Looking at the fainted emperor, Eunuch Ni's face turned pale and his lips trembled like a sieve.

The other people below all stood there frozen in place.

The emperor just lay slanting on the dragon throne, lifeless and motionless. The blood at the corners of his mouth and on his body was so red, so glaring and shocking.

It was Prince Li who reacted first and shouted, "Quick, call the imperial physician!"

Ever since the emperor fell seriously ill in the first month of the year, three imperial doctors have been on standby in the palace every day.

At this moment, the Jinyiwei and Huben guards guarding outside the Yangxin Palace no longer dared to stop them. The prince was already dead, and if the emperor also died here, none of them would be able to escape.

Moreover, Prince Li is the clan leader and Prime Minister Zhang is also here. Now that the country has no king, the two of them can also make the decisions.

A young eunuch went to summon the imperial physician as quickly as possible.

The main hall fell into deathly silence, with only occasional bursts of muffled thunder outside the hall, which made people panic.

In a short while, three imperial doctors came in breathlessly, each of them looking nervous and terrified.

They all knew a lot about the emperor's condition. When they heard the young eunuch say that the emperor was vomiting blood and fainted, they knew that the situation was not good.

Also arriving with the imperial doctors were Jinyiwei commander Lu Siji and Hubenwei commander Dai Hua. They had come because of the emperor's summons. Now that the emperor had fainted, their presence had become awkward, so they were left aside.

The three imperial doctors quickly split up and acted separately. Two of them went to see the emperor who had fallen on the dragon throne, while the other went to check on Gu Nanjin who was lying on the ground.

The imperial physician personally took the emperor's pulse and then lifted up his eyelids to take a look. The wrinkles between his brows had deepened and his face was as gloomy as water.

After the two doctors whispered to each other for a few words, the chief doctor quickly walked towards Prince Li, Prime Minister Zhang and others, and after bowing, he said, "Prince Li, Prime Minister Zhang... The emperor has erysipelas attacking his heart, causing wind and fire disturbances, and brain meridians are blocked..."

The imperial physician swallowed hesitantly and said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult for the emperor to wake up."

In other words, the emperor is like a living dead man who can't wake up! "..."

“…”

“…”

Prince Li, Prime Minister Zhang and others were speechless for a long time. Eunuch Ni also heard it. His legs went weak and he suddenly looked ten years older.

Soon, the middle-aged imperial physician who was examining Gu Nanjin called out, "Imperial physician's order!"

The imperial physician hurried over and saw the two men taking Gu Nanjin's pulse and checking his wounds. They then opened the medicine box and gave Gu Nanjin a few injections.

Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope, their heartbeats quickened, and they all gathered around Gu Nanjin.

Could it be that the prince is not dead?! After the imperial physician finished acupuncture for Gu Nanjin, Prince Li asked excitedly: "Imperial physician, the prince..." is he still alive?

The imperial physician stood up with some difficulty and replied with sweat on his forehead: "Your Highness the Crown Prince is still alive, but..."

A "but" made Prince Li and others feel depressed.

The imperial physician was also in a heavy mood, but he could only tell the truth: "However, the prince's chest is injured, and his heart pulse is damaged, and it is almost broken..."

He struggled to choose his words. His Royal Highness's life was hanging by a thread and he could die at any time! So, the faint hope that had just ignited in everyone's hearts was ruthlessly extinguished by a bucket of cold water.

Prince Li closed his eyes, and a fatigue from the bottom of his heart seeped out from his bones. His back became more hunched. He hurriedly ordered the palace servants to carry the emperor and the prince father and son in first.

The three imperial doctors naturally followed to take care of the emperor and his son.

The main hall suddenly became much more spacious.

At this time, a chaotic and hurried sound of footsteps came from outside the palace. A soldier of the Huben Guard came in hurriedly and reported, "The Queen is coming from the Rijing Gate." The Queen came from the harem, so she went through the Rijing Gate.

Prince Li rubbed his brows with a headache, thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Stop the queen first."

"This matter...I can't make the decision either. We have to welcome the Queen Mother back."

When he said this, Zhang Shoufu, Prince Shun and others woke up from their dreams, and then they thought slowly: Yes, there is still the Queen Mother in the palace. Now the emperor and the prince are in danger, it is time for Queen Mother Yin to return to the palace to take charge of the situation!

Everyone agreed.

The Huben Guards who came to report the message looked at Dai Hua with an inquiring look. When he saw Dai Hua nod, he hurried out again. It was foreseeable that the Queen and the Crown Princess would not give in easily.

Prince Li was confused and asked Eunuch Wen, "What time is it now?"

