Chapter 134 For Whom the Bell Tolls!
As early as when the late emperor founded the dynasty, the annual holiday for officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty was set from the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month to the 5th day of the first lunar month after the new year.
Emperor Xianping passed away on the morning of the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month. However, on the morning of the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, when the civil and military officials came to the Qianyuan Hall to visit Emperor Xianping and inquire about the imperial physicians, the imperial physicians solemnly indicated that Emperor Xianping might be beyond saving and could only hold on for another three to five days at most.
In fact, there was no need for the imperial physicians to say much; anyone with eyes could see that Emperor Xianping's time was up.
If Emperor Xianping had always been radiant and vigorous, the sudden untimely death of an emperor in his forties would have been difficult for both the crown prince and the entire court to accept. However, since the Northern Expedition, Emperor Xianping had clearly aged and become frail, and this time he had been bedridden since the winter months. Everyone was somewhat prepared, so at this moment, the crown prince was probably mostly grieving for his father, while the vast majority of the senior officials were thinking about how to smoothly hand over power between the two dynasties.
Led by the two prime ministers, Liu Baoxiu and Xu Lian, along with more than a dozen civil and military officials, they invited Empress Xie and the Crown Prince to a side hall to discuss important matters.
Liu Baoxiu: "Tomorrow is the day of the court recess. If the imperial tombs were to collapse suddenly, we fear we would not be able to respond in time. To be on the safe side, we propose that martial law be imposed on the capital city starting today. Only Dingding Gate and Shangdong Gate of the eight city gates should be opened for the entry and exit of the people and merchants. Vehicles entering and leaving the city gates should be thoroughly searched to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble."
Empress Xie nodded slightly to the Crown Prince. Mother and son were of one mind, and the Crown Prince granted her request.
Li Wei, the Duke of Dingguo and commander of the Eastern Camp, stepped forward with his head bowed and said, "The three capital camps together command 250,000 troops. I believe that the Crown Prince should dispatch three Imperial Guards to supervise the three camps. Anyone who dares to leave the capital camps without the Crown Prince's order and military tally shall be executed without exception. If there is any disturbance in the capital, the Empress and the Crown Prince may also dispatch troops to protect the Emperor and quell the unrest at any time."
The old imperial brother-in-law, Gao Kun, who was also the commander of the Western Camp, and Liang Bizheng, the commander of the Southern Camp, both nodded in agreement.
The Crown Prince glanced indifferently at Chen Ruliang, the Minister of Works.
Chen Ruliang, like the other ministers, expressed his agreement, but Pei Xingshu, Zou Dong, and the other four ministers, whether intentionally or unintentionally, stood far away from him, making Chen Ruliang seem out of place among these colleagues, as if he had returned to the time when he first arrived in the capital and was ostracized by the former Left Chancellor Yang Sheng.
At the time, Chen Ruliang had deliberately pretended to be cautious and dared not be angry or speak out. Today, however, he could not even pretend to be calm and humble. Especially when Li Fei's biological father and his own brother-in-law, Li Wei, took the initiative to express his loyalty to the Crown Prince, Chen Ruliang broke out in a cold sweat. He secretly rejoiced that he had not listened to Yan Zhuang's instigation a few days ago and went to Li Wei to discuss plotting a rebellion and supporting the Second Prince to seize the throne. Otherwise, he would have been taken away by Li Wei and presented to the Crown Prince that very night.
Now the Crown Prince will surely ascend the throne smoothly, but even though the Crown Prince hates him, there is no evidence to execute him. At most, he can find an excuse to demote him to a remote place. The Emperor's unexpectedly short life has caused him to lose all his previous achievements. At this point, Chen Ruliang no longer cares about continuing to rise in rank and enjoy wealth and honor; he only hopes to save his life.
The Crown Prince glanced at Chen Ruliang and then looked away. He did not send more Imperial Guards to supervise the three camps, but instead solemnly entrusted the important task of guarding the three camps to the three commanders, Li Wei, Gao Kun, and Liang Bizheng.
Li Wei's eyes reddened as he knelt to receive the imperial decree.
Liang Bizheng's daughter, Consort Liang, only gave birth to a third princess for Emperor Xianping. Her fat son-in-law, Prince Shun, was also half-paralyzed from a stroke and probably wouldn't live as long as him. Liang Bizheng wasn't senile, so he would definitely support the legitimate Crown Prince.
