Volume 1: Swan Goose Chapter 366: Blazing Fire Soars into the Sky to Shine Lonely Star (4)
Just at this moment, Eunuch Shuangxi ran over with his round body straight: "Madam, the fire is too big, we can't get close! So far, no one inside has come out..."
The queen took a deep breath and said word by word with sad emphasis: "It seems that all this is God's will! I heard that the Taoist priest once reminded the emperor to escape from Ziwei City tonight, but the emperor insisted on
Stay. With such a big fire, the people inside are probably in danger..."
Eunuch Shuangxi knelt on the ground with a plop, and cried with tears streaming down his face: "Please punish me, my wife. It's all my fault that I didn't try my best to dissuade the emperor! I am ashamed of my mother! I am ashamed of my emperor!"
As he said this, he slapped himself twice and cried until he couldn't help himself.
When many people in the palace heard the cry of Eunuch Shuangxi, they also knelt down, covered their faces and cried bitterly.
At this time, the queen completely regained her senses and simply put all her past feelings aside.
She slowly walked a few steps toward the fire, listening to the increasingly quieter shouts inside, and calmly ordered Eunuch Shuangxi: "When the fire subsides, if the Holy Spirit has not come out yet, Eunuch will make an announcement!"
Eunuch Shuangxi looked around and asked in a low voice: "May I ask, Madam, where is Your Highness?"
The queen turned around, looked at him with a look of disdain, and said calmly: "It doesn't matter whether the eldest prince is here or not, he is the only heir to this country in Beiyu!"
Eunuch Shuangxi understood immediately and immediately raised his hands and said, "Yes, I understand!"
At this time, Xuande Gate was crowded with panicked courtiers and spies who came to inquire. But they were blocked outside the door and no one could get in.
At this moment, Gu Zhili's and Wang Su's sedans stopped at the door one after another. They got off the sedans, saw each other, and walked side by side towards the door tacitly knowing each other.
The guards who were busy blocking and appeasing the ministers saw Wang Su approaching and immediately walked over and bowed their hands in salute:
"My lord, I'm very sorry! The queen gave an order to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble, so the city gates are temporarily closed! No one is allowed to enter or exit at will without the queen's order!",
Wang Su and Gu Zhili looked at each other and understood each other: this was not the Queen's will at all, but Liu Bingwen's.
It seems that he has already made arrangements first!
Although Wang and Gu were both important officials in the court, they did not have as much power as the Queen, and they were not allowed to disobey the Queen's orders at will.
Gu Zhili asked calmly: "What's the situation inside? Can the fire be put out? Is the Emperor safe?"
The guard lowered his head and said in embarrassment: "Master Gu, we don't know this either. Since the fire broke out, no one has come out to deliver the news, and no one knows the situation inside!"
Gu Zhili pulled Wang Su aside and whispered: "It seems that Liu Bingwen has already taken action in advance. If he takes the initiative, we, as his former political opponents, will suffer in the future. We can't just sit back and wait for death!"
Wang Su looked gloomy and twirled his beard as he mused: "This Liu Bingwen is usually extremely stupid, but luck always seems to favor him! However, he doesn't have to be proud too early. The current eldest prince will not let them manipulate him! Moreover, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty
, they are all our people, it is not easy for them to succeed!"
"But……"
Gu Zhili was still a little worried and said: "After all, she is the queen. If something unexpected happens to the emperor, without establishing a crown prince, all civil and military officials in the dynasty will obey the queen's orders. After all, she raised the eldest prince.
The prince may not be so determined."
Wang Su thought for a moment with a sullen face, and then said: "It doesn't matter, the eldest prince is not the only one who can inherit the throne!"
Gu Zhili was startled and asked in a low voice: "Could you be referring to King Yi? But he has always stayed away from the government and rarely interacted with court officials. If you want to support him to ascend the throne, it will be more difficult than supporting the eldest prince!"
Wang Su sneered proudly: "That's great! This way he will be easier to control by us! Compared to the arrogant Liu Bingwen, King Yi will definitely trust us more. Now send people to find King Yi and the eldest prince immediately, regardless of
Whoever we find first! We will take action immediately!"
"I understand the humble position!"
A strange color flashed in Gu Zhili's eyes, and he immediately sent his confidants to rush to the residence of the eldest prince and Prince Yi.
——Decision——
Seeing the Hanbing Palace being plunged into a sea of fire, the eldest prince, who had gone crazy for a moment, suddenly woke up and realized that he had caused a huge disaster. He immediately fled Ziwei City and ran straight to his mansion.
Fortunately, he left in time enough so that he was not trapped in Ziwei City by Liu Bingwen's city closure order.
Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to find a reasonable excuse for his presence in Ziwei City at this time.
He rushed into his room in despair, completely ignoring the concern of Gu Sisi and his servants, and huddled himself in the room, pacing back and forth.
He was anxious and uneasy at this time, not only because he was afraid of bad news coming from the palace, but also because he was worried that if nothing happened to the emperor, he would be in trouble.
This extreme anxiety made him restless and made him feel worse than death.
