Shendou Continent

Chapter 206 The Palace Assassination
At the beginning of September, almost three months had passed since the Luzhou conspiracy. Although the civil uprising in Chuzhou was gradually suppressed, the battle between Ouyue and Guangchu was still going on.In the so-called eventful season, in this sensitive season, a major event also happened in Ouyue's court.

On the third day of September, Maoshi, it was originally the time for the early court, but the officials in the Jiuqing Room of the Ouyue Palace had not waited for the notice from the court.When all the officials were discussing, a eunuch in the palace hurried over and said that Emperor Xinfeng suddenly felt unwell and canceled the morning court today.

Although in the Xinfeng Dynasty, such a temporary cancellation of the early court was not new, and the officials had long been accustomed to it.But what is different from the past is that this time the palace was notified until after the eunuch, and the eunuch's flustered expression was clearly a bad omen.

"Old Yang Ge, what is the meaning of this in the palace? Do you and I want to visit the palace?" Huang Wenting, the second assistant to the cabinet, asked Yang Siwei, the first assistant, with a puzzled face.

"Well, what Huang Ge said is very true." In this way, Yang Siwei took the two ministers of the cabinet and planned to go to the Palace of Funing to visit Emperor Xinfeng who was complaining of illness.

The three of them left the Jiuqing Room, bypassed the Chongde Hall, passed through the Wende Hall and the Zichen Hall, and arrived at the Funing Gate, but here they were stopped by the inner guards.Lin Chun, the commander of the inner guards, led dozens of inner guards to block the road leading to the harem.In the distance, thousands of officers and soldiers of the internal guards could still be vaguely seen surrounding Funing Hall.Such a situation is definitely not as simple as the emperor feeling unwell occasionally.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Yang Siwei immediately asked to meet the emperor.But Lin Chun said that without the oracle, no one is allowed to step into the Funing Gate, and told Mr. Yang Ge to be at ease, the emperor is resting now, if the emperor wakes up, he will definitely ask the cabinet about politics, and he will come back to say hello when the time comes yes.In this way, the three adults in the cabinet had no choice but to retreat and stay on duty at the Wenyuan Pavilion east of the Chongzheng Hall.

Soon, news from the palace spread like wildfire, saying that two people assassinated Emperor Xinfeng last night.Emperor Xinfeng originally had four masters of the profound realm guarding him, two by two, but for some reason last night there was only one, which gave the assassin an opportunity to take advantage of it.One of the assassins entangled the Xuanjing guards, and the other directly assassinated Emperor Xinfeng. Fortunately, the inner guards risked their lives to rescue him, and successfully delayed the assassins at the cost of dozens of casualties.The eunuch Xiao Zhou and others arrived later, and only then did they repel the assassin.Emperor Xinfeng was frightened, but luckily the dragon was unharmed, but the monstrous waves caused by this incident had just begun.

Dare to break into the palace to assassinate, and one can entangle the guards of the profound realm, and the other retreats completely under Xiao Zhou's hands. In terms of cultivation, they are at least masters of the profound realm.Moreover, according to the confirmation of the inner guards and others present, one assassin has reached the advanced profound realm, and the other also has eight soul rings.

Fighters have a supernatural status in the Shendou Continent, but they must also obey the imperial court or the Holy See.Dare to break into the palace like this and openly challenge the imperial power and heavenly power of the Eight Great Empires, unless it is the Holy See Temple and God Warriors, ordinary fighters and organizations, they would never dare to have the courage.Of course, there is another possibility: assassination by political opponents.

Therefore, conspiracy theories soon emerged: King Lu took advantage of Emperor Xinfeng's internal and external troubles, and arranged for his followers in the Xuanjing to assassinate the emperor with the support of the palace staff, with the intention of plotting rebellion.In the eyes of ordinary people, only King Lu has the motivation and strength to attack, and this timing is indeed a good one.In fact, Emperor Xinfeng thought so too.At this time, someone reported to Emperor Xinfeng that Lu Sheng, the protector of the country, had gone to Luzhou to meet the king of Lu in person.Although the fact that the grandfather met his grandson was not considered a violation of the state system, the sensitive identities of the two aroused the suspicion of Emperor Xinfeng. He firmly believed in King Lu's intention of rebellion and was determined to get rid of King Lu's party.

Therefore, Emperor Xinfeng made a big move: deploying troops.More than half of the army of the Northern Governor's Mansion, which had relatively few battles, was transferred to Raozhou, and temporarily returned to the Southwest Governor's Mansion for control, under the unified command of the Great Governor Ke Wuxin.The external rhetoric is to enrich the military strength of the Southwest and deal with Guangchu.In fact, half of the [-] northern troops were later deployed in Jingzhou.Although Jingzhou is backed by the thousands of miles of Shenshan Mountains, and Guangchu is across the mountains, but in fact, because of the natural barrier of Shenshan Mountains, Guangchu generally will not cross the mountains to Jingzhou to attack Ouyue.The greater purpose of deploying troops in Jingzhou is to deal with Luzhou.Luzhou is between Jingzhou and Raozhou, and the current situation can be said to be pinched from front to back.When the deployment of the northern army was completed, Emperor Xinfeng's intentions were clear at a glance.

