Chapter 213 Chapter 213 is the only genuine version...
The Meridian Gate Square was in complete silence.
Not to mention those who had never heard of the will, even those who had heard of it in the Taimiao were once again shocked by this fact.
Prince Li held the will in his hand and read everything below it. After a pause, he said, "Xie Rong once poisoned his father to usurp the throne, corrupted the imperial order, and persecuted loyal officials, causing unrest throughout the country and leaving the people in dire straits. His crimes are heinous, condemning both gods and men, and condemned by heaven and earth." (Note)
"From this day forward, Xie Rong is demoted to a commoner and stripped of his honorific title."
"The late emperor's will is to enthronize his grandson, Xie Yingchen, as the new emperor of Daqi!"
Prince Li was the first to lift his robe and kneel, shouting, "Please, Grandson, ascend the throne."
The sound exploded like thunder, igniting the Meridian Gate Square. Civil and military officials knelt in unison, "Please, Crown Prince, ascend the throne!"
The sound waves were like tides, one higher than the other.
"Please, Grandson, ascend the throne!"
The people knelt on the ground and looked up at the tall and slender figure on the city wall.
"Please, Grandson, ascend the throne!"
Countless voices converged into a torrent, as if echoing between heaven and earth.
Xie Yingchen stood on the city wall, overlooking the dark crowd.
Ever since he could remember, he knew that one day he would become the king of a country like his grandfather.
My father said that it is difficult to be a wise ruler.
When Xie Yingchen was young and frivolous, he thought that the world was under his control and what was the difficulty.
Now standing here, listening to the roar of the earth, Xie Yingchen understood the deep meaning of his father's words.
To be a wise ruler, you need to shoulder the expectations of the people of the world and this vast country!
Once you sit on the throne, you will become a "lonely man" and have to bear everything alone.
My great-grandfather was, my grandfather was, my father was...all the monarchs of every dynasty were like this.
Only he is different!
He wasn't standing here alone, he had Yaoyao. Xie Yingchen turned around and looked at her, his eyes and brows softened as if light was about to overflow.
Gu Zhizhuo:?
She smiled at him and covered the backs of his slightly trembling hands with her own hands.
The young master is omnipotent!
The young master is the best young master.
"Sir." Gu Zhizhuo said softly, "I'm here."
Her voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the shouts that rose and fell like waves. Only Xie Yingchen could still hear it clearly.
She's here!
Wherever he went, wherever he stood, she would be by his side.
He is not alone.
When he faced the people again, the uncertainty and fear in Xie Yingchen's heart completely disappeared. He slowly raised his hand, and the noisy Wumen Square suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes followed him closely.
"Stand up."
"I have ordered the Imperial Master and the Ministry of Rites to select an auspicious day. I will obey the late emperor's will..."
He held her hand a little tighter and said the last two words: "Ascend the throne!"
"Long live!"
The people stood up and burst into deafening cheers.
The ascension of a new monarch is usually accompanied by a period of national mourning. But this time, however, it was different. There was no weeping, no mourning, no prohibitions on dancing and music, and people were free to laugh as they pleased. The atmosphere was filled with joy, as if it were the New Year.
Xie Yingchen walked down from the Meridian Gate holding Gu Zhizhuo's hand, and the noise continued.
"The deposed emperor refuses to repent and is colluding with the barbarians to plot a rebellion!"
"While the Imperial Master was still performing the ritual, the edict suddenly fell from the sky and landed on the altar. I saw it with my own eyes."
"The late emperor has appeared!"
“…”
Gu Zhizhuo found what he heard very interesting. He skipped and followed Xie Yingchen's steps, chatting with him intermittently. Soon they arrived at Wenyuan Pavilion.
From the Prime Minister to the ministers of various ministries, no one had any objection to Gu Zhizhuo's appearance, as if she was born to stand here.
We waited until the sun set.
The official documents deposing Xie Rong and enthroning the new emperor were drafted, stamped with the imperial seal, and sent urgently to all parts of Daqi over a distance of 300 miles.
