Starry Sky Professional

"This plan isn't bad… …"

The Prince of Tai's eyes lit up: "Maybe tonight the Crown Prince will be cornered like a dog jumping over a wall? That would be hilarious… …"

He almost didn't hesitate to choose the middle plan: "We'll hold our position first. Also… … immediately send people out to gather information, including from inside the palace, at any cost!"

"Yes!"

Mr. Wu sighed inwardly, and was about to leave when the Prince of Tai asked: "What about the worst plan?"

"The worst plan, of course, is to mobilize all the soldiers of the manor, ambush the Crown Prince at the palace gate, assassinate him, and then take the opportunity to force the Emperor to abdicate… …"

Mr. Wu sighed.

The Prince of Tai shook his head like a rattle-drum: "My manor's soldiers are fewer than the Eastern Palace guards, and besides, they might not dare to besiege the Crown Prince… … Even if they kill the Crown Prince, they definitely wouldn't dare to storm the palace… … In the end, it would only benefit Kang Wang and the others… …"

'If His Majesty were still here, with the prestige of the founding Emperor Taizu, naturally whoever rebelled would die… … But if he has already passed away, storming the palace, with the help of the Imperial Concubine, still has a glimmer of hope.'

Mr. Wu added silently in his heart, but he didn't say much. He gave the Prince of Tai a deep look, bowed, and took his leave.

… …

Imperial Palace.

Gate of Divine Might.

This gate was several zhang high, majestic and tall, with Imperial Guards stationed above the city gate.

For those attacking the city, ten times the number is needed to besiege it. With several thousand defending the city, tens of thousands might not be able to conquer it.

Fang Xing silently sized it up and knew that with his lightness skill, he could barely get over it, but no one else could besides him.

'The main force is stationed here. Scattering some at the other gates of the palace should be enough. They can't stop me… …'

He stopped the ceremonial guard and had Eunuch Su go to call the gate.

The guard general of this kind of core palace gate must be the most trusted confidant of the Emperor, and would not be loyal to anyone else, especially the Crown Prince and the various princes!

Normally, even with ten thousand people, it would be difficult to capture this gate.

Not to mention, where in the capital could one hide ten thousand soldiers?

The guard general of the Gate of Divine Might was named 'Kou Feng'. He was a great general who was deeply loved by the Emperor, who even lamented that it was not a chaotic world, otherwise he would definitely be a famous commander.

He was naturally loyal to the Emperor, but now he probably knew what had happened in the palace, so he could only be loyal to whoever was on the Emperor's throne.

Eunuch Su came over with the Empress Dowager's decree and the golden tally arrow. He didn't hesitate for long and immediately ordered: "Open the gate!"

Rumble!

The sound of scale armor dragging on the ground rang out, and two hundred Eastern Palace guards, surrounded the Crown Prince as he entered the Gate of Divine Might.

"Zhao Hu, take two teams of men and stay to guard this gate."

Fang Xing walked into the Gate of Divine Might and immediately gave the order.

"This… …"

Kou Feng's eyes immediately deepened.

"Yes!"

Zhao Hu responded loudly, urging the Eastern Palace guards to go up to the Gate of Divine Might to garrison it.

"Eunuch Su, let's go!"

Fang Xing looked at Eunuch Su.

"Yes, Your Highness, please."

Eunuch Su bent his waist even lower. Even if the Crown Prince had guessed something, he dared to directly interfere with the palace's defenses. This move was really accurate, fast, ruthless, and poisonous.

The key was… … that no one could stop him.

Perhaps after tonight, the general trend would be set.

'He doesn't forget to prepare a backup plan even at this time. He's indeed cautious.'

Kou Feng was sincerely convinced, looking towards the direction of the inner palace, his tiger eyes filled with tears, and he muttered to himself: "Your Majesty… … there is a successor."

The nine layers of palace gates opened one after another.

Fang Xing, as usual, left some guards at each gate. When he arrived at the Emperor's bedroom, there wasn't a single armored soldier around him except for a few eunuchs and maids.

