Thief Emperor

Chapter 311 Returning home in glory
His Majesty the Emperor fell heavily to the ground.

When the imperial physician arrived, the emperor, who had been on the throne for more than 30 years, had fallen and was unconscious, and had to be carried to the bed.

After several imperial doctors took the patient's pulse, they all shook their heads.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was extremely anxious, and only after he asked harshly did the imperial physician speak.

Before the emperor fell, his health was already poor. Sometimes he did not sleep for several days and nights, and his spirit was extremely tense. Now he fell very hard and inevitably hit his head. It is hard to say whether he can wake up or what he will be like when he wakes up.

One imperial physician even said directly that the emperor was on his deathbed.

These diagnostic results left His Royal Highness the Crown Prince somewhat at a loss.

He sat in the Chongde Hall in a daze, looking at the emperor lying on the bed with no blood on his face, feeling mixed emotions of sadness and joy.

Sadly, he is likely to lose his old father.

And happy...

Of course it was because his reign as crown prince for twenty or thirty years was finally coming to an end.

Because Cui Yuan had been present the whole time, and at this moment Prime Minister Cui was also on the emperor's bed, the prime minister, with his hands hanging down, silently looked at the emperor on the bed, feeling a sense of emotion in his heart.

He came from a noble family and had met the emperor before he became an official. After he became an official, he was promoted all the way by the emperor in front of him, and he spent most of his time as an official in Beijing.

In a sense, the two of them can indeed be called friends.

At this time, Prime Minister Cui felt a little sad, but not entirely because the emperor was on his deathbed, but more because of what the emperor said to him before he fell.

As the emperor fell, even Prime Minister Cui felt deeply that the Great Zhou Dynasty seemed...

It has gradually fallen to the bottom.

If the court cannot climb out of this trough, it will become the cemetery that buries the imperial court.

Although he is the prime minister of the court, he is also the head of the Cui family...

At this moment, Mr. Cui had a complicated look in his eyes, and all kinds of thoughts kept flashing through his mind.

After a long while, he quietly walked to the side of the prince and bowed his head and said, "Your Highness, I was not able to help Your Majesty in time, so Your Majesty fell. This is a great sin. Please punish me, Your Highness!"

The prince also came back to his senses, looked at his old father on the bed, then turned his head to look at Cui Yuan, sighed silently and said: "I have asked the palace maids, it has nothing to do with Prime Minister Cui."

"However, the affairs of Chongde Hall must be kept strictly confidential, both internally and externally, and must not be known to outsiders."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said silently: "Fortunately, my father has not left Chongde Hall for a long time, and has not seen guests for a long time, so he should..."

"It can keep it secret for some time."

Although His Majesty the Emperor is somewhat lazy and selfish, he is, after all, the Son of Heaven who has been in power for more than 30 years. Many of the officials inside and outside the court, including the Jiedushi, were appointed by His Majesty the Emperor.

This kind of "old leader" is like a stabilizing force. As long as he is still there, there will be no major chaos in the court.

However, if a new leader comes to power, it may not be so easy to control the situation.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is also well aware of this, so he needs some time to make all the preparations.

Prime Minister Cui nodded first, then he turned his head to look at the palace maids and imperial doctors present, and shook his head silently in his heart.

"Your Highness, I will stay here to guard Your Majesty. There are still many things in the Political Affairs Hall that need Your Highness's decision."

The prince had a resolute expression and shook his head, saying, "The Great Zhou ruled the world with filial piety. Now that my father has fallen and injured himself, how can I, as his son, have the energy to deal with any political affairs?"

"All political affairs shall be handled by the Political Affairs Hall."

The prince looked at his old father on the bed and added, "Let Pei Huang go to the government hall to observe government affairs."

Cui Yuan's eyes flickered, but he still lowered his head slightly and agreed to this matter. He asked again: "Your Highness, how should the matter of Jiangdong be decided?"

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was in a state of confusion at the moment. He rubbed his temples and pondered for a long time.

"Prime Minister Cui, please tell me what you think."

"In addition to maintaining the status quo, we can only appoint Li Zhao as the Jiangnan East Road Recruiting Envoy and have him fight the bandits in Jiangnan East Road and ensure the smooth flow of taxation."

"As for what to do, it's up to Your Highness to decide."

"Then..."

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "Then let him be the recruiting envoy. With this Jiangnan native here, it will be a little harder for the Pinglu Army to control Jiangnan. But I will send someone to keep an eye on Jiangnan, and report any disturbances to the court immediately."

"The war in Central Plains must end as soon as possible."

The prince said fiercely: "I must free up my hands as soon as possible to punish these traitors who are taking advantage of the country's crisis!"

Prime Minister Cui bowed his head deeply.

"The old minister obeyed."

The prince was still angry and asked: "Has Zheng Yu's case been concluded?"

"It's still under trial."

