Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 400 Conspiracy and conspiracy

Why Yongxiang?

This was the first question Yuan Tianmu thought about.

Yongxiang is an alley between the Central Palace where Empress Dowager Hu lived and the Harem where the emperor was imprisoned.

At that time, Empress Dowager Hu was imprisoned in the Xuanguang Hall after a coup d'état led by Yuan Yi in the Hall, which cast a shadow on the Hall.

Out of "filial piety", the young emperor "took the initiative" to exchange residences with Empress Dowager Hu. He gave the Huiyin Hall in the central palace where the emperor lived to Empress Dowager Hu, and moved into the Xuanguang Hall himself.

Yongxiang is the main road separating the Imperial Palace and the Back Palace, and it sounds very important at first glance.

However, in all the previous coups, there was basically no end to the Eternal Alley.

The reason is of course very simple. Yongxiang is a very narrow alley sandwiched between the Central Palace and the Back Palace.

After entering Yongxiang, the army could not deploy, and the imperial guards guarding the palace only needed to shoot arrows from the palace walls to catch the coup army in the trap.

Therefore, several coups in Luoyang throughout the dynasties either started from the main gate of the Central Palace, Duanmen, and attacked from south to north, first controlling the Central Palace and then sealing off the Back Palace. For example, the Yuan Yi coup followed this process.

Alternatively, you could fight from north to south, first gather troops in the Imperial Garden north of the imperial palace, fight your way through from the harem to the central palace, and finally control the Sima Gate where ministers are summoned, then the coup would be complete.

How could a fight start from Yongxiang?

Yuan Yong was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He asked quickly:
"But the Demon Queen has launched an attack?"

Yuan Tianmu said calmly:

"It's not the Evil Queen! The Evil Queen has already controlled the palace. If she wanted to murder Your Majesty, she wouldn't need to make such a big fuss. She could just poison him."

Yes, if Empress Dowager Hu launched a coup, the entire palace was under her control and there would not be such a big commotion.

"Your Majesty's men?"

Yuan Tianmu shook his head again.

Although Yuan Tianmu had been in Bingzhou for a long time, he saw things more clearly than Yuan Yong.

If the current emperor had a faction in the court that caused such a big commotion, he would not have ended up in such a situation.

There was no point in guessing now, so Yuan Tianmu immediately said to Yuan Yong:

"Your Majesty, please call upon all the kings and ministers to send people to the palace and take control of the armory!"

Yuan Yong's eyes lit up. The kings and ministers in Luoyang all had a large number of private soldiers. These people combined were a great force. At that time, Prince Gaoyang launched a coup and killed the two male favorites of Queen Mother Hu, also relying on this part of the power.

The armory was also an important point in the palace coup. When Sima Yi launched the Luoyang coup, he even bypassed Cao Shuang's mansion and did not attack it, but directly controlled the armory.

Yuan Tianmu's two suggestions were very pertinent. Yuan Yong immediately stood up and said:

"Just follow Governor Yuan's instructions!"

"Put on armor! Put on armor for this king!"

Yuan Tianmu looked towards the direction of the imperial palace, and an ominous premonition already arose in his heart. Who was behind the coup?
Could it be Su Ze?
Does Su Ze have such a foundation in Luoyang?
-
"Your Majesty, I am Su Suan, the deputy envoy under the command of the Duke of Gaoping. Please follow me out of the palace as soon as possible."

Su Suan looked at the panicked little emperor Yuan Xu and bowed.

Yuan Xu looked at the imperial guards around Su Suan in a daze. He was still wondering how this man who claimed to be the envoy of the Duke of Gaoping County had entered the Xuanguang Hall.

The reason why Su Suan chose to enter the harem from Yongxiang was very simple. Under the background that the powerful people in Luoyang had long treated them as non-human beings, the imperial guards guarding the palace city had been almost infiltrated by those left in the backyard after years of efforts.

After seeing Su Suan's bright flag, the soldiers on duty that day basically joined his team immediately.

