Chapter 693: The Deposed Princess Strikes Back at the Female General 140
Teng Shichang held the emperor hostage, forced him to sit down, and ordered his men to present him with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone. He said with a fake smile, "Your Majesty, please issue an order quickly so that we can welcome the new emperor to the throne!"
The emperor was so angry that he was shaking all over. He threw the brush on the ground and said angrily, "How dare you! Teng Shichang, this is a crime punishable by the death of all nine generations of your family. Do you think the Teng family wants to die? You are conspiring with Prince Rui to rebel. I will kill you!"
In a rage, the emperor reached out to grab Teng Shichang, but Teng Shichang easily pressed him on the table. The emperor's face was pressed on the inkstone, leaving a deep red mark.
"Your Majesty, please write quickly to avoid physical pain. Wealth and honor are sought at the cost of risk. Back then, the Teng family chose Your Majesty and has since soared to fame. Now it is time to make a choice again. The Crown Prince ignored the Teng family's surrender and instead suppressed them. The Ministry of Justice arrested several of the Teng family's servants who committed crimes. This must have been the Crown Prince's order."
"The Crown Prince is unkind, so the Teng family can only choose His Royal Highness Prince Rui. Although this matter is risky, if it succeeds, the Teng family will be the first to achieve success, and will be the highest official in the country. It is just around the corner for them to be granted the title of nobility and prime minister!"
The emperor's arm was twisted backwards, and he cried out in pain, unable to utter a coherent word.
Su Ziyan came in a gorgeous attire, wearing a phoenix robe, carefully made up, and a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin in her hair.
She held the imperial seal in her hand, and behind her followed several civil officials, all of whom were determined to be loyal to His Royal Highness Prince Rui.
"Lord Teng is too rude. How can you be so rude to Your Majesty? Your Majesty's hands are still very precious. The imperial edict has been drafted by the ministers. Your Majesty can just write it down."
"Although it would be the same if you wrote it on behalf of me, it is after all a decree of abdication, so it is safer for your Majesty to write it in person. You are all witnesses, and no one can find any mistakes."
The emperor refused to write the edict, but he was not a fool. If he wrote it, he would have no chance of survival.
If we delay a little, as long as someone notices what's happening here and the news gets out, the Imperial Guards, the Imperial Baggage Army, and several other princes will come to rescue us!
Su Ziyan looked into the emperor's eyes and bewitched him, "Your favorite son is Prince Rui, so you must pass the throne to Prince Rui and make Princess Rui Su Ziyan the queen. Crown Prince Yuwen Yi is rebellious and Princess Ji Yunhuan is aiding and abetting the tyrant. Order them to be executed immediately."
The emperor showed a confused look, muttering: "Yes, you are right, I want to pass the throne to Rui'er, I will draft an edict now."
The emperor buried his head in writing.
The Queen Mother looked at the farce before her with infinite sadness in her heart. It had finally come to this, with brothers fighting each other, fathers and sons killing each other, in a life-and-death struggle.
"Rui'er, even if you get the imperial edict, you are still a traitor. You came to the throne illegitimately, and there will be disaster. There are 100,000 imperial garrison troops stationed outside the capital, 200,000 northern troops, 150,000 western expedition troops... There are countless troops from all over the country. You killed your father and seized the throne. Everyone can kill you. You can't sit firmly on the throne."
"Even if the emperor is dead, the prince is the legitimate heir to the throne. Rui'er, listen to your grandmother's advice and turn back. If you return to Putuo Temple now, I will pretend that what happened today never happened, and you can still keep your life..."
Su Ziyan interrupted the Queen Mother impatiently, "Stop talking about these useless principles. The victors are kings and the losers are bandits. History is written by the victors. Prince Rui is the legitimate ruler of the world! It was clearly the Crown Prince who colluded with the Imperial Guards to rebel, and Prince Rui led the patrol to rescue the emperor, and His Majesty abdicated to Prince Rui because of his meritorious service."