Gu Zhizhuo came out with Gu Yican. She stretched her body which was a little tired from sitting, leaned lazily against Gu Yican, and let him half-drag her away.
As he stepped onto the carriage, Gu Zhizhuo suddenly remembered something: "Cancan, is Xie Jing in the Dali Temple prison now?"
"right."
"Is Princess Jiaye here too?"
"exist."
"Let's not go back yet, let's go to the Dali Temple."
Gu Yican always listened to his sister and turned the carriage around and went to the Dali Temple.
Gu Zhizhuo had Xie Yingchen's token, so they were immediately welcomed in as soon as they arrived.
The Dali Temple's prison has three levels. In his previous life, Gu Zhizhuo stayed here for two months until he was exiled.
"Your Majesty, Miss Gu, please come this way."
The jailer held an oil lamp and led the way diligently.
The underground floor was used to imprison officials of the third rank and above and noble relatives.
Gu Zhizhuo: "It's quite spacious."
The jailer responded in a humorous way.
At that time, the Gu family was imprisoned on the second floor underground. It was dark, damp, and cold, and there were rats running around in the cell...
Revisiting the old place, the experience is not too bad. After all, I am the one who is outside now, and I am the one who sees them struggling and collapsing!
"Miss, the Emperor... the deposed Emperor is imprisoned in the room in front."
Gu Zhizhuo had no interest in Xie Rong: "Where is the Princess of Liang?"
"It's in the room on the left."
The jailer led her around a corner and raised the oil lamp forward.
These rooms housed the deposed emperor's sons and their wives, concubines, and family members.
When the dim oil lamplight shone over, Xie Jing raised his eyelids and blurted out in surprise: "It's you..."
Originally he wanted to ask if she was here to laugh at him, but then he thought about it carefully and realized that he was a big joke himself, so why shouldn't he be laughed at by others?
Xie Jing hurried over, holding the iron bars with both hands, and asked, "Miss Gu, where is Ke'er?"
There was a hint of hope in his tone: "Is she okay?"
Ji Nan Ke was not captured. Xie Jing thought that maybe it was because she had not yet married into his family and was not considered his concubine, so perhaps she could escape this disaster.
"she?"
Gu Zhizhuo chuckled softly, and the laughter gave Gu Jing an extremely bad premonition.
The next moment, she asked, "You want to know?"
Xie Jing tightened his grip on the iron bars and squeezed out a voice with difficulty: "Go ahead."
"She ran off with Duoleng, offering him the crossbow blueprints as a bargaining chip, asking him to take her back to her country to continue enjoying her wealth and luxury."
"You're talking nonsense!"
Gu Zhizhuo smiled softly and said, "What else? She will accompany you in this prison. Or she will work outside to support herself and wait for your release."
Xie Jing: "..." He understood Ke'er too much. She was a pampered orchid that couldn't stand the slightest hardship. So, because he couldn't give her wealth and glory, she ran away?
Xie Jing smiled self-deprecatingly. He should have thought of it earlier.
Gu Zhizhuo was too lazy to pay attention to him and just asked the jailer to unlock the door and bring Jiaye out.
"Walk?"
Jiaye didn't understand what he meant and nodded in agreement.
The jailer led the way back to the ground floor. It was finally not so dark and the musty smell was much lighter.
Jiaye originally thought that she was going to take him for interrogation. Was he about to be released from the imperial prison?
"Where are you taking me?"
"Let you go." Gu Zhizhuo asked with a smile, "Okay?"
"Miss Gu is joking."
"Big sister, save me! Big brother!"
A young child's heart-wrenching cry interrupted them.
Gu Zhizhuo frowned.
Xie Yan, still wearing the prince's dragon robe, stumbled over. He ran so fast and hurriedly that he tripped over something and fell to the ground with a thud.
When he was in the Taimiao, he took advantage of the chaos and secretly mixed in with the people who were watching the ceremony.
He did not have the title of a prince, and Prince Li never acknowledged his royal family status, so the soldiers missed him when they were arresting people.
Brought it here just after I caught it.