The eunuchs guarding the Xuanguang Gate were followers sent into the palace by Su Ze. They immediately attacked and killed the eunuchs sent by Empress Dowager Hu to guard the palace gate, opened the gate of Xuanguang Hall and welcomed Su Suan and his party in.

The little emperor came back to his senses from his bewilderment, and asked tremblingly:

"The Duke of Gaoping wants me to go to Guanzhong?"

Su Suan nodded immediately and said:

"Erzhu Rong has evil ambitions and has begun to attack Beizhong City this morning. Luoyang is hindered by the evil queen and powerful ministers. The rebels in Hedong are at their peak. The Duke of Gaoping County thinks that we should ask Your Majesty to move to Chang'an and make plans later."

The little emperor was not a fool. He immediately shook his head and said:

"I'm not going."

Su Suan had already anticipated this result. He was not asking for the emperor's opinion, but was just waiting for Su Bai to do something.

Su Bai leaned close to Su Suan's ear and said:

“The other stuff is already in hand.”

Su Suan nodded, and two soldiers quickly stepped forward and lifted up the little emperor. Although Su Suan's tone was still as humble as before, his words were much sharper:
"The Duke of the County has spoken to me on my behalf. I will follow my discretion in this urgent matter. I would like to ask Your Majesty to move the troops to Guanzhong first, and then the Duke of the County will explain it to Your Majesty in person."

Raised by the women in the deep palace, Yuan Xu is only fifteen years old now. The little emperor has been frightened and has even forgotten to resist.

"Leave the city immediately!"

Su Suan immediately gave orders to abandon those followers who disobeyed his orders and continued to loot property and rape palace maids in the Xuanguang Hall. He only took the most elite soldiers to escort the emperor, rushed out of the palace from Yongxiang, and went all the way out of the city.
-
Empress Dowager Hu curled up in the Huiyin Palace of the Central Palace. Her Grand Chamberlain reported that a coup had occurred near Yongxiang. Erzhu Rong and Su Ze marched into Luoyang at the same time. Yesterday, news came that Erzhu Rong was going to attack Beizhong City. Empress Dowager Hu was so anxious that she did not sleep all night. Unexpectedly, another coup had occurred early in the morning.

Empress Dowager Hu was frightened out of her wits!
She immediately ordered the eunuchs to take her imperial edict and go to quell the rebellion, but they were all turned back.

This feeling is so familiar!

Empress Dowager Hu could only order the eunuchs and strong women in Huiyin Palace to take up weapons and guard the palace. The experience of previous coups told her that as long as she obeyed the orders and stayed in the palace, the coup plotters would generally not take her life.

There were intermittent shouts and cries of killing outside, and the other palaces were in varying degrees of chaos. It was not until noon that Empress Dowager Hu saw Prince Gaoyang Yuanyong, dressed in armor, appear outside Huiyin Palace.

When Empress Dowager Hu saw that it was Prince Gaoyang Yuanyong, she felt both happy and hateful.

The good news is that if it was Yuan Yong who launched the coup, it would probably be like the last time, where the princes were dissatisfied with him, and if things really didn't work out, he would remove the regency and let Yuan Yong be the regent.

As the emperor's biological mother, her life would be in danger as long as these princes still recognized the little emperor.

What is hateful is that it was because of these princes who kept causing trouble that the two traitors Erzhu Rong and Su Ze saw their opportunity.

No, Yuan Yong launched a coup at this time, he must have colluded with one party!

Empress Dowager Hu thought she had figured out the whole situation, and she said to the eunuch beside her:

"Open the palace door."

"Supreme!"

"Open it. I am devoted to worshipping Buddha and do not want to harm your lives. King Gaoyang dare not harm me."

The gate of Huiyin Palace opened, Yuan Yong waved his hand, and a group of "servants" in armor rushed into the palace. After controlling the entire Huiyin Palace, Yuan Yong led the kings into the Huiyin Palace.

