I saw a middle-aged lady dressed in plain clothes entering from the gate of heaven, it was Queen Zeng.

Her hair was slightly crooked, and there was dust on her body, as if she had just galloped past her horse. In fact, she had been riding the horse for a whole day and seven hours in a row, and at this time her legs were almost unconscious, and if it weren't for Pang Tianshou by her side, she was afraid that she would not be able to take a few steps before she stumbled and fell.

Empress Zeng was followed by a chubby nurse, whose baby was already asleep, unaware that she was passing between the most powerful officials of the Ming Dynasty.

Behind him were Bai Daqi, a maid and a little eunuch.

The group walked straight from Fengtianmen to the steps of Fengtian Temple, and Huang Mingjun dodged to the side and bowed to Queen Zeng.

Zhu Yuao was stunned from the moment he saw Empress Zeng's figure, and only then did he burst out in a daze, "Why does Her Royal Highness the Empress ...... When did you return to the palace? ”

Why go back to the palace? When Empress Zeng heard this, she didn't seem to react, she still walked forward slowly, but she couldn't help but remember the situation when she received Zheng Guangying's secret report the day before yesterday.

At first, she was just angry that Su Guansheng didn't follow Yi's order and leaked the death of the saint - at this time, he was the only one in the entire Tianxing Mansion who knew about it.

But then she always felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't figure it out, and then she had to call Huang Daozhou to discuss with him.

After Huang Daozhou read the note that Zheng Guangying used for the secret report, his expression immediately became serious, and he only said one sentence to her, "Does King Tang want to mourn and help the spirit?" ”

She was shocked when she heard this, and she couldn't understand the deep meaning of this, and immediately ordered the whole team to rush back to Tianxing Mansion as quickly as possible.

After a long time, He Kai and Zhu Jizuo's secret letter to Huang Daozhou was delivered, and after learning that Tang Wangjian had changed the head of the six departments and expanded more than 1,000 forbidden military forces, she did not dare to delay, and instead abandoned the car and rode on horseback, only taking Huang Mingjun and 300 cavalry, and rushed back to the palace with his foot soldiers.

Because the prince was young and couldn't stand the gallop, she even left the prince in the brigade. At this time, the prince's nurse behind her was only holding a baby bought casually along the way.

But what does it matter, as long as she is here, who dares to come up and check if it is the prince?!

"The palace is worried about the palace, so I rushed back with the prince." Empress Zeng replied casually, looked at Zhu Yuao, who was still standing in front of the dragon chair, and stood still and asked, "The prison country is still in the court?" ”

"Oh, this ......" Zhu Yuao hurriedly walked down the stairs in front of the Fengtian Gate and knelt on the side of the royal road, "Meet Her Royal Highness the Queen, Her Royal Highness the Prince." ”

His mind turned sharply, didn't he say that Empress Zeng would at least have to go to Tianxing Mansion the day after tomorrow, why did he return to the palace now? Could it be that his plan was discovered by him?

What to do? Zhu Yuao quickly calculated, if he immediately ascended to the heights and called for a coup d'état now, what should be the chance of victory?

He raised his eyes slightly, and swept to the opposite side of Huang Mingjun's sword hilt as steady as Mount Tai, his heart immediately trembled, Huang Mingjun's main force should have arrived in Tianxing Mansion, and he had the prince's righteous name in his hand, Su Guansheng's soldiers were afraid that they would not dare to face each other with a blade, how could they be their opponents with only two hundred palace guards?

And the army of Jianyu is eyeing the tiger, although there is King Chen to intercept his back road, but if he and Zeng Hou meet each other, Tianxing Mansion will definitely fall into chaos. At that time, Boluo only needs to send light horses to the city, and Tianxing Mansion will be like Beijing in the Chongzhen Dynasty, and the city will be colored and incense will be burned to welcome the thieves.

In this way, wouldn't it be a gift to the East with the Ming Dynasty? !

