Chapter 1386: Confusion and determination [two in one]
"...I've seen the poison smeared on those arrowheads, but it's just the root juice of poisonous weeds mixed with snake venom. It's not a problem...I've applied new medicine to you, endure the pain."
In a room, Princess Su Mijiang was chattering while helping her husband Zhao Hongrun apply medicine to the arrow wound on his left chest.
This woman rarely spoke so many words in one breath. Although her expression was still indifferent, it could be seen that her eyes revealed concern for her husband.
"hiss--"
The pain was as burning as salt, and Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but let out a breath of cold air.
Seeing this, Mi Jiang seemed to be trying to distract him and said, "I can't figure it out. Wei Jiao and the Green Crows were surrounding you at that time. How could you still be hit by arrows?"
Hearing this, Zhao Hongrun smiled bitterly and said, "How do I know this? It's probably God's will (zhe) that arranged it this way."
After that, he couldn't help complaining: "It hurts, it hurts, don't you have any medicine that won't hurt? If the poison on the arrowhead and arrow cluster didn't kill me, I would have died in your hands..."
…Is the new medicine you prepared really okay? Why do I feel like I’m about to have a fever?”
Mi Jiang rolled her eyes when she heard this. She seemed a little annoyed that her husband didn't trust the new medicine she prepared. After bandaging the latter's wound, she deliberately patted the bandage lightly, causing Zhao Hongrun to utter an "ouch" in pain.
He looked at Mi Jiang with disbelief: I'm already like this, and you still want to torture me?
As if she understood the strange look in her husband's eyes, Mi Jiang shook her head speechlessly and said, "Okay, I'll go see Wei'er and have a good rest."
After saying that, there was a hint of hesitation in her eyes, and she gently put her right hand on her husband's chest, but hesitated to speak.
Through some unknown telepathy, Zhao Hongrun vaguely felt that Mi Jiang's seemingly calm expression was actually not emotionally stable, so he raised his right hand and pressed Mi Jiang's chest, then patted it twice and whispered softly.
Said: "Don't worry, I will be fine...just go."
After receiving her husband's assurance, Mi Jiang nodded, then stood up and walked out.
After Mi Jiang left, Zongwei Weijiao and Mu Qing, who were guarding outside the house, came to the room and saw Zhao Hongrun sitting on the edge of the bed with his upper body bandaged. Mu Qing smiled and said: "Your Highness, even if
Even miles apart, I can hear your shrill screams..."
Hearing this, even Wei Jiao couldn't help but laugh.
It's not that they don't care about Zhao Hongrun. In fact, they are extremely concerned about the latter. However, Zhao Hongrun's screams sounded quite energetic at that time, and the His Highness looked good at the moment. Therefore, Mu Qing
He couldn't help but make a joke about his Highness - this was probably a disguised attempt to make Zhao Hongrun pay less attention to his wounds.
After giving Mu Qing a fierce look and swearing a few vicious words like "Sooner or later I will throw you to the Youma Army to pick up horse dung", Zhao Hongrun lay down on the bed with the help of Wei Jiao, and then
, he slowly put away his smile and curse, and said with a serious face: "That group of people... really want to take my life."
Seeing that His Highness brought up business, Mu Qing stopped joking and said with a frown: "Your Highness, are those people really not deliberately arranged by Zhang Qigong?... I still feel that this guy is very suspicious."
Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said calmly: "Zhang Qigong is a smart man. He should know what would happen if I died near Daliang. Therefore, at the last moment, he weighed the pros and cons and ordered the ban
Guard protected us and boarded the ship..."
"Maybe Zhang Qigong deliberately designed this?" Mu Qing reminded from the side: "Seeing that His Highness was hit by a deadly poisonous arrow, he simply let him go, hoping to get rid of the responsibility of killing Your Highness..."
"He can't get rid of it." Shaking his head, Zhao Hongrun said objectively: "As long as the king dies near Daliang, the prince has an unshirkable responsibility. How can Zhang Qigong get away with this method?" At this point
, he said with some certainty: "It's Xiao Ni!"
"How could Xiao Ni show up at the right time?" Mu Qing asked suspiciously.
Zhao Hongrun laughed when he heard this and said lightly: "It's very simple. Among the guards that Zhang Qigong brought to Xiangfu Port at that time, there were either Xiao Ni's remnants, or Xiao Ni's informants, who were informing the latter..."
