My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 445 Palace Change

No matter how weak the Yue Kingdom was, a royal palace was difficult for ordinary people to approach. Qin Hui walked through the simple green brick courtyard wall, passed by a group of patrolling soldiers, and approached the door of the palace. At the door, two moss-covered statues The stone lion patted his head and stepped onto the stone steps with a smile.

There are soldiers on both sides of the mansion gate. The golden paint carving on the upper gate plaque shows the three words "Prince Chong's Mansion".

"This is the palace, do you have a name card?" The guard at the door saw the old man who came forward. He was wearing ordinary robes, but he had a calm and dignified aura. He did not dare to show his usual demeaning attitude.

"You can go in and tell your family, King Chong, that your old friend Qin Huizhi is visiting."

The guard glanced at the scholar in front of him, as if sizing him up, and invited him to sit down by the concierge for a while, then hurried to the front yard of the mansion to find the person in charge to report.

At this time, the North Courtyard was still two miles away from here. There were not only exotic flowers and rocks in the courtyard, but also a spacious martial arts training ground with four weapon racks placed around it. In the opposite direction, there was a The three-story attic, with blue tiles, high-rising owl kisses, and hollow fences carved with dragons and phoenixes, shows a nobility that is rare for ordinary people.

In the building, the teacup fell to the ground.

"Why should I only be allowed to return to the fiefdom alone?!"

Meng Jintai is tall and burly, and he is very oppressive among the brothers. He has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and his martial arts is even higher than that of his elder brother Meng Zhuowen.

After he became an adult, he even personally led troops to exterminate the rebellion. Among the other brothers, his military achievements were outstanding. His only shortcoming was that he was impatient and impulsive. In addition, he liked to use his hands instead of his brain. He has always been disliked. The courtiers liked him, but most of the soldiers in the army supported him.

When the prince Meng Zhuowen was still there, the Chongwang didn't think much about it. One time during the Chinese New Year, a group of brothers came to Beijing from their fiefdoms for a reunion. They got drunk at the banquet. He also said that when Meng Zhuowen became emperor, he would serve as his eldest brother's son. The general wiped out the traitors for him, which made Meng Zhuowen laugh so much that he drank several glasses of wine.

It can be seen that this King Chong respects and protects his eldest brother very much.

At this time, there were still several civil and military officials gathered in the hall. They were the courtiers who had retired from the court. Four of the five were military generals. Although they were generals, they did not have the imperial order to go out for conquest, and they did not have military power in their hands. , the only ones that can be mobilized are the personal soldiers and the private soldiers quietly raised at home, the total of which does not exceed one thousand.

Today, the emperor asked Meng Jintai to return to the fiefdom and not leave the fiefdom without an edict, which made them extremely anxious. Once King Chong left the capital and other princes came to power, their career would be basically cut off.

It might even be liquidated.

"What's the use of looking at me?! Can I still influence my father's will?"

Meng Jintai walked back and forth for seven or eight steps, thinking of many possibilities, but he dismissed them from his mind. He was still at a loss because he would leave Beijing and leave the city tomorrow.

While everyone was silent, the steward's voice came from outside.

"Your Highness!"

"What's the matter?"

Meng Jintai raised his eyes and looked at the old steward of the mansion who was bowing at the door. The latter quickly said: "There is a man coming outside. He claims to be an old friend of His Highness, his name is Qin Huizhi."

"Qin Huizhi...Mr. Qin!"

Meng Jintai's eyes suddenly lit up and he stood up hurriedly: "Let Mr. Qin come in quickly... Forget it, I'll greet him personally!" With that, Meng Jintai hurried out of the attic and led five generals and ministers to rush. Going to the palace gate, the latter five were also quite curious about when His Highness had a husband.

When they arrived at the gate of the front yard, they saw an old man sitting on the side of the porter. His hair and beard were gray and neatly combed, his robes were dark and he had a serious look on his face.

"Mr. Qin!" Meng Jintai was overjoyed when he saw the figure sitting over there, and hurriedly stepped forward and held his hands.

"Your Highness the Fourth!"

Qin Hui stood up and politely returned the greeting. After exchanging a few words with the other party, he was invited by the Fourth Prince and His Highness Prince Chong to go to the North Courtyard just now. After all, that was where the real discussion took place.

