Zhang Fuzheng said that the late emperor had left an imperial edict regarding the establishment of a crown prince.
He said that the late emperor's original intention was not to make the current emperor the next emperor, but to secretly appoint someone else, and handed over the imperial edict that the late emperor had given him to keep.
As soon as the decree was issued, the whole court was in an uproar.
Some people don't believe it and think that Zhang Fu was bribed. Now, apart from the unconscious Li Shi, the late emperor has two sons left. One is cleaning toilets in Yuzhou, and the other is far away in Yizhou with no sense of existence.
Many court officials preferred the King of Yu who was held hostage in Yuzhou, and they believed that Zhang Fu was the King of Yu's man.
A court official stepped forward and questioned, "Eunuch Fu, although the Emperor may be unconscious, he is still the ruler of Dai Viet, and we are all his subjects. In just a few days, you have the audacity to speak such outrageous words. Aren't you afraid that when the Emperor wakes up, he will punish you with the death of your entire clan!"
This minister was from the Li Shi clan. He knew very well what would happen to him if Li Shi was defeated, so he tried his best to protect Li Shi.
Zhang Fuzheng's expression was serious. He held up the imperial edict and said, "When the late emperor handed it to me, he said he had written two identical copies. One is here with me, and the other is hidden somewhere."
"Hmph! How can we know whether what you said is true or false? What's more, it was the late emperor who personally passed the throne to the current emperor. Why are you, an old servant who knows nothing, spreading nonsense here to confuse the people!" The court official flicked his sleeves and looked at him coldly.
"Lord Wu may not trust me, but you must not distrust the late emperor," Zhang Fuzheng said calmly. "When the late emperor passed the throne to you, I think everyone here has heard it."
Another Lord Wang asked, "What did you say? Why don't I remember it?"
Zhang Fuzheng ignored everyone and said, "The late emperor once said that after his death, Prince Xiang would take the throne, and no one could disobey unless he personally issued an order."
Lord Wu still didn't believe it. "If the late emperor wanted to appoint someone else, why didn't he just say so? At that time, both Prince Yu and Prince Yi were in the capital! If the late emperor had another choice, why did he take such a big detour?"
Others, whether they believed it or not, nodded subconsciously. Regardless of Lord Wu's selfish motives, what he said was not wrong. If the late emperor's candidate for the new monarch was not Prince Xiang, he could have directly appointed him. Why bother with the current situation?
Zhang Fuzheng continued calmly, "My Lords, I am a eunuch, an orphan who entered the palace as a child. I have no ties to my family, except for the late emperor." "Thank you for the late emperor's trust in me, and for entrusting me with the secret decree. I will reveal the truth to the world."
Lord Wu snorted coldly, "Eunuch Fu, you keep talking about imperial edicts. Do you dare to let all of us read the so-called imperial edict left by the late emperor several times? Since it is written by the late emperor himself, the handwriting and the imperial seal must be authentic."
He was sure that Zhang Fuzheng would not be able to produce it. Wu Liao remembered clearly that after the death of the previous emperor, he personally searched the place where the old eunuch lived and sent people to follow and monitor him for half a year. Only after he was sure that the previous emperor did not play tricks in the matter of establishing a new emperor did he give up his suspicion of Zhang Fuzheng.
"Of course you can, but it won't be too late to take out the imperial edict after all the court officials are present." Zhang Fuzheng flicked his whisk and turned his gaze to the door.
At this time, the eunuch outside shouted, "The Prime Minister has arrived."
Zhang Fuzheng withdrew his gaze and quietly looked at the face of Master Wu, who had just contradicted him, and suddenly said, "It's all together."
Lord Wu felt a sudden chill on his back, as if a force had suddenly slashed his body, leaving a fleeting stinging sensation.
Wei Xuezhi, dressed in dark official uniform, hurried up to the group. His slightly aged and tired face was filled with confusion. "I heard you discovered the imperial edict left behind by the late emperor?"
Everyone looked at each other, no one dared to answer first. Wei Xuezhi glanced at everyone, his gaze finally landing on Lord Wu. He asked, "Lord Wu, can you tell me what is written in the imperial edict?"
Lord Wu: "Master Prime Minister, it is still uncertain whether this imperial edict is genuine."
