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Yongkang: "Don't worry, I know what to do."
Deng Kun was undoubtedly a reckless man, but he believed he had some brains.
When the late emperor led his father and others in rebellion, Deng Kun, who was four or five years old, had already started to remember things. He remembered what his father and the late emperor looked like when they were still common people, and he also heard with his own ears what the people around him said about the late emperor and his gang. At first, the people were not optimistic about the late emperor and his gang, thinking that they were just a group of rebels who would be suppressed by the court sooner or later. When the late emperor's power gradually grew, the people in his hometown all changed their tune and began to flatter the late emperor, saying that the late emperor was doing justice for the people by rebelling against the tyrant.
Coincidentally, the pretext for the previous emperor's rebellion was to act in the name of justice.
If a tyrant emperor sat on the throne, his subjects and common people could rebel, ostensibly to uphold justice. If they succeeded, they would become the new emperor. If they failed, they would at most be mocked for their inability to control their own abilities, but they would never be condemned as immoral. On the other hand, if a wise emperor reigned, or if the previous emperor had designated the heir to the throne, his subjects would be infamous for rebelling without cause, regardless of success or failure.
Therefore, rebellion must have a legitimate reason. Even if Prince An is a wimp, as long as he refuses to cooperate, my uncle and Qin Liang will rush over and force him to seize the throne. Civil and military officials will still curse my uncle and his son as traitors. If the Deng family dares to help, they will be aiding and abetting the tyrant.
Will Prince An cooperate with his uncle and his son in their plan to seize the throne?
Even if a flower really grew on Qin Liang's tongue, Deng Kun didn't believe that Prince An would have any intention of rebelling.
Qin Liang didn't want to treat Deng Kun and his brother as fools. He took out a bright yellow scroll from his arms and handed it to Deng Kun.
Deng Kun unfolded the scroll, and Deng Tai leaned over, and then he discovered that it was actually a secret decree left by the late emperor. In the secret decree, the late emperor said that he regretted not making Princess Qingyang the Crown Princess and not leaving the Qin kingdom to the descendants of the Zhang family. He only regretted that it was too late. The late emperor had been poisoned and controlled by Concubine Li, the Crown Princess, Zhang Su and others, and was unable to appoint a new crown prince. Therefore, he gave the secret decree to the eldest daughter Yongkang, ordering Yongkang to secretly contact loyal officials of the court, kill Concubine Li, Qingyang and other rebels, and support the eldest son Qin Hong to succeed to the throne.
The secret decree also bears the seal of the late emperor.
Deng Kun: “…”
Deng Tai: "...Did you forge this?"
The late emperor's favor for Concubine Li and the little princess was obvious to all. Not to mention that it was impossible for the mother and daughter to poison the late emperor, even if they really did poison him, the late emperor probably would not be willing to kill them for revenge.
Qin Liang admitted frankly: "Of course, if it is true, this secret decree should be in Yongkang's hands."
Deng Kun was smarter than his brother: "You mean to bribe Yongkang, and then let Yongkang jump out to attack the emperor, and then we will follow the late emperor's will and kill the rebels?"
Qin Liang: "Exactly."
Of course, a rebellion must have a legitimate reason. It would be difficult for the civil and military officials to be convinced if Prince Yong's Mansion took the lead, and Prince An, a weak and stubborn man, would not cooperate obediently. But it would be appropriate for the eldest daughter of the late emperor, Yongkang, to produce the imperial edict. Firstly, before the death of the late emperor, Yongkang often entered the palace to accompany him, and she did have the opportunity to obtain the secret edict from the late emperor. Secondly, Yongkang was Qin Hong's biological sister. Yongkang wanted to help Qin Hong seize the throne. If Qin Hong refused to cooperate, he would personally label his own sister a traitor. So on one side was his biological sister, and on the other side was his half-sister. Who would Qin Hong choose?
As long as Qin Hong cooperated, the fight for the throne would become an internal struggle among the descendants of the previous emperor. He and his father were only assisting Qin Hong, the eldest prince. Even if there were doubts among officials and the people after the success, the doubts would be directed at Qin Hong, and had nothing to do with Prince Yong's Mansion.
Rebellion requires military force, but having a legitimate reason is the most important thing. After listening to Qin Liang's explanation, Deng Kun finally approved of Qin Liang's plan of rebellion. There were only two questions left that Qin Liang needed to answer.
"Have you formed an alliance with Yongkang?"
Qin Liang: "This year, our families have been in mourning for the late emperor, and we haven't had the chance to meet. However, since my mother is seriously ill, Yongkang will definitely come to visit. As long as she comes, I can convince her to form an alliance with us."
