We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Everyone retreated into the hall, and Li Che and Li Lin carefully placed Emperor Qing's body next to the dragon bed.

Li Che half-knelt beside Emperor Qing and silently reached out his hand to close his eyes.

Hearing the sounds of fighting outside the door, Li Lin could no longer suppress his anger and cursed with gritted teeth:

"These traitors deserve to be hacked into pieces! Even before our father's body is cold, they can't wait to plot a rebellion!"

Li Che's face was calm and he shook his head:

"This is their last chance. They know full well that if I succeed to the throne, those who force the emperor to abdicate today will inevitably die."

Li Lin clenched his fist in anger and punched the pillar beside him:

"Now I finally understand why my father is so determined to eradicate these bastards. If the aristocratic families aren't eradicated, there will never be peace in Daqing!"

Li Che did not say much on this topic, but turned to look at Huang Jin: "Eunuch Huang, where is the emperor's back-up plan?"

"Your Highness, please follow me."

Huang Jin walked quickly to the dragon bed and reached out to pull a dragon-carved armrest on the edge of the bed.

There was a rumbling sound, and the dragon bed suddenly split open in the middle, revealing a dark hole underneath.

Li Che and Li Lin looked at each other in shock, then looked towards the cave entrance at the same time.

But I saw that it was bottomless inside and obviously very long, and I didn't know where it led to.

Huang Jin explained very quickly, "This secret passage was built by the previous Emperor Yang. When the world was in chaos, he was worried about his own safety, so he secretly built this passage to prepare for any unexpected events."

"However, the destiny was no longer with him. The secret passage was not yet completed when His Majesty invaded the imperial capital."

"After His Majesty discovered this secret passage, he ordered the news to be kept secret. Therefore, this passage is still unfinished and cannot lead directly outside the Imperial City. It can only reach near the North Gate."

"This secret passage is extremely secret, and no more than a handful of people in the world know about it. Your Highnesses can rest assured."

"Your Majesty has anticipated what will happen today. Your Highnesses, please lead the Imperial Guards to evacuate immediately. There will be personnel to meet you at the exit."

Li Che was overjoyed, although he knew that Emperor Qing was so experienced and cautious that he would definitely have a backup plan.

However, he didn't expect that it was a secret passage left over from the previous dynasty, which could directly avoid the rebels outside.

But he quickly realized the implication behind Huang Jin's words and frowned, "What do you mean, Eunuch Huang? You won't evacuate with me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Lin looked at Huang Jin with a worried look on his face.

Huang Jin smiled bitterly: "This old servant is a close associate of Your Majesty. Since ancient times, is it possible for an emperor to pass away while his attendants live alone?"

Li Lin heard this and said anxiously: "Why do you say that, Huang Daban? We may not be able to leave our father to the traitors, so we must take him away with us!"

"When we get to the North, we'll build a mausoleum for our father. You can then guard the mausoleum and continue to serve him. Why would you want to die?"

Compared to Li Che, Li Lin can be said to have been brought up by Huang Jin, and he has a close friendship with this old eunuch.

But now Huang Jin was clearly determined to die, and he just shook his head slowly:

"Your Highnesses have many talented people under their command, so there is no shortage of a grave keeper like me. I will take good care of Your Majesty."

"Besides, this secret passage can only be closed from the outside. Someone must remain inside the palace to operate the mechanism. If Your Highness retreats from here, how can we leave a retreat route for the rebels to pursue?"

Li Che saw that Huang Jin no longer had any desire to live, and knew that it was useless to persuade him any further.

He gritted his teeth, cupped his hands and said solemnly: "Huang Daban, take care."

Li Lin wanted to persuade her again, but he saw Huang Jin looking at him with a smile and nodded slightly.

He could only wipe the tears from his face and muttered, "I carried my father on my back!"

After saying this, he carried Emperor Qing's body on his back with a muffled voice.

Huang Jin quickly stepped forward, took a thin blanket from the dragon bed, wrapped Emperor Qing in it, and then tied it to Li Lin with a rope.

Li Che said no more and turned to Ren Kuan and ordered:

"General Ren, order all the brothers to retreat into the hall, block the hall door, and evacuate through the secret passage in order!"

Ren Kuan responded and left.

The Jinyiwei quickly tightened their defense line, retreated into the hall, and began to enter the secret passage in an orderly manner.

Li Che pushed Li Lin and asked him to carry Emperor Qing on his back and enter the secret passage first.

Li Lin took a last look at Huang Jin behind him, then gritted his teeth and entered the secret passage.

At this moment, Huang Jin pulled Li Che and said, "Your Highness, please wait a moment."

He stood up, walked quickly to the dragon bed, took out something from under the bed, and carefully handed it to Li Che.

Li Che took it and took a look. It turned out to be a seal, four inches square, with five dragons on the top.

He was startled and turned over the jade seal, his pupils shrinking again.

However, on the front of the jade seal, there were eight insect-and-bird seal characters engraved: "Received the Mandate from Heaven, May You Live Long and Prosper."

If there is no Han Dynasty in this world, there will naturally be no Wang Mang usurping the Han Dynasty, and Queen Mother Wang will not smash the seal in anger.

Therefore, the jade seal was preserved very intact without any missing corner.

Looking at Li Che's shocked expression, Huang Jin smiled and whispered:

"You are the true Son of Heaven. Please take care... Your Majesty."

Li Che was silent for a moment, and finally looked at Huang Jin deeply.

He said solemnly, "Huang Daban, your heroic deeds today will surely go down in history!"

Huang Jin smiled and shook his head: "This old servant does not care about leaving a name in history. I only hope to be worthy of the late emperor and your majesty."

"With this, I can serve the late emperor with confidence even in the afterlife."

Li Che nodded heavily, said no more, turned and entered the secret passage.

The Jinyiwei evacuated in an orderly manner until Ren Kuan, who was at the rear of the palace, also disappeared at the cave entrance.

Huang Jin immediately stepped forward and pulled the mechanism, and the entrance to the cave slowly closed.

After doing all this, he straightened his clothes and then knelt beside the dragon bed, his posture as usual when serving Emperor Qing.

How could the gate of the Hall of Eternal Life stop the fierce soldiers?

Li Che and his companions had just evacuated when they heard a loud bang. The palace door was forcibly broken open from the outside and the rebels poured in.

Zhai Yan, covered in blood, rushed into the hall with a big knife in hand.

But he found that the hall was empty, with no one except the kneeling old eunuch.

Prince Feng and Prince Yan had long since disappeared, and even Emperor Qing's body had vanished.

He was extremely anxious and immediately put the knife on Huang Jin's neck and shouted:

"Old dog slave, where are the people?!"

Huang Jin didn't even look at him, but just looked up at the sky with a smile.

Those cloudy eyes seemed to have seen something in the air and became softer.

"Your Majesty, I am here!"

Everyone only heard Huang Jin shouting, and then suddenly hit the blade with his neck.

The situation was so rapid that even veterans like Zhai Yan were unable to react in time.

The force was so strong that the blade penetrated more than an inch into Zhai Yan's neck, and blood spurted out, staining Zhai Yan's face red.

Zhai Yan was stunned for a few seconds before he reacted and quickly retracted his sword.

Huang Jin's body lost its support and fell to the ground crookedly, his eyes closed, but he looked peaceful and solemn.

Zhai Yan wiped his face and cursed, "You damned eunuch!"

Then he turned to the soldiers behind him and shouted, "They must still be in the palace!"

"Order all units to seal off the palace and search it! Leave no tile or brick untouched!"

"Here!"