Beijing, late at night
The bell rang, once, twice... Everyone in the capital was awakened, got up, and listened to the bell in a daze.
After nine strikes, the emperor collapsed.
Countless people knelt on the ground, tears streaming down their faces, to see the king off.
The new emperor's face was as pale as paper, with tears in his eyes, he looked stupidly at the retired emperor on the bed.
He tried everything, but in the end, he couldn't keep her.
His father left him!
He no longer had a father. At this moment his heart was broken and tears flowed like a fountain.
"Bang." There was a loud noise, and the concubine's panicked voice rang out, "Mother, mother, call the imperial physician quickly."
The new emperor turned around suddenly and his face changed, only to see the empress dowager fainted on the ground.
He quickly went forward, picked up his mother, and laid her on the soft couch beside him.
The imperial physician came hurriedly, and fortunately, the empress dowager was only shocked and in pain.
The new emperor ordered the Queen Mother to be escorted back to the palace, and then issued an order, "Summon all the princes, royal family members, and officials above the fourth rank to the palace to mourn."
"yes."
When the various mansions heard the death knell, they were ready and entered the palace one after another.
As soon as the princes came in, they started crying, "Father, Father, why are you leaving like this? I didn't even have time to see you off."
Since the new emperor ascended the throne, he directly conferred the title of prince on these brothers. However, he did not allow them to go to their fiefdoms or leave the capital.
Therefore, even though he was a prince, he no longer received the adulation he once received.
All the people who used to gather around him have dispersed, the old princes have become history, and new princes have replaced them.
There is a qualitative difference between having one's father be an emperor and having one's brother be an emperor, and all kinds of treatment will plummet.
Now that the emperor has passed away, their lives have become even more difficult.
The fourth prince was the first to question, "Your Majesty, how could our father pass away out of nowhere? I saw him a few days ago and he was fine."
The new emperor was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the first person to jump out would be the fourth prince who usually burned incense and chanted Buddhist scriptures.
The fourth prince's eyes were filled with sorrow. "My father was critically ill. Why didn't he summon us to the palace to see him for the last time? Why?"
The third prince who had been imprisoned suddenly said, "Father died suddenly. He was killed by the new emperor."
There was an uproar at the scene.
The chief physician stepped forward and said, "My Lords, this is the pulse case. The emperor was seriously ill a year ago. He was injured when he was young, and he has been overworked for many years. I once predicted that he would not live more than half a year... After the emperor abdicated, he lived for another half a year. It was already a favor from God."
The king's pulse records were recorded very carefully, and everything could be traced.
But the princes closed their eyes and refused to listen, and I didn’t listen either.
Suddenly, there were sounds of shouting and killing coming from outside, and the sound of killing was loud.
Civil and military officials looked at each other, what was going on?
A guard ran in sweating profusely, "Your Majesty, the fifth prince led his men into the palace."
All the other princes were summoned to the palace, but the fifth prince who was confined at home claimed to be seriously ill and could not get up. He turned around and led an army to cause chaos.
The civil and military officials were in a panic. There was no military mutiny when the late emperor abdicated, but there was a commotion when he died. What were they thinking?
Is this a sign of fear for the previous emperor, or a sign of contempt for the new emperor?
The question is, where did this army come from? Why was there no detection beforehand?
The emperor looked outside with a gloomy face, "Rebels will be killed without mercy."
A voice was heard outside at the right time, "The new emperor poisoned the emperor, his crime is unforgivable. Soldiers, follow me in to avenge the emperor. Charge!"
The rebels were unstoppable and unstoppable. Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the palace, the third prince became angry, "Your Majesty, how can you be so vicious? This is our biological father. You forced him to abdicate. Why don't you let him go?"
This was throwing dirty water on the new emperor. A loyal official loudly refuted, "This is nonsense. The emperor and the emperor emeritus have a deep father-son relationship. The emperor emeritus abdicated voluntarily due to a serious illness. Everyone in the world knows this. No one can confuse right and wrong."
"I don't believe it." The third prince was the most affected. Since the new emperor ascended the throne, he has been confined and not allowed to leave the house or contact the outside world.
The frustrating thing is that this was an order issued by the emperor.
According to the rules, the new emperor must wait at least a year before changing the decrees of the retired emperor.
Therefore, even if the new emperor wanted to release these brothers, the court officials would not agree.
The third prince was extremely emotional. He pointed at the retired emperor on the bed and complained bitterly about how the retired emperor was biased and did not treat them as his sons.
Suddenly, there was a loud voice, "Protect the emperor, protect the emperor."
The guard who had just come in to report the news took out a dagger and stabbed the new emperor with his movements both fierce and fast.
Just when the guard was only an inch away from the new emperor, a long sword swung over and cut off the guard's right arm, breaking it at the shoulder. The dagger fell to the ground and blood splattered.
The guard stared blankly at the broken arm on the ground. It took him three seconds to react, "Ahhh."
Several secret guards surrounded the new emperor. Standing in the front was Wei Shaohui, deputy commander of the Wuyi Guard. He held a blood-stained sword and stared coldly at the third prince. His eyes were so cold and terrifying, like a hungry wolf waiting for an opportunity to strike.
A murderous aura permeated the room.
No one knows how many secret guards are hiding in the dark, ready to take action at any time.
The sudden change made everyone tremble, and even the princes kept their mouths shut.
"You...why are you looking at me?" The third prince felt extremely guilty.
Wei Shaohui said expressionlessly, "You just diverted the focus and created an opportunity for the killer. This was too despicable."
The Third Prince's face changed drastically. "You are talking nonsense, Your Majesty. Your father's body is still warm, and you have already started to kill his brothers and sisters. Are you worthy of your father?"
The emperor looked at him indifferently, his eyes were cold.
