The twentieth night of the lunar month, forbidden, Yonghua Palace.

The second watch has passed, the weather is extremely cold, and the snow on the ground will contrast the palace with a bleak color. In the outer room of Emperor Zhao Chen's bedroom, several imperial doctors gathered in a circle, nervously discussing something. The chamberlain Gong E was crowded at the palace gate, looking anxious and uneasy. Everyone was terrified, and they had a hunch that tonight might not be peaceful

"The Queen Mother has arrived." With a sharp shout, everyone turned sideways and greeted each other. I saw the Empress Dowager Zhu coming in a hurry with the Empress Zhang and the Emperor, and after stepping into the palace, she didn't have time to sit down, and the Empress Dowager Zhu asked in a trembling voice: "How is the situation?" ”

Imperial Physician Song leaned over, with horror in his tone: "Back to the Queen Mother, I'm afraid the Holy Lord will ......" Before the words were finished, the mourning stood up and the Queen Zhang was the first to cry, and the Empress Dowager Zhu was even more buzzing in her head, and her body shook a few times and almost fainted, and she was held on to the seat.

"Why is this life so bitter" The Queen Mother screamed sadly, tears like rain are the flesh of her mother's heart, Emperor Zhao Chen is the daughter of the Empress Dowager Zhu, and she is the eldest son, and now she is young but this kind of thing is born, so how can she not break her liver and intestines? Immediately, Empress Dowager Zhu stood up and took the queen and granddaughter into the inner room. I saw that the emperor was still lying on the couch, and if I only looked at it from the outside, it seemed that there was not much difference from the lethargy of the previous days.

"Since the evening, the pulse of the saint has not been very touchable, and I am afraid that the minister will ...... tonight," Imperial Doctor Song said, also choked up and unable to speak. When the imperial doctors, chamberlains, and palace maids heard this, they also "sorrow came from it", and there was a cry in Yonghua Palace

Empress Dowager Zhu and Empress Zhang leaned on the emperor's couch, bursting into tears, and Empress Dowager Zhu slapped her heart, grief-stricken, even the emperor's eldest daughter, Princess Diji, also whined and cried.

Shen Ze stood in the crowd, kept wiping his tears with his sleeve, and after a while, he pulled out and said to a subordinate: "Go to Deshou Palace, please Emperor Taishang." Immediately, he said to another humanitarian, "pass my order, the forbidden army will hold all the palace gates, and it is strictly forbidden to enter and exit" The subordinate received the order, and was about to leave, he grabbed it back, and tried his best to lower his voice and said, "No one, without an edict, must not enter the forbidden people"

"Including ......" subordinates originally wanted to ask in more detail. But Shen Ze's face changed, and he quickly swallowed back the words that came to his mouth, and walked out of Yonghua Palace with his head down.

It didn't take long for Emperor Zhao Huan to hear the news, he was carried over because of his inconvenient legs, and when the chamberlain helped him into his son's bedroom, he couldn't help but cry. It has always been the saddest thing for a white person to send a black person, even in the imperial house. cried until the middle of the second watch, and the young emperor did not wake up from the sorrowful screams of his relatives.

When Imperial Physician Song touched the emperor's pulse again, his hand seemed to touch the soldering iron, and he suddenly pulled it back, his eyes widened, his lips trembled, and he forcibly fixed his mind and stretched it out again, Zhao Chen had no pulse, and his heart shook wildly, as a courtier, he had not forgotten his profession as a doctor, and he probed his nose again, and as a result, his breath was incomplete

At this time, everyone in the room was in a state of grief, and no one had noticed yet

His expression was abnormal, except for Shen Ze. He gently lifted the quilt again, and gently leaned down on the emperor's chest, and his heartbeat had stopped......

"Shengshang" let out a sad cry, and Imperial Physician Song knelt down in front of the couch

When he shouted, the people in the room were so shocked that the people in the room raised their heads, and Emperor Zhao Huan's heart jumped, and he asked in a lost voice: "What?" "Empress Dowager Zhu and Empress Zhang are also desperately waiting for bad news.

"Holy Lord, I'm dead," Imperial Doctor Song cried out as he closed his eyes. Suddenly, there was a lot of crying in the dormitory, and even the maids outside the palace gate knelt down and cried

Empress Dowager Zhu fainted on the spot and was urgently sent back to Deshou Palace for treatment, Empress Zhang only hugged her daughter and grabbed the sky, and Zhao Huan, who was sitting in front of the couch, couldn't help the pain of losing her son, and she was in tears. At this moment, only at this moment, he didn't think about power, the throne, he was just a father who lost his son.

Shen Ze is Zhao Chen's old man in the East Palace, he has followed the emperor for many years, and he is very trusted, so he naturally has feelings. At this time, he also fell on the ground and cried breathlessly, kneeled to the side of the emperor, and cried: "The emperor mourns on the emperor's day, cherish the precious body."

Zhao Huan looked overly sad and couldn't speak, only waving his hand and pointing out. Shen Ze understood, quickly got up and helped him, and walked outside, so as not to see the emperor's body, unable to suppress his sadness. After sitting down outside, Shen Ze kept stroking his back for him, crying and persuading: "The official family funeral, this Jiangshan Sheji will still rely on the Emperor Taishang to preside, please mourn the Emperor's Day."

Zhao Huan couldn't stop crying, frequently wiped his tears with his sleeves, and said with difficulty: "The emperor died, and the minister should know about it immediately, you quickly send someone out of the palace to ask Shangshu to shoot left and right, and the cardinal mansion signed the book above, and the governors of each council, the imperial history Zhongcheng, Kaifeng Mansion Yin and other fires entered the palace to discuss the future." Although the Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo has fallen, the post of "Kaifeng Mansion Yin" has been established to show that the imperial court does not forget the old capital. According to the practice of the Great Song Dynasty, anyone who knows about Kaifeng Mansion will generally enter the core of central power, so this position is very important, second only to Zaizhi.

Shen Ze commanded: "Obey the order." After finishing speaking, he turned around and stepped out of the palace gate. Outside the Yonghua Palace, his dead confidants were already waiting outside.

"You act separately, and immediately urge Zhao Ding and Xu Liang to participate in politics, as well as Zhu Li Er, the chief official above the Privy Council, the imperial history Zhongcheng, and the Kaifeng Mansion Yin into the palace. Remember, there can be no moment's delay, and you must stay with the minister until you cross this threshold. In addition, it can only be them who enter the palace themselves, understand? Shen Ze said in a deep voice.

"Understood," several chamberlains said in unison.

"Go" Shen Ze waved his hand and took a deep breath, the country cannot be without an owner for a day, the country cannot be without a king for a day, and there are only two things that matter now, one is to determine who sits in the big seat, and the other is to plan and handle the emperor's posthumous affairs. And the former is obviously the most urgent.

In Yonghua Palace, the crying was higher and higher, and the paper could not contain the fire after all, and the news of the emperor's funeral soon spread throughout the palace. But because of the artificial barrier, this bad news has not crossed the high palace wall for the time being. However, the parties that have already gathered momentum have already made preparations in advance, and there is only one time missing. This timing is when the emperor will lose his breath and close his eyes.

It's cruel to say, but since ancient times, the change of supreme power has never been smooth sailing. This dynasty is better, and in the previous transfer of power, there was never bloodshed, because the Great Song Dynasty has always advertised that "benevolence" governs the world. But this rule was broken because of the last coup d'état, although there were not many people who died, only a few people were Huang Qianshan Wang Zongmi, but in nature, there was no difference.