At two o'clock in the morning, Xuande Hall was full of guests and friends. At this time, Prince Zuo Li arrived belatedly. He swept away the decadence of being confined at home. With his face glowing and high-spirited, he strolled into the hall. Officials and emperors who supported him or were neutralists
Relatives and relatives stood up to greet him one after another.
Most of the people in the second prince's faction turned a blind eye. Right Prime Minister Zhang Wentian nodded slightly, but did not stand up. Second prince Zuo Yi did not even move his buttocks, just watching with cold eyes.
Zuo Li didn't take it seriously, and greeted the familiar officials and relatives of the emperor warmly, then sat down in the upper left seat, glanced at Zuo Yi, who had a cold face, and smiled coldly and disdainfully.
Then he looked around and around again, frowning slightly. Then he waved to the sixth prince Zuo Feng, who hurriedly got up and came to him.
Zuo Li was puzzled and asked in a low voice: "The Prime Minister has not arrived yet?"
Zuo Feng glanced around, moved his head closer and lowered his voice and said:
"Reporting to brother, Prime Minister Zuo is ill and cannot come tonight."
"How could it be so?" Zuo Li was surprised when he heard this, and felt a little uneasy in his heart, "If the Prime Minister Zuo can't come, who can handle the follow-up tonight?"
Zuo Feng showed a confident smile and comforted:
"Don't worry, brother, everything tonight is under control. The arrival of the left prime minister is just the icing on the cake. If he doesn't come, we can just stick to the plan."
Zuo Li nodded. Although he was still a little uneasy in his heart, he still chose to believe in the Sixth Prince.
At three o'clock in the morning, Emperor Yongguang, supported by two chamberlains, staggered into the main hall from the back door and ascended to the throne.
The hall instantly became quiet. Everyone stood up in unison, saluted respectfully, and shouted:
"Long live my emperor, long live, long live."
Emperor Yongguang weakly raised his hand as a response, and everyone sat down one by one.
At this time, an old eunuch beside him stepped out and said in a high-pitched voice:
"The banquet begins, let's dance and play music!"
When the voice fell, the drums and music sounded together, the sound of silk and bamboo, and the brilliant sound. With a whistle, thousands of soldiers and horses galloped together. With a burst of drums, the country was victorious.
The jade hand gently lifted and touched the strings like water, and a wisp of piano music floated out, lingering between the beams. The music sounded beautiful, like the sound of nature.
A pair of dancers twist their slender but powerful waists to the beat of the music, moving rhythmically. The dancers turn their sleeves, and their slender waists tremble. The singer sings softly, and the clear sound rises.
The atmosphere at the scene was instantly ignited, and Emperor Yongguang also cheered up and raised his wine glass to signal everyone to drink. The maids were like clouds, the music was sounding like a tide, and the banquet was filled with people drinking wine, talking happily, and enjoying themselves.
After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, Emperor Yongguang glanced at the old eunuch beside him. The old eunuch immediately came out again and said loudly:
"quiet!"
Hearing this, everyone stopped whispering, put down the wine glasses in their hands, and hurriedly swallowed the delicious food in their mouths.
Emperor Yongguang's sickly face showed signs of fatigue, and he said in a low voice:
"Today is the Lantern Festival, a day when the whole country is celebrating. Originally, I was supposed to attend the grand gathering with all my dear friends. However, I have been in poor health recently, so I left first. I will drink this cup with all my dear friends here, and then you will
Keep drinking."
As he spoke, he raised the wine glass in his hand and drank it all in one gulp. All the ministers who followed him also hurriedly drank the wine in their glasses.
Emperor Yongguang was about to stand up and leave when Prince Zuo Li suddenly stood up and said loudly:
"Father, I have something important to report."
Hearing this, Emperor Yongguang frowned, seeming a little impatient, but facing the ministers, he still smiled and said:
"Li'er, do you have anything important to report?"
"My son, I want to report my second brother Zuo Yi. He has evil intentions and the pills he gave as tribute to your father are poisonous, which is why my father is ill."
