When the birthday banquet was over, Liu Bian almost ran out of Yongle Palace and headed to Zhangde Palace.
Luoyang Palace is vast, and the transportation within the palace is usually horse-drawn carriages. The journey from Yongle Palace to Zhangde Palace is nearly one kilometer, which takes three to four minutes, almost at a flying speed.
Liu Bian stepped into the Zhangde Hall dressed in rough clothes and saw his mother, whom he had longed for day and night, standing at the door of the Zhangde Hall, looking at him with a smile.
"Mother!"
The emotions that had not been seen for several months collapsed almost instantly. Liu Bian's tears fell and he flew into He's arms.
In the final analysis, he is only a thirteen-year-old child with a very cowardly nature. Living on thin ice in the intrigues of the palace, how can he not miss his mother?
"Bian'er."
He's original excitement seemed to relax the moment she saw Liu Bian. With red eyes, she hugged Liu Bian's head and gently comforted him: "You have grown taller and become thinner."
Already."
"Mother, please don't leave the child, okay? I'll beg my grandmother and the emperor's brother, and they will definitely agree. I just want to stay by my mother's side every day, and I never want to be separated from my mother."
Liu Bian burst into tears and said in a shrill and wailing voice.
Seeing this scene, the eunuchs and maids around the entrance to Zhangde Hall all shed tears secretly, feeling sad for the fate of the mother and son.
Some of the eunuchs and maids in the palace hated Yuan Shao and some hated He Jin, but none of them hated the Queen Mother He.
Because she was once a member of the palace and had protected them.
He just smiled, touched Liu Bian's head, and said softly: "The Queen Mother made a mistake and she deserves to be punished. The Queen Mother is kind and kind in her heart. When the Queen Mother redeems her sins in the future, maybe she will forgive the Queen Mother. Then the Queen Mother will
Reunite with Ben'er."
"Really?"
Liu Bian burst into tears and smiled. He looked up at his mother's face and said, "Mother, you can't lie to me."
He smiled and said, "My mother will not lie to you."
Looking at her child's innocent smiling face, He felt lonely, happy, sad, and bitter.
Although his poor child was born in the big dye vat of the palace, his character is very timid and cowardly. Even his father dislikes him because of this.
Perhaps being born into a royal family was his greatest misfortune.
But for a mother, she is very lucky to see her son save his life because he was too cowardly.
If he is really talented and has the spirit of an emperor, in this disaster, who can guarantee that he will not be like Emperor Zhi, who was given a piece of poisonous cake and lost his life?
Perhaps this is the blessing among misfortunes.
He thought to himself.
"Mother, starting from today, I will beg my grandmother every day to ask her to forgive you."
Liu Bian wiped his tears with a determined look on his face.
He hurriedly said: "The Empress Dowager listens behind the curtain and takes care of everything. Don't disturb her for such trivial matters. From now on, as long as you listen to her and be a well-behaved grandson, the Empress Dowager will be happy. When she is happy, she will be happy."
You will allow me to return to the palace, remember?"
"I remember."
Liu Bian nodded seriously and said to himself in his heart that he must listen to his grandmother and make his grandmother happy, so that he can see his mother every day in the future.
Seeing his serious look, Mrs. He smiled and said: "This is my good boy. I heard that the court is already talking about your marriage. My Bian'er will also marry a wife and have children, and become an adult."
When mentioning this, Liu Bian said shyly: "They say she is the daughter of Tang Mao, the prefect of Kuaiji. I just listened to what they said, and I don't know whether it is true or not."
"The daughter of the Tang family?"
He showed a nostalgic look, as if recalling Liu Bian's childhood: "Unknowingly, Bian'er, you will be thirteen years old, and you will be fourteen soon. I still remember that time, when you were born, you were just like that
It's a little big, but now, you will soon be a husband, a father, and it's time for you to grow up."
"Well, the child will be tall and strong in the future, and my wife will stay with the queen mother all day long."
