Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 155 Ascending the Throne ()

After the flames from the West Palace flowed into the Underground Palace in a strange form, more and more guards arrived and gradually brought the fire under control.

Although the fire was not big, it burned with great intensity. In a short period of time, it burned through the newly built majestic palace complex, which finally collapsed.

The ashes floated in the wind and landed in front of Yin Jinggeng.

He stood by a well, gazing at the deep stone steps leading down, his brows slightly furrowed, deep thought hidden in his eyes.

In fact, when he made the plan, he said something to Yin Yuhe.

"Man proposes, God disposes. Father, please be prepared for the worst when you do this."

Facts have proved that no matter how careful one is, there will always be negligence. Yin Kuo still escaped. If he had been allowed to live, the consequences would have been disastrous.

What is more anxious than the consequences is the moment when nothing is known before the consequences are revealed.

Yin Jinggeng waited and said nothing.

Behind him, soldiers kept coming over and asking, "Prince Zhao, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to know when you will be there?"

Every time, Yin Jinggeng would answer "right away" to calm Yin Yuhe's emotions, and at the same time instruct Yin Yuhe to proceed with the enthronement decisively.

Finally, Yin Yuhe sent Yin Wanqing to inquire.

"Brother..."

"Tell father I'll be there soon."

Yin Wanqing did not leave, but walked to the well and asked in a low voice: "Are there any other entrances and exits?"

"I'm looking." Yin Jinggeng said, "I'm looking in every corner of the entire palace."

"I mean outside the palace." Yin Wanqing asked, "Is there an exit from the underground palace leading to the outside of the palace?"

"If so, it will be very troublesome..."

Yin Jinggeng's face was solemn, like a dark cloud that was about to drop rain at any moment.

At this moment, someone shouted.

"King Zhao, look!"

Several guards hurried over, panting, pointing behind them and shouting, "Here they come!"

The stone steps were too long, and Yin Jinggeng waited for a long time before he saw a figure slowly walking out.

Gradually, I walked to where the sunlight could reach.

It’s Gu Jingnian.

His clothes were ragged, covered with scratches and burns, and there were no flaming wings on his back. He looked like an ordinary man who had escaped with great difficulty.

He held a skinny body in his hands. The body was shriveled and skinny, like half-roasted jerky.

Yin Jinggeng looked with bated breath and recognized Yin Kuo.

The supreme emperor whom he had great reverence for as a child, was reduced to the size of a lamb after being roasted dry.

The tragic contrast made Yin Jinggeng feel ridiculous.

A sense of ridiculousness arose in his mind, and his eyes instantly turned red. He fell to his knees and burst into tears.

"Grandfather!"

As a royal family member of the Yong Kingdom, acting is a necessary skill. Yin Jinggeng's acting skills are not that good, but he is serious and sincere.

He was indeed grieving.

What was sad was not Yin Kuo's death, but the assassination that he had arranged himself.

What grieved him was that Yin Kuo had died long ago. The emperor whom he once revered had died a long time ago in another way, corrupted by time and power, died of selfishness and cowardice, leaving behind only an old, empty shell, surviving in darkness and dampness through the most despicable means.

The heavy burden of the Great Yong Kingdom and the ideal of unifying Zhongzhou will fall on Yin Yu and him.

Yin Jinggeng gritted his teeth, his eyes extremely determined.

He thought to himself, "Grandfather, you should have died long ago. It would only be better if the Great Yong State was handed over to me."

Gu Jingnian looked at Yin Jinggeng who was kneeling at his feet and accepted it calmly. Then, he put Yin Kuo's body down, walked aside, and looked at Yin Wanqing.

Yin Wanqing's eyes were clear and she once again told Gu Jingnian not to worry, but there was not much sadness in her eyes.

It seems that Yin Kuo does not have much affection for this pair of grandchildren.

Yes, if there was affection, there wouldn't have been such an assassination.

"It was you who rescued the emperor's grandfather's body from the hands of the traitors."

Yin Jinggeng finally stood up, looked at Gu Jingnian, and began to put the whole matter into context.

Then, he personally picked up Yin Kuo's body and walked towards the main hall of the former dynasty with firm steps.

Yin Wanqing walked up to Gu Jingnian and whispered, "Prince Xin rebelled, and you were the first to discover his plot, so you fought him and took Feng Niang away as a witness. When you confronted him in front of the emperor and saw that the matter was about to be exposed, Feng Niang helped Prince Xin assassinate His Highness."

This will be the external statement.

Gu Jingnian asked, "What will happen to Feng Niang?"

"He was killed on the spot."

Yin Wanqing deliberately emphasized the words "on the spot" to tell Gu Jingnian that the person who died was not the real Feng Niang.

Maybe the dead one was the Yinchai, who was silenced by the Eastern Palace. Maybe the Yinchai was not dead, and the Eastern Palace needed him to assassinate more people. After all, if they wanted to silence them, Gu Jingnian was also an insider.

"As for your friend." Yin Wanqing said, "Not many people have seen her. She just changed her name."

In comparison, although Yin Wanqing did not promise any rewards, what she did was much more sincere than Yin Kuo.

If Yin Wanqing had not revealed the plan to Gu Jingnian without prior authorization, it would still be unknown whether Gu Jingnian would be persuaded by Yin Kuo.

In other words, the simple gesture that Yin Wanqing made at that time can be said to have saved the fate of the Eastern Palace.

