Empress Ashina wrote an imperial edict and arranged for eunuchs to travel to Yuezhou and Yongzhou in two separate groups.
However, these two places are three or four thousand miles away from the capital, and it would take one or two months to travel back and forth.
This is still at a fast pace; if there is any delay, it will be even slower.
During this period, the emperor was seriously ill and there was no crown prince, so there were only three prime ministers to jointly handle government affairs.
Of course, the three prime ministers could not act arbitrarily. If there were any important political matters, they still had to report to the emperor and empress.
When the emperor is ill, the empress can take charge of state affairs.
Empress Ashina reached a consensus with her court officials.
Princess Yongchang was furious. She had originally wanted to promote her son-in-law to the position, but he failed to get the job and instead became a one-eyed man.
Unfortunately, in the Tangquan Palace, Yongchang's information was far less readily available than that of Empress Ashina.
On the day of the palace coup, Yongchang made a special excuse to return to the capital in order to "avoid suspicion".
She did not learn the specific details of the palace coup immediately.
It was three days later when she learned that her son-in-law had gone blind and her brother had suffered a stroke.
Empress Ashina had already gone to Tangquan Palace ahead of everyone else and reached a consensus with the court officials.
The imperial edicts summoning the King of Yue and the King of Yong back to the capital were issued smoothly, and the messengers responsible for delivering the edicts had probably already traveled three or four hundred miles away.
Yongchang: ...What a cunning Ashina!
He seemed honest before, but it turns out it was all an act.
Enraged, Yongchang wanted to go directly to the palace to report the situation to the Empress Dowager and ask her to come out of seclusion to suppress the Empress.
However, Yongchang still retained some rationality and had some filial piety towards his biological mother—but that cannot be said!
The Empress Dowager must not know about this.
Otherwise, the Empress Dowager would be heartbroken, and might even be traumatized.
If things go wrong and something happens to the Empress Dowager, regardless of whether Yongchang is a criminal, she will definitely have no one to rely on in the future!
They had to keep it a secret from the Empress Dowager. As a princess who was getting married, Yongchang lacked confidence when facing the Empress.
Fortunately, she was the elder sister of the sage, and as the eldest sister, she was like a mother to him. In the Helian royal family, Yongchang's status was also very extraordinary.
She took her remaining princess guards and quietly left the capital, heading towards Tangquan Palace.
"Agui is still alive, how can we allow you people to act so presumptuously?"
As the most powerful and noble eldest princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Yongchang has always been domineering.
When she starts cursing, she doesn't discriminate.
Whether the other person is the empress or the prime minister, she will criticize them without hesitation.
Come to think of it, even Helian Gui, who is considered a saint, was scolded by her and dared not utter a word in return.
"Ashina clan, how dare you make decisions arbitrarily while Agui is unable to speak!"
"Huh? You still want to bring your adopted son back? He's already been a useless pawn by Agui. What would he do if he came back? Reinstate him as crown prince? Keep him as heir apparent? You're dreaming!"
Yongchang was the first to direct his artillery fire at Empress Ashina.
Yongchang didn't actually dislike Helian Jue that much; she was just taking her anger out on him.
Empress Ashina, relying on her status as empress, dared to insert the imperial edict to establish a crown prince, which angered and envied Yongchang.
Yes, Yongchang was mostly jealous of the Empress.
She was clearly the noblewoman of the imperial family, the late emperor's most beloved darling.
Just because she was a woman, she went from being a ruler to a subject.
Now that her younger brother is ill and a new heir needs to be appointed, these people would rather listen to Ashina, an outsider, than take Yongchang seriously.
This, this—
Yongchang felt offended.
She also felt the huge difference in their status.
So it turns out, daughters are just not as good as daughters-in-law.
"Your Highness, I am simply following precedent by recalling the princes."
Despite Yongchang's fury, Empress Ashina remained calm and composed.
She showed no shame or anger at being insulted, nor any resentment at being bullied; her eyes and expression remained remarkably calm.
It was as if the person standing in front of her was not an arrogant princess like a great dragon, but just an ignorant child.
"Or does the Eldest Princess think that Helian Jue and Helian Huang are not princes?"
Although the sage deposed Helian Jue, he did not demote him to a commoner.
He still retains his royal status.
Therefore, Empress Ashina's decision was indeed in accordance with rules and etiquette.
"Don't try to play word games with me."
Princess Yongchang became even more furious when she saw that Empress Ashina was so calm.
She felt that this woman looked down on her and thought she was being unreasonable.
Empress & Three Prime Ministers: ...Isn't that so?
"Ashina clan, let me tell you, the world belongs to the Helian clan, not the Ashina clan!"
Yongchang shouted loudly.
The Empress was even more speechless: "Princess, you've misunderstood. I never said that the world would be changed to the Ashina family!"
It was Prime Minister Cui who, unable to bear Yongchang's shrewish behavior any longer, suddenly said, "Your Highness, there is something that puzzles this old minister, and I would like to ask you for an explanation!"
He raised his head, his old eyes shining brightly, "When the Imperial Guards were clearing out the rebel soldiers, they actually discovered the princess's personal guards."
"Of course, we have never doubted that Her Highness the Princess was connected with those rebel soldiers, but the mark on the Princess's residence is really hard to explain!"
As he spoke, Prime Minister Cui took out a small token from his sleeve.
The token is engraved with the two characters "永昌".
Princess Yongchang's expression changed immediately upon seeing the token.
How could she have forgotten about that!
For this palace coup, she sent out several groups of people.
"Oh dear, if Master Cui hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten. The woman who initially beat Jia Yi to death seems to be the same woman who was the powerful backer of the Princess's household!"
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