Chapter 591 New Year's Eve, the Time of the Coup
Emperor Xiaozhao reached out and patted Li Sanqi's head reassuringly, "Don't be afraid, that day will never come."
Li Sanqi nodded with a smile, her face full of hope, and said, "Yes, then Father Emperor must live a long and long life and always protect Xiaoqi."
"Haha, good." Emperor Xiaozhao was in a great mood.
The father and daughter talked for a while longer before Emperor Xiaozhao excused himself, saying he was tired, and asked Li Sanqi to leave.
As soon as Li Sanqi left, Emperor Xiaozhao, his lips twitching and his face contorted in pain, ordered Liu Xin: "Quickly call Xiao Anzi in to give me a massage. Maintaining the same posture for so long is really ruining my otherwise healthy body."
Liu Xin quickly called Xiao Anzi in, helped Emperor Xiaozhao change his sitting position, and together with Xiao Anzi massaged Emperor Xiaozhao's numb hands and feet. Then he said with a smile, "This is the first time Your Majesty has been so happy since you fell ill. You even forgot the time while talking to the Seventh Princess."
Emperor Xiaozhao nodded in deep agreement, "Who says otherwise?"
To avoid being discovered that he was faking his illness, he always maintained the same posture whenever someone came to see him, and dared not move the half of his body that he was pretending to be paralyzed.
Therefore, no matter who comes, he can usually send them away within fifteen minutes.
Even the Empress Dowager received the same treatment when she arrived.
The empress fared even worse; she was crying when Emperor Xiaozhao kicked her out, saying that crying was bad luck.
Ultimately, it's because during the days he's been feigning illness, apart from Li Sanqi, no one has been wholeheartedly hoping for his recovery.
The Crown Prince only came once because of the matter in Jiangnan. After being refused an audience, he began to travel around, planning his future.
The Prince of Qi came every day, but he mostly came to gather information. The rest of the time, he and Consort Liu Hui were plotting something.
As for the King of Chu, well, he's been dealing with a mess in his own household for half a month and still hasn't figured it out. How could he have time to care about him?
The Empress Dowager genuinely cared about him, but she would also inadvertently inquire about the matter of the Crown Prince.
And the empress, she practically had the words "I want to make the Prince of Chu the crown prince" written all over her face.
Although he had considered helping the fifth brother before, it was only if the fifth brother was actually able to get back on his feet!
In short, there was nothing that didn't bother him.
Only Li Sanqi's youngest daughter didn't care about these things; she only wanted him to get better.
Whether it was to get him to protect her or to please him, at least Li Sanqi didn't upset him; instead, she tried her best to make him happy.
This is why he deserves recognition.
What Emperor Xiaozhao didn't know was that as soon as Li Sanqi stepped out, a barely perceptible sneer appeared on his lips.
Since Emperor Xiaozhao refused Mujin's request to enter the palace, Mujin naturally did not need to enter the palace.
Qiao Qinghe no longer needs to worry about this matter and can now focus on preparing for the New Year.
With the day of the court's sealing approaching, the matter of the crown prince overseeing the country has only intensified.
Just as a dozen or so high-ranking officials, led by Old Master Zhong, were kneeling outside Emperor Xiaozhao's bedroom, pleading with him to issue an edict allowing the Crown Prince to oversee the country, bad news arrived from the border.
It is said that Da'e has sent out troops.
Enping Bo, who was already outnumbered and in a stalemate, was now in a critical situation.
Urgent reports from the border were requests for help from the imperial court, asking for reinforcements.
If reinforcements fail to arrive before the Da'e army joins the battle, Dayan will be in danger.
At the same time as the bad news from the border arrived, the witnesses and physical evidence from Jiangnan finally arrived in the capital before the end of the year.
Emperor Xiaozhao was both shocked and furious, and fainted again.
Before he fainted, he was still cursing the Crown Prince for being unfilial... Anyone with eyes could see that Emperor Xiaozhao was going to depose the Crown Prince.
However, before the edict to depose the crown prince could be issued, Emperor Xiaozhao fainted.
When Qiao Qinghe heard about this, the capital city was already in chaos.
For three consecutive days, the city gate guards were frequently reassigned, and the city guards were also very active...
Until New Year's Eve, flames soared into the sky from the direction of the palace, and the sounds of fighting broke the silence of the capital.
However, Qiao Qinghe had no interest in what was happening in the palace.
Because some people took advantage of the chaos to rob and loot in the city.
The wealthy families in the southern part of the city were the first to be affected.
As a wealthy family renowned far and wide, the Qiao family naturally became the first choice for the bandits.
Fortunately, Qiao Qinghe had been preparing for this day since the city guards made any unusual movements.
He gave the order well in advance that if anything went wrong, everyone should be gathered in the main courtyard.
As for the outer courtyard, she had already arranged for Chen San and all his skilled subordinates to move into the Qiao residence. In addition, the Qiao residence itself already had quite a few capable servants.
It is still possible to deal with a thief breaking in.
Just in case, Qiao Qinghe had prepared sharpened bamboo poles, several large pots, and dozens of barrels of oil in advance in the mansion, waiting for thieves to scale the walls and break in.
Sure enough, several groups of thieves came to the Qiao residence that night, and one group even had two people break through the outer courtyard's blockade and enter the inner courtyard.
However, as soon as they approached the main courtyard, Zhu Xi dealt with them.
Qiao Qinghe, along with everyone from the Qiao family, hid in the main hall of the courtyard, listening anxiously to the commotion outside.
Qiao Jin and Qiao Yu, the two siblings, huddled in Feng Yuerou's arms, trembling with fear. They wanted to burst into tears, but they held back and didn't let a sound escape their lips.
The children from the Qiao family in Jiangnan also clung tightly to Old Madam Qiao and the couple from the third branch of the Qiao family.
Qiao Ze, the eldest son, wanted to go out and check the situation several times, but Qiao Wangshi held him back tightly and wouldn't let him go out.
Wei Jia held Qiao Zhen, He Rui hugged He Shi, A Shuang held Li Yiqian and protected Qiao Qinghe closely, while A San and A Si tightly protected the three of them in front of them.
Everyone was tense, anxious, and tormented; even Qiao Qinghe was uncertain.
But when Qiao Qinghe turned her head, she saw the little guy that A Shuang was holding, his mouth open, making "ah ah ah... oh oh oh..." sounds, and she couldn't tell what he was saying.
The little hands, which had been wrapped in swaddling clothes, had somehow broken free and were reaching out towards the door. The little one didn't seem scared at all; instead, it looked like it wanted to go out and join in the fun.
For some reason, seeing the little guy's energetic appearance, Qiao Qinghe's fear lessened a bit.
The shouts of battle finally stopped in the latter half of the night.
The thieves who attempted to break into the Qiao residence also gave up.
However, none of the people in the Qiao family let their guard down; they all remained in the main courtyard.
As dawn broke, Chen San came in to report that the thieves had retreated. The city guards, the imperial guards, and the prefectural government joined forces to maintain order in the capital while clearing out the remaining bandits.
Everyone hadn't slept all night and had been on edge all night. After confirming that everyone was safe, exhaustion hit them instantly, and they all said goodbye and returned to their respective courtyards.
Only Wei Jia and her daughter, surnamed He, remained.
What was the casualty situation last night?
Because of the critical situation, Qiao Qinghe handed over the entire responsibility of guarding the outer courtyard to Chen Santong.
Chen San said with a somewhat solemn expression, "Three groups of people came last night. It was clear that the first two groups were real bandits. The last group looked like well-trained soldiers."
"However, nothing could be found on the body to prove its identity."
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