Gu Jingnian was satisfied with this and asked, "What is Qu Jizhi's position?"

"Why ask him?" "I only know him in the court, and I don't want to be his enemy." Gu Jingnian said, "I'm worried that he will do something stupid."

Yin Wanqing obviously didn't believe it and looked at Gu Jingnian deeply.

She thought about it and decided to make things clear.

This is also her style of doing things, using open strategies as much as possible.

"You are very smart. You can see what will happen next. Qu Jizhi's attitude is very important."

"I didn't notice that." Gu Jingnian said.

Seeing that he was pretending to be modest, Yin Wanqing was even more unconvinced.

"Qu Jizhi advocated tolerance of strangers back then, and won the hearts of strangers. Yuewei Academy was founded by him, and many royal family members and important officials in the court were his students. More importantly, he was able to mobilize the strangers in Yongjing City."

"Oh."

"As for his stance," Yin Wanqing pondered, "He is a righteous man. If he doesn't see anything, he should support my father's succession. What? Do you think he has found a flaw in us?"

Gu Jingnian did not explain and said, "I want to meet him."

Yin Wanqing said, "Okay, but we have to wait until this matter is finished."

Since Gu Jingnian heard from Yin Kuo that Qu Jizhi had already got a clue about Yingyao's whereabouts, he was worried that the night would be too long and he said, "I want to see him as soon as possible. Princess, just tell me where he is."

Yin Wanqing increasingly believed that Gu Jingnian suspected that Qu Jizhi had mastered something, so she said, "I think he must have rushed to the palace. Come with me."

When he arrived at the front hall, he saw many important ministers gathered there. They had already learned the news of Emperor Yong's death and they all bowed down and cried.

But Gu Jingnian looked around and never saw Qu Jizhi.

He then asked Yin Wanqing, "Is he here?"

"I didn't see it. I guess something delayed him."

After a long while, Yin Yuhe was supported to the palace, where he knelt in front of Yin Kuo's body and cried bitterly. He almost died from crying several times, and asked someone to tell the ministers the whole story.

Gu Jingnian knew that they would have to discuss Yin Kuo's funeral next, and all the officials would ask Yin Yuhe to ascend the throne, with three requests and three rejections... In short, the process was still very long.

But Qu Jizhi never arrived.

Gu Jingnian then planned to leave and find Qu Jizhi.

Just as he turned around, he ran into Yin Jinggeng.

Yin Jinggeng pulled Gu Jingnian and whispered, "You are the hero who rescued the emperor's grandfather's body. Wait for your reward."

It was Yin Wanqing who stepped forward again and whispered a few words to Yin Jinggeng.

Yin Jinggeng turned his head and glanced at the ministers. Only then did he realize that Qu Jizhi was not there, so he said, "Don't worry, I will send someone to find Lord Qu."

Gu Jingnian had no choice but to patiently listen to people introducing his own contributions and accept Yin Yuhe's encouragement.

This is not only a recognition of his abilities and achievements, but also because the Eastern Palace wants to win him over in public and tie the Gu family's positions to those of the Eastern Palace.

At this moment, someone hurried in from outside the hall, walked up to Yin Jinggeng and whispered a few words in his ear.

After hearing this, although Yin Jinggeng looked calm, there was a ripple in his eyes. He glanced at Gu Jingnian and waved, but did not report the matter to Yin Yuhe.

"When you were in the underground palace just now, did you see any other exits?"

Gu Jingnian had already told the story, and he was just repeating it again, saying, "Maybe there was, but I didn't see it."

Yin Jinggeng's tone became more serious, and he said softly, "We found an exit that leads outside the palace. I guess you're not sure if anyone has left through this exit?"

"Hmm." Gu Jingnian said, "Not sure."

Yin Jinggeng leaned close to his ear and whispered, "You also know the characteristics of the salamanders. If someone leaves, it will be very troublesome."

The "someone" here naturally refers to Yin Kuo.

What was being discussed at this time was the topic of continuing to hunt down Yin Kuo. It can be seen that Yin Jinggeng already regarded Gu Jingnian as his own. Perhaps it can be said that both sides had no choice.

Yin Wanqing reminded: "Qu Jizhi hasn't come yet."

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Several Yongjing city defense generals were walking towards a government office, their steps slightly anxious.

"Why did Lord Qu call us here at this time? Something big happened in the palace, and we are in a hurry to get in!"

The general who was speaking had a sturdy build, and as he walked quickly, his arms waved, and he vaguely looked like a tiger or bear.

The other generals behind him also had different appearances from ordinary people, and they were all extraordinary people.

When he rushed into the hall, he saw Qu Jizhi sitting in front of the screen, his eyes full of thought.

"Mr. Qu, why are you still sitting there? Didn't you hear the bells and drums in the palace? Has His Majesty passed away?!"

Qu Jizhi spoke slowly and calmly, "Close the door and follow me."

He stood up and led the generals around the screen.

An old man was sitting behind a screen. Although he was only wearing a eunuch's robe, he looked extremely majestic.

"His Majesty?!"

All the generals were shocked and bowed down one after another.

"I have met your Majesty!"

The person sitting there was none other than a living Yin Kuo.

He glanced at his ministers and said word by word in a sonorous and powerful voice: "I am not dead yet."

At the same time, in the palace, Yongshou Palace.

All the ministers had already prostrated themselves before Yin Yuhe, cheering in unison.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, is invited to take the throne as Emperor!"

(End of this chapter)