Chapter 3: The Crown Prince Regent!
"Insulting the prince! The crime is even more serious!" Xiao Yan kicked Yang Feng in the stomach, and he fell to the ground in pain.
This was not over yet. Xiao Yan chased after him and started punching and kicking him.
He didn't stop until his face was bruised and swollen and he begged for mercy.
Everyone in the hall was stunned at the scene before them.
In their stereotype, the prince was cowardly when he was young, and sometimes he was bullied by eunuchs and palace maids, but he dared not speak out.
After he grew up, he became arrogant, extravagant and dissolute, and did not follow the right path, but his cowardice in his bones never changed.
But today he is so tough, like a different person!
"Old thing, if you dare to say another word, I will not let you leave the door of Zhengguang Palace!" Xiao Yan threatened fiercely, looking around with sharp eyes. After scaring away everyone, he lifted the bed curtain and walked to the dragon couch.
Looking closely, I saw the old emperor lying on the bed, his face pale and his breath weak.
Even Xiao Yan, who knew nothing about medicine, could tell at a glance that the patient was almost dying!
"Well done...well done...well done." The old emperor grabbed Xiao Yan's hand and showed a weak smile of relief.
"Yan'er, I don't have much time left... Right now... the person I am most worried about... is you. You must protect this world... for me!" The old emperor held Xiao Yan's hand tighter and tighter, as if he was full of unwillingness.
The current court is controlled by the Prime Minister's party, and the power of the foreign relatives is serious.
He was originally worried that Xiao Yan was cowardly and would be manipulated by the Prime Minister's party.
Now it seems that although there is no need to worry about personality issues anymore, Xiao Yan alone cannot fight against the powerful Prime Minister’s Party!
"Don't worry, father. This country will always belong to the Xiao family!" Xiao Yan promised solemnly.
"I am very pleased that you have this determination." The old emperor smiled, and as if he was explaining his last wishes, he took out a letter from his arms and said without pausing for a moment: "I have left a few people for you..."
Xiao Yan opened the letter, which contained detailed information about the identities of three people.
They are the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the chief minister of the Dali Temple, and the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department!
The former was the emperor's minion and possessed great power, while the functions of the Dali Temple were not much different from those of the Ministry of Justice, but its rank was above that of the Ministry of Justice and it took orders directly from the emperor.
Although the identity of the Chief of the Imperial Household Department is not as prominent as the previous two, he controls all the eunuchs in the palace, which is equivalent to a huge network of relationships.
Whatever happened in the palace could not be hidden from the Imperial Household Department!
With the assistance of these three people, we may be able to fight!
"These few people...you have to subdue them yourself...it's also...the last thing I can do to help you." The old emperor's voice became weaker and weaker.
"I will never let my father down!" Xiao Yan carefully hid the envelope.
The old emperor nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the eunuch Sande who was in charge of the seal in the distance.
Sande had followed the old emperor for most of his life. Although he only had one look, he understood everything in an instant. So he came out with an imperial edict and shouted, "Announce the imperial edict!"
As soon as the words fell, everyone in the hall knelt on the ground, but each had different thoughts in their minds.
Hu Shanxiang and Hu Zhenghe looked at each other, both with a look of helplessness on their faces.
According to their original plan, they would either poison the prince or the emperor.
As a result, the prince was not dead, and the emperor was not dead yet either.
If the old emperor announced at this time that the crown prince would ascend the throne, then all previous efforts would be in vain. If he wanted to support the second prince to ascend the throne, he would have to resort to treason!
Since ancient times, there have been precedents of external relatives rebelling, but without exception, they all ended badly!
If you come to power in an illegitimate position, you will be despised by people all over the world!
"By the providence of Heaven! The Emperor decrees!"
"From now on, the Crown Prince will supervise the country on my behalf. All matters in the court and the country will be decided by the Crown Prince alone!"
"Announce it to the whole world, and let everyone know!"
As Sande finished speaking, the hall fell silent.
Everyone knows that the prince is arrogant, extravagant, and unrighteous. If we hand over the power of regent to him, wouldn't that put the people of the world in dire straits?
Even if the second prince is allowed to be regent, or other princes are allowed to be regent, it is much better than the crown prince!
Hu Zhenghe secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this was just an edict to supervise the country and not an edict to pass on the throne.
Now the court is in his hands.
As long as he wants, he can deprive the prince of his power as regent at any time!
"We obey your order!" Led by Hu Zhenghe , everyone knelt on the ground to receive the order.
At this time, Xiao Yan walked up to Hu Zhenghe and patted his shoulder meaningfully, "This prince has just taken over the state, and there are many things that I can't figure out. I !"
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, you are too kind in saying that we should be loyal to the emperor and receive his salary." Hu Zhenghe replied calmly.
"That's great. Let's all go. Don't disturb our father's rest!" Xiao Yan waved his hand, signaling everyone to leave.
"We, the ministers, take our leave!" Hu Zhenghe bowed and left the hall, followed by the other ministers.
After a while, Hu Shanxiang also left with the royal relatives.
Xiao Yan ordered the other servants to leave, leaving only Sande, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department.
The three people left behind by my father must be loyal to him, but that may not be the case for me.
So, Xiao Yan asked indirectly: "The court is now full of twists and turns, and the forces are intertwined. What do you think, eunuch?"
"It's an important matter in the court, so why should a eunuch like me make comments?" Sande kept his waist bent, showing a humble attitude.
"You are not an ordinary eunuch, but the head of the Imperial Household Department. You are in charge of tens of thousands of eunuchs in the palace. Nothing that happens in the palace can be hidden from your eyes."
“No matter how high an official I am, no matter how much power I hold, I am still a dog by my master’s side.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan nodded with satisfaction.
The profession of eunuch was originally born out of dependence on imperial power.
Once the imperial power collapses, their fate will be worse than that of dogs, especially since Sande has become the old emperor's confidant.
When the second prince ascends the throne in the future, he will definitely be the first one to be eliminated!
"Is there anything noteworthy in the palace recently?" Xiao Yan asked.
In recent years, the original body has been indulging in pleasure in the Prince's Mansion and has only a vague understanding of what is happening in the palace.
If you want to fight against the Prime Minister’s Party, the first thing you need to do is to know yourself and your enemy.
At least, know who the enemy is!
Sande came forward and said in a low voice, "The Prime Minister has been in close contact with the Jinyiwei Commander in recent months, as if they were plotting something. In addition, the servants in the Zhengguang Hall, Taihe Hall, Shangqing Hall and other palaces that His Majesty often visits have been replaced by new faces by the Prime Minister."
"besides……"
Listening to his chattering, Xiao Yan took a breath and realized that Hu Zhenghe had laid such a large network in the palace.
Fortunately, I asked Sande about the situation in advance, otherwise I wouldn’t know how I would die!