Xie Yan didn't bother to get up, and grabbed the hem of Gu Zhizhuo's skirt with his dirty hands.
The first day Gu Zhizhuo put on this skirt, she liked it very much and didn't force it.
"open."
She said expressionlessly.
"Big sister, I was wrong, I was wrong! Please take me out, okay?" Xie Yan's tears and snot were all mixed up as he begged, "Big sister, I will never lose my temper again."
"Big brother, I will learn martial arts with you."
"Don't abandon me. I'll be obedient, I'll definitely be obedient."
He clutched the hem of Gu Zhizhuo's skirt and cried pitifully. The six-year-old child even shrank his neck and trembled.
Gu Zhizhuo watched coldly, without any sympathy.
"Big sister. Take me away. Don't leave me behind."
"Your last name is Xie. Your father and your brothers are waiting for you in prison. Don't call me by the wrong name."
This child is hopeless.
In his previous life, the lady held him in the palm of her hand and doted on him. He was the youngest, so everyone in the family doted on him.
What happened? She brought the remains of the Dowager and her family back from the charity cemetery, wanting to bury them in the ancestral tomb alongside her grandfather and uncle, but he refused. Xie Yan, who had inherited the title of Duke of Zhenguo, spoke with conviction, scorning the Gu family as traitors unworthy of incense and offerings.
Oh.
Seeing his sister's cold face, Gu Yican leaned over and pried open the hands that were pinching his sister's skirt one by one, straightened the hem of the skirt, and pulled his sister away.
"Big sister, big brother, I was wrong. I was wrong!"
The two turned a deaf ear.
"Is this your brother?" Jia Ye glanced back. "He was dragged away. Are you really not going to care?"
"Princess."
Gu Zhizhuo made a gesture of "invitation": "Princess, don't you have any so-called 'brothers' who you dislike and want to get rid of as soon as possible?"
"have."
"For example?" Jia Ye: "..."
Gu Zhizhuo didn't wait for her to answer. He smiled and said knowingly, "All of them, right?"
"All the children under the name of the King of Liang. Is that right?"
Jiaye: “…”
"Your mother was a dancer. In Liang, even at a banquet, anyone could pull any dancer they liked into the tent. Your mother was bought and sold many times before the King of Liang finally took a fancy to her and snatched her away."
"A son of Liang is honored by his mother."
"If your mother is a lowly person, your children will also be lowly people, even if you are the daughter of the King of Liang."
Gu Zhizhuo stared at the corners of her lips that were gradually lowering, and said as he walked out, "You have to learn to dance since you were young, learn to please men, learn to please men, and learn to survive in the cracks between you brothers and sisters."
"After your mother died, you were nominally raised by the queen, but in reality, the queen was just raising you as a tool for Duoling's marriage."
"It's either Daqi or another tribe."
Jia Ye lifted her long hair, her eyes flickering with alluring charm: "Miss Gu is right. Even if you let me go back now, I don't want to go back. I've heard that in situations like this, Xie Jing would usually be imprisoned or exiled at most."
"If I go back to Liang Country, I don't know who I'll be given to next. Xie Jing is good-looking, doesn't like to fight, and is easy to fool. It's better than going to accompany those dirty and greasy old men on the grassland."
Gu Zhizhuo stretched out his finger and shook it gently: "If your brother asks you to arrange a marriage, then step on your brother. If the King of Liang asks you to arrange a marriage, then step on the King of Liang. If you can't step on him, then replace him."
After saying that, Gu Zhizhuo turned towards her and smiled slightly.
These phoenix eyes saw through the ambition and unwillingness buried deep in her heart, hit every one of her thoughts, and ignited the flame in her heart that had been forcibly suppressed.
"Naguyar, the leader of the Yu tribe, was once just a shepherdess. And you, the daughter of the King of Liang, what are you afraid of?"
"Miss Gu is truly eloquent. However, in Liang Country, women do not have inheritance rights. My mother is a dancer, and she has no maternal family to rely on."
"You have."
"The queen has only one son, Duoleng, and you, her adopted daughter."
