In mid-August, Zhao Zhushi Le held his illness to meet the middle-aged and elderly people in the country of the banquet, and the location was arranged in the Ming Hall near the small town of Yongfeng in the west of Xiangguo City. The civil and military ministers and the elderly were highly respected, and the number of participants reached more than 300.

And this day is also the launch date chosen by Cheng Yao.

The Ming Hall, the Ming Orthodox Church, through the gods, the heaven and the earth, is the four o'clock, out of the teaching, is the temple of the Son of Heaven. Shi Le chose this time and here to feast on the internal and external ministers and in the wild country, in addition to the autumn festival feast at this time, but also to calm the troubled disputes in the country and restore a stable and peaceful situation again. Therefore, he attached great importance to this matter, and not only participated in it while he was sick, but also the queen, concubines, children, and relatives in the city, including nobles and celebrities, all accompanied him.

And Cheng Yao's purpose in choosing such a time is also very simple. He has been in the military for a long time, even with the help of Shi Lang, it will be difficult to control the inner and outer palaces and forbidden city defenses of the entire national capital in a short period of time. As long as the situation in the entire Xiangguo cannot be controlled in the shortest possible time, it is very likely that the matter will be trapped in internal and external obstruction and end in failure.

The Mingtang feast gathers the internal and external subjects, the national capital, and celebrities, as long as the Mingtang is controlled at the time of the attack, it is equivalent to controlling the entire Xiangguo in a short time. Goals become focused and clear, making it easier to act quickly.

Today's Xiangguo, although the number of soldiers has been greatly reduced because of the two dispatches and the concentration of the forbidden army in Yecheng for rectification, it does not mean that it is completely empty. Among them, there are nearly 6,000 soldiers of the two armies who are responsible for the palace defense and are stationed in Jiande Palace and Yongfeng Town, which are the descendants of the Chinese army since the uprising of Zhao Zhushile, and there are more than 3,000 Hu soldiers who are strictly selected by the elite of the Great Shan Yu Governor.

These nearly 10,000 elites are all placed under General Wei's mansion. At that time, the general of Wei was Lu Ming, one of the eighteen former ministers of Zhao Shile, but he did not have the power to directly dispatch people and horses, but it was just a false appointment. The only one who can call on this part of the manpower is the general on duty who is Zhao Zhushile himself and holds the talisman.

In addition, there are more than 10,000 county soldiers in the south of Xiangguo who are responsible for arresting public security, patrolling and interrogating, although they are not among the Chinese army, but most of them are served as commanders by clan relatives and noble children, and the armament is neat and the combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. This part of the army is led by Si Li and Jing Zhaoyin, and it is also a force that can come in handy in times of crisis.

In addition, Xiangguo and Yecheng are not far apart, chariots, hussars and other military governments are stationed along the way, and the horses gallop to help at the critical moment, and tens of thousands of armor soldiers can be gathered in Xiangguo within half a day, but the enemy can harass outside, and the chaos can be suppressed inside.

So for Cheng Yao, whether this matter is successful or not depends on whether it is quick or not.

The lord of the country feasts on the public, naturally it cannot be as simple as eating and drinking, with a whole set of cumbersome etiquette and a large number of political implications. The first day of the autumn festival was long and tedious, and Shile was already ill, but he barely supported it. By the evening, he was so tired that he could not attend the small banquet that had been scheduled for the night, so he hurriedly returned to Mingtang to prepare for the next day's feast.

Similar to grand ceremonial occasions, Cheng Yao actually doesn't like to participate very much. Although he is now in the ruling position of Taiwan Province, his prestige is shallow, and he cannot be ranked in the front row on similar occasions, and he has to fall behind a number of old celebrities who have martial arts and false honors, which reminds him of his humble background and shallow foundation.

The original night banquet was canceled, and the ministers were all worried, and they all felt that the lord's posture was getting worse, and the problem of inheritance was imminent. They all have to attend the feast tomorrow, and it is cumbersome and chaotic to go in and out, so they were placed in the side halls on the periphery of the Ming Hall to rest for the night because of the height of the Juelu.

Mingtang is a solemn place, and the ministers dare not be presumptuous here. Since the night banquet was canceled, they all went to their own places, and they did not dare to be so noisy and presumptuous, and held private gatherings. Of course, this is also because people like Zhongshan Wang Shihu and other arrogant and willful people are not here, so the atmosphere is quite harmonious.

