Chapter 123 Ends
The old woman held the purse, trembling with excitement. She suddenly turned around and kowtowed heavily in the direction of Shen Yanzhi: "Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Majesty! I...I kowtow to you!"
A knock of the head was like turning on some kind of switch.
Among the crowd, the fear in the hearts of those family members who were also implicated was diluted by the real money in front of them and the promise from the crown prince.
"I, the wife of commoner Zhang San, come here to claim the reward!"
"Civil servant Wang Daya, my father..."
One, two, three... More and more people emerged from the crowd and rushed to the platform. The order was in good order, yet there was an undercurrent.
Wei Yande's forehead was covered in cold sweat. His men were among the crowd collecting the money. With just a glance from him, an "accidental" stampede could turn the place into a river of blood. But Shen Yanzhi was standing in front of the stage, only ten steps away from those people.
The imperial guards' powerful bows and crossbows were aimed at every inch of the ground below the stage. If the crown prince suffered any harm, the entire Wei family would be executed.
He didn't dare move.
At this moment, a young man who had received the money did not leave immediately. Instead, he was pulled aside by a man in scholar's clothes and asked something in a low voice. The scholar was the chief clerk of the Eastern Palace's Zhanshi Mansion.
Wei Yande's pupils suddenly shrank. They were making contact!
We can’t wait any longer!
He calmly raised his right hand and touched his earlobe.
At the back of the crowd, a vendor selling candied haws had a murderous gleam in his eyes. He suddenly pushed over his shelf and yelled, "Murder! Soldiers are killing people!"
At the same time, the window on the second floor of the teahouse opposite was pushed open, and a poisoned crossbow arrow, like a venomous snake emerging from a hole, shot silently towards the young man who was talking to the East Palace Chief Clerk!
In an instant, the crowd was in chaos!
Screams and cries filled the air, and the people fled in panic.
"Protect His Highness!" The personal guards around Wei Yande shouted and immediately protected him in the middle. They seemed loyal, but in fact they were isolating him from the chaos.
A hint of smug sneer finally appeared at the corner of Wei Yande's mouth.
However, his smile froze on his face before it could fully bloom.
The peddler who was shouting "Murder" had just shouted the second time when he was grabbed by two big men who looked like ordinary people. A piece of rag was stuffed into his mouth and he was dragged directly into the alley next to him.
And at the moment when the crossbow arrow was about to hit the target, a feather arrow came from the roof of a higher building at a faster speed, and with a crisp "ding" sound, it shot down the crossbow arrow accurately in the air!
A muffled groan was heard from the second floor of the teahouse, and then it fell silent.
The rioting crowd was also suppressed by an even more powerful force. The soldiers garrisoning the capital, who had been maintaining order on the periphery, rushed into the crowd like tigers descending from the mountains. Working in groups of three, they moved swiftly and with a clear focus, scouting out the hooligans who had been fanning the flames and creating chaos, arresting them on the spot.
The whole process was smooth and took only a few dozen breaths.
The riot subsided.
On Zhuque Street, apart from the knocked-over stalls and fallen shoes, there were only dozens of rioters with their hands handcuffed behind their backs and pinned to the ground.
The people watched this scene in shock, and Wei Yande on the high platform felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, his whole body cold.
Shen Yanzhi did not retreat from the beginning to the end. He quietly watched everything in the audience, and then turned his gaze to Wei Yande, whose face was pale.
"Uncle," his voice was low, but it carried clearly throughout the platform, "Is this the security you provide for me? Here at the feet of the Emperor, on Suzaku Street, someone dared to openly assassinate and riot. Can I conclude that you, Duke of Wei...are incompetent, or even embezzling?"
Wei Yande's lips trembled and he couldn't utter a word.
In this dead silence, a burst of rapid horse hooves sounds came from far away.
Everyone turned to look.
I saw General Fu, dressed in white mourning clothes, riding a fast horse, rushing through the line of defense of the imperial guards like a madman, jumping off the saddle, and crawling to the front of the high platform, crying out heartbreakingly:
"Your Highness! His Majesty...he...has passed away!"
boom!
