Chapter seven hundred and ninety-eight of witchcraft
After listening to Liu Xiu's words, Guo Shengtong's face turned red and white for a while, and he was angry with him.
Seeing Guo Shengtong's unkind expression, Xu Xiling stood up knowingly and said respectfully: "Since the second prince is fine, I can rest assured. Your Majesty, Queen, I will retire!"
Xi Cheying also stood up and said, "Concubine, please leave!"
Guo Shengtong ignored the two of them, while Liu Xiu nodded with a smile. When the two of them left, Guo Shengtong said with some complaint: "Your Majesty..."
Liu Xiu held Guo Shengtong's hand and said, "Zitong is the queen and the mother of a country. She must be able to tolerate others!"
Guo Shengtong's attitude towards Xu Xiling was either very bad or arrogant, which made Liu Xiu very helpless.
She looked at Liu Xiu and asked, "Your Majesty, are you blaming me?"
Liu Xiu looked up and smiled, took Guo Shengtong into his arms, and said, "I'm not blaming Zi Tong, I just think that Zi Tong should have the style and bearing of the mother of the country."
Before Guo Shengtong could speak, he turned to Zhang Kun and said, "I will stay at Changqiu Palace tonight."
"Yes! Your Majesty!" Zhang Kun bowed and responded. Guo Shengtong's little face immediately showed joy, and he swallowed back the complaints in his heart.
Let's talk about Xu Xiling and Xi Cheying. They left Changqiu Palace. On the way back, Xu Xiling asked: "Now, senior sister should be satisfied, right?"
Since Xie Cheying entered the palace, he has always been worried about her lack of fame and status. He also asked Xu Xiling to help him tell the matter in front of His Majesty. This time when he went to Changqiu Palace, it was also Xie Cheying who
Ying forced Xu Xiling to come.
"Not only am I satisfied, but my junior sister should also be satisfied." Xi Cheying said cheerfully.
Xu Xiling looked at her strangely.
Xi Cheying said: "If senior sister has no name or status, even if she wants to help junior sister in the palace, she will not be able to do what she wants. Now that junior sister and I are both beauties, wouldn't it be easier to take care of each other in the future?"
At this point, she curled up the corner of her mouth, raised her hand, and brushed her fingertips on Xu Xiling's cheek. Xu Xiling was startled at first, then stopped and stared at Xi Cheying displeasedly.
The latter old god walked up to her and said softly: "With our sisters' abilities, as long as we can take care of each other, from now on, this palace will not belong to our sisters?"
Xu Xiling's expression changed again. Looking at Xi Cheying, a chill came from the bottom of his heart.
She is already very satisfied with her current status. She has the title of beauty and has given birth to an eldest princess who is particularly favored by His Majesty. But Xi Cheying is not like that. What she wants is far from the title of beauty.
After all, they are senior sisters and they understand each other relatively well.
Even though Xu Xiling's character has a competitive side, he is more inclined to be happy-go-lucky and relatively soft-spoken. Xi Cheying, on the other hand, is just the opposite. She wants to be first in everything and wants to win no matter what she does.
To take the lead, you have to step on everyone around you.
During this period of time, Xi Cheying was not idle in the palace. She made friends everywhere, even the maids and chamberlains. She also made many friends, including the maids and chamberlains of Changqiu Palace. yyls
Thinking of this, Xu Xiling's heart suddenly trembled. She nervously pulled on Xi Cheying's sleeve and asked in a trembling voice: "Senior sister, the second... the second prince's sudden illness has nothing to do with... and you, senior sister, right?"
Xi Cheying asked cheerfully: "If it had anything to do with it, would Junior Sister expose me to His Majesty?"
When Xu Xiling heard this, his head buzzed, and when he was about to speak, Xi Cheying suddenly chuckled, patted the back of Xu Xiling's hand, and said with a smile: "I'm joking with you! Why did I harm the second prince for no reason?
Woolen cloth?!"