Hearing this, Wei Jiao couldn't help but said: "Even if the information was leaked, Xiao Ni would not be able to gather such a team of people in such a short period of time, right?... The number of thieves at that time seemed to be greater than that brought by Zhang Qigong.
There are even more imperial guards in Xiangfu Port. Unless..." He frowned and added: "Unless Xiao Ni has actually been deployed around Daliang."
Having said this, he seemed to have thought of something, and his brows furrowed even more tightly.
As if guessing what Wei Jiao was thinking, Zhao Hongrun nodded and said, "That's probably the case... The prince was too hasty and integrated the imperial guards, summoning many local families and disciples to Daliang, which gave the group of
People can take advantage of this opportunity, I believe Zhang Qigong should have noticed it after that day."
After a pause, a look of confusion appeared on his face, and he murmured in confusion: "It's just that I can't figure out why Xiao Ni didn't hesitate to expose the men and horses deployed in Daliang, and also planned to kill me..."
Although many people knew that Zhao Hongrun wanted to cut Xiao Luan, the leader of Xiao Ni, into pieces with a thousand knives, I believe this was definitely not the reason why Xiao Luan wanted to kill him.
Is Xiao Luan afraid of death?
Don't forget, this is a villain who dared to change his appearance and appear in Daliang, the capital of King Wei, as a government official - I remember that in Zhao Ying, after the Zhao Que sisters drew a portrait of Xiao Luan from memory, Zhao Hongrun was shocked.
In fact, he had already met the leader of the remnants of the Xiao family many times.
Yes, the former Dali Temple Duan Cheng who returned home is none other than Xiao Luan himself!
From this we can see what a courageous man Xiao Luan is.
Such a person would strike first because Zhao Hongrun wanted to kill him, and would not hesitate to expose the remaining members of Xiao Ni's party who had finally been redeployed in Daliang?
Zhao Hongrun never believed it!
Unless Xiao Luan had other motives - in any case, it would not be because of personal grudges.
Thinking of this, Zhao Hongrun murmured to himself: "I can't figure it out... That day Xiao Ni sent someone to give Zhao Hongli evidence of the private contact between Quliang Hou Sima Song and the prince. Logically speaking, Xiao Luan planned to get the prince as well.
, is he trying to help the prince now? Isn’t that right?
Yes, if he really wants to help the prince, he will never do it while I am still in Daliang. Otherwise, if I die, the prince will have no excuse... It’s strange, since he doesn’t want to help the prince, why would he kill me? Leave me alone.
To bring down the prince, our interests should be aligned with his own."
Raising his hand to rub his brow bone, Zhao Hongrun felt that the whole thing was weird.
His father, Zhao Yuancai, had done nothing in the past year, and the resurgent Xiao Ni, the remaining party, after a year of silence, the first thing they did was to try to kill him even if they exposed themselves. Zhao Hongrun always felt that behind these things,
It seems like something is secretly pushing it.
He felt that this whole thing was like a huge chess game. Both Zhao Hongrun and Prince Hongyu seemed to be just chess pieces on the chess board. As for the people playing chess——
Suddenly, Zhao Hongrun asked: "Wei Jiao, can you accomplish what I asked you to do?"
A strange look appeared on Wei Jiao's face, and he said with some shame: "Reporting to Your Highness, I have invited all the doctors in (Shangshui) County to the palace according to Your Highness's instructions, and wronged those few and put them under house arrest.
At the house, people named Zhu Gui, He Miao and others were looking for any medicinal materials that could help detoxify... As long as there were Xiao Ni's spies in Shangshui County, Xiao Ni would definitely learn "the news that His Highness died from a poisoned arrow."
.”
"Very good." Zhao Hongrun nodded with satisfaction, and then said with a smile: "In this way, in a few days, when you tie up your head in white silk and gather an army to attack the prince in Shangshui County, Xiao Ni will definitely think that I
The king is dead..." At this point, he touched his chin and asked in confusion: "Do you want to hold a funeral to make it more credible?"
Wei Jiao and Mu Qing were ashamed of this, and laughed bitterly in unison: "Your Highness, you must not do this! ... This is taboo!"
