My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 458 How could there be talk of the emperor plotting a rebellion?

"I...I..."

Seeing Gao Huan's face filled with grief and indignation, as if he had suffered a great injustice, Yuan Xiu was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to refute him.

Things took a completely unexpected turn.

Shouldn't he be the one loudly questioning the Gao brothers and then wresting back the imperial power that belonged to him from them?

"Your Majesty! Why have you treated my brother and me like this? You must give us an explanation today!"

Gao Huan shouted that he was innocent.

The armored soldiers following behind him gleamed in the sunlight, their armor reflecting the light so brightly it was almost blinding.

Even the slightest sway of the soldiers would produce a crisp sound as the iron plates on their bodies clanged together.

Yuan Xiu cautiously took a few steps back.

"Governor Gao, what exactly happened? I believe there must be more to this than meets the eye, some misunderstanding..."

Just now.

A voice announced from afar, "Greetings, Prime Minister..."

There was a sound of rapid footsteps.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw that Gao Yu was followed by many relatives and ministers, including Yuan Huiye, Feng Longzhi, and Sima Ziru...

Gao Yu frowned slightly and walked over quickly. "What happened?"

Gao Huan, his face filled with grief and indignation, bowed and said, "Prime Minister! His Majesty intends to rebel!"

wow...

Everyone was stunned, and the expressions on each person's face were truly fascinating.

News of what happened inside the Bronze Sparrow Terrace last night was cut off and blocked, so no one else knew about it, and Gao Huan and Gao Yu had no way of discussing it with others.

Relatives like Yuan Huiye and Yuan Zhi looked completely bewildered.

For a moment, I even doubted whether I understood Chinese.

Emperor? Rebellion?

How did these two words come together?

What exactly are the Gao brothers up to?

So much so that they didn't notice the injury on Yuan Xiu's face at first glance. Compared to what they heard, the injury on the emperor's face was not enough to attract their attention.

Sima Ziru and the others were quite familiar with Gao Huan's style of doing things, and they all looked at him thoughtfully.

"rebellion?"

Gao Yu frowned slightly. "What do you mean by that? Governor Gao... His Majesty is the Emperor. Don't you think it's laughable to say such things?"

"I can't believe it either, but it's already happened!"

"What is it! Surely some villain is slandering me!"

Yuan Xiu kept defending himself, though he didn't know why he had to.

He is the emperor.

When is it necessary for the emperor to explain to his subjects?

"Your Majesty, please calm down."

After calming Gao Yu down, he looked at Gao Huan and said, "Governor Gao, tell me, what exactly happened..."

After taking a deep breath, Gao Huan said, "Last night, while I was resting at my residence, a servant came to report that there was movement underground, which suggested that someone was digging a tunnel. I immediately ordered the people to be arrested. After interrogation, a letter was found on their person. Moreover... my son, Gao Cheng, also received a letter from Your Majesty last night. He entered the palace late at night to meet Your Majesty and had an argument with you."

Say it.

Gao Huan took out two letters from his pocket and handed them to Gao Yu.

"Guards! Bring those thieves here!"

Gao Huan shouted, and the Imperial Guards immediately brought forward dozens of soldiers who were covered in dirt and wounds, but were still burly in stature.

They had just been brought up, and Gao Yu hadn't even had a chance to speak yet.

Several of the leading soldiers had already started crying out.

"Your Majesty! Save us! We were just following Your Majesty's orders... It was Your Majesty who ordered us to dig the tunnel."

"Your Majesty! You mustn't abandon us!"

"His Majesty!!"

Cries and screams rose and fell.

Everyone present gradually came to their senses.

Although Gao Huan had previously given Yuan Xiu a lot of power and allowed him to train a group of people, the time was short, and the loyalty of Yuan Xiu's confidants was ultimately limited. Moreover... Gao Yu had long since replaced all the people in the Bronze Sparrow Terrace with soldiers from Shandong.

How could Yuan Xiu possibly send a group of trusted confidants to do such a thing?
Besides...

The soldiers didn't speak with the accent of Hebei, and their faces didn't even look like Han Chinese. Their wounds weren't fresh either.

It was highly likely that they were prisoners captured during the battle with Erzhu Rong. Yuan Xiu was completely dumbfounded.

He never dreamed that it could be done like this.

"His Majesty!"

"Since ancient times, it has always been the case that if the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die. If Your Majesty has any dissatisfaction with me, you can simply issue an edict, and I will take my own life with my sword. Why resort to such despicable means?"

Gao Huan's face was filled with grief and indignation!

Yuan Xiu was utterly speechless, "No...no, I didn't!"

"I don't know them at all!"

How could Yuan Xiu possibly admit it?

Just two days ago at the court assembly, he praised Gao Huan to the skies in front of everyone, practically extolling him. Now he's turning around and trying to kill Gao Huan?
Slapping himself in the face?
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!"

"You absolutely can't abandon us!"

"We served His Majesty with utmost loyalty, how could we end up like this!"

Yuan Xiu angrily stepped forward and kicked him to the ground, shouting, "Who are you people? I have never seen you before!"

Gao Yu watched coldly from the sidelines, while Sima Ziru also adopted a spectator's attitude, as if she were watching a good show.

In the end, it was Yuan Huiye who stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, even if it is a matter of utmost importance, you should not lose your composure like this. You are the Son of Heaven!"

After calming Yuan Xiu down, Yuan Huiye said, "I suppose... there must be some misunderstanding."

Gao Cheng and Cui Jishu were also brought up.

"Your Majesty! Please don't make a mistake! The Prime Minister and my father are pillars of the nation. How can you be so cruel to loyal ministers!"

Gao Cheng also cried out loudly.

This has created an extremely chaotic situation.

Left with no other choice, Yuan Huiye, Yuan Zhi, and the others approached Gao Yu, cupped their hands in greeting, and said, "Prime Minister, there must be some hidden story behind this. Please make a decision based on the circumstances."

They don't know what happened.

But sure.

Gao Yu has no intention of killing Yuan Xiu for the time being; it's not worth tarnishing his reputation for a puppet.

There are indeed hidden reasons behind this, but at this point, the Gao brothers have already succeeded.

The emperor's majesty has been completely destroyed.

They had once again severely humiliated Yuan Xiu in front of all the officials.

Gao Yu then spoke.

"Your Majesty is so wise, how could you possibly do something to harm loyal and virtuous people? There must be some hidden reason behind this."

"I will have someone investigate this matter thoroughly."

Yuan Huiye quickly echoed loudly, "The Prime Minister is wise! He will surely get to the bottom of this!"

This can be considered a definitive conclusion to the matter.

"Today is not a suitable day for court assembly. Everyone may return home. His Majesty needs to rest."

Everyone left one after another.

Gao Huan then left with Gao Cheng and the others.

Gao Yu was the last to leave. He glanced at Yuan Xiu and reminded him, "Your Majesty... please rest well. I will go and investigate thoroughly to clear Your Majesty's name!"

Yuan Xiu looked up and saw a mocking smile on Gao Yu's lips.

How could he not understand?
The entire city of Ye was under the control of the Gao brothers. It would be incredibly easy for them to fabricate evidence to prove that they had 'treasonous' intentions.

I almost laughed.

Throughout history, has there ever been a story of an emperor plotting a rebellion?

What happened today is destined to go down in history.

Yuan Xiu walked toward the main hall, looking utterly dejected.

He got it.

He understood everything.

He was no match for the Gao brothers.

This is the warning they gave themselves.

Gao Yu coldly stared at Yuan Xiu's retreating figure.

"You brought this all on yourself. Wouldn't it be better to just be a puppet?"

(End of this chapter)