The new emperor was only nineteen years old and a woman. If Qin Liang were the new emperor, he would definitely send people to keep an eye on his uncle Wang who held military power.
Therefore, Qin Liang neither rashly contacted his two cousins of the Deng family nor suddenly made friends with Yongkang, with whom he had always been at odds, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the new emperor.
Deng Kun gritted his teeth and said, "It's you who planned my aunt's serious illness!"
Qin Liang lowered his eyes, his expression sorrowful. "The situation forced me to do this. I wanted to take the risk myself, but my illness doesn't allow me to have a visit from Yongkang."
If Yongkang and his friends did not come to visit his aunt when she was seriously ill, they would be considered unfilial. If his cousin was seriously ill, Yongkang would not be criticized for making up any excuse to avoid the visit.
Although Deng Kun was angry at Qin Liang's cruelty, if his own son could be so cruel to his mother, could Deng Kun, as a nephew, love his mother more than his own son?
In the final analysis, Deng Kun was persuaded by Qin Liang. Compared with the future and even the lives of the people in the two mansions, what did it matter if his aunt was sick?
Deng Tai asked nervously, "Has Bai Ri Yongkang come yet?"
Qin Liang: "With her personality, she definitely won't come today, but Qin Hong will go and persuade her. I'll have a chance to speak to her only when she comes alone."
Deng Kun had to admit that she was so cunning and scheming.
He asked the second question: "When are you going to do it?"
Qin Liang said, "On the second day of the second month of next year, the anniversary of the late emperor's death, I will mobilize the main force of the rebellion from the North Camp. My two cousins only need to follow my slogans and kill Zhang Jie when everyone is unprepared. Fu Kui and I will be responsible for dealing with Zhang Su and Qin Bing. Once they are dead, Qin Hong will have no reason to refuse to cooperate with us. By then, Lü Zan, Hou Wanzhong, Xue Ye, Fan Huaizhong and others will not be foolish enough to continue to be loyal to the new emperor."
Deng Kun frowned. The Zhang father and son were tied to the new emperor. If they wanted to rebel, they had to get rid of Qin Bing. Regardless of whether Qin Bing protected the new emperor or not, Qin Bing would definitely be a stumbling block if his uncle wanted to seize the throne from Prince An in the future. It would be better to take the opportunity to kill him to save trouble.
"How should the emperor and Qin Ren be dealt with?"
Qin Liang sneered, "The emperor is a woman, and Qin Ren is powerless. After killing Zhang Su and the others, he can kill the brother and sister. Or he can leave the two of them to Qin Hong to deal with them, so as not to dirty our hands."
Deng Tai's blood boiled when he heard this. He patted his chest and said, "You are afraid of getting your hands dirty, but I am not!"
Deng Kun glanced at his stupid brother. Killing Zhang Jie and his son was fine, but killing the bloodline of the late emperor should either be left to Qin Liang and Fu Kui, or it should be handed over openly to that coward Qin Hong and Qin Liang would send someone to do it secretly. In no case should they, the brothers, do it and bear the stigma of regicide in vain.
Qin Liang also thought so. As long as the wings of the military generals around the new emperor were clipped, it would be best if the new emperor and his siblings were captured alive and then killed in secret.
It was up to him to persuade Yongkang. Qin Liang told Deng Kun and his brother, "There are less than two months left. This is related to the lives of our two families. I hope you two cousins will keep your mouths shut."
If it had not been difficult to find a suitable reason to contact Deng Kun and Deng Tai during the mourning period, Qin Liang would not have wanted to inform them of the plan dozens of days in advance. However, it was most appropriate to let his mother fall ill at this time. If it was really delayed until the first month of the year, which was too close to the anniversary of the late emperor's sacrifice, it would easily arouse the suspicion of the new emperor.
Deng Kun and Deng Tai are not fools. They can keep any secret secret. Even the conspiracy to rebel must be kept secret.
.
As Qin Liang expected, Qin Hong visited Deng in the morning and then went to the Grand Princess's Mansion alone.
Yongkang knew why her brother came over, but she didn't even bother to pretend and continued to sit on the couch in the warm room and play with her cat.
Mourning was too boring, and listening to operas and music was too noisy, so Yongkang had to raise a few cats and dogs to relieve his boredom.
Qin Hong sent away the maids in his eldest sister's room and began to persuade her earnestly, saying that Uncle Wang was guarding his father's mausoleum and they, as nephews and nieces, must not be disrespectful in front of Aunt Wang.
