"Humph, he promised me that he would leave the capital forever and never come back." After saying that, the Eighth Prince turned his head and looked at the sky behind him and said, "I'm afraid he's already packing up and getting ready to leave."
——
"Your Highness, are we really leaving?" The maid Suoxin pleaded for the Ninth Prince while packing.
"No." Gu Yanwei suddenly stopped what he was doing. He wanted to save Shen Qingqiu, but he couldn't hand over the country to Gu Anguo, otherwise he would be sorry for his father.
"That……"
"You will follow me out of the palace today. I have already sent Chen Jie to the Xiongnu. Marquis Gu will be back tonight."
"No wonder I haven't seen Lord Chen these two days. It turns out that His Highness had already made a plan. I thought..." Suoxin hung his head. He thought he would never see the princess again.
At night, Gu Yanwei took the maid out of the palace, and the Eighth Prince's spies did not leave until they were out of the city.
"Really gone?"
"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. I watched them leave before returning."
"That's great, that's great." At this moment, the Eighth Prince finally felt relieved. "Finally, no one will threaten this prince anymore, hahahaha."
The Eighth Prince was rejoicing over the success of his conspiracy, but he didn't know that on the other side, the Ninth Prince had already reunited with Marquis Gu.
"Your Highness, I am sorry for being late. Please blame me, Your Highness!"
Gu Yanwei quickly helped Gu Hou up and asked, "How is the war going with the Xiongnu?"
"We have won three battles, so we can repel the Huns!"
"That's good. Now that my father is seriously ill, my brother has evil ambitions and has captured Qingqiu to threaten me. Since he became regent, he has repeatedly increased taxes and the people are living in misery. I really can't leave this country in his hands. If this is the case, this prince will let my father down."
"You all know that His Majesty is sincere. As long as He gives an order, we will serve Him at His beck and call."
"With Lord Gu's words, I feel relieved."
"Your Highness, please rest in the tent today. Tomorrow we will attack in one fell swoop and expose the Eighth Prince's actions to the world."
Early the next morning, when the old marquis was preparing the army, eunuch Liu in the palace suddenly brought news.
"Your Highness, the Emperor passed away last night."
"What?! How could it be?"
"Last night, the emperor suddenly became seriously ill and kept talking about you. The imperial doctors tried to help him all night, but still..."
"Father."
The soldiers knelt down in the direction of the capital, "Your Majesty."
——
"Father." Looking at the emperor's hand hanging from the sickbed, the eighth prince knelt in front of the bed with a mournful voice and squeezed out a tear, "Father."
Li Xin was also kneeling not far away at this time. The emperor's sudden death at this time was just the right time for them, and he had no intention of waiting any longer.
"Eighth Prince, now that the Emperor has passed away, the war between the imperial court and the Xiongnu is still going on. The country cannot be without a ruler for a day. I ask you to mourn and put the matter of ascending the throne on the agenda as soon as possible."
"Master Li may be a little anxious, right?" Zhang Jieli stood up and said, "The emperor's body is still warm, what are you planning to do?"
"I don't understand what Lord Zhang means. We are deeply saddened by the death of the emperor, but the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. You should also consider the overall situation."
"Heh." Zhang Jie Li sneered, "You sound very high-sounding and consider the overall situation, but I think you have the evil ambition to wait for you."
"How dare you!" A majestic voice came over. Zhang Jie Li looked over in the direction of the voice and saw that the Eighth Prince, who had been heartbroken just now, suddenly stood up, with no trace of sadness in his eyes.
"Master Zhang, are you saying that this prince has evil ambitions?"
Seeing his arrogant and complacent look, Zhang Jie Li was very annoyed and replied without any fear: "Who I am talking about, everyone knows it in their heart."
"Heh." The Eighth Prince laughed coldly, "Master Zhang is so dissatisfied with me. I wonder who else Master Zhang thinks is more qualified to be the emperor besides me?"
Zhang Jieli could not bear to see this beautiful land ruined in the hands of the Eighth Prince, so he threatened to die, saying, "The Ninth Prince is a man of both literary and military talents, and he is more qualified to rule the country with culture. I think he is more qualified to do this."
Other ministers who supported Gu Yanwei and were still in the imperial study echoed the words. The prince looked around with a gloomy face. After a long time, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, as if he was a devil from the underworld, wanting to take people's lives.
"Someone, give Zhang Jie Li fifty lashes." The Eighth Prince looked at Zhang Jie Li coldly and whispered with a smile in his ear: "Lord Zhang, you may not know yet, but my ninth brother was driven out of the palace yesterday. He's probably been killed by the secret guards I sent out..." The Eighth Prince made a gesture of wiping his neck and laughed even more fiercely.
"Since you are so loyal to him, why don't you accompany him?" Then he raised his head and shouted loudly: "Then send him out."
As soon as he finished speaking, two guards came in and dragged Zhang Jieli out.
Zhang Jieli struggled and shouted angrily, "Gu Anguo, you have killed your brothers and sisters and are not capable of shouldering the heavy responsibility. This country will not last long if it is handed over to you."
