Chapter 322 Follow-up
Taicheng, at the palace gate.

Xiao Zong, Xiao Gang and several of his younger brothers were waiting eagerly on the Sima Gate tower.

Today, the vast majority of the princes who were unaware of the situation were shocked even more than Ren Yuan and the others.

At least Ren Yuan and his group hadn’t seen the palace coup yet. Xuanwu Gate was now littered with body parts and brains that hadn’t been cleaned up yet…

This was too much of a shock for the pampered and over-indulgent princes. Many of them turned pale, had tachycardia, and several fell down when the wind blew.

Xiao Zong and Xiao Gang were both unable to conceal their excitement. The former was obviously excited, while the latter heard that his eldest brother had been reduced to ashes in that earth-shattering explosion…

However, Xiao Zong’s background was unclear, and with a little effort, he could be excluded from the list of successor candidates.

Doesn’t this mean that he will soon become the crown prince? When Xiao Gang thought of this, his heart began to beat wildly, and he wanted to fly to the Vermillion Bird Gate immediately to see if his elder brother was dead.

Unfortunately, before his father left the palace, he strictly ordered all the princes not to leave Taicheng. He and his brothers could only stand on the city gate tower, craning their necks and waiting for their father to return.

After waiting for a long time, until the sun was setting, I saw a group of imperial guards surrounding an inconspicuous carriage, slowly approaching from the southern imperial road.

“Father is back.” One of the princes shouted, and everyone hurried down the city gate tower to welcome him at the door.

All of Xiao Yan’s ceremonial guards were destroyed in the explosion, so he could only take a temporary carriage back to the palace. The attendants and guards were also injured, and they slowly walked around the carriage with their heads down, perfectly interpreting the four words “remnant troops and defeated generals”.

“Father!” The princes looked worried and asked the carriage with sobs, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Xiao Yan regained his human form, put on a dragon robe, and sat in the carriage in a dignified manner. “Don’t worry, the sky won’t fall, it’s no big deal.”

“What about big brother?” Xiao Gang asked excitedly, “I heard that he was also at the center of the explosion?”

“I’m fine too.” Xiao Tong lifted the curtain of the carriage and smiled at his brothers, “When the explosion happened, my father took me into another world, so I wasn’t affected. I just fainted.”

Then he sighed and said, “When I woke up again, I was back here. Sigh… It was like a dream.”

“That’s great, at least father and big brother are okay!” The younger brothers were all very happy, and Xiao Gang could only laugh along with them, but it was a rather forced laugh.

~~
After returning to Shiqian Palace, Xiao Yan did not even have time to change into his leisure clothes, so he directly asked about the situation in the palace.

“Reporting to the Emperor, not long after the explosion, Uncle Six led a large group of troops to the Xuanwu Gate.” Xiao Zong reported respectfully, “Fortunately, Uncle Eight was well prepared and led his troops to put down the rebellion.”

“Ah Ba Ah Jiu…” When Xiao Yan thought of Xiao Wei and Xiao Hui, his heart was broken and he burst into tears. After a long while, he asked in a hoarse voice, “Where is that beast Ah Liu?”

“My eighth uncle seriously injured him, destroyed his magical powers, and handed him over to my son’s care.” Xiao Zong replied.

“Bring him up here, I want to ask him if his heart has been eaten by dogs? He actually colluded with enemies to murder my brother. He is so evil and stupid, it is unprecedented!” Xiao Yan gritted his teeth.

“Yes.” But when Xiao Zong was about to pick someone up, he said dejectedly:
“Forget it, I won’t ask, and I won’t see her. I know it even without asking, and seeing her will only make me angrier, and it’s not disgusting enough.”

Xiao Yan himself had never expected that his sixth brother, whom he had favored all his life, would actually go this far with him. If the two of them talked openly when they met, they would inevitably mention that Xiao Hong slept with his daughter and killed his wife.

Moreover, Xiao Yan was not a good person. He clearly knew about Xiao Hong’s crimes, but he pretended to be kept in the dark and trapped Xiao Hong and his son to death, squeezing out the last bit of their value.

Where is the brotherhood at all?
It’s simply a joke for all time…

Of course, even if we don’t see each other, we still can’t miss the account.

