Every war is always full of unpredictable contingencies. When the enemy and we are confronting each other, the side with the absolute advantage is often successfully counterattacked by the extremely weak side due to a small change or a small oversight. One after another, classic battles in which a small number defeated a large number and the weak defeated the strong.
This is true of wars, and so is the struggle for national destiny and the struggle for the crown prince. For example, the Renshou Palace with crossbows and swords drawn in front of us was because of the sudden visit of Emperor Yang Jian, which caused all the previous plans and preparations of both the enemy and us to be ruined. Yang Guang, who was at a disadvantage, did not dare to make any move before his own soldiers were in place. However, Yang Jian's sudden appearance not only failed all his and Yang Ji's plans, but also caused the imperial seal and tiger talisman to be mobilized. The importance forced the two brothers to transform from the righteous side into villains and risk their lives to break into the palace. Liu Ximing, who was on the opposite side of Yang Guang, was originally in a dilemma, but Yang Guang and Yang Jiqiang broke into the palace, turning his rebellious and unauthorized deployment of troops into loyalty to his duty, loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.
All in all, regardless of whether they are evil or just, because of Yang Jian's sudden appearance, they have exposed their ferocious fangs, turning the intrigues and conspiracies that have lasted for a long time into the most primitive, direct and violent force. Contest. Just judging from the comparison of the strength between the enemy and ourselves, it is really embarrassing beyond words. After all, there are only two people on Yang Guang's side, he and Yang Ji.
Fortunately, neither Yang Guang nor Yang Ji had the arrogance to use their meager strength to fight against the thousands of soldiers from the right guard and left camp. The two brothers had the same mind at the moment, and just wanted to seize the imperial seal and tiger charm and escape.
In order to achieve this goal, both of them risked their lives and ran into the palace with murderous intent. As Yang Ji ran, he shouted "catch the assassin" and "protect you" and other words to the thief.
One of them is the prince and the other is the king of Wei, which naturally makes people believe it. In addition, there are only two of them, so it is difficult for people to think about a military coup. As for the guards in the front hall, although they knew that they were the culprits, they did not get Liu Ximing's order and did not dare to rush into the "forbidden area" of the inner palace. They could only scream outside.
The crowd outside was extremely noisy. Not only could the inner palace guards not be able to hear what they were shouting outside, but they were led to believe that a large number of assassins were invading the palace, which in turn caused everyone to feel tense and panicked. Without getting orders from their superiors, they instinctively believed the lies of the high-status Yang Ji. In addition, the prince was standing by to ask everyone to cooperate, so everyone was like a lost little lamb meeting the leader, giving them two Not only did they give way, but they also followed Yang Ji's instructions and closed the second and third doors to prevent outsiders from approaching.
Yang Guang knew that this was the benefit brought by his status and the small number of people. At this time, when he saw that the guards in the inner palace believed Yang Ji's lies, his nervousness suddenly relaxed a little, and he led Yang Ji towards the depths of the palace.
There were more than a hundred chamberlains and maids on standby in the palace. When they saw the bloody prince and Yang Guang intruding, they were all frightened and screamed. They stumbled and ran away in panic, and hid behind the pillars.
Yang Guang and Yang Ji ignored these people and rushed directly to the door of the palace, which was also guarded by hundreds of burly and cold-eyed guards. They were not right-guard soldiers, but dead soldiers who only listened to Yang Jian's orders. When they saw Yang Guang and Yang Ji running here like bloody men, they all drew their horizontal knives and slowly surrounded them in a battle formation. .
Yang Guang knew that these people were his father's confidants, a private army outside the imperial court. They were usually led by Changqiu Supervisor Yang An. They usually did not have contact with outsiders. Moreover, Yang An was a general of the Yang family, so It was impossible for this army to be bribed by outsiders, so he stopped Yang Ji who was about to attack by force, strode forward and said, "Right Guard General Liu Shu has rebelled. Will you come with me to escort him?"
These private guards already knew about Saint Bintian. From now on, their master would be the successor chosen by the Saint. When they saw Yang Guang coming forward, they all put away their weapons and saluted without hesitation: "Prince Zun." make."
Yang Guang was overjoyed when he heard this, and his anxious heart still fell to where it was. Before that, except for Yang Ji, he couldn't believe the soldiers from the right guard and left camp outside. The reason why he took Yang Ji to rush in was that the situation was uncontrollable, and the second was that he hoped to control this private army as quickly as possible. military. Although these one hundred people were not many, they were stronger than the two of them anyway. He pointed at Yang Ji and said, "You follow King Wei's arrangements."
