Not long after, a steward hurriedly came in, handed a brocade box to Wu Chunlai and then bowed away. Wu Chunlai put the brocade box on the table and said with a smile: "Look, Your Highness, there is only one genuine one inside."
Yes, the rest are imitations, can you tell them apart?"
Guo Xu stood up and reached out to open the lid of the wooden box. In the box padded with red silk cloth, there were more than a dozen dark brown pills lying inside, exactly the same size and color. Guo Xu picked up one and looked at it carefully, and then
After looking at a few in succession, he finally shook his head and said, "I can't tell the difference. They are almost exactly the same."
Wu Chunlai smiled and said: "That's natural. If you want to do it, do it without any flaws. I will never make any mistakes when doing things. The one next to me has a nail mark on it, that's the real medicine. The rest are all imitations.
of."
When Guo Xu went to look through it, he discovered that the one in the corner did have a slight nail mark on it. If Wu Chun hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have noticed this at all.
"This medicine...cannot be used for the time being. It is quite toxic. Your Highness, be careful and be sure to wash your hands when you go back. Don't worry, Your Highness. Once the pills are prepared, action will be taken. Then Lin Jue will let him jump?"
For a few days, the emperor tolerated the cold treatment of his highness. In a few days, something big will happen. Lin Jue will certainly not survive, and the eldest prince will have no time to defend himself. His highness saved the emperor because he was the only direct prince. The emperor will surely
I am particularly favored by His Highness. The position of Prince is also within your reach. So don’t be impatient. A small impatience will ruin your big plans. Everything in the future will belong to His Highness and no one can take it away." Wu Chunlai said in a deep voice.
Guo Xu nodded slightly, pondered for a moment and said: "In this case, I am relieved. With my grandfather and Mr. Wu planning, I should sit back and relax. But I am too impatient. It is really offensive to bother Mr. Wu in the middle of the night."
Wu Chunlai cupped his hands and said: "Why did your Highness say this? Your Highness will be the Lord of the Great Zhou Dynasty in the future, and we are all His Highness's ministers. How can you use the word "offensive" to your ministers? This is all natural. Your Highness, please wait patiently, I am your official
Everything will be arranged, Your Highness is just waiting for the good news."
Guo Xu nodded, cupped his hands and said, "In this case, I will take my leave."
Wu Chunlai bowed and said: "Send me off to Your Highness, be careful on the road. It may snow."
Guo Xu smiled and said: "What are you afraid of? Farewell, farewell."
After saying that, Guo Xu turned around and left. Several guards gathered at the entrance of the hall and escorted Guo Xu away. Wu Chunlai walked to the entrance of the hall and ordered the housekeeper and nursing staff to escort Guo Xu out. He stood in front of the hall and bowed until Guo Xu
The figures of Xu and others went up the corridor and gradually disappeared, then turned around and slowly sat down on the chairs in the hall to drink tea.
After taking a few sips of tea, Wu Chunlai turned to look at the table and suddenly frowned in confusion. He hurriedly called the housekeeper loudly to ask.
"Where's the box with the pills just now? Why is it missing?"
The housekeeper hurriedly said: "Wasn't it taken away by His Highness Prince Huai? The box was in His Highness Prince Huai's hands just now, and I saw with my own eyes that he put it in his sleeve and took it away."
"What? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Wu Chunlai shouted in shock.
"The villain thinks it is allowed by the adults. How dare you talk nonsense?" the housekeeper said hurriedly.
"You bastard, you should at least report it to me. You are a piece of trash." Wu Chunlai scolded.
"I will chase you back now, sir. Please calm down, sir." The butler turned around and left.
Wu Chunlai waved his hand and said: "What's the point of chasing after a bastard? If he wants to take it away, how can he return it? Are we going to search him? We faced the thief in front of him and didn't remind the officer at the time. What's the point of chasing him now? What a bastard, what's the point?"
Don’t back down.”
The butler repeatedly blamed himself and bowed out. Wu Chunlai sat down again, frowned and said to himself: "Your Highness, you are too impatient. I hope you just took it for a look and had no other intentions.
Otherwise it would be a big mess.”
…
At dawn, the north wind began to weaken, and the cold weather seemed to become strangely warm. This was the sign before it started to snow. When Lin Jue and others returned to the house from the corner door of the back garden, a sound began to appear in the sky
Snowflakes are falling, and a heavy snow is about to fall.
Although Lin Jue and others were cold and exhausted, they did not go back to their rooms to rest. Instead, they went to Lin Jue's study to talk without disturbing anyone. Although they seemed to have returned without success, when Bai Bing returned to Lin Jue
After briefly telling what he saw and heard at the hiding place, Lin Jue decided to go back home and put aside the matter of assassinating Wu Chunlai. Although Bai Bing said briefly, Lin Jue immediately realized that the big problem was
question.
