The palace looks a little more deserted tonight than usual. The Son of Heaven was sick again, which made the people in the palace panic, the eunuchs in charge kept a close eye on it, and the people below were naturally extra careful, and after dark, there were almost no people walking around in the entire Forbidden City.

It wasn't until the third watch that a group of forbidden troops patrolling the palace walked to the south with lanterns, and a few soldiers glanced thoughtfully at the locked palace gate of the South Palace, which had been regarded as the forbidden place of the palace.

Since last year, the Son of Heaven suddenly became angry, sent someone to change all the soldiers who were guarding the gate of the South Palace, and asked people to cut down the big trees used for shade in the palace, everyone in the palace knew what the attitude of the emperor was the emperor, and naturally no one dared to touch the head and approach the South Palace.

However, with the sudden aggravation of the Son of Heaven's illness and the early death of the crown prince, many people's minds became lively again. I wonder how the Emperor Taishang, who has been imprisoned for several years, will react when he learns this news?

But even so, no one really dared to approach this palace, which looked completely deserted, and even the forbidden army patrolling the night then quickened their pace and hurriedly ran in front of the South Palace. Even the high-ranking officials of the DPRK and the Central Committee dare not make peace with such sensitive matters, let alone these little people who are not worth mentioning.

And just after this group of people walked by, from behind a rockery on the side, a figure suddenly flashed. I saw that he carefully observed the surrounding situation, and after being sure that there was no one else, he tiptoed quickly to the wall of Nangong Palace, saw the vines growing on the wall, and climbed up with his hands and feet.

After a while, he finally climbed over the palace wall several feet high and landed in the rather desolate South Palace. After being a little stunned, he mustered up his courage and continued to move forward, and soon came to the main hall with the door closed, and knocked on the door of the temple: "Your Majesty, the slave Wan Xu asks to see." ”

After screaming several times, there was a hint of movement inside, and a slightly trembling voice sounded: "Who are you?" Why come here? ”

"Please also ask Your Majesty to open the door and see, the slave maid has a big matter to ask to see, and it is a matter of life and death for Your Majesty and the crown prince Zhu Jianshen!" Wan Xu lowered his voice and continued.

After a while, the sound of rustling footsteps sounded inside, but the door of the temple did not open, and the voice was extremely vigilant: "Say whatever you want, I'll listen." ”

Wan Xu groaned slightly, then came over, and no longer forced him to open the door, and said, "Your Majesty obviously doesn't know what's going on outside here. In the past six months of this year, the current emperor has fainted several times, and judging from this, I am afraid that his life is approaching. ”

"So what?" The man inside asked a little stiffly, not seeming to be interested.

Wan Xu was a little stunned, but then remembered something again: "Not long ago, Zhu Jianji, who was only named the crown prince last year, also died of illness. Now that the emperor has no children under his knees, once the dragon controls Bintian, the court will definitely change! ”

The breath of the person inside became a little rapid with this sentence: "What you said is the truth? ”

"The slave and maid dare not deceive Your Majesty, this is what the slave and maid's godfather, Cao Jixiang, asked me to tell Your Majesty. He said that now is His Majesty's last chance, and the only chance to keep the original prince safe. Wan Xu made up his mind a little, and hurriedly said again.

"What do you mean by that? Why does it have to do with my son's deep understanding again? Zhu Qizhen inside was obviously a little unable to keep up with the other party's rhythm, and asked hesitantly.

"Your Majesty, please think about it, if the current Son of Heaven suddenly dies, who can be the replacement? I'm afraid it won't be the turn of the former prince who was deposed as the crown prince last year, right? After a pause, he continued: "In this way, when the new monarch succeeds to the throne, the situation of both His Majesty and the former prince will be really dangerous. ”

It wasn't until this person broke his words that Zhu Qizhen suddenly woke up. Yes, when his younger brother became the emperor, his emperor had become a thorn in his side, but because of the opinions of the people in the world and the little brotherhood left, he just imprisoned himself here. And once someone else becomes the emperor, his situation will naturally be worse, just in case, I am afraid that after the new emperor succeeds to the throne, the first person to get rid of is himself!

In the same way, as the former prince of the Ming Dynasty, the existence of his son Zhu Jianshen will also threaten the position of the new emperor. Even if his father and son don't have the ability to regain the throne, that person will not hesitate to eradicate the hidden danger.

Throughout the ages, because of the temptation of the throne, many people have embarked on the road of no return to cannibalism, and human nature will never change. When he figured out this layer, a deep sense of fear had already grabbed Zhu Qizhen's heart, making his almost dead heart feel pain again: "I...... What should I do? ”

If I die, I will die, because I am a sinner of the Ming Dynasty and a laughing stock of the world. It can be seen that he is innocent, and he should not face such an ending! Is there anything I can do to save him?

