Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 434 Palace Change
After seeing his parents off, Ang Lee had a lot more free time.

As the Queen's birthday was getting closer, there was no news from Gu Tingye, which made Li An very annoyed.

If Gu Tingye fails to bring Zhao Zongquan to Bian Jing as scheduled, his plan will fail.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye it is the day before the Queen's birthday. Until now there has been no news from Gu Tingye, which makes Li An's heart sink completely.

After finishing his shift that day, Li An took a carriage home.

As soon as he got home, the doorman told Li An that Gu Tingye had arrived.

Li An was delighted when he heard this, and hurried to the front hall, where he saw Gu Tingye chatting with his elder brother Li Ping.

When Li Ping saw Li An coming back, he knew that the two had something to talk about, so he found an excuse and left.

"Zhong Huai, come to my courtyard and talk."

Li An suppressed his excitement, took Gu Tingye to his room, and asked Desheng to wait outside.

"Zhong Huai, what happened?" Li An asked anxiously.

"Zhao Tuanlian is already in a farm dozens of miles away from Bian Jing. I came to the city to inquire about the news." Gu Tingye said.

Last time, Zhao Ceying and Shen Congxing went back to persuade Zhao Zongquan, but Zhao Zongquan was very stubborn and was not willing to come to Bian Jing to report.

However, the commander of the Yuzhou Xiang army temporarily seized his power on the pretext that Shen Congxing had privately mobilized the Xiang army, resulting in dozens of casualties in the Xiang army, and recalled all the soldiers that Shen Congxing had left the Zhao family.

As soon as the Xiang army was transferred away, the assassin attacked again that night.

Fortunately, the assassins suffered heavy losses after two assassination attempts, and Gu Tingye had been keeping an eye on the Zhao family's movements, so he protected Zhao Zongquan at the risk of his life.

It is said that even a rabbit bites when it is cornered. Zhao Zongquan also realized that there was something wrong with the officials in Yuzhou at this time.

It would be very dangerous for him to continue staying in Yuzhou, so he made up his mind to come to Bian Jing.

In order to delay time, Gu Tingye traveled light, claiming that it was unsafe to take the main road, and took Zhao Zongquan and his party along a sparsely populated path to Bian Jing.

After wandering around until noon today, we finally arrived at a village dozens of miles outside the city.

Zhao Zongquan was well aware that the assassins must have known the news of his departure from Yuzhou, and the next few dozen miles were the most dangerous.

Near Bian Jing, there are almost no sparsely populated areas.

So Gu Tingye volunteered to explore the way first.

"Great!"

Li An was completely relieved after hearing this, and said happily: "This way, great things can be accomplished."

"Are you sure that Prince Yan will take action tomorrow?" Gu Tingye asked.

"It's almost certain. The emperor hasn't attended court for half a month. I heard that he was ill. After he recovered, he ordered the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to select a date and prepare to enthrone the crown prince. Prince Yan doesn't have much time left." Li An said.

"That's good. I will leave the city early tomorrow morning and bring Zhao Tuanlian here." Gu Tingye said.

"The birthday banquet will be at noon. If Prince Yan takes action tomorrow, he must do so before the banquet is over and those noble ladies leave the palace. Zhao Tuanlian must not be allowed to enter the city before that, otherwise he will be like a sheep walking into the tiger's mouth." Li An said.

"Don't worry, I will tell him that the road is not safe and take him through the west gate. In this way, when we arrive in Bianjing, it will be dusk. After Prince Yan takes control of the palace, he will immediately take control of the entire Bianjing, and the city gates will definitely be closed by then." Gu Tingye said.

"Yes." Li An nodded and said, "When there is a change in the palace, I will send the imperial edict before the city gates are closed."

Gu Tingye did not ask Li An how he could get the imperial edict. He discussed the details with Li An and left.

……

The next day, Li An went directly to the Hanlin Academy to ask for leave, and then left the palace.

He certainly wouldn't put himself in danger.

The only thing that Li Ang was worried about was Minglan. Now, the old Minister Lu of the Ministry of Works was in the palace with his people to sort out the Ministry's classics and various drawings over the years.

Lian Sheng Changbai was also seconded there.

He also asked someone to inquire and found out that Minglan would go to the palace to deliver meals every few days during this period.

In the original drama, when the palace was in chaos, Sheng Hong was worried that Minglan, a girl, would not be safe in the palace, so he asked her to change into eunuch's clothes and leave the palace through a dog hole.

As a result, Minglan met a palace maid carrying the blood edict.

The two were being chased, and the palace maid gave the blood edict to Minglan before she died.

During this period, Li An had become familiar with some eunuchs in the palace, and had found out the location of the dog hole through indirect means.

Be prepared to wait for the palace maid to come out not far from the exit of the dog hole.

Even so, he didn't want Minglan to take the risk.