The whole world seemed to stand still at this moment.
Shen Yanzhi's body shook, his face turned pale instantly, and his eyes showed great sorrow, as if he couldn't believe this fact.
Wei Yande was stunned at first, but then a surge of ecstasy surged in his heart! The emperor was dead! The crown prince's foundation was unstable. As long as he joined forces with the queen and deposed the crown prince, the world...
Before his ecstasy could even begin, he saw Steward Fu pull out a bright yellow scroll from his arms, hold it high, and with all his strength, he shouted in a voice filled with blood and tears:
"Your Majesty...Here is the will!"
He unfolded the will, which contained the emperor's own comments written in red ink. The handwriting was sloppy and powerful, carrying a tremendous rage before his death.
"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims: I have reflected on my life's diligence, yet I misplaced my trust, allowing the imperial relative Wei Yande to harbor evil intentions, form a clique for personal gain, smuggle weapons, raise private soldiers, and plot rebellion! Worse still, he colluded with palace maids and used sinister tactics to murder the emperor and his father! He deserves death! Now that my time has come, I pass the throne to Crown Prince Chen Yanzhi. I hope that after you ascend the throne, you will rectify the government, eradicate the treacherous and corrupt, and restore peace to the world! I decree this!"
After the will was read, there was a dead silence between heaven and earth.
Everyone's eyes were focused on Wei Yande.
Collude with palace ladies and poison the emperor!
This charge was like a mountain, pressing down on us.
Wei Yande was completely stunned. He looked at the will, at the hateful face of General Fu, and then at the terrified, contemptuous, and distant looks of his colleagues.
He knew he was finished.
The emperor used his own death to set a trap for him, a trap that would doom him to eternal damnation, a trap from which he would never be able to turn things around.
"No...it's not me! It's a false accusation! It's the prince...it was he who forged the will in order to ascend the throne!" Wei Yande roared like a madman.
"Get it!"
Tears glistened in Shen Yanzhi's eyes, but his voice was as cold as ice.
Zhang He, the commander of the Jingji garrison, stepped forward, ripped off Wei Yande's official hat, and tied his hands behind his back. This powerful Duke was dragged off the platform like a dead dog.
At the same time, inside the Eastern Palace, Song Qingyuan took the emperor's private seal and calmly issued orders.
"Seal off Kunning Palace, place the Empress under house arrest, and no one is allowed to visit her."
"Order the Nine Gates Commander to conduct a thorough investigation of the Duke of Wei's residence. All his accomplices will be imprisoned!"
"Order the Ministry of War to dispatch 30,000 troops to wipe out the Wei family's private army camp outside the capital!"
Orders, issued from this small palace, quickly spread to every corner of the capital. A long-planned purge unfolded silently and with thunderous force.
A few days later.
Shen Yanzhi, wearing a dragon robe, ascended the supreme throne in the Taiji Hall. Song Qingyuan, wearing a phoenix crown and a bridal robe, stood beside him.
They stood side by side and watched the officials below the stairs pay homage and shout "Long live the emperor".
The Duke of Wei's mansion was uprooted, the Empress was deposed and banished to the cold palace. The vast web hidden in the darkness was completely torn apart. The court was completely renewed.
"Qingyuan," Shen Yanzhi looked down at his wife beside him amidst the deafening cheers, "We did it."
Song Qingyuan raised her head and met his gaze, which contained the majesty of an emperor and the tenderness of a husband.
"Yes." She answered softly, "A new era has begun."
She turned around and looked at the clear sky outside the hall with him.
The haze of the past has dissipated, and the future belonging to them and this country has just begun.
over
It was indeed not a good novel I wrote for the first time. I didn't prepare a memo in advance and ended up forgetting many people's names, which made some of the plot a bit confusing. I'm really sorry.
I have learned a lot during this time, and I will come back with better works.
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