"Ah!!!"
"Dead, the Left Prime Minister is dead..."
"Is... is Princess Anping still here?"
Some screamed in terror, some managed to stay calm, and more were trembling, looking left and right, trying to figure out where Princess Anping's voice was coming from, and where the golden beans were thrown from.
At the same time, many were terrified to death.
Their bodies trembled, and cold sweat broke out on their backs.
Their minds kept recalling whether they had said anything they shouldn't have, or spoken ill of Princess Anping.
After a while, the ministers calmed down, shut their mouths, and left the Hall of Heavenly Purity. None of them dared to chat there anymore. Now, they felt that Princess Anping could hear anything they said, and they were afraid of losing their lives to golden beans if they said the wrong thing.
But at the same time, many officials felt a little more at ease than before, because they believed that Princess Anping's words meant that the matter of the Duke of Zhenguo was over and would not be investigated further.
This way, those who had stood by and watched coldly, or even kicked them while they were down, would naturally feel more at ease.
After all, there was no need to worry about settling scores later.
How could they not be at ease?
However, as those ministers left, the impact of this matter had only just begun, and even the matter of succession was not settled. After all, there would always be those who were unwilling, and those who would not give up until they hit a dead end.
Some ministers might be willing to compromise, thinking that loyalty was loyalty no matter who they were loyal to, but the princes and royal family members were not so easily willing to accept a princess ascending the throne.
Before long, the princes who received the news quickly contacted their respective forces and led their troops to attack the imperial palace.
Because Ding Yun had already issued an imperial decree in advance, ordering everyone inside and outside the palace to not stop anyone they saw, and to escape first if there was danger, prioritizing their own lives. She didn't need anyone to protect her. Therefore, the princes entered the imperial palace very smoothly. After a brief inquiry, they headed straight for the palace where Ding Yun was located.
Intending to attack.
To be honest, Ding Yun was very happy to see them coming, because she was worried about not having a reason to deal with the princes and royal family. Now they were rushing to give her a reason, so how could she not be happy?
"Come, use fire directly, there's no need to show mercy!"
"Watch closely, no matter who comes out, or from which direction, shoot them to death with arrows immediately."
Ding Yun heard the commands of the older princes outside clearly from inside the palace. To avoid her own palace being destroyed, she immediately rushed out and attacked those leading princes, who were her half-brothers, and her younger brothers.
She attacked them mercilessly, intending to kill them.
Of course, as she attacked fiercely, the soldiers they brought were also constantly shooting arrows at her. However, those arrows were useless.
Apart from tearing her clothes, they could not harm her in the slightest, not even a single strand of her hair was broken.
It was only then that some people remembered the rumors that Princess Anping was impervious to weapons. They could not help but feel regret and fear. They retreated while shouting uselessly, "Kill her, kill her."
In a short while, the leading princes were all wiped out by Ding Yun's swift attacks. Many of the remaining soldiers, without Ding Yun saying anything, were so frightened that they threw down their weapons.
Only a few leading generals remained.
For a moment, they were at a loss.
However, Ding Yun was too lazy to kill more, so after looking at them twice, she waved her hand: "Scram!
This is a warning. I have remembered all of you. If I see any of you draw swords against me next time, you will have to die.
I don't mind killing a few more!
Oh, and take the bodies away, and clean up the blood and arrows.
Then go back to what you were doing!"
After speaking, Ding Yun was not afraid of them ambushing her.
She turned and left.
Originally, with the death of a few princes, they had lost their will to fight. They were even thinking about how they would die and whether they would implicate their families. Now that Princess Anping did not intend to pursue the matter, no one dared to foolishly ambush and assassinate her, who was impervious to weapons.
So, of course, they obediently cleaned up the mess and took the bodies away.
And this was not the end.
If the princes were dead, were there not still the royal family?
They learned their lesson and stopped using weapons against Ding Yun. Instead, they resorted to trickery, sending assassins wave after wave, and administering poison by the pound.
Ding Yun let them proceed while collecting evidence.
And three days later, she exterminated all the royal family members who were involved in the assassination and poisoning plots, and only then was the capital roughly pacified. It couldn't be said that everyone was willing to surrender, but at least most people no longer dared to resist.
The imperial palace and the capital were under strict orders.
Only then did Ding Yun officially begin her enthronement ceremony and the subsequent ceremony of sacrificing to heaven.
Everything followed the procedure.
The only difference was that words involving princes and crown princes were changed to Crown Princess, and words like Emperor were changed to Empress.
As the enthronement ceremony was completed, the sacrifice to heaven began.
Ding Yun immediately exchanged for a temporary Magpie's Tongue skill and personally recited the sacrificial text to heaven. This text was written by herself, and the latter part was generally about asking heaven to show auspicious signs if she was approved.
Coupled with the bonus from the Magpie's Tongue skill.
It could be said that whatever auspicious signs Ding Yun mentioned, the sky above the sacrificial ceremony immediately showed those auspicious signs. Auspicious clouds, colorful lights, and celestial music emerged endlessly. In the end, auspicious birds sang in unison, and dragons and phoenixes combined, transforming into three thousand li of golden light, converging behind Ding Yun to be used by her.
And what the common people saw was—
Princess Anping received divine protection. Not only were there various auspicious signs celebrating her enthronement, but even dragons and phoenixes had to condescend to be under her, driven by her. Did this not mean that she was even more powerful and awesome than any true Son of Heaven?
Even the officials, who knew that Ding Yun might have the ability to speak words into reality, had to admit at this moment that Princess Anping's throne was stable. With this ability, other things were uncertain, but as long as she did not act too outrageously, public support would definitely be stable.
However, overall, Ding Yun could only be said to have completely controlled the capital at this point. Her control over other regions was still relatively weak. Therefore, while her enthronement ceremony was going on with great fanfare, the feudal lords in various regions were already sharpening their knives and raising their troops.
They all found their own reasons.
But their common goal was to destroy Ding Yun.
In order to save time, or perhaps to prevent others from snatching the fruits of victory, those feudal lords were all extremely anxious. They didn't even care about harassing the common people anymore, and were rushing towards the capital at top speed.
Who knew who gave them the courage and confidence?
They were so eager to seek death.