The empress walked out of the emperor's bedroom and said to the pale-faced eunuch Liu Qingsuo, "Your Majesty has taken the medicine and has fallen asleep again. Please, Eunuch Liu, take good care of Your Majesty."
Eunuch Liu used his sleeve to tuck the sweat off his forehead and said, "I obey your command."
They all knew that the emperor would never wake up again if he fell into such a deep sleep. When the doctors came to take his pulse at night, they would find that his organs were beginning to fail and that no medicine could cure him. He would continue to sleep in bed until his life was over.
The empress would anxiously invite her trusted ministers into the palace to discuss the matter, but the crown prince has been deposed, the heir has not yet been appointed, and the emperor has not left any edict. The Prince of Qi is now the eldest and the legitimate son, and has made great military achievements. In every aspect, he is the most suitable candidate for the throne.
The only remaining problem was that the King of Qi was unwilling to succeed to the throne, and he had two half-brothers who were not too far from adulthood.
The queen knew that the third son would come to her for help sooner or later, and the latter issue needed to be resolved urgently.
She walked down the steps and saw a familiar figure running towards her from afar. It was her trusted eunuch Wang Yuandao.
Eunuch Wang was always trustworthy in his work, so the Queen's brows relaxed slightly: "How is it?"
Wang Yuandao bowed, blinked his eyes quickly, and whispered: "Reporting to the queen, the sixth and seventh princes have contracted the plague in Chongwen Hall and are seriously ill. I'm afraid there is no way to save them..."
The queen nodded and said calmly: "The epidemic can be serious or not, it is better for the princes not to leave the Tenth Prince's Mansion recently."
Wang Yuandao hurriedly said, "I have ordered people to guard the Tenth Prince's House. No one is allowed to enter or leave without the Queen's order."
"Very good." The queen glanced at him approvingly.
According to the rules of the palace, only the legitimate prince and the sons of the four concubines are qualified to build a prince's palace. When the other princes grow up to be in their teens, the harem will move to the Ten Princes' Mansion near Penglai Palace. The eunuchs and palace maids in the mansion are all dispatched by the palace. It was originally intended as a precaution, but now it saves her a lot of trouble.
Except for the sixth and seventh princes, the rest were still young and posed no threat to her.
As for Huan Xuan...
Thinking of the unruly third son, a sinister look flashed in the queen's eyes. As long as she could find Xiao Ling's weakness, she was not afraid that he would not give in.
Originally, she was not sure that it would succeed, but when she met Xiao Ling outside the Greenhouse Palace that day, she knew that God was helping her.
She could tell at a glance that she had been poisoned. The initial symptoms and pulse of this poison were similar to those of a cold, but the poisoned person's eyes would be slightly bloodshot and there would be fine rashes on the neck - many people would not pay attention to it, thinking that it was drowsiness that caused the eyes to turn red and the rashes were caused by a cold and weakness, especially the fine rashes, which would disappear after a few days. Even the medical records of Shang Pharmacy did not record these two characteristics.
She is probably the only one alive who knows this secret. No one is more familiar with the symptoms caused by the poison than her, because she is the only one who can keenly notice the slightest changes in Ye'er. When he was seriously ill, she was the one who stayed by his bedside day and night, watching him weaken and wither bit by bit, and watching the vitality slip away from his body bit by bit.
The queen rubbed her forehead and turned to look at the emperor's bedroom. The red sun was about to set, and the blood-red setting sun coated the glazed tiles with a brilliant golden red.
The queen moved the snow-white giant clam beads in her hand and said in a low voice, "The time for evening class is almost here."
As she spoke, she walked towards the west side hall. Because she had been in the Greenhouse Hall recently to take care of her illness, the emperor ordered people to invite a golden Buddha from Baoguang Temple and decorate the west side hall into a Buddhist hall to save her from running back and forth for morning and evening classes.
The queen walked to the Buddhist hall, dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs, and closed the door.
She was the only one left in the hall filled with sandalwood smoke. The queen's knees finally gave way and she knelt before the Buddha statue, sobbing softly.