"This… …"

Eunuch Su was stunned when he saw this scene.

If it was said that this person was open and honest, why set up guards along the way, but why did he disregard his own safety when he got here?

'Father and son don't suspect each other, it's difficult… … But the Crown Prince is indeed purely filial.'

Eunuch Su led Fang Xing into the Emperor's bedroom, and he saw many imperial physicians kneeling on the ground.

Next to them was an old woman with a full head of silver hair, naturally the Empress Dowager.

"Royal Grandmother."

Fang Xing stepped forward and said in a low voice.

This Royal Grandmother seemed to have just cried, her eyes were red, and when she saw Fang Xing, her voice was dry: "Crown Prince… … Your father, the Emperor, suddenly had a heart attack tonight and has already passed away. The various ministers of the Inner Cabinet are on their way. You must have a sense of propriety in your heart now."

"Father Emperor?!"

Fang Xing walked into the hall and immediately began to weep.

The reason he didn't bring armored soldiers was naturally because he had absolute confidence in his own strength.

Moreover, bringing armored soldiers into the Emperor's bedroom wouldn't sound good.

Now that he was already the victor, he naturally had to be graceful and consider the impact.

Not long after, the various ministers of the Inner Cabinet arrived and were all crying.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty… …"

The Prime Minister of the Inner Cabinet was named Yuan Zhao, and he was the strategist when the Emperor raised his army. Seeing the Emperor's death, he immediately burst into tears.

At this time, no matter how suspicious they were in their hearts, at least on the surface they were all grieving.

Next were the Deputy Prime Minister Gao Yang, the Minister of Personnel Sun Qiming, and others.

"You are all important officials of the imperial court. I am heartbroken now, so I won't say much. My son died suddenly of a sudden illness. Now the major affairs of the country are in your hands, Yuan Zhao, what do you say?"

The Empress Dowager looked at the Prime Minister.

The Great Qian Dynasty established the Inner Cabinet to divide the power of the Prime Minister of the previous dynasty, but the Prime Minister was also in a high and powerful position.

Yuan Zhao had the bearing of a minister. Now that he was sixty-seven years old, his turbid old eyes swept across the hall, and he saw the Crown Prince's face full of grief, but a noblewoman next to the Empress Dowager looked nervous.

He sighed in his heart, knowing that he must focus on the overall situation at this time, otherwise the people of the world would suffer: "Does Your Majesty have a posthumous edict?"

"No."

The Imperial Concubine next to the Empress Dowager struggled slightly in her heart, but she couldn't do anything.

It's not like any imperial decree is called a posthumous edict. Real edicts have requirements for format, paper, and scribes.

After writing, it must be stamped, and then there must be two copies, archived… …

It's difficult to forge, unless it's a blood-written edict on the Emperor's belt, but the Emperor fell too quickly and didn't have time.

Trying to forge it at this time is just courting death.

Unless the Emperor had issued a posthumous edict before, wanting to replace the Crown Prince, otherwise no one could stop the Crown Prince from succeeding to the throne.

Even if there was a posthumous edict before, and the Crown Prince hasn't been deposed, it might be the beginning of the empire's split and civil war.

Hearing this, Yuan Zhao felt relieved and bowed to Fang Xing again: "Since this is the case, please ascend the throne before His Majesty's spirit and inherit the Great Qian Dynasty… …"

"I… … alas, I am now in a state of confusion… …"

Fang Xing declined a few times, and under the persuasion of the Empress Dowager and the ministers, he reluctantly accepted the ministers' homage.

Now it was late at night, Fang Xing first asked the Empress Dowager to rest, and then summoned several important ministers.

"Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, various ministers… … you are all pillars of my Great Qian Dynasty. Now, this major event still needs to be discussed and decided… …"

Fang Xing spoke and then looked at Yuan Zhao.

