Chen Cheng once again set foot on the compound road connecting the North and South Palaces and returned to the Nangong Palace. In fact, he could also use the palace gate on the ground, but since there is such a cool thing, why not take it one more time?
Then he went to Yongle Palace, met with Queen Mother Dong, and also met Donghou Liu Xie who was entertaining himself in Yongle Palace.
The expression on Empress Dowager Dong's face was similar to that of Empress He, both cold and cold, as if she wanted to reject people thousands of miles away. Although she was the biological mother of the emperor, she did not have much authority in the court. Perhaps this was the reason why she was unhappy.
"I can just hold the gold and do what I want," Empress Dowager Dong said coldly, "Everything will be fine here."
Chen Cheng cupped his hands and said, "I'm leaving."
Just as he was about to exit, Liu Xie ran in with his shoes on and shouted: "Grandma!"
The frost on Queen Mother Dong's face melted immediately, she showed a piercing smile and said: "Did Marquis Dong study today?"
"After studying, I also wrote a lot of words!"
Well, it's not that this old woman doesn't know how to smile, but her smile will probably only be given to a few of her relatives.
People in the general's residence came and went, and came and went. The same was true in the residences of Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Yuan Wei, Yang Biao, Liu Hong, Cui Lie and others. Everyone was constantly contacting their disciples and former officials.
Friends from the old team are making final preparations for the upcoming drastic changes.
At night, the emperor Liu Hong woke up from his nightmare again, sweating profusely. His face was pale, his hands and feet were cold, and after coughing for a while, he vomited several large mouthfuls of blood. Seeing that the emperor was about to die, Zhang Rang hurriedly sent someone to
Beigong called Zhao Zhong over.
When Zhao Zhong arrived, the emperor had already fallen into a coma. The imperial doctor came out and shook his head, saying that there was nothing he could do to save him. Zhang Rang's hands and feet became weak and asked: "Is there no way to do it?"
The imperial doctor shook his head again.
Zhang Rang whispered: "Then can your Majesty wake up for a while? Even if it is only for a moment and a half!"
The imperial doctor hesitated for a moment and said: "There is a way, but after using it, you will..."
Zhang Rang showed a fierce look in his eyes and shouted in a low voice: "Hurry and prepare! When I tell you to use it, you will use it for His Majesty!"
The imperial doctor was sweating profusely on his forehead and back, and said tremblingly: "Yes!"
Zhang Rang took two steps outside and said to Zhao Zhong: "I guess I won't survive tonight. What should I do?"
Zhao Zhong was also pale and tried to put a smile on his face, but it turned out to be uglier than crying. He pretended to be calm and said: "Just do what we discussed during the day! Have you informed Jian Shuo?"
Zhang Rang nodded and said, "I have asked him to stay in the palace a long time ago."
Zhao Zhong lowered his eyes and said, "Send someone to urgently summon the general into the palace."
Zhang Rang was stunned and said, "Don't you want to discuss it with Jian Shuo first?"
"At this time, what else are we discussing?" Zhao Zhong's fingers kept trembling. He lowered his voice and said: "If it works, then let him die!"
Zhang Rang understood, so he called Huang Menling and gave some instructions. As soon as Huang Menling left, there was a rapid sound of footsteps outside the palace, accompanied by the sound of nails and leaves colliding. They hurriedly looked up and saw
Chen Cheng had already arrived at the door with dozens of soldiers. In the firelight, the weapons and armor on the soldiers reflected the cold light.
Zhang Rang was shocked and angry. He stepped forward and shouted: "Julu Hou, do you want to rebel?"
The dozen or so soldiers around him drew their weapons and stood in front of Zhang Ran. The Yueqiu outside the door also drew his weapons. The air between the two sides seemed to be frozen.
Chen Cheng didn't even look at the soldiers in front of him. He turned around and ordered the soldiers: "Everyone is waiting outside."
After that, he stepped into the hall. Zhang Rang snorted and said, "Let him come over."
The soldiers separated to both sides, but did not put away their weapons. Chen Cheng walked to the side of the brocade collapse, looked at the blood on the ground and bed, and reached out to press the emperor's neck.
Zhang Rang took two steps forward and said angrily: "What are you going to do?"
Zhao Zhong quickly grabbed Zhang Rang and said: "Zhongshu ordered, keep your voice down."
Only then did Zhang Rang hold back, but he looked back at his own soldiers in the hall, then at Yue Qi outside the door, and winked at Zhao Zhong. Zhao Zhong let go of his hand and shook his head gently.
.
Zhang Rang whispered, "How did he know? And how did he come so fast?"
Zhao Zhong forced an ugly smile on his face and whispered: "He lives in the palace, why didn't he come so quickly?"
Chen Cheng put his hand on Liu Hong's artery, and his pulse was already very weak. He felt it carefully, and then confirmed that the emperor lying on the bed had only breathed his last. He took two steps back, turned around,
Said: "Your Majesty is critically ill. We should immediately notify the Queen and the Queen Mother, and urgently summon officials with more than two thousand dan to enter the palace!"
Zhang Rang snorted and said, "I have already ordered someone to summon the general."
Chen Cheng said: "Did Situ, Sikong, Taiwei, Taifu and others send someone to inform them?"
Zhang Rangpi smiled and said: "Zhi Jinwu's duty is to protect the emperor, and he should speak less about important matters in the court."
