"Your Majesty?!" Liu Rong was summoned to the palace late at night to see the emperor. He didn't expect him to walk into the main hall of Xuanming Palace. Only Queen Qiu and Qiu Baoniang came out from behind the embroidered curtain, and there was no trace of Wen Yazi. This shocked him. , "The minister received the order to come here to see His Majesty..."
"Come in and see Your Majesty." Queen Qiu's face turned pale, her fingertips were trembling slightly, and she nodded to him, "Keep your voice down!"
Liu Rong's heart suddenly sank, and huge fear and panic struck him: "What do you mean...?"
"General Liu, please go to the dormitory first and have a look before talking." Qiu Baoniang made a silent gesture towards him and said in a low voice.
In the bedroom, there were heavy curtains, and no one knew how much benzoin was burned, which made Liu Rong dizzy.
But when the last curtain in front of the royal couch was lifted, the eyes suddenly became bright!
There were dozens of giant candles, illuminating every detail on the couch!
After Liu Rong got used to the light, he saw Wen Yazi lying on his back with his eyes and mouth closed. He seemed to be asleep, but the purple-black color on his face... At this moment, the blood in Liu Rong's body was flowing backwards, and he His voice was so frightened that his tone changed: "His Majesty?!"
"Just now I heard that His Majesty was furious because of Zheng Sanya's rebuttal. I was worried that he had just returned from the road, so he came over to take a look. When they heard that I was coming, the Liu family members resigned obediently, but later I was waiting for His Majesty to change clothes. ...Talking about a few things from the past... His Majesty sent the people around to talk to me, but he didn't say a few words..."
Queen Qiu stood behind him, trembling uncontrollably, and said in a trembling voice, "Suddenly! I vomited blood! I went out and called the chamberlain to come in, but before the imperial doctor could be summoned, Your Majesty!"
"Is it a disease or a virus?!" Liu Rong felt as if he was in a dream, not knowing what to say or do at all! He ate for a long time before asking!
Queen Qiu sobbed: "I want to know too!"
"General Liu, your Majesty originally ordered a thorough investigation... but my maid thought it was inappropriate, so I urged your Majesty not to do this!" Qiu Baoniang said suddenly.
Liu Rong turned his head sharply and looked at her with angry eyes: "The majestic emperor..."
"The war in the southwest is not over yet!" Qiu Baoniang interrupted him in a deep voice, "The Great Yongding Cauldron is less than a year old! His Majesty has not established a prince! General Liu, have you ever thought about what will happen to the world once the news of His Majesty's death is spread? !”
She spoke in a trembling voice, "Although I am a woman, you still know why Your Majesty went on the expedition in person in the first place?! Isn't it because other generals cannot convince the generals?! Now the southwest has not yet been pacified, and military power is still in the hands of the generals! The eldest prince is far away in Fengzhou, and the second prince is still young! The empress... After all, the empress is a woman. Will those individuals be willing to let the empress regent? By then, the empress, the eldest prince, Princess Xian'an, and the nobles of the Sixth Palace will How to deal with it?”
Empress Qiu covered her face with her sleeves and cried sadly: "Rong'er, what should we do now? Aunt Qiu said that no one should know about His Majesty's death, but His Majesty suddenly disappeared like this... I... I..." before she finished her words. , the queen swayed and fell down softly!
"Empress!" Qiu Baoniang and Liu Rong exclaimed at the same time! The former quickly stepped forward to support the queen, carried her to a nearby soft couch, and sighed: "This is the fifth time that the queen has fainted!"
Liu Rong took a deep breath, looked at her and said, "How could you think of not announcing the news of His Majesty's death?!"
"Back then, my maid was also the daughter-in-law of a wealthy family. Although she couldn't compare with the famous family, she was still a well-known family in the village." Qiu Baoniang took a thin quilt from nearby and covered it with Queen Qiu, tears welling up in her eyes, "At the beginning of the war, my family was The elders are highly respected, and they can mediate. After several rebellions, the foundation was not damaged. Later, the elders died of illness, and the servant's husband was not good at business. In just a few months, all the wealth was taken away! "
"To put it bluntly, your current situation is very similar to that of your maid. Although Your Majesty has the eldest prince and the second prince under your knees, how old is the eldest prince? My maid's husband was in his twenties at the time. "Although he can't compare with the eldest prince, where is the eldest prince now? Do you think that if the news of His Majesty's death spreads, the eldest prince... can reach the imperial capital safely?"
Qiu Baoniang dipped her sleeves into the corners of her eyes and choked, "How old is the second prince? Let me say something damning again - your majesty is in the prime of life! And... if the second prince also... do you think the world will still be in chaos?"
Liu Rong took a deep breath. He had to admit that what Qiu Baoniang said made sense - the question was, shouldn't the cause of death of the founding emperor of Dayong be investigated? !
"Then in your opinion, what should we do now?" Liu Rong paced back and forth in the hall, clenched his fist hard, and asked Qiu Baoniang in a deep voice!
There is a reason why he has not become suspicious of Queen Qiu so far. Since childhood, he has had a preconceived impression of Queen Qiu. As Qiu Baoniang said - after hearing the death of Yaozi, Queen Qiu and her son could not handle the situation at all, especially Wen Yao. Zhi Qi is not in the imperial capital now.
According to common sense, even if Queen Qiu wants to kill the king, she should try to get her son by her side. Otherwise, once the news of Yaozi's death spreads, the most dangerous thing will be that everyone knows it!
Therefore, Liu Rong suspected Qiu Baoniang. What he said was more of a temptation than a question.