“Put Xiao Hong in the prisoner car, send him to Guangzhai Temple, and lock him up in the well with Xiao Yuyao!” Xiao Yan then gave the order in a deep voice: “In addition, Third Brother, you will immediately lead people to search the Linchuan Palace to fill the national treasury.” “Yes.” Xiao Gang responded in a deep voice, and his mood improved again. The dream of becoming the crown prince was shattered, so it was good to get some benefits.

~~
As Xiao Hong was imprisoned and his property was confiscated, all his sons were demoted to commoners and exiled to southern Xinjiang. The once glorious Linchuan Palace completely disappeared from this world.

At the same time, the owner of the Poyang Palace also changed, and the crown prince Xiao Fan inherited the throne.

As for the Nanping Palace, although Xiao Wei was still alive, he was imprisoned in Tongtai Temple.

His sons begged and pleaded with everyone and finally managed to see him. They came back and told Xiao Yan that their father was not brainwashed, but had to surrender in order to preserve the sacred fire.

But whether he can be released back depends entirely on Xiao Yan’s performance…

In any case, the three princes of the same generation as Xiao Yan withdrew from the stage of history at the same time.

Now Xiao Yan could only count on the next generation. Even though his sons were not good enough, they could only force him to do something that was beyond his control, just like a toad blowing air – pretending to be big.

~~
During this period, the atmosphere in the entire Gou Chen Si was very gloomy, cold and deserted, and obviously much emptier.

It was only after Ren Yuan came back that he learned that the three guards except Diwu Wei and the deputy guard Wu Zhe of Mengzhang Guard, who had met him once, led the attack on Tongtai Temple. As a result, all four of them were left in Tongtai Temple, and it was said that they even took Buddhist names…

As a result, the only remaining guardian of the Fifth Dimension became the second most important figure in the Gou Chen Division after Chen Qingzhi…

Although Mr. Gongsun was mainly responsible for the complicated aftermath matters such as counting casualties, providing pensions to family members, and treating the wounded, he had to step forward in the end.

The fifth dimension’s amnesia is getting worse day by day. As a result, Nangong alone is already overwhelmed, and Ren Yuan is also drafted into the army to accompany the fifth dimension every day.

Sitting Garden.

Chen Qingzhi listened carefully to Yuanhe Diwuwei’s report on the plan for providing relief to the families.

“In this battle, a total of 160 brothers of our company were killed, and another 180 are missing. According to the law, they should be compensated as missing…” Ren Yuan reported softly.

In fact, everyone knew that nearly two hundred people were forced to stay in Tongtai Temple and brainwashed to become monks.

But if this happens, their families will not get any compensation. Who knows if those two hundred brothers will have a chance to leave Tongtai Temple again in this life? Of course, we must try our best to help their families get some practical help.

“Missing…” Chen Qingzhi tapped the chessboard and pondered, “According to the rules, the dead in battle are compensated with 30 hu of grain and their entire family is exempted from labor for three years; but the missing are only given 10 hu, so they are exempted from labor for one year… How many widows are holding empty grain bags, waiting for their sons to return? We are incompetent and cannot bring back their sons, but at least we should not mistreat their grain bags, right?”

“What does Chen Shuai mean?” asked the Fifth Dimension.

“Say whatever you want to the family members, and report it to the higher-ups as killed in action.” Chen Qingzhi said in a deep voice, “If the court investigates, the responsibility will be solely on me.”

“Yes.” Diwuwei and Ren Yuan nodded. They were not even qualified to share the responsibility.

“Chen Shuai, Huangfu, Tantai and the others, are they really not coming back?” Diwu Wei couldn’t help but ask, “Let’s talk to Tongtai Temple anyway.”

“The emperor won’t talk to them.” Chen Qingzhi shook his head solemnly and said, “And the Buddhist sect won’t let us go either.”

“Why? Can they afford to support 20,000 people? If they just sit back and do nothing, the mountain will be empty.” The Fifth Dimension asked puzzledly.

“Have you forgotten that they want to build three thousand Buddhist temples?” Chen Qianzhi asked back.

(End of this chapter)