Rebirth of the High Family's Beloved

Shen Zhaoyan's eyes were filled with murderous intent, "Would I be afraid? Yan Ci, you have no respect for the emperor, and you deserve to be killed. Come on, take him down!"

The imperial guards on duty outside Longchang Palace heard the order, pushed open the door and rushed in, surrounding Yan Ci who was standing in the middle in the blink of an eye.

Shen Zhaoyi took a step forward and stood in front of Yan Ci, "Wait!"

He looked at Shen Zhaoyan and said, "Brother, disrespecting the emperor is indeed a capital crime, but the prerequisite is that she offended the real monarch."

Shen Zhaoyan stared at Shen Zhaoyi fiercely, "What do you mean?"

"My brother ascended the throne according to our father's will, but what if the will is fake?"

Shen Zhaoyi's face was calm. He took out a bright yellow imperial edict from his sleeve, grasped one side with one hand, and suddenly dropped the edict. The black handwriting and the red jade seal at the end were immediately revealed to everyone.

"I also have the imperial edict from my father to pass on the throne!"

All officials were in an uproar.

Shen Zhaoyan slammed the table and pointed at Shen Zhaoyi angrily, "Shen Zhaoyi, how dare you forge an imperial edict."

"I forged it? How do you know that your brother's copy is not forged? My imperial decree is here, and those present can examine it to determine whether it is true or false. Do you dare to take your brother's copy?"

Shen Zhaoyan's expression paused slightly. Of course he didn't dare.

His father passed away suddenly, and he had no time to leave an edict of succession. He had worked so hard to ascend the throne, and he would never give it up just because Shen Zhaoyi held the imperial edict.

Shen Zhaoyan calmed down his chaotic thoughts and said calmly: "Why not? Dao Ji, go get the imperial edict."

Dao Ji bowed and quickly left Longchang Hall.

Soon, he came back again, but there was no imperial edict in his hand.

Dao Ji bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial edict has been stolen."

Yan Ci and Shen Zhaoyi looked at each other. As they expected, Shen Zhaoyi was guilty and knew that the imperial edict in his hand was a forgery, so he pretended to have stolen it to avoid inspection.

Then, the crime of stealing the imperial edict should fall on them.

When Shen Zhaoyan heard Dao Ji's report, his face was filled with cold anger, and his gaze immediately fell on Yan Ci and Shen Zhaoyi who were standing below.

"Just now I was thinking, I have been on the throne for more than three months, and you have just come to me with my father's imperial edict. So you are planning to steal the imperial edict. You are so bold! However, you are destined to fail. Even if the imperial edict is stolen, I am still the legitimate emperor."

Shen Zhaoyan said sternly, "You two stole the imperial edict and tried to overthrow the government. You should be executed according to the law, but Zhao Yi is my brother, so I will imprison him in the Prince Lian's mansion and never let him leave. As for you, Yan Ci, you have incited people to rebel, so I will put you in the imperial prison and execute you on a certain day."

Yan Tonglin in the crowd felt a tremor in his heart. His daughter was sentenced to death by beheading. Would their Yan family also be implicated?

Thinking of this, Yan Tonglin tightened his neck even more, fearing that Shen Zhaoyan would see him and arrest him as well.

Shen Zhaoyan's new confidant, the newly appointed commander of the imperial guards, Cao Dan, led his men straight towards Yan Ci. Just when he was about to capture Yan Ci, a knife suddenly stabbed into him from behind, with white going in and red coming out.

Cao Dan looked at the gaping wound on his body in disbelief. Bright red blood was flowing out quickly. He tried to cover the wound with his hands, but before he could touch the wound, he fell to the ground with a bang.

His wide eyes were filled with disbelief.

All the officials were frightened by this sudden change and avoided the place where Cao Dan was lying. Some timid civil servants almost peed themselves with fright.

The man who stabbed Cao Dan to death slowly raised his head at this time, looked at Shen Zhaoyan's stunned expression, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his lips.

Shen Zhaoyan gripped the handle of the dragon throne tightly. If the handle was not gold-plated, he would have probably made several holes in it.

He stared at Zhou Chu, who was dressed as a soldier of the imperial guards, and said sternly: "Zhou Chu, you want to rebel!"

Zhou Chu stood behind Shen Zhaoyi and said to Shen Zhaoyan who was standing at the top: "I have been loyal to the emperor all my life. I will only be loyal to the real Majesty in this life. You forged the imperial edict to sit on the throne, and colluded with Chidi to force the princess to marry. You are not worthy to be the emperor of our Daxing. If opposing someone like you to become emperor is rebellion, then I, Zhou Chu, will rebel."

Yan Ci couldn't help but admire in his heart. Zhou Chu's words really hit the nail on the head. It not only showed that he was a loyal and patriotic minister, but also showed that he was forced to do this.

After hearing what Zhou Chu said, all the officials, who were also ministers, were more or less moved. Combined with the letters exchanged with Prime Minister Xiao that they had seen before, they quickly thought of the recipients of those letters.

It is His Majesty the Emperor in front of us.

He conspired with the prime minister to kill his newlywed wife, murdered the crown prince in order to ascend the throne smoothly, and even the crown prince's frail health and incurable illness for many years were also the work of him and the late queen.

It's really terrible.

Shen Zhaoyi watched as the balance of choice in the hearts of the officials gradually shifted away from Shen Zhaoyan, and he knew that the time was ripe.

He immediately said loudly: "I just want my relatives to be safe, as long as my brother brings my sister back, I will not compete with my brother for the throne."

Shen Zhaoyan also saw through Shen Zhaoyi's purpose, a good move of retreating to advance.

He first enumerated all his deeds to make the officials feel resentful towards him, and then he showed his kindness and dedication to the country, which made the officials admire him.

At the same time, he also held the edict of the previous emperor, which gave all officials a better choice.

In this way, it would be easy to replace him and sit down.

Shen Zhaoyan looked at Shen Zhaoyi, Yan Ci and others who were eyeing him covetously, as well as the court officials who were ready to propose a change of ownership at any time.

"I am the emperor, those who defy me will die!"

A large number of imperial guards suddenly rushed in from outside the palace and surrounded everyone in Longchang Palace.

"Today, I give everyone here the opportunity to choose whether to live or die. I think everyone who is smart knows which choice to make."

"Those who are willing to die with Prince Lian, please stand where you are. Those who are willing to create a prosperous era with me, please go to the other side. Come, let me see your choices."

As soon as Shen Zhaoyan finished speaking, all the officials lifted up their clothes and quickly ran past Shen Zhaoyi to the other side.

Looking at the fewer and fewer people around him, Shen Zhaoyi couldn't help laughing. It turned out that death was the standard for judging everything.

If there is no threat of death, most officials will stand on his side, but if their lives are in danger, it is better to stay alive, because only by staying alive can they have more choices.

Xiao Chengzhang looked at the side where only Shen Zhaoyi, Yan Ci, Xu Zhengran, Meng Lingzheng, and Yan Tonglin were left.

A smug smile appeared on his lips, "See, Your Majesty is still more popular. Prince Lian, you have lost."

"Who said that!"

A clear voice was heard by everyone as the door of Longchang Hall opened.