Chapter 1360: Drag them all out and chop them off!
Faced with the steel knife at his neck, the originally unruly Third Prince became frank and spoke everything he knew.
After some questioning, it was learned that the Immortal Master Sun claimed to be from the Five Stones Society. Seeing that the Third Prince had a strong affinity with immortality, he planned to accept the Third Prince as his disciple and help him embark on the path to immortality. The only requirement of the Immortal Master Sun for the Third Prince was that he fight for the throne and become emperor.
"Let the Third Prince become the emperor? It seems that there are things that the Five Stones Society needs in the Daqian Dynasty, and they need the help of the emperor's authority."
After hearing what the third prince said, Zhang Tuohai had some guesses in his mind.
"It seems that the Five Stones Society is also eyeing the throne. They are a hidden enemy. We must find a way to destroy the Five Stones Society, or at least prevent them from causing trouble in the short term."
Zhang Tuohai had a plan in mind.
"Do you know the location of this Five Stones Society?"
Zhang Tuohai asked.
"Master Sun once said that the headquarters of the Five Stones Association is located in Nanjun, but he did not say the exact location."
The third prince thought for a moment and said.
"Nanjun?"
Zhang Tuohai wrote down the place name.
After asking a few more questions, he had the third prince locked up in the clan house.
"What should I do now?"
Li Qingyuan asked Zhang Tuohai.
"First ascend the throne and make it a done deal."
Zhang Tuohai took a look at the majestic imperial palace and he was too lazy to wait any longer.
Now that it has come to this, there is no need to hold back any longer. The right thing to do is to directly inherit the throne and exercise power.
"It's almost time for the morning court session. Wouldn't it be a bit rushed to ascend the throne now?"
Li Qingyuan looked at the time and felt a little worried.
"This is exactly the time we need. We should ascend the throne directly during the morning court session without giving them time to react."
Zhang Tuohai said.
"What if someone objects?" Li Qingyuan asked.
"Then kill him." Zhang Tuohai said with a sneer.
"What if everyone objects? Should we kill all the officials?"
Li Qingyuan was worried.
"What if we kill them all?" Zhang Tuohai said disdainfully, "The whole Daqian is so big that there is no shortage of people who want to be officials. If we are not satisfied with this batch, we can kill them all and replace them with the next batch. We will always be able to find people who are satisfied."
After Zhang Tuohai finished speaking, he said to the many guards and imperial guards below: "Take over the city defense, clean up the bodies, and prepare for the morning court!"
"yes!"
The guards and imperial guards moved very quickly.
The bodies were dragged away and the blood was washed away. Except for the faint smell of blood in the air, it seemed as if everything that had just happened had never existed.
The bells and drums on the bell and drum tower rang together, and the sound echoed throughout the capital.
Li Qingyuan sat on the dragon throne and touched the golden armrests: "Is this the throne? It doesn't seem that comfortable to sit on."
"It's really uncomfortable. Sitting here, I have to be on guard against ministers, concubines, servants, and family members. I'm left alone, and I have to deal with the mess in the world. I have to be careful of being assassinated all the time. It's the most miserable of the miserable. I don't know why so many people are fighting for it."
Zhang Tuohai said.
"Yeah, why?"
A trace of confusion appeared on Li Qingyuan's face.
This is a feeling of aimlessness and emptiness after fulfilling a long-cherished wish.
There were the sounds of footsteps coming up from below the hall; it was the sound of court officials entering the palace.
Hearing the footsteps, Li Qingyuan sat up straight unconsciously.
Soon two rows of court officials arrived at the hall.
When the court officials saw Li Qingyuan sitting on the dragon throne, they were all shocked.
The princelings were naturally delighted and encouraged.
When the prince ascended the throne, these people became ministers in the palace. Not to mention being lavishly rewarded, promotions to higher positions were a foregone conclusion.
What they regretted most was that they did not receive the news yesterday. Otherwise, they would not even have to do anything else. As long as they stood beside the prince, they would have the merit of following the dragon. Even if they were just a mascot, they could be promoted three levels.
As for those who are not princelings, they felt a little nervous.
Some of them are from the lineage of the Second Prince, and some are from the lineage of Prime Minister Cao Gou. None of them want the Crown Prince to ascend the throne.
In particular, the lineage of Prime Minister Cao Gou has always aimed to overthrow the crown prince. Although they have not stated it publicly, their various actions, both overt and covert, have expressed their attitude.
Once the prince really ascends the throne, the consequences can be imagined.
When these people thought of the revenge and reckoning that were about to come, they felt a chill down their spines.
They all wanted to find the leader of their own lineage, Prime Minister Cao Gou.
But Cao Gou's position was empty.
"Why didn't Cao Gou come?"
A trace of gloom rose in the hearts of these people.
"The new emperor has ascended the throne. Why don't you bow to him?"
Zhang Tuohai, who was standing next to Li Qingyuan, looked at the people below and said in a cold voice.
After hearing Zhang Tuohai's words, all the ministers belonging to the prince's party fell to their knees.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"
Zhang Tuohai took a quick glance and saw that half of them had knelt down. He nodded secretly in his heart. He thought that Prince Li Qingyuan had done a good job as he had at least won over half of the officials. At least he wouldn't have to worry about being without staff in the short term.
Seeing the picture below, Li Qingyuan felt relieved and felt that his work in the past few years was pretty good.
Most of the officials she won over expressed their loyalty at this critical juncture.
Seeing this scene in the hall, the Second Prince and the Prime Minister's people could no longer sit still.
They were sure that if there was no sign of it, a purge would come soon, so for the sake of their own future, these people decided to stand up.
Several leading figures looked at each other, and Prince of Jin Li Chunlai was the first to stand up.
"Prince, where is my elder brother? Do you have the imperial edict to pass on the throne? If not, I will not recognize you as the emperor."
"The late emperor was killed by an extraterritorial demon and has passed away. He did not have time to leave a decree of succession. However, according to the laws of Daqian, when the late emperor dies and there is no new decree left, the crown prince will naturally succeed to the throne. You want to deny your majesty right away. What's wrong? Do you think you are more powerful than the laws of Daqian set by Taizu?"
Seeing that Li Qingyuan didn't know how to answer, Zhang Tuohai immediately took over the conversation.
"Who are you? What qualifications do you have to talk to me? Do you know who I am?" Jin Wang Li Chunlai looked at Zhang Tuohai coldly, his eyes full of disdain.
"I am the newly appointed Imperial Master by His Majesty, so I am naturally qualified to stand here." Zhang Tuohai said with a smile, "As for the King of Jin, it is hard to say whether he can still stand in a while."
Zhang Tuohai was too lazy to argue with King Jin, and looked at the many court officials below : "I'll give you one more chance. Those who are willing to obey the new emperor, kneel down. I'll give you ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight..."
Hearing Zhang Tuohai's voice, many court officials below were stunned. This was quite different from the way they usually fought in the court, and they were unable to adapt for a while.
But Zhang Tuohai's voice never stopped.
"Seven, six, five..."
Hearing the remaining time getting shorter and shorter, several timid courtiers knelt down.
Some people were kicked and then stood up again.
Some people gritted their teeth, knelt down, and refused to get up.
Zhang Tuohai watched the actions of the people below without interfering and just counted on his own.
When the King of Jin saw Zhang Tuohai's expression, he could not help but get angry: "What are you doing? Are you ignoring me? Shut up!"
"Three, two, one! Time's up. Where are the guards?"
Zhang Tuohai asked in a cold voice.
"I'm here!"
A leader of the Royal Guards immediately knelt down on the steps.
"Any courtiers still standing, drag them out and chop them off!"
