Chapter 127: Force the emperor to abdicate. We will sort out our status in the next life.
The army stopped at Guikuizhang. Xie Xuanlan was familiar with everything here because he had been here to suppress bandits before.
He stood alone on the clifftop, looking down at the army poised for battle, and in the distance, he could see the faint outline of Yunjing City. Perhaps no one in Yunjing City was sleeping peacefully at that moment, cursing his evil ambitions, but Xie Xuanlan didn't care. His gaze was fixed on the half of the old bronze mirror in his hand.
If someone saw this scene, they might think he was crazy because he was talking to the mirror, as if talking to himself.
If he looked more closely, he would think he was crazy, because the face of Xie Xuanlan reflected in the mirror had a different expression from the one holding the mirror. He did not have the sharp and cold expression of a war lord, but was gentle and deep, as if he was another soul locked in the mirror. Perhaps because of the moonlight, his face was paler than the person outside the mirror.
The figure in the mirror said, "...she issued a military order before your lord, recommending you as commander of the Western Province, guaranteeing you would not harbor rebellious thoughts. Now that you have led your army to besiege the capital, I truly do not know how she will explain this to your lord. I fear she will repeat the mistakes of her past life, and only death will be the only way to atone for her guilt."
Xie Xuanlan curled his lips coldly upon hearing this: "That was your mistake, it has nothing to do with me. I will not give in to her wishes."
"It seems you have other plans."
"Don't you claim to have planned my plans and know me like your own heart? Can't you guess it?"
"I can guess, but I'm afraid you won't be willing to give up your life."
"You don't have to provoke me. She's already abandoned me. Life is boring, so why should I fear death? At least I'll still be remembered after I die, unlike you..."
Xie Xuanlan didn’t finish his words about what he was like, and sighed silently in his heart.
In fact, if you think about it calmly, King Jin is even more pitiful than him. He was abandoned by Cong Ying for fifteen years, and he exhausted all opportunities to be born into this life, but was blocked by his other self.
If Xie Xuanlan died, the King of Jin would lose both his origin and his destination, and would certainly not survive.
Not only that, perhaps as the Lord of the Crimson Cloud Crown guessed, all traces of his existence in this world would be erased by Heaven, and no one would remember him from then on.
How many people in this world sacrifice their lives for love or for their reputation after death? It can be seen that what is more terrifying than death is being forgotten by the lover. Tears fall for some unknown reason, but they will not leave a trace in her heart, nor will they leave a single word in the world, like the wind blowing across the cliff at night, which will dissipate after passing by.
Thinking of this, Xie Xuanlan felt a rare sympathy for the soul of his previous life in the mirror.
He awkwardly tried to comfort the figure in the mirror, "If there's one, there'll be two. Maybe there'll even be another life. Then we'll decide our status... well, maybe there'll be three."
The King of Jin said, "There will be no next life."
The corners of his thin lips lifted slightly, and this smile made Xie Xuanlan feel somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember what scene it was.
"Because I don't want to live happily ever after with her."
Instead, I hope that she can get what she wants, not be bound by anyone, and live her life according to her true heart.
Xie Xuanlan was a little dazed when he heard this.
Her wishes and true intentions...
"I just hope that this time, that person can live up to Ying's expectations."
＊
Early the next morning, Xie Xuanlan led his army to the city of Yunjing.
Yunjing is not an ordinary town. It also has twenty-four guards and one hundred thousand imperial guards. However, the court has been in turmoil recently, and most of the military power is in the hands of Prince Jin.
Now at a critical moment, the King of Jin made an excuse of illness and refused to send troops to fight the enemy, nor did he want to hand over the tiger talisman. His attitude seemed very ambiguous.
Princess Chun'an had repeatedly invited him but he did not come, so she did not dare to count on him anymore. Last night, she sent her ministers to the mansions of various aristocratic families to borrow soldiers and servants. Now they have returned one after another, all with ugly expressions. It seems that not only did they fail to borrow soldiers, but they were also humiliated.
Gan Jiu said bitterly, "They're fence-sitters, swaying with the wind! These spineless people are only watching Xie San's ability to succeed, and are afraid of offending him, so they've even forgotten their loyalty as ministers!"
