nycdaug Chapter 168 King Xian Rebellion
Chapter 168 King Xian Rebellion
In the council hall, Prime Minister Lu Xiang and Grand Commandant Lu Shi stood on each side facing Ning Xi in front of the imperial table. Although Lu Xiang disdained to discuss matters with the villain Lu Shi, he could not ignore it when His Majesty wanted to talk about King Xian's affairs today.
Ever since he learned from the Crown Prince that Prince Xian was suspected of treason, Lu Xiang secretly sent people to the Western Territory to investigate. Although he found no concrete evidence, he learned that Prince Xian had close connections with officials in the Western Territory and often held banquets in his mansion to drink with the officials. In addition, he kept so many beautiful dancers in his own palace, so his intentions were naturally obvious.
"Prime Minister, since the Crown Prince has told you about Prince Xian's rebellion, I will not hide it from you. I summoned you to the palace today just to hear your opinion." Although Ning Xi was anxious, she still followed Lu Shi's advice, calmed herself down, and slowly spoke to Lu Xiang.
"The matter of Prince Xian's rebellion is of great importance. I wonder if Your Majesty has sent someone to investigate it clearly?" Although Lu Xiang now holds the attitude of preferring to believe it than not regarding the matter of Prince Xian, he is still cautious when facing Emperor Lang.
"Hmph, he even dared to kill the official I sent to deliver the imperial edict. What else needs to be verified?" Ning Xi said angrily, and then asked Eunuch Lu beside him to hand the report submitted by the governor of Yuanzhou to Lu Xiang.
"How could such a thing happen!" Lu Xiang could not help but become furious after reading the contents of the memorial. He never thought that King Xian would be so ambitious.
"Yes, Your Majesty did not want to make a big deal out of the matter because of the brotherhood, but in the end the brothers turned against each other, so he planned to send someone to secretly order Prince Xian to return to the capital to explain the reason. However, the messenger was killed before entering the western border, and even the imperial edict disappeared. Although the prefect of Yuanzhou reported that the messenger was forced off a cliff by robbers, I'm afraid that the Prime Minister can also think of this strange thing, right?" Taiwei Lu Shi also sighed with a sad expression.
"Although King Xian had the intention to rebel, it was because he was bullied by Your Majesty first, which made him feel resentful..." Lu Xiang ignored Lu Shi, but looked at Emperor Lang in front of him, feeling very disappointed with him, so he said in a deep voice.
If it weren't for Emperor Lang's arrogance, stupidity and incompetence, who disregarded the feelings of brotherhood and drove King Xian to the western border, King Xian would not have had the opportunity to rebel. Now that the situation has come to this, he is powerless.
"What do you mean, Prime Minister? Prince Xian committed treason, but you are blaming Your Majesty?" Before the Prime Minister could finish his words, Taiwei Lu Shi's eyes turned cold and he retorted, pretending to be indignant for Emperor Lang.
Lu Xiang glanced at Lu Shi and just snorted without saying anything. He felt disgusted for no reason because he was obviously a mean person but he pretended to be righteous and hypocritical.
"Alright, alright, Prime Minister, please don't bring up the old grudges. Li Xu repeatedly submitted reports to me, openly and covertly criticizing me for being incompetent. I only punished him a little, but he rebelled. How can this be tolerated?" Prime Minister Lu's words also made Emperor Lang Ningxi feel dissatisfied. Now it was his bastard brother who wanted to rebel and seize his legitimate power, so why was the Prime Minister criticizing him?
"Well, it's useless to say more now that things have come to this. What do you think, Your Majesty, should we do?" Lu Xiang sighed helplessly. The emperor didn't want to listen and he was too lazy to talk. Anyway, he had said everything he should and shouldn't say since he helped the new emperor ascend the throne. If he didn't want to watch the late emperor's stable empire fall into the hands of these two brothers, he wouldn't want to care.
"Of course we should send troops to capture the rebels!" Ning Xi raised his eyebrows, and his angry voice echoed throughout the hall.
In Fengling City, in Prince Xian's mansion, many officials led by County Magistrate Qian Yue, County Lieutenant Yi Shan and General Zheng Nan gathered in the hall, looking at the tall and noble Prince Xian on the steps with excited expressions and eyes shining. They had finally waited for this moment.
"Everyone, I have received a secret letter. Ning Xi has ordered troops to the western border." Li Xu stood calmly in front of the officials. His originally bright eyes were unfathomable, and his heroic face then revealed a look of grief. He continued in a resounding voice: "Ning Xi has been arrogant and conceited since he ascended the throne. He favored the villain and the witch concubine, and made the court and the harem a mess. He even forced loyal elders to death in public. Such a ruthless and unethical person is really unworthy of being the king of my Lang Kingdom! As the son of the late emperor, I, Li Xu, care about the country of Lang. I really don't want to see the powerful Lang destroyed in the hands of an incompetent and foolish monarch, and I can't bear to see the people of my Lang being bullied by foreign enemies in the future. Therefore, today I, the king, will rebel against Ning Xi, just to defend the country of Lang and return peace to Lang!" After that, Li Xu placed the bright yellow imperial edict in his hand into the furnace filled with charcoal in front of him.
"King Xian is wise. We swear to be loyal to him until death!" Li Xu's passionate words also inspired the officials.
In Xuan'an City, there was a lot of noise in the princess's mansion. The palace maids and eunuchs waiting outside the palace all had anxious faces, and the sounds of smashing and looting could be heard from time to time inside the palace.
Ying Yan sat on the couch in front of the window, calmly watching Luo Ying crying and smashing things. Ever since he saw the emperor's uncle's manifesto of rebellion announced to the world, the glimmer of hope in his heart was completely extinguished. Now, at such a young age, he could do nothing and could only accept reality.
The aunt-in-law only found out about it today, so it's normal that she can't accept it for the time being. All he can do is accompany her to vent.
"Why? Why did it turn out like this? My two brothers are going to fight each other, what should I do?" Luoying was tired and fell to the ground, muttering to herself in despair. Her swollen eyes had lost their luster and tears kept flowing, which was heartbreaking.
"Have you had enough of the trouble?" A stern voice rang out outside the palace door, frightening Luoying. Ning Xi looked at Luoying who had fallen to the ground with a stern face and walked in slowly. The ground was littered with porcelain fragments.
"Your son pays his respects to His Majesty." Ying Yan quickly stood up and saluted to his father.
"You go out first." Ning Xi just glanced at her son indifferently and then gave the order.
Ying Yan looked at Luo Ying worriedly, hesitated for a moment, and then retreated out of the hall.
"Big brother, can you give Luoying a chance, give Brother Lixu a chance, let me leave the palace, let me persuade Brother Lixu to come back, and apologize to Big brother..." When Ning Xi approached, Luoying, who was sitting on the ground, suddenly grabbed his feet and begged while crying.
"Silly girl, you can't persuade him. He has made up his mind and is determined to seize the throne from his brother." Ning Xi's heart was broken seeing her little sister crying like that. She hurriedly squatted down to help Luoying up, and sighed while gently wiping the tears from her face.
"Wow, eldest brother, why did it turn out like this? You are brothers..." Ning Xi's words made Luoying even more desperate. She threw herself into her eldest brother's arms and was filled with grief.
Ning Xi did not speak again, but just stroked the head of her little sister in her arms, her eyes were bloodshot, and her hatred for Li Xu deepened again.