Chapter 515: The Emperor and His Ministers Become Disloyal and An Is Deserted by His Friends
No one expected that Emperor An would suddenly turn against him. The continuous and increasingly dull sound of the dark drum outside was as sudden and sudden as a rainstorm, which made Liu Tong'en, who was holding the sword tightly, full of surprise.
It was the dark army he had arranged earlier!
You came just in time!
"Someone outside the palace has led troops to capture the king. Kill them!"
After Liu Tongen shouted loudly, he swung his sword and slashed at the nearest black-armored guard. The sudden attack caught the man off guard and he had no time to dodge. He fell to the side in an instant, covered in blood.
"Liu Tong'en!" Xiao Yan turned around abruptly and glared at Emperor An: "Xie Tianyong, how dare you go back on your word..."
"I only want you to know that those who are arrogant and rebellious may only achieve their goals for a short while, but those who offend the emperor will surely die!"
Before Emperor An died, he was panicked and spoke gloomily:
"Liu Tongen, kill!"
Liu Tong'en's hands were fierce, and the imperial guards also attacked the black-armored guards who retreated to the front of the palace. When fighting broke out, the blood dyed the ground red in a short time. After losing the suppression in the palace and Emperor An as a "hostage", Xiao Yan and others fell into a disadvantage in a short time.
Seeing the Black Armor Guards suffering casualties, Liu Tong'en attacked ruthlessly. General Yin shouted, "Stop! Your Majesty, I am not kidding..."
Emperor An said sinisterly: "How can I joke with a traitor?"
"His Majesty!"
Everyone in the hall looked at Emperor An in disbelief as he repeatedly broke his promises and changed his words. General Yin was so angry that his beard trembled and his voice became even more angry.
"You are the emperor, the sovereign of the Great Wei. How can you go back on your word in front of the emperor and his officials?!"
The imperial decree pardoning Xiao Yan was issued personally by Your Majesty, and all the ministers witnessed it. How could Your Majesty be so inconsistent?
Emperor An paid no attention to what he heard. It didn't matter that he had issued the imperial edict. As long as Xiao Yan could not leave the Purple Palace, and as long as all those who plotted rebellion today died in the Forbidden Palace, he would still be the emperor.
Rather than being a king who was forced to submit and be laughed at by the world, he would rather kill Xiao Yan.
At worst, he could kill those who dared to talk too much about the royal family, just like he killed those who followed Xie Tianzhao and the He family...
Just kill them, just kill them!
Emperor An could no longer suppress the rage in his body, and the extreme headache surged up, causing his eyes to turn bloodshot little by little.
"The He family's rebellion was ordered by the late emperor himself. The incident of twenty years ago is no excuse for Xiao Yan's rebellion. This guy dared to disguise himself as a eunuch to sneak into the palace, colluding with Di Tao to lead his men to force the emperor to abdicate. He has long had the intention of rebelling against the emperor. I will never let him leave the Purple Palace alive."
"His Majesty!"
General Yin wanted to say something, but Emperor An ignored him and shouted at the front of the hall.
"All Imperial Guards, listen up! Anyone who captures or kills Xiao Yan will be promoted to the third rank. Killing one traitor will be rewarded with ten gold coins."
"Today, all those who participated in the rebellion will be killed on the spot. No one will be spared. Anyone who pleads for mercy will be treated as a traitor!!!"
The sounds of fighting in front of the palace suddenly became louder, and the imperial guards became more and more ruthless. Liu Tong'en and others surrounded Xiao Yan and the black-armored guards in front of the palace. With the promise of a "generous reward" from Emperor An, they fought with blood in every move.
Xiao Yan protected Tang Ning by his side, Yue Jian and Tian Qing protected Rong Yue, but the outer imperial guards had already surrounded the Zichen Palace after breaking through the siege, and when they continued to pour in, they almost broke through the entire Black Armor Guard formation, and Xiao Yan and others gradually found it difficult to cope.
