manynovel Chapter 928: Breaking into the Palace at Night
Chapter 928: Breaking into the Palace at Night
The guards immediately gathered around and confronted Governor Wu and the other Jingwei.
"Get out of the way! I want to clear out the court!"
Wu Shengmao, wearing armor, shouted loudly and led 50,000 elite soldiers into the palace gate.
Cheng Qiangong
"Wei Zhonglin, I order you to lead the guards to guard the palace gates immediately! Aside from the commander of South City, the commanders of the other four cities are to immediately dispatch heavy troops to guard the city gates.
From this moment on, no one is allowed to enter or leave the capital, and no one is allowed to enter or leave the Imperial Palace. Send someone immediately to the Governor-General Wu Shengmao's mansion to convey my order, ordering him to lead 50,000 elite troops to guard the palace gates and strengthen security."
Although the border was in turmoil, the emperor, for some reason, began to feel a strong sense of unease. He felt that a storm was about to break out and that the capital was about to be in chaos.
"Yes!" Everyone heard the order and was about to go and carry it out, but unexpectedly the commander of the guards stumbled in.
"Your Majesty! Commander Wu has surrounded the Imperial Palace with his elite troops. They claim that Lord Jiang Youzhen, holding a tiger talisman at the border and commanding an army of 500,000, has declared himself king and is a traitor! Several of his followers have already entered the palace, and he intends to lead his troops in to purge the emperor's entourage!"
The emperor's blood boiled when he heard this. He slapped the armrest of the dragon throne with a ferocious look on his face.
"What? Wu Shengmao led his troops to besiege the imperial palace?" The emperor was shocked. Why didn't he get any news before?
"Yes! He also said..." The man hesitated.
"What else did he say? Tell me quickly!" the emperor asked anxiously.
"He also said that Commander Wei was one of the rebels, and that his intention was to enter the palace and assassinate the emperor with the intention of treason!" The man pointed at Wei Zhonglin.
"How dare you! My loyalty to the Emperor is evident to all, how could I possibly conspire with a rebel group? You're simply trying to frame me, and you're just going to find a pretext."
Wei Zhonglin was still shocked by Wu Shengmao's troops surrounding the palace and Jiang Youzhen's self-proclaimed king, but he didn't expect that the next fire would burn him.
He immediately turned around and knelt before the emperor, "Your Majesty, I am completely loyal and have no second thoughts! Please understand!"
The emperor looked surprised and suspicious, and he looked at Wei Zhonglin with suspicion.
"Your Majesty, Commander Wu dared to mobilize 50,000 troops to besiege the Imperial Palace without your order. This is very strange! There was nothing unusual at the palace gate before, and Your Majesty only wanted to strengthen the guard, but Commander Wu was so quick to mobilize 50,000 troops to guard the palace gate.
Even if he got the news in advance, why didn't he report it to the emperor? Even if it was too late, he should have waited until the news was announced before taking any action. It's not a good time to suddenly besiege the palace gates!"
Others, however, felt that Wu Shengmao's motives for trespassing into the palace at this time were unclear!
"Yes! I beg Your Majesty to examine my thoughts. I have absolutely no second thoughts! If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, then I will die to prove my loyalty."
Wei Zhonglin was resolute. He thought, "The Wei family has always been loyal to the court and the emperor. How could they possibly be plotting treason? It was sheer nonsense."
The emperor pondered for a moment and decided that Wei Zhonglin couldn't possibly be a traitor. If Wei Zhonglin was truly plotting rebellion, a fight would have broken out in the palace by now. There was no way Wei Zhonglin would let go of such a good opportunity to assassinate someone.
As for Jiang Youzhen, the emperor thought about it and felt that it was unlikely. He was the one who sent Jiang Youzhen to the border, and his family was still in the capital. How could he abandon them?
Now there is only one possibility, that is Wu Shengmao is the traitor! The fact that he led his troops to trespass into the palace shows that he really rebelled!
"Wei Zhonglin, take my token and go find the Right General Ma Qian'an and ask him to immediately mobilize 60,000 troops to guard the palace!" The emperor immediately took off the token from his body and handed it over.
"Your Majesty! Something bad has happened! General Wu and the elite soldiers of the Beijing Guard Command who are guarding the palace gate have started fighting!" Another guard came to report.
"Break through the siege and go quickly!" The emperor dispatched two secret guards to protect Wei Zhonglin and went to mobilize troops for rescue.
At this moment, he was in great confusion, feeling as if he had been caught in a trap, but his sons had no reaction at all.
"Someone! Go see if the eldest princess and the prince of the county have arrived!" The emperor suddenly thought of the prince of Rongguo. Who was trying to seize his throne? He could only think of those few people.
Prince Yu is one of them. Not to mention that Prince Yu is a lame man, it is impossible for him to covet the throne.
At this moment, everyone is suspicious in the emperor's mind.
Besides Prince Yu, it could be the enemy country. Perhaps the enemy's royal family has infiltrated the capital, and the border conflict was instigated by the enemy country in order to attack from both sides!
The emperor suddenly became suspicious of those princes. Until now, those princes had not come. Could it be that they were planning a rebellion?
No! Besides them, there are other noble families! Those noble families are also suspicious! The emperor was a little annoyed. It was too sudden! He had just made the deployment, and they came so quickly!
"Come here! Go to the princes' houses and ask them to come into the palace to see me!" the emperor ordered coldly.
"Yes!" replied the eunuch guarding the hall.
"Go check if Jiang Youzhen's parents are here? Bring them in no matter what!"
The emperor felt that if Jiang Youzhen returned to the capital, as long as he had his parents in his hands, Jiang Youzhen would never abandon him.
But distant water cannot quench immediate thirst! Jiang Youzhen is still far away at the border, and he doesn't know if he will be able to return to the capital alive. He can only make preparations!
There was a chaotic battle in front of the palace gate. Such a big commotion naturally attracted the attention of the noble families and common people in the capital.
The court officials all stood up and sent people to the palace gate to inquire about the news.
The two princes also led their elite troops to the palace gate, and the capital was in complete chaos!
"Sir! Something bad has happened! Someone is trying to break into the palace and a fight has broken out in front of the palace gate." The steward hurried to the bedroom of Prime Minister Lin Juhui and reported anxiously.
"What? Who trespassed into the palace?" Prime Minister Lin Juhui hurriedly put on his clothes and said in shock.
"I heard it was Governor Wu Shengmao!"
Lin Juhui's face suddenly became solemn. He was stunned for a long moment before he said, "Close the door of the mansion. No one should knock on the door! The mansion is under martial law. No one is allowed to enter or leave!"
"This?" The manager was very confused, but after seeing Lin Juhui's expression, he nodded and left.
"My lord! It's bad! Someone broke into the palace at night and is planning a rebellion!"
In all the major government offices, those who were sent to investigate were terrified and cried out in panic when they returned to their government offices.
"Hurry! I want to go to the palace!" Minister of Rites Luo Chengyi hurried to the door and asked the servants to prepare the carriage.
However, the doorman came hurriedly to report.
"Sir, we can't get out! The mansion is surrounded by people, and they say no one from our mansion is allowed to enter or leave, including you, sir!"
"What? This is outrageous!" Luo Chengyi was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.
He pushed open the gatehouse and opened the corner door, but unexpectedly a spear came across at him the next moment.
"Lord Luo, please return home!"
"Who are you? What is your purpose in placing me under house arrest? I am the Minister of Rites. Without the emperor's edict, you are plotting a rebellion!" Luo Chengyi said angrily.