Chapter 22 The Emperor’s Will

In midsummer, the capital city, both inside and outside, is like being in a steaming steamer. The majestic and majestic palaces and palaces with red walls and golden tiles all look hazy in the heat.

It was already noon when Emperor Yongde's dragon chariot left the Jinluan Hall.

In the early morning of the dynasty, Emperor Yongde's appearance was filled with gloom, which did not subside until the end of the dynasty.

Returning to the Imperial Study Room of Yangxin Hall, he lifted up his dragon robe and sat on the carved red lacquered nine-dragon chair behind the imperial desk, looking gloomily at the commander of the guards kneeling on the ground.

Wu Mingzi, the commander of the guards, was kneeling upright with his forehead touching the ground, cold sweat constantly flowing down his face.

This time, following Emperor Yongde's secret order, he personally led two hundred imperial guardsmen to intercept and kill the exiled deposed prince Xiao Zhuo and his party. He killed everyone, but let the most important ones Xiao Zhuo and Shen Yuexi escape.

Even he himself felt that he could not escape the death penalty now.

The more Emperor Yongde remained silent, the more afraid he became. This fear weighed on his heart like a mountain, getting heavier and heavier.

"Give me a reason not to kill you."

Emperor Yongde's voice held back his anger, word by word, and sounded almost like gnashing of teeth under the deliberate suppression.

Wu Mingzi hit his forehead on the ground and said with a trembling voice:

"Your Majesty, I know that I am worthy of death for my crime. I hope that Your Majesty will remember my past achievements and give me another chance. If I can't kill the prince..."

"Just raise your head and see me." Before he could finish speaking, Emperor Yongde interrupted in a deep voice.

"I obey the decree."

After Wu Mingzi kowtowed, he didn't know whether he should laugh, cry or be sad.

What makes him laugh is that His Majesty finally spared his life. What makes him cry is that if he lets the prince escape again, his head will definitely move. What makes him sad is that he knows that his head will fall to the ground, but he cannot escape.

"Get up." Emperor Yongde's anger became less intense as he spoke.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Wu Mingzi stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves, and looked up at Emperor Yongde behind the imperial desk.

Although Emperor Yongde is nearly fifty years old, his former handsomeness can still be seen on his face. Almost no one in the royal family is ugly. When he was young, Emperor Yongde was the most handsome man in the capital besides King Qi.

Although people often compare him with the King of Qi at that time, the King of Qi's civil and military talents were so impressive that he always overpowered Emperor Yongde, who was still a prince. Even the late emperor treated King Qi differently.

At that time, people vaguely guessed that the throne must belong to King Qi. However, something unexpected happened and the late emperor died suddenly without warning. King Qi was far away in the south to control floods. When King Qi learned the news, he hurried back to the capital.

Emperor Yongde has ascended the throne surrounded by everyone.

Even though the throne came unexpectedly, the King of Qi still put the world first and submitted to the new emperor.

Not long after Emperor Yongde ascended the throne, he named Pei Jingyun, the daughter of Duke Pei, as queen.

Thinking of the gentle and virtuous queen, Wu Mingzi shook his head and sighed in his heart.

Not long after the queen entered the palace, she was blessed with joy. She was pregnant for ten months and gave birth to a son, named Xiao Zhuo. Emperor Yongde was overjoyed and held a royal banquet for three days to offer amnesty to the whole world and celebrate with the whole world.

Everyone could see the joy on Emperor Yongde's face at that time. It was happiness from the bottom of his heart.

Xiao Zhuocai was one month old, and Emperor Yongde had decreed to make him the crown prince.

The other empresses were all old men who had followed Emperor Yongde when he was young. Although they had princes by their side, they could not surpass Xiao Zhuo.

But now, people are surprised, how could the emperor suddenly dethrone the crown prince because of an unfounded witchcraft. No matter how hard he tried to persuade him, it was useless. Now he is determined to kill the crown prince.

From childhood to adulthood, Xiao Zhuo not only made no faults in the past twenty years, but also made many military exploits while guarding the border. Even if you don't look at these, there will always be some affection between father and son. How could he not even give him this little face?

