For a time, it spread all over the palace.
The emperor fell into a coma after being poisoned by General Hu in the wine. The Tai Hospital tried its best, but couldn't diagnose what poison the emperor had.
It's as if he suddenly got a strange disease, very strange.
But whether it was poisoning or a strange disease, the testimony of so many people present at the scene can prove that the problem lies in General Hu's jar of wine.
Therefore, General Hu was arrested on the spot and imprisoned.
However, the poison was not found, and General Hu pleaded not guilty, so the interrogation was difficult, and he had to be locked up for custody.
However, everyone's attention was not on General Hu.
At the third watch, in the back hall of Yongle Hall, imperial physicians came in and out, and in the front hall, all the people were waiting for the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, and the side hall separated by a curtain was crowded with concubines from various palaces.
Everyone was silent, but everyone was like an ant on a hot pot.
The Imperial Physician was rushing around, and he said many times that His Majesty's pulse was strange, it was a condition he had never seen before, and he could not diagnose any disease at all.
The more this happened, the heavier the atmosphere became, and the expressions of everyone gradually became panicked.
Empress Jiang sat at the top of the side hall and raised her hand to support her forehead.
The more chaotic everyone is, the more she can't do it. There is no queen mother in the palace, and now that the palace is full, she is the only one who can be the master.
However, like everyone else, she didn't know what happened to the emperor or how serious the situation would be. The emperor is in his prime, and his body has always been healthy. The court in the palace is orderly, and he has not yet set up his mind.
So now, the emperor suddenly had an accident, and no one knew what to do next.
Empress Jiang endured worry and panic, looked calm, and sat quietly in her seat.
In my heart, I kept praying for Emperor Qingping.
Although Emperor Qing Ping and her were indifferent, they were husband and wife and monarch and minister for many years after all. Yu Gong, now only Emperor Qing Ping wakes up, so the harem of the previous dynasty will not be in chaos; Yu Zi, she also worried about Emperor Qing Ping in her heart, and did not want to see what happened to him.
When the third imperial doctor came to report, saying that Emperor Qing Ping's condition had not improved, and the cause of the poison had not been identified, the concubines and concubines in the surrounding area had already begun to talk anxiously in a low voice.
"What kind of poison did this person have, how could it not be found out for so long?"
"Isn't this person just awarded the emperor's award, and he will be fired tomorrow? How can he do such a confused thing at this juncture..."
"It's really unpredictable, the emperor must not let anything happen..."
Empress Jiang cleared her throat, and everyone immediately quieted down.
Although this queen concubine was usually gentle and gentle and had a good temperament, but now she is the only person in the entire palace who can speak. Now the emperor is unpredictable, but he does not dare to touch her bad head at this juncture.
Empress Jiang glanced at them, and finally set her eyes on Concubine Shu Gui.
At this moment, her face was already showing signs of fatigue, but she kept watching with everyone without saying a word.
Empress Jiang knew that Concubine Shu Gui was nothing but a child, and if she said anything about love, it wouldn't really matter. But the emperor has spoiled her for so many years, and has always treated her well. Now that something happened to the emperor, she is naturally very uncomfortable.
"Concubine Shu." Queen Jiang said. "If you feel unwell, you don't have to boil it hard, the dragon womb in your belly is important."
Concubine Shu looked at her.
"No, Empress," she said. "The concubine can hold on."
Empress Jiang knew that she was stubborn, so she did not persuade her any further.
"Go, let the imperial pantry cook a bowl of soothing soup for Concubine Shu Gui." Empress Jiang looked sideways and said to the female official beside her.
The female officer took the order and retreated.
The side hall fell into a deep silence again.
Empress Jiang's eyes fell on the corridor between the side hall and the main hall.
Across the cloister piled with gold and jade, at the other end of the curtain, is the Manchu civil and military waiting.
Under the curtain, the court clothes and brocade boots were vaguely seen walking around.
Just then, the curtain was lifted.
A little eunuch stooped and trotted all the way to the side hall.
The concubines and concubines looked, but saw that the little eunuch did not look sideways, skipped the concubines in the hall, and knelt down in front of the queen all the way.
