Chapter 41: Prelude to the Coup!

Soon, the three characters "Spring-Chanting Garden" written in the Prime Minister's own hand were carved into a golden plaque and hung upon this compact garden, meticulously constructed by the Ministry of Works.

And as the Spring-Chanting Garden was completed in the rush of December, the plan you had prepared for half a year was finally ready to reach its conclusion...

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth month in the seventy-third year of Chongzhen, it was the very eve of the Divine Emperor's eighty-ninth birthday.

Although the Divine Emperor generally only celebrated milestone birthdays ending in zero, while passing over the other years in silence, since you, as the Prime Minister, insisted on taking the initiative to host this celebration for Him, the officials of the hundred ranks naturally had to scramble to prepare gifts, lest His Majesty deem them insufficiently loyal...

After all, as the saying goes: I might not remember who gave a gift, but if anyone failed to give one, I would remember that crystal clear!

To maintain their relationship with the Divine Emperor—their ultimate umbrella of protection—and to express their loyalty, they had to host this celebration whether they wanted to or not...

Knowing this all too well, on the day before the Divine Emperor's birthday, you once again secretly summoned Lu Zhongcheng. This Commander of the Brocade Guard had been interacting with you for half a year, and through your deliberate cultivation, the two of you had long since grown familiar with one another.

Just as he assumed you were inviting him for drinks yet again, you shed your usual easygoing and approachable manner, your tone turning grave and low...

"Brother Lu, are you loyal to His Majesty?"

The moment those words left your mouth, Lu Zhongcheng's pupils instantly constricted!

Although he had long known that your deliberate hobnobbing with him had an ulterior motive, when the day of the showdown truly arrived, he discovered he was not nearly as calm as he had imagined...

"Loyal! Naturally, I am loyal! My devotion to His Majesty shines as bright as the sun and moon!"

He began to hurriedly and clumsily pledge his loyalty.

You immediately clapped your hands together and said with solemn severity, "Good! For His Majesty's sake, I need you to do two things for me!"

"First, before tomorrow's birthday banquet, dispatch trusted men to the Fengtai Garrison to mobilize three thousand elite troops! Remember, the troops you bring must be the absolute elite of the Brocade Guard; they must be utterly loyal and possess divine strength rivaling the officials in the capital, so that they can seal off the capital city at the very first moment. Under no circumstances must a single official be allowed to escape!"

"Otherwise, they are highly likely to be driven to desperation, forge an imperial edict to summon the capital garrison troops, and engage us in a chaotic battle! Once the two forces clash, regardless of who wins or loses, it will be impossible for us to clean up the mess..."

Ah?!

Even though Lu Zhongcheng had mentally prepared himself, he was still startled by you, panic flashing through his eyes: "Brother... Brother... are you... are you planning a rebellion?!"

"Rebellion? Whose rebellion against whom?"

You sneered.

"Since His Majesty has appointed me Prime Minister, granting me the authority to establish my own office and institute a sweeping new governance, and commanded me to wield supreme authority over the realm—just like Yi Yin, the Duke of Zhou, and Zhang Taiyue—"

"Yet today, this pack of officials dares to treat me like a child, paying lip service to my reform decrees while violating them behind my back. Is this not an act of defiance against His Majesty's edict?"

"Therefore, they are the rebel factions and traitorous party! If Elder Brother helps me subdue these officials, far from being a rebellion, it will be a monumental contribution!"

Your relentless barrage of righteous rhetoric gradually quelled Lu Zhongcheng's panic, leaving him deep in thought: It seemed... it really did make sense this way...

Yet, after all, this involved mobilizing troops to seal off the capital. In every dynasty, such matters were a slippery slope no one dared to touch; once tainted by it, one either faced a brilliant future or eternal damnation!

Success would naturally be wonderful, but what if it failed?

"Success means dynastic renewal, failure means rebellion... Hasn't it always been like this since ancient times?"

Seeing his hesitation, you actively dangled the temptation: "...Elder Brother, although I am about to launch the new reforms, my foundation is ultimately shallow and I have no one at hand to use... If you help me secure the capital, if I do not rely on you at that time, whom else could I possibly lean upon?"

"Elder Brother, although you are already the Commander of the Brocade Guard, you have reached the absolute peak of this path; you can rise no higher. Even though the Son of Heaven's personal guards hold a revered status, since the Son of Heaven is a true god descended to the mortal realm, what practical use do the personal guards ever find in ordinary times? It is merely a waste of time and youth."

"You are only around forty years old, the prime of your life to build a career and establish merits... If you assist me, who else could possibly be worthy of the post of Minister of War?"

Minister of War?!

The moment he heard those four words, a light ignited in Lu Zhongcheng's eyes: Just as you said, with the Divine Emperor currently on the throne, the title of Commander of the Brocade Guard sounded impressive, but in daily life, there was utterly no work to do, nor any room for promotion... And what man did not harbor a dream of commanding armies and entering the cabinet as a minister?

And right now, your establishment was essentially a blank slate. If he helped you successfully seize power, that would be the supreme merit of founding a new regime! In the future, once a new court was established, how could he not be promoted? Besides, you had even promised him the position of Minister of War...

"Success means dynastic renewal, failure means rebellion..."

He silently chanted these words to himself...

"Very well! I will secretly mobilize three thousand elite Brocade Guards!"

He gritted his teeth and finally made his resolve...