Not to mention that these are father and son, it is not an exaggeration to say that they are enemies.

While he was thinking wildly, Emperor Yongde said: "Wu Qing, where is the deposed prince now?"

Wu Mingzi quickly replied: "Your Majesty, the deposed crown prince and the deposed crown princess took a boat down the river and should have entered the territory of Liangzhou."

"should?"

Emperor Yongde held the edge of the royal book case with both hands, stood up and stared at Wu Mingzi, as if he were a beast that chose people to devour.

Wu Mingzi realized that he was speechless, and the cold sweat that he had just wiped off broke out again, and he quickly replied:

"Wei Chen is 100% sure. The deposed prince must be in Liangzhou. If he does not land on the border of Liangzhou, the boat will drift into the sea. Therefore, Wei Chen has ordered all counties and counties in Liangzhou to post sea fishing notices in advance to warn the mountains.

Capture the deposed prince in the name of bandits."

"With the power of deposing the prince, ordinary government officials cannot deal with it." Emperor Yongde slowly walked around the imperial book case with his hands behind his back and came to him, "Who is the governor of Liangzhou now?"

"Your Majesty, the current governor of Liangzhou is named Liu Yi."

"Can this person be of great use?"

Wu Mingzi's heart trembled. His Majesty's words had profound meaning.

The deposing of the crown prince has a lot of implications. If Liu Taishou is safe and sound, he must be a man with a big heart.

At present, no one knows what the attitude of Liu Taishou towards the prince is, nor is it clear whether he is the prince's confidant. Although Emperor Yongde cleaned up a group of subordinates of the deposed prince, killing them and exiled them. But who can know?

Is there anyone hiding deeper in this court?

He did not dare to make Emperor Yongde wait, so he had to carefully consider his words before replying respectfully: "If your Majesty is worried, you can leave this task to him and see how he behaves."

You can tell whether you are loyal or traitorous by just one or two tests.

He spoke cautiously, and Emperor Yongde seemed to understand the meaning of his words, and his expression softened slightly.

"You immediately set off for Liangzhou and pass on my message. I order Liu Yi, the prefect of Liangzhou, to send 10,000 troops to block all road checkpoints and capture the deposed prince Xiao Zhuo. After this time, I don't want to hear the news that the deposed prince is still alive."

"The humble minister obeys the decree."

Wu Mingzi was about to step out of the imperial study room when he was stopped by Emperor Yongde:

"How many days will this take?"

Wu Mingzi paused, turned around, bowed and replied: "Wei Chen traveled to Liangzhou all night, and it should only take three days to block all the main roads in Liangzhou, and we will never let the deposed prince escape again.

Chance. Within half a month, I will bring the deposed prince’s head to see Your Majesty.”

Last time he was lucky enough to escape, but this time it might not be the case. He didn't believe that an army of 10,000 people could not capture the deposed prince.

Unless the deposed prince can fly into the sky and into the earth.

Emperor Yongde nodded slowly and said in a deep voice: "Remember, within half a month, I will see people alive and corpses when dead."

After sending Wu Mingzi away, Emperor Yongde left the Yangxin Palace and drove to the outside of Fengqi Palace. After staring at the palace for a moment, he signaled the palace attendants and others to wait outside, and he walked in slowly.

Fengqi Palace was desolate, and it was no longer as lively as it used to be when Queen Pei was still alive.

Emperor Yongde walked to a portrait and looked up at the woman above. The beauty was as gentle as water, with a smile on her face and eyes, like the warm sun at dusk.

He stared at the person in the portrait, his body trembling slightly. Suddenly he raised his hand, ripped off the portrait, and tore it into pieces.

Paper scraps were flying in the air, like white petals scattered all over the desolate and lonely palace.

Without looking at the scene behind him, Emperor Yongde quickly walked out of the palace gate.

At this time, a eunuch who had been waiting carefully walked up to Emperor Yongde, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, we have just received news that the Crown Prince of Qi has also arrived in Liangzhou."

"Oh?" Emperor Yongde was stunned for a moment, and then a strange smile appeared on his lips.

"He really couldn't help it. Could it be God's will?"
Chapter completed!