"..." Lu Xiaoshu had never met someone as calm, rational, and good at self-protection as Liao Yuanyuan, but everything she said was reasonable, and she couldn't refute it for a while.
"Aren't you tired after tossing around for most of the night?" Liao Yuanyuan smiled softly and said, "At any rate, let's close our eyes and take a rest! Only after dawn can we go home with energy."
Lu Xiaoshu had no choice but to agree. I am thinking about my teacher's wife, Zhou Shizhi, and worrying about my parents for a while, how can I rest at ease
Besides, while Marquis Wu Gong sent people to control the Nine Gates Admiral's Mansion and then the Nine City Gates, he personally led his core confidant guards to quietly approach the palace under the cover of the dark night and the lively and peaceful atmosphere.
At the Shenwu Gate, he met with the Ouchi guards who had already been bought by him and changed guards here, entered the palace, and spread out in the palace like a net. While rushing to control the gates of the palaces to prevent someone from going out of the palace to seek help after the accident, he personally led people straight to the Imperial Garden. The target was the emperors, princes, concubines and other royal families who were hosting a feast in the Imperial Garden.
But he didn't expect at all that the praying mantis was attacking the cicada, and the oriole was behind...
Besides, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, according to the usual practice, after nightfall, the lanterns are first lit, and the emperor and empress set up the Wufeng Tower together.
The Wufeng Tower was built on the outskirts of the palace, and downstairs is a very lively lantern show. The emperor and the empress lighted the huge Guotai Min'an lamp and the five grain harvest lamp together upstairs. After the giant lamp was lit, the people onlookers downstairs kowtowed upwards and shouted long live three times. Have fun with the people. Some emperors like to be lively, and will order the maids and eunuchs to prepare a lot of pastries or small purses in advance, and throw them upstairs to the crowd for fun.
After that, the emperor and empress went back to the palace together to attend the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner held in the palace.
Not only the folks, but also the Tian family attaches great importance to this festival. Therefore, on this day, all the concubines and beauties in the palace who have dignity and status, princes, grandchildren, daughters-in-law and princesses will all gather together to enjoy singing and dancing while chatting and admiring the moon.
In order to show his favor and add a bit of excitement, the emperor often summoned some ministers and their family members to attend together.
Of course, with the emperor around, not many people would dare to chat, and most of them seemed reserved. But this is a symbol of status and face, and no one will refuse to attend, let alone take it as a burden. On the contrary, he listened to all directions and looked at the four roads with full energy, and was always ready to seize the opportunity to show his face in front of the emperor, maybe from then on, his life's destiny would be completely rewritten!
This year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in the palace will be held at His Excellency Qingyin in the north of the Imperial Garden. Qingyin Pavilion is a place in the palace for the family members to listen to and watch operas. This year, the Empress Dowager suggested that the opera troupes enshrined in the palace were tired of hearing, so she invited a group of famous opera troupes from Beijing to the palace to sing during the festival. The emperor was filial and naturally agreed.
At this moment, eleven or twelve tables of banquets were lined up around the Qingyin Pavilion where all kinds of gorgeous palace lanterns were hung. On the stage, the performance was lively and lively, and the elegant singing voice and graceful figure attracted most of the people. With little attention, only a few people gathered together and chatted in low voices.
Immersed in the night air, the elegant scent of sweet-scented osmanthus strikes, refreshing.
However, amidst this tranquility and boundless prosperity, none of the people present thought that a huge change was brewing.
The feathered arrow pierced through the air, and with a crisp sound of "pop!", the huge red sandalwood octagonal frame Chang'e Flying to the Moon glazed lantern hanging on the left side of the stage fell to the ground and shattered. The lamp oil flowed out, and immediately ignited the shadowy flame in the wind.
"What's going on!" Emperor Xiangqing sternly shouted, extremely majestic, everyone was frightened and screamed, and the scene was slightly chaotic for a while.
"Come on! Protect the emperor!" At the same time, the imperial guards on duty shouted loudly, some of them rushed towards Emperor Xiangqing, the empress, the empress dowager and other royal families, and some of them ran towards the direction from which the arrow came. Chased after.
However, before the imperial guards rushed to the side of the emperor and empress, no one expected that a few actors on the stage jumped off the stage as quickly as lightning while taking advantage of people's surprise, and easily controlled Emperor Xiangqing and the empress. The two of them kept dodging backwards until they were firmly in control.
"Protect the emperor!"
"Help me!"
Everyone was shocked, and the scene became even more chaotic for a while. You pushed each other, and the tables and chairs fell into one piece.
In the midst of this chaos, Marquis Wu Gong burst out laughing triumphantly. In an instant, feathered arrows came like locusts, killing and wounding countless court ladies, eunuchs, concubines and beauties.
When they fully reacted from the shock, Marquis Wugong's people had already surrounded the place, the black Cheng Liang's arrows aimed at the field, and the emperor and queen also fell into Marquis Wugong's hands.
"It's you!" Only then did Emperor Xiangqing see Marquis Wu Gong clearly, and he shouted in a low voice, startled and annoyed, "It's in vain that I trust you so much, and I have favored you for more than ten years. Aren't you afraid of being punished by heaven for such an act against the heavens!"
