Chapter 192 Palace Coup
The north wind howled, and snow fell heavily. The first snow in the Forbidden City came so suddenly and so fiercely.
The weather turned cold suddenly, and a group of ragged refugees had gathered outside the capital. The news was reported to the court. Under the leadership of Prince Li, people were sent to investigate the origins of the refugees, and soup kitchens were set up at the city gates to provide relief.
The refugees, who should have been successfully pacified, suddenly rioted on the third day of heavy snowfall, and a brawl broke out at the city gate. Prince Li, Yinreng, happened to be outside the palace and, upon receiving the news, immediately led his men to quell the rebellion.
On the other hand, the deposed Assistant General Sebli passed away. Sebli was the sixteenth son of the deceased Prince An, Yue Le, and also the maternal uncle of Princess Lian, Lady Guo Luoluo. Both Prince Lian and his wife should have gone to pay their respects.
Therefore, the two princes who were originally entrusted with governing the country by the emperor were not in the palace at this time.
The clandestine movements were concealed by the heavy snow, and with the right timing, location, and people, this was the perfect opportunity that some had been meticulously planning for a long time. A palace coup thus occurred unexpectedly.
"Bang!"
The tightly closed doors of the Hall of Mental Cultivation were pushed open, and through layers of curtains, Yinzhen saw someone he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Your Majesty, is your health good? This old minister has not been able to see Your Majesty for a long time, and I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
There was no response from the dragon bed for a long time. The person who was pretending to bow stood up. It was Tong Guowei, whose hair was gray but whose face was full of smiles.
"Why is Your Majesty silent? Is it because you are too surprised to see this old minister? Logically speaking, Your Majesty should also address this old minister as Guo Luo Ma Fa."
Tong Guowei turned his head and gestured, and his men pushed Su Peisheng, who had been gagged and tied up, inside.
"Waaaah..." Su Peisheng rolled twice on the ground, looking disheveled, but still glared fiercely at Tong Guowei.
"The servants around the Emperor are really ignorant of the rules. There's nothing this old minister can do but teach them a lesson on behalf of the Emperor." Tong Guowei placed one foot on Su Peisheng, watching the figure slowly sit up behind the curtain, his expression full of confidence and arrogance.
"It seems that His Majesty is not completely unable to move after seeing this. This old minister has been heartbroken for so long for nothing."
"Lord Tong, it's been many years since I last saw you; you seem to have aged quite a bit."
Yinzhen's voice was weak and he was trying to suppress his breathing, but it easily ignited Tong Guowei's anger.
Tong Guowei's face twisted for a moment. He touched his gray hair and said sarcastically, "Your Majesty can only resort to empty words now. Isn't it all thanks to Your Majesty that this old minister has lost his son and wife one after another? Your Majesty used to be so powerful. When you were a prince, you were able to single-handedly defeat the Tongjia clan. Did Your Majesty ever imagine this day would come?"
Seeing that Yinzhen remained silent, Tong Guowei revealed a hearty smile: "Speaking of which, we should also thank the Emperor. Thank you for your leniency. After doing such a thing, you still dared to give important positions to people from our Tongjia clan. The Emperor seems to trust Yue Xing a lot, placing him by the Crown Prince's side, and also the Dowager Consort Tongjia, letting her manage the harem for you..."
"Your Majesty, this old minister does not know whether to thank you for your foolishness or your arrogance."
What do you want to do?
Yinzhen's question was very brief, and it seemed that he didn't have the energy to speak in longer sentences.
"What are we going to do? We're going to change the world, of course!"
With everything under control, Tong Guowei naturally dared to loudly proclaim his plan: "The Emperor has altered the imperial genealogy, but his heart does not belong to my Tongjia clan. Then I will personally support an emperor from the Tongjia clan."
"You chose Hongyun?"
Sensing the certainty in Yinzhen's question, Tong Guowei laughed: "As expected of the Emperor, he is indeed clever, even the concubines he chooses are sensible enough."
“With the Crown Prince assassinated and the Emperor seriously ill and dying, isn’t the Second Prince Hongyun the most suitable candidate to become Emperor, considering his status and age?”
"Oh, by the way, are you satisfied with the ending that this old minister just proposed for Your Majesty and the Crown Prince?"
Seeing that Yinzhen remained silent, Tong Guowei assumed he was at his wit's end and continued, "I almost forgot about the two princes. Although I don't attend court, I've heard that His Majesty has a good relationship with several princes. Since Prince Li and Prince Lian are His Majesty's right-hand men, they should accompany His Majesty down here as well."
"In the ensuing brawl outside the city, Prince Li was tragically assassinated; the General's mansion caught fire, and Prince Lian perished in the flames. Does Your Majesty approve of such fates for these two princes?"
"Cough cough..."
Hearing the suppressed coughing from inside the imperial tent, Tong Guowei became even more agitated.
"Speaking of which, Your Majesty is truly a saint. Even though Prince Li treated you like that before, Your Majesty didn't hold it against you. Thinking about it, this old minister should also thank Prince Li for kicking Your Majesty back then. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known that Your Majesty's health was already at its limit, and that you might have continued to lie low for another three to five years, allowing Your Majesty to successfully push the Crown Prince onto the throne."
"The Imperial Hospital..."
"Your Majesty wants to know about the fire at the Imperial Hospital, right? Of course, it was also set by this old minister. How else could we obtain Your Majesty's medical records, and how else could we know that our new emperor, whose civil and military achievements have shaken the past and present, has only been on the throne for a short time, and is already doomed?"
"Your Majesty is really something, you almost fooled this old minister."
Tong Guowei sighed with feigned melancholy: "This old minister has been thinking about this day for too long and couldn't help but ramble on. I almost forgot that His Majesty's health is not good. The imperial edict of succession has not yet been written. If His Majesty gets sick from anger, this old minister will be extremely apprehensive."
Seeing that Yinzhen remained silent, as if in silent resistance, Tong Guowei chuckled: "I have long heard that Your Majesty cherishes your offspring, apart from the Crown Prince. There are now five sons and four daughters in the palace. If Your Majesty does not issue this imperial edict, this old minister cannot guarantee their safety."
"For the sake of our offspring and the stability of the Qing Dynasty, Your Majesty should quickly write the imperial edict."
Tong Guowei spoke with righteous indignation, then, as if he had thought of something, he patted his head, took out a blank, bright yellow imperial edict from his sleeve, and casually strolled to Yinzhen's desk.
"I almost forgot, His Majesty is seriously ill and probably can't hold a pen anymore, so let this old minister do it for him. Speaking of which, in recent years, this old minister has had nothing to do, so I've managed to imitate His Majesty's handwriting pretty well."
Tong Guowei spread out a bright yellow silk cloth, ground ink for himself, picked up the brush that Yinzhen often used, and wrote down the imperial edict to pass the throne to the second prince Hongyun in a flamboyant style. His handwriting was exactly the same as Yinzhen's.
After writing with a soft "whoosh," Tong Guowei gently blew on the ink to ensure it was dry. He then picked up the completed imperial edict and looked at the dragon bed again: "This old minister has finished writing, but I think it's best to let His Majesty affix the imperial seal at the end, so that His Majesty can also appreciate this old minister's handwriting..."
As he spoke, Tong Guowei walked to the dragon bed and suddenly lifted the bright yellow curtain, revealing Yinzhen sitting upright on the bed with a cold and majestic face: "Lord Tong, you have put on a good show for me."
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