After saying that, he ran towards the palace.
Yang Ji stepped forward and asked, "You are two teams, right?"
"Yes!" The two teams stepped forward to salute.
Yang Ji knew that these people were best at unconventional combat methods, so he did not ask them what to do, but directly assigned tasks: "The first team is responsible for guarding the palace gate. If anyone breaks in, they will be killed in your own way." Behead them; the second team will follow me in."
"Follow the order." Yang Ji was a man who had returned from the battlefield, and his words had a sense of awe and ambition. In addition, with Yang Guang's orders, the dead soldiers did not dare to disobey. After hearing the order, the first team leader came with His soldiers quickly took up a favorable position and prepared to kill the invading enemy. Another group of dead soldiers, led by the captain, followed Yang Ji into the inner palace.
The palace where Yang Jian was recuperating was divided into two by several screens. Dozens of medical craftsmen, eunuchs, and concubines were kneeling outside. They were all deeply worried about their future fate, and they all wept silently with nervous expressions. Especially the doctors responsible for treating Yang Jian turned pale. They thought that the saint would wake up slowly after being comatose like before, so they did not use any drastic first aid methods. What they never expected was that, After the saint fainted this time, he passed away. This is their dereliction of duty. If the prince and the court pursue it, even if they are executed, it will be light.
Yang Ji ignored these people and just rushed forward. When he was close to the screen, he heard the mournful voices of several women coming from inside. Just as he was about to enter the inner room, he heard a soft and sweet voice exclaiming in panic: "Prince, what are you going to do? You can't..."
This voice directly made Yang Ji's face darken. He knew that Yang Guang was not a lecherous person. Even if he was lecherous, he would not indulge in sexual pleasure in front of his father's remains at this critical moment when he was about to die. But this shocked person who seemed to have been raped The shouts make it easy for people to think that way. If they hadn't witnessed the situation inside with their own eyes, I'm afraid those people outside would think that Yang Guang was having sex with women inside.
So when he saw the people outside who were bowing their heads and weeping, they all looked up at the screen in front of them. His heart suddenly moved, and he deliberately asked loudly: "What happened?"
"Vajra slave, the imperial seal and tiger talisman are all missing. Chen Guiren must have stolen them." Yang Guang's angry roar came from inside.
Yang Ji couldn't help being shocked when he heard what Yang Guang said. Without these two things, even if he and Yang Guang escaped, the Sui Dynasty would enter a troubled period in the future.
"I didn't steal." The delicate voice defended again.
"Other than you, who else could steal it?" Yang Guangguang said loudly, and then there was the sound of boxes being pushed and cabinets being packed away, and then he loudly ordered: "Vajra slave, search those people outside."
When everyone outside heard this, they lowered their heads one after another.
"Here." Yang Ji ignored these people who were still gossiping when they were about to die, and quickly asked the captain next to him: "After the saint's accident, did anyone leave?"
"After reporting to King Wei, Saint Bintian, Changqiu Prison asked us to block the front and back doors. Except for the eunuch who reported the message to the prince, no one left." Team Zheng also realized the seriousness of the problem and explained: "That eunuch is not only a close confidant of Supervisor Changqiu, but before he left, the humble officials and others searched his body according to the law. He couldn't hide the jade seal and tiger talisman of the country at all."
"That is to say, the Imperial Seal and Tiger Talisman are still in this palace." Yang Ji's eyes were sharp. He pointed at the doctor, eunuch, and palace maid who were kneeling on the ground, and said in a solemn tone: "You start from here, one by one. Search them all, and if you can’t find them, then search the people outside. If anyone dares not to cooperate, kill them!”
"Follow your orders!" The team leader quickly ordered his soldiers to search him.
"No matter what, we have to find the Imperial Seal and the Tiger Talisman, and we have to do it quickly." After Yang Ji finished explaining, he quickly ran towards the inner room. Several eunuchs and imperial doctors ran out in horror. He quickly stepped out of the way. .
Yang Jian was seen on the couch with his eyes closed, his face pale, and he passed away peacefully. The two women in palace clothes kneeling in front of the couch covered their mouths and looked at Yang Guang who was rummaging through boxes and cabinets in horror.
These two beautiful women were Princess Linchuan of the Chen Dynasty and Guiren Cai, who were named Mrs. Chen. They were both Yang Ji's elders, so he naturally knew them all. Princess Chen Chaoningyuan, who Yang Jian had conferred as Chen Guiren, fell to the ground and groaned. She held her belly with both hands, and her beautiful face was full of pain.
