When Xiao Jinze set foot in the capital again, his heart was filled with complexity and some unreality. In his impression, it seemed that he had been forced to leave the capital not long ago.
According to his previous estimate, he should still be secretly accumulating strength at this time. He never expected that he would return to this land so soon and openly.
Unlike his previous somewhat embarrassed and secretive departure, he has now regained his manhood and is riding his horse into the capital openly and proudly.
Soon, he arrived at the gate of the palace, and the moment he saw Song Sanniang, his sense of satisfaction reached its peak.
Song Sanniang didn't expect that the Imperial Guards were so vulnerable. They were defeated without even having to take action against the group of people who had sneaked into the capital.
However, after they found out what happened in the Imperial Guard, they all sighed in their hearts - is Xiao Tingmo trying to kill himself?
After Xiao Tingmo came to power, he thought that his mother's family would not harm him, so he actually mobilized the imperial guards.
He wasn't particularly mentally ill. He initially replaced the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard with a member of the Zhou family.
Then, after that person secretly learned the commander's "skill" in dispatching the Imperial Guards, he found his fault and demoted the original commander, transferred him out of the Imperial Guards, and then promoted the man from the Zhou family to the position of commander.
The deputy commander nominated another Zhou family member, but what Xiao Tingmo didn't know was that although the two Zhou family members had some abilities, they were nothing in the eyes of the carefully selected guards, and they didn't accept the new commander at all.
The imperial guards under them suffered terribly, but due to the tyranny of the Zhou family and their relationship with Emperor An, they had no choice but to endure it. Gradually, the imperial guards became the one-man show of the Zhou family.
Xiao Tingmo went south to the Mountain Resort and took half of the Imperial Guards with him, and the deputy commander Zhou Yaowu was left in the capital to take charge of the Imperial Guards.
Because Xiao Tingmo was not there, Zhou Yaowu did not report for duty and indulged in pleasure every day.
When Cheng Wuan led his troops to attack the capital, the Imperial Guards were leaderless and became a group of scattered soldiers, and were defeated in no time.
It was too easy, and the tragic situation that he had expected did not occur at all. At first, Cheng Wuan wondered if the other party had some conspiracy.
Finally, I asked a random soldier of the Imperial Guard and found out the reason.
Everyone who heard their conversation felt that it was a blessing from God that the opponent had such a stupid teammate.
Although they had tried their best to intercept the information, attacking the capital was a major event that could not be concealed.
Because their attack on the capital was seen by many people, many people were watching silently.
For them, the emperor above them had no say and they just hoped that there would not be another Emperor An.
When the news of the capital's capture reached the south, Emperor An Xiao Tingmo was still traveling and had collected several gentle beauties in the water town.
When he heard the news, the wine glass in his hand fell to the ground. The rare wine was in short supply, but no one paid any attention to it at the moment.
The sudden news shocked Xiao Tingmo and Queen Mother Zhou on the spot.
Xiao Tingmo lost his composure, quickly walked down and grabbed the guard who was kneeling on the ground.
"What did you say? Cheng Wuan, under the slogan of supporting the royal family, led the soldiers of Tongguan to rebel?"
The man met Xiao Tingmo's bloodshot eyes and his body trembled slightly.
"Yes, ah, it's absolutely true. How dare I deceive the emperor with such news!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Tingmo let go of his hand in despair.
"How could it be? How dare they? I am the emperor's only son. They..."
But what he didn't notice was that when Empress Dowager Zhou heard what she said, a trace of guilt flashed in her eyes.
However, she quickly adjusted her expression, walked forward worriedly and pulled Xiao Tingmo.
"Mo'er, you must cheer up. We must still have a chance. The jade seal is still in our hands."
"As long as the Imperial Seal remains in our hands, they will be considered traitors and will be infamous for eternity."
As Xiao Tingmo listened to Queen Mother Zhou's words, the light of hope slowly rose in his eyes and he regained his spirits.
"Mother, you are right. We have not lost yet."
Seeing Xiao Tingmo in front of him cheer up and no longer doubting his identity, his heart slowly receded.
Zhou Yinghui didn't expect that even though she had done the thing so secretly and silenced all the people who knew about it, someone still discovered the clues.
She was not Xiao Tingmo who showed everything on her face. She thought about how she had discovered that Emperor Jing was constantly making small moves in private.
If Emperor Jing had not been exposed because of the Xie family's affairs, she would not have known that under the strict surveillance of their previous and subsequent dynasties, Emperor Jing had actually quietly developed his own power.
Following clues and with a woman's sixth sense, she instinctively felt that Emperor Jing must have discovered Xiao Tingmo's identity.
So, Zhou Yinghui took the initiative and drugged him.
As a result, Emperor Jing refused to cooperate even though he was so ill, so he died of illness a few days later.
She was the only one by his side before he died, so it was natural for her to fake his will.
She supported Prince An and her son Xiao Tingmo to ascend the throne.
What she didn't expect was that Emperor Jing actually left behind an edict of succession.
After she found out, she immediately informed her father and brother, sealed off the capital and conducted a full search, but it was still too late; the items had already been sent out.
So she urgently needed more manpower to catch people, and she pretended to panic and told Xiao Tingmo the news.
As she thought, he sent a lot of people, including half of his personal soldiers.
There is strength in numbers, and they soon found the man's whereabouts. But what she didn't expect was that they actually had accomplices.
As a result, he lost the person due to carelessness. Not only did he not get anything, he didn't even get a hair of the person.
In the end, they only knew that the things and people were probably heading northwest.
However, after secretly investigating, they found nothing and returned empty-handed.
It's such a waste.
Now that this situation has occurred, Zhou Yinghui feels as if it has happened as expected.
Her dark eyes fell on Xiao Tingmo, and when the other party looked at her, Wuhen switched to being kind and gentle.
Since Cheng Wuan and others were able to rebel, and her adopted son had the imperial seal in his hands, although she felt a little reluctant, she was more ambitious for that position.
Xiao Tingmo didn't know that his crisis was not only from Xiao Jinze and his group far away in the capital, but also from threats from his relatives.
This danger was covered in honey on the surface, but contained arsenic inside, and he foolishly opened his mouth and ate it.
"Why? Mother."
Xiao Tingmo lay weakly on the bed, but the unwillingness and disbelief in his heart made him struggle to look at Zhou Yinghui and his grandfather and uncle's family who were watching his weak struggle coldly.
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