Daliang City, Imperial Palace of Wei State.
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli slowly walked into the imperial study, his eyes swept over the dragon chair where Emperor Jian'an had sat in the past, and the corner of his mouth was slightly raised with a proud smile.
He straightened his body, walked steadily towards the dragon chair, gently stroked the armrest, and sat down slowly.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and immersed himself in this new experience, feeling the happiness that power brought him.
Over the past few days, the fourth prince Zhao Hongli felt like he was playing around with everything, as if he was playing with everything.
He is the only one in the entire palace.
To be honest, he didn't expect that this time the forced labor would go so smoothly.
Before taking action, he had made a lot of preparations, but he still had no idea.
In his impression, his father was a very skillful emperor, able to firmly control the court in his own hands, and he was a steadfast king.
Even when facing the martial arts forces outside, he was still able to fight back and forth.
I originally thought that he would have to go through some tricks to successfully get to the top, but when he actually started to take action, everything went smoothly.
It was as if Emperor Jian'an made a symbolic resistance and then made no other moves.
Zhao Hongli knew that the Huo family had indeed accumulated a lot of means in the Great Wei State over several generations, and they were relatively secretive in doing things. However, the Imperial City Department of Emperor Jian'an was not a free man, and at the very least he should have been aware of it.
He was still worried about this for a long time.
Unexpectedly, the Imperial City Division did not discover their conspiracy in time until the incident occurred.
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli always felt that something was not quite right, and it was very inconsistent. However, despite careful consideration, he could not find anything wrong, so he simply stopped thinking about it.
Now that he has taken over the imperial palace and Emperor Jian'an, as long as he takes a little more time to appoint some officials from the Huo family, Feng family and those who secretly support him, and establish a new court headed by him, then there will be nothing to worry about. .
When the time comes, a grand enthronement ceremony will be held to announce to the world that he will become the true emperor of Wei.
For now, the most important thing right now is to appease the Huo family and the Zheng family.
The two families that contributed the most to his uprising, and the Huo family were tied to the same boat as him, had to be taken seriously.
After all these days of collusion, he discovered that the Huo family's strength should not be underestimated.
When it comes to information alone, the Huo family seems to know everything.
He can even know such secret things as the weapons of gods and demons.
What's even more amazing is that General Huo Yu only has the cultivation level of the Xiantian realm, but Second Young Master Huo Zhi is able to mobilize more than a dozen Xiantian people and let them die, which is really incredible.
How on earth did they do it?
It's a good thing when such people are in the same camp as you.
But if you stand on the opposite side, it will be extremely uncomfortable.
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli felt that regarding the Huo family, even after he officially ascended the throne, he could not act rashly. He could only wait for the death of their ancestor of the Huo family, and then find ways to find opportunities to clear up troubles and kill donkeys.
The same is true for Zhengyimen.
What Emperor Jian'an could do, he could certainly do.
The Fourth Prince Zhao Hongli took a deep breath and reminded himself to stay calm.
He understands that his position is not stable and he still needs to be patient. He must first repair the Seven-Star Juelian Formation.
"Um?"
At this time, the fourth prince Zhao Hongli found that there was no ink on the table, and there was not even tea. His face showed a bit of displeasure and shouted: "Where is the eunuch?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged eunuch walked in and said nervously: "What are your orders from His Majesty the King of Thailand?"
"Did you clean the imperial study today?"
"Your Highness, I am a slave."
"Drag him out and chop him!"
"ah?!"
The middle-aged eunuch was immediately frightened out of his mind. He knelt down and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. Your Highness, please forgive me!"
However, the fourth prince Zhao Hongli was not moved at all and sneered: "I think you are dissatisfied and deliberately neglecting me. Do you really think that I am easy to bully?"
"It's unfair, it's unfair!"
When the middle-aged eunuch saw that Zhao Hongli still had no intention of forgiving him and insisted on killing him, a trace of cruelty flashed across his face, and all the energy and blood in his body shook. He put his toes on the ground and rushed towards him.
boom!
A qi machine fell down and landed on the middle-aged eunuch. His body that rose into the air suddenly fell to the ground.
The guards guarding the door heard the commotion and filed in, pressing the middle-aged eunuch to the ground.
