The assassin failed to return to the prison safely and died suddenly on the way with unknown cause.
Murong Jie seemed to have expected this, and said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter. Even if this kind of assassin doesn't die, nothing can be learned from him."
"I finally caught one, but I didn't expect he would still die." Zi'an said depressedly.
"How can it be so easy? You just overthrew Master Liang, and right away you can overthrow Old Eight? You are dreaming." Murong Jie sneered.
Zi'an smiled and shook his head, "Don't you want to?"
However, she naturally did not dare to say that it was her fault for injecting too hard and killing the assassin. She only wanted to take down the assassin because of the poison, not for him to fall into Murong Jie's hands.
Because she had no way of being sure whether the assassin would really betray King Nan Huai. If he did, King Nan Huai's fate would be predictable. His death was not a pity, but the fate Gu had not yet been removed.
She couldn't let Murong Jie die with Prince Nan Huai.
This time when he left the palace, the emperor's condition, which had just recovered, worsened again. Zi'an could only stay in Xiwei Palace temporarily, on the one hand to manage the palace's accounts, and on the other hand to provide treatment for the emperor.
The good news was brought into the palace by Xiao Tuo, who said that after receiving Zhuang Zhuang's medical fee, Hanshan informed Zhuang Zhuang that Xiao Xiao's condition was initially stable, but he could not go down the mountain yet.
Zi'an curiously asked how much money the old prince had received from Zhuangzhuang, and Xiao Tuo laughed, "One hundred taels."
"One hundred taels? Then why did your grandfather say he would spend all the family wealth?" Zi'an asked in surprise.
"Isn't it? I don't understand what my grandfather was thinking. The letter didn't say how much he wanted. He just asked for consultation fees and medicine. I said my grandfather was stupid, but he refused to admit it. He said that if a strange man like the old prince asked you for consultation fees, he would definitely not pay less." Xiao Tuo said with a sneer.
Zi'an also smiled, "The Marquis respects the old prince."
"Stupid is stupid!" Xiao Tuo sneered.
Zi'an looked at him, feeling speechless, "Xiao Tuo, do you know? No matter how stupid your grandfather is, he is not as stupid as you."
"This is slander!" Xiao Tuo argued with a red face.
"It's slander, you are very smart." Zi'an said sincerely.
Xiao Tuo looked at her, "This is irony, do you think I can't hear it?"
Zi'an smiled, "Okay, no more trouble. Did you just come to the palace to tell me about this?"
Xiao Tuo said: "No, I am now the commander of the Imperial Guards."
"Didn't you also command the Imperial Guards before?" Zi'an remembered that he seemed to have been in charge of the Imperial Guards.
"Now the emperor promoted me, before it was the prince who appointed me." Xiao Tuo said proudly.
Zi'an exclaimed, "You've made some progress!"
"Well, I'm busy. The situation within the Imperial Guards is quite chaotic right now, and I have to straighten it out." Xiao Tuo said and left.
Zi'an looked at his back. Xiao Tuo had grown up a lot. He remembered that when he first met him, he thought he was mature and steady. Later he found out that it was just on the outside. He was still very childish at heart. However, after going through so many things and getting married, he really matured a lot.
The end of the year is approaching amidst all the busyness.
The days were relatively peaceful. Everything went smoothly except that Prince Nan Huai said he would marry Sun Fang'er in February after the New Year and stay in Beijing to hold the wedding.
The emperor's condition was sometimes good and sometimes bad, but the empress dowager thought it was a miracle that he could survive the New Year.
There was a New Year holiday and the court would not resume until the eighth day of the first lunar month, so Murong Jie had a rare chance of free time.
This is Zi'an's first year in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and she takes it very seriously.
However, on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Concubine Sun died of a sudden illness. She had always been out of favor and had no use to the noble concubine, so her death was only a matter of time.
But Zian didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
Zi'an is the princess, so naturally she would be the one to handle Concubine Sun's funeral.
The death of Concubine Sun did not cause any trouble, but it delayed the marriage between Prince Nan Huai and Fang'er.
This means that King Nan Huai will have to stay in the capital for another hundred days.
It was already the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month when Concubine Sun's funeral was over. The funeral was done hastily because the Chinese New Year was coming soon and one couldn't bring bad luck in the new year.
The Empress Dowager's health had deteriorated a lot since the Crown Prince was deposed, and most of the affairs in the palace fell into the hands of Concubine Mei and Concubine Yi. Zi'an was only in charge of the accounts and didn't care about anything else.
Zi'an met Sun Fang'er once in the mansion. She looked depressed and did not show any joy of becoming a bride. When he saw her, she was walking hand in hand with Murong Jie. Murong Jie did not even look at her and just held her little hand. Sun Fang'er looked at him with resentment and jealousy, and Zi'an knew that she had never let go of Murong Jie.
What a strong rival in love, Zi'an sighed in his heart.
With such an outstanding man, you have to put up a hedgehog defense.
Fortunately, this gentleman was very cooperative and didn't look at other women easily. Zi'an was very relieved about this.
On the twenty-eighth day of the lunar year, Zi'an entered the palace as usual to treat the emperor.
In the past, the emperor would not talk much to Zi'an, but on this day, he was in a better mood and actually asked Zi'an to sit down and talk to him.
Zi'an thought that he was depressed because of his illness and wanted to talk to someone, so he put away his needle and sat down. "What does the emperor want to say?"
The red spots on the emperor's face had faded a lot. He stared at her for a long time without moving away. Zi'an thought that he had a red spot on his face, so he subconsciously touched it and asked, "Your Majesty?"
The emperor then retracted his gaze and smiled, "Nothing special, I just want to chat with you."
Zi'an felt that he was very strange today, especially the way he looked at her, which was indescribably weird.
Zi'an felt a sense of alarm in his heart, hoping that nothing bad would happen, otherwise he would not be able to survive this year.
After a moment, the emperor asked, "How is your mother?"
Zi'an was startled. How did this involve his mother? He remembered that he had heard that the emperor had longed for his mother in the past. Could it be that he still had feelings for her
But that's impossible. He has never attached importance to love between men and women.
Zi'an said cautiously, "Mother is now living a simple life, enjoying her days, she is doing very well, thank you for your regards, Your Majesty."
"After the divorce, has she ever thought about finding someone else to live with?" The emperor seemed not to understand Zi'an's avoidance and asked more deeply.
Zi'an's face became serious. "Well, mother said that life alone is good, and I don't want to look for another one."
The emperor smiled and said, "Your mother is a wonderful woman. I have never met a woman as beautiful as her in my life."
”
Zi'an forced a smile. "Your Majesty is overpraising me. Besides, sometimes beauty is just because of distance. When you are too close, all you see are flaws. In the past, Xia...didn't my father also think she was beautiful? But after they married her, her beauty became a stain."
"That's because he doesn't know how to cherish her." The emperor said seriously, "This is not your mother's fault. If it were another man, he wouldn't know how to treat your mother well."
Zi'an's heart skipped a beat. Could this other man be referring to himself
But please don't do that. It's rare that mother and Prince An have broken the deadlock and there is hope that they will finally have a happy ending. The emperor must not interfere.
"Your Majesty, by the way, Concubine Mei said before that she would come to see you. She has been thinking about you ever since you fell ill. How about you put on some facial mask and meet her?" Zi'an quickly changed the subject.
The emperor was somewhat uninterested. "No, no, I don't want to see them."
(End of this chapter)