I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 234 Chaos
October 24th is the Empress Dowager's 80th birthday.

It is rare for a person to live to seventy, let alone eighty. Emperor Sheng'an originally wanted to hold a grand celebration for the birthday of Emperor Sheng'an, but the Empress Dowager opposed extravagance and waste, so only members of the imperial family were invited to the palace for the banquet.

Inside the Shou'an Hall, Emperor Sheng'an led a group of princes, grandsons, and concubines to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday.

May my mother/grandmother live a long and healthy life!

"Very well, very well," the Empress Dowager smiled, her furrowed brows smoothing out. "Get up quickly."

"Thank you, Empress Dowager!"

Looking at her children and grandchildren, the Empress Dowager thought of Prince Xuan, who was far away in the northwest, and felt a sense of loss.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Sheng'an immediately stepped forward, took the memorial from Eunuch Zhou, and handed it to the Empress Dowager, saying, "Please take a look, Mother."

The Empress Dowager declined, saying, "The women of the inner palace should not interfere in politics; how can I bear to see that?"

Emperor Sheng'an had no choice but to open the memorial himself, where a letter was found tucked inside.

"This is a letter from my second brother, sent by someone. Please take a look, Mother."

The Empress Dowager was overjoyed and eagerly took the letter to read it. In the letter, Prince Xuan congratulated the Empress Dowager on her birthday and said that it was unfilial of him to be unable to return to the capital to celebrate her birthday while guarding the frontier. He asked the Empress Dowager for forgiveness and attached a list of a large number of gifts that the people of Prince Xuan’s mansion had given to the Empress Dowager.

"Good, good!" The Empress Dowager looked at the letter, her eyes blurred with tears. Since she had favored her eldest son and suppressed her second son, this was the first time her second son had written to her. The Empress Dowager was so moved that tears streamed down her face.

"Today is the Empress Dowager's birthday, so we must not cry," Emperor Sheng'an said, understanding the Empress Dowager's excitement. "If my second brother knew that the Empress Dowager was crying because of this, he might not dare to write a letter again next time."

"I am overjoyed," the old woman said, wiping away the Empress Dowager's tears with a handkerchief. "You all should stop standing and sit down."

After everyone was seated, the Imperial Household Department arranged for geisha to enter the palace and perform songs and dances.

The Empress raised her wine cup. "Mother, today is your birthday. On behalf of all the concubines, I wish you a long and healthy life, like the evergreen pine and cypress, and may you enjoy peace and safety year after year."

All the concubines stood up, raised their wine cups, and knelt down, chanting, "Long live the Emperor!"

"Very good, very good!" The Empress Dowager smiled from ear to ear, picked up her tea and took a sip. "I accept this tea instead of wine, and appreciate your filial piety."

"Grandmother," the Crown Prince stood up, "on behalf of all the princes and grandsons, I wish you good health like an evergreen tree, and longevity as boundless as the sea."

"Good!" The Empress Dowager took another sip of tea and looked at the Crown Prince, who was over forty years old, with satisfaction. "Your Highness is becoming more and more like your father. I have heard that you have been acting as regent for your father for the past two years and have handled state affairs very well. You should continue to do so in the future and never be arrogant or complacent."

Emperor Sheng'an looked at his son and nodded in satisfaction.

"Your grandson has learned a lot!" The crown prince bowed and sat back down.

Sitting below the Empress, Consort Xian coldly watched the Empress and her son showing off, secretly sneering to herself: After tonight, let's see how smug you are!
After several rounds of drinks, it was already past midnight. The Empress Dowager was getting old and her energy was waning. After everyone respectfully saw her off, Emperor Sheng'an was about to end the banquet when he heard Prince Wei suddenly say, "Your son toasts Your Majesty. Your Majesty is benevolent and filial. You did not fear the fatigue and personally prepared the Thousand Autumns Banquet with the Empress. Your Majesty's filial piety not only moved the Empress Dowager, but also deeply impressed your son. Please drink this cup, Your Majesty."

Emperor Sheng'an laughed heartily, "Good!" After the eunuch poured him a full cup of wine, Emperor Sheng'an tilted his head back and drank it down. "I've heard that Princess Wei is pregnant. My son will also become a father in the future..."

