On the night of mid-March, the wind blew and warmed, but the civil and military officials, who were surrounded by the guards, felt chills on their bodies.

The emperor walked out of the east side hall, stood on the high steps and glanced down, and smiled: "The people are complete." ”

Indeed, the officials who participated in the ceremony just now were almost all circled back, and even lined up in two columns, the first one on the left was Yu Ge Lao, and the first one on the right was Shen Shu, one in a purple robe and one in a red suit, which was particularly conspicuous under the light of the torches held by the guards around them.

Elder Yu Ge still had a respectful look on his face, and even bowed: "Your Majesty." ”

"What do you mean?" The emperor looked around at the surrounding guards, "Yulin Wei and the left and right guards of the government army are here, doesn't seem right?" "Among the twelve guards, Yulin Wei accounts for two, and all of them have arrived, and the government military guards account for five, and the left and right two guards are actually only one-third of the twelve guards, but it is completely enough to surround the temple.

Yu Ge Lao smiled slightly: "Although Fang Qian was withdrawn, the emperor still firmly controls Jin Wuwei, Jinyi Wei and Hu Benwei, and the standard-bearer Wei Laochen is also not effective, and it is not easy to transfer these." ”

"So you chose to attack in the land of the Jongmyo Temple?" The emperor glanced in the direction of the harem. Jin Wuwei and Jinyi Wei Gongwei were forbidden, but now that they are in the harem, they are useless.

"Why is it difficult?" Yu Ge Lao said politely, "The ministers are just soldiers. ”

"Soldiers?" The Emperor burst out laughing, "Okay, tell me what you are admonishing?" ”

Yu Ge Lao said slowly: "The emperor is to kill the heroes and favor the servants." ”

"Servants? Hero? The emperor raised his eyebrows, "Who is the servant and who is the hero?" ”

Before Yu Ge Lao could speak, someone behind him already said with a little trembling voice: "Hero, naturally it is the Yu family......"

All the officials looked at the person who spoke in surprise, because they all understood that the first person to speak was actually Zhao Shangshu. This is the one who pinched his head with the Yu family last spring, is it a little too fast to see the wind turning the rudder at this time?

Even the emperor was a little unexpected, and asked with a somewhat strange expression: "What did Zhao Shangshu say?" ”

"The minister said, the minister said......" The sweat on Zhao Shangshu's forehead has come down, and his body is bowed like a shrimp, "The minister said that the Yu family is a hero." He also wanted to say that the emperor should not kill the heroes, but although he was ready to abandon his shame, his mouth was not too obedient, on the one hand, he was afraid, and on the other hand, he was not good at words, and after saying such a sentence, he couldn't find anything else.

But this was enough for the emperor to hear clearly, and he laughed out loud: "Hero, I didn't see it, I know who the servant is." That's it, why bother with these high-sounding words, Yu Ge Lao, just say it directly, what do you want me to do? ”

Yu Ge Lao glanced at Shen Shu from the corner of his eye, and saw that he straightened his waist, as if he was about to take a step forward, he couldn't help but sneer secretly in his heart, and said with a clean face: "The emperor has succeeded to the throne for more than ten years, and he has no size merit, and the state affairs rely on important ministers, and sometimes there are immoral acts——"

"You talk nonsense!" Among the officials who were forced back by the guards, someone finally couldn't help it, "Who said that the emperor doesn't have the skill of size?" Today's dedication, is it all fake? Such a great achievement, that is, the previous emperors of all dynasties are rare, what is this not a merit? ”

This person is an official of the Yushitai, and he doesn't talk much on weekdays when the party is powerful, but today he listens to Yu Ge Lao reversing black and white, if he presses it again, he really reads a belly of sage books in vain, so he turned his heart sideways and jumped out: "Saying that the emperor has lost his morality, where is he losing his morality?" But you are at home, and you have always controlled the government, and Shandong killed the good and risked the merits that year, isn't it you? ”