Princess Chun'an said, "If they won't lend troops to me, they will definitely lend them to Prime Minister Xie."
Gan Jiu's expression changed. "Aren't they planning to attack from the inside? No, Your Highness. Let's go out of the city through the secret passage and hide in the fiefdom. As long as we have time, we won't be afraid of firewood. We can gather the garrisons from all over the place, reunite with the prince consort, and then return to the capital to kill the bandits!"
The princess shook her head: "Today's situation is all due to my soft-heartedness and partiality. How can I abandon my father and go alone? Come, take my armor—"
Princess Chun'an ignored Gan Jiu's dissuasion, reorganized her troops of less than 10,000 people, and personally led her troops to the Xuanwu main gate of Yunjing City.
When the Xuanwu main gate was pushed open, the Chengtian gate of the imperial palace was also broken through at the same time.
After learning that Xie Xuanlan was leading troops in rebellion, Prime Minister Xie quickly hid himself. He only showed up last night to contact the major aristocratic families with whom he had former friendships. He borrowed palace soldiers, forced open the armory, and took swords, spears, and halberds. While Xie Xuanlan was besieging the city, he led important officials from the Di and Lu families and other aristocratic families into the palace.
The imperial guards who used to guard the palace were now in the hands of Prince Jin. Since Prince Jin did not send troops to fight against Xie Xuanlan, Prime Minister Xie naturally assumed that he would not object to his forcing the emperor to abdicate.
A large group of rabble broke into the palace and killed and looted their way to Fengqi Palace where Emperor Fengqi was at the moment.
This was the residence of the late Empress, and it had been vacant since her death, with only someone assigned to sweep the place from time to time. At this moment, the doors of Fengqi Palace were wide open, but there was no one inside. Prime Minister Xie led his men into the main living hall and finally saw Emperor Fengqi sitting by the window.
Emperor Feng Qi ignored them and reached out to touch the Luohan couch where the late queen had lain on the day she gave birth. An expression on his old face revealed someone who could not tell whether it was nostalgia or a wry smile.
"I have no virtue," he said.
"I am a coward by nature, not cut out to be an emperor. If I hadn't formed a bond with Brother Xie and hadn't dreamed of the throne, I might now be a wealthy and idle prince, living out my days with my wife and daughter. Why would I have ended up like this, with my country destroyed and my people dead? If Heaven has punished me, the blame lies with me!"
Prime Minister Xie stepped forward and bowed calmly with a smile. "Your Majesty, why do you have to destroy yourself? When it comes to governing the people, your Majesty is truly a benevolent ruler. However, there is only one thing you haven't accomplished in the past thirty years, and that is the selection of a crown prince. Today, I ask Your Majesty to complete this task."
After saying this, he clapped his hands. The chief eunuch Xue Huanjin walked up to Emperor Fengqi, holding a scroll of bright yellow satin. "Your Majesty, please affix the imperial seal."
It was an imperial edict that had already been drafted. The content of the edict was to make the fetus in the imperial concubine's womb the crown prince, and to make him the emperor after he was born. At the same time, the edict conferred the titles of Grand Tutor and Duke of the State on Xie Xiang, and to allow him to care for the emperor and act as regent. The edict also conferred the title of Imperial Concubine Xie on the title of Empress Dowager.
Emperor Feng Qi smiled after reading it and said, "Since this world already belongs to your Xie family, why do you need an outsider like me to sign the seal?"
Prime Minister Xie said, "Your Majesty, you are joking. The baby in the Imperial Concubine's womb is surnamed Xiao. I am here for the royal family with the surname Xiao."
"That bastard's surname isn't Xiao!" Emperor Feng Qi said coldly, "There's only one dragon descendant with the surname Xiao in the world, and that's Princess Chun'an, Xiao Li, born to me and the Empress. She's the only one worthy of being crown prince, the legitimate heir to the Xiao throne!"
"Your Majesty is truly foolish. How can a princess be crown prince?" Prime Minister Xie looked at Xue Huanjin and said, "Grand Eunuch, please place your seal on the throne."
