The ministers begged me to ascend the throne

In the East Palace, the prince received the news that King Chu was dead and laughed in a good mood.

"Hahahahaha, good! Good! Good! It's really great! Finally dead!"

When Lu Cong heard that King Chu's big worry was finally dead, he felt happy for the Crown Prince.

"Your Highness, this servant said that His Highness the King of Wei will definitely try his best to get rid of the King of Chu." His Highness the King of Wei is still capable.

The prince shook his head and said, "This time it was not the eighth brother who got rid of the King of Chu, but the people from Jinling who made the contribution."

"Isn't it His Highness the King of Wei?"

"The eighth brother did not take any credit. He wrote that it was Li Jue and the others who sent people to get rid of the King of Chu, and asked me to reward them generously." The prince said with a smile on his face, "Li Jue and the others have made such a great contribution this time. We must reward them well." It was not in vain that he kept using Li Jue and the others, and this time they finally helped him solve the big problem of Lao Si.

"This servant thought it was His Royal Highness the King of Wei and not the King of Chu."

"Eighth brother was seriously injured and was in Pengcheng again. He did not return to Jinling to get rid of King Chu." The prince thought of the letter saying that King Wei was seriously injured. His eyebrows wrinkled slightly, and a worried look appeared on his face. "Although it is not the eighth brother. My younger brother personally killed the King of Chu, but Li Jue and the others were able to kill the King of Chu, thanks to their eighth brother who seriously injured the King of Chu in Pengcheng."

"Your Highness, Your Highness the King of Wei asked you to reward Li Jue and the others heavily because he also wanted you to appease Li Jue and the others. After all, King Jing and the Song family have been dealing with them."

"I know this is what my