In this place, the Yushitai must be hired by honest and outspoken people, although there are indispensable people who are not worthy of the name and fish in troubled waters, and there are quite a few people who have to bow their heads under the influence of the party, but in the end there are still loyal and upright people, when it comes to the end, the blood is finally forced out, there is a leader, and there is a jump: "Not bad!" Not only Shandong, but also the invasion of Fuzhou City by the Japanese invaders, isn't it the Yu family's doing? ”

"Exactly! Yu Rui said that he was martyred, but in fact, it was your Yu family who killed him! You are afraid that the emperor will find out the truth, so you kill people and abandon your pawns to protect the car! also brazenly said what to be martyred, what kind of funeral, and what kind of coffin can only be used by a high-ranking person! In my opinion, he should be exposed to the public! ”

Yu Ge Lao listened coldly, until he heard the word "exposing the corpse", he waved his hand, and a guard drew his waist knife and stabbed it at the imperial history, and immediately blood splattered, arousing an exclamation.

The knife was too sudden and too sharp, and the officials around him involuntarily took a step back, some of them had weak legs, and some of them were even wet with their pants.

Yu Ge Lao didn't even look at the blood spreading on the ground, and continued with half-hanging eyelids: "The emperor is immoral, it is no longer appropriate to respect the throne according to this, if you make an edict, you will inevitably lose the emperor's face." For the sake of today's plan, only His Majesty's abdication and resignation is the best of both worlds. ”

"Abdicate and make way for Xian?" The emperor raised an eyebrow, "It's not difficult for me to abdicate, but to whom will this virtuous be given to?" ”

Immediately, someone set their eyes on Shen Shu. The death of Princess Anjun, many people have doubts, but they don't dare to investigate it in detail. However, seeing Shen Shu standing here at this moment, who couldn't guess what was going on? Even the imperial history who spoke just now muttered a little in his heart - no matter what, the king snatching the wife of a minister cannot indeed be regarded as a virtuous act.

However, after the emperor ascended the throne, apart from this incident, there was nothing wrong with it, and even if Shen Shu had the hatred of taking his wife, now supporting the army and rebelling is also a crime, not to mention that he is cooperating with the Yu family......

Therefore, Yu Shi, who was the first to speak just now, immediately said: "King Anjun, this is a rebellion!" The prince has to think clearly - the Marquis of Dingbei has been loyal for several generations, could it be that he has to be a rebel in this dynasty? ”

At this moment, someone was lying on the ground, and there was a guard with a horizontal knife beside him, this imperial history dared to open his mouth, and even Yu Ge Lao looked at him more: "Ying Yushi is so bold." "This person usually doesn't feel anything, but he didn't expect to be so tough at this time.

The emperor sighed softly: "When the time is in danger, see the ministers...... He moved his gaze to Shen Shu: "King Anjun, what do you say?" ”

Before Shen Shu could speak, Yu Ge Lao smiled first: "The Marquis of Dingbei has been loyal for several generations, how can the King of Anjun rebel?" ”

As soon as he said this, all the officials were a little confused, and Shen Shu raised his eyebrows: "What does Yu Ge Lao mean by this?" ”

Yu Ge Lao took a step back, and several guards rushed up, and the waist knife was unsheathed, surrounding Shen Shu in the middle.

"Yu Ge Lao!" Shen Shu came to participate in the sacrifice today, and he didn't have a sword or other weapon on his body, and he was pointed at by several guards with knives, and he couldn't help but change his face, "You want to go back on your word!" ”

Yu Ge Lao smiled slightly: "The old minister just wants to protect the reputation of the Dingbei Marquis Mansion and the prince." "Hold Shen on top? I'm afraid that in a few years, he will be an emperor again, and he will still be liquidated in the family. Even if he doesn't liquidate, the Yu family doesn't want to be as honorable as before, if so, he will have no shame to go underground to see the ancestors of the Yu family when he dies, let alone those children who were sacrificed for the sake of the Yu family.

