After Zong Ai finished speaking, he saw that Wandu returned for a long time and did not say anything, and he was a little anxious in his heart, "General, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if you miss this village, there will be no such shop!" ”

Wan Dugui finally spoke: "Just you and me?" The strength is too thin, isn't it? ”

Zong Ai said with a smile: "Naturally, there are not only you and me, our family has people inside and outside the palace, there are also many allies among the courtiers, and there are also border town generals and feudal officials in various places to support, as long as the general agrees to cooperate with the right guard and the Xiao cavalry army, the clan and the court ministers will deal with it by our family!" ”

"Some people want to be officials, let's promote them; Some people want knighthoods, and we give them knighthoods; Some people want money, we give them money, it's just to give away some benefits, as long as the overall situation is in our hands, what is this little profit? ”

Wan Dugui weighed for a long time and said, "Who have you contacted?" ”

Zong Ai said: "If the general agrees, our family will naturally tell the general about the people who have joined, and it will be convenient for everyone to cooperate and take care of each other at that time."

Wan Dugui was a little hesitant and said: "Although the emperor has died, we still don't know the follow-up development of Liaodong, and we don't know if the emperor has left an edict ······."

"General, do you think that under such circumstances, the first emperor has a chance to make an edict? The ministers of the army are all dead, and we don't know the follow-up development of the matter, but we dare to assert that it is definitely not optimistic. Now only we know the news and have the first opportunity, once the news is known to the various forces in the DPRK and China, what advantage do we have? ”

"General, our family will tell you a heart-wrenching word, you and I are both Han, the general should understand the situation of the Han people in the court, and the Xianbei people have never regarded us as their own family. Now that the court has no owner, the throne is vacant, and once the forces of all parties in Pingcheng get the news, it will inevitably set off a bloody storm, and when the time comes, it is not that you can be safe and sound if you want to protect yourself, and the general does not know the truth that 'people sit at home, and disaster comes from heaven'? Rather than waiting for others to come and make trouble to decide your future and life or death, it is better for us to make our own decisions, what does the general think? ”

Wandu Gui is not very old, but he has already experienced three dynasties, where does he not understand that during the change of power, no one in the court can really stay out of the matter, as the so-called son of heaven and a courtier, he is now the general of the Left Guard, even if he does not have any action, as long as someone wants to be the emperor, it is impossible to ignore his existence, he will become the object of competition or calculation and killing by all parties.

"Okay, this is going to be done!" Wan Du Gui finally ordered to make a statement, "What are your plans?" ”

Seeing that Wandu agreed, Zong Ai immediately told him his plan.

The two discussed for a long time before Zong Ai said goodbye and left.

Subsequently, Zong Ai entered the palace overnight, according to the rules of the palace, once the palace door is closed, it cannot be opened casually, but who is Zong Ai? How could this little thing be so difficult for him?

After entering the palace, Zong Ai instructed Jia Zhou as he walked: "Send someone to call Buliu Guli to see our family!" ”

"Yes!" Jia Zhou agreed, and nodded to a small eunuch behind him.

A few years ago, Tuoba Jian returned from the Mobei campaign and Tuoba Pi to compete for the throne, Bu Liu Guli's father Bu Liu Gu Li was beheaded by the captain in the battle of Wuzhou Pass, Bu Liu Gu Li was only eighteen years old at that time, Tuoba Jian in order to appease the heroes after he was promoted, but he always lost his father this backer, quite excluded by his colleagues, life was very difficult, he went to Zong Ai in a rage, the eunuch who was quite trusted by the emperor at that time.

With Zong Ai's care, Buliu Guli's life is very good, Zong Ai has repeatedly recommended him to the emperor, let him be the general of the palace guard, and now he is the official residence of the general.

Although the general of Saburo is only a general, it is the general who commands the emperor's left and right attendants and military attachés, and its weight is not comparable to that of ordinary generals.

Zong Ai returned to his residence in the palace, and only then did he drink a sip of tea sent by the little eunuch, and Buliu Guli walked in with his whole body draped and hugged his fists and said, "The last general will meet the eunuch, I don't know what the eunuch has to call the last general to come late at night?" ”

Zong Ai said: "Yili (Buliu Guli's word), the opportunity to take power belongs to me has come!" ”

Bu Liuguli was stunned, "What does the eunuch mean by this?" Why can't the last general understand? ”

Zong Ai immediately told the news that the emperor died under the Dragon City on the way to conquer Yan Kingdom, and said to Bu Liuguli after speaking: "Now only we know the news, we must hurry up and set up a new emperor in order to control the right to speak in the next court, if we let others take the lead, I am afraid that it will be a disaster for you and me!" ”

Although Bu Liu Guli was young, he was a decisive person, and he immediately clenched his fists and said: "Yili is all about the head of the eunuch!" ”

"Very good!" Zong Ai was in a happy mood, he immediately said to Buliu Guli: "Later, our family will go to see Concubine Yi and discuss with her to support the prince Ren to ascend the throne as the emperor, Ren is her son, she must be willing, but what a big deal to canonize the new emperor, the prince is young, his uncles will definitely covet the throne, and there will definitely be opposition from the clan, especially the inner capital will Yanpu has been not in harmony with our family, and he will definitely ······oppose it when the time comes."

