Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 520 Death of Yuan Tianmu

The next day, Yuan Tianmu and Xi Yi entered the palace together.

Originally, Erzhu Rong had equipped Yuan Tianmu with personal guards, but the imperial palace was also filled with imperial guards led by Xi Yi. When Yuan Tianmu arrived at Sima Gate, he still asked the personal guards around him to take off their armor.

After all, Yuan Tianmu was a relative of the Yuan clan, so it was a bit too sensitive for him to bring soldiers into the palace.

Although they have taken off their armor, these guards are still equipped with swords.

The group first came to the Taiji Hall and met Emperor Yuan Ziyou.

As soon as he saw Yuan Tianmu, Yuan Ziyou stood up from the throne, excitedly took Yuan Tianmu's hand and said:
"Prince Shangdang! I have finally waited for you to return to Luoyang! The Queen Mother has been drunk all day these days, and I am worried to death."

Yuan Tianmu looked at Yuan Ziyou. He did not like this emperor and always felt that he was too capable.

But Yuan Ziyou has been very honest these days and is willing to be a puppet, which has also changed Yuan Tianmu's opinion of him.

Yuan Tianmu said:
"I came to the palace today to persuade the Queen Mother to drink less."

Yuan Tianmu disagreed. He thought that persuasion was just a formality. He was confident that as long as he could scare Empress Dowager Hu, she would not dare to continue to act like a demon.

When Yuan Tianmu thought of Empress Dowager Hu, he felt even more disgusted. The Yuan family's kingdom was ruined by this evil woman.

Yuan Ziyou immediately said:
"I am about to go to see the Queen Mother. How about going with the King of Shangdang?"

Because of Yuan Ziyou's outstanding performance, Erzhu Rong also allowed him to move around in the palace instead of being imprisoned in the Nan Palace as before.

However, there were not many places Yuan Ziyou could go. Apart from the residences of several concubines, there was Jiafu Palace where Empress Dowager Hu was imprisoned.

However, Yuan Ziyou behaved very respectfully. He went to Jiafu Palace to pay his respects to Empress Dowager Hu every day, but Empress Dowager Hu rarely saw him.

This was also the reason why Yuan Tianmu changed his opinion of Yuan Ziyou. The emperor was very cooperative, which saved him a lot of trouble.

"Then let's go together."

Yuan Tianmu waved his hand, took out the "Jiu Gao" from his sleeve, and said to Yuan Ziyou:
"In the past, Duke Zhou wrote the 'Edict of Jiu' to persuade Kang Shu not to drink. Today, I will announce the 'Edict of Jiu' to the Queen Mother and ask her to stop drinking."

A group of people guarded Yuan Ziyou, together with Yuan Tianmu's personal guards and Xi Yi's entourage, and headed towards Beigong Jiafu Palace.

In Jiafu Hall, a group of musicians were tuning their instruments.

The security in Jiafu Hall was even stricter than where Emperor Yuan Ziyou lived. After all, Empress Dowager Hu had a history of causing trouble.

But in contrast, Yuan Tianmu would be more relaxed when he was in Jiafu Palace.

The musicians have come to Jiafu Hall many times. These people are all from Xi Yi's mansion. They were invited into the palace by the emperor to present music to Empress Dowager Hu because she wanted to listen to the music.

Because of their frequent interactions, the soldiers and the musicians were already familiar with each other, and after a quick search, they were allowed to enter the hall.

Gao Aocao was holding a musical hammer and adjusting the bells.

Yang Zhong, who was standing next to Gao Aocao, also stood next to Gao Aocao and checked the bell together.

Gao Aocao's hand reached under the largest bell, touched the short blade hidden under the bell, and winked at Yang Zhong.

Yang Zhong nodded. The largest piece of the chisel board can be removed and assembled with the wooden pestle in the hand into an axe.

In the entire orchestra, half of the musicians are righteous men like Gao Aocao and Yang Zhong. They were recruited by Xi Yi and then recruited by Emperor Yuan Ziyou to become Yuan Ziyou's loyal soldiers.

Gao Aocao was a little nervous. He had been enduring hardships for so long and finally waited for this day.

Although the target of the assassination was not Erzhu Rong, Yuan Tianmu was an important official under Erzhu Rong. If Yuan Tianmu could be assassinated in Luoyang, it would definitely cause great trouble to Erzhu Rong who was fighting on the front line.

This can be considered as revenge for his father.

Gao Aocao reviewed the previously rehearsed plan in his mind again and tried his best to calm down.

On the other side, Yuan Tianmu and Emperor Yuan Ziyou came to the Jiafu Palace.

When the general guarding Jiafu Palace saw Yuan Tianmu, he immediately came forward to pay his respects. Yuan Tianmu then asked him some questions, and it turned out that everyone in the palace already knew about Empress Dowager Hu's alcoholism.

Yuan Tianmu had no doubts and he was about to enter the palace with his personal guards.

At this time Xi Yi stood up and said:

"Prince Shangdang, the Queen Mother is afraid to see outsiders these days. Are you surrounded by these guards?"

Yuan Tianmu hesitated for a moment, but he quickly made a decision and said to the guards on his left and right:
"Just wait at the door. I'll leave after I've persuaded the Queen Mother."

