Chapter 356 Bloodshed in the Court

Faced with the increasingly powerful Zhang family, Han Da Xianggong entered the palace yesterday and discussed with her for a long time, and they finally reached an agreement.

That is, both sides will work together to capture Lin Hao in one fell swoop. At that time, the post of the Three Envoys will be returned to the civil service group, and the tens of thousands of troops in the hands of Prince Yan will be under the control of the Queen Mother's family.

However, Lin Hao's attitude of directly admitting his guilt at this time confused Empress Dowager Cao. According to the previous script, this should not have been the case.

As she had expected, the King of Yan would definitely not admit to these charges. And since Han Zhang and Fu Bi had already declared war, the King of Yan couldn't help but fight back, right?
After all, everyone knew that those were fabricated charges, so she only needed to wait for Prince Yan to fight back against the civil servants, and then the two sides would clash.

After they have fought to the point of being both injured, she can come out to mediate and clean up the mess.

In her opinion, it would be best if the Prince of Yan could produce evidence to fight back against the civil officials, and then take the opportunity to take down one or two of the ministers of the six ministries.

Then, he worked together with the civil servants to take down the civil servants who had defected to the Prince of Yan in one fell swoop.

At that time, she would not only be able to take this opportunity to take back the command of those imperial guards from Lin Hao, but she could also naturally place her own people in the vacant positions.

In this way, she would not become a figurehead empress dowager with no confidants in the court, no military power, and even no children.

It's a pity that she thought it was beautiful, but Lin Hao's attitude of total surrender and being unafraid of boiling water made her feel a little embarrassed. She didn't know what King Yan relied on.

Moreover, this is inconsistent with her idea. If Lin Hao's power collapses completely, it will inevitably lead to an imbalance in the current four forces.

However, she couldn't care so much at this time. At least she had Zhao Zongquan, a member of the royal family, to rely on. After all, the late emperor had always trusted him before his death.

At worst, she could wait for them to successfully capture Prince Yan, and once she got the military power from Prince Yan, she would strengthen Zhao Zongquan's power.

In this way, the three forces can still maintain a balance and achieve the effect of stabilizing the court.

However, Concubine Yi, who was holding the little emperor, frowned as she looked at the current situation.

Yesterday, Han Zhang went to see Queen Mother Cao, and Fu Bi came to see her, with the intention of taking advantage of the opportunity to capture Prince Yan.

The condition they offered was to let his elder brother, Chen Guojiu, take back the post of commander of the Imperial Palace Guards.

But before that, she made excuses and acted like she knew nothing about state affairs, so she was fooled.

Because all along, Zhao Zongquan, a member of the royal family who was valued by the previous emperor, was the one that made Concubine Yi feel uneasy and extremely fearful!
She also hoped that the court would maintain the current balance of power among the four parties, preferably with more forces and the power being as dispersed as possible.

He believed that in order to overthrow the Prince of Yan, this group of civil servants would definitely not just look for her and the Queen Mother, but would definitely make some promises to Zhao Zongquan.

At the same time, she didn't think that the Queen Mother's ability could defeat this group of civil servants. Didn't she see how miserable the wise and powerful late emperor was when he was forced by them?

If the Prince of Yan falls like this, then Zhao Zongquan's power will inevitably grow, and the military power will definitely fall into Zhao Zongquan's hands.

In fact, there were precedents such as King Yong and King Yan.

In her eyes, Zhao Zongquan, a member of the royal family, controlling the military power is more terrifying than Lin Hao, an outsider, controlling the military power.

After weighing the pros and cons, Concubine Yi said:

"The Prince of Yan is loyal to his country and has made many contributions to the Song Dynasty. He has also saved the late emperor from danger. In addition, the Prince of Yan is straightforward and not good at speaking. This matter is what I think~!"

"You are wrong, Toffee!"

Queen Mother Cao interrupted Concubine Yi and directly refuted:
"Merits are merits and faults are faults. Merits should be rewarded and faults should be punished. How can the two be confused? Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, rewards and punishments have always been clear!"

"Empress Dowager, please consider the overall situation!" Concubine Yi wanted to say something else.

"You don't need to say more, Concubine!" Empress Dowager Cao did not give Concubine Yi a chance to finish her words, and waved her hand:
"Come here, suppress the Prince of Yan and transfer him to the Dali Temple for trial!"

Following Empress Dowager Cao's order, the entire court suddenly fell silent, followed by a burst of noisy discussions.

At this time, Sheng Hong, who was standing among the court officials, felt unwell.

I just accepted the betrothal gift from the King of Yan yesterday, and today my son-in-law is going to be in trouble?
Wouldn't this implicate the Sheng family?
Wait, their family is already married to the Zhang family, it seems like they can’t escape no matter what!

