Chapter 270 I am the Son of King Ping
Pei Jing hurried into the palace. As soon as he reached the outside of the hall, a young eunuch came to greet him. "The prince is finally here. The emperor was so angry that he vomited blood just now."
Pei Jing nodded and pushed the door open.
He was not the only one in the hall. There were also several ministers standing there with serious expressions.
When Emperor Zhaowen saw him come in, his cloudy eyes brightened up and he said in a hoarse voice, "Come here."
Pei Jing stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty, what do you want from me?"
Emperor Zhaowen slammed the teacup to the ground, sending shards flying. "Why are you pretending to be confused? Didn't anyone tell you on the way? That rebellious son Pei Yi has escaped! He fled towards Bingzhou!"
"Bingzhou, that's not..." Pei Jing stopped talking at the right time, frowning.
"That's his uncle's residence." Emperor Zhaowen started coughing violently, and blood appeared on his handkerchief again.
"A few days ago, secret reports came in that the Bingzhou Army was mobilizing frequently, supposedly to suppress mountain bandits. Pei Yi is heading to Bingzhou at this critical moment, and the Bingzhou Army is suppressing bandits at this critical juncture. Tell me, is this a coincidence? He's planning a rebellion!"
Several ministers in the hall were silent.
Emperor Zhaowen turned to look at Pei Jing, "I have already sent three thousand elite soldiers to pursue him and block him in the direction of Bingzhou. Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we must bring that rebellious son Pei Yi back to me!"
"His uncle commands 80,000 Bingzhou troops. If he's really determined to protect that rebellious son..." Emperor Zhaowen gasped violently again mid-sentence, his bony hands clutching the front of his lapel. "We have to be on guard...we have to be on guard. If he really dares to lead his troops in, we have to make plans early. Yuande, bring me the tiger talisman."
After Emperor Zhaowen finished speaking, the hall fell into dead silence.
Meng Yuande took out half a bronze tiger talisman from the secret compartment of the dragon bed and presented it to Emperor Zhaowen with both hands.
Emperor Zhaowen stroked the patterns on the tiger talisman with trembling fingers. He suddenly looked up and stared at Pei Jing. "From today on, the imperial guards, the garrison camp, and the three major camps in the capital are all under your command. You must hold them for me."
There was a sound of gasps in the hall.
Several ministers could no longer hold back and knelt down one after another: "Your Majesty, please think twice!"
"The tiger talisman is of great importance..."
Pei Jing took a step back and didn't take the tiger talisman. "I'm just a leisurely prince. I won't take on this mess. If I go to war with Pei Yi, I'm afraid it will be spread that I'm plotting treason and usurping the throne. I can't bear it."
"If I say you deserve it, then you deserve it!" Emperor Zhaowen turned to the ministers and said, "I summoned you all here tonight to bear witness."
The hall suddenly fell silent.
Pei Jing caught a glimpse of several ministers exchanging glances, and some of them had cold sweat on their foreheads.
Emperor Zhaowen coughed violently for a while, then suddenly slammed the tiger talisman on the table and said, "Pei Jing, I'm going to ask you one last time. Do you accept this tiger talisman or not?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Emperor Zhaowen suddenly turned pale and spat out a mouthful of blood on the table.
Meng Yuande hurriedly stepped forward to support him, but was pushed away by Emperor Zhaowen.
"Take it... take it!" Emperor Zhaowen pushed the blood-stained tiger talisman towards Pei Jing, his voice terribly hoarse, "Put down this rebellion for me..."
Pei Jing lowered his eyes to look at the tiger talisman and said slowly, "Your Majesty, I obey your command."
At this time, the sky was already slightly bright, and the pale blue morning light spread over the palace walls.
He stood in front of the temple, looking at the gradually brightening sky in the distance, with a faint smile on his lips.
This play is finally coming to an end.
…
On March 17, Pei Yi swore an oath in Bingzhou. In the name of "serving the king and protecting the emperor", he claimed that there were treacherous officials in the capital causing chaos, and that Pei Jing was colluding with the emperor's entourage and intending to usurp power. Along the way, he declared that he would eliminate Pei Jing, who was "disrupting the court order."
