Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 437 Calm down
There were shouts of killing in the palace, but it was eerily quiet inside the Wende Hall.

Prince Yan pulled the sword out of a concubine's corpse and asked with a ferocious look, "Will you write it or not?"

The official squinted his eyes but said nothing.

Upon seeing this, Prince Yan grabbed a woman at random and stabbed her with his sword amid the screams of the crowd.

The sharp sword pierced his body and blood splashed onto Prince Yan's face, making his already ferocious face even more terrifying.

The palace maids and concubines huddled together and trembled.

"Write it or not?" King Yan shouted.

After he took control of the palace, he wanted to force the emperor to write an edict of succession, but the emperor would rather die than surrender.

Later, at the suggestion of Concubine Rong, she went to force the husbands who were under house arrest to surrender.

However, those people's attitude was more resolute than the emperor's. Not only did they refuse to agree, but they also cursed at people. Although they did not use a single dirty word, it made Prince Yan furious and he killed two people on the spot.

Even so, no one gave in.

None of those who can become prime ministers are stupid. Prince Yan came to force them, and it was obvious that the government was not willing to compromise.

Now they don’t know what’s going on outside. If they really dare to agree, and if Prince Yan fails, they will not only die, but also be ruined.

If you don't write, you may lose your life, but you can win fame.

Everyone can do the math on this.

Even though the King of Yan killed the King of Yong in front of them, they did not compromise.

Although King Yan was extremely angry, he was still somewhat rational.

It was impossible for him to kill all these people. Even if he got the imperial edict, it would take a lot of time for him to control the situation.

Just then, someone suddenly came to report that a eunuch had escaped from the palace.

As soon as Prince Yan heard it, he knew that the emperor must have sent troops to get reinforcements. He returned to Wende Hall with murderous intent and forced the palace maids and eunuchs in the hall to reveal that the emperor had written a blood edict, appointing Zhao Zongquan of Yuzhou as the crown prince and ordering him to quell the rebellion.

After learning the news, Prince Yan was so angry that he almost killed the emperor.

He is the emperor's nephew, and the emperor Ningyuan gave the throne to the people of Taizu's lineage instead of giving it to him. How could he bear it?

The incident of the blood edict also left Prince Yan with no time to force the emperor to write an edict, so he hurriedly arranged for people to take control of the city of Bianjing.

When the pursuers came back to report that the people had been rescued, King Yan was so angry that he killed the few people who came back alive.

After venting his anger, Prince Yan did not send anyone to continue the pursuit. So much time had passed, let alone whether he could catch up. He now had limited troops and the most important thing was to get the edict of succession.

As long as he could get the edict of succession, even if Zhao Zongquan got the blood edict, he could say that the blood edict was fake.

This time, Prince Yan was very ruthless. He killed several palace maids in succession and told the emperor not to have any illusions. He had already sent people to Yuzhou to assassinate Zhao Zongquan before he took action.

Even if the blood edict was sent out, Zhao Zongquan was already dead, so who could obey it?
The official closed his eyes and said nothing, as if he had not heard anything.

Rong Fei then volunteered to persuade the emperor, but the emperor remained unmoved.

Just then, someone reported that the troops from the western suburbs camp were attacking the city.

King Yan hurriedly arranged for reinforcements, but the city was breached before the reinforcements arrived.

Zhao Zongquan was also cautious and did not reveal his identity from beginning to end, so Prince Yan did not know that it was Zhao Zongquan who obtained the blood edict to mobilize the troops.

I just thought that the soldiers in the western suburbs camp noticed the situation in Bianjing and took the initiative to send troops.

Although it was a little unreasonable, he didn't have time to think about it at this moment.

After hastily arranging the defense of the inner city, he returned to the palace.

He didn't have time for Rong Fei to persuade him slowly, as he had to get the imperial edict before the troops from the western suburbs camp entered the palace.

Only in this way can the troops in the western suburbs camp withdraw.

Prince Yan became furious and attacked the concubine directly.

However, he killed more than a dozen concubines, and the rest begged desperately, but the emperor remained unmoved.

Prince Yan sneered and turned his gaze to the Queen.

Just as he was about to take action, Zhao Xian ran in with a panicked look.

"Father, this is bad. The soldiers from the Western Suburbs Camp have already reached the Central Palace and will soon reach the Wende Hall. Let's run away!"

"Where can we escape to? Where in the world is there a place for us father and son to stay?"

King Yan shouted and looked at the official. He took a few steps forward, grabbed the official and walked out.

After leaving the palace, Prince Yan saw a crowd standing in the square outside the Wende Palace. He had only a few hundred soldiers who were struggling to resist, and it would not be long before they were all wiped out.

The King of Yan immediately shouted: "I have the emperor in my hands, who dares to act rashly!"

The two sides that were fighting stopped one after another, and King Yan's men quickly retreated.

"call out"

At this moment, an arrow shot from nowhere and pierced through Prince Yan's neck.