The halo of the big red lantern enveloped Gu Zhizhuo, making her expression even softer. However, the words she spoke contained a hint of swordsmanship: "What if her only son died?"
Jiaye paused.
Gu Zhizhuo: "What if her son died at the hands of her husband?"
"What will happen to her?"
Jia Ye stood there for a long time, motionless. The corners of her mouth rose slowly, then slowly fell, her eyes filled with uncontrollable ambition. After a moment, she swallowed and said, "If I'm discovered, I'll be killed."
Gu Zhizhuo had already walked to the side of the carriage. She took the hand that Gu Yican extended and smiled slightly: "Of course."
"Being torn apart by five horses is probably the least severe punishment.
"However," Gu Zhizhuo changed the subject and said with a smile, "As a woman, if you don't even have the courage to fight to the death to sit in that position, even if Daqi forcibly helps you up, you won't be able to sit firmly. Instead of wasting time and effort, I can just ask someone else to help you."
"Princess Jiaye, you are not my only choice, and you are not qualified to negotiate with me."
Jia Ye: "..." Her thoughts were seen through at a glance.
Gu Zhizhuo stepped onto the carriage. This time she had learned her lesson and lifted up her skirt.
"Princess Jiaye can return to Prince Rui's Mansion to rest for a while. You are a princess married to a foreign country. No matter what crime Xie Jing has convicted you of, as long as you don't commit any crime in Daqi, I can guarantee you a safe life. If you want to return to Liang Country, come to the Zhenguo Mansion at noon tomorrow. No one will be waiting after that time."
"Let's go."
Gu Zhizhuo sat down, lowered the curtain, and the carriage drove away.
Jiaye stood there, his eyes flickering, ambition flashing in his pupils like fire.
Gu Yican sat with her carelessly and asked casually, "Sister, do you want to make this princess the King of Liang?"
"This princess." Gu Zhizhuo's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. "She has ambition, but not courage. She has strategy, but not action. She needs the support of Daqi to ascend to the throne. She has no maternal family to support her, so she still needs Daqi to hold on to that chair. Helping her ascend to the throne will at least bring peace to the border for ten years."
Ten years is enough for Western Xinjiang to recuperate.
"If she's scared, that's fine. After all, if Duo Leng dies, we can sow discord between the Queen and the King of Liang and cause civil unrest in Liang."
Gu Yican: "I'll go with you..."
"I don't want you to go, Cancan. Wait for me to bring back the wolf tooth necklace from Duoleng's neck."
"Oh, my sister is so capable, it puts a lot of pressure on me."
Gu Yican pretended to lie on her shoulder.
"Let's go, grandma is waiting for us to eat."
The carriage turned and went to Wang's house first, then returned to the mansion.
The banquet was over, the guests who came to watch the ceremony had all gone back, and the master had gone to stay temporarily at the Imperial Master's Mansion.
Gu Zhizhuo was extremely hungry and was too lazy to ask someone to set the table again, so he and Gu Yican each ordered a bowl of chicken noodle soup.
There is always chicken soup simmering on the stove in the small kitchen, so a bowl of noodles can be prepared the fastest.
The lady pulled Gu Yican over and looked him over, confirming that he was fine and not a single piece of skin was missing, and she was finally relieved.
"Dan Ling said she was going back to live at the Wang family, saying that Concubine Shu had left the palace?"
"My aunt is no longer a concubine."
Gu Zhizhuo took a few mouthfuls of chicken noodle soup and said, "The emperor has been deposed. I plan to marry my aunt and return home."
The lady was shocked and said, "What?!"
"You, you two..." The lady pointed at the brother and sister with trembling hands, "Are you two busy with this today?"
She looked around and whispered in a low voice, "Are you planning a rebellion?"
"Did it work?"
Fearing that they were under too much pressure, the lady quickly added, "It's okay if it doesn't work out, as long as you can come back."
"It'll be the same next time when you're ready."
Looking at her like this, it seems that it doesn't matter whether she is plotting a rebellion or not, as long as the brother and sister come back safely.
Gu Zhizhuo burst out laughing, laughing so hard that he fell backwards.
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