…
When Huan Xuan arrived at the Greenhouse Palace, it was the time when the Queen was doing her evening lessons.
The queen worshipped Buddha devoutly, and no one could disturb her morning and evening prayers.
However, Huan Xuan seemed to have completely forgotten this rule and walked straight towards the west side hall.
Wang Yuandao hurried forward and said, "Your Highness, the Queen is doing evening prayers. Please go to the Duo Palace to have a cup of tea first. After the Queen finishes her evening prayers, please go down to talk."
Huan Xuan didn't even look at him.
Wang Yuandao could only bite the bullet and stop him: "Your Highness, the Queen does not like to be disturbed during her evening classes..."
Huan Xuan paused.
Wang Yuandao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But Huan Xuan raised his eyelids and drew his sword from his waist without saying a word.
Eunuch Wang only heard a "clang" sound and saw a flash of cold light, and before he could come to his senses, the knife was already on his neck.
Huan Xuan said coldly: "I wonder if the Queen likes to have dog blood sprinkled in front of the Buddhist temple."
The cold blade was against his neck. The eyes of the King of Qi were colder than the blade. Eunuch Wang had never felt that death was so close to him. His face turned pale and he said in a trembling voice, "This old slave deserves to die. Your Highness, please forgive me..."
Huan Xuan snorted coldly and sheathed his sword.
Wang Yuandao staggered back two steps, his thighs trembling, and he lost his balance and fell to the ground.
Huan Xuan ignored the old eunuch who was an accomplice to the evil, walked to the front of the Buddhist hall in two steps, and pushed open the door with a "bang".
The hall is filled with the scent of sandalwood, and lotus lamps emit a faint light. The Buddha statue sits upright on a lotus platform, with its head slightly lowered, as if overlooking all living beings with compassionate eyes.
The queen was kneeling upright in front of the Buddha statue. She had wiped away all her tears and closed her eyes tightly with a solemn look. Only her slightly red and swollen eyelids showed signs of crying.
Hearing the noise, she did not turn back, but kept turning the rosary beads in her hand and reciting scriptures.
Huan Xuan walked forward and said calmly, "Your Majesty, you recite sutras all day long. Do you know that you have committed a grave sin?"
The queen paused, then opened her eyes: "I said you would come to find me, but I didn't expect you to come so soon."
Huan Xuan asked: "Why do you want to harm her?"
The queen finished reciting the last paragraph of the scripture, then slowly stood up and said: "This is not the place to talk, let's go to the hall."
Huan Xuan asked, "Since your majesty is capable of doing such a thing, are you afraid that the Buddha will hear it?"
The queen's eyes flashed with anger, but she immediately replaced it with kindness: "Who told you not to listen to advice? That's why I had to resort to this desperate measure. Although there has been a lot of estrangement between you and me over the years, you are my flesh and blood after all. I must think about you and make plans for you."
Huan Xuan asked, "Your Majesty, do you think that you can force me to surrender by killing Xiao Ling?"
The queen smoothed her hair and smiled tolerantly, as if it was just a child who was ignorant of the world and had accidentally contradicted her, and she didn't take it to heart at all.
"Why would I want to kill her?" She glanced at her son in reproach. "She is of a very special status. If I were to touch her easily and cause a rebellion in the three towns, wouldn't I become a criminal of Dayong?"
She paused and said, "Don't worry, this poison is not without a cure. She is not seriously poisoned, and her life will not be in danger within a few months after the onset of the poison. As long as she takes the antidote and takes good care of herself, the remaining poison in her body will be cleared out, and there will be no harm to her body. Mother just has to do something because of your unwise behavior..."
Huan Xuan looked at her doubtfully: "Does this really make sense?"
The Queen said, "Your father listened to quack doctors and delayed his treatment. Now his condition is serious and his time to wake up is getting shorter and shorter. Sixth and seventh sons have also been infected with the disease. No medicine can cure him..."
