…
Before dawn the next day, Mrs. Liu got up early. After washing, he was going to the front hall to eat when a confidant and steward hurriedly came to report: "Master, something happened in the prison!"
Taifu Liu perked up: "Oh? What happened?!"
The steward whispered: "King Yong committed suicide just last night..."
Taifu Liu was in good spirits and looked uplifted. He couldn't help but shout: "Okay!"
Wouldn't it be a good thing if the source of the world's troubles was dead?
With this good news on his back, his steps were three points lighter than before.
We rode a sedan all the way into the palace city. As we walked forward, we saw our colleagues waiting outside, and we couldn't help but feel a bit of joy between our brows.
However, one of his students approached him cautiously and reminded him in a low voice: "Teacher, don't be so happy."
Then he gestured to him with his eyes: "Look over there——"
Taifu Liu took advantage of the situation and looked over, only to see that it was Sun Deng, the chief guard of the prison. His dark face was stern, and his expression contained worry.
Only then did Taifu Liu react.
The prison was not set up in the palace. King Yong committed suicide last night. At that time, the palace gate had already been locked. It is expected that the emperor did not know the news.
In the past few days, they had gone in groups to mourn King Yong, which had already made him extremely unhappy. He wanted to punish the courtiers several times, but Yan Chong, the prime minister, and Liu Taifu, who had taught him, remonstrated with death. , then gave up.
If only we knew now that King Yong had committed suicide in the prison last night...
I'm afraid that there will be a storm in the court hall soon!
Taifu Liu's heart sank slightly, but his joy was gone.
Since the dead cannot be resurrected, we can only try our best to comfort the Holy Emperor. At most, we can give King Yong a nicer posthumous title...
When the time came, the palace gate was opened wide, and the imperial guards came to check the family status.
Liu Taifu kept looking at Sun Deng, the prison supervisor, from the corner of his eyes. Sure enough, when he saw him entering the door and going to the emperor's bedroom where he rested without saying a word, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Just at this moment, I heard a chaotic sound of exclamations behind me.
"Who dares to break into the forbidden palace?!"
"I want to meet with the Holy Lord——"
Based on the experience of the previous Zhang Liujie people, the imperial army reacted extremely quickly at this time. They first asked the ministers blocking the palace gate to go inside to take shelter, and archers came flying to help.
Taifu Liu only heard the uniform footsteps of the imperial army coming from outside the palace wall, but he couldn't guess what happened outside the wall. Then he thought about Sun Deng who hurriedly entered the palace to meet him not long ago, and for a moment he felt confused. Impatient and impetuous, with all five flavors.
Not long after the courtiers waited outside the main hall where the court meeting was held, a confidant of the current Holy Emperor came forward. He narrowed his eyes slightly and bowed: "Your Majesty has invited Prime Minister Yan, Taifu Liu, and Pang Sikong. There is also a meeting between Duke Chengen and Duke Guo."
Taifu Liu realized in his heart that he must have known about King Yong's death by now.
The five of them all arrived at the royal study room. After being informed by the chamberlain, they entered one after another according to their titles and official positions.
Duke Cheng'en and Duke Guo were fine, and they were finally related to the royal family. However, after Prime Minister Yan, Taifu Liu and Pang Sikong entered the house, the emperor did not say a word and wrote a memorial on the case. And smashed it over.
"You are so brave - how dare you!"
Li Yuanda's eyes were red, and his grief and indignation were beyond words: "King Yong, he is my brother! You insist that I deal with him, okay, I will put him in prison. You want to cry in mourning, and I will let you cry, but Why do you keep pushing the envelope and force him to death before you give up?!"
"Is this world my world or yours?"
Before the few people entered the door, they could vaguely predict the emperor's anger. Although they were frightened at this time, they were not unprepared. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Yan, they knelt down and worshiped: " Your Majesty, my ministers have absolutely no selfish motives, and everything they do is for the sake of the country and the ancestral temple!"
