Infrastructure masters in the red building

In the capital, in the East Palace, the fifth prince received a military report from the south.

According to the military newspaper, the situation in the south is very good. King Nan'an's army is as powerful as a bamboo, and has successfully captured Yongping Prefecture and is approaching the city of Yong'an Prefecture.All the ministries under the eldest prince's command were retreating steadily, and it was reported that the eldest prince was leading his troops to fight against the elephant soldiers. King Nan'an judged that this was an act of a gnat to shake a tree, and his life might not be long.

However, this was the military report four days ago. The Fifth Prince read it now, but he still had a little bit of worry in his heart—the south was too far away, and he always felt that he was a little out of reach and out of control.

It would be nice if the news came a little faster.

Today is the day for the third prince to have a big funeral. If we can receive the news of winning Yong'an Prefecture today, it will be the icing on the cake.

But the capital should be foolproof - the Rongguo mansion is surrounded by Wang Ziteng's people like an iron bucket, and all the power within a radius of [-] miles of the capital is under his control.Leaving the south aside, if he couldn't preside over a funeral today, he might as well forget about the future.

The fifth prince thought of this, changed into plain clothes, and ordered someone to bring the fourth prince.

"Fourth brother, today, we will hold a funeral for third brother."

The fourth prince has always been taciturn recently, but today he said for the first time: "It should be." He didn't say anything more.

The fifth prince pretended to be affectionate, went up and held the fourth prince's hand, and said: "The fourth brother is the elder brother, so he should be in the lead."

The fourth prince turned his head, stared at the fifth prince with sharp eyes for a while, then sighed silently, withdrew his hands, turned his face away, and walked towards the side hall of the East Palace with his head held high.

Seeing that there was pity and pity in his eyes, the fifth prince was furious in his heart, thinking that it is you who should be pitied.

He has always been used to being "compassioned" by several cousins, but he never thought that his second brother and third brother would die one after another, and his fourth brother would be firmly in his hands, and he would still pity himself, this "little transparent".

"I've only stayed for today..." The fifth prince swore secretly.

Today is the day for the third prince's funeral. Not only does he want to "convict" the third brother, but he also wants to take this opportunity to announce that the emperor has passed away.At that time, all the officials will take advantage of the situation to ask for orders, and they will ascend the throne by themselves, and then free their hands, and then turn around to deal with the surname Jia of the Ningrong Second Mansion. His limbs and bones make him a complete "tool man" and "key man".

In this way, the fifth prince can be sure that this "world" has finally fallen into his hands.

The third prince stopped in the side hall of the East Palace, and the third concubine originally had great opinions on this, but after the fifth prince talked with the third concubine's mother, the third concubine also gradually lost her voice, obviously resigned to her fate.This woman lost her husband, and if she insisted on forcing her natal family to stand up for her, she obviously didn't want to live a good life for the rest of her life.There is no need for the third imperial concubine to make things difficult for herself.

In the side hall, all the ministers and officials have arrived.Seeing that only four or five appeared, the ministers all showed panic on their faces——

It was widely rumored in Beijing that His Majesty the Emperor had passed away, and the third prince was going to the funeral today, but His Majesty was still missing, which made the rumor even more true.

In front of the third prince's death, the fourth prince bowed respectfully. When he got up, his eyes were red and swollen, and his face was covered with tears.

The fifth prince stepped forward and bowed his head to salute, but he couldn't hold back his excitement any longer—everyone said "condemn the coffin", but when it came to his third brother, it was "condemned by closing the coffin". It is really……

He felt relieved, and when he came to his senses, he found that the Fourth Prince was staring at him dumbfounded.

Only then did the Fifth Prince realize that he had unconsciously looked up to the sky and laughed just now, his joy was beyond words.

This is also good - give him a chance to see what the attitudes of these people are now:

The fifth prince swept his gaze, and saw that the servants of the Eastern Palace were prostrating and shivering on the ground at this moment; the female relatives headed by the third imperial concubine were huddled in a corner of the side hall through a curtain, and they were all silent.

He turned his head to look at the civil and military officials present today, wherever he looked, everyone lowered their heads and turned their eyes away, the hall was as silent as a cicada, there was not a single sound.