Huh! Xu Xiling couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, and then gave Xi Cheying a hard look with dissatisfaction, and said angrily: "How can we joke about such a big thing?!" It's okay to murder the emperor's heir and commit rebellion.
?
Xi Cheying rolled his eyes and said: "Junior sister is really getting more and more incapable of making jokes. She must have been in the palace for too long, and her whole person has become rigid!"
That night, Liu Xiu stayed at the Changqiu Palace. Liu Fu took the medicine prescribed by the imperial doctor, and his condition improved a little, his fever went down a lot, and he was able to drink some milk.
Liu Xiu and Guo Shengtong stayed by the crib for a long time. When they saw that the child was sweating, they breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the bed to rest.
After the ups and downs, Guo Shengtong nestled in Liu Xiu's arms and couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, is it true that someone is plotting to kill our emperor like what Aunt Feng said?"
Liu Xiu stroked a few strands of hair in front of Guo Shengtong's forehead and said, "Zi Tong, stop thinking nonsense. Hasn't Fu'er's fever gone away? He just suffered a bit of wind and cold. He will be fine after a few days of recovery."
Listening to Liu Xiu's comfort, Guo Shengtong felt a lot more at ease, and tiredness swept over her. She rested her head on Liu Xiu's arm and said incomprehensively: "Your Majesty is the emperor, and you must protect our emperor... Assistant."
My son is still so young..."
Liu Xiu hummed softly, feeling that the person around her was gradually falling asleep. He gently pulled his arm out from under her head, then kissed her forehead gently, sat up, put on her shoes and put on a coat.
, walked out of the inner room.
When he arrived at the main hall outside, he coughed. After hearing the movement, Zhang Kun immediately pushed the door open, bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"
"Xuan Feiyan came to see me."
"Yes! Your Majesty!" Zhang Kun agreed, bowed and exited the hall.
Liu Xiu sat down, picked up a scroll of bamboo slips, and looked at it absently. After an unknown amount of time, the door opened again. Zhang Kun stood at the door and whispered: "Your Majesty, the flower beauty has arrived."
"Invite her in."
Not long after, Hua Feiyan walked into the hall from the outside, holding up her skirt. She bowed and said, "Your Majesty!"
Liu Xiu waved his hand, indicating that she would not be polite. After Hua Feiyan sat down, Liu Xiu asked: "How was the investigation of last time?"
He was asking about the last time someone in the West Palace drugged Yin Lihua's food. Hua Feiyan bowed to Liu Xiu and said apologetically: "Your Majesty, this subordinate is incompetent."
Liu Xiu's eyes flashed. The person who could make even Hua Feiyan unable to find any clues meant that the person behind the scenes was hidden deep in the palace. He changed the subject and asked casually: "This time the two
The prince suddenly contracted the evil spirit, was it accidental or man-made?"
"This..." Hua Feiyan hesitated and did not speak immediately.
Liu Xiu secretly frowned and said, "Feiyan knows nothing, but it doesn't matter."
Hua Feiyan was silent for a while and said: "The night before yesterday, someone secretly burned incense in the forest of the Imperial Garden. I don't know if this matter is related to the second prince's illness."
Liu Xiu looked puzzled and asked: "Burn incense in the imperial garden?"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" "Who is she?" "A palace maid." "A palace maid from that palace?" "This..." "Say!" "Reporting to your majesty, she is a young palace maid from the West Palace."
"West Palace..." Liu Xiu was stunned, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Why did she burn incense in the imperial garden?"
"I don't know."
Before Liu Xiu could continue asking questions, with a bang, the door to the inner room opened, and Guo Shengtong walked out. Seeing this, Hua Feiyan quickly bowed and saluted, and said: "Queen!"
Regarding Liu Xiu's concubines, the one that Guo Shengtong had the best impression of was Hua Feiyan. Although she had the reputation of being a beauty, she kept herself to herself and did not compete for favor or flattery.