Yan Chong said earnestly: "Your Majesty, how can King Yong continue to survive in the world after he has done such a treacherous and unethical thing? If so, who among the world's feudal lords is willing to keep his peace?!"
However, Li Yuanda did not argue with him about the matter. He only smiled coldly and said: "The Prime Minister is so majestic and courageous! With your order, hundreds of officials came to mourn King Yong. How can such appeal be expected? Isn’t it a hundred times better than me, the emperor?!”
"King Yong is the legitimate son of the late Emperor, my flesh and blood brother. If the Prime Minister wants him to die at the third watch, he will not survive until the fifth watch. You have such ability, wouldn't it be humiliating to be the Prime Minister? I will give this to you. How about I give up the throne to you?!"
Isn’t this a heart-breaking argument?
The color drained from Yan Chong's face in an instant. He took off his official hat and bowed again and again: "Your Majesty is aware of it. How dare I have such treacherous thoughts? I swear to God that I will never be disloyal or unfilial. If I say this, Being empty is not tolerated by heaven and earth, and is condemned by both humans and gods!"
Li Yuanda looked sad and smiled indifferently: "Who knows that people's hearts are separated from each other?"
Fu choked up and said: "I only know that my half-brother died alone in prison last night!"
After that, he burst into tears and cried endlessly with grief.
If this happens, let alone Taifu Liu and Pang Sikong, even Prime Minister Yan, who has just been punished, can say nothing more.
Finally, a chambermaid rushed over to break the desolation in the room.
"Your Majesty, Nanny Chen is here with the Queen Mother's edict—"
Everyone in the imperial study room was shocked.
Li Yuanda's face was full of tears. He raised his head in shock and choked with sobs: "Where is Grandma Chen? Please ask her to come in quickly."
The waiter looked troubled.
When Li Yuanda saw this, he said sternly: "Why, I can't use the courtiers, so I can't use you either?!"
Several important ministers couldn't help but lower their heads.
But I heard the chamberlain say tremblingly: "Aunt Chen, Aunt Chen has died of exhaustion!"
Li Yuanda was horrified: "What did you say?!"
He grabbed the waiter's shirt and said, "What's going on?!"
The chamberlain carefully and quickly told the Holy Lord the news he had learned: "Just now, an old woman who looked embarrassed and seriously injured was trying to break into the Forbidden Palace. There were people chasing behind her. The Forbidden Army hurriedly chased her. I was detained, but I heard that the old woman claimed to be the maid who served the Queen Mother in the past."
"A few days ago, she wanted to use the Queen Mother's edict to rescue His Highness King Yong. Unexpectedly, as soon as she left the palace, she was caught, imprisoned, and tortured. Just last night, His Highness King Yong She died, and the people guarding her stopped paying attention, so she took the opportunity to escape..."
Li Yuanda said in a trembling voice: "The queen mother actually left a posthumous edict?"
Then he hurriedly asked: "Where is the edict?!"
The chamberlain hurriedly said: "We have sent people to Prince Yong's Mansion to get it!"
Li Yuanda seemed to have lost his mind. He let go of his hand on his clothes and sat back down in a daze.
Several important ministers exchanged glances with each other, and for a moment, no one dared to say anything.
Not long after, an attendant hurriedly came to report: "Following Nanny Chen's last words, we found the edict left by the Queen Mother."
The attendant said cautiously: "Your Majesty?"
Li Yuanda swallowed hard and said harshly: "Send it over."
The waiter responded.
He took it in his hand and took a closer look. The blood on his face became more and more intense. His brows trembled in pain for a few times, and suddenly he spit out a mouthful of blood.
Everyone was shocked. Taifu Liu even ignored the etiquette and stepped forward to support the emperor who was in mourning: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Then he ordered the people around him sternly: "Why don't you go and call the imperial doctor?!"