"Bing'er, please tell me the specific situation again, don't miss a word." Lin Jue asked impatiently as soon as he sat down behind the desk. At the same time, he spread out a piece of paper and polished it, preparing to record it.
.
Bai Bing has a very good memory. The conversation between Guo Xu and Wu Chunlai was brief. Bai Bing remembered it word for word and recited what he heard completely. Lin Jue took a pen and dipped in ink to circle on the paper.
I wrote in circles. It seemed that I didn't listen carefully, but in fact I listened very carefully. I recorded all the key points of the conversation between Wu Chunlai and Guo Xu in Bai Bing's narration.
After Bai Bing finished narrating, Lin Jue fell into deep thought. After a while, he looked up at Sun Dayong and Bai Bing and said, "What do you think?"
Bai Bing said: "I think this is a big conspiracy against the husband. They want to kill him. But I don't understand, what is that pill? Wu Chunlai said that the pill is poisonous. Is it to poison him? Why?
It involves the emperor. I don’t quite understand these things.”
Bai Bing has a simple temper and has no idea about these conspiracies. She is most concerned about Lin Jue's safety and will only think about this aspect. She doesn't think much about other aspects. The conclusion she draws is also very simple.
Lin Jue nodded and looked at Sun Dayong. Sun Dayong frowned and said: "My lord, I feel that this is not only a conspiracy against your lord, but also a conspiracy related to the emperor and major events in the court. This group of people seems to be planning a conspiracy.
There is a conspiracy to get rid of the Lord and seize the throne of the prince. I am afraid that there will be a big chaos."
Lin Jue nodded and said: "Brother Sun is right, and everything you said is right. Lu Zhongtian, Wu Chunlai, Guo Xu and the others were desperate and came up with such a treacherous and vicious strategy. Although we did not kill Wu Chunlai today.
, but got such a shocking secret, which is much more useful than assassinating Wu Chunlai. Oh my God, it’s a good thing we learned this secret tonight, otherwise we wouldn’t know how we died.”
Bai Bing asked hurriedly: "Has your husband fully understood what they are going to do?"
Lin Jue nodded and said: "I think we should be inseparable."
Lin Jue took the paper in his hand and scribbled circles on it. The handwriting was a bit rough. But a few words circled in heavy ink were very conspicuous.
"These are the key words that I memorized when I heard Bing'er speak. 'Lin Jue' 'pills' 'imitation' 'poisonous' 'the emperor's body' 'antidote'. As long as you grasp the key points, this conspiracy will be revealed. You guys"
You all know that I donated medicine to the emperor to cure his illness. Obviously, they wanted to use this to frame me. They stole the pills that were around the emperor to treat his illness. Those pills were donated by me. If the emperor takes the medicine
I feel unwell, and if the toxicity is found in the pills, what will be the result?" Lin Jue said in a deep voice.
"Oh, I understand. They want to use this matter to frame Your Majesty. They want to give the Emperor poisonous pills to poison him. The Emperor will think that His Majesty is trying to murder the Emperor. But... that is a serious crime of treason, and Your Majesty will definitely die.
"Not only your Excellency, I'm afraid the entire Lin family, including... the palace will be implicated. My mother, they are so courageous. They borrowed the emperor's sword to kill you, and even dared to give away the emperor's medicine?" Sun
Dayong screamed.
Lin Jue laughed and said: "Brother Sun is really smart. Your behavior when you rescued people in Yingtian Mansion and your decision to attack the South City Gate made me look at you with admiration. This moment has proved it even more. What you said
Yes, that's exactly what they wanted to do. Every sentence in the conversation Bing'er heard hinted at this. They asked someone around the emperor to steal a pill and make a copy of it. They only needed to make the appearance, color, smell, and size consistent.
However, the pills were filled with poison that they could only detoxify. Once the emperor felt unwell, he would suspect that the pills were fishy. A single test would reveal that they were poisonous. Then Lin Jue and his family committed the crime of treason against the emperor and could not defend themselves. I am sure.
He was the one who killed the nine clans by copying the whole family. I am afraid that Prince Liang’s palace will also be implicated. It is really a vicious plan to kill people with a borrowed knife. It is not a bloody sword, but it means that I will die without a burial place. Hehe, awesome, awesome."
Bai Bing also understood and looked at Lin Jue in shock: "No way, they dare to do this? That is treason. In order to kill her husband, Guo Xu actually ignored the emperor's safety?"