The emperor has been standing on the top of the steps, looking down coldly, and only then did he touch his chin and said: "It turns out that I don't want the king of Gong'an County to ascend the throne, that is, I want to give way to the young emperor?" ”

Yu Ge Lao smiled: "Exactly." The queen mother already has a son in her womb, and she will be born in the future to inherit the unification. Until then, for the time being, the Queen Mother and the Empress - oh no, after the emperor abdicates, it will be the Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother - who will temporarily regent the government. ”

This sentence was like cold water poured into a pot of oil, and even some officials who didn't dare to speak up just now were about to explode: "The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, how can the queen mother and the queen be regent?" "The queen mother is just that, the queen's head is like an elm pimple, let her be regent, I'm afraid the country will die in a few years, right? What's more-

"Is the queen really pregnant?" Finally, someone dared to ask, "If the emperor abdicates, there is still the eldest son of the emperor in the palace, and the queen's mother has not yet known whether it is a man or a woman in the womb, how can it be concluded that she will inherit the unification in the future?" "What's more, whether the queen has goods in her stomach or not, it's a matter of two words.

Ying Yushi laughed out loud: "What queen is pregnant!" The queen is clearly not pregnant! It's your Yu family who wants to confuse the royal bloodline, Li Daitao is stiff, right? is obviously doing Wang Mang's deeds, but he wants to use the banner of Zhou Gong, which is shameless! ”

Yu Ge Lao's conspiracy is simply naked, but it is not easy for someone like Ying Yushi to have the courage to speak out. Even the old man of Yu Ge was so thick-skinned, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, and was about to signal the Praetorian Guards to cut down even Ying Yushi, when he heard the emperor on the top of the steps and asked, "In this way, you don't even let go of Brother Hui?" ”

Yu Ge Lao Zhengse said: "The son of a concubine, how can he be a big responsibility." ”

"That's the emperor's blood!" Ying Yushi jumped up and yelled, "The queen has brutalized the emperor's heir for more than ten years, and now your Yu family is going to publicly kill the prince, this is not a rebellion!" ”

"That's right!" One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and many officials couldn't help but stir up, and even some officials in the party were a little discolored, looking at each other and hesitating.

Of course, they have always looked forward to Yu Ge Lao's horse head, and Yu Ge Lao wants to push the king of Anjun to the throne, and they have no opinion. But now Yu Ge Lao wants to replace the Shen family with the Yu family's bloodline, which is tantamount to stealing the day and changing the dynasty, and they are a little difficult to accept.

"Elder Ge, this, this is not appropriate......" Lu Shilang has become a marginal figure in the party since the first amnesty was proposed that year, and his official position has stopped in the position of Shilang.

Yu Ge Lao glanced at him lightly: "How is it wrong?" ”

With his words, the Yulin guards on both sides took a step forward, and half of the waist knife was unsheathed at the same time, shining a miserable white light in the firelight, illuminating the faces of the officials as white as this knife.

Lu Shilang's face turned even paler, and he paused for a moment before saying: "Ge Lao, the eldest son of the emperor is indeed the blood of the emperor, even if the mother gives birth to a son-in-law in the future, the eldest son of the emperor is also his brother......

"Exactly!" There were also people in the military generals who couldn't help it, "You don't even let go of a child a few years old, it's really shameless!" ”

The generals were actually more temperamental, and they broke out at this time, and a few people who had really seen blood in the battle array jumped out directly: "If you have a kind, kill all the old sons now, otherwise don't think about moving a finger of the emperor's eldest son!" ”

Yu Ge Lao looked at it coldly, and only then did he smile: "Everyone, those who agree with this official, come this way." As he spoke, he took a few steps to the left, and the guards immediately moved out of the way, allowing him to walk out of the encirclement.

The rest of the people looked at each other, except for a few who immediately followed Yu Ge Lao out, and everyone else was a little hesitant, but Zhao Shangshu took a trembling step and followed behind Yu Ge Lao.

"See the wind and rudder, shameless villain!" Ying Yushi spat on the ground, "How did the heavens create a villain like you!" ”

The rest of the imperial history also scolded. However, the bright knife was horizontal next to it, and the bloody corpse was horizontal on the ground, not everyone had the determination to respond to the imperial history, after Zhao Shangshu walked out, dozens of people followed out one after another, and the number of people in the circle and outside the circle was almost the same.

Lu Shilang stood in the circle, looking left and right, his feet were raised and lowered several times, and finally he sighed and stood in place.

