Chapter 489: Return of the Empress
Chapter 489: Return of the Empress (6k)
The shouts and cries of killing in the Meridian Gate Square disappeared, leaving only a cold, salty wind rushing in from the open palace door.
Zhao Duan stood on the shiny stone floor with a smile. Beside him, the majestic and graceful empress looked at Li Yanfu coldly.
At this moment, the entire hall fell into deathly silence, and all sounds seemed to be removed and blocked.
Soon, after about ten heartbeats, there was a sudden cry of surprise like a raging storm from the crowd, accompanied by looks of astonishment and surprise on every face.
“Your Majesty!?”
"Zhao Duan!?"
Li Yanfu felt as if he had been hit hard. Under the metal helmet that wrapped around his gray head, his wrinkled face, which showed the demeanor of a tyrant, turned pale and bloodless in an instant.
The first thought was that it was absolutely impossible, but Xu Zhenguan's eyes seemed so familiar.
That is a look that no one can disguise.
It was a cold gaze that belonged only to the first female emperor of the Yu State.
He will never admit his mistake.
"Your Majesty..." Grand Tutor Dong at the back of the crowd had a dazed look on his face. He could not understand why the empress and Zhao Duan, who had been missing for a long time and who according to intelligence were supposed to be trapped in the Huai River, would appear in this occasion.
He blinked hard, and blinked again, then stretched out his hand and rubbed it in the air, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Zhao Duan...Your Majesty..."
At the side, Yuan Li was also stunned. He stared at the emperor and his ministers who walked into the hall, his heart almost skipping a beat.
At this moment, he turned his head to look at Dong Xuan, and after seeing the confusion and disbelief on the latter's face, he realized that today's scene was not a pre-arranged drama.
and so……
Did His Majesty escape from danger? When did he return to the capital? How did he break out of the siege?
"Your Majesty..." A rare expression of excitement appeared on Ma Yan's thin face. He was the first among the ministers to react.
Because before the palace door opened, he felt the fluctuations of the martial spirit in his body. This was the natural reaction of the inheritors of the same lineage when they felt the empress's consciousness sweeping through the palace.
But even so, the shock and surprise in his heart were no less than anyone else.
"You...you are...your Majesty?!" Li Yanfu subconsciously took a few steps back, the confident smile on his face gone: "No...impossible...you can't be here..."
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"Prime Minister Li, what you said is strange. Your Majesty is blessed with great fortune, so why can't you escape safely? But you are really impatient. You are eager to jump out while His Majesty is still alive. Oh, clear the emperor's side, haha, I am curious, what kind of emperor's side are you clearing, you 'loyal ministers'?"
Li Yanfu opened his mouth, his eyes avoiding Xu Zhenguan, and suddenly looked outside the palace gate and onto the square.
"Prime Minister Li, you don't have to look," Xu Zhenguan said calmly:
"All the rebels outside the palace have been killed, and the traitor Li Yinglong has been killed by Zhao Qing himself."
At this time, everyone in the hall noticed that on the Taia sword in the empress's hand, hot red blood was dripping from the tip of the sword along the blood groove onto the ground.
Outside the palace, the huge square was filled with dead rebels lying on the ground. At this moment, the imperial guards who came to the rescue knelt on the ground as if worshiping.
All this was just like the recurrence of the Xuanmen coup three years ago. However, the troops under Li Yanfu's command were far inferior to those of Xu Jianwen.
The chaos caused was not even 20% or 30% as big as the Xuanmen coup in the past.
"Yinglong is dead..."
Li Yanfu staggered, as if he had been hit hard by a club. Li Qing, who was standing beside him, subconsciously supported him, panicking: "Patriarch...what should I do..."
Li Yanfu's face turned pale. He wanted to speak, but he couldn't utter a word.
He had only one thought in his mind:
Finished!
It's all over!
If the empress is really seriously injured and her cultivation level is greatly reduced, he can still give it a try with the help of these masters in his hands.
But what happened now, although difficult to explain, was tantamount to announcing the disastrous failure of this frivolous palace coup!
Suddenly, without any warning, Li Yanfu snatched the sword from Li Qing's hand, pointed the tip of the sword at her heart, and stabbed it hard with both hands!
Oh no... this old bastard wants to commit suicide... Zhao Duan's face changed slightly. Even he didn't expect that the defeated Li Yanfu would be so decisive!
Shouldn't the villain make a few empty words at this point? Or make a desperate attempt? Or beg for mercy? What does it mean to commit suicide without saying a word?
