Chapter 163: Forced to Abdicate

The winter night was quiet, the sky was dark and the moon was dark, and ice crystals seemed to float in the air. The lights of thousands of houses were silent, and only a few lights dotted Chang'an. The huge city of Chang'an was covered in heavy snow, as remote as a palace in the sky.

When the gears of fate turn, it is always quiet. This night, most people fell asleep as usual, and did not feel anything special about this night. The palace maids of Daming Palace chatted for a while and then fell asleep one after another, fearing that they would not get up the next day. The King of Wei was lying on the couch in a daze, coughing intermittently. The servants who served him were so sleepy that they could not open their eyes. They had long forgotten the orders of the King of Wei’s wife and had fallen asleep leaning on the couch. Princess Anle had just finished making love with her husband. The couple fell into the red silk tent and fell asleep under the soothing of musk.

However, there were lights on in some places, like a lone boat in the waves, floating and swaying in the darkness. The Princess Taiping's mansion, which was full of revelry every night, was surprisingly quiet tonight. Princess Taiping stood in the room, pacing back and forth, constantly looking at the sky outside.

It's time. I wonder what's going on at Xuanwu Gate? She forced herself to calm down, sat down holding the Buddhist beads, closed her eyes and prayed in her heart.

Father, second brother, Xue Shao, did you see that Erlang went to the place where my great grandfather started the rebellion and took back our Li family's territory. If you are still alive, you must bless the Li family and turn bad times into good times.

In the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the second lady, who usually went to bed early, stayed up all night for the first time. She held a newly woven peace knot in her hand and was threading beads under the lamp. I don't know if it was because the candlelight was too dim, she tried several times but couldn't thread the red string through the jade beads.

Ming Huashang's fingers were shaking. Ming Yuji saw it, put down the half-woven peace knot in her hand, and gently held Ming Huashang's hand.

She said nothing, but at this moment, silence is better than a thousand words. Ming Huashang took a deep breath, not knowing whether to say it to Ming Yuji or to herself: "I'm fine. Everyone will be safe."

At this moment, the heavy wooden door in front of the Xuanwu Gate slowly opened. A tall and slender black silhouette rode a horse and stood outside the city gate. Behind him were a crowd of soldiers.

A group of people stood silently outside the palace, killing everyone, and no one noticed.

Li Huazhang looked down from above and soon found Jiang Ling in the crowd. He rode his horse to Jiang Ling and when he dismounted, the sword on his waist hit the saddle, making a cold and clear metallic sound: "Where are the others?"

"Everything went according to plan. Ren Yao took control of the city tower, and the patrolling troops were replaced by our own people. As long as we have all the people, we can enter the palace immediately."

"Okay." Li Huazhang opened the bird cage, tied a special yellow cloth to the pigeon's legs, and released the pigeon. The white pigeon flapped its wings and disappeared into the dark night sky in an instant. Li Huazhang and Jiang Ling watched the pigeon turn into a white dot until they could no longer be seen. Li Huazhang's face was calm and he said, "Success or failure depends on this move."

They have been planning carefully for this day for a year.

After Li Huazhang and Princess Taiping reached an agreement, they had been preparing in secret. Princess Taiping was mainly responsible for the behind-the-scenes work. Based on her understanding of the empress and the court over the years, she tried to persuade the prime minister and high-ranking female officials in the court. If she couldn't persuade them, she would try to get rid of the person. Princess Taiping came up with many ideas, but it was Li Huazhang who actually implemented them.

During this year, Li Huazhang took advantage of his position to control the defense of Chang'an, carefully planned the route of the coup, and carefully opened up the various links between the Jinwu Guard, the Yulin Army and the Jingzhao Prefecture to ensure that he could mobilize troops that day and quickly control the palace and the imperial city before alarming the empress.

He was able to accomplish all these without causing the Queen to suspect anything, thanks to Ming Huashang. Ming Huashang was the information delivery center for all of them. If they had any requests or changes, they would directly tell Ming Huashang, who would then find a way to pass it on to the corresponding person.

Throughout the process, Ming Huashang undoubtedly took the biggest risk, but she miraculously deceived Xuan Xiaowei's spy, and even though she was almost discovered a few times, she managed to turn danger into safety. Who would have thought that a seemingly sweet, cute, innocent lady was actually a double-faced shrew who single-handedly set up a network that was enough to bloodbath half of Chang'an?

