Gao Chengda returned to the palace from the barracks and began to prepare for the crown ceremony for the four princes.

The crown ceremony does not mean that he has reached adulthood, but it means that he can get the corresponding rewards and political rights, of course, these things Gao Cheng has given to his four sons in advance, such as the crown prince, the opening of the mansion, and the six calendars.

On the twelfth day of the first month of the fourth year of Zhaode (551), Gao Cheng issued an edict and ordered the Ministry of Rites to consult the old rites and have a master to do ceremonies.

On the thirteenth day of the first month, on the Mingguang Palace, the Son of Heaven is seated, hundreds of officials are standing, and the official of the ceremony leads the crown and praises the crown into the position.

It is crowned by the Ministry of Rites, and the Chinese scholar is praised.

The so-called praise crown is the master of ceremonies for whom men sing when they perform the crown ceremony.

Gao Xiaozhang, King of Jin, Gao Xiaoyu, King of Qin, Gao Xiaowan, King of Zhao, and Gao Xiaojun, King of Lu, completed complicated etiquette under the guidance of officials of the Ministry of Rites, which was much more troublesome than Gao Cheng's crown ceremony.

"Good manners, good manners, good manners, Confucianism and art, my royal family, friends and brothers, not overflowing or arrogant, but to keep it."

As the ceremonial officer read out the edict and warned the four princes, the whole ceremony could be regarded as coming to an end, and a series of tosses followed, not to mention the four of Gao Xiaozhang, even Gao Cheng on the throne was also drowsy.

He was most impatient with these red tapes, but he had to do it for the sake of solemnity.

Thinking that in a few years, Gao Xiaocong would have to do it again, Gao Cheng regretted it, and knew that he would be counted together.

In the Mingguang Palace, a group of officials congratulated the four kings, and Gao Cheng also beat his spirit, called the four sons to his side, and after some earnest teachings, he let them go and summoned them to set up a banquet.

Nine-year-old Gao Xiaojun sat in his seat and straightened the crown and hat on his head, and he also felt that he was an adult.

"Changgong, Gao Changgong..."

Whispering silently, he felt that he could not match the dignified and polite, but since it was given by his father, he was also very happy.

When the Northern Qi Dynasty crowned the prince and sang and feasted, it was a different scene in Taicheng in Jiankang City.

Eighty-eight-year-old Xiao Yan's condition has not improved since he fell ill last winter, and he has only eaten one meal a day, eating only beans and vegetables.

Xiao Yan's current situation, everyone knows that the henchmen of the crown prince Xiao Gang have secretly prepared for the new emperor's accession to the throne, and Xiao Zhengde, the king of Linhe, does not even dare to return to Jiankang City, for fear that the Son of Heaven will die violently, Xiao Gang suddenly attacked, and now he stays in the military camp of Suzaku Hang every day in case of accidents.

On the night of the thirteenth, the banquet in the northern palace, singing and dancing were strong, in Jiankang Taicheng, in the bedroom of the Son of Heaven, Xiao Yan, who had a black face, lay on the royal couch, muttering the names of his sons, but did not get a response from them.

Since learning that Xiao Yan had lost his mind and that his body was difficult to treat, Xiao Gang was busy wooing the forbidden army, and with the status of a prisoner, he planted henchmen everywhere.

How can there be a filial piety that served medicine and food in front of the sickbed before, and never sleeped.

The confidant eunuchs who were supposed to serve by Xiao Yan's side also hurried to invite favor in front of the future new monarch, Xiao Yan finally returned to his senses and regained his senses, the huge dormitory was empty, and only a few palace people served beside him.

"Your Majesty is awake!"

"Tell the news!"

The noise of the palace people still made Xiao Yan feel lonely, and in a hazy moment, he saw a familiar figure standing in front of the couch.

"Father, the child did not bury the goose for the purpose of praying."

The sound was so strange and so familiar.

"Tong'er... Are you coming to pick me up? ”

Looking at his eldest son Xiao Tong, whose appearance was becoming clearer and clearer, Xiao Yan wondered.