Zuo Li said impassionedly and loudly. These words were like thunder, exploding in the hall, and everyone was stunned.
The second prince Zuo Yi stood up quickly and retorted loudly:
"That's nonsense, Zuo Li, how dare you spit on me and frame me!"
"Zuo Yi, stop being sophistical. The elixir you presented to your father seems to be non-toxic, but when combined with the Taoist elixir that my father often takes, it will turn into a chronic poison. As for whether it is true, let the imperial doctor give it a try.
Then you will know.”
Zuo Li jumped up and accused louder, with a righteous and awe-inspiring expression.
Everyone in the hall also reacted at this time, and couldn't help but whisper among themselves, making noises everywhere.
"quiet!"
At this time, the old eunuch's shrill voice sounded again, and the hall returned to silence.
Emperor Yongguang squinted his eyes, looked at Zuo Yi with a stern expression, and said slowly:
"Yi'er, is what your imperial brother said true?"
Zuo Yi shuddered when he heard this, his heart trembled, and he hurriedly explained:
"Father, I am wronged. I have taken this medicine myself, but it can strengthen the body and enhance the blood, so I thought of giving it to you. I really don't know that this elixir can produce the same effect as the elixir provided by that sect.
It fuses and turns into poison, please give me a warning from my father."
Before Emperor Yongguang could speak, Zuo Li sternly scolded:
"Hey, just trying to fool someone without knowing anything is like abdicating your responsibility? By offering poison to my father, you have ulterior motives and want to seek power and usurp the throne!"
At the banquet, the officials and relatives of the emperor who supported the prince also stood up one after another and sternly accused the second prince. Some were heartbroken, some were righteous, some were red-faced, and some fell to their knees and begged Emperor Yongguang to deal with the beast.
Suddenly, a burst of laughter came from it. It was the second prince. Seeing that everyone was attracted by his laughter, he raised his hand and pointed at the prince Zuoli and said loudly:
"Zuo Li, stop biting back there. Huh, you think you are extremely smart and your arrangements are perfect. But from the moment I got the elixir, I became suspicious. After some investigation, I found out that it was actually
The elixir you provided was intended to frame me."
Zuo Li was stunned when he heard this, and his intimidating aura suddenly dropped. He kept muttering in his heart, he won't really be discovered, right? What should we do? What should we do? We can't retreat at this time, Zuo Yi is here
He's trying to deceive me. He can't produce any evidence. That must be the case.
Thinking of this, he snorted coldly and reprimanded loudly again:
"Humph, Zuo Yi, you stop spitting so much and you actually want to frame me and put the blame on me."
At this time, Zuo Yi suddenly laughed so hard that he was out of breath, holding his stomach and bending over. Seeing his behavior, Emperor Yongguang couldn't help but frown, feeling a little dissatisfied with his favorite prince.
Joy.
"Well, Yi'er is still too young. Even if he knows that he has a chance to win, he can't get carried away. He's not calm enough. He needs to practice more in the future."
It took Zuo Yi a long time to stop laughing. He panted and joked:
"Brother, don't worry. Listen to me slowly. I got this elixir from a wandering Taoist priest, that is, a casual cultivator. However, this casual cultivator was arranged by your great companion Xing Qun. Am I right?"
Zuo Li's heart was shocked and he couldn't help but panic. Xing Qun, his companion behind him, was trembling all over and at a loss. Zuo Li was still biting his tongue because he couldn't let go:
"Bah, that's nonsense. What evidence do you have? You just want to frame me."
"Evidence? The casual cultivator has been imprisoned in my house. After some interrogation, it was clearly recorded when and where eunuch Xing Qun went to get the elixir, and how much silver was paid. There was even the signature of eunuch Xing Qun.
Draw a stamp."
Zuo Yi laughed. After hearing this, Zuo Li turned to look at Xing Qun in disbelief, and said angrily to his pig teammate:
"You fucking signed and stamped it? Why don't you just go and deliver it to the second child?"