Naturally, she could not meet Song Ruiyang in the bedroom. If she moved out, she would inevitably hear the sound of the whip hitting King Liang. Her heart ached, but she had to harden her heart.
"Song Ruiyang from Daliang greets the Queen Mother of Da Zhou!" Song Ruiyang stepped forward and bowed.
"Your Highness, there is no need to be polite. Please take a seat!" said the Queen with a smile, trying hard to ignore the noise coming from outside the door.
That rebellious son was too stubborn. He didn't even utter a sound when he was beaten with a stick.
Song Ruiyang looked outside the door and asked, "I wonder what big mistake Prince Liang has made?"
Judging from the situation just now, he has endured at least dozens of beatings but has not stopped yet. It is obvious that something must be wrong.
The queen smiled bitterly, "Not listening."
Song Ruiyang was a man of good taste, so he did not ask any more questions. He just told the envoy, "Come, present the gift I gave to the Queen."
When the Empress Dowager heard Da Jin say that the Queen was going to beat the King of Liang with a stick, she hurried over with her people.
However, when he arrived, the fifty boards had already been beaten, and King Liang finally fainted after the last few blows.
When the guards went in to report, the Empress Dowager arrived.
The Empress Dowager was heartbroken when she saw her precious grandson lying on the torture bench in the yard, bloody and mangled. She angrily said, "What are you all still standing there for? Hurry up and call the imperial physician to help him in!"
The Queen in the palace heard the Empress Dowager's voice and the eunuch's message, so she walked out.
When the Empress Dowager saw the Empress, she ignored Song Ruiyang's presence and started to scold him, "How can you be so cruel, mother? Is he still your son? How big a mistake did he make to deserve beating him to death? You even used a cane to beat him. You are trying to kill him. Hasn't he suffered enough in his life? You want him to suffer more, right? Do you want him to die from it?"
The queen frowned. What a bitch, this old woman has no sense of propriety at all. The prince and envoys of Daliang are here, and she scolds the queen in front of her. If others see this, wouldn't it be a joke
Seeing this, Song Ruiyang immediately stood up and said goodbye. The queen naturally did not want to keep him and forced a smile, "I was looking forward to talking to Your Highness and getting to know the customs and practices of Daliang. What a pity."
Song Ruiyang said: "There will be a chance next time. Bye now!" After that, he hurried away with the envoy.
After leaving the Jingning Palace, the envoy Gongsun Yan said thoughtfully: "The royal family of the Great Zhou is really interesting. With the incident involving the King of Liang, Your Highness should spend more time with the Crown Prince of the Great Zhou."
Song Ruiyang said coldly: "Shut your mouth!"
Gongsun Yan wanted to persuade him again, but Song Ruiyang said coldly: "Leave the palace and go to the princess's mansion. I don't know if the regent knows about this matter. Go and report it first. Don't really kill Prince Liang. It's a pity for this kid."
Gongsun Yan said: "The regent king is not the heir to the throne of the Great Zhou Dynasty. His power is temporary. I think Your Highness does not need to get too close to him. It will not help Your Highness."
Song Ruiyang looked at Gongsun Yan, and the alarm bells in his heart rang loudly, but he did not show it on his face. He just said calmly: "Let's go, don't say anything more."
After Song Ruiyang left, the Queen replied to the Queen Mother, "He is my own son. If he had not committed a heinous crime, I would not be willing to beat him like this."
"What did he do wrong?" The Queen Mother did not doubt that the Queen loved Prince Liang, but what crime had he committed that warranted beating him like this
The Queen said, "He brought Xiao Tuo into the East Palace yesterday, injured the Crown Prince, and almost killed him. The Crown Prince is still unable to get out of bed. The Grand Tutor has already sent someone to question him, and he wants to find out the murderer."
The Queen Mother was shocked and then asked, "Why did he hit the prince?"
The queen was stunned for a moment, but didn't ask, "This... maybe someone instigated it? They have always had a good relationship with each other."
"Good relationship? Perhaps only the Queen thinks so," the Queen Mother sneered, "You didn't even ask why he hit someone, and you used such a severe punishment on him. You are really a competent mother."
"No matter what the reason is, he is his own brother. He shouldn't use such cruel means on him," said the queen.
The Queen Mother saw that Prince Liang was already dying, and she was heartbroken. She didn't want to argue with the Queen, so she ordered people to carry Prince Liang in first. However, Prince Liang woke up and said in a daze: "Grandma, I want to go home. I don't want to stay here."
The word "Grandma" made the Empress Dowager feel like needles piercing her heart, and she said that she didn't want to stay in Jingning Palace, which showed how aggrieved she was.
"Okay, go home and meet grandma in the palace." The Queen Mother comforted him and ordered people to carry Prince Liang to Shou'an Palace. Then she raised her head and looked at the Queen with eyes as sharp as knives. "He has been beaten and suffered this punishment. You should also go and find out why he was so cruel to his own brother."
The Queen continued to argue, "Although the prince is naughty, he is not the kind of person who doesn't know his limits. It must be that Xin'er was instigated by someone..."
The Empress Dowager cut her off with a scolding, "That's enough. If you are not ashamed of saying it, then the people who are listening will also be ashamed. If you don't investigate, I will order someone to investigate."
After saying this, he waved his hand and ordered people to send King Liang away.
The queen sighed deeply, feeling indescribable sorrow and fear. Looking at the blood on the torture bench, she felt a pang of pain in her heart. What could she do? As a mother, she just tried every possible way to prevent the brothers from fighting.
Everything has been going on peacefully until now. Someone must have instigated this.
Thinking of this, she ordered: "Investigate immediately to see if there is any personal grudge between Prince Liang and the Crown Prince."
The guard stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, I know a little about what happened. I heard it from General Xiao's guards. The Crown Prince ordered someone to take away Prince Liang's sweetheart, Miss Yi'er, and took her to the Imperial Temple outside the city. She was also raped. Regent Princess Xia Zi'an took people to the Imperial Temple, rescued Miss Yi'er, and informed Prince Liang. When Prince Liang learned about this, he went to the palace to find the Crown Prince. This is roughly what happened."
"Yier? Is that the commoner girl?" The Queen was furious. "For a girl, he was so cruel to his own brother? It shows that I did not blame him wrongly. And Xia Zian, she is hoping for chaos in the world. This kind of woman has a vicious heart. The Queen should not have made the decision to let her marry Murong Jie, encouraging her arrogance and harming the Prime Minister's family. And, Regent Murong Jie, he can't distinguish between good and bad, and he forgot his identity as Regent when he was persuaded by his wife. It shows that he is not a man who can accomplish great things."
Although the queen was not extremely cautious in her actions, at least she was rarely caught in the act, and her words were usually flawless. However, the curse she uttered today was intentional, which showed that she was extremely angry.
"Your Majesty, there may be something else going on with the incident at the Imperial Temple. I heard that Concubine Yi was also present that day. Why don't you ask Concubine Yi to come and get to the bottom of it?" Hongyue said.
"Is Concubine Yi also present?" The Queen suddenly remembered that two days ago, Concubine Yi came to ask for permission to go to the Imperial Temple to pray for Murong Zhuangzhuang. She was supposed to be away for seven days, but she suddenly came back. It seemed that she knew what had happened, but Concubine Yi knew it but did not come to report it, fearing that there was really something behind it.
Thinking of this, she said, "Please invite Concubine Yi!"
(End of this chapter)