Chapter 242 The Dust Settles The Dust Settles
A pair of black boots stepped on the white jade stone, and the corner of his flying black robe was embroidered with auspicious clouds. Prince Cheng was not wearing soft armor, but no one dared to underestimate him as he walked forward step by step.
Everyone in the court knew that the fifth prince, Prince Cheng, was handsome and elegant. If it weren't for his bad temper that offended many people and his arrogant and domineering attitude towards others, he might have attracted the admiration of the beautiful women in the capital.
But at this moment, no one was appreciating how outstanding Prince Cheng was. They only saw dozens of elite personal guards following behind him. Each of them was dressed in armor and looked brave and mighty, with a murderous aura. It was obvious at a glance that they were all skilled killers who had fought on the battlefield and killed people.
When Prince Cheng and his men slowly approached, none of the guards under the eldest prince dared to stop them. Instead, they retreated step by step, holding sharp blades, until they had no room to retreat.
The eldest prince's eyes were bloodshot, and he suddenly grabbed the emperor's neck and roared, "Don't come over, or I will kill him!"
Prince Cheng's expression remained unchanged. He glanced at the dying emperor and said loudly, "Brother, you have committed a grave mistake by forcing the emperor to abdicate. If you could lay down your sword, you might still have a chance of survival."
The eldest prince laughed crazily, "Beg? Why should I ask you? As long as my father passes the throne to me, the world of the Great Zhou will be mine!"
"Rebellious son!" the emperor squeezed out two words.
The eldest prince's face darkened, and he heard Prince Cheng say, "Brother, our father will not pass the throne to you."
The eldest prince sneered, "The fourth prince is already dead. If he doesn't pass the throne to me, will he pass it to you?"
At this moment, the sound of a child crying was heard in Kunning Palace, as if to interrupt the prince's words.
Prince Cheng stepped closer and shouted in a cold voice, "Brother, if we release our father now and let him go, perhaps we won't bring disaster upon our relatives."
At this point, the eldest prince was unwilling to retreat. He personally grabbed the sharp blade and pressed it against the emperor's neck: "Fifth brother, you are the one who should turn back from your wrong path. What the emperor can give you, I can also give you."
"Have you forgotten how your father treated you and Concubine De over the years?"
"Cooperate with me. When I ascend the throne, we'll each share half of the Great Zhou!"
"You...you beast!" the emperor roared hoarsely.
The eldest prince showed no mercy and blood marks appeared on the emperor's neck.
Prince Cheng remained unmoved, his expressionless face remaining unchanged as he continued, "Brother, I'll leave it to you. Lay down your butcher knife and surrender. Considering our father-son relationship over the years, perhaps the Emperor will spare your life!"
The eldest prince laughed and said, "Put down your butcher knife, or I will die."
Prince Cheng glanced at everyone present and shouted, "This was done by the eldest prince alone. You were only following orders. If you lay down your weapons, your families will not be implicated in this crime!"
As soon as these words fell, the emperor shouted, "I promise that you will lay down your weapons and I will pardon your sins!"
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the guards who followed the prince began to waver. After the first person put down their weapons, others began to put them down one after another.
After Prince Cheng appeared, they knew that the palace coup had failed.
Seeing this, the eldest prince shouted, "Stop! No surrender!"
"If we lay down our weapons, we will all die. They will never let us go!"
The guards hesitated. The eldest prince stared at Prince Cheng and sneered, "You may not know this yet, but this Fifth Prince in front of you is not a prince. In fact, he is..."
At this moment, a sharp arrow suddenly flew and hit the eldest prince's arm. The emperor, whom he was holding, staggered and fell, and two people immediately dragged him away.
The sound of orderly footsteps was heard, and guards dressed in the uniforms of the Imperial Guards came in one after another. They quickly surrounded the Kunning Palace from front to back. Their military strength was far inferior to that of the eldest prince.
The disparity in strength was so great that the guards, who had been shaken by the eldest prince's words, could no longer hold on and dropped their weapons one after another.
Prince Cheng didn't seem to care about what the eldest prince had just said. He said in a cold voice, "Brother, do you want to put down your weapons yourself, or should I take them away?"
The eldest prince has reached his wit's end and has no way to retreat.
His face became even more crazy, and he laughed out loud, but his face was full of tears.
The emperor was on the verge of death after being tortured, but now he found strength from nowhere and shouted, "Boss, put down your weapons, and I will spare your life!"
Who knew that when the eldest prince heard this, he laughed even more crazily: "Father, look at me, what's the difference between living like this and being dead? Since you don't want to give the throne to me, you should have killed me long ago!"
After saying this, the eldest prince's eyes fell on Prince Cheng, pointed at him and said, "Old Fifth, do you think you can win?"
"No, you lost from the beginning!"
"The Emperor doesn't like you, and Consort De is just using you. The Empress and Consort Yu in Kunning Palace are also using you. When they gain a firm foothold one day, you will be the first one they will deal with."
"Old Five, Big Brother is waiting for you underground!"
After saying this, the eldest prince raised the sharp blade.
