On April 26th, the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was clear. The weather is excellent.
The Imperial Ancestral Temple is the place where the Dayan people worshiped the heavens and offered sacrifices to their ancestors. It covers a large area, with hundreds of long steps in the middle and lifelike auspicious beasts standing on both sides. At the end of the long steps is the majestic Imperial Ancestral Temple, with the eaves high up and corners hanging. The temple has enshrined the ancestors of the Dayan since its founding.
The solemn Imperial Ancestral Temple was filled with tension and a stagnant atmosphere today.
On the long steps were the civil and military officials, and outside the Imperial Ancestral Temple were the royal family members of Dayan, but they were all silent and solemn.
Today is Yuan Heng’s heavenly worshipping ceremony. Following the old custom of Dayan, after worshiping the heavens and ancestors today, Yuan Heng will be the true king of Dayan.
The Imperial Astronomical Observatory held the document for offering sacrifices to the heavens in his hand and bowed slightly. The gorgeous clothes and tall hat on his body weighed more than a thousand pounds. The sun was high, and he was sweating all over his back.
It was because someone shouted “wait a minute” like a bolt from the blue, interrupting the worshipping ceremony.
The Imperial Astronomical Observatory watched the person slowly coming out of the line. It turned out to be the old King Xiang. King Xiang was a king of a different surname from Dayan. He was highly respected by the late emperor. He was old, with gray hair on his temples. He had injured his leg while saving the late emperor a few years ago. He was leaning on a cane given by the late emperor himself. He looked quite old, but his eyes were still compelling. He looked directly at Yuan Heng and said, “Dayan has been established for hundreds of years, and there has never been an emperor who killed his own father, usurped the throne, or colluded with foreign invaders.”
“What is the basis for worshipping to heaven? And how can you worship with today’s worshipping ceremony?”
As soon as King Xiang finished speaking, all the civil and military officials in the court took a deep breath.
Yuan Heng wore the imperial crown on his head, and his expression was calm. After a while, he smiled and calmly said, “King Xiang Uncle, where did you get this from?”
“Zhen inherited by the order of the late emperor and was appointed by heaven. Everyone in the world knows this.” Yuan Heng said. “Today is the heavenly sacrifice ceremony. King Uncle started to talk about patricide and usurpation of the throne, collusion with foreign invaders, and other nonsense. Could it be that you were bewitched by someone?”
King Xiang sneered and said, “It is precisely because today is the heavenly worshipping ceremony that I want to expose the dirty things you have done in front of all the gods and Buddhas in the sky and the ancestors of Dayan!”
The pearls over Yuan Heng’s forehead shook, and he said, “King Uncle, be careful with your words.” His eyes jumped over the crowd and fell on Yuan Zheng. The stupid look on Yuan Zheng’s face disappeared completely, and he looked at him expressionlessly. Yuan Heng thought to himself, The truth has been revealed, and they are all waiting for this day. The two of them looked at each other, and Yuan Heng slowly said, “Old King Xiang is confused, Shizi is also confused!”
One of the clan members shuddered, lowered his head, and dared not say a word.
But in a moment, Marquis Ping An, Zhao Qian, angrily said, “Why don’t you all invite Old King Xiang to leave?”
King Xiang leaned his cane on the ground, raised his head, and stood up straight, saying, “Let’s see who dares.”
Zhao Qian brushed his sleeves, took a step forward, and said, “King Xiang has a great reputation, why do you believe the words of a villain and talk nonsense here? You’d better retreat first, don’t delay the ceremony.”
King Xiang coldly said, “You have evil ambitions, you poisoned the late emperor. Do you really think you can conceal your actions?”
He suddenly raised his arm, holding a bright yellow scroll stained with black blood, and said, “The net of heaven is vast, and nothing can escape it. The late emperor’s will is here. I will see who dares to act rashly!”
As soon as the word ‘will’ came out, everyone stared at the thing in his hand. Zhao Qian said, “King Xiang, you are really old and confused. The late emperor did not issue a will when he was alive. You are holding something in your hand that came from nowhere to slander the monarch here in order to shake the people’s hearts. It’s really ridiculous.”
“Why don’t you send King Xiang away!”
Zhao Qian’s voice was stern, and the guards on both sides were all around. Several people rushed forward upon hearing the voice, but King Xiang had already opened the will and read in a long voice, “The Seventh Prince Yuan Zheng, a man of noble character—”
When the whole crowd heard the name “Seventh Prince Yuan Zheng”, they all looked at Yuan Zheng, who was standing at the front.
Yuan Zheng lowered his eyes, stood upright, and had a sharp face, which made him look gloomy and deep.
Seeing those people quickly approaching King Xiang, Meng Tan suddenly spoke up, he said in a cold voice, “How dare you! How dare you offend King Xiang?” He walked out leisurely, looked at Yuan Heng with a calm face, and smiled, “Since it is the late emperor’s last will, why not listen to it?”
