Jiuxi

Chapter 578: 576 [Inner Demon]

Misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River, the sound of bells is faint.

Since the signal was given from the palace on April 19, many large temples inside and outside Yongjia City have to ring the bells 30,000 times to pray for the late emperor in the afterlife.

According to the late emperor's will, slaughtering of livestock was prohibited in the capital for 19 days, and marriages and banquets were prohibited during the national mourning period.

The imperial palace was covered in mourning, and the coffin was placed in Fuqing Palace. Empress Xu and Concubine Liu personally prepared the burial for the late emperor.

Minister of Rites Xie Zhen submitted "Notes on the Funeral Rites of the Late Emperor", which was reviewed and implemented by Crown Prince Li Zongben. At the same time, in accordance with the arrangements of the late emperor's will, it was announced that officials in various prefectures and cities should mourn and hold memorial services in accordance with the court regulations and should not waste people's time and money or exhaust the common people.

The body will be kept for 27 days, during which time all officials and ladies of honor will cry outside the Fuqing Palace.

In the square outside the imperial palace and Ningmen, the people came spontaneously to bid farewell to the Holy Emperor in their hearts.

It was drizzling, and the imperial guards stood solemnly around the square, watching wave after wave of people from the capital come. Some cried bitterly, and some sobbed.

They couldn't help but think of that night last autumn when the rebels once broke into the imperial palace and the emperor stood in front of the gate of Duancheng Hall and personally beat the drum to cheer them on.

That scene is still vivid in my mind.

Feelings of grief surged from the bottom of their hearts, and drizzle fell on the faces of these imperial guards, and it was hard to tell whether it was rain or tears.

Heaven and earth share the same sorrow.

The entire Yongjia City was immersed in this sad mood, and even the isolated Qiushan Lane was no exception.

The third prince, Li Zongjian, was wearing mourning clothes and standing in the small courtyard, facing the direction of the imperial palace in the west, but all he could see was the gloomy sky.

The rain continued to fall, already soaking his mourning clothes, but he seemed unaware and just stared blankly in that direction.

Standing next to him was a man in his thirties, dressed in gray, as if he blended in with this bleak world.

Li Zongjian said softly: "Father is gone."

The man in gray bowed his head and said, "Your Highness, I mourn for you."

"Condolences?"

Li Zongjian raised a cold arc at the corner of his mouth, and said quietly: "Perhaps in the eyes of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Prime Minister Li, Prime Minister Xue and all the ministers, even if I, an unfilial son, pretend to be heartbroken at this moment, I must be cheering in my heart. Because they think that it was my father who took away everything I had and made me the biggest joke in the capital. When my father is gone, I will definitely be overjoyed, and at most I will just shed a few hypocritical tears."

The man in gray remained silent.

"Ah."

Li Zongjian pulled the corner of his mouth and said with a dull look: "Life is so boring."

The man in gray finally spoke: "Others may have such a misunderstanding, but I know that Your Highness is truly grieving at this moment."

Li Zongjian's narrow eyes showed no emotion as he asked, "Why?"

The gray-robed man replied, "When the Beijing army rebelled that night, Your Highness would rather die than join the rebels. This shows that Your Highness's filial piety to the late emperor is evident to all."

"There's no need to flatter me."

Li Zongjian looked down at the muddy rain on the ground and said frankly, "I don't want to join forces with Wang Yan and others, just because they have no chance of winning. In this case, why should I accompany a group of idiots to die? As for dying rather than surrendering, it's out of the question. If Wang Yan and others can create a miracle, they still need me to appease the people of the world, so my life will not be in danger."

The man in gray was silent again.

Li Zongjian exhaled slowly and said, "Do you think I am particularly hypocritical? In fact, I didn't care about my father's safety that night when the Beijing army rebelled, and I didn't think about doing anything to help him. I just watched indifferently. Now that my father is really gone, my heart feels like it has been repeatedly cut by a blunt knife."

The gray-clothed man thought for a moment and whispered, "Perhaps this is because the former is unknown and the latter is a fact."

Li Zongjian smiled self-deprecatingly and nodded, "You still understand me. Father probably saw this, so he dragged his sick body to Qiushan Lane that day to warn me and let Qin Zheng severely punish the Xu family."

At this point, he finally turned to look at the man in gray and asked, "The Xu family should hate me to the core, right? Right, cousin?"

The man in gray also raised his head, revealing an ordinary but weathered face. He was Empress Xu's nephew, Xu Ruqing, the eldest son of the Xu family.

The truth behind the assassination on Qingfeng Street was revealed by Li Daoyan during his reign. Li Yunyi was sentenced to exile for 3,000 miles, while Li Zongjian was stripped of his royal title and only retained his royal status as a general of the Fengguo clan.

Xu Ruqing luckily escaped the disaster, mainly because the emperor did not want to make things too drastic for the sake of Empress Xu.

However, the Xu family was not let go easily. Qin Zheng followed Li Duan's orders and wiped out the Xu family's influence while investigating the four powerful families that were plotting treason.

Xu Ruqing sighed and said, "Why would the Xu family hate Your Highness?"

Li Zongjian smiled silently.

Xu Ruqing continued, "Thunder and rain are all grace from the emperor. The Xu family will bear it calmly. Moreover, Qin Zheng acted very prudently. Although many of the Xu family's businesses were uprooted, no bloodshed was caused. This is the grace of the late emperor."