"Your Highness, it's almost the second watch!" Eunuch Xiao Wen replied tremblingly.

Eunuch Xiao Wen and other palace servants in the Hall of Mental Cultivation were all self-aware and knew that their lives were hanging on a thread, and that life and death depended on a word from Prince Li.

Prince Li's heart became even more confused, bewildered and anxious.

One hour.

Gu Jue only gave himself one hour, and now the deadline given by Gu Jue is almost up.

Prince Li calmed down and said to Prime Minister Zhang and others, "Please wait here for a while, everyone. Please stop the Queen, the Crown Princess and other people. I will leave the palace to see the Queen Mother and Prince Chen."

Prime Minister Zhang and others looked at each other with different thoughts, but they all knew that the initiative was now in the hands of the Queen Mother and Gu Jue and his mother.

At this time, since no one speaks out, it means support.

Prince Li hurried out of the palace again, and his destination was Prince Chen's Palace.

When he arrived at Prince Chen's Mansion, it was already the second watch. However, the entire city was on guard tonight by the Black Armor Army, so there was no one to keep watch. There were only teams of patrolling Black Armor Army soldiers on the streets of the city, and it was much quieter than usual.

The news brought by Prince Li left Queen Mother Yin, Gu Jue and Shen Qianchen speechless.

Especially Shen Qianchen. Before Prince Li came, she was happily discussing packing with Queen Mother Yin. As a result, in less than an hour, things took a turn for the worse!

What is the emperor doing?! She had never felt the emperor's pulse, but she had heard Empress Dowager Yin mention the emperor's symptoms of vomiting blood in the palace that day, and she had also read the pulse records of the Imperial Hospital, so she knew that the emperor didn't have much time left.

The shortest period would be three or four months, and the longest would not exceed one year.

For her, it didn’t matter whether the emperor was dead or alive, so she never cared too much about it. However, she didn’t expect that the emperor would suddenly become critically ill!

Prince Li was exhausted after being tossed around all day. He wanted to just fall asleep and ignore all these troubles.

But he had to intervene! "Queen Mother, Ajue, now you have to go to the palace and take charge of the situation." Prince Li said sternly.

His attitude meant that he wanted to leave the future of Da Qi to them and their son.

To be honest, Gu Jue was surprised.

Many things that happened on this day were within his expectations, including the first time Prince Li came to Prince Chen's mansion to find him, but he didn't expect that the emperor would actually kill the prince...

Yes, what a madman would do is something that ordinary people cannot predict.

Prince Li carefully observed every change in expression on Gu Jue's face. Although nominally he was asking the Queen Mother and Gu Jue to take action, everyone knew that the Queen Mother would definitely listen to Gu Jue.

Prince Li was helpless. The court was in chaos. The Second Prince, Gu Nanzhao, had always been weak and could not handle major events. The Crown Prince's life or death was uncertain. Apart from Gu Jue, there was no one else who could stabilize the court.

To take a step back, even if Prince Li can really nominate another candidate, it depends on whether Gu Jue agrees.

"Ajue, if you are worried, you can bring the Black Armor Army into the palace with you." Prince Li was afraid that Gu Jue would not agree, so he took the initiative to propose.

He just wanted Gu Jue to believe that this was not a trap, and he was definitely not helping the emperor to trick him into the palace and catch him all in one fell swoop.

Gu Jue twitched his eyebrows but still said nothing.

Prince Li was really anxious. The one-hour deadline was about to arrive. He was afraid that Gu Jue would regard the previous agreement as a failure and then order the Black Armor Army to force the palace and massacre the court.

There are so many people in this huge palace. Once Gu Jue leads his army to force the palace, it will inevitably lead to a sea of ​​blood and corpses.

By then, it would not only be the descendants of the emperor who would die, but also the relatives and maternal families of the princes and princesses might be implicated...

Prince Li gritted his teeth, took another step back, and said, "I can agree to allow the Black Armor Army outside the city to enter the city."

In fact, the entire capital city, except for the imperial palace, has been controlled by the Black Armor Army in the city. Whether the west gate can be opened or not is just a matter of Gu Jue's words. Even without him, the Black Armor Army outside the city can still break in.

However, if the Black Armor Army really did this, they would inevitably be criticized by future generations and denounce Gu Jue as a traitor.

Now that I have spoken, what the Black Armor Army is doing today will be justified.

This is the best way! Prince Li looked determined, and bowed solemnly to Gu Jue and Queen Mother Yin, without straightening up for a long time.

Queen Mother Yin was just drinking tea. She didn't hate Prince Li, but her experience of living in the harem for more than 20 years had made her harden her heart.

