Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 795 - 654: Regency (Seeking Guaranteed Monthly Ticket)_1

Chapter 795: Chapter 654: Regency (Seeking Guaranteed Monthly Ticket)_1

The True Emperor Zhengtong had foreseen Li Xuan’s arrival, and having long given in to despair, he was only growing more insane.

He was unhesitatingly burning his soul energy and blood, hoping to inflict at least a minor wound on Jingtai Emperor, but as time passed, the Dragon Qi he had accumulated was becoming increasingly weak.

Despite using all his Life Element to its fullest, Zhengtong Emperor’s combat power was not increasing, but decreasing instead.

Meanwhile, Jingtai Emperor defended nonchalantly. He was like an immovable iron wall, and no matter how furiously Zhengtong Emperor attacked, it couldn’t shake him at all.

Jingtai Emperor looked at Zhengtong Emperor with eyes as cold and indifferent as ice. They no longer held anger, hatred or animosity, but neither did they hold any other emotions, especially not pity.

He simply watched Zhengtong Emperor fritter away his Yuan Qi, step by step towards decline.

After watching for a while, Li Xuan lost interest. He turned to consult with Zhu Guoneng, the Dudu Tongzhi, preparing to allocate some of the Forbidden Army from the palace to maintain peace in Capital City.

Zhu Guoneng felt torn, as the number of soldiers and Xiuyiwei under his command was just over twenty thousand.

The palace coup was over, but these twenty thousand men still had to defend the palace, which was over ten miles in length and width. They also had to guard the Dudu mansion and Six Yamens in front of Chengtian Gate, and many nobles, important officers, and wealthy families living in both Shiyong Lane and Nanxun Lane. He really felt hard-pressed.

However, after considering for a while, he finally agreed reluctantly, and assigned a force of eight thousand men to Li Xuan to quell the unrest within the city.

Zhu Guoneng had a vague feeling that after this palace coup, Li Xuan’s position in the court would undergo significant changes, and he didn’t want to go against Li Xuan’s wishes.

Moreover, Li Xuan’s Shenji Camp and Ji State Army could reach Capital City by noon at the latest. Their impressive forces, having defeated hundreds of thousands of demons and Liang Heng’s rebel army, could deter all the ambitious in and around the Capital City.

Therefore, there should not be any major changes in the Capital City in the coming period.

Just after the two of them had made this decision, the battle between the two emperors finally came to an end.

Zhengtong Emperor’s Qi, his whole body blood, and all his Life Elements had been completely burnt out.

He was kneeling in front of Jingtai Emperor, his hair completely white, his complexion devastated, and his face showing many wrinkles and age spots. He looked like he had aged several decades all at once.

He had transformed from a vibrant middle-aged man into an old man on the brink of death.

Jingtai Emperor looked down at him expressionlessly: "So you are no longer fighting against me? Because you can no longer afford it, right? But what I want to know is, back during the Incident at Tumu Fort, why didn’t you fight with the Mongols? Your strategies, your soldiers, your swordsmanship and your Life Elements, were they all reserved for your own people?"

"Yu Qizhen, do you know the thing that I despise you most for? I can tolerate your being captured by the Mongols at Tumu Fort, but then you obeyed the Mongols’ orders to persuade Datong and Xuanfu’s generals to surrender. Do you care about the people of the Jin Dynasty and the national fortune of Jin? How will you face our father and the Great Ancestor and Emperor Taizong in the afterlife?"

At this point, Zhengtong Emperor found it extremely difficult even to move a single finger. He stared coldly at Jingtai Emperor, his eyes still filled with bitterness and insanity.

He sneered, his voice as harsh as iron: "Why so much nonsense? You’re basically saying that you, Yu Qijue, are wise and courageous, so you are the rightful Emperor of the Jin Dynasty. As for me, Yu Qizhen, I’m just a waste, so being abandoned is only right and proper, isn’t it?"

"Don’t play me for a fool! The situation between us is nothing more than ’the winner is king, the loser is the bandit’. If I had won, the history of the Jin Dynasty would naturally have been written to my liking. But now I’ve lost, you, Yu Qijue, can say whatever you want."

Jingtai Emperor shook his head slightly, for he didn’t see any remorse in Yu Qizhen’s eyes at all.

"I was wrong! My biggest mistake in life was letting you live out of brotherly affection, leaving you as a harmful root."

He held the Heavenly Emperor Sword in his hand, and exhaled a sigh: "So I am to blame for ending up in this situation!"

Upon seeing this, Zhengtong Emperor’s pupils contracted slightly. He laughed coldly: "What? Are you planning to kill your elder brother now? Don’t want to play the brotherly affection, fraternal love game anymore? Haha! I just can’t stand your pretense, your phoney impartiality and righteousness."

This time, Jingtai Emperor didn’t respond. He simply swung out a beam of sword light, beheading Yu Qizhen, the Zhengtong Emperor. His blood splattered onto the stone steps.

Afterwards, he looked at a middle-aged civilian in the crowd with an emotionless expression: "You’re today’s diary keeper, right? I remember your name, it’s Zhao Youcheng, right? Earlier this year you were appointed as a 6th-rank official to revise the Hanlin. Even when the palace was in such a tumult, you didn’t run?"

The middle-aged civilian solemnly bowed: "Your Majesty! I had no place to run to when the chaos started. Initially, I was paralysed by fear and was scrambling around in panic. However, by the second watch, when the Marquis of Guanjun sent the Young Heavenly Master to deliver a message, I knew the rebels would not succeed, and indeed it happened."