Wei Xuezhi was surprised. "Could it be that the imperial edict left by the late emperor is fake? But before I entered the palace, there were already rumors in the capital, and they were very convincing. The late emperor didn't intend for Prince Xiang to be the new emperor, but only wanted him to take over temporarily. Then, I don't know how, he suddenly decided to choose Prince Xiang."
Lord Wu became agitated. "Nonsense! Absolute nonsense! The current emperor was personally proclaimed the new ruler of the Great Viet Dynasty by the late emperor. How could we possibly believe the words of a eunuch?"
Zhang Fuzheng walked over slowly, holding a whisk, "Lord Wu, I don't mind if you don't believe me, but the late emperor's edict is here."
After saying this, he opened a tiny, hard-to-find mechanism on the handle of the whisk he had been holding. It turned out to be hollow inside, and it seemed that something was stuffed in it.
In front of all the court officials, Zhang Fuzheng took out the dusty imperial edict and showed it to them.
"The late emperor has decreed that Prince Yu and Prince Xiang have failed in their personal conduct and have successively plotted to murder the Empress, my legitimate mother, and me. This is unfilial and has placed the legitimate son of the emperor in great danger. This is discord. Such unfilial and discordant sons are unfit to be the rulers of Dai Viet. Now that I am critically ill, the legitimate son of the emperor is young, and the state has a young ruler, I fear that the border will be unstable. Therefore, I have granted Prince Xiang temporary control to relieve the future monarch and atone for the sin of poisoning him."
Zhang Fuzheng finished reading the contents of the imperial edict when Wu Liao couldn't help but burst out laughing. He raised his eyebrows smugly as if he had caught something and said, "Eunuch Fu, why don't you make up the truth when you fabricate the imperial edict? Even if you said that the late emperor favored Prince Yu or Prince Yi, it would be fine. Everyone in the court knows that Empress Qi died in childbirth, causing the late emperor's only legitimate son to die young. Yet, in this imperial edict, you say that the late emperor's preferred new monarch is the emperor's legitimate son. Ha, tell us, how could the late emperor have a legitimate son?"
"Who said the crown prince died young?" Zhang Fuzheng stared at him calmly. "Sir Wu, the late emperor's edict only stated that the crown prince was young and cursed the new emperor to die young. However, this is a crime of great disrespect, punishable by the extermination of all nine generations of the clan."
Lord Wu was not afraid of this old eunuch, and immediately said, "Then Eunuch Fu, please tell me where the emperor's legitimate son is?"
Zhang Fuzheng glanced at Wei Xuezhi and replied, "That's something you'll have to ask the Prime Minister."
Wei Xuezhi feigned confusion and echoed him, "Me? Eunuch Fu must be joking."
Zhang Fuzheng curled his lips and suddenly smiled, "The late emperor told me that he once gave you a military manual in a red sandalwood box. Do you remember this?"
"Of course I remember." Wei Xuezhi put his hands behind his back and didn't even glance at Zhang Fuzheng, as if he didn't want to even look at him.
Zhang Fuzheng bowed slightly and said slowly, "The late emperor's other imperial edict and the identity of the emperor's legitimate son are both hidden within the mechanism of that rosewood box."
Wei Xuezhi was incredulous, "How is this possible? I haven't even noticed it!"
Zhang Fuzheng: "Please, Your Excellency, please bring out this red sandalwood box so that all the ministers can examine it together."
Lord Wu couldn't wait for Wei Xuezhi to express his opinion, and pointed at Zhang Fuzheng forcefully, "Nonsense! Absolute nonsense! Zhang Fuzheng, are you planning to rebel openly?! Whose orders are you obeying? It's well known that the emperor's legitimate son died young, and you—"
Before Wu Liao could finish his words, he suddenly fell flat on his face. His shoes flew out and hit the pillar, and he looked very embarrassed.
Seeing this, the others couldn't help swallowing their saliva. This must be God's retribution. All the court officials who spoke for the emperor would not have a good ending.
Zhang Fuzheng raised his eyebrows slightly, surprise flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
Wu Liao, a military officer, fell to the ground for no reason and was unable to get up for a long time. Finally, Zhang Fuzheng had two young eunuchs come forward and pull him up.
"Master Wu, what did you want to say to me just now?" Zhang Fuzheng waited until he stood firm before asking.
Wu Liao was furious after losing face in front of his colleagues. He suspected that Zhang Fu had smeared something on the ground that would make people slip easily.
