrow was about to hit his chest, it was suddenly deflected by a long stick!

Then, Zhu Xi saw Zhu Xu, who had been in a daze, pick up a stick from somewhere and stand in front of him...

Now, everyone was shocked!

The archers in the stables no longer dared to shoot...

Uncle Zhu Xi and his nephew were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief!

"Your Highness! You must not cause trouble at this time! If you let Zhu Xi go now, your father will be the one who will suffer next!"

Yang Rong was immediately shocked when he saw it.

Zhu Shan, who was already panting from exhaustion, praised Zhu Xu with great joy.

"Old Eight! Good job!"

"Uncle Rong! I don't know why my father is like this, but I think what Uncle Twelve said is right. This world was conquered by our great grandfather. It is up to him to consider and decide who he wants to hand over this world to!

Besides, even if my father wanted to fight for that position, he doesn't have to kill Zhu Xi and Twelve Uncle, right?! Anyway, I won't let you kill them under my nose!

Zhu Xu said to Yang Rong stubbornly with a stern face. He didn't know whether what he did was right or not, but he just couldn't bear to watch his uncle and cousin who he grew up with being killed like this!

Especially since he was the one who led them here!

"Oh! Your Highness, you are so confused!" Yang Rong stamped his feet upon hearing this. However, no matter how he tried to persuade Zhu Xu, he refused to move aside. With no other choice, Yang Rong could only order his men to attack Zhu Xi and the other man without hurting Zhu Xu.

But at this moment...

A fire suddenly broke out in several sheds not far behind them where straw was stored. Then, a dozen horses from the stables suddenly ran out. Frightened by the fire, they neighed and began to run around the yard...

…

At this time, the Palace of Heavenly Purity,

Emperor Chengqian was standing on the steps of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, squinting his eyes and shouting at Zhu Lin:

"Fourth Brother! Didn't you say I was dying? Now I'm standing here in good health, can you please withdraw your troops?!

Or do you want to kill your father?!"

Zhu Lin...

Although Emperor Chengqian was already over seventy years old, the kingly aura he exuded as the emperor for decades still frightened Zhu Lin and his men so much that they couldn't help but crawl on the ground!

"Your son dare not!"

Zhu Lin never imagined that his intelligence would be wrong! Clearly, the news they had heard was that even if his father hadn't passed away, he was already terminally ill! That was why he dared to take such a gamble!

But at this moment, why was his father not only alive, but also able to question him with such vigor?!

Zhu Lin was so frightened that his legs softened and he knelt down! But then he thought, he had already come to this point. Even if he knelt and begged for mercy, his father would probably not let him go!

The best outcome would be to end up like his second brother and be imprisoned for life!

Zhu Lin doesn't want to be locked up in four walls like a pig or a dog for the rest of his life!

He certainly didn't dare to kill his father. If he did, even if he could temporarily ascend to the throne, his father's trusted generals would never forgive him! He would be driven down sooner or later!

But now he could force his father to abdicate to him! Anyway, he had already surrounded the harem and the entire Kyoto was under his control!

"Father, I see that you are not in good health. Why don't you let me handle your official duties for you?"

After a moment, after hesitating for a while, Zhu Lin finally chose to raise his head and face Emperor Cheng Qian.