In the early years, Xiao Tong, the prince of Zhaoming, was framed, saying that he buried the evil goose in front of the tomb of his mother Ding Guifei to do something disgusting and pray, and wanted to be unfavorable to Xiao Yan, Xiao Tong was difficult to identify, and the father and son had a gap.

Twenty years ago, Xiao Tong fell into the water in a boat, and since then he has been ill, and when he was dying, he did not allow his subordinates to inform Xiao Yan, and when Xiao Yan heard about the bad news, he couldn't even see the last face of the prince, so he regretted it for the rest of his life.

When Xiao Yan raised his hand with difficulty, wanting to touch the eldest son's cheek, the face of the person in front of him changed again.

"You're not my father! I am the widow of the Emperor of Great Qi! ”

"Zong'er..."

Xiao Yan's tone was full of regret.

The so-called Emperor of Great Qi is not Gao Cheng who is enjoying himself in Luoyang now, he is no longer a prostitution, but he has not left a seed in Jiangnan for the time being, but refers to the abolished emperor of Southern Qi, Xiao Baojuan, Marquis of Dongdu.

And the person Xiao Yan saw in his eyes was the second son Xiao Zong.

Xiao Zong's mother Wu Jinghui was originally Xiao Baojuan's concubine, Xiao Yan entered Jiankang, included Wu Jinghui in the harem, and gave birth to Xiao Zong in only seven months.

With Gao Huanna's Wang family, it is a situation that he gave birth to his third son, Gao Jun, in less than a month.

Gao Jun was not favored, but he didn't think of recognizing his biological father, and Xiao Zong was favored by Xiao Yan, but he thought of himself as Xiao Baojuan's son, fled in 525, and took the opportunity of the Northern Expedition to exile in the Northern Wei Dynasty to join his uncle Xiao Baochu, and changed his name to Xiao Zan, and became a monk after the Heyin Change, and was buried with his wife the eldest princess of Shouyang of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

The Liang people stole Xiao Zong's bones back to Jiangnan, and Xiao Yan buried him next to his mausoleum as a prince, which shows that he still treats him as a son.

The faces of the people in front of him were still changing, looking at the familiar faces, Xiao Yan tried hard to reach out and touch them, but they turned into a little fluorescent and disappeared.

When the crown prince Xiao Gang received a report from the palace people and learned that Xiao Yan had come to his senses, he was startled at first, and then hurried to the palace of the Son of Heaven.

When Xiao Gang walked into the palace, he couldn't see the situation on the couch clearly, but the cries of the palace people confirmed what he thought.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty is dead!"

"Father! Father! ”

Xiao Gang rushed to the couch quickly, holding Xiao Yan's body and crying heartbreakingly.

Xiao Yan, the eighty-eight-year-old founding emperor of Southern Liang, died after all, and before his death, he called the names of several sons back and forth, and died alone in the dormitory.

The ministers who heard the news and entered the palace looked at the grief-stricken prince, wiped their tears, and persuaded one after another:

"Please also ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to take care of his health."

"The country cannot be without a king for a day, and I also ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to mourn and ascend to the throne as soon as possible to correct his name."

Xiao Yan reigned for forty-nine years, treating the clan and ministers with a bodhisattva's heart, and everyone was grateful for his kindness, but it did not prevent them from persuading the new monarch while grieving.

Xiao Gang has waited too long for this day, he has been the crown prince for twenty years, and now he is forty-eight years old, and he can finally reach the apex of power.

But he didn't rush to agree, but with the sadness of losing his father, he repeatedly shirked, and before the process of five lets and four resignations was completed, someone from the palace hurriedly came to report:

"Your Royal Highness, King Linhe led the army into the city through the Suzaku Gate, and now he is knocking on the palace gate, panicking, panicking..."

"What a panic! Say it! ”

Xiao Gang glared angrily and urged.

