After the rebellion was successful, I realized that this place was the Red Mansion

Chapter 33: Meeting the Emperor
"Come here, what are you doing?"

Several personal guards followed Prince Qian. Seeing a few eunuchs cowering timidly not far away, they called them over and ordered them to tell their names and origins.

The eunuchs hurriedly knelt and kowtowed, saying, "Your Highness Prince Qian, we are from the old sage of the East Palace!"

"The Emperor is in the East Palace?"

Chu Yan didn't care what they were doing and ordered directly: "Go and bring him here!"

Several eunuchs raised their heads, looked at each other, and looked embarrassed.

Chu Yan said calmly, "Do you want me to say it again? Or are you short of people to break down the palace gate?"

His general, Xiahou Xin, drew his sword, placed it on the neck of a eunuch, and shouted, "The king told you to bring the old emperor here. Are you all speechless? Go now, or I'll kill you all!"

Several eunuchs hurriedly said, "Your Highness, Prince Qian, Dai Quan, the head of the Daming Palace, has led a hundred or so eunuchs to block the East Palace. We servants can't get in, so we've come to report this!"

Chu Yan nodded, "That means we're short of people. Go get some people to help you break down the door." He pointed at the eunuchs outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony and asked, "Does the Emperor know where they are?"

"The servants only serve the old saint and don't know where the emperor is."

The eunuchs replied.

"You old saint! How dare you call yourself a saint in front of His Majesty Prince Qian?"

Ma Ji cursed with a sneer, and several eunuchs kowtowed again. Chu Yan waved his hand and let them go.

I saw a dozen generals surrounding the golden platform where the dragon throne was placed, knocking on the incense burners, bronze cranes, and bronze turtles around it, as if they were estimating how much these things were worth.

Chu Yan walked up to the golden platform, came to the dragon throne and touched it, then looked up at the seven screens behind the throne. There were many golden dragons carved on them with exquisite patterns, so he called them, "Come and see too."

A group of generals who followed him to conquer the world all went up to the Golden Platform, touched and looked around, and had a great time.

Chu Ming and Xu Zhiyi looked at each other, and then they also went up to the golden platform and calmly pulled up Xiahou Xin who wanted to sit on the dragon throne.

"Your Highness, look at this chair!"

Xu Zhiyi pointed at the dragon throne and said with a smile, "This is the chair that the Emperor of Shun Dynasty sat on. Try sitting on it and see if it fits you. If it doesn't, ask someone to sit on another one!"

Chu Yan said: "There's nothing inappropriate, as long as it's big enough."

Having said that, he sat down on the dragon throne.

Seeing him sitting down, Xu Zhiyi and Chu Ming immediately got off the golden platform, knelt on the ground facing him, and kowtowed respectfully:
"Your Majesty, I bow to you!"

The civil officials in Prince Qian's palace reacted and bowed down one after another.

Many generals who were still wearing armor on the golden platform woke up as if from a dream, and hurried down to surround the golden platform. They first knelt on one knee according to military rules, but then felt that it was inappropriate and knelt on both knees.

Including many of Prince Qian's personal guards, everyone in the Hall of Supreme Harmony knelt in front of Chu Yan who was sitting on the dragon throne.

"Xu Zhiyi, you're so clever! You've put all your tricks into this!"

Chu Yan laughed, gestured to them, and said, "Everyone, get up."

Everyone then stood up.

The generals who had previously climbed onto the golden platform and touched the dragon throne blushed and were very embarrassed.

They had lived and died together with His Royal Highness Prince Qian, and for the time being they were unable to adapt to the relationship between monarch and subject.

Chu Yan said, "As the saying goes, a country cannot be without a ruler for a day, but today is the day when there is no emperor. We have dethroned the old emperor, and I, the new emperor, have not yet ascended the throne."

"The world can live without an emperor, but we cannot live without a king."

Chu Ming said respectfully, and everyone agreed.

Before they followed King Qian, their lives were not very happy. Xu Zhiyi was a teacher, and Chu Ming was a juren, but he had no money to buy an official position, so it was not his turn to get one.

Ma Ji was a butcher, and Xiahou Xin was a bandit in the mountains. They were both from high-class families and were from wealthy families.

Only by following King Qian could they achieve great achievements and stand here to become the founding heroes of the new dynasty.

Chu Yan smiled slightly, looked around at them, and said, "I have some heartfelt words to tell you, but now is not the time. Wait until the capital is settled, and choose an auspicious day before the southern suburbs to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, and then we can talk by candlelight!"

The generals bowed. Chu Yan did not ascend the throne immediately. Firstly, he had to choose a day, and secondly, stabilizing the situation in the capital was more important.

