As the night deepened, the bedroom became darker and colder, and in the silence, only the flickering candles could be heard, crackling and crackling in the darkness.
Looking at the painful and angry Emperor Zhaoyang, Liang Zhen sneered silently: "The Empress Dowager Qinghui knew that you used the emperor's body as my father's child, and believed that my father would bring disaster to the country and the people, but she was afraid that killing him would hurt the relationship between mother and child." So I sent my father to the temple outside the palace. My father secretly gave birth to me in the temple. I was only a few days old when your people found him and brought him back to the palace. I wanted him to watch you give birth in person, trying to influence him, but unfortunately he was unmoved. After you gave birth and fell asleep, your queen came. She was afraid that the child would snatch her son's position as crown prince. , asked my father to take that child away, and my father returned to the temple when the queen's elder brother Xie Chongming led people to hunt him down."
Emperor Zhaoyang's teeth were clenched and his face was twisted ferociously. Liang Zhen didn't take it seriously, and continued: "My father knew that he was doomed, and he couldn't bear that child to die with him. Please forgive me. The little monk here sent a message to Anlehou Mansion, asking them to come and take the child away. Unfortunately, before the people from the Hou Mansion came over, Xie Chongming had already arrived with his pursuers. In the panic, my father carried the child up the mountain , was eventually forced to jump off a cliff and die.”
When Liang Zhen was brought before Emperor Zhaoyang a few years ago, An Lehou had already told the emperor about these things. Before that, the emperor always thought that it was his aunt Queen Mother Qinghui who released him from the palace for the second time and killed him. The empress dowager "died of illness" within two years of her life. It wasn't until An Lehou learned that the matter was done by the Xie family and had something to do with the empress, and saw the evidence from that year, that he made up his mind to give up and give the prince to death. , all for what he thought was his own son who was lost and found again.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be nothing in the end. As an emperor, he dominated and played with others at will, but in the end he became the one being played with. Emperor Zhaoyang almost went mad with hatred, staring at Liang Zhen in front of him, wishing he could tear him apart.
Liang Zhen smiled contemptuously: "Later, the people from Anlehou's Mansion came, and the old abbot of the temple knew about my father. It was because he kept hiding me that I was not discovered by your people. He couldn't bear me to stay in the temple. Suffering so much, they handed me over to the Anlehou Mansion. The people in the Hou Mansion thought I was the emperor's son, born to you by my father, and took me back. It just so happened that Mrs. Hou Shizi gave birth to a son who was only a few days old at that time. If I died young, I became their son."
"So, I'm really not your son. Your son jumped off a cliff with my father and died twenty years ago. Maybe this is retribution."
After the sound of the last word fell, Emperor Zhaoyang let out a roar and pounced on him. He wanted to fight Liang Zhen desperately. Sneered: "Your Majesty, let's save some effort, it's all in the past, why bother to be so excited."
Emperor Zhaoyang's face and body were covered in blood, and he stared fiercely at Liang Zhen, with bloodthirsty ruthlessness in his cloudy eyes: "I'm going to kill... you... kill..."
"Haven't you understood yet?" Liang Zhen shook his head, "Your Majesty is getting more and more confused with age. You see, you have been shouting for so long. Has anyone answered you?"
Emperor Zhaoyang was startled, tearing his throat and shouting loudly: "Come here! Come here! Come here!"
The only answer to him was the whistling sound of the cold wind outside the window. Liang Zhen stood with his backlit, quietly looking at the emperor curled up hysterically, with no demeanor at all, the emotion in his eyes was indistinguishable.
After a long time, he whispered quietly: "Your Majesty's love is so touching, since you have given me all the military power in the Imperial City of Gyeonggi, I should make good use of it. Unfortunately, I really don't care much about your Zhu family's throne. Interest, don't worry, it will still be your son who sits in that position, as for who, I have the final say."
"Must..." Emperor Zhaoyang was so angry that he spit out another big mouthful of blood, and finally passed out.
The door of the hall was pushed open, Liang Zhen walked out of the hall, the eunuch Feng Sheng stood by the door with his head bowed, Liang Zhen raised his chin with him: "Your Majesty is in a state of distress, and has been in a coma, you have to take good care of him."
Feng Sheng's eyes flashed, and he responded respectfully with lowered eyebrows: "No."
Outside Ganlin Palace, Zhu Yunxuan was walking slowly wearing a fox fur cloak and holding a hand stove. Behind him, the palace lantern in the hands of the eunuch shone on the snow, reflecting an ambiguous and warm light. Liang Zhen stopped in his tracks and watched him approaching, with an almost invisible arc raised on the corner of his lips.
Zhu Yunxuan approached, eyes met, he nodded lightly, Liang Zhen asked him with a smile: "What time is your highness coming to see your majesty?"
Zhu Yunxuan said: "I heard that the father is not well again, come and have a look."
"Then His Highness is afraid that this trip will be in vain. His Majesty just vomited blood again and passed out. He doesn't even know that you are in right now."
Zhu Yunxuan glanced in the direction of the brightly lit and crowded bedroom, and said calmly, "In that case, I'll come back another day."
"I will go back with His Highness."
Liang Zhen also had a palace in the palace, not far from the Qixiang Palace, and the two of them walked back together. It was rare for them to get together so quietly. The figures walking side by side dragged two long lines in the snow in the night The long shadows blend together inadvertently.
