Concubine Kou knew that due to the intervention of some external factors, some things would inevitably change quietly. She was not familiar with this period of history. Because the time of Emperor Xuanren's death coincided with her birthday in her previous life, she only paid a little attention to it. She had no idea of other details. Therefore, she didn't know what had changed now.
However, no matter how other things are changed, it doesn’t matter, except Emperor Xuanren. How can he not die? He must die!
After waiting for so long, Prince Heng never came back, nor did she receive any news of Emperor Xuanren's death. Concubine Kou became so anxious that she had a miscarriage and was gasping for breath in pain. However, she had no intention of calling a doctor. She had occasionally had some minor problems during this period of time, but they would heal over time, so she didn't take them seriously.
After Concubine Kou sat down, she touched her belly and said, "Baby, you can't mess with your mother at this time."
Prince Heng came back very late, and Concubine Kou had been waiting for him.
Now is the critical moment, but this woman keeps asking him to come back and see him. Prince Heng is naturally annoyed, but considering that she has made so much money for him and is pregnant, he still goes to see her, but his expression is not very good.
In her previous life, when she was pregnant, if this man dared to look at her in a bad light, she would have kicked him out! Concubine Kou was also very angry, but now she could only endure it. Not only did she have to endure it, she also had to coax this man.
However, Concubine Kou placed herself in the right position and always knew what she wanted. Therefore, she quickly adjusted her mindset and was able to humble herself, showing weakness when necessary and being gentle and considerate. As a result, Prince Heng's expression was not so ugly anymore.
"What on earth do you want from me?"
Concubine Kou pondered for a moment and said, "Wen Renxuan is not in the imperial city. Now everyone probably knows who taught her medical skills. Doctor Lin has been in the palace for three days, and the emperor is suffering from an acute illness. If the treatment is effective, then there should be good news soon. There is no news so far, which can only mean that Doctor Lin is helpless against the emperor's illness.
We all know that Wen Renxuan's medical skills are very good, maybe she is better than her teacher, or maybe she is trying every possible way to stabilize the emperor's condition and waiting for Wen Renxuan to come back."
Prince Heng hadn't figured out what she was going to say yet, so he glanced at her and said, "After news of my father's illness spread, Fan Wuguo left the imperial city to pick him up." Anyone who paid a little attention would know this.
After learning about this, the princes were upset. They didn't expect that Fan Wuguo had gotten there first.
Concubine Kou subconsciously clenched her fists, then whispered, "Your Majesty, find a way to stop Wen Renxuan."
Prince Heng was a little slow to react to what Concubine Kou meant, and immediately flew into a rage, "Asshole!"
Concubine Kou grabbed his hand and said, "My Lord..."
Prince Heng looked at Concubine Kou coldly, "Do you know what you are saying?"
"Your Majesty, I know what I am talking about. Doesn't Your Majesty want to?"
Perhaps because his thoughts were exposed, Prince Heng's anger soared instantly, and he subconsciously wanted to push Concubine Kou away. Concubine Kou also expected this and held on tightly, her eyes were particularly determined.
Prince Heng looked somewhat embarrassed and averted his eyes. Everyone had considered the possibility that Emperor Xuanren might not survive this, but no one had thought of stopping the people who might be able to cure him. Being helpless and deliberately delaying treatment were two completely different concepts.
"My Lord, everything I think and do is for you."
King Heng sneered, "You are so rebellious, and you still dare to say it's for me? Do you know that my father has already agreed to establish a crown prince and asked all court officials to write a letter. Among all the brothers, who can compete with me?"
Concubine Kou thought, if this is true, then from the history she knows, why didn't the successor to the throne be Prince Heng? Of course, this cannot be said, "My Lord, even if you become the crown prince, when the emperor recovers, how long do you plan to sit on the position of crown prince, ten years, twenty years, or even longer?"
Prince Heng's face changed. After all, the crown prince is not the emperor. The difference is too big. To become the crown prince, he must set an example and guard against other brothers causing trouble. He must also be cautious at all times to avoid being attacked and disliked by the emperor. It would be fine for a short time, but if it lasts for a long time, just think about how it would feel, he would go crazy!