On the eighth day of May, the Bingzhou army broke through the Xiaoshan Pass and advanced with great momentum. On the tenth day of May, they arrived at Muye, outside the capital, and set up camp. People inside and outside the capital were in panic.
On May 23, Pei Jing personally led the main force of the imperial army out of the city to fight. Relying on the defense deployment of the capital, he engaged in a fierce battle with the Bingzhou army in Muye, and the battle situation became stalemate.
On June 16, Pei Jing set an ambush and defeated the main force of the Bingzhou army. Pei Yi was defeated and captured, and the rebellion of the Bingzhou army was completely suppressed.
After three months, this rebellion in the name of "serving the king" was finally put down.
The light in the hall was dim, and the air was filled with the strong and indissoluble smell of bitter medicine, lingering between the old beams and pillars.
Pei Jing walked in quietly, sat down beside Emperor Zhaowen's couch, and looked quietly at the skinny old man on the bed.
Emperor Zhaowen has been feeling increasingly weak these days. He is currently sleeping soundly, his face as pale as paper.
Pei Jing tapped the table twice with his fingertips. The sound was not loud, but it seemed to wake up the sleeping Emperor Zhaowen.
Emperor Zhaowen slowly opened his eyes, his gaze unfocused for a moment before focusing on Pei Jing's face. "How is the war going..."
Pei Jing placed the battle report on Emperor Zhaowen's chest, leaned forward slightly, and said with a smile: "I won."
Emperor Zhaowen had just woken up and his eyes were still a little dazed. He didn't hear the strangeness in Pei Jing's words. It was not us who won, but I who won.
He smiled, a rare radiance on his face, "Okay, okay, I knew it, I was right about you."
Emperor Zhaowen took a breath for a moment, then suddenly seemed to think of something and grabbed Pei Jing's hand: "Where's Pei Yi? That rebellious son... have you caught him?"
Pei Jing tapped his fingertips, his tone calm and unperturbed, "I caught him. You said before that you would spare his life, so I did."
He paused and added, "Your son, he wants to tell you something."
Emperor Zhaowen's face twitched, his cloudy eyes filled with hatred, pain, and a hint of bewilderment. "How dare this rebellious son see me?"
"Drink the medicine first." Pei Jing helped Emperor Zhaowen lean against the headboard. "When a dying man is about to die, his words are kind. I think it's necessary to listen to some of his words."
Meng Yuande walked in carrying a bowl of medicine.
He had been severely punished in the imperial prison before. He was already old and one of his legs was seriously injured. Even after he recovered, he walked with a limp.
He handed the medicine bowl to Pei Jing steadily. When he raised his eyes, their eyes met, and both of them understood.
Pei Jing held the medicine bowl and, as usual, took a sip himself before starting to feed Emperor Zhaowen.
For some reason, Emperor Zhaowen felt very uneasy at the moment, but he still opened his mouth obediently.
Pei Jing fed him spoonful by spoonful, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, "You never intended to hand over the world to me, right?"
Emperor Zhaowen paused while drinking the medicine and looked at him blankly. The medicine that was fed to his mouth flowed down his chin and onto his lapel.
Pei Jing scooped up another spoonful, blew on it, and continued slowly, "You're too concerned about your reputation, always wanting to leave a reputation of 'kindness and justice' in the history books. You want to make me the heir? Are you afraid that future generations will poke holes in you and accuse you of shaking the foundation of the country?"
"After all, I am the son of King Ping. You cannot bear to see the throne you fought so hard for handed back to someone else."
Emperor Zhaowen seemed to understand, but also seemed completely confused, as if his brain was instinctively resisting this answer.
Pei Jing fed the last spoonful of medicine into Emperor Zhaowen's mouth, stood up, and looked quietly at the other's mouth which was slightly open with shock and confusion.
"You, what do you mean by this?" asked Emperor Zhaowen.
The medicine dripped down the corners of Emperor Zhaowen's mouth. Pei Jing wiped it with a handkerchief, his tone carrying a hint of sarcasm, "We'll know in a moment. Okay, bring the person in."
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