Walking outside the Hall of Qixiang, Zhu Yunxuan nodded with Liang Zhen again, and was about to enter the door, but Liang Zhen suddenly called out, "Your Highness."
Zhu Yunxuan turned her head back, looking at Liang Zhen with the usual guard in her eyes, Liang Zhen slipped a faint smile in his eyes that became more and more gloomy in the night, and raised his hand.
Zhu Yunxuan immediately turned his face away with a stiff expression, but Liang Zhen's hand only rested on his shoulder, brushing off the snowflakes falling on his shoulder for him, and smiled lightly: "Why are you so nervous, Your Highness?"
Zhu Yunxuan quietly calmed down the instinctive repulsion in his heart at that moment, and said lightly: "King Zhao is too worried."
He didn't say any more and was about to enter the door, but Liang Zhen called out to him again, took a step forward, stood opposite him, and approached him. Zhu Yunxuan couldn't help but didn't stretch out his hand to push the person away, and his face became even more ugly: "What do you want to do?"
Liang Zhen looked at him with a smile: "What does Your Highness think I want to do?"
Zhu Yunxuan looked even colder, and after a moment of silence, he said: "I hope King Zhao is the one who keeps his promise."
Liang Zhen said calmly, "That's natural."
Zhu Yunxuan stopped talking, turned around and left.
Looking at the gradually receding figure, the smile on the corner of Liang Zhen's mouth gradually disappeared, and there was some emotion in his deep pupils that sank bottomlessly.
Emperor Zhaoyang has been in a coma since that night, and the imperial physicians were helpless. The whole palace was shrouded in a strange atmosphere of silence, and all eyes were fixed on the direction of Ganlin Palace. No one dared to act rashly.
Until late at night on the third day, when Zhu Yunxuan was half asleep and half awake, someone woke him up suddenly. Gao An knelt beside the bed and anxiously reminded him: "Your Highness, hurry up, someone is coming from Ganlin Palace, and His Majesty is probably in trouble."
Sleepiness disappeared instantly, Zhu Yunxuan hurriedly got up and changed, and went out to the direction of Ganlin Palace.
Along the way, there were hurried palace people everywhere, shouting in a chaotic manner, and there were many more palace guards patrolling than usual. Zhu Yunxuan was in a state of agitation, until he encountered a palace wall away from Ganlin Palace. Go to Liang Zhen.
Liang Zhen was still in that calm posture, as if he was sure of victory. Seeing the restless mood, Zhu Yunxuan inexplicably became more anxious, and asked: "What did you say to the emperor that day? Why did he keep fighting after that?" In a coma so far?"
Liang Zhen narrowed his eyes lightly, quietly looking at Zhu Yunxuan's red-eyed, sad and indignant look, and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness is still in the mood to care about these trivial matters? You shouldn't rush to Ganlin Palace to see His Majesty for the last time like everyone else. Are you waiting for the edict?"
Zhu Yunxuan closed his eyes, how could he not know that he should hurry to Ganlin Palace at this time to avoid being taken advantage of by others, but at this moment, no matter how much resentment and hatred he had towards the emperor in the past, it has become unspeakably complicated, He couldn't even bear to look at it, that person was his father after all.
"In the end... what did he tell you?"
Liang Zhen twitched the corner of his lips inexplicably: "Your Highness won't want to know, it's better not to spoil His Highness's ears with those dirty things."
"you-"
"Your Highness, don't get angry, now is not the time to care about these things." Liang Zhen stepped forward, stretched out his hand, Zhu Yunxuan lowered his eyes, and handed a handkerchief to his hand.
Seeing that he didn't answer, Liang Zhen reminded: "Wipe it first, it's not time to cry yet."
Zhu Yunxuan said, "What about you? Are you so calm and not afraid of being picked on?"
Liang Zhen said indifferently: "I am different from Your Highness, Your Highness is His Majesty's son, and I am just a foreign minister."
Zhu Yunxuan raised his eyes to look at him, hesitated for a moment when the words came to his lips, and took the veil without saying anything.
At this moment, the inside and outside of Ganlin Palace are full of people kneeling, and there are rustling sobs everywhere. In the bedroom, the princes, princesses, concubines and clan princes who were summoned into the palace yesterday A cabinet minister is also there. Imperial Concubine Chen led the Ninth Princes at the front, lying on the side of the couch crying for Emperor Zhaoyang, the emperor on the couch had his eyes tightly closed, already exhaled more breath and breathed less.
Zhu Yunxuan didn't show her head, and went to the princes with a complicated mind and knelt down. Liang Zhen on the other end pulled up the hem of his clothes after the princes of the clan, and also knelt down in a well-behaved manner.
Emperor Zhaoyang on the couch seemed to have sensed something, and slowly opened his eyes. The eyeballs turned around with difficulty, and landed on Liang Zhen who was behind the crowd. He seemed to raise his hand, and his lips moved. Hoarse sickness sound. He lifted his neck up, stared hard at his eyes, and the next moment he fell back on the bed in a slump, his eyelids drooping.
The leading imperial physician knelt and moved to the front of the couch, and after feeling the pulse for a while, he knelt down and lowered his head to the ground. Concubine Chen cried out, and countless wailing sounds resounded in the hall at the same time.
Zhu Yunxuan closed her eyes, and tears fell silently from the corners of her eyes.