Ming Huashang, like Princess Taiping, was mainly responsible for organizing the people in the early stages. When the day of the coup came, she could no longer do anything. The rest, apart from trusting Li Huazhang, could only be left to fate.

According to the plan, Jiang Ling and Ren Yao exchanged shifts with others in advance and chose to guard the palace gate on this day. After everyone fell asleep at midnight, they took action one by one to open the palace gate from the inside.

Li Huazhang stayed outside to coordinate and arrange the overall situation. If the city gate was opened smoothly, Li Huazhang would write a letter to Xie Jichuan, asking him to escort the prince to Xuanwu Gate. Then the soldiers would escort the prince into the palace and kill the two Zhang brothers on the charge of treason. Princess Taiping had already arranged people in the palace. After they entered the palace, someone would lead them to find the empress and the two Zhang brothers.

As for whether the two Zhang brothers were plotting a rebellion, no one cared. Everyone knew that they had entered the palace to rebel against the empress, but the two Zhang brothers were the most conspicuous and high-profile, making them suitable for being sacrificed. In the process of investigating the "rebellious party", they would take advantage of the chaos to eliminate the empress's confidants, and by the time the empress reacted, she would be alone and helpless, and would have to give up her throne to the prince.

The rise or fall of the Li Tang Dynasty depends entirely on this battle tonight.

Li Huazhang knew that once the arrow is shot, it cannot be retrieved. If they send out troops and fail to encircle the empress, they will be the ones to die. So he prepared for tonight's action for a long time, repeatedly considering every link and leaving many backup plans. Fortunately, as of now, everything is going well. As long as they wait for the prince to appear, they can take action.

However, they were only one step away from the gate, but something went wrong. Li Huazhang calculated the time from the East Palace to Xuanwu Gate, and the prince should have arrived long ago, but he was nowhere to be seen for a long time. The soldiers below had already begun to riot, and Li Huazhang's face darkened, realizing that something unexpected had happened in the East Palace.

At this time, the East Palace.

Xie Jichuan saw a white pigeon flying in the night sky, with a yellow ribbon tied to its legs, circling back and forth nearby. Xie Jichuan knew that the Xuanwu Gate was ready, so he quickly ran into the East Palace and said to the prince, "Your Highness, Prince Yong has opened the Xuanwu Gate, you can set off."

In name, this operation was led by the crown prince to eliminate the two Zhang brothers who were causing chaos in the court, but in reality it had nothing to do with the crown prince. The crown prince did not know the exact time or content, he only needed to show up at the right time, go through the motions in front of everyone, and someone would help him ascend the throne.

What the prince needed to do was as simple as it could be, and it was almost impossible for him to make mistakes. Xie Jichuan and Li Huazhang had imagined many possible situations, such as accidents on the road, being discovered, and traitors. However, none of them expected that the prince would be the one who failed in the end.

It was clearly something they had agreed on before, but when the prince was leaving, he suddenly thought of his mother's majesty and methods over the years, and was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and refused to leave no matter what.

The prince's face turned pale. He held the hand of the Crown Princess Wei tightly and said to Xie Jichuan, "Mother has great magical powers and is very capable. If she finds out, she will definitely not let us off. How about we just forget about it this time?"

Xie Jichuan almost vomited blood after hearing this. Just forget it? The soldiers outside were already standing in line, how could he just forget it?

Xie Jichuan said sternly, "Don't worry, Your Highness. We have already made arrangements outside. The soldiers are willing to risk their lives for Your Highness. How can Your Highness back down? If we succeed tonight, the Li family will be able to enter and leave the palace with dignity and no longer have to look at other people's eyes. Don't you want to end this frustrating life?"

The prince certainly wanted to, but he was more afraid of death. He had lived his whole life under the shadow of his mother's power. When he first ascended the throne, he was full of vigor and ambition, and was confident that he would do something big. However, even if he became the emperor, his mother could pull him down from the throne with just one word, and imprison him in Fangzhou, where he lived a life worse than death for more than ten years, with no guarantee of his future.

The fear of his mother has been deeply engraved in his bones. When the prince first heard Xie Jichuan talk about the coup plan, he did not take it seriously. Now that the time has come, he realizes that he actually wants to overthrow his mother. How dare he do that?

The Crown Prince kept shaking his head, not daring to let go of the Crown Princess's hand: "No, Mother knows everything. Maybe she already knew what we were going to do, and is just waiting for us to fall into her trap. If we let it go now, she will still show some leniency and let us go."

