Shen Yu looked up at King Li, whose sharp eyebrows and bright eyes met hers with a cold and piercing gaze.
No matter what conditions King Le proposes, if she does not agree, he will definitely think that she is feigning allegiance.
She feigned composure and slowly said, "What are King Li's conditions? Speak plainly."
[First, exchange Mu Cheng'er for 30,000 Mu family troops. Second, draw up a written agreement forbidding Liu Guiping from declaring himself king.]
Shen Yu's expression froze again. She could forbid Liu Guiping from declaring himself king, since Liu Deng was still alive.
However, even if Mu Nanfeng agreed to the request for the Mu family's 30,000 troops, the Emperor and Prime Minister Kong would never allow it.
If Mu Nanfeng insists on handing over the 30,000 troops, the entire Mu family will likely be wiped out.
King Li isn't calling for a large army; he's practically trying to wipe out the Mu family.
At this moment, King Jing said, "If we want the Mu family's troops, Prime Minister Kong will definitely stop us. There might be a big battle. With the Heng King's troops, the chances of winning are not high."
My 20,000 troops are still on the northern frontier; they can be recalled to serve King Heng and King Le.
King Li glared at Chen Yu, his voice booming, "I want 30,000 Mu family troops. Use them to storm the palace."
King Li is trying to use the Mu family army as a shield!
Although Shen Yu was furious, she remained calm and gestured for King Heng and King Li to sit down.
In order to gain the trust of Prince Heng and Prince Li, she raised an eyebrow at Prince Li and chuckled: "Heh! Everyone says that Prince Li is calm and wise, but I never thought that his vision is so short-sighted. Once we get the imperial decree and occupy the palace, my Mu family army will naturally follow me and pledge allegiance to Prince Heng and Prince Li."
If the Mu family army suffers heavy losses due to King Li's impulsive actions, in the end, it will be our own troops that suffer the loss.
Bang! Prince Heng slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Are we really going to lose our troops? Then your Mu family army can drive us out of the palace!"
Upon seeing this, King Jing quickly inquired: "Has Chen Yu come up with a brilliant plan?"
Shen Yu glanced at Heng Wang and continued, "We can gather all our forces and storm the palace together. Once they're exhausted, Heng Wang can lead his troops into the palace, capture Song Hua and Kong Xiang, and retrieve the imperial edict from Hong Yu. This way, we can preserve Heng Wang's forces."
How can I gather forces from all sides? I intended to win them over to fight against the imperial court, but they refuse to pledge allegiance.
King Li complained, resting his arms on his thighs and hanging his head in frustration.
Upon seeing this, King Jing took out a yellow scroll. Before he could open it, King Heng snatched it away. Upon opening it, he discovered it was the late emperor's edict.
The Prince Heng muttered: "Should the throne be passed to the Prince Pu?"
Let me examine the flaws within.
Chen Yu reached out and took the edict, examining it closely. Looking at the ink, she could clearly see that the two strokes above the character "普" were added later.
Although she had guessed Hongyu and the Kong family's plot to usurp the throne, when she saw the will with her own eyes, she couldn't help but exclaim: "What a brilliant Prince Pu! He's only two strokes different from the Prince of Jin!"
After saying that, she realized that this really was the late emperor's edict. If that was the case, would Prince Heng and Prince Li still enter the palace to rescue Hongyu?
She couldn't help but frown and look at Prince Jing in surprise.
King Jing had naturally prepared his explanation. That day, when he returned from the frontier and went to the palace to report, he unexpectedly encountered a palace maid with a face full of scars. The maid handed him a scroll and left.
When he returned home and read the note inside the scroll, he realized that the palace maid was Hongyu.
To show his loyalty, he had no choice but to present the late emperor's edict to Prince Heng.
He took the imperial edict, rolled it up, and handed it to Prince Heng, saying, "This is indeed the late emperor's edict. With this, we can surely persuade all the forces to storm the palace."
