Da Nei, Chongren Hall.
Although the autumn sun was shining brightly outside, the door of the inner hall was closed tightly, and the bed furnishings cast indistinct shadows in the dim light. The strong smell of medicine in the air is so strong that every inch of paulownia wood and every crack of brick is soaked in bitterness, which makes one's chest suffocate.
The prince was lying in the heavy veil, his face was haggard gray, the fundus of his eyes was terribly dark, and there was hardly any movement of breathing under the quilt.
Empress Wu stood by the couch, staring at the prince's drowsy face, as if she was silently looking at something and didn't make a sound for a long time.
Behind him, the maid and eunuch knelt on the ground, and the silence in the hall was suffocating. After a long while, Empress Wu finally asked: "What did the imperial doctor say?"
"If you go back to Her Majesty, the imperial doctor will see you three times a day. Since the last time Langjun vomited blood late at night, he has changed the strong medicine according to Commander Xie's method. Although he can breathe a sigh of relief, it is exhausting his body. Now it is just barely... barely …”
The deacon's maid trembled slightly, obviously she couldn't continue speaking.
Empress Wu asked, "Who has come to visit these few days?"
"Returning to the empress, the sage ordered the East Palace to be closed, and I personally visited it once yesterday. Besides, only Miss Pei is led by the nanny and comes here every other day."
Empress Wu raised a sneer on her red lips: "...He Dong Pei."
She didn't say anything more, turned around and took a snow lotus from the rosewood tray in Xie Yun's hand behind her, which was white from calyx to pistil, only with dried blood on the petals, and gently threw it into the water . There was a soft sound, the flowers melted in water, and a fresh and strange fragrance wafted from the empty inner hall.
"Mother and child are connected to each other, and both are hurt. After the prince was poisoned, I was so anxious that I ordered Commander Xie to travel thousands of miles to the capital to search, and finally found this snow lotus that was living among the people and known as life and death."
Everyone in the Eastern Palace kowtowed deeply, Empress Wu toasted and walked to the side of the prince's sick bed, and gently held him in his arms and was about to feed him.
However, the prince didn't know if he was really dazed or what, but he couldn't feed because of his jaw closed. Empress Wu tried twice to no avail, and said with a smile on her face, "Xie Yun, come here."
Xie Yun took the porcelain cup, without saying a word, pinched the prince's jaw with one hand, without using too much force, he forcibly opened the prince's mouth.
—So this time the prince has to wake up even if he doesn't wake up.
"...Ah..." The prince struggled, waved his hands weakly and turned his head away: "Mother, empress...don't..."
Empress Wu said softly: "Prince is obedient. This is a miracle medicine that can cure your illness. Commander Xie finally got it. Drink it and you will live."
The prince's slightly trembling eyes moved from Empress Wu to Xie Yun, and then looked at the glass of strangely fragrant clear water in front of him, gradually showing a look of fear.
"Hong'er?" Empress Wu said.
The prince suddenly turned his head.
Empress Wu asked: "Hong'er, do you not trust your mother?"
No one around dared to speak out, and the palpitating silence lasted for a long time.
"... Commander Xie..." the prince uttered hoarsely and weakly.
Xie Yun said: "The minister is here."
"In the Ci'en Temple that day... where is Master Xinchao from the Ci'en Temple?"
Empress Wu suddenly changed color, Xie Yun was also a little surprised, but the emotion on his face was overshadowed by a calmer calm in an instant: "The monk Xinchao is waiting outside the East Palace. The prince wants to see him, so the minister asked him Come."
The prince said: "Go and call."
Xie Yun paused for a moment under Empress Wu's piercing gaze, and then turned to the palace servants on the ground: "...according to what the crown prince said, order the monk Xinchao to have an audience."
When he said these words, he felt that Empress Wu's eyes were nailed on the back of his neck, and even a slight coldness appeared in his bone marrow—but Empress Wu didn't say anything. With so many people watching this situation, she couldn't say anything.
Sure enough, the palace servants left as promised, and a moment later the door of the inner room slammed softly, and the deacon maid said in a low voice, "Your Highness, monk Xinchao is here."
Xie Yun's knuckles stuck to the cup wall suddenly changed color slightly.
The door of the hall opened, and the light extended to the hall from the crack of the opened door, gradually spreading out a strip of light on the gold brick floor. The figure of a man was projected in the light band, with broad shoulders and a slender figure, his face could not be seen clearly against the light, but his figure was surrounded by masculinity, standing like a silent rock at the entrance of the hall.