"Okay, okay, I didn't just say it casually." Zhao Hongrun smiled, then he squinted his eyes and said in a deep voice: "In this confrontation between the prince and Prince Qing, if I am not wrong, Xiao Luan is also
One of the promoters behind the scenes. But he wants me dead, which means that I am not needed in this game of chess. In other words, my survival will be a huge obstacle to his upcoming actions.
...Since we can't guess his purpose for the time being, we can only resort to tricks..."
Wei Jiao and Mu Qing nodded.
The three of them were chatting when suddenly a member of the Green Crow family came from outside the house asking for instructions: "Your Highness, there is something urgent to report about Zhao Hongjing, King of Yangzhai."
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun ordered Mu Qing to open the door and recruit the Qingya people.
After entering, the Qingya member kowtowed to Zhao Hongrun and said, "Your Highness, Zhao Hongjing, King of Yangzhai, just wanted to forcefully leave the palace, but he was subdued by my Qingya brother."
After hearing this, Zhao Hongrun couldn't help laughing: "This Zhao Hongjing is really utilitarian..."
After thinking about it, he ordered Mu Qing: "Mu Qing, go and bring him here."
"Yes!" Mu Qing clasped his fists and retreated.
About an hour later, when Zhao Hongrun was lying on the bed in the house with his eyes closed and recuperating, he heard a somewhat stern warning from the King of Yangzhai, Zhao Hongjing, from outside the house: "Mu Qing, please order someone to kill me.
What does the king want to do by forcefully taking him to this place? I can warn you, I am a descendant of the royal family..."
But at the end, Zhao Hongjing's voice gradually softened: "Mu Qing, what happened to Lao Ba has nothing to do with me. I advised him at the beginning not to go to Daliang, but it was Lao Ba who didn't listen...
...You believe my words, Mu Qing..."
"It seems that Mu Qing scared Prince Xiang quite a bit..."
Zong Wei, who was standing next to the bed, chuckled and said in a low voice.
Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but laugh at this - he did feel unhappy when he was teased by Mu Qing, but this did not prevent him from taking pleasure in others being teased by Mu Qing.
A moment later, there was a bang and the door was pushed open. Mu Qing stood at the door and said fiercely: "Get in!"
Immediately, he pushed the earth-colored Yangdi King Zhao Hongjing into the house and slammed the door.
Their eyes met, Zhao Hongrun looked at the look of horror on the face of Yangzhai King Zhao Hongjing in amusement, which was gradually replaced by astonishment, especially when the latter gradually widened his eyes, and his stunned expression made Zhao Hongrun feel joyful, as if he was
The pain was relieved a bit.
"Brother Three Kings, long time no see." Zhao Hongrun smiled lightly and waved.
Yangzhai King Zhao Hongjing stared at Zhao Hongrun with an uncertain expression. After staring for a few breaths, he took a long breath of relief and complained angrily: "Old man, your Zongwei is so ridiculous. Why?"
Brother just now really thought he was going to take me to some remote corner and kill me with one knife..."
Having said this, a look of deep joy appeared on his face, he walked forward quickly and said with a smile: "Hongrun, I am really relieved to see that you are safe and sound."
Zhao Hongrun smiled faintly.
He could guess that the so-called care about him by Yangzhai King Zhao Hongjing was actually to put it bluntly, he was concerned about whether he was still valuable. After all, Zhao Hongjing was a man who was no less utilitarian than Zhang Qigong - the difference between the two was that,
Zhang Qigong's "viciousness" is openly exposed, but Zhao Hongjing's "viciousness" is hidden deep in his seemingly harmless and kind smile. The so-called "sweet talk but a sword hidden in a smile" refers to this kind of person.
"Wei Jiao, you go outside and guard first."
Zhao Hongrun ordered Wei Jiao.
Zongwei Chief Wei Jiao nodded, walked out of the room, and closed the door from the outside.
At this time, Zhao Hongrun looked at Zhao Hongjing, his face gradually darkened.
For a long time, he looked at Zhao Hongjing intently and said calmly: "I have been to Daliang and met... the current prince."
"Oh?" Zhao Hongjing's eyes showed a bit of interest. Then he looked at the layers of bandages on Zhao Hongrun's chest and said with surprise: "The "new impression" he left on you is better than I thought."
