Chapter 311: The End of the World (Two Chapters Combined into One)
The third prince wants to go crazy now!
The incident of Fan Qiujun has made his position precarious. He killed the retired emperor and put the blame on Zhao Guanyue, risking everything. He could only succeed and not fail. He thought he had done it. He thought today was his lucky day, he would turn the tide, he would be the new prince, and would succeed his father to sit on the throne in the future.
For this day, even if Concubine Qiao was under house arrest, even if Feng Jiahe committed suicide, even if he was despised, even if the Feng family was doomed, he didn't care at all. He used all his efforts and schemes!
But the reality was that not only did his plan fail, but even his origin, which he had been proud of since childhood, was fake.
His grandfather was a lecher and his father was a fake!
The third prince collapsed, but he could do nothing but vent his anger at Concubine Li. Not only because all this was caused by Concubine Li, but also because among all the people present today, except Xu Lin and his son, Concubine Li was the only one he could afford to offend.
When Concubine Li called out "Xu Lang", her guilt was confirmed.
Concubine Li can't turn things around!
The third prince was finally subdued by the brothers of Sui Dashi. The emperor didn't want to let Concubine Li die, otherwise it would be a bad omen for her.
The third prince had a dazed look in his eyes as he allowed the Stone-Breaking Brothers to tie him up.
The pain caused by the leather rope digging into his flesh finally made his brain clear, and his scattered gaze gradually focused on Zhao Guanyue.
Just now, the person who was tied up was Zhao Guanyue!
But Zhao Guanyue's gaze was looking elsewhere. He was looking at Emperor Yongjia!
Emperor Yongjia pursed his lips slightly and subconsciously looked towards the door.
Zhao Guanyue's voice suddenly rang out, carrying the joy of a young man: "You are looking for Lu Gan, right? He is dead. I just saw him when I came in."
Emperor Yongjia seemed not to have heard. He looked past Zhao Guanyue and towards the retired emperor: "Father, it's been forty years. Is there no father-son relationship between you and me?"
The Emperor snorted coldly, "Father-son affection? Zhao Xuan, didn't our father-son affection vanish as soon as you asked Xiao Wang to throw dirty water on me? Tell me, was it then that you knew you weren't my biological child?"
Back then, Xiao Wang was married to the Prince of Wu while pregnant. She poisoned her husband, but refused to reveal who her adulterer was until her death.
But the more she concealed it, the more people believed that the baby in her belly was the emperor's child.
It was because she often went in and out of the palace at that time, and often lived in the palace.
Xiao Wang was the niece of the Queen, and the retired Emperor was her uncle. However, she was betrothed by the retired Emperor to the Crown Prince of Wu.
When the King of Wu led his troops into the capital, the retired emperor encountered the biggest crisis since he ascended the throne. Although the entire Wang family was executed and Queen Wang was deposed, the retired emperor's reputation was damaged and he became obsessed with cultivating immortals, which also led to his later abdication.
After many years, this was the first time that the emperor mentioned this matter in public. Before this, this matter was a taboo in the court and the harem.
Emperor Yongjia did not expect that the retired emperor would bring up this matter, and a hint of viciousness flashed in his eyes.
Back then, he couldn't stand Crown Prince Zhao Xian. It was obvious that he was better than Zhao Xian, but those old ministers valued Zhao Xian and didn't take him seriously at all.
Since the old ones were not enough, he tried to win over the young people, and he set his sights on the Prince of Wu.
At that time, the Prince of Wu had reached the age to return to Wu after his marriage, which was a good opportunity to win him over.
He tried to show his goodwill to the Prince of Wu, but the Prince of Wu was not buying it at all and showed no mercy at all. In his words, he even pointed out that he wanted to seize the position of Crown Prince.
He was so angry that he thought of Xiao Wang, who was engaged to the Prince of Wu.
Xiao Wangshi had a lively personality, while the Crown Prince of Wu was serious and dull. Xiao Wangshi disliked the Crown Prince of Wu and was even more dissatisfied with the marriage. However, he already had a wife and concubines at that time and was experienced in women. Xiao Wangshi often visited the harem, so it was not difficult for him to find out her preferences. He catered to her preferences, and the two hit it off immediately...
Seeing that Emperor Yongjia remained silent, the retired emperor sneered, "After Xiao Wangshi killed the Prince of Wu, you were the one who fabricated public opinion and pointed the finger at me, making everyone in the court and the country believe that the reason for the Prince of Wu's death was my infidelity!
I suspected you at that time, but I denied it because I mistakenly believed in the father-son relationship between you and me.
Zhao Xuan, now that I think about it, you already knew your life story at that time, right?
"No, no!" Emperor Yongjia denied. This time he did not lie. At least at that time, he had never doubted his own life experience.
