"Then what do you say?" Zhao Jiu sneered again and again. "You have repeatedly urged me to go south to Huaidian and Yangzhou, but how can I go south easily without a proper arrangement behind me? By then, not to mention Hebei and Hedong, wouldn't the people of the Central Plains think that I and you are going to abandon them? What if something happens by then? You also know that I have fallen into a well and lost my composure, so some stories are just listened to as news... I heard a classmate talk about it the other day. During the Jingkang period, I was an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin, and let the deputy envoy go first. When we arrived in Xiangzhou, the people of Hebei heard that we were going to negotiate peace, and they beat the innocent deputy envoy to death on the street... Is this true?"

"Yes." There was a storm outside the palace, but the palace was quiet for a long time before the Prime Minister Wang Boyan spoke with difficulty. "Wang Jizhi was beaten to death on the road by Xiangzhou people because he asked for peace with the north."

"Aren't you afraid of being beaten to death?" Zhao Jiu asked softly, as if asking several important officials what they had for breakfast.

The wind and rain outside the palace came and went suddenly, and the back hall of Mingdao Palace was also in a precarious situation. The powerful officials inside were stunned by the sudden attack by Emperor Zhao.

After looking at each other, they were helpless, and Prime Minister Huang Qianshan had to bite the bullet and speak: "Then what do you think we should do?"

"Issue an imperial decree to allow all officials, regardless of rank, to submit petitions to discuss the deployment of defenses in the Central Plains." Zhao Jiu finally took the initiative for the first time, and it seemed that his ultimate goal had finally been exposed. "I want to see what the civil and military officials in the court are thinking."

Several senior officials were in a state of embarrassment, but after looking at each other, they finally submitted their orders.

Emperor Zhao didn't think much about it and went straight to the back to rest... After all the trouble last night, he didn't actually get a good rest.

Not to mention how refreshed Zhao Jiu felt after this reckless move, on the other side, the five powerful officials of the imperial court moved out of the back hall and went to different places. But a quarter of an hour later, they met again in a wing of the central hall of Mingdao Palace under the organization of Kang Lu.

This place was the temporary location of the Privy Council, and according to the Song court system, all confidential documents were handled in the Privy Council. Therefore, whenever something happened to the emperor in the past, it would become the gathering place for the five people (sometimes Yang Yi Zhong did not come).

"Mr. Kang, what happened to the official?"

It was raining heavily outside the wing room. Huang Qianshan, who was just fifty years old this year, was the most frightened. He was also the most out of control in the hall just now.

Of course, Zhao Jiu might not understand, but these people understand Huang Xianggong's thoughts very well... You must know that both Li Gang and Zong Ze directly threaten his position, but more importantly, the struggle between Huang Xianggong and Li Gang was a bloody one!

Therefore, once Emperor Zhao changes his mind, Huang Qianshan will not simply be removed from his position, and he may have to go to Qiongzhou Island.

Kang Lu said nothing, just stared at Yang Yi Zhong.

Yang Yizhong, who was always good at welcoming and serving, understood what was meant and immediately bowed his head to answer respectfully. He reported the events of last night and the emperor's itinerary to several senior officials in detail without hiding anything, but omitted the fact that he had betrayed the emperor in the morning. Finally, he added a conjectural remark:

"The official was probably touched by what happened last night and thought that the people in the north did not want to go south. He was afraid that if he did not make arrangements, something like this would happen again on the road."

"That makes sense." Commander Wang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. "It's human nature. We need Officer Kang to persuade the emperor."

"It's all right if there's a reason, but that's just the surface." Kang Lu didn't relax at all after hearing this, instead his face became even gloomier. "The key point is that time when we fell into the well. After waking up, the emperor suddenly didn't recognize you and me, and his behavior was strange, as if he had become a different person..."

"Mr. Kang, be careful with your words!" Prime Minister Wang Boyan immediately interrupted him with a serious expression. "An official is an official. Just because he was injured once and forgot some human affairs, you can't say he is not an official."

"That's right." Wang Yuan also quickly agreed. "Just one thing, if the one in the back hall is not the emperor, then where is the emperor? Moreover, hundreds of civil and military officials, hundreds of state armies and millions of civilians in the world only recognize this emperor... He speaks clearly and moves freely, so he must be the emperor! If a few of us say that he is not the emperor, I'm afraid that Zhang Jun and his military leaders will come back and purge the emperor first!"

"Of course I understand this!" Kang Lu was able to maintain courtesy to the two prime ministers, but he was full of impatience towards Wang Yuan, who was born as a military general, even though the latter was the commander-in-chief of the imperial camp and the actual military commander of the small court. "I am a eunuch, and I need the emperor in the back palace more than you do! Without this emperor, you will lose your power, but what about me? Even if you are demoted, you will all go to Qiongzhou Island, while I will go to Shamen Island! But after falling into the well, the emperor's mind changed, and his mind was confused by something. Now he actually wants to stay in the Central Plains to fight against the Jin. This is also the truth."

Everyone in the room was speechless at once.

There is no way, this is too bad, he used to be such a good official, how could he become like this after falling into a well? There is no way to post a notice in front of the main hall of Mingdao Palace, asking the civil and military officials to answer anonymously.

Little did they know that these days, Emperor Zhao Jiu felt depressed, but these people felt like the sky was falling!

"Then how does Mr. Kang think we should deal with this?" Everyone was speechless for a while. Prime Minister Huang Qianshan tried to adjust his mood and spoke again, but he still unconsciously regarded Kang Lu as the main person to consult.

"We know how powerful it is." Kang Lu thought for a moment and gave the bottom line. "But no matter what, we have to find a way to survive the present and then lead the emperor to Yangzhou safely. Once in Yangzhou, there is a thousand miles away, so there is no need to worry about the Jin army, and the emperor will naturally not care about the words of these bandits who want to fight against the Jin all day long... When the time comes, we will serve the emperor well and let him live a safe and happy life, and then everything will naturally be resolved."

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!