It’s even deeper…”
In fact, the injuries on Zhao Hongrun's body were not caused by Prince Hongyu, but he was not in the mood to understand this with Zhao Hongjing. He looked at Zhao Hongjing, seemingly calm but actually said with anger: "Zhao Hongjing, you destroyed King Yong."
Zhao Hongjing blinked, as if he couldn't understand what Zhao Hongrun said: "Why did Hongrun say this?"
Zhao Hongrun ignored Zhao Hongjing's rhetorical question and said to himself: "I finally understand. When you exposed "King Yong is the son of Queen Wang", it was not to retaliate against King Yong for sealing you to Yangzhai, but to destroy him.
King Yong... You initially joined forces with King Yong and fought with Zhao Hongli for more than ten years. You are very clear about the importance of Concubine Shi in King Yong's heart. Therefore, you deliberately designed to push Concubine Shi into a desperate situation and make Concubine Shi die with regret.
He died, and before he died, he was still thinking about apologizing to Zhao Hongli, his biological son, and had no time to care about King Yong... Because of you, King Yong no longer trusts others." After saying this, he narrowed his eyes and said coldly: "
Mu Qing did the right thing, in fact, you are the cause of this whole thing. Zhao Hongjing, do you think I should kill you?"
If it had been a moment ago, when Zhao Hongrun said these murderous words before Zong Wei Chief Wei Jiao left, I am afraid Zhao Hongjing would have felt panicked and uneasy, but now that the eighth brother in front of him had sent Wei Jiao outside the house -
- Even if Wei Jiao was only on the surface, Wei Jiao could still hear the conversation between the two people outside the house, but in general, the meanings of the two were completely different.
Of course, Zhao Hongjing was not stupid enough to expose this matter. After being silent for a while, he nodded and said: "Hongrun, you are right, but it will not help to pursue your brother's fault now, right?
...Since Hongrun, you have been to Daliang, you should know that Zhao Hongyu is no longer the person you and I are familiar with. He has put his father under house arrest, controlled the government, and now he wants to take action against brothers like you and me..."
"Who do you think caused this?" Zhao Hongrun interrupted with a sneer.
"Then... what are you going to do now, Hongrun?" After being interrupted by Zhao Hongrun, Yangzhai King Zhao Hongjing was not angry and asked Zhao Hongrun in turn.
"..." Zhao Hongrun took a deep look at Zhao Hongjing and said coldly: "Tell me about your plan...Don't try to deceive me. I believe that before you came to me to trade water, you must have met with Zhao Wu (Qing Qing) in private.
Wang Hongxin). Come to think of it, you have been waiting for this opportunity...a good opportunity to legitimately attack the "unjust brother" of the prince!"
Zhao Hongjing was stunned when he heard this, and then said with a smile: "Hongrun, please don't think that our brothers are so scheming... As the saying goes, everything depends on man and God will do it. No matter what we do, if Zhao Hongyu can bear it
, isn’t there nothing we can do about him? If you want to blame, blame him for being too ambitious. Before he even sat in that position, he wanted to take back the power in the hands of our brothers..."
When he said these words, Zhao Hongjing felt indescribably proud.
In fact, at the beginning, he had no choice but to expose the fact that "Empress Wang and Yong Wang Hongyu are biological mother and son." On the one hand, it was certainly to take revenge on Yong Wang Hongyu. On the other hand, as Zhao Hongrun said just now, it was indeed hope.
This can be used to destroy King Yong's reputation.
But having said that, if Yong Wang Hongyu could withstand the heavy blow caused by this incident and suppress the hatred and anger in his heart, in fact, Zhao Hongjing would have no way to take advantage of the former - it is no exaggeration to say that Zhao Hongjing was taking advantage of him
In the second half of his life, I bet that Yong Wang Hongyu's temperament would change drastically after that incident.
If he can win, he will try to contact his brothers and drag down Zhao Hongyu, the aloof prince. But if he loses, he will probably have to live under the grudge of Prince Hongyu for the rest of his life, like a mouse crossing the street, and will never be able to do anything again.
Dare to show your face again.
I have to say that this bet was really big, but he won the bet.
Things turned out just as he had expected. Although Zhao Hongyu was still the high-ranking prince of the Supervisory State and controlled the entire Liang Dynasty, among the brothers, the former had become estranged from his relatives. Even Su Wang Zhao Hongrun, who had supported the former, also changed his mind.
