Chapter 848 King Hui Rebelled
When Prince Ji was leaving the palace, he vaguely heard Concubine Zhaogui murmur softly behind him, "Why do you feel uncomfortable for no reason?"
Prince Ji's eyes grew darker, and he quickly walked out of the hall.
Xinde Hall is on the east side of the fourth front gate. After King Ji quietly left the hall, he hurried to look for King Hui. However, King Hui, who had said he had gone out to the toilet due to stomach discomfort, was nowhere to be seen.
Prince Ji walked around but didn't see Prince Hui. He felt increasingly uneasy. He quickly walked towards the outside of Xinde Hall. When he reached the door, he grabbed the guard and asked, "Did you see Prince Hui leave just now?"
The man was startled: "Prince Ji..."
"Don't talk nonsense. I'm asking you, did you see King Hui go out?"
The Imperial Guard noticed Prince Ji's expression was off, and although he didn't understand why, he quickly replied, "Your Highness, it's true that Old Prince Hui left just now. He said he had something very important to discuss with the Empress, and he left in a hurry."
"You have been guarding Xinde Hall all day?"
"right."
"Then did you see any of the noble family officials coming over?"
The guard uttered an "ah!", not knowing what he was asking. Prince Ji immediately said in a deep voice, "Whether it is from which family, the Liang family, the Feng family, the Fan family, the Shi family, or the others, do they have any female relatives or relatives coming to keep vigil today?"
The man shook his head: "I don't think I saw it."
Prince Ji's heart was beating fast. Although those people from the aristocratic families were at loggerheads with the queen and were aggressive in the court, trying to force the queen to give up power, each matter was a different matter.
That was a confrontation between the emperor and his ministers, and no one could find fault with it. But now that the Grand Empress Dowager has passed away, how could it be that none of the court officials from the noble families who have always attached the most importance to etiquette and rules came to the palace to keep vigil? Even none of the female relatives in the mansion came to the palace. If such behavior is taken seriously, it would be a serious crime of disrespect!
Moreover, Concubine Zhaogui clearly saw Liang Guangyi and Prince Hui, but they were not in Xinde Hall. Now even Prince Hui suddenly left.
He suddenly remembered that King Hui had colluded with Duan Zhiru and others to instigate relatives and court officials to force the emperor to abdicate, and his palms trembled violently.
Could it be that King Hui hadn't given up after that day, and was even colluding with the nobles, hoping to take advantage of today to plot something nefarious?!
"Where is the queen?" Prince Ji asked anxiously.
"Yongzhao Palace... Hey, Prince Ji, Prince Ji..."
Before the guard finished speaking, Prince Ji had already left in a hurry. His hurried figure was full of anxiety. Seeing this, the guards in front of the hall looked at each other in confusion.
Prince Ji didn't care about anything else, he just hurried towards Yongzhao Palace, hoping that he was wrong and that Prince Hui and the others couldn't be so bold. However, before he reached Yongzhao Palace, he saw that the palace road was surrounded.
His face changed and he turned around and wanted to run, but it was too late.
In Yongzhao Palace, when Prince Ji was tied up and thrown into the yard, Tang Ning, dressed in the queen's court dress, was guarded in the palace by more than ten palace maids and eunuchs. There was also a circle of secret guards in front of the palace. Prince Hui, Liang Guangyi and others were standing outside the yard, with hundreds of people holding swords behind them.
"Oh, isn't this Prince Ji?" Shi Qingrong was full of surprise when he saw the person thrown in.
Prince Hui strode over and said in a deep voice, "Father, I just noticed Prince Ji was visiting outside. I'm afraid he might have noticed what happened in Yongzhao Palace. I'm afraid he might leak the news and ruin everything, so I arrested him first."
Prince Ji looked at the situation in the courtyard. He still didn't understand anything. He shouted angrily: "Uncle Prince Hui, you actually conspired with the aristocratic families to force the emperor to abdicate?!"
King Hui raised his eyebrows and said, "Why are you so excited? This isn't the first time. Weren't you also there last time..."
"Can it be the same?"
Prince Ji angrily said, "Last time, because Your Majesty hadn't appeared for a long time, the people in the court were in a panic. We were worried that the Queen would cause chaos in the court, so we brought the ministers into the palace to force Your Majesty to appear. But now the Queen is the legitimate heir. You brought people to the palace and besieged Yongzhao Palace without permission. This is rebellion!"
He glanced at the people from the noble families next to him, and said, trying his best to suppress his anger:
"Uncle Hui, please don't be confused. The people of the aristocratic families have never been on the same page with our royal family. Don't let them use you. If His Majesty knew that you joined them in the rebellion and threatened the Queen today, he would never forgive you and other members of the Xie clan!"
King Hui looked at King Ji and suddenly laughed, "You are still as timid as before. You are still as ambitious as ever, but you were frightened by the Queen just once. I am different from you. Not to mention that Xiao Yan can't come back, even if he does, I am not afraid of him."
Prince Ji was stunned: "What do you mean you can't come back?"
Min An smiled and said, "Half a month ago, His Majesty was seriously injured and disappeared in Southern Qi. Yin Bao, the commander of Munan Pass, conspired with Xiao Jinan and his son to commit treason. They were captured by Deputy General Cen Guang and his troops. Yin Bao was shot dead on the spot, and Xiao Jinan and his son have also been imprisoned."
"The Empress had just heard of the passing of the Grand Empress Dowager, and then suddenly heard of His Majesty's disappearance. She was heartbroken and fell seriously ill, unable to get up. Worried about the unrest at court and instability at the border, she appointed Prince Hui to temporarily govern the country, assisted by Prime Minister Liang and several other court officials from the aristocratic families."
Prince Ji's face suddenly turned pale. He couldn't help but look up at the queen who was being protected in the hall, wanting to hear her refutation of Min An's words, but the queen stood silently in the shadow inside the door, and no one could see the expression on her face clearly.
Prince Ji's face turned even paler when he saw this. Cen Guang was from an aristocratic family and was one of the pawns that the family could use to "check and balance" the queen.
He didn't believe that Yin Bao would rebel, nor did he believe that Xiao Jinan and his son would plot treason, but the people from the aristocratic families were so sure of it, and Prince Hui and his son dared to follow them to force the queen to abdicate and directly wanted to seize power, which could only mean that there was really a problem at Munan Pass.
Cen Guang really rebelled, and Xiao Yan really disappeared.
King Hui glanced at King Ji, then looked up into the hall.
"Empress, you should be aware of the situation today. This prince and Prime Minister Liang and the others do not want to start a war, so they have only led people to surround Yongzhao Palace. As long as you give me the imperial seal and issue an edict to let me serve as regent for Your Majesty, I promise that I will never harm you in the slightest."
"It's not that you don't want to start a war, it's that you don't dare."
Tang Ning said sarcastically, "Even if you can bribe the imperial guards, Yu Yanfeng's men won't let you succeed easily. Moreover, once the news of your rebellion spreads, Wu Kui and his men will immediately surround the imperial city."
"Old Prince Hui is not soft-hearted, he is simply powerless. Otherwise, given your behavior today, you wouldn't just take advantage of the Empress Dowager's death to lead your men to surround the Yongzhao Palace. You could have directly led your troops in rebellion and let the blood flow like a river in the palace."
"Don't make your incompetence sound so dignified."
"you!"
King Hui's face turned pale at these sarcastic remarks. After his composure disappeared, he couldn't help but shout:
"Song Tangning, don't be ungrateful. I don't want to take your life, so don't force me!"
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