"Uh…"

Prince Yan had a look of unwillingness on his face, his eyes went dark, he lost his voice, let go of the emperor's hand, and fell down.

"The leader of the bandits is dead, surrender and you'll be spared!"

Everyone was stunned by this scene. Gu Tingye dropped the bow in his hand and shouted.

"Hurry up and save the official family!"

Zhao Zongquan came to his senses, shouted loudly, and rushed forward.

Li An, with blood all over his face, dropped the bow in his hand.

He was already prepared, ready to shoot Prince Yan and save the Guan family.

After all, this is no small achievement.

However, Prince Yan was not stupid. He blocked the emperor in front of him, leaving not much space exposed. Li An was not very confident and was a little hesitant.

If this arrow were to hit an official, it would be regicide.

I didn't expect Gu Tingye to be so decisive and not hesitate at all.

Zhao Zongquan came to the emperor and found that he had fainted. He hurriedly carried him to the Wende Hall.

……

Prince Yan was dead, and the remaining rebels were quickly wiped out.

The officials who were under house arrest were also rescued and brought to the Wende Hall.

Although all the bodies had been cleared away in the Wende Hall, a strong smell of blood still lingered in the hall.

Under the acupuncture of the imperial physician, the emperor finally woke up.

"Your Majesty, I, Zhao Zongquan, am late in coming to your rescue. I hope you will forgive me!"

When Zhao Zongquan and his son saw the emperor waking up, they hurried forward and knelt on one knee.

The emperor looked at Zhao Zongquan, then at everyone in the hall, and asked, "Why did you come so quickly?"

Zhao Zongquan quickly told the story of how he had been assassinated and later speculated that it was Prince Yan who did it, and why he had come to Bian Jing to report it.

Nothing was concealed, including how he met Li An, who was escorting a palace maid carrying the blood edict.

Of course, he couldn't possibly say that he hesitated for a long time at the beginning and only obeyed the order when he knew there was no way out.

Upon hearing this, the emperor sighed and said, "This is God's will. Prince Yan is plotting a rebellion. If that child hadn't run into you when leaving the city, the queen and I would have been in great danger." The emperor had someone deliver a blood edict to Zhao Zongquan. He had no other choice.

In fact, he did not think that Zhao Zongquan could put down the rebellion. After all, although Yuzhou was close to Bianjing, it was still several hundred miles away, and it would take several days to go back and forth.

He didn't even think that the palace maid could leave the city alive. The reason why he had to send out the blood edict was to let the people of the world know that Prince Yan was plotting treason and leave a hidden danger for Prince Yan.

Even if Prince Yan ascended the throne without an imperial edict, royal families all over the world would still fight against him.

However, Zhao Zongquan came to Bian Jing early because of the assassination of Prince Yan, and happened to meet the palace maid who delivered the blood edict.

Moreover, Zhao Zongquan was a descendant of Taizu. According to the rule set by Taizu and Taizong that the younger brother would inherit the throne, and the nephew would inherit the throne, the throne should have been inherited by Taizu's lineage during the previous emperor's time.

The official, who originally did not believe in God's will, now felt that all this was God's will.

When the emperor was forced out of the palace by Prince Yan, he was sober. At that time, he was even thinking about who would be the crown prince after he was rescued.

I thought of several candidates, but Zhao Zongquan was not one of them.

At this moment, he believed that all this was God's will, and he had already planned to pass the throne to Zhao Zongquan.

"This is what I should do." Zhao Zongquan said quickly.

The official smiled and looked at the people behind Zhao Zong, finally stopping at Gu Tingye.

"I remember you. When you were eight years old, you entered the palace and showed off your gun skills in front of me. After that, you asked me for a reward. Haha, I have never seen anyone so brave as to ask me for a reward. I was so happy that I rewarded you with a red tasseled gun." The official laughed.

"Your Majesty was able to recognize me at first sight when we met many years ago. I admire you! I was young and naive back then, but Your Majesty didn't hold it against me." Gu Tingye said with admiration.

The official smiled, looked at Li An, and asked, "Are you Li An Li Ziqian from the Hanlin Academy?"

"Your Majesty, I am Li An." Li An quickly saluted.

The emperor smiled and said, "I have an impression of you. The essays you wrote for the imperial examinations were all very good, and Hai Qing also praised you very much."

"I have little talent, Your Majesty, you are praising me too much," said Li An.

“Hehe…cough cough cough…”

Just as the official was about to speak, he suddenly started coughing violently.

"Your Majesty, the imperial physician said you need to rest. You should talk less and take a rest first." Empress Cao hurriedly stroked the emperor's back, saying with a worried look on her face.

"It doesn't matter. If I don't tell you now, I'm afraid I won't have the chance in the future."

The emperor comforted Empress Cao, turned around and saw that Gu Tingye's armor was a little damaged, and said, "Are you injured? Have you asked the imperial physician to check it?"

"Your Majesty, it's just some minor injuries, it's nothing serious." Gu Tingye seemed to be hesitant to speak after he finished speaking.