Yu Ge Lao looked at the people who came out with him, and his face was satisfied. After all, he was confusing the Shen family's bloodline, and it was already excellent to have half of the people who were younger follow him: "Everyone-"

He was about to win over one last time—if he could kill one less official, the follow-up would be simpler—the emperor on the steps suddenly sighed: "That's it, I can't wait." ”

With the emperor's words, Shen Shu suddenly threw his hand into the sky, and with a sharp whistle, something jumped into the sky and exploded with a bang.

Yu Ge Lao's face changed: "Kill it-"

Before the last word "he" was finished, Shen Shuyi bent down and pulled out a dagger from his boots, his waist was not straightened, but he only picked up with his backhand, and one of the guards closest to him screamed, and the waist knife in his right hand fell to the ground. Shen Shu scooped up the waist knife with his other hand, and turned around, and before the four guards who surrounded him just now could fully react, he felt a chill in his abdomen, and then blood gushed out and fell backwards.

This series of actions came up and down, and when the forbidden troops around them came to their senses, several generals who reacted quickly had already snatched the knives of those people from the ground and picked them up.

The twelve guards in the palace are naturally well-trained, and they are proficient in bows, horses, swords and guns, but after all, they are only guarding the palace forbidden, and they have not really gone through the battle formation, so when it comes to the real swords and real guns, the reaction is far less fast than these generals who have seen blood, and they are actually in a hurry for a while.

Yu Ge's face turned pale, and he shouted loudly: "All go up, take them-"

This time he still couldn't finish his sentence, because the sudden sound of trombone drowned out his voice completely. At this time, it was already dark, and all the officials were enclosed in the square in front of the temple, and the whole square was illuminated by the torches in the hands of Yu Linwei and the left and right guards of the government army, but it was dark again.

However, at this moment, in the surrounding darkness, there were torches lit up again, and from the shadows, figures appeared silently. When the guards appeared just now, they walked neatly, and their swords were ringing, so they were not imposing, but these people came out without making a sound, and the torches were not very bright, they were like ghosts, which made people furry when they looked at their backs.

Yu Ge Lao's face was no longer iron-blue, but pale: "What, what kind of person!" ”

As if in response to him, a tall figure came out in the dark: "Chen Yin Chongyan is late to save the driver, please forgive your majesty!" He still walked a little neatly, obviously his injuries had not yet healed, but his voice was loud, how could he have the appearance of being seriously ill and dying in the northwest?

The emperor stood on the steps with his hands in his hands, smiling lightly: "The Marquis of Dingbei came at the right time, not too late!" ”

The Marquis of Dingbei bowed, then turned around and shouted: "By the emperor's secret order, kill the traitor!" ”

In the darkness, a uniform voice of applause sounded: "Kill the traitor!" There was a sound of bowstrings, and where the torches could shine, a circle of sharp arrows could already be seen, and the tips reflected the torches, flashing a cold star.

All the guards stood and did not dare to move. They are not wearing heavy armor, for the Northwest Army's hard bows and arrows, they can't resist at this distance, and they stand so close and so together, they are simply live targets, the Northwest Army can't aim, just a row of arrows can fall down.

That's right, by this time, if anyone hasn't seen that these people are the Northwest Army, they are really too blind to say. Of course, Elder Yu Ge is not a blind man, and even he is brighter than ordinary people, and he has completely figured it out at this time: "King Anjun, you-"

"What's wrong with this king?" Shen Shu turned the knife and dagger in his left and right hands at the same time, and asked with a smile.

Yu Ge Lao only felt that his chest was clogged. He really wanted to say that Shen Shu was deceiving him at all, but he himself had also been deceiving Shen Shu, so what was there to say? After holding back for a long time, he only held back one sentence: "Princess Anjun-" Could it be that the emperor took his wife, can he not take it seriously? He didn't believe it, the emperor had been interested in the Jiang family for several years, and now that the Jiang family was in the palace, the emperor really hadn't been contaminated in the slightest? Even if the emperor and the Jiang clan were really innocent, wouldn't Shen Shu be suspicious?