Anyway, for her, wherever her son and daughter-in-law are, she is there.

The candlelight in the room flickered twice quickly in the night wind, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

"Okay." Gu Jue finally spoke up and agreed, "I will go to the palace to take a look, but the Queen Mother doesn't have to go to the palace."

Seeing that Gu Jue was willing to give in, Prince Li agreed without saying a word and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, Gu Jue said, "Uncle, let's go to the west gate first."

Gu Jue would certainly not be stupid enough to refuse the "benefits" offered by Prince Li.

After a while, in the deep night of spring, the gate of Prince Chen's Mansion opened again.

This time, Prince Li rode out of the palace with Gu Jue on horseback, accompanied by dozens of palace guards, all holding burning torches in their hands.

As the horses galloped, the torches swayed in the evening breeze and sparks flew everywhere.

At the West City Gate, the atmosphere was tense.

The guards at the city gates were facing off against a team of black-armored soldiers led by Tang Yuchu, and the confrontation had lasted for at least an hour and a half.

Because he hadn't received Gu Jue's order, Tang Yuchu hadn't taken any action until now. However, Tang Yuchu was always a person who knew how to enjoy life. He knew that there would be a lot of trouble tonight, so he had already prepared snacks such as peanuts and melon seeds, and he was enjoying the food.

“De de de…”

Seeing another group of people heading towards the west gate, the guards at the gate were like a bowstring that was about to break.

Of course, they hoped that the people coming were reinforcements sent by the emperor or Kang Hongda, but when they heard the sound of horse hooves, they could roughly judge that the number of people coming was no more than fifty, and they were definitely not reinforcements.

The hearts of the guards at the city gates were all in their throats.

At this moment, 30,000 Black Armored Soldiers arrived outside the west city gate one after another. They were all waiting outside the city, waiting for Gu Jue's order. Then the Black Armored Soldiers would attack the city. With only a few dozen people, there was no way they could defend the city gate.

The rumbling sound of horse hooves seemed to be approaching like the soul-locking chains of the Black and White Impermanence.

Tang Yuchu saw Gu Jue coming from afar and felt a little surprised. He didn't even bother to eat and stood up to dust off his robe.

When Gu Jue and his companions stopped on horseback a few feet away, Tang Yuchu clasped his fists and saluted Gu Jue: "Your Majesty."

He looked at Prince Li on the other horse with some surprise, and also bowed: "Prince Li."

No one expected that Prince Li would come with Prince Chen Gu Jue, and the old man in front of him was indeed Prince Li!

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Prince Li took out a golden token engraved with a five-clawed golden dragon from his arms and said in a loud voice: "This is the Five Dragon Golden Token left by Emperor Taizu. Now that the emperor is critically ill and the country is in danger, I regard this order as an imperial decree. Open the city gates immediately!"

This Five Dragon Golden Order is a token left by Emperor Taizu to every generation of the Gu family. It can serve as an imperial edict in times of national crisis.

Of course, clan leaders of all generations rarely took out the Five Dragon Golden Order. After all, the prerequisite for using this order was that the country was in danger. If the current emperor did not admit that the country was in danger, then the clan leader would be the next person to be angered and punished.

In the more than one hundred years of history of Da Qi, only two clan leaders had ever taken out this Five Dragon Golden Order to preside over the overall situation.

The city gate guards, led by Shouzheng, felt relieved when they heard Prince Li's words.

Now, they have every right to open the city gate.

The guard immediately bowed to Prince Li and said, "I obey your command!"

His feet had long felt weak. He had been in a state of high tension all day, and now the strength that supported his body suddenly disappeared.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

The guards at the city gate quickly put away their weapons and went to open the city gate.

"rumble……"

The rumbling sound when the heavy city gate opened was particularly loud in the quiet night. Almost everyone in the nearby houses heard the sound, but the people were still worried. No one dared to sleep, and no one dared to look towards the city gate.

The west city gate opened with a bang.

The Black Armor Army led by Su Mubai was on the other side of the city gate. Many soldiers were holding torches in their hands, and those torches were spreading far to the rear.

Su Mubai also saw Gu Jue and Prince Li on the other side of the city gate and was also a little surprised.

According to their plan, Gu Jue did not need to come here in person to greet them, but Gu Jue appeared, and with him was Prince Li.

This meant that their plans had undergone a change that they had not anticipated.

For the time being, this change might be a good thing? In this delicate mood, Su Mubai led several generals to ride into the city first, and then they all saluted Gu Jue with fists:

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

At the same time, tens of thousands of Black Armored Soldiers outside the city gate knelt on one knee in unison, and their uniform shouts seemed to resound through the sky.

