The events that happened in the palace last night were already known to everyone. It wasn't the Crown Prince who ascended the throne, but the Second Prince, which surprised everyone for a long time. However, the two of them sat there listening without saying a word.
Three days later, the second prince officially succeeded to the throne, and the character "国" (guo) was changed to "缡" (li). Those vassal kings still wanted to enter the capital, but without the new emperor's consent, they could not enter the capital at all.
On the first day of court, the new emperor ordered those ministers who were dissatisfied with him to retire and return to their hometowns. However, he did not appoint them to any positions, leaving them vacant. Next, the princes were all granted the title of prince and sent back to their fiefdoms.
Those princesses have now found suitable husbands and are staying in the palace. Although the empress is still alive, the new emperor has not proposed releasing them, so they remain in the cold palace.
The concubines were relocated to other palaces, and their only plan was to stay in the palace and die there. None of them were granted the title of Dowager Consort, as if the new emperor had forgotten about them.
Two months later, the new emperor became increasingly dignified and ruthless, executing many corrupt officials. Wen Liu, as the new emperor's favorite minister, had already become the right prime minister.
Wen Fan, Wen Zhu, and others are all at least fourth-rank officials. Wen Shan was previously a general of the escort cavalry. Apart from being rewarded with a large mansion, he received no other rewards. If he were to receive any more rewards, he would be a marquis, which he has not yet achieved.
Wen Shi and Da Niu were also there; they were Wen Shan's deputy generals and strategists, and could only be second-rank generals, so they couldn't advance beyond that.
When the news reached the village, several of the village elders were so shocked that they fainted and had to stay in bed for several days. Now, apart from a few elderly women who have passed away, the other elderly people in the village are all doing well, even those who are already seventy years old.
While they were fainting, the village chief Lin was so frightened that he almost fainted as well. But thinking of the village's affairs, he could only pinch his own flesh hard. If it weren't for the fact that the capital was too far away, all the elders would have wanted to go to the capital.
Huaijin is no longer the prefect, but the Minister of Revenue. He is talented, but his grandfather did not want him to come to the capital in the first place. Now that his grandfather has agreed, he can naturally make good use of his talents.
Prefect Xiao was also serving as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, staying with Huai Jin. He was now more than once grateful that his previous choice had not been wrong.
Peach Blossom Village is getting better and better, but the new emperor is not doing so well. In the past two months, apart from the ministers urging him to determine the empress, since the palace cannot be without an empress, or even just a concubine.
The retired emperor also passed away a month after he ascended the throne. Then the former imperial concubine died in the cold palace, and the former crown prince died with his wife. Now he is the only master in the palace. What bothers him the most is that the old vassal kings say that he was responsible for the deaths of the retired emperor and the crown prince.
The emperor did not want him to pass the throne to the crown prince, but to the emperor himself. Now, they have all made a grand move to kill him on behalf of the retired emperor. The five vassal kings are divided into five directions and have begun to attack the nearest prefecture city.
Although there are five directions, he only needs to guard four of them. He doesn't need to worry about Wen Shan's army on the frontier, his uncle in Jincheng, General Wu in Wucheng, and Xiao Yubai's army at the border.
But this was what worried him the most. He had heard his father say that Xiao Yubai was also a prince, but no one knew it. He also knew his own identity and now had an army of more than 200,000 men under his command, with no weaknesses.
What he was most worried about now was Xiao Yubai, the emperor's uncle who was ostensibly a great general but secretly a prince. He feared that Xiao Yubai might also make a big move, in which case he would have no chance of winning. That night, he planned to go see his two aunts.
Now that he is the emperor, he is worried that his maternal grandfather, like the Right Chancellor, might want to take the throne. After all, since his ascension to the throne, his maternal grandfather has suggested more than once that he marry his cousin to become emperor.
The grandfather was referring to his younger cousin, his uncle's daughter, who was seventeen years old this year. She was dignified and beautiful, but not the empress he had in mind. In fact, he liked Ruohua from Aunt An's family. He originally planned to make her empress after he ascended the throne, but he was too late.
An Shuyi and Xia Hua were talking in bed when they noticed someone coming in. Although they couldn't see who it was, they knew who it was, so they sat up and put on their clothes.
I thought he could hold out for a few more days, but I didn't expect him to lose patience so quickly. It seems he's still too young. After all, he's only twenty-eight years old and doesn't have anyone to ask yet.
After she finished dressing, there was a knock on the door. Xia Hua went to open it and said, "Come in!"
When Xiao Zili entered, he didn't seem to care that the two aunts didn't bow to him. On the contrary, he felt uneasy when they did bow.
"Speak, what brings you here so late?" An Shuyi asked directly as he sat down.
Even though I knew why he came here, I still had to ask.
Xiao Zili sat down and said, “Auntie, those vassal kings have already made their move. Although they won’t attack the capital in the short term, I’m worried that they will cooperate with those people from beyond the Great Wall and the barbarians.”
"Over the years, these vassal kings have been recruiting soldiers and horses. I'm not too worried about the frontier, Wucheng, and Jincheng, but I am worried about the border."
An Shuyi glanced at him and said, "You don't need to worry about the border until General Xiao makes a move. What you should worry about is Wucheng, because we have received information that Prince Cheng and Prince Ming have already cooperated and are also in contact with General Wu in private."
She thought that Xiao Zili's arrival meant he already knew the news, but she didn't expect that he didn't know at all. Instead, he felt that Xiao Yubai was his biggest obstacle. However, it must have been very difficult for him to sit on the throne.
Not only are there barbarians and wild men eyeing him covetously, but there are also several vassal kings. Now, besides his uncle, he can only trust Wen Shan. He used to have General Wu, but he's gone now.
As for the capital, besides his secret guards, there are 60,000 troops stationed there, with the military seal in his hands, under the command of the general.
"That's impossible. General Xiao is my man. He got his current position because I promoted him. It's impossible." Xiao Zili said in disbelief.
But he also felt that his two aunts wouldn't make a mistake. It seemed that General Wu really couldn't be careless anymore. If Prince Cheng and Prince Ming joined forces with him, it wouldn't be long before they attacked the capital.
Unexpectedly, the person he trusted most became the one he trusted least. "Auntie, I need to go back and take care of things first. I'll come back to see you next time."
Seeing that he was about to leave, An Shuyi called him back, "Since you know, what can you do about it?"
The matter hasn't even been clarified yet, and you're already in a hurry to go back? How foolish!
Xiao Zili sat down again. "Auntie, General Wu's family is still in the capital. I will go back and issue an imperial edict to have him come to the capital immediately. Then I will have him hand over the military tally, and I will choose a trustworthy person to be the new general."
Xia Hua asked directly, "Do you have anyone you trust?"
"Yes, there is General Liu among the military officers. I saved his life before, and I promoted him myself." Now that he thinks about it, he really doesn't have anyone he can use.
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