The pattern of the whole Ming Hall is round outside and square inside, the upper circle is below, the place is round in response to the sky, the outside is the Biyong School Palace, and the inside is the Tongtian Palace room, the pattern is open and grand, full of majestic atmosphere. However, Cheng Yao had no respect for this grand building on the way, and at this time, he felt the feeling of Zhao Zhushile in his heart.

In fact, it is not only Cheng Yao, but also many people in the congregation who have little respect for this Ming Hall. This building, also built before the conquest of the Han Kingdom, was used for the first official occasion when Shi Le personally returned to worship the heavens after Liu Yao, in order to show the return of the mandate of heaven.

But since then, there have been many discussions, that this Ming Hall is not in line with the ancient system, the so-called palace of Bu Zheng, in the Yang of the country, Zhou and Han dynasties, the location of the Ming Hall must be located in the south of the capital. However, Shi Zhao's Ming Hall is located in the west of the city, and its position is not correct, and it is difficult to pass on Zuo for a long time. The location where the government was supposed to be located was built by Shi Le because of his selfish desires, and he may suffer from water misfortune in the future.

This kind of statement will not be openly proclaimed, but presumably Shi Le has also heard of it, and he rarely chooses this place to hold grand ceremonies in the future, although he is the founder of the hero, but it is difficult to dispel these discordant thoughts in the hearts of people. In the future, the famous scholars such as Long, Heshuo, etc., reviewed the classics, defense etiquette, and suggested that Zhao Guocheng Zuo should be prosperous in the middle and Jin Dynasty, which gradually dispelled this kind of rumors.

Cheng Yao was thinking about the various patterns of the Mingtang at this time, naturally not because he was confused about the rise and fall of the five virtues or the ancient rites and regulations, but because he was thinking about whether it was feasible to break into the Mingtang and control Shile's plan, and what fatigue existed.

The entire Ming Hall was heavily guarded, with three steps and one guard, and all he saw along the way were heavily armored Praetorian Guards, which undoubtedly increased the pressure in Cheng Yao's heart. In the majestic place of Mingtang, he could not bring too many attachés into it, and Cheng Yao only had two sword guards given by Lord Zhao Shile beside him. Before the incident, he didn't dare to frequently contact Xu Guang and other cronies to attract attention, so although there was a huge amount of pressure accumulated in his heart, he couldn't talk to people to dissipate it.

In fact, for similar problems, Shi Lang had already persuaded the process before. In fact, it is similar to the Praetorian Guard, which seems to be a strict military discipline and an elite choice, which seems to be irresistible, but it is actually the best to deal with. Because this kind of soldiers, who are at risk of the core of Gyeonggi and the blessings and misfortunes of the supreme king, they have a clear order and discipline and cannot be slackened.

In the ranks, we also resolutely put an end to the practice of covering up and seeking personal gain, and there will never be a situation in which the subordinates are full of subordinates and the whole people respond to it. It is also out of this consideration that Lu Ming, the general of the Wei who is now in charge of the Xiangguo Janissaries, is at the bottom of the eighteen cavalry in terms of merit and bravery, and the only one who praises him is credible in terms of qualifications. With Lord Zhao's shrewdness, how could he entrust the core guards to those who are too capable and have many expectations.

Such an atmosphere is certainly the strength of the elite division, but it is also its weakness. Because they are accustomed to clear military orders and dispatches, once they encounter turmoil, they do not have a clear core command, and their adaptability is inferior to that of ordinary county and country scattered soldiers and even outcasts. Therefore, as long as you grasp the order to transfer troops in the forbidden center, these guards are not a problem at all.

Shi Lang said this, of course, not just a false word of comfort. Even including Cheng Yao himself, he also saw with his own eyes how Shi Le won more with less, and defeated the tens of thousands of elite people of the Jin army of Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea in the Middle Jin. At that time, Sima Yue, the king of the East China Sea, had already died, and the soldiers had no intention of fighting, and there were more than 100,000 elite Jin troops, and the armament was far superior to the Hu Zhong who were almost rogue Kou, but after encountering a sneak attack, he was almost tied to death, lined up to die, and collapsed at the first touch, and there was no intention of resistance at all.

Of course, this does not mean that Shiler's achievements today are fortunate, and the simple decision to attack at that time already required great courage and superb resourcefulness, and it was by no means a human achievement.

The old thing is gone, and now that Shi Le is old, it is no longer Shi Le who needs to have the courage to make a decision, but he Cheng Yao!

