Chapter 164: Change of Dynasty

Shangguan Wan'er's hair was still messy as she hurried to the Purple Palace. This was the place she was most familiar with, but today, the Purple Palace was very different.

The sturdy soldiers stood on both sides, their armor gleaming with cold metal, and a silent killing atmosphere permeated the hall. Even though Shangguan Wan'er tried her best to lighten her steps, as soon as she approached, she was immediately swept by several murderous gazes.

Shangguan Wan'er stopped and tried to smile softly and kindly. She raised her hands in front of her, revealing the drafted edict. She said sincerely, "I am Shangguan Wan'er, willing to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I have drafted a few edicts before and know how to write documents. This is the edict of succession that I have prepared, and I am here to present it to the Crown Prince. I hope that the military officer can pass on some of it for me."

The soldiers looked at her scrutinizingly, exchanged gestures with each other, and one soldier ran inside. After a while, the soldier came out with another person following him.

The man was dressed in black military uniform, with a slender figure, graceful demeanor, a face as white as ice, and eyes as black as ink. He stood out among the crowd of soldiers. But no one dared to look down on him, especially since his wrist guard was smeared with suspicious red.

Shangguan Wan'er did not dare to be disrespectful and immediately bowed her head and saluted: "Your servant greets His Royal Highness Prince Yong."

Li Huazhang did not act like a prince. He extended his hand to Shangguan Wan'er and said, "Lady Shangguan, there is no need to be polite. Please stand up."

Shangguan Wan'er stood up, but with her neck lowered, she respectfully raised the imperial edict and handed it to Li Huazhang: "I, your humble servant, have drafted an imperial edict to pass on the throne. Please review it, Prince Yong."

Li Huazhang took it and scanned it quickly. The abdication edict could not be written by the empress, so they had to prepare it and have the empress stamp it. But there were many tricks to writing an edict, especially the one for the succession of the throne. A single wrong word could become a weapon for the opponent to attack them, so the edict must be written with great care.

They had prepared several edicts before forcing the emperor to abdicate, but they were not professionals after all, while the civil and military officials and the six ministers of the six ministries they would face were all well-educated and skilled in the officialdom. They had to use their weaknesses to counter their strengths, and they could not afford to be careless. Now Xie Jichuan was changing every word in the edicts.

However, if the edict was written by the empress's ghostwriter, the effect would be completely different. In a flash, Li Huazhang had read the entire edict. Shangguan Wan'er was indeed worthy of being called the prime minister in red. The edict of succession was just right in terms of rhetoric, talent, and emotion. Every word was poignant, as if the empress's passing of the throne to the prince was the will of heaven and the will of the people.

Li Huazhang already had a clear idea of ​​who was superior and who was inferior, and he calmly put away the imperial edict. Shangguan Wan'er felt his gaze and lowered her head even more.

Li Huazhang did not embarrass her and said, "Madam, please wait for a moment. I will go inside to ask the Crown Prince for instructions."

Shangguan Wan'er secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that Prince Yong was willing to accept it meant that they had accepted her surrender. Shangguan Wan'er bowed her head more submissively and saluted, saying, "Yes. I thank Prince Yong."

Li Huazhang nodded to her, turned around and walked towards the Purple Palace. Shangguan Wan'er caught a glimpse of Li Huazhang's back from the corner of her eye and was secretly shocked.

She had long known that Prince Yong was handsome, but he used to be more like a piece of cold and elegant ice jade, displayed for people to admire. Now that piece of jade had been tempered by fire and stained with blood, it had become a sharp sword, which made people afraid to even touch it.

Shangguan Wan'er also knew that after today, no one would dare to treat Li Huazhang as a mascot. In a true sense, he would be on par with his uncle and aunt and become the King Yong of the Tang Dynasty.

Shangguan Wan'er looked at the white jade steps ahead, half of which were shining and half of which were shrouded in darkness, and sighed softly. She was good friends with Princess Taiping, but Shangguan Wan'er was not aware of the rebellion of Princess Taiping and others last night. By the time she knew about it, the palace had already fallen into the control of Prince Yong.