As for Yang Guang, he had abandoned his sword on the ground and was sweating profusely. He and Yang An led several eunuchs to search for the imperial seal and tiger talisman, not even paying attention to his father's remains.
The jade seal and the tiger talisman are usually kept by a special Fu Xilang, but when Yang Jian was dying, he was worried about trouble at the last moment, so he specially placed them next to him. Yang Guang knew this, so he came to the palace to look for it. .
Yang Ji did not complain about Yang Guang's unfilial piety or disrespect. After all, things had priorities. If Yang Guang, who was selected as the heir, cried bitterly in front of his father's body, that would be the greatest unfilial piety.
He knelt down silently in front of the couch, kowtowed nine times to Yang Jian's body, and then got up. He did not participate in Yang Guang's rummaging operation. Firstly, the palace was too big, and secondly, there was no time for them to search carefully, so he walked directly to Chen Guiren and said in a deep voice: "Chen Guiren, the prince was appointed by the saint. Heir, now that the saint has passed away, he is recognized by tens of millions of people as the Nine-Five Supreme Being. It doesn’t matter whether he has the jade seal or the tiger talisman. If you hide the jade seal and tiger talisman of the country, you will only cause him a small harm at most. Trouble. It is impossible to affect his position as the Ninth Five Supreme Being, and it cannot shake his status."
Although Yang Ji didn't know what the grudge between Yang Guang and Chen Guiren was, Yang Guang neither made trouble with Cai Guiren nor Chen Guiren's sister, Mrs. Chen. This shows that Yang Guang has a clear goal and the relationship between the two. There is a conflict. Since they have a conflict, the suspicion that Chen Guiren stole the jade seal and the tiger charm is naturally the greatest.
Yang Ji looked at Chen Guiren and continued: "If you don't want to say it, I won't force it. But I can pry open the mouths of your eunuchs and palace maids. In the face of death, they may not be willing to risk their lives to keep your secrets. It's just that At that time, not only you will die, but everyone in the Chen family will die."
Emperor Chen Xuan and Chen Xu should be the most fertile emperor in history. He had a total of forty-two sons and countless daughters. Among them, Chen Shubao was the eldest son, Chen Guiren was the fourteenth daughter, and Mrs. Chen was the twenty-fourth daughter. Chen Shubao gave birth to another twenty or thirty children.
After the Sui Dynasty destroyed Chen, Yang Jian did not treat the Chen family badly. In addition to Chen Shubao losing his freedom, he had more than 20 younger brothers who became officials in the Sui Dynasty. He also served as the county magistrate. These people have names, and it would be too easy to find them and kill them.
"Okay, that's all I said..." Yang Ji did not take any coercive measures against Chen Guiren. He just analyzed everything rationally, and finally used the Chen family as a bargaining chip to threaten Chen Guiren, so that Chen Guiren had to give in.
She sat upright, glanced at Yang Ji with a pale face, and then said to Yang Guang: "Prince, I can tell you the whereabouts of the jade seal and the tiger charm, but you have to promise me not to kill my brother."
Yang Guang's concern led to chaos, and the tense situation threatened his life, so it was difficult to calm down. So when Chen Guiren refused to say anything, he instinctively resorted to the stupidest way to search. When he heard Yang Ji talking to himself, he understood Yang Ji's intention and stopped and said silently. Listening, when Chen Guiren said this, he was suddenly surprised and happy, and immediately promised her: "You are Aye's concubine. I didn't intend to do anything to you. If I had planned to kill you, you would have died long ago." How could you live to this day in the south? On the contrary, you have always been my enemy, and I have nothing to do with you. As long as you tell the whereabouts of the jade seal and the tiger talisman, I will still canonize you according to ancient rituals and make you rich. Lifelong. As for your brothers and nephews, as long as they abide by the law in the future, I will naturally not do anything to them."
Chen Guiren didn't know what was going on outside, and was frightened by Yang Ji at this time. After getting Yang Guang's promise, he pointed to a screen and said, "The jade seal and the tiger charm are under the screen."
Yang Ji took a look and saw a box quietly placed under the screen. He couldn't help but secretly admire this woman's shrewdness. The screens she was talking about are the doors connecting the inside and outside. When folded, they form a shadow. The gauze hanging from the top plays a very good role in concealing it. However, it is this half-covered screen that, upon closer inspection, The places that could be found were ignored by Yang Guang, Yang An and others, which really fulfilled the saying "the most dangerous place is the safest".
