The chamberlain conveyed the Holy Emperor's instructions to King Ning and quickly returned to the palace to resume his duties.
The emperor was sitting on the throne, as if he had woken up from the storm just now and was reading the memorial in front of him.
Feng Shun walked into the main hall with his chamberlain.
"Your Majesty," Feng Shun whispered, "the case has been settled."
As if he didn't hear it, the emperor picked up his ink pen and wrote quickly on the memorial.
The chamberlain bowed and replied: "Master Song... found poison in the Zhang family, but... the medicine was destroyed by the uncle..." The chamberlain told Zhang Yuci that he was fed poison.
Hearing this, the emperor's eyes deepened slightly. He knew that Song Chengxuan was a sharp knife, and he did not expect that Song Chengxuan would use such a method, but it was good to avoid having to deal with the Queen Mother again.
The chamberlain continued: "The father-in-law and the eldest princess of Jiashan are all there, waiting for uncle Guo to be poisoned. I didn't go into the house to check on uncle Guo, but I heard... the poison has already taken effect."
The emperor's pen paused, leaving a bright red stain on the memorial.
The Taiyuan Hospital has compared Prince Jing's pulse record with Queen Yu's pulse record and found many similarities. Obviously, the poison incident is not unfounded.
The emperor suddenly felt a little disturbed. He recalled how Empress Yu looked when she just fell ill. He had also been concerned about her condition and hoped that she would get better. It turned out that as early as that time, he had been played by the Zhang family. Thinking of this, he felt even more worried.
A bit of hatred.
"Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is here." The chamberlain came in and announced.
The emperor said nothing, and the empress dowager outside the palace had already entered the imperial study.
"Emperor," the Queen Mother looked as calm as ever, "I heard that something happened to the Zhang family. What happened?"
She was not particularly worried about the Queen's extensive interrogation of the palace residents. The Zhang family was considered deeply rooted and would not be shaken by the slightest disturbance.
No matter what the situation is, she will think of a way to deal with it. After all, she is the Queen Mother. She has seemingly retreated to Cining Palace. She still has people in the court. If the case comes to court, someone will naturally speak up for the Zhang family. When the time comes, the emperor will also
We must weigh the pros and cons and not act arbitrarily...
Until the news came.
The eldest princess of Jiashan sent King An's secret letter to the palace.
The Queen Mother immediately felt the danger. She could not wait any longer. After walking out of Cining Palace, she felt more and more that something was wrong. The Zhang family was in danger. Zhang Yuci should find ways to ask her for help, but it was too quiet now, so quiet that it made people feel
Flustered.
Could it be that Zhang Yuci had no way to send her a message?
The emperor picked up the secret letter from the desk and handed it to the Queen Mother: "The Queen Mother should read this first."
The Queen Mother opened the secret letter and her face gradually turned ugly. It turned out that the eldest princess of Jiashan had hidden such a secret letter.
A trace of murderous intent flashed in the Queen Mother's eyes. The eldest princess of Jiashan was pretending to be in front of her, but she had other plans in her heart. She should have married Jiashan far away if she had known it. She should not have been soft-hearted and assigned a weak-tempered consort to Jiashan.
"Knowing people but not their hearts," the Queen Mother said in a gloomy voice, "I keep these things because I want to deal with the emperor, and the emperor cannot condone them."
The Queen Mother held the secret letter tightly, walked quickly a few steps to the lamp, and was about to light the letter.
"Mother, please be careful," the emperor's cold voice came, "Many people in the Qi royal family have read the contents of the secret letter. If the mother burns it like this, it will make people think that we have a guilty conscience. This pair of father and emperor
His reputation is unfavorable. My father is our Emperor Wu of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He has great military exploits and a virtuous reputation. There is no way he would do anything to harm his brothers."
The Queen Mother's hands couldn't help but tremble. It was the first time that the Emperor spoke to her in such a tone.
"Feng Shun," the emperor said, "take the secret letter from the Queen Mother's hand."
Feng Shun bowed and walked forward quickly.
The Queen Mother stared at the emperor with a pair of phoenix eyes. The emperor standing not far away had a majestic face, and the golden dragon on the dragon robe seemed to be rushing towards her with its teeth and claws.
Today's emperor is very different, like a monarch in charge of the world.
The bad premonition in the Queen Mother's heart deepened. She finally let go of her hand and returned the secret letter to Feng Shun: "What is the emperor going to do with it?"