These were all procedures, and Yuan Zhao naturally said: "This should be done. First, there will be a morning court tomorrow, and the Empress Dowager should be asked to attend court to announce the news of the Emperor's death. Then, the Crown Prince will accept the homage of the officials and determine his status… … According to filial piety, when a father dies, the son must observe filial piety for three years. The Son of Heaven can replace years with days, or months with days… …"

"How can I, with what virtue and ability, dare to replace years with days like the ancient sage kings? Let's replace months with days… …"

Fang Xing waved his hand.

Yuan Zhao was stunned: "If this is the case, then he will observe filial piety for thirty-six days, and then formally ascend the throne and become Emperor… …"

"Well, I'll leave these matters to you."

Fang Xing thought for a while and said: "My father, the Emperor, was wise and martial, and should be given the posthumous title 'Wu', as Emperor Taizu Wu… … As for my reign title, let's call it 'Longchang'. There's no need to change it this year, and we'll change the era next year… …"

… …

After much hustle and bustle, the ministers walked out of the hall and saw that the sky was already bright.

Yuan Zhao looked worried and saw the Deputy Prime Minister Gao Yang walking over.

The two looked around and found that the guards were standing far away, so they greeted each other.

"Prime Minister, you still need to take care of your health. In half an hour, it will be the morning court… …"

"Shou Kang… …" Prime Minister Yuan Zhao called Gao Yang's courtesy name, and hesitated to speak.

The two looked at each other and shook their heads obscurely.

After exchanging some information, Gao Yang took his leave.

Yuan Zhao's heart relaxed: 'The Crown Prince only arrived a moment earlier than us… … Moreover, he doesn't have the strength, and it's even more impossible for him to bribe the entire Imperial Hospital. In this case, His Majesty… … did his life really come to an end?'

At this thought, two lines of clear tears flowed down again: 'Your Majesty… … Your Majesty… …'

… …

Inside the side hall.

Fang Xing was eating a few pieces of pastry.

These meals were very delicate, with a fragrant aroma, but there was no soup or anything, obviously considering it very carefully, so that he could be full, energetic, and not embarrassed when he first appeared in court.

'The overall situation has been settled.'

In Fang Xing's heart, he sighed silently.

'But what follows is the key!'

'What I've taken over is not a complete mess, but there are hidden dangers… …'

'The world has only recently been stabilized, the people are still uneasy, the meritorious nobles are united, and the civil officials are growing stronger… …'

'In the harem, it's hard to say about the Empress Dowager, but those imperial concubines are not easy to deal with… …'

No matter who the Empress Dowager supports, it doesn't hinder her own position. Summoning the Crown Prince is just supporting the orthodoxy according to habit and stabilizing the overall situation.

It's hard to say how close they are. If the new Emperor offends the interests of the Empress Dowager in the future, he will have even more trouble.

'Most importantly, who are my friends? Oh, the Emperor has no friends… …'

Fang Xing thought silently. The Emperor is the largest landlord in the country. Should his butt be sitting at the landlord's table?

However, the Emperor is also equivalent to the largest slave owner in the world. All the people in the world are his slaves, so he needs to let the slaves eat their fill and wear warm clothes so they can survive?

At least, as the slave owner's property, slaves cannot be damaged too much.

'The most important thing is that I don't have the prestige of the founding Emperor Taizu, and I can't suppress the proud soldiers and fierce generals and the poisonous civil officials who came out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood in the chaotic world… …'

'If you think that once you become Emperor, you can kill whoever you want and do whatever you want, that's pure wishful thinking… …'

'The sad thing is that, with the current literacy rate, my ruling foundation is that group of scholar-officials… …'

'However, there is also a good side. It hasn't been long since the founding of the country, and too many people have died in the world, so the pie is very big… …'

'As long as we have light taxes, restrict large landlords, support small landlords and owner-farmers, and be a little more lenient to the people, and govern by inaction, the population and taxes will naturally increase, and perhaps we can even get a 'Longchang Prosperity' evaluation in later history books?'

Just as Fang Xing was thinking, a soft voice rang out outside.