Yongkang stroked the cat slowly, pretending not to hear.
Qin Hong had to bring up the emperor's sister: "The emperor specifically instructed us to visit Aunt Wang at the morning court. If you don't go, it will be disrespectful to Aunt Wang. The Censorate will report you for disobeying the order!"
Yongkang, who had been severely criticized by the Censorate once: "..."
She glared at her brother and said, "I know. I'll go tomorrow."
Qin Hong breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking of Aunt Wang coughing so badly, Qin Hong tactfully reminded his elder sister to take some medicine to prevent and treat colds before leaving.
Yongkang became more and more disgusted.
The next morning, Yongkang slept until he woke up naturally, refused his daughter's request to go with him, drank a large bowl of medicine, and set off with a stern face.
After returning, Yongkang had no intention of going to Deng's bedside to cause trouble. He walked outside Deng's room and heard a few coughs. Yongkang said to Qin Liang who was following him, "Auntie is so ill, let her rest in peace. I won't go in and cause trouble."
Qin Liang looked grateful and invited Yongkang to the front hall for tea.
Yongkang had no intention of drinking tea with him, but if she went in and out too quickly, wouldn't outsiders guess that she was being perfunctory?
Yongkang doesn't care what outsiders think. Since he is already here, it doesn't matter if he spends a little longer drinking tea.
In this way, Yongkang followed Qin Liang to the front hall.
When Qin Liang hinted that he had something to discuss with her in private, out of curiosity, Yongkang also asked the two maids accompanying him to go outside.
Qin Liang did not close the door, but sat next to Yongkang and pushed a thick envelope over.
Yongkang didn't move, and looked at him coldly: "If you have something to say, just say it."
Qin Liang smiled and said, "There are 500,000 taels of silver in it."
Yongkang: “…”
Qin Liang: "This is the banknotes that our palace has accumulated over the past decade. Although there is still a batch of gold, silver and jewelry in the treasury, giving it to my sister will easily attract attention and cause trouble."
Yongkang swallowed his saliva in a cowardly manner. She was not interested in even tens of thousands of taels, let alone 500,000 taels. Then she thought about the military merits and rewards that her uncle had received for following her father in conquering the world, the titles, lands and rewards from her father in the 20 years after the founding of the country, etc. It was not difficult to come up with 500,000 taels of silver.
"No reward without merit. What do you want from me?" Yongkang tried not to look at the envelope and asked indifferently.
Qin Liang smiled, then took out the forged edict from his chest and pushed it over, saying, "I want to give you the honor that should belong to you, and also to seek a way out for our Prince Yong's Mansion."
This was confusing, so Yongkang directly opened the bright yellow scroll. As she looked at it, her face turned pale and her hands holding the scroll began to shake uncontrollably.
Qin Liang whispered his plan of rebellion. This arrangement had a great chance of success. He was confident that he could convince Deng Kun and his brothers, and he was also confident that he could convince Yongkang.
Yongkang's hands were still shaking, not just her hands, her whole body was shaking.
This is how a woman should react when faced with such a thing. How many people in the world can remain calm in the face of danger like the new emperor?
Qin Liang walked around behind Yongkang's chair, grasped his shoulders with both hands, and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "I know you're annoyed that I always compared myself to the Crown Prince. I regret my youthful arrogance, but compared to the Qin family's throne, my youthful comparisons with the Crown Prince are nothing. You should know that my father has always opposed my uncle's enthronement of the Crown Princess and has always supported the Crown Prince as the heir. Now that the Crown Princess has ascended the throne, if we don't take action beforehand, how long will the Emperor tolerate us? And how long can she tolerate the former Crown Prince?"
"Only by seizing the initiative can our two families survive."
The voice was gentle, firm, and extremely bewitching. As Yongkang listened, his body, which had been shaking uncontrollably, gradually calmed down.
After Yongkang uncomfortably accepted the thick envelope containing the 500,000 taels of silver, Qin Liang gave a final warning, "I know you're timid and might regret your decision at any moment, but don't even think about reporting this to the Emperor. We at Prince Yong's Palace can forge the late Emperor's will, and so can you and the Crown Prince. The Emperor might trust you for a while, but if she remembers this forged will in her dreams at midnight, she'll be suspicious of you and the Crown Prince at any moment. Only when you're both dead can the Emperor truly rest easy."
Yongkang shuddered again at this, then gritted his teeth and said sternly, "Don't worry, I know what to do."
【Author’s words】
Here they come, 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow!
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