"You dared to ask for reward from me at the beginning, why do you become less courageous now that you grow up?" the emperor said with a smile.

Gu Tingye gritted his teeth and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is so kind. You are so concerned about this little injury on my body. I really don't understand why you ruined my future just because of one sentence."

"Zhonghuai, don't be rude in front of His Majesty!" Zhao Zongquan shouted hurriedly.

"It's okay." The emperor waved his hand, was silent for a while, and said, "I was indeed wrong in this matter."

"His Majesty."

When Empress Cao saw this, she wanted to stop it, but it has been rare for an emperor to admit his mistakes since ancient times. As for the emperors in history who issued edicts of repentance, it was only when they had no choice.

"It doesn't matter."

The emperor said nonchalantly, "I have read your article and I have some impression of it. The article quite clearly imitates the ambition of Fan Wenzhenggong. I ruined Yang Wuduan's career because of his drunken words, but I was too concerned about my reputation to admit my mistake. This matter has become a sore spot in my heart. When I heard that you were speaking up for Yang Wuduan, I was very angry, so I took away your fame and made you have to be fifty years old like him. But you came to save me without any grudges, so I should apologize to you."

In fact, the government has concealed a lot of things. Ever since the failure of the new policy and the death of his son, the government has cared very much about its reputation.

After Yang Wuduan failed the exam, he said that it would be better to indulge in love affairs.

If it was just talk, the government might not care, but Yang Wuduan wrote lyrics, and the lyrics he wrote were very good.

This is almost like saying that there was cheating in the imperial examination.

The earliest names of ci tunes were all from the Jiaofangsi, which simply meant they were used for singing.

Yang Wuduan's poems were very popular among the girls in brothels, and literati also liked to go to brothels.

It wasn't long before Yang Wuduan's poems spread throughout Bian Jing, and the emperor was naturally angry.

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. I am young and inexperienced, so I speak nonsense." Gu Tingye said hurriedly.

Gu Tingye had been complaining at this time, otherwise he would not have asked in person. But when the emperor said he was sorry, his complaints disappeared.

"I have answered your question. I hope that you can assist Zhao Zongquan and his son in the future to revitalize the government and defend the country." said the emperor.

Zhao Zongquan's eyes flashed with deep joy when he heard this. The emperor had been avoiding the topic and not mentioning the crown prince, which made him feel disappointed.

He felt that this was because the emperor did not intend to make him the crown prince according to the blood edict.

The meaning of what the emperor just said shows that he still acknowledges this matter.

"I will definitely die to repay the emperor's grace." Gu Tingye said in a deep voice.

The emperor nodded when he heard this, and looked at Zhao Zongquan and his son, saying, "Gu's Erlang and Li An are both talented people. You are where you are today thanks to their protection along the way. You must treat them well in the future. Even though our dynasty values ​​civil officials over military officials, no one can treat the Gu family unfairly."

"Yes!" Zhao Zongquan replied.

"What happened to the palace maid who delivered the blood edict?" asked the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the palace maid is fine and has been placed outside the city," said Zhao Zongquan.

The emperor nodded and said, "She risked her life to deliver the imperial edict to me, and I didn't promise her anything at that time."

Then he looked at Li An and Gu Tingye, and finally fixed his eyes on Li An and asked, "Have you ever married?"

Li An's heart skipped a beat and he said, "Your Majesty, I have already arranged a marriage, and the wedding will be next month."

He was not stupid. The emperor mentioned the little palace maid and asked him if he was married. The meaning was self-evident.

The emperor was a little disappointed when he heard this. He looked at Zhao Zongquan and said, "Give her the title of county lady and let her live a life of wealth and honor."

"Yes." Zhao Zongquan responded quickly.

"Okay, after talking about small talk for so long, it's time to get down to business."

The official said, "My Lord."

"I'm here!" Han Zhang stepped forward and said.

"My dear ministers, bear witness to the fact that the Prime Minister has written a decree appointing Zhao Zongquan as the crown prince!" said the emperor.

"I obey your order!" Han Zhang replied.

Soon, Han Zhang wrote down the edict to establish a crown prince under the dictation of the emperor and gave it to the emperor for his review.

After the emperor read it, he ordered the eunuch to bring the jade seal and stamp it.

After finishing all this, the official's face looked paler and paler, as if he was about to run out of energy.

"Your Majesty, please take a rest." said Queen Cao.

……

At the Sheng family, from the moment the city defense camp drove the people back home, Old Lady Sheng noticed something unusual.

Although she was a little worried about Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai, she was glad that Minglan did not enter the palace.

He quickly ordered people to close the doors and windows, and the family gathered in Shou'an Hall, all with worried looks on their faces.

Later, shouts and screams were heard from the city, which made the family even more worried.

It was not until late at night that Sheng Hong and Sheng Changbai, father and son, came back, and the family's anxious hearts were completely relieved.

(End of this chapter)