"What's the matter?" The queen looked down at him.
The little eunuch only said: "The slave is here to send a message to the lady."
Empress Jiang motioned for him to get up.
Hearing this, the concubines in the hall held their breaths, wanting to hear something in their whispers.
But the little eunuch attached to Empress Jiang's ear, whispered a word, and then retreated again.
No one in the hall, except Empress Jiang, heard what he said.
But everyone saw that Empress Jiang's face turned pale.
She was silent for a long time and nodded to the little eunuch.
"Go and talk, Ben Gong knows." She said.
The little eunuch withdrew.
The concubines all looked at her expression, her expression was indifferent and stiff, and she looked around in the hall.
The words that the little eunuch just said echoed in her ears.
"Niang Niang, Jiang Xiang said, Niang Niang must be prepared for His Majesty to wake up."
The crowd continued to watch.
Until the middle of the night, the sky turned white, and the stars in the sky gradually faded.
There was a frantic sound from the apse, as if something had been knocked over, and it seemed that a group of imperial physicians swarmed up.
Queen Jiang frowned.
"Help Ben Gong to have a look." She raised her hand, and the female official beside her quickly supported her.
The surrounding concubines all looked in the direction she left, and saw that after the curtain was lifted, the ministers in the outer hall were also in a mess, and went to the apse one after another.
"What's wrong?" Empress Jiang asked eagerly.
Then he saw a eunuch scrambling out of the crowd, kneeling in front of Empress Jiang.
"Niangniang!" The eunuch cried and kowtowed on the ground.
Empress Jiang was so frightened that her face turned pale, her body shook, and she supported the female official beside her.
"What's the matter, Your Majesty?" she asked, trembling.
The little eunuch kowtowed and said: "The imperial doctor said that your majesty's meridians suddenly blocked, and now the body is stiff, and the medicine stone has no cure. Although he has saved his life now, even if his majesty wakes up again, he is afraid that he will not be able to move his body. , I can't speak, I can only hang my life with medicine!"
Empress Jiang's legs softened and she almost collapsed to the ground.
The two female officers beside her quickly supported her.
Empress Jiang looked straight at the eunuch.
"Then Your Majesty... When will it be okay?" she asked tremblingly.
The little eunuch kept kowtow, but did not answer.
Queen Jiang understands.
Emperor Qingping this time... I'm afraid it won't get better.
—
It's almost dawn.
A country cannot live without a ruler for a day. The important affairs in the court will not be postponed because of the accident of Emperor Qingping, and the documents on the imperial case also need someone to deal with.
What's more... The Qing Ping Emperor has no good possibility this time.
Others are still alive, naturally cannot establish another emperor. However, there is always a need for a prince to take charge of the government in his place.
In this case, the power of this prince from now on is naturally the same as that of a king, but it lacks a name. Seeing what Emperor Ping looks like now, it won't last long if you think about it. At that time, the Highness who is in charge of the government will naturally be the next king.
After the imperial doctor came to a conclusion, all the ministers gathered together in the front hall. No one left, but no one spoke first.
They knew they had to wait here for a result.
After a long time, the queen was supported by the female official and walked out from the apse.
All the ministers got up and saluted, waiting for the queen to sit down on the phoenix seat in the palace.
"Queen Empress." As soon as the ministers were flat, Xu Xiang stepped out of the queue and saluted her. "His Majesty suffered this catastrophe, and the ministers and others are very sad. But in addition to the sadness, they will also forget the state affairs. If Dayong is in chaos because of this, I will surely feel sad when His Majesty wakes up."
Empress Jiang's eyes were a little swollen.
"What Xu Xiang said is very true." She paused, her voice a little out of breath, and said lightly.
"Therefore, the minister asked the empress to make up her mind to find a prince of the right age, temporarily seal the prince, and act for the emperor in state affairs." Xu Xiang saluted.
Empress Jiang looked at him.
It has always been the case that rabbits die and dogs cook.
"This palace also has this intention," she said. "I just don't know all the adults, what's the best way?"
She knew that she could not ask Xu Xiang alone.