The emperor said: "Of course we have to find out and tell the world the truth."
The Queen Mother frowned: "How to check? So many years have passed, and the late Emperor and King An are no longer alive. Who should I turn to for verification?"
The emperor did not answer the Queen Mother's words, but said coldly: "Does the Queen Mother know about Zhenhua? Does Zhenhua refine a poison that makes people feel seriously ill after taking it? The doctor can't tell anything strange from the pulse. Is Prince Jing
Are you going to be poisoned by this medicine?"
The Queen Mother's expression froze: "The Ai family knows about Zhenhua, but they don't know about this medicine."
The emperor nodded: "I also think about it this way. If my mother knew about it, she would never let my uncle do such a thing."
The Queen Mother could no longer conceal her panic: "What does the emperor mean by this?"
"I sent people to investigate the case. I didn't expect that this matter was related to Uncle Guo. Back then, Songpan Wei was captured, King An died, and Prince Jing found out the clues and was poisoned. All of this is inseparable from Uncle Guo.
"The emperor's face was full of complex expressions, but his voice was as cold as ice, "Mother, my uncle has done so many wrong things, how should I deal with the Zhang family?"
The Queen Mother felt a thunder explode in her ears, and her mind went blank. It took her a while to come back to her senses: "Emperor, what did you say?"
The emperor said calmly: "My uncle has already taken the poison left by Zhenhua. He wanted to use it to prove his innocence. Unfortunately... he couldn't get away with it, and the poison has already started to show up."
The Queen Mother felt her feet go weak, she staggered a few steps and almost fell to the ground. Thanks to the palace attendants around her, she stepped forward to help her.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Queen Mother."
The palace servants helped the queen mother to the chair.
The Queen Mother's eyes widened, and the emperor's words kept echoing in her ears. Zhang Yuci had taken poison. The Queen Mother's hands kept shaking, and there was no color on her face. She looked at the Emperor in disbelief: "How could you do this?
Do... you... you forget... who... has been loyal to you all these years. Your mother and concubine passed away early. It was the Ai family who raised you with their own hands. Although you and I are not biological mother and son, we are related to our biological mother and son.
What's the difference? Zhang Yuci has no merit but hard work. How can you..."
"The queen mother has exceeded the rules," the emperor's expression became more majestic, "The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, but the queen mother broke into the imperial study and now intercedes for the uncle. If anyone knows, the Zhang family may be charged again.
As the uncle of the state, Zhang Yuci has made a lot of contributions to the establishment of the court. I have always relied on him and the Zhang family, but today's matter involves the late emperor and Prince An, the royal family, and all civil and military officials are watching me.
I am the emperor, I cannot just care about personal affairs, otherwise I will be questioned by others for shielding my relatives."
The Queen Mother couldn't help but shake her head. She still can't believe that the emperor dealt with Zhang Yuci like this: "Where is Zhang Yuci? The emperor summoned him to the palace. The Ai family wants to ask him personally whether he really did those things."
The emperor intensified his tone: "My uncle is guilty and cannot enter the palace to have an audience. Mother, please rest assured that I will not let others frame the Zhang family."
The Queen Mother stared at the emperor closely, with a look full of disappointment. Soon everyone would know about Zhang Yuci's poisoning. No one would speak up for a dying person. On the contrary, if everyone pushed down the wall, someone would definitely take the opportunity to add insult to injury.
.
The Queen Mother's voice was hoarse: "Emperor, you can't do this."
The emperor stepped forward, took the tea bowl from the chamberlain, and gave it to the Queen Mother himself: "A few days ago, my mother came to see my son because of Huijing's case. My mother once said something that my son has always remembered.
The queen mother said: You are the emperor, and you want to protect the country of Zhou Dynasty. As long as you can make the political situation stable, you can do anything.
The mother now tells her son, what should he do?"
The Queen Mother looked at the tea bowl in front of her, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. She gritted her teeth tightly, as if she would make a clicking sound as soon as she relaxed.
"Mother, please go see Empress Yu," the emperor said. "I feel sorry for Empress Yu. She has been poisoned for so many years, but I always thought she was pretending to be ill. I feel sorry for her and the Yu family. I am still thinking about how to compensate the Yu family.
"
The hairs on the back of the Queen Mother's neck immediately stood up. The Emperor was threatening her.