Marquis Wugong laughed loudly, and said coldly: "God's punishment? If there is such a saying, how come the emperor's ancestors did not see them when they seized the country from the previous dynasty? If you don’t take it, you will be punished by God!”
"You! You will not end well!" Emperor Xiangqing said bitterly.
"The emperor doesn't need to worry about this! It won't end well, it seems to be the emperor right now!" Wu Gonghou sneered, and said quietly.
The queen's complexion changed, she leaned slightly to block in front of Emperor Xiangqing, glared at the Marquis Marquis and said sharply: "You are a rebellious minister and traitor who everyone can punish, you are not allowed to hurt the emperor!"
"The empress is so courageous, she still puts on airs at this time!" Marquis Wu Gong sneered.
"I am the queen mother of the country, how can I be intimidated by you, a rebellious minister and thief! God bless Zhou, you will not succeed, and you will not end well!" The queen spat on Marquis Wu Gong and scolded harshly.
Marquis Wu Gong turned his head away, the words sounded harsh and unlucky, his good mood was affected immediately, he couldn't help becoming angry from embarrassment, he raised his hand and gave the Queen two loud slaps on the face, scolding Said: "Bitch, shut up!"
Then he turned his head and glared fiercely at Emperor Xiangqing: "Where is Yuxi? I will spare your life if you hand it over, otherwise, your whole family will go to Yinchao Difu to reunite! It just so happens that all the masters come tonight, so it's cheap!"
The queen screamed twice, Ruyu's cheeks became red and swollen immediately, and blood oozes from the corner of her mouth, but she still raised her head proudly, bit her lip, and stared at Marquis Wu Gong coldly.
"Queen!" Emperor Xiangqing yelled in distress, seeing the queen suffer like a knife. Then look at those concubines and beauties who have already turned pale from shock and stood there shaking like chaff, feeling disappointed and moved at the same time: After all, it is the queen, my first wife, and she is the only one who is truly with me. At that moment, she was the only one standing by his side...
"Where's the jade seal!" Marquis Wu Gong lost all his patience, grabbed Emperor Xiangqing and shouted again.
Emperor Xiangqing sneered slightly and closed his eyes.
"Don't tell me!" Wu Gonghou snorted coldly: "Then don't blame the old man for being cruel!"
As he spoke, he casually grabbed a concubine who was closest to him, raised the knife and stabbed it into her chest without blinking his eyes.
The imperial concubine screamed, her eyes widened, she stared at him fiercely, her body softened, she fell to the ground and died.
There was another burst of absent-minded screams from the crowd. Those who were timid, their knees went limp, and they fell limply on the ground, holding their heads and trembling uncontrollably.
Marquis Wu Gong didn't change his face, and stared at Emperor Xiangqing with a sneer and said, "If you don't hand it over, the next one will be the prince and grandson."
Emperor Xiangqing's face was also a little pale, he didn't expect Marquis Wu Gong to be so ruthless, he would kill as soon as he said it. But he also understands that the jade seal is the lifeblood of the country, and only he knows where it is stored on weekdays. If he handed it over, it would be the real way out, and he would not hand it over.
All the princes and grandchildren's expressions changed drastically after hearing Marquis Wu Gong's words. The queen also trembled in her heart, and subconsciously glanced at her own son, the prince.
Emperor Xiangqing followed the Queen's gaze to look at the same past, but just in time to see the panic-stricken prince slowly and little by little moving towards the back, he couldn't help feeling cold and slightly disappointed.
"Your majesty, have you thought it through?" Wu Gonghou asked coldly.
Emperor Xiangqing snorted, turned his head and closed his eyes.
"You, don't dream! The emperor will not hand over the jade seal to you!" The queen said boldly and tremblingly: "The royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty is not a covetous person who fears death, you can't threaten anyone!"
"Really!" Martial Arts Hou put the dagger in his hand on the Queen's neck fiercely, and said coldly: "Believe it or not, this old man is going to kill you now!"
With a little force in his hand, the sharp blade cut across the white and delicate skin, and bright red blood beads oozed from the queen's neck. Make a sound.
Only Emperor Xiangqing yelled again anxiously, "Queen!"
"Your majesty!" The empress looked at Emperor Xiangqing with tears in her eyes, she squinted at Marquis Wu Gong and said coldly: "I am the empress, you can't kill me!"
Wu Gonghou sneered, but he couldn't help feeling anxious and irritable in his heart.
The queen was right, she was the queen, he couldn't kill her.
According to his plan, he wanted to force Emperor Xiangqing to hand over the jade seal, issue an abdication edict, and give him the throne, instead of ascending to the great treasure as a traitor and traitor.
Therefore, he can't kill the king, including the queen, the prince, the prince and the princess, and other members of the royal family, he can't kill them—at least, he can't kill them so blatantly and in full view of everyone. Otherwise, it will be difficult to deal with people's hearts in the future, and that despicable stroke will not be hidden in the history books.
This is not what he wants.