Emperor Longqing had not expected Concubine Lin Shu to come to Taiji Hall. He felt a little strange after hearing the report from Eunuch An. When he saw Concubine Lin Shu, he looked up at her and asked her, "Why are you here?"
Concubine Lin Shu took a bowl of ginseng soup from the maid behind her and handed it to Emperor Longqing very gently: "I saw that you were not in good spirits today and had eaten less, so I came to give you a bowl of ginseng soup to replenish your energy."
Emperor Longqing's expression became much gentler. When he saw her bringing the ginseng soup over, he took it with his hand and said with some disapproval, "Just take good care of Xiao Liu'er. I'm fine here. When Shen Chen's medicine is brought back, everything will be fine. There's no need for these."
Having said that, he still took a sip of the soup served by Concubine Lin Shu before putting it down.
Concubine Lin Shu did not persuade him to drink anymore. Seeing him say that, she said, "As for Shen Chen... it's only been a few days. I'm afraid there won't be any news so soon. Besides, Master Zhang is so difficult to deal with..."
Emperor Longqing sneered, threw a memorial aside, and said, "I am not afraid of him dragging his feet. If he doesn't get things done, he will lose the wife he got with great difficulty."
He looked at Concubine Lin Shu with some complacency: "Look, this matter that has been put off for a long time is not so difficult to do now. Didn't he say that he would find a way to persuade Master Zhang? Master Zhang has already said that maybe we can go to the palace's medicine store to see if there are any suitable herbs."
It can be seen that the previous claims that it could not be done were all excuses.
Concubine Lin Shu exclaimed, and couldn't help laughing: "So, His Majesty can really get the magic medicine again?"
Emperor Longqing looked deep and gloomy. After a while, he said, "What's the point of having one or two bottles of medicine? If Master Zhang can really make the first bottle, he can make the others according to my body. I want him to stay in the palace and treat me from now on."
Concubine Lin Shu paused and asked him tentatively: "Then what about Your Majesty... ... and Your Majesty..."
The gloom on Emperor Longqing's face grew even darker, and he coldly put down the spoon in his hand with a plop. "Before, I was in poor health, so I naturally had to think more about Xiao Liu'er. I have never concealed those things from you, and there is no need to conceal them from you now. I don't intend to fulfill my promise. I am in good health now, and I don't need others to share power with me. Now it seems that Lao Wu is doing well, but who can say for sure whether he will listen to me and return the throne to my son in the future?"
He sneered: "When you have a choice, of course it's better to hold everything in your own hands."
How can we trust other people
Concubine Lin Shu seemed a little surprised: "Then... Will the prince be willing in his heart?"
"Willingly?" Emperor Longqing sneered. "The throne is right in front of him. He can take it just by taking a step forward. How could he be willing to give it back?"
As the night deepened, Concubine Lin Shu sat beside Emperor Longqing. Seeing what Emperor Longqing said, she was obviously worried: "If this is true, then the prince will not...will he do something?"
"What can he do?" Emperor Longqing disagreed: "Everything he has is given by me, and now he has left the fiefdom. If I turn against him, what can he do? Not to mention that Shen Chen is his lifeblood. His lifeblood is now working for me and is in my hands. What kind of trouble can he cause?"
Emperor Longqing took a deep breath, calmed the pain in his chest, and then said: "Now I have to deal with the Xu family first..."
Previously, he valued Xu Anying so much, simply because he thought that Xu Anying could take care of and support the Sixth Prince, but now it seems that the Xu family also has ulterior motives.
What's more, the Xu family is deliberately trying to get involved with King Linjiang.
The purpose is so obvious that he can't just sit back and watch. Now his disgust for the Xu family has reached its peak, and he must get rid of the Xu family first.
Otherwise, if the Xu family really colluded with King Linjiang, it would be a huge hidden danger.
Concubine Lin Shu was silently adding tea and pouring water. Hearing what Emperor Longqing said, she sighed even more deeply in her heart. Just as she was about to open the cup for Emperor Longqing, she heard a loud bang suddenly coming from outside.
The loud noise almost deafened people's ears. Concubine Lin Shu held on to the table and barely avoided falling. She asked in a daze, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Emperor Longqing was also startled, and it took him a while to react. He ordered Eunuch An who came in, "Go and see what's going on!"
With such a loud noise, I'm afraid that gunpowder must have been placed somewhere. But these things are not allowed in the palace. How could there be such a noise
Judging from the sound, it clearly came from the palace.
Emperor Longqing was afraid of death and took these things very seriously. Eunuch An did not dare to delay and ran out trembling. After a while, he ran back in and said to Emperor Longqing with sweat on his forehead, "Your Majesty, I have asked the Jinyiwei to check it out. They said it seems to be a movement in the West Garden. We don't know what happened yet, but it seems that... maybe there is a problem with the palace in the West Garden."
Emperor Longqing frowned and said, "Ask the imperial guards to take a look! Let's see what's going on!"
He was restless and looked very unhappy. After watching Eunuch An run out, he said to Concubine Lin Shu: "You should go back to your own palace first. Isn't Xiao Liu'er still in the palace?"
Fearing that something might have happened, he clenched his fists and sneered grimly.
However, if it was really the King of Linjiang, then he would be courting his own death. You know, the King of Linjiang has nothing and the only support he has is the Xu family. He knows all the secret agents of the Xu family very well, and they have been cleared out by Young Master Lin. If the King of Linjiang dares to take action, he will die miserably.
Concubine Lin Shu shook her head, looking very scared: "I have already made arrangements for Xiao Liu'er. The wet nurse and others are accompanying him. I'd better stay here with His Majesty..."
After all, this place was quite a distance from the Western Garden. Emperor Longqing waited for a while before he saw Eunuch An rushing in. He asked him coldly, "What's going on?"
Eunuch An's face turned pale. It was unclear whether he was frightened or because he ran too fast. His face looked very ugly. He knelt down for a long time before he stammered, "Your Majesty, something happened! Something happened! The Imperial Guards mutinied, and now there is a fierce fight in the West Garden. I don't know what happened. The explosives that were originally prepared to break the wall went wrong, and now they have exploded... ... Both sides are fighting fiercely..."
He couldn't speak clearly anymore, his speech was incoherent.
But it still didn't stop Emperor Longqing from guessing what happened. He asked word by word with a gloomy face: "Armed fighting? Armed fighting among the imperial guards?" (To be continued)