After Ye Kong left, Ye Fan and Fujiwara No Chiko accompanied Jinchan and Xiao Zhao to sightsee every day. Ye Kong did not stop at all along the way. At night, he used his movement technique to take shortcuts. During the day, he rode a fast horse on the main road. The next evening, he arrived at the ancestral home. After Ye Kong dismounted, he did not directly enter through the main door. Instead, he went around to the back wall of the ancestral home and jumped in. The situation was urgent. He did not know what had happened in the ancestral home, so he had to be careful.
After a careful inspection, Ye Kong did not find anything strange. He directly went to Ye Yun's room. However, when he pushed the door open, he found that Ye Yun was not in the room.
Since he was not here, he should be in the meeting room. As Ye Kong thought about it, he quickly walked to the meeting hall. When he pushed open the door to the meeting hall, he realized that more than half of the other branch heads of the Ye Family had already arrived. They were seated on both sides of the meeting hall, and all of them had solemn expressions on their faces.
Ye Yun sat in the middle of the main seat. He was also frowning. When they saw Ye Kong enter, everyone stood up to greet him. After Ye Kong returned the greeting, he bowed to Ye Yun. Although they were father and son, rules were rules. He could not be careless.
"Kong 'er, you came." Ye Yun said after Ye Kong bowed.
"Head, why did you summon us in such a hurry?" Ye Kong sat down and asked after bowing. In public, Ye Kong could not casually call him father.
"Ye Chen," Ye Yun said, "Tell him."
"Yes, Boss," said Ye Chen, who was sitting opposite Ye Kong. Ye Chen was the head of another branch of the Ye Clan. He was of the same generation as Ye Kong. Because he was the second son in the family, Ye Kong had always called him Second Brother. Since they were young, he was the one who got along with Ye Kong the most. The two of them were as close as real brothers. Later on, Ye Chen obtained scholarly honors and became an official. He was now the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War.
Ye Chen's branch was extraordinary. The bronze figurines in the ancestral mansion had been passed down from their branch. Zhuge Liang's' Crouching Dragon Book 'had now been passed down to Ye Chen. Thus, whether it was the secret arts of Yin and Yang, the art of divination, or the art of creation, Ye Chen was extremely proficient in them all. In addition, he was an important official of the court, so his reputation in the Ye clan was extremely high. Even so, Ye Chen was not arrogant because of his talent. On the contrary, he kept a low profile and did not put on the airs of an official.
"Second Brother, what's going on?" Ye Kong hurriedly asked.
"Eldest Brother, it's like this," Ye Chen said, "A few days ago, I received a secret message. Someone in the court wrote a memorial to the Emperor to protest against our Ye Clan."
"Protest against us?" Ye Kong was confused. "Protest against us for what?"
"Protest that our Ye Clan's power is too great," Ye Chen said.
"Too great? What kind of crime is that? " Ye Kong's brows furrowed. "Our Ye Clan does have some power, but it's not enough to alarm the Emperor. In terms of power, isn't any relative of the Emperor or the Grand Secretary more powerful than us? How could it cause the court to be worried? "
"Eldest Brother, you don't know," Ye Chen said, "The court is full of undercurrents of mutual deception. Ministers with ulterior motives can be found everywhere. Our Ye Clan is in charge of the military equipment of the court. From the Emperor's sword to the armor and spears of the ordinary soldiers, it's all our Ye Clan's responsibility. This has caused many ministers to be dissatisfied. In addition, the Emperor has granted us several mines, giving those people an excuse. "
"What excuse?" Ye Kong asked.
"Privately made coins." Ye Chen said.
"Privately made coins?" Night Sky was shocked after hearing this.
"We are a family of weaponsmiths and have copper mines," Ye Chen explained. "If we can forge divine weapons, we can naturally forge coins."
"The Ye Clan has been loyal for generations. How could we do such a thing," Ye Kong said. "This is pure slander."