Yuan Tianmu's guard commander said:

"General Tianzhu asked us to protect the king at all times."

Yuan Tianmu said impatiently:
"This is the imperial palace, what could possibly happen?" It was not that Yuan Tianmu was arrogant. The palace had long been controlled by Erzhu Rong, and he never suspected that someone would ambush him in the palace.

The guards did not dare to persuade him anymore and could only stand guard at the gate of Jiafu Palace.

Xi Yi said:
"I have come here many times to advise the Queen Mother these days, and I have already upset her. I will not go in this time."

Yuan Tianmu nodded and followed Emperor Yuan Ziyu into the Jiafu Hall.

When Empress Dowager Hu was first imprisoned, she often shouted loudly in Jiafu Hall. Erzhu Rong was afraid that she would say indecent words, so he put partitions on the windows of Jiafu Hall.

Therefore, the lighting in Jiafu Hall was very poor, even though candles were still burning during the day.

As soon as he entered the Jiafu Hall, Yuan Tianmu noticed something was wrong.

There was no one on the imperial bed. Didn't you ask me to advise Empress Dowager Hu?
Yuan Ziyou called a palace maid, who said:

"The Queen Mother is not feeling well and has returned to the back hall to rest. Your Majesty and the King of Shangdang, please follow me to the back hall."

At this time, Yuan Tianmu also realized that something was wrong, and he said sternly:

"How can an outsider go to the back hall to meet the Queen Mother? Why don't you invite the Queen Mother here quickly!"

The eunuch hurriedly ran to the back hall. At this time, Yuan Tianmu discovered that there were some figures in the hall.

Yuan Tianmu, who had experienced many battles, had realized that things had changed. He put his hand on the hilt of the sword, and Yuan Ziyou beside him said:

"Prince Shangdang, these are the musicians from Duke Xi's mansion. The Queen Mother often summons them to the palace to play music."

After taking a closer look, he saw that they were indeed a group of musicians. When he heard that they were Xi Yi's men, Yuan Tianmu relaxed his vigilance.

At this time, several eunuchs and palace maids came out, put up a curtain in front of the imperial bed, and Empress Dowager Hu was helped out.

"When did the King of Shangdang return to Luoyang?"

Hearing Empress Dowager Hu's voice, Yuan Tianmu let down his last bit of guard.

He took two steps forward and said to Empress Dowager Hu behind the curtain:
"I just returned to Luoyang recently. I heard that the Queen Mother likes to drink recently, so I came to advise her against it."

"Prince Shangdang, there is no need to persuade me any more. I don't have many years left in my health. Just let me live happily."

After being imprisoned in this coup and witnessing Erzhu Rong's methods in the Heyin Incident, Empress Dowager Hu had completely lost her fighting spirit.

Unlike Yuan Yi who staged a coup d'état before, Erzhu Rong wanted to usurp the throne.

The reason she was kept was only because the young emperor Yuan Xu fled to Guanzhong and needed her legitimacy as the queen mother to endorse him.

Yuan Tianmu took out the "Jiu Gao" from his sleeve and began to recite China's earliest prohibition order to Empress Dowager Hu.

Just as Yuan Tianmu began to recite, the emperor Yuan Ziyou beside him suddenly took a step back.

Immediately afterwards, Gao Aocao, who was pretending to tune a musical instrument, took the lead, pulled out the short blade hidden under the bell, and stabbed it directly into Yuan Tianmu's back.

Yang Zhong followed closely behind and chopped at Yuan Tianmu with the assembled axe.

Yuan Tianmu had been on the battlefield before and his reaction was quick. He avoided Gao Aocao's assassination but was hit on the arm by Yang Zhong.

There was chaos in Jiafu Hall. More musicians drew their weapons and joined the battle, while palace servants and eunuchs screamed in fear.

Yuan Tianmu drew out his sword and wanted to fight back, but Yuan Ziyu beside him was faster and slashed his arm with his sword.

Yuan Tianmu's sword fell to the ground. Gao Aocao and Yang Zhong were both fierce generals on the battlefield and would not give Yuan Tianmu any chance.

Gao Aocao pounced directly on Yuan Tianmu and stabbed his heart with the short blade.

Yang Zhong swung the axe and hit Yuan Tianmu on the forehead.

This King of Shangdang of the Great Wei, Erzhu Rong's close sworn brother and the second-in-command of the Erzhu Group, died in Jiafu Palace in such a miserable way.

At this time, the movement in the hall had aroused the vigilance of the accompanying guards. Just as they were about to rush into Jiafu Hall, a human head was thrown out.

Under the protection of Yang Zhong and Gao Aochong, Yuan Ziyou walked out of Jiafu Hall and shouted to the soldiers:

"The traitor Yuan Tianmu has been killed! The emperor is here, why don't you lay down your weapons and surrender!"

Xi Yi was the first to shout:
"The emperor is here, quickly lay down your weapons and surrender!"

Yuan Tianmu was dead, and many soldiers were at a loss. Yang Zhong and Gao Aocao killed several loyal soldiers. These soldiers without armor finally knelt down and surrendered to Yuan Ziyou.

(End of this chapter)