Chapter 334 I have decided to pass the throne to the Crown Prince
The general who entered the palace to report was Yang Gang, the commander of the Imperial Guards, who was responsible for protecting the safety of the palace and the emperor.
"Your Majesty, please make plans as soon as possible and leave the palace immediately."
The enemy forces were too numerous, and each soldier was brave and skilled in battle. They had no chance of winning against ten men.
Hearing the sound of horses' hooves and shouts coming from the palace road, Prime Minister Qin took two steps forward to the threshold to check the situation outside.
An arrow flew toward him. He noticed it, bent over, braced himself against the door frame, and the arrow grazed the top of his head before embedding itself in the door frame behind him.
"Close the door quickly."
Prime Minister Qin stormed into the hall and berated Yang Gang, "Yang Gang, as the commander of the Imperial Guards, you are responsible for protecting the Emperor's safety. You only come to report now that someone has attacked the palace! You are useless! You are incompetent!"
The civil officials were furious and blamed the imperial guards for everything. They struck Yang Gang on the head with their ceremonial tablets, accusing them of incompetence, failing to protect the palace, and putting them in danger.
The Great Zhou Dynasty valued civil officials over military ones. Yang Gang was used to the difficulties and contempt of civil officials. He covered his face with his arm, but when he saw the emperor, he showed no intention of reprimanding him. His disappointment with the emperor reached its peak. Unable to bear it any longer, he forcefully pushed away the people who were beating him and drew his sword to slash at Prime Minister Qin's arm.
Qin Xiang took a step back, narrowly avoiding having his arm severed, but he was still cut open with a deep gash that went deep into the bone, and blood seeped out between his fingers.
"Yang Gang, how dare you! Are you trying to rebel? How dare you injure Prime Minister Qin!"
“So what if I acted recklessly this once? If you hadn’t been so insistent on peace, the enemy wouldn’t have come to our doorstep, let alone stormed the palace. As the commander of the Imperial Guards, I am determined to protect the Emperor and the palace to the death, while you only talk the talk and have plunged the entire Great Zhou and the capital into an abyss of destruction. You will soon pay the price for this.”
Blood streamed down Yang Gang's face, reflecting in his bloodshot eyes, making him look like he wanted to devour someone.
"Your Majesty! Your humble servant has sworn to live and die with the palace. Please take care. Your humble servant is leaving."
Yang Gang bowed deeply to the emperor, and before the emperor could say anything, he turned around, opened the palace gate, and rushed out.
"No, Minister Yang, come back! You must stay by my side and protect my safety..."
When the emperor saw Yang Gang rush out, he reached out to call him back, but Yang Gang walked away without turning his head.
He panicked again, even more so than before. The enemy had already reached his doorstep; what use was peace talks now?
Seeing the ministers blaming each other without being stopped, he was too anxious to care about anything else and paced around in circles.
"What should I do? What should I do? If I become the ruler of a fallen kingdom, I will have no face to face my ancestors after I pass away."
Once a deposed emperor is captured, he faces certain death.
He didn't want to be infamous for eternity, and he certainly didn't want to die.
Unless he isn't the emperor...
In a moment of inspiration, he came up with a solution.
As long as he wasn't the emperor, he wouldn't be a ruler of a fallen kingdom, and perhaps he wouldn't have had to die.
"Crown Prince..." The Emperor reached out towards the Crown Prince, who thought he was about to escape and needed his escort. He took two steps forward and took the Emperor's arm. "Father, I am here. I will escort you out of the palace. Once we escape the capital, we will gather a large army and take it back!"
"Well said! Your words are reminiscent of those of the founding emperors Taizu and Taizong. You will surely do even better for your father in the future, so I have decided to pass the throne to you!"
The emperor removed the crown, a symbol of imperial power adorned with twelve strings of jade beads, from his head and placed it on the crown prince's head. He then hurriedly took off his dragon robe and draped it over the prince's body.
"All my beloved ministers, bear witness: I—no, I am no longer the emperor, I cannot call myself 'I'—I am the Retired Emperor. The Great Zhou dynasty did not perish in my hands. I have not been infamous for eternity, I have not!"
The crown prince's face immediately changed drastically. His eyes widened, and he knelt down in fear. The crown on his head, which was not properly fastened, rolled to his feet as he bent over.