"Ding!" However, when the sword was about to stab down, it was hit by an invisible force.
Li Yanfu's wrist suddenly became paralyzed as if it had been electrocuted. The sword flew out and fell to the ground. It turned several times and stopped at Zhao Duan's feet.
"Chief!" Li Qing screamed and arrived late.
"Prime Minister!?" More than a hundred Li party officials who participated in the rebellion in the hall also exclaimed.
Xu Zhenguan's cold voice echoed in the hall: "Li Yanfu, you want to die so easily, have I agreed?"
Li Yanfu collapsed to the ground, as if all his strength had been drained away. At this moment, two lines of turbid tears burst out of his eyes. He trembled and broke free from Li Qing's support. He knelt on his knees, his hands and forehead touching the ground, and prostrated himself, saying in a trembling voice:
"Your Majesty... I... I... am... guilty!"
Like the straw that broke the camel's back.
As Li Yanfu confessed his guilt, the officials in the hall who were also members of Li's party and had joined the team fell to their knees like dumplings, "thump", "thump", and they all prostrated themselves on the ground:
"I...are guilty!"
Seeing this, the hundred or so red-robed guests realized that there was no point in resisting. The weapons in their hands fell to the ground with a clang, and they knelt down in silence.
Li Qing stared blankly at the clan leader lying on the ground. This clan member who had traveled thousands of miles from the Huaishui Li family to Beijing seemed to have finally accepted this fact. He slumped on the ground silently, as if he had lost his soul.
"Crack!"
Suddenly, with a crisp sound of breaking tiles, Kong Wu, who had been rescued from the death row by Li Yanfu, stepped on the floor of the hall and broke it.
Without any hesitation, he left a trail of afterimage and ran out of the hall!
He wants to escape!
He still didn't believe that the empress had truly recovered her fighting power, so he was still hoping for luck, thinking that if he fought desperately, he still had a chance to escape from the palace!
“Where did this idiot come from…” Zhao Duan’s eyelids twitched, and he curled his lips. The Golden Crow Flying Knife in his sleeve slipped into his palm, and he was about to draw the knife.
But Zhen Bao beside him said calmly: "You don't have to do anything."
The Taia sword in the empress's hand whizzed out, and a huge streak of light tore through the air, pulling out a turbulent white airflow.
The veteran warrior Kong Wu ran out of the hall, leaped up and was about to climb up the palace to escape. While in mid-air, he suddenly groaned, lowered his head in disbelief, and saw the sharp tip of a sword piercing his chest.
Then, the Taia sword forcibly opened a hole in his chest as big as a bowl, crushing his internal organs.
"Pfft!"
Kong Wu's body fell to the ground. On the body, a pair of dead eyes were still looking steadily toward the direction of freedom outside the palace wall.
No one in the hall knew what had happened to Kong Wu, but at this moment, no one cared.
When all the members of Li's party fell to their knees, the officials of the imperial court finally came to their senses.
"Your Majesty...This old minister respectfully welcomes Your Majesty back to the palace!"
The octogenarian Master Dong was overjoyed, tears welled up in his eyes with excitement, and he was about to kneel down.
Yuan Li, Ma Yan, ministers of various ministries, Lu Zhi and other ministers also woke up as if from a dream, showing their joy at surviving the disaster and welcoming him loudly.
The four female attendants also smiled, with a look of deep surprise.
"Grand Master, there is no need to be so polite," Xu Zhenguan raised her hand to support them, and Dong Xuan and other ministers could no longer kneel down. Facing this group of ministers, she finally smiled:
"During the time I was away from the capital, I was very grateful to the Grand Tutor and the other ministers for their hard work in maintaining the situation. I was almost injured by the treacherous villains. This is my dereliction of duty. Fortunately, it is not too late."
"Your Majesty..." Grand Tutor Dong burst into tears. As the emperor's tutor, he was so happy that he couldn't even cry.
Yuan Li and others were in a better situation. They were full of questions at the moment and wanted to figure out what had happened and what the empress and Zhao Duan had experienced. But this was not the right moment to ask these questions.
"I'm sure you gentlemen have a lot to say, but the most urgent task right now is to deal with the Li Party's rebellion." Zhao Duan reminded with a smile.
Everyone quickly agreed, not daring to be disrespectful to their colleague Zhao Duan.
"What Mr. Zhao said is absolutely right," Xu Zhenguan suppressed his emotions, put on a stern face, and said to the outside of the palace:
"Come here, arrest these rebels in batches, especially Li Yanfu. I will not allow him to die until I speak."
