Chapter 779: Chapter 487: Welcoming Your Majesty Back to the Palace (6k)_2
However, as the fine sand in the hourglass in the corner of the grand hall flowed, Li Yanfu still did not appear.
Inside the hall, the murmur of the ministers gradually subsided, everyone realized something was amiss.
"Quite some time has passed, why hasn’t the Prime Minister arrived? If he is unwell, Li Yinglong should have come, but neither father nor son is here," the Minister of War couldn’t help but say.
"Send someone to fetch them, they might have been delayed," the Minister of Revenue said blandly.
Ma Yan’s long, lean face grew gloomier, suddenly his ears moved slightly, and he looked up abruptly:
"Something’s wrong!"
The thick palace doors were highly soundproof, preventing the conversation inside from being overheard by the palace attendants outside.
But at this moment, outside those thick doors, the sound of hooves and cries of slaughter could be heard faintly at first, then growing clearer.
"Go and have a look!" The Old Grandmaster also sensed something wrong and instructed the eunuch inside the hall.
The latter was about to open the door with small steps, when suddenly, the palace doors shook with a loud "bang," accompanied by screams!
Ma Yan instinctively reached for the knife at his waist, only to grasp at empty air!
Because it was a Court Meeting, he had not brought his weapon.
And at this moment, the heavy palace doors creaked open fiercely from the outside!
A cold wind rushed in!
The wind carried the scent of blood, unexpectedly sweeping into the grand hall, a strong, bleak white light pouring in from outside, causing many civil servants to instinctively shield their faces with their sleeves, squinting their eyes.
The dense cries of battle, like a torrent of rage, rushed into the ears of everyone present!
At Meridian Gate Square, thousands of imperial guards had appeared at an unknown time, surrounding and sealing off the building, confronting the arriving patrols of the imperial guard!
It was the Yulin, the Hu Ben Guards, who had been alerted!
The Imperial Guard, being too far away, had yet to notice the anomaly!
In the Imperial City, different imperial guard units were actually confronting each other? Fighting?!
What was happening?
The ministers inside the hall were stunned, unable to comprehend, until Ma Yan’s enraged roar awoke everyone: "Li Yanfu!? Are you rebelling?!"
Under everyone’s watchful eyes.
Outside the opened palace doors, on the long steps, stood Li Yanfu, wearing an iron helmet, clad in soft armor, with a crimson robe underneath, standing outside the threshold.
Beside him were two masked guards, and further back, were over a hundred red-clad guards with tightly bandaged white headbands, holding swords!
"Li Yanfu?!"
Grandmaster Dong stood up in shock from his chair, nearly staggering, gripping the armrest tightly, across from him, Yuann Li also nearly lost composure, startling in alarm.
A thought had already exploded in his mind:
Coup?
Another coup after three years?
A once-in-a-lifetime, bold minister’s coup?!
"Ah..." The ministers suddenly erupted into noise, almost instinctively retreating, incredulously watching as Li Yanfu stepped forward over the threshold, stepping onto the polished floor.
Li Yanfu stood tall, though aged, yet fierce like a wolf king.
With each step he took forward, the ministers retreated several feet, while the red-clad retainers behind him slammed the heavy palace doors shut again, almost instantly muffling the cries outside.
And at this moment, amidst the chaos, several high-ranking members of the Li Party within the ministers surged up against the current, standing behind Li Yanfu, turning around with smiles:
"Congratulations to the Prime Minister on entering the palace successfully, now all these rebels are in our trap!"
Rebels? Us?
Hearing this word, many ministers who had not yet recovered showed bewildered expressions.
Li Yanfu’s eyes were cold, his tone indifferent, leaving no room for doubt:
"Rebellion? No, Ma Yan, you are mistaken, I am the loyal minister of Yu Country, and it is some of you who are colluding with traitors, betraying Her Majesty, today’s action is to save Yu Country from disaster, daring to lead household servants into the palace to clean the court, remove traitors, and restore clarity to Yu Country!"
The ministers were shocked, Ma Yan’s face turned ashen!
Grandmaster Dong’s eyes bulged, and his mustache trembled with anger, while beside him, Yuann Li, seeming to understand something, revealed a bitter smile.
All of this was so much like three years ago!
Back then, when the late Emperor passed away, the Crown Prince had yet to ascend the throne, the Second Prince Jian Wen similarly led retainers into the Imperial Palace, collaborating with Qi Yuchun, under the banner of "cleaning the court."
Today, it was Li Yanfu’s turn.
The scale was much smaller compared to back then.
However, Li Yanfu’s timing was better, as Her Majesty was not present, and the Capital Forbidden Army, along with the Capital Camp outside the city, only followed cabinet orders, not any individual’s.
So, Li Yanfu did not need to cause a great upheaval to the extent of Xu Jianwen’s previous attempt, he only needed to seize control over Grandmaster Dong and Yuann Li with thunderous means, and with the cooperation of Li Party officials, take over the cabinet and temporarily seize control of the city.
He had long realized this and tried to warn Dong Xuan and others, but unfortunately, Yuann Li as the "Pure Stream Party Leader" was also not trusted.
And the Li Party’s rebellion came faster, more suddenly, more ferociously, and more unpreventable than expected!
"Nonsense! Treason!"
Grandmaster Dong’s face turned purple-red, he stared fixedly at the usurping Prime Minister:
"Her Majesty was right, you are the greatest hidden danger in the court!"
He regretted it!
If he had known Li Yanfu truly had such courage, he would have imprisoned him at the first sign of Her Majesty’s disappearance, even at the risk of causing unrest in court and society!
But now, it was all too late!
Who could have imagined that Li Yanfu, who always retreated and endured under the Empress’s repeated suppression, and even when the late Emperor was alive, showed a similar stance of enduring humiliation, would erupt with such daring courage?
Now, it was evident that some of the palace’s imperial guards had already defected, forming an alliance with Li Yanfu, even if only a portion of the imperial guards were rebelling, it would still take time for other camps to gather large forces and come over!