Xie Jichuan was almost furious when he saw the prince hiding behind the princess. How could a prince who had once been an emperor be so stupid and weak, without any manliness at all?

Crown Princess Wei had her family and son killed by the Empress, and she hated the Empress to the core. However, the Empress's power accumulated over the years could not be overcome by just hatred. Thinking of the years she was imprisoned in Fangzhou, Princess Wei suddenly felt that it was not bad to stay in the Eastern Palace.

Although Chongrun and Xianhui died, at least they were still alive. She really didn't want to live like she had in the past, with no food to eat, no clothes to wear, and even no cloth to wrap her daughter after giving birth in a carriage.

If you do nothing, you won't lose anything. Concubine Wei also hesitated and said, "No one knows about it anyway, so why not let the soldiers go back now? Isn't it okay?"

When the prince was in Fangzhou, he relied on Concubine Wei for support. He wanted to commit suicide several times, but Concubine Wei supported him to live. To the prince, Concubine Wei was another "mother". Now that Concubine Wei said forget it, the prince should retreat into his shell. He said, "Yes, what the princess said makes sense. The evil should be destroyed, but the saint is in poor health. If we enter the palace like this, it will definitely scare the saint and make his condition worse. Let's talk about these things later."

Xie Jichuan glanced to the side, and it was already a long time since the agreed time. A coup depends on a single move, and if it is stopped halfway, the hesitation, suspicion, and fear in the hearts of the soldiers will prevail, and the coup will fail.

If they delayed any longer here, the risk of failure would increase several times, and he couldn't let the entire Xie family go to waste their money. Xie Jichuan made up his mind, said "offense" to the prince, suddenly stepped forward, forcibly pried open the prince's hand, and pulled him out.

The prince was dragged away unexpectedly. Concubine Wei was shocked and instinctively wanted to save the prince: "How dare you! What are you doing!"

Xie Jichuan looked gentle and thin, but his hands were surprisingly strong. No matter how the prince struggled, he remained unmoved. Xie Jichuan looked directly at the prince and said coldly, "Your Highness, once you make a move, you cannot regret it. You also said that His Majesty has great connections. The mutiny has already started, and we have no chance to regret it. If we succeed, we still have a chance to survive. If we give up, when the Queen finds any clues tomorrow, how can we survive?"

Xie Jichuan's tone was cold and decisive, and he actually calmed the prince down. Concubine Wei also came to her senses at once. Yes, how could they dare to expect the queen to be kind? That woman was more vicious than a tiger, and she could do anything.

Concubine Wei stopped and stopped trying to stop Xie Jichuan. The prince had been accustomed to obeying a powerful mother and a powerful wife for many years, and now that another more powerful person appeared, he followed subconsciously.

Xie Jichuan half invited and half threatened, and finally led the prince out of the East Palace. The guards waiting at the back door of the East Palace were already extremely anxious. They all thought that the matter for the day was ruined, but finally saw Xie Jichuan and the prince come out. They breathed a sigh of relief and immediately asked, "Master Xie, what happened?"

Xie Jichuan was afraid of shaking the morale of the troops, so he did not say that the prince had escaped from the battlefield. He just said calmly: "Nothing, just some accidents on the road. Let's go to Xuanwu Gate."

Although it took a while, the plan was finally accepted. The soldiers felt relieved and clasped their fists and said, "Yes."

When Xie Jichuan was escorting the prince halfway, he met the soldiers sent by Li Huazhang. After the two parties quickly checked their identities, the soldier couldn't help but complain: "Master Xie, why did you come just now? Prince Yong thought something happened."

It was indeed almost an accident. Xie Jichuan had no time to explain and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go to Xuanwu Gate first."

Li Huazhang had already prepared for the worst, and finally saw Xie Jichuan and the prince appear at the end of the street. Li Huazhang saw the pale, dazed prince, and looked at Xie Jichuan inquiringly.

Xie Jichuan shook his head slightly. Li Huazhang probably knew what was going on. He did not ask any more questions. He calmly walked to the front of the soldiers and said loudly, "The two Zhang brothers have been bullying the people for a long time. Now they have the intention of rebellion and want to replace the Tang Dynasty. The prince can no longer tolerate this and is determined to enforce justice for the people of the world and kill these two thieves. You escort the prince into the palace, kill the rebels, clear the emperor's side, and restore the country. Your achievements will be passed down for thousands of years. All soldiers listen to my order. Whoever kills the two Zhang brothers will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins and be granted the title of a thousand households! Follow me and kill them!"