Outside the hall, the generals of the imperial guards who had already arrived rushed into the hall and responded hurriedly.
Xu Zhenguan said again:
"Commanders of the Imperial Guards and Huben Guards, listen up! Immediately disarm the two battalions involved in the rebellion and clear out all remnants of the rebels inside and outside the palace. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!"
"I obey your order!" The two guards commanders broke out in cold sweats, fearing that they would be held accountable for dereliction of duty by the empress, and were eager to show off.
Xu Zhenguan said again:
"Ma Yan, listen to my order. Leave the palace immediately and lead the imperial guards to arrest those who are plotting rebellion outside the palace. Especially eliminate the thieves who kidnapped and controlled the families of the nobles in the palace. There is no need to interrogate them. Kill them immediately after arresting them."
She had already heard the previous conversation in the hall through her spiritual sense. Otherwise, she would not have been able to kill the rebels so easily before entering the hall.
Ma Yan's heart surged, as if he had returned to the day of the Xuanmen coup, and he clasped his fists:
"Sir, obey the order!"
He immediately turned around and ran outside. When passing by Zhao Duan, he glanced at him with a little surprise, and vaguely realized that Zhao Duan's realm seemed different from before.
Zhao Duan responded with a bright smile.
Not too many people were involved in this rebellion. The leader of the Li Party and the commander of the rebels were both dead, and the rest were just small fry. In his opinion, it could be put down in half a day at most.
……
……
Soon, armored guards rushed out from the four gates of the imperial palace like a torrent and began to rapidly strangle the remnants of Li's party.
Zhao Mansion.
Eugene Hua nervously stuck to the gate of the mansion with her daughter. At this moment, the main door of the Zhao family was closed, and the mother and daughter could only look out through the crack in the door.
Behind them, the servants in the mansion were wandering in the distance, and the atmosphere was solemn and depressing.
The place where the Zhao Mansion is located is an area where officials in the city gather. Those who live nearby are either rich or noble.
Not long ago, a servant came to report that a group of unidentified killers appeared nearby. They ran through the streets and alleys and broke into the residences of several important officials in the court. There were also sounds of fighting and screams.
It seems that criminals broke into the house.
Eugene Hua was horrified and quickly ordered the door to be closed. The servants and guards all held sticks and long knives and held their breath in alert.
Fortunately, the killers had a clear purpose and were not targeting the Zhao family.
But this inner city area was patrolled by officials in the past, so how could there be any daring criminals? Even though Eugene Hua was naive, she realized that something was wrong and was afraid that something big had happened in the court.
Just when the family was feeling extremely nervous and every second seemed like an eternity, suddenly a large number of cavalrymen came roaring in from the street outside. This time, all the people who came were wearing the familiar imperial robes.
They rushed into one mansion after another with ferocious looks, quickly took control of the situation, and captured and killed the people arranged by Li Yanfu.
"Open the door, open the door quickly!" Eugene Hua's eyes lit up and she hurriedly ordered.
Zhao Pan quickly removed the bolt and waited for the gate to open. Eugene stepped out of the door and waved to the group of imperial guards, "Zhang Jisi! What happened?"
The stepmother recognized Zhang Han, the detective from Mudantang, who led the team, and knew that he was Dalang's colleague.
Zhang Han heard the shouting, left his men to do their work, dismounted and walked over. He tried to force an ugly smile on his expressionless face:
"Meet the mistress of the Zhao family and the little sister of the Zhao family."
Zhao Pan hugged the Pekingese and said weakly, "You don't look good when you smile. You look fierce. You'd better stop smiling."
Zhang Han: “…”
This girl... Eugene glared at her daughter unhappily, then put on a smile: "Zhang Jisi, don't take it to heart. This child can't talk."
Zhang Han coughed lightly to show that he didn't mind:
"It's okay. There was indeed a big incident in the city. Prime Minister Li Yanfu led his troops to launch a coup, and the blood flowed like a river in the palace."
"what?!"
The mother and daughter were stunned and their faces turned pale at the same time.
Zhang Han panted heavily and continued:
"But fortunately, your majesty and Zhao Shaobao arrived in time and put down the chaos. We are now following your orders to wipe out the remnants of the rebels. You should hide at home and don't come out for the time being. You will be safe once the thieves are completely wiped out."
"You said Dalang is back?" Eugene Hua ignored other content and captured the key words.
Zhao Pan's autumn-water eyes also lit up, and she stared at him intently.