"Prince Gaoyang, are you going to purge the emperor's court again this time?"

Empress Dowager Hu had experienced many coups d'état before, and she sarcastically said to Yuan Yong.

Yuan Yong immediately pretended to say:
"Your Majesty, this kingdom belongs to our Yuan family after all. Please leave the legacy to us. Otherwise, how will you meet the late emperor in your afterlife?"

Empress Dowager Hu continued to mock:

"Prince Gaoyang, did you support Erzhu Rong or Su Ze this time? These two are both wicked people. What I regret most is that I didn't kill them when I ascended the throne! You are associating with jackals, be careful that you will end up with no remains left!"

"you!"

King Gaoyang also lost his composure when facing a shrew like Queen Mother Hu. At this moment, Yuan Tianmu, dressed in armor, hurried into Huiyin Palace.

"It's Su Ze! His Majesty was kidnapped by Su Ze."

"what!"

Empress Dowager Hu and Yuan Yong both exclaimed in surprise.

Empress Dowager Hu recognized Yuan Tianmu and immediately realized that Yuan Yong was working with Erzhu Rong. She smiled and said:
"General Erzhu was busy for a long time, but in the end he was intercepted by Su Ze? I heard that they are sworn brothers? Hahahaha!"

Yuan Tianmu frowned. He didn't expect that the ruler of the Great Wei would be such a crazy woman.

Empress Dowager Hu was not at all worried about her son's safety. Instead, she gloated over the failure of her own plan.

No wonder the government has become like this over the years.

Yuan Yong was also panicked. The basis of his cooperation with Erzhu Rong was to hand over the little emperor and the queen mother to Erzhu Rong. Now that the little emperor had been taken away by Su Ze, would Erzhu Rong fulfill his promise?
Yuan Tianmu lowered his head to think for a while, then immediately raised his head and said:

"Kill all those who knew about the Xuanguang Palace incident. Ask the Queen Mother to immediately issue an edict to appease the ministers, saying that there was a fire in the palace and the palace servants were looting property. The riot has been suppressed and your majesty and the Queen Mother are fine."

How brilliant!
Yuan Yong's eyes lit up. If he concealed the news that the emperor had left the palace, then even if Su Ze had snatched the emperor away, as long as Luoyang did not admit it, the emperor would still be in the palace!
Yuan Tianmu said again:

"Please, Your Majesty, issue an order to order Li Shengui in Beizhong City to give up resistance and allow General Erzhu to enter Luoyang City!"

Yuan Yong immediately agreed:
"Yes, yes, yes! Your Majesty, please issue an order!"

Empress Dowager Hu was relieved, knowing that her life was saved.

The emperor has already fled, and I, the empress dowager, am the only tool Erzhu Rong has to control Luoyang, so Erzhu Rong will not kill me.

Empress Dowager Hu suppressed her madness and just sat on the couch, watching the captured Zhongshu Sheren hastily write the imperial edict. A eunuch took out the seal and stamped it, saying that it was an edict issued by the empress dowager. However, Empress Dowager Hu did not even see the content of the imperial edict.

Yuan Tianmu picked up the two imperial edicts, and after checking that they were correct, he immediately appointed two eunuchs and asked the soldiers behind him to guard them. One went to the Menxia Province, and the other went to Beizhong City to announce the edict.

Yuan Tianmu's head started to hurt again. The journey into Luoyang was not smooth at all. Who would have thought that this small Beizhong city could actually stop Erzhu Rong's army for a whole day?
If we had entered the city a day earlier, this would not have happened.

Could it be that all this was planned by Su Ze?
At this moment, another soldier rushed into the Xuanguang Hall.

This person was Yuan Yong's confidant. When he saw Yuan Yong, he immediately said:

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty climbed up the south gate wall and said that he wanted to move to Guanzhong, but he couldn't bear to leave the people of Luoyang behind, so he called on the people to follow him westward!"

"what!"

(End of this chapter)