Lin Jinke defended Jeju and was eagerly waiting for Lin Tingyan to urge Tang Yao to lead his troops eastward when several pieces of bad news came to the city one after another.
First, they learned that Lin Tingyan and military advisor Jia Qian used their letters, swords and military talismans to lure Tang Yao out of the city, and in the name of eradicating evil for the court, they killed Tang Yao and more than 20 of Qinghe's trusted generals, and took over an army of 300,000 men.
Only then did he suddenly realize that he had been plotted by Uncle Sixth Emperor.
When Tian Yuchan was getting angry, Han Guang, the regular attendant in front of Tian Yuchan, came to Jeju City.
He held the relics and letters delivered by Tian Yuchan in his hand and presented them to Lin Jinke. He knelt down and begged: "The Queen Mother has passed away. Please, Your Highness, return to Beijing to keep vigil for the Queen Mother."
"Queen Mother? Queen Mother is gone?"
Staring at the relic held in Han Guang's hand with dull eyes, Lin Jinke clenched her fists sadly.
I regret that I didn't listen to my mother's advice and mistakenly believed Lin Tingyan's instigation, which caused my mother and sister to end up like this.
"Before her death, the Empress Dowager sent an order to Tang Yi, the governor of Yizhou, to surrender to the imperial court. Now Princess Shu and Prince Consort Ji personally lead Hanzhou, Qizhou, and Yanzhou's 150,000 cavalry to reach the city of Jeju in the blink of an eye. I hope Your Highness will think twice and never let him down.
Thanks to the Queen Mother’s painstaking efforts.”
As soon as Han Guang finished speaking, he saw the generals in the city rushing in and loudly reported: "Your Highness, Princess Shu asked someone to call for formation in front of the army. I heard that King Pingning had successfully passed Yizhou, and the governor of Jeju sent someone to open the gate."
At the city gate, Prince Consort Ji has led the imperial army into the city. Please make a quick decision and escort His Highness to escape from this place."
"Escape? Where to escape?"
Lin Jinke slumped to the ground with a heart filled with despair, looking around blankly at the group of confused subordinates.
After pondering for a long time, he suddenly sat upright, picked up the wine cup in front of him, slowly filled the jade cup with fine wine, waved towards the hall, and saw the geishas hiding behind the curtains leaving one after another.
come out.
"Dance the last song for me."
Lin Jinke casually picked up the jade cup and drank it slowly, so anxious that his subordinates were sweating profusely.
Seeing this situation, the geishas didn't dare to disobey, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and dance gracefully to the sound of silk and bamboo that sounded again.
There was singing and dancing in the county mansion, but there was bloodshed outside the mansion.
When Lin Jinshu and Ji Cen'an entered the county government, the geishas fled in panic.
Seeing Lin Jinke still immersed in the sound of wind music, Lin Jinshu shook his head angrily: "It's really hard to change a person's nature."
Having reached such a state, I still don’t forget to enjoy myself.
He waved his hands towards the sergeants with contempt: "Take down this treasonous thing."
"Wait a minute."
Lin Jinke knew that he couldn't fight head-on, so he started to play the emotional card, and earnestly persuaded: "Jin Shu, we are real brothers and sisters, are you really going to help an outsider give away the country that your father has finally won?"
?”
"Lin Jinke, are you worthy of taking over your father's throne?"
Lin Jinshu stared at him coldly: "If it weren't for you mother and son, how could our empire be in such a difficult situation today?"
If it weren't for the stability of the court and the revenge of killing her mother, she would have wanted to kill this guy with a knife.
Lin Jinke knew that the situation was over, and the Jeju governor personally opened the door to greet him. No matter how determined he was, he could not turn around.
With a sad sigh, he stood up slowly and stepped out of the county gate step by step under the wary eyes of a group of people, constantly muttering: "The sky is unfair."
Returning to Jinling City again, but as the posthumous son of the former prince, Lin Jinxiao's feeling in his heart was really indescribable.
Sitting on horseback, looking at the towering and solid city wall in the distance, he seemed to have seen the scene of the East Palace and the courtiers being slaughtered.
Seeing that he was holding the reins of his horse tightly and refusing to move forward, Li Ce couldn't help but urge: "Brother, the Empress Dowager is probably waiting for you to enter the palace. Brother, it's better to set off as soon as possible."