The old imperial uncle was very pleased that the crown prince had such spirit and magnanimity at such a young age, and Xiao Yu, the crown prince's tutor who was standing silently to the side, also breathed a sigh of relief.
The three commanders took their leave with the prepared imperial edict from the crown prince.
The Crown Prince glanced at Li Wei's retreating figure. Since Li Wei was willing to pledge his loyalty, he would naturally continue to employ him. However, since the entire Li family was in the city, he was not afraid of Li Wei making any unusual moves in the Eastern Camp.
The Beijing garrison made arrangements, and the martial law in the capital was of paramount importance. As long as the more than 30,000 imperial guards in the city remained loyal to the Crown Prince, even if the three commanders joined forces to rebel and force the emperor to abdicate, they would not be able to breach the majestic and sturdy city walls of the capital in a short period of time.
While the civil officials were discussing Emperor Xianping's posthumous title and the new emperor's reign title, the Crown Prince summoned Zhao Yi, the commander of the Imperial Guards, and Xiao Lin, the commander of the Vermilion Bird Guards, and asked directly, "Among the Upper Four Guards and the Lower Nine Guards, is there anyone secretly associating with Consort Li's faction?"
All thirteen guards were under Zhao Yi's command. Although Xiao Lin was only the commander of the Vermilion Bird Guard, the Crown Prince believed in Xiao Lin's loyalty to him and that Xiao Lin had a good understanding of the military officers of the other guards.
Zhao Yi is only forty years old this year. Back then, he stood out from the personal guards of the Prince of Fu's mansion and became a commander entirely on his own martial arts skills, intelligence and loyalty. With the ascension of Emperor Xianping, he was directly promoted to the commander of the Imperial Guard. According to his original plan, he should grow old with Emperor Xianping. When Emperor Xianping died peacefully in his sixties or seventies, he, this old man, would take the initiative to resign and return to his hometown to live out his old age.
But Emperor Xianping was so young that he had to leave him!
The young and vigorous Zhao Yi was reluctant to give up the wealth and luxury of the capital. Coincidentally, the Crown Prince had grown up in the Eastern Palace since childhood. Without a royal residence, he would not have his own personal guards. If he could seize this opportunity to show the Crown Prince his loyalty, he could continue to serve as the commander of the Imperial Guard for the third emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty!
Without any hesitation, Zhao Yi immediately reported all the commanders or officers of the Thirteen Guards who had openly or secretly drunk with Consort Li's faction, including some civil and military officials: "I don't know exactly what they said while drinking, but I've noted it all down. Chen Ruliang and Yan Zhuang are not good people. Those who are willing to socialize with them are probably not good people either."
Crown Prince: "Is that so? What makes you say that, Lord Zhao?"
As soon as Emperor Xianping stepped out of the Qianyuan Hall, Zhao Yi was practically Emperor Xianping's shadow. No matter what Yan Zhuang or Chen Ruliang said to Emperor Xianping, Zhao Yi knew almost everything. After citing examples such as Yan Zhuang deliberately implying that the Empress had a past relationship with the Wei family and Chen Ruliang cleverly framing Xiao Yu during the Northern Expedition, Zhao Yi pointed to Xiao Lin: "Xiao Lin also knows about Xiao Yu's matter, as well as Eunuch Xue. Your Highness can find out by asking."
Xiao Lin smiled wryly and said, "Lord Chen has a sharp tongue, and I dare not respond to him. But I, your younger brother, am foolish enough to fall into his trap."
The Crown Prince said, "...Sir, you are of noble character and disdain scheming and trickery, so I did not take any precautions."
Xiao Lin: "..."
The Crown Prince then asked Xiao Lin if there were any military officers he suspected.
Xiao Lin listed several civil and military officials whom he or his guards had personally witnessed chatting amiably with Chen Ruliang and others.
The civil officials were in no hurry to deal with the matter. Following the two men's recommendations, the Crown Prince made some personnel changes within the Imperial Guard. Among them, Luo Song, who was serving as a commander of the Shangdong Guard, was promoted to commander of the Shangdong Guard directly because of his connection to Xiao Yu's brother-in-law. Currently, only the Shangdong Gate and Dingding Gate are open in the capital, yet the Crown Prince dared to have Luo Song guard the Shangdong Gate, demonstrating his almost blind trust in Xiao Yu.
Xiao Lin wanted to make a sarcastic remark about Luo Song, but considering that Luo Song was now being regarded as a confidant by the Crown Prince because of his younger brother, Xiao Lin didn't know whether to be happy or helpless.