The Hanlin reviser was a bit verbose, but Jingtai Emperor patiently listened to him finish, then smiled slightly: "Everything that my brother and I said, you’ve heard it all? And the fact that the former emperor was plotting a restoration, and that I executed him - all this must be accurately noted in the diary, nothing can be covered up or coded in the historiographers’ Spring and Autumn style!"

The middle-aged civilian stiffened a little, and then he took out a roll of paper from his sleeve, and began to write hastily on a stone step on the side.

Jingtai Emperor then stepped down from the platform: "I would like to know where my officials are?"

Zhu Guoneng bent his waist immediately: "Your Majesty! When news of Marquis Guanjun’s victory over Liang Heng reached the Capital City, the officials who had turned traitor either ran away or went home to barricade their doors.

The remaining non-rebel officials were all locked up by the rebel Liang Heng in Zhao Prison of Xiuyiwei. I have already rescued them all and asked them to stand by at Taihe Gate for your order."

In fact, he regretted having released those officials from Zhao Prison of Xiuyiwei so soon.

These people, once released, were in uproar, wanting to go into the palace to see the Emperor.

But at this time, how could Zhu Guoneng dare to let them in?

The conflict between the Emperor, the Empress Sun and the Zhengtong Emperor today is all about royal family feuds and secrets of the palace.

If anything were to happen that was not suitable to be known by the officials of the external court, would not it be his, Zhu Guoneng’s, fault?

"Invite them all over, I have something to discuss with them later," the Jingtai Emperor said as he approached the mysterious ice imprisoning Empress Sun. "Secretary of daily life, Zhao Youcheng!"

Zhao Youcheng had already written several dense paragraphs in the booklet. He turned round immediately and bowed to the Jingtai Emperor, "At your service!"

The Jingtai Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Empress Sun in the mysterious ice, "Record this! Due to Zhengtong Emperor’s rebellion, the Empress was heartbroken, died of anger and stoppage of breath in front of Qianqing Palace! You must record this fact in the book of daily life history, without any omission."

Zhao Youcheng’s pupils contracted, sweating profusely on his forehead. But he responded without hesitation, "I will obey your command!"

Empress Sun inside the ice suddenly opened her eyes, anger in her almond eyes, looking at the Jingtai Emperor.

The mysterious ice around her body was gradually cracking.

But with a flick from Jiang Yunqi’s eyes, the cracks on the ice healed as if they had never been there.

The Jingtai Emperor did not back down, and looked at Empress Sun coldly, "Since I can remember, the Empress has been devoted to my royal father. They shared a deep bond."

"I remember when my father died, she was heartbroken and fainted four times in front of my father’s spirit. She asked me and my elder brother more than once to share a coffin with the father when we die."

As he spoke, a burst of light appeared in his eyes, "As his filial son, how can I ignore her wish? You should prepare a coffin and bury her in the Jing Mausoleum."

"Also, I remember the style of the ’Huangming Coffin’ is very good and suitable for burying the Empress. But the few ’Huangming Coffins’ in the Imperial Palace are made for consorts, which is not suitable for the Empress, so you need to make a new one."

The officials present were as pale as ghosts, both those who were in the know and those who were not.

The ’Huangming Coffin’, a type of coffin, was specifically prepared for the consorts who were to be buried with the Jin Dynasty Emperor.

The Great Ancestor of the past set the burial system, stipulating that after the death of the Jin Dynasty emperors, all consorts from the Queen down were to be buried with him.

To prevent the buried persons from becoming evil spirits out of resentment, the spell cultivators serving in the palace specially designed the ’Huangming Coffin’ to seal the living inside before burying them in the tomb!

The intention of the Jingtai Emperor is to seal the living Empress Sun in the coffin!

"Your Majesty!"

This was the Grand Secretary Chen Xun standing at the bottom of the steps. He looked at the Jingtai Emperor in surprise, "Your Majesty, this may be inappropriate and may damage your reputation of benevolence and filial piety."

"Is the Master still advising me to be kind at this time?"

The Jingtai Emperor laughed mockingly, "Now that I have fallen to this state, can I still care about all these? All I want now is to clear my conscience, not to become a resentful ghost after death!

If I can remove some obstacles for my son and grandson by the way, that would be even better. As for my reputation after death, let the historians of later generations write as they please."

Seeing Grand Secretary Chen Xun fall silent, the Jingtai Emperor continued, "Chaotian Palace is responsible for making this coffin, and they must finish it in three days. Tell them that they must do a good job with this task, and not leave any trouble!

Qian Long, you will personally oversee this matter. If they dare not to obey my order, or leave any loose ends, you may execute them immediately!"

The chief butler, eunuch Qian Long, had red eyes, almost on the verge of tears. He bowed down on the ground, "I will obey your command, I will make sure that all the spellcasters and disciples in Chaotian Palace will handle this matter properly for you!"

In this palace coup, at least seventy percent of the spellcasters who served in the Chaotian Palace had participated in the rebellion.

Qian Long felt extreme disgust towards these people.

Just at this moment, the Jingtai Emperor noticed that the officials, led by a few Xiuyiwei, were hurrying in from outside.

The Jingtai Emperor felt his strength slowly fading. He sneered to himself and sat down on the stone steps without caring about his image.

After all the officials were present and paid their homage, the Jingtai Emperor finally spoke, "Announce! After my death, the imperial grandson, Yu Youlong, will succeed me. Princess Changle, Yu Hongchang, will act as the Regent Princess and govern the court..."