"Also, if the Third Prince shows up in Yancheng, no matter what token he takes out, it will all be fake. Arrest him immediately."
As he spoke, he handed Xiao Pingyue a long-prepared imperial edict, "Go ahead with the secret edict, no one dares to stop you."
"I obey your order!"
Xiao Pingyue came out of the side hall, his heart filled with turmoil.
If the Third Prince*Yancheng...
So what did he do?
Under the current situation, he simply couldn't think about it.
For some unknown reason, he planned to go back and see Ruyi again, and then go to Yancheng, perhaps he would have different gains.
It's completely a gut feeling.
…
The emperor stood up in the side hall and walked towards his bedroom.
Eunuch Yuan followed behind, hunched over and speaking in a low voice, as if his back was broken by the heavy weight of the current situation.
"Your Majesty, Lord Fang is going to West Street this afternoon, and the Second Prince will be arrested tomorrow morning..."
"But now, the Crown Prince has just been assassinated, the Second Prince is in trouble, and then the Third Prince. Will this cause unrest in the court and unrest among the people?"
He had followed the emperor for half his life and knew the emperor's style.
Either don't move, or move with tremendous force.
But this time, the emperor's move still made him a little scared.
Depose the prime minister and establish a cabinet.
This was not just a simple reform, but the destruction of half of the court and the sacrifice of three elderly princes in one go.
Whenever this kind of turmoil occurred in history, it always ended with internal and external troubles and the overthrow of imperial power.
However, all the cases in the history of Northern Qi were caused by the emperor's incompetence, which led to the turmoil passively.
This time, it was the emperor who took the initiative.
Even so, Eunuch Yuan still felt terrified.
He was afraid.
The emperor walked forward on the snow, not fast but steady. "The people of Southern Chu and Southern Yan want to take advantage of the heavy snowstorm in Northern Qi this year, but we can do the same."
Eunuch Yuan half understood what he said.
But I didn’t dare ask any more.
After entering the imperial study, Eunuch Qian came up to greet him quickly, "Your Majesty, there is news from outside the palace. Gu Qingyun is trying to find out the news about Minister Gu and Gu Qinghua."
"And Mr. Gu went to the cemetery to look for Concubine Li and the Second Prince."
Eunuch Qian lowered his head, his expression also solemn.
The emperor listened to this and walked directly to the dragon case, "Let Lao Jiu come to see me."
"yes."
Eunuch Qian left quickly.
A moment later, Rong Yan came out of the side hall, pushing his wheelchair, and said, "Your Highness, your son greets you."
The emperor looked at him with a look that was different from any time before.
He said nothing and looked at his youngest son for a long time.
You could hear a pin drop in the hall, and Eunuch Yuan broke out in a cold sweat. Not many people could withstand the emperor's gaze all the time.
It’s not that Rong Yan doesn’t feel anything at all.
But he really didn't react much. He just let the emperor look at him, with a calm expression and no signs of stress.
After a long while, the emperor spoke, "After meeting Ruyi this afternoon, you will take the Qianlong Guards with you to help me do something."
A few days ago, because Rong Yan showed off his martial arts skills when he helped Ruyi at the Gu family, the emperor took back the Qianlong Guard.
Later, Rong Yan became the chief minister of the cabinet, and was considered the head of the civil officials, so he was not allowed to command a large number of troops.
Logically speaking, Qianlongwei would not be handed over to him again.
But at this moment, the emperor put the token of Qianlongwei back in his hand, "I hope you can understand its importance."
Serving size?
Rong Yan lowered his eyes and looked at the token in his palm.
Qianlongwei is the emperor's personal guard.
They have no base and are scattered everywhere, so no one knows who they are in real life. Only when they are gathered together in a special way can they form a surprise force.
The weight of the Qianlong Guard is the emperor's full trust.
If this token is given to a minister, then the minister will be absolutely loyal, at least that's what the emperor thinks.
If I give it to the prince...
Giving it to the disabled Rong Yan proves that the emperor trusts Rong Yan.
But now, Rong Yan didn’t think that the emperor couldn’t see through the fact that he was acting in a wheelchair.
So at this moment, when this token was handed to him, there was only one explanation -
He is the real crown prince.
Since you are the crown prince, you have to take responsibility for everything in this country.
That’s the weight of the token.
Rong Yan tightly grasped the token, stood up from the wheelchair for the first time, and knelt down in front of the emperor, "I will live up to your expectations, father. I will defend against the powerful enemies outside, protect my country inside, and protect the people and my relatives!"
Among these relatives, the first one is naturally the emperor.
At this point, many things cannot be said explicitly and can only be understood.
The emperor looked at his son standing in front of him in a daze.
He thought back to his youth, the time when he was full of loyalty and righteousness, when he rode across mountains and rivers, when he had loved, suffered, and lost.
Today, the peaceful and prosperous world we dreamed of has not yet become what we dreamed of, but it doesn’t matter.
Rong Yan is very much like him.
"After so many years, I hope you can still remember your original intention."
After a long time, the emperor came back to his senses and talked about what happened many years ago, "The day I let you enter the Prajna Hall, the most regrettable thing was that your legs could no longer stand up."
"At that time, I hope that you can learn from Buddhism how to look at everything you experience in life with a normal mind and how to get out of that trauma."
That is the love of a father.
Small but intense.
"now."
He took a deep breath and looked at Rong Yan.
"I hope that the teachings of Prajna Hall will allow you to remain humble even when you are in a high position, and to still care about the people when you are in power. As a man, you can also see the difficulties of women, and even if you hold a large army, you can understand the cruelty of war..."
“If you feel cold at the top, think of yourself as a stone; if you feel inflated holding the lives of all living beings in your hands, think of yourself as a blade of grass.”
"If someone praises you as a natural talent, a destiny, you should know that praise and criticism are the same thing, and they will distort the truth."
The emperor had never said these words before.
It seemed that he was saying something that was not entirely true at the moment, but Rong Yan felt like he had just been enlightened.
He knelt down, his forehead pressed against the ground, and surrendered at the emperor's feet, "Your son will remember this."
But it is not a subject kneeling to the king.
It is not about believers kneeling before the Buddha.
It is a way for the younger generation to pay respect to the elder. The person in front of him is no longer just his father, his king, or his teacher.
But his guide.
Rong Yan rarely feels sad.
But when he looked up, his eyes were red.
He felt his blood boiling and was filled with emotion because he had such a father.
This is not the inheritance of the throne.
It's a spirit.
It is also the spirit of Northern Qi.
The emperor closed his eyes and said slowly: "Go."
The meaning of this is not that simple. It is not just a simple instruction, but a handover and an inheritance.
From this moment on, the succession to the throne of Northern Qi had actually been determined, but only four people knew about it.
As Rong Yan said farewell, he felt that his feelings for the emperor were surging like the tide and the clouds.
Speechless, yet endless.
The emperor stood up, took a long, deep breath, and said to Eunuch Yuan: "Get ready and go to the Xiao family."
Eunuch Yuan cried and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, going to the Xiao family today is dangerous, right?"
Therefore, Qianlongwei was given to Rong Yan in advance!
If there really is an accident, this will be the backup plan!
The emperor didn't say much, but just said: "If there is a real need, go tell Rong Yan that the token of the Hidden Dragon Guard is the key to unlock the secret decree."