Everyone then realized why they had been suddenly summoned to the palace in the middle of the night.
The hall was completely silent; no one dared to respond. Only the rustling of Lingyan turning the pages of her book could be heard.
"What a pity..."
Gu Zhong clasped his hands together, and dozens of fully armored palace guards emerged from the curtains on both sides. They rushed into the crowd, seized several people, and immediately dragged them away.
"Your Majesty! What does this mean?" The men were terrified and wanted to resist, but they were too weak to fight back against the well-trained soldiers.
"Since no one is willing to answer my question, I can only ask you gentlemen to go to the prison to think about it."
"Gu Zhong! You have defied the world's condemnation, severed the foundation of scholars, and committed adultery with a female subordinate, displaying licentiousness and debauchery! With such a foolish ruler, the Gu family is doomed!"
Unexpectedly, someone broke free and rushed forward, cursing loudly, before suddenly ramming into the dragon-carved red pillar in the hall.
The thick, red and white liquid stained the jade-white bricks, causing some people who had never seen a bloody scene to gag.
"Delay it. I'll trouble you gentlemen to stay in the palace tonight."
Gu Zhong pursed his lips, stood up, gave an order, and then turned and left.
Tonight's surprise attack turned out to be a close call, but ultimately harmless.
Long before, Gu Zhong had replaced the entire Jingji Guard with absolutely reliable subordinates, thus avoiding the tragedy of being attacked from within and without, and the direct fall of Xijing.
But it must be admitted that she is now in an extremely dangerous situation. Who could have predicted that everything would happen so suddenly?
What's unusual about this whole affair is that a completely disunited interest group, a large army hastily assembled, is able to work together without fighting or grabbing, and has no complaints about the quality of the territory they occupy. They are only focused on occupying Xijing and do not mention the internal distribution of benefits at all.
The cowardly officials from powerful families are about to cause a tragedy in the palace today.
It's as incredible as a ferocious tiger and a leopard learning to hunt together.
Given the way these powerful families usually wrangle and argue for ages over the smallest of interests, this is hardly something they would do. The only people likely involved are the Witchcraft Cult and the previous dynasty.
And then there's Chen Muxian, the former prince who serves as the Minister of Justice in Xijing City. I wonder how many more times he's been involved in this incident.
"Your Majesty, it is late."
Lingyan walked to the desk and reached out to smooth the king's furrowed brows.
Gu Zhong grabbed that delicate and soft hand and held it in his palm.
"The situation is critical, and I can't sleep."
"The best course of action now, Gu Zhong, you know what to do. Just make sure they have no legitimate reason to attack..."
Bending slightly forward, Lingyan leaned close to the young emperor and placed a soft, gentle kiss between her brows.
"no!"
With a long arm, Gu Zhong pulled her into his embrace, resting his chin on her shoulder and neck, tightly hugging her waist. He seemed worried that she might disappear in an instant.
"Is Your Majesty truly not afraid of the fall of the nation?"
Lingyan chuckled helplessly and leaned against her.
"...Sir, did you know all along that this day would come?"
After a long silence, the emperor finally let out a sigh of realization.
Chapter 25 The Imperial Tutor and the Crown Princess (Twenty-Four)
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The rebel army lined up outside the city. Gu Zhong sent eloquent people to sow discord among them. Some offered them great benefits, pointed out the advantages and disadvantages, and stirred up trouble. However, the aristocratic families who always liked to scheme and figure out people's intentions remained unmoved.
Since that night raid, they have stopped attacking the city and have only been clamoring to execute Lingyan and issue an edict of self-reproach.
Under this influence, the atmosphere in the city gradually became delicate. The lives of the people in the city were in Gu Zhong's hands, and they were worried that the rebel army would rush into the city when they woke up. So there were always some clever people who thought of exchanging the rebel army's demands for their retreat.
In fact, it was obvious to anyone with eyes to see that the rebels had a well-thought-out plan. By killing Lingyan, they would lose a powerful promoter of the new policies. Gu Zhong, who issued an edict of self-reproach, would be seen as an immoral and incompetent ruler, and could be rightfully ousted from the throne. The change of the dynasty would happen in an instant.
"Thinking about it now, the current situation only stems from a rumor about His Majesty and the Prime Minister. If His Majesty can clarify things with facts and ask the Prime Minister to cooperate a little, then the outside world will naturally lose its reputation as a righteous army. At this time, it will be perfectly justified to summon troops from all over the country to come to the aid of the emperor."
One suggestion was that it sounded like a compromise.
"Oh? Tell me, how do you intend to clarify this? And how does the Prime Minister need to cooperate?"
Gu Zhong said in a deep voice, staring intently at the person who made the suggestion, making him feel uneasy all over.
"I beg Your Majesty to issue an edict for her marriage to the Minister of Justice! I beg the Prime Minister to sacrifice himself for the country!"
The man gritted his teeth and knelt down, shouting his agreement. Surprisingly, most of the officials in the court followed suit, kneeling and chanting in unison.
Ling Yan turned to look at the kneeling officials behind her, who were shouting slogans. Then she turned her gaze to Chen Muxian, who had been watching from the sidelines the whole time. She saw him smiling at her, his eyes filled with the smugness of a victor.
"How dare you!" Gu Zhong roared, flipping the table over in a fit of rage.