Zhang Han nodded, maintaining his cool male god attitude:
"Yes. Your Majesty and Zhao Shaobao both look fine and have no injuries. They are now in charge of the palace. I guess they will come back home after they are done."
Dalang is back...he is fine...Eu Jinhua is overjoyed.
Big brother is safe... I knew it... Zhao Pan smiled and two dimples appeared on her cheeks.
……
Imperial College.
Dong Da did not go to the palace with his grandfather today. Instead, he followed his grandfather's order and quietly recorded in the Imperial College who were openly discussing and spreading the news of the rebels' attack on the city.
The Chief Academician has already repeatedly stressed that at this critical moment, scholars are strictly prohibited from spreading panic and disturbing the people.
However, a group of scholars still do their own thing, as if the emperor is no longer around, and they have become bolder.
"If only Brother Zhao was still in the capital, how dare you do this?"
Dong Da was walking in the Imperial College, listening to a group of students gathered in the distance talking, with grim expressions on their faces.
King Zhao's lethality to scholars is comprehensive, including both military deterrence and mental trauma - this trend has been particularly evident since Mr. Zhengyang bowed down to Zhao Duan in the capital.
Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the gate of the Imperial College. Dong Da looked back in surprise and saw a large group of men in brocade clothes rushing towards him like wolves and tigers. They ignored him and rushed directly into the pavilion in front.
"What are you doing?"
"This is a place where scholars live. We all have achievements. How dare you...ah!"
The student who openly spread panic shouted a few words, but was met with a rain of punches. Soon he cried for his parents and was taken away in chains.
"Miss Haitang? What does this mean?" Dong Da was confused, his eyes lit up, and he walked towards Haitang who was leading the team.
Haitang had dark circles under her eyes due to staying up late to work overtime recently, but now her face was rosy and she looked energetic, as if something good had happened.
"Master Dong, it's nothing. I'm just arresting people according to the emperor's order," Haitang said with a smile, "There are some children of Li's party officials and followers in the Imperial College. His Majesty said that they must be cleared out."
"I see..." Dong Da suddenly realized, then froze, "Wait, you said... Your Majesty?"
"Yes," Haitang said with a smile:
“Li Yanfu led his troops into the palace and initiated a coup, but Your Majesty and Zhao Duan arrived and quelled the rebellion.
Unexpected, right? I was also surprised. I don't know when Zhao Duan came into the city. There was no movement at all. But it fits his usual style. He always appears and disappears mysteriously, doing things that ordinary people can't do. "
Dong Da listened in a daze, his mind was blank: "Brother Zhao... is back in Beijing?"
……
……
Similar scenes were played out all over the city this morning.
Due to the surrender of Li’s party officials, many arrests became easier, and because “the matter was accomplished in secrecy”, there were not many core members actually involved in this small-scale coup.
After Xu Zhenguan regained control of the capital, it became ten thousand times easier to capture them than to deal with the Kuangfu Society.
now.
In a warm-colored hall filled with chairs in the imperial palace, the emperor and his ministers sat together.
Xu Zhenguan sat on the dragon throne, with Zhao Duan beside him, and the other ministers who did not participate in the rebellion sat below.
"That's probably the situation."
Zhao Duan spoke calmly, picked up a cup from the tray in the hand of the palace maid next to him, and drank some water to moisten his throat.
Just now, he briefly recounted his experience of escaping back to the capital with the empress after the failure of the Fengshan ceremony.
Of course, he skipped over some of the embarrassing passages between the emperor and his ministers in the style of the Spring and Autumn Annals.
As for the three days and three nights of continuous artillery fire between the two men, naturally it would not be mentioned. Zhao Duan only said that His Majesty had a backup plan and finally succeeded in breaking through.
Although he also wanted to show off... he was worried that if he said it, he would be beaten to death by the ashamed Zhen Bao.
"Is this really the experience..." After hearing this, the ministers all expressed amazement.
Yuan Li spoke first:
"Your Majesty has turned from bad to good and has entered the realm of heaven. Now that you have returned to the capital, you have made another step forward. This is cause for celebration."
No, you can also blow hard in this situation... Zhao Duan curled the corner of his mouth, feeling that this old cunt's licking skills were probably not inferior to his when he was young.
Xu Zhenguan shook his head and said:
"Although I am already a celestial being, I am blessed by dragon energy in the capital and am nearly invincible. But now war is raging everywhere, and the princes of various places are rebelling. Outside the capital, I no longer have the dragon energy to bless me. I am still just a celestial being, and I am no match for Xuan Yin."
Is that so... The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment; they knew nothing about matters of cultivation.
