After Li Longji's death, it snowed heavily in Liangcheng for three days and nights.
White flags were erected in front of every house, and there was a continuous white mourning in the palace.
When the emperor passed away, the first and last ceremonies were held in the Chengyu Hall.
After that, the Zongfu built a coffin seat and coffin in the newly built coffin hall behind the main hall. Li Longji's body was moved here and the coffin began.
In Li Longji's last edict, Zhou Jun was adopted as his adopted son.
Zhou Jun was also given the surname Li in the imperial family tree and was written as Li Jun, becoming the eighth emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
However, the civil and military officials above the court were more concerned about when Zhou Jun would ascend the throne and few people cared about the name change.
According to the order in the imperial edict, when Li Longji's body rests in the new palace, Zhou Jun, as his successor, will keep vigil for his body for three days.
It was freezing cold and the mourning hall was empty. Princess Wanchun and many members of the royal family proposed that they would like to accompany Zhou Jun to watch the mourning.
However, this request was rejected by Gao Lishi.
Gao Lishi's reason is also very simple. When the late emperor passed away, the successor should be named to guard the funeral, and others could not overstep the rule.
After learning the news, Zhou Jun comforted his wife and said frankly that he could only inherit the throne because of the kindness of the late emperor, and it was necessary to abide by the imperial edict.
In this way, Zhou Jun moved into the coffin hall alone.
Every day, except for three meals a day, no one else can approach the mourning hall.
After three days of vigil, two days passed quickly, and everything was peaceful.
Outside the coffin hall, Wang Hong and Luo Anyuan led their personal guards and palace guards respectively to surround the entire hall.
Luo Anyuan breathed a sigh of relief into his hands, stamped his feet again, and said to Wang Hong: "After tonight, as long as we stay up until sunrise, the wake will be over."
Wang Hong held the sword on his waist, let the snowflakes fall on his shoulders, looked into the palace door and said: "According to the rituals, when the previous emperor dies, the new emperor should observe mourning for at least seven days before he can ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. In other words
, Prime Minister, after tonight, there are still four days left before he can become emperor."
Luo Anyuan: "Yes, that's what the clan said. In four days, the prime minister will be able to sit on the throne."
Wang Hong frowned and said, "I hope nothing will happen in these four days."
Luo Anyuan said nonchalantly: "Everyone inside and outside Liangcheng is under the command of the Prime Minister... Besides, in the coffin hall, the people coming and going are all checked. Where did the trouble come from?"
Wang Hong heard this and took a look at the coffin hall. The entire hall was three thousand feet from north to south and took thousands of craftsmen. It took five months to complete. It looked very grand, but Wang Hong was always a little confused for no reason.
At the same time, they stopped in the coffin hall.
Zhou Jun sat cross-legged on the banquet, holding a book in one hand and tightening the tight robe with the other hand. He read for a while and then cast his eyes on the coffin in the inner hall.
The architectural structure of the Pavilion Hall is based on the Taoist Five Elements and Eight Trigrams pattern, with four door halls in the southeast, northwest and northwest, and four side halls on the side. The inner hall is located in the middle, which is the center of the entire hall. There are two gates of heaven and earth in both directions of yin and yang.
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Zhou Jun knew that Li Longji liked Taoism, so he designed the main hall where the coffin was temporarily placed after his death to look like this.
After looking at the candle, Zhou Jun shook his slightly sore neck, thinking that he would be able to leave the mourning hall tomorrow, and his heart suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.
After the vigil until midnight, Zhou Jun couldn't bear it any longer, so he found a thick mattress and planned to find a sheltered place in the corner of the inner hall to take a nap.
After not sleeping for several days, coupled with physical fatigue, Zhou Jun quickly fell asleep.
In a daze, Zhou Jun vaguely heard a sound.
Forced to open his eyes, Zhou Jun looked towards the ceiling and was shocked to find that at some point, countless iron rods slowly fell down from the top of the inner hall, forming a cage-like prison around the entire inner hall.
Zhou Jun was shocked and quickly stood up and walked towards the exit of the inner hall.
The exit is blocked by iron bars and can no longer be accessed.
Zhou Jun shook the iron railing with his hand again. The iron railing did not move at all and was extremely solid.
Immediately afterwards, the coffin base where Li Longji's body was originally placed suddenly made a rattling sound.
A ball of open fire rose from the base and instantly ignited the center of the inner hall, turning the entire coffin into a sea of fire.
Seeing this, Zhou Jun felt cold in his heart and finally understood Li Longji's intention.
From the beginning to the end, Li Longji never thought of giving up the throne to Zhou Jun.
After the old emperor dies, the new emperor must spend at least seven days observing filial piety if he wants to ascend the throne.
Li Longji had planned before his death that during these seven days, he would first use his own death as a bait to make Zhou Jun careless, and then use the excuse of keeping a vigil to lure the latter into the mourning hall. Finally, he would shut down the engine and fight until his body could not be saved.
Zhou Jun died together.
As long as Zhou Jun dies before ascending the throne, he will not be considered the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Longji can leave a secret edict as a back-up.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jun looked at the coffin in the inner hall and gritted his teeth with hatred, but he also knew in his heart that now was not the time to seek revenge.