"No!" cried the emperor in shock.
But it was all too late. The Crown Prince killed the Fourth Prince decisively and did not hesitate when he committed suicide. Perhaps he knew in his heart that only if he died would his children have a chance to survive.
The eldest prince, Qin Xun, was the eldest son of Empress Yuan and was born as the crown prince. He had been on the throne for more than twenty years, and had been deposed and re-emerged as the crown prince, but in the end he ended up like this.
Even in death, he could not rest in peace.
After watching his sons die tragically one after another, the emperor could no longer bear it and fainted.
Prince Cheng glanced at the emperor and walked to the eldest prince. He squatted down and closed the eldest prince's eyes himself.
Everything is settled.
The gate of Kunning Palace finally opened slowly, and the Queen Mother came out personally holding the Ninth Prince. Standing behind her was the pale-faced Concubine Yu.
Prince Cheng's eyes met the Queen's. After exchanging a glance, he bowed and said, "Mother, I am late in coming to your rescue. Please forgive me."
The Empress hid her tears and said, "Who could have thought that the eldest prince would take advantage of this opportunity to force the emperor to abdicate, causing the tragic death of the fourth prince? This time, the prince has performed a great service."
"Come, bring His Majesty inside first, and quickly call the imperial physician."
"Please ask the emperor to go and invite the gentlemen into the palace to take charge of the situation."
"Yes, mother."
The death of the eldest prince brought this farce to an end, and everything seemed so natural that the Queen and Prince Cheng were able to handle the aftermath with ease.
In fact, although two princes died in this forced abdication, it was a case of much ado about nothing. The civil and military officials of the court had not yet entered the palace and were not harmed. Except for the casualties among the guards of the emperor and empress, no one else was affected.
It was Concubine Xu in the harem who was frightened and fell ill, but now the emperor is sick and the fourth prince is dead, who will care about her?
Not to mention how shocked the Xu family was when they received this bad news. Under the auspices of Prince Cheng, all civil and military officials above the fifth rank entered the palace one after another. The smell of blood in the palace seemed to have dissipated, and there was no sign that it had experienced a coup d'état before.
Outside Kunning Palace, several elders looked at each other and whispered, "What happened to His Majesty?"
"We shouldn't have let the eldest prince out in the first place. Who could have imagined he would be so cruel and ruthless!"
"The eldest prince is dead. The most urgent priority now is His Majesty's health and the position of Crown Prince..."
"What else is there to say? The only living prince is Prince Chengqint."
"Prince Cheng has always been favored by His Majesty. Now is the perfect time."
"You can't say that. How could two princes die in a forced abdication? Who knows what Prince Cheng did?"
"Shut up, Minister Xu is here!"
The one who had to be supported by others to walk here was Minister Xu. Although Minister Xu was old and had been on sick leave, everyone knew that he was actually in good health and could eat a big bowl of meat at every meal. It was just that the emperor was wary of him after he deposed the crown prince, so he had no choice but to stay at home on sick leave.
But now, Minister Xu's hair and beard have turned completely white overnight, and his whole body is covered with white hair and frost. He looks like he is really about to die.
Many adults couldn't help but express their sympathy, thinking that with the death of the Fourth Prince, all the plans of the Xu family over the years would be in vain, and Minister Xu would be devastated. Who would have thought that the Fourth Prince had a great chance of winning the day before, but would fail the next day?
Minister Xu had to lean on his son to move forward: "I want to see His Majesty!"
The guard at the palace gate bowed and said, "Master Xu, His Majesty is still unconscious. The masters of the Imperial Hospital are in consultation. Please wait a moment."
Minister Xu angrily said, "I want to see Your Majesty. This time, Prince Cheng is forced to abdicate and is absolutely involved!"
The guard, however, looked at his nose and then at his heart: "Please wait a moment, sir."
Minister Xu rushed over and tore at the words, "Let me see His Majesty! Are you putting His Majesty under house arrest? Let me in!"
These words were heartbreaking, as they were intended to put all the blame on Prince Cheng.
The adults at the back had strange expressions on their faces and whispered:
"If Minister Xu offends Prince Cheng now, isn't that courting death?"
"Yes, anyone with a discerning eye knows that Prince Cheng will definitely be the next crown prince."
"That's right. Even if he did something in there, why bother to figure it out now?"
It has always been the case that the victor is the king and the loser is the bandit. At this point, Prince Cheng is basically the next emperor. Even if he does something, the emperor probably won't pursue it. Why should they show up again?
These officials naturally didn't know that Minister Xu knew Prince Cheng's identity, and that was precisely why they were arguing. He didn't believe that the emperor would support this person.
If Minister Xu had not wanted to leave a way out for the Xu family, he would have made Prince Cheng's identity public at this time.
The dispute at the entrance of the hall was still going on when footsteps were heard from inside the hall.
Prince Cheng appeared at the door. He glanced at the agitated and angry Minister Xu and said calmly, "Since you gentlemen are worried, please come in. But please speak quietly and don't disturb the imperial physician's pulse diagnosis."
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