Chapter 570 Emperor An's Stage
Tang Ning always felt like something was missing, but he couldn't figure it out for a moment...
When Tang Ning clutched the cloak and lowered her head, the much larger cloak almost wrapped her whole body. There was a faint smell of pine mixed with a few traces of bitter medicine. It was the recuperation soup prescribed by Madam Qin after Xiao Yan was injured in the palace coup and his old illness was exposed.
Xiao Yan has been carrying this smell for a while now.
Tang Ning sniffed the slight scent of medicine, and his troubled mood calmed down a little.
"Yuejian, are Uncle Xiao and the others doing well recently?"
"They have been living in the academy all this time. Patriarch Xiao and Dean Shi have a good relationship, and Mr. Xiao has also been the academy's martial arts master for some time."
When the palace previously rewarded Xiao Yan and posthumously conferred the title of He Wenzhuo, Emperor An, perhaps to show his "holy grace", also pardoned the Xiao family, who had faked their death earlier, and gave them a house.
However, the Xiao family's ancestral home was not in the capital, and they came to the capital to help Xiao Yan. They were too lazy to deal with those people who came one after another to make friends, so Xiao Jinan and his son simply stayed in Rongsheng Academy.
Tang Ning asked in a low voice: "I remember Uncle Xiao and his men also led troops before?"
Yue Jian nodded. "Yes, the Xiao family master was once the patrol commander of Anyang, leading troops to garrison the area. When he was young, Young Master Xiao was also taught by the late Crown Prince for a long time, and did not return to Anyang until he was in his teens. Like the master, he is a man of both civil and military talents."
If the He family's misfortune had not implicated their married daughter, and Madam Xiao had not committed suicide, the Xiao family, in order to protect the young and injured descendants of the former crown prince, had not voluntarily given up their power and temporarily avoided the spotlight to avoid outside attention for fear of arousing suspicion, the Xiao family father and son would have been fierce generals on the battlefield.
"This servant has fought with Young Master Xiao before. Although his martial arts skills are not as good as ours, they are still rare in the world and more suitable for the battlefield. The Xiao family has not let up in recent years. Young Master Xiao has also served in the army for training, but no one knows that he is a member of the Xiao family."
Tang Ning suddenly understood what was going on. No wonder she had felt a murderous aura from Xiao's eldest son when she first met him. Even Di Tao, who grew up in the northwest, didn't have that aura.
"Girl, you suddenly asked whether the Xiao family will lead the troops. Is it in the palace tonight..." Yue Jian asked in a low voice with some hesitation.
Tang Ning hummed softly, "I'm afraid there will be a war."
She listened to the sound of a carriage galloping past her, looked at the dim night outside the carriage curtain and said:
"Let's go to the academy first."
…
Here, Xiao Yan brought Jin Yun and rode directly into the palace. The palace guards recognized Xiao Yan and did not stop them. The horse went straight to the second gate and stopped. A guard came forward to take the reins from Xiao Yan and Jin Yun, and went aside with the two followers. Someone came forward and saluted respectfully.
"Duke, His Majesty and the others are already in the Imperial Palace."
Xiao Yan asked calmly, "They? Who came?"
The young eunuch replied, "Lord Cao, Grand Tutor Liang, Secretary Wei, the six ministers, and several other officials."
Xiao Yan said in an ambiguous tone, "They're all here."
The young eunuch listened to the mocking voice but didn't dare to say anything. He just led Xiao Yan and Jin Yun towards the Imperial Palace.
When they arrived in front of the Imperial Hall and saw Xiao Yan and his servant coming, someone called out "Duke Dingguo" and the young eunuch who had led the way retreated.
The new person who came over was a familiar-looking eunuch, who showed anxiety as he approached.
"Duke Dingguo, why are you here so late?"
He came closer and lowered his voice and said quickly:
"Prince Pingshan has rebelled, killing the imperial envoy sent by the palace and spreading rumors that Your Majesty wants him dead to cover up his collusion with the Lu family. Your Majesty is furious and wants to send troops. Eunuch Feng has asked this servant to remind the Duke to be careful when he enters the palace."
After saying this, he bowed and said:
"Please go in quickly, Your Majesty and the others have been waiting for a long time."
Xiao Yan's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes grew a little colder. He turned his head to glance at Jin Yun, then strode directly into the hall. Jin Yun turned around and left without a trace, and disappeared in a moment.
…
"This bastard... cough cough cough..."
Before Xiao Yan even stepped into the palace, he heard angry curses accompanied by violent coughing from the inner room.
"I think he's just not content with his position as a vassal king and wants to rebel. I've treated the vassal kings of various places well over the years and never had the intention of reducing their power. But I didn't expect that I would actually foster their ambitions... ahem!"
Emperor An sat on the dragon throne, gasping for breath, his face sickly with a blush of anger.
"The Lu family is plotting rebellion. Not only did Prince Pingshan take Lu Jiuan into custody without authorization, he also killed the people I sent to capture the Lu family traitors. Now he even dares to turn around and accuse me of ordering people to kill him. He even dares to frame me. He is simply a traitor. I..."
Cough cough cough!
Emperor An seemed to be very angry and couldn't help coughing even more violently.
Feng Lai, who was standing by, quickly stepped forward to help him calm down. The Crown Prince and a group of court officials standing below all spoke up.
"Father, calm down."
"Your Majesty, be careful of the dragon's body."
Someone outside announced that Duke Dingguo had arrived. After the palace door was pushed open, Xiao Yan entered and everyone turned around.
Xiao Yan stepped forward and walked into the hall: "I pay my respects to Your Majesty."
Emperor An panted and waved his hand: "Get up, no need to be so polite."
"Duke Dingguo, you are finally here."
Wei Quan was the new person who took over the position of Zhongshu Ling after Lu Chongyuan was demoted. When the Lu family was still strong, the aristocratic families were unwilling to give up the position of Zhongshu Ling. Emperor An wanted to place his own people in the position, but Xiao Yan interfered.
As the three parties competed and no one was willing to give in, the position finally fell to the originally inconspicuous Wei Quan.
When Wei Quan saw Xiao Yan, he asked anxiously, "Duke Dingguo, do you know that Prince Pingshan has rebelled?"
Xiao Yan raised his eyebrows in surprise: "When did it happen?"
"Just recently."
Wei Quan said anxiously, "The Lu family was plotting rebellion before. Didn't one of their illegitimate sons escape to Prince Pingshan's mansion in advance? I'm afraid Prince Pingshan is colluding with him to rebel together."
Emperor An saw that Wei Quan was not being clear about what he was saying, so he said directly, "Liu Tongen, you speak."
Liu Tong'en took a half step forward and said, "After the Lu family was convicted, His Majesty sent me to arrest Lu Jiuan and find out whether the Pingshan Palace had colluded with the Lu family. However, there has been no news from the people I sent."
"Tonight, someone suddenly fled back to the capital, covered in wounds. They claimed that Prince Pingshan was hiding Lu Jiuan. Not only did they refuse to admit their collusion with the Lu family, and were unwilling to come to the capital to clarify the matter with Your Majesty, they also killed the people who came to pursue them, blaming them for injuring Prince Pingshan. Your Majesty intends to eliminate the prince."
"That man said that all the others who went with him died. He encountered danger several times while fleeing. King Pingshan sent people to hunt him down all the way. He narrowly escaped death and finally made it back to the capital. He said that King Pingshan had mobilized his troops and was rebelling."
After Liu Tongen finished speaking, he suddenly changed the subject.
"Duke Xiao, don't you know about this?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com