helpless plan
Qi Yan and Nangong Jingnu had both changed into a set of palace attire specially worn for banquets, and were going to board the carriage hand in hand.
However, when he saw a servant flying horse next to the fifth prince, Qi Yan stood in front of the carriage and did not go up, as expected, the other party ran to the door of Princess Zhen Zhen's mansion, got off the horse and flew to Qi Yan and knelt down: "His Royal Highness, Concubine, the slaves are in a hurry to report!"
Nangong Jingnu heard the voice and stood up, Qi Yan raised her hand to help her off the carriage.
Nangong Jingnu: "What happened in a panic?"
At this moment, Nangong Jingnv and Qi Yan were a little nervous in their hearts. They thought that Nangong gave up the problem, but their starting points were completely different.
The maid took two breaths to make his tone seem calm and decent before replying: "Waking up this morning, the Ninth Highness suddenly became ill, and the joint efforts of several imperial doctors are still ineffective. His Highness Ninth... passed away. ."
Nangong Jingnu: "What did you say?!"
The servant knocked his head down on the ground and replied sadly, "Your Highness condolences, our master invites you and the concubine to enter the palace immediately."
Qi Yan supported Nangong Jingnu, who was silent for a long time and replied in a low voice, "Go ahead, this palace knows."
Servant: "Yes."
The death of Ninth Prince Nangong Si is somewhat strange.
Qi Yan hugged Nangong Jingnu, and this thought flashed through her mind. Nangong Si was thirteen years old this year. When a child grows up to this age, it is considered that the "dangerous period" has passed. Ordinary minor illnesses will not easily lead to death.
After the age of thirteen, even the children of the common people can grow up safely, not to mention a prince who is expensive and pampered
Nangong Jingnu: "Qi Yan..."
Qi Yan: "The minister is here."
Nangong Jingnu: "Help Ben Gong go back to the manor and change clothes."
Qi Yan: "Yes."
…
Half an hour later, the two left the Princess Mansion again, but they both changed into plain clothes.
Boarding the carriage that entered the palace, Nangong Jingnv told the driver to drive faster, and fell silent.
She didn't say anything until halfway through the journey, "I think Xiao Jiu died a bit strange."
Qi Yan pondered for a moment, then replied in a low voice, "Your Highness, speak with caution, and see what the imperial doctor has to say."
Nangong Jingnu: "Although Xiao Jiu is a little timid in front of people, he is still very lively and active in private. I haven't heard of any illnesses since he was born, and he has come here healthy and healthy for thirteen years. Why did it suddenly...?"
Qi Yan pursed her lips and did not answer, but a trace of unease flashed in her heart: she also felt that this matter was not so simple, and she suspected that it had something to do with the masked man who had been silent for many years.
Hearing Ding You say that since he left Wuminggu and mixed into the palace, the masked man disappeared. For a while, Qi Yan felt that the masked man seemed to be lurking in the Gyeonggi area, and then he completely lost the news of the other party.
But Qi Yan knew that from the personality of the masked person, she would never let Wei Guo go, but the other party was more patient, calmer, and more terrifying than herself.
Although the previous dynasty had been destroyed for 18 years, the power of the princess of the previous dynasty should not be underestimated. Qi Yan set out to build her own strength three years ago, and soon her industry penetrated the entire Wei Kingdom like the roots of a tree. She had sent someone to investigate secretly, but there was no news.
The more this is, the more uneasy Qi Yan is. She knows that the masked man has not disappeared, and Ding You, who is still lurking in the palace, is proof that the masked man has not given up.
In this way, there is only one reason for not being able to find out: the power of the other party is far greater than that of oneself.
Could it be that the masked man can't wait? Is his action too slow, the other party has lost hope? Or is it that the mask man has already deployed everything and is ready to collect the net in person
Qi Yan's heart was beating "suddenly", the basic purpose of poisoning the emperor's heir was to make the Wei kingdom have no successor...
If you let the other party know that the person behind the curtain is Nangong Jingnu, the consequences will be disastrous!
Nangong Jingnu: "Why don't you speak?"
Qi Yan: "My minister is thinking, the ninth prince is only thirteen years old. It can be said that he basically has no relationship with the throne, and he should not hold grudges with others. Who is so vicious?"
Nangong Jingnv sighed softly: "Ben Gong is actually not sure that the ninth brother was killed by someone, let's talk about it after seeing the imperial doctor."
Qi Yan: "Alright, what about His Majesty's side? What should His Highness decide to do?"
Nangong Jingnu: "...Although it's not polite to do this, I don't want my father to know. I'm afraid my father won't be able to bear it."
Qi Yan: "In my opinion, this matter should be left to the Fifth Highness. After all, he is the prince of the supervising country, and this matter involves the emperor's heir, so it is inconvenient for His Highness to say more."
Nangong Jingnv: "I see, this palace will send someone to send a message to Eunuch Sijiu later and ask him to stop the news."
Qi Yan nodded, satisfied with Nangong Jingnu's answer.
…
The mourning hall was placed in the side hall of the Phixiang Hall. The ninth prince had already changed into the royal attire of the prince, and lay quietly in the coffin.
This set of clothes was made just this year. The prince who turned thirteen years old in Wei State was eligible to participate in government affairs, and it has only been done for a few months.
Since Nangong Jingnv and Qi Yan were delayed for a while, all the royal family members came when they arrived.
Nangong Jingnu had experienced such a scene once, in the year of the death of the eldest prince.
