Shipin Dalizheng

"I, Nangong He, the legitimate prince of Dai Viet, have been emperor for twenty-two years since crossing the Southern Straits. Despite diligently governing the country, Heaven's will has not permitted me to do so, leading to national decline and civil unrest. This is due to my incompetence. Empress Sun colluded with the foreign minister Sun Xianbin to murder the emperor and her husband, a fact I failed to observe. I now depose Empress Sun and demote her to a commoner, ordering her to be buried with me upon my death. I myself was poisoned and my life is short. The Second Prince's mother cannot bear the burden of being crown prince. I now abdicate the throne and submit a petition to Emperor Xuanning, begging for my life in exchange for the safety of the people when the city is captured..."

Before the imperial edict was finished being read, Cao Daban was already crying profusely.

These words also touched the military officials and civilians present. They were all moved and terrified. There was no emperor anymore. The emperor had deposed and surrendered. What should they do?

Suddenly, the sky was filled with weeping, and amidst the thousands of cries, one voice roared, "Marquis Yong'an is plotting treason and regicide. He should be cut into pieces."

The officials came to their senses. Yes, at this time, they had to find someone to take the blame, and besides, Yong'an Hou was not innocent. Suddenly, there was a panic, "Kill him, kill Sun Xianbin."

Marquis Yong'an was furious when he saw the thousands of soldiers and civilians who shared the same hatred for the enemy. He was not afraid of losing and would accept death. However, when he thought about how Rong Tang had fooled him into making himself king not long ago, which changed his plan from regent to changing the dynasty, he felt that he had been completely deceived by Rong Tang.

In his rage, he didn't know who handed a bow and arrow to him. Without thinking, he grabbed it, drew the bow and aimed, "Rong Tang, I want you dead!"

His voice was silenced, but his actions were witnessed by countless people. Rong Tang cried out in alarm, "He is trying to assassinate Your Majesty! Save Him, save Him!"

As he said this, he stood in front of the Southern Emperor, acting like a loyal minister and a capable general.

The chaos at the scene was intense, and many people hadn't reacted yet. There was only room for Tang in front of the Southern Emperor. Sun Xianbin saw that the opportunity was now or never, so he didn't wait for too many people to gather around and make it difficult to aim. He shot an arrow...

There is a small episode here. When Sun Xianbin shot this arrow, he also shot an arrow behind him. Although it was fired later, it arrived first and hit Rong Tang's left shoulder. Rong Tang felt pain, or perhaps because the arrow was too powerful, his body tilted to one side. Sun Xianbin's arrow went straight into Nan Di's heart. Nan Di only shook for a moment, lowered his head and died.

"Do not……"

Empress Sun let out a heart-wrenching roar and fell to the ground with her head raised. She was finished, the Sun family was finished, and her son was finished.

"Oh my god, Sun Xianbin killed the king in the street, someone come, someone come!"

Cao Daban was stunned for a moment, then let out a deafening scream. The eunuch's voice was sharp and piercing, piercing the eardrums of thousands of people.

Rong Tang didn't care about what happened next, because logically, he was seriously injured and was rescued by his men.

An hour later, Sun Xianbin's forces were wiped out, and all the relatives of the Yong'an Marquis' Mansion, together with another branch of the Anyang Earl's Mansion, more than 300 people, were arrested and thrown into the Ministry of Justice prison.

At dusk, someone came to ask Rong Tang to go to the palace to discuss something. Rong Tang was a little surprised. There was no master in the palace, so how could he hold a meeting?

When we arrived at the place, we found out that there were a few elderly men with moderate attitudes who felt that this was not a big deal and wanted to discuss a countermeasure and study how to overcome the difficulties. The palace was just a temporary gathering place because they couldn't find a suitable place.

Now most of the officials in the court have neglected the affairs of state. The few who are still working are just like Lord Ma, who are in charge of relief matters. The rest are hiding at home and do not go out. Now that they have suddenly gathered together, they don’t know how to start the conversation.