Xue Huanjin was about to reach out and search for the imperial seal from Emperor Fengqi, but was slapped in the face by Emperor Fengqi: "You traitorous dog slave! I've been close to you for so many years in vain!"
Xue Huanjin was neither annoyed nor angry, but smiled: "Your Majesty, you are wrong. My master has been Prime Minister Xie from the beginning. You are a cover, and your master and the King of England are also a cover. I have never betrayed my master."
"You, you..." Emperor Feng Qi's hands were shaking as he pointed at him.
It would be fine if Xie Huanzhi was bullied by a dog when he was in trouble, but now even a dirty eunuch dares to offend the Heavenly Lord!
Just as Xue Huanjin was about to pull Feng Qidi away again, a cold voice came from behind the crowd: "So you are Prime Minister Xie's man."
Everyone turned around to see that the person who came was His Royal Highness Prince Jin, who had been staying at home for several days claiming to be sick.
He walked in slowly, leaning on a jade crutch. It was already the beginning of spring, and he was still covered in a thick fox fur coat, which fluttered with his leisurely and slow steps, revealing the prince's uniform embroidered with a black gold python.
His face was pale, which made his eyes and eyebrows look thick and deep. There were two faint blue shadows under his eyes. He looked really sick and dying.
However, this frail demeanor did not diminish his majesty. His gaze fell on Xue Huanjin, who felt a chill running down his spine and stepped back awkwardly.
His eyes swept over the ministers who had followed Xie Xiang into the palace. They all looked at each other intently, their hands folded and their eyes lowered, not daring to look him in the eye.
Of course, in addition to the invisible pressure, he was also afraid of the murderous imperial guards behind him.
Only Prime Minister Xie showed no fear. He said to the King of Jin, "Why are you joining in the fun at this time? If you have the energy to spare, go to Xuanwu Gate to meet your brother."
The King of Jin said, "I have no brothers. My mother, Princess Xuande, has only one son."
Prime Minister Xie smiled coldly: "Do you think I am willing to admit it? It's just that some things are done for, and if you don't admit it, others will feel alienated. You should have heard clearly just now that His Majesty would rather leave the throne to his daughter than hand it over to the princes of Xie's blood. Now that you have turned against him and surrendered to him, he will not trust you." Emperor Feng Qi stared at Prince Jin without blinking, with a very complicated expression, as if he was trying to identify whether there was any resemblance between his face and that of Prime Minister Xie.
"Ruyu, what does Xie Huanzhi mean by this? He said you are his bloodline, and your mother—"
Prince Jin said calmly, "No, I am the child of the eldest princess and her late husband."
Xie Xiang sneered: "You are just talking nonsense."
The King of Jin said, "Please present me with a bowl of water. I am willing to acknowledge my relationship with the Prime Minister by dropping blood on him."
Now he has the final say in Fengqi Palace. Prime Minister Xie was forced by the imperial guards to have his blood taken. Prince Jin also cut his finger and dripped blood into a bowl. Everyone stretched their necks to watch. After a long time, the two drops of blood still had not mixed.
Prime Minister Xie looked strange, but Emperor Feng Qi breathed a sigh of relief.
The King of Jin picked up the bowl and splashed the cold water in it onto Prime Minister Xie's face. He said, "Xue Huanjin had troubled the Jiang family before, and it was actually because of your will. I will repay you for this humiliation on behalf of my wife."
Then he slowly drew his sword from the waist of the imperial guard beside him and placed the sharp tip of the sword against Xie Xiang's heart.
Xie Xiang was forced to kneel before the King of Jin, his neck raised high. He said, "You can deceive men, but you cannot deceive Heaven. You dare to kill your father. After death, you will fall into the Avici Hell and be burned by the fire of karma forever!"
The King of Jin smiled disapprovingly and said, "My soul has long been condemned to eternal life as an animal. This Avici Hell is probably not enough for me."
The tip of the sword pierced Xie Xiang's clothes. If he exerted more force, it would penetrate his heart. At this moment, he heard a woman's voice rushing closer from outside: "Stop! Stop now!"
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