Complacent, the fifth prince took a step forward, cleared his throat and prepared to speak.He had already prepared a sacrificial message for the third brother, which seemed to be a condolence, but it was full of irony and sarcasm.His staff once reminded that there is actually no need to read this sacrificial oration in public, but at this moment there is a fire in his heart, which is desperately burning——

How much hatred he has accumulated for so many years towards Uncle Huang's family, if he can't vent it all at this time, I'm afraid he will be completely burned himself.

So at this time, if it is time to set fire, set fire, he can't retreat...

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard an old voice saying: "Zhou Deheng, laughing before the coffin, it is not in the etiquette, it is humiliating to the dead, please apologize before the coffin of His Highness the Third Highness!"

The fifth prince almost jumped up when he heard the word "Zhou Deheng" - he really didn't expect that at this time, there are still people who dare to call him by his name, still struggling with hypocritical etiquette, and still asking him to report to the old man in a commanding tone. Three kowtows?

The person who spoke was none other than the Prince Taifu, Xia Shengshen who also served as Minister of Rites after returning to Beijing.He led the officials of the Ministry of Rites to manage the third prince's funeral, and even had several disputes with the fifth prince's staff because of "exceeding the system".

The fifth prince hated him as soon as he saw him.

When the emperor disappeared mysteriously when he was conquering the west, Xia Shengshen tried his best to prevent King Qing from supporting Prince Yizhong to ascend the throne. After the restoration of the emperor, he was an important figure who advocated severe punishment of King Qing. Prince", so as to avoid future troubles.

Now that Xia Sheng came forward, the fifth prince was not surprised, but the other party relied on his status and spoke rudely, the anger in the fifth prince's heart had long been aroused.

But his expression was still warm, and he asked gently, "My lord, in the past, Zhuang Zhou sang in front of his wife's coffin. Today, this king is laughing out loud in front of his third brother's coffin. What is so unethical?" place?"

An old scholar in charge of the Ministry of Etiquette, Xia Shengshen still has a lot of etiquette to talk about: "Why did the old minister speak out against His Royal Highness, he knows himself. Seniors and young are orderly, and there is a difference between superiority and inferiority. Your Highness the Fourth Highness... What qualifications does His Highness Fifth Highness have to preside over today's funeral ceremony? What qualifications does His Highness Fifth read the sacrificial text in front of His Highness Third's coffin?"

The fifth prince immediately tossed the article in his hand, and said coldly: "Do you think I am willing to offer sacrifices to those who committed crimes and conspired to kill the king?"

Xia Sheng, with snow-white messy hair on his body, took another step forward and said loudly: "The case of the assassination of His Highness the Crown Prince has not yet been settled in the Shuntian Mansion. Even if His Highness the Fifth Highness temporarily took over the power of supervising the country, he is not qualified to convict the Third Highness." !"

Yin Linyan of Shuntian Mansion was also present at the moment. He had been trembling earlier, but he was secretly convinced when he heard that Xia Shengshen was so tough, his body stopped shaking, and his back straightened.He waited for the fifth prince to ask him, and then he could answer loudly: There are many doubts, and there is no conclusion yet.

This is indeed the case. Recently, Lin Yan was imprisoned in the Shuntian Mansion for a few days. In desperation, he had no choice but to interrogate Wu Qiang again and again. He found that there were indeed many suspicious points in the case, and even if any prince was the mastermind, it might be established. .In addition, apart from Wu Qiang's confession, there is no personal or physical evidence that he had contact with the third prince. According to Shuntian Mansion, the case is indeed suspicious.

But so what?The three princes are all dead.

This has always been the way of the world where those who steal the hook punish those who steal the country.

The fifth prince is controlling the defense of the capital, and more and more people are falling to his side. Even if it is finally found out that the matter is related to the fifth prince, the fifth prince shows the butcher knife to the ministers, what should we do?

Thinking about it, Lin Yan lowered his head again, shrank back, and thought to himself: It's just a few people surnamed Zhou who are grabbing chairs, so it's none of my business.

The fifth prince looked at all the officials and all the officials bowed their heads in silence. Only Xia Shengshen, an old man with white hair like snow, stood in front of him alone, and couldn't help but feel complacent.

Immediately after, someone stood up and followed Xia Shengshen's words and said: "My lord, according to the rules, since the emperor is here, the funeral of the prince of the country should be presided over by the emperor himself. It was the same as the last time the prince's funeral , I don’t know why Master Xia didn’t insist? Do you know something else?”