Zhao Duan coughed lightly and said concisely:
"In short, now is not the time to celebrate. Although your majesty has returned, the rebellions in various places will not disappear immediately. Destroying Li Yanfu only eliminates the disloyal people in the court. Next, how to defeat those rebellious princes as soon as possible and recover the lost territory is the top priority.
Of course, the good news is that the rebels will not continue to attack the capital, and will most likely turn to separatist forces. In other words, in the second half of the game, they are the defending party, and it is time for us to counterattack. "
Master Dong nodded. He had recovered from his joy. Although he was a little tired from the great sorrow and joy, his mind was still clear:
“What Zhao Shaobao said is that the worst time has passed. Next, the court should spread the news that Your Majesty has been promoted to a celestial being and is in charge of the capital as quickly as possible to stabilize people’s hearts.
At the same time, Your Majesty should issue an imperial edict to label all the current rebels as traitors...
Humph, the banner these rebels are raising now is to come to the capital to defend the emperor, and they are of royal blood, so the local court officials along the way surrendered so quickly and without any burden. As long as they are identified as traitors, the local officials and generals will do their best to stabilize the situation. "
His words sounded a bit bookish, but Zhao Duan agreed.
As long as they are identified as rebels, local officials who want to surrender will have to consider whether they will be infamous for eternity, or even have their families implicated for disloyalty.
Zhao Duan analyzed rationally:
"According to the current situation, the King of Yanshan in the north is blocked by Luo Kedi who is defending the northern city, and Duke Tang of Xiping Road in the west is leading the border troops to suppress the King of Hejian. After all the calculations, the only two rebel forces of King Jing and King Mu are the real threats.
Since Envoy Xue has gone south to garrison Linfeng, as the news of your majesty's return spreads, the situation will most likely be temporarily stabilized."
The Minister of Revenue suddenly said:
"Master Zhao, don't forget the Qingzhou troops outside the city."
The Minister of War snorted coldly:
"Prince Heng is ambitious but incompetent. He thought that he could enter the capital by inciting a rebellion against the military headquarters in Qingzhou. Before His Majesty came back, the Beijing Army could not attack the royal family and blocked them outside the city. Now that His Majesty has returned, there is naturally no need to worry. With the strength of the Beijing Army, it is enough to repel the enemy."
Yuan Li suddenly reminded:
"Everyone, don't be careless. Although the Qingzhou troops are not as powerful as the Jiancheng and Yunfu rebels, they can advance to the capital and retreat to Qingzhou. It is easy to repel them, but I am afraid that they will not be killed. What should we do if King Heng leads his troops to retreat to Qingzhou?
If the Beijing camp goes deep into Qingzhou, how can they rush to help once the Linfeng troops are in urgent need? You know, the troops of Linfeng Road are not enough to fight against two rebel armies at the same time!
But if we cannot wipe out the Qingzhou soldiers, once they retreat, they will always be a threat to the capital, and they may even form an alliance with King Chen of Binhai Road, which could become a serious problem."
This... The Minister of War was speechless. The Qingzhou soldiers were not strong, but they were indeed a trouble that was difficult to deal with.
Zhao Duan sat beside the empress without saying a word, but suddenly an idea came to his mind:
By the way, it’s been so long, I wonder how the mass production of the new firearms in the Shenjiying is going…
If it is already available, perhaps it would be a good choice to use the troops of King Heng of Qingzhou to test the power of new firearms in this era.
"Okay, the matter of the Qingzhou soldiers is not urgent today, we can discuss it tomorrow." Xu Zhenguan said:
"The most urgent task is to resolve the turmoil in the court caused by the Li Party's rebellion. The officials who have fallen are all important positions, and we need to fill them to ensure that the court can operate normally.
In addition, according to the Grand Master's words, the Xiuwenguan drafted an edict to suppress the rebellion and quickly notified all places, convicting the rebels of treason and at the same time issuing a warrant for the arrest of monks affiliated with the Shenlong Temple and martial artists of the Donghai Qingshan lineage. It is time to announce to the world that I have returned."
All the ministers stood up and bowed: "We obey your order!"
Xu Zhenguan nodded and waved his hand, and the ministers turned and walked out.
Zhao Duan also stood up and was about to go home when he was suddenly stopped by the empress:
"Zhao Qing, I almost forgot something that I need you to take care of."
"What?" Zhao Duan was stunned.
Xu Zhenguan's eyes were calm: "Eliminate the Shenlong Temple. After today, there will be no Shenlong Temple in the capital!"
(End of this chapter)