Chapter 471: The Storm Has Come
When the emperor passed away, all the civil and military officials in the court had to wear plain clothes and keep vigil for the late emperor and pray for his well-being.
Crown Prince Murong Huai, his wives, concubines and brothers knelt in the inner hall for seven consecutive days until the emperor's body was taken from the imperial mausoleum seven days later.
At this time, everything seemed calm. They probably wanted to wait until the late emperor's body was buried in the imperial mausoleum before taking action.
This is better, so that the emperor doesn't have to watch his sons kill each other after he's passed away, right?
Everyone seems to be doing a good job on the surface, but how many of them really have feelings?
The more the days passed, the more worried Jiang Yu became about Su Wan. He had already arranged a place for her to take shelter temporarily.
She had insisted on staying in Kyoto in order to confuse them. Otherwise, if even she disappeared, wouldn't it be easy to see that the entire Su family had evacuated?
Jiang Yu and Murong Huai have already determined that Murong Sheng will take action after the late emperor's body is placed in the mausoleum.
That was the eighth day.
After the seventh day, early the next morning, Murong Huai led the team to send the emperor's body into the imperial mausoleum. When they returned, it was already dusk.
Just as night fell, Jiang Yu was summoned into the palace by the new emperor. When he went out, only Anan was with him, and Su Wan was not with him.
The person who was following in secret brought the news back almost immediately.
The late emperor has been buried in the imperial mausoleum, and the princes will have to leave the capital soon. There will be a simple dinner tonight, and the prince will see the princes off. All officials in Kyoto must attend, but they do not need to bring their families.
Su Jing also went out and went directly to the palace.
In today's Kyoto, only a group of helpless family members remain in the officials' residences.
Su Wan hid in the carriage early in the morning. Every family would harness the carriage to go out and pull it from the backyard to the front yard. Su Wan sat in it quietly, wearing the clothes of a servant.
In the carriage, Jiang Yu held her in his arms, pressed her against the carriage and kissed her forcefully. He knew that there would be a fierce battle tonight and he was not sure whether he could come back safely, so the person he was most worried about was Su Wan, his wife.
Su Wan was almost suffocating, but she let him kiss her and responded to him passionately.
When the carriage arrived at the destination, Jiang Yu held her for a while reluctantly:
"Wait for me to come back!"
Su Wan nodded, feeling mixed emotions.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of an alley. Feng Ying had been waiting there for a long time. Jiang Yu handed Su Wan over to him for protection, and then went to the palace alone.
Fengying led her through twists and turns in the alley for a long time before bringing her to a small courtyard. Qiu Niang was waiting there with her four-year-old son. When she saw Su Wan coming, she waved at her.
Once the rebels enter the city, they will go straight to the mansions of various officials, take hostages and force the palace.
I won't bother searching these small places just to find her.
The people cannot be killed indiscriminately, which is particularly important for an emperor to win the hearts of the people.
The banquet had already begun in the palace. After Su Chen inspected the streets, he also went into the palace to attend the banquet.
There is a curfew in Kyoto. Since the death of the previous emperor, the curfew has been moved up one hour for a month.
So early on, not long after nightfall, the streets of Kyoto were deserted and some shops were planning to close.
The palace banquet was still being held, but everyone was still wearing white mourning clothes, and there was no smile on their faces, and they didn't say much to each other.
There was no singing or dancing, just the silence with only the sound of chopsticks accidentally hitting the plate.
There was a strange atmosphere in the hall.
As soon as the curfew arrived, Su Chen asked Emperor Murong Huai to go inspect the streets and then left.
Murong Huai waved his hand and held his forehead, looking like he was drunk.
After Su Chen walked out of the hall, his expression suddenly became serious and he quickly walked out of the palace.
There was a traitor in the city defense camp. At this moment, the two southeast gates of Kyoto had been opened, and tens of thousands of rebels had poured into Kyoto. They had a clear purpose and divided into several groups to go directly to the officials' residences.
The gates of those mansions were kicked open, and the armored rebels rushed in with swords. If they were stopped by servants or guards, they would be killed. They had a list with the names and numbers of the families of various officials on it, and they had to take them all under control without missing a single one.
For a time, the residential area was filled with the terrified shouts of women and the crying of children. If some of the children of wealthy families dared to resist, they would be beaten directly. They would not be beaten to death, but they would be beaten until they behaved themselves.
After Su Chen left the palace, there was chaos outside. He released a ball of fireworks. The soldiers of the city defense camp seized the opportunity and drew their swords to kill some of the rebels and the rebel leader in the city defense camp.
This traitor was none other than his former colleague who served as lieutenant general of the city defense battalion. At that time, one of them was in charge of the northwest gate and the other was in charge of the southeast gate.
This deputy lieutenant general has been in this position for ten years, while Su Chen has only been in this position for more than a year, but because of his relationship with the prince, he was directly promoted to chief lieutenant general.
Naturally, he was dissatisfied and resentful in his heart. The Shunde Marquisate had always been in contact with Murong Sheng, and it was the young marquis of the Marquisate who contacted him and instigated him to open the city gates and let the rebels into the capital.
He has been in this position for ten years and has many subordinates who are very loyal to him. He deliberately replaced the people at the southeast gate with his own people to let the rebels enter the city, but they didn't know that this was all done on purpose by Su Chen. None of the princes and rebels who started the rebellion today will be able to escape.
Almost as soon as the fireworks were set off, the deputy lieutenant general looked on triumphantly as tens of thousands of rebels entered the city, fantasizing about his future glory and wealth.
The next second, a long sword was placed on his neck and cut his neck with a single blow without mercy.
If he is a traitor, then Su Chen will also plant a traitor. The deputy lieutenant general turned around and looked at the loyal lackey who usually followed him. He covered the bloodstain on his neck with an incredible look on his face and fell in a pool of blood unwillingly.
He was holding a blood-stained sword, and the soldiers of the city defense camp who had turned against him along with the deputy lieutenant general all raised their swords and slashed at him.
Immediately, Su Chen's men drew their bows and surrounded them.
"Zhu Liang is dead. Those who don't want to die, those who want to redeem themselves for their crimes, come with me and follow the general to kill the rebels!"
At this time, only a fool would continue to avenge a dead person. They could only kneel down and obey the orders.
The rebels have arrived at the palace gate, numbering as many as 30,000.
The Xishan camp is a hundred miles away from Kyoto, and no news has been received. Even if they rush to support, it will have to be tomorrow morning.
The palace guards and the imperial guards totaled only 5,000 people, and the city defense camp had 8,000 people, but they had already controlled a small half of them.
Another part is that in terms of taking hostages and numbers, the rebels have the upper hand.
Su Chen led two thousand soldiers from the city defense camp to guard the Suzaku Gate, another two thousand at the Qinglong Gate, and two thousand at the Baihu Gate.
The remaining two thousand are the people controlled by Zhu Liang, and some people he dared to support. They are now on their way.
As for Xuanwu Gate, the commander of the imperial guards and his men were guarding it.
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