Chapter 124
C124 The guards in the courtyard were split into two groups. One side was the crown prince’s men, the other was Yan Yu’s men.
Originally, Yan Yu had not planned to bring Xie Zhen over, but he had changed his mind at the last minute to give Yan Tao a head on strike. He went to the front yard to meet the crown prince and relax Yan Tao’s vigilance. Xie Zhen was escorted by Wu Bin to the backyard to find Yan Jin, catching him off guard.
At the beginning, Xie Zhen had wandered around the backyard for a long time but she had no idea where Yan Jin was sent to. She had been to the crown prince’s residence a few times, so she remembered the general location of the residence. Maybe the mother and daughter were telepathically connected, so she finally found Yan Jin, who was sleeping on the bed in Crown Princess’s room. Crown Princess was being controlled by the guards and was already under their control.
At this point, it would be impossible not to cause a ruckus. If Yan Yu gave in, what awaited him would be a hundred thousand feet deep abyss. Only by taking advantage of this opportunity to properly negotiate with Yan Tao would they have a way out.
Yan Yu’s hand that was holding onto the blade did not move, the room was so quiet that even a needle could be heard, he said: “I did not want to cause a ruckus like this with Second Brother, but it’s a pity that Second Brother does not believe me, and only stopped after forcing me to a dead end.”
Yan Tao sat on the teacher’s chair, and looked up to meet his gaze. There was no longer the gentleness and elegance from before on his face, but instead, the curve of his lips was somewhat self-deprecating, “Ah Yu, do you know that was born in the imperial family?
Yan Yu did not say a word, waiting for him to explain.
He calmly replied, “Either you die, or I live.”
Brothers against each other, brothers against each other, this was an extremely common matter in the royal family. He thought he had done well enough, but in the end, he was defeated by his younger brother. He thought he was still that young man he brought back from outside the palace years ago. It was laughable to say that he had helped him get rid of his enemies, and in the end had become his greatest enemy, causing him to have difficulty sleeping and eating.
Yan Yu made an “oh” sound, and was not moved at all, “Then today, should I or should second brother die?”
The Crown Prince’s Palace was already surrounded by the people of the An Wang Lord. Yan Yu had enough confidence and power to kill him with a single slash. If he did not appear during the enthronement ceremony the next day, then even if the ministers wanted to pursue the matter, they would be suppressed by Yan Yu’s men. At that time, it didn’t matter how or when he would die. The important thing was that he would be a loser in the struggle for the throne.
Thinking of this, Yan Tao’s back was covered in cold sweat.
He raised his eyes and looked outside the courtyard. He reckoned that his people had long since been under control. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed his hand when he was threatened by someone else. He closed his eyes and said, “It’s because I’m not strong enough. Just kill me.”
His expression was calm, unlike someone who was about to die, but instead had a kind of transcendent relief.
He had been the crown prince for more than ten years. Every day, he would live in the midst of scheming and scheming, afraid that someone would stab him in the back one day. He was truly exhausted. In the past, when he had fought with the First Prince and had lost his life, he started to suspect and doubt Yan Yu. Now that he thought about it, Yan Yu had indeed never done anything that he would be suspicious of. Yan Yu had always been very indifferent, and wasn’t too passionate about imperial power. It was probably because he grew up within the people, and compared to power, he yearned to live a life together with a deer cart. Actually, it wasn’t bad to be an ordinary couple with the one you love. At least you could at least have children that would walk around your knees and bear the weight of grandchildren …
The only regret he had was that he had let Yan Jin down. He truly liked that little girl who was as cute as a ball. That was why after his mother carried her back from the An Wang’s Mansion, he had his men take good care of her. He was afraid that the servant would be careless and let the Crown Princess personally watch over her.
… …. No matter what, it was too late. If Yan Yu wanted to kill him, he had no way to resist.
After waiting for a long time without any pain, Yan Tao opened his eyes and looked at the expressionless Yan Yu, “Why didn’t you make a move?”
Yan Yu waved his hand and threw the long blade to the ground, his tone was cold: “I’ll kill you, who will ascend the throne tomorrow?”
He was stunned as he looked at the old man.
Yan Yu was not afraid of Yan Tao getting up and retaliating, even if he did not use his blade to threaten, he would not be able to escape.
The reason he threw the knife away was only to make it convenient to negotiate with him.
Yan Yu asked Wu Ze to bring over a brush and paper, then he wrote a contract on the square table and passed it to Yan Tao: “I already said that I won’t fight for that position with you, but since second brother does not believe me, then I will not sit still and wait for death. Is the Imperial Jade Seal in your hands? “Just seal it, I have to leave a way out for myself.”
Yan Tao took the piece of paper and looked at it, on it were’s conditions, he was still the Lord of An Wang, holding onto the 200,000 troops and living in a corner of the capital, and did not ask about the matters of the court. Yan Tao could not touch his wife and grandson, and would always treat them as princes, not using the name of conspiring against them to frame them. If they were to break the contract, he or his descendants could use it to attack the capital, and confirm his reputation as a rebel. In any case, they had the Dragon Seal and handprint that Yan Tao had personally sealed. The reason was on their side, so other people would not be able to pick a fight with them even if they wanted to.
