Tang Dynasty: Consort Wu? Your Majesty, please address her as the Crown Prince's Consort.

Inside Xiangji Temple.

"Master, it seems our actions have been detected by the false emperor. Recently, the Thousand Bull Guards and the Black Armor Army have been secretly mobilized!"

Upon hearing Mao Xiang's report, Yao Guangxiao couldn't help but smile slightly and say:

"Shouldn't there be members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard among the Thousand Bull Guards and the Black Armor Army?"

Upon hearing this, Mao Xiang was slightly taken aback, then scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly and explained:

"Master! We did make a lot of arrangements before, but as you know, the Xuanjia Army is the core fighting force of the false emperor. Those bad guys would check every once in a while, so the Embroidered Uniform Guard never had a chance to get in touch with the core level."

As for the Imperial Guards, half of the centurions are from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and there are several commanders among them!

As soon as Mao Xiang finished speaking, Yao Guangxiao couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Just then, Mao Xiang spoke up:

"In addition, the members of the Wang family of Taiyuan and the Zheng family of Xingyang who were outside the area have also been arrested and brought to justice. As instructed by the master, this news was not kept from the Bad People. Presumably, the false emperor has also received the news!"

"Won't we expose ourselves like this?"

Seeing Mao Xiang's puzzled expression, Yao Guangxiao couldn't help but smile slightly and said:

"What we want is for His Majesty to know. And once His Majesty knows, what happens next? Has he taken any action?"

Mao Xiang was slightly taken aback upon hearing Yao Guangxiao's words.

"It seems that apart from mobilizing the Thousand Bull Guards and the Black Armor Army, there haven't been any other actions!"

Upon hearing this, Yao Guangxiao revealed a confident smile and said:

"Isn't that settled then? This humble monk intended to present our arrangements to His Majesty, and now it seems that His Majesty is not without the intention of passing the throne to him!"

Seeing Yao Guangxiao's rambling manner, Mao Xiang became even more puzzled.

No!

What exactly are you trying to say, old monk?

Why can't I understand a single word?

Seeing Mao Xiang's bewildered expression, Yao Guangxiao patiently explained it to him.

"We've laid all our cards on the table: Prince Qi's two thousand Qi family soldiers, Ashina Du'er's two thousand steppe cavalry, the Jubao Merchant Guild's publicity campaign, and the actions of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

With His Majesty's wisdom, he only needs to think for a moment to know what we want to do.

Even so, His Majesty did not mobilize troops to quell the rebellion, but only mobilized the Thousand Bull Guards and the Xuanjia Army in Chang'an.

This shows that His Majesty does not want a fair judgment; he wants to see if His Highness the Crown Prince has the ability to take the position from him.

This is not only a power struggle between the Eastern Palace and the Imperial Palace, but also a test set by His Majesty for His Highness the Crown Prince.

If you pass the test, ascending to the throne is a natural progression; if you fail, then you'll have to go back and study for a few more years before trying again!

After hearing Yao Guangxiao's explanation, Mao Xiang immediately became unhappy.

He spoke with a dissatisfaction:

"Test? His Majesty is the chosen one, he's just a mere false emperor, what right does he have to test His Majesty?!"

Seeing Mao Xiang's indignant expression, Yao Guangxiao was speechless.

Are you fucking sick?

If you're still not happy about playing, then you should be secretly happy that the other side has given you an easy mode.

You wouldn't be happy if we actually brought in hundreds of thousands of troops from elsewhere!

Thinking of this, he waved his hand wearily and said:

"Alright, alright! In the end, this is just a grand handover ceremony, not a life-or-death battle. Whether it's the Xuanjia Army or the Qi Family Army, they are both forces of the Tang Dynasty. It would be a pity if either of them got hurt."

All we need to do is flex our muscles in front of His Majesty and let him know the strength of the Crown Prince's Palace!

Upon hearing this, Mao Xiang couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.

Sigh! I thought His Majesty could rise to power by stepping on the false emperor!

What a pity! What a pity!

Seeing Mao Xiang's disappointed expression, Yao Guangxiao then gave the following instructions:

"Have General Xue make preparations. It's time for His Majesty to take a look at the brand-new Six Guards of the Eastern Palace."

Besides, don't hide the latest firearms in the gunpowder factory; bring them out and equip them for the Divine Machine Battalion!

Upon hearing this, Mao Xiang quickly nodded and said:

"Okay! I'll get on it right away!"

……

The Eastern Palace!

Li Chengqian looked at Yang Zaixing with some doubt and said:

"Old Yang, where are Du'er and Rengui? I haven't seen them for days!"

Upon hearing his prince's question, Yang Zaixing couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly, then quickly coughed and said:

"Ahem! Your Highness, Old Xue and the others have caught a cold and have requested leave!"

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

"Have they both caught a cold?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Zaixing nodded quickly.

"Yes, Your Highness! It was Du'er who infected Old Xue. Doctor Sun said he just needs to rest at home for two days and he'll be fine!"

Hearing this answer, Li Chengqian had no doubts.

Yang Zaixing's loyalty was 100%, so Li Chengqian naturally had no doubt about his words.

He spoke calmly:

"Then let them get some rest. Anyway, Chang'an has been quite peaceful lately, and they don't need to go to the army every day for roll call. Their health is important!"

Hearing his prince say this, Yang Zaixing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

I managed to get away with it.

The master has really caused me a lot of trouble!

……

As time went by, Chang'an became increasingly peaceful.

There was even a hint of eeriness in this calm.

It's like the harbinger of an approaching storm.

This day.

A torrential downpour struck Chang'an.

The entire sky was shrouded in a heavy, gray haze.

There were few pedestrians on the road.

However, in this very environment, an army quietly appeared on Suzaku Avenue.

They were clad in black armor with red trim, wore iron helmets, had ferocious face shields covering their faces, and carried horizontal swords at their waists. Water droplets slid down the shafts of their spears from their tips.

They numbered about five thousand, and their leader was a tall and handsome general, Xue Rengui, and his newly formed Six Guards of the Eastern Palace.

Since the war against the Western Turks, Li Chengqian began to retrain the six guards of the Eastern Palace.

Both the weaponry and the quality of the personnel are top-notch.

Just then, Xue Rengui drew his sword from his waist, pointed it forward, and said:

"Let's go! Destination! Xuanwu Gate!!"

As Xue Rengui finished speaking, the five thousand heavily armed Donggong Liulu behind him began to advance towards Xuanwu Gate.

Qin Qiong couldn't help but smile as he watched the army approaching Xuanwu Gate in the distance.

"It's finally begun! Perfect timing for this old man to see what kind of sons the Crown Prince is up to!"

After saying that, he turned to his deputy and said:

"Send someone to inform His Majesty and the others that we can begin!"

"Yes, General!"

……

Taiji Hall.

In the enormous Taiji Hall, there were only a handful of people today, all of whom were Li Shimin's core subordinates!

Li Shimin was slightly taken aback when he looked at the crowd below.

"Hmm? Where's Kemin?"