She quickly walked up to Hua Feiyan, held her hand, and asked nervously: "Feiyan, you said you saw people from the West Palace secretly burning incense in the Imperial Garden?"
Hua Feiyan glanced at Liu Xiu subconsciously, and when the latter nodded to her, she said: "Reporting to the queen, Feiyan did not see this with his own eyes, but a subordinate accidentally discovered it and reported it to Feiyan."
"Okay, why did a palace maid sneak into the imperial garden to burn incense? Your Majesty must investigate clearly!" Guo Shengtong looked at Liu Xiu with red eyes.
Liu Xiu pondered for a moment, stood up and said, "Feiyan will take me to see it."
Guo Shengtong immediately answered: "I, my concubine, will go with your majesty!"
Liu Xiu glanced at her and nodded. Regardless of whether the maid's burning of incense was related to the second prince's illness, in short, burning incense in the palace violated palace rules. As the queen, Guo Shengtong had the right to handle this matter.
.
Hua Feiyan only knew about this incident, but did not know the specific location where the palace maid burned incense. She whispered a few words to the maid beside her, and the maid left quickly.
By the time Liu Xiu and Guo Shengtong got dressed, the maid had returned to Hua Feiyan and brought her a silk handkerchief with a hand-drawn map on it, which was very detailed and clearly marked the places where the palace maids burned incense.
.
According to the map brought by the maid, Liu Xiu, Guo Shengtong, and Hua Feiyan went to the Imperial Garden together. In the woods near a rockery in the Imperial Garden, they found traces of incense burning.
Since the events were only one day apart, the remaining traces are very clear.
Hua Feiyan stepped forward and asked the maid to lower the lantern. She squatted down and looked carefully. She pinched out a half-burned incense stick from a few dead leaves and handed it to Liu Xiuna.
side.
Guo Shengtong stepped forward quickly, bent down, and took a closer look. After looking at it, she said with an ugly face: "Your Majesty, it is indeed unfinished incense!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Hua Feiyan suddenly said: "No, there seems to be traces of digging here." As she spoke, she turned to look at Xuying and asked: "General Xuying, can you borrow your sword?
?”
Xuying looked at Liu Xiu, and when he saw Liu Xiu nodded, he took out his sword and handed it to Hua Feiyan. The latter took the sword and slowly pierced it into the soil, stabbing back and forth several times.
He paused suddenly, then dug up the soil with his sword.
Soon, a small package made of red silk was revealed. Everyone present was shocked when they saw this. Hua Feiyan put down his sword, lifted the small package from the soil, looked at it carefully, and then slowly unbuttoned it.
After opening the red silk outside, people looked at it carefully, and their expressions changed greatly. They saw that the red silk wrapped in the red silk was actually a wooden man. The wooden man had obviously been burned and was black, but the writings engraved on it were clearly visible.
Two characters are engraved in the center of the little wooden figure: Liu Fu. On the back, Liu Fu's birthday is also clearly engraved.
After looking at this little wooden figure, Guo Shengtong felt her eyes darken, and then the world started to spin, and her body began to sway involuntarily. Liu Xiu, who had weak hands, hurriedly supported Guo Shengtong and asked with concern: "Zitong? Zitong?"
Guo Shengtong finally relieved her breath. She looked at Liu Xiu with tears in her eyes and said with a choked voice: "Your Majesty, there are indeed evil people in the palace who are trying to use witchcraft to harm our prince..."
At this point, she was crying until she burst into tears.
Liu Xiu's face was ashen. He took the wooden figure from Hua Feiyan's hand and looked at it carefully. In addition to Liu Fu's name and birthdate engraved on it, there were also densely packed small eyes.
Obviously, it was pricked by needles. The person who made the wooden man must have hated the infant Liu Fu so much that he could poke so many small holes in the little wooden man.
He clenched his fists subconsciously and said: "Find the palace maid who burns incense, take her to Yeting Prison, and interrogate her severely! I will personally supervise the interrogation!"