Seeing thick black smoke rising into the sky, the situation was very urgent.
There was already a sea of people in front of Xuande Gate, and everyone was noisy: no one outside the palace knew what was going on inside. But the golden-armored guards at the door were still guarding the palace gates and not allowing anyone to enter.
"What should we do? The emperor's life and death are unknown, and the chief assistant has been sent to Annan. It is your time to take the lead! If it is delayed any longer, I am afraid that the queen will directly declare the heir to the throne!"
Gu Zhili and Jin Jiawei negotiated several times but failed, and his face turned gray with anxiety. He took Wang Su aside to discuss countermeasures.
"Where is Jing'er?" Wang Su asked the guard at the side.
"This..." Sui Hu lowered his eyes and hesitated without answering.
A look of anger flashed across Wang Su's face, but it was hard for him to get angry when outsiders were present.
When Gu Zhili heard this, he was holding back his anger and dared not say anything. If Wang Jing was here, as the commander of the Royal Guards Division, the golden armor guard guarding the gate would not dare to stop him.
But now that he is gone, the other imperial guards do not have such great official authority!
"Perhaps only His Highness King Yi can solve the current predicament!" Wang Su squinted his eyes slightly, twirled his beard and pondered for a moment, and then spoke in a low voice how to solve it.
"King Yi?!" In fact, Gu Zhili didn't expect this.
However, due to the failure of the last plan to give Lu Ning as a gift to King Yi, which completely offended King Yi, he now does not have the courage to invite King Yi.
"But King Yi doesn't care about government affairs, especially when the throne is changing. He will definitely avoid it, and I'm afraid he won't interfere!" Gu Zhili expressed his worries.
"Humph, he has to stand up even if he doesn't want to!" Wang Su's eyes flashed with cold light, and he said in a deep voice: "Once Liu Bingwen and the queen push the eldest prince to the throne, we will never be able to turn around again! This is the plan for now.
, we can only maintain our current wealth by supporting one more person!"
Gu Zhili was suddenly startled: "Have you really decided to give up the eldest prince and choose King Yi? Then wouldn't our previous preparations have been in vain?"
Wang Su glanced at him and sighed deeply: "Do you really think that just one daughter and a house can offset the twenty years of mother-child love between the eldest prince and the queen? Otherwise, you send someone to invite him, and he
Why is it still so late?”
Gu Zhili looked around, but the eldest prince was nowhere to be seen, and he did not dare to say anything.
"You guys go to Prince Yi's Mansion quickly -" Wang Su was giving instructions to his attendants when he saw a carriage approaching at a high speed.
The carriage stopped in front of Xuande Gate, and Man Tingfang, Minister of the Ministry of War, got off.
"Why are you preventing us from entering?"
Man Tingfang walked up to him and asked the guard guarding the door.
"This is the Queen's order. In case someone takes the opportunity to cause trouble and the arsonist escapes, no one is allowed in or out!" The guard guarding the door still said the same thing.
"How outrageous! The emperor is now trapped in a sea of fire, and his life or death is uncertain! It is the time for the palace to employ people. Are you blocking the courtiers from entering, are you trying to hinder the rescue and kill the emperor?"
Unexpectedly, the good old man who had always been gentle suddenly became furious. His words were full of anger and righteousness, attracting everyone's attention.
Gu Zhili and Wang Su glanced at each other and came closer.
"I don't dare to do this in my humble position!" The guards were shocked and hurriedly explained: "These are the queen's orders. I don't dare to violate my humble position——"
"Asshole!" Before he could finish his explanation, Wang Su on the side also stepped forward and shouted: "You can't interfere in politics in the harem! The emperor is still here, and we old ministers are not dead yet! When will the queen be needed to take charge of the overall situation!" qo
Gu Zhili also came over and added words of jealousy in a stern tone: "You must understand clearly! When the emperor is unable to preside over the government, all decisions in the government must be subject to the chief minister of the cabinet! Now that the chief minister of the cabinet is not around, naturally the second minister, Wang Shangshu, takes precedence!
His meaning represents the Holy One, do you dare to disobey the Holy Will?"
As soon as the words fell, all the courtiers rushed to echo, expressing strong dissatisfaction and condemnation.
The guards guarding the door retreated after being scolded, speechless.
"The eldest prince has arrived!"
When the situation was tense, a woman's thin voice cut through the crowd, temporarily suppressing all the arguments.
The eldest prince arrived at this moment, and everyone was well aware of his purpose, and couldn't help but turn their attention to the man who was approaching with his head held high.
I saw him standing at the door with high spirits, and said to the guard in a commanding tone: "It is the Taifu and the Queen who ordered me to come, let me in quickly!"
"yes!"
Upon hearing their names, the guard did not dare to delay and immediately stepped aside to make way for them.
"Wait a minute."
Wang Su immediately shouted and stopped the eldest prince from entering the palace.
He walked over and stood between the eldest prince and the guards, and scolded in a cold voice: "Since the queen has given the order that no one is allowed to come in or out, even the eldest prince cannot be an exception!"
"this……"
The guards guarding the door looked at the eldest prince in embarrassment. Facing the powerful Wang Su, these generals were obviously at a disadvantage.