When he was at war between heaven and man, he heard Empress Zeng say softly: "King Tang, please get up." Then she walked in front of him without squinting.

Then the nurse stood in front of the dragon chair with the prince in her arms, where he had just stood. Empress Zeng stopped beside her, looked around at all the courtiers first, took a deep breath, and said in a sad tone: "The Holy Lord was killed by thieves in Tingzhou, and he was in Bintian last month. ”

There was a dead silence in front of the imperial gate, and everyone looked at Empress Zeng blankly, thinking that they had misheard.

It wasn't until the queen asked Bai Daqi to take out the vegetarian that had been prepared, and ordered everyone who accompanied her to wear mourning clothes, and the court immediately broke out in wailing and crying, like mourning.

"How could the emperor ......?"

"The national enmity is like the sea, and I swear to destroy the thief!"

"Slave me too much!"

"Holy Lord, ......"

After a while, when the ministers' mood stabilized a little, Empress Zeng also wiped away the tears on her face, took a few deep breaths, and tried to calm herself, and then said loudly again: "Tell the world, the national funeral on the same day." ”

After saying these words, she was covered with tears again, but she still continued: "On the day of the funeral, the prince should support the coffin and send it to him." However, the crown prince was young and was held by King Deng on behalf of the crown prince. ”

After Empress Zeng said this, she couldn't help but think of what Huang Daozhou said to her on the way back to Tianxing Mansion yesterday, "...... Although the secrecy is not mourning is conducive to the stability of the court, if the Tang King really has the heart to send a funeral for the first emperor, he will take the lead in announcing that the first emperor has collapsed, and take advantage of the situation to mourn, then the righteousness will be the first.

"Therefore, after Her Royal Highness the Queen arrived at Tianxing Mansion, she immediately sent a national funeral, and ordered the prince to succeed to the throne immediately, so that the throne is stable, and there is no one else to serve!"

There was a look of determination in her eyes, and she raised her voice and said: "How difficult it is for the society, and when foreign enemies are around, the country cannot be without a king for a day. When the first emperor was buried, the crown prince immediately ascended the throne and succeeded to the unification to settle the world. ”

The court suddenly calmed down, almost everyone expected that there would be a major event of the alternation of imperial power in the Ming Dynasty today, and at this critical moment, even if you make a wrong expression, I am afraid it will affect your career.

Zhu Yuao took advantage of the power of supervising the country to install cronies in the court recently, and nearly half of the people in the court were all his at this time, and they all peeked at Su Guansheng and Wang Yinghua. Su Guansheng and the others looked at Zhu Yuao.

At this moment, he saw a person slowly entering from Fengtianmen with the support of his servants, and he was still far away, so he knelt on the ground and shouted, "Minister, obey the decree of Her Royal Highness the Queen!" Daming Sheji has been passed down from generation to generation, and it will be prosperous forever! ”

All the ministers turned their heads to look, only to see that the person who came was the first assistant of the cabinet of the current dynasty - Huang Daozhou.

He Kai, Zhu Jizuo and other former Longwu leaders saw Huang Daozhou appear, and immediately seemed to have a backbone, and immediately knelt down and shouted in unison, "Obey the decree of Her Royal Highness the Queen!" ”

One step, only one step away! Zhu Yu'ao almost wanted to drip blood in his heart, if the queen came back one day later, Wang Yinghua would take Cao Hongzu's 3,000 men and horses to control Tianxing Mansion, and he still had room to maneuver.

But in the current situation, the queen announced the succession of the crown prince in the court in the name of righteousness, what other objections can he have? But there is only one step left from the throne, how can you be willing? His hands clenched into fists, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Huh?"

He suddenly saw the queen's eyes looking at him, and his heart trembled suddenly, and he instantly understood - the righteous name, the people's hearts turned back, and the troops in the city of Tianxing Mansion, he could not overpower the queen.

He sighed helplessly, his trembling legs bent, and finally he fell to his knees at the bottom of the stairs.