Zhao Qian sneered, “You say it’s a will, then it’s a will?”
“The heavenly worshipping ceremony is imminent, but you keep obstructing it and causing trouble. I think you have ulterior motives and intend to offend the superiors!”
He raised his hand, and the sound of the armors of the city guards rang out, and the wind blew the black flags fluttering on the long steps, making a rustling sound.
Yuan Zheng suddenly laughed and said, “If this is not a will, Zhao Qian, why did you burn Rongxiang Fang in the night?”
When he opened his mouth, Zhao Qian’s expression slightly shifted, and the surrounding clansmen subconsciously took a step back. Yuan Zheng was thin and tall, he was standing alone.
Yuan Heng looked at Yuan Zheng, smiled slightly, and said, “Ah Zheng, when will your craziness be cured?” He emphasized the word ‘craziness’, and Yuan Zheng calmly said, “Yuan Heng, it’s not me who is crazy, it’s you.”
Yuan Heng narrowed his eyes and smiled. “You acted recklessly when Emperor Father was alive, but today is the heavenly worshipping ceremony, don’t cause trouble.”
Yuan Zheng pulled the corner of his mouth and said, “Heavenly worshipping?”
“Yuan Heng, take a look at the ancestors enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the ancestral teachings carved on the national stone.” Yuan Zheng said coldly, “Are you going to tell them that you secretly colluded with the Hu people for your own selfish reasons and caused chaos in the northern border, or are you going to tell them how you poisoned Emperor Father and plotted to usurp the throne?”
Yuan Heng looked at him without saying a word, then suddenly laughed and said, “Ah Zheng, you keep saying that I colluded with the Hu people and poisoned Emperor Father. Where is the evidence?”
“Emperor Father really did favors you, and he passed the throne to me, so you feel unfair, but Ah Zheng,” Yuan Heng slowly said, “What have you done? For so many years, you have relied on Emperor Father’s favor to be domineering and willful. Doesn’t Emperor Father have any disappointment in you?”
Yuan Zheng’s face turned ugly. Yuan Heng raised his head. The two brothers were separated by the emperor’s crystal-clear and cold pearl tassels. “Ah Zheng, where were you when our Emperor Father was lying on his sickbed?”
Yuan Zheng’s face was pale, which made his eyes look dark and cold. He stared at Yuan Heng, smiled coldly, and said, “Emperor Father didn’t die of illness at all. You poisoned him to death!”
“You colluded with Yan Le, instructed Chen Qing to retreat without a fight and give up Shanghe Prefecture, and then slaughtered his entire family. Do you really think you are impeccable in all these evil deeds?”
When this was said, all officials were in an uproar. The late emperor passed away suddenly, and there were many doubts about this matter. There were many civil and military officials who were suspicious of this matter, but before that, King Ding, Yuan Cheng, forced the emperor to abdicate, and everything was a foregone conclusion, so they had to put it aside. Now that the old case was brought up in public, some officials looked at each other and weighed the pros and cons.
Zhao Qian sneered, “Absurd! To frame the monarch with such absurd and false statements, everyone,” He looked around and said coldly, “The Seventh Prince—has gone crazy.”
“How can we trust a madman’s words?!”
Li Anyu, the junior official of the Dali Court, was the first to step out of the line, bow to Yuan Heng, and say in a deep voice, “Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince is in a clear mind and does not seem crazy. What he said is indeed shocking. It is still unclear whether the will in King Xiang’s hands is legitimate or not. The minister begs Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate what the Seventh Prince said.”
He stood up, and after a while, several people behind him seconded his opinion. Yuan Heng’s face gradually turned colder, and he scolded, “How dare you!”
The soldiers around him moved upon hearing the noise. After a moment, they heard the sound of weapons clashing in the distance. Someone shouted in a hurry, “Your Majesty, the imperial guards have trespassed into the Imperial Ancestral Temple!”
Yuan Heng suddenly looked at Yuan Zheng and coldly said, “Yuan Zheng, do you want to rebel?”
Yuan Zheng was indifferent and calmly said, “It’s just to get everything back on track.”
At the General’s Mansion.
The sun was rising higher, and the ground was covered with bloody corpses. Cen Yelan endured for a moment, but when he killed another person with his spear, he couldn’t hold it back anymore and vomited a few times. Su Chenzhao panicked and grabbed his arm tightly, shouting, “Ah Lan.”
Cen Yelan closed his eyes and said, “It’s fine.”
Su Chenzhao was a weak physician who didn’t know martial arts. Seeing the bloody scene, he felt dizzy and his legs were shaking when he stepped into the pool of blood.
Cen Yelan had left an elite force in the mansion. When they rushed out of the mansion, they saw soldiers surrounding the gate, all holding bows and crossbows, ready for battle. The assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice who interrogated him that day was sitting on a horse. When he saw Cen Yelan, he leaned forward and said, “General Cen, His Majesty invites you.”
