In the past few days, the atmosphere in Zichen Palace has been solemn and tense. Everyone among the chamberlains and maids on duty looked nervous and were coming and going in a hurry.
The emperor was assassinated and is now recuperating in the palace. No one knows the extent of his injuries or whether there is any possibility of recovery.
The servants saw the blood and medicine residue transported out of the palace every day, and could only deduce from this that the emperor's situation was not optimistic.
In the Beiyuan, the innermost part of the Zichen Palace, the entire palace is heavily sealed, and no one is allowed to break in without permission.
In the bedroom of the palace, a curtain separated the entire room.
Zhou Jun, who was pale-faced, was lying on the bed. There were traces of gunpowder burns on his neck. A large area was covered with red scars. At this time, blood was still faintly leaking out. He looked very scary.
In the room, Kong You, the right prime minister, was at the bottom, Concubine De was sitting next to the bed in the moonlight, and Fan Jinian, the eunuch's chamberlain, was standing at the end of the bed.
Kong You cupped his hands to Zhou Jun and said: "Your Majesty, the casualties and neighborhood losses on the day of the assassination have been calculated."
Zhou Jun: "Nian."
Kong You: "Gunpowder exploded, buildings collapsed, and the enemy fought. The number of casualties in Chang'an City was about 519. There was also a watchtower, two markets, and more than 40 courtyards that were damaged due to the battle."
Zhou Jun was silent for a moment and then asked: "Where are the assassins? Have they been caught?"
Kong You: "After the group of assassins composed of the Tubo Mountain Wei Army were surrounded by the Tang Army, only eleven people remained. The Tang Army then launched a surprise attack, hoping to capture anyone alive, but unexpectedly the Tubo people fought to the death, and no prisoners were captured in the end.
"
Zhou Jun: “Not a single person was caught alive?!”
Kong You shook his head and said: "There is not a single person left alive."
Zhou Jun looked unkind and asked: "What about the subsequent investigation?"
Kong You: "The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of War, the Jin Yiwei, the Dali Temple and the parliamentarian group formed the Supervision Department and conducted a search of the city where the assassin was hiding, and searched the entire city for the whereabouts of the remaining assassins."
Zhou Jun: "What's the progress?"
Kong You: "The cellar where the assassins were hiding has been found. In addition to weapons and armor made by the Tang Dynasty military, there are also many letters from the assassin leaders."
Zhou Jun: "Letter? Didn't those assassins burn the letters before they carried out the assassination?"
Kong You: "It is true that a lot of it was burned, but there is still a little that remains."
Zhou Jun: "This sounds very suspicious. The assassin committed the assassination in the street and planned it so carefully. How could he be so careless in destroying the evidence?"
Kong You: "I think so too. If the assassin deliberately left some evidence to target a group of people, then the explanation would be much more reasonable."
Zhou Jun: "Aimed at a group of people? What do you mean by this?"
Kong You: "The Supervision Department later inspected the weapons of the assassins and found that the weapons, armor, gunpowder, etc. all came from the Bei Ya Forbidden Army."
Zhou Jun was stunned: "All the weapons used for the assassination came from the Bei Ya Forbidden Army?"
Kong You: "The Supervision Department traced the source of each piece of equipment based on the nameplate, and finally traced the heads of many generals and civil servants of the Bei Ya Forbidden Army. Among them were Zuo Xiaoweicang, Cao Shenjun, Zha Yuanshen, Youwuwei
Hao Zizhong, the rank-and-file general on the right, and Guo Luo, the Jinwu-guard general on the left..."
Zhou Jun frowned more and more as he listened to this list: "If I remember correctly, these people are all foreign officials who have come to Beijing?"
Kong You nodded lightly: "Your Majesty, these people are not only foreign officials who have come to Beijing, but they are also officials who have good relations with members of the House of Commons."
Zhou Jun nodded lightly.
Kong You: "Whether it was the letters found in the assassin's residence or the traceability of weapons, the finger points were pointed at these people. They were charged with rebellion, treason, collaborating with the enemy, etc. The Supervision Department issued an order to remove these people from their posts, and then removed them from their posts.
They are being held in jail until the investigation is completed and then reported for disposal."
When Zhou Jun heard this, he had a vague premonition in his heart. At this time, his neck felt numb and itchy, making him unconsciously reach out to touch the scar.
Huayue on the side quickly took two steps forward and advised Zhou Jun: "Erlang, the scars that were painted with great effort will make people see the flaws once they are touched."
Zhou Jun reluctantly put down his hand and said to Huayue: "The scars you made with makeup are indeed lifelike, but if they stick to the skin for a long time, the feeling is like ants crawling, which is really uncomfortable."
Hua Yue shook her head and said: "People come to visit me every day. In order to prevent the scars from being exposed, the best materials will naturally be used for the scars. It is inevitable that there will be some itching, so please bear with it."
Zhou Jun: "That's all I have to do."
Kong You continued at this time: "Your Majesty, at today's court meeting, some officials proposed to strengthen the defense of the Gyeonggi area to prevent the recurrence of enemy situations."
Zhou Jun looked at Kong You's expression and asked in a deep voice: "The proposal to strengthen defense is false, but it actually has other intentions, right?"
Kong You: "What your Majesty said is absolutely true. In view of the fact that this assassination is related to the Beiya Imperial Guards, these officials suggest that all officials related to the perpetrators be replaced."
Zhou Jun: "The perpetrators? Are they the foreigners who came to Beijing just now? It seems... someone wants to take the opportunity to seize the military power of the Beiya Imperial Guard."
Kong You: "Yes, the pursuit of assassination is just a cover. Someone wants to seize military power, which is the real purpose."
Zhou Jun: "Who are the officials who proposed to replace the generals in Beiya?"
Kong You: "There are Wang Benjing, the minister of the Ministry of punishment, Ran Xu, the minister of the Ministry of industry, and Yan Shirang, the minister of Zuo Sanqi..."
Zhou Jun listened to this long list of names, his heart sank a little bit, and asked: "Who is the leader?"
Kong You raised his head and glanced at Zhou Jun, and said calmly: "General Luo Anyuan of the auxiliary country."
Zhou Jun froze in place, stared at Kong You, and fell silent.
After a long time, Zhou Jun gritted his teeth and asked word by word: "What has the Luo family done recently?"
Kong You: "On the day of the Tubo assassination, in addition to Yin Zhoushang of the Jingzhao Prefecture who was in charge of leading the convoy, General Luo was the first to lead troops to the scene. Later, General Luo also ordered an assault on the Tubo assassins, but failed to survive.
Get a living mouth."
Zhou Jun: "If I remember correctly, Luo Anyuan was previously the Shanghu Army and commanded Beiya?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Kong You: "Yes."
Zhou Jun: "The Luo family has been operating in Beiya for a long time. If you want to bribe internal agents, smuggle weapons and equipment from them, and then frame them for trouble, it wouldn't be difficult."
Kong You: "Yes."
Zhou Jun: "As long as all the generals in Beiya who are not in harmony with the Luo family are replaced, then Luo Anyuan can take full control of the imperial guards and become the dominant family in Chang'an?"
Kong You: "Yes."
Zhou Jun was so angry that he grasped the edge of the bed with his palms, and his whole body trembled slightly: "Introducing the Tubo people to Beijing to assassinate, taking the opportunity to eliminate the political opponents in Beiya, and then placing his own confidants among them, and finally won the military power of Beiya... Okay
What a ruthless plan, what a vicious idea!"
After saying that, Zhou Jun, who was full of anger, slapped the edge of the bed with his palm and made a loud noise.
Seeing this, Fan Jinian quickly whispered: "Your Majesty, pay attention to the dragon body."
Zhou Jun said harshly: "I have also thought about the countless possibilities of Tubo's internal response in the past. I originally thought it was a remnant of the pseudo-Tang Dynasty, or someone from the old palace, but I didn't expect that after a thorough investigation, the final culprit turned out to be the Luo family! Thank you to me.
I am still grateful for the Luo family's past achievements and gave them countless wealth and honors, but I never expected that this group of people are so ambitious that they dare to unite with Tubo in an attempt to overthrow the country!"
Having said this, Zhou Jun looked at Fan Jinian: "Draw up the decree! It's time to close the net!"
Fan Jinian heard this and bowed in response.
At this moment, Kong You suddenly said: "Your Majesty, is the real culprit behind the scenes really the Luo family?"
Zhou Jun was stunned: "The culprit behind the scenes is not the Luo family, so who is it?"
Kong You: "Although the Luo family has a strong foundation in the court, plotting to assassinate the emperor is an unforgivable crime that will kill the whole family. Even if they control the military power of Bei Ya and then control the entire Chang'an. But when that time comes
, how could the courtiers and troops of the Tang Dynasty ignore the royal orthodoxy and obey the orders of the small Luo family?"
As soon as Kong You said this, Zhou Jun's face froze instantly.
Huayue on the side first glanced at Zhou Jun, then lowered his head and remained silent.
Zhou Jun was not stupid. By the time Kong You's words reached this point, the former had already figured out the key.
At this time, Zhou Jun's heart was like a turbulent sea, struggling for a long time.
Finally, with bitterness in his mouth, he said: "Although there may be suspicions about some things, we cannot draw conclusions based on mere speculation."
Kong You: "Your Majesty is wise. All these things at the moment are just speculations. It is better to wait and see the situation in the DPRK. Later, everything will naturally come to light."
Zhou Jun looked at Kong You: "Where are Guo Xin and Long Qi?"
Kong You: "Guo Duhu leads 10,000 Longyou troops. In the name of military training, he is now stationed in Fufeng County. He can reach Chang'an within three days. Long Duhu leads 5,000 dragon cavalry troops and is currently hiding in Yuyu.
Pass, if you march urgently, you can enter Jingzhao Mansion in just one day."
Zhou Jun: "In my name, send an imperial edict to Shuofang, asking Sun Aying to lead his army back to the capital. As for the court, everything remains as usual. Let's say to the outside world... that my injury has improved."