When tens of thousands of people became shorter at the same time, the scene was quite spectacular.

Gu Jue first asked everyone to stand up, and then explained the matter of the emperor and the prince to Su Mubai, Tang Yuchu and others.

Even Su Mubai was a little dumbfounded.

He and the prince had prepared for today's battle for a very long time. The plan had been adjusted as the situation changed, and they had also imagined various situations, but the ultimate goal had never changed from the beginning to the end.

Gu Jue's goal was only to bring the Queen Mother and the Princess back to the North, and then unite the Northwest to establish his own regime.

Whether the emperor was willing to abdicate to the crown prince was not within their consideration. As long as the crown prince ascended the throne, it would not matter whether Gu Lang, the emperor emeritus, lived for one day or a year.

They really didn't expect that the emperor would kill himself! After a brief moment of surprise, Su Mubai adjusted his mood and immediately ordered the control of the four city gates and the strengthening of the defense of the capital.

Several generals immediately responded.

Gu Jue handed these trivial matters to Su Mubai, and stretched out his hand to Prince Li to ask: "Uncle, it's time for us to enter the palace."

So, Prince Li followed Gu Jue to the palace.

Following behind them were tens of thousands of Black Armored Soldiers, a black mass. The torches in their hands were like stars on the ground, dotted around as they moved away.

As they advanced, teams continued to split off from the main army, each performing their own duties. Among them, three teams of more than a thousand men headed towards the east, south and north city gates respectively.

These Black Armor Army soldiers are all well-trained and disciplined, with a momentum of "fast as the wind, slow as the forest, aggressive as fire, and immovable as a mountain".

Watching these scenes, Prince Li was somewhat shocked. No wonder the Black Armor Army had such a reputation. Not only did they defeat the Red Di, but they also killed 50,000 imperial guards in one fell swoop.

When they arrived at the gate of the imperial palace, only 5,000 men of the Black Armor Army were left following Gu Jue and Su Mubai.

Although there were sounds of horse hooves and footsteps all around him, Prince Li felt that the surroundings were exceptionally quiet.

Yes, it was so peaceful! There had been countless similar transfers of power throughout the dynasties, but this was probably the quickest and least bloody one.

If he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes here, he probably wouldn't have believed it no matter who told him!

This is the third time Prince Li has come to the gate of the imperial palace today.

Each time his mood was very different from the last, and his heart seemed to be thrown up and down again and again, rising and falling violently several times.

Prince Li is now surprisingly calm, a kind of calmness that comes from seeing through the world and having a clear mind and a clear vision.

On the contrary, the imperial guards guarding in front of the Meridian Gate were on high alert, each of them drew their swords and raised their spears.

Until Prince Li took out the Five Dragon Golden Order again.

These imperial guards had similar ideas to those guarding the city gates. In history, whenever a palace was forced to be built, the first to die were the soldiers guarding the gates. It was a miracle that the handover could be carried out peacefully without bloodshed like this! Next, the imperial guards guarding the palace gates laid down their weapons one after another, silently moved aside, and silently handed over the guarding rights of the palace to the Xuanjia Army, and Su Mubai temporarily took over the imperial city.

Gu Jue and Prince Li did not dismount, but continued riding forward, heading north from the Meridian Gate, passing through a series of heavily guarded palace gates, until they arrived outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where they dismounted.

Even the Jinyiwei and Hubenwei didn't dare to stop Gu Jue. What they were more worried about now was their fate.

A new emperor chooses his own ministers. The Jinyiwei had made countless enemies in the court, and the Hubenwei was also responsible for the emperor's killing of the crown prince! Under the complicated gazes of the crowd, Gu Jue followed Prince Li through the main hall of the Yangxin Palace and came to the East Warm Pavilion.

There was an indescribable strange smell in the East Warm Pavilion.

The emperor was lying on a couch in a green gauze cupboard, with many silver threads among his loose hair. His shirt was open, revealing the shocking red sores on his chest. There were several gold needles stuck on his head and chest.

He was still unconscious, his eyes were closed, his face was pale and blue, his lips were dark purple, and his whole body exuded a strong aura of death, as if his life was hanging by a thread.

Gu Jue stopped four or five steps away from the dragon bed and lowered his eyes to look at the dying emperor on the bed.

He knew that the emperor would be killed by his own actions, but when he saw this scene, he still felt a little ironic.

He was the ninth son of the late emperor, eighteen years younger than Gu Lang. When he was born, Gu Lang was already the crown prince, so he had never coveted the throne.

He went to the North when he was fifteen, both to help the late emperor share his worries and to avoid Gu Lang's suspicion. Besides, he also wanted to achieve success with his own abilities.

