Chapter 328 Ambush
Liu Chuan stared at Commander Zhang's face, feeling like he was dreaming.
The commander of the imperial guards, who is in charge of the security of the imperial city, actually rebelled.
"What do you want our family to do?"
A voice came from outside: "Draft an abdication edict and hand over the throne to me."
When Commander Zhang saw the visitor, he bowed and clasped his fists.
Liu Chuan's eyes narrowed: "King Ping?"
He looked at Prince Ping, who was approaching surrounded by people, and then at Commander Zhang, who was respectful, and felt it was absurd: "You are colluding with each other and trying to usurp the throne!"
King Ping was furious: "Usurping the throne? This kingdom has always belonged to me. Now that Qi Xiang is dying, isn't it only natural that he should return the kingdom to me?"
Commander Zhang grabbed Liu Chuan's collar and said in a sinister tone, "Eunuch Liu, please don't be so ignorant!"
"Water——" There was a noise coming from the bed.
Liu Chuan broke free from Commander Zhang's hand and rushed over: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you are awake!"
He hurriedly grabbed the kettle beside him and poured a cup of warm water. Because his hands were shaking, some water spilled out, but he didn't care about that. He carefully helped Emperor Tai'an up and fed him water.
Prince Ping watched with a cold eye, feeling greatly pleased: "I never thought that even someone as decisive and capable as my fourth brother would have trouble even drinking a sip of water."
Emperor Tai'an, who was lying on the bed, looked over with difficulty.
Perhaps because he had been unconscious for too long, his eyes were lifeless and his face looked even yellower under the light, making him look terminally ill.
King Ping felt relieved, but at the same time, it seemed unreal.
The wolf-like man who had occupied his position for more than ten years would actually get sick and die.
He couldn't help but take a step forward to take a closer look.
Commander Zhang was startled and said hurriedly, "Be careful, don't get too close."
Prince Ping was a man who valued his life very much. Upon hearing this, he quickly took two steps back and saw Emperor Tai'an's lips moving.
"What did you say?"
Liu Chuan spoke up for Emperor Tai'an: "The Emperor asked when you two colluded with each other!"
"I can't even speak." Emperor Tai'an's weakness made Prince Ping's nervousness when he entered the palace at night disappear, and was replaced by the joy of getting what he wanted.
"Collusion? This is what everyone wants! You stole the throne from me. When there was no suitable heir, you would rather adopt someone from the royal family than return the throne to me or consider my sons. Qi Xiang, have you forgotten that I am your biological brother, born of the same mother? How could you be so selfish!"
King Ping had a rather weak appearance, and at this moment his face was distorted, with a kind of heart-pounding madness.
The corners of Emperor Tai'an's mouth trembled on the sickbed. He stared at Commander Zhang and squeezed out a few words from his throat.
Liu Chuan said, "The Emperor asked, as the commander of the Imperial Guards, why did you betray the Emperor?"
Commander Zhang was not as confident as Prince Ping. He looked away with a flickering look in his eyes. "The Emperor was going to choose a successor anyway. I was simply following the will of Heaven."
"Heaven's will? The emperor is the heaven. Whose will are you obeying?" Liu Chuan stood up angrily and pointed at Commander Zhang and asked.
Commander Zhang lowered his eyes and said nothing.
The majesty of Emperor Tai'an had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. If he had not suddenly become seriously ill and had not received the order from that person, he would never have dared to do so.
"You don't dare to speak?" Liu Chuan raised his voice, "The Emperor is the ruler of the Great Zhou! Commander Zhang, don't be fooled by the treacherous people. It's not too late to confess your guilt now."
Liu Chuan's words stung Prince Ping's heart like a sharp knife: "Traitor? Fourth Brother, let me tell you, it's my mother who supports me! Your dog servant said my mother is a traitor? Hahahahaha..."
King Ping's crazy laughter echoed in the bedroom.
Commander Zhang frowned secretly.
At this moment, the most important thing is to force the emperor to write the abdication edict as soon as possible. How can we drag the empress dowager into this?
Yes, it was the Queen Mother who could drive the commander of the imperial guards to abdicate.
The people sent to Qingyuan, where Prince Ping was imprisoned, to monitor Prince Ping's family were ostensibly Emperor Tai'an's men, but in reality some of them were the Empress Dowager's men.
This is why Commander Zhang did not understand King Ping's feelings.
He was originally the king of a country, but was driven off the throne by his own brother. He fled the capital like a stray dog and lived in hiding. He was depressed for more than ten years and before he could vent his anger, he became a prisoner.
Now that victory is in sight, how can I resist showing off?
"You never thought, Queen Mother actually supports me! Fourth son, fourth son, have you forgotten that I'm Queen Mother's eldest son?" Prince Ping opened his arms, his face flushed with excitement. "You stole my throne back then, and you thought Queen Mother would always support you?"
"Cough cough cough——" The person on the bed started coughing.
Commander Zhang thought to himself that the old emperor was too impatient and reminded him, "Let's first ask Eunuch Liu to write the imperial edict of abdication on the emperor's behalf..."
King Ping stopped smiling and nodded.
Commander Zhang stepped forward, his hawk-like gaze fixed on Liu Chuan: "Eunuch Liu, please don't waste time. Please come in."
Liu Chuan showed a resolute look on his face: "Bah, you think everyone is a traitor like you, our family will never do anything to betray the emperor!"
There was a rustling sound, and a cold knife was placed in front of Commander Zhang.
"Eunuch Liu, please don't be ungrateful!" Commander Zhang warned coldly.
"Ahem—" Emperor Tai'an coughed twice, pointed at the door, and uttered a word with difficulty, "Go..."
"Your Majesty!" Liu Chuan's face changed drastically.
Emperor Tai'an seemed to have exhausted all his strength when he said that word, and his breathing became much heavier.
Liu Chuan was in tears, bowed his head and walked out.
Commander Zhang gave a wink and a guard followed.
Seeing Liu Chuan walking out, the guards immediately asked vigilantly, "Where are you going, Eunuch Liu?"
Liu Chuan sneered: "If you don't take the seal, how can the edict take effect?"
Liu Chuan was not the eunuch in charge of the seal. It was just that the eunuch in charge of the seal, Wang He, suddenly fell ill a few days ago, so he was temporarily in charge of the seal.
This is also the reason why Commander Zhang led his troops into the Qianqing Palace and attached so much importance to Liu Chuan.
Liu Chuan walked into the night with a gloomy face and suddenly quickened his pace.
The guard following him sensed something was wrong and was about to speak out to stop it when several sharp arrows flew through the air and pierced him like a hedgehog.
Before anyone else could react, Liu Chuan ran away.
More screams sounded behind him, one after another.
Hearing the screams, Commander Zhang rushed out, followed by Prince Ping.
The night was dark, and the imperial guards surrounding the Palace of Heavenly Purity fell one by one, having almost no power to resist the arrows that flew from nowhere.
Commander Zhang's face was revealed under the light, looking pale.
There were figures lurking in the distance, and cold light was flashing. Commander Zhang felt a chill in his heart, and finally realized: he had been ambushed!
A figure approached, the footsteps were neither light nor heavy, but they sounded like thunder in Commander Zhang's ears.
"Yang Jing?" Commander Zhang's expression changed drastically when he saw the man's face clearly.
The Imperial City Guards have a total of three commanders: one chief and two deputy commanders, and Yang Jing is one of the deputy commanders.
Another person came over and stood with Commander Yang. It was another deputy commander, Li Chang.
Commander Zhang's hand holding the knife trembled, and he suddenly rushed back, with another person in his hand in an instant.
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