Empress Wu stared at him fixedly, with complex eyes and pale complexion, her fingertips trembling slightly on the golden red palace gauze.
The deacon at the door said softly: "You need to meet His Royal Highness the Queen..."
But Xie Yun interrupted her without looking back, raised his eyes to look at the golden tassels on the edge of the bed curtain, but said to the back: "—Come and see your mother."
Few people can tell the huge difference behind a detail in this situation. Even Shan Chao, who stepped into the Daming Palace for the first time, would not know it. However, Empress Wu stood up suddenly: "No need to worship."
She strode away from the bed, turned her back and said coldly: "The prince will not take the medicine until he sees you, so come and feed him."
Shan Chao didn't know why, and walked into the East Palace facing everyone's eyes.
The prince had already tried his best to support himself on the pillow, Shan Chao walked to the side of the couch and took the porcelain cup from Xie Yun's hand. At this moment, he and Xie Yun were sitting on the left and right sides of the bed at the same time, but the crown prince was only staring at Shan Chao, and a relieved smile slowly appeared on his pale face: "I knew that Master would come to save me."
Shan Chao's heart felt warm for some reason, and he said gently: "Your Highness, take the medicine."
The prince nodded and said: "Well, I believe you—my life is entrusted to Yu Qing." Then he took the porcelain cup and drank the snow lotus water in one gulp!
Everyone held their breath for an instant, only to see the prince let go, and the porcelain cup fell silently on the bed.
Immediately afterwards, the prince's blue-gray cheeks turned white strangely, and then turned red, the thick black under the eyes faded, and he spat out a mouthful of thick black blood. The palace servants hurried forward, before the heart-piercing words of His Highness could be uttered, the prince's eyes lit up as clear as a new life.
Xie Yun put his finger on the prince's wrist, stood up and raised his voice to order outside the hall:
"Come here, ring the bell and tell Sangong—"
"The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace has recovered from his illness, and the kingdom is safe!"
In the second year of Linde, the queen cured the prince with medicine, and the East Palace poisoning case that shocked the government and the public came to an end.
Hong Zhong shook the Chongren Hall, then went away, passed through the nine gates, and resounded through the magnificent Daming Palace in the distance.
Three bells rang, meandering endlessly, echoing for a long time in the ten thousand li sky above Chang'an.
It was night, the emperor came to Chongren Hall to visit the prince, the dragon heart was overjoyed, and ordered a banquet in Qingning Palace to celebrate.
In Qingning Palace, there are fire trees and silver flowers, cups and cups are flying, dancers' pink and gold skirts are flying in the stream of light, and musicians' profuse silk and bamboo are floating in the brocade hall. Both the emperor and the empress are in the chief position. Outside the dance hall, the relatives of the emperor and the favored concubines sit around, and the position outside and close to the lower part of the hall is full of court officials. There is also a carved marble screen on the south side of the brocade hall, separating In a relatively secluded space, there is a small table with only two people sitting opposite each other.
—Xie Yun and Shan Chao.
Xie Yun seemed to be very interested. He tasted every dish first, and when he wanted to pour himself a drink, Shan Chao raised his hand and held it down: "You are injured, you should not drink alcohol."
The porcelain scrape on Xie Yun's forehead had already been medicated, and the bandage was hidden in his hair. When he looked closely, there seemed to be some blood splattered out. Turning back stiffly in the air: "...what's going on, how can you get hurt?"
"It hit. I didn't look carefully when I was walking in Qingning Palace, and bumped into the door frame in front of the queen."
Shan Chao asked, "Did you hit me to save my life?"
"..." Xie Yun put down his wine glass, and asked with a twitch of his lips, "Why do you have such a ridiculous and stupid idea, what does your little life have to do with me?"
His lazy voice was deliberately drawn out, sounding full of sarcasm, but Shan Chao looked at him calmly and unmoved: "Because the queen wants me to die."
Looking out from this small table, through the hollowed-out screen, one can have a clear view of all the living beings at the banquet; It's just that the guards on shift are resting under the hall.
Xie Yun looked away from the outside, and said casually: "Do you know why the queen wants to get rid of the prince?"
Shan Chao hesitated for a moment, and said, "Because... Taishan Fengchan?"
Xie Yun laughed.
"The Holy Majesty decided to set off on Mount Tai to enshrine Zen. According to the rules, it is the emperor's main offering and the prime minister's sub-offering. However, this year, the empress proposed that she should replace the prime minister on the altar and sub-official, and announce it to the world together with the holy majesty. Start the same dynasty system."
