The emperor strode in and saw the queen kneeling on the ground. He glared at Aunt Shang fiercely, stepped forward and knelt beside the queen, "Mother, my son is here."
"Don't call me mother," the Queen Mother, who was sitting upright, turned away, her chest heaving with anger, "Do you think I am your mother?"
The emperor opened his mouth, turned to the kneeling queen and said, "Queen, please take them down first."
The queen bowed slightly and stood on the ground to get up. The emperor stretched out his hand to help her, and Aunt Shang quickly stepped forward to take it. The two glanced at the room, and most of the people followed her out.
Only a few of the Queen Mother's confidants hesitated to move.
The emperor raised his eyelids and glanced at them. They immediately lowered their heads like an electric shock. They secretly glanced at the Queen Mother and bowed back.
The emperor then sat on the other side of the couch and sighed: "Mother, this is a state matter, not something that I can decide on my own."
The Queen Mother's face darkened, she raised her head and looked at the Emperor seriously for a while, and after a while she sneered: "Erlang, are you really unable, or are you unwilling?"
The emperor also looked at the Queen Mother, and after a while he said: "Mother, you have heard Bai Shan and Zhou Man's complaint today. I must give an explanation to the people of the world, especially the people of Jiannan Road."
"But he is also your brother!"
"Yes, I didn't say he wasn't."
The Queen Mother covered her face, tears oozing from her fingertips, and she choked with sobs: "In the final analysis, whether it is state affairs or family affairs, it is you who have the final say..."
"The incident happened suddenly. The civil and military officials of the court, and even the heads of the aristocratic families are here. Do you think this son can still have the final say?" The emperor put his arms around her shoulders and whispered: "Mother, you said that this world belongs to my Li family.
The world, but it is actually not just the world of my Li family."
The Queen Mother put down her hands and closed her eyes tightly. After a while, she opened her eyes. Her sleeves slipped down to cover her clenched fists. She stared at the emperor and asked: "I don't ask for anything else, I only ask for one thing."
, can you save your brother’s life?”
The emperor lowered his head to meet her eyes.
The Queen Mother said sadly: "Erlang, I gave birth to four children, and now only you and Lao Wu are left. In the past, you three brothers and your father were away fighting, and only Lao Wu was by my side..."
"Okay," the emperor held her hand and whispered, "I promise you, as long as Wu Lang stays in the capital well, I can protect him."
The Queen Mother seemed relieved, holding his hand and nodding.
The emperor wiped her tears and asked unexpectedly: "Mother, have you heard about Wu Lang's stay in Yizhou City?"
The Queen Mother stiffened, and she looked at the Emperor, her eyes piercing his face like a sharp blade, "Why, do you doubt me?"
"My son doesn't dare. My son just thinks that Wu Lang is too bold and reckless. According to Bai Shan's confession, he started preparing more than ten years ago, when my father was still there."
The Queen Mother couldn't help but stabbed, "Not only is your father here, but your eldest brother and third brother are also here."
The emperor's face turned pale.
The Queen Mother closed her eyes and waved her hand: "You should also go and rest. I will have someone send something to Lao Wu later."
"Queen mother..."
"Why, I can't even send some food and clothing to my son?"
The emperor smiled bitterly, "Mother, my son will not treat Wu Lang badly in this matter."
"Of course I know you won't treat me badly, but what you have is yours, and what I give you is my mother's heart."
The emperor responded helplessly, bowed and retreated.
After the emperor had left for a long time, the Queen Mother leaned on the couch with her forehead propped up and said in a deep voice: "Come out."
Princess Yizhou, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying, came out from behind the screen and said, "Mother..."
The Queen Mother opened her eyes and looked at her, and said softly: "Come forward."
Princess Yizhou stepped forward, but as soon as she came closer, the Queen Mother's expression changed, and she reached out and slapped her hard, knocking Princess Yizhou to the ground.
Princess Yizhou covered her face and fell to the ground. Because she had used all her strength to slap the Queen Mother, her ears were still buzzing.
The Queen Mother fell down on the couch, but she was still angry and threw the pillow behind her on her body.
Princess Yizhou was frightened to death, and she knelt on the ground shivering, "Mother, Queen Mother..."
The Queen Mother stretched out her hand to pull her over, looked into her eyes and asked, "Let me ask you, are what those two children said in the palace true?"
Princess Yizhou turned pale and shook her head repeatedly, "Mother, those are all false accusations, they are false accusations..."
The Queen Mother pushed her to the ground and lowered her voice and shouted: "You cry, you shout, no one knows how many emperors and queens are in this palace. What you shouted here today will be known when you turn around."
.”
Princess Yizhou covered her mouth and did not dare to cry out.
The Queen Mother sat down from the couch and met Princess Yizhou face to face. She stared at her and asked, "Ms. Ying, let me ask you again, are what those two children said true? Wulang is raising private soldiers over there in Yizhou.
?”
Princess Yizhou burst into tears and shook her head. Seeing the Queen Mother's sharp eyes, she nodded again. She let go of her hands and said in a low voice: "Empress, I, I really don't know.
However, the prince is very short of money, so he uses my dowry to do business, and from time to time he sends me back to my parents’ house to get money. I know that the prince has many customers..."
The Queen Mother was so angry that she raised her hands, and when she saw her shrinking back, she put them down angrily. She stared at Ying with a disappointed look on her face: "Your grandson can run all over the ground, but you still don't know what your husband is doing outside."
,you you……"
Compared to the queen, this daughter-in-law is just a little bit worse.
The Queen Mother's heart ached so much that she almost couldn't breathe.
She covered her chest and remained silent for a while. Princess Yizhou cried out in fear: "Mother, queen, please save the prince, he must not have bad intentions."
The Queen Mother closed her eyes and asked, "Where are Xin'an and the other three?"
Princess Yizhou wiped her tears and said, "Xin'an and Xinping were taken away by your Majesty's people. Only Xinqing and Yunfeng are still with me."
The Queen Mother exhaled, "Just stay in the palace honestly and don't go anywhere. Send Xinqing and Yunfeng to my palace. As long as you don't run around, I can keep you."
Princess Yizhou nodded again and again, very obedient.
The lights were turned off in several places in the palace, but there were always a few that were kept brightly lit until a faint fish-white light appeared on the horizon, and then the lights were slowly extinguished.
In the prison, before the second candle was about to burn out, Bai Shan and Man Bao finally wrapped the man on the ground into a big white rice dumpling. Except for his head, his whole body was wrapped in medicine.
Xiang Chao, the only one who went to bed early tonight, woke up to darkness. He was stunned for a moment before realizing that there was something on his head. He immediately reached out and took off the thing covering his head. When he raised his eyes, he saw the two of them.
He put down the scissors, stretched out his waist and rubbed the back of his neck sleepily, and lying on the ground except for his head, the rest was covered in white linen.