ebookland Chapter 332 Seizing the throne
Chapter 332 Seizing the throne
The wind blew outside the window, and the leaves fell to the ground, giving an inexplicable sense of desolation that made people feel cold.
It would take at least two hours to inspect the troops of a hundred thousand soldiers. During these two hours, the old marquis first went back to the marquis' mansion to give instructions on some matters.
The tone sounded a bit like he was making arrangements for his final affairs.
Chu Wenbai's face turned pale, and his wife Yun tightly grasped her handkerchief and said nothing.
The two of them felt mixed emotions as they listened to the instructions that sounded like a will.
Chu Wenbai's eyes turned red unconsciously, "Father, do you have to go to this battle?"
"Do you know the importance of Xiyang City to our Great Zhou?" The old marquis did not answer his son's question directly, but asked him back.
Chu Wenbai shook his head. He knew nothing about war or martial arts, so it was useless for his father to ask him these questions.
"Xiyang City is a major barrier that blocks the northern grasslands from entering the Great Zhou. It is of great strategic significance. Once it is broken, the following cities will be even more unstoppable."
Chu Wenbai was not as good as Chu Jiang. He had no talent in military affairs, and his performance as a civil servant was mediocre. He made no mistakes, nor did he stand out.
Under such circumstances, the old marquis did not want to say too much to him. He simply said that the location of Xiyang City was special and could not be lost.
Chu Wenbai did not try to dissuade his father anymore, not because he did not want to, but because he knew his father had made up his mind and he could not change it with just a few words.
The old marquis turned around and went to Prince Yan's Mansion. Logically, he should have avoided suspicion.
But Chu Jiang made no secret of his support for Prince Yan, and this time the old marquis went to the palace to ask to see His Majesty at the notice of Zhou Yichen.
In the eyes of others, this matter was equivalent to that he and the King of Yan were of the same kind.
It would be a waste of time to avoid suspicion at this time.
The old marquis and Zhou Yichen played chess in the study for an hour. No one knew what they talked about.
The two of them dismissed all the servants in the study and avoided people.
The old marquis led the army in the evening and set out with the Duke of Wei towards Xiyang City.
Two hours later, martial law was imposed at the gates of the capital city and patrol personnel were replaced.
The general in charge of patrol was a subordinate of the Eighth Prince. He showed his badge, and the two teams switched teams. The city gate that was originally closed suddenly opened.
In the darkness, suddenly a firework burst into the sky, and the fiery red firework instantly bloomed in the night sky.
It looks like a blooming flower, very beautiful.
The fireworks were like a signal. With the release of this signal, within an incense stick of time, thousands of troops quickly approached the city gate.
The garrison troops on patrol who should have issued a serious warning of martial law saw thousands of people approaching quickly, but instead of stopping them, they let them enter the city smoothly.
They were wearing black night clothes, which made it easy for them to blend into the night.
After entering the city, he quickly took off the black clothes covering the outside, revealing the armor underneath.
This armor is similar to the patrol armor of the patrol team. If you don't look closely, you can hardly see the difference.
The only difference is that these thousand people have red ropes tied on their right hands. Although it doesn't matter, the color is somewhat conspicuous.
When they entered the city, there were almost no people walking around in the streets and alleys, so they naturally did not notice a large group of people quickly rushing into the city.
As they broke in, the captain in charge of patrol led them straight towards the palace.
All the people on duty in the palace today have been secretly replaced. These seemingly insignificant arrangements were actually replaced by the Eighth Prince's people.
With these people in charge, even if the guards below felt that there were some problems, they would not dare to act rashly without the order of the general.
The most troublesome thing was that the three deputy commanders of the Imperial Guard all defected to the Eighth Prince, and the team was stopped almost the moment they approached the imperial city.
Three deputy commanders "happened" to pass by here and saw a captain interrogating him. They winked at their trusted aides, and several of them quickly stepped forward and killed the captain who was interrogating them without hesitation.
He slit the man's neck and then quickly dragged the body to the dark shadows.
"Keep quiet and don't alarm others."
"Deputy Commander, the people have arrived. Can we start now?"
"Well, act separately. We must take control of the entire palace as quickly as possible and replace those who are not ours. Remember, do not let any palace servants leave and let them tip off!"
"Oh, by the way, the Eighth Prince specifically instructed that Prince Yan's Mansion must send someone to keep a close eye on us. We must not let Prince Yan ruin our plan."
"Yes, Deputy Commander."
There are 50,000 imperial guards responsible for guarding the imperial city. The eighth prince has won over three deputy commanders, who have nearly 20,000 men under their command.
Originally, they were not at an advantage in numbers, but the problem was that they acted too suddenly, and they also deliberately drugged them at night, so many of the imperial guards didn't even have a chance to take action.
They had already been knocked unconscious. Except for a very small number of imperial guards who resisted too fiercely and were killed, all the other fainted imperial guards were gathered together and locked up.
The eighth prince made a lot of arrangements for this day.
As early as when he joined forces with Western Chu, Japan and others to sell the city defense maps of Xi'an and Xianyang, he deliberately captured the wives, concubines and children of several deputy commanders.
With these people in his hands, he doesn't have to worry about them not joining him.
The reason why we don't try to win over the commander-in-chief is that he is an upright person and not easy to win over.
Don't let the situation end in a situation where you fail to win them over and end up alerting other forces.
The personnel that the Eighth Prince transferred to the capital were precisely the soldiers he had arranged in Chaozhou disguised as bandits. These people had made a lot of weapons and armor.
He spent nearly three years preparing these things, which were enough to equip more than 100,000 people with combat armor and weapons.
Only three thousand people were transferred to the capital. These people were only used to control the various ministers' offices, not to attack the imperial city.
Only by taking control of the mansions of these ministers first, how can they rescue the emperor when they are unable to take care of themselves?
Zhou Hanjin entered the palace to ask for an audience in the evening, and went to his mother's palace specifically, asking his mother to drug her without making a sound, thus controlling most of the disobedient palace maids and imperial guards.
Most of the things were as he had imagined, with no discrepancies, and things were going smoothly.
Because Zhou Hanjin acted quickly, everyone was caught off guard. The ministers who reacted were trapped in the palace and had no time to rescue His Majesty.
Even though he guessed that Zhou Hanjin was planning to massacre the palace and seize the throne, he did not dare to confront him head-on.
His Majesty, who was holding a beauty in his arms and having a nightmare, felt his breathing become heavier and was suddenly awakened. When he woke up, he looked around and saw a dark figure sitting on a stool opposite his bed.
He was immediately frightened and subconsciously sat up, not even caring about the beauty in his arms. He threw the woman out with a backhand, intending to let the beauty test whether it was a human or a ghost?
His Majesty's eyebrows jumped with fright and he felt a palpitation.
"Are you a human or a ghost?"
He squinted his eyes and soon vaguely recognized that the person sitting on the stool was...his son.
"Hanjin, what are you doing in my bedroom? You rebellious son, get out now!"
Zhou Hanjin chuckled, with most of his face hidden in the darkness.
"Father, don't be afraid. As long as you pass the throne to me and write the imperial edict, I will ensure that no one can shake your position as the emperor!"