Shangguan Wan'er was the best at assessing the situation. She soon realized that the empress was unreliable and she needed to find a new backer. So she took the initiative to surrender and presented the abdication edict on behalf of the prince. She was originally the empress's female official, and most of the imperial edicts and imperial decrees in the palace were written by her. She knew best how to write in a way that best suited the empress's tone and could best incite the people's emotions.

She believed that this was what the prince needed most. No matter who was the emperor, he would always need an assistant to draft documents and handle trivial matters. If that was the case, why couldn't that person be her?

As for how the Queen would view her after finding out... Shangguan Wan'er blinked calmly, brushing away the useless emotions.

People should be like vines. Only by always seizing the latest trends can they climb the highest and live the longest.

Li Huazhang took the edict to the inner hall, and after everyone read it, they unanimously decided to use this one. Xie Jichuan simply changed a few titles, and after confirming that there were no problems, he sent it to the emperor through the eunuchs, "asking" the empress to stamp the imperial seal and agree to abdicate.

When the empress saw the edict, she easily recognized that it was written by Shangguan Wan'er. She was overwhelmed with emotions and was speechless.

When she was at the height of her power, all the edicts of life and death and praising her merits were written by Shangguan Wan'er; when she was in her twilight years and on her deathbed, the last abdication edict was also written by Shangguan Wan'er.

She is the one who brought prosperity and she is the one who brought demise.

The eunuch walked out of the curtain holding the imperial edict, and everyone held their breath. You could hear a pin drop in the hall. When the prince heard the eunuch read out "make the prince supervise the country, and pardon the whole world", he was stunned for a long time before finally realizing that they had succeeded.

He actually defeated his mother and became the emperor!

The prince was dizzy and had difficulty telling what day it was and where he was. Li Huazhang finally saw that everything was settled and heaved a sigh of relief. He once again confirmed that the imperial seal on the edict was correct and said to the soldiers behind him, "Open the palace gate and invite the prime ministers in."

The soldier agreed and ran out quickly. There were many things to do next, such as the coronation ceremony, the sacrifice to the world, the stabilization of the capital, the dispatch of envoys to inform the governors of various states, etc. The Daming Palace seemed to be lively all of a sudden, and people crowded around the prince - now it was time to call the emperor, and rushed out. Li Huazhang followed the crowd out, and halfway through, he couldn't help but turn his head and look behind the curtain.

She was leaning alone on the dragon bed, a symbol of imperial majesty, with no clear expression on her face. Li Huazhang had a very magical feeling, as if a breath of air was being drawn out of her body, and she suddenly aged at this moment.

"Prince Yong."

Hearing someone calling him from outside the door, Li Huazhang suppressed the complicated emotions in his heart, forced himself to turn around, and strode forward.

Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. Once you have made a decision, don't regret it.

In the distance, the skyline was dyed a light crimson, and a huge energy seemed to be gathering within it, ready to be unleashed. The towering Danfeng Gate stood at the junction of dawn and darkness, half of it was dancing with golden light, and the other half was bottomless.

After eighteen years, the sun belonging to the Tang Dynasty finally rose again.

·

Yesterday at midnight, there was a sudden commotion in the north of the city. Many people were awakened by the sound of murder and were so frightened that they could no longer sleep. However, no one dared to go out. The officials in the east of the city kept sending servants out to inquire about the news, but every time they heard that the palace gates were closed, they didn't know why.

It was not until dawn that several eunuchs came out of the palace and went to the residences of the prime ministers to invite the dukes into the palace. Only then could the inner palace's whispers get out, and then, through the relationship of marriage, it quickly spread to the dukes' houses in Chang'an.

The King of Wei was awakened by his panicked sons last night. When he heard that the palace gates were surrounded, he immediately knew that something bad had happened. But it was too late to rescue him. All the gates of the palace were controlled by the people of the King of Yong and Princess Taiping, and no news could get in.

When the King of Wei was finally able to contact people in the palace, he learned that the two Zhang brothers had been killed and the Queen had abdicated in favor of the Crown Prince.

The situation is set and there is nothing that can be done to reverse it.

When the King of Wei heard that Zhang Changzong was beheaded by the King of Yong, he was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood. The Queen of Wei was shocked and said in panic: "My Lord, what's wrong with you? Call the doctor!"

