The first thing Sheng Jiayan did after returning to the capital was to send elite soldiers to surround the imperial city.
Rows of elite black cavalry soldiers stood outside the imperial city with sharp knives in their hands in the autumn wind and drizzle.
After he entered the palace, he went straight to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where he saw King Xiang who was dealing with the forbidden army.
"You guys are so courageous. I heard that the father and the emperor are sick. As the prince, how can I not come to visit? Even if I can't go in, the oral instructions brought by my mother and concubine can't enter? Comfortable, my mother-in-law is waiting by the side!" King Xiang was different today, he usually liked bright colors, but today he was wearing a dark navy blue, which made him more gloomy, and the color on the top of his head was no different.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the imperial guards bow their heads in unison, and King Xiang looked behind him intently. Sheng Jiayan was standing not far away, with a pair of black eyes that were terrifying. Even the insidious people like King Xiang couldn't help but tremble. He avoided looking directly at Sheng Jiayan and shouted with a smile: "Fourth brother."
King Xiang was the third youngest, and Sheng Jiayan was the fourth prince, so King Xiang's fourth brother shouted not badly. But Sheng Jiayan clearly didn't mean to appreciate it, and he replied without a smile: "What is King Xiang doing here?"
In the face of Sheng Jiayan's arrogance, King Xiang seems to have long been accustomed to it, and truthfully said: "I heard that the father's old illness is threatening, I came to visit."
Sheng Jiayan nodded: "I will bring your painstaking efforts to the emperor, but you are neither an imperial doctor nor a supervisor of the country. It is useless to stand here. Go back first, and I will send someone to let you know if there is anything."
After all, Sheng Jiayan walked straight past him to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. King Xiang blocked his way, and Sheng Jiayan did not evade, but King Xiang had to take two steps back. The Imperial Army stepped aside one after another, bowing their heads to welcome the powerful prince regent to enter.
Who is the master and who is the servant is clear at a glance.
"By the way—" Sheng Jiayan stood on the white jade steps, and suddenly stopped, he turned around and confessed coldly: "If there are still people who want to forcibly enter the Hall of Mental Cultivation without a summons, they will be executed on the spot as a crime of treason, and there is no need to do so. Reported up."
The embargoes should be in unison, daring not to disobey. On the other hand, King Xiang's face suddenly did not look good.
Sheng Jiayan is clearly embarrassing him in public!
Rao Shixiang King was not reconciled, Sheng Jiayan had already entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he stood in the cold wind for a while, then turned around and left. Before leaving, he glanced gloomily inside the hall, but he never let go of the clenched fist in his sleeve.
In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, layers of imperial tents hang around, and the scent of medicine lingers on the tip of the nose.
Sheng Jiayan saw the dying old emperor on the dragon couch, and the queen sitting beside him.
The queen is wearing the first-class Bainiao Chaofeng robe today, which she rarely wore when she was a Buddhist and lived in a seclusion. She wears it every time she encounters a big event to show her majesty and incomparable status.
On her head is a 12-style national flower peony. Today's queen's dress shows her identity everywhere, Sheng Jiayan saw it in his eyes, and silently saluted.
The queen's shrewd eyes glanced at the long sword on Sheng Jiayan's waist, and instructed the eunuch next to the old emperor: "Fuquan, you should step back first."
Fuquan lowered his head to the side when he heard this, lifted his eyelids and looked at Sheng Jiayan.
Sheng Jiayan nodded slightly, and then he retired.
The queen was shocked. She knew that Sheng Jiayan's current power had penetrated both inside and outside the court, but even the first-class servants beside the emperor belonged to him. Do she still have a chance of winning
When only the old emperor, the queen, and Sheng Jiayan were left in the room, the queen said with a smile but not a smile: "Remember the day you were born, the national teacher watched the stars at night. I hated it at the time, but I didn't hate your mother, I just hated why you weren't my son. Maybe it was my fanaticism towards you that made the emperor realize something was wrong. He snubbed you and flogged you, creating a discord with him. I don't care about your appearance, and let everyone's attention be diverted from you. Ha, I have to, the emperor is ruthless, he is so cruel and indifferent to his own son, I really admire him. "
"The indifference to you on the surface turns out to have been cultivating you secretly. How did I never imagine that a person with a deep mind like him would really forget the prophecy of the national teacher. We all let down our vigilance against you, which made you change. It's like this. Today, who would dare to fight with you? I'm afraid mayfly will shake the tree and be beyond your own power. In those days when you were suffering, my second prince just died young. I'll deliver meals for you. How can I expect today, I'm not going to pity you again, but I should beg you to give me alms and spare my son's life?"
After Sheng Jiayan heard her count, there was no expression on his face. He slowly walked to the table and sat down, poured a cup of tea on his own, and asked something else: "How much time is there for the imperial physician and the emperor."