He was not giving up and pointed at Zhang Fuzheng angrily. He was about to speak, but he fell back and bumped into Lord Wang who had just come to his rescue. The two of them rolled into a ball, and there seemed to be a cracking sound in the middle, as if a bone was broken.
Now the other officials could no longer stand and retreated, trying to separate themselves from the two people on the ground, hoping that God would spare their face because they did not refute.
"Lord Wu?" Zhang Fuzheng bent down and stretched out his hand to pull him, but was avoided.
Wu Liao looked at him as if he had seen a ghost, and let a few eunuchs help him to stand up. "Eunuch Fu, you don't need to say anything. Let's take a look at the so-called secret decree left by the late emperor."
Zhang Fuzheng nodded, "Thank you, Lord Wu, for your understanding."
Then, he looked at the courtiers and said solemnly, "When Empress Qi died of a hemorrhage, it was a conspiracy between the then-concubine Li, the Empress Dowager Li who was struck by thunder a few days ago, and Prince Xiang. Prince Yu and his mother knew about it but kept it secret, even increasing the poison, nearly causing the premature death of the crown prince. The late emperor kept evidence of every incident, all stored in the interlayer of the red sandalwood box given to Prime Minister Wei."
Wei Xuezhi continued to feign surprise, "Eunuch Fu, are you kidding me?"
Zhang Fuzheng continued, "How dare an old eunuch like me, expire in the service of the Prime Minister?"
If Wu Liao couldn't see the secret between the two at this moment, then he would be a fool. Who was the late emperor? Would he hide a child and hand over a secret decree to someone who knew nothing about the inside story?
Since the secret decree and the child are in Wei Xuezhi's hands, he must have always been the late emperor's man, and his previous transformation was all fake.
Wu Liao only hoped that the emperor would wake up soon, otherwise the world would soon become someone else's.
Wei Xuezhi sighed deeply, "In that case, I will send someone back to retrieve it. As for whether it contains the secret decree that Eunuch Fu mentioned, we will all witness it together then."
Wu Liao was holding back his anger, and under the gazes of the two men in turn, he could only nod in agreement.
On the roof, Song Wan watched through the cracks in the roof without missing a beat as Zhang Fuzheng and Wei Xuezhi performed. She sighed to Gu Yizhi, "If they lived where we are, they would definitely have enough to eat."
Before the end of the world, the acting industry was extremely profitable.
Zhang Fuzheng and Wei Xuezhi were talking back and forth. If Song Wan hadn't known through Gu Yanji that they were her own people, she would have been able to tell that they were just pretending.
Song Wan remembered that she had tried to join a film crew before, but the director disliked her because she was like a piece of wood and could only play a corpse, lying there for 200 yuan a day. Due to inflation, there were too many extras, and she was not sure if she could get a spot.
"Why do you say that?" Gu Yan was anxious and confused.
"They both have such good acting skills. In our place, they can make money with this ability." Song Wan explained simply.
Gu Yanji probably understood that in the place where she used to live, the status and popularity of actors were much higher than here.
"What about Awan?" Gu Yanji sometimes secretly regretted that part of her life that she had never participated in or understood.
"Me?" Song Wan felt embarrassed when she mentioned this. "I usually play corpses more often."
Gu Yan was surprised and asked, "Corpse?"
Song Wan puffed out her chest and raised her chin. "Yeah, that's what they say: you can make money just by lying down!"
Gu Yan smiled anxiously and rubbed her head, "Thank you for your hard work, Wan, for lying down for so long."
Song Wan didn't expect that he could actually understand. In the past, when others heard that she could make money by playing a corpse, they concluded that this job must be easy. But the fact is not so. A qualified corpse must breathe shallowly and have no expression. If the camera is pointed at you, you will reveal a flaw if you just take a slight breath through your nose. If you delay the protagonist from getting into the role, you will even lose a chicken leg in your lunch box.
Song Wan remembered that when she played a corpse for the first time, her stomach growled so loudly that the two leading actors laughed out loud. That long shot scene was retaken several times until she was replaced.
"It's not easy lying down!" Song Wan said sincerely, "I still like the way it is now, fighting and killing, and occasionally snatching."
If she were to lie still all the time, with nowhere to use her strength, it would be like a person who hasn't taken a bath for ten days or half a month, and her whole body would be itchy.