At this moment in the Liang Palace, Princess Anle, who had just woken up, listened to the news that kept coming in, and she felt as if she was in a dream. She almost thought that she was just dreaming. Last night, the two Zhang brothers rebelled, and her father led the army into the palace and killed the rebels on the spot?

Where did her father get the soldiers? How come she doesn’t know anything about it?

Princess Anle was at a loss for a long time, until the maid beside her parents-in-law reminded her, she woke up as if from a dream, and hurriedly stood up and said, "Prepare the car, go to the East Palace! I want to see my mother and father!"

When the news that the empress passed the throne to the crown prince and retired as the emperor reached the Prince of Xiang's mansion, the Prince of Xiang finally put down the dagger he had been holding tightly all night. He looked at the old servant who was accompanying him and suddenly burst into tears.

It’s over, it’s finally over! The darkest moment for the Li family has passed, and from then on, he can finally sleep peacefully until dawn.

Unlike the Eastern Palace, the sons of Prince Xiang knew the details of the coup. Prince Xiang, Princess Taiping, and Prince Yong tacitly concealed the Crown Prince's family. The Eastern Palace knew the vague direction, but they did not tell the Crown Prince and Crown Princess the details of the coup until the day before the incident.

On the one hand, the prince was extremely important, and it was related to whether their action was to suppress the rebellion or to rebel, so the prince could not make any mistakes. On the other hand, they did not trust the prince very much.

The Prince of Xiang dared to guarantee that his son would not drag his family down after knowing about the coup, but the Crown Prince was not sure. Li Chongfu had already been an example, and the Prince of Xiang and Princess Taiping did not dare to gamble their lives that the Crown Prince's son would not be a loser again.

Moreover, even if the people in the East Palace would never betray the Li family, would they accidentally leak the news, thus causing the coup to fail? Anyway, the Prince of Xiang did not believe that his third brother had the ability to hide such a big thing without being discovered by the Queen. Instead of worrying about the Crown Prince letting the cat out of the bag, it would be better not to tell the East Palace. Ignorance is the best way to avoid flaws.

Facts have proved that their worries were correct. The prince did not even dare to go out on the night of the coup. If the prince had been informed of the time and location in advance, the head of the prince would have fallen to the ground now.

The Prince of Xiang was overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't stop crying. When the other people in the Prince of Xiang's mansion heard that the coup had succeeded, their reaction was not joy, but crying bitterly.

They were confined in the palace for more than ten years, during which they were not allowed to see outsiders or move around freely. Their every word and action was monitored, and only family members comforted each other. Therefore, the relationship between father and son, and brothers in the Prince's Mansion was very good, and no one was picky about the difference between the old and the young, or the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children. It was not easy to just survive these years.

Everyone cried for a long time, and then gradually calmed down. Prince Linzi was the first to regain his senses, and said to Prince Xiang: "Father, my aunt and my second brother are the main contributors to this coup. Let's not talk about my aunt for now. My second brother is the orphan of my second uncle, and he is also the first-class contributor to the restoration of the Tang Dynasty. I wonder how my third uncle will reward him?"

Prince Xiang shook his head and said, "That is something the palace should consider. Remember, in the royal family, there are monarchs and ministers first, and then brothers. In the past, we and the Eastern Palace didn't have to pay attention to seniority, but from now on, you must respectfully address your third uncle as Your Majesty. Not only Sanlang, but all of you must pay attention to this."

Prince Yongping and Prince Linzi quickly stood up, bowed their heads and said, "We will obey your orders."

Unlike the Prince Xiang who cried bitterly, Princess Taiping was immediately delighted when she heard the good news from her subordinates. She did not feel tired at all after not sleeping all night, and immediately ordered people to harness the carriage and headed towards the palace with great enthusiasm.

Li Huazhang was responsible for all the fighting and killing, but she was good at winning over the ministers and balancing the court afterwards. The game between the imperial power and the ministers was everywhere. After the abdication edict of the retired emperor was issued, the ministers had to recognize it for the new emperor to be legitimate.

This is also the reason why it is easy to rebel but difficult to become an emperor.

Princess Taiping had to step in at this time. She had worked in the court for many years, had many retainers in the court and the country, and had good relations with many literati. As long as she could get the support of half of the prime ministers, Li Xian would be able to continue to be the emperor.