Seeing a man jumping up behind Xiao Yan and taking advantage of the chaos to attack Tang Ning's back, Xiao Yan was restrained and had no time to deal with it. He could only turn around and protect Tang Ning in his arms, raising his hand to block him, and then staggered and kicked the imperial guard away.
Qian Qiyue was so angry that she grabbed the dishes on the table and smashed them on the head of the man who fell to the ground, then picked up the sword on the ground and rushed out.
"Ayue!!"
Mrs. Qian was horrified.
Fu Laiqing was originally supporting Madam Fu and hiding behind a beam. When he heard the shouting in the crowd, he quickly looked up and saw Qian Qiyue had already slashed a guard's back with a sword. Taking advantage of the chaos, she stabbed the man who almost hurt Rong Yue inside and out. However, she was dragged into the fight in an instant.
He looked horrified and rushed forward.
"Brother!" Fu Jinrou lost her voice: "Grandaunt, what happened to my brother..."
"Shut up."
Madam Fu was stunned for a moment, then quickly grabbed Fu Jinrou and told her to shut up.
She did not say anything to stop Fu Laiqing, but took advantage of the chaos to pass through the crowd and approach Cao Dejiang, standing quietly with the Cao family. When Fu Laiqing rushed over, Qian Qingran, the eldest brother of the Qian family, had already joined the battle.
"Qian Baokun, Cao Dejiang, do you also want to rebel?!"
Emperor An recognized Qian Qingran and Fu Laiqing, and looked down coldly.
"In your Majesty's eyes, who isn't a traitor?"
Qian Baokun looked at the crowd in front of the palace, their eyes full of sarcasm.
"Twenty years ago, there was irrefutable evidence, and witnesses had spoken. Yet, you repeatedly shirked responsibility, disregarding the deaths of ordinary people and the harm suffered by loyal officials. You treated the imperial decree as a joke. You are so narrow-minded, irresponsible, and inconsistent. How can you be worthy of being an emperor?!"
Compared to Qian Baokun's anger, Cao Dejiang was much calmer.
"Your Majesty just issued a public decree, and the ministers persuaded us to avoid bloodshed in the palace and casualties in the capital today."
"I don't know why Your Majesty has suddenly changed his mind, but everyone knows that Xiao Yan seeks only justice. Even with a sword at Your Majesty's throat, he would have withdrawn to preserve the He family's years of loyalty. He was concerned about the safety of the court, the friendship between the monarch and his subjects, and the reputation of the people, so he withdrew. But Your Majesty has broken his promise, which is truly unworthy of a wise ruler."
"Cao Dejiang!" Emperor An scolded.
Cao Dejiang did not back down at all, but instead became even more aggressive in his words.
"As an emperor, one's word is law, and a wise ruler is loyal to his subjects. However, Your Majesty is obsessed with selfish thoughts and is fickle. Simply investigating the past could have prevented the casualties today, and the outside world would have praised Your Majesty's wisdom. Yet, Your Majesty has chosen to kill Xiao Yan again and again."
"You want to kill him completely. Is it because of Xiao Yan's offense today, or is there some other reason? Was the incident twenty years ago really the Lu family's doing, or was it Your Majesty..."
“That’s enough!”
Emperor An interrupted Cao Dejiang with a gloomy look, looked at him coldly and said, "I don't know when you became so close to Xiao Yan that you actually helped this traitor to go against my will."
"I am merely fulfilling my duties as an Imperial Censor. A ruler should take the people of the world as his own responsibility, guide them with virtue, unify them with propriety, and stop wars and love the people. Yet, Your Majesty has ignored the innocent deaths of civilians and the hearts of loyal ministers. You are unethical and untrustworthy, and have resorted to war and slaughter, staining the capital with blood..."
"Shut up! I think you've been colluding with these traitors for a long time!"
“If you want to accuse someone of a crime, you can always find a pretext.”
Cao Dejiang said in a deep voice, "I simply don't want anyone to know what was written in the imperial edict and accuse me of aiding the tyrant and murdering his officials. My Cao family is clean and honest, and we will never bear such a bad reputation!"
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