"No, no, I am not yet capable of shouldering this heavy responsibility. I beg you, Father, to rescind your decree! I beg you, Father, to rescind your decree. My second brother is more capable than I am. Why not pass the throne to him?"
He wanted to be emperor, but he wanted to be a wise and benevolent ruler of a prosperous era, not a ruler who would bring about the downfall of his country.
The emperor didn't care whether he agreed or not, and ordered the palace servants to escort him away.
The throne, which everyone once coveted, has now become a hot potato that no one wants.
The Crown Prince picked up the Tongtian Crown from the ground and threw it to the Second Prince. "Second Prince, you've always coveted my position as Crown Prince. Now that the opportunity to become Emperor is right in front of you, what are you waiting for? Take it. Don't say I'm not letting you have it."
The second prince tossed the crown back into the crown prince's arms. "There is an order of seniority. Your elder brother, the crown prince, is older than me. Father Emperor said in front of all the ministers that he would pass it on to you. How can a younger brother take what belongs to his elder brother?"
“Take it. My elder brother is incompetent and useless. My younger brother should be like Yao and Shun, turning the tide…” Ignoring his refusal, the Crown Prince took off his dragon robe and threw it at his face, then chased after the emperor in the direction he fled. “Father, please wait for your son!”
When the ministers heard that the enemy was attacking, they were so frightened that they scattered and fled in all directions, hiding behind pillars or inside the palace. Some were so anxious that they rushed to the door, only to see the imperial guards of the Great Zhou fighting and retreating, and then they ran back in fear.
They all followed the emperor and fled through the side gate, crying out, "Your Majesty, wait for this old minister! Wait for this humble minister!"
The second prince was stunned as he held the two things in his arms. This was the throne he had dreamed of, and he had obtained it so easily.
When they came to their senses, they found that the ministers had already disappeared.
He has no one to rely on; what kind of emperor is he?
Wanyan Zonglie was his ally.
Those barbarians only know how to burn, kill, plunder, and take women; they have no idea how to govern a country.
If he were to ascend the throne, make peace with Wanyan Zonglie, promise to pay tribute to the Great Jing every year, protect the people of the capital, turn the tide, and become a restorer of the dynasty, he would be recorded in history and remembered for eternity.
Thinking this, he took off his hair ornament and put on the Tongtian Crown, which symbolized imperial power, then put on the dragon robe, lifted the robe and sat on the dragon throne.
They adopted the airs of the Great Zhou emperor and awaited Wanyan Zonglie's arrival.
Before anyone arrived, he glanced down at his dragon robe, which fit him perfectly. Mimicking the emperor's usual manner, he gestured for the ministers to rise. He subconsciously uttered, "All of you, rise!"
He's the emperor now! He's finally the emperor! Hahaha!!!
Outside the Golden Palace, blood seeped into the bricks and into the ground.
The soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty used their bodies to build a high wall on the palace road, blocking the enemy troops from entering.
The enemy first launched an attack with bows and arrows, followed by random thrusts and jabs with spears and lances.
As one soldier fell, another took his place, and the bodies of the Imperial Guards piled up layer upon layer on the palace path.
The enemy cavalry broke through the wall of corpses, trampling the bodies of the Great Zhou Imperial Guards into a bloody mess. The Imperial Guards who were still alive let out screams of agony as they were knocked down, "Ah!"
Beneath the tattered armor, some men still clutched dulled blades as enemy cavalry trampled over their bodies.
They reached out and grabbed the hooves of the enemy horses, fighting with all their might to protect the emperor they had sworn to serve until their last breath.
Yang Gang struggled to sit up and used his upper body to block the horse's hooves. The arrow piercing his chest seemed to be churning inside his body, and a mouthful of blood spilled from his mouth.
His face was covered in blood, unrecognizable, and his mouth was also filled with blood. He roared excitedly, "Halt! Anyone who trespasses on the imperial palace... will be executed without mercy!"
"The palace? Bah! Your dilapidated palace will soon become our racecourse, hahaha..."
"I respect you as a man. Let go now, and I might leave you with a whole corpse."
"I won't let go!" Yang Gang still held onto the horse's hoof and took out his long knife to make a cut on the horse's belly.
The horse, in pain and going berserk, trampled wildly, stepping on his chest with a loud thud!
Yang Gang's internal organs were completely shattered, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, "Pfft!"
His wide-open eyes stared in the direction of the Golden Palace, his death filled with unresolved grievances.
