After Lord Sun took the order and left, the emperor looked at Eunuch Lu.
"You have been with me the longest. Do you know what I am thinking?"
Eunuch Lu said, "I dare not speculate on the emperor's intentions."
"Go ahead and speak. I allow you to speak." The emperor pulled his cloak tighter and leaned slightly towards the dragon-carved column next to him.
Eunuch Lu pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty wants to use the same fate Gu to deal with the prince?"
"It's not hard to guess what I'm thinking. You can guess it, and so can Old Seven. Where do you think he'll hide Old Eight?"
Eunuch Lu's heart trembled, "This... I really can't guess it."
"It's hard to guess," the emperor said leisurely with a hint of comfort, "but there must be someone around him who knows. Who do you think knows?"
"This... I don't know either." Beads of sweat oozed out of Eunuch Lu's forehead. It was still a little chilly in this spring day, but he felt very uneasy.
The emperor's lips curled up, "Don't you know? The people who have close contacts with the Regent and can make him trust them are none other than those few people. After Su Qing left the capital, there are only Xiao Tuo, Ni Rong and Xiao Xiao. Xiao Xiao will not do these things, so it's only Ni Rong and Xiao Tuo."
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty's analysis makes sense." Eunuch Lu's heart was trembling more and more.
"Well, go and try to move around and see if you can pry something out of Xiao Tuo's mouth."
Eunuch Lu knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I understand your thoughts, but didn't you ask you to cooperate with the Regent's administration? At this critical moment, I am afraid of offending the princess. Your condition..."
The emperor laughed and glanced at Eunuch Lu. "Why are you so nervous? I just asked you to go and ask around. I have something in my hands. Isn't it better than nothing?"
Eunuch Lu said with a stiff upper lip: "But the emperor doesn't really appreciate the policies presented by the prince..."
"You've seen it, too, haven't you?" the Emperor interrupted.
"I have heard you say this several times."
"how do you feel?"
Eunuch Lu hesitated for a moment and said, "I think it's okay."
The emperor sneered, "It's not okay, it's very good, much better than what I thought."
"If that's the case," Eunuch Lu looked up in confusion, "Why does the emperor still doubt the regent? Hasn't he decided to return power to you?"
The emperor looked past him and quietly looked at a pear tree behind him. "I remember what my father once said. He said that the seventh son is really a good person in governing the country and the best choice for the emperor. When I heard this at that time, I felt relieved because no matter how capable he is, he will only be my subject."
Eunuch Lu said anxiously: "Your Majesty, everything is still the same as before."
The emperor retracted his gaze and shook his head slowly, "It's different now. He is right. I have changed. I can no longer keep such a strong opponent, even if he is not my opponent."
Eunuch Lu was unwilling to give up and continued, "Your Majesty, the prince said he wanted to go to the South Country, why don't you help him?"
"Among my princes, who can be comparable to the regent?" the emperor asked him.
"this… "
"No," the emperor shook his head again, his face full of sadness, "The deposed crown prince is immoral and incompetent, the King of Liang is not interested in government affairs, and the other princes, except for the crown prince who has some prospects now, there is no more. But the crown prince was promoted by Murong Jie, and he is also sentimental, so how can he be a match for the regent? Even if my body recovers, I am afraid that I will not be able to hold on for many years due to the long-term medication and the backlash of the poison. Can I watch the country being taken away by him?"
"Your Majesty," Eunuch Lu cried out sadly, "If he doesn't take it now, he won't take it in the future."
"No, no," the emperor waved his hands, looking tired. "The time has not come yet, the time has not come yet. Once the time comes, his mind will change. Especially, when he has a son and sees his son getting smarter and smarter, a father will want to give him the best things in the world. I had such thoughts when I became a father for the first time. It's a pity that Axin was hurt at the time. Alas, Axin would rather believe him than me..."
The wind swept across the ground in the imperial garden. There were few fallen leaves in the spring, and the wind hardly raised any dust.
Zi'an's belly was getting bigger day by day, but it was never as big as Liuliu's. Liuliu began to have difficulty moving. The doctors said that she might be a high-birth mother like her mother.
Xiao Tuo was under a lot of pressure, and Zi'an was also under a lot of pressure because the nanny still insisted that she was pregnant with twins.
March, Qingming Festival.
It started to drizzle a few days ago. This spring day is humid, wet from the outside to the inside. Zi'an began to feel uneasy because of the many worries during pregnancy.
During the Qingming Festival, Murong Jie paid homage to his ancestors and then handed the sacrificial ceremony back to the emperor.
His condition is much better now. Zi'an believes that after another month or two of treatment, he will probably be fully recovered.
Compared to the emperor's rapid progress, Sun Fang'er's progress is really slow. Although she had started soaking in medicine last month, her toxins were excreted very slowly and the side effects were also great. She fainted several times. Liang Hanwen believed that she was under too much psychological pressure, so the treatment should be slowed down.
Although Zi'an was anxious, she did not show it. She knew that Sun Fang'er had really tried her best.
After the sacrifice, Lingli came back with Su Qing.
The two did not know what had happened in Cizhou, but the Ministry of Personnel informed Murong Jie that the prefect of Cizhou had died of an acute illness, and his wife was also infected and died. The Ministry of Personnel gave Murong Jie the list of new prefects for review, and Murong Jie asked the Ministry of Personnel to conduct their own investigation.
The rain stopped on the day Lingli came back. When she saw Zian's belly, her eyes widened in surprise, "It's so big now?"
"You will be gone for three months." Nanny said with a smile, "If you come back later, the princess will be giving birth."
"Is everything going well when I'm not around?" Lingli asked.
Zi'an smiled slightly, "Very good, you have arranged everything, what can go wrong?"
She nodded, motioning the nanny to go out, then took Lingli's hand and asked, "Can you tell me what happened in Cizhou?"
Lingli sighed softly, "It's nothing, I just got back everything I lost."
"I know that the prefect and his wife of Cizhou are dead. I am asking about you and Su Qing." Zi'an said with a smile.
Lingli looked a little embarrassed. "Nothing. He said that people should keep their promises. Since I have an engagement with him, I should fulfill it."
"Oh!" Zi'an laughed, "What a trustworthy man."
"he is."
"I'm talking to you." Zi'an said jokingly.
Lingli turned around and said angrily, "Although I am not an upright person, I cannot let anyone use it to accuse me of not keeping my promise."
"Yes, our Miss Lingli is the most trustworthy one." Zi'an was really happy because before Lingli came back, King Liang also sent a letter saying that the Emperor of Daliang liked him very much and the marriage was about to be settled.
However, even though everything was going well, Zian began to feel uneasy.
(End of this chapter)