The silent soldiers suddenly burst into a shout, like a torrent, roaring "Kill" and rushing into the palace. Jiang Ling led the Yulin Army to clear the way in front, and Ren Yuan stood guard at the lookout. She saw the lights in the city were awakened by the sound of fighting and lit up one after another. She drew her bow and aimed the cold arrow at the direction, and said expressionlessly: "Guard the palace gate well, and no one is allowed to approach Xuanwu Gate before dawn."

The prince felt that he had been dizzy since he left the East Palace. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing. He felt like a kite being pulled around, saying something he didn't even understand. However, the people around him didn't need to listen to him. The shouting and killing in his ears suddenly became fierce. After an unknown amount of time, the sky in the east had turned pale. Someone ran over with blood all over his face and shouted to Xie Jichuan: "Master Xie, Prince Yong ordered me to inform you that the Purple Palace has been completely controlled and you can bring the prince to the palace."

"Okay!" Xie Jichuan finally smiled for the first time tonight. He seemed to remember that he was a subject at this moment. He loosened his grip on the prince's hand, straightened his clothes, turned to the prince, and said with a bow: "Your Highness, the rebels have been controlled. Please give your instructions."

Why did they need his instructions? The prince secretly rubbed his hand which was pinched purple and blue, and said, "Let's go and take a look."

The prince said he was going to see the "rebels", but he did not see the two Zhang brothers at all. When he entered the hall, he vaguely saw a pool of blood on the corridor and a white beardless head falling not far away. The prince did not dare to look at the facial features carefully and followed Li Huazhang and Xie Jichuan into the hall.

The Purple Palace was just as he had imagined it to be, tall, empty, magnificent, and like an endless nightmare. But tonight the Purple Palace was particularly empty, with curtains hanging low, blocking out all light.

Li Huazhang walked in front, swinging his sword to cut through the layers of curtains. The prince was in a daze, and suddenly through the curtains, he saw a half-lying figure behind him.

Although it was not clear, it gave him an indescribable sense of oppression. The people behind him seemed to have just been woken up. Even at this time, she still did not panic, and her voice was calm and dignified: "Prince, what are you doing in the palace so late?"

Her voice was not loud, but the prince's knees instantly weakened, and he almost wanted to kneel down. How could he dare to answer? Xie Jichuan knew that he could not rely on the prince, so he said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Your Majesty, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong conspired to rebel, and we have executed them on the order of the prince. I was worried that the news would leak out, so I did not report it to you. Raising troops to execute the rebels in the forbidden area of ​​the imperial palace has alarmed the emperor, and we deserve to die!"

The person behind the curtain responded calmly, without asking why the two Zhang brothers rebelled, as if such a thing really happened, and said indifferently: "Now that the rebellion has been quelled, Crown Prince, you can return to the East Palace."

The prince hesitated. At this point, the empress and they all knew that they had come here not for the so-called rebellion, but to force the emperor to abdicate. But the prince did not dare to step forward to lift the veil and put the matter out in the open. He was almost about to obey his mother and return to the palace. At this time, Li Huazhang stepped forward and said sternly: "Saint, before Emperor Gaozong passed away, he passed the throne to the prince and ordered you to assist him. Now sixteen years have passed, and the prince has lived in the East Palace for a long time, which is not in accordance with etiquette. The people have long missed the Li family, and the ministers have not forgotten the virtues of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong, so they respect the prince and punish the treacherous ministers. I hope Your Majesty will pass the throne to the prince to comply with the wishes of heaven and people."

The empress finally looked at Li Huazhang. She looked at him for a long time, and her tone was ambiguous: "I didn't expect that you would lead the troops to force the palace. I have treated you well. Are you worthy of your loyalty and filial piety by doing this?"

Li Huazhang clenched his fingers, and finally his eyes became firm. He said clearly: "I am loyal to my country and my family, and I am filial to the conscience of heaven and earth. I have no regrets. I hope the saint will issue an order to pass the throne to the prince."

Li Huazhang saluted with his sword in his arms. He would not stand up until the empress moved. The soldiers behind him also waited in silence. The stalemate in the Purple Palace lasted for a long time. There was no sound of rescue outside the palace, and no Xuanxiao Guards appeared. Finally, the empress sighed, as if she had accepted her fate.

"Bring me a pen."