The palace man lowered his head and said tremblingly:

"Falsely claiming that His Highness killed his father to avenge the king."

'Smack! ’

Xiao Gang was extremely angry and kicked the palace people over.

The officials gathered in the dormitory dissuaded Xiao Gang from calming his anger, Xiao Gang pushed aside the crowd, walked in front of the veteran Yang Kan, held his hand tightly and said:

"The father died, the heart of the gang has been chaotic, and he was slandered, he hated to prove his innocence by death, but the father and the emperor entrusted him with state affairs, and the gang did not dare to slack off, so that the traitor usurped the artifact, and the sheep man has been on the battlefield for a long time, and he is a famous general in the world.

Yang Kan was moved and said:

"Since Kan entered the court, he has been deeply favored by the country, and since he should repay the country with death, King Linhe is rebellious, and his ministers are willing to break it for His Royal Highness."

After that, he bowed deeply and went out to organize the forbidden army and the prince's guard.

Xiao Gang found Yang Kan for no reason, Yang Kan once served as the prince's left guard, and he has a close relationship, and now the situation is critical, and most of the generals who can fight well are in the frontier to guard against Northern Qi, and only Yang Kan can be relied on.

The words are divided into two ends, since Xiao Yan fell ill, Xiao Zhengde has been inquiring about the news of the palace, and when he was inspecting the barracks in Suzaku Airlines tonight, he suddenly had to report the death of the Son of Heaven, and it was the palace people he bribed who took the opportunity to inform the minister to spread the news.

When Xiao Zhengde learned of Xiao Yan's death, he immediately opened the Suzaku Gate in the name of the military governor of the capital division, led the army to the palace, and ordered his subordinates to shout loudly along the way that the prince killed his father and avenge the king.

When the people of Jiankang heard the uproar, they closed their doors and windows one after another, not to mention the princes of the court, even they didn't believe in such slogans, the news that the Son of Heaven was terminally ill had already spread all over Jiangnan, how could the prince need to rely on killing his father to take the throne, could it be that he wanted to be the second Liu Shao.

But Xiao Zhengde really couldn't find any other excuse in addition, he claimed to be the deposed prince, but except for the Northern Qi Emperor, no one regarded him as a prince, he was the evil party in the early years, and his reputation was stinky, so he had to plant the notoriety of killing his father on Xiao Gang's head.

"The prince killed his father, he was lonely and had a secret edict, entered the palace to avenge the king, and he didn't open the door quickly!"

In front of the palace gate, Xiao Zhengde immediately shouted, but the palace gate did not move at all.

Of course, Xiao Zhengde also expected this situation, and had already prepared a lot of siege equipment, nineteen years ago, the Yuan Wei clan rebelled in Luoyang, and ran to the palace gate only to find that the dilemma of no siege equipment would not fall on his head.

"Siege!"

Xiao Zhengde ordered loudly, now there is no way to retreat, if you enter Taicheng, you will be the Ninety-Five, and if you can't get in, there will be no bones.

The soldiers pushed the siege ladder and the siege vehicle advanced at the risk of missing arrows on the palace wall.

Due to the suddenness of the incident, there were no falling rocks or gold juice on the palace wall, and it was difficult to stop Xiao Zhengde's soldiers and the outlaws he recruited from climbing to help.

Yang Kan knew that he couldn't hold on, so he selected a group of strong men early, and took advantage of the fact that Xiao Zhengde's soldiers were attached to the siege of the city, and when the formation was scattered, he came out of another palace gate and went straight to Xiao Zhengde.

Don't look at Xiao Zhengde, he is a cruel person, he has killed a lot of people in his life, but he has really never been on the battlefield, and when he saw Yang Kan rushing towards him, he was already frightened, and hurriedly urged the generals around him to resist the enemy.

The generals under his command have not moved, and his only son Xiao Jianli has already led the troops to meet him.

Xiao Jianli is usually cruel and reckless, not inferior to his father, he was born to Xiao Zhengde and his sister Princess Changle, Princess Changle was originally married to Chen Jun Xie, because of her beauty, she was raped by her brother Xiao Zhengde.