Xia Shengshen glared: "The old minister only said that the fifth prince is not qualified, and he didn't mention anything else!"

Seeing that the person who stood up to speak was Lang Jing, the Minister of the Household Department, who used to be a member of the prince's family, but later turned around to be under the third prince's family, and now he is speaking for the fifth prince. , Xia Sheng was so angry that he blew his beard and stared.

"So if you dare to ask my lord, do you know where His Majesty the Emperor is?"

Xia Shengshen shook his head and said angrily, "How did the old minister know?"

Lang Jing immediately said: "The emperor did not even preside over the funeral ceremony of the prince Jian Guo. Isn't this enough to make the old man wake up?"

"Wake up to what?" Xia Sheng was not stupid. Hearing Lang Jing say this, he seemed to have seen the chaotic court when His Majesty disappeared, and was so angry that even his white beard stood up.

Lang Jing immediately said: "A country cannot live without a king!"

As soon as these words came out, all the civil and military officials seemed to have been poked at the same time. They all raised their heads, looked at the fifth prince standing in front of the third prince's spirit, and said in their hearts: This... is it really a repeat of the past? ?

In the past, the emperor went on a personal expedition and lost his trace on the Northwest battlefield. Therefore, King Qing, who was in charge of the government, pushed Prince Yizhong to succeed him, so as to cut off the hope of the Northwest Rong people.

But it was precisely because His Majesty did not die that caused the many tragic changes in human relations and unnecessary disputes.

It's the same question now, the fifth prince has expressed his intention to seize the throne, but what about His Majesty the Emperor, is His Majesty the Emperor still alive?

If His Majesty is still alive, what nonsense is the Fifth Prince talking about here?

But what Lang Jing said made sense, His Majesty the Emperor disappeared in Rong Mansion for no reason, and Rong Mansion is such a big place, where could he disappear?If it is said that His Majesty is well, how can he not even reveal his son's funeral ceremony?

Many people worried that what happened this time was the same as last time, it was false news and misrepresentation; but they looked at the fifth prince who was standing proudly in front of the hall—wondering that this man would also repeat the same mistakes as his own father, Even before the life and death of His Majesty the Emperor is found out, do you dare to stand up and grab the chair?

So, many people slowly leaned towards Lang Jing.

"That's right... What Lang Shilang said is not unreasonable."

"But, but..."

The side hall that was supposed to commemorate the dead has now become a duck pond for discussing the court affairs. The voices of discussion are high and low, but they never stop.

The fifth prince was triumphant, stretched out his hand and clapped lightly.The discussions in the entire side hall came to an end, and everyone looked at the superior quietly, wanting to hear what the fifth prince could say.

The Fifth Prince is very satisfied with the feeling that everyone respects him, which is exactly what he has never experienced in his twenty years of life.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly heard a strange movement, and his expression suddenly changed.

Immediately afterwards, all the courtiers, civil and military officials heard it——

The hooves sounded in unison, as if there was only one horse.

But the sound of the hooves hitting the ground conveyed the momentum of thousands of troops and horses.

Imagine if there was only one horse, how could the sound of hooves be heard in the East Palace?

But if there is more than one horse, but they act in unison, what kind of well-trained soldiers is this?

The civil officials were dumbfounded, but those who came from military generals suddenly remembered one person: "Your Highness! It's His Highness!"

The sound of hooves came to an abrupt end outside the East Palace.But the civil and military officials can still feel the forceful momentum rushing towards them.

The sound of hoofbeats stopped, and the sound of shouting and questioning immediately sounded outside the East Palace, followed by the sound of swords and swords clashing.These noises ended in a moment, and then there was the sound of boots, and they strode towards the side hall of the East Palace.

Following the sound of footsteps outside the hall, those officials who had already moved closer to Lang Jing actually shrank back a little and retreated to their original positions.

The reason why the Fifth Prince changed color on the spot just now was naturally that the appearance of the First Prince brought changes to his arrangements.But then the guards from outside rushed in and whispered a few words in his ear, the fifth prince knew what was in his mind, he immediately recovered and said firmly, "Brother, please come in."

As soon as the words were finished, the eldest prince had already appeared outside the gate of the side hall, and far behind him were more than a hundred fine cavalry, standing in line on the square outside the side hall of the East Palace.