Enraged at being thrown from his horse, the Da Jing soldier raised his sword and beheaded him.
The last few hundred people who retreated to the jade steps included the Imperial Guards and the guards brought by the Duke of Ying.
They formed a human wall in front of the hall, led by the Duke of England.
The British Duke, over sixty years old with half-gray hair, was clad in armor and wielding a spear. He was exhausted but managed to fight an enemy general.
After exchanging more than a dozen blows with the enemy general, he twisted the shaft of his spear and knocked the halberd from the enemy general's hand.
The enemy general quickly drew his curved sword from his waist to parry the blow aimed at his heart, retreating as he fought.
The Duke of England once again deflected his scimitar, and his spear was aimed at his throat, ready to deliver a fatal blow.
A whistling sound of an arrow rang out.
The arrow pierced his armor in the heart, sparks flying, and the Duke of England staggered back several steps.
On horseback, Wanyan Zonglie drew his bow again and fired three arrows at once, aiming at his vital points.
"Whoosh!"
The arrow pierced straight into the armor, sparks flying, and the Duke of England was thrown back by the force of the impact, crashing heavily onto the steps with a "thud!"
The enemy general, who had just been nearly killed, lunged forward, picked up the halberd from the ground, and smashed it down on the Duke of England's head, knocking off his helmet. With his other hand, he slashed at the Duke's neck with a knife.
The Duke of England did not dodge; his spear thrust forward and pierced the enemy general's heart. "Thud!"
A bloody gash appeared on his neck, and the blood gushing from his mouth stained his beard and chest red. With a little effort, he twisted the spear and shattered his opponent's heart meridian.
"Lord, Lord..." The British auxiliary soldiers rushed over and helped him up, desperately calling out to him while covering the wound on his neck with their right hand.
The British Duke managed to say with difficulty, "Never mind me, kill the enemy..."
Even as he died, his hands were still tightly gripping the spear.
"yes!"
The guards channeled their grief and anger into a fierce battle against the enemy.
"Brothers! Follow me and kill! Avenge the Duke!" The captain of the guards roared and swung his sword at an enemy soldier.
The remaining guards' eyes burned with the light of revenge, turning their grief into strength. They fought with increasing ferocity, and when their swords broke, they used their flesh and blood to smash into the enemy's shields, tackled their enemies, bit their throats, and perished together with them.
Those who are knocked down and cannot get up, as long as they still have a breath left, should use a knife to stab the horse's hoof as it tramples over them.
They tried to stop the enemy from entering the palace, but this was futile and enraged the enemy, who fought back and cut their bodies into pieces.
The second prince, dressed in a dragon robe and sitting on the dragon throne, heard the sounds of weapons clashing and piercing flesh.
He was scared, and at that moment he finally realized his naivety.
Having already captured the capital, the entire city is now theirs. They can simply seize whatever they want; why would they help him secure the throne?
He had just escaped through the side gate when he was blocked by enemy soldiers lying in ambush. He was so frightened that his leg knocked back the embroidered screen on one side, his hat rolled off the blue bricks, and his beaded string broke and rolled all over the ground.
"Bang!"
The enemy soldiers, seeing him in a dragon robe, stepped forward and pinned him down. Seeing his young face, they exclaimed, "So young! He can't possibly be the Emperor of Great Zhou! The old emperor has escaped! Chase after him!"
"Yes! I... I'm not the emperor, I'm just a eunuch, please let me go, please let me go..." The second prince struggled desperately.
The enemy soldiers tore off his outer robe and saw the four-clawed python robe he was wearing underneath.
"Who are you trying to fool? The python robe you're wearing must belong to the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty."
The second prince quickly found another excuse, shaking his head and saying, "I'm not, I really am not. The dragon robe I'm wearing was forced upon me by His Highness the Crown Prince, who made me impersonate him and be a scapegoat. They've all run away, they've all run away! Go and catch them! Let me go!"
The enemy soldiers were skeptical; the dragon robe was fake, and the python robe they were wearing might also be fake. Just as they were hesitating...
Taking advantage of their unpreparedness, the second prince struck their wrists with a palm strike, snatched their scimitars, and attempted to slit their throats.
Suddenly a curved blade flew out and knocked the knife out of his hand. He looked at the person who had come.
It was Wanyan Zonglie.
He knew something was wrong; Wanyan Zonglie must know him. He quickly turned his back and covered his face with his sleeve.
You can't see me, you can't see me...
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