Not long after, a hustle and bustle could be heard from outside. It was clear that Pucha Ahte and his men had barged in.
It was fortunate that Song Qingshu had mastered the art of disguise. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to disguise himself as Wanyan Xue in such a short time. Even so, he didn't dare to be careless. He was afraid that the lack of time would lead to an unexpected mistake.
Wanyan Ping saw his apprehension and quickly said, "I'll go out and buy some time. You can inspect the room."
She ran out. Soon, her delicate shout could be heard from outside. "How dare you barge into His Majesty's palace!"
Glancing at Wanyan Ping, Pucha Ahte smiled insincerely. "If I remember correctly, you're Tang Kuo Bian's sister-in-law. As the saying goes, the sister-in-law is the brother-in-law's little cotton-padded jacket. It seems to be true today."
Wanyan Ping's face turned red. "What do you mean?"
Pucha Ahte said coldly, "I now suspect that the Emperor in the palace isn't the real Emperor, but an imposter created by Tang Kuo Bian."
"Preposterous!" Wanyan Ping unsheathed her saber. Her subordinates followed suit. "You've misled the people with your lies. You deserve to be punished!"
Pucha Ahte didn't care about her threat at all. Instead, he unsheathed his sword. "Just because your saber is sharp, my sword isn't?"
His subordinates also unsheathed their weapons and confronted the men from the Laundry Yard. Because they had the advantage in numbers, Qiu Qianren was worried that Wanyan Ping would be at a disadvantage. He led his subordinates to surround Ahte's men from the outside. Layer after layer, the atmosphere was tense.
Seeing that a battle would break out at the slightest sign of trouble, the door to the palace finally opened. Huiyue Shi walked out and said, "His Majesty already knows why you've come. He was originally furious, but considering that the Southern Song Dynasty's northern expedition is imminent, in order to stabilize the army's morale and keep the court's civil and military officials in harmony, he has agreed to accept the inspection by these elders." Huiyue Shi was now the head of the inner attendants, so no one found it strange to see her.
Pucha Ahte was inwardly shocked. At first, he had guessed that the other party would never agree to let his men inspect the room and had prepared to take advantage of the situation. Who would have thought that the other party would act in such a way and agree to be inspected?
"Isn't he afraid of being exposed?" At this moment, Pucha and Ahu began to doubt whether the emperor was real or not. But when he thought of all the information he had received, he calmed down.
"Humph, he's just putting on an act. I was almost fooled. If he's really the emperor, how could he tolerate someone else inspecting him?" Pucha Ahute was originally only 90% sure, but now he was 100% sure.
After the old men entered, Pucha and Ahu prepared to enter as well, but they were stopped by Huiyue Shi at the door. "His Majesty has already broken a heaven-defying rule by allowing people to inspect the palace. How can he allow unrelated people to enter and watch?"
"You're saying that I'm an outsider!" Pucha roared angrily.
"Of course not, General Pu Cha. You can enter, but your subordinates can't," Emissary Huiyue said coldly.
Pucha Ahute's breath caught in his throat. Looking at the deep bedchamber, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. Could it be that they're purposely sending my subordinates away so that they can catch a turtle in a jar?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. The image of the great general He Jin at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who had also held the military power of the world in his hands, came to mind. He was so frightened that he hurriedly waved his hands and said, "Haha, I won't go in, lest I disturb His Majesty."
The surrounding people had strange expressions on their faces. You brought so many soldiers to force an abdication and still say that you're afraid of disturbing His Majesty …
But since the leaders didn't enter, the others could only stand far away at the door. Fortunately, the bedchamber wasn't closed, and they could roughly see the situation inside from the door.
They saw the emperor sitting in the imperial study, and the elders that Pucha Ahute had brought with him first kowtowed to him, then got up and walked over.
Looking at him from afar, His Majesty still seems to be the same emperor, many people thought.
Only Pucha Ahute secretly sneered. Even if you're pretending to be the same, can your physical characteristics be the same? These elders were the most respected figures in the Jurchen tribe, and they could be said to have watched His Majesty grow up. How could a fake fool their eyes? Even if the physical characteristics are the same, it can't be the same memory, can it? Ever since he was young, His Majesty has experienced so many things. If he were to casually ask the imposter about any of them, she would be exposed. "
Pucha Ahute glanced in Tang Kuo Bian's direction, but he couldn't see any change in the latter's expression. He was very pleased. During this period of time, Tang Kuo Bian had eliminated dissidents and promoted the members of the Tang Family without restraint, causing many of them to be transferred away from important positions. Now, as long as Tang Kuo Bian was removed, the Jin Kingdom would belong to the Tang Family.