He turned around and looked around, looking for a way to escape.
The main hall was empty, and the inner hall was at least a hundred meters away from the Tang army outside the hall. In addition, the wind howled at night, so even if Zhou Jun shouted loudly, he could not attract the attention of the outside world.
If people outside the hall were expected to notice the fire in the inner hall, Zhou Jun would have been burned to death in the hall by that time.
The fire in the inner hall was getting bigger and bigger, and even the floor began to smoke gradually. Faced with a life-and-death crisis, Zhou Jun took a deep breath, calmed down, and began to quietly observe the surrounding environment.
The iron bars lowered by the mourning hall are made of fine iron as thick as a child's arm, and cannot be opened by human power alone.
There is hard soil under the floor, and it is unrealistic to dig out and escape in a short time.
In the inner hall, there is no enclosed space that can avoid the fire.
Zhou Jun thought about it for a long time, and finally his eyes fell on the quilt made of cotton.
First, Zhou Jun tore off strips of cloth from the quilt and placed them on top of each other. Then he took a drinking pot and wet the cotton cloth with water.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Next, Zhou Jun tied the wet cloth strips to the two iron railings.
Finally, use a wooden stick as a crowbar, pass it through the wet cloth strip, and start to turn the wooden stick hard, so that the cloth strip pulls the iron rod, causing the latter to begin to bend.
Using the principle of leverage, Zhou Jun successfully bent two iron bars and escaped in a thrilling manner just before the inner hall was engulfed in fire.
When the fire broke out in the inner hall, the entire Chengyun Hall became a mess.
The soldiers stationed in various places in the palace rushed to the mourning hall to put out the fire like crazy.
Yang Yuhuan, who had gone to bed early, was awakened by the movement outside and asked the servant: "What happened?!"
A maid replied: "Go back to your Majesty, the mourning hall is full of water!"
Yang Yuhuan was shocked and quickly asked his servants to help him dress.
After simply dressing up, Yang Yuhuan was about to run out of the house when he saw a group of people blocking the door of the palace.
Yang Yuhuan saw the leader's appearance clearly and couldn't help but said in shock: "It's you? What are you doing here?!"
Under the illumination of the candle, half of Gao Lishi's face flickered.
He took a step forward and entered the imperial concubine's chamber. He did not speak, but only winked at his servants.
The eunuchs around Gao Lishi received the order, took out the daggers from their arms, and stepped forward quickly.
Within a few breaths, the maid beside Yang Yuhuan was splashed with blood on the spot and her body was found in the hall.
Yang Yuhuan turned pale, looked at Gao Lishi, was silent for a moment, and asked: "Did you set the fire in the mourning hall?"
Gao Lishi shook his head and said, "Your Majesty set the fire in the mourning hall."
Yang Yuhuan was puzzled.
Gao Lishi did not intend to explain, but just said: "Before his death, His Majesty told the old slave that he must take the imperial concubine with him..."
When Yang Yuhuan heard this, he opened his eyes wide and was struck by thunder.
Tears instantly blurred his eyes, and Yang Yuhuan cried out sadly: "I missed my husband so much that I rushed back to the palace to see him off for the last time. Is this how he repaid me?!"
Gao Lishi took out the white silk from his sleeve and said to Yang Yuhuan: "Your Majesty is very attached to me, which is a supreme favor. Ordinary people may not be able to rejoice, so why should the empress be angry?"
Two eunuchs grabbed his arms and forced him down on a chair. Yang Yuhuan shouted angrily: "Even if I become a ghost, I will never be with him!"
Gao Lishi: "Bold!"
After saying that, Gao Lishi took Bai Ling and walked quickly behind Yang Yuhuan, tied the latter's neck, and said softly: "Old slave, I originally planned to take action a few days ago, but unfortunately the palace was full of soldiers. In fact,
I couldn't find the opportunity, but with the fire in the mourning hall today, I was finally able to fulfill His Majesty's last wish."
Yang Yuhuan's eyes turned red, his body struggled constantly, and he cursed: "I am really blind. In the past, I was still concerned about ethics and couldn't bear to break up with that unfaithful person. In fact, I should have broken off with him as early as Maweipo!"
"
Hearing Yang Yuhuan accuse Li Longji, Gao Lishi was furious, started to exert force on his hands, and said bitterly: "The old slave has long advised your majesty that the imperial concubine and the Yang family are a scourge to the Tang Dynasty, and should be kept away from them, but your majesty just did it
If you don’t believe it, we have finally ended up where we are today... Anyway, the old slave will settle the unfinished business in Maweipo today, which can be regarded as an explanation to His Majesty’s spirit in heaven..."
Bai Ling pulled tighter and tighter, and Yang Yuhuan felt that the air in his chest was being squeezed out bit by bit, and his life was disappearing bit by bit.
On his deathbed, Yang Yuhuan suddenly remembered the figure of a person, and countless images and sounds were played in his mind like a revolving lantern.
At this last moment, she finally realized something, something that had been hidden in her heart for a long time.
