Chapter 116: Fighting for the Emperor
The capital of the Dahan Dynasty, Yunling City.
The Dahan Dynasty was established nearly a thousand years ago. In its long and profound history, it has replaced a total of 21 emperors, and the capital has only been one since ancient times and has never changed.
It is said that the capital of Yunling is the foundation of the Dahan Dynasty. It is located on a plateau and is praised by the world as the Heavenly City!
In the Heavenly City, there is the Heavenly Palace!
The palace is located at the highest point in the city. Hundreds of stone steps stretch up, and the entire golden palace city is as dazzling as the sun.
Under the stone steps, the people worship every day.
In the palace, the emperor does not attend the morning court today, and there is no one in the court.
On a dragon chair in the health-care hall.
The old emperor, wearing a dragon robe and with white hair, is leaning weakly.
His face is gloomy and without any luster.
His eyes are turbid and lifeless, and he only stares at the murals of dragons and tigers on the wall.
At this time, a man walked in.
"Old minister, I pay my respects to Your Majesty."
This man was also very old, and his official uniform was decorated with cranes, which was the official uniform of a first-rank official in the court.
"Prime Minister Wei, I have been in a coma for three days. How is the court?" The old emperor's eyes were still fixed on the mural, and he asked slowly.
"Your Majesty, there has been no trouble in the court these three days. According to your instructions, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is now handling the court affairs on your behalf." Prime Minister Wei replied respectfully.
The old emperor's eyes moved little by little at this time, as if even moving his eyeballs has become extremely difficult for him now.
The eyes finally fell on the prime minister in front of him.
"Prime Minister Wei, you are the person I trust most in the court. Tell me, after my death, how confident is Zheng'er that he can successfully ascend the throne now?" The old emperor asked, his voice a little vague.
"Your Majesty, I wish you good health."
As soon as the prime minister opened his mouth, he was interrupted by the old emperor who frowned and said, "There are only two of us here. There is no need to say anything extra. Just answer my questions."
Seeing this, the prime minister changed his words.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince was appointed by you. He must follow the will of heaven and ascend the throne to become the emperor. Your Majesty, don't worry. At that time, even if I die, I will definitely protect the crown prince to ascend the throne smoothly."
"." The old emperor's eyes gradually became colder, and the turbid air on his body dissipated a little, staring at the prime minister in front of him.
"Wei Zhe, I have promoted you to the position of prime minister over the years since I became emperor, and I regard you as my confidant. Why!"
The old emperor's tone became much heavier at the end, like an old lion, roaring with all his strength!
"Why do you want to disobey my edict!"
"I dare not!" The prime minister's face changed slightly and he knelt on the ground.
After all, the old emperor is still the old emperor. Even if he is old, he is still the most powerful person in the world!
The aura of an emperor is enough to crush anyone in front of him.
"Don't dare?" The old emperor's originally bloodless cheeks suddenly turned slightly red, and he stared at the prime minister who was kneeling in front of him.
"You secretly helped Jing'er, thinking that I was sick in bed and didn't know anything!"
"Your Majesty, calm down, this old minister is wronged." The prime minister was shocked, but he hurriedly excused himself.
"This old minister is only dedicated to serving Your Majesty, and has never had the intention of being disloyal. Please Your Majesty, please understand."
As the prime minister said, he suddenly didn't see any movement on the dragon throne, and he couldn't help but raise his head and look.
But he saw that the old emperor was lying on the dragon throne at some point, with his eyes open and motionless, without a sound.
The prime minister's heart jumped suddenly, and he tried to call His Majesty twice again, but there was still no response.
He immediately got up and got closer, and confirmed thoroughly that the old emperor had died so suddenly!
The prime minister stood still with his sleeves brushed, his mind instantly active, his original worry completely put down, and he murmured to himself.
"Your Majesty, you don't know, the prince is unruly, and he can't tolerate me in his heart, how can I support him.
If the prince is allowed to ascend the throne smoothly, it will be a dead end for me!
You should also understand me, I have done all this for self-protection."
He said the most real thoughts in his heart, but the old emperor was destined not to hear it.
The emperor's death was not reported out of the palace at the first time.
At first, only the six powerful princes knew about it.
Then.
The palace was blocked, and outside Yunling City, all states and counties, and all dormant troops received orders at the first time.
Many county governors led the county soldiers and headed towards Yunling City!
The world, at this moment, was completely in chaos!
The storm is coming, and it will quickly sweep to all directions with the huge imperial capital as the center.
Donglai County, where Song Changming was located, was located in a remote area. When the news from the imperial capital came, it was already July and autumn.
Liu's house, in the courtyard.
Liu Dingsheng and Song Changming sat opposite each other at the stone table.
There was a chessboard on the table, and yellow leaves fell on the chessboard and were fiddled by Song Changming to the ground.
Bang!
Liu Dingsheng pressed down a piece, thinking that he was a good chess player, and took the tea in the cup complacently and drank it with a smile.
After a while, Song Changming shook his head and admitted defeat.
"Senior, you are a superb chess player, and I lost again."
"Haha, not bad Changming, you have made great progress recently, and I didn't win easily this time." Liu Dingsheng stroked his beard and smiled.
