Chapter 544

Just after dawn, Ji Yuan, who was lying on his side on the straw mat and covered with a smelly and dirty quilt, was awakened by the sound of the door opening.

The sound came from the iron gate at the end of the corridor, followed by the sound of footsteps.

Soon, a dozen night watchmen appeared in the sight of Ji Yuan and the officials of Yunzhou.

"Get up, I'll take you out to get some sunshine."

A Gong took out a key, and unlocked the chain which fastened the gate.

Ji Yuan was violently pulled up by a taciturn copper gong and pushed out of the cell.

This was the third day he stayed in the dungeon of the night watchmen. The dry straw mat and the tattered quilt saved his life, and he didn't freeze to death in the cold dungeon.

But he, who had been pampered since he was a child, had never suffered like this.

In just two days, his hands and feet were covered with frostbite, his face was blue, his lips were pale, and his hair was unkempt.

Over the past two days, he had been regretting his decision to take over the role of the peace negotiator.

Ji Yuan was erudite and eloquent, which were all real talents. But he was, after all, a pampered young master who lacked social experience and Jianghu experience.

Being talented did not mean being able to withstand pressure.

What happened in the past two days, and the fear of the future, made him on the verge of emotional collapse.

The only hope was that he still had value. Xu Qi'an would not kill him, but use him as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Yunzhou.

It was this hope that supported him to grit his teeth and persevere.

"It's good to get some sunshine. If I continue to stay in the dungeon, I will freeze to death sooner or later …" Ji Yuan staggered in the dark corridor, with more than 20 officials of Yunzhou following behind him.

Outside the door of the dungeon, the air was cold but clear. The sun hung in the sky tepid, bringing a trace of warmth.

Ji Yuan stopped and raised his head, enjoying the feeling of sunshine on his face.

Behind him, Copper Gong kicked his buttocks, causing him to fall to the ground.

Ji Yuan struggled to get up and cast an angry and aggrieved look at the copper gong.

"What are you looking at? Believe it or not, I will dig out your eyes."

The copper gong held the hilt with one hand and said with a serious and rigid face,

"Aren't you very arrogant? You can only enter the capital after the minister of the Ministry of Rites, the Prime Minister, and the Prince come out to greet you?

"Weren't you reprimanding the officials in the throne room, suppressing all the civil and military officials to the point where they couldn't even lift their heads?

"Didn't you use a small trick to make the people of the capital doubt Xu Ningyan's reputation?

"Continue to be arrogant."

Ji Yuan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

In the future, when Yunzhou's iron hooves conquered the capital, he would personally destroy the night watchman's office. All the night watchmen who were friends with Xu Qi 'an would be executed by a thousand cuts.

At this time, a middle-aged silver gong walked over and glanced at the crowd sternly.

The bronze gongs tidied up their clothes and adjusted the position of the gongs on their chests. After confirming that everything was symmetrical and there were no problems, they said respectfully,

"Boss."

The middle-aged man nodded slightly and withdrew his gaze in satisfaction. He did not look at Ji Yuan, whose hair was messy and whose uniform was dirty and full of wrinkles.

"Go" slightly.

"Go? Where?" Ji Yuan was shocked. He wanted to ask, but he felt that he would not get an answer and would be beaten.

The taciturn gong escorted Ji Yuan out and said casually, "I'm not sure if you're still alive.

"Boss, Ning Yan asked us to drink tonight."

The middle-aged silver gong was silent for a moment.

"The brothel or the Musical House?"

"The brothel. He said he would not go to the Musical House in the future," the gong replied.

The middle-aged silver gong was slightly relieved.

"His words are worth a thousand gold. He has always been a man of his word."

Li Yuchun knew that after Fu Xiang died, Xu Qi 'an promised not to go to the Musical House in the future.

Zhu Guangxiao was silent for a moment and added,

"He said he could invite all the top courtesans of the Musical House to the brothel."

Li Yuchun did not want to talk.

After passing through the back of the government, they walked out along the corridor, passed through many offices and courtyards, and finally came to the gate of the government.

At the gate of the government, there were many prison wagons.

Zhu Guangxiao looked at Ji Yuan and said lightly,

"Go to bask in the sun."

Ji Yuan's face was stiff, and he was stunned.

…

In the early morning, a new notice was posted on the notice walls of the government offices and the inner and outer city gates.

The notice was an important channel for the people in the capital to get official information.

In the past, the common people would not pay special attention to the notice walls, unless something big happened recently.

At present, the most important thing in the capital was the peace negotiation.

"What does the notice say?"

