The next day, the Night King conducted a massive search of the palace under the pretext of eliminating assassins.
But the old lady came to Xiwei Palace on this day specifically to ask for an audience with the emperor. Her excuse was that her wound was a little red and festering, and she wanted to see Zi'an. Since she came to Xiwei Palace, she naturally had to ask for an audience with the emperor.
When the emperor saw the old lady coming, he invited her into the palace.
The emperor has relied on Lady Chen since he was still the crown prince. At that time, the Chen family was unrivaled, prominent and brave. Whenever Lady Chen stood in the court, she was a barrier to block foreign invasion. Even now, she is still a legend on the battlefield, making the barbarians and small countries tremble in fear.
In the early days of the emperor's accession to the throne, the old lady was already in semi-retirement. However, her words in the court, "The Chen family has been willing to serve the Great Zhou for generations," pushed the emperor's prestige to the highest level. The Chen family's oath of allegiance consolidated the emperor's position.
The most important thing is that the Chen family is different from the Xiao family. The Xiao family has military power and extensive influence. Although the marquis is humble, he always gives people the impression that he is too powerful to be a threat to the ruler, because most of the descendants of the Xiao family hold important positions in the court.
But the Chen family is not like that. The old lady of the Chen family said to withdraw and she would withdraw. Except for the twelve generals now, the descendants of the Chen family did not interfere in the affairs of the court. Even these twelve generals did not seek high positions and generous salaries, and did not have too much contact with the court officials. When there was something going on in the court, the old lady gave an order and the twelve generals could serve the court. When there was nothing going on in the court, these twelve generals would not even go to the military camp. Who would have the heart to say anything about their low-key appearance
Ever since the assassin injured Lady Chen, the emperor has been thinking about this matter. Now that the old lady has come in person, he naturally has to meet her.
Zi'an took the blame for the emperor and invited the old lady in.
Bao Gonggong went out personally to invite the old lady into the hall. When the old lady entered the hall, she did not look around. She looked at the emperor on the bed. She was stunned for a moment, then sighed quietly, walked over and saluted, "Your Majesty, this old minister is here."
The emperor sat up with the help of Bao Gonggong and raised a smile on his face, but it seemed that he was unable to pull off the fake face and said stiffly, "I am here, please sit down!"
The old lady sat down and looked at the emperor. She knew that the emperor was wearing a fake face, but she could only pretend not to know. She said, "The emperor looks fine. You should pay more attention to rest and take care of your health."
"You are so thoughtful, Madam. I am fine." The emperor looked at the bandage on her arm. "Is Madam seriously injured?"
The old lady shook her head, "It's not serious. I just didn't pay attention when cleaning the wound last night. It turned red after being stained with raw water. I heard that the princess was here, so I came here. First, I want to pay my respects to the emperor, and second, I want to ask the princess to take a look at me."
The emperor sighed, "Your Excellency is frightened."
"It's nothing, just seven assassins. If I were a few years younger, they would not be my opponent. But, I'm old, after all." The old lady laughed at herself.
"She is old but still strong. Didn't five of the seven assassins eventually die at her hands?" The emperor knew that the assassins did not die at her hands. He just thought that she forced them to commit suicide by biting poison.
The old lady waved her hands, "No, no, I dare not take credit for it. When the foreign assassins shot arrows, seven assassins rushed in to kill the noble concubine. The noble concubine was really lucky. Seven assassins rushed in, and there was no one in the palace to protect her. There was only one Sun Fang'er, but she was safe and sound. It was God's blessing."
The emperor was slightly surprised. "When the seven assassins entered, there were no guards in the palace?"
"No, the guards only came after the assassin was dead," said the old lady.
The emperor looked a little amused and subconsciously glanced at Eunuch Bao.
In this matter, Eunuch Bao came to report first, and then Night King came. Night King gave a general idea but did not say the details, because when Night King wanted to speak, he told Night King that he already knew the details, and Night King thought he knew it, so he did not elaborate.
However, Eunuch Bao did not say that when the assassin died, only the noble concubine and Sun Fang'er were present. He had always been suggesting that it was the old lady and the guards who forced the assassin to commit suicide.
"After the assassins rushed into the palace, did anyone shoot arrows?" asked the emperor.
"Yes, someone shot arrows, but the assassin did not show up. He fled without a trace after shooting the first batch of arrows. The imperial guards were unable to catch him. It is initially suspected that the assassin is still in the palace."
"Is it possible that the assassin is still in the palace?" The emperor subconsciously looked at Zi'an. Zi'an lowered his eyes and stood aside, with no expression on his face.
"After the assassin entered the palace, King Ye and King Liang immediately sealed off all the palace gates and mobilized the men of Su Yue Tower to defend the outer palace walls. No trace of the assassin was found, which means that the assassin is most likely in the palace, but we don't know where he is hiding. I heard that King Ye has ordered a massive search of the palace."
"Haven't we captured two assassins? Why not force the assassins to tell the truth?" asked the emperor.
"The identities of the two assassins are very suspicious. I went to check and found that the assassins' martial arts skills were very low, even not as good as a palace guard. These two people may not be assassins." said the old lady.
If someone else had said this, the emperor would not have believed a word of it. However, since these words came from the old lady's mouth, the emperor believed them.
He straightened his expression and said, "Taijun, please tell me what you think."
The old lady said, "Your Majesty, I was also injured by the assassin, and the assassination took place in Ci'an Palace, so I had to take it seriously. From the moment the assassin was captured to the moment he confessed, I had people watching him. I also personally went to see the assassin and checked the physical evidence. I found that although the assassin had poison in his mouth, it was not the same poison that the five assassins were poisoned with. It was the same poison that the assassins who assassinated Your Majesty at the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony had in their mouths. This means that the assassins at the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony and the two assassins were from the same school."
The old lady emphasized the word "death warriors". The emperor was a smart man and could understand the meaning of her words.
When Zi'an heard this, she knew that the old lady and the others were planning a counterattack, and she had to stay out of this counterattack because she was involved.
I don't know what to make.
The assassin sent that day was Prince Nan Huai's man. The emperor knew in his heart that he was definitely not sent by Xia Zian.
The old lady said that there were only the noble concubine and Sun Fang'er in the palace at that time, but five assassins died. How were two of them captured? With the help of the old lady and Sun Fang'er
He sighed softly, "Since I fell ill, my subordinates have started to play tricks. They think I can't survive this time, so they are looking for new masters."
When Bao Gonggong heard this, his face suddenly turned pale. He knelt down with a plop and said, "Your Majesty, I did not lie to you on purpose. It's just that Your Majesty is ill, and I just can't bear to see Your Majesty still worrying about these things."
The old lady was startled, "What's going on?"
The emperor sneered, "I only knew part of the story of the assassin entering the palace. Now that I have heard from Madam Tai, I know the whole truth."
Zi'an and the old lady were both quite surprised by this. They originally thought that the emperor had already known all the details. The old lady also said that it was impossible for the emperor to conclude that Zi'an was the instigator based solely on the assassin's confession, because there were so many suspicious points before, and the emperor could not just turn a blind eye.
It turned out that someone was deliberately concealing the truth.
(End of this chapter)