From childhood to adulthood, although his father looked down on his mother, he liked him very much.
Many times, the emperor even favored him more than the crown prince.
More importantly, the Crown Prince's biological mother had passed away, leaving him without the support of his maternal relatives. Concubine Li, though unpopular, was alive and well. More importantly, the Wei family, which supported Concubine Li, though lacked real power, was a well-established aristocratic family. Although Concubine Li was adopted from a branch of the royal family, the Wei family offered their full support to the Crown Prince.
At that time, he was close to and grateful to the Wei family.
Since when did he start to hate the Wei family?
It was after he ascended the throne. The old head of the Wei family passed away, and the new head regarded himself as his uncle and was arrogant and conceited. In a rage, he sent the male members of the Wei family to serve as officials for various reasons. In the capital, only Old Lady Wei, who married into the Baoqing Marquis's Mansion, was left.
Without the suppression of the retired emperor, Concubine Li's greedy and foolish nature was exposed. She kept asking for things, crying, making a fuss, and even threatening to hang herself, in order to gain benefits for the Wei family and the Baoqing Marquisate, but left him to clean up the mess.
He was fed up with it and became more and more indulgent towards the Wei family and the Baoqing Marquis Mansion, and he secretly made some moves. The male members of the Wei family became more and more useless, and Zhu Yu of the Baoqing Marquis Mansion became a good-for-nothing playboy.
Over the years, the Wei family has not had a single promising descendant, and Zhu Yu has become a pariah!
Although he was responsible for this, what was more important was that both the Wei family and the Baoqing Marquisate were rotten from the root.
He is a winner, always!
He defeated Zhao Xian, defeated his father, and defeated those foreign relatives, and he sat firmly on the throne!
Emperor Yongjia met the retired emperor's rebuking gaze, and there was an innate coldness in his eyes.
"Father, you have a powerful mother. She has fought bravely for you. You only need to hide behind her and you can naturally sit high in the court. But I don't have that. My mother only holds me back and creates all kinds of trouble.
But father, I eventually replaced you, which is enough to prove that I am a natural born king and you are not.
Father, you do not have the wisdom that an emperor should have, nor have you fulfilled the responsibilities that an emperor should have.
If it weren't for Empress Dowager Qi to clean up the court for you, and if it weren't for the old ministers she left behind for you, would you have been able to sit firmly in the court for twenty years?
You see, after Empress Dowager Qi passed away, everything you had was a mess. Even Concubine Li could replace one thing with another right under your nose. Isn't it ridiculous and absurd?
Besides, if it weren't for your favor for Concubine Meng Shu, why would she do this?
All of this is because of you, you are the original sin."
This was not the first time that the retired emperor had his face torn off by someone. As early as when he was in Tongzhou, he was torn off by Zhao Shiqing once. However, these were two different matters. In his opinion, Zhao Shiqing was just a young girl who was ignorant of the world and had no conflict of interest with him.
But it was different for Emperor Yongjia. This was a cuckoo bird that he raised, a bastard that he despised.
Now this bastard is accusing him, saying that he is not worthy of being an emperor.
A surge of anger rushed to the top of his head, and the emperor felt his eyes were blurry. His body swayed and he fell into a thin but warm embrace.
A cool, subtle fragrance wafted through his nose, and the Emperor's breath gradually calmed. Zhao Guanyue embraced him and whispered, "Grandfather, during your reign, you never unjustly killed a single person. You were grateful and repaid favors, ensuring that all the veteran officials left behind by the Empress Dowager met a good end. You treated the people well, repeatedly reducing and exempting excessive taxes. You knew how to employ talented individuals, promoting a number of capable officials without any connections. More importantly, during your twenty years on the throne, you didn't allow the barbarians to seize a single inch of our land. You were prudent, prudent, and benevolent. The Empress Dowager would be proud of you even in her grave."
Zhao Guanyue knew that Empress Dowager Qi had a huge influence on the retired emperor, and only by bringing up Empress Dowager Qi could the retired emperor feel at ease.
Zhao Guanyue knew even better why Emperor Yongjia deliberately angered the retired emperor at this time.
Just now, the emperor almost fell into his trap.
Once the emperor falls, the situation on the field will change drastically.
Whether it was Prince Fu or Prince Lu, they could not suppress Emperor Yongjia.
Wang Daban ran out quickly. A moment later, Han Yuanshi came in and pierced the acupoint with the silver needle in his hand. The mist in the eyes of the retired emperor gradually faded away, and the light appeared in his old eyes again.
Emperor Yongjia sneered and looked towards the door again.
The tightly closed door was slammed open from the outside, and a group of men in black rushed in.
The leader clasped his fists and saluted Emperor Yongjia: "We, the people at the mountain gate, encountered an obstacle and were delayed for a while, so we are late in protecting the emperor."