Before, because Emperor Xuanren had always been in good health, everyone thought that he could live for a long time. By that time, the youngest prince would have grown up, and the fight for the throne would have been even more brutal. Naturally, the older princes now did not want to see such a situation. However, facing Emperor Xuanren, none of them dared to harbor rebellious thoughts. Now was an opportunity.
“Your Highness, think about it, if Wen Renxuan comes back, and her medical skills are really that amazing, then, you…” He was just being suppressed and there was no point in struggling, “If she can’t come back, even if something unexpected happens, even if the throne is taken by someone else, with your ability, can’t you snatch it away?” In history, didn’t he snatch the throne from his brother
Prince Heng had to admit that his concubine was right. Facing his father, even if he had the guts to do it, he would not dare to directly seize the throne. But if it were his other brothers, he would naturally be fearless. Moreover, given the current situation, if his father died, he would have the greatest chance of winning. So no matter how you look at it, it's all...
"You are pregnant, so you should rest early and don't get tired. I will go back first."
"Farewell, Your Highness." If he wanted to leave, she would not try to keep him. There was no need to guess what this man would choose.
For Concubine Kou, she could tolerate it remaining the same as in history, where the throne took a turn and finally fell into the hands of Prince Heng, but she could not tolerate Emperor Xuanren being alive. His being alive was the biggest variable.
There was no way to do anything directly to Emperor Xuanren, so the only thing to do was to start with the doctors.
In this backward era, a doctor with good medical skills, especially a woman, is naturally very important to her. Therefore, she only stopped Wen Renxuan and delayed her return instead of killing her directly.
After Prince Heng left, he went directly to the outer courtyard, pondered it in his mind, and quickly made up his mind. This time, he must be extremely cautious and careful. Otherwise, if he was discovered at all, his father could deal with him before he passed away. Fortunately, he secretly kept a group of people under his command, and even her grandfather didn't know about these people.
He called the people over and gave them the order, "…if there is any accident, kill them on the spot!"
Prince Heng also knew the importance of a good doctor, but if this person affected his great cause, then it would be nothing. This doctor, those in the Imperial Hospital might not be as good as her now, but it’s not that they can’t learn. The Wen family always has a lot of medical books.
After making the arrangements, Prince Heng went to bed. After all, tomorrow's events were extremely important. It would be best if he could legitimately become the crown prince and then inherit the throne. If he really wanted to compete with his brothers for the throne, his reputation would not be very good. However, if it really came to that, he would not hesitate at all. Compared with the throne, reputation was nothing.
However, will the emperor really give the throne to other brothers and refuse to give it to him
Prince Heng had his doubts. Among their brothers, the one who was most favored by their father was Prince Duan, but he was blind and posed no threat. The others, regardless of their age, were basically treated equally. Their power, to a certain extent, really depended on their mother's and wife's families. However, this was not an absolute factor in their father's decision on the heir. Therefore, Prince Heng thought he had the greatest chance of winning, but he was not completely sure.
I had something on my mind, so even when I went to bed, I was still groggy and couldn't sleep well.
There are naturally more than one or two people like King Heng. Many people tossed and turned tonight. As for whether these people also do not want Xiaocao to return in time, it is unknown.
The next day, all the memorials were collected and arranged in piles in the cabinet. Without looking through them, one could tell which prince was the "popular choice" by looking at the height of the pile.
The final result was not unexpected for Prince Heng, but his other brothers were not much different from him. Of course, this only looked at the number of memorials, not the weight of each memorial.
Of course, the most important ones are the ones that say “Please decide, Your Majesty”. More than half of the first and second rank civil and military leaders are in this group. Emperor Xuanren is young and strong, and most of these leaders follow him, at least on the surface. Even though Emperor Xuanren is critically ill now, they are not in a hurry to take sides. Now the situation is unclear, and they need to be more cautious.
Things were pretty much as expected, but after seeing these memorials, Emperor Xuanren was still in an unusually gloomy mood.
However, Emperor Xuanren didn't have the energy to get angry at the moment, so he asked people to take the memorials away, and then, nothing happened...