Cui Yuan hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Minister Zheng and Zheng Shaoqing have written to protect him..."

"It's no use protecting anyone!"

The prince shouted angrily: "Let the three judicial departments close the case as soon as possible. Those who deserve to be beheaded should be beheaded, and those who deserve to be exiled should be exiled!"

"Such a good-for-nothing."

At this point, the prince suddenly stopped. He looked at Cui Yuan and whispered, "Prime Minister Cui, what do you think if we send another inspector over there..."

Cui Yuan thought for a moment and whispered, "Of course it is of some use, but Li Zhao has soldiers..." "Never mind, send one over."

The prince rubbed his brows and said, "Prime Minister Cui, please arrange for an upright person to go there. Once you have a candidate, please let me know."

Cui Yuan bowed his head silently: "I understand, old minister."

"All right."

The prince looked at the emperor and continued, "Prime Minister Cui, please return to the government hall. I will stay by my father's side."

The prince's filial piety at this time is actually an extremely necessary political show. He must be here to fulfill his responsibilities as a son.

Otherwise, when he ascends the throne, he might be attacked by other princes using this as an excuse.

Cui Yuan nodded and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, thank you for your hard work."

The prince sighed and said nothing more.

Cui Xianggong left Chongde Hall. As soon as he got outside the hall, he was stopped by several prime ministers and asked questions non-stop. Cui Xianggong looked at his colleagues and said with a wry smile, "Don't ask, don't ask."

"We just need to do our job well."

The old man shook his head and sighed: "Let's go back to the government hall."

Several prime ministers seemed to be thinking about something, and followed Cui Yuan back to the government hall.

However, Cui Xiang's confidentiality work did not have much effect.

That evening, news that the emperor was seriously ill began to spread among the upper circles in the capital.

By the next day, the news began to spread rapidly to other places, with the capital as the center.

…………

Wuzhou City.

The first Cuju Competition in Wuzhou City has finally come to an end. The captain's camp that won first place was not Zhao Cheng's team, but Deng Yang, who was obviously more talented.

Li Yun personally presented the award to Deng Yang, and gave them medals made of gold by Li Yun, and praised them highly.

It is worth mentioning that Li Yun was not short of gold. A medal would cost at most four or five taels of gold. In addition, it was the first session, so he generously used a pure gold medal.

There were twelve of them in total, all with pure gold plaques.

The medal system was also officially implemented by Li Yun. Zhao Cheng was awarded a silver medal, and the twelve people in third place were awarded bronze medals.

However, because the value gap was too large, the twelve people who won bronze medals all had tears in their eyes when they looked at the gold and silver medals.

Deng Yang and others were naturally very happy to win the gold medal.

Li Yun patted their shoulders and said with a smile: "This Cuju competition will continue in the future. Don't use the cards as wine. Keep them well."

"This is our first Cuju competition. The plaque is very valuable."

The players all grinned and nodded in agreement.

However, Li Yun knew that among the dozen or so people, someone would definitely sell this pure gold plate in the future, after all, it could be exchanged for a lot of cash.

After the awards ceremony, Li Yun returned to the podium and looked at Xue Yun'er who was also watching the finals on the podium. He smiled and said, "Madam, do you think it's exciting?"

“It’s wonderful.”

Xue Yun'er, who had been somewhat bored in Xuzhou, was indeed very happy to watch today. She looked at Li Yun and said with a smile: "My husband has made those signs. In the future, this Cuju competition will probably become more and more lively."

“The more lively the better.”

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea and chuckled, "It helps to unite people. Look at the team led by Deng Yang. After winning the championship, they are like brothers."

"When we go to the battlefield, we will be much closer than before."

At this point, Li Yun put down the teacup and said slowly: "In this way, the Wuzhou Army can be formed as soon as possible. That's right."

Li put down his teacup, turned his head to look at Xue Yun'er, and smiled softly, "It's almost November now. Madam has been away from home for half a year. Do you miss your father-in-law and mother-in-law?"

Xue Yuner sighed softly: "I really miss you a little."

"Then in two days, I will take my wife back to Qingyang to visit my father-in-law and mother-in-law."

"what?"

Xue Yun'er was a little surprised and whispered, "My husband is very busy every day, how can he still have time to go back to Xuanzhou with me?"

"I can take a break from my busy schedule. Besides, Xuanzhou is my hometown, so I should go back and take a look."

Li Yun looked at her and smiled, "In a few days, I will bring a battalion of lieutenants and return to Qingyang with Madam, so that Madam can have a good time."

“Who wants to be in the limelight…”

Xue Yuner rolled her eyes at Li Yun and said angrily, "I'm afraid you have something else to do and are using me as an excuse."

Li Yun smiled and asked, "Madam, are you going?"

"go."

Xue Yun'er rolled her eyes at Li Yun.

"Why not go home..."

(End of this chapter)