Eunuch Xia was waiting under the eaves. It was getting light in the sky and there was a slight chill in the air. Kunning Palace was full of exotic flowers and plants, which were still emitting fragrance. He sneezed. He was not sleepy at all and just felt nervous.
So many things happened last night, and everything is clear now, but Emperor Yuanfeng still hasn't given a definite answer as to how to deal with it.
It is not certain how many people are implicated.
As he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a slight bell ring from the main hall. He quickly answered it, rubbed his sore eyes, opened the door, carefully stood not far away, and asked Emperor Yuanfeng: "What do you want, Your Majesty?"
Emperor Yuanfeng opened his eyes and said without turning his head, "Bring Song Heng here."
Before summoning Prince Zhuang yesterday, he had arranged for Song Heng, Song Che and others to go to the East Palace to wait for news.
Eunuch Xia shuddered and responded quickly.
The East Palace has been abandoned for a long time. Since the death of the late crown prince, no one has lived here anymore, so everything is still the same as before, except that palace servants clean it regularly.
When Eunuch Xia arrived, the Jinwu Guard at the door shook his head at him, indicating that Song Heng was not asleep. He knew what was going on. He knocked on the door and saw Song Heng standing at the door, still dressed the same as yesterday. He said respectfully, "The emperor is calling you over."
In fact, at this point, Song Heng's background was already very clear, but Emperor Yuanfeng had not spoken yet, so Song Heng was still just Song Heng. He smiled at Song Heng and said, "Please come in."
Fortunately, Song Heng did not ask any embarrassing questions. He straightened his clothes and walked ahead.
Eunuch Xia followed closely, looking up at the rosy clouds in the sky, slightly lost in thought.
When Song Heng arrived, Emperor Yuanfeng had already stood up. When he saw Song Heng coming, he stared at him for a while before saying, "Ah Heng, this is your grandmother."
Song Heng's eyes fell on the current portrait. After a moment, he turned his head and looked at him and shook his head: "Your Majesty, my grandmother is not here."
He called "Your Majesty" with full sincerity, no different from before.
Emperor Yuanfeng lowered his eyes, tapped his hands unconsciously on his knees, and said softly: "No, Ah Heng, your parents are the former crown prince and the former crown princess. You are the former crown prince's orphan, and you are my grandson."
Song Heng shook his head resolutely: "My father is the former son of Guangping Marquis. My mother's origin is unknown. She abandoned me after giving birth to me. I was left at the gate of the Taoist temple and adopted by the White Crane Temple. I was not taken home until I was two years old."
Emperor Yuanfeng finally looked up at him, this young man with handsome eyebrows and eyes, this child who stumbled and hugged his legs when he was young, and he has come this far without even knowing his biological parents.
During this night, Emperor Yuanfeng thought of many things. He thought of Xu Rui's conspiracy against him in collusion with Song Zhibin, the embarrassment that Song Xiangyu had brought up every time he came to the palace over the years regarding family affairs, and Madam Song's disparagement of Song Heng in front of Concubine Pang and the Queen Mother.
He finally sighed softly, closed his eyes and looked at him.
In fact, Emperor Yuanfeng did not really have no doubts about the Song family.
But at this moment, looking into Song Heng's eyes, he finally believed that Song Heng really didn't know his own life experience.
After a pause, Emperor Yuanfeng said solemnly: "Whether you believe it or not, this is the fact. Ah Heng, your surname is not Song, but Xiao. You are a descendant of the Xiao family."
Song Heng was not moved at all. He straightened his back, and faced Emperor Yuanfeng stubbornly and forcefully. Suddenly, he sneered, "Then what? Even if I am really the child of the late crown prince, so what? The late crown prince is charged with the crime of using his father's army. Even if no one mentions it, it cannot change the facts. If I am really his child, what am I? The son of a sinner? Will I bring disaster to my grandfather and father again?"
At this point, he smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, my grandfather and father have always been loyal over the years. This matter is clearly intentional by His Royal Highness Prince Zhuang to frame me. You are a wise ruler, can't you see it? Or are you biased towards your own son?"
Eunuch Xia couldn't help but worry for Song Heng.
Emperor Yuanfeng was not angry. He looked at Song Heng silently, threw Song Heng in Kunning Palace, and turned away.
Eunuch Xia hurriedly followed, and when he turned around, he saw Song Heng standing silently in the hall. He immediately wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. He then helped Emperor Yuanfeng to get on the imperial carriage, and heard Emperor Yuanfeng say, "Let's adjourn the court today and return to Taiji Hall. Go and invite Madam He."
Although the way Emperor Yuanfeng ascended the throne was somewhat criticized, it is a consensus that this emperor was a wise ruler.
After all, although he had a bad temper, he did have many achievements during his reign, and the officials he promoted were basically capable of doing practical work. The famine that occurred when the emperor was deposed was made up after so many years.
After he came to power, other threats, such as the Japanese invasion and the Wala Mongols in the northwest, were much more restrained under his strong hand, and the people were able to recuperate.
He was also a very diligent emperor, and he suspended court only a few times since he ascended the throne.
It was simply because Queen Hu died that he was so grief-stricken that he suspended court for ten days. Since then, basically nothing could make this emperor, who wanted to use one person as three, stop court.
Now he suddenly stopped attending court, and the whole court was shocked.
When everyone came out of the hall, they all hurried to ask several ministers for news.
Yang Bo and others kept their mouths shut and were completely clueless when asked.
Prince Fenyang was uneasy. Seeing that Yang Bo, the old fox, did not reveal his true colors at all, he could not help but glance at Xu Shun. However, Xu Shun frowned and did not notice Prince Fenyang's expression.
Prince Fenyang became more and more depressed because of this. Yesterday, the Guangping Marquis Mansion was surrounded and Song Heng was summoned to the palace. Then Madam Wang Wu was assassinated. Princess Zhuang, Madam Qin and Chen Haohui were all summoned to the palace.
Logically speaking, things were developing according to their plan, and there was nothing wrong for the time being, but he just felt uneasy for no reason.
Based on his understanding of Emperor Yuanfeng over the years, he should have immediately dealt with the Song family and related people today - he has never been a person who can tolerate betrayal, and he has no time to cherish the memory of those who betrayed him.
But Emperor Yuanfeng stopped attending court.
He got off the sedan chair and almost stumbled and fell when he arrived at the clan residence. After thinking for a while, he solemnly told his confidant who followed him: "Go and see how Chief Secretary Zhan is doing."
The confidant was a little surprised, and it took him a moment to react. After all, Prince Fenyang has always been very averse to contacting Zhan Changshi openly, and he is usually very cautious.
But he quickly reacted, responded with understanding, and then immediately went out to do his work.