Chapter 541: End (2)
Editor: Atlas Studios
By the time the Emperor was completely immersed in pleasure and suspicion, Minister Qin had already taken over most of his responsibilities. Even though he still had to listen to the Emperor’s orders on the surface, the eloquent Minister Qin had always had a way to achieve his goals.
Minister Qin used this to achieve many of his goals. While accumulating wealth and power easily, he also maintained the operation of this empire.
Minister Qin had always been second only to the Emperor. Even if Emperor Jingyan was suspicious of him, he had never thought of rebelling or helping others take over the throne, because he knew that he was the safest as long as Emperor Jingyan was alive.
But he did not expect that in just three years, because of Emperor Jingyan’s suspicion and a small scheme, things would end up like this.
Although all the officials and commoners wanted to kill him, he was confident that as long as Emperor Jingyan stayed alive, he could coax him to spare his life. That was also the truth.
However, bystanders could see things clearly. While everyone was still hoping that the Imperial Court would resolve the chaos, he could already foresee the collapse of Great Zhou. For him to be able to climb to this position, his accurate judgment had been the most crucial factor.
Considering there were too many people rebelling, the Great Zhou Dynasty simply could not suppress them. When the time came to establish a new regime, the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty would definitely be the first to be eliminated. Next would be his Qin family.
Minister Qin had not gone to such great lengths just for the sake of accumulating riches alone. There was only one way to get out of this situation.
It occurred to him that he should let the Jin Kingdom or West Xia annex the Great Zhou. Since he was in West Xia at that time, the timing was right, he had geographical advantage, and he was with the right people.
But today, he took the initiative to send Emperor Jingyan off not only out of respect to the Emperor, but also to show his loyalty to West Xia.
After he executed Emperor Jingyan, the Second Prince would definitely push him out to take the blame. As such, he would have no one to rely on but West Xia. With this in hand, West Xia be able better able to control Great Zhou.
As for how long the Second Prince could be a puppet, that was not something he should consider.
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Looking at the poisoned wine on the table, the Emperor was momentarily sad and angry. Still immersed in Minister Qin’s reproachful words, he said angrily, “If you weren’t too greedy and focused on power and profit, why would I have come up with such a plan?”
Minister Qin said with amusement, “Isn’t that all because of Your Majesty’s indulgence? The aristocratic families were suppressed by the previous Emperors until they couldn’t raise their heads. However, after Your Majesty took the throne, the aristocratic families gradually rose again. You allowed the aristocratic families to occupy land and take in hidden households. What’s wrong with us officials imitating them?”
At this point, Minister Qin found it a little funny that he would actually say such evasive words to the Emperor. He raised the wine pot and poured a glass of wine. Then, he handed it to the Emperor and said with a smile, “Your Majesty, there’s no point in saying anything more. It’s getting late. Let’s hurry up. The Empress might still be waiting for you on the way.”
The Emperor’s eyes widened and his hands trembled slightly. Even though he had expected death, he was still afraid when it came to it.
He looked at Minister Qin, who was holding the wine glass steadily, and suddenly questioned, “Why did you come personally to deliver the poisoned wine? Aren’t you afraid that Second Brother will execute you to appease the people?”
The Emperor suddenly thought of the West Xia commander he saw today and his expression changed. “You…”
“Your Majesty.” Minister Qin interrupted him. “The guards outside are all West Xia soldiers. Do you want me to send you off, or do you want someone outside to come do it?”
Emperor Jingyan was silent for a while. In the end, he reached out his left hand and held the wine glass. With his eyes closed, he finished it in one gulp.
Minister Qin was also nervous and was staring at him intently, so he did not realize that the Emperor was using his left hand. Seeing him throw the wine glass to the ground, he heaved a sigh of relief.
The poisoned wine prepared for the Emperor was naturally top-notch. In less than 15 minutes, the Emperor closed his eyes quietly. There were no bloodstains flowing out of the corners of his mouth. He looked as if he had fallen asleep, and there was even some redness on his face.
Minister Qin checked his breathing and sighed before turning around to leave.
The West Xia guards came in to check and confirmed that the person was dead. Only then did they retreat and let the guards of the Great Zhou Imperial Palace take over.
The Second Prince’s trusted eunuch came in on his knees and carefully carried the late Emperor to the bed with a few of the eunuchs, before tidying up his clothes.
Although Emperor Jingyan was already dressed, his clothes were still a little wrinkled after all that happened, and his crown was not properly positioned on his head.
Emperor Jingyan was already dead, but they should still treat him with the necessary respect.
As soon as he checked, he found that there was blood on Emperor Jingyan’s right finger. The eunuch frowned slightly and wiped off the blood with a handkerchief. Just as he was about to put his hand into his sleeve, he noticed that something was wrong. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly lowered his head to hide his expression. Then, he turned to one of the eunuchs and said, “Go and report to His Majesty that the late Emperor is fully dressed. His Majesty can come over now.”
The young eunuch thought that the Second Prince was going to come over in the first place, so he retreated on his knees and ran to report to the Second Prince.
The Second Prince was not stupid. When he heard the young eunuch’s words, he knew that his personal eunuch was hinting for him to go over.
Originally, he did not dare to look at the deceased Emperor’s face, but now, he had no choice but to go. Therefore, he stood up and expressed that he wanted to go to the late Emperor to fulfill his filial piety.
The West Xia commander and Minister Qin had no objections and watched him leave.
Minister Qin’s gaze darkened as he said, “I didn’t expect that the Second Prince would be even more ruthless and vicious than I imagined.”
He had thought that the Second Prince would never take a look at the dead Emperor.
The Second Prince hurried to the tent. He knew that there were spies everywhere. Minister Qin had been on the scene for many years and was even more influential than him in the palace. Therefore, he knelt down in front of Emperor Jingyan’s bed as soon as he came in and burst into tears.
When the eunuchs in the room saw that the Second Prince was crying, they didn’t dare to stay any longer. The Second Prince’s personal eunuch waved his hand and everyone left.
Seeing that there were only two people left in the room, the eunuch hurriedly revealed the Emperor’s sleeve for the Second Prince to take a look.
When the Second Prince saw the words on it, his face immediately turned ashen and pale. His expression changed as he looked at his father lying on the bed. Then, he waved his hand to dismiss the eunuch before going forward to hug his corpse and cry.
Now that Emperor Jingyan was dead, the Second Prince brought his body back to the palace and officially issued an edict announcing that he was going to ascend the throne in three days.
It was not that he was anxious, but he had to hurry. Emperor Jingyan had just died, and many generals and officials in the prefecture clamored to eradicate the traitors, but in fact, they were rebelling.
He knew that he didn’t ascend the throne in a rightful manner, but in the past dynasties, there were many such examples. If one had the ability to stabilize their position, they remained in the throne and there were subsequently both praise and criticism of them in the history books.
In any case, he would not know what happened after his death, so he did not care about his reputation.
However, just before he ascended the throne, Qi Xiuyuan’s army finally arrived in Lin’an City and surrounded the west and south gates.
Before the Second Prince could persuade Qi Xiuyuan to surrender, General Yuan’s army arrived outside the city gate in the evening and surrounded the north and east gates.
The Second Prince was silent for a moment. Then, he asked, “I’ve long ordered the various places to defend the city. Why were General Yuan and General Qi able to arrive here without any obstruction? Why didn’t anyone report it?”