Yan Tao read it twice, and pulled out a bitter arc, “The Imperial Jade Seal is in the palace, it’s not by my side.”
Yan Yu was not in a hurry either.
He had even prepared the imprint. He must have thought about it on the way here. His actions just now were just to force him to submit.
Yan Tao sealed his hand seal, but he said: “I will follow Second Brother to the palace. Only by sealing the Imperial Jade Seal can I be at ease.”
He was the one who had personally pushed Yan Yu further and further away, so there was nothing to complain about if he did not trust him now. Yan Tao got up, “Then let’s go.”
The moon was rising higher and higher. It was already the Yin hour. Tomorrow morning, the enthronement ceremony would begin. Entering the palace at this time would not arouse anyone’s suspicions, and people would even praise him for being diligent in government affairs. But no one knew, that his life was currently in Yan Yu’s hands, and his freedom was also under his control.
Before leaving, he took a look at Xie Zhen who was standing at the doorway, and his gaze lowered to the swaddling Yan Jin’s face. The little girl was still awake. When he woke up, he didn’t see her mother. She cried for a long time before she stopped. Her eyes were red. Although she stopped crying, it still looked rather pitiful.
He stopped, tried to touch her, and dropped his hand in the air. Forget it, what qualifications does he have?
Within the Palace Xuanshi, Yan Tao heavily stamped the contract and looked towards Yan Yu: “Is Sixth Brother relieved now?”
Yan Yu pulled out a piece of paper, folded it without even looking at it, and placed it in his sleeves. Finally, he glanced at Yan Tao, “I should be asking Second Brother about this right?”
He was stunned for a moment and then smiled, not asking any further questions.
He could truly be at ease now. After being forced to such a state, Yan Yu was still able to give up the imperial authority that he had in his hands and give him the throne. It could be seen that he was not very interested in this position.
In this way, he had always been the only one who feared the consequences.
The sky gradually brightened. The first ray of sunlight broke through the clouds and shone on the Palace Xuanshi’s glazed roof. The morning was about to come. The palace servants filed in and kneeled before him, awaiting his orders. palace maidservant went forward to dress him up in his coronation attire and put on his coronation. Through the Twelve Confessions in front of him, he saw Yan Yu standing at the entrance of the Palace Xuanshi, and behind him was the morning sunlight, which was burning even brighter. His expression was not very clear, but his voice was very clear: “Today is the day Second Brother will ascend the throne. However, Ah Zhen was frightened, so I will not show up, and asked second brother to help me explain it to the officials.”
Yan Tao was quiet for a while, then nodded: “Let’s go back.”
He turned around and left without a trace of politeness. He didn’t say those words just now because he had Yan Tao’s permission.
Seeing Yan Yu’s back gradually disappearing from the pill image, Yan Tao pinched the center of his brows in distress. From ancient times till now, there had probably not been a single emperor that could be so useless. There were still Yan Yu’s soldiers in the crown prince’s residence.
Yan Yu was just a thorn in his throat, but this thorn was destined to be stuck there forever, unable to be pulled out. Because Yan Yu didn’t want this throne, he gave it to him.
Yan Yu had planned to ride his horse and return from the palace when he saw a horse carriage parked outside the city. Standing outside the horse carriage was a skinny young lady, and in front of her were two people, one Wu Ze and the other Wu Bin.
The weather was very cold, and it had just snowed. She was wearing a fur-lined cloak, and her little white face was red from the cold. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw him.
Yan Yu led his horse forward as he took off the cape on his body and put it on her, “Why are you here? Is it cold to stand here? ”
Xie Zhen shook his head. His nose was red, but there was a smile on his face. “I was worried about you, so I told Wu Ze to bring me here.”
The situation at that time was truly a little dangerous. Fortunately, Yan Tao was a person who kept his promises, and he still retained a bit of conscience at the last moment.
It was too cold outside, so Yan Yu followed her into the carriage. Yan Jin was already fast asleep on the bed. He must have been exhausted that day, since when he returned to the side of Mother, he fell into a deep sleep. His tiny nose was twitching from sleep, his long eyelashes hanging below his eyelids like two rows of small fans.
Yan Yu touched her face, after a while, he took out the piece of paper with the Imperial Jade Seal on it, “Go back and put this away, Yan Tao will not go back on his word.”
Xie Zhen unfurled it and looked. On top of the Dragon Mark, there was also Yan Tao’s handprint.
Not to mention whether Yan Tao’s character was trustworthy or not, as long as they had this, it would be their last resort and trump card. They no longer had to worry about Yan Tao doing what he did today.
After returning to the An Wang’s Mansion, the steward waited at the entrance the whole night. Seeing that they had all returned with tails full of whiskers and even brought back the young prefecture lord, he couldn’t help but feel relieved. Xie Zhen was afraid for an entire night, and now that everything was calm and peaceful, she could not take it anymore, so when she returned to Zhanyue Court, she immediately fell asleep.
In the end, he still had some lingering fear in his heart. He didn’t dare leave his two children, and placed Yan Jin on the bedside before the mother and daughter fell asleep together.
The wet nurse carried Yan Su over from the living room. Yan Su was also asleep as the two children slept close to her. Yan Yu looked at the three extremely similar faces for a while before taking off his shoes and going to bed next to them.
He reached out his long arm and took them all in his arms.