How could Zhao Hongjing not feel proud that the once highly regarded Yongwang Hongyu could be reduced to this situation today?
Of course, it was not the time to feel complacent yet, at least Zhao Hongjing knew that the eighth brother in front of him would probably be very disgusted with the pride in his heart.
Therefore, he suppressed the complacency in his heart, nodded and said: "Indeed, Brother Wei and Zhao Hongxin did have contact in private. The latter may have given me a lot of benefits. At least in my opinion, when King Qing came to power, it would be better than what he is doing now."
Zhao Hongyuqiang."
"..."
Zhao Hongrun's face was expressionless.
You must know that King Yong Hongyu is the only candidate he recognized as the crown prince of Wei among his brothers. Apart from this person, who else among the brothers can bear the heavy responsibility of the king of Wei? Is this Zhao Hongjing in front of me? Or the King Qing of Song County?
What's more, having just experienced "the military power was taken away", just like Prince Hongyu, how could Zhao Hongrun dare to trust his brothers again?
For some reason, the face of his father suddenly appeared in Zhao Hongrun's mind, and the latter said some words that he didn't like to hear.
After letting out a slight breath, Zhao Hongrun interrupted Zhao Hongjing, who was talking endlessly about "the promise given by King Qing Hongxin", and said calmly: "Forget it, let's wait until the civil strife is prevented."
"Stop civil unrest?"
Zhao Hongjing murmured, and when he looked at Zhao Hongrun, a few subtle colors flashed in his eyes.
However, he recovered quickly and said happily: "Hongrun, have you finally made up your mind? Ha, with Hongrun's help, this will definitely happen!"
Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered something and frowned and said: "Hongrun, when I lived in your palace these days, I heard that Zhao Hongyu sent someone to take over the Yanling Army, Shangshui Army, and Youma Army in your hands.
These three armies were transferred to Daliang..."
"Well, that's indeed what happened." Zhao Hongrun said calmly: "On the day I was placed under house arrest, the prince forced me to write a letter of authorization."
Zhao Hongjing was stunned when he heard this, and said with an unnatural smile: "I don't think Hongrun will hand over military power so easily. He must have done something in those letters, right?"
"No." Zhao Hongrun said calmly: "He used my wife and children to coerce me, and I just obeyed."
Hearing this, Zhao Hongjing's face turned a little ugly, and she swallowed her saliva and said, "This is troublesome..."
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun said half-truthfully: "That's why I deliberately spread the news of his death to make the prince feel at ease!"
After hearing this, Zhao Hongjing frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Even so, it is not safe. I believe that after your three armies arrive in Daliang, Zhao Hongyu will definitely remove the generals you appointed and defeat these three armies.
Disperse..."
After that, he took a look at Zhao Hongrun's injury and whispered: "To prevent long nights and dreams, if Hongrun, your injury is not serious, you and I should go to Daliang immediately..." After that, he looked at Zhao Hongrun and asked: "Hongrun
Run, you should still have available troops, right?"
"Of course." Zhao Hongrun said with a slight smile.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongjing's eyes lit up and asked: "Where is it?"
Zhao Hongrun chuckled and replied: "In Daliang!"
Hearing this, Zhao Hongjing frowned and said, "Hongrun, don't be ridiculous..."
"Are you kidding? Do you think I'm joking?"
Zhao Hongrun glanced sideways at Zhao Hongjing, and then looked out the window.
He was not worried that when Zhao Hongyu removed the top generals of the three armies, Yanling Army, Shangshui Army, and Youma Army, he would lose control of these three armies.
Don't forget, these three armies are collectively called "King Su's Army", and the core of King Su's Army has been King Su Zhao Run from the beginning!
Unless Prince Hongyu withdraws all his soldiers, no matter where Zhao Run is, he can make the three armies switch sides with just one order.
Of course, it was not that he wanted to use this trick to plot against Prince Hongyu.
The reason why he obeyed obediently and asked Prince Hongyu to transfer the three armies of Yanling Army, Shangshui Army, and Youma Army to Daliang was, on the one hand, to stabilize the then Prince Hongyu, and on the other hand, it was also to move the troops one step ahead.
These troops were deployed to Daliang to intercept the armies of King Qing, King Huan and King Xiang who were attacking Daliang.