Most of the officials were puzzled: Did the eldest prince only bring so many people back?

When the fifth prince saw the eldest prince, he smiled and said: "It's rare, it's rare, the war in the south is so tense, and the elder brother actually returned to the capital with these more than a hundred elite riders!"

His words were sarcastic, as if he was accusing the First Prince of leaving his post without authorization.

Many courtiers really thought so: the king of Nan'an caused chaos wantonly, and the Nanyi elephant soldiers came and went wantonly in the ten states in the south, and the lives were devastated.The eldest prince returned to Beijing at this time, and he was indeed suspected of leaving his post without authorization, which made people feel a little disdainful.

"One hundred and seventeen cavalry." The eldest prince had already come in front of the fifth prince, and calmly clarified, "The ones who came back with me, one hundred and seventeen cavalry."

——Hundreds of people?What is the use of this top!

The civil servants who had moved away turned to Lang Jing again, and slowly leaned over there again.Naturally, they didn't know that with the bravery of these [-] elite cavalry, they could break through any blockade of Rongguo Mansion and reach the East Palace.

"Because the king of Nan'an was captured, all the tens of thousands of troops surrendered. The Nanyi elephant soldiers were wiped out, and the three passes and two strongholds returned to me. The chaos in the south has been put down."

This is great news, but the civil and military officials still can't believe it.After all, that's not what the Southern War Report just received by the Ministry of War said.The fifth prince stood in front of the coffin of the third brother, and couldn't help but change his face again.

When the eldest prince saw that all the officials were looking at him with such eyes, he immediately put on a tiger face and said: "How can such a big matter be a joke? If the south has not been leveled, how can this king come here?"

Just between these few words, the fifth prince's mood has regained his stability: What is King Nan'an?It's just a helper grabbing a chair.Now that he has sat down in this position, what is there to be afraid of?

"Order someone to call Wang Ziteng!"

It doesn't matter, he still has the Beijing camp garrison and the Wucheng Bingma Division in his hands.As long as you have soldiers in your hand, the other party has hundreds of people coming, so what if you are brave?Surrounded by one's own people ten times and a hundred times, can the other party still ascend to the sky and escape from the earth?

Hearing this, the eldest prince ignored the fifth son at all, went to the third prince's coffin, solemnly offered incense, bowed, and then went to help Xia Shengshen up.There are only a hundred people around him, but he doesn't care about the army guarding the Beijing camp.

The military generals who were acquainted with the First Prince in the past also had some doubts about this: Could it be that this person gave away his head from thousands of miles away, finally won the war in the south, and then handed himself over to the Fifth Prince?

At worst, it would have to be a big banner in the south, on the side of the Qing emperor, or directly claiming that the eldest son would ascend the throne—why did this man directly enter Beijing with a hundred people?

Or did the eldest prince really just come back to attend the funeral of the third prince?The relationship between their brothers is really that deep?

But in short, this one is really not optimistic!

These thoughtful civil servants and generals have already moved so many places in this side hall back and forth, and now they don't know where to stand.

At this moment, someone outside the hall announced that Prince Teng, the garrison of the Beijing Camp, had arrived.The fifth prince lifted his spirits, waved his hand and said, "Quickly pass it on!"

But Wang Ziteng came very slowly, after a long time, he saw him supporting an old man in ordinary clothes, slowly approaching the side hall.

The old man's complexion was pale, as if he had just recovered from a long illness, and he seemed to have lost too much blood. With the support of Wang Ziteng, he walked staggeringly, but the old man's eyes were still as sharp as a knife, and he looked directly at the five people from a distance. Prince.

The fifth prince's sharp eyes saw the figure in the distance clearly, and his heart suddenly became cold.

But he reacted quickly, and he quickly pulled the people around him—here was a life-saving straw.

Most of the civil and military officials in the side hall had already knelt down.Xia Shengshen, with his gray hair on his head, was full of tears, and cried, "Your Majesty—"

"The old minister knows, he knows..."

I knew that His Majesty the Emperor would return safely as in previous years.

Lang Jing over there was already kowtowing like garlic, thinking that he was really deceived by lard, so he jumped out at this time to be the first bird. I am afraid that his official career will also be lost.

The young Prince Teng, who was guarding the capital, appeared from outside the gate of the East Palace, accompanied by His Majesty the Emperor.The fifth prince immediately understood that he had missed one thing.