Everyone looked nervously in the direction of the imperial study. They saw the elders begin to approach the emperor, and they even untied the emperor's dragon robe to examine certain parts of his body. At the same time, there seemed to be a few elders asking the emperor some questions. Unfortunately, they were too far away to hear what they were saying.
"I wonder what the result will be?" Everyone present felt uneasy. Even Ge Bi, Wanyan Ping, and the others were uneasy. Only Pucha Ahute was the calmest.
After a while, the elders stood up and bowed to the emperor again, then slowly retreated from the bedchamber.
Pucha Ahute frowned, thinking that since it was proven that he was a fake, why did they still bow to him? But on second thought, even if these old foxes had seen through the flaw, they wouldn't dare to reveal anything, lest the other party would kill them in anger.
With this thought, his somewhat anxious heart calmed down.
After the elders left the door, Pucha Ahute walked over with a smile. "What's the result? You've found out that he's a fake, haven't you?"
The leader of the elders gave him a meaningful look, then walked directly to where Tang Kuo Bian was, and said, "After our continuous examination, we can confirm that …"
He paused, and seeing that he had attracted everyone's attention, he said, "His Majesty is the real deal, he wasn't impersonated!"
"Didn't I say that His Majesty was a fake …" Pucha Ahute replied instinctively, but his expression suddenly froze, and he looked at the person in disbelief. "What did you say?"
The plan he had plotted for so long had suddenly failed at the last moment. In that instant, his mind went blank, and he instinctively became stern, scaring the elders into taking a step back.
Ge Bi stepped forward and sneered. "What, are you trying to threaten them?"
"What threaten? The one inside is clearly a fake!" Sensing the commotion among his subordinates, Pucha Ahute immediately panicked.
Although Ge Bi didn't know how Song Qingshu had done it, she knew that if she didn't seize this opportunity, she would have lived in vain in the imperial family. "Don't be afraid, if you have something to say, just say it. With me here, no one can hurt you!"
The leader said, "We've carefully examined His Majesty's body. There are some hidden characteristics that even the concubines might not know about, but we've watched His Majesty grow up, so we naturally know everything about him. At the same time, we asked His Majesty some things about his childhood. At that time, he wasn't the Emperor yet, not even the Crown Prince. Naturally, he didn't have any servants by his side. It can be said that other than us and the real Emperor, no one else knows about those things. Just now, we asked four or five questions, and His Majesty answered them all clearly."
"How is this possible … How is this possible …" The sudden change from heaven to hell made Pucha a little crazy, and he kept muttering to himself.
Ge Bi took the opportunity to say, "It's already very clear. His Majesty is the real Emperor, but someone has ill intentions and is using this as an excuse to commit treason."
"Nonsense!" Pucha Ahute snapped out of his daze. "You must have been bribed. Yes, you must have been bribed by Tang Kuo Bian!" As he spoke, he pointed at the old men and scolded them.
The old men were all people of high status in the Nüzhen tribe, and being slandered like this, they couldn't take it anymore. "Ahute, what nonsense are you spouting? We're old men with half a foot in the grave, who can bribe us? We speak with our conscience, with the justice in our hearts! "
The old men spoke at once, rebuking Pucha Ahute with the attitude of an elder, making him fly into a rage.
"My sons, follow me to purge the Emperor's side!" Pucha and Ahu unsheathed their swords, but other than his most trusted subordinates who raised their weapons, the rest of the soldiers looked at each other, their eyes filled with suspicion. If the Emperor was a fake, then they would be bringing order out of chaos, and all of them would be rewarded. But if the Emperor was real, then wouldn't they be rebelling? After all, in this world, rebelling was a crime punishable by nine familial executions. Who would dare not hesitate?
"Ahute, how much longer do you want to keep this up?" Song Qingshu appeared at the palace gates in the guise of Wanyan Ping.
Ge Bi immediately knelt down and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"
The elders of the Imperial Clan that Ahhu had specially found felt that they had been instigated to offend the Emperor and were worried about how to atone for their crimes. Seeing this, they hurriedly knelt down and shouted louder than anyone else, "Long live our Emperor!"
Wanyan Ping and her subordinates from the Laundry Brothel also knelt on the ground, while Qiu Qianren and the Imperial Guards followed suit.
"Long live the Emperor!" Chants of "Long live the Emperor" resounded throughout the palace. No one knew who started it, but Pucha Ahute's soldiers also threw down their weapons and knelt on the ground, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"
Seeing that only a few hundred of his most trusted subordinates were left, their faces pale and their eyes filled with despair, Pucha Ahute knew that everything was over.
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