The middle-aged eunuch shouted: "You are a thief, you are plotting to seize the throne, you are doing the opposite, you will be punished sooner or later."
Zhao Hongli sneered twice: "Drag him down and execute him in Lingchi."
"yes."
Ignoring the middle-aged eunuch's struggle, the guards dragged him down.
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli had a somewhat intoxicated look on his face.
This is the taste of power, the power of the royal family.
If you want him to live, he will live; if you want him to die, he will die.
The Fourth Prince Zhao Hongli felt warm liquid flowing down from the tip of his nose.
He wiped it with his hand and found bright red blood.
"Are you having a nosebleed again?" Zhao Hongli looked a little ugly.
"Has my body suffered to this extent? It seems that I will still have to exercise restraint in the future. One drop of essence and ten drops of blood will not be deceived."
Just when he was thinking wildly, a guard outside the royal study shouted: "Your Highness, the second young master of the Huo family is here."
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli straightened his face, wiped the blood off the tip of his nose, then sat upright from the dragon chair and said: "Please come in, Mr. Huo."
"yes."
After a while, Huo Zhi strode into the imperial study room.
Seeing that Zhao Hongli's face was a little pale and his complexion was not good, he hurriedly asked with concern: "His Royal Highness, are you okay?"
Zhao Hongli stood up and suddenly felt dizzy. Fortunately, it was only for a moment and did not have a substantial impact on him. He calmly said: "It's okay, there was a dog slave who wanted to assassinate me just now. Let's let him The king is just frightened, and it will be good to rest for a while. As for you, I heard that you were hit by a martial artist in the martial arts realm. Do you need me to send a royal doctor over to treat you?"
"Even if you are martial artists and your physical body is better than that of ordinary people, you still cannot take it lightly. If you get the root cause of the disease, it will be detrimental to your cultivation."
Huo Zhi clasped his fists and said respectfully: "Your Highness, I'm sorry for your concern. I practice defensive martial arts. I just need to practice it for a while. It won't be a problem."
"This is best."
Huo Zhi continued: "His Royal Highness the King of Thailand, we have achieved the first step, then we will take the second step."
When the fourth prince Zhao Hongli saw that business was being discussed, his face turned serious and he said, "Do you mean King Wu?"
Huo Zhi nodded silently.
"Now His Highness has used this method to temporarily seize the throne. The palace is still protected by our Huo family and Feng family, and His Highness has also obtained part of the power of the Seven-Star Juetian Formation. Even if it cannot be said that he is safe, there is no big deal. hinder."
"I don't think the biggest hidden danger is within the palace, but outside the palace, among the vassal kings. Among them, King Wu is the greatest threat."
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli said sternly: "Then according to Mr. Huo, what should I do next?"
Huo Zhi said seriously: "Now, I have taken care of the court. Your Highness can hold a normal court meeting tomorrow. First, stabilize the court and master the power of the royal family."
The Fourth Prince Zhao Hongli said happily: "Okay."
Huo Zhi continued: "Then use military symbols to mobilize the Chinese army and General Feng Yi back to Daliang to protect His Highness. Otherwise, if King Wu's 100,000 troops return to Daliang, we will be extremely passive."
The fourth prince, Zhao Hongli, listened carefully to what Huo Zhi proposed and felt that it made sense.
Needless to say, the Feng family was the force on his mother's side and had always been on his side. He was able to use the Feng family's influence to secretly mobilize some troops.
But after all, the name is not justified, and the troops mobilized are limited.
If you want to mobilize an army of 300,000, you still need the support of the court and use military symbols.
The fourth prince, Zhao Hongli, did not feel that there were any other problems, and felt slightly at ease: "With the participation of the Chinese army, I have a much better chance of winning against King Wu's Wei soldiers. So what should I do if there is a Ming Cult leader next to King Wu? "
Huo Zhi smiled confidently: "Your Highness, there is no need to worry about this. In a few days, I will have someone here who can deal with the leader of the Ming Cult."
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli did not ask for an explanation. As soon as he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Huo Zhi.
"Your Highness just needs to wait peacefully, and there is no need to ask any questions about the rest."
Fourth Prince Zhao Hongli swallowed the words that reached his throat again. He changed the subject and said, "Have you found out about the specific whereabouts of the gods and demons' weapons?"