Lin Jue sneered and said: "Of course I'm not worth them taking such a big risk, but there is one thing that is definitely worth them. The emperor is now suspicious of Guo Xusheng and has become extremely cold towards him. They thought he was killed
After Mr. Yan and the teacher, no one in the court would oppose them and would join them in recommending Guo Xu as the crown prince. However, my impeachment made the emperor suspicious. They felt that the crown prince's position was in doubt, so they decided
Taking this risk to carry out this poisonous plan. Although I don’t know their subsequent actions, after they framed me, I must have been Guo Xu acting as a dutiful son to find an antidote for the emperor. After I was framed by them, then what I said before
Those words will be considered as words to sow discord, and the emperor will definitely reflect on whether I deliberately framed Guo Xu. In short, the situation will definitely be reversed. The fundamental purpose is actually to fight for the position of the prince, and this is what they dare to take risks
The reason. If things continue like this and it becomes very possible for Guo Mian to become the crown prince, how can Lu Zhongtian and Guo Xu and the others sit still and wait for death? I have been thinking about why they are so calm. There has been no movement since that day of impeachment. It turns out that
I was holding back such a big move and wanted to turn the situation around in one fell swoop."
Sun Dayong and Bai Bing nodded repeatedly. This explanation was reasonable. If they just wanted Lin Jue to die, it seemed that they could not commit such a treacherous and evil plan. But if they could not only kill Lin Jue but also gain the title of prince, then what could not be done?
Lu Zhongtian's nature has always been like this. He can stir up chaos to add weight to Guo Xu's position as prince, regardless of the turmoil in the country. Then he may make any crazy move to reverse the situation at hand. This person does not follow the rules.
Bottom line, although he looks upright, peaceful and sanctimonious, in his heart he is definitely a person who only cares about personal gain at all costs. Perhaps he promoted Guo Xu to the throne just to monopolize power and become the true master of the Great Zhou Dynasty. After Guo Xu ascends the throne, he must
Everything depends on Lu Zhongtian and he becomes the emperor like a puppet. Who knows?
"Then why did Guo Xulin take away the box of poisonous pills before leaving? Could it be that he wanted to do something? Aren't the pills very toxic? If the emperor really took it, would his life be in danger?" Bai Bing asked with a frown.
road.
Lin Jue was shocked and silent.
Sun Dayong said: "This guy might do something. His motive for taking that box of poison is definitely impure. Could it be that he was thinking something worse, that he wanted to poison the emperor directly? What does this do to him?
benefit?"
Lin Jue said in a deep voice: "Perhaps he felt that he couldn't wait any longer, so when he had the opportunity, he took matters into his own hands, and did it first before talking about it. He probably no longer cared about the safety of the emperor. Anyway, he could frame me. Even if the emperor is real
After being poisoned, Yang Jun and Lu Zhongtian were still in control of the situation. The possibility of him ascending the throne was extremely high. Yes, he must have thought so. He and Lu Zhongtian still had some differences of opinion. Lu Zhongtian did not dare to bear the name of regicide.
Because he is a minister, but Guo Xu is different. If he succeeds, he will be the emperor, and he will dare to do anything."
"He was killing his father. How can a person be so bad?" Bai Bing said blankly, his outlook on life ruined.
Lin Jue said coldly: "For the sake of power and position, what can't be done? The emperor's home is different from the common people's home. With the Xiaoqiang chaos, parents, brothers, sons and daughters have been killed countless times throughout the ages. I, Da Zhou
Although there is no such example so far, it is not necessarily impossible for Guo Xu to do it. The fight for the throne is extremely cruel. Only if you can't imagine it, they can't do it. I think Guo Xu can do it. He has bad deeds before, don't forget Ping Ping
When he rebelled, he wanted to kill his brother Guo Mian with a borrowed knife."
Bai Bing nodded slightly and said softly: "Yes, he can do it. I don't know what to say. It turns out that my husband is right. Monsters, ghosts, poisonous snakes and beasts are not scary in this world. It is people and talents who are scary.
It’s the most scary thing.”
Lin Jue patted her cold hand and comforted her: "It's just like this for some people. There are only a few people who are worse than animals. Don't lose hope in the world. At least the people around us are not like this. Neither are the vast majority of people in the world."
Bai Bing nodded and said nothing.
Sun Dayong asked in a deep voice: "In this case, your Excellency must take countermeasures immediately. We cannot let their conspiracy succeed."
Lin Jue nodded and said, "That's natural. When daybreak comes, I will go into the palace to see the emperor."
Sun Dayong said: "Do you want to report this matter to the emperor?"
Lin Jue smiled bitterly and said: "We can't tell the emperor openly about this. I have no evidence to prove their conspiracy, and the emperor may not believe me. After the last impeachment, the emperor was also very dissatisfied with me, and I know it in my heart. If the emperor
Asked how I got the news, how should I answer? Did we tell the emperor that we had touched Wu Chunlai's house and wanted to assassinate him, and then heard the news? Didn't that mean we told the emperor that Liu Xiding and the cases in the city were all our fault? Isn't that a provocation?
Are you angry? All I have to do is make their plan to switch contracts go bankrupt."
