Chapter 325 Entering the Urn
Just as Yang Zhen was about to strike the new emperor, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and the knife jerked to the side.
The new emperor quickly retreated, putting distance between himself and the enemy.
Yang Zhen didn't have time to figure out why his wrist hurt. He raised his knife to chase after the attacker, but a sharp pain came from his back.
What happened?
Yang Zhen turned around in anguish and saw a palace attendant holding a crossbow, looking at him expressionlessly.
Upon seeing the eunuch's face, Yang Zhen's eyes widened in shock: "Xue Han!"
However, the arrow to his heart left him with too little time to be shocked. As he collapsed and crashed heavily to the ground, Yang Zhen had only one thought: the coup had indeed failed...
Yes, deep down he had long felt that success was unlikely, but having come this far, he couldn't afford to stop. He could only grit his teeth and keep moving forward, repeatedly trying to convince himself that he would succeed.
He didn't want to, and dared not, admit that he had boarded the wrong ship and taken the wrong path.
But if he wasn't one of Prince Fu's men, how could he have become the Deputy Commander of the Palace Guard at such a young age?
He realized that wanting things beyond his background and abilities was bound to come at a price, a truth he didn't understand when he was too young and blinded by desire.
Unfortunately, there's no going back in life...
Yang Zhen closed his eyes.
Realizing something was wrong, Prince Fu immediately lunged at the new emperor. Instead of running away, the new emperor pressed forward, twisted Prince Fu's arm, and pressed a dagger against Prince Fu's neck.
Prince Fu was even more shocked than Yang Zhen: "You, how do you have such skills?"
The new emperor had indeed studied horsemanship and archery, but his skills were mediocre; it was merely for physical fitness. A crown prince has too much to learn; there's no need to spend a great deal of time and endure excessive hardship to develop exceptional skills.
"At this point, Uncle Wang is curious about this?"
As the voice rang out, a person emerged from one side of the rear of the hall.
Prince Fu was struck dumb: "How could this be!"
The person who emerged was the new emperor.
Prince Fu blinked in disbelief, turned his head to look at the person holding a dagger to his neck, and felt a sharp pain immediately.
"Hiss—" he cried out in pain, realizing that the "new emperor" who had restrained him was a stand-in.
"Release the palace servants." The new emperor coldly swept his gaze over the rebel soldiers who were controlling the palace servants.
Apart from Xue Han, who was disguised as a eunuch, all the other palace servants in the hall were genuine.
The rebel soldiers dared not meet the new emperor's imposing gaze; they all lowered their heads, their hands trembling as they gripped their swords.
Both the subdued Prince Fu and the fallen Yang Zhen made them realize that it was all over.
As one of them released his grip, the knife fell to the ground with a startling sound. The longsword seemed like a hot potato to the other rebel soldiers, who hurriedly threw it to the ground.
Prince Fu was unwilling to give up and said in a hoarse voice, "The people outside are all my men. At worst, we'll all die together!"
The new emperor smiled slightly: "Uncle, do you think your nephew is just a lump of dough that you can knead and roll? At a time like this, do you still think everyone outside is your man?"
"Impossible!" Prince Fu exclaimed frantically. "The imperial guards protecting the palace are either dead or wounded, and the guards who rushed to the imperial mausoleum to put out the fire won't be able to return for a while—"
The new emperor interrupted Prince Fu calmly: "Your uncle has a better conscience than I thought, setting the fire outside the mausoleum area. It's just that my cousin is a bit cowardly; his legs went weak at the sight of the imperial guards stationed there..."
It takes time for the fire to spread from arson to its outbreak, enough time for the situation in the mausoleum area to be relayed back to the new emperor.
The one who was ordered by Prince Fu to set the fire was his second son. After setting the fire, he was subdued by the imperial guards who were lying in wait. From then on, the imperial guards' duty was to keep an eye on the fire to prevent it from getting out of control.
The number of guards who pretended to go to put out the fire was not large.
"Nonsense, the people outside—"
Screams erupted outside the hall, accompanied by the clanging of weapons hitting the ground.
Prince Fu's eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at the palace entrance, shouting hysterically, "Impossible! My men are everywhere outside! They've surrounded the palace! They're all my men..."
A clear female voice rang out: "You do have someone like that."
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Xue Han's expression changed slightly, and he stared intently at the doorway.
Qiu Heng walked in and threw the person she was dragging in front of Prince Fu: "Here, your son."
Prince Fu stared intently, then cried out in a hoarse voice, "Xiao'er!"
"Aheng, what brings you here?" Xue Han asked gently.
Qiu Heng bowed to the new emperor: "Your subject Qiu Heng greets Your Majesty."
"No need for formalities. Princess Suiyun, what brings you here—"
"Your Majesty, I heard a commotion outside and went out to investigate. I discovered a group of imperial guards breaking into the palace. Fearing that Prince Fu might cause trouble and things might get out of control, I secretly followed them. I inadvertently noticed that some of them were heading towards the concubines' quarters..."
The new emperor looked at Prince Fu with a slightly grim expression: "You didn't even spare my fifth brother's child!"
He knew that his uncle, blinded by the throne, was anxious, but he didn't expect him to be so anxious that he killed him and took away his fifth brother almost at the same time.
"What do you mean by not letting him go? It's clearly a great opportunity for the Fifth Prince." Prince Fu laughed loudly when he saw his half-dead eldest son giving up.
The new emperor, too lazy to look at the deranged Prince Fu any longer, nodded slightly to Qiu Heng: "Thanks to Princess Suiyun for protecting my fifth brother."
The reason why no imperial guards were secretly sent to protect the late emperor and his consorts was twofold: firstly, to ensure the safety of the troops on this side, and secondly, based on common sense, eliminating the new emperor was the primary and only objective of Prince Fu and his group.
If something were to happen to his fifth brother, he would feel guilty, and what happened tonight would easily give rise to gossip.
"Your Majesty flatters me."
Qiu Heng thought of the Fifth Prince's panicked appearance in the night.
The Prince of Fu's heir is going to lead the Fifth Prince to confront the new emperor, and once the two brothers are confronted face to face and it is revealed that they want to support the Fifth Prince to succeed to the throne, some rifts will remain forever.
For the new emperor who holds the reins of power, this rift is nothing. But for the fifth prince, who still has a long life ahead of him, it could very well become a death knell at some point in the future.
She didn't want the fifth prince to become a child emperor as he had originally planned, but she still felt pity for the dying emperor who knelt before her in the fire.
She abducted the heir of the Prince of Fu and sent the Fifth Prince, who had not gone far, back to Consort Shu.
I hope that the fifth prince, who did not become a child emperor, can grow up easily and live a peaceful life.
The new emperor glanced at Prince Fu one last time before striding out.
Outside the palace, the bodies of imperial guards lay scattered on the ground, the stench of blood overwhelming; they were Yang Zhen's trusted men.
More guards stood solemnly on both sides, and immediately bowed when they saw the new emperor emerge.
The barely audible sigh dissipated on the wind, and the new emperor spoke: "Yan Rong."
"This servant is here."
"Summon all civil and military officials to an audience immediately."
"I obey the order."
Upon receiving the summons, the officials and nobles rushed to the palace as if their lives depended on it. When they saw the imperial guards lying dead, the fully dead Deputy Commander of the Palace Guard Yang Zhen, the half-dead Prince Fu's heir, and the Prince Fu with a numb expression, they were all dumbfounded.
In just one night, the imperial tombs caught fire, Prince Fu staged a coup, and a lot of major events happened...
(End of this chapter)
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