"Your Majesty, it's not good! There are rumors in the capital that Prince Rui was poisoned since he was a child and has become sick. The poison came from his mother's womb. It is the secret poison of the Nanliang royal family."
"I will execute the people who spread the rumors!"
"Your Majesty, this is bad! A great scholar wrote an article to denounce you!"
"Catch him and kill him!"
"That great scholar has fled to Changling Prefecture."
"Your Majesty, it's not good! The people gathered outside the palace gate and demanded an explanation for the 'five cities in Nanliang'."
"emperor……"
After Wen Tianlou died in front of everyone, Taoist Master Zhen Yu, news that was unfavorable to Emperor Zhaoxing came to his ears like flying catkins one by one.
When Emperor Zhaoxing learned about what happened in Wentian Tower, his first reaction was not that it would have much impact, but that he thought of the elixirs that Taoist Master Zhen Yu had made for him, and he immediately threw away all the elixirs in horror.
But after throwing away the elixir, when he heard the news that made him furious and had a headache and agitated, no elixir could eliminate his pain.
It made him even more irritable.
Moreover, the Queen Mother came to question and accuse him.
Oh, does the Queen Mother have the right to accuse him? If the queen mother and father hadn't favored the emperor's brother and only saw the emperor's brother in their eyes, would he have embarked on this path?
Why can the emperor inherit the throne just because he is the eldest son?
Brother Huang can do it, so can he, he just wants to fight!
After dealing with the Queen Mother, Emperor Zhaoxing coughed up blood again.
He summoned the envoy from Taiyuan Hospital to diagnose his pulse and treat him.
The hospital envoy finally stabilized Emperor Zhaoxing's condition, and Emperor Zhaoxing regained some energy. He called the second prince over and asked him to deal with the people outside the palace gate, as well as the complaints and rumors.
A piece of news came in that made Emperor Zhaoxing's eyes split again.
"Your Majesty, this is bad! Prince Rui declared a break with you and occupied Changling Prefecture."
"What do you mean by occupying Changling Prefecture?" Emperor Zhaoxing's eyes almost popped out of his head.
The commander of the imperial army said: "Prince Rui appointed and dismissed officials in Changling Prefecture on his own initiative, and the Changling City Guards were also controlled. Now, the territory of Changling Prefecture is full of Prince Rui's people, and our people cannot find out."
"Didn't he only have three thousand soldiers? How could he have so many people to control the entire Changling Prefecture?"
According to the traditional rules of Daqi, when a vassal king enters the vassal state, he can bring with him three thousand soldiers.
Emperor Zhaoxing had not yet established a heir, and had not yet entertained the idea of letting his princes become kings or vassals. He originally thought of arranging the matter in two years, and reduced the number of troops to the vassal king to 1,500, in order to allow the princes to become kings. Imperial power became more consolidated.
Unexpectedly, Lin Jinglan appeared halfway.
The ones Emperor Zhaoxing gave to Lin Jinglan were of average military quality.
With these three thousand soldiers alone, Emperor Zhaoxing felt that it was impossible for Lin Jinglan to control Changling Prefecture.
"Back to the Emperor, it's the Lingwu Army." The commander of the Imperial Army lowered his head, "It's the Lingwu Army stationed outside Changling Prefecture now."
Emperor Zhaoxing: "..."
"Why are the Lingwu Army in Changling Prefecture?" Emperor Zhaoxing looked at the Minister of War who was standing next to the commander of the Forbidden Army with a gloomy expression. His hands were clenched tightly and veins popped out on the back of his hands.
The Secretary of the Ministry of War looked horrified and said: "According to the investigation of the subordinates, in the various armies that incorporated the Lingwu Army, there were cases where the Lingwu Army died of illness or was disarmed and returned to the field some time ago.
Now it seems that the death from illness was fake, but the premeditated escape was real. "
"How many Lingwu troops does Lin Jinglan have in his hands?" Emperor Zhaoxing's frightening gaze almost pierced the Minister of War.
The Minister of War said tremblingly: "At least 20,000."
This is on the surface, but how much is hidden is unknown.
"With so many Lingwu troops 'died' of illness or disarmed and returned to their fields, no one noticed anything unusual!"