As Emperor Sheng'an finished speaking, he suddenly experienced severe abdominal pain and spat out a mouthful of black blood.

"Your Majesty!" The Empress, who was closest to Emperor Sheng'an, was shocked and rushed forward to support the emperor as he fell. She shouted, "Guards, seize this eunuch for me!" Seeing that his plan had succeeded, Prince Wei immediately smashed his wine cup. A group of soldiers in armor rushed into the palace and engaged the Imperial Guards standing outside the hall in battle.

"You, you unfilial son!" A mouthful of blood gushed from Emperor Sheng'an's mouth. He couldn't lift his arm no matter how hard he tried, so he could only glare at Prince Wei with a fierce look. "What do you want to do?"

The King of Wei made no attempt to hide his ambition: "What I want is, of course, to become the next emperor."

"Don't even think about it!" Emperor Sheng'an roared, barely managing to stay calm. "What face do you, a traitorous minister, have to be the ruler of a country?!"

"A thousand years from now, who will know that I am a traitor?" King Wei was not afraid at all. He did not even look at the empress who was fleeing to the crown prince in a panic. He only looked at Emperor Sheng'an and said, "History? As long as I sit on the throne, how history is written will be up to me."

"You scoundrel! You actually want to tamper with history books?" Emperor Sheng'an seemed to be seeing this son for the first time.

"History should be written by the victors. Whoever wins is the rightful heir!" King Wei pushed Emperor Sheng'an aside and plopped down on the dragon throne. "From this day forward, I am the rightful heir!"

"You!" Emperor Sheng'an was barely breathing. "Where are the Flying Dragon Guards?"

Outside the door, the leader of the Flying Dragon Guard, who was still fighting with the soldiers, touched the neck of the person in front of him with his sword, turned around and pushed open the door to the hall, saying, "Your subject is here!"

"By my decree, kill this disobedient and unfilial beast!" Emperor Sheng'an gasped for breath. "By order of the Crown Prince, to kill..." Before Emperor Sheng'an could finish speaking, his eyes closed and he breathed his last.

"Your Majesty!" The Empress, standing beside the Crown Prince, watched helplessly as the man she had shared a bed with for half her life died. Although she had been somewhat prepared, she was still greatly shocked and fainted on the spot.

The Crown Prince handed the Empress over to the eunuchs for care, then turned to the leader of the Flying Dragon Guard and said, "Flying Dragon Guard, listen to my command!"

"Your subject is here!" the leader of the Flying Dragon Guard replied.

The crown prince roared, "Seize the one who murdered the emperor and usurped the throne, dead or alive!"

"Yes!" The Flying Dragon Guards stopped fighting the soldiers and charged towards the King of Wei and his mother.

Upon seeing this, Prince An and Lord Mu immediately led their men to protect Prince Wei. The two sides fought fiercely inside the palace, neither gaining the upper hand.

Just as the situation inside the palace was tense, Tang Zheng led 5,000 Northwest Army soldiers to the palace gate. They used their tokens to open the layers of palace gates and rushed all the way to Shou'an Hall, where they saw corpses everywhere.

"Duke of Wei!" King Wei, who was being forced back step by step by the Flying Dragon Guards, was overjoyed. "Quickly, come to my rescue!"

The Duke of Wei ignored the order and commanded his soldiers to control the situation inside the palace. He then led Tang Shi and his personal guards into the battle.

"Your Highness, you're finished. No matter how skilled the Flying Dragon Guards are, they're nothing but ants trying to shake a tree in front of thousands of troops," King Wei laughed. "For the sake of our brotherhood, if you kneel down and surrender now, I might spare your life!"

The Crown Prince calmly replied, "I do not have the magnanimity of my second brother. If I win today, I will surely have you torn apart by five horses and executed by slow slicing!"

"Even on the verge of death, you still have the nerve to talk nonsense. Since that's the case, then I'll send you on your way." King Wei drew his sword and leaped down the steps.

The prince stood still.

Just as the sword tip was about to touch the prince's throat, with a soft thud, a long blade pierced through the king's heart.

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