I believe everyone present saw clearly whether he was causing trouble or not.
"Avenge the retired emperor. Avenge the retired emperor." The shouting and screaming outside became louder. All the officials in the room felt insecure and looked at the new emperor.
what to do?
The new emperor was very calm and just looked towards the door silently.
Just when everyone was getting anxious, a scream suddenly rang out outside, breaking through the sky.
It was the Fifth Prince screaming.
The officials all walked to the door and looked out. Oh my god, countless arrows were flying towards the rebels like raindrops. Countless people were shot and fell to the ground, and blood was flowing like a river.
Everyone looked in the direction where the arrows came from, and saw a row of men in black standing on the roof, shooting wildly at the rebels on the ground.
The first row retreated, and the back row took over, and there was another round of wild sweeps.
The fierce arrows killed the rebels on their horses and prevented them from getting any closer.
The leading man in black had stern eyes and awe-inspiring aura, an aura honed from surviving hundreds of life-and-death experiences on the battlefield.
The Third Prince rubbed his eyes, shocked and stunned. "Du Shaoxuan! Why is he in the capital?"
This is Du Shaoxuan, the god of war who has experienced the baptism of war and is also the god of killing!
In the battle between Da Qi and Xiwu and Beichu, countless casualties occurred among the three kingdoms. This kind of battle was no match for Du Shaoxuan.
Soon, the rebels were defeated and surrendered.
Du Shaoxuan jumped off the roof, walked quickly to the new emperor, and knelt on one knee, "Reporting to the emperor, all the rebels have been captured, and the traitor in the palace has been exposed, and they are sending people to catch him."
"The entire capital is under martial law, and the Xishan military camp is under control." He took full command and brought the situation under control.
No one knew when he came or where he lived.
The new emperor personally bent down and helped him up, "Thank you for your hard work, cousin."
Du Shaoxuan looked sad, "My uncle has been very kind to me. I promised him that I would help you, and I will definitely do it."
Since hearing the news of the abdication of the emperor, he did not sleep all night and brought his men to Beijing the next day.
We quietly crossed the enemy-occupied area, made a detour, and finally arrived in the capital.
He saw the seriously ill retired emperor and also sensed the impending danger, so he simply stayed in the dark to protect the new emperor.
The new emperor's eyes were slightly red, and he tried to suppress his emotions and patted his cousin's arm. At this time, his cousin was the person he trusted the most.
He entrusted his life and property to his cousin.
The fifth prince was shot by several arrows and was dragged over dying. The imperial physician felt his pulse, shook his head and sighed, then wrote a prescription and went to boil the medicine.
The fifth prince lay on the ground, his whole body in pain, his eyes filled with deep hatred, "You've already figured it out, and you let us in on purpose!"
The emperor looked calm. This is called closing the door and beating the dog.
The fifth prince was very unwilling to accept it, "How am I inferior to a sickly person like you? Father is too partial."
They are all princes, who is more noble than who? Who doesn't want the throne?
The new emperor looked down at him and said, "King Wu started a rebellion. I will strip him of his title, confiscate his property, and demote him to a cripple. All his descendants are not allowed to have the surname Xiao."
He had promised the late emperor that he would not kill his brothers and sisters with his own hands, but if someone wanted to kill him, he would naturally fight back.
He would not kill the Fifth Prince's lineage, but stripping them of their royal surname would make the descendants of the emperor become commoners, which would be worse than death.
They are used to a life of luxury and have no ability to survive. The huge gap is enough to make a person collapse.
The fifth prince gnashed his teeth in hatred, but what could he do? He was the loser.
The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit.
As for the several princes who offended and questioned him, they were all stripped of their royal titles, imprisoned, and isolated from the outside world.
He also reminded them that if they dared to do it again, their entire family would be sent to the underworld to accompany the emperor.
A grand palace coup came to an end.
In order to pray for the retired emperor, the new emperor ordered a group of older palace maids to be released home.
As for the eunuchs who had reached a certain age, they were sent out of the palace and sent to designated temples to chant sutras for the retired emperor.
In this way, the nails in the palace were basically cleared away.
Two months later
Du Shaoxuan went to the palace and said, "Your Majesty, I came here to say goodbye to you. I should go back now."
He has been busy these days, helping his cousin consolidate the throne, and has lost a lot of weight.
At critical moments, we still have to rely on the use of force to deter.
The fifth prince died from his injuries, but the emperor did not go too far and left five thousand taels of silver for the fifth prince's family.
,
As long as they spend frugally, it can last for a long time. However, those people are used to spending lavishly, so it probably won’t last long.
The emperor was a little reluctant. Everyone else had changed, but this cousin remained true to his original intention and was still full of enthusiasm. "How are you and Mu Wanqing doing?"
Du Shaoxuan was stunned for a moment, "She is only sixteen years old, there is no rush."
The emperor exclaimed, "She has reached the age of marriage? I asked the queen to give her a marriage ceremony."
Du Shaoxuan smiled slightly and said, "That's not necessary. She didn't have a coming-of-age ceremony. She said she would have one when she turns 18."
He looked very proud and pleased with the honor.
Emperor: ...Why are you so proud? You don’t understand the thoughts of young people at all.
He waved his hand, and a eunuch came over holding a brocade box.
"This is from the Emperor Retired to Princess Qingping. Take it back to her."
Du Shaoxuan was very curious, "Uncle left something for Wanqing? What is it?"
The emperor also left him a few things as a keepsake. But he was surprised that Mu Wanqing also got some.
The emperor shook his head slightly. "It's sealed. I don't know. Go back and tell Princess Qingping that the Princess Qingping's mansion in the capital has been waiting for her return."
At the beginning, a county lady's mansion in the capital was given to Mu Wanqing.
Du Shaoxuan:? ? What do you mean?
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