Chapter 674: The Poisonous Tiger Devours the King
Chapter 674: The Poisonous Tiger Devours the King
The 30,000-strong army began to march towards Chang'an, but as the doctor said, the epidemic had an incubation period, and along the way, guards fell one after another, and officials began to fall as well.
When the army arrived at Shiquan County, Xicheng County, news suddenly came that the emperor's youngest son, Prince of Zhao Yang Gao, had fallen ill. This news was like a bolt from the blue. Prince of Zhao Yang Gao was Yang Guang's youngest son, only ten years old, and was regarded as a treasure by Yang Guang. Yang Guang had been reluctant to appoint a crown prince, and was actually considering appointing Yang Gao as the crown prince in the future.
However, Yang Gao was not a legitimate son after all, and Yang Guang also took into account the feelings of Empress Xiao and Prince Jin, so he did not mention the matter for the time being.
Yang Guang hurried to visit his son, only to see his youngest son Yang Gao lying on a sickbed, his face as pale as gold paper, his eyes closed, and he was already dying.
Yang Guang felt heartbroken and tears flowed down his face. His most beloved son was infected with the disease.
Chief Physician Zhang Kai hurriedly whispered, "Your Majesty, the infection is extremely severe at this time. It is not safe here."
Yang Guang had no choice but to walk out of the room and asked sadly, "Can my son be saved?"
"Since the disease was discovered in time, there may still be hope. I will do my best to treat him, but His Royal Highness Prince Zhao cannot leave anymore. It will worsen his condition. Please leave him in Shiquan County to recuperate!"
Yang Guang had no choice but to nod and turn back.
The team continued their journey and began to enter the Ziwu Valley that day. Unexpectedly, just after entering the Ziwu Valley for only a few dozen miles, Emperor Yang Guang also fell ill.
This news shocked all the officials. Yu Shiji, Wang Long and Fan Zigai held an emergency discussion.
"How could the emperor be infected with the disease when he was fine? What went wrong?" Fan Zigai asked puzzledly.
Wang Long said in a deep voice: "I asked Zhang Yizheng, and he said that it was two eunuchs around the emperor who were infected with the disease. They had visited the King of Zhao on several occasions on behalf of the emperor, and they must have been infected at that time. After they became ill, they concealed their illness and infected the emperor as well."
Fan Zigai gritted his teeth and said, "You deserve to die for hiding your illness when you're ill!"
Yu Shiji said worriedly, "What I'm worried about is what to do if the emperor can't be saved? The life and death of the King of Zhao in Shiquan County is unknown. Either we support the eldest grandson of the emperor in Luoyang, or support the King of Jin?"
Wang Long shook his head. "We can't think about that now. Let's do our best to save the emperor first!"
The team stopped at a wide area in Ziwu Valley. Wang Long found the chief physician Zhang Kai and handed him a bag of medicine. "Increase the dosage. We'll see the result tonight!"
Zhang Kai took the medicine and left in a hurry
At night, Emperor Yang Guang sat weakly in his tent crying. He had received news that his beloved youngest son had died of illness, but his subordinates did not dare to tell him.
At this time, Yang Guang almost collapsed. He missed his wife Xiao so much that he wished he could fly back to Luoyang. Although there were still more than 100,000 troops in Yicheng County and Baxi County north of Jiange, he no longer cared about it.
"Your Majesty, it's time to take your medicine!"
Emperor Yang Guang's most trusted palace attendant Wei appeared behind him, holding a bowl of thick medicine in her hand.
"I no longer have diarrhea, so I don't need to take this medicine anymore!"
"Your Majesty, the epidemic is not so easy to cure. It is easy to relapse. At this time, the dosage of medicine must be increased."
Yang Guang nodded, "You are right, we need to kill them all to prevent them from recurring. I am just too soft-hearted, but this medicine is too bitter to drink."
"Your Majesty, I added your favorite honey. It should taste much better."
Yang Guang tasted it and found that it indeed contained honey, which was his favorite taste. So he drank a large bowl of medicine under the careful service of the palace maid Wei.
But soon Yang Guang suffered from severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, and finally unstoppable bleeding. At one o'clock in the morning, Emperor Yang Guang lost too much blood and eventually died suddenly.
Wei hurriedly sent someone to inform Yu Wenzhi, who immediately ordered his trusted subordinates Pei Qiantong and Xue Shiliang to seal off the royal tent. On the pretext of poor treatment, he killed all the imperial doctors, including the chief physician Zhang Kai and the palace maid Wei, who were also beheaded by Pei Qiantong. The two men's dream of wealth and glory came to an abrupt end.