The Ministry of War's official letter was earth-colored: "The people below concealed the report."
"waste!"
With a sharp roar, Emperor Zhaoxing threw an inkstone placed on the imperial desk at the Minister of War, directly smashing the forehead of the Minister of War and bleeding.
The Minister of War directly knelt down and asked Emperor Zhaoxing to forgive his sin.
He is responsible for the oversight.
"you……"
Emperor Zhaoxing was so angry that he wanted to ask Zhai Jian, the governor of Changling Prefecture, if he had betrayed him. Suddenly, he vomited out a mouthful of blood.
"Imperial physician, imperial physician!"
The chief eunuch immediately went to summon the envoy of the imperial hospital.
——
Changling Prefecture.
After the people in Changling Prefecture learned about what Emperor Zhaoxing had done and that Changling Prefecture would be ruled by King Rui in the future, some believed that King Rui should do this, and some thought it was none of their business and continued to live their current lives. Some are worried that the imperial court will take action against Changling Prefecture.
But after two months, there was no action from the court.
Instead, news came that Emperor Zhaoxing had suffered a stroke and was lying on the couch all day; Emperor Zhaoxing ordered the arrest of some migrant workers to speed up the construction of Dengxian Terrace; and that the second prince's mother and concubine, Guo Guifei, had been corrupt and had looted almost half of the palace. A matter of treasury money.
Concubine Guo searched for money, naturally preparing it for the second prince.
No one believed that the second prince had no involvement.
But Emperor Zhaoxing only sent Concubine Guo to the cold palace, and did not punish the second prince at all.
In this regard, all officials in the court believed that it was a certainty that Emperor Zhaoxing would pass the throne to the second prince.
On this day, the matter of Concubine Guo came to an end. Emperor Zhaoxing felt that his health was better, so he called the second prince over.
Let the second prince send troops to attack Changling Prefecture and escort Lin Jinglan back to Beijing to face charges.
Now, they finally had their hands free to deal with Lin Jinglan.
As for the rumors circulating that he had murdered the late emperor, after two months, they still could not be completely suppressed. Moreover, the Changling Newspaper frequently criticized them, and the Changling Newspaper repeatedly suppressed them.
Really annoying.
Yes, the newspaper that appeared in the capital before was blatantly called "Changling News".
"Prince Rui has his own strength, he must be captured and brought back to the capital, and he will be punished." Emperor Zhaoxing was lying on the bed, speaking clearly and clearly.
The second prince nodded solemnly: "Yes!"
"Report! Urgent report from eight hundred miles away from Changling Prefecture!"
As soon as the second prince finished speaking, an urgent and loud message came from outside the palace.
A post rider came rushing over holding a letter high.
Emperor Zhaoxing asked people to bring Yiqi in.
After the Yiqi came in, through the screen, Emperor Zhaoxing heard the Yiqi say: "Report to the emperor that King Rui has recovered Yanchuan Prefecture."
Yanchuan Prefecture was one of the five cities that Daqi lost to Nanliang.
How long did it take for Lin Jinglan to suddenly regain Yanchuan Prefecture?
Emperor Zhaoxing didn't believe it.
"Bring the letter!"
The great eunuch took the letter from the post rider, unfolded it, and held it up to Emperor Zhaoxing.
"Father, what does the letter say?" The second prince was very curious.
Emperor Zhaoxing: "See for yourself."
The chief eunuch handed the letter to the second prince obediently.
"Lin Jinglan used a magical weapon to blast open the gate of Yanchuan Prefecture effortlessly. Can Nanliang be defeated?"
The more the Second Prince read it, the more unbelievable it became, feeling that what was written above was extremely mysterious.
Because there was very little description of the artifact in the letter, it was only said that its sound was earth-shattering and its power was invincible, scaring the Nanliang Army to the point of peeing.
Nothing else.
But no matter what, once the news that Lin Jinglan regained Yanchuan Prefecture is known to the people, it will definitely increase his prestige.
Therefore, despite having this "artifact" in front of him, Emperor Zhaoxing decided to send troops to Changling Prefecture. After all, no one on their side had seen the artifact or anything with their own eyes.
We can still test it by sending troops to Changling Prefecture.