At the door of the attic, Meng Jintai pushed Qin Hui to sit down at the head of the side. He raised his hands with a sincere and serious expression: "Please teach me this time, sir!"

The reason why he said this was that Meng Jintai probably guessed that the other party could not come here for no reason. If he came to visit him, he must have guessed his current situation.

"Haha, please don't panic, Your Highness Prince Chong. We are here just to help His Highness solve this problem."

Qin Hui didn't talk around in circles. After sitting down, he first bowed his hands to the other five people in greeting, and then smiled and spoke to the fourth prince in front of him, "This time, Hui came here specially."

"Did Mr. Qin receive the imperial order from the Emperor of Xia?"

"This is natural, otherwise even if Hui has the intention, he would not have the guts."

Meng Jintai immediately felt at ease when he heard that he was serving the emperor's orders from Xia Kingdom Su Chen. The five civil and military officials who stood in line to worship the king showed surprised expressions on their faces. They had no idea that the fourth prince was actually dating the Emperor of Xia Kingdom. Connected.

In fact, not only are the four princes and the other four Qin Hui connected, but they all have a very good relationship. They only came to visit because they saw the value here.

The atmosphere is much more relaxed.

A waiter came over to serve tea and quietly closed the attic hall door after leaving. Qin Hui took a sip of tea and saw that everyone was still looking at him. He put down the tea with a smile, stroked his beard and said: "This time, my Majesty asked me to come and explore the situation in Yue Kingdom. Previously, His Highness's My father wrote a letter home and sent it to Luyang, inviting His Majesty to mediate for the five princes.

But you also know that a country cannot have a king, let alone a prince, and this is a household matter of the Yue State. As a son-in-law, it is not easy for him to intervene, so he only allowed the Qingzhou Army to station in Huizhou. Look at the five The prince's reaction, as a result, I heard the news as soon as I came here, so I rushed to Prince Chong's mansion. "

Meng Jintai nodded clearly, and then asked: "Then what are my brother-in-law going to do?"

"Haha, Your Highness, all the foreign ministers have come to your place. What do you think my Majesty should do?"

Hearing this, Meng Jintai's eyes flashed with joy, but he did not show it. Before he spoke, Qin Hui over there smiled and stroked his beard and stood up: "Before I left Luyang, I had this conversation with His Majesty. He told all the princes Among them, the fourth prince is tall and has thick limbs, which can be said to be a strange appearance in the Yue Kingdom. In addition, he is passionate and heroic, and his thoughts are pure. If the Yue Kingdom is handed over to him, he will definitely have something else to do, instead of just focusing on profiteering like other princes. "

As he said that, Qin Hui turned his head and looked at Meng Jintai, who was in the first place.

"My Majesty is also tall and has great martial arts skills. The so-called people who are close to Zhu are naturally admiring the same heroic people. Otherwise, if you look at the Xia Kingdom, there are many powerful generals and a few civil servants. This is the reason."

"Those who are close to vermilion are red..."

When Meng Jintai recited these four words, a fire seemed to be lit in his heart, and he felt like he had found a soulmate. He excitedly clenched his fist and smashed it into the palm of his hand, but still asked uneasily.

"Then my brother-in-law supports me?"

Qin Hui smiled and nodded: "This is natural."

"Then sir, is there any way to teach me? You also know the situation now. Early tomorrow morning, I will leave the capital and go to the fiefdom."

"Your Highness!"

Qin Hui still had a smiling expression. He took two steps and whispered beside Meng Jintai: "His Royal Highness was recruited into the capital. This is a huge opportunity. As the saying goes, the first to get the moon is the one who is near the water. How can you miss such a good opportunity?" "Mr. meaning is……"

Qin Hui stretched out his hand, made a chopping gesture, and said in one sentence: "Capture the palace, and send the four princes to Beijing!"

"How can this happen?!" Meng Jintai was shocked. He was reckless, but not stupid. Let alone whether he had an army or not, he would never accept the idea of ​​attacking the imperial city and asking him to kill his father. .

However, Qin Hui's next words made him hesitate.

"...If you want to achieve great things, how can you be hesitant? When Your Highness arrives, all you have to do is imprison your father and use the name of the upper court to seize hundreds of officials. As long as no news is leaked, great things can be expected!"

Don’t kill your father…

Meng Jintai breathed a sigh of relief. He was still a little hesitant at first, but he thought that he was no longer destined to be the crown prince. No matter which brother took over in the future, it would probably not be good for him.