Huo Zhi shook his head and said: "I only sensed a vague direction here. It will still take some time to find out the specific address of His Majesty's forging."
"It seems like we still have to work hard on Chen Mou."
"Yeah." Huo Zhi nodded noncommittally.
At this time, Huo Zhi suddenly seemed to have thought of something. He took a step forward and lowered his voice and said, "Besides this, there is one more thing. Your Highness needs to cut through the mess quickly and don't waste the good opportunity."
"What's up?"
"Seventh Prince!"
"Seventh?" Zhao Hongli asked doubtfully: "Hasn't the seventh prince been expelled from the capital?"
"Your Highness, you have to remove the root of the grass, and you have to cut the weeds with a sharp sword. King Rui has been vassaling the road since he was still here. Now that such a big change has happened in Daliang, he will definitely not be able to hide it. If he finds out, he will definitely react. It was us who framed him when he came here, and King Rui will definitely follow King Qin."
"The Yunhua Sect is not a small force. One more thing is worse than one less thing. Your Highness and other princes also need to issue an edict to prevent them from leaving the fiefdom."
Seeing that he wanted to kill his own brother, the fourth prince Zhao Hongli became a little hesitant. After a while, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief suddenly and said, "You can handle this matter as you see fit."
Huo Zhi said calmly: "Then I'll go down and make arrangements."
Early the next morning.
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli held a rare court meeting and summoned the ministers in the Qianqing Palace.
This time, except for those with fierce attitudes, almost all the officials in Daliang were called over.
After he succeeded in forcing the palace, this was the first time he held a court meeting, and the scene of convening the ministers seemed particularly solemn and tense.
Before the court meeting began, the fourth prince Zhao Hongli was familiar with the list of officials sent by Huo Zhi in the imperial study. He carefully read and wrote down the list and only formally entered the main hall after confirming that it was correct.
When he walked into the court, he was still wearing the python robe of the feudal lord, but on his waist was a jade seal symbolizing imperial power.
He looked serious and his eyes were firm.
The ministers had already lined up in the court, waiting for him quietly.
When he walked up to the main hall, he sat firmly on the dragon chair.
Except for some ministers, more than half of the ministers knelt down and bowed to him three times and nine times.
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli sat on the dragon chair and accepted the audience of the ministers with a smile.
He took a deep breath, then slowly spoke, announcing the start of the meeting.
"I heard that my father has been ill recently and needs to rest in the palace. However, the country cannot be without a king for a day. I am the only prince left in Daliang by my father. I have specially ordered me to take care of myself at this time of crisis. I act as regent. From now on, all major affairs of the government will be decided by me, and all the people in the world will respect me."
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli's voice was loud and majestic, making people feel his firmness and domineeringness.
As soon as he finished speaking, the ministers arranged by the Huo family in advance stood up and shouted: "The King of Thailand has such filial piety, which is really a blessing for my name as the Great Wei!"
"The King of Thailand is wise and mighty, and we all serve His Highness."
"The King of Thailand has won the hearts of the people. This is really a blessing to our country."
…
Words of compliment kept coming from the mouths of the ministers, and the praise made the fourth prince Zhao Hongli feel elated and couldn't help laughing.
The key officials of the Jian'an Dynasty, including Xiao Boling, the right prime minister of Zhongshu, Hong Daowen, the left prime minister of Zhongshu, Yu Hezheng, the minister of the Ministry of War and Shaobao, and Zhang Qian, the minister of the Ministry of official affairs and the grand master, all had their hands in their sleeves and did not say a word.
There was neither objection nor approval.
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli looked at Chen Mou, Minister of Industry, and said majestically: "Master Chen, I told you the three-day period last time. Have you considered it?"
"Your Majesty, I've thought about it."
"Oh? Tell me the whereabouts of the gods and demons' weapons."
"I will never obey my orders. This is Wei's century-old plan. How can it be ruined by one person?" Chen Mou said forcefully: "This move is of no benefit to the world."
"You..." The Fourth Prince Zhao Hongli suddenly stood up and said: "Okay, okay, it seems that Mr. Chen is a man, but he just doesn't know which is harder, your bones or the torture tools in the prison. Someone, let Chen Mou be thrown into the sky. Go to jail and let him sober up.”