"Prince Rui, don't listen to the old witch's nonsense. She is partial to Yuwen Yi and wants to push Yuwen Yi to be the emperor. That's why she put you in Putuo Temple and ignored you."
Yuwen Rui did not do anything to the Queen Mother, but just captured the people around her and prevented them from passing on information.
"Grandmother, there is no turning back. Don't worry, when I ascend the throne, you will be the Grand Empress Dowager and you will still be honored as always. I will still be filial to you as before."
He would definitely kill the emperor, but he wanted to keep the empress dowager as a living signboard to prove the legitimacy of his succession and his filial piety.
The Queen Mother sighed deeply. She knew that she couldn't persuade Rui'er, but she couldn't help but try to persuade him. This time, she really couldn't save Yuwen Rui's life.
A trace of struggle flashed in the emperor's eyes, and the hand holding the brush twitched violently, leaving a long ink mark on the bright yellow scroll!
"No! No! I am the emperor! No one can take my throne away from me!"
Yuwen Hong's obsession with the throne was so deep that he broke free from Su Ziyan's mental control. He suddenly woke up and spat out a mouthful of dirty blood. He threw the imperial edict on the table to the ground, stomped on it twice, and roared:
"I won't write! I won't write even if I die! If you have the guts, kill me. I won't let you get the throne even if I die! You are a traitor and a rebel. The whole world will punish you. You can never dream of becoming an emperor!"
With a loud slap, Yuwen Rui slapped the emperor in the face. His face was ferocious. Two similar faces confronted each other, both equally crazy and paranoid.
They have the same blood, they are selfish, hypocritical, cruel, obsessed with power, and will cling to power even at death.
"How dare you! If you dare to hit me, I will kill you!" The emperor stretched out his hand to strangle Yuwen Rui's neck, but unfortunately he did not have enough strength and was pushed to the ground by Yuwen Yi.
Yuwen Rui stepped on the emperor's chest, looking very proud and laughing, "Father! You are old! You are mediocre and incompetent, and have done nothing all your life. People all over the world remember that Duke Ji guarded the northern border, but no one praises you as the emperor."
"You spent the first half of your life under the shadow of Duke Ji. You were neither good at literature nor martial arts. Even your writing is not as good as Duke Ji's. You are not as good as a warrior. Hahahaha... You are afraid of Duke Ji, so I will get rid of him for you. But you still refuse to make me the crown prince."
"The world belongs to the capable. You should have abdicated long ago!"
"My patience is limited. Father's writings are rare and his handwriting is not outstanding. It is indeed difficult to imitate. However, my followers can imitate about 70% of his works. Since father's hands are useless, it is better to use them."
"Ah!!" The emperor screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
Prince Rui twisted the emperor's hand with his foot again and again, laughing happily: "I am the son of destiny, and this world should belong to me! You imprisoned me and humiliated me, so you should expect the retribution today!"
The Queen Mother turned her head away, unable to bear to watch any longer.
Soon, two imperial edicts were written. One was to abdicate the throne to Prince Rui and to enthrone Su Ziyan as the queen, and the other was to execute Yuwen Yi and Ji Yunhuan.
After reading it, Su Ziyan was very satisfied and stamped the jade seal on it. With the late emperor's order in hand, she was the legitimate queen. Even Yuwen Rui could not easily depose her. This was safer.
Teng Shichang knelt down with great foresight and shouted, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty and the Empress. Long live Your Majesty! Live the Empress a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"
Su Ziyan was still not at ease even after receiving the imperial edict. She had to see Ji Yunhuan die in front of her.
"The rest of you put on the clothes of the Imperial Guards and escort Hongying, who is beside the Queen Mother, to invite Ji Yunhuan over. Tell her that the Queen Mother is ill and wants to see Ji Yunhuan."
"Remember, only Ji Yunhuan is allowed to come here alone. If he dares to tip off the enemy or does anything, the Queen Mother's life will be in danger."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