Gu Yan was anxious: "I will accompany you from now on."
Song Wan: "Yes, from now on I'll charge ahead and you'll help me collect the silver from behind."
She was worried about handing the money over to others.
Gu Yan smiled anxiously and said okay.
Things here were almost done. Song Wan withdrew most of her mental power, leaving only two to sense the situation here at any time. She pulled Gu Yan and hurriedly prepared to leave, "Let's go! Let's go back to Changle Gate. Baozi is still waiting for us there."
Half an hour ago, the two of them quietly broke into the palace and visited several palaces. Song Wan even went to the queen's residence and took a few glances at the little prince Li Liu mentioned by Li Songzi.
Well, after taking a few glances, Song Wan was sure that she was not as pretty as A Yu, nor as smart as him, but Queen Li Shi was good-looking, and little Li Liu was inferior to A Yu in every way. It was entirely because of his father Li Shi that the average was lowered.
Wei Xuezhi quickly brought the rosewood box and set out from the palace to the Wei Mansion. It took at least an hour to go back and forth without stopping.
But now only less than two quarters of an hour have passed. According to this time estimate, it is only enough to leave the palace and then return.
The officials saw through it but kept silent. Wei Xuezhi handed the red sandalwood box to Zhang Fuzheng and said righteously, "Eunuch Fu, if you turn back now, there's still a chance. After all, you've served two emperors. You mustn't do anything foolish!"
Others: ...
I never realized that the Prime Minister was such a good actor before.
Zhang Fuzheng said casually, "This old slave is willing to take responsibility for his words and actions. If this old slave lied, the emperor will punish this old slave when he wakes up."
Wu Liao almost couldn't breathe. The pain from the broken bones made his face pale and he couldn't utter a word. He could only watch helplessly as they made the so-called secret order of the late emperor public.
"It's exactly the same!" Wei Xuezhi feigned surprise and even called over his colleagues, "Master Zhang, Master Liu, look, this is indeed written by the late emperor himself."
Lord Zhang and Lord Liu, who were named, had to stand up and compare the two secret decrees under the gaze of Wei Xuezhi.
The result shocked and surprised them. Holding the two secret decrees, Lord Zhang muttered subconsciously, "This is really the handwriting of the late emperor. Could it be that Empress Qi was not killed twice, and the little prince is still alive?"
Lord Liu couldn't believe it either. He took two steps back in fear and asked, "Why would the late emperor do this?"
Zhang Fuzheng explained their confusion, "Because the late emperor had lived and ate with Empress Qi, and was also poisoned, he knew his life was coming to an end, so he suppressed the news that the little prince was still alive and secretly sent him to be raised outside the palace."
Wu Liao waited until the pain in his body subsided a little before he finally spoke up to argue, "Eunuch Fu, the late emperor clearly died suddenly, how come you say he died of poisoning?"
Zhang Fuzheng smiled and said, "Master Wu, have you forgotten that you secretly sent people to pick the Heart-Eroding Grass?"
Those few words struck Wu Liao like a bolt of lightning. His pupils shrank suddenly, as if he had heard something horrible. He hurriedly defended himself, "Eunuch Fu! Be careful with your words! I have never done such a dirty thing."
Zhang Fuzheng said calmly, "Is that so? Then perhaps the evidence the late emperor secretly collected was all fake."
Wu Liao was at a loss for words. Zhang Fuzheng brought up the late emperor, so how could he refute?
At this time, Wei Xuezhi shouted loudly, "Master Wu! It was you who gave the late emperor the Heart-Erosion Grass! It's extremely poisonous!"
Zhang Fuzheng added at the right moment, "Those who plot against the royal family should be executed along with their entire clan."
The other ministers were talking about it one after another, and even Lord Wang, who had just shared hardships with him, gradually distanced himself from him, fearing that he would be implicated.
Wu Liao was stared at by everyone and panicked for a moment, blurting out, "I didn't do that! It was Prince Xiang, no, it was the Emperor who asked me to find the Heart-Eroding Grass. It has nothing to do with me!"
Wei Xuezhi was waiting for this sentence. He turned around and looked outside the hall. "Chief Wei, I think you all heard it clearly."
Outside the hall, Wei Lin, who was tied up, was silent. He wanted to say something now, but even if he couldn't hear clearly, he had no chance to speak.