After that, it was time to count the sergeants and go to open the way.
Lin Jinxiao immediately stopped him and ordered: "Sanlang, lead the army back thirty miles to camp, and ask He Ying to order fifty people to follow me into the city."
"How can this be done?"
Li Ce showed an extremely worried look: "Although King Qinghe has been defeated and retreated to Jezhou, there are many people in Jinling City who do not want my brother to enter the city. My brother cannot be careless."
"It doesn't matter."
Lin Jinxiao still remembered the promise he made to his wife and mentor a while ago that he would never do anything to burn down bridges.
At this time, I think many people are full of panic. They have just experienced a disaster. If they continue to attack the situation with a large army, the atmosphere in the entire Jinling City will undoubtedly become tense again.
Having made up his mind, he led He Ying and fifty guards on horseback and whipped their whips, and continued towards Jinling City, covered in the dust.
When they arrived at the city gate, they saw Ji Huaishu, Ji Rongheng's uncle and nephew already waiting here.
"Your Highness is welcome to the city."
Ji Huaishu bowed down to greet him respectfully.
Lin Jinxiao looked around and saw that the city was unusually quiet. Even the people who greeted him at the city gate were only about a dozen officials. It was really chilling to see.
In recent years, due to party disputes, most of the officials in the DPRK and the Central Government had collusion with the Tang family and the Yang family. When they heard that King Pingning came to Beijing, most people did not dare to go out of the city to welcome him.
Ji Huaishu couldn't say it clearly, so he had to explain euphemistically: "My ancestors and Your Majesty miss His Highness very much, so I only asked the old minister and Rong Heng to welcome you here. Please don't worry too much."
How could Lin Jinxiao not know that these courtiers were afraid that he would settle old accounts with them and hid in the mansion, not daring to come out to see anyone? He smiled lightly and waved his hand: "It is important to meet His Majesty and the ancestors, so I would like to ask the Master to lead the way."
Ji Huaishu nodded happily, motioned for everyone to get out of the way, and escorted Lin Jinxiao straight to the Chengqian Hall where political affairs were discussed, not daring to delay for a moment.
Lin Jinxiao vaguely noticed something was wrong.
According to common sense, after entering the city, you should go to the gallery to change into court clothes before entering the palace to meet the emperor, but Ji Huaishu did not seem to have this intention.
He was about to ask, but Ji Huaishu whispered in his ear: "My ancestors and your majesty are all in Chengqian Hall today, veteran minister"
At this point, he suddenly choked up and pondered the next words for a long time without speaking out.
Lin Jinxiao's heart trembled: "But the concubine."
Before the words were spoken, Ji Huaishu closed his eyes in pain, and his whole body immediately became trance-like.
The Empress Dowager is wise and intelligent. Knowing that she is eager to see her mother in the palace today, she should take her with her.
But Ji Huaishu didn't mention the concubine at all, and his expression was so solemn, Lin Jinxiao already felt that something was wrong.
He rushed to the Chengqian Hall anxiously, walked up the jade steps and entered the hall. From a distance, he saw the emperors Lin Jinsheng and Yin Enci sitting in the hall, and there were seven or eight courtiers standing scattered in the hall.
Everyone just stared blankly at him as he slowly entered with heavy steps. When he reached the palace, someone shouted:
"King Pingning came forward to listen to the seal."
The voice sounded very familiar. Lin Jinxiao took a closer look and saw that it was Taiwei Yin Sinian.
This solemn atmosphere made Lin Jinxiao feel a little suffocated.
He knelt down thoughtfully and listened to Yin Sinian read loudly: "Pingning King Lin Jinxiao has repeatedly performed extraordinary achievements since his canonization. He is also the heir of Prince An and is destined by God. Now he is escorted by King Qin to the north.
For his merits, he was specially appointed as the emperor's younger brother, and was awarded with treasures to preserve his authority for ten thousand years, and to spread the spirit of the four seas."
Lin Jinxiao was stunned again.
He was sealed just after entering Beijing, which was really weird.
Just when he was hesitating, Lin Jinsheng, the leader of the palace, suddenly showed a faint smile, waved to him calmly, and called in a loud voice: "Come, Jinxiao, come with me."