However, Zhang Zhaoyi's place is more spacious than the first prince's mother's palace, and the specifications are naturally higher, but there are far fewer people in this mourning hall than then.
The second and fourth princes were imprisoned, and the third prince escorted Ya Fei back to Luobei. The relatives were not there. The eldest prince had passed away, and now there is another one lying in the coffin.
Looking at the entire mourning hall, only the fifth prince Nangongda, the sixth prince Nangonglie, the seventh prince Nangongli, and the eighth prince Nangongbao.
As well as Princess Zhuohua's Nangong Shunv and her consort Lu Zhongxing, Qi Yan glanced at it and retracted her gaze. The Nangong royal family has withered to this point.
The fifth prince, Nangongda, was dressed in a black palace attire, leaning on crutches and standing beside the coffin. Seeing Nangong Jingnv and Qi Yan coming in, she waved to the two of them: "Little sister, brother-in-law."
The ninth prince's mother-in-law Zhang Zhaoyi had already cried to tears, and the eighth prince also cried very sadly.
The mother-in-law of the eighth prince is Concubine Li, the empress of the Palace of Fragrance, and the two brothers grew up together since childhood. They are similar in age and have strong feelings for each other.
Compared with the death of the first prince Nangongping, at least this time, several brothers and sisters felt sad and sincerely cried for the ninth prince.
Nangong Shunv wiped her tears and walked to Nangong Jingnv's side, sobbing: "What a good person... Go and see the ninth brother."
Nangong Jingnv and Qi Yan came to the coffin, Nangong Si's face was bloodless, and he lay quietly in the coffin.
Qi Yan has not seen this prince for many years. In his memory, the other party is a little Douding who likes to hide behind the eighth prince. Now he has grown into a teenager, but this coffin is still a bit big for him. The soles of the feet were vacant.
Nangong Jingnu held down the edge of the coffin and leaned forward slightly, tears streaming down her face.
"Ninth brother..."
Qi Yan withdrew his gaze, and instead of Nangong Jingnu, greeted the people in the field one by one. Nangong Lie stared at Qi Yan with gloomy eyes.
Nangong Shunv's expression was a little unnatural, and she agreed with red eyes.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Nangongda, the prince of the supervising country, said: "Ninth brother Shao Shang, I am unbearably sad. Sigh, the sky is jealous of talents, hate, the sky is injustice. I want to be able to grow up safely as a half-crippled person. , but the ninth brother failed to reach adulthood..."
Having said that, Nangongda covered his face with his sleeves and cried a few times, and continued: "Ninth younger brother Shaoshang has no children, Yili cannot be buried in the imperial mausoleum..."
Zhang Zhaoyi burst into tears, slammed his fists on the coffin, and knocked loudly: "You unfilial son, what do you want me to do as a mother? Son..."
Nangong Jingnv wanted to come forward to comfort Zhang Zhaoyi, but Qi Yan seemed to know her thoughts, so she took her shoulders and took out a silk handkerchief and handed it to Nangong Jingnv.
Nangong Jingnu didn't move, and half leaned on Qi Yan's body. From the outsiders' eyes, she looked overly sad and unsteady.
Qi Yan secretly pinched Nangong Jingnv's shoulder, only to see Nangongda struggling to come to Zhang Zhaoyi on crutches, and said sadly: "My mother's grief and change, I will report to the emperor and beg him to break the old system and let the nine Brother Nenghun An Huang Mausoleum."
…
Nangong Jingnv didn't understand why Qi Yan stopped her before, but after listening to Nangongda's words, she was completely relieved.
She secretly marveled at Qi Yan's mind and strategy, and was very fortunate to have such a person by her side.
The fifth prince and the ninth prince are far apart in age and are not close. The reason why the other party said this was to win over people's hearts while the political enemy Nangong Wang was not there.
Everyone in the field is the heir of the emperor, but either he has no interest in the throne, or he is not qualified to compete with Nangongda. The more he treats his siblings, the more support he will get. After all, whoever wants the new emperor will be suppressed as soon as he ascends the throne. What about persecution
However, according to the ancient etiquette, underage princes are not eligible to enter the imperial mausoleum, and Zhang Zhaoyi's identity is not honorable.
The fifth prince boasted about Haikou in front of all eyes, and he was destined to lose his trust.
…
In the evening, Nangongda left all the adult princes behind, and let the two princesses and the eighth prince Nangongbao leave first.
Nangong Jingnv took into account Qi Yan's eyes and wanted to return to the Weiming Palace, but Qi Yan was worried that the palace was not safe and insisted on returning to the Princess Palace.
The two boarded the carriage back home, and Nangong Jingnu leaned on Qi Yan's shoulder and cried very sadly.
Nangong Jingnv: "I also want my ninth brother to be buried in the imperial mausoleum. He will be an adult in three years, and he just got engaged last year." In fact, Nangong Jingnv can call the shots.
Qi Yan sighed and calmly analyzed: "The fifth prince should not be underestimated. The third prince is not in the capital at the moment. If he takes the opportunity to win the support of the royal family, it will not benefit His Highness's future."
Nangong Jingnv: "I know... I'm sad because of this! Qi Yan... The ninth brother was very attached to me when I was a child, but it became a little less after I moved to the princess' mansion. I... But I can't do anything for him, and I have to Use what's behind him."
Qi Yan: "... Before His Highness succeeds, similar things may happen again. Your Highness might as well turn grief and anger into strength, and let him make up for today's guilt after the day's success."