The eldest prince turned to Wang Su and said politely and proudly: "Master Shangshu, it was the queen who ordered the city to be closed, and it was the queen who asked me to enter the palace. Since these are orders from the queen, please follow the orders!"
"I only listen to the emperor's orders. Your Highness is not qualified to talk to me now!" Unexpectedly, Wang Su would not give him any face.
The eldest prince was suddenly startled, and turned to look at Gu Zhili, only to find that he was just like Wang Su, with anger and indifference in his eyes.
At this time, he did not realize that he was smart but was mistaken for it:
I originally wanted to pretend to accept Liu Bingwen's invitation, but in the end I chose Gu Zhili and Wang Su as my allies, thereby humiliating Liu Bingwen and the Queen.
But when he and Liu Bingwen's people appeared here at the same time, Wang Su and Gu Zhili misunderstood his position and took the initiative to separate from him.
When he wanted to explain again, he had no chance...
Gu Zhili ignored the eldest prince and exposed Liu Bingwen: "When the emperor's life was in danger, the queen and Liu Bingwen did not want to save people, but were anxious to let the eldest prince into the palace. This is really Sima Zhao's heart!"
"Even if something happens, we must follow the emperor's decree and establish a successor. If there is no decree, it is us who will discuss who can sit on the throne of the emperor. When will this matter of the previous dynasty need to be decided by the master of the harem?
Come on!" When Wang Su said these words, his voice was low but full of confidence.
As soon as he finished speaking, his supporters began to respond one after another, as if they had agreed. Everyone spoke happily, spitting directly in front of the eldest prince.
The eldest prince bit his lip tightly and did not say a word. He only lowered his head deeply. In his embarrassed eyes, there was a sense of urgency in facing a desperate situation.
He understood that this was Wang Su warning himself: We are all members of this court, and there will be no good outcome if we stand on the wrong team!
Seeing that the current situation has once again evolved from a fight to save the country into a partisan fight.
Man Tingfang walked toward the guard and slowly took out a golden sign from her sleeve.
Without saying a word, he only showed the golden sign to the guards guarding the door. The guards suddenly knelt down in unison.
This move shocked everyone. The argument stopped and everyone looked at each other, not knowing what happened.
Man Tingfang's steady voice came unhurriedly: "This is the token of Empress Dowager Xiaokang. Seeing this thing is like seeing the late emperor! You listen to the order. Now open the city gate and let us enter the city to put out the fire! Anyone who disobeys the order
, beheaded without mercy!"
"yes!"
The Jinjiawei, who had been tough just now, immediately stood up and stood on both sides, and the closed city gate suddenly opened.
Man Tingfang put away the token, turned around, and handed over to everyone: "No need to say any more unnecessary words, let's go in and rescue the driver quickly!"
The ministers who had been waiting outside the door for a long time no longer cared about many things and rushed to the scene of the fire.
Wang Su stopped for a moment as he passed by him, "Why do you have the token of Queen Mother Xiaokang?"
His voice was low, and it was hard to tell whether he was questioning or curious.
Man Tingfang bowed slowly and said with a smile: "How virtuous I am?"
Yes, how can you deserve to have the token of Queen Mother Xiaokang? This is given to me by His Highness King Yi for emergencies!"
"King Yi?" Wang Su raised his eyebrows and squinted his eyes slightly, his eyes extremely sharp.
"I happened to meet His Royal Highness King Yi on the way here. Perhaps he had already expected that something would happen, so he handed the token to me." Man Tingfang answered fluently.
"Why doesn't King Yi come in person?" Wang Su was always doubtful.
Man Tingfang smiled slightly and sighed: "Perhaps His Highness is unwilling to take credit. However, how could I guess His Highness's thoughts?"
Wang Su tightened his chin and stared at him, asking, "For King Yi to hand over such a precious thing to you, it seems that you have a close relationship with him!"
Man Tingfang twisted his beard and smiled: "How dare I climb up to the prince? It's not like Mr. Gu and Mr. Second Assistant who are so close to the eldest prince. On my way here, I saw your people leaving the eldest prince's residence.
"
Hearing that there was something hidden in his words, Wang Su's face darkened, but he didn't say anything else.
——Fire scene——
Huge tongues of fire were scurrying around the Hanbing Palace, and the shrill cries woke up Ruan Lang who was in a coma.
After a long time, he slowly woke up.
Before he could see the scene clearly, he was choked by the thick smoke and coughed repeatedly.
The thick smoke and scorching heat in the room made him suddenly recall everything:
Just now when I was on duty, I saw the eldest prince trying to set fire to the palace. I went to stop it and put out the fire. Then I felt a pain in the back of my head and couldn't remember anything.
When he woke up again, he was already in a sea of fire.
He slowly sat up while holding the swollen and painful back of his head. Looking at the current situation, it seemed that the eldest prince had knocked him out and dragged him into the sea of fire in an attempt to silence him!
Fortunately! I was tall and the eldest prince couldn't drag him away, so he had to put it at the door, so I could escape the fire with just two steps.
He stood up, holding the back of his head with one hand and the hot wall with the other, and walked out with difficulty.
From behind came one after another shrill cries, like purgatory on earth.