On the twenty-third day of the first lunar month in the first year of the Shenlong era, some people in Chang'an were full of vigor and vitality, some were bloody, some were eager to try, and some were at a loss. When the sun completely jumped over the horizon, Ming Huashang met Li Huazhang's guards and confirmed that her friends, relatives, and lovers were all safe.

She was finally able to put her mind at ease. Only then did she realize that she had not slept for a whole day and a night. Sleepiness overwhelmed her like a tidal wave.

The guard saw that Ming Huashang looked unhappy, so he stopped and said, "Prince Yong was afraid that Second Madam would be worried, so he ordered me to come and report that I am safe, so that Madam can rest assured. I have accomplished my mission, and I dare not disturb Second Madam's rest, so I will take my leave first."

Ming Huashang did not force herself. She was not in a good condition to think anymore. She asked the maid to send the guards out, changed into some light clothes, and went to bed to rest.

She lay on the couch, looking out the window at the uneven shadows of the trees, the blurry light and shadows. She suddenly remembered that in her dream, she was also lying at a similar angle, looking at the shadows of the osmanthus tree, and died unconsciously.

Although several days had passed since the second year of the Holy Calendar, it was at this moment that Ming Huachang truly felt that the New Year had arrived.

In her dream, she died at the age of seventeen. She was terrified, doubted, and suffered for this. Later, she finally accepted her fate and carefully planned what she would do in the last year of her life. She really realized what she cared about. Now, the autumn with the fragrance of osmanthus has completely ended, and she has reached her eighteenth year.

Life is like a song, living towards death. Her brand new life has begun.

Some people in Chang'an were happy while others were sad. The Marquis of Jiang'an's Mansion was in high spirits because of the meritorious service of the Crown Prince in following the Emperor. Meanwhile, in the Marquis of Pingnan's Mansion, which also made great contributions in opening the palace gates and welcoming the new Emperor, Old Madam Ren had a dull expression when she heard the good news from her relatives.

It is true that when you are poor, no one cares about you in a busy city, but when you are rich, you have distant relatives in the mountains. Old Madam Ren sent away the people who tried to get close to her in a neutral way. When there was no one left, the maid asked in confusion, "Old Madam, the Marquis has made a great contribution, why are you not happy?"

In response, Madam Ren just shook her head slowly and said calmly: "Good fortunes are often accompanied by disasters, and disasters are often accompanied by good fortunes. Whether it is good fortune or disaster, it is still unknown."

·

Tai Chi Hall.

After the Minister of the Central Secretariat, the Minister of the Imperial Court, and the Minister of the Left read the edict, they calmly passed it to the Minister of Personnel. The six ministers read the edict one after another and exchanged glances quickly. The Minister of Works, who had the least experience, asked, "Gentlemen, what do you think of the edict of the retired emperor?"

The title of the Empress had been changed to the Emperor Emeritus, and the attitude of the Minister of Industry was evident. Others were still reluctant to express their opinions, and finally, it was the Minister of the Court who broke the deadlock: "I secretly think that since this is the will of the Emperor Emeritus, we, as ministers, should obey it."

The Minister of the Court of Imperial Households was the head of the Ministry of Imperial Households and held the power to review and issue imperial edicts. His attitude was crucial. After the Minister of the Court of Imperial Households expressed his opinion, the Minister of War and the Minister of Personnel also expressed their agreement in turn. The Minister of the Central Secretariat and the Minister of the Left remained silent, which meant that they acquiesced.

At this point, more than half of the prime ministers supported the crown prince's succession to the throne, and Li Xian officially became the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Li Xian was helped to sit on the throne by the eunuchs amidst the cheers of the emperor. Even now he still had no sense of reality. He looked at the ministers below paying homage, as if he was dreaming.

He became the emperor? How did he become the emperor again?

It was a familiar scene, a familiar angle. He seemed to have seen this scene in his dream, but it was a nightmare, because he had been emperor for less than three months, and one day when he was attending court, he was unexpectedly dragged down from the throne by a group of eunuchs. From then on, he lived a life of imprisonment in darkness.

He subconsciously looked to the side. This time, his mother was not behind the pearl curtain. Instead, there stood his younger brother, sister, and nephew.

Li Xian's eyes slowly darkened.