But he didn't have a chance to say these words, because as soon as he said four words, Zhao Shangshu, who had been standing behind him, suddenly pounced, strangled his neck, and said loudly to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the ministers are the pretending thieves-"

However, when the elder said the words "Princess Anjun", Shen Shu had already rushed out in one step, snatched the bow and arrow in the hand of a soldier of the Northwest Army closest to him, and shot it out with one arrow.

This arrow was extremely powerful, Yu Ge Lao was strangled by Zhao Shangshu's neck, his head involuntarily tilted back, this arrow shot into his throat, penetrated out from the back of his neck, and shot into Zhao Shangshu's neck before he could finish his strength.

Zhao Shangshu did not have a weapon in his hand, in order to subdue Yu Ge Lao to show his loyalty to the emperor, he really worked hard, so that the whole person was close to Yu Ge Lao, and there was not even a little gap in the middle, so the arrow just came out of the back of Ge Lao's neck, and entered his throat, although he did not shoot through him, but also inserted most of it, so the two were like two birds strung on an arrow, fluttering a few times in mid-air, clinging to the ground slowly.

The Queen Mother has been standing within the threshold of the temple with the help of two palace people, and when she came out of Dingbei Hou, she felt tightness in her chest and was anxious, and her temples on both sides were about to explode, and now Yu Ge Lao was suddenly shot by Shen Shu, and the Queen Mother only felt that her head was buzzing, and her whole body seemed to be stiff, and she collapsed down without obeying the call. The two palace people were also stunned, and when they reacted, the Queen Mother had already fallen to the ground, her eyes were still staring, but her face was already stiff, and a string of saliva slowly flowed out of the corners of her mouth.

Yu Ge Lao and Zhao Shangshu both fell, it was just a matter of lightning, many people have not yet reacted, and even the Queen Mother has fallen. Dingbei Hou raised the long knife in his hand and said sharply: "Reverse the head and ambush you, you still have to resist stubbornly!" ”

As soon as he roared like this, the stunned guards trembled, most of them subconsciously threw away the swords in their hands, and all of them knelt down, only a few of Yu's dead friends were still standing and didn't know what to do. Dingbei Hou pressed the long knife down without saying a word, and the Northwest Army shot out a round of arrows, and the screams rang out, and there were no more guards standing.

At this moment, the officials who followed Yu Ge Lao out of the circle just now were already frightened. At this time, no one can see that Yu Ge Lao thinks that he is a praying mantis catching cicadas, but in fact, the emperor's cicada is the yellow finch behind it! Now that the emperor has mastered the overall situation, they are all finished.

For a while, a strange smell permeated the square, and the pants of at least a dozen officials were wet, and the warm night breeze blew, spreading this strange smell mixed with blood and shame, making the surrounding Northwest Army all laugh with contempt.

"Your Majesty-" Ying Yushi was already ready to die, who knew that the peak would turn around, and everything would fall in an instant, he was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help shouting, "Your Majesty is wise!" ”

"Your Majesty is wise!" The voices of the aftermath of the catastrophe followed one after another, and the arrows of the Northwest Army were still on the strings, and they also chanted, and for a while, the front of the temple resounded.

Only Shen Shu shouted first, and then hurriedly stepped forward: "Your Majesty, what about the Empress?" ”

"In the harem!" The emperor's face also gloomy, "I have already arranged for people to transfer them from the dark passage as soon as they move here." It's just that the queen may be faster than I thought, and I don't know what happened now. You're going to bring someone—"

Before the emperor finished speaking, Shen Shu had already turned around and strode in the direction of the harem, and at the same time, with a whistle, more than three hundred Northwest Army troops lined up and followed him, and disappeared into the darkness in an instant.

"You are a blessed man......" The emperor looked at the heavy night and whispered to himself, his eyes seemed to be a little stunned. However, he immediately shook his spirits, and turned back to look at the officials under the steps: "Zhang Yushi resisted adversity and died, which is really loyal, and the Ministry of Rites will immediately posthumously seal it." Those who are rebellious will be taken into custody first, and the criminal department of Dali Temple will be tried carefully, so that no one can slip through the net! ”