The inner capital general is the direct boss of the San Lang general, and his subordinates in addition to the San Lang general also have the fine shooting general, and the thin shooting general leads the inner fine shooting, all of which are filled by the brave and healthy horsemen among the Xianbei noble children.

Bu Liuguli's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he clenched his fists and said, "Don't worry, the eunuch will know what to do when the time comes!" ”

"Okay, you go back and secretly contact the subordinate generals first, and wait for our family's instructions!"

"Yes, the last general will retire!" Buliu Guli hugged her fists and agreed and stepped back.

Zong Ai got up and squinted his eyes, thinking about his plan in his mind, his expression was firm, and he instructed Jia Zhou: "Go, let's go and meet the Empress Dowager Bao!" ”

"Yes!" Jia Zhou agreed, and let the two little eunuchs lead the way in front.

Empress Dowager Dou, is the nurse of Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao, Emperor Taiwu was born and died of his biological mother Du, and later Emperor Ming Yuan let Dou Shi, who was only a palace maid at the time, be his nurse, after Emperor Taiwu ascended the throne, he thanked her for the grace of raising her as the Empress Dowager, after Tuoba Tao's death, she still had a high status in the palace, Tuoba Jian's mother Mrs. Yin also died when he was twelve years old, but he did not have a nursing mother, so he continued to respect Dou as the Empress Dowager like Tuoba Tao.

Zong Ai soon came to the palace where the Dou family lived, and after being informed by the palace maid, he waited for a cup of tea and was received by the Dou family.

"The slave maid sect loves to meet the queen mother!" Zong Ai gave a big gift to the Dou family.

Empress Dowager Dou is in her forties, she has lived in the palace for more than 20 years, she is well maintained, about the same as her thirties, she has been married before entering the palace, she is a woman, she was charged into the palace as a maid because of her husband's crime, and two daughters entered the palace with her as a maid.

Dou raised his hand with a smile: "Why did the Sect Eunuch come to see the mourning family late at night today?" Is it important? ”

Zong Ai looked around, arched his hand and said: "The slave has something important to report to the Queen Mother, and please ask the Queen Mother to retreat!" ”

Dou pondered and waved his hand to the palace maids who served, and the palace maids retreated in turn after making a blessing salute.

Seeing that there were only him and the Dou clan in the palace, Zong Ai leaned up and whispered: "Queen Mother, the slave maid got the top-secret news that His Majesty encountered the general Zhu Xiuzhi in Liaodong and died!" ”

"What?" Dou's expression changed dramatically, and his body trembled involuntarily.

"Shh-" Zong Ai hurriedly covered Dou's mouth, "The Queen Mother must not panic, this matter is now only known to our family and a limited number of people, if it spreads, I am afraid that the court will be disrupted in an instant!" ”

After half a ring, Dou finally came back to his senses, "News······ Is it true? ”

"It's absolutely true, it's been more than ten days since this happened, but the news has been blocked by Zhao Junsheng, the assassin of Youzhou, but everyone who sent the news to Pingcheng was intercepted, but only someone was sent to notify the slave maid, because I was worried that once the news came, it would inevitably cause internal chaos and attacks from the outside!"

Dou's gaze focused on Zong Ai's face from a scattered state, "You came to tell the mourning family about this, do you want to plan before the news comes and immediately appoint a new emperor?" ”

"Yes!" Zong Ai arched his hand, "The slave maid thinks so, and the Queen Mother will summon the ministers to the palace to discuss the matter, announce the news of His Majesty's death, and then canonize the new emperor to the throne!" ”

Dou's eyes flashed, "Who do you mean to succeed to the throne?" Is it the King of Le'an, the King of Jianning, and the King of Xinxing? Or is it the four-year-old Huang Ziren? ”

"Queen Mother, if any of the three brothers, King Le'an, King Jianning and King Xinxing, succeed to the throne, will they listen to the Queen Mother? At that time, they are afraid that they will not allow the Queen Mother to meddle in the affairs of the court, right? But if the Queen Mother works hard to support an emperor, and in the end you can't even speak, why bother? ”

These words made Dou's expression change constantly, she was originally a woman with a kind personality, if she hadn't been Tuoba Tao's nurse at the beginning, she wouldn't have raised and taught him as her own son, but the life in the palace over the years made her understand a truth, if a woman can't speak in the palace and has no power, she will only fall victim to the power struggle.

After a long time, Dou Shi figured it out, she did not seek power to lean towards the government and the opposition, but at least she had to ensure that she had enough say in the palace and the court. When Tuoba Tao was still alive, she was the real queen mother, the emperor treated her as her own mother, and some major affairs of the government and military state would ask her opinions and ideas, but after Tuoba Jian succeeded to the throne, it was different, she lost the awe of the palace people, and also lost some of the right to speak, and even a small pepper room dared to point fingers in front of her.

Now, she knows she has a chance to reclaim her voice.

"Zong Ai, tell me how you plan to do it!"

As soon as Zong Ai heard it, he knew that Dou had agreed to stand on his side, and immediately revealed his ideas to her and asked for her support.