As soon as the notice was posted, the surrounding people rushed over, either discussing or asking the official who posted the notice.

An hour before the notice was posted, an official would be responsible for announcing the content to the common people.

After all, among the common people, only a small number of literate people were.

And the reading threshold of this kind of official notice of the imperial court was very high. Even the literate people could not understand the content without a certain degree of education.

In the end, it would become a situation where "every word could be understood, but when they were put together, they did not know what they meant."

"It must be the content of the peace negotiation. The imperial court lost the war, and Qingzhou was lost. I heard that they were going to cede territory for peace."

"How could a bandit province be so arrogant? Since the new emperor ascended the throne, the common people's lives have been getting worse and worse, and corrupt officials are running rampant."

"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't talk nonsense."

"What are you afraid of? There are no soldiers around. Besides, everyone is scolding them like this."

As they talked, the topic changed from the peace negotiation to the loss of Qingzhou.

"Even Xu Yinluo couldn't defend Qingzhou? He is a master who single-handedly annihilated the 200,000 troops of the Witchcraft Cult at Yuyang Pass."

"I have heard this question countless times. Who knows? Speaking of which, I haven't seen Xu Yinluo in the capital for a long time."

"I heard that the supervisor had died in Qingzhou, and Xu Yinluo was no match for the rebel army in Yunzhou," Ye Futian said.

"Alas, no wonder Xu Yinluo is so low-key. He can't beat them."

After venting their emotions for so many days, although most of the common people were indignant, they had passed the climax. They still scolded the imperial court and Yunzhou in private, but they could not do anything about it.

The opposition was not so high.

In particular, the loss of Qingzhou and the arrival of the envoy group of Yunzhou in the capital caused a series of rumors to ferment and spread. The common people in the capital had gradually figured out the ins and outs and knew that the Supervisor, the guardian of Daibun, had died in battle in Qingzhou.

Although in their eyes, the prestige of the Supervisor was far less than that of Xu Yinluo.

In the understanding of the common people at the bottom, the Supervisor was just a title, a concept.

At this time, the official standing beside the notice said in a loud voice,

"In ancient times, the most important thing in the world is to protect the lives of the people. I can't bear to harm the people … Since I ascended the throne, I have not governed the country well, causing the rebel army of Yunzhou to rise, the nine states to be in turmoil, the overall situation is dangerous, millions of people are suffering, living in misery and suffering, and I am ashamed to face my ancestors …

"Princess Royal Huaiqing is virtuous and much better than me … Princess Royal Huaiqing will ascend the throne, and Xu Qi'an will assist her to help the country, quell the rebellion, and restore peace to Daibun. Isn't that right? Agreed. "

The notice was more than 400 words long. When the official finished reading, the common people around were dumbfounded, like statues frozen on the spot.

"What, what does it mean?"

"It seems that … the Emperor abdicates the throne to Princess Royal?" The person who spoke suddenly widened his eyes.

"Princess Royal is going to be the Emperor?"

All of a sudden, the crowd burst into an uproar.

The content of the notice caused a strong impact, shock, and confusion to the common people.

This made them no longer care about the trouble that came from the mouth, and they began to discuss it fiercely.

"How can a woman be the Emperor? Isn't this nonsense? Is she going to embroider with the officials? "

"Can the Princess read? Why does His Majesty abdicate the throne to the Princess? Isn't a woman afraid of being laughed at by the world as the Emperor? "

Their first reaction was resistance, anger, and inability to accept it. They only felt that it was the most absurd thing in the world.

Then someone said,

"Have you listened to the story in the teahouse? It seems that there used to be a woman who was the Emperor. What was her name again? "

"Dayang Empress?"

"Yes, yes, yes, you've heard of it."

The noise stopped. Obviously, many people had also heard similar content in the past few days in restaurants, teahouses, brothels, and other places of entertainment.

Then someone said,

"The notice said that Princess Royal will be assisted by Xu Yinluo when she ascends the throne."

Oh, Xu Yinluo will be assisting her.

The voice of opposition was a little lower, but there were still people muttering,

"Why does Xu Yinluo assist a woman to be the Emperor? Isn't this nonsense? There has never been such a precedent in the 600 years since the founding of Daibun. "

"Yes, I really don't know what the officials and Xu Yinluo are thinking. On one hand, they negotiate with Yunzhou, and on the other hand, they support the Princess to be the Emperor."

"Xu Yinluo is confused."

The people who originally regarded Xu Qi'an as a hero and protector were disappointed with the loss of Qingzhou and regarded the peace talks as a disgrace. Although no one publicly criticized Xu Qi'an, they were certainly disappointed.

