Plan to cut off the nine states

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The city gates were closed earlier than usual, and inspections were strict. Anyone who entered the city who looked like a soldier would be asked repeatedly whether the building foundation was okay, but they were only looked at a few times by the soldiers and were not made any trouble.

The emperor died, all shops were closed, and there were few people on the streets, but there was no sign of chaos.

The battles in the palace and the rebellions in distant places seemed to have no impact on the entire Eastern Capital.

Seeing two middle-aged people bowing politely and chatting cordially in low voices on the road, Lou was very puzzled. Could it be that these people couldn't sense that the storm was coming?

Although the Hegong Rebellion occurred near Tongguan, once it spread eastward, it would soon reach the outside of Luoyang City. The news had spread, but no one paid attention to it, as if it was a very small accident far away.

Lou Chu did not go home, but went straight to the imperial city. When he arrived at the door, it was already dark. The guard at the gate recognized him, but refused him entry, and only agreed to inform him on his behalf.

After a long time, the reporter came out and said that he could not find the Chinese general Lou Hao.

Lou Chu had no choice but to ask him to go find Zhang Shiyu, the prince of Jibei.

This time, Zhang Shiyu came out to greet him in person. Instead of taking him into the imperial city, he walked a little further to a deserted place and asked in a low voice: "Why are you back?"

"I left the city to see the general. After meeting the general, I naturally wanted to come back. In the palace..."

"You should leave the city quickly." Zhang Shiyu pushed the foundation of the building gently.

"What happened in the palace?"

"I can't tell. Anyway, it's better for you to go out of the city."

"The city gate has been closed at this time."

"Then you go home first and leave the city early tomorrow morning. Anyway, this is not the place you came from."

"I have to know what's going on."

"I'll go find you early tomorrow morning..." Zhang Shiyu turned and ran away, saying a few words to the leader of the guards, obviously not letting him report to the floor foundation again.

Lou Chi had no choice but to go home first.

The General's Mansion has begun to arrange funeral arrangements, and Lou Chu's new house is no exception. The inside and outside are all decided by several daughters-in-law of the Lou family. When they heard that Lou Chu was back, they immediately sent the servants in charge to inquire about the situation, and soon came in person. Not caring about too many taboos, a group of women surrounded him and asked endless questions.

Lou Chu could only say over and over again that the general was well, that the general of the Chinese army and Mrs. Lan would stay in the palace to help the Queen Mother with the funeral arrangements, and that everything at home would be as normal.

The daughters-in-law finally left, and several people suggested that Lou Chu go to their parents' family for help, but they didn't say what kind of help they wanted.

As daughters of famous families, they feel more danger.

Lu was exhausted and wanted to find a room to rest after washing up. The little maids around Zhang Shiqing came over to invite him, "Princess, please come over."

"The princess is still here?"

"Where else can you go if not here?"

Lou Chu had to go see his wife, and he almost forgot about it.

Zhang Shiqing was dressed in plain clothes and sat at the table. When he saw his husband come in, he stood up and saluted, and returned the courtesy. The two were as polite as if they had met for the first time.

Once he spoke, Zhang Shiqing was very direct, "Is His Majesty really assassinated?"

"Well, your brother and I are both here."

"Where's the dagger you took that day?"

Lou Chu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "Are you doubting me? The assassin was killed on the spot. You can ask Prince Yu for details in the future."

Zhang Shiqing lowered his eyes and thought for a while, "Okay, I believe you, I will ask my brother. You can send me to the palace now."

"I just came back from there, and even I can't get in."

"That's you. If I can go in, just send me to Suiyuan Gate." Zhang Shiqing paused, "I can enter the palace, but I can't get out of the gate of your house."

"No matter how you entered the palace in the past, you can't get in today. The palace has changed a lot."

"It's just because the changes have been huge that I want to go take a look."

"That's not a place for children to go..."

"I'm a child? You say I'm a child?"

"It's not big anyway."

"I once drank with His Majesty, and you actually called me a child?" Zhang Shiqing sat down angrily, turning his head away from the building foundation, "Your Majesty is gone, you are all proud, your parents and brothers ignored me, and even you started Look down on me."

Lou Chu's heart moved, "Can you really enter the palace?"

"Of course, if the eldest princess leaves the door for us, as long as she is in the palace, someone will open it for us, no matter how late it is."

"Okay, I'm going to take a nap first and take you to Suiyuan Gate after the second watch."

"Really?" Zhang Shiqing turned back with a smile on his face.

"What's the point of lying to you?"

"Then...you can sleep here. I'll wake you up at the second watch."

Lu Chu was too tired, so he nodded without any further refusal, went to bed, got dressed and lay down. He wanted to think about a few things, but ended up falling asleep with his eyes closed.

He woke up with a stab of pain, opened his eyes and saw Zhang Shiqing stabbing his face with a hairpin. He hurriedly avoided it and sat up, "What are you doing?"

"I can't afford it." Zhang Shiqing put away the hairpin, "It's already been the second watch."

The little maid holding the candle next to her nodded.

Lou Chu rubbed his face and said, "I'll get someone to prepare the car."

"It's ready, just waiting for you to take me out."

Zhang Shiqing prepared not a car, but two horses. "I can ride a horse at the age of eight. Among the many sisters, I have the best riding skills."

Two servants led the way on foot, holding lanterns with the words "General's Mansion" on them, which was very useful when encountering night watch officers and soldiers.

Suiyuan Gate was originally prepared for foreign envoys and could only be opened a few times throughout the year. Lou Chu and others turned onto the street and had not gone far when they were stopped by the imperial city guards.

Before Lou Ji could speak, Zhang Shiqing raced to the front and said loudly: "I am the Peony Fairy, here to attend Mrs. Peony's appointment."

