The shadow of the country

Ever since Yilan Muyan and Princess Huimo returned to the palace that day, the emperor has repeatedly summoned Princess Huimo to Weiyang Palace to discuss matters together.It was said to be a discussion, but in fact it was just talking with her about insignificant matters such as piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.From time to time, he rewarded her with some rare antique treasures.Although Princess Huimo was puzzled, she had no choice but to accept the order to thank her.

In the eyes of the emperor, this princess who came from Mongolia to marry in the Central Plains is really too charming. There is always no shortage of beauties in the palace, but Huimo has such a bold and generous character, which is not available in all his concubines. .

After half a month of such days, a sudden imperial decree surprised everyone—Princess Huimo was conferred the title of Concubine Hui by the emperor, and the canonization ceremony will be held on the fifth day of next month!

Mu Yan was also very surprised when he heard the news.As expected, the affairs in the palace were changing rapidly and turbulently. Unexpectedly, the Mongolian princess who went out to play with them in the palace a few days ago became the emperor's concubine in the blink of an eye.Even though she could see that she liked Yilan, but her heroic personality and never putting on airs of a princess, he couldn't really dislike her.The emperor is nearly 40 years older than Princess Huimo, so he can be her father.But he couldn't believe that she became his concubine in the blink of an eye.

When Princess Huimo knew that she was conferred the title of concubine, she was so shocked that she could hardly stand, and then two lines of tears flowed down uncontrollably.The holy will is hard to violate, even if she likes Yilan again, she can't abandon her father Khan and the people of Turkic Li for her own selfishness.Therefore, she had no choice but to marry the emperor.

The concubine conferring ceremony was held in an extremely luxurious and formal way. Princess Huimo sat beside the emperor in a red wedding dress, listening to the congratulations from others, but there was no joy in her heart.However, a political marriage is related to the fate of the Turkic nation, and as a Turkic princess, she has to obey.However, the emperor really cared about her. He had pampered her exclusively for several months, and specially built a palace for her with colored glaze, named Liuhui Palace to imply her title, and it was even more dazzling under the sun. Beautiful.

In recent days, the emperor has only brought Concubine Hui and one concubine with him during his incognito tours around the south of the Yangtze River, not even the empress.The emperor left the prince to supervise the country in the capital, and the prince only brought Yilan with him, so Mu Yan naturally went with him as Yilan's close attendant.

The process of this southern tour was also very smooth.When the entourage of the brigade arrived at Yelizi on that day in Xin'an, the emperor suddenly sent an order to Yilan to discuss matters.Although Yilan didn't know what else her father had to discuss at this late hour, she still went to see her father according to the order.After arriving, he found that there were only the two of them in the huge hall, and all the rest of the servants had been sent away. It seemed that there was really something important to discuss.

Seeing Yilan coming, the emperor just walked over, stuffed a tiger talisman into his hand, and then patted him on the shoulder, "This tiger talisman can mobilize a thousand elite guards in the palace within an hour, no matter who it is Once you get the Tiger Talisman, you can dispatch troops at any time. So you must keep it safe, and never fall into the hands of others. In the next few days, the work of guarding the palace will be entrusted to you."

Yilan was startled when she heard this, knowing that controlling the guards of the palace is no small matter, so she hastily declined: "But I have never had any experience in leading troops before, my father entrusted such an important task to my son, I am afraid that I will not be able to do it .”

"If you haven't led a soldier before, you can practice slowly. I am old, and this world will belong to you young people from now on..." The emperor looked out of the window and sighed, his voice echoed in the hall, and he couldn't help but feel a little vicissitudes. "Okay, Yilan, you don't have to evade any more, I've made up my mind. Don't let the third person know about today's affairs. You should step back."

"Yes... my son complies with the order." Although Yi Lan didn't understand her father's intentions, her father had already made up her mind, knowing that no amount of excuses would be useless, so she complied.After Yilan finished speaking, she was about to exit the gate of the palace, but was suddenly stopped by the emperor, "Wait—"

"Father, is there anything else you want to order?"

The emperor looked hesitant and hesitant: "You are the most trusted prince of the father, and the father can trust you. But when the time comes, don't hurt them for now..."

Yi Lan was slightly stunned: "My son is dull, I don't know what the father means by this statement?..."

The emperor sighed deeply, it really seemed a bit lonely.He waved his hand and said, "Forget it, you... just step back."

"Yes, my son is resigning." Yi Lan was puzzled, but still obeyed the order and left the palace.

The emperor returned to Beijing five days earlier for the southern tour, but he did not disturb the people in the palace.As soon as Concubine Hui returned to Beijing, she immediately went to the Queen Mother and Queen's Palace to pay her respects in accordance with the palace rules.But before Jianyu approached the Queen's Kunhe Palace, he saw a large group of court ladies and eunuchs guarding the gate of the palace, standing far away from the palace, as if guarding against anyone coming.

Seeing this scene, Princess Huimo couldn't help feeling strange.Before Jianyu could be carried into the palace, he was immediately stopped by a eunuch on duty in Kunhe Palace. The eunuch looked a little flustered: "The empress is feeling unwell, and all the empresses in the palace are exempted from paying their respects today. Concubine Hui Let’s go back for now.”

After hearing this, Princess Huimo couldn't help feeling suspicious, "The empress is sick? Then why don't you go in and wait outside the hall?"

"This...His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is waiting in the hall. Your Majesty has ordered the servants to guard here. Since your Majesty has already exempted you from paying your respects, why not Concubine Hui go back first."

As soon as the eunuch finished speaking, the door of Kunhe palace opened, and a graceful and graceful woman came out from the palace, amorous and beautiful.However, she did not notice Concubine Hui, but whispered a few words to a slightly arrogant young man next to her.The voice was too low to hear what she was saying, and she could only vaguely guess something through her mouth movements.When she raised her head to look at Concubine Hui standing outside the door, her expression was obviously startled: "Why is Sister Hui here? Didn't she accompany the emperor on the southern tour?"

