The invisible smoke of gunpowder has risen, and the battle for the throne has reached the point of life and death. Among the nine princes, the first to die was the rising sun of the third prince Tuoba Boyi, he died on the bank of the fairy river in Jinling City, died in the hands of the closest people, died on the eve of receiving the reward, his death made a very bad head, and since then the high throne has been completely dyed with blood, only by stepping on the corpses of other princes can he sit on the throne that symbolizes power as he wishes; , Tuoba Hua's death and Tuoba Boyi's death have similarities, both of them were in high spirits when they were about to be transferred when they encountered flying disasters, Tuoba Hua died not long after he recognized Mrs. Boxing Yu as his godmother, it was the most proud moment in his short life, but it came to an abrupt end, it is also the inevitability of history that makes people sigh and sigh, born in the emperor's mound, if he is young and collects thousands of favors in one, it will inevitably cause the jealousy and resentment of others, which will lead to the disaster of killing.

As the saying goes, Mu Xiu will be destroyed by the forest wind, the pile will be turbulent above the shore waves, and the line above the crowd will be wrong, which is the truth, he makes the people around him feel threatened but has no ability to protect themselves, and sooner or later he will die without a place to be buried.

Accompanied by the death of the two princes, the tenth prince Tuoba Zhen completely broke with His Majesty of the current dynasty, and the eleventh prince Tuoba Lie brazenly stepped onto the stage of history, replacing Tuoba Zhen as the most dazzling new star in the imperial capital and becoming the most favorable contender for the throne.

The reversal of the roles of the two is due to the death of one person, that person is called Chu Xiu, a person who is full of economic and habits to get answers from the starry sky, and is also a native of Shushan, the second son of White Bird Peak, Chu Xiu is full of strategy, determined to revive Confucianism, everything is carried out according to his plan, it can be said that there is no last resort, but only one thing is ignored, that is, the current human country is full of all kinds of people with different powers, although the emperor is the supreme is actually just the spokesperson of Buddhism, representing the interests of Buddhism in the human country, and other princes are even more so, and it is not clear how complex the power relationship behind him is, an old emperor's support for him is not enough to support his immortality, and Chu Xiu himself has no ability to defend himself at all, it is in this situation that the ten princes who dare to think and dare to do Tuoba are really not daring to do anything ordinary people, and directly kill him, thus completely breaking with the old emperor who has been suppressing him, but he has the support of almost all the gentry in the country.

This step is too dangerous, this step is also too wonderful, because of this action, Chu Xiu, who was just preparing to show his ambitions with a skill, fell directly, and the situation in the DPRK and China immediately became tense, the battle between father and son seemed imminent, seeing that the situation was deteriorating, Tuoba Lie stood up, openly made enemies with the gentry of the whole country, and stood on the side of his father and emperor to suppress his brother, as a result, Tuoba Zhen was placed under house arrest, and the ministers were monitored by the Praetorian Guards, and those who did not accept it were beheaded, and the history of the empire seemed to open a new chapter.

It's just a seem, because even if some people are trapped, they are still unleashing their influence, while some people are still watching from the sidelines, not yet showing their true strength, everything is still at the beginning, and it is still unknown.

The only thing that is certain is that there are two less competitors - Tuoba Boyi and Tuoba Hua, and only death can truly show that they are out forever!

The situation in the empire is like a taut bowstring, too taut and ready to break at any moment.

......

Compared with the situation in the empire, Shen Fei's own situation is more delicate, according to common sense, as the first merit of supporting the prince to ascend to the imperial family, he should be able to share the fruits of victory and let Taoism enjoy the gift of the state religion, but the appearance of Miss Junya broke his initial idea, I am afraid that things are not so simple!

Two months have passed since Chu Xiu's death, and there are still ten months before Tuoba Zhen was released, and it is now April of the thirty-second year of the emperor's reign, and the old emperor is already sixty-seven years old.

In the court, the irrepressible cough made the ministers have bad thoughts, if the old emperor is gone one day, then who should be in charge of the empire?

Judging from the current situation, the eleventh prince Tuoba Lie seems to be the most likely person to inherit the throne, he is the biological son of the noble concubine Niangniang, the son-in-law of the eldest princess Tuoba Phoenix, the deputy commander of the Praetorian Guard, and the representative of the reformers.

With this judgment, the minds of some courtiers began to move, perhaps, rather than pinning their hopes on a imprisoned Tuoba Zhen, it is better to take refuge in the prince now, so that he can enjoy the merits of support when he ascends the throne.

People are profit-seeking, and although Tuoba Zhen demonstrated his worth with an earth-shattering act, he was also imprisoned and incurred His Majesty's resentment, and compared with him, Tuoba Lie, who rose like a new star, seemed to bring them more benefits.

The cough of the old emperor made the minds of the courtiers lively, and also made the situation in the imperial capital change in a direction more favorable to Tuoba Lie, however, as if it was fate, whenever someone wanted to come out, they would inevitably be suppressed, and the suppression of Tuoba Lie came from an unexpected person.

Just when the old emperor's cough became the only voice in the Guangming Palace, an elderly eunuch ran over along the cloud platform, knelt in front of the stone steps and reported under the gaze of Shi Shi and Shi Hu: "Your Majesty, the general Wang returned to the court ahead of schedule, and is now waiting to enter the city at Zhengyang Gate." ”

"Who is allowed to return to the court in advance?" the old emperor sat on the throne, covering his mouth with a handkerchief, and if he opened the handkerchief to look inside, he would be surprised to find that there was blood on the smooth fabric.

"According to the general Wang himself, he heard that the situation in the imperial capital had changed, and he was worried that His Majesty's safety would be threatened, so he took the initiative to withdraw from the front line and rushed to escort him. The old eunuch replied tremblingly, judging from the clothes he was wearing, he had no low status in the internal affairs office.

"How many soldiers and horses did you bring. The old emperor stared at him with slanted eyes, his eyes were bloodshot, and his eyes were cold as if he were looking at a dead man.

"An army of 100 men accompanied him. The old eunuch knelt in front of the steps, his head pressed against the ground and shivering.

"Okay, okay, I'm really old, I need my own son to stand up and set things right, and I need the general Wang to leave the front line without authorization and come to the imperial capital to escort him, okay, it's really good, you did a good job!" At the end of the words, the old emperor threw away the handkerchief and stood up from the throne, "You come with me and go outside the city to meet the general." ”