She knew better than anyone what Xu Xiangcun was thinking. However, the Xu family is not the only one in the DPRK now. Now that the Xu family's vitality is severely damaged, it is her father who can really speak.
She also knew that her father would never hide his selfishness in this matter. Huan'er is not a king's talent, and her father would not push Huan'er into that position.
Sure enough, Jiang Xiang came out.
"The minister asks the Empress to urgently summon His Royal Highness the King of Guangling back to Beijing," he said.
The ministers present were not surprised.
Over the past year, how vigorous and resolute the King of Guangling has been, and how much he has been highly regarded by Emperor Qingping, all of them have seen it. If Emperor Qingping was still awake now, he would have let King Guangling take over the country.
For a while, no one made a rebuttal.
This is exactly what Queen Jiang wanted.
"In that case..." she said.
"The Empress, please listen to what the minister has to say." Xu Xiang said. "His Royal Highness King Guangling is now in the south of the Yangtze River, and the emperor has a decree to give him full authority to supervise the water affairs of Jiangnan. Now that the king of Yunnan is in chaos, the emperor also ordered His Royal Highness King Guangling to go south to pacify the chaos. Although the emperor is in a coma, the ministers cannot disobey the emperor because of this. 's will!"
Saying that, he knelt down.
Queen Jiang knew that he was cheating.
The will of letting Xue Yan go to Jiangnan and letting Xue Yan pacify the chaos is naturally the emperor's order. But now, the emperor can't wake up, and naturally he can't take his life back.
He was using the decree that he was dead, trying to keep Xue Yan in the south.
It will take a year and a half to control the waters in the south of the Yangtze River and pacify the king of Yunnan. The court naturally couldn't wait for him for that long, and he was going to "fulfill" the will of Emperor Qingping again, which was to completely exclude Xue Yan and directly sentence him out of the game.
Empress Jiang felt a moment of anger.
Jiang instead asked: "So, in Xu Xiang's opinion, which Highness is more suitable? Is it the Fourth Highness who is related to you by blood?"
He spoke directly, intending to pierce Xu Xiang's detour, so that he could not push the throne to his nephew.
But he heard Xu Xiang sneer.
"Related by blood? Empress Yijieyu has passed away, and she has severed the father-daughter relationship with the minister before her death. The Fourth Highness does not have a mother, but only a close relative of His Majesty. Now, what kind of blood relationship do you have with the minister?"
After speaking, he turned around and said to the ministers: "His Royal Highness is not in Chang'an, and the Second Highness has not yet entered the court for his age and crown. The rest of the Highnesses are still young. Now, only the Fourth Highness can hold a high position in the court. ."
Hundreds of officials were stunned. After that, several clever officials from the Xu family's camp knelt down and said, "This minister agrees!"
After that, not a few officials from the family camp, as well as some grassroots who judged the situation, also knelt down to support the proposal, and for a while, half of the hall knelt down.
Xu Xiang hid two points of pride in his eyes and looked up at Empress Jiang.
"You..." Queen Jiang knew that she was forced to the cliff.
On the side, an official from Jiang Xiang's faction immediately stood up.
"His Royal Highness King Guangling and His Highness are not in Chang'an, none of us can be the master!" he said. "This is a serious matter, and the minister asks the Empress to quickly summon all your Highnesses back to Beijing to discuss the matter together!"
But at this moment, a person appeared at the door.
When everyone looked, they saw Xu Zonglun standing there.
Those who followed behind him were all the generals who entered the palace yesterday. This group of people just rushed back from the Shenxing Division.
Immediately, the generals blocked the wide hall door tightly.
Everyone dared not speak.
"My lord, have you made up your mind to disobey His Majesty's will?" Xu Zonglun asked slowly.
"I am obviously..."
"No matter who it is, the last will not allow him to do anything against the imperial edict." Xu Zonglun interrupted him.
"Since His Royal Highness King Guangling has taken the order, he can no longer resist the order. The 100,000 soldiers in the Qin gate are all united with the last general to protect His Majesty's order," he said. "Now, the soldiers have surrounded Chang'an City, and no one is allowed to dare to resist the decree."