Chapter 1303 Nightmare Come True
Everything proceeded quickly and peacefully.
Before this incident, Yuwen Ye was already the Prince of Qin, the General of the Heavenly Strategy, the Grand Chancellor of the Shaanxi East Circuit, the Governor of Yongzhou, and the Grand Chancellor. More than half of the officials in the court obeyed him, and his control over the court was already unbreakable. Moreover, the Twelve Guards were all in his hands. Therefore, it would be much easier for him to take over the imperial power from the emperor than for the crown prince to take over the throne after his ascension.
In just half a day, the court restored normal order, and the city and palace gates were reopened.
His Highness the King of Qin, who had long been popular with the people, announced in the shortest possible time that he had suppressed the rebellion of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi, and at the same time announced his takeover of the imperial power. Although some doubts arose among the people, after all, the Crown Prince was already the Crown Prince and only one step away from the throne. It was rather strange for him to rebel at this time. Moreover, everyone had personally witnessed the King of Qin leaving Chang'an for Luoyang yesterday. Why would he suddenly return to Chang'an to quell the rebellion of the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi?
Although such voices are low, they are not uncommon.
But it was immediately drowned out by even more and louder voices—
"Perhaps it was the Crown Prince and the Prince of Qi who were jealous of the Prince of Qin's great achievements and feared that the Emperor would favor the Prince of Qin too much and make him the Crown Prince, so they risked rebellion to seize the throne."
"Yes, I think all of this is a grand scheme played by the Emperor and the Prince of Qin."
“That’s right, that’s right. I saw with my own eyes yesterday that Princess Qin led troops in the city to quell the rebellion, and she was the one who guarded the palace and prevented the rebels from entering it.”
"If it weren't for the King of Qin and his queen, who knows how chaotic the world would be."
...
Gradually, the doubts subsided.
On the third day, another court assembly was held in the Taiji Hall as usual.
Although it was said to be the usual routine, it was the officials' routine. But when they walked up to the main hall and lined up in an orderly fashion, and looked up, they saw that the dragon throne above the hall was empty. Only a Qilin chair had been added next to the dragon throne, with His Highness Prince Qin sitting on it, and Eunuch Yu, who had always served the emperor, standing beside him.
After an unusual silence, Shen Wuzheng was the first to kneel down, followed by everyone else.
After all the officials had finished their homage, Eunuch Yu stepped forward, unfolded the imperial edict, and announced that the emperor was unwell and had retired to a separate palace to recuperate. From then on, His Highness Prince Qin would rule as regent.
All the civil and military officials had no objections and kowtowed in submission.
When the court session ended, Yuwen Ye walked out of the main hall, but did not leave immediately. Instead, he walked towards the side hall next to the main hall.
As soon as I approached, the slightly ajar door opened from the inside.
Standing in the side hall was none other than Shang Ruyi. She had gotten up early to personally help Yuwen Ye change into his court robes and then personally escorted him to the Taiji Hall for the court assembly. She herself waited quietly in this side hall, listening to the exclamations and sighs of astonishment from the court officials in the main hall. These sounds made her heart beat faster and faster.
Fortunately, no one stood up to object until the very end.
Now Yuwen Ye stood in front of her, a faint smile in his eyes indicating that everything was proceeding smoothly, so the two smiled at each other.
Yuwen Ye gently reached out his hand to her, and Shang Ruyi immediately reached out her hand as well, letting him hold it. The two of them walked hand in hand toward Qianqiu Palace.
They remained silent the entire way.
Just as they were about to reach the entrance of Qianqiu Palace, Shang Ruyi suddenly stopped and asked, "I just heard that Shen Tu Tai seems to have led five hundred men."
Yuwen Ye paused slightly.
"Um."
"Is he to be sent to quell something?"
"Um."
"Is there anywhere in the city that is not peaceful?"
"Um."
Seeing that he was almost speaking in riddles to her, Shang Ruyi simply stopped, turned around and blocked his way: "Fengchen, after what we've been through, I thought we were of one mind and didn't need to hide anything from each other anymore."
"..."
Yuwen Ye looked at her, his eyes flickering, but he didn't say anything more.
After a moment's thought, he finally said, "I didn't intend to hide it from you."
"..."
"I just wanted to tell you after I finished dealing with it."
Shang Ruyi frowned: "Are you really going to deal with the people from the Crown Prince's residence?"
Yuwen Ye's brow furrowed slightly.
He wasn't surprised that Shang Ruyi could guess it. After all, as she said, the two of them were now in sync, and even if they really wanted to hide it, they couldn't. Moreover, Shang Ruyi was no longer the person she was when she first married him. Although she was intelligent, she didn't understand politics and military affairs and could be easily fooled.
He simply didn't want her involved in this matter.
So he said, "There is no such thing as real or fake, only doing or not doing."
Shang Ruyi looked at him: "So, you have to do it."
At this point, her voice involuntarily choked and became hoarse, and a hint of fear appeared in her usually resolute eyes: "So, you really want to do what I saw in my dream, to kill everyone in the Crown Prince's residence, and even everyone in the Qi Prince's residence?"
"..."
"What I saw in my dream was a field strewn with corpses and rivers of blood."
"..."
"Those people were in utter despair. They wanted to escape but couldn't, they wanted to cry but had no tears. They could only wait in terror like lambs to the slaughter."
"..."
"In the end, the entire Crown Prince's residence became a battlefield."
"..."
"Feng Chen, is this what you want?"
"..."
Are you going to make my nightmare come true?
Yuwen Ye frowned. The two of them stood facing each other outside the gate of Qianqiu Palace. He said in a deep voice, "But you should also know that if I don't kill them, it's like cutting weeds without eradicating the roots."
"..."
“I can tolerate other things, but this kind of thing, if left as a hindrance, could lead to lifelong regret.”
Shang Ruyi said, "But Yuwen Qian is already dead, and Yuwen Cheng is also dead."
"..."
“Not only those two, Xiao Yuansui is dead, Yu Dingxing is dead, Su Changjing is dead, even Shang Shoufei is dead. In this court, in the entire city of Chang'an, no one is an obstacle to you anymore, and no one can threaten you anymore.”
"..."
Why kill so many people?
Her words, though gentle, struck Yuwen Ye's heart heavily. He frowned and suddenly released Shang Ruyi's hand: "There's no need to discuss this matter further."
After saying that, he turned and walked into the Thousand Autumns Hall.
Shang Ruyi stood there, watching his back, her brows furrowing.
At the same time, a rumbling thunder suddenly sounded in the sky, exploding overhead. In an instant, dark clouds gathered, a strong wind blew, and the bright sunlight was immediately blocked out. Not only the entire city of Chang'an, but Shang Ruyi felt as if a thick shadow had fallen over everything before her eyes.
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