He believed that he was worthy of the late emperor, the world, and Gu Lang! However, Gu Lang had become like this due to his day-to-day suspicion and desire for immortality.

Throughout history, there have been many suspicious monarchs, as well as monarchs who pursued immortality and believed in elixirs.

Gu Lang is not the first, nor will he be the last.

Beside the couch, two imperial doctors were guarding the emperor with full concentration. They checked on the emperor's condition almost every other cup of tea, for they were afraid that the emperor would die before the prince and the queen mother arrived, which would make it difficult for them to explain.

Gu Jue stared at the emperor for a moment and asked, "Imperial Physician, can you wake him up?"

His cold voice echoed in the green gauze cabinet, without any ripples, so calm, so cold, without any arrogance of a winner.

The Imperial Physician bowed to Gu Jue tremblingly and replied respectfully, "Your Highness, it is OK."

Everyone can see what is happening. The capital and the palace have been controlled by Gu Jue. The emperor and the prince are both dying. It is obvious who will be the master of this palace in the future.

After all, the emperor's eldest grandson is still too young and cannot defend this country at all!

The imperial physician swallowed.

The emperor's life was held by the imperial physician with golden needles. As long as the golden needles were pulled out, the emperor would weaken little by little until death. The whole process would not exceed half a month. If the emperor was forcibly awakened, he would only die faster.

However, the chief imperial physician did not say anything, and neither did the other imperial physician, they were in perfect tacit agreement.

The chief physician immediately asked another physician to prepare silver needles and then began to give acupuncture to the emperor.

The first one, the second one, the third one...

Nine golden needles pierced several major acupoints on the human body. When the last golden needle steadily penetrated the Baihui acupoint on the top of the head, the emperor's eyelashes trembled slightly.

The imperial physician knew that the emperor would not be awake for long, so he called out, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

The emperor's dry lips moved and he finally opened his eyes with difficulty. There was a daze and confusion in his cloudy eyes.

He moved his head and heard the voice coming and going, but he saw Gu Jue standing a few steps away. He was startled and asked, "Gu Jue, why are you here?"

His voice was hoarse, weak and feeble.

After saying just a few simple words, he began to gasp for breath and his body began to tremble, like a giant worm wriggling on the couch, which made people feel nauseous just by looking at it.

Then, he saw Prince Li standing side by side with Gu Jue, frowned, and said, "Uncle, quickly pass on my order to arrest Gu Jue. Gu Jue dared to trespass into the Yangxin Palace without my summons. This is a capital crime!"

"Quickly capture him and kill him without mercy!"

When he said the last three words, the emperor didn't know where the strength came from, and he said these three words with great force.

Gu Jue smiled gently, a smile that made it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry. It seemed like a smile but not a smile, and a mockery but not a mockery.

"Did you say the same thing to the crown prince?" His voice was neither light nor heavy, neither fast nor slow, "Kill without mercy?"

The same three words sounded extremely mocking when he said them.

emperor:"!!!"

The emperor was stunned at first, and then seemed to recall a lot of things. His face flushed abnormally, and he gasped and said angrily: "The prince deserves to die. The prince has no respect for the emperor and his father!"

"Gu Jue, you deserve to die too. I will cut you into pieces! Come on, take him down!"

The emperor shouted and roared, but all he got in response was silence. No one responded or moved.

He felt something was wrong, so he looked carefully, only to find that the eunuchs who usually took care of him were gone, and the people following Gu Jue and Prince Li were not the Jinyiwei or the Hubenwei, but several soldiers in black armor.

This is a member of the Black Armor Army! The emperor took a deep breath.

It was not until this moment that the emperor realized that Gu Jue had already controlled everything around him, which meant that the Palace of Tranquil Longevity was under Gu Jue's control.

Some people asked why he allowed the prince to be killed and why Gu Jue Qianchen was too cold.

My answer is that no one can predict the future, and no one can be responsible for someone else's life.

I don't think my answer is offensive. Should I add a few more kisses and mums? If anyone has the same question, I would say the same thing. Gu Jue couldn't have tied the prince to his body and watched him all the time. It was even more impossible for him to know that the prince would be killed by the mad emperor even though he was already the regent (oh, he's not dead yet). The situation that Gu Jue set up was originally a chance to survive on the edge of a knife. What he needed to take care of more was his own side, Qian Chen, the queen mother, and the soldiers under his command.

By the way, I haven't asked for monthly tickets many times since I became a V. Half a month has passed this month, and it seems that I only mentioned it once. Even though I have done this, they still laugh at me for always asking for monthly tickets. It's really boring.

(End of this chapter)