Spending money to avoid disaster is generally like this.

Li Zongjian did not continue the topic and asked, "How is your mother these days?"

Xu Ruqing sighed softly, "Her Majesty is very sad and worried about the safety of His Highness. He is not feeling well."

Li Zongjian narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Please have someone tell my mother that the Crown Prince always makes plans before taking action, and he is a very patient person. This is very similar to my father, so he is favored by my father. He will not do something like forcing his younger brother to death right after ascending the throne. Before he has full control of power, I will not be in any danger. Please take care of yourself, my mother, and don't mention my name in front of the Crown Prince. Don't try to get any benefits for me. Just treat me as if you don't have a son."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Xu Ruqing responded, but hesitated to speak.

Li Zongjian said calmly, "Just say what you want to say." Xu Ruqing said carefully, "That person contacted me again."

A cold light flashed in Li Zongjian's eyes, and he said slowly: "What did I say to you?"

Xu Ruqing replied: "It's just like the last time. It didn't involve anything very secretive. He just wanted to get closer to me and said he could help the Xu family recover a little bit."

"That's quite prudent. The line is long enough."

Li Zongjian thought for a moment and made a decision: "If he wants to give you benefits, just accept it. There is no need to rush to push him away. Just remember not to make promises easily."

Xu Ruqing nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness."

Li Zongjian pondered and said, "Don't come here again in the future. Although we have people guarding here, it will inevitably attract attention if you come here too often. Right now, everyone in the capital is paying attention to the palace, so you can come in so easily. When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he will definitely not ignore this place with his caution."

Xu Ruqing responded respectfully.

Li Zongjian waved his hand and said softly: "Go ahead, if necessary, I will have someone contact you."

"Yes, Your Highness, take care."

Xu Ruqing bowed and then disappeared into the rain in the blink of an eye without causing any ripples.

The rain has been falling.

In the gloomy sky, the cold wind howled like crying.

Li Zongjian looked up at the sky, his eyes full of melancholy.

"Father, you refused to see me until your death. I'm sure you are extremely disappointed in me."

"I know that no matter what I say, you won't believe it, so I have to keep silent."

"But one day in the future, when your spirit in heaven finds out that my second brother is not as suitable for that position as you thought, I wonder if you will regret it?"

"Since you favor my second brother, why did you let me, your son, connect with the Jiangnan clans? From the beginning to the end, I was just a pawn you used to manipulate the situation."

“There will definitely be no answers to these questions.”

"Forget it, now that things have come to this, why bother to keep nagging?"

"Your son, Li Zongjian, respectfully bids farewell to your father."

Li Zongjian knelt on the ground with a sad smile on his face, tears mixed with raindrops from his eyes falling continuously.

He pressed his face to the ground and let out a sharp cry of pain like a wild beast.

……

More than 40 miles north of Yongjia is Songyang Posthouse.

The postmaster looked at the five hundred riders, who were filled with murderous aura, and couldn't help but think of that afternoon three years ago.

That time he stopped a young man outside, but this time he respectfully invited him and five hundred riders in, and sent someone to deliver a letter to the capital as he requested.

Because this young man is Lu Chen, the Marquis of Qi State, who was responsible for the great victory in Yongqiu.

Although this place is only forty miles away from the capital, it is already dark and night is approaching. The five hundred riders are exhausted after the long march, and the horses' strength has reached its limit. Lu Chen can only choose to rest here for one night and return to the capital early tomorrow morning.

Ever since he received the tragic news of the emperor's death at Baimaqiao, Lu Chen did not waste any time. He made some arrangements and then galloped south with 500 cavalrymen.

Lin Xi led the Seven Star Army cavalry to the northern part of Dingzhou, while Li Bingxue and Luo Jiujiu remained in Yongqiu area.

The journey was extremely difficult as they had to sleep in the open air. Lu Chen's face was obviously thin, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

After nightfall, a man came to Songyang Posthouse, reported, and then entered Lu Chen's room.

The person who came was Tan Zheng.

Seeing Lu Chen's thin face, Tan Zheng couldn't help but feel worried, and hurriedly bowed and said, "My Lord."

Lu Chen motioned him to stand up and asked, "What's the situation in the capital?"

As early as last autumn, Wang Chulong asked Tan Zheng to lead a group of good fighters to go south and quietly lurk in the capital in order to secretly gather information so that Lu Chen could make a timely judgment.

Tan Zheng briefly described the series of events in the capital after the emperor's death, and finally said: "My Lord, the capital is generally calm, and all officials are still immersed in grief. There is nothing unusual on the prince's side, and the coronation ceremony will be held after the funeral period is over. However, our people have spent a lot of money to find out a piece of news that someone is preparing to ask for merit for you after the new monarch ascends the throne, and ask the new monarch to confer you the title of Duke!"

"The title of Duke..."

Lu Chen repeated these four words expressionlessly, and then said in a cold voice: "Your Majesty has not yet been buried, and some people are already recklessly doing things."

Tan Zheng stood respectfully.

Lu Chen waved his hand and said, "You can go back. Before His Majesty's burial, if it is not something that can affect the overall situation of the court, there is no need to report it."

"Yes, Lord Marquis."

Tan Zheng bowed and left.

Lu Chen looked at the tiny light in front of him, his eyes unclear.

(End of this chapter)