Although there was a door, Wan Xu outside seemed to have seen through Zhu Qizhen's heart, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, there is only one way to do it for now, and that is to take this opportunity to seize the throne that originally belonged to you!" Taking advantage of the fact that the emperor is seriously ill, we will raise troops to seize the palace and re-establish you as the Son of Heaven, so that not only can you and the crown prince's lives be guaranteed, but also everything that belongs to you can be recaptured! ”

"Raise troops? Right here in the city of Beijing? In this Forbidden City? Zhu Qizhen was completely stunned. When Cao Jixiang proposed to him to raise troops before, he finally mentioned that he could borrow soldiers and horses loyal to the royal family from other places to come to Beijing to achieve great things, but at that time they failed, and their next situation became more and more difficult. But now it's good, they are actually going to raise troops in the city of Beijing, how can such a thing succeed?

"The slave knows what His Majesty is worried about, but what the slave wants to say is that in fact, the current situation is the most favorable time for us to raise troops. Your Majesty may not be very clear about Gonggong Cao's current situation, he has almost mastered the military power of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and the palace ban is all in his words. Wan Xu hurriedly explained.

"So what? Even if he can really control the forbidden army and seize the palace, what about outside the palace? There are still 100,000 soldiers guarding the Beijing camp, once you do something, they will definitely hear the wind and move, and then won't the jade be burned? "Although Zhu Qizhen has been imprisoned for many years, he is still clear about some arrangements in the court.

"Your Majesty doesn't have to worry, the problem of Jingying will be solved soon. Not only will they not be an obstacle to us, but they will help His Majesty regain the throne and make great contributions. ”

"This ...... Is this true? As soon as he heard this, Zhu Qizhen was immediately moved, if it was really as he said, this matter was really promising. Because he knew very well that there were only two soldiers and horses in Beijing that could fight a war, and the others were just people like the Soldiers and Horses Division to maintain law and order and arrest bandits, and they couldn't do anything at all.

In addition, it is those civil officials. However, these people are not a problem, as long as they really re-ascend the throne as emperor, the only thing the Manchu officials can do in the face of this established fact is to bow down again and become vassals. Anyway, they had already made a choice a few years ago, and it would not be strange to do it again.

Perhaps in major and minor matters such as governing the country, the use of civil officials is much greater than that of military generals, but if it is really necessary to change the world and launch a coup d'état, these adults who call for wind and rain in the court can only be an insignificant spectator.

Wan Xu heard that Zhu Qizhen had already moved, so he said: "Although I am not ten percent sure, there are seven or eight of them." Your Majesty knows that Shi Heng, who is now in charge of the Beijing camp, and the hundred officials of the court and the central government have long been on the same page, if he can't take this opportunity to find a backer, once he dies today, he will not be spared. As he spoke, he briefly introduced Shi Heng's current situation.

Zhu Qizhen behind the door fell silent again, he was making the final trade-off, and he was also judging whether what the person outside the door said was true or false. After a while, he found out a little helplessly that now, it seemed that he could only fight this one.

If what this person said is true, this is indeed the last chance for his father and son to survive in death, otherwise once Zhu Qiyu dies, the day the new emperor succeeds to the throne will be the time when their father and son die violently. And if what the other party said is false, all this is an excuse made by his brother to kill him, in fact, everything has been said to this point, and the handle has fallen into his hands, and he is still a dead end.

Since there is only such a way to survive no matter how you think about it, what else is there to worry about?

"Okay, I'...... I believe you this time, as long as you really raise an army, I will re-ascend the throne, and I will not forget you and other meritorious heroes! Zhu Qizhen immediately responded. He knew very well that the other party had to try his best to convince himself that he still hoped to have a legitimate name as a teacher, and in this world, there was no more convincing banner than himself, the former and current Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Wan Xu, who was outside the door, was also overjoyed, and hurriedly struck the iron while it was hot and said: "Then please ask Your Majesty to write a secret decree and let the slave and maid hand it over to Shi Heng, so that he can send troops to help His Majesty regain the treasure." This is the ultimate goal of his adventure into Nangong tonight, only by getting the edict written by the Emperor Taishang can their army be justified this time, and his godfather can be sure to persuade Shi Heng to cooperate with them to gamble on this.

Zhu Qizhen behind the door once again fell into hesitation, and leaving a note was really ironclad evidence. But then, he smiled sadly, now that he has any other way to go?

Let's just fight this one! Thinking of this, he replied, "You wait a moment." ”

After a while, the door opened slightly, and a piece of freshly torn clothes was handed out from inside, Wan Xu took a look, and unconsciously gasped, the handwriting on it that had not dried up was written by blood!