Chapter 257 The Princess Ascends the Throne
When King Wen heard this, his pupils dilated to the extreme. He looked at Xiao Ji in disbelief, pointed his finger at him, and said tremblingly and angrily: "Xiao Ji, what are you talking about?!"
In his mind, the throne would definitely fall between him and Xiao Ji, but who could have imagined that Xiao Ji would actually ask the Princess Zhenguo to ascend the throne? She was a woman!
Xiao Ji didn't care about King Wen's feelings. He still bowed and asked in the direction of Xiao Yuluan.
"You traitor! You're not a man!"
King Wen angrily scolded Xiao Ji, and then shouted at Xue Chen, "What are you still standing there for? Why don't you help me clear out the court?!"
Xue Chen finally turned around, but also bowed to Xiao Yuluan: "Your Highness, I ask you to ascend the throne. I am willing to clear everything for you!"
King Wen stared at the scene in amazement, and finally understood - this was a plot that had been planned long ago!
It turns out that Xue Chen has always been Xiao Yuluan's man!
As for his soldiers… King Wen looked around the hall in panic. He didn't completely trust Xue Chen. He looked for his trusted lieutenant, but saw that he had been restrained. As for his trusted soldiers, they were all outside the door. And outside the door were—Xiao Ji's men, the Jinwu Guards, King Wu's men, and even Xue Chen's subordinates…
His legs went weak and he fell to the ground. He turned his head to look at Xiao Yuluan, and his heart sank to the bottom when he saw Xiao Yuluan's hand wiping away the emperor's eyes that were still open.
No one moved. Xiao Yuancheng's personal eunuch Bai De'an even knelt on the ground and surrendered to Xiao Yuluan.
"Do you know how to say it?"
Bai De'an bowed his head and said, "Prince Wu colluded with the rebels, disturbed the Holy Emperor's presence, and caused His Majesty's death."
Xiao Yuluan nodded with satisfaction, and then her deep eyes swept towards King Wen. King Wen felt his whole body trembling for a moment. She was obviously just a sixty-year-old old woman, how could she have such power?
"King Wen, King Ying's border troops have already guarded the four gates of the capital, and King Zhao's men have surrounded the entire imperial city. What will you choose?"
Prince Wen shuddered, his inner garments instantly soaked with cold sweat. He swallowed hard, his gaze sweeping across the cold gleam of swords and spears outside the palace, then onto Xiao Ji's expressionless eyes, finally settling on Xiao Yuluan's half-smile.
After a few breaths, King Wen knelt in front of Xiao Yuluan.
"Your Majesty..." His voice was dry and trembling, "Your Majesty... respectfully invites my great-aunt to ascend the throne..."
He bowed his head deeply, his forehead pressed against the ground, hiding the humiliation and unwillingness surging in his eyes.
"He who knows the current situation is a hero." She walked slowly forward, her skirt embroidered with phoenix patterns stopped in front of him, and gave him a sweet promise, "This country will still be yours in the future."
When King Wen heard this, he sneered in his heart, but when he raised his head just a little, he saw King Wu lying on the ground in the distance through the edge of Xiao Yuluan's skirt.
King Wu's eyes, which had not yet closed, were staring straight at him, the flickering candlelight in the hall reflected in his empty pupils. King Wen froze all over, and the humiliation he had just felt was instantly replaced by a biting chill.
If I hadn't surrendered, there would probably be another me lying on the cold ground...
*
When the funeral bells rang from the depths of the imperial city, the night in the capital had not yet dissipated.
The first resounding bell rang through the harem, sending countless sleepless concubines into tears. It wasn't out of heartache, but fear.
In Prince An's mansion, Prince An counted the bells silently. He did not become more lucky by borrowing his luck, but instead seemed to have bad luck, so that he was imprisoned in the palace. Later, he fell ill and was bedridden. In less than a month, he was so ill that he had difficulty even getting up to go to the toilet.
During these days, he could often hear the crying of a baby. The crying was soft and weak, always lingering outside the tent in the middle of the night, as if it came from the ground.
In the past, Prince An would have been frightened by this, but now, the only sound in his ears was the bell. When the ninth bell rang, he laughed like a broken bellows, tears welling in the corners of his eyes, "The Emperor... is dead."
The bells in his ears disappeared, but the baby's shrill cries became louder and louder. In extreme terror, King An also closed his eyes.