A sudden and rapid knock on the door frightened him out of his wits.
When he came to his senses, he realized that he had broken out in a cold sweat.
"I'm going to die! Are you banging so fast at this late hour?" He was so frightened that his anger reached the top of his head.
An anxious voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness! Someone is coming to the palace. Please come into the palace quickly!"
Too bad!
This was the first reaction of the eldest prince: It seemed that the emperor was fine. After finding out that he was responsible, he came to arrest him!
"What should I do?"
The eldest prince was so frightened that his face was as white as paper, he was dripping with cold sweat, and he was spinning around in the room anxiously.
He looked at the window, and the thought of escaping flashed across his mind, but he thought that he would be executed on the spot by Emperor Yu's people before he left the city, so he immediately gave up the idea.
So what should we do? Pretend to be crazy or act like a fool or deny it even to the point of death?
But he is not good at acting, and there is no way that these things can escape the eyes of Emperor Yu.
Provoking him will only make your fate worse!
The eldest prince was so anxious that he scratched his ears and grinned.
"I...I even fell asleep! But the emperor sent someone here? Did they say what happened?"
He walked to the door and asked bravely through the door.
"emperor?"
The voice outside the door hesitated for a moment, and then answered: "Your Highness, it was sent by the Grand Tutor."
"Liu Bingwen?"
The eldest prince was startled and immediately opened the door and leaned out: "What does Liu Bingwen want from me?"
In a moment of urgency, he forgot to use honorifics.
"Your Highness, the Hanbing Palace is flooded tonight. The Emperor is trapped inside and his life or death is uncertain. Your Majesty, Grand Tutor, wants you to enter the palace quickly!" the servant replied respectfully.
"Entering... entering the palace? There is trouble in the palace, I... what can I do if I go?"
Regarding this news, the eldest prince did not show any surprise as he should have, but instead looked extremely flustered.
The servant did not notice his uneasiness, and the look on his face was even more anxious than he was: "Your Highness, this is the order of the Taifu and the Queen. They want you to enter the palace quickly to prevent something unexpected from Your Majesty!"
The little eunuch's words made the eldest prince think about it for a moment, and then he suddenly realized:
It seems that the emperor failed to escape, so Liu Bingwen and the queen are about to take action! They are anxious to enter the palace by themselves, presumably to support themselves in the throne.
After so many years of hard work, the eldest prince was naturally overjoyed to be able to ascend the throne as emperor one day.
But he immediately thought: If he listened to Liu Bingwen and ascended the throne with the support of him and the queen, wouldn't he have to be at the mercy of these two people in all government affairs in the future?
Then after waiting for so many years, even if he ascends the throne as the new emperor, he is just a puppet emperor and can never escape the control of the Liu family. What does it mean to be an emperor?
But right now, it seems that I have no choice...
While he was hesitating, Gu Sisi suddenly came over from a distance with a hurried look on her face and said gracefully: "Your Highness, father sent someone to send a message that something happened in the palace, and I want you to come to the palace quickly!"
"Gu Zhili also came to see me
?What does he want from me?"
The eldest prince glanced at Gu Sisi suspiciously, then looked at the eunuch sent by Liu Bingwen, feeling a little embarrassed for a moment.
Gu Sisi glanced at the servant who delivered the message, walked to the side of the eldest prince, and whispered: "Your Highness, my father sent a message from his confidants: Beiyu is afraid that things will change! For the sake of the stability of the people of Li and the country, you must
Enter the palace quickly to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from taking the opportunity to cause trouble!"
I see!
The eldest prince not only breathed a sigh of relief, he was even a little complacent:
Unexpectedly, these people who usually flatter the emperor, when the emperor was killed, their first thought was not how to save the emperor, but to support their favorite person to ascend the throne!
And he became the hottest figure they competed for!
It seems that his fire not only avenged his mother and himself, but also brought such unexpected gains!
The eldest prince's uneasiness, guilt and regret just now were all gone in an instant. They were replaced by the joy that he was about to ascend the throne, and the arrogance of being highly sought after.
He looked at Liu Bingwen with a half-smile, then at his wife, and suddenly made a bold decision:
He wanted to pretend to follow Liu Bingwen's people and wait for the moment when Liu Bingwen and the Queen were most proud, and then suddenly announce that he was invited by Liu Bingwen and Wang Su to go.
He wanted to see with his own eyes the empress and Liu Bingwen's expressions of great joy and sorrow, and when they begged and begged, he wanted to scold them desperately and return all the grievances he had suffered over the years to them!
Thinking of this, the eldest prince's eyes shone brightly. He walked up to the servants and said with a smile: "You lead the way, and I will follow you to recover!"
Gu Sisi was shocked when she heard that, and quickly came over and took his arm: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten how those people treated you? You still want to be with them now?"
The eldest prince threw her hand away and scolded her coldly: "You are a woman, so stay out of court affairs! Just stay at home and wait to be your queen!"
Putting aside his unruly words, he hurried to Ziwei City following the servant who had delivered the message.