When Cheng Yao returned to his accommodation, a secret book stored in a bamboo tube was already placed in the corner of the room. When the attendant who was in charge of taking care of the living retreated, and Cheng Yao was the only one left in the room, he took out the secret book and hurriedly took a look. This is the advantage of Shi Lang's joining, if there is no one in charge of the secret communication, even if Cheng Yao is here with him, the scope of his activities is only between square inches, and no matter how many tricks he has, he will not be able to use it.

There are only a few words in the letter, and the cronies who are lying in ambush have gathered a group of outlaws who have no heels and scattered among the families of the ministers and their families, just waiting for the signal to be issued, they can riot at any time, alarm the families of those ministers, prevent the guards stationed outside from entering in time, and give Cheng Yao to control the situation in order to compete for time.

As for Shi Lang, he was already in place, leading two thousand guards to defend the northwest gate of Mingtang. But because it is still not in the core, the key is that Cheng Yao can obtain the palace defense warrant that goes directly to the inside of the Ming Hall, so that he can get past the layers of defense and go straight inside to control everyone in the Ming Hall.

In the night, after returning to the palace, Zhao Zhushi fell asleep after drinking the decoction, resting for more than an hour, and suddenly heard the sound of commotion outside and woke him up, even if he was a little unhappy, sleepy eyes and shouted: "What is going on outside?" ”

Without spinning his heels, Yan Zhen, the middle attendant who had been following the side of the king, hurriedly walked in, bowed his head and whispered: "Mrs. Cheng suddenly fell ill at night, and the palace attendants panicked and didn't know what to do. ”

"Concubine Cheng is sick?"

When Shi Le heard this, his drowsiness suddenly decreased by half, and when he sat up, he asked again, "Has the diagnosis been fruitful?" Quickly ask people to ask, and report it immediately. ”

He is indeed very fond of Concubine Cheng, and has nothing to do with Cheng Yao, otherwise he would not have had a few children and set up Shi Daya as his heir. I was already suffering from illness, and I couldn't bear to see those close to me suffer from it.

After Yan Zhen heard this, he hurriedly sent someone to inquire, and he personally stepped forward, helped Shi Le to get up, and asked the palace people to send a decoction and serve it on his knees.

Shi Le was no longer sleepy at this time, but his spirit was not good, and even the bags under his eyes drooped listlessly. At this time, the night was very deep, and the palace room was dark, and the palace people were hurriedly lighting the candles because the Lord woke up. The figures in the hall swayed, and the shadows cast on the walls were even more messy and disturbing, which inevitably made Shi Le even more irritable, waving his hand to drive everyone away, just letting people put another copper lamp in front of the window, and watching the flickering flames in the copper lamp stunned.

"Why haven't you reported it yet?"

I don't know how long I waited, Shi Le turned his head, turned his head to look at the empty palace gate, and his expression was already a little displeased.

Yan Zhen has been serving for a long time, and his background and situation are even more unbearable than Cheng Yao, and the reason why he is trusted is because he can deeply understand the will of the monarch and take care of everything. He saw that Shi Le was anxious, so he stepped forward and whispered, "Why don't you let your ministers look at you?" ”

"Go now, go back!"

When Shi Le heard this, he waved his hand and said casually with cloudy eyes.

After Yan Zhen heard this, he hurried out, and hurriedly walked to the palace where Concubine Cheng lived with lanterns in his hands. Although he is a well-respected head of internal affairs, he also does not dare to act arbitrarily in this bright place.

Concubine Cheng, as the biological mother of the crown prince, naturally lives in a palace with a high standard, only inferior to the queen, and is also located in the core of Mingtang. Yan Zhen came in a hurry, and after half an hour, he had already walked outside the door of the side hall, but saw that there were more than a dozen people entangled here in front of the door. When I got closer, it turned out that it was the female Shi Shi next to Concubine Cheng who forcibly prevented the doctor from entering, in other words, it was unknown what Concubine Cheng's condition was at the moment.

"Mrs. has a noble body, raising Jia'er for the Lord, and has her own internal strength. Why did the queen treat people so harshly and humiliating, and let the living people visit Mrs. Yanmen at night! ”

Among them, the loudest woman shouted, Yan Zhen recognized it as the prince's nurse, because of the blind date with Concubine Cheng, the lord's love house and Wu have been kept in the palace, and she has always had a bit of an arrogant posture, but at this time there is no restraint, and her fingers have almost poked on the doctor's face.