Who knows if Minglan can escape like she did before.

Therefore, after Li An came out of the palace, he sent people to keep an eye on the Sheng family.

When I got home, Zhuzi had already arrived.

Escorting the Blood Edict out of the city was fraught with danger. Although Li An had some martial arts skills, he was still worried about encountering danger. With Zhuzi by his side, he felt more at ease.

Near noon, Li An received news that Minglan had gone out.

So he hurriedly took Zhuzi out and blocked Minglan near the palace in the inner city.

The carriage suddenly stopped. Xiaotao in the car thought they had arrived, but when she lifted the curtain she saw Li An.

"Master Li?"

Minglan leaned forward when she heard the voice and asked in surprise, "Brother Ziqian, what are you doing?"

Li An threw the horse rope to Zhuzi, came to the carriage, and said, "Minglan, you should go back now and don't go to the palace to deliver food."

Minglan was stunned and asked nervously, "Did something happen?"

"Don't ask. Just listen to me and go back quickly. Don't go out today. If your family asks you about it, find an excuse yourself." Li An said.

The reason why he came in person and didn't send someone to tell Minglan was because he was worried that Minglan wouldn't take it to heart.

Minglan was so smart that she guessed something when Li An suddenly stopped her from entering the palace to deliver food. She said anxiously, "But father and second brother are still in the palace."

She has a good relationship with Sheng Changbai and doesn't want anything to happen to him.

Even though Minglan didn't have deep feelings for Sheng Hong, he was still her father, so she naturally didn't want anything to happen to him.

"Don't worry, they will be fine, you can go back quickly." Li An said.

Minglan hesitated for a moment, nodded, and said, "Brother Ziqian, I'm going back now. You should be careful."

"Well, don't worry, I haven't married you yet, nothing will happen." Li An said with a smile.

Minglan blushed when she heard this, and told the driver to turn around and get back into the car.

Li An watched Minglan's carriage turn around and drive away, then he took the horse from Zhuzi and said, "Zhuzi, let's go!"

The two men rode slowly to a restaurant in the northwest corner of the palace, stored their horses at the restaurant, and quietly came to the northwest corner of the palace.

The palace wall in the northwest corner is very tall, but there is a hole underground, through which you can see the overgrown weeds inside.

The entrance to the hole was so small that only children and extremely petite girls could fit through it.

Perhaps it was for this reason that the hole was not sealed. After all, ordinary people did not dare to approach the palace, and the palace was heavily guarded, so those who could get in would not pose any danger.

There is actually more than one dog hole in the palace, but Li An has found opportunities to explore the others.

Either the entrance to the cave is very small and people have no way of getting out, or there are guards not far away.

Only this Goudong is the most remote, and it is not far from the place where the Ministry of Industry’s classics are stored.

Li An took the pillar and hid in a secluded place where he could see the dog hole. He waited for a long time but saw no movement.

Li An was a little anxious. Although this place was hidden, there were soldiers patrolling.

It's just that the frequency is not high.

Suddenly, Li An heard a creaking sound from afar.

Li An looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the imperial guards at a side gate of the palace over a hundred meters away had all entered the palace and the side gate was slowly closing.

Seeing this scene, Li An knew that Prince Yan must have taken action.

……

Li An's guess was correct. The palace was in chaos at this time.

At noon, Prince Yan took his son and quietly left the palace and came to the imperial palace.

With Rongxian's help, the two entered the palace.

After entering the palace, Prince Yan led his men to the central palace and asked Rong Xian to close all the palace gates and not allow anyone to enter or leave.

Rong Xian led his men into the central palace and asked his son to take people to the harem to arrest the officials' families and the queen. He then went all the way to the Wende Hall where the officials were.

The guards at the door tried desperately to stop them, but were all slaughtered by the imperial guards brought by Prince Yan.

The official had just finished his meal and was about to take a nap when he heard shouting and screaming outside and thought he was hallucinating.

"His Majesty!"

Just then, a eunuch ran in in a panic and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Yan is plotting a rebellion and is leading his men to clear out the Banzhi Imperial Guards outside. Your Majesty, please flee quickly."

"what?"

The official is only in his fifties, but he looks extremely old, as if he were in his twilight years. His face turned pale when he heard this.

"Your Majesty, there is no time. Hurry up and escort Your Majesty to escape." The eunuch Zhou Gonggong urged.

Upon hearing this, the eunuchs nearby quickly carried the official and were ready to leave.

"boom!"

At this moment, the door was kicked open and Prince Yan walked in holding a knife that was still dripping with blood.

"Your Majesty, where do you want to go?" Prince Yan sneered.

"Prince Yan, how dare you do such a rebellious act?" The emperor pointed at the Prince of Yan and shouted.

"Treason?"