"It won't be three days." The queen stared at him closely, and the peony and golden hairpins on her head rang each other: "Jiayan, can you... save Shinagawa's life. If you are afraid that I will interfere with it, after the emperor's big move, I will Asking for his own burial will not cause you any worries. Shinagawa has a sincere personality and will never be your opponent. As long as I am dead, you don’t have to worry. All he has is the title of a prince, and he has scheming tactics. I can't win against you, and I will never pose a threat to you."
Sheng Jiayan's slender fingers brought the tea cup to his lips. He wanted to drink but didn't drink it. He put down the tea cup and said calmly, "I didn't intend to kill him. Or in other words, he His life is of no use to me. As long as I give an order, the people in Lushou County will report that the prince has rebelled. Isn't it easy to want his life?"
These words shocked the queen: "Is it you?" She asked tremblingly, "Did the officials of Lushou County follow your order to seize food and starve tens of thousands of people to death?"
Sheng Jiayan has nothing to say, it is a default.
Yes, she should have thought of that. If there was no instruction from above, how dare the officials in Lushou County dared to disrespect and even behead court officials. It turned out that Sheng Jiayan signaled all this from behind, and the poor prince actually handed the token to a mere visitor and asked him to go to Lushou County with his own will. It turned out that he was pulling the lead behind all of this!
The queen looked at Sheng Jiayan, only to feel that the handsome young man with a long body and a jade standing in front of him was deeply thoughtful and terrifying. As if he clenched his fist lightly, he could crush the lives and deaths of several people.
"Those are countless people. They are homeless and change their children because of your words. There have been countless tragedies in order to compete for food. Haven't you always been upright and fair? You can do such a thing?" The queen smiled wryly. Ask out.
Sheng Jiayan didn't even look at her, but only looked at the tea cup in his hand: "I don't do it now, but there are still people who will do it. If you want peace of mind, you have to sacrifice a few people, as has been the case since ancient times."
He picked up the tea cup and walked to the queen, looking down at her: "After so many years, do you still want to repeat the old trick?"
After speaking, Sheng Jiayan tilted his wrist slightly, and a column of green tea poured down on the red carpet.
The queen was stunned for a moment, and then she laughed a little bit, the more she laughed, the louder she seemed to be a little crazy: "You really remember, you really remember everything. It's hard for you to be silent for so many years, but you have always endured it. I was soft-hearted. I didn't kill you together, but I left myself such a calamity, ha, ha ha—" She raised her head: "You are in control now, and it's easy to execute me. Come on, kill me and avenge your mother-in-law."
Sheng Jiayan threw the tea cup aside, the tea cup landed on the smooth and cold ground with a crisp sound, rolled around following the trend, and then knocked on the ground.
"It's not enough to kill you. The mother concubine is gullible to others, so she will be poisoned by you. It is her fate."
Sheng Jiayan turned his head and looked at the color outside, not wanting to entangle too much: "Even if the emperor dies within three days, please hide it until ten days later. Without my order, the news of his death will not be allowed a word. Spread it out. Otherwise, Sheng Pinchuan will be buried with the emperor, you should understand what I mean."
The queen burst into tears at some point, and washed the rouge gouache she threw on it, leaving only a face that had been cut by the years, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes were hard to hide: "Ye Wang wants him to die three times, you dare to keep it. He arrived at the fifth watch? If the emperor's dragon body is not buried in time, it will have a great impact on the country's fortune. You will lose your life if you do this!"
Sheng Jiayan walked to the door, turned around and replied strangely: "Whether the King of Hell dares or not, it's up to you."
Well, he turned to leave. The door to the hall creaked shut behind him.
The queen sat beside the dragon couch, listening to the more leaking voices in the hall, fascinated. Until a hand gently covered the back of her hand, she looked over with blurry tears, but only saw the emperor's thin face due to illness. His cheeks were deeply sunken, his eyes were half-open, his lips parted, as if he was on something.
The queen listened closely, only to hear the old emperor—
"Those who achieve great things must first be ruthless. He did the right thing. I can rest assured that this country is in his hands."
The queen closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"A Ying—" the old emperor slowly called the queen's boudoir: "You also let go, Fuquan, I have left a title deed for Zhuangzi, and after I go, you will take Hepinchuan to incognito. Zhuangzi is taken care of by someone. , enough for the rest of your life."
The queen wept silently, and fell beside the old emperor, weeping and weeping. The old emperor raised his hand to caress the top of her hair, and there was a brief reassurance. After an unknown period of time, the emperor's hand was lowered weakly, and the empress turned from mourning to a suppressed howl.
They, a couple who respected each other like guests and used each other for a lifetime, finally let go of all the past at this moment. With the death of the old emperor, she was not the strong and dignified queen she used to be at this time, but an ordinary woman who had just lost her husband.
The Hundred Birds Chaofeng robe on her body was specially sewed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for her when the old emperor established her as the empress.
This collection of embroidery by skilled craftsmen is the only one, a unique phoenix robe.