Under the order of the fourth prince, guards quickly rushed in and dragged Chen Mou away.
Chen Mou said proudly: "No, I'll go by myself."
There was an uproar in the court, making the fourth prince Zhao Hongli's face look very ugly.
"quiet!"
The fourth prince Zhao Hongli calmed down his dissatisfaction and started the next topic. He said angrily: "Where is Huo Zhi?"
Huo Zhi, who was above the main hall, stood up and said, "I'm here."
Zhao Hongli announced: "Huo Aiqing is the pillar of our dynasty. He has both talent and loyalty and has made great contributions to our dynasty. Now Huo Zhi is appointed as the Order of the CRRC. I hope that he can continue to serve our dynasty and make the best use of his talents."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
In terms of rank, the CRRC Palace Order is only a mid-level official. However, since the CRRC Palace Order is a palace order within the confines of the palace, its position is equivalent to that of the emperor's attendant chariot squad leader, responsible for the emperor's carriage management and travel accompaniment. He even personally controlled the emperor. His position was of vital importance and could not be assumed by someone other than the emperor's absolute trusted confidant.
Zhao Hongli now granted Huo Zhi the title of CRRC Order, obviously out of consideration for protecting his own safety.
This is all an internal decision. Now that Zhao Hongli controls part of the power of the formation, many people do not dare to make mistakes and choose to wait and see.
After conferring the title of Huo Zhi, Zhao Hongli successively promoted several confidants who supported him, and inserted some officials from the first palace, thus ending his first morning court.
Far away from Daliang, near Yangcheng, the carriages and horses of the Seventh Prince Rui Wang were slowly advancing on the official road.
In the middle of the queue, there was a luxurious carriage, gently swaying along with the unevenness of the ground. The copper bell hanging on the carriage also trembled, sometimes getting stronger and sometimes weaker, making a pleasant ringing sound.
The seventh prince Zhao Hongsheng, who was sitting in the carriage, had no interest at all. He only felt that the ringtone was unusually harsh and annoying.
He pulled back the curtain and asked, "Where are we?"
"Back to Your Highness, we have just passed Yangcheng and it will take almost half a month to reach the fiefdom."
Zhao Hongsheng was silent when he heard this and said nothing more. His mood seemed extremely low.
He didn't know why his father was like this and didn't want to believe him.
If only his father had believed in him, he wouldn't have to leave Daliang and go to that bitter and cold frontier place.
In front of the carriage and horses, there is a small river.
In the middle of the river, there is a simple wooden bridge made by local people tied together with pine trees, which is more than ten meters long.
The carriage and horses of the Seventh Prince Zhao Hongsheng drove onto the wooden bridge.
The wheels rolled, and the wooden bridge seemed to bear a huge weight, making constant creaking sounds.
When the carriage and horses reached the center of the wooden bridge, the bridge deck suddenly collapsed.
"Protect Your Highness."
A guard hurriedly reined in his horse and protected the carriage.
Many guards had no time to react and fell into the river one after another.
At this moment, a piercing sound came from the sky above the bridge.
"It's an arrow, defense!"
A guard immediately identified the source of the sound and shouted loudly to put people on guard.
Boo hoo hoo.
Arrows rained down like rain, but the servants couldn't avoid them and fell down one after another.
"This is Wei Jun's arrow!!!"
"What's going on? Why are there arrows here? Why are Wei Jun's arrows here?" Zhao Hongsheng, the seventh prince sitting in the carriage, said in a panic.
"Your Highness, someone is coming for us, hurry up!"
However, before he could finish speaking, a black shadow fell from the sky.
boom!
A sword light flashed.
The entire carriage suddenly split into two halves. The carriages fell apart on both sides and fell into the river, revealing the scene inside.
The Seventh Prince Zhao Hongsheng, who was sitting in the carriage, was unable to dodge the sudden attack and was struck by the sword light.
I saw tiny drops of blood seeping out from between his eyebrows, and then the blood drops extended from his forehead to his nose, chin, neck, chest...
There was a muffled sound.
The seventh prince, Zhao Hongsheng, fell backwards and split into two halves, his liver and brain bruised.
When the guards around him saw this scene, they asked sternly: "Who are you? How can you know what a heinous crime you have committed?"