As he gritted his teeth, his eyes revealed a fierce look.

"Then how to break into the palace? I have all the troops in the fief and haven't brought them with me."

"Haha...this is simple!"

Qin Hui looked back at the five people over there, and whispered a few words in his ear. He was muttering so hard that it was difficult to hear clearly, but he could vaguely hear what he was saying about one of the five people.

"General Liu, who is standing in line with His Highness, remembers that the royal censor in the court is a relative, and the other relative is... a general from the west gate of the imperial city..."

"...Rather than sit back and wait for death, it's better to give it a try."

"After late at night...it will be like this..."

The lights flickered, and there was an atmosphere of conspiracy in the dim light and shadow.

……

Soon, the time came to three o'clock in the morning. All nine hundred soldiers, all wearing armor and holding knives, and their shoes were wrapped with a thick layer of cloth, were divided into nine teams. They came out of the homes of four generals through the darkness of the early morning and walked through the streets. After crossing the alley and arriving at Yuqianmen, a general named Yu Feiyan broke off his gun and waved it at the foot of the city.

On top of the city tower, the deputy general was tied up and thrown aside. The city guard general looked at the sparks shaking below the city. He raised his hand and asked the soldiers beside him to go down and open the city gate.

In the dark night, nine hundred soldiers surged in.

On top of the city tower, guard Wang Kai waved his long sword and led his army to follow the soldiers and horses of the fourth prince from the west to the Linjue Gate leading to the front palace.

The long knife flew over the head.

Countless footsteps followed the general, shouting hysterically, rushing up the city wall and charging into the crowd.

There were killings on the city walls, and people fell off the high city walls with screams.

The Linjue Gate opened wide, and more troops came in and rushed into the front palace!

Rush into the middle palace!

Rush into the inner garden of the harem!

Chaos swept over, and figures gathered into streams and spread throughout the inner garden.

After hearing the news, Meng Tong woke up from his sleep. He didn't believe that his son would rebel against me, but the shouts of fighting were approaching, and he had to take the queen with him to escape. Killers were everywhere on the road. The soldiers fought with the guards.

Meng Tong's hair was disheveled. In the chaos, he was stabbed twice and half of his body was stained with blood. Finally, he was thrown to the ground by a soldier.

"Inform His Highness immediately——"

"Your Majesty caught——"

The chaos lasted for an hour and then stopped. The emperor's decree was then issued from the palace, asking the guards of the other two gates of the imperial city to give up their resistance and join King Chong's command.

Soon, Meng Jintai entered the palace riding his war horse, wearing armor all over his body and holding a sword. What he saw was Meng Tong's gloomy face.

"Father...were you frightened yesterday?"

Then, Meng Jintai smiled and asked his soldiers to take the emperor down. "It doesn't matter. If you are frightened, just rest in the inner garden. I will take care of the things outside."

Even if Meng Tong realized something now, it was already too late.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

The moment he was pulled down, he turned around and shouted to Lao Si who was walking up the imperial steps.

"I know, why don't I know..."

Meng Jintai touched the dragon table inlaid with gold, then walked to the dragon chair and murmured slowly. At this moment, he gritted his teeth and his eyes were extremely ferocious, "If you don't do this, I will be the one who dies in the future...Father."

When he said this, Meng Tong had already been taken away. Immediately, Meng Jintai turned around, sat directly on the dragon chair, and continued to issue orders to arrange an ambush in the palace.

As the ministers from the previous dynasty arrived at midnight, they entered the imperial city and palace, and entered the main hall to wait for the arrival of the emperor. However, today, when they entered the main hall, they saw King Chong sitting on the dragon throne with a golden sword and a large horse. , all of them froze in place in surprise.

"Prince Chong, what are you..."

"Go up!"

Meng Jintai was now confident. He straightened his back as he looked at the civil servants and generals below and said, "According to my father's imperial order, let the other four princes enter the capital immediately. As for you, don't go home for the time being. Just stay in the palace." Stay with me here."

Several fast horses carrying the imperial edict quickly left the imperial city in the morning, and then rushed to various fiefdoms. The situation in the country of Yue suddenly changed, but outsiders were not yet aware of it.

When everything fell to the ground, it was news that caught countless people off guard.

(End of this chapter)