The Prince Heng handed the imperial edict to the Prince Li, then burst into laughter, "Haha... Now that we have the edict, why bother rescuing Zhang Hongyu? Let's storm the palace and slaughter them all!"
[Tch! Prince Heng is careless. Hongyu knows who altered the will, and she also knows who killed the late emperor. Don't you want such witnesses?]
After speaking, King Jing helped Chen Yu to her feet. "Have you been sitting for so long? Are you tired?"
Shen Yu nodded, grabbed Jing Wang's arm, and stood up. Although her legs were trembling, she finally had some sense of it.
Seeing that the King of Heng and the King of Li were whispering to each other, she pushed away the King of Jing and complained, "I said I would go to the southeast coast to seek refuge with the King of Jin. The will originally stated that the throne should be passed to him."
Besides, he commands an army of 80,000 and is capable of storming the palace to help me capture Prime Minister Kong. Yet you insist that Prince Heng is the eldest son and should rightfully succeed to the throne...
Upon hearing this, Prince Heng pricked up his ears, stood up, and smiled at Prince Jing. "Prince Jing's sincere allegiance to me is an immense honor. Is Chenyu tired? Men! Arrange tents for Prince Jing and Miss Chenyu, and prepare writing materials for Miss Chenyu. Have a written agreement drawn up."
"No need," Chen Yu said, taking a piece of paper from her sleeve and handing it to Heng Wang.
When Heng Wang looked, he realized that Shen Yu had already given up on letting Liu Guiping establish himself as king. It seemed that both Shen Yu and Jing Wang were sincerely loyal to him.
Four days later.
The full moon hung high, its light illuminating the capital city, while flames raged and swords flashed within the palace.
Shouts, screams, wails... the fighting lasted all night before it finally ended.
Prince Jing helped Chen Yu into the palace, stepping over the blood as they walked toward the Ziji Hall.
At this moment, there were only four people in the hall: the emperor sat upright with a calm and still expression, more dignified than ever before.
Kong, on the other hand, had his hands and feet bound, and was kneeling on the ground trembling, his purple robe already soaked with urine.
King Heng and King Li, each holding a sharp sword, stood before the emperor.
Swish, swish, swish...
Kong He'er rushed in and knelt before Prince Heng and Prince Li. "He'er has promised to serve Prince Heng, please spare my father... Ah!"
Kong He'er fell to the ground with a sword stuck in her back. When Kong Xiang looked at it, he realized it was Hong Yu.
Hongyu's face was covered with crisscrossing knife scars. Her once crescent-shaped eyes were now pierced by scars, making her look cold, fierce, and terrifying.
Kong Xiang trembled even more violently, and another stream of water flowed down his robe and onto the ground.
[Yu'er, spare...my...life...]
Whoosh!
Hongyu pointed her sword at Kong Xiang's brow and demanded sharply, "You old scoundrel, how have you treated me? Riding me on a wooden donkey, slashing my face, making me amusement for the guards… With a despicable and shameless prime minister like you, the country will surely perish, or Heaven will not tolerate this!"
After saying this, Hongyu suddenly plunged her sword into Kong Xiang's brow.
Snap snap snap...
The Prince Heng sheathed his sword, clapped his hands, and walked up to Hongyu, praising her, "Hongyu, your courage is extraordinary, I admire you. Now that only this useless emperor is left alive, I will trouble you to execute him."
Hongyu, puzzled, carried her sword and patrolled the hall as if searching for something.
She remembered that when the Prince Heng broke into the palace yesterday, the Third Prince went to the Ziji Palace. Could it be that the Third Prince was also dead?
She saw a child's corpse behind the emperor, and upon closer inspection, she realized it was a child she didn't recognize.
The Prince Heng walked over, drew his sword, and swiftly pierced the child's body, coldly sneering, "Even if he lives, he has no right to inherit the throne, after all, his father usurped it."
At this moment, the Emperor was looking at Hongyu with tears in his eyes, shaking his head slightly, begging Hongyu not to tell the truth.
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