As soon as the notice was posted, the disappointment immediately fermented and turned into dissatisfaction.

Suddenly, a loud noise attracted the attention of the people around the notice wall.

Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a row of prison wagons slowly approaching, followed by a large group of people, who kept throwing stones and spitting at the prisoners in the prison wagons.

Some people even carried toilet bowls and splashed feces on the prisoners in the prison wagons.

Among the few leading riders, a night watchman sat high on the horse's back. He struck a gong and shouted, "Let's go!

"Under the order of Xu Yinluo, the rebels of Yunzhou will be paraded in the streets."

On both sides of the street, the crowd was excited. Some people who heard the news came to join in the fun. Some joined the ranks of throwing stones, some pointed and cursed, and some clapped their hands and sang loudly.

Ji Yuan's head was full of blood, and his heart was dead.

The officials of Yunzhou who accompanied him were shivering and weeping bitterly.

…

At dusk.

In the imperial study, Huaiqing sat behind a large yellow silk table. In the hall were the two party leaders, Liu Hong and Qian Qingshu, as well as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites bowed and said,

"Your Highness, the coronation has been prepared."

Huaiqing, who was wearing a simple but elegant palace dress, nodded slightly.

After the Minister of the Ministry of Rites returned to his position, Liu Hong bowed and said,

"Today, the city is in an uproar. There are still people who are resistant, but not serious. Xu Yinluo's reputation has also improved. Most people in the capital still love him. "

After Liu Hong finished, he couldn't help but laugh,

"With Xu Yinluo's current reputation, he is the most suitable person to protect and escort Your Highness. No one in the court is more popular than him. "

When a princess ascended to the throne, the nobles were more likely to accept it than the people. As long as the benefits were in place, and with force, there were many who surrendered.

Most importantly, in the eyes of the ruling class, although Huaiqing was a woman, she still had the blood of the royal family.

It was an exception for a woman to become the emperor, and the next emperor would still be the royal family of Daibun.

This greatly reduced the resistance of the ruling class.

But the people didn't care about this. To appease and convince the people, Huaiqing's prestige was not enough, and neither was the prestige of the ministers. Only Xu Qi 'an could do it.

Qian Qingshu echoed,

"Whether Your Highness can unite the people's hearts depends on tomorrow."

Huaiqing lowered her head and read the report in her hand. She didn't raise her head and said, "Hmm."

"It's getting late. My dear ministers, you can leave now."

The three of them bowed and left the imperial study.

The report in Huaiqing's hand was handed by the Cabinet. The content was about all the affairs after the ascension. There were many trivial matters, but one was very important, which was to summon the governors and commanders of the states back to the capital to report.

This was actually a negotiation, a roping in, and a form of ideological work for the big shots of the various states.

…

The next day.

On this day, the atmosphere in the capital was extremely strange. From the nobles to the common people, they all knew that this was a day destined to be recorded in history.

Because Princess Royal Huaiqing ascended to the throne today, which had never happened in Daibun for six hundred years.

Ordinary people had no chance to see the emperor's ascension, but it didn't prevent them from paying attention and discussing.

Each class had different opinions. The students of the Imperial College and the scholars were distressed by the ascension of Huaiqing. Even if the Yunzhou delegation was paraded in the street, it couldn't win their favor.

At most, they didn't scold Xu Qi 'an.

The common people had the most mixed opinions. Some couldn't accept it, some didn't care about it, and some chose to believe in Xu Yinluo.

In the Xu Mansion, Aunt also expressed her opinion on behalf of the noble women.

"Master, Ning Yan is just messing around. How can a woman be the Empress? I don't dare to go out. I'm afraid of being recognized as Xu Ningyan's aunt. What if someone smashes me with rotten eggs? "

Aunt was as beautiful as ever. Time seemed to take pity on her.

Although she didn't look like a girl sitting with her daughter, she didn't look old. Her face was tender and white without any wrinkles.

The second uncle Xu lowered his head to eat and didn't express his opinion.

"Big brother knows what he's doing."

Compared with her mother, Xu Lingyue appreciated her big brother's feat.

Seeing that her conversation had become awkward, the aunt sighed.

"Qingzhou has fallen, and there's no news of Erlang. Lingyin is cultivating in the Gu Tribe. I don't know when she will come back. Will she be bullied by the barbarians in the Southern Border?

"Xu Ningyan is a heartless bastard. He's back in the capital, but he doesn't know how to go home."

As she spoke, Aunt's eyes froze and she looked straight out of the hall.