Empress Chu

Page 246

Before Zhizhou could finish speaking, several soldiers drew their swords.

"The prefect of Wuzhou rebelled—" they shouted, "I was ordered to—"

With a yell, he cut to Zhizhou.

Zhizhou, who was born as a frail scholar, had a quickness that they had never expected. He took a step back and turned into the screen behind him.

Earlier they said that they came here under a secret decree to know that the state should screen the idlers and others. The officials and servants of the government office all retreated, but they did not pay attention to the screen in the hall.

This screen is a bit abrupt, but the government government also inevitably arranged it according to the preferences of the officials, and the soldiers didn't care.

One hit missed, and Zhizhou hid behind the screen, and several people stepped forward again, trying to slash the screen with a knife. Before they could do anything, the screen fell down with a bang, revealing a row of kneeling crossbowmen standing behind it——

"Take down the thief—" Zhizhou shouted.

Accompanied by shouts, arrows were fired, and the five soldiers fell to the ground and died before they could take a step forward.

The officials and servants outside the hall also rushed in at this time, looking at the dead bodies on the ground, their expressions were panicked and fluctuating.

"My lord, it's dangerous." An official whispered, "Fortunately, we were prepared."

Another official had lingering fears: "Fortunately, my lord was decisive and believed in the Queen's edict. Those who hold the emperor's edict are really going to kill people."

Zhizhou looked at the two edicts in his hand. In fact, he didn't believe in the Queen's edict. chaos--

Now it's finally messed up.

……

……

When the morning light enveloped Zhongshan Palace again, Xiao Xun who was sitting by the bed woke up suddenly.

He looked at the bed first, and after two days, King Zhongshan's mouth and nose were no longer bleeding, his breathing was weak, but his eyes were still open.

"Father." Xiao Xun adjusted his sitting posture, leaned on his head with his hands, and looked into King Zhongshan's eyes, "Are you unable to sleep, or are you unable to sleep?"

Of course King Zhongshan couldn't answer, and he couldn't move his stiff eyes. If it wasn't for weak breathing, he would be a dead man.

"Don't be afraid." Xiao Xun said softly, "Soon you will be able to sleep soundly, and you won't have to wake up again."

He held King Zhongshan's hand, pressed it against his face and rubbed it lightly, just like when he was a child.

His father always likes to caress him like this, and he also likes to snuggle up to his father like this, only he can get such a caress from his father.

"When I ascend the throne as emperor, I will posthumously designate you as emperor. Your wish has finally come true."

He looked at King Zhongshan with a smile in his dimples.

"Father, are you happy?"

King Zhongshan couldn't express whether he was happy or unhappy, he could only lie stiffly with his eyes open stiffly.

Xiao Xun stroked his hand lightly, with a smile on his face, his voice was as cold as frozen water.

"I'm very happy."

"Although I always said before that I want to fulfill my wish for my father, I actually don't know if I will be happy if I fulfill this wish."

"In my heart, as long as my father is happy, I will be happy."

"But now, I realize that apart from my father being happy, there are other things that can make me happy."

"It turns out that I am happy for myself, that's how it feels."

He said and laughed.

Laugh silently.

There were footsteps outside the door, and then someone walked in.

"Bold." The smile on Xiao Xun's face suddenly disappeared, anyway, the father and king are like this, a son can't laugh loudly, if someone sees—"He came in without authorization, I said—"

He turned his head and saw the person coming, and the rest of his words stopped abruptly.

Deng Yi looked at him blankly, with no intention of apologizing or quitting.

A smile reappeared on Xiao Xun's face: "So it's the Taifu, what's the matter?"

Deng Yi didn't care about the smile on his face, and didn't take a long look at King Zhongshan on the bed, and said, "The eight prefectures and twelve cities in Zhongshan County and outside the county have all received edicts, and the thirty thousand prefectures outside Zhongshan County The county soldiers and horses have also taken off their defenses and obeyed the order."

Xiao Xun laughed loudly: "Thank you Taifu, with Taifu here, my Zhongshan Palace is like a tiger with wings added."

Deng Yi said indifferently: "Your Majesty, you are being polite. The prince has already planned to win people's hearts for decades. What is lacking is an order."

Xiao Xun was full of smiles: "Ling Wuzhi, this sound made my father not come down for decades. If it weren't for the Taifu, I still can't do it today."

Deng Yi looked at King Zhongshan: "Then the prince should thank the prince, for the sake of the world, the prince is willing to give up the prince's life in exchange for an order."

