Qingxin Hall was once completely destroyed by a bomb, but now all the furnishings inside are still as before.
A tall and majestic house with a graceful air.
Except for some isolated porcelain calligraphy and paintings, the layout and tone are the same as before.
It can also be seen from this that Xiao Zimu really put a lot of effort into it.
Xiao Mubaiping retreated from everyone and drank tea by himself in the outer hall. Xia Chu walked to the compartment in the hall alone, his eyes falling on the gold-lacquered dragon couch.
The emperor was lying on the couch with a rosy complexion and a well-proportioned breath.
Anyone who looked at it would only think that he fell into a deep sleep, and would never think that he had been in a coma for two or three months and was still unable to wake up.
After checking his pulse, Xia Chu looked at his peaceful face and sighed softly: "Your Majesty, don't you want to get up?"
Xia Chu always paid attention to his face, which was as calm as silence, and his breathing was not disturbed in the slightest.
He knelt down by the couch with lowered eyebrows and continued: "Before I came to Qingxin Hall, I went to the imperial dining room and looked through your recent meals. Those chickens, ducks and fish were brought here. Could it be that Eunuch Li chewed them up and fed them to you? food?"
Incense curled up from the stove, and the thin bamboo silk curtains were lowered to block most of the sunlight outside.
As soon as Xia Chu finished speaking, silence returned to the hall.
The emperor, who was sitting on the splendid, beaded and jade dragon couch, still had his eyes tightly closed.
"It wasn't until I had dinner with Mu Bai at noon today and I heard him mention that General Zhao still had the edict naming him the prince that I understood why your Majesty didn't wake up."
Xia Chu always suspected that the emperor was pretending to be comatose, but he never understood why he did this.
It was not until today in the spring breeze at noon that he told Xiao Mubai that the emperor might have woken up long ago. Xiao Mubai told Xia Chu what General Zhao said to him before he left.
Xia Chu knelt upright and kowtowed to the dragon couch: "Your Majesty, even if you sleep until the end of the Year of the Monkey, I will not let my grandpa announce the edict."
"presumptuous!"
Finally, a familiar and majestic thick voice came from above his head. When Xia Chu looked up again, he could already see the emperor on the couch opening his eyes.
Those eyes were bright and bright, but there was no hint of haziness as if they were just waking up from a coma that had lasted for many days.
Xia Chu straightened up and helped him lean on the couch, and said with a smile: "I am not as brave as you. The imperial city is in such a precarious state, and you can still lie down."
The emperor glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and sneered: "When did you find out?"
Xia Chu saw that he didn't let her get up, so she got up and sat on the low steps on the side of the collapse: "Before leaving the capital, I probably disappeared mysteriously in Yuan Guangyi at the earliest, and I think it was also given to me by the emperor..."
Xia Chu made a gesture of wiping his neck, and the emperor lowered his eyes silently, which seemed to be in agreement with what he said.
Xia Chu thought to himself that the emperor must retaliate for his anger. Yuan Guangyi offended the emperor when he was drunk. He was afraid that he had not yet understood how he died.
At that time, the imperial city was surrounded by rebels. After Yuan Guangyi disappeared, Xia Chu was puzzled. Even if he was so good at Qinggong, it was difficult to fly out.
How could a living person like Yuan Guangyi be missing in the palace
It was not until later that the imperial city was about to be destroyed, and even the hidden guards were dispatched, but not even a shadow of the hidden guards belonging to the emperor was seen.
Xia Chucai began to have doubts in his heart. In this imperial city, the living could not escape, so it was too easy to hide the dead.
There were corpses everywhere in front of the Danfeng Palace. They were thrown away casually at the Nine Gates and were covered up without even being buried.
Therefore, when Xia Chu left Beijing, he repeatedly told Xiao Zimu that no matter how busy he was every day, he must take time to go to Kunning Palace, see the unconscious emperor, and say something he liked to hear.
It was just a suspicion that the emperor was pretending to be awake and unconscious, so that Xiao Zimu could take the opportunity to say more nice things to his side to gain his favor.
"Father, what if the imperial city is destroyed?" Xiao Mubai walked in from the outside and looked at the emperor for a moment.
At first, when Xia Chu told him that the emperor might have woken up early, he couldn't believe it.
How critical the imperial city was at that time, he didn't dare to think that the emperor was deliberately unconscious.
"That's because you don't have the ability." The emperor said very calmly.
Naturally, he didn't panic. Even if the rebels invaded the imperial city, as long as he opened his eyes and walked out of Kunning Palace, with an order, the men assigned by the Eighth City Defense Army would immediately cut off their heads.
Although he pretended to be unconscious during the day, at night, the hidden guards reported to him one by one the situation in the city.
Everything is within the control of the emperor. As long as the court can be completely wiped out, he does not mind shedding more blood and eliminating evil, and he cannot tolerate any mercy.
Xiao Mubai was so angry at his words that he laughed: "Father is right, although this battle was difficult, we won it in the end. You must also know that Concubine Li was executed, and Xiao Yanjun was already here Why did you continue to pretend to be unconscious on the way back to the capital? Is it really like what Ah Chu said, waiting for the call from General Zhao for the sake of the agreement with King Liang?"
"Yes." The emperor replied simply and honestly, which actually made Xia Chu and Xiao Mubai's breath hitch.
"Your Majesty, didn't I tell you that Mu Bai only wants to live peacefully with me for a few years..."
When Xia Chu saw Xiao Mubai's face as cold as frost, she was afraid that what he said would be insignificant, so she spoke before him, causing misfortune.
Tactfully reminding the emperor, why bother? Even if you have some bullshit agreement with Prince Liang, your son will only have a few more years to live.
"For the sake of your efforts to heal him, I will not punish you for your crime of deception." The emperor raised his eyes and looked at Xia Chu. His words were very generous, but his tone was full of sarcasm.
…
Xia Chu and Xiao Mubai looked at each other, this...
How did the emperor know that the poison in Xiao Mubai's body was cured by him
"Your Majesty, you..."
Xia Chu obviously felt guilty, and seemed a little stuttered when speaking. He wanted to refuse to admit it.
But seeing the emperor's blazing eyes, it didn't look like he was trying to bluff him. He couldn't help but think of General Zhao's advice in his mind. Grandpa was right, the emperor was too shrewd.
Except for him and Xiao Mubai, no one knew about this.
"How did I know? I know his poison better than anyone else, and I have tried every means to detoxify him over the years. At the end of each month, his body feels like it has fallen into an ice cellar, and I feel even colder than him." The emperor paused and looked. To Xiao Mubai.
There was a hint of anger in his tone: "At the end of January, he came to Kunning Palace to see me once. At that time, he held my hand with both hands and asked me pitifully what trump cards I had left. The warmth of those hands , it’s a bit warmer than my hands warmed in the quilt.”
Xiao Mubai: "..."
His aura, which had been so arrogant just now, instantly weakened.
Xia Chu tugged at the corner of his clothes, frowned and said, "Are you feeling angry because you have never been to Kunning Palace to see the emperor? Even when you came to see me, you were waiting in the side hall."
Xiao Mubai pursed his lips, lowered his eyes, and said with a bit of stiffness in his tone: "Just... I went there secretly once."
(End of chapter)