Song Qi and Gu Wu tied him up all the way from Changle Gate to outside the council hall, using the old method of tying up a pig, and the more he struggled, the tighter the binding became.
The imperial guards and defense camp soldiers in the capital, totaling about 100,000 people, were beaten to a pulp by the 5,000 stragglers who appeared out of nowhere.
Wei Lin gets angry when he thinks of this. The Royal Guards are relatively better, at least they can last for a quarter of an hour. But the soldiers in the defense camp have been spoiled by the good food and high salaries over the years.
Those five thousand men did not seem to be ordinary soldiers. Even his deputy general might not be able to defeat dozens or even hundreds of them alone.
When all 100,000 people were knocked down and couldn't get up, Wei Lin even thought he had entered some kind of illusion. Could such a scene happen in the Dai Viet Imperial City?
Wei Lin thought at the time that perhaps by the time this coup was over, the people outside might not all know what had happened.
Song Wan was walking in front of Wei Lin, holding Baozi. Suddenly, she turned back to look at him, then lowered her head and said to Baozi, "Ayu, you must never hire such a useless person to be the leader of the Imperial Guard in the future. He can't even beat Durian."
Wei Lin, who had stood out from the hundred secret guards: "..."
In fact, there is no need to say it in front of him, and so loudly, he is not deaf.
Gu Wu kicked Wei Lin to tell him to behave himself, then protested to Song Wan, "Miss Song, the pseudonym Durian is no longer useful. Just call me by my real name, Gu Wu."
Song Wan blinked, "I'm used to it. I can't change it in a short time. I'll try my best."
Gu Wu: “…”
He's obviously addicted to shouting!
So what does durian mean? Gu Wu was going crazy!
Gu Yu raised his little head and asked, "Can I let Brother Durian be my guard leader in the future?"
Gu Wu had a blank expression on his face, but his heart was broken. How could even the young master...
Song Wan shook her head in disdain, "He's not good enough. You should at least find someone like your second brother. He's barely good enough."
Gu Yu looked worried, "This is so difficult."
Wei Lin, who had finally taken office less than two years ago, said:
So was he forced to resign?
Gu Yan patted Gu Yu's head in a hurry and said, "Ayu, it's time to go in."
The three of them stepped into the hall, followed by Song Qi and Gu Wu who were escorting Wei Lin.
Wei Xuezhi had been waiting for this day for a long time. He looked at the small figure beside Gu Yanji, his lips trembling slightly.
It has been five years since we last met. At that time, the little prince was only about two years old, but now he has grown so tall.
Compared to Wei Xuezhi who had seen him secretly, Zhang Fuzheng had never seen him in the past seven years except for a quick glance when he was just born.
He couldn't help but say, "The little prince and the late emperor look so much alike."
Others also had this idea. Except for Wei Xuezhi, Lord Zhang and Lord Liu, who were the first to check the two secret decrees, went from being hesitant at the beginning to completely changing sides now.
Zhang and Liu agreed, "They look so alike."
Song Wan glanced at the officials in the hall. They were of all shapes and sizes. It seemed that the food in the capital was very good.
Seeing that they were staring at the buns in her hand, Song Wan lowered her head and said to the buns, "Ayu, come and say hello!"
Gu Yu responded obediently, "Oh, okay."
Song Wan let go of Baozi's hand and let him play freely.
Gu Yu thought of his past interactions with teacher Li Songzhi. He paused for a moment, then bent his straight body slightly and raised his hands, "Gu Yu greets everyone."
Officials headed by Wei Xuezhi: ...
One moment they were shocked at how two faces could be so similar, and the next moment they saw someone who looked like the late emperor's legitimate son bowing to them?!
What should I do? Is it too late to raid my house and chop off my own head now?
Seeing the stunned crowd, Song Wan immediately straightened Baozi's body and said, "Ayu, you're mistaken. They should have saluted you, and then you said stand up."
The officials took a deep breath and nodded repeatedly, yes, yes, the young master is right.
Wait, who are these two people?
Could they be the ones who have been raising the little prince?
Song Wan and Gu Yan did not remove their disguises after rushing into the palace, so now they look more like the boss and second in command of a bandit's nest in the mountains.
If the little prince had been raised by these two people, the ministers couldn't even imagine what kind of person he would have become.
But the little prince who had just saluted them behaved very properly.
Looks okay?
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