AWB Chapter 159 A Sudden Change
Chapter 159 A Sudden Change
The Prince's Mansion in the East Palace.
Countless guards and secret guards in the entire mansion were killed or wounded, and the royal guards outside were still approaching. The prince looked at the leading deputy commander He in disbelief. He didn't believe that his mother would want his life. He remembered clearly how good his mother had been to him over the years.
But there is no doubt that Deputy Commander He is his mother's man.
Could it be that Deputy Commander He betrayed the Queen Mother?
This was the only possibility he could think of.
"Deputy Commander He, I want to ask you, who ordered you to kill me?"
Deputy Commander He was helpless. At this time, the prince would rather believe that he had betrayed the queen than believe that the queen wanted to kill him. It could be said that the prince was really too kind.
"Hurry up and tell me." The prince roared, as if he must get the answer from Deputy Commander He.
Deputy Commander He sighed, "Your Highness, you already have the answer in your mind! Why bother asking it? It's better to keep some thoughts in mind!"
The prince's face was covered in blood, the crown on his head had long been scattered, his hair was flying all over the place, and he no longer looked the same as before.
"She treats me like this because of Li Qi, right?"
He seemed to be asking the deputy commander, but also seemed to be asking himself.
Deputy Commander He did not answer the prince. He raised his hand and immediately issued a death order again, insisting on killing the prince.
The prince closed his eyes and watched as more and more people surrounded and killed him. The warriors who protected him fell one after another. He felt despair. However, when he remembered what his father had said to him not long ago, hope rekindled in his heart.
"Help me break through the siege." The prince gave an order, and the five top masters who surrounded him and protected him rushed out and entangled with Deputy Commander He's men.
The prince's side, which had just been at a disadvantage, was actually in a stalemate with the people led by Deputy Commander He for a while.
At this moment, another group of people rushed out.
The person who came was Zhang Lianci. Seeing that the prince was not dead yet, he was glad that he had listened to Eunuch Cao's advice.
He seemed to have seen through the prince's thoughts. Seeing the prince's fierce resistance, he said:
"Your Highness, why are you doing this? The Queen has given up on you. You will never see His Majesty again, and no one will save you. These people have been with you for so many years, and you have always considered yourself kind! Do you have the heart to watch them all be buried with you?"
Zhang Lianci was worthy of being the head of the civil servants. With just a few words, he shattered the prince's hopes bit by bit. His father was critically ill, and the person who controlled the internal and external affairs of the court and the harem was his mother.
Seeing the prince's wavering state of mind, Zhang Lianci's eyes flashed with a smile, and he continued: "This old minister might as well tell you that the royal family just woke up and issued an edict to your highness, but..." He took out the edict that should have been in Wei Lin's hands: "But he has been killed by my people, and this edict is also in my hands. Your highness, do you think your fearless struggle is of any use?"
After saying this, he asked someone to bring a fire starter and burned the edict to ashes in front of the crown prince.
Then he took out the fake imperial edict that he had prepared at the beginning from his sleeve and read it out in front of the prince, accusing Li Chen of not having the ability to employ people and judge right and wrong as a monarch should, and not having made any achievements that were beneficial to the court for many years. Now, he has also lost the ability to add offspring to the royal family, and is completely unfit to be the prince of Jin.
After hearing what Zhang Lianci said, the prince's teeth chattered, his eyes turned red, and he looked at Zhang Lianci with deep hatred.
"Your Highness, please don't blame me. I can only blame myself because His Majesty thinks too highly of you. In order to take me with you, I have no choice but to find another way."
"If you do this, aren't you afraid that your father will kill all nine generations of your Zhang family?"
Zhang Lianci chuckled and said, "Your Highness, there is no need to worry about this."
Seeing the despair in the prince's eyes, he said kindly, "Your Highness, you don't have to be so sad. You won't be alone on the road. Your good father will be here to accompany you soon."
Everyone originally thought that this sentence would make the prince even more desperate and helpless, even Zhang Lianci thought so.
But Li Chen didn't. He let out a long breath and suddenly laughed.
"What are you laughing at?" Zhang Lianci frowned and looked at the prince.
"Prime Minister Zhang, do you want to know what I'm thinking? I'll tell you right away." As the prince spoke, he seemed to be full of life again. The despair in his eyes completely changed. He looked at Zhang Lianci as if he was the one who was about to die. He laughed loudly and said, "Prime Minister Zhang, have you ever heard the saying, 'The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind?' You're so smart, don't you notice something wrong?"
After the prince said this, Zhang Lianci immediately realized something was wrong. His eyelids twitched and he suddenly looked at Deputy Commander He beside him.
Deputy Commander He, who had originally pointed his knife at the prince, suddenly turned the tip of the knife towards himself and chopped him down without any warning.
Zhang Lianci's body reacted faster than his brain. He didn't know where he got the strength from, but he pulled the old attendant who was closest to him and had been with him all his life and stood in front of him.
Before the old attendant could react, he was killed by Deputy Commander He's sword.
This sudden reversal caught everyone off guard. Zhang Lianci reacted at this time and immediately asked someone to stand in front of him.
"Commander He, are you betraying the Queen?" Zhang Lianci asked in a deep voice.
Deputy Commander He shook his head:
"The one I will always be loyal to is Your Majesty." He said calmly, "Sir Zhang, you intended to kill the crown prince and colluded with Eunuch Cao to murder Your Majesty. You deserve death. I am following Your Majesty's order to kill you without mercy." As he said that, he rushed towards Zhang Lianci.
However, after several moves, they were all blocked by the people brought by Zhang Lianci.
Zhang Lianci then calmed down, looking at the viciousness in Deputy Commander He's eyes without disguising it: "You are not qualified to kill me. Even if you are His Majesty's man, it doesn't matter. I am not afraid of him, so why would I be afraid of you? You are just a big ant. Today, you and the prince will not be able to escape."
They turned to look at the imperial guards brought by Deputy Commander He. They were originally bribed by the Queen. Now they saw with their own eyes that their commander, Deputy Commander He, suddenly rebelled. They were not people of firm character to begin with, and were at a loss at this moment.
Zhang Lianci said bewitchingly:
"What are you still hesitating about? The royal family is in danger now. As long as you kill the crown prince and He Wu, when His Royal Highness Prince Qi ascends the throne, I will ask for merit on your behalf. You will be meritorious officials."
His words seemed to have successfully convinced the wavering Royal Guards, and they looked at the Crown Prince again.
A smile appeared on Zhang Lianci's face.
But the next moment, his smile froze on his face.
A man walked out of the Prince's Mansion. He looked at Zhang Lianci sarcastically and snorted, "That will only work if Prime Minister Zhang survives!"
"Marquis Yuzhang, why are you in the Prince's Mansion?" Zhang Lianci's bad premonition became even stronger.