In my previous life, I killed my whole family. In my next life, I killed the royal family.

When Prime Minister Pei received the news of the emperor's death, he hurried into the palace in his middle clothes. When he saw the emperor burned into a charcoal block, he was horrified and stood still for a moment, as if he was frightened.

After a long while, he finally spoke: "How could this happen?"

"It's really too sudden!"

“How tragic!”

All the officials said: "Too tragic, too tragic, I never expected this, I never expected this!"

No one thought that the emperor would die in this way.

He was burned to death by the second prince.

Some officials were secretly thinking: Is this retribution?

The emperor set fire to his younger brother who was about to ascend the throne and seized the throne. Now, the emperor was burned to death by his second son.

After seeing the scene, Bai Shilang of the Ministry of Justice secretly deduced to the Prime Minister: "It is possible that the Second Prince, with the help of someone, sneaked into the back hall of the palace and set the fire. He wanted to burn the emperor to death, so he immediately took the throne and killed the prince. Who knew that someone helped the prince..."

Minister Bai looked at the team of guards standing outside.

Without the help of the Royal Guards, there is no way the prince could have become the winner today.

The prime minister thought for a moment and nodded, agreeing with Minister Bai's opinion.

He knew in his heart that the team of guards who were on guard at night were afraid of being held responsible and beheaded after seeing the emperor's death, so they supported the prince to ascend the throne. Not only would they not be held accountable, they would also be promoted.

Wu Shangshu of the Ministry of War was more angry than anyone else when faced with the emperor's death. The emperor's tragic death not only shocked him, but also meant that he had lost his greatest backer.

He jumped up and cried bitterly: "Your Majesty, how could you die like this? Your Majesty, please come back to life."

Then Shangshu Wu angrily questioned the palace maid: "What happened last night? Why did it happen like this?" His voice was full of grief and indignation.

The palace guards on duty that night knelt outside, their faces covered in black spots. They almost got burned to death while trying to put out the fire in the palace.

The eunuch on duty, Xiao Gan, kowtowed and cried, "His Majesty said that there were too many people on duty and it was hard to sleep, so he asked us to stand guard in the corridor."

"We have always done this, leaving two guards in the room to keep watch at night."

Minister Wu turned to the guards who were on night watch and shouted, "What on earth are you guards on duty doing? Why don't you protect the emperor?" His eyes revealed endless disappointment and anger, as if he wanted to eat these derelict soldiers alive.

He repeated, "Why don't you protect the emperor? This is your responsibility!" His words were filled with deep condemnation, making people feel his inner grief and despair.

Shangshu Wu's angry attitude stunned everyone. Even the royal relatives were not as heartbroken as he was.

The entire palace was filled with an atmosphere of tension and fear, and everyone was thinking about the truth behind this tragedy and where the situation would lead in the future.

Captain Niu had a wound on his face. He came out, knelt down, and cried as he recounted what happened. "When the incident happened, His Majesty was sleeping peacefully. We heard a noise outside, so half of us stayed inside and the other half came out to check."

"Who knew that it was the Second Prince and his guards who came."

"The brothers outside were hacked and injured, and the Second Prince and the guards rushed in, killing people and setting fire."

"We tried our best to protect them and killed the Second Prince and his guards, but the fire was too big and we were also seriously injured."

Except for the Prime Minister and Minister Bai, all other civil and military officials looked at each other, their hearts filled with confusion and shock.

The Second Prince was clearly imprisoned in the Prince's Mansion, so how could he have the ability to bring people into the palace to kill the Emperor? This is simply unbelievable!

Besides, the palace was heavily guarded, so how did the second prince get into the palace? People speculated on various possibilities, and some even suspected that there was collusion between the inside and the outside.

However, they had doubts about this speculation, "The second prince's mother has passed away, who else in the palace will help him?"

The officials were whispering to each other, expressing their thoughts.

An official said, “Maybe someone was bribed or threatened.”

More people suspected the prince's plan, thinking that "whoever benefits the most is the murderer."

At this moment, the prince suddenly appeared outside the burnt palace door, kneeling on the ground and crying bitterly.

He cried loudly and accused the second prince: "Father, my second brother is so cruel! You only imprisoned him in the prince's mansion, but he actually harbored resentment and brought people into the palace to kill you, and even set fire to the bedroom!"

"Father, your spirit in heaven must teach my second brother a lesson!"

The prince's cry was so miserable and sad that it moved everyone. He lay on the ground, slapping the ground with his hands, as if he wanted to vent all his sorrow.

The civil and military officials present saw the new emperor crying loudly. They seemed to be infected by the prince's emotions. They all cried and knelt down, shouting in unison: "Your Majesty..."

Even if some officials suspected that the fire was a conspiracy, they no longer dared to question it.

After all, they had no evidence.

After all, this is a royal family affair.

Qi Lu and his two sons stood behind the prime minister.

While wiping his tears, Prime Minister Pei took a step back and signaled to Qi Lu and his son, warning them in a low voice, "Don't talk."

With the Prime Minister's many years of experience and his intuition, he believed that the Emperor's death was so strange that the Prince would definitely kill people to establish his authority after taking the throne.

"Yes." Qi Lu nodded.

Commander Zuo cried bitterly, "Your Majesty, you sent me to investigate the bandits, and as soon as I left, something happened to Your Majesty. I failed to protect you, and Your Majesty was harmed by the Second Prince. I feel deeply sorry."

His crying was to express one thing to the people present: The emperor's death was not my fault. I failed to protect him well because I had important matters to attend to.

"Your Majesty..." All the officials cried bitterly.

Prime Minister Pei choked up and said, "His Majesty has passed away. The funeral will begin today."

The prince's crying became quieter and quieter, and he pricked up his ears to listen.

Prime Minister Pei knew what the prince was thinking, and he said loudly: "The country cannot be without a monarch for a day, so respectfully the prince ascends the throne and presides over the funeral of the late emperor."

"Please let the new emperor take the throne." Prime Minister Pei knelt down first.

"No, you can't do that." The prince declined.

All the officials knelt down and said in unison, "Please let the new emperor take the throne."

The prince still said, "No, you can't."

The prime minister and all the officials knew in their hearts that the prince was eager to ascend the throne and become emperor as soon as possible.

Now the Crown Prince was pretending, and the officials also followed suit, "Please let the new Emperor take the throne."

After the prince declined several times, the officials asked him again, and he cried and reluctantly agreed, "Okay, the country cannot be without a king for a day."

All the officials kowtowed and shouted, "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor."

The new emperor cannot have a new era name yet, nor can he ascend the throne immediately.

As the new emperor, he would wear mourning clothes and preside over the funeral of the late emperor first, and then after the late emperor was buried.

The new emperor will choose an auspicious day to ascend the throne.

The late emperor's coffin was placed in the front hall, and the entire palace was covered in white.

Led by the Ministry of Rites' official in charge of ceremonies, all officials mourned in the front hall on time.

Officials from the Zongzheng Temple and the Ministry of Rites were divided into two teams, one team handled the funeral in an orderly manner.

Another team was preparing for the new emperor's accession to the throne.

The new emperor went to the coffin of the late emperor every morning and evening to pay tribute and mourn. The rest of the time, he led the officials to handle state affairs.

"Note: According to the information, the emperor was called the Grand Emperor after his death and before his posthumous title was established."