Chapter 1298 - 1134: The Shen Family’s Rebellion
Chapter 1298: Chapter 1134: The Shen Family’s Rebellion
In the Shen Mansion, after Shen Shikang set off, Zhang Chongjing sent out the signal and waited quietly in his room.
Before long, there was a knock on the door. He quickly stepped forward, opened the door, and said swiftly to the person opposite, "Shen Shikang has already entered the palace, today he will force the coup!"
By the way, he took the food box from the other person, and after this servant hurriedly saluted, he turned around and left the place.
Zhang Chongjing smiled. It seemed today would be his last day staying at the Shen Mansion.
The carriage soon arrived at the palace gate. Shen Shikang didn’t get off the carriage; he just handed over the tooth card, and after the guards searched, he entered the palace. He had just been promoted to the position of Grand Secretary and was also the Emperor’s uncle, so none of the servants in the palace dared not to bow to him.
Similarly, because the Emperor had seen him getting on in years and walking too slowly, he had allowed him to enter the palace gates by carriage.
...
"Martial uncle, there’s a letter from the Duke Qin Mansion!" A little monk knocked on Liao Wu’s door, and upon hearing the sound, Liao Wu came to open it at once.
"A letter from the Duke Qin Mansion?" Liao Wu was somewhat puzzled, as his correspondence with the Duke Qin Mansion was usually delivered by the Hidden Guard. Why was it sent to the little monk this time?
"Indeed!"
"Who sent it?" Liao Wu raised the letter in his hand and saw the fire lacquer was intact, with no signs of tampering, which slightly eased his mind.
"It was an outer yard steward from the Duke Qin Mansion, sir, I’d seen him twice before." After saluting, the little monk left the courtyard.
Liao Wu frowned slightly, feeling puzzled, but still opened the letter.
"Everything is smooth, entering the palace at early Si hour!"
These few words were all the letter contained. After Liao Wu read it, his originally excited mood couldn’t get excited because he was still worrying about the person delivering the letter.
Why had the steward come to the temple but not delivered the letter to him personally? Such important news, handed over to another person? Surely he couldn’t be so dismissive.
Moreover, today’s way of conveying the message was different from before, really making him suspicious. He looked at the handwriting again; it was the same as before, so he couldn’t help feeling tangled.
However, it mentioned that everything was smooth, which meant the Shen Family had already taken the bait, but he didn’t know if they had made a move on the Eldest Prince yet.
...
"Emperor, what are you doing?" Shen Shikang, held down by the guards, knelt on the ground, and looked up in shock at the Emperor.
He didn’t expect that as soon as he entered the palace, the Emperor would order his capture without giving him a chance to explain.
"What am I doing? Do I have to spell it out? Uncle, I really didn’t expect that the Shen Family would betray me one day."
The Emperor looked at this uncle, who was older than his mother. At such an advanced age, wouldn’t it be better to enjoy his old age in peace? Why still covet things that shouldn’t belong to him?
"I haven’t treated you badly! In these days in the court, you’ve been virtually omnipotent. Who in the court dares to offend the Shen Family? Even the Lang Family, the Empress’s family, is less formidable than the Shen Family! I’ve turned a blind eye, and what did I get in return? Search your heart, do the Shen Family stand worthy of me? Worthy of the Empress Dowager?"
The Emperor’s voice trembled a little, and he closed his eyes, his heart overwhelmed with anger and sadness.
He still held on to a slim hope that the Shen Family wouldn’t push him to the brink. But after checking, his heart felt utterly cold.
"Emperor, what do you mean by this? I have been loyal to you and the court! I’ve followed you since you were still the Crown Prince. Does the Shen Family’s loyalty to you need to be questioned? Why would you think this way?"
Shen Shikang felt somewhat panicked inside. He didn’t know if his grandson’s side was progressing smoothly. He hadn’t expected the Emperor to act so quickly, leaving him defenseless.
He was now in the Emperor’s hands. If he waited for the other side to be ready, and the Emperor, seeing things going poorly, held him hostage, wouldn’t the situation reverse? This was something he hadn’t considered thoroughly before.
"Uncle, you still dare argue at this point? You’ve been frequently contacting officials in the capital recently, forming cliques in private. You even harmed Ye, pushing him into the Lotus Pond. You’re truly ruthless!" The Emperor felt a dull pain in his heart, and his hand holding his chest trembled slightly.
He tried hard to calm his emotions. Director Zhang had told him that his poison wouldn’t allow for being overly agitated; otherwise, the frequency of the poison’s occurrence would be high, until he could no longer suppress it. Not to mention three years, even a year or two would be unbearable.
"Emperor, what is going on?" The Empress Dowager rushed into the Imperial Study Room. She got the news that Dundun had captured his uncle.
He was her own brother. Even if he did wrong, the Empress Dowager still wanted to try to persuade him.
"Mother!" The Emperor’s face turned grim. The commotion just now was big enough to alert his mother.
"Emperor, what crime has your uncle committed for you to treat him like this?" Dundun’s body wasn’t even known whether it could recover. The Shen Family was her maiden family, and she still had places to rely on them in the future. No matter what, she had to do the Shen Family a favor now.
"What crime?" The Emperor sneered. He gritted his teeth and said word by word, "It’s, of course, the capital crime of treason, unforgivable!"
The Empress Dowager was stunned, "Brother, you did this?"
At that moment, the Empress Dowager finally understood that unless her brother committed an unforgivable mistake, Dundun couldn’t be so furious. Nor could he disregard her dignity and treat her brother this way.
"Mother, your good brother, he intends to rebel with the Shen Family, wanting to change the Zhao dynasty’s name. He wants to change the Shen Family’s door and let the Shen Family become the nation’s surname!"
The Emperor flung his robe sleeve, and the nine-clawed dragon on the dragon robe grimaced, somewhat stinging the Empress Dowager’s eyes.
She looked at the Emperor in a daze, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"What? Mother, you still don’t believe it? You’ll see soon how my good uncle wants to put our mother and son to death."
Just after the Emperor said these words, the sound of weapons clashing came from outside, accompanied by cries and shouts of rebuke. The Empress Dowager snapped back to her senses from bewilderment.
"Emperor, what’s going on?" The Empress Dowager was somewhat panicked, naturally understanding by now what had happened, though it had happened once before, it was just hard to believe this time!
"Watch him closely!" The Emperor ordered two guards to guard Shen Shikang; Shen Shikang couldn’t die now.
"Mother, stay here, and don’t wander around!" The Emperor instructed, not wanting his mother to go out and cause trouble.
"Emperor! Those assassins and soldiers, guards, have seized the waist cards of the guard posts, sneaking into the inner palace. Now the palace is filled with assassins and rebels."
Commander Lang Ping hurriedly entered the Imperial Study Room and reported to the Emperor.
"Lang Ping?" The Empress Dowager was surprised to see Lang Ping; wasn’t Lang Ping in Jiangnan?
"Minister pays respects to the Empress Dowager!" Lang Ping saluted, then said to the Emperor, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty! These people are not a threat. Minister has brought fifty thousand troops, more than enough to deal with them!"