Seeing this scene, Yan Zhen was a little dissatisfied, but he was also relieved that the people around Concubine Cheng were still entangled here, which showed that even if Concubine Cheng was sick, it should not be serious. However, he could not confirm the severity of his illness with his own eyes, and of course he did not dare to return here, so he stepped forward and said, "I have been sent by the Lord to visit my wife, I wonder if I can enter?" ”

When the people in Concubine Cheng's palace saw that it was Yan Zhen, they didn't dare to be too presumptuous, only the prince's nurse was still arrogant, complaining that Yan Zhen had too many attachés, for fear of disturbing Mrs. Qingjing. Yan Zhen was anxious to report, so he didn't get entangled in such a trivial matter, and immediately stated that he entered alone, so he had to be released.

Yan Zhen hurriedly walked into the half-hidden hall of the palace gate, and saw that the light was dim, and only a figure was faintly shaking behind the inner screen, so he stepped forward and said respectfully: "The lord is worried about the lady's body, and the special slave came down to ask, I wonder if the lady is healthy?" ”

"I, I ......"

Concubine Cheng's somewhat weak voice came from behind the screen, and there was a hint of trembling in her voice: "You, Yan, and Yan Gong are coming close......

Yan Zhen subconsciously took a step forward after hearing this, and suddenly the palace door behind him was "slammed" shut, his heartstrings tightened slightly, and when he turned his head to look, there was already wind behind his ears, and in a panic, he only saw a few strong women's huge figures rushing towards him, and then there was a black in front of him, and then his forehead was in sharp pain, and Venus collapsed in his field of vision, and he was already unconscious!

"Is he—is he dead?"

At this time, Concubine Cheng poked her head out from behind the screen with a panicked face, and when she saw Yan Zhen lying on the ground, there was blood stains between her chest and abdomen, especially a huge blood hole on her forehead, which was even more shocking. As for the strong women, they were all armed with sharp weapons such as scissors, and as for the prince's nurse, she grabbed a huge bronze power in her hand, and the fatal blow to Yan Zhen's forehead was her handwriting.

"Don't be surprised, madam, the thief is already angry!"

Although Concubine Cheng came from a poor family, she was taken care of by her family when she was young, and she followed Zhao Zhushile in the future. On the one hand, she instructed people to hold up Yan Zhen's body, on the other hand, to wipe the blood stains that fell to the ground, and to turn her head to comfort Concubine Cheng, who was a rare fierce person among the female streamers.

"Great things are coming, please remember what Guanglu instructed. Stay here until dawn, the prince has become the lord of China, and he is honored inside and outside! ”

The nurse comforted, and then grabbed the talismans found on Yan Zhen's body, but she was dumbfounded when she looked at them, these talismans were large and small, in different forms, there were as many as four or five, and she didn't know what they were used for!

But the woman made up her mind, and took all the talismans in her bosom, and took one out of her hand and lay it in her hand. At this time, the room was ready, and a burly woman changed into a chapter dress and stood in the shadows, because there was a curtain to cover it, at first glance it looked a little like Yan Zhen standing there.

At this time, Concubine Cheng retreated into the room again, and the nurse asked someone to open the door, walked out by herself, and then asked the doctor to let her go, and at the same time whispered: "Madame's illness is related to the woman's secret affairs, if you smell filth in the palace, don't ask at will!" ”

The two healers were already apprehensive at this time, and after hearing this, they didn't dare to ask more, so they lowered their heads and hurried in.

At this time, the nurse walked in front of Yan Zhen's several attachés, waved the talisman in her hand, and said, "The middle attendant will wait for his wife to sleep before returning, and send a few of you back to the lord before standby." ”

Then, the nurse went back, took another female historian out of the corner of the courtyard, and hurried out of the Ming Hall.

However, the good luck came to an abrupt end when it came to the next level, and after the patrol guards checked the talisman, when they even separated several people to surround the two women, they scolded: "This is an internal order, not an external envoy, you two who use it under the palace, come quickly!" ”

When the two women heard this, their faces changed suddenly, and even if one of them couldn't support it, his body was shaky with shock. But the nurse was not yet frightened and completely lost her mind, and after a little thought, even the masked face roared: "How can the woman know that the ban is used, this will severely shock the traitor!" The thief slaves the queen, and the queen is tired of seeing that the prince is from my wife, and she has always treated her harshly...... Madame wants to see her family, and Her Majesty will make people obstruct such deeds......"

When several sergeants heard this woman speak, they shouted out of the palace and fought in the palace, and they were all stunned for a while, and they didn't dare to come forward to take people, I really don't know if they heard this good or bad. However, the woman did not give up, and rushed straight to the commander, grabbed his armor and shouted, "I am the prince's nurse, take me to the general on duty quickly!" Let's go to worship the Lord together, whether Her Majesty the Queen controls the inside and outside, and if you want to do any small things, you have to embarrass the Prince's mother...... Does the general have the face to face Chen? In the past, Madame gave him a beautiful maid palace person, and he played freely indoors, and today he will help Her Majesty the Queen to bully Madame......"

