Chen time.
Palace of Heavenly Purity.
Everything was ready for the coronation ceremony. His Majesty's procession moved slowly forward, and a group of officials and guards knelt to welcome them. Zhong Mingzheng climbed the steps step by step and walked to the front of the main hall. Looking at the huge crowd of people kneeling below, he felt very proud and satisfied. He had been waiting for this moment for many years and had fantasized about it countless times. He thought about how exciting it would be if one day he stood here in a dragon robe. But today, he really stood here, accepting the worship of officials and people all over the world. Only then did he truly feel what it meant to be the king and to be supreme. This was definitely not something that could be described by a word of excitement.
When the time came, Zhong Mingzheng sat upright on the dragon throne placed under the corridor of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, while the Right Prime Minister Zhao Changrong and the Jinyiwei Commander Ling Shi'an knelt in front of Zhong Mingzheng, one on the left and one on the right, each holding the imperial edict and the golden seal in their hands. The chief eunuch, Gonggong Xi, walked to the steps, took the imperial edict, and then said loudly to the civil and military officials who were kneeling respectfully below: "On the seventh day of the seventh month of the thirty-fourth year of Jiasheng, the emperor and his ministers are ready to use the black ox to announce to the Emperor of Heaven and the God of Earth..."
“Crack!”
Suddenly, a loud thunderclap interrupted Eunuch Xi's voice. All the civil and military officials were terrified and looked towards the overcast sky. They saw thunder and lightning, dark clouds covering the sky, and then heavy rain pouring down. All the civil and military officials were speechless at first, and then they were terrified. They looked at each other, feeling the cold wind and rain pouring down on their bodies. Although they said nothing, they were secretly muttering in their hearts. The coronation ceremony had just begun, and there were thunder and lightning, and heavy rain pouring down. It was really ominous. They didn't know if... the new emperor's throne was not obtained in a legitimate way, so he was punished by heaven?
Eunuch Xi was also frightened. Although he was the chief eunuch, he was still young. He had never felt anything when he worked with his master Zhao Ruhai before. But after he was promoted by Zhong Mingzheng to the chief eunuch, he realized how difficult it was for his master. After all, serving the emperor was like serving a tiger. Moreover, Zhong Mingzheng was a man of unpredictable temper. He had been unable to sleep or eat for several days. Moreover, he kept thinking of his master's tragic death that night. He was terrified and guilty, and he dared not close his eyes to rest. At this moment, he saw the lightning streaking across the sky, and for a moment he had only one thought in his mind -
It must be a punishment from God!
Zhao Changrong and Ling Shian were also pale, but they were only slightly uneasy. Ling Shian looked at Eunuch Xi, who was trembling all over and stopped reading the imperial edict, and immediately shouted angrily: "Why don't you continue reading the imperial edict? What are you standing there for?!"
“Plop!”
The next second, Eunuch Xi's knees softened and he knelt on the ground. He casually threw the imperial edict in his hand to the ground. He kept kowtowing to the sky with thunder and lightning, and cried out in fear: "God! Prince Rong forced the emperor to abdicate and plotted treason! He tried to poison the emperor! God! Prince Rong forced the emperor to abdicate and plotted treason! He tried to poison the emperor! This is none of my business! God help me..."
“Crack!”
With the crisp sound of a sword being drawn, Eunuch Xi's head fell to the ground, and his headless body continued to kneel straight in front of the hall. After a while, it fell to the ground with a "bang". The corpse was washed by the heavy rain, and the ground was instantly covered with blood. The blood quickly flowed down the steps and flowed to the civil and military officials kneeling under the steps.
"On the auspicious day when His Majesty ascends the throne, whoever dares to utter a rebellious word! This will be the end!" Ling Shi'an took two steps forward with a bloody sword in his hand, stepped over the body of Eunuch Xi, and shouted coldly to the terrified civil and military officials. As soon as he finished speaking, all the guards drew their swords. In the blink of an eye, behind each civil and military official stood a guard holding a steel knife. The civil and military officials who were originally whispering to each other, let alone talking, dared not even breathe. They knelt on the ground motionless and in fear, their faces soaked in the rain, except for... Zhen Yongtang, the official historian of the Imperial Observatory.
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