"A martial artist in the Martial Arts realm of the Yunhua Sect?"
In mid-air, a slender man in black robes, with a sword light under his feet, slowly approached them.
The man had his hands behind his back, but his face was extremely pale and bloodless, like a dead corpse.
Behind him, there was a frost-colored sword floating continuously, integrated with a large river, and kept swimming in it.
"Martial courage level...sixth level?..."
The martial arts warrior of the Yunhua sect, who was ordered to protect the seventh prince Zhao Hongsheng, saw this scene and his face changed drastically.
Facing a martial artist in the martial arts realm, he had no power to fight back.
"You guessed wrong, I am Wu Dan... Ninth Grade!"
The man in black robe did not open his mouth, but a powerful and ethereal voice appeared out of thin air, as if a god was speaking in people's consciousness.
As soon as he finished speaking, the frost-colored sword behind him rose into the sky and slashed down, like a silver dragon.
In an instant, violent anger mixed with the sword light and filled the surroundings, falling towards the chariot and horse.
The Yunhua sect's Wudanjing martial artist showed a desperate expression.
He is a first-level martial artist, but when facing this sword light, there is no possibility of evading it.
Stab!
The violent aura came out wantonly, tearing everyone on the bridge into pieces and falling into the river.
After everything calmed down, there were only some messy carriage fragments and flags floating on the river, as if the Seventh Prince had never appeared.
"I told you that there is no need to go through such trouble. I am enough. Haha, why don't you believe it? My form is an immortal body blessed by the gods. Who can be my opponent? Hahaha..."
The man's arrogant voice echoed on the river.
Yingjun, Luling City.
One hundred thousand Wei soldiers have been repaired.
Wu Qi selected 3,000 elite troops from the camp and prepared them outside Luling City.
As early as after receiving the edict from Emperor Jian'an, Zhao Hongming had already started preparing to return to Daliang.
After his order, it took almost only one day for Wu Qi to complete the selection and preparation of the three thousand elite soldiers of Wei.
From Luling, Yingjun to Daliang, it takes almost two or three days at a fast pace.
There were one hundred thousand Wei warriors, and the troops and horses were very heavy, plus some baggage. Even if they marched in a hurry, it would take more than ten days to reach the vicinity of Daliang.
Considering that Emperor Jian'an urgently called him back to Daliang, and for the sake of safety, he only officially set off after confirming all the information, which delayed a lot of time.
If the fourth prince really forces the palace, things will change every day in Daliang.
Zhao Hongming knew that the later he went, the more prepared he would be for the other party.
So after some careful consideration, after discussing with Wu Qi, Zhang Yi and others, it was decided that he would lead a few thousand elites, each with six days of rations, and all march quickly to Daliang City.
Accompanying him were Zhang Yi, Gao Yanshi and Chang Wubing.
As for Wu Qi, he led the army afterwards, while Li Li was left in Ying County to stabilize the rear and prepare for food and grass.
Leyang and Ma Chuanping, who had been promoted to captains of thousands among the three thousand troops, were excited.
They have not experienced war for three years, have tasted the sweetness of war, and have already become itchy.
Ma Chuanping looked excited.
Leyang on the side glanced at him and lowered his voice: "Do you know where King Wu is taking us and what we are going to do?"
Ma Chuanping shook his head and said: "How do I know? As long as there is a war to fight and there are achievements to be made, why do you care so much?"
"Forehead……"
"I'm not the only one who thinks so, everyone else thinks so too." Ma Chuanping defended.
While the two were chatting, smoke and dust billowed not far away.
Zhao Hongming, wearing a black outfit with a sword on his waist, came riding on a horse.
Gao Yanshi, Chang Wubing and others followed closely behind.
"Hey!" Zhao Hongming rode up to many elite soldiers of Wei and mobilized: "Everyone, I have received news that Your Majesty is in danger in Daliang, and there are also treacherous ministers around you. As His Majesty's prince, I must stand up. Come out. All the officers and men will follow me, Lord Qing, to eradicate the traitors."
"Set off!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Zhao Hongming didn't say any more nonsense and took the lead, running towards the beam.
The three thousand elite Wei soldiers behind him also galloped their horses to follow.
After more than four years, he once again set foot on the road from Daliang to Yingjun. (End of chapter)