"You actually believed the accusations made arbitrarily by a bunch of traitors? You're just emboldening the rebel army. If you really do this, what will happen if they don't retreat? Will you take my head too?"
One cannot look directly into the wrath of a monarch. But this time, the courtiers seemed to have forgotten their comrades who had shed blood before the emperor a few days earlier, and refused to yield an inch.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to share your burdens."
To everyone's surprise, before the emperor could get angry again, the person at the center of the incident took the initiative to bow down and ask for permission, showing no sign of panic.
"Sir! Cough cough!"
In her haste, Gu Zhong coughed involuntarily. She quickly covered her face with her hand to block the blood and saliva splattering from her lips.
"Your Majesty, please make a decision as soon as possible!"
Looking directly at the king on the steps, Ling Yan's eyes held an unwavering determination that brooked no refusal.
"Fine, let it be as you say..."
Gu Zhong stared blankly in Ling Yan's direction, closed his eyes, and his voice was full of exhaustion, as if he had lost his power and was being coerced by his subjects.
Ling Yan felt completely at ease. She had long been prepared to die for the failure of the new policy, so the suddenness of today's scene was not unexpected.
"I will issue an edict tomorrow to summon the rebel troops outside the city. Today, I would like to ask you to return to the palace."
After saying this listlessly, Gu Zhong dismissed the court and hurriedly left with weak steps.
"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Your Excellency."
With a compassionate expression, Chen Muxian called out to Ling Yan in a mournful tone.
"On the contrary, I should congratulate the Minister of Justice. Perhaps tomorrow you should be called the Imperial Consort?"
Ling Yan looked at him with sharp eyes, "I suppose you are extremely satisfied with this situation."
"Your humble servant does not understand why Your Excellency the Prime Minister would say such a thing?"
Chen Muxian remained cautious and did not reveal anything.
"You and I both know perfectly well, Chen Muxian, this is the only despicable thing you can do."
Lingyan, however, did not give up and continued to provoke him.
"Your Excellency, I am very curious, are those rumors truly unfounded?"
Chen Muxian ignored her and leisurely turned his gaze to the dragon throne in the hall.
"Such a thing that is intolerable to the world, the Prime Minister sacrificed himself for righteousness and left cleanly, so that His Majesty would not have to bear the infamy."
His words were full of blatant threats, practically stating outright that he was the one who spread the rumors.
Today's sudden attack was a brilliant plan to kill two birds with one stone. It eliminated Lingyan, this obstacle, and consolidated its own position. Those noble families outside the city were still smug, thinking they could change the dynasty. Little did they know that they were just tools for others to step on to rise to power.
However, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind; the outcome remains uncertain.
Now that Chen Moxian is so confident, how can we be sure that he will be the winner?
Ling Yan sneered and turned to leave.
"Sir, am I really useless?"
Gu Zhong stood on the windowsill of his study, looking at the gradually darkening sky outside, where a storm was brewing.
"Your Majesty need not be so discouraged; they are nothing but clowns."
Lingyan walked behind her and draped the cloak that had been placed to the side over her shoulders.
“Sir…you talked about giving you a title, but now you can’t even protect me. You have to sacrifice yourself to ensure my safety. Isn’t that useless?”
Gu Zhong turned around, embraced Ling Yan, and rested his head on her shoulder.
"It is because His Majesty has done so well that these treacherous officials have been forced to take such risky measures. The scourge of aristocratic families has existed for hundreds of years, with countless dynasties rising and falling because of them."
In just a few years, His Majesty has already done his utmost to suppress them to such an extent. The current crisis is truly my fault as their advisor.”
Lingyan raised her hand and hugged Gu Zhong back, touching her waist, which had become noticeably thinner in recent days, with a touch of heartache.
"Sir, you always comfort me. If you had thought things through more thoroughly back then and taken a decisive step, we wouldn't have ended up at the gates of the city."
Gu Zhong tightened his grip even more, as if trying to integrate her into his very being.
"If we hadn't taken things slowly and had pushed them too far, the situation would have been much worse. Now that things have come to this, Your Majesty need not worry."
Lingyan lightly flicked her finger on the forehead, wondering why this person was still so stubborn.
"Sir, what the emperor said is not what I wanted."
Gu Zhong finally lifted his fluffy head from her shoulder and neck, and reached out to rub his forehead in frustration.
"I know." Ling Yan didn't care at all, as if she wasn't the one who would be handed over to the rebel army tomorrow to quell the rumors.
"It truly is a case of dark clouds looming over the city, threatening to crush it..."
Gu Chong looked up again at the gloomy sky. A roar pierced through the clouds and rolled in from the horizon, striking straight to his heart.
Ling Yan reached out and gently pressed her hand against Gu Zhong's lips, her reddened eyes carrying a captivating allure.
"Sir, it looks like it's going to rain..."
Gu Zhong leaned down, his voice growing even lower.
Good rain knows its season; it falls when spring arrives.
The spring rain, which should have brought joy, pattered softly on the city of Xijing.
Raindrops tapped on the glazed tiles of the palace eaves, creating a melodious and cheerful tune. The rain soaked the fertile soil of the Imperial Garden, and green buds silently unfurled, revealing their tender cores, joyfully welcoming the nourishment of the drizzle.