"The Holy Majesty did not directly reject this proposal, but it was strongly opposed by the Eastern Palace Party. The reason is very simple: the rooster wakes up in the morning, and it smells bad in ancient times. Today, the Holy Majesty is weak and hard to see, but the Queen has always been strong. If it really starts to come The court has listened to the government, and the emperor will do well in the future, do you think the empress will return the power to the prince smoothly?"
"Therefore, the empress made the decision to take the bottom out of the pot. Instead of letting the Donggong party take over, it is better to directly change to the Donggong—that's why there is the poisonous sour fruit soup in the bowl of Ci'en Temple. But Liu Ge is always in a cocoon, and the empress will use her tricks. The prince's life was originally decided; everything that was seamless was ruined by only one person, and that is you."
Xie Yun raised his hand to point Shan Chao in the air, and taunted: "You who came out out of nowhere to disrupt the situation... stick."
Shan Chao was ordered to dodge backwards.
This was originally an action full of malice, but for some reason, Xie Yunruo's smiling eyes shone like pearls under the light, and his thin red lips looked very moist and soft because of the tea he drank just now, obviously full of sarcasm , but that look makes people look at the heart.
Shan Chao hastily looked away, "... what about now?"
"Now?" Xie Yunshun mocked: "It would be good to spare your life, and you want to reward?"
"No, about Mount Tai conferring on Zen—"
In fact, Shan Chao just took up the topic subconsciously, as if talking could relieve the inexplicable tightness in his throat, and cover up his slightly hot cheeks that might have been caused by being too close to the lights.
Xie Yun didn't care, his gaze passed the hollowed-out screen to the emperor and empress at the banquet in the distance—
The emperor was pouring a glass of wine with his own hands, and handed it to Empress Wu with a smile on his face.
"Feng Chan..." Xie Yun said lightly.
"The prince was ill the past two days, and I felt depressed, so I didn't talk to the queen often." In the bright lights of the first seat of the banquet, the emperor smiled brightly, and there was a trace of subconscious apology hidden in his voice: "Now that I want to come to the queen for two days, I should also I'm sorry, it's really... "
Empress Wu smiled slightly and took the wine cup: "What are you talking about, Your Majesty?"
"Unexpectedly, in the end, it was the queen who found a miracle medicine and cured Hong'er." The emperor sighed, "Mother and child are connected—"
"Mother and child are heart-to-heart, the prince is the flesh that fell from my body, why don't you wish him well?"
"Yes, I blamed the queen by mistake!"
The emperor put his hand on Empress Wu's resplendent armor, and said in a low voice: "After the Mid-Autumn Festival, I plan to set off to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen. You said before that you want to be the Yaxian, and I have carefully considered it..."
Empress Wu's smiling expression remained unchanged.
The emperor took a deep breath, and was about to say something more, when suddenly a coquettish voice sounded from beside him: "Your Majesty, this dance is not good, please ask someone to withdraw it!"
A coldness flashed across Empress Wu's eyes.
— Mrs. Wei Guo.
Sure enough, the emperor immediately turned his head to greet him. The eighteen or nineteen-year-old Helan family was wrapped in a green palace skirt, as fresh and delicate as a spring onion that had just sprouted, and even complained in the voice of Yingying: "The rehearsals in the palace are all the same. That old routine, Your Majesty! I'm so tired of it, I don't want people to withdraw quickly!"
When the emperor saw He Lan's, his whole body seemed to soften a few times, and he hurriedly used all kinds of soft words to coax her. However, the Helan family was used to being pampered by the emperor, so she must not watch the singing and dancing in the palace, and the courtiers around her also flattered her, which made the emperor helpless for a while: "This is obviously a new song, Yue'er Why don't you like it?"
He Lan said angrily: "They are all soft and soft, how can people be interested!"
The emperor hurriedly coaxed: "Then what do you want to see?"
He Lanshi glanced at the banquets around him—that glance was actually very deliberate, and then he seemed to have no intention of asking: "Today is the feast, why didn't Commander Xie come among the guards?"
The emperor didn't notice Xie Yun's absence, and was taken aback for a moment.
"I heard Commander Xie is good at swordsmanship, and he also wears ancient magic weapons." He Lanshi paused, seemingly unaware of the cold gaze of the chief empress, and coquettishly pulled up the emperor's cuffs: "Your Majesty , I haven't seen what the ancient god soldiers look like, why don't we pass on a sword dance to Commander Xie, what do you think?"