Xiao Xun knew that since Deng Yi came in, Ning Kun must have cleaned up the people outside, and he was not afraid of being heard. As for King Zhongshan—he also looked at the father on the bed and smiled.

"This is my father's wish." He said, "If the wish can be fulfilled, my father can abandon me, and naturally he can also abandon himself. Even if he dies, he will be very happy."

Deng Yi didn't know if King Zhongshan was happy, and he didn't bother to find out. He smiled, looked at King Zhongshan, and said, "But I think my lord can understand Emperor Jingyang's mood."

Emperor Jingyang was the father of King Zhongshan and the first emperor. In order not to be threatened as the crown prince, he ignored his youngest son, King Zhongshan, who was maimed by the queen mother.

Everything is for the throne of the emperor.

King Zhongshan hated his father all his life, so what is the difference between him and his son now?

Father abandons son, son hates father, father and son kill each other.

Xiao Xun naturally heard Deng Yi's ridicule, his face remained unchanged, and he said with a smile: "My father hasn't become the emperor yet, it's still early to understand the emperor's mood."

Deng Yi stopped talking nonsense with him, looked away, and when he talked about being the emperor - he smiled: "I haven't finished my words yet, the government soldiers and horses in and around Zhongshan County have been resolved, but there is no such thing as going to the capital." It went well, the post station and various state capitals have received the queen's edict, so many of our edicts have been stopped."

Xiao Xun glanced at Deng Yi and said with a smile: "I never thought that the Queen's edict would be even more powerful than the Emperor's edict."

Deng Yi nodded, and said: "The queen's current prestige is indeed very powerful." He looked at Xiao Xun and smiled again, "My lord, if you want to sit in this world today, you must not only grab the position of emperor, but also the position of queen. Rob."

Xiao Xun laughed: "I only want to grab the position of emperor. When I become emperor, Miss Azhao will still be the empress. That's fine."

When Deng Yi wanted to say something, Ning Kun's voice came from outside.

"My lord, everyone is ready." Ning Kun walked in and bowed to Xiao Xun and Deng Yi respectively, "Please come to the hall and make an announcement."

Deng Yi didn't say any more, he raised his foot and walked out. Xiao Xun was about to take a step, but stopped again, and turned his head to look at King Zhongshan on the bed.

At this time, the indoor sunlight was bright, but he could not see his father's face clearly, not only now, but also his father's face in his memory became blurred.

There was nothing to remember before, and the moment he was escorted into the capital, there was only shame and unwillingness left in his life.

He must wash away these shame and unwillingness.

Xiao Xun withdrew his gaze and walked out.

"Let the concubine and the princes come and see the father off," he said.

Ning Kun bowed his head and answered yes.

……

……

In the third year of Xingping, on August 27, the King of Zhen passed away, and Taifu Deng Yi went to Zhongshan County to carry out the decree of the late emperor, and told the officials and generals of Zhongshan County that there were no ministers in the court, and there were traitors in the court. General Wei Chu Yu and his daughter Chu Zhao , taking advantage of the prince's chaos in Yongning, colluded with his relative Xie Yanfang, blackmailed the late emperor with private soldiers, seized the throne to dominate the world, and poisoned the town king.

In the third year of Xingping, in September, Xiao Xun, the eldest son of the King of Zhen, respected the last emperor's will, and Xie Yanfang, a treacherous minister of Chu Zhao after the crusade against the thieves, set out to set things right, and swore to go to the army.

Chapter 57 Indifferent

Calls to action are flying all over the sky.

They also popped up in the capital, scattered in the streets and alleys overnight.

However, as the guards destroyed several private houses, dozens of people of various identities were arrested and suppressed.

But the capital is suppressed, and not all other places can stop it.

Sitting on the dragon chair and looking down, half of the people in the once bustling court were missing, but Xiao Yu's expression did not change at all, as before.

Sitting behind the dragon chair, Chu Zhao didn't panic at all, and even seemed to be distracted, holding a small round fan in her hand, shaking it gently. It stands to reason that she shouldn't be holding the fan up, but maybe everyone is restless, No one cares.

More than half of the people in the court were missing, and they were all officials who had followed Deng Yi before. Knowing that the Taifu Deng Yi had voted for the King of Zhongshan, his followers naturally had a hard time. Of course, not all of them were arrested and killed. At that time, he cried bitterly and said that he had been deceived, and the rest of them were also filled with righteous indignation when they were surrounded, showing that they were at odds with Deng Yi.

