Remarrying Chun Yuan

Chapter 346: Taking sides

"Your Majesty, this won't do! Please rescind your decree!" The Empress and the concubines remained silent for a long time, as women rarely participated in court affairs.

But Emperor Qi Xiao actually wanted to abdicate in favor of the Crown Prince on New Year's Eve. As the Crown Prince's birth mother, she immediately knelt down. She felt that Qin Mushuo's actions were really too much!

Consort Yu also knelt down, tears streaming down her face.

She already knew the opinions of the Left Chancellor and Qin Muyan; she was merely putting on an act.

They're just putting on an act.

As long as he controls the mines and the army in Huaizhou, even if the crown prince ascends the throne, he will eventually be able to seize the throne.

After all, the Crown Prince forced Emperor Qi Xiao to abdicate, rather than Emperor Qi Xiao yielding the throne.

The Imperial Clan Court is absolutely guilty of this, and His Highness the Crown Prince cannot escape the gossip and slander from the public!

Consort De and Consort Xian, among others, also knelt down one after another.

Their children were all Emperor Qi Xiao's children. Although they were not very promising and could not compete with the Crown Prince and Qin Muyan, they were still princes who had no worries about food and clothing.

If Emperor Qi Xiao is forced to abdicate, the princes will likely be dealt with by the Crown Prince!

But the concubines were, after all, just concubines; they couldn't control the affairs of the court.

One courtier stood behind the crown prince, expressing his hope that Emperor Qi Xiao would abdicate. Then a second, a third, a fourth... followed one after another.

In the blink of an eye, almost everyone in the court supported Emperor Qi Xiao's abdication.

Finally, the Left and Right Chancellors knelt on the ground, refusing to express their opinions, while the Vice Minister of Rites and Chen Zhongyao also stood still, thus preventing Emperor Qi Xiao from being too embarrassed!

Emperor Qi Xiao suddenly pounded his chest; he was truly heartbroken!

"What sins have I committed? I have devoted myself to the Great Qi with all my heart and soul, only to be forced to abdicate because of a war!"

The more he talked, the more pain he felt, and he even laughed from the pain.

"Great, great, great, that's wonderful!"

He stood up and took off the imperial crown from his hair.

Cheng Hai immediately knelt down to stop him, "Your Majesty, no! Please don't!"

"What else do they want? For their own selfish desires, they have already begun to force me to abdicate. It is clear that they have long been colluding with the states of Yan and Chu. Otherwise, how could they do such a foolish thing as selling out their country!" Emperor Qi Xiao angrily rebuked the crowd in front of him.

However, the Left and Right Chancellors exchanged a glance, but neither of them refuted it. Instead, they looked at Qin Mushuo.

Qin Mushuo looked embarrassed. "Your subject absolutely did not collude with the Yan and Chu states. Your subject swears to Heaven!"

"I don't need you to swear to heaven. As long as the battle report from afar indicates a crushing defeat, I will abdicate!" Emperor Qi Xiao said this generously, as if all his energy had been drained away, and he withered away in an instant.

The ministers immediately knelt on the ground, and not one of them dared to get up.

Today should have been a day of family joy, but it has unexpectedly turned into such a spectacular show!

When Yuan Cuo, Liu Yuechu, and others entered the palace, they were already stopped at the gate.

"Why won't you let us in?" Yuan Cuo asked with a calm smile.

"I went to great lengths to come and pay my respects to His Majesty and the Empress..." Liu Yuechu was indeed in a sedan chair at the entrance, but the sedan chair was swaying and she felt extremely nauseous.

"My lord, you'd better not go..." the Golden Feather Guard at the door advised.

They were all the Crown Prince's men and had already received the news, forbidding other court officials from entering.

Especially Yuan Cuo and Liu Yuechu, they are His Majesty's most trusted men. Qin Mushuo had long been wary of them!

“What if I insist on going?” Yuan Cuo supported Liu Yuechu, his attitude firm. “I’m going in now. Anyone who tries to stop me will face my wrath.”

Jin Yuwei hesitated for a moment, just about to draw his sword. Hou Lai suddenly appeared and knocked him unconscious with a single chop.

The other Golden Feather Guards were startled and rushed forward.

Hou Lai and the other secret guards moved like shadows, and the Golden Feather Guards fell one after another, like maple leaves blown down in autumn.

"Madam, please slow down and don't walk too fast," Yuan Cuo said slowly, afraid that the bloodshed before him would make Liu Yuechu uncomfortable.

But Liu Yuechu walked briskly and excitedly, "How come I can't see what they did? How come they all collapsed?!"

She had seen the group of bodyguards before, but she had never seen them take action.

Even during the time when Yuan Cuo was away from the capital, she was protected by secret guards, but all the crises were resolved without her knowledge.

This time I truly witnessed it!

Yuan Cuo pursed his lips. How would he know how these people made their move?

"Madam, it's best to avoid watching this..." After all, she's pregnant; how can she bear to watch such bloody and violent events?

Liu Yuechu pouted and ignored him.

In just a short while, they arrived directly at Yonghe Palace under the protection of the secret guards.

All the court officials were kneeling and kowtowing, but Emperor Qi Xiao was filled with grief.

The eunuchs at the door didn't dare to look up, but suddenly they noticed footsteps beside them. They glanced to the side and saw Liu Yuechu and Yuan Cuo!

Didn't His Highness the Crown Prince's men say that no one else would be coming today?!

Did they enter through the palace gates?

Could it be that news of the war situation has already arrived?

Emperor Qi Xiao also saw the two of them, and naturally also saw the Golden Feather Guard lying dead at the door.

Hearing the noise, Qin Mushuo turned around and immediately jumped up from the ground. "Yuan Cuo, what do you think you're doing? You actually broke into the palace and even sent people to assassinate the Golden Feather Guards. Are you trying to rebel?!"

Liu Yuechu, with her pregnant belly, was immediately dumbfounded. "Your Highness is joking? Have you ever seen someone come to rebel while pregnant?"

"Your Highness, please do not misunderstand. I was stopped by the Golden Feather Guards at the palace gate. They did not allow me to enter the palace to congratulate His Majesty and the Empress, nor did they allow me to pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince. I then assumed that something had happened in the palace, which is why I mobilized the secret guards to guide my wife and me."

"Normally, it is not appropriate for a pregnant woman to appear at this time, but Madam is worried about His Majesty and the Empress, and she can only feel at ease when she sees them both safe and sound."

……

Qin Mushuo was originally supported by the court officials, but who knew that Yuan Cuo would suddenly appear?

"What gives you the right to mobilize the secret guards?"

"Because I appointed Yuan Cuo as the commander of the secret guards long ago." Emperor Qi Xiao felt a rare sense of relief upon seeing Yuan Cuo and Liu Yuechu.

But when he said this, the courtiers were greatly shocked.

The way they looked at Yuan Cuo was no longer simply because they thought he was the son of Prince Chun, but because he was His Majesty's most trusted favorite minister!

"Father..." Qin Mushuo was somewhat panicked. He hadn't expected that his father would entrust the personal guards to Yuan Cuo for deployment instead of him!

"Yuan Cuo, I ask you, do you support me in fighting Yan and Chu to the end, or do you want me to compromise and surrender?" His heart sank; Yuan Cuo was his last glimmer of hope!

Even if Yuan Cuo was alone, even if he said he supported them, he couldn't go against the group of people in front of him.

Emperor Qi Xiao still longed to hear those words from him!