Upon hearing this, Prince Yan laughed loudly, and stopped laughing after a while. He sneered, "I was forced to do this by you. How can that rubbish Prince Yong compare to me? You actually chose him. With his temper, will he let me go when he becomes the emperor in the future? I did this just to protect myself!"

"There is only one throne. If you are not willing to accept it, will you be willing to accept it if I give it to you as Prince Yong? I am eliminating your power to protect you." The emperor said angrily.

"What a joke! You want to reduce my power just because you are afraid that I will rebel." Prince Yan sneered.

"Do you think you can rebel with that little power you have? Even if I don't touch them, how many of them dare to rebel with you? If I do this, you will no longer be a threat. How could King Yong attack you? If you come to your senses now, I will forgive you for the past!" said the emperor.

"Do you believe this?" Prince Yan sneered, "But I have to thank you too. If you hadn't cared about the Rong family's affairs, I wouldn't have had the chance to take a chance."

Things have come to this point, where advancing means life and retreating means death. He has no way out.

As for the government's words about letting bygones be bygones, he didn't believe it at all.

Even if the emperor could really spare his life, Prince Yong would not let him go.

"It is indeed the Rong family." Upon hearing this, the official's face showed a decadent look.

When he knew that Prince Yan was rebelling, he guessed that it was the Rong family, but after it was actually confirmed, he still found it difficult to accept.

He thought that he had been good to the Rong family and apart from the incident with Rong Feiyan, he did not owe the Rong family anything.

"Stop talking nonsense. As long as you write the abdication edict, I will still recognize you as my father to the outside world. Anyway, I am not your son. I am also a descendant of the Zhao family. The throne will be given to me, right?" Prince Yan shouted.

"impossible!"

The emperor glared at the King of Yan and said firmly, "You can either kill the king directly or ask me to write a decree to pass on the throne to you. That's impossible! If I hand over the world to a traitor, how can I face my ancestors in the future?"

"You really won't write it?" Prince Yan said with murderous intent in his eyes.

The official looked at him without giving in and said nothing.

"Good, very good!" Prince Yan sneered, stabbed a trembling eunuch to death with a knife, and said cruelly: "Don't you call yourself a benevolent king? Normally, you are reluctant to punish the palace maids and eunuchs for their mistakes. If you don't write it, I will kill all of them."

Upon hearing this, the official closed his eyes in pain but said nothing.

When Prince Yan saw this, he became furious and had the urge to kill the emperor directly. Fortunately, he still had some rationality and did not take action.

"Keep a close watch!"

Prince Yan glanced at the emperor, dropped the knife in his hand, turned around and walked out.

All the way to the Funing Palace where the queen lived in the harem, I heard a woman's scream from afar.

When I entered the hall, I saw several soldiers attacking a woman. Concubine Rong was sitting in the queen's seat, watching this scene with hatred.

"Why not just kill him directly?" Prince Yan frowned.

"It would be too easy to kill her directly. I want her to taste all the humiliation my sister has suffered." Rong Fei said gritting her teeth.

Prince Yan was too lazy to care about these things and asked, "Where is Xian'er?"

"The prince is in the side hall, forcing the noble ladies to write letters to persuade their husbands." Rong Fei asked, "Has the emperor agreed to write an edict to pass on the throne?"

Prince Yan shook his head with an unpleasant expression and said, "I killed a eunuch in front of him, but he was unwilling to write."

Rong Fei frowned and said, "This is difficult. There are still 200,000 soldiers and horses in the western suburbs camp outside the city. If it takes too long, it will be troublesome if something unexpected happens. We only have this few imperial guards, and we can't block the news at all."

"I know. I plan to kill the queen and his concubines, including the people around him, one by one in front of him. I don't believe he won't write it." Prince Yan said cruelly.

"No, the emperor is in poor health. What if he gets angry to death and we don't get the imperial edict?" Rong Fei said.

"So what do you think we should do now?" asked King Yan.

"Let's do as you said just now, but don't kill them first. Just scare them. Some of those concubines are afraid of death, so they will naturally beg the emperor for help. Maybe the emperor will agree." Rong Fei said.

"No, this will take too long." Prince Yan shook his head.

He did not launch a mutiny, but a coup. He wanted to cut the Gordian knot quickly. If it was delayed for too long, who knew what would happen.

"Your Highness, why are you in such a hurry? Just listen to me first. In order to legally inherit the throne, in addition to the emperor writing the decree of succession in person, it can be feasible if several husbands are willing to prove it without the emperor's personal signature. Your Highness can go and meet those husbands first. Their wives are in your hands now, and they are not childless like the emperor. Most of their families are in Bian Jing." Rong Fei said.

Prince Yan's eyes lit up and he said, "How could I not have thought of this? I didn't expect that Concubine Rong is not only beautiful, but also so smart."

(End of this chapter)