Rong Tang's left shoulder was still bandaged, the blood staining it glaring. As he entered, the distraught Cao Daban seemed to have found his backbone and stood beside him.

The seat reserved for him was very special. He was sitting alone on a chair in the north, in the row on the left and the row on the right. He looked extremely intriguing.

Looking closely, he found that they were divided into civil and military positions. Although 80% of the imperial capital's combat power was under his control, these people did not have any troops at hand. This was a bit strange.

There was silence for a long while. Rong Tang felt sleepy and rubbed his face, pretending to be sad. "His Majesty has just passed away. If you have any plans, please tell me directly. Don't just think about your own lives. Think about the lives of the tens of thousands of people in the imperial city and the hundreds of thousands of refugees outside the city..."

What he meant was that the Southern Emperor was dead, and had issued an edict to abdicate and surrender, so you guys should just be quiet, stay at home, and wait for the Northern Dynasty army to arrive, then submit the letter of surrender obediently, and it will be good for you, me, and everyone else.

Unexpectedly, there was a man with a strange bone structure who did not play by the rules. Liang Xiang and Lord Liu of the Ministry of Justice, who had resigned long ago, suddenly stood up and saluted him.

Liang Xiang said, "Mr. Annan, now that the late emperor has passed away, the Second Prince is unable to continue the throne. Please, young Lord, come up with some rules to reassure the people."

Rong Tang hissed, "What rules do I have?"

Liang Xiang coughed and said, "Our point is, now that the imperial capital's food and troops are in your hands, why don't you ascend the throne and become the new emperor? Don't worry, the previous emperor was killed by Sun Xianbin, and you have nothing to do with it. In the future, history books will also record your rescue in the street. Even if it didn't work, the intention was conveyed."

I'm rough...

Rong Tang blinked and looked to both sides. He even saw his uncle Lord Xie and Zheng Jiu. One of them had his eyes closed and the other had a flickering look in his eyes.

"My Lords, do you think so too?"

When he asked this question, he felt that Cao Daban beside him was breathing heavily. Was he trying to change his master too?

The expressions of the officials in the two rows were different. Some turned their heads away, some lowered their heads, some were fawning, and some were dissatisfied, but no one opposed.

Lord Liu said, "We have discussed this. Now, only Young Master can manage the Imperial City. Your ability is obvious to all and beyond doubt. Please choose a day to ascend the throne."

There was a "bang" sound, which was the sound of something piercing the wooden table. Looking up, it was Zheng Jiu who had stabbed a short knife into the table.

Who the hell are you trying to scare?

Rong Tang suddenly felt mischievous and lay back lazily with his feet on the low table in front of him.

"OK……"

As soon as he finished speaking, several inhalations were heard, accompanied by Zheng Jiu's death stare.

There was also the sound of Cao Daban's heart beating so wildly that it was about to jump out of his chest.

"You bunch of treacherous ministers, you instigated loyal ministers and generals to change the dynasty. What crime should you be punished for? Is there any historian here? Write it down for me. On such and such a day of such and such a month, such and such an official instigated the Earl of Annan to usurp the throne. He was then killed by the Earl of Annan with a single blow of his sword."

Rong Zhan raised his leg and stepped forward, slashing across with the Tang sword. Liang Xiang screamed and subconsciously shrank his head. The sword cut off the official hat on his head, along with the small tuft of hair that was tied up, leaving him as an old man with disheveled Mediterranean hair.

Before Liang Xiang could stop screaming, Rong Shen and Rong Qianqi also took action. The next unlucky person was Lord Liu, who was bald like Liang Xiang and fell to the ground in fright.

However, everyone finally realized that Rong Tang did not want to kill anyone, he just wanted to scare them.

"Cutting off your hair in lieu of your head may serve as a minor punishment, but your wolfish ambitions are evident. If this is not recorded in history, it will serve as a warning to future generations. Cao Daban, you are a close confidant of the late emperor. You know all the gentlemen present today. You know what to do, don't you?"

Cao Daban lowered his head firmly and said, "Yes, uncle."

Rong Tang stood up and left without stopping for a moment.