Why did the Taifu lose his temper? In fact, he should not take action at this time.
However, he could not wait any longer because the situation was not in his favor. If he waited any longer, Murong Jie would continue to exploit his power, and then he would really lose to King Nan Huai.
He had to take action while the people who were still attached to him were still here. At the very least, he had to let those people know that the prince was the legitimate heir.
Moreover, the Crown Prince and Concubine Liang both saw with their own eyes that the Emperor was suffering from a ghost face sore. If all the officials were forced into the palace at that time, the Emperor would have no choice but to abdicate.
Therefore, he took the initiative to contact King Nan Huai, and the two sides temporarily calmed down their fighting and waited for the emperor to abdicate before making plans. This was because it would take time for the emperor to abdicate and for the prince to ascend the throne. This gap would allow the two sides to continue their fight. King Nan Huai would definitely agree. If the emperor did not abdicate, neither of them would see any hope.
Moreover, it is now confirmed that the emperor is suffering from ghost face sore. If the matter is not made a big deal, Murong Jie will erode their power bit by bit and strengthen himself. By then, the world will belong to Murong Jie.
Considering all these, he could not wait any longer and had to attack immediately.
However, Lady Chen was blocking their way and they had no way of getting in. Although half of the imperial guards were his men, the other half were Murong Jie's men.
He winked at Lu Dingwei, who nodded slightly and left quietly.
Lady Chen confronted them for about an hour, and then she saw Marquis Wu'an coming with his troops.
At the same time, Su Qing also appeared beside Chen Taijun and said a few words to Chen Taijun, who nodded slightly.
Now it is a confrontation between two evenly matched people.
Marquis Wu'an was sitting on the horse, looking as majestic as Lady Chen.
When Taifu Liang saw Marquis Wu'an bringing people over, he exchanged glances with Concubine Liang, both of them feeling a little proud.
If a real riot breaks out, they will naturally be no match for Lady Chen. However, it would take a lot of time for Lady Chen to mobilize a large number of troops, which is like adding fuel to the fire. As for the troops in the military camp, they cannot be mobilized, and they can only use the personal soldiers of each family. The Chen family does not care about the affairs of the court, so although their personal soldiers are strong, they are not numerous and are not as good as those of Marquis Wu'an.
"Little brat, you come to join in the fun too?" Lady Chen actually called out to Marquis Wu'an directly. Marquis Wu'an was already over forty years old, but he was called Marquis Wu'an in front of all the ministers. It can be seen that the old lady did not give Marquis Wu'an any face at all, and even provoked the conflict.
Sure enough, Marquis Wu'an was furious and rode his horse towards Lady Chen.
Marquis Wu'an is a man of action and never talks much. He is determined to rush into the palace today, so he decides to cut the Gordian knot quickly to prevent the Chen family's reinforcements from arriving.
Just like that, what was originally just a confrontation turned into a battle.
This fight came strangely, but it was also natural because everyone had been holding back for a long time.
Although the old lady was old, she was in good shape. She faced the Marquis of Wu'an in person and showed no sign of defeat. She whistled with her long whip, each blow being sharp.
However, the old lady's men did not take any ruthless action. They just dealt with the Wu'an Marquis's men, not hurting anyone and not giving in, and it seemed like they were just stalling for time.
Yes, it is indeed a delay.
Because two more teams were coming.
One team was the Xiao family army led by Lord Xiao, and the other team was the royal guards led by Prince An.
With three parties facing off against one, Marquis Wu'an suffered a loss and had to retreat.
Although every effort was made to avoid casualties, dozens of people were still injured, but none of the injuries were serious.
Lord Xiao led his men to guard the palace gate, holding a long sword in his hand, and said in a deep voice: "Without the order of the emperor or the regent, whoever dares to enter this palace gate, don't blame me for being ruthless."
The prince said angrily, "I insist on going in, do you dare to chop me down?"
Having said that, he walked towards the palace gate.
Lord Xiao did not hesitate at all. He raised his hand and slashed with the knife. The prince only felt a cold wind blowing on his head and his scalp went numb. There was a strand of hair on the ground and his feather crown was disheveled.
"How dare you draw your sword on the prince?" The prince was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and was furious.
Lord Xiao said coldly: "The next thing to fall to the ground will be the prince's head."
The prince was so angry that his face turned blue, but he was really afraid of his sword, so he could only curse fiercely: "Just wait, if I ascend the throne, the first person I will chop off will be you, an old bastard."
Lord Xiao sneered, with no sign of care on his face.
Prince An rode forward, leaned forward slightly to look at Prince Nan Huai, and said in a stern voice: "You still have time to go back now!"
Prince Nan Huai bowed and said, "Brother, I am only here to ask for clarification. I have no intention of causing any trouble."
"What do you want to know? Does the emperor have a ghost face sore?"
"Yes, that's all I want to know."
Prince An smiled slowly, "So what if it is? So what if it isn't?"
Nan Huai Wang said: "If so, I have people who can be treated. If not, I will go and quell the rumors among the people right away."
Prince An nodded, "Well, then I will tell you that the emperor is not a ghost-faced sore, and you can go and quell the rumors among the people."
"I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet." King Nan Huai did not give in at all.
"You don't believe me?" Prince An raised his eyebrows.
"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it."
Prince An said coldly, "The Crown Prince and Concubine Liang said that the Emperor had a ghost-faced sore. You haven't seen it with your own eyes, so how can you believe it? If you don't believe it, why did you come with them? As a frontier prince, anything that happens in the capital has nothing to do with you. If you still want to stay in the capital to accompany your mother, take your people and leave immediately."
Prince Nan Huai still looked respectful. "No, second brother, you are wrong. The emperor is my elder brother and my monarch. How can I not save my elder brother if he is ill? I don't care about government affairs, nor do I care what Taifu Liang and the crown prince want to do. I just want to cure the emperor, that's all."
Prince An sneered and said nothing. He stood guard in front of the palace gate with his men, facing the group of people who were eyeing him covetously with a calm attitude.
Inside Xiwei Palace, Zi'an was in the bedroom, while Murong Jie and the empress dowager who had rushed over after hearing the news from outside the palace were sitting in the outer hall.
The guards kept coming in to report information, and Murong Jie just listened, occasionally issuing one or two orders, but none of them were of much help to the overall situation.
The Queen Mother was anxious. "What should we do? Why don't we mobilize the troops? It will be too late when we wait for the Taifu's personal soldiers and the Nan Huai Wang's troops to arrive."
Murong Jie smiled, "Mother, don't worry, I just want to wait for them to send out their troops."
"Why?" The Queen Mother was panicked. "We don't know how many people Prince Nan Huai brought back this time, and we don't know how many troops the Grand Tutor has. If we start fighting, we will have no chance of winning. The Imperial Guards also have their own people."
Murong Jie stood up and grabbed the Queen Mother, pressed her into the chair, and comforted her: "What are you worried about? If they really come to attack, won't I be there to block my way? If they want to kill, they should kill me first. Besides, I am strong and healthy, and I can at least withstand a hundred or so blows. If I am not dead, they will be exhausted to death."
Although the Queen Mother was anxious, she was also amused by him, "Nonsense, no seriousness, I am so anxious, and you are still talking nonsense."
Eunuch Sun smiled and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry. The prince is trying to buy time and wait for them to make a real move. Only by making a real move can we control them. That's why he asked Lady Chen to deliberately start a war with them."
(End of this chapter)