Duke Chengen picked up the edict of the Queen Mother that fell on the ground and read it. He looked very sad and angry. He went to push Taifu Liu out of the way and personally supported the emperor's nephew. He was furious: "You claim to be a minister, but you are doing this here." How can you have the dignity to consider yourself the pillar of the country by persecuting the emperor?"
"King Yong is guilty, and King Yong deserves to die, but don't forget, there is only one person in the world who is qualified to kill him, and that is the Emperor. You actually dare to overstep your authority and act on behalf of the Emperor!"
She also shed tears and said: "Before the Empress Dowager died, she cared about King Yong the most, and the Holy Sage has always been friendly with King Yong. You forced King Yong to death and made the Holy Sage violate the Queen Mother's last edict. How could you still have the face to continue doing it in the court? Gentleman Kaiti!"
Li Yuanda finally let out the breath that had been stuck in his heart with difficulty.
He cried loudly, and he was so sad that he felt like he wanted to vomit out his heart and liver: "I am a son of a man, but I disobey my mother's orders like this. After I die, how should I go to see Gaomiao, and how should I respond to him?" Dingling!"
He pushed himself up again and said with a stern voice: "My words have fallen on deaf ears. You all dare to turn a blind eye to the Queen Mother's edict. What else do you dare not do? They are not human ministers!"
For a minister, there is no harsher accusation than "an inhumane minister".
When this happened, not only Prime Minister Yan, but also Taifu Liu and Pang Sikong also took off their official hats and kowtowed to apologize.
At this moment, Duke Guo came on stage and said, "Several veterans also care about the country, so this is a bit out of line..."
Then he stood on the side of the emperor and rebuked several courtiers: "But someone actually dared to detain the Queen Mother's maid during her lifetime and harm her life, so that the Holy One violated the Queen Mother Dingling's order, which is an unforgivable crime!" "
No one knew who sent the person who detained Grandma Chen, and in the rush, no one had the intention to explore this anymore.
It's just that when things get to this point, someone has to come forward to clean up the mess, and accordingly, someone has to be responsible for the whole thing.
Prime Minister Yan bowed tremblingly: "I am the prime minister, and I am in charge of hundreds of officials. I am old and feeble, and I have made some mistakes. I no longer have the face to serve the emperor. I am now begging for my bones..."
Li Yuanda had no intention of holding back, and said in a cold voice: "Yes!"
Pang Sikong also hurriedly echoed: "I am the same age as the prime minister, but I am also begging for bones!"
Li Yuanda's face was covered with frost, he looked at him coldly, and said again: "Yes!"
Subsequently, Taifu Liu also took the initiative to request to become an official.
Li Yuanda's tone was slightly softer than when he treated the first two people: "Is Taifu also going to leave me at this time?"
Taifu Liu sighed: "I have no face to see you again, Your Majesty..."
Li Yuanda was neither sure nor sure, and the imperial doctor came over at this moment.
He waved his hand tiredly and sent the courtiers away.
Several ministers who had been in power for many years quietly retreated out, and the moment before closing the door, they heard the emperor whispering to his attendants.
"Is the emperor's brother really leaving?"
The waiter responded in a low voice.
The Emperor's voice was choked with sobs: "He is three years younger than me, has not yet married, and does not even have any descendants for sacrifice."
Immediately afterwards, he said feebly: "As an elder brother, how can I watch my younger brother die without anyone? It is decreed that the second son of the emperor born by Concubine Shu will be passed to King Yong as his heir..."
The chamberlain was panicked: "Your Majesty, you only have a few princes under your knees!"
But I heard the emperor cry: "What's the big deal, son? If it's possible, I really want to trade myself for the emperor's younger brother to live! Don't be nagging, just go and deliver the message..."
Chapter 77
As soon as the emperor's decree to adopt Concubine Shu's second son to King Yong came into effect, Concubine Shu fainted.
After waking up, he fell on the bed and cried loudly, and hurriedly went to Xuanshi Hall to plead with the emperor.