Xiao Zhengde even set fire to the princess's mansion, threw a maidservant into the fire, lied that Princess Changle was burned to death, and then changed his sister's name to Liu's family, included her in the mansion, and gave birth to a son and a daughter for him.

】

Before he had time to rejoice in his son's bravery, he saw Yang Kan pulling a bow on a galloping horse, and shot Xiao Jianli off the horse with an arrow, not knowing life or death.

Xiao Zhengde saw Yang Kan stretch his bow again, aimed at himself, and hurriedly hid behind the generals under his command, and ordered the generals to meet the enemy.

He also has the ability to be fierce in front of the weak, tossing and turning between Liang and Wei, his life is magnificent but he has achieved nothing, where does he have the real ability, but he just cast a good tire, he is still not satisfied, and he covets the throne.

When he was a Wei general, he went with the army to Guanzhong to quell the rebellion, and killed the enemy's main general with an arrow.

When it was decided to go south to Xiaoliang, in the face of the siege of hundreds of thousands of troops in the Northern Wei Dynasty, as well as the subsequent reinforcements of Gao Huan and Erzhu Yangdu, Yang Kan successfully broke through with only 30,000 people.

As a Liang general, he was even more meritorious, and even Lan Qin suffered his humiliation, so he had to call him a sheep prince and ask him for his guilt.

How could such a character really regard Xiao Zhengde as an opponent, his past behavior has long disgusted Yang Kan.

Yang Kan is another arrow, and the first general will fall off the horse, and Xiao Jianli before him will also end up being trampled into meat puree.

Then he collected his bow and fought the enemy in close combat with his lance.

That's right, he is old, he is already fifty-five years old, but he can defect to Xiao Zhengde, the person who worked for him, where did he have the ability to be ten thousand enemies.

In Xiao Zhengde's anticipation, he did not expect to see the defeat of the forbidden army and the prince's guard, but saw Yang Kan break out of the formation with a bloody horse lance and lead the army to kill him.

"The traitor is gone! Eat the old man's lance! ”

Yang Kan's loud shout completely frightened Xiao Zhengde's courage, and he realized that rebellion and blocking the road in the past to kill people and rape women are two different things.

What the throne, what the abolished prince, all left behind, and if you don't run away, you are afraid that you will become a ghost under the lance of Yang Kan.

"Stop him! Stop him! ”

While Xiao Zhengde shouted, he led more than a dozen henchmen and knights to flee.

Yang Kan was slightly blocked by the rebels, and Xiao Zhengde was nowhere to be seen.

Because the boss ran away, the outlaws recruited by Xiao Zhengde and his subordinates abandoned their armor and surrendered.

On the one hand, Yang Kan sent people to continue to chase in the direction of Xiao Zhengde's escape, and on the other hand, he accepted the soldiers and ordered people to return to the palace to report to Xiao Gang.

Xiao Gang learned that the rebels had collapsed, and his hanging heart was also put down, and the four resignations that had been interrupted before couldn't go on, he was worried that there would be another change, and in the face of the invitation of the ministers, he agreed to let Taishi choose an auspicious day and ascend the throne.

And Xiao Zhengde led his cronies and knights to escape from the Suzaku Gate and went straight to the Wuma Ferry, he had already prepared and sent the family roll to the ferry, if he attacked Taicheng and became the Son of Heaven, he only needed to order someone to take the family roll back.

If the palace gate was not smooth and the matter was defeated, he immediately fled to the Wuma Ferry, where a boat had already been connected to help him cross the river and defect to the Northern Qi.

Xiao Zhengde thought about the praise of Gao Cheng, the lord of Qi, in his letter, and he entered Qi, but he was afraid that he would still enjoy endless glory and wealth, and maybe he could also instigate Northern Qi to send troops and put himself on the throne, and he didn't mind being an emperor for Gao Cheng, who was almost thirty years younger than him.