Of course, the hunt for the assassin started as early as the night of the assassination.Emperor Xinfeng, and even the late Emperor Ouyue, had never been publicly assassinated in the palace like this. It can be said: "There has never been an accident, but the Xinfeng Dynasty came out!" Naturally, Emperor Xinfeng would not let it go. All the power of the imperial court, including the Sanfa Division and the Hangjing Mansion, was mobilized to launch a carpet-like investigation.In the palace, the Supervisor of Rituals is in charge of interrogating the maids, eunuchs and concubines one by one.

The imperial court also issued a sea arrest official document with the figure of the assassin painted on it to conduct a search across the territory.During this time, the inner guards investigated the status of monks above the profound level of the Holy See of Ouyue, Wuyunmen and the major sects of the empire, and even the inconspicuous "Lin'an Sect" was also investigated.Emperor Xinfeng also carried out targeted cleansing among the various armies, killing hundreds of people together with the eunuchs, court ladies and internal guards who were on duty in the palace.But more than a month passed, and many people involved were killed, but the two assassins still had no clue.

Emperor Xinfeng wants to attack King Lu, but he can't just rely on guesswork, he needs to learn from a famous teacher.Moreover, King Lu is not that easy to deal with. Although he is violent and lustful, he is not stupid, and he knows that his army cannot fight on two fronts at the same time.Therefore, while sending internal guards and other agencies to investigate, he is also urging the southwestern armies to use their lives to end the border troubles as soon as possible, so that they can free up their hands to deal with rebels and thieves.

Because of Xiao Zhou's meritorious service in saving his family, his attitude towards Xiao Zhou has improved a lot.Xiao Zhou is the elder of the Five Dynasties, a top-notch master of the mysterious realm with a cultivation base of 79, the number one eunuch in the palace, and the eunuch in charge of the supervisor of ceremonies.But because he was afraid of Xiao Zhou, Emperor Xinfeng nominally entrusted him with an important position as the eunuch of the palm seal.In fact, Emperor Xinfeng took power secretly, and the power that was once popular was gradually transferred to the hands of Bingbi eunuchs Miao Ren and Miao Yi.Xiao Zhou's title of "Internal Prime Minister" is mostly just a false name.However, Miao Ren and Miao Yi are Xiao Zhou's godsons, and they have a harmonious relationship with him on the surface, so it can be regarded as saving face for Xiao Zhou.Emperor Xinfeng also reused his confidant to protect the eunuch Long Yunbo. He is Xiao Zhou's opponent and a senior Xuanjing cultivator. His cultivation base and qualifications are close to Xiao Zhou's.Using Miao Ren Miao Yi to divide power and using Long Yunbo to check and balance, this is Emperor Xinfeng's imperial art.Now through the assassination incident in the palace, Xiao Zhou's status has been greatly improved, and the name of "Inner Prime Minister" tends to be vague and well-known.

Similar to the tension in the palace, the Duke Protector's Mansion at this time was also tense up and down.If something happens to King Lu, the Duke Protector of the capital will definitely suffer first.But because of the prestige and cultivation of Duke Protector Lu Sheng, although everyone was nervous, they were not too scared.

At the end of October, in a secret meeting room in the Duke's Mansion, Duke Protector Lu Sheng, Commander of the Yulin Army Commander Lu Ding, and Prince Lu's Palace Chief Shi Xuwei who came from afar were having a secret conversation.

"The assassination in the palace was done by King Lu?" Lu Ding was the first to ask. He was originally Lu Sheng's subordinate, the number two figure of the Habayashi Army, an elite army defending the capital of the empire, and the hidden King Lu's party.

"General Lu, King Lu would never do such a reckless assassination!" Xu Wei denied it.

"This is weird! The internal guards took the lead in investigating the assassination case in the imperial palace. After almost two months, the case was still not closed, and the assassins did not find out. I believe that King Lu would not be so reckless, but who did it? Really? What's the intention?" Lu Sheng said on the side, his eyes were slightly closed when he spoke, as if he was thinking about something.

"Yes! Duke Mingjian! This matter has nothing to do with King Lu, but the assassination case has successfully ignited Emperor Xinfeng's anger towards King Lu. Now that the army in the north is targeting Luzhou, once the war between Ouyue and Guangchu It’s over, King Lu may be doomed. At this critical moment, King Lu sent me to Beijing to specifically ask the Duke how the best strategy is going. If it doesn’t go well, we can start the middle strategy early, so as not to be passive!”

"Don't worry, Xu Changshi, go back and tell King Lu that he can prepare his army and horses in case of accidents, but this assassination, although it makes people passive, is also rewarding. The so-called blessing depends on misfortune."

"Oh?" Xu Wei was puzzled.

In this way, Lu Sheng lowered his voice and whispered something to the two of them.After hearing what Duke Lu said, the expressions on their faces obviously changed from serious to joyful, and they nodded frequently...

(End of this chapter)