He missed the relationship between the Wang family and the Jia family.

Even if the Wang family and the Jia family had a bad relationship because of their children's marriage, the connection between the two families has not been completely severed.As long as the Rongguo Mansion can send the news of His Majesty's well-being to the Wang family, there will naturally be someone in the Wang family who knows how to choose sides.

A young man like Wang Ziteng, even if he is full of drive, will still listen to the elderly at critical times.

Once the emperor showed up, all his previous arrangements would have been in vain, and the plan that had been prepared for several years had been ruined like this, how could anyone be reconciled.But the Fifth Prince was very bachelor, dragged the people around him, took out a pistol from his arms, and shouted loudly: "No one is allowed to come over!"

He shook the gray pistol and pointed the muzzle at the fourth prince's head.

It was only then that others noticed that the fifth prince was carrying such a weapon with him.In the East Palace, however, several guards wanted to "take the blame and make meritorious service", so some of them rushed forward desperately.

The First Prince immediately shouted loudly: "Stop!"

Hearing a loud "bang", a guard of the Eastern Palace fell into a pool of blood, and several around him were also affected, covering the bleeding wound and began to cry out in pain.

And the muzzle of the fifth prince's gun was emitting green smoke.

This is the first time that a weapon like a pistol was used in front of so many civil and military officials, and the people in the room were frightened out of their wits.The first time I heard this sound, I was so frightened that I lay down on the ground for a moment, and it took a while for someone to save me: "Huozhu, this is Huozhu!"

The answer is obvious——

"His Royal Highness, His Royal Highness that time was..."

The logic of the ministers is very simple, whoever owns this terrifying weapon is naturally the one who assassinates the prince.

Therefore, the fifth prince is the one who secretly buys the murderer, assassinates the prince, then blames the third prince, and finally kidnaps the fourth prince.

To avenge Prince Yizhong? —Everyone thinks of this motive.

The fifth prince killed one person with one blow and injured several people. In an instant, everyone retreated far away. No one knew how the matter in front of them would end.

The fifth prince fought back, and the muzzle of the pistol that was still emitting green smoke was pressed against the face of the fourth prince, and there was a smell of burnt flesh, and the fourth prince didn't make a sound, but his face was scalded. Wound.

At this moment, the Fifth Prince had no energy left to pay attention to the hostage in his hands.He just waved the pistol and shouted with red eyes: "Is it fatal? Get out of here!"

In the side hall of the East Palace, a passage was actually cleared for him.

However, at the end of the passage, there was the thin and lonely figure of His Majesty the Emperor standing there, blocking the way.

"Son, let go of your fourth brother!" the emperor looked at the fifth prince and said softly.

He held out his hands, indicating that he was free of any weapons.

"Let me go with you, this is what I owe you."

That day in Nuanxiangwu, a royal guard pulled out a pistol, sparks spewed from the muzzle, and countless iron sand and lead flew towards the chest of His Majesty the Emperor.

The assailant was immediately pushed to the ground by other guards, and the hot hand gun was kicked away in the chaos, and finally no one else was injured.

People from Jia's mansion and the royal family all panicked and rushed up to see the situation of His Majesty the Emperor.

Jia Fang stopped everyone's questions with two words: "Alive!"

He reached out for a pair of scissors, and immediately cut off the emperor's regular clothes, then cut off something like a double-breasted vest from the shoulders and waistline, took it off and threw it to Jia Daishan.

When Jia Dai looked at it, he saw that the vest was lined with iron plates, which were densely packed with iron sand and lead, but this thing protected His Majesty's vital points, and did not directly damage his chest and abdomen. .

But the vest still couldn't prevent the emperor from being hurt completely. The right shoulder and arm were wounded, and blood was gushing out.The overall injury was lighter than that of Jia Daishan, but the injured was losing blood rapidly.

Jia Fang directly tore off the belt and used it as a tourniquet, roughly bandaged it, and made a decisive decision: "Who will help, and I will send him to Taoyuan Village first."

At this moment in the Eastern Palace, His Majesty the Emperor's gentle "I owe you" made the Fifth Prince's nose sore instantly, as if he was about to shed tears.

But with a hoarse voice, he yelled at the other party: "Get Jia Fang! Quick, go and find Jia Fang!"

"Otherwise I will kill the fourth child."