"My only thought just now is that if the news of His Majesty's death spreads out, your Majesty will be in danger!" Qiu Baoniang bit her lips and said, "But I persuaded your Majesty to order those who know the information not to move around at will. After blocking the news... Your servant also I don’t know what to do in the past, so I asked the empress if there was anyone I could trust who could come to the palace to discuss it under the guise of His Majesty’s order.”
She glanced at Liu Rong and said, "I think General Liu is the most trustworthy."
Liu Rong nodded slightly. Of course he was touched by the fact that he had become a person trusted by Wen Yaozi and his wife, but this touch was not enough to make him let down his guard: "Although I have been ordered by Your Majesty to defend the imperial capital, my political affairs are very thin. Your Majesty and Mr. Gu are in charge. Besides, the Liu family will definitely ask to see His Majesty the next day... Since you suggested that the Queen should hide the news of His Majesty's death, don't you have any idea how to hide it? "
Qiu Baoniang said with a bitter smile: "General Liu, I am just a female prostitute. Although I have been wandering around for many years, I am a little more knowledgeable than the younger women. And because I am not as affectionate as the empress to your Majesty and his wife, I am now confused... But after all, she is just a woman! If you ask your maid about such a big matter, what can you say? If you think it won't work, then you can only make it public... To be honest, my maid is a little selfish in persuading the queen to hide it - Since the incident at my husband's house, I have been in the palace to serve the princess and the empress. I have lived a stable life for a few days now!"
Liu Rong was silent for a long time - he was able to gain Wen Yaozi's trust for many reasons, one of which was that he was steady and thoughtful. However, no matter how steady and thoughtful, he was still a young man now. The emperor passed away at the beginning of the new dynasty, and he was not yet. When the crown prince and the two princes were not old enough to entrust such a major change in the country, Liu Rong still felt helpless!
However, Queen Qiu simply fainted, Qiu Baoniang considered herself a prostitute, and the two of them pushed the problem to him!
"... In any case, the cause of His Majesty's death must be investigated." After Liu Rong hesitated for a while, seeing that Queen Qiu had not yet woken up, he said, "In this case, I will send someone to secretly ask the judge of the Taiyuan Hospital to investigate the cause. As for concealing it... It's impossible not to tell Lord Bo about this. I'll tell it personally. For the public, please tell me that Your Majesty is tired from the journey and is ill."
Watching Liu Rong leave, Qiu Baoniang revealed a hint of sarcasm at the corner of her mouth, twirling the twisted gold bracelet on her wrist and thinking secretly: "Bo Xi? He is not qualified to calm down the situation! If you want to hide such big news, how can you not ask Shen Zangfeng to come forward to host it?" ? ! In this way, I can repay Wei Changying for helping me enter the palace and getting me the pair of bracelets!"
The fact was just as Qiu Baoniang expected, Liu Rong knocked on the back door of Bo's house overnight. After Bo Xi heard the news, he opened his mouth for a long time, but his first sentence was: "I think the new rich people are mostly loyal to Your Majesty and the empress. Even the nobles, Unless the head of the Shen family in Xiliang comes forward to take charge of the overall situation, otherwise..."
"But His Majesty once said that Shen Zangfeng will not be eliminated..." Liu Rong and Mo Binwei are actually the same type of people, good at martial arts and light literature. His level in political affairs is a little higher than Mo Binwei's, but not as high. Hearing that Bo Xi wanted to tell Shen Zangfeng the matter, he objected, "What if I tell him and he becomes rebellious?"
"Now he only has hundreds of guards from Shen Mansion. How many soldiers and horses do you have? What is he resisting?!" Bo Xi asked back, "And why did he defect to His Majesty when he had the remnant army? The biggest reason is that he himself Your vitality is severely damaged, so you can’t work too hard for too long!”
After taking a breath, Bo Xi said, "What's more, the noble clan, although we are ministers of the same court, but you also know that if we were not old people who follow His Majesty, how would they look at us? Now that the world is at peace, let me say something If you want to be honest, our Dayong foundation is shallow - your majesty is gone now, how can the eldest prince and the empress control the situation?! Let's talk about those nobles who have high standards! With his temper, not one or two of us old men would dare to be arrogant in front of His Majesty! But the eldest prince has always called us uncle and uncle... and you are also called Brother Liu - there is no one with enough fame and talent. Zheng, what do you think will happen to this world?"
Liu Rong was silent for a long time and said: "I am not as good as you in political affairs. Since you said so, I will give it a try... But I will say the ugly things first. You come to the political affairs, and I will take care of the troops! Whoever dares to have different intentions, no matter who he is What is his origin, or is there any relationship between him and me? I will kill him first to worship His Majesty’s soul in heaven!”
"Don't worry about this!" Bo Xi said cheerfully, "I have been following His Majesty for many years, and because one of the Wei family members was not in good health, he returned home before Dingding was settled. Only then did he have the opportunity to assist the government! If I defect to Can Shen Zangfeng be able to compete with his relatives and other talented people from well-established and aristocratic families? Besides, Gu Xinian, who was entrusted with government affairs together with me, is even older than me as a son. Yes, but you are on an equal footing with me - I have long understood that if I want to be a commoner, I can only follow a lord like your Majesty who is not from a noble family either!"
Liu Rong snorted: "It's best like this!"
"Don't talk like this to Shen Zangfeng!" Bo Xi saw him walking out and chased after him to remind him, "That person with a distinguished and extraordinary background, even if he lost the battle, he was still the head of the Shen family in Xiliang - you You’re about the same age as him, so don’t let him get out of office. No one can help you solve this situation now!”
Liu Rong said coldly: "It's not my first time to visit Shen's mansion!" (To be continued)