"The emperor returned to the palace five days earlier for the southern tour, and the concubines came here today to pay their respects to the empress. I heard from the palace people that the empress is not feeling well today? The empress should take good care of her phoenix body." Concubine Hui replied.

At this time, the queen winked at the prince beside him, and the prince immediately withdrew from the Kunhe Palace knowingly.Seeing the prince leave, a smile appeared on the queen's face: "Then I would like to thank my sister for her concern. My sister has been standing outside for a long time? Let's go into the palace quickly." After the queen said, she ordered her left and right to prepare tea.

In this way, Princess Huimo greeted the queen for a while in Kunhe Palace before leaving.But after she went back, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong—Kun and the eunuch in front of the palace said that the queen was not feeling well, but she was so energetic just now, she didn't look like she was sick.When the eunuch dissuaded himself, his expression was still so flustered.Coupled with the empress' surprise when she first saw her...all this made her feel that something was wrong.

At this time, he suddenly remembered the words that the queen said to the prince when she just left the palace.Although she stood far away from them and couldn't hear them clearly, she could clearly see the shape of the queen's mouth when she spoke. What she said was - it must be done tonight, otherwise it would be a great crime for Ling Chi to punish the nine clans.

At this moment, Princess Huimo thought for a moment, but suddenly she was startled.Ling Chi, there is only one crime for punishing the Jiu Clan—seeking power and usurping the throne!Are they going to have trouble tonight?The matter of seeking power and usurping the throne is no small matter, it seems that they have been prepared for a long time.Perhaps before the emperor's southern tour, they had already colluded with foreign ministers and prepared to force the palace.Although Princess Huimo has no admiration for the emperor in her heart, after all, the emperor is kind to her father and treats her so well.In any case, she couldn't just watch the emperor have an accident.After thinking for a long time, she finally couldn't sit still, got up and walked towards Weiyang Palace.The emperor was resting in Weiyang Palace, no matter how hard Concubine Hui begged the emperor, she would avoid it.Concubine Hui couldn't help it, so she hurriedly prepared the sedan chair and went to Lanling Palace.

In fact, on the night when the emperor handed over the Tiger Talisman to Yi Lan, Yi Lan had been thinking about the purpose of his father's doing so. He knew that his father would never hand over the general power to others without reason, even if he trusted him the most. people.He couldn't figure out the meaning of his father at first, but now he heard Concubine Hui's explanation, it turned out that his father asked him to put down the rebellion, and the last sentence "don't hurt them for now" refers to It is the queen and the prince.Power is such a thing, and countless people have worked hard for it for thousands of years.When the relationship between husband and wife, father and son collides with it, no matter how deep the relationship is, it will be wiped out.

Because she knew that Concubine Hui didn't need to deliberately spread false news, Yi Lan also believed that Concubine Hui's words were true.He is not sure about countering the rebellion, so he can only do his best.What happened tonight would inevitably involve a fight between the two armies, so after repeatedly telling Mu Yan not to come out tonight, he took the tiger amulet to summon the Imperial Forest Army.

At this moment, Weiyang Palace.The emperor was standing in front of the table and silently approving the memorials presented by the ministers today, with the majesty and demeanor of an emperor.In contrast, the eunuch standing beside him was much more anxious, and couldn't help reminding: "Your Majesty, you should avoid it first. This Weiyang Palace is not safe! Your Majesty clearly knows that the Empress and the Crown Prince will be together tonight. Your Highness will..."

"I know." The emperor was a little impatient. "I won't go anywhere tonight, just stay here in Weiyang Palace, to see if Yilan has the ability to quell this rebellion." The emperor's voice was calm, as if this rebellion wasn't a real fight, but just a battle. One of his tests was average.

Now, it was midnight, and the sky was completely dark.The imperial garden, which used to be beautiful in the past, now looks much quieter and gloomy. More than 1000 imperial guards were called here.Although it is late at night, they are usually well-trained, so they are still full of energy and heroic.

The person standing in front of these 1000 people holding the military talisman is even more heroic, and the silver-white armor shines sharply.In the past, he always appeared in front of people with a gentle and elegant appearance in white clothes, but this suit of armor gave him a bit of a royal air.Yi Lan just stood calmly in front of the thousands of people, listening quietly to the strange movement coming from afar.The more than 1000 Royal Forest Army did not move at all.In the dark night, the imperial palace was as silent as if time had been frozen.

"Your Highness Fifth, they have gone to Weiyang Palace." At this time, the former commander of the Imperial Forest Army took a step forward and knelt down on one knee to report.

"I know." Yi Lan is so good at hearing, before he could hear the sound of soldiers and horses marching hundreds of steps away. "The soldiers and horses over there are also arranged?"

"Yes. Everything is ready, but by order!"

Only then did Yi Lan turn around, her deep eyes swept over every soldier below. "Tonight's success or failure depends on one action, and the safety of the emperor depends on you. You have made great achievements in eradicating the rebels! Please do your best to protect the emperor! Dealing with the rebels will never be tolerated! "

"We will never tolerate rebels!" The thousand imperial guards below shouted together, their voices were like thunderbolts, and the morale of the soldiers suddenly increased.The previous generals who led the troops and made great achievements all credited themselves with credit, but His Royal Highness's words made them feel that even a mere soldier can become a hero who will last forever.Even though they knew that the Fifth Prince had never led soldiers before, at this moment they were still willing to follow loyally and serve to the death!

"Okay!" Yi Lan nodded. "Weiyang Palace, let's go!——"

☆, 22. Usurper (1)