"Shut up, stop talk! The wicked woman closed her voice......"

When the soldier commander heard this, his head suddenly swelled, and he raised his arm to cover the woman's mouth and nose, but the woman's shouting became more and more miserable, which made the soldier commander even more afraid of summoning more people to make the matter bigger, and he also knew the origin of the person, so he could only roar to appease: "Don't make trouble again, wicked woman, I will personally send you to see Guanglu, and there will be no more noise along the way!" ”

When the woman heard this, she hurriedly silenced herself, and threw the warrant to the commander, but the commander was like a hot potato in his hand, and threw it back again and shouted: "Tighten the warrant, and you will have to check it on the return later!" ”

So the group went to Cheng Yao's place without hindrance, and Cheng Yao was sleepless all night, ready to go, and waited until the nurse entered the hurried process, he also secretly felt thrilling in his heart, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back, but he was also glad that it was God's help, and he didn't care about the defense of men and women, and grabbed the nurse's arm and said: "Mrs. is very helpful, the prince will ascend to the pole in the future, and what he thinks is not only the grace of nursing, but also what reason is not honorable inside and outside!" ”

Yan Zhen and his people are deeply trusted by Shi Le, so the talisman he holds is also accessible, with this start, Cheng Yao is already determined in his heart, and soon sent the warrant to Shi Lang. Shi Lang got this warrant, and it was also like a treasure, even if he lit hundreds of soldiers, including his relatives and cronies, and hurried to the interior of the Ming Hall with Cheng Yao.

The Ming Hall is heavily defended, including the guards, all of them are guarding their duties to prevent overstepping. Because of such a tight defense, it gave them an opportunity to take advantage of. Although the guards seen along the way were curious, the talisman in Cheng Yao's hand was convincing enough, and the soldiers did not dare to ask the inside story, so they let them go all the way, and a group of hundreds of people quietly approached Mingtang.

He saw that he could pass through a side corridor to reach Shile's palace, but he was again hindered on the way. Hundreds of soldiers were dispatched, and they went straight into the main couch, and it was difficult to pass with the talisman in Cheng Yao's hand alone, and it also needed Lord Zhao's personal order.

At this point, how could Cheng Yao be unable to move forward any longer, when he roared angrily: "Quickly summon the commander of the army to this point, I am personally ordered by the lord to dispatch, and the middle and regular servants pass on the edict, will there be any fake?" ”

There is no need for Cheng Yao to be noisy, the general on duty here hurriedly came, it was Liu Suo, the son of Liu Yan, the queen's brother. Shile arranged his person in such an important position, which shows the promotion of the queen's mother's family. However, this Liu Suo is far from being a brave and decisive person, but Tu is just a prodigal, leading more than a dozen people to this point, and he has already shouted and shouted to kill before he enters, and he is getting closer, and there is a little alcohol on his body.

This matter did not wait for Cheng Yao to respond, Shi Lang had already crossed the crowd and rushed out to attack first, he jumped out from behind Cheng Yao, and between the lightning and flint, he smashed Liu Suo's pocket, stopped his people's action of gathering soldiers, raised his legs and trampled people under his feet, and then roared angrily: "Janissary General Liu Suo, lost on duty, drinking is prohibited, and the big crime should be asked, the rest of the soldiers will unload their armor and abandon their weapons, stay until the face of the lord, and then come to determine the crime of Er Cao!" Abandon the weapon quickly, and the violator will be killed! ”

When the rest of the soldiers heard this, they were all shocked, and they all subconsciously looked at Liu Suo. However, Liu Suo was already drunk, and was beaten by Shi Lang, and at this time he was moaning constantly, and even shouted "spare his life" in his mouth, so he didn't dare to move, including the hundreds of guards who came later, all of them tied their hands to one side, and watched Shi Lang hold Liu Suo and Cheng Yao and walk proudly, and at the same time occupied the banners and other order utensils such as the warning sound of the guard's night ban.

"The old slave only sleeps without worry, and putting this mediocre class near is self-inflicted decline!"

Seeing Liu Suo, who was pinched by Shi Lang on the back of his neck and vomiting bitterness, Cheng Yao couldn't help but laugh. At this time, the palace where Shi Le lived was already in sight, and he ridiculed Liu Suo in order to dissipate the tension of the later pressure in his heart.