Yu Wenzhi also ordered the two generals Sima Dekan and Zhao Xingshu to lead 10,000 troops each to blockade Ziwu Valley from front and back to prevent the news from leaking. Only Dugu Huai'en and Li Xiaochang were allowed to ride north on horseback.
When the officials heard that the emperor had died in the middle of the night, they all cried. Nearly a hundred ministers gathered in the big tent to discuss that the Great Sui Dynasty could not be without a king for a day, and since the emperor had died of illness, everyone had to consider appointing a new king.
However, opinions were inconsistent. Some people advocated enthroning the eldest grandson of the emperor in Luoyang, some advocated enthroning the third grandson of the emperor in Chang'an, but there were also many who advocated supporting the King of Jin.
At this time, Yu Wenzhi led hundreds of armored guards and rushed in. Yu Wenzhi raised his spear and said sternly: "There are still hundreds of thousands of troops in the south. Don't you care about their lives?"
Yu Shiji stepped forward and said, "Establishing a new emperor is more important than the army. We know which is more important. We don't need General Yuwen to make arrangements!"
"Fuck your shit!"
Yu Wenzhi pierced Yu Shiji's chest with a spear. Yu Shiji was caught off guard, screamed, and died on the spot.
Fan Zigai was furious and pointed at Yu Wenhuaji and cursed: "How dare the traitor kill the minister!"
Yu Wenzhi winked at Meng Bing, the Eagle General behind him, and Meng Bing swung his sword at Fan Zigai. "Puff!" Fan Zigai's head flew off, and blood stained the tent.
The tent was suddenly silent, and all the officials were terrified. Wang Long stepped forward and said hypocritically, "General Yuwen will make the final decision!"
Yu Wenzhi sneered and said, "You only know how to let me make the decision now?"
He raised his spear and pierced Wang Long's chest with lightning speed. Wang Long's eyes widened and he pointed at Yu Wenzhi, "You you."
Wang Long looked at Yu Wenzhi in disbelief, only to see a hideous smile on Yu Wenzhi's face. Wang Long then finally understood that he had courted death and was eventually eaten by the tiger. "Ah!" He screamed unwillingly and fell to the ground and died with his eyes open.
Yu Wenzhi held up a secret decree and said loudly: "The emperor's will is passed on. General Yu Wenzhi is loyal to the emperor and loves the country. He is appointed as the right prime minister and is in charge of the three armies to attack and destroy the Western Sui Dynasty and lead all officials to re-establish the emperor's heir."
Yu Wenzhi asked sternly: "This is the will of the emperor, who has any objection?"
Everyone looked at the three prime ministers who had died tragically, especially the body of Fan Zigai whose head had been chopped off. They were terrified and could only agree, "Prime Minister Yuwen will make the decision!"
Yu Wenzhi nodded, "We must inherit the emperor's will and defeat the rebellion of Western Sui. Then I will discuss with everyone about establishing a new emperor."
Using the excuse of illness, Yu Wenzhi ordered the killing of all the palace maids and eunuchs around Emperor Yang Guang, and their bodies were burned to ashes and buried deep.
Although all the officials were reluctant to burn the emperor's body, they had no choice but to accept it when they thought that the emperor had become the source of the plague and everyone would be in trouble if they didn't burn it.
Yu Wenzhi hypocritically put the emperor's bones into a bronze coffin and buried them temporarily. Later, they were sent back to Chang'an for burial. This slightly comforted the officials, because at least the emperor's remains were still there.
Yu Wenzhi then led an army of 30,000 and hundreds of officials south to Yicheng County.
Chen Ling was ordered to lead an army of 30,000 to attack Jiameng Pass. The emperor later gave him an additional 20,000 troops, led by General Zhao You. Zhao You was originally the governor of Xiangyang County. He was a descendant of Zhao Gui, one of the Eight Pillars of Guanlong, and also the son-in-law of the Yuan family.
Under Wang Long's arrangement, Zhao You and Chen Leng joined forces and Zhao You naturally became Chen Leng's deputy general.
At this time, Chen Leng also received news that an epidemic had occurred in Nanzheng County, so he hurriedly stopped attacking the pass and waited for news from the emperor.
That morning, an official came and announced the imperial edict to Chen Ling, requiring Chen Ling to go to the emperor immediately to report the military situation and temporarily hand over the army to the deputy general Zhao You.
Chen Leng received the imperial edict and asked, "I heard that an epidemic broke out in Nanzheng. What is the situation now?"
The official announcing the decree sighed and said, "The epidemic is indeed very serious. The emperor has moved to Shiquan County. I came here by bypassing Nanzheng County. I don't know the current miserable situation in Nanzheng County."
Chen Ling had no doubts, so he temporarily handed over the military power to his deputy general Zhao You, and then followed the official announcing the decree to Shiquan County.
(End of this chapter)