Seeing him agree, you couldn't help smiling: "Good! That settles the first matter! As for the second matter..."

You whispered a few words into his ear, and upon hearing them, Lu Zhongcheng was once again struck dumb with shock!

Even though he had already decided to throw his lot in with you, this matter was still far too taboo... He couldn't help saying, "Brother, shouldn't we at least seek His Majesty's instruction..."

"Instruction? Do you truly believe His Majesty is unaware of our movements?"

You shook your head and said no more.

And Lu Zhongcheng seemed to have realized something; he stopped speaking as well, and merely nodded with grave solemnity...

Meanwhile, deep within the imperial palace, the Divine Emperor, sitting in silent meditation, suddenly smiled and summoned a palace attendant.

"Go and deliver invitations to the leaders of the Cabinet and the Six Ministries, telling them that tomorrow I shall shift my carriage to the Spring-Chanting Garden presented by the Prime Minister, and host a small birthday banquet there. Ensure that every single one of them attends."

"As you command, Your Majesty!"

...

When the notice of the Divine Emperor's impending visit to the Spring-Chanting Garden was delivered to your prime-ministerial residence, you breathed a sigh of relief: It seemed your guess was correct; He had indeed been monitoring everything all along...

"He is even actively cooperating with me this time... That means my test must have been passed successfully!"

The thought that you were about to embark on the new governance and reforms, bringing hope to the common people of the realm who had long suffered in decay, brought a surge of joy to your heart.

Yet the final step still remained; until the net was fully drawn, you could not yet begin celebrating...

...

"What? His Majesty wants to host a birthday banquet in that scoundrel's Spring-Chanting Garden tomorrow?! And has invited all of us to attend?!"

Upon hearing this explosive news, the leaders of the Cabinet and the Six Ministries were utterly astounded!

Everyone had been preparing for the birthday banquet for a long time, but they had always assumed it would be held customarily within the imperial palace. To think it was actually going to be held in the newly constructed Spring-Chanting Garden—this truly came as quite a shock...

And what shocked them even more was the Divine Emperor's command: All chief officials must be present!

If the former news was merely astonishing, the latter was downright terrifying!

Ever since His Majesty abruptly appointed a "Prime Minister" back in March, declaring His intention to enact new reforms and eradicate all corruption, everyone had been walking on thin ice day in and day out, terrified that His Majesty would make a direct move to arrest them.

The only baffling part was that all of this proved to be all thunder and no rain. Aside from letting out a mighty roar, His Majesty made no moves whatsoever, acting as though no edict had ever been issued...

As time passed, everyone let down their guard, concluding that His Majesty still cherished old sentiments and lacked the heart to slaughter this group of loyal subjects... After all, though none of them were particularly good men, when it came to loyalty, they were rock-solid; if His Majesty couldn't bear to part with them, that was only natural.

Yet now, His Majesty suddenly demanded that everyone assemble, cramming them together into that tiny Spring-Chanting Garden—no matter how one looked at it, something was deeply wrong!

"Grand Secretary Chen! What should we do?!"

The Minister of Revenue asked Chen Shuxue, the Senior Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, in a panic: "If His Majesty intends to use this opportunity to take us down..."

Chen Shuxue remained silent, but the Minister of Works rebuked him with displeasure: "What are you panicking for!"

"Ever since ascending as a god, His Majesty has been invincible. If He truly intends to make a move against us, anything we do will be entirely useless."

The Minister of Personnel also frowned and said, "My view is the same. Though we appear to wield vast authority, we are in truth merely minor ghosts able to lord over others solely by relying on His Majesty. The moment His Majesty truly intends to arrest us, everything we possess is merely castles in the air, crumbling in an instant..."

As the saying goes, there is no need to panic, because panicking is useless anyway.

"This is an overt scheme. If we do not go, it is an act of defying an imperial edict... Therefore, we have no choice but to go. Even if it is a mountain of blades or a sea of fire, we can only submit to our fate."

The Minister of War sighed: "We gained our power through His Majesty, and naturally we shall fall because of His Majesty... This is the inherent destiny of roots fluttering without a base."

Hearing his colleagues speak thus, the panicked Minister of Revenue finally slumped in despair.

Serving the ruler is like sleeping with a tiger; encountering a sovereign who was a tiger among tigers meant one's life, death, wealth, and honor depended entirely upon a single thought of His...

Yet, truly, would anyone willingly place their life at the mercy of another's arbitrary control?

"Minister Lin!"

The long-silent Senior Grand Secretary Chen Shuxue suddenly spoke in a low voice: "You are the Minister of War. If you hold His Majesty's edict, you have the authority to mobilize the capital garrison..."

The Minister of War's eyes widened: "Grand Secretary Chen, do you mean... forging an imperial edict?!"

At these words, everyone was shaken to the core!

Chen Shuxue nodded, his tone heavy: "The outcome of this trip is unpredictable. While we are powerless against His Majesty's divine might... there is no harm in exacting some measure of retaliation..."

"We shall forge an edict of imperial rescue on your behalf, and you will hand it to a trusted subordinate... If we have not returned by the hour of Wei tomorrow, let him take the edict to the capital garrison, mobilize the troops, and march on the capital to 'save the sovereign'... Whether it succeeds or fails does not matter; at the very least, even in death we will splatter that fellow surnamed Zhou with blood!"

His expression turned ferocious!