The Emperor Bet
In the fourth year of Renshou, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty planned to go to Renshou Palace to escape the summer heat. According to past practice, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty would ask a magician to do a fortune telling before leaving.
On this day, the chief of the Taishi Battalion of the Secretariat Province happened to be sick at home. The Taishi official on duty was named Zhangqiu Taiyi. He had just taken office and did not understand the temper of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. When the emperor asked him to divine, He quickly made up his mind. After the display was over, without thinking much, he knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the hexagrams are dangerous, and I fear that Luan Yu will not return from this trip." This means that it would be more appropriate for Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty to stay in Daxing City. If he must leave the palace, he will probably leave the palace. There is no return.
As soon as he said these words, the other ministers in the court could not help but secretly shake their heads: This Zhangqiu Taiyi is probably going to be unlucky. Although Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ostensibly asked sorcerers to tell fortunes and predict dangers, in fact, he just wanted to hear some conclusive words. Sure enough, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty became furious as soon as he heard Zhangqiu Taiyi's words: "Scaremongering, how brave you are!"
Zhangqiu Taiyi was so frightened that he quickly lay on the ground and shouted for mercy.
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty looked at the trembling Zhangqiu Taiyi and sneered: "You think I will never come back, but I think you will be beheaded on the day I come back. When I come back from Renshou Palace, I'll chop your head off! Let's see who is more accurate, you or I!" After saying this, he waved his hand and asked the guards to take Zhang Qiu Taiyi down and put him in death row in Chang'an City.
Zhang Qiu Taiyi, who stayed on death row, was waiting for death. I don't know how many days passed, but suddenly a group of people came and released him from prison.
It turned out that Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty contracted wind and cold not long after he moved to Renshou Palace despite dissuasion. At this time, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was already in his sixties, and his resistance was weakened as he got older. Coupled with the fatigue of traveling for days, the minor illness quickly developed into a serious illness, and he was bedridden within a few days.
On his sick bed, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty did not expect that his martial arts skills would be defeated by a small cold. Thinking of this, he remembered Zhangqiu Taiyi who was imprisoned by him. He quickly called Prince Yang Guang to his bed, took his son's hand and sighed: "I think I was wrong about Zhangqiu Taiyi. He is indeed a tall man." Man, it’s only my fault that I went my own way and defied God’s will. Go and release him quickly, and then bring him to Renshou Palace. I have something to say to him.”
The prince prays
As soon as Zhangqiu Taiyi came out of the prison, he was escorted to Renshou Palace by the guards. Zhangqiu Taiyi bowed to the ground and said, "Thank you for your grace of not killing me."
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty asked the eunuch to give him a seat. , and then said that he should not have been disrespectful to God in the first place, and hoped that Zhangqiu Taiyi would help him pray in front of the gods to resolve the disaster.
Zhangqiu Taiyi replied that the emperor is the destined emperor, and the emperor’s descendants are dragon sons and grandsons. If the princes, emperors and grandsons can be gathered in Renshou Palace, and then pray to the sky together, maybe things can change. Number of days.
After hearing this, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty thought it was reasonable, so he ordered people to pass on the decree quickly, and asked his sons and grandchildren to rush to Renshou Palace to gather.
Zhangqiu Taiyi set up an altar in the Dabao Hall and burned incense and prayed day and night. Not long after, several princes and grandsons also arrived at Renshou Palace, including the deposed prince Yang Yong. Everyone gathered around the altar to burn incense and worship with Zhang Qiu Taiyi. After such a fuss, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty's illness really got better day by day.
When Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty got better, he wanted to return to the capital. However, he made a bet with Zhangqiu Taiyi that as long as he returned to the court safely, he would chop off Zhangqiu Taiyi's head, but he couldn't chop off his head now. What about cutting? Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was such a face-saving person. He had made up his mind and his expression became fierce. Zhang Qiu Taiyi knew that as long as he returned to Daxing City, his life would be at risk.
Private secret message
After careful consideration, Zhangqiu Taiyi decided to find one person, that is Prince Yang Guang.
After Zhang Qiu Taiyi saw Yang Guang, he bowed and said: "Prince, you are destined to return, but according to my observation of the sky in the past few days, a new star has appeared next to the Purple Luan Star. This star It's so brilliant and eye-catching that something may happen secretly."
This really speaks to Yang Guang's heart.
It turned out that since the death of his mother, Queen Dugu, more and more ministers in the court sympathized with the deposed prince Yang Yong. When Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was seriously ill, Yang Yong had the opportunity to serve tea and water in front of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty every day, express condolences and fulfill his filial piety. No accident!
But Yang Guangcheng was very rich. After listening to Zhang Qiu Taiyi's words, his face did not change, but he laughed loudly: "Sir, you are really worried. If you have time to worry about this, why not do more for my father?" Pray for blessings!" Then he asked the guards to escort Zhangqiu Taiyi back to Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty.
Unexpectedly, not long after, a eunuch quietly came in and reported to Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, saying that the prince's secret message was discovered by several guards at the palace gate and intercepted.
When Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty heard this, he immediately asked someone to present the secret letter. If he didn't look at it, he would be so angry that Long Yan was furious. It turned out that after hearing Zhang Qiu Taiyi's words, Prince Yang Guang couldn't feel relieved after all, so he quickly wrote to his confidant, Yang Su, the top prime minister in the court, to discuss it. Countermeasures.
If the prince and ministers were too close, it would easily arouse the emperor's suspicion. How could Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty not get angry! Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty pondered for a moment, turned to look at Zhangqiu Taiyi in front of the altar, and said coldly: "Don't think I don't know that you went to see the prince today. Tell me what you said to him!"
Zhang Qiu Taiyi fell to his knees as soon as his legs went weak, kowtowed repeatedly, and said, "Your Majesty, this slave deserves to die. All of this was instigated by the deposed prince Yang Yong! It was he who asked me to assassinate the prince on purpose!”
Of course Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty didn’t believe it, and said: “My eldest son was demoted to a commoner and imprisoned in the palace. How did you get involved? ?"
Zhang Qiu Taiyi sighed and said that he is actually the cousin of Yunshi, the favorite concubine of the deposed prince. He wants to make a comeback for his cousin-in-law, and more importantly, he wants to take a gamble on himself. In order to improve his future, he changed his name and surname, waiting for opportunities to take action. That day he said in court that it was not appropriate to move to Renshou Palace because Yang Yong did not want Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty to leave Daxing City. Because although Yang Yong was imprisoned in a deep palace, his residence was not far from the palace of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. Sometimes he could see each other while lying on the trees. This distance was very conducive to him getting close to his father. And if he came to Renshou Palace, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty would definitely only travel with the prince and his son. It would be difficult to get close to the emperor.
Unexpectedly, by accident, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty fell seriously ill when he arrived at Renshou Palace. Zhangqiu Taiyi took the opportunity and said that he needed the princes to pray together, so he gave Yang Yong I got a chance to get close to my father.
The Disaster of the Coup
After hearing what Zhangqiu Taiyi said, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty became angry and directed his anger towards his eldest son Yang Yong. But at this moment, a woman's cry was suddenly heard at the door of the palace. Mrs. Xuanhua ran in disheveled, knelt in front of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty and cried non-stop.
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was startled and asked what was going on. Mrs. Xuanhua was ashamed and angry, wiping her tears and said: "The prince is rude..."
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty was so angry that he slapped his thigh and ordered the unscrupulous son to be escorted! But the heroic Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty forgot this moment. He was already a bad old man who had lost all his power and had not recovered from a serious illness, while the prince's power was already well-established and full-fledged. The prince was not deposed, but instead he was imprisoned by Yang Guang. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, who was frightened and angry, his condition deteriorated rapidly. That night, people sent by Yang Guang strangled him to death with a bowstring under the solitary lamp of the Dabao Hall.
The old emperor died, and the new emperor was busy fighting for power. For a while, people did not pay attention to Zhangqiu Taiyi and Mrs. Xuanhua in the palace. Zhang Qiu Taiyi was from Yang Yong's side and knew that he would eventually die, but he really couldn't figure out what the show Mrs. Xuanhua was singing was about. Seeing that there was no one around, and feeling that Zhangqiu Taiyi was a dead man, Mrs. Everything was deliberately set up by him."
It turned out that after discovering that his secret message had been intercepted by Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang knew that his position as prince might not be so secure. However, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty did not raise any objections. It was a bit unreasonable for him to take the initiative to force the general manager. It would be better to completely anger the Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty.
Mrs. Xuanhua was originally the princess of Chen in the Southern Dynasty. When Yang Guang was in Yangzhou, the two had a long-standing personal relationship. Looking at Yang Guang, who was in his prime of life, and then at the white-haired Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, Mrs. Xuanhua made her choice without much effort.
Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty really fell into the trap.
After hearing this, Zhang Qiu Taiyi sighed, but unfortunately he was on the wrong political team. Just when Zhang Qiu Taiyi felt that he was certain to die, Emperor Yang Guang of Sui Dynasty, who successfully ascended the throne, threw an olive branch to him. Not only did he not blame Zhang Qiu Taiyi for helping Yang Yong slander him, but he was promoted to an official.
Looking at the confused Zhangqiu Taiyi, Emperor Sui Yang laughed and said: "Everyone in the world knows the bet you made with the late emperor that day. The late emperor died because he defied fate. I If you are convicted, wouldn't it be to show the world that there was another reason for the death of the late emperor? So I must reward you. Only in this way will people know that God's will cannot be violated and that the late emperor died because he lost the bet. A life!"
Zhangqiu Taiyi knelt down to thank him, but after working for a short time, he found an excuse to resign and retire to the mountains. However, before Zhangqiu Taiyi's carriage left the gate of Daxing City, a group of elite soldiers under Emperor Yang of Sui were already waiting there...
Emperor Wen's Bet