Song Changming looked at the massacre on the chessboard and was speechless.
What a hard win.
He had not studied chess too much before, and only stayed at the stage of knowing how to play.
Liu Dingsheng has studied chess for decades, so it goes without saying that he is very good at it.
But this old guy loves to bully the weak.
After learning that Song Changming could play chess, he often invited Song Changming to come and make chess pieces for him.
Song Changming accepted it readily, and he could use this excuse to ask Liu Dingsheng for advice again and again.
As for being abused on the chessboard, you will get used to it after doing it many times.
"Sir, there is news from the Imperial Capital." Suddenly, a Liuzhai martial artist wearing a short shirt walked in and closed his mouth when he saw Song Changming.
"Senior, I'll take my leave first." Song Changming stood up with a discerning gesture.
"Hey, how can we leave after just one game? It doesn't matter, Zi Wen, just say it bluntly." Liu Dingsheng motioned for Song Changming to sit down, and then said to the warrior.
When the warrior saw this, he had no choice but to report the shocking news he had just learned.
"There is news from the Imperial Capital that the guards of the surrounding counties suddenly set off with their troops and horses one after another towards the Imperial Capital!"
"Oh!" Liu Dingsheng put down his tea cup and said after thinking for a moment.
"These county guards have all lined up for a long time. The only ones who can mobilize them now are the six princes. They are the ones who mobilized their troops."
Song Changming was listening on the sidelines. An idea suddenly came to his mind and he couldn't help but speak out.
"Could it be!"
Liu Dingsheng saw what Song Changming was thinking and nodded: "This is the most likely result. Something happened to the Holy Emperor today, and it is not the same as being bedridden before."
He said it rather tactfully.
In fact, what he was thinking was that the old emperor probably died this time!
If not, the six princes would not dare to force their troops to enter the capital!
This is a treasonous approach, in order to fight for the throne that no one is sitting on.
At this moment, the six princes could be said to have completely broken the surface calm, and they were also at odds with each other.
It can be foreseen that the next battle for the throne will inevitably be a river of blood. Either you die or I die.
"I just hope that the new emperor will ascend the throne soon and stabilize the overall situation, otherwise the world will be in chaos." Liu Dingsheng lamented the uncertainty of the world, and suddenly looked at Song Changming and said.
"By the way, Chang Ming, I would like to remind you that your Lord Zhuang, including the county guard and the captain, are actually people sent by the fifth prince and belong to his direct lineage."
"Fifth Prince" Song Changming was stunned for a moment.
He could guess that after the Xiao family was destroyed, Sheriff Xun, Zhuang Ren and others who came from the imperial capital must have been appointed by a certain prince.
However, he originally guessed it was the second prince.
After all, the second prince was the mastermind behind the destruction of the Xiao family.
It is reasonable to spend so much effort to destroy the Xiao family and then arrange for one of their own to succeed Donglai County Governor.
But Liu Dingsheng said that Zhuang Ren and the governor were backed by the fifth prince, which was beyond his expectation.
I don’t know how the fifth prince got involved in Donglai County back then.
But no matter what, Donglai County is relatively calm for the time being.
The fact that Donglai County Governor did not receive an order to send troops to the imperial capital at this time means that the fifth prince also knew that Donglai County was located in a remote location. When Donglai County Governor received his order, he would send troops to support him. It's cold.
There is no expectation that Dongnae County Sheriff will be able to play a role at this important time point.
Except for Donglai County, all remote prefectures and counties were temporarily put aside. They stood still and watched the results in the imperial palace from a distance.
Not only the governors of the prefectures and counties, but also well-informed people like Liu Dingsheng were always paying attention to the news coming out of the imperial capital.
Until everything is settled, no one can judge what the world will be like in the future.
"Senior, who among the six princes do you think can ascend the throne and proclaim the emperor this time?" After the conversation reached this point, Song Changming simply continued to ask.
During these days, through many contacts with Liu Dingsheng, an old man, he also learned a lot about the outside world.
People in the past and present can listen to Liu Dingsheng's clear and logical explanation.
Therefore, whenever he thinks of something now, Song Changming will instinctively ask Liu Dingsheng and listen to his answer.
"That is the current crown prince." Liu Dingsheng said with certainty.
"He is the prince appointed by the late emperor. He is inherently closer to the throne than the other five princes, and the late emperor will inevitably pave the way for him. As long as this prince is not too idiotic, he will definitely be the most likely to become the final winner. of."
Song Changming didn't think so. Over the years, he had also gone through the past history of the Great Han Dynasty and couldn't help but ask: "Then the former emperor was the prince back then?"
"Uh." Liu Dingsheng was speechless for a moment, and then defended: "During the time of the previous emperor, it was the prince who was too stupid, and that's why the throne fell into the hands of the previous emperor."
"Maybe." Song Changming glanced at the chessboard on the table and continued: "But I think it is precisely because the prince is closest to the throne that he easily becomes the most eye-catching target at the beginning. The other five princes will take the lead in attacking him. Allow him.
He wants to become emperor, but it is the most difficult thing. "