"But these words have caused the Emperor to be worried," Ye Chen said. "According to reliable information, someone casually took out a few copper coins and showed them to the Emperor, slandering that it was done by our Ye Clan. In addition, our Ye Clan has a very high status in Jianghu. The Emperor is worried that our Ye Clan is too powerful. He is afraid that if we rise in power in the future, we will not be able to control it. "
Ye Kong heard this and frowned in silence. Privately making coins was a great crime. If the Emperor was hot-headed and listened to slander, then wouldn't that be … Ye Kong didn't dare to think any further.
"This is only one of the reasons," Ye Chen said worriedly. "What worries the Emperor even more is the secret report from the Imperial Astronomer."
"Secret report?" Ye Kong frowned. "What secret report? What relationship does our Ye Clan have with the Imperial Astronomer?"
"It's because of what happened a month ago," Ye Chen said with a sigh. "That day, the Imperial Astronomer discovered that the sky above our ancestral home was abnormal. Purple energy lingered, golden light flashed, and a true dragon appeared. They reported this matter to the Emperor."
"What about it?" Ye Kong asked.
"What about it?" Ye Chen said with a frown. "Big Brother, your thinking is too simple. Because of this matter, someone reported that our Ye Clan has Dragon Qi. If we don't get rid of it, there will be an Emperor in the future. Adding on the appearance of the Blood Moon twenty-three years ago, Big Brother, think about it. Connecting all these things together, how can the Emperor not be worried?"
Ye Kong's brow furrowed and he sank into deep thought. Ye Chen's analysis was reasonable. The Ye Clan was in charge of military equipment and had a very high status in Jianghu. As long as they made a call, there would naturally be heroes coming to help. Now that a true dragon had appeared a month ago, if he was the Emperor, he would also be worried.
"What is the situation now?" Ye Kong asked. "What does the Emperor plan to do?"
"I heard from the supervising eunuch that the Emperor has secretly summoned several important officials in the last few days. He also summoned Zhejiang's Wang Clan." Ye Chen said with a worried expression.
"Wang Family?" Ye Kong said in shock, "Could it be that the Emperor is preparing to …"
"Replace them." Ye Chen said, "The Wang family in Zhejiang is also a weaponsmithing family, and they've always viewed our Ye family as their mortal enemy. As far as I know, the Wang family has already bribed several ministers in the imperial court with a large sum of money. These ministers will definitely strongly recommend the Wang family to the emperor. If I'm not wrong, the imperial court will issue an imperial edict in a few days to hand over the right to manufacture armaments to the Wang family.
"How will the Emperor deal with our Ye Clan?" Ye Kong asked.
"I don't know." Ye Chen shook his head. "The Emperor's will is hard to predict. Maybe he will remove officials and seize power, maybe … "He didn't finish his sentence.
"I urgently summoned you here to discuss this matter," Ye Yun said. "This matter concerns the life and death of the Ye Clan. I can't make the decision alone."
After everyone heard this, they all frowned and remained silent.
"Head," one of the people said to Ye Yun, "Now that things have come to this, in this junior's opinion, we should take the initiative to hand over the power to manufacture military equipment before the Emperor issues the imperial edict to show our loyalty. On the other hand, head and second brother should personally meet with the Emperor to explain this matter."
"No." Another person said, "We didn't do anything wrong. If we take the initiative to hand over the power, wouldn't it be a tacit agreement? As for meeting with the Emperor, it is even more inappropriate. As the saying goes, accompanying the Emperor is like accompanying a tiger. What if the Emperor gets angry and punishes head and second brother? We can't go against the imperial edict, right? "
After everyone heard this, they all started to whisper to each other.
"Head," another person stood up and said, "How about this, since meeting with the Emperor is dangerous, why don't we let second brother say that he is ill and retire. Then we can submit a memorial to explain this matter. This way, we don't have to put ourselves in danger and we can also explain this matter. If the Emperor believes us, he naturally won't punish us. If he doesn't believe us, we still have time to prepare. "
"Prepare for what? Rebellion or escape? "the person who had just said to hand over the power asked.