Qing Wu, who had been working hard to prepare supplies at Prince Zhao's Mansion, had not slept all night and could hear the bell clearly. However, her heart did not settle down until the door of Prince Zhao's Mansion was knocked and Xiao Ji's personal guards brought good news.
"Your Highness, we won."
The Xi family, who were farther away from the palace, also heard the bell. Xi Qingtong, who was awakened by the excruciating pain in his legs, only vaguely remembered what it meant after the last bell rang.
"The emperor has passed away... who is the heir?"
"It absolutely cannot be Xiao Ji... That bitch absolutely cannot be the queen..."
Xi Qingtong murmured to herself, but the more she said it, the more she thought about it. Endless jealousy and hatred burned her heart like a raging fire.
“Don’t…”
That night, countless families in the capital stayed up all night, waiting for news that the situation had stabilized.
The bodies on the road were quickly carried away. It seemed as if God had anticipated this. An autumn rain fell, and soon the bloodstains on the ground disappeared without a trace with the rain.
When the autumn rain stopped, all the officials were led into the palace by the Shangshu Ling. When the sun shone at noon, the three princes and all the officials invited the Grand Princess Mingyi to ascend the throne.
As soon as the news came out, the capital was in an uproar.
"How...how could this be the princess ascending the throne? The emperor has no son?"
A young man in his twenties just opened his mouth when he was scolded by the white-bearded old man beside him, "How dare you say that about the Princess of the Nation? Haven't you heard of her?"
The man realized it later and exclaimed, "Is that the Princess Mingyi I've heard about since I was a child? The daughter of Emperor Yang, the one who fought off the Xiongnu?"
"Exactly!" The old man's eyes shone with reverence as he stroked his beard. "If it weren't for the princess's heroic efforts to turn the tide and lead her army to defeat the Xiongnu in the northern desert, how could our dynasty have enjoyed decades of peace? The princess has the talent to stabilize and secure the country. Having her inherit the throne... while it goes against moral order, it's still considered a wise position."
Similar conversations quickly spread through the streets and alleys of the capital, in teahouses and taverns. The younger generation might only have heard of this princess's former martial prowess through legend, but with the elders' mentions, that almost forgotten glorious history became clear again.
"Yes, I heard that Her Royal Highness the Princess once personally donned armor and went into battle, slaying the Xiongnu Zuoxian King!"
"Not only that, the court had a difficult few years, and it was only because the princess increased revenue and reduced expenditure, and rectified the grain transport, that we were able to overcome the difficulties."
"If the princess ascends the throne...it seems that it is not impossible?"
After the initial shock, public opinion quickly shifted.
Especially when the official news came out in the palace that King Wu was plotting a rebellion, disturbing the Holy Emperor and causing the death of the previous emperor, and it was Princess Zhenguo who turned the tide, quickly calmed the chaos and avoided greater turmoil, a feeling of relief and expectation began to spread.
Later, the "Book of Yu: Chronicle of Emperor Shizu" records: "In the seventh month of autumn in the 23rd year of Deyou's reign, the emperor died in the Weiyang Palace. At the time, King Wu was engaged in rebellion, and soldiers forced his way into the palace, splattering blood on the steps, shaking the capital. Princess Yuluan, the daughter of two emperors, who defended the country, exclaimed with deep emotion, "How can we allow the ancestral temple to be in danger?" She then joined forces with the three kings and other ministers to suppress the rebels, and the situation was quickly resolved."
At noon, all officials gathered in the court. The Minister of the Chancellery, along with the three princes, Wen, Zhao, and Ying, knelt before the palace and pleaded, "The country relies on its long-standing ruler. The country has been restored to safety despite the crisis, thanks in no small part to Your Highness. The throne cannot remain vacant for long. I humbly hope that Your Highness will carry on the legacy of the two emperors and bring peace to the world." The princess declined three times, and after five requests from the ministers, the princess finally agreed and ascended the throne to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Historians say: "Emperor Shizu, as a princess, faced danger, quelled rebellion, and ultimately ascended the throne. He inherited the legacy of the two emperors and initiated the revival of the Yu Dynasty. His ascension was driven not only by the dictates of the times but also by the will of heaven and the people." From this point on, female rulers of the Yu Dynasty became a common practice, a remarkable development of the era.
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