Sun Fang'er dropped her hands helplessly. Thinking of what happened back then, she felt filled with hatred.
In the past, she could comfort herself by saying that he was a heartless person, but now seeing how deeply in love he was with Xia Zian, could she continue to deceive herself
The loose fist gradually clenched.
She said expressionlessly, "If I'm not mistaken, Murong Jie will go to the palace tomorrow morning. He will refuse to hand over Xia Zian on the grounds that he is detaining him for his own investigation. Please tell the noble concubine to go to the palace first and tell the empress dowager that the emperor's illness was first spread by Xia Zian's maid Xiaosun, and then spread to the wine shops and teahouses in Beijing. Also, it is said that I know how to treat ghost face sores."
"Will the imperial guard who leaked the information be tracked down?" Seeing that she had regained her previous composure, King Nan Huai nodded with satisfaction.
"No, he has died of a sudden illness. The truth poison that was given to him is highly toxic. Twelve hours after the news is revealed, he will have severe heart pain, creating the illusion of a sudden illness."
"That's good." Prince Nan Huai smiled coldly, "He wants to protect Xia Zian? I'm afraid it won't be easy."
The palace was indeed in chaos. Although the Empress Dowager had ordered that no one be allowed to discuss the matter, the fact that the Emperor had contracted the ghost face sore still caused panic among the people. Concubine Mei and Concubine Yi were trying their best to comfort the concubines.
The prince was under house arrest, so the tutor went into the palace to discuss countermeasures.
The Empress Dowager was furious, especially since Murong Jie refused to come to the palace after being summoned several times. She was even more convinced that he had something to hide.
"Empress Dowager, please calm down. Perhaps some important matter has been delayed in the palace. After this matter was spread out, all the officials were in panic. Perhaps the prince went to appease the officials." Eunuch Sun comforted.
"What are you trying to appease? Didn't you hear the news that he has been in the palace?"
"Yes, but he also said that he detained the princess, and the prince also took this matter very seriously."
The Empress Dowager said angrily, "I have said many times that no one is allowed to enter the Xiwei Palace, and I hope he can be cautious. Since the emperor fell ill, I have been walking on thin ice every day, fearing that someone in the Xiwei Palace would leak the secret, but I never thought that he would be the one in the end."
Eunuch Sun sighed. He really didn't expect that the news would be leaked at this critical juncture. The emperor's illness has been a taboo and a secret of the Great Zhou since the day it was diagnosed.
"How is the Emperor doing?" asked the Empress Dowager with a cold face.
Eunuch Sun said, "Eunuch Lu said that the emperor planned to cut off one arm and then paint his face with black powder to make it look like he was poisoned. No matter what, the emperor said that no one should see that the Murong family had the cursed disease ghost face sore."
The Queen Mother burst into tears immediately, distraught, "He's already in this state, and you still want to cut off his arm? It would be better to just kill him."
The emperor was her biological son. Ever since he was named the crown prince, she, as his mother, had been very strict with him, because she knew that he would be the one to inherit the great cause in the future and she could not tolerate any flaws in his character.
Under her iron fist, he really made progress, and even never had any thoughts of love in his heart. He devoted himself to state affairs.
After he fell ill, he did not immediately support his son to ascend the throne, but instead passed power to someone else. He did this without any selfish motives, only for the long-term benefit of the Great Zhou.
Now, if she had to cut off an arm to maintain the reputation of the royal family, she would rather kill him than let him suffer such pain before his death.
"Ajie is so confused, so confused!"
The Empress Dowager was filled with grief and indignation and went to Xiwei Palace to meet the Emperor in person.
The emperor became much more sober now. It was the effect of the medicine he was forced to take, and he was holding on temporarily.
"How do you feel?" The Queen Mother held back her tears and asked with concern while sitting beside the bed.
"Much better." The emperor turned his head, but he could not hide his fatigue.
"They said you wanted to cut off one of your arms, but I didn't agree," the Queen Mother cried.
The emperor said in a deep voice, "Mother, we must do this now. Also, summon Ajie to the palace and have him order the rumormonger Xia Zian to be beaten to death. If you can't control the officials, you can let them in and say that my arm was broken a long time ago. I have just discussed with the imperial physician that if the arm was burned with gunpowder after it was broken, you can cover up the wound and say that it was bitten off when I was training a tiger in the imperial zoo."
"What?" The Empress Dowager was stunned for a moment, "You want to beat Zi'an to death?"
"She leaked the secret, she deserves to die!" the emperor said coldly.
"But, she probably didn't mean it, so she can be punished severely..."
The emperor looked at the empress dowager, somewhat surprised that she would plead for Xia Zian. His voice became cold and said, "Mother, if it weren't for her, this wouldn't have turned into what it is today. If she doesn't die, it will be hard to stop the gossip. Therefore, she must die, and the charge must be spreading rumors."
The Queen Mother hesitated for a moment and said, "Why don't we summon your brother to the palace to ask for clarification? I don't think it was Zi'an who leaked it."
"No matter who it is, it's not the point." The emperor adjusted his sitting position and said in a deep voice: "Even if it's not her, she can only bear this crime because she is Xia Huaijun's daughter. It is reasonable for her to spread rumors to destroy the reputation of the royal family. The people and the civil and military officials will be convinced. I believe Ajie also knows this. Therefore, I think he will agree with my approach. The country is more important than women. Moreover, they have been married for a short time and have no feelings for each other. Sacrificing Xia Zian can maintain the reputation of the royal family and me. He knows how to weigh it."
The Queen Mother said, "But Zi'an has done favors for the people. If we kill her, I'm afraid it will backfire."
"Being kind to the people? What's going on?" The emperor was stunned and asked the empress dowager.
The Queen Mother said, "Didn't I tell you before that zombie disease appeared in the capital? It was Zi'an who found the prescription to cure zombie disease, and everyone in the capital knows about it."
The emperor frowned, "I know about this, but I can't say I'm doing her a favor. She is a citizen of the Great Zhou, and she is also the regent princess, and she is also a doctor. It is her job to cure diseases and save lives. If that's the case, then doctors in the folks have saved countless lives, and once they commit a crime, they can use the excuse of having saved people to evade punishment. Does the national law still have dignity?"
The Queen Mother sighed, "I am not saying that she must be pardoned. Punishment is necessary, but beating to death is too severe. After all, she is your brother's wife, and she has only been married for a short time. Moreover, the two of them have been through a lot of hardships."
When the emperor heard this, he said in a stern voice, "Mother, I really find it hard to believe that you would say such a thing. Do you remember how you taught me before I ascended the throne? You said that love between children would only confuse people's minds and make them make wrong judgments. Therefore, although I like Yuan Cuiyu, I don't get close to her, for fear that I would be constrained by my emotions and even watch her marry Xia Huaijun in the end. As for the matter with my aunt, do you think I really want to see her suffer? However, I would rather she suffer than let the Xiao family continue to grow. This is for the sake of the Great Zhou Dynasty."
The Empress Dowager looked at the anger on his face and her heart was trembling. Yes, she had taught the Emperor like this before. But at that time, he was the candidate for the throne that both the late Emperor and the Grand Empress Dowager were very optimistic about. Everyone praised him highly. She was afraid that with too many praises, he would become arrogant and even lose himself, and finally disappoint others.
Therefore, she acted as a good teacher and reminded him all the time to prevent him from making mistakes. However, she did not expect that she went too far and now, there is nothing else in his mind except the kingdom of Great Zhou.
In fact, she knew that the emperor had a good impression of Yuan Cuiyu, so she disliked Yuan Cuiyu.
(End of this chapter)