"Haha, what are you doing by my side? You will be an adult in the future. As an adult, you have to have a career, learn to shoulder the burdens and responsibilities, and raise your own wife well. Do you understand?"
"My child knows."
"When you give birth to a child one day, your mother will also want to hug her grandson."
"Um."
"And..."
The mother and son seemed to have endless things to talk about. It was quiet in Zhang De Hall. Most of the time, He was talking and Liu Bian was listening.
After a long, long time, He's voice became smaller and softer, and finally he stopped talking at all. He just sat on the table, letting Liu Bian rest his head on his legs, and gently stroked his head, smiling and saying nothing.
.
At some point, Liu Bian fell asleep, snoring slightly and mumbling something from time to time. His sleeping appearance was not very good.
Outside the palace, the night was as cold as water, and the stars were shining with mottled silver light. The soft moonlight fell down, shining on the mother and son, making their shadows very long.
...
...
"It has been seven days, and there is no problem with the Queen Mother's health."
In the Taiwei Mansion, Dong Zhuo was sitting at the banquet, his face gloomy.
Li Ru looked at Yan Zhong and said, "Is there something wrong with the medicine? Or is the dosage not controlled well?"
Yan Zhong wondered: "Wen You tried it himself. He couldn't stand it just after smelling it. How could there be something wrong with the medicine? Let alone the dosage. Although Sanhu is indeed a lot of spices, the dosage of this medicine is not usable.
"More, that bottle is enough to poison hundreds of people. Mixing it with water and mixing it with three dendrobium spices should also have an effect. Haven't we tested it before?"
That bottle of green chemical only had more than 100 grams, and how many spices did Dong Zhuo pay tribute to?
One dendrobium is 27 kilograms, three dendrobium is 81 kilograms.
It looks like a lot, but in reality it’s just a snakeskin bag.
However, only 20 milligrams, or 0.02 grams, of green compounds are needed to poison a person. Mix 100 grams with water into 81 kilograms of spices. Although the amount is small, the impact on the human body is still there.
Normally, if you burn incense every day, one pound of spices will contain 0.6 grams of green chemical. Not to mention seven days, even two or three days can make people seriously ill.
In particular, cyanide is a gas. Inhaling just a little bit can have a great impact on people. At Empress Dowager Dong's age, even a trace amount of cyanide entering the body is a very fatal thing.
But now Empress Dowager Dong is still running around without any accidents, which makes Dong Zhuo feel uneasy and at a loss.
"What's going on? Did the Queen Mother not burn incense at all?"
Dong Zhuo's face drooped. If this is the case...it means that King Hongnong did not follow the instructions at all.
Despite the fact that the spices paid tribute by Dong Zhuo were very precious, even wealthy people in the Han Dynasty could not afford them.
But the royal family is an exception. After all, they control the power of the world, and treasures from all over the country are constantly transported to Inner Province.
Therefore, there are many spices from the Western Regions in Yong'an Palace. Every day, agarwood from previous years is used for incense. The agarwood has a more mellow taste than new ingredients. Empress Dowager Dong especially likes it.
This is why King Hongnong was asked to do this.
Because by the time Empress Dowager Dong used the spices Dong Zhuo paid tribute to, it would have already been a matter of years and years. Dong Zhuo would have been expelled from the central government by then. What was the point of Empress Dowager Dong's death?
"It shouldn't be."
Li Ru stroked his goatee and said: "Although King Hongnong is cowardly by nature, he has always listened to He's words. If He's orders, he cannot disobey."
"Maybe he forgot, kid."
Yan Zhong explained.
Dong Zhuo pondered: "No matter what happens in the meantime, if we can continue to wait like this, we still have to implement the last step of the plan. Tomorrow we will send people to impeach He, falsely accuse her of bad words and deeds, and encourage the Queen Mother to execute her."
"I'm afraid some ministers will stop me then."
Yan Zhong mentioned something.
Li Ru said coldly: "This is easy to handle. Then please give the Queen Mother a glass of wine, saying it is a warning. But for some reason, this glass of wine turned into poisonous wine."