Without follow-up, the people below were naturally extremely anxious, like ants on a hot pot. After that, no matter who asked for an audience, it was useless. Even if it was a matter of the court, it would be handled by the cabinet first, and then handed over to Emperor Xuanren for the final decision. And every time, only one or two ministers went to see Emperor Xuanren, and they took turns. For the rest of them, asking for an audience? No way.
At this moment, many people also understood that the matter of establishing a crown prince was probably just a cover for Emperor Xuanren to find out who they supported. Although it was not completely accurate, in the mind of Emperor Xuanren, they might still be labeled as the princes of a certain prince. This would definitely not be a good thing, except for those who already had a clear position.
However, no one dared to mention the issue of appointing a crown prince at this time. This really pissed off Emperor Xuanren. Even if he was dying, it would be easy for him to deal with anyone.
On the surface, they were temporarily keeping quiet; however, privately, the princes were increasingly trying to win over people.
Prince Heng's face was particularly gloomy. In his opinion, he was determined to get the position of crown prince, but what happened in the end...
He no longer felt any regret for sending people to intercept Xiaocao.
In order to travel as fast as possible, Xiaocao and the others naturally took the official road as much as possible when possible. Therefore, the way back to the imperial city was basically fixed. Fan Wuguo learned her specific location from the Wenren Family, so there was naturally no possibility of missing her halfway. After successfully returning, they continued to rush to the imperial city day and night.
Since Fan Wuguo had not entered the palace, he naturally did not know the specific situation of Emperor Xuanren. However, it didn't matter whether he knew the situation or not. Now he just hoped that Emperor Xuanren could hold on.
Except for being tired, the journey was relatively smooth. However, when they were about a day away from the imperial city, a problem occurred. Fortunately, the dozens of people under Wei Tingyu were walking separately, and only a few followed Xiaocao. The rest were all "clearing obstacles" in front, and they discovered the situation almost at the first time.
Fan Wuguo and Wei Tingyu are true colleagues, so they are naturally very familiar with some signals. He usually likes to speak with his fists, but he has never been stupid. How could he not know what the appearance of so many people at this moment means
Fan Wuguo's eyes were filled with ferocity, "Protect my sister well, I will make sure they never come back!"
Fan Wuguo waved the whip again to speed up.
At the back, the grass was surrounded and strictly protected, but the speed did not slow down.
When Wei Tingyu asked Xiaocao to keep the medicine with him, Xiaocao had already guessed what might happen, but when it really came true, she couldn't help feeling a chill in her heart. Power is really so tempting that it can make people dehumanized and insane.
Fan Wuguo rode out on his horse, and seeing that a fight had already begun in front of him, he sneered, "What a bloody battle! A bunch of bastards!" He drew his saber and rushed forward. Little Overlord, even when facing a real fight, he was not afraid.
Considering the fact that Fan Wuguo brought people with him, the interceptors this time definitely had the advantage. Unexpectedly, there was such a group of people protecting Xiaocao. Each of them had strong combat power and were obviously not ordinary guards. This was beyond expectations. Not to mention intercepting, it was unknown whether they could go back alive. Now they could only give it a try and see if they could kill them.
When Xiaocao and the others appeared at the back, they naturally became the opponent's focus. They were so fierce that they looked like they were going to tear a hole in the opponent's sight and leave Xiaocao behind.
With a whoosh, an arrow flew from an unknown direction. The horse was running fast, and it was not easy to dodge. Moreover, if more than one person and one horse were at fault, serious consequences might occur. Therefore, not only the person with Xiaocao, but also the one who held Xiaocao tightly in his arms at the first time, "Madam, I'm sorry." The people next to him did not go forward or avoid, but directly blocked the arrow with their bodies.
Xiaocao's pupils shrank, and in a flash, another arrow flew out horizontally, accurately missing the target.
Xiaocao exhaled and was carried past by the whizzing wind. When he turned his head, he saw the fierce battle, the bodies lying motionless on the ground, and the little bully who was blood-thirsty and seemed like a completely different person.
The other party has hidden people, so naturally not all of their people will take action. They always need to be prepared for the worst.