Chu Zhao didn't let the guards torture him to extract a confession. At this time, he couldn't kill him, otherwise it would only make people's hearts fluctuate.

Of course, it can't be regarded as nothing happened, otherwise the world will think that she, the queen, has a guilty conscience and has no majesty.

At this time, gaining a good reputation is not as good as notoriety, which can calm people's hearts.

Therefore, many officials were ordered to self-examine and be locked up at home.

However, although there are fewer officials in the court, the noise is bigger than before.

"The proclamation said that the first emperor wanted to pass on the throne to Xiao Xun."

"It is also said that there is an imperial decree to prove it."

"It's really nonsense. When the first emperor appointed the crown prince, he was still awake. He gave orders in front of us, and he, Deng Yi, was there on the spot, so he dared to speak nonsense."

"Is Deng Yi held hostage by Xiao Xun—or has he been killed?"

"Shut up, you still have to find excuses for Deng Yi. The soldiers and officials in front have seen it with their own eyes. Deng Yi is right in front of Xiao Xun's bandits. He even went to Quzhou Mansion in person. If the prefect hadn't escaped Soon, he will be killed by Deng Yi."

Listening to the noisy discussions in the court hall, Chu Zhao, who had been distracted all the time, suddenly asked, "How did Deng Yi write the imperial edict of the first emperor?"

There was a noisy meal in the hall.

Now the people left in the court will not ignore the queen's question, and an official immediately replied: "The document says that the imperial decree means that one of my sons is unworthy and the other is dead. I have no sons, so I want you The son of my son will be my son, given the crown prince, and inherit the lineage of the Great Xia Emperor, but the son cannot have two fathers, so I declare my decree. I will kill myself with a gift."

When his words fell, other officials also spoke one after another.

"This must be fake. Yuxi is in Deng Yi's hands, so he can write whatever he wants."

"But some people have seen the imperial decree and said that Deng Yi showed it to them. It is absolutely true."

"And the Ministry of Rites checked the palm print records, and the time is also correct."

The emperor didn't use the jade seals casually, they were all recorded, and the timing was right, which meant that the imperial decree did happen on the night of the prince's chaos.

"So what? That night when the prince was in chaos, Deng Yi had already taken control of the inner palace, and the late emperor had been poisoned."

The courtiers in the palace began to argue again.

Chu Zhao didn't ask any more questions, but shook her fan and nodded. She didn't doubt that the imperial decree was false, and she was cleared of her doubts. It turned out that King Zhongshan died when Xiao Xun ascended the throne in that life.

It turned out that King Zhongshan was poisoned to death. Let’s just say, he died suddenly without any illness or disaster.

Chu Zhao didn't know who did it in the last life. There was no Xiao Yu in the last life, and the first emperor directly gave Xiao Xun the crown prince, and the first emperor was still there at that time.

But this life must have been done by Xiao Xun.

Whether Deng Yi participated or not, I don't know.

The confusion was resolved, and the fate reappeared. She had been nervously preparing for this scene before, and wanted to avoid it from happening again, but when it did happen, she did not have the slightest fear.

I also find it interesting that in this life Xiao Xun has become a rebel, but she is still the evil queen who was crusaded.

Destiny.

"Okay." Chu Zhao put down his fan and interrupted the noise in the court hall, "It doesn't matter whether it's true or not."

She looked at the ministers.

"Things are already like this, and what is false is also true."

"Gentlemen, don't be disturbed by these things. When the Taifu's mansion caught fire, we had already guessed that there would be today, and we responded accordingly."

"Although we failed to intercept all the edicts and lost part of the troops and the city, there is nothing to fear. The people who can be deceived by the edicts are not on our side."

"Now Master Xie is in charge of the front, and King Zhongshan's soldiers and horses have been blocked to the north of the Yellow River."

"Now that the King of Xiliang has surrendered, the Border County will soon restore stability."

"We have enough energy and troops to put down the rebellion."

"What you have to do is to perform your duties with all your heart and responsibilities. There are soldiers and horses fighting in the front, so please stick to the rear."

Having said that, Chu Zhao smiled again.

"It's not the first time that King Zhongshan's soldiers and horses have rebelled. The last time we interrupted him, why should we be afraid this time?"

"So what if there is one more Deng Yi? It's just a risk of dissatisfaction in the world, and you're just trying to make a fool of yourself."

"You don't need to pay attention to the proclamations of treacherous ministers and thieves. Your Majesty will personally write a proclamation and announce it to the world."