What about the executor?
Yan Zhongxin said.
The only person who could speak well around the Empress Dowager and encourage others to come up with ideas was Dong Zhuo.
If he was the executor and encouraged Empress Dowager Dong to give him wine as a warning, but the wine turned into poisonous wine for no apparent reason, and Empress Dowager He died in the end, how to explain it?
Then Dong Zhuo raised troops under the pretext of avenging the Queen Mother He. He was clearly the vanguard to kill the Queen Mother He, and then turned his knife on the Queen Mother Dong. This operation was able to stop everyone's speech.
In the final analysis, this move is both a bad move and the result of breaking the pot.
Because they have no way out.
That's why you need to forcibly fabricate an excuse to find a reason for yourself to launch an army.
Li Ru is ruthless and ruthless, but after all he is not as good as Chen Mu.
If Chen Mu were here, he might be able to come up with a way to get the best of both worlds.
Yan Zhong shook his head, shook off the thoughts in his mind, and said to Dong Zhuo: "I think it would be better to send people to Yong'an Palace to strangle the He family privately, and then spread rumors that Empress Dowager Dong did it."
"This method..."
Dong Zhuo was about to say that this idea seemed to be a good one and he could consider it.
Boom, boom, boom.
At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door.
"Father!"
Lu Bu's voice sounded.
"It's Fengxian, come in."
Dong Zhuo said.
Lu Bu pushed the door open and came in, saying, "Something happened in the palace. The Empress Dowager suddenly fell ill and summoned her adoptive father to the palace to discuss matters."
"oh?"
Dong Zhuo and Li Ru Yan Zhong looked at each other and nodded: "I understand, you can go out first."
As soon as Lu Bu left, Li Ru hurriedly said: "It worked."
"It seems so."
Dong Zhuo nodded and said, "What should we do next?"
Li Ru's eyes showed a fierce light: "Of course I have to send someone to give He a glass of poisonous wine!"
"Since the Queen Mother has been poisoned, why do you want to attack He?"
Dong Zhuo was puzzled.
Li Ru said coldly: "Of course she must die, otherwise we would have no reason to pull Dong Cheng down. Then we will kill him on the grounds that Dong Cheng murdered the He family without any reason."
"Um."
Dong Zhuo nodded and said: "Then I will go to the palace to see the situation, and Wen You will handle the matter."
Yan Zhong stood silently.
When I talked about trying to kill the He family just now, it was a bad move.
But now, it has suddenly become a coup.
This Li Ru is really ruthless.
Because if nothing happens to Empress Dowager Dong, then her words will be the golden rule.
Even if they want to pin the crime of killing He on her, as long as there is a decree, even if everyone is suspicious, no one will say anything.
When the time comes, Dong Zhuo, who encouraged Empress Dowager Dong to warn the He family, will become the first suspect and expose himself instead.
That's why it's a bad move.
But once something happens to Empress Dowager Dong and He is poisoned to death for no reason, then the first suspect will of course be Empress Dowager Dong.
People would think that maybe Empress Dowager Dong's time had come and she was afraid of He's restoration, so she poisoned her to death.
All civil and military officials in the dynasty knew about the grievances between their mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and almost instinctively thought so.
At that time, Dong Zhuo can falsely accuse Empress Dowager Dong of being the mastermind and Dong Cheng the executor. If he strikes first and kills Dong Cheng, it will be a death without evidence.
It is a reasonable thing that is so popular and can easily be fabricated into fact, causing everyone to make such conjectures.
Moreover, Empress Dowager Dong died at that time, and the He family also died, leaving only two children in the royal family.
Who will control the government in the end?
Of course, whoever has military power will fall into his hands.
The plan to attack and kill Dong Cheng has been prepared for a long time. As long as something goes wrong and Dong Cheng dies, the military power of Luoyang will be in the hands of Dong Zhuo.
When Dong Zhuo controls the government, it will be whatever he says.
In the final outcome, there is a high probability that Dong Zhuo will win.