Yang Guangda stepped forward, held the box in his arms, and then put it on the table and opened it. The box was divided into two layers. The upper layer was a jade box containing the jade seal passed down from the country, and the lower layer was a jade box containing more than a dozen tiger charms. These , is an object that represents the emperor's power. Next to the jade box on the upper level is a testament that Yang Jian has already drafted, which states that in the event of his absence, the prince will ascend the throne as emperor.
He put the objects one by one, closed the box, wiped the sweat from his forehead, slowly knelt down in front of the couch, kowtowed nine times to his father's body, and said sadly: "Aye, please forgive me for not being able to stay here." I will keep my filial piety by my side, and wait until my son has eradicated Liu Shu and other traitors and stabilized the court, then I will apologize to Aye!"
He stood up and picked up the sword, cut off a piece of silk and wrapped the box, then held it in his hand and told Yang An: "Changqiu Prison, even if someone breaks in, they don't dare to touch everything here without authorization. You stay and wait." Aye, stabilize the hearts of the people in the palace."
"Yes!" Yang An responded.
Yang Guang said to Yang Ji again: "Vajra slave, let's go."
. . . . . . . . .
At this time, there was another scene at the bottom of the mountain.
Liu Shu has quickly returned to the courtyard. As early as the beginning of Yang Jian's critical illness, he began to plan Yang Yong's resettlement plan. He originally planned to use a fake Yang Yong who looked exactly like him to sneak into Renshou Palace and wait for them to kill him by force. After Yang Guang's death, this substitute came forward to stabilize people's hearts. When things here were over, the real Yang Yong who was under house arrest could become the emperor.
But the fake Yang Yong is fake after all. It is impossible to possess Yang Yong's princely bearing and calmness in the face of chaos, which is very easy to expose. So when he received the order to welcome Yang Yong to Renshou Palace, he immediately entered the capital with joy and brought Yang Yong and Yang Xiu over. However, he was also worried that Yang Guang would have someone intercept them, so a fool came and handed the fake Yang Yong and Yang Xiu to Yu Wenshu, while he took Yang Yong disguised as a guard and sneaked into the courtyard at the foot of the mountain.
"Whether it can happen or not depends on tonight." Liu Shu took a sip of water and said to Zhang Jin and others who had gathered secretly: "Yang Guang only has dozens of guards in Renshou Palace, but I have the right guard Zuoying. We have thousands of soldiers, so killing Yang Guang is the easiest thing. As long as he is killed, we will immediately issue an edict to re-establish the crown prince, and then convict Yang Guang as a traitorous son who killed his father. This will make Yang Su and Yuwen Shu and others were dubious. Before the situation became clear and they saw that Yang Guang was dead, they would definitely not dare to take any action. When the prince ascended the throne, even if they knew everything, out of their own considerations, they could only acquiesce to this fact. .”
At this time, a school captain rushed in and said to everyone: "Someone just sent news that Yu Wenshu had taken the fake prince and Yang Xiu to Yang Su's yard. It seems that they fell into a trap."
Liu Shu smiled proudly, stood up and said: "Although Yang Su and Yu Wenshu have been hidden for the time being, the nights are long and there are many dreams. If the prince does not ascend the throne for a day, we cannot relax. We must send the prince to Renshou Palace immediately, and then kill Yang Guang."
Zhang Jin said happily: "Okay, as long as the fire breaks out on the mountain, we will cooperate at the foot of the mountain."
"Okay, I'll go up the mountain with the prince right away. Let's go our separate ways." Liu Shu also walked out of the main hall with everyone, preparing to take Yang Yong up the mountain.
"General Liu, General Liu asked me to send an urgent message." At this time, a palace guard broke into the courtyard. When he saw Liu Shu, he looked overjoyed and hurriedly handed a letter to Liu Shu. Liu Shu.
Liu Shu took the letter, opened it, and his expression suddenly changed. Zhang Jin, who was standing next to him, saw his expression was different and asked quickly: "What happened?"
Liu Shu said in a trembling voice: "The saint is visiting heaven."
"What?" There was a loud roar in everyone's minds, and they went blank.
However, Liu Shu, who knew Yang Jian's condition, behaved calmly. He had already known from the doctor that Yang Jian would not last long. He was not too surprised when he heard the news. He took a deep breath and said, "This is it." The good opportunity we have been waiting for. Without further ado, I will immediately go to Renshou Palace to take charge of the overall situation."
"I'll leave everything to General Liu." Everyone recovered and saluted Liu Shu excitedly.
