Chapter 27: Coup d’état (4)
On the surface, the State of Zhao was welcoming the upcoming First Princess of the Han State, but there was no joy on people's faces. When Zhao Zixi learned that Zhao Ziheng intercepted the wedding procession halfway, he had decided not to wait any longer, but to take action. Some court officials were inexplicably framed, and many people were implicated, and the royal city fell into panic.
When Zhao Ziheng first learned that Zhao Zixi had started to take action, he also received information that the enemy army on the border was ready to attack at any time. Zhao Ziheng acted decisively, left the wedding team behind and took enough men to rush back to the royal city.
However, when he returned to the royal city, Zhao Ziheng was surprised to find that there was a discrepancy between what he saw and the information he received. The people in the city were still as busy and vibrant as usual, and the royal city also had the lively atmosphere it should have. Was the information he received wrong?
"emperor--"
Zhao Ziyu also felt that there was a discrepancy between the current situation and the intelligence he had received, and thus became a little worried.
"If you have anything to say, wait until you see Prime Minister Wang and the others before drawing any conclusions. Go—"
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Ziheng quickened his pace, because he knew that under the current circumstances, no matter what the situation was, he would not be allowed to believe it easily. Without the testimony of the people he trusted, he could not jump to conclusions. The most urgent task was to get back to the palace as soon as possible.
Although there were not many people accompanying them, only about two or three hundred, there was not only Zhao Ziyin, who was experienced in battle, but the other soldiers were also able to fight ten against one, and they were the elites among the elites.
Just as Zhao Ziheng was concentrating on rushing to the palace, a pair of strange eyes were watching him in the dark.
Everything went too smoothly on the way to the palace, which made Zhao Ziheng suspicious. Even when they arrived at the palace, they were welcomed in smoothly, which made Zhao Ziheng even more suspicious...
Just when Zhao Ziheng was suspicious, the situation finally changed. When he reached the second palace gate after entering the first palace gate, the second palace gate was no longer open to welcome people like the previous royal city gate and the first gate, but was tightly closed. Not only was the palace gate closed, even the guards guarding the gate were nowhere to be seen?
"How dare you! Don't you know that the emperor has returned to the palace? Why don't you open the palace gate quickly——"
A cavalryman shouted, but what he got in return was the soldiers on the gate wall firing arrows at them. A large number of archers appeared on the gate wall, and even on the connecting gate to the first palace gate. There were quite a few of them, and they all aimed their arrows at them...
"Not good, Your Majesty—"
Zhao Ziyin immediately saw through the opponent's intention and reminded him, but Zhao Ziyin's reminder was unnecessary as Zhao Ziheng could also see it and might have guessed it long ago, so he showed no signs of being shaken. The other accompanying soldiers were suddenly a little panicked when they saw this situation.
"Brother, it's been a long time since we last met. Welcome back—"
A very loud voice came from the high wall, and then Zhao Zixi's figure appeared in front of Zhao Ziheng and others.
"Zi Xi, what do you mean?"
Zhao Ziheng held the reins and asked Zhao Zixi with a stern face, even though he knew the reason very well.
"Haha, what do you mean? As my brother has seen, this is the welcoming ceremony that I, your brother, specially prepared for you—"
Zhao Zixi disagreed with Zhao Ziheng's attitude and spoke slowly.
It was certainly a welcome, but it was also obvious that it was not friendly.
"Where is Prime Minister Wang? What have you done with him?"
Faced with the current situation, Zhao Ziheng did not show any cowardice. Instead, he remained calm and extremely composed.
"You mean Prime Minister Wang? I didn't do anything to him. I just kept him in the palace for tea."
"What about Grand Secretary Lin?"
" Of course, also—"
Although he was in a very unfavorable situation, Zhao Ziheng was not worried about himself, but was concerned about the safety of others. Moreover, Zhao Zixi answered Zhao Ziheng's questions one by one, even if there was no kindness hidden in his answers.
"Where are the Queen Mother and the Empress?"
"It's really funny, brother. Your mother is also my mother, and the other one is my sister-in-law. What do you think I will do to them?"
Even though Zhao Zixi answered with a noncommittal attitude, Zhao Ziheng still couldn't feel at ease.
"Oh, oh, my brother, the queen misses you very much. You are such a fool. You have not been by her side for the past six months. You did not even come back to visit her when she was pregnant. Even if you are busy with the war, she is still your queen after all. What's more, she is pregnant with your child. She misses you all the time. How can you be so indifferent?"
"…What do you mean by that?"
Zhao Ziheng had already known about Lin Wei's pregnancy, but from Zhao Zixi's tone at this moment, Zhao Ziheng had a bad feeling.
"It's nothing, I just want to tell you, my brother, that women are animals that need to be cared for. You have repeatedly abandoned your wife and even despised and ignored her. I feel sorry for my sister-in-law. Why would she fall in love with someone like you who neglects her?"
Zhao Ziheng couldn't find any excuse to refute Zhao Zixi's words because what he said was true.
"What did you do to her?"
"No, at least nothing has been done so far. However, since my brother doesn't know how to cherish someone as virtuous as my sister-in-law, why don't I cherish her on his behalf? As long as my brother calls out the throne——"
"You, are you——"
Zhao Ziheng suddenly seemed to have understood something from Zhao Zixi's words, but he was too shocked to express himself...
"Brother, since you ascended the throne, Zhao has fallen into an unstable state, and disasters have been everywhere. You are not only indifferent to the country, but also to women. Don't think I can't see that you have no intention of considering the future of Zhao. Otherwise, you wouldn't have repeatedly ignored the government and only did what you wanted to do. It seems that you prefer a bloodthirsty life to sitting and handling government affairs. In this case, just hand over the throne, and I will govern Zhao. For the sake of our brotherhood, I will also confer the title of prince on you, so that you can live the life you want--"
"Zhao Zixi, do you know what you are talking about?"
Zhao Ziyin, who had been listening quietly to the conversation between Zhao Ziheng and the others, finally exploded. He really could not agree with Zhao Zixi's slander against Zhao Ziheng. He knew better than anyone that Zhao Ziheng had devoted his life to the State of Zhao. He also knew that although Zhao Ziheng once wanted to give up his throne for his children's personal feelings, he finally chose the future of the State of Zhao. Zhao Zixi not only reversed right and wrong, but also openly slandered Zhao Ziheng's determination. He absolutely could not tolerate such a thing.
