The Prince of Rui pondered for a while, then frowned and said, "The move to raid the Qi Mansion was a bit risky. If we had tried to win over General Qi earlier, we might not be in such a passive situation. Now, we can only use the lives of the entire Qi family as leverage. General Qi won't turn a blind eye to the lives of his family, will he?"
Murong Yunqian was a bit troubled. He had heard that General Qi had few descendants and only had a single daughter. Unfortunately, that daughter was abducted on her wedding day two days ago and was still missing. What if General Qi was heartless and didn't care about the lives of his other relatives?
Murong Yunqian was worried. He waved his hand and summoned the leader of the secret agents, ordering him to search every corner to find the eldest daughter of the Qi family who had been abducted two days ago. The secret agent took the order and rushed out.
At the solemn and majestic entrance of the Taiji Palace, all the civil and military officials were neatly dressed in mourning clothes, waiting at the entrance and listening to the heavy and complicated prayers read by the officials of the Ministry of Rites. The Tenth Prince was standing beside the late emperor's coffin. His extremely sad appearance touched the hearts of the officials who didn't know the truth. Some officials who didn't know much about the situation couldn't help but sigh. The Tenth Prince was crying so sadly. He was truly a filial and benevolent person!
A group of concubines were crying hysterically in the back. This time, they weren't pretending. They were really crying for their respective fates in the future.
Since the Tenth Prince had taken over the government, he had often visited the Cold Palace to see his biological mother, the deposed Empress Zhao. Now that the emperor had passed away, if the Tenth Prince ascended the throne, he would surely take Empress Zhao out of the Cold Palace and make her the empress dowager. And without the protection of the emperor, what good end could these concubines have?
Finally, after everyone had knelt down and kowtowed, Minister Liu of the Ministry of Rites announced loudly that the country couldn't be without a ruler for a single day. He invited the empress dowager to issue the imperial edict in the name of the late emperor.
Everyone fell silent immediately and looked at the empress dowager supported by Eunuch Cao. She was wearing a plain dress and walked forward slowly with a proper makeup. The empress dowager looked haggard, and it seemed that the emperor's death had hit her quite hard.
Everyone couldn't help but sigh. It was really hard for the empress dowager to outlive her son.
The empress dowager stood in front of everyone. Her tired eyes scanned the different expressions on everyone's faces one by one. Then she glanced at the Tenth Prince, Murong Yunqian, who was standing not far away. The empress dowager said woodenly, "I, in the name of the late emperor, issue the imperial edict. When the late emperor was alive, he once told me that since the Tenth Prince, Murong Yunqian, took over the government, he had been diligent and self - disciplined. He was truly an example among all the princes..." The empress dowager wracked her brains to find some words to praise the Tenth Prince in front of the officials. She couldn't help but sigh in her heart. How could she be willing to say such insincere words? But she still had to take into account the face of the royal family!
Under the operation of the Xiliang prince, quite a number of the civil and military officials supported the Tenth Prince. Although there was no imperial edict, after the emperor's death, it was reasonable for the empress dowager to come out and convey the emperor's oral order. The remaining honest old officials dared not speak out their anger. They had been oppressed by the Tenth Prince's faction for telling the truth in the court some days ago, which had really hurt the hearts of some old officials.
Murong Yunqian still looked sad, but he was fully concentrating on listening to the empress dowager's words, not daring to be distracted at all.
The empress dowager whispered, "Therefore, the Tenth Prince, Murong Yunqian, shall ascend the throne in front of the late emperor's spirit and fulfill the duties of the king of a country..."
Before the empress dowager could finish speaking, a loud shout suddenly came from the eaves of the Taiji Hall, "Grand - grandmother! Wait!"
Everyone was startled and looked up.
The Tenth Prince quickly looked up and saw a black figure standing on the eaves. Obviously, it was a woman. She seemed to descend from the sky and walked casually on the glazed tiles, staring at him with a half - smile.
The only woman who could call the empress dowager "grand - grandmother" could only be a princess. Everyone squinted against the setting sun and tried to recognize her. Eunuch Cao was the first to react. He said tremblingly, "The Fifth Princess, Murong Wanlin? You're not dead?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was in an uproar. They were all making various speculations in their hearts. Didn't this Fifth Princess die in Xiliang? Why was she still alive? Why did she appear at the late emperor's funeral and try to stop the Tenth Prince from ascending the throne in front of the spirit? What did she want to do?
The empress dowager looked back and saw Wei Dongling. She called out happily, "Wanlin? You're still alive? God bless! God really blesses us!"
Wei Dongling bowed to the empress dowager from afar on the glazed tiles and said loudly, "Grand - grandmother! Father wrote the imperial edict with his own hand yesterday, passing the throne to the Ninth Prince, Murong Yuchen. You can't ignore the edict and be deceived by the Tenth Brother!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the officials were shocked, and the discussions never stopped.
The Prince of Rui frowned and looked at Wei Dongling without saying a word. The empress dowager was in tears at this time. She was forced to stand here and announce that the Tenth Prince would ascend the throne. She never expected that the person who stood up to oppose would be the Fifth Princess, Murong Wanlin!
Murong Yunqian's face suddenly darkened. He roared angrily, "Who on earth are you? Don't spread rumors here! You're not my Fifth Elder Sister. The Fifth Elder Sister died in Xiliang long ago!"
As soon as Murong Yunqian said this, the suspicious looks of the officials immediately fell on Wei Dongling. After all, in their hearts, the Fifth Princess was gentle, dignified and powerless. How could she climb onto such a high eave and walk on the glazed tiles as if walking on flat ground?
Wei Dongling covered her lips and laughed, "What? Are you, the Tenth Brother, feeling guilty because you're trying to usurp the throne and now you hear the doubts?" As she said, she casually took out the jade token symbolizing her identity from her clothes.
Everyone looked at the jade token in her hand and then at the Tenth Prince and the empress dowager. This jade token was obviously real! The Fifth Princess said that Murong Yunqian was trying to usurp the throne. Did she really have the imperial edict in her hand?
Murong Yunqian showed a fierce look in his eyes and snorted, "You keep saying that Father wrote the imperial edict with his own hand, passing the throne to the Ninth Elder Brother! Then, dare you tell me! Dare you tell everyone in the world! Where is the Ninth Elder Brother now?" Murong Yunqian knew that the Ninth Prince must have died after being hit by his palm. So, he asked Wei Dongling on the tile roof confidently, thinking to see what tricks she could play!
The civil and military officials were quite confused about the Tenth Prince's words. Shouldn't they ask where the imperial edict was first?
Wei Dongling laughed muffledly, "Tenth Brother! Look, why are you still so impatient and don't know how to restrain yourself? Like this, how can you assist your Ninth Elder Brother in the future?"
Murong Yunqian's face turned black with anger when he heard this.
Wei Dongling covered her lips and smiled. Her words had a double meaning, "In terms of assisting in the government, you should learn more from Uncle Rui. Am I right, Uncle Rui?"
Murong Yunqian's face turned red and then pale. He wished he could fly onto the eave and strangle the woman who was smiling calmly.