In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and the news of his ascension to the throne would not make much difference if it reached the border a few days earlier or later.

He sat on the dragon throne in the Golden Palace, assigned tasks to his subordinates, deployed defenses in the capital and the imperial palace, ordered people to write notices to reassure the people and post them in the city, sent people to guard the major granaries, military supply depots, arsenals and other important places in the city, and ordered the personal guard commander Zhou Kaiyue and several civil servants to go and take inventory of the national treasury and the inner treasury.

Then he sent people to surround the mansions of dozens of princes, dukes, and dukes in the capital of Shunchao, ordering them to move out and not allowing them to take any property with them. The royal family members were also detained and awaited their fate.

In addition, people were arranged to patrol the city to maintain public order in the capital while preventing soldiers from entering the city from secretly looting and causing civil unrest.

"Your Majesty."

Xu Zhiyi stepped forward and reported, "Some nobles are leading troops outside. If their homes are raided, they might become arrogant and use their troops to gain power."

Chu Yan nodded and said, "Make a list for me, and we'll discuss who can stay."

After the preliminary arrangements were completed, more than half of the people in the hall were gone.

At this time, two eunuchs came hurriedly and said something to Xia Shouzhong and several old eunuchs standing at the door of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which made them look unhappy.

Chu Yan looked at them: "What's the matter? Come over and tell me."

The sound was still clearly audible as it traveled from the dragon throne to the palace gate.

The faces of the eunuchs all changed. In the past, when Emperor Yongning and the retired emperor attended court, they did not have such loud voices, and they often needed the eunuchs to shout and convey the messages.

"Your Highness!"

Xia Shouzhong hurried over and bowed, saying hastily, "The Emperor has taken refuge in Changchun Palace, shutting the gates tightly and propping them shut with pieces of wood. Even ramming and knocking won't open the gates! Your servants heard the palace maids inside shouting that the Emperor was going to burn himself to death, so we've come to report this!"

Chu Ming and others looked at him with scrutiny in their eyes.

Li Changjin sternly asked Xia Shouzhong, "Are you planning to lure His Highness Prince Qian into the harem and ambush him?"

Xia Shouzhong and several old eunuchs, as well as a group of young eunuchs, were all terrified. They knelt down and kowtowed, saying that they dared not do it, that they had no such intention, and that they would not be loyal to the emperor.

Chu Yan stood up and said, "Well, an emperor is still worthy of my personal surrender. I will take 300 personal guards to the harem to take a look. You guys go and do your work first, and come back to the palace in the evening... Xia Shouzhong, where did your emperor meet with the ministers before?"

Chu Yan led three hundred fully armed guards, who were able to withstand the attack of two to three thousand eunuchs within the high walls of the harem.

It is impossible for all the thousands of eunuchs and palace maids in the harem to be loyal. If there is an ambush, someone will find a way to report it.

"Your Highness, we are in Linjing Palace!" Xia Shouzhong replied hurriedly.

Chu Yan nodded and said to Chu Ming and the others, "Come back to the Linjing Palace in the evening. I will capture the Emperor Shun and his family."

Everyone in the Hall of Supreme Harmony bowed in admiration. Only His Royal Highness Prince Qian dared to say this.

Chu Yan left the Hall of Supreme Harmony, selected three hundred personal guards, mounted his horse, and entered the Qianqing Gate under the leadership of Xia Shouzhong.

Xia Shouzhong glanced back at the three hundred murderous guards of Prince Qian, and said to Chu Yan with a smile: "Your Highness, behind this door is the emperor's harem, and no other men have ever been allowed in... I am afraid that the concubines and some young palace maids will panic later. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Chu Yan glanced at him, then said from his horse, "When I see Emperor Shun, I will deal with the concubines and princes in his harem, and you will also have arrangements."

"Yes, Your Highness, please come this way. Changchun Palace is this way!"

Led by the eunuchs, Chu Yan came to the West Six Palaces and saw from afar a graceful young girl standing in front of a palace gate, accompanied by several palace maids.

Hearing the sound of horse hooves, she turned her head and looked over. When she saw Chu Yan and the three hundred armored guards, an expression of fear appeared on her pretty and gentle little face, and she looked very adorable.

"Who is she?" Chu Yan asked.

"Your Highness, she is the daughter of the retired emperor, the seventeenth princess, with the title Qinghe and her maiden name Chen Yuzhen."

Xia Shouzhong told the princess's maiden name without hesitation.

Chu Yan rode up to Princess Qinghe, looked her over, and said with a smile, "It's a nice name."

In an instant, Qinghe's hair stood on end.

(End of this chapter)