Several guards looked at each other, and one of them said politely: "Fairy, please come back, this code word can no longer be used."

"Why can't it be used? It was fine a few days ago."

"When the emperor dies, how can the palace remain the same as before?"

"You can be different to others, but to me..." Zhang Shiqing burst into tears when he thought of being forced to get married and having no one to care for him. "If Your Majesty is here, who dares to stop me?"

These guards knew that the visitor must be the princess and did not dare to offend. The leader said: "Fairy, please stop crying. I... will tell the people inside to let you in. We will see you off and won't let you in. We really have nothing to do." "

Zhang Shiqing burst into tears and smiled, "Go and report quickly, Mrs. Peony will definitely meet me."

Mrs. Peony was obviously the eldest princess. Lou Chu felt his scalp numb when he heard this. He felt that the behavior of these clan children was very strange. The eldest princess was not young and her behavior was childish.

It was almost three o'clock in the morning, and Zhang Shiqing was extremely impatient. Finally, an eunuch came out and asked from a distance: "Did Master Lou Seventeen come with you?"

"Yes, but he just saw me off and there was no need to enter the palace." Zhang Shiqing said immediately.

But the eunuch said: "The eldest princess has said that if there are young masters from the building, please come into the palace with them. If not, please go home and don't run around at night."

Zhang Shiqing was surprised, but Lou Chi was not surprised.

The two servants were not allowed to enter the palace, so they carried lanterns and went home. Lou Chu and Zhang Shiqing dismounted their horses and followed the eunuch through the small door into the imperial city. They meandered all the way to an empty room.

The room was small, with nothing but a small bed.

"This is not a place I often come to." Zhang Shiqing said in surprise.

"Princess, please bear with me. It's not as usual now. Many rules have been changed."

"Where is Madam Princess?"

"Come back later." The eunuch held up the lantern and exited, locking the door outside.

Zhang Shiqing was surprised again. The room was pitch dark. She was a little scared. She endured it for a while and said, "Hey, where are you?"

"At your side."

Zhang Shiqing stretched out his hand to fumble and touched the arm on the foundation of the building. He felt relieved and immediately retracted his hand, "What's wrong with the eldest princess? She actually treats us as prisoners - this is where the palace servants live, right? There's a strange smell." "

"With such a big change happening, the eldest princess should be more cautious."

"But it's you she wants to see... You're not hiding anything from me, are you?"

"Shhh."

"What's wrong?" Zhang Shiqing asked quietly, moving closer to the foundation of the building.

"There seemed to be footsteps."

Lou Chu just wanted Zhang Shiqing to shut up, but she took it seriously and listened for a long time. "There are footsteps. Your ears are really good."

The sound of footsteps approached, the light outside the door flickered, and then someone opened the door.

"Happy face!" Zhang Shiqing ran over and hugged a visitor.

Huanyan brought two maids and said to Zhang Shiqing, "Why are you coming here in the middle of the night if you are not staying at home?"

"That's not my home. If he hadn't insisted on sleeping for a while, I would have come here long ago. Tell me, what happened in the palace?"

"You. Come with me."

Zhang Shiqing stepped over the threshold, turned around and pointed at the foundation of the building, "Where is he?"

"Master Lou, stay here."

Zhang Shiqing didn't care and pulled Huanyan away.

From beginning to end, Huanyan never looked at the foundation of the building.

After waiting for a while, the eldest princess finally appeared, with only Shao Junqian by her side.

Shao Junqian held a lantern, entered the room and said with a smile: "When did the Seventeenth Young Master come back? It was so hard for me to find him."

"I came back before dark." Lou Chu said vaguely. Apparently there was not enough news in the palace. Zhang Shiyu did not tell anyone about his brother-in-law's whereabouts.

"It's really hard to find a place after wearing iron shoes..."

The eldest princess interrupted Shao Junqian and stretched out her hand, "Where is the imperial edict?"

Lou Chu patted himself and said, "Not here."

"Did you hand it over to the general?"

"No, I hid it." Lou Chu had to lie to everyone now.

The eldest princess wanted to ask again, so Shao Junqian nodded to her, took a step forward, and said harmoniously: "Now that the new emperor has succeeded to the throne, the edict is of no use. Please hand it over, Master Seventeenth."

"When I see Your Majesty, I will hand it over."

The eldest princess said sternly: "Louji, don't be ignorant, can you keep the imperial edict?"

"Your Majesty has succeeded to the throne, and the edict is useless. Why should the eldest princess care?"

"I know what you have done." The eldest princess' tone became colder and colder, "You committed a heinous crime and deserved to die."

Shao Junqian indeed revealed the truth to the eldest princess, but Lou Chu smiled instead, "Since you know, why do you need to ask me for a will? Just ask Mr. Shao to write another one."

Lou Chu actually knew in his heart that from the moment the news of the emperor's death was made public, Shao Junqian could no longer touch the imperial seal. No matter how many words he wrote, it would be useless. The edict had truly become the last "imperial edict" of the Emperor of All Things.

The eldest princess was furious, Shao Junqian said: "Eldest princess, please calm down and let me have a few words with Young Master Seventeenth."

The eldest princess snorted, turned around and left the room.

Shao Junqian said: "The imperial edict is in the hands of the general, right?"

"The prince is not with the general, why should I hand over the edict? Do you think I don't know the benefits of the edict? There is a small blank space on it. If you add a few words at will, someone will be promoted or killed."

Shao Junqian chuckled twice, "Having the Seventeenth Young Master take away the imperial edict was the biggest mistake in Shao's life."

"It happened suddenly and we all made mistakes."

"Well, we have to stick together."

"Who to deal with?"

"Master Liang, if we don't get rid of him, you and I will both die."

The palace has indeed changed, more drastic than Lou Chu expected.