Emperor Yongjia nodded and pointed at Zhao Guanyue: "Capture this boy!"
Zhao Guanyue smiled and stood still. Suddenly, a huge iron net fell from the sky, separating Emperor Yongjia and the Empress, as well as the men in black, and of course the tied-up Third Prince and the still sobbing Concubine Li.
Since the retired emperor was able to fall into a coma here and attract Emperor Yongjia to come here, the place must have been prepared in advance.
This mechanism existed in Wuji Temple long ago. The retired emperor often came here, and the guards of Wuji Temple were far inferior to those in the palace. The master of the temple at that time was proficient in the art of mechanisms and was worried that the retired emperor would be in danger in the temple, so he designed this mechanism. Unfortunately, after the mechanism was made, the retired emperor never came here again. It was not until many years later that it was put to good use.
Looking at the people separated by a net, Emperor Yongjia clenched his fists. Today, he was fooled from the very beginning.
He thought the Third Prince's plan had succeeded and that the Emperor was really poisoned, but he didn't expect that the Emperor had taken advantage of the situation and had been prepared!
But how did this matter leak out?
Before this, only he and the third prince knew about this matter.
He won't leak it, so it can only be the Third Prince.
What a waste!
Emperor Yongjia really wronged the third prince. The third prince was also puzzled. He didn't know how the matter was leaked.
At this time, the Great General Divine Bird had a hearty meal in the Third Prince's mansion and left reluctantly, keeping his achievements and fame hidden.
He quite liked this place, but unfortunately, his mother said that he can't come here anymore, and even if he does, there won't be a full banquet.
Han Yuanpan used his family's unique skills to administer acupuncture before the symptoms worsened. The emperor recovered and Han Yuanpan said to Zhao Guanyue, "The emperor is fine. Don't get angry in the future."
Zhao Guanyue thanked Han Yuanpan, and then heard the emperor ask, "Are these men in black the mountain gate you mentioned?"
Zhao Guanyue nodded. "That's right. Shanmen was founded by the royal family of the previous dynasty. Zhao Xuan learned of their background and used this as a threat to force Shanmen to submit to him. Over the years, Shanmen has killed many people for him."
The emperor felt a little regretful: "It's a pity that Qing girl is not here."
When this plan was originally discussed, Zhao Shiqing volunteered to be present at the event, but was ultimately rejected unanimously and was deprived of the opportunity to appear today.
"Your Majesty, I am here to rescue you! Your Majesty is dead, and the Royal Guards are on standby!"
Duke Dingguo and Duke Weiguo were standing at the door covered in blood. Duke Dingguo was holding a human head in his hand, the head of Wang Qiancheng, the leader of the Royal Guards.
Emperor Yongjia's eyes darkened. Like Lu Gan, Wang Qiancheng was promoted by him.
Most of the leaders of the Imperial Guards came from the families of military generals, and the Duke Dingguo and the Duke Weiguo were the two major military families of the Dayong Dynasty, and they had an extraordinary status among the military generals. Once Wang Qiancheng died, the other members of the Imperial Guards naturally turned against him.
"Your Majesty, I am too late to rescue you. The five battalions of the Imperial Guard have assembled. I have led two battalions into the city and have surrounded the Wuji Temple. We are only waiting for the order from Your Majesty, and the other three battalions will enter the city to protect you!"
There was murderous intent in Emperor Yongjia's eyes. It turned out that the person who came was Earl of Changping!
"Lord Changping, I have treated you well! Have you forgotten who exiled you to the frontier for twenty years, separating you from your family? And who transferred you back to the capital and put you in charge of the imperial guards? This is how you guard my gates?"
The Earl of Changping's eyes were firm as he spoke word by word, "Prince Xuan, have you forgotten how the title of the Earl of Changping came about? The Earl of Changping was bestowed upon us by Emperor Taizu himself. Generations of our Earl of Changping have been loyal to the descendants of Emperor Taizu, and we protect his land and his family! Prince Xuan, are you worthy of this?"
Duke Dingguo and Duke Weiguo looked at each other and expressed their admiration. This man even stopped calling him Zhao Xuan.
He was not the emperor, nor was he Zhao Xuan. He was just Prince Xuan. If Earl Changping had not arrived late and did not know the name Xu Kun, he would definitely have said Xu Xuan now.
Lu Gan was dead, Wang Qiancheng was dead, the five battalions of the Imperial Guards and the Beijing Guards all defected, and all that was left for Emperor Yongjia were these twenty or so people from the Mountain Gate.
And these people from the mountain gate were able to come here amidst heavy siege. Who can say that this is not a trap?
People opened their pockets and let them in.
Emperor Yongjia took two steps back. The game was over. This time, it was really over!
If time could go back, he would definitely not rush over excitedly when he heard the news that the emperor was poisoned.
......
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