Just as he was frowning, he heard the voices of the civil servants around him talking:

"I didn't expect that this Zhang guy would end up like this?"

"This is called a changing world. Previously, the King of Yan used the rebellion of the Second King as an excuse to frame so many of our colleagues. I never thought that he would fall into our hands today!
"Tsk tsk, he secretly mobilized the army to carry the betrothal gifts for him. If he doesn't die this time, he will be skinned alive."

On the civil service side, everyone was as happy as if it were New Year. If they weren't still in the court, they would have started celebrating.

However, the nobles and military generals were not as careless as these civil servants.

Especially those military generals and nobles who were loyal to the Song Dynasty, they all felt that Empress Dowager Cao's decision was too hasty!

The Prince of Yan has nearly 100,000 elite troops at his disposal. If he turns against us on the spot, it will be hard to say whether the Song Dynasty will be ruled by Zhang or Zhao!

After all, the Zhang family is the number one force in terms of military honors, and they have deep connections in the military. You never know what will happen!

"Your Highness, something is wrong!" Gu Tingye keenly noticed the abnormality.

"Hmm~?" Zhao Zongquan looked at Gu Tingye in confusion!

Seeing that Zhao Zongquan didn't notice anything, Gu Tingye approached Zhao Zongquan and reminded him:

"The Queen Mother has already issued the order to arrest Lin Hao, but such a long time has passed, and the Golden Gourd Warriors outside the palace are standing there motionless, as if they didn't hear anything!"

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid you should make preparations early!"

After Gu Tingye's reminder, Zhao Zongquan woke up instantly, looked at the situation in the hall, immediately discovered the problem, and thought to himself that it might not be easy to resolve today.

"Oh no, I'm afraid this matter today will not end well!" Then Zhao Zongquan seemed to have thought of something.

You have to know that he is the palace guard. Logically, these golden gourd guards should listen to him, but at this time no one asked his opinion.

From this, it can be inferred that there are probably not many people in the entire Palace Front Department who can obey his orders, considering that Lin Hao and Chen Guojiu had both served as envoys of the Palace Front Department.

Even if he might have been sidelined, the fact that the golden gourd warriors in the hall all obeyed the orders of Prince Yan meant that Prince Yan still controlled the Palace Front Department!
Zhao Zongquan felt a chill at the thought. Although he was the Palace Guard, he had been sidelined. Although he had more than 30,000 people stationed in the camp outside the capital, he was now trapped in the palace.

Besides, how could his 30,000-plus militia soldiers defeat the 100,000 elite soldiers under the command of Prince of Yan?
I was really killed by this bunch of civil officials and Empress Dowager Cao!" Zhao Zongquan cursed inwardly. He was almost crying because of the stupidity of this bunch of civil officials and Empress Dowager Cao.

Do these idiots really think they can easily take down the King of Yan with just their broken mouths?
Anyone with a little knowledge should know that for a general like this who holds a large number of troops, the main approach must be to appease him, and use the method of cutting flesh with a knife to take back the military power bit by bit.

Instead of confronting him head-on like this, he even directly ordered the arrest of a powerful prince!
Let's not talk about whether the King of Yan has any intention to rebel. Even if he doesn't, it's hard to say now that they have done this to him. Even if Lin Hao wants to surrender, will the arrogant soldiers under his command agree?

Don’t forget how Taizu was “forced” to wear the yellow robe!

At this moment, the court officials who were originally discussing a lot in the court gradually realized that something was wrong, and then the whole court fell silent!
Zhao Zongquan couldn't control others, but he himself absolutely couldn't be dragged into it, so he hurriedly stepped out of the line and shouted loudly:

"Please, Queen Mother, take back your order!"

"The Prince of Yan has made great military achievements for the Song Dynasty. He first killed the rebel king and then saved the emperor. The Queen Mother treats the meritorious official so poorly, which will make the soldiers feel disheartened!"

The purpose of Zhao Zongquan doing this was, on the one hand, to take a stand and make it clear before Lin Hao gets angry, saying that he was on your side, and if you get angry later, don't kill me by mistake!
On the other hand, Zhao Zongquan deliberately put emphasis on the words "will make the soldiers feel disheartened", and also intended to remind Queen Mother Cao that she should not be stupid because she has the military power in his hands.

However, Empress Dowager Cao did not think so at this time. She originally thought that Zhao Zongquan, a member of the royal family, was someone she could rely on.

However, at this time Zhao Zongquan was openly pleading for Lin Hao, which made him suspicious. Could it be that the two of them had been colluding with each other for a long time?

Prince Pu is actually colluding with Prince Yan. Could it be that Zhao Zongquan is trying to usurp the throne?
Thinking of this, Queen Mother Cao could not let Prince Yan go. If she missed this opportunity, what if they...