Having dealt with everything, the Crown Prince continued to stay by his father's sickbed.
To be fair, the Emperor did hurt the Empress Dowager's feelings, but he did almost everything a father could do for his eldest son. The Crown Prince will always remember the time when his father personally taught him calligraphy and martial arts when he was a child, and the family joy when his father accompanied him and his siblings to set off fireworks at the palace. These are the things that make the Crown Prince reluctant to part with his father.
Even though the Crown Prince was only looking at his father, who was fast asleep, he could hear the cries of Consort Li and her four children rising and falling beside him.
Previously, the Crown Prince would feel irritated and displeased just hearing the voices of Consort Li and her son, but in the past few days, he found the cries of the five people quite pleasant to hear.
This joy inevitably lessened the Crown Prince's reluctance to part with his father.
While Consort Li was devoutly praying to Buddha, Bodhisattva and all the gods to bless Emperor Xianping so that he could turn the tide, she could fully feel the Crown Prince's joy. In the past, whenever the Crown Prince saw her, he would purse his lips and have a cold face, which was an undisguised aversion to her. But now, she was kneeling by the dragon bed crying and the Crown Prince was willing to give her his seat!
The Crown Prince's good mood terrified Consort Li. So terrified that during her brief time alone with Emperor Xianping at his bedside, she secretly whispered a complaint about the Crown Prince in his ear: "Your Majesty, please get well soon! Otherwise, what will we, mother and children, do if you really leave? The Crown Prince has always resented me for stealing your favor from the Empress. If you leave, he will definitely kill us, sob sob sob..."
At this moment, Emperor Xianping was simply too weak to speak and did not want to waste his remaining energy on unimportant people and things, but he could still hear the sounds outside. His mind was working slowly, but he was not confused.
While Consort Li was tearfully hoping that Emperor Xianping would depose the Crown Prince for the sake of her and her children's lives, or at least leave them a way to save their lives, Emperor Xianping in her eyes was still like a dead man with his eyelids closed. But the corners of his withered mouth actually curled up slightly, as if he was smiling!
Although she didn't know what Emperor Xianping was laughing at, or whether he just wanted to speak but didn't have the strength to open his mouth, Consort Li cried even harder.
On the morning of the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, just past 9:00 AM, Emperor Xianping took one last look at his wife and children who were guarding his bedside, as well as his uncle, Xiao Yu, and other important officials in the distance. Helplessly, he was forced to let go of the crown prince's hand.
When the late emperor passed away, the civil and military officials, who had been on holiday but visited the emperor every day, first knelt down and kowtowed to bid farewell to the late emperor. Then they immediately invited the crown prince to change into the dragon robe and ascend the throne to preside over the late emperor's funeral.
The palace was bustling yet orderly; shortly afterward, nine tolls of the death knell echoed throughout the capital.
At the Marquis of Zhongyi's residence, Luo Fu, who was standing under the eaves where she could bask in the sunlight and watching Xiao Hong play cat's cradle with his sister, heard the bell and looked up. First, she saw the clear blue sky, and then she saw the handsome and majestic Emperor Xianping, whom she had seen up close for the first time. She felt a little sad because things had changed, but when she thought of how Xiao Yu had almost died at the hands of this emperor, the sadness dissipated.
At the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, just as they sent someone to drive away Fang, the daughter-in-law from the maternal family who had come to visit again, Chen, the mother of Consort Li, who was of noble birth as the Duchess, also heard the imperial death knell resounding through the air.
Her legs gave way and Chen collapsed to the ground.
Her sister-in-law wanted to ask her to help her brother, but little did she know that with Emperor Xianping's death, her daughter was destined to be dealt with by the new emperor. Could she, as the birth mother, really not be implicated by her daughter at all?
Outside the gates of the Duke's mansion, Fang Shi boarded her family's carriage in a daze. Thinking of the shady dealings her husband had done in secret, Fang Shi felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
In another three-courtyard house, Yan Zhuang, who was not qualified to visit the emperor in the palace, was awakened from his hangover. Counting the tolling of the death knell, Yan Zhuang staggered out of bed, grabbed a jar that still had some wine left, and tilted his head back to continue drinking.
All the wealth and glory, in the end it's all for naught!
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Author's note: Time to fry the grasshoppers!
100 small red envelopes, see you around 10 PM for the second update~
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