Sun Dayong didn't ask any more questions, nodded and said: "Then I will order someone to prepare the horses. We can set off at any time if you give me the order."
Lin Jue nodded and said: "Thank you for your hard work. I have no choice but to hang a steel knife on my head. I have to do this. Brother Sun came to my house and did so many things for me. I am really grateful."
Sun Dayong said hurriedly: "Sir, please don't say that. Sun has never been so valued by your side, nor has he felt such sincerity. Nuan Yu often told me that my husband and I have never been together today.
This is a gift from Your Excellency. You are a benevolent and righteous person, and I admire you very much and am extremely grateful. To say these things is to shed blood for Your Majesty, so what? A scholar is willing to die for his bosom friend.
"
Lin Jue stood up, held his hand and said softly: "Good brother, good brother."
…
Heavy snow is falling, and the long street has already been covered with a layer of white. The first heavy snow of the New Year has fallen, and the atmosphere of the New Year is still there, adding a touch of peace and elegance. When the snow falls, the streets of the entire capital seem to be
It calmed down, and my restless heart also calmed down.
In front of the gate of the inner palace, more than a dozen fast horses came galloping through the snow and dismounted in front of the palace gate. Lin Jue threw the reins to Sun Dayong and strode towards the palace gate. Lin Jue's identity was no longer clear when he entered the palace.
After the identity check was completed, Lin Jue entered the palace gate and went straight to Guo Chong's bedroom.
Guo Chong had already moved back to his dormitory, Yanhe Hall, from the Xihua Palace. Guo Chong had already denied his mistake in committing the crime, so there was no need to pretend to punish him. In addition, the cold and damp conditions in the Xihua Palace made it difficult for him.
His condition is unfavorable, which is an irrefutable reason.
Yanhe Palace is located at the northernmost of many palaces, close to the two harems of Gyeongbokgung Palace and Yanbokgung Palace. It is not only a place to receive ministers, but also easy to get close to everyone in the harem. More importantly, the terrain here is open and spacious. Guo Chong likes to live in a spacious place.
The place.
Going all the way north past Zichen Chongzheng, Yun Jingfu and other palaces, the palace seemed extremely quiet in the heavy snow. The eunuchs and maids were using brooms and shovels to clean the snow on the road in vain, but the sweepers in front
After passing by, the back was soon covered with heavy snow. But they seemed to have no intention of stopping, and continued to clean back and forth, like some ignorant puppets.
When he arrived at the square in front of Yanhe Hall, Lin Jue was surprised to find that there were many carriages and sedan chairs at the foot of the steps. A group of chamberlains and palace maids stood in the snow like clay and wood sculptures, with their bodies covered in snow. They shook their bodies like dogs from time to time.
, shake off the snow from your body.
These sedans and carriages showed that there seemed to be a lot of people coming to the Yanhe Palace. Lin Jue thought for a while and decided to go up the steps to ask someone to announce the audience. Because Lin Jue did not want to waste time. If he was taken advantage of, let those people
If the conspiracy succeeds, you will regret it. You must see the emperor as soon as possible.
There were more than a dozen palace guards standing at the entrance of the palace. Lin Jue stepped forward and asked them to report inside. A head of the guards said: "Master Lin, the emperor has invited the empress of the harem and the two princes to enjoy the snow in the garden of the apse.
I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to meet me right now. It's better to come back in the afternoon."
Lin Jue heard that the two princes were there, but he was still willing to leave. Guo Xu had entered the palace and was still with the emperor. This was an extremely dangerous thing. Guo Xu might do something wrong at any time, how could he leave?
go?
"Brother, please go and tell Eunuch Qian that I have something important to do and I need to see the emperor. I must see the emperor." Lin Jue said in a deep voice.
The guards rolled their eyes at Lin Jue and thought to themselves: Who do you think you are? How dare you speak like this? You must see the emperor? What you said is true. Everyone stood still.
"If you don't want to report it, you will be responsible for it if something happens. If you dare to delay a major matter related to the safety of the imperial court and the country, you are asking for death. It is up to you whether to go or not. I will stand here and wait. If the emperor blames you,
Come down, don't blame me for reporting the truth." Lin Jue threatened in a cold voice. These guards are all imperial guards of the palace, and they think very highly of themselves. The courtiers often look at their faces. Lin Jue is usually polite to them, but
Lin Jue was not used to them today.
"Bah!" the leader of the Imperial Guard spat, but he didn't dare to be too difficult. If it was really a military and state matter, they wouldn't dare to refuse to report it. At best, they were just gatekeepers.
A Forbidden Army soldier went in to report. Lin Jue stood on the steps in front of the palace with his hands behind his hands, looking at the falling snowflakes in the sky, with a solemn expression. After the tea time, there was the sound of footsteps, and Qian Delu came quickly.