Thinking of this, Queen Mother Cao's female power burst out and she shouted again:
"Come here, arrest the Prince of Yan and hand him over to the Dali Temple for punishment!"

“…!”

However, the golden gourd warrior standing at the entrance of the palace still stood there motionless.

"Are you deaf, or did you not hear what I said?" Empress Dowager Cao's heart tightened and she asked again, "Do you want to rebel?"

However, no matter how Empress Dowager Cao shouted, no one moved at all!
Now Empress Dowager Cao finally realized that something was wrong.

Not only Queen Mother Cao, but all the civil and military officials realized something and then put away the smug smiles on their faces.

Afterwards, everyone's eyes turned to the Prince of Yan, who was still standing there as steady as an old dog. His calm expression made it seem as if he was not the one that the Queen Mother Cao wanted to capture.

At this moment in the court, it felt as if both time and space were frozen!
“You can hear a pin drop!”

Everyone just looked at Lin Hao quietly, and Lin Hao did not disappoint them. However, they only heard Lin Hao slowly utter two words:

"Somebody come!"

Lin Hao's voice was very soft and gentle, yet it was as sharp as if it came from the Netherworld:

"killed!"

"Yes~!" The golden-armored warrior moved upon hearing the sound.

At this time, the first censor who jumped out to impeach Lin Hao saw that he was pointed at by Lin Hao, and he immediately jumped up and pointed at Lin Hao and shouted:

"King Yan, what are you going to do? Are you planning a rebellion?"

"I am the imperial censor, everyone hurry up~!"

When the Golden Gourd Warrior saw that the censor was about to run away, he immediately stepped forward and hit him hard on the head without saying a word!
"Puff~!" Just like a watermelon bursting!
Another censor who was kneeling on the ground was even splashed with red and white stuff.

It’s so quiet, so quiet that it’s scary!
At this moment, the entire court fell silent. No one had expected that Prince Yan would dare to spill blood in the court.

Is the Prince of Yan really going to rebel?
"Wow~!" The censor who had just seconded the motion vomited with a "wow" sound!
At this time, Lin Hao came in front of him, and the cold voice came again:

"Who ordered you?"

"Wow!" The censor vomited all over the place.

"killed!"

"Puff~!" Another watermelon exploded!

Afterwards, Lin Hao came to another minister who seconded the motion, but this minister was not the censor, but the Minister of Rites, Wang Ze!

Lin Hao looked at Shangshu Wang who was vomiting all over the floor. Lin Hao was too lazy to ask:

"Kill him!"

"Wait, Your Highness, spare my life!" Then the Minister of Rites, with tears streaming down his face, said, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything!"

At this moment, Han Zhang seemed to have his tail stepped on, and suddenly jumped up and cursed:

"Prince Yan, you are so arrogant! How dare you openly beat and kill the imperial censor in front of the Queen Mother and all the civil and military officials in the court? You are openly making trouble, wuwuwu!"

"Mr. Han, please be careful with your words!"

Before Han Zhang could utter the word "rebellion" out of his mouth, several first and second rank ministers who were closest to Han Zhang covered his mouth with their hands.

Some things are better left tacitly understood by everyone. Once things are made clear, there will be no room for maneuver.

Lin Hao glanced at Han Zhang but ignored him. Instead, he looked at the censor kneeling on the ground again:
"Say!"

The censor was frightened by Lin Hao's question, and then looked at Han Zhang and Fu Bi, and said:
"It was Han Zhang, the Great Minister, and Fu Bi, the Great Minister, who ordered us to falsely accuse His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan, in order to deprive His Royal Highness of the Prince of Yan of his military power and his position as the Three Envoys!"

"They even want to imprison His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan, and use this to threaten the Duke of Ying who is leading the troops outside to hand over his command authority, and~!"

At this time, Han Zhang broke away from several ministers, immediately interrupted Shangshu Wang, and then swore and denied:
"Bullshit, I never gave you any orders, stop barking and biting!"

However, Minister Wang immediately retorted:
"Just yesterday, in your house, not only was Fu Bi present, but also the five ministers of the court~!"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Han Zhang interrupted Shangshu Wang again and shouted:

"Okay, since you said I was the one who ordered you to do it, then tell me which of my words yesterday told you to frame the King of Yan with a crime!"

"Speak!" Han Zhang's angry roar echoed throughout the hall!

The ministers in the court are not fools. The expression of the Minister of Rites and Han Zhang's uneasy behavior fully show that there is something fishy!

Minister Wang pointed at Han Zhang with a trembling hand and said excitedly:

"Don't make excuses. Although you didn't say it clearly yesterday, your words were hinting at us to frame King Yan!"

(End of this chapter)