"No matter what, we can't just let ourselves be captured and be trampled on," that person replied.
"If you ask me, we should go directly to those treacherous officials," another person in the crowd said, "Isn't it just a bit of money? Our Ye Family doesn't have anything else but money. In terms of financial resources, the Wang Family is no match for us. This way, won't the matter be solved? "
"I've thought of this method before, but it still can't solve the problem," Ye Chen said, "The matter has already reached a point where it can't be controlled. The Emperor is already worried. The Ye Family's true dragon has appeared. This is a fact. Even if those officials are bribed by us, the Emperor will still be worried. If we don't handle it well, it will be counterproductive."
"If you ask me, we should go directly to Zhejiang's Wang Family to talk," a person wearing a green robe in the crowd said, "In terms of financial resources, power, and weaponsmithing, their Wang Family is no match for us. Moreover, right now, second brother still holds an important position. No matter what, the Wang Family should reconsider."
"Talk? How? " A person wearing a red robe said, "The crux of the problem is not the Wang Family, but the Emperor. Even if the Wang Family doesn't interfere, the Emperor is already on guard against our Ye Family. Right now, the crux of the problem is what the Emperor will do. Will he remove the officials and seize the titles or confiscate the family? Will he be exiled to the army or executed? This is the crux of the problem. "
"Ye Bai is right," Ye Chen said, "Everything is on the Emperor."
"Our Ye Family has been loyal for generations. I didn't think that the Emperor still doesn't trust us," someone in the crowd sighed.
"Big Brother," Ye Chen saw that Ye Kong didn't speak for a while and asked, "What do you think about this matter?"
"I feel that since the Emperor is suspicious of the Ye Family but hasn't immediately issued an edict, he must still be hesitating," Ye Kong said. "After all, our Ye Family has been loyal to the court for generations and has never made any mistakes. Right now, in my opinion, we should make two preparations."
"What two preparations?" Ye Chen asked.
"First prepare for the worst," Ye Kong said. "Secretly transfer half of the property and important items to prevent the Emperor from issuing an edict to confiscate the family. That way, we will have the capital to make a comeback."
"That makes sense," Ye Chen nodded and said, "What's the second?"
"Er Di and I will go with Master to see the Emperor," Ye Kong said.
"See the Emperor?" Ye Chen asked.
"That's right," Ye Kong said, "Rather than waiting for the Emperor to issue an edict, it is better to take the initiative to tell the Emperor about this matter."
"What do we say when we see the Emperor?" Ye Chen asked with a frown.
"Tell him the truth," Ye Kong said.
"Then what if the Emperor is still worried?" Ye Chen asked worriedly.
"Then we will hand over control of the military," Ye Kong said. "The Emperor isn't stupid and should understand our efforts."
"This …" Ye Chen began to hesitate, "Master, what do you think?"
"Ye Kong is right," Ye Yun said. "Taking the initiative to attack is always better than sitting and waiting for death," Ye Yun took a deep breath, stood up and said, "Master, give the order."
Everyone immediately stood up and bowed, respectfully waiting for Ye Yun's order.
"You all immediately return and transfer half of the property. Also, secretly send people to observe the movements of the government. If the soldiers make any strange movements, immediately take your family members and escape through the secret passage." Ye Yun said, "Our Ye Family has some friendship with the Tubo King. When the time comes, think of a way to escape there. Remember, if you don't see the Ye Family's secret signal, do not show yourself easily. “
"Yes!" Everyone answered in unison.
"Ye Chen, Ye Kong, you two stay here," Ye Yun said. "The rest of you immediately leave."
Everyone cupped their hands and bowed, then immediately turned and left.
"You two, bring your weapons," Ye Yun slowly said to Ye Kong and Ye Chen, "Tonight, we will break into the Imperial Palace."
"Break …" Ye Chen turned pale with fright when he heard this, "Break into … the Imperial Palace? The Imperial Palace? "
Ye Kong also frowned when he heard this. He could roughly guess his father's intention.
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