Huan Xuan's pupils shrank when he heard this. Although he was not close to his half brothers, they were blood relatives after all. If the Queen ordered the Emperor to prevent the throne from falling into someone else's hands, although it was cruel, it was still a reason. However, the Sixth and Seventh Princes were not yet adults, had not done anything, and had no foundation or power in the court. She was so impatient to take their lives that it could not even be called a guarantee.
Killing two bastards might have been like killing two lambs to her.
The queen gently moved the Buddhist beads with her spotless white fingers, without any guilt or remorse on her face: "The country cannot be without a king for a day."
Huan Xuan felt a chill all over his body: "Your Majesty, you are so smart, why don't you follow the example of Empress Dowager Zhaowen of the previous dynasty?"
The queen laughed and said, "Empress Dowager Zhaowen has no children, so she can only support her illegitimate son to ascend the throne and rule the country from behind the curtain. Why should my son, who is both civil and military, take over? Moreover, what happened to Empress Dowager Zhaowen after Emperor Ming took power?"
Huan Xuan asked, "The Queen is forcing me like this now. Aren't you afraid that I will follow the example of Emperor Ming after I ascend the throne?"
The Queen smiled and said, "This dynasty is different from the previous one. We rule the world with filial piety. You can't send me to guard the imperial mausoleum. Besides, I know what kind of person you are. You are not an ungrateful person. You have remembered your elder brother's kindness for so many years. I have no choice but to separate you and Xiao Ling. It is for your own good.
"When you have been in power for a few years and have experienced the feeling of being a well-respected official and admired by the people, you will understand the good intentions of my mother today."
She sighed softly, "When your uncle gave up the throne, your father was also quite nervous, fearing that he would not be able to handle the important task. He was young and was not the kind of person who would cling to the throne. You saw what happened later."
Huan Xuan asked: "The Queen wants me to become the second Majesty?"
The queen looked at him deeply and said, "You are my flesh and blood. No one knows better than me what I really want. Even if you blame me now, I can't watch you go astray. This is my responsibility as a mother. You were born in the royal family, so you have your own responsibilities."
When Huan Xuan heard her mention the word "responsibility", he thought it was ridiculous, so he smiled and said, "I've learned something from you."
The Queen said leisurely, "Of course, if you insist on having your own way and refuse to listen to my unpleasant but honest advice, allowing Xiao Ling to die of poison, causing the three towns to become enemies of the court, and abandoning the country and the people, I have no way to force you."
She looked at her son confidently: "But mother knows you won't."
She watched the light in her son's eyes gradually dim, and his look become grayer and grayer, and she felt an indescribable joy, as if she had drunk sweet wine.
As her eldest son disobeyed her for Xiao Ling, the queen felt that her life was falling apart like a handful of sand, which kept flowing through her fingers. The harder she tried to clench her fingers, the faster the sand flowed away.
Looking at the painful expression on Sanzi's face, she felt that the sand in her heart stopped flowing for the first time in many years and solidified again. Although it solidified into sharp stones that cut her palms and made them bloody, at least she was holding something again.
"You can think about it carefully," the queen said calmly, hanging the Buddhist beads back on her chest. "It's good to think carefully about such a big matter."
Huan Xuan's expression became more and more painful, and the queen watched quietly, as if she was watching a trapped beast struggling in a cage.
After a long while, Huan Xuan said, "Okay, I promise, give me the antidote."
The queen's face was full of relief: "Mother knows that you are a good child. Don't worry, Xiao Ling's life will not be in danger for a while. When you succeed to the throne smoothly, I will keep my promise and give you the antidote."
Huan Xuan asked, "Is the Queen afraid that I will go back on my word?"
The queen said kindly, "It's not that I don't trust you, I'm just worried that you might do something stupid."
She looked outside and said, "Go see your father."
Huan Xuan walked out of the Buddhist hall without saying a word and went towards the emperor's bedroom.
…
The emperor was weaker than expected, and after falling into a coma, he lasted less than three days before passing away without appointing a successor or leaving any oral edict.
The King of Qi, who had made great military achievements, became the undisputed emperor as the eldest son and succeeded to the throne in front of the coffin of the late emperor.