Zhang Jie Li's voice was getting farther and farther away, but the remaining officials in the imperial study were trembling with fear because of the sound he left in their ears.
The Eighth Prince looked at them with a smile, his tone very cold.
"Who else thinks that the Ninth Brother is more suitable than me? Please speak up."
With the example of Zhang Jieli, no one dared to stand up again.
Li Xin looked at them proudly and said, "Your Highness, let me handle the coronation ceremony."
The Eighth Prince shook his sleeves and turned to face the Emperor's bed, "Okay."
At this time, outside the city, the Ninth Prince was still in pain from the death of the Emperor.
"Your Highness, the Emperor has suddenly passed away. The Eighth Prince and Li Xin will definitely take this opportunity to usurp the throne. We must hurry back to the palace to stop them."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Lord Gu, you and your soldiers should wait for me outside the palace and follow my instructions."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Gu Yanwei raised his head. Something earth-shattering was going to happen in the palace tonight.
——
"Is there anyone who still wants to object to this matter?" Li Xin looked at the ministers around him and said loudly, as if he had become the prime minister who was second only to the emperor.
"I object!" A familiar voice suddenly came from behind. Everyone turned their heads and looked back, only to see Gu Yanwei slowly walking in from outside the door.
Hearing the voice, the Eighth Prince turned around in disbelief.
"You are not..."
"Hasn't he been killed by you?" Gu Yanwei walked past the ministers and approached the Eighth Prince and said, "If it weren't for Marquis Gu's help, I would have been killed by the secret guards you sent out."
"Gu Yong?" The Eighth Prince frowned. "He is fighting in the Xiongnu, how could this be?"
"Humph." Gu Yanwei sneered, "My brother, all this is just your fault for being too impatient. If you hadn't been like this, I wouldn't have disturbed Marquis Gu who was far away in the Xiongnu."
The Eighth Prince looked at Gu Yanwei in disbelief. It turned out that he had been secretly planning all these days. It seemed that he really underestimated his younger brother. But soon he smiled again.
"Ninth brother, what's the point of you coming back? Although my father promised to make you the crown prince, he never gave you the title. Now, my father has passed away. Neither you nor I are the crown prince. Moreover, more than half of the civil and military officials in the court support me. What are your chances of winning?"
As he spoke, the Eighth Prince suddenly leaned over to Gu Yanwei's ear and said, "I know that Marquis Gu's troops are already outside the palace, but do you think I didn't make preparations in advance?"
At this time, outside the palace, the two armies were already confronting each other.
"Gu Anguo, you are committing rebellion here."
"Rebellion?" The Eighth Prince sneered, "Then just treat it as me rebelling. My brother, it's already not easy to leave the palace alive, why do you have to come back to die?"
Marquis Gu's troops were surrounded outside the palace. Now without external support, Gu Yanwei didn't know what to do for a moment.
"Since everyone has no objection, then I will respectfully obey your orders. From today on..." Before he could finish his words, a female voice was heard outside the door. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Shen Qingqiu walking in with an imperial edict.
"Eighth Prince, don't be anxious. Wait until I read out the Emperor's decree."
"Imperial edict?" The Eighth Prince frowned.
Shen Qingqiu's sudden appearance with the imperial edict startled the Eighth Prince, but now he had no time to worry about how Shen Qingqiu was released.
"That's right." Shen Qingqiu walked to the ministers with the imperial edict, glanced at Gu Yanwei, nodded at him, and then opened the edict and said, "His Majesty the Emperor had already considered the candidate for succession before his death. This imperial edict was drafted by him before his death and given to Empress Defei for safekeeping. Empress Defei learned about the matter of the Imperial Study and gave the imperial edict to me."
An incense stick ago, Defei's personal maid brought her the news of the emperor's death. When Defei hurried over, she just heard the quarrel between the Eighth Prince and Zhang Jieli.
Defei did not go in, but returned to the palace with her maid. However, on the way, she heard someone calling for help.
"Liu Zhu, is someone asking for help?"
Following the sound, the palace maid Liu Zhu nodded and said, "The sound seems to be coming from over there."
"Let's go and take a look."
Following the sound, Concubine De found the place where Shen Qingqiu was imprisoned.
"Princess Kangle?" Concubine De frowned and asked, "Why are you imprisoned here?"
Hearing the voice, Shen Qingqiu stood up immediately and looked up and down at the woman standing outside the door. Looking at her clothes, Shen Qingqiu was sure that the person in front of him must be the emperor's concubine.
"My lady, do you know me?"
Concubine De nodded. "I saw you at the last palace banquet, but why are you here?"
"Your Highness, could you please let me out first? I will tell you the details later."
——
"What?!" De Fei was surprised and said, "This Eighth Prince is so bold. I didn't know he had such a wicked ambition."
Shen Qingqiu stood up and said, "My Lady, you understand the whole story. I don't know how the Ninth Prince is doing now. I have to go over to see him."
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