As he spoke, he took two steps back and asked his soldiers to stand in front of him, but who knew that Chen Cheng actually agreed: "If you are not in your position, you will not pursue your political affairs, as Zhongshu Ling said."
He cupped his hands to Zhang Rang and said, "Then I will guard the door and leave the matters inside to you."
After saying that, he passed through the soldiers and walked out.
Zhang Rang looked at Chen Cheng's back in astonishment, the expression on his face changing. When Chen Huacheng crossed the threshold, he came to his senses, turned to Zhao Zhong and said in a low voice: "I see that this guy has no good intentions, and he is quick and easy.
Come here with some troops!"
In order not to alarm people inside and outside the imperial city, they only brought less than thirty soldiers here. Now that they saw Chen Cheng coming to interfere, for the sake of their own safety, they did not need to mobilize more troops. Although it was
Zhang Rang had been in the palace for a long time, but Zhang Rang also knew that only a few of the soldiers under his command could stop a wolf-like and tiger-like Yueqi cavalry, even if the opponent was dismounted.
Zhao Zhong nodded, and in a blink of an eye he saw Duan Gui kneeling on the ground, went up and kicked him, and said: "Go, call more people over."
"Ah? Oh!"
Duan Gui quickly stood up and trotted out the back door.
Chen Cheng walked out of the gate and said to Wei Li: "Get everyone up, have them prepare their weapons, and feed the horses..."
While he was talking, Yan Zhong suddenly ran over panting, and Chen Cheng thought to himself: What's wrong?
Yan Zhong looked pale and sweated on his forehead. When he saw Chen Cheng, he didn't speak first. After he finished making arrangements, he pulled his sleeve and whispered: "Wu Kuang, the captain of the Chinese Army, led his troops to open the Suzaku Gate. I don't know."
Going there!"
Chen Cheng froze, then said calmly: "Don't worry, Bo Dao, I sent him out for something."
Yan Zhong stamped his feet and shouted softly: "Why did Wen Zheng lie to me? You and I are like grasshoppers on a rope now. If something happened, could I run away?"
Chen Cheng had a smile on his face, looked at the soldiers around him, and said sternly: "I asked you to inspect two palace gates. How did such trouble happen?"
Yan Zhong was stunned for a moment, then put a smile on his face and said, "I've only been here for a day, what can I do if you ask me?"
Chen Cheng snorted coldly and said, "Aren't you well-informed? Where do you think he went?"
Yan Zhong smiled bitterly and said: "Where else can we go? Of course the General's Mansion..."
At this point, he suddenly paused, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "It may not be the General's Mansion, maybe..."
A smart person like him is the most suspicious, and naturally he also likes to judge others by himself.
"Maybe what is it?"
Yan Zhong hesitated and said: "Maybe there are too many, it's hard to say."
"What's most likely?"
"The most likely one is, of course, the General's Mansion."
Chen Cheng looked around, turned around, and said coldly: "Nonsense!"
He asked Yan Zhongdao: "How many people did Wu Kuang bring out?"
"Fifty riders!"
Chen Cheng snorted and said, "I didn't realize that he still had such ability. I really underestimated him. What should we do now?"
He originally planned to send someone to contact He Jin personally, but now such an emergency occurred, and he couldn't make up his mind for a while whether to help the general kill the eunuchs. He couldn't do it without reaching an agreement first
Take action first. Even if an agreement is reached, the general's troops must be mobilized first.
Yan Zhong did not answer. He looked at the brightly lit Jiade Hall and asked, "The emperor has passed away?"
"Not yet, but soon. I won't survive tonight."
"Immediately summon the general into the palace and kill him along with several ministers! Then ask the Queen Mother to ascend the palace and make Donghou the emperor!"
Chen Cheng said: "Zhang Rang has sent people to summon the general."
After hearing this, Yan Zhong blurted out: "Oops!"
"Why?"
"How could Zhang Rang take the initiative to summon the general into the palace? Wouldn't that mean just sitting there waiting for death? There must be something wrong with it."
Chen Cheng said: "Perhaps some of the big guys have realized that they have made many mistakes in the past, and now they have woken up and want to do something for the country and the people?"
Yan Zhongqian smiled and said: "The prince is joking, how can anyone wake up?"
"Then what do you think happened?"
"The eunuchs and the generals have long been at loggerheads... Where is Jian Shuo, the military commander?"
Chen Cheng looked towards Yan Zhong, who also looked over. The two looked at each other and said in unison: "Jian Shuo killed He and went in!"
Wu Kuang led fifty soldiers out of the Zhuque Gate of Nangong and ran straight to the mansion of Grand Tutor Yuan Wei. It was already evening, and the city had already started a curfew. More than fifty cavalrymen were galloping on the street,
It immediately attracted the soldiers patrolling the city. The captain of Nancheng was personally leading troops to patrol the streets. When he saw Wu Kuang and his party with majestic war horses and neatly clad knights, he knew that they were the soldiers of the imperial court. He did not dare to block the way, so he immediately brought his troops with his hands.
The soldiers below moved out of the way.
The horse's hooves stepped on the bluestone on the street, making a crisp sound. After dozens of riders crossed the street like a whirlwind, a soldier under the command of the captain said dissatisfied: "Who are they? They are horse racing in the city in the middle of the night.
Don’t you know there’s a curfew now?”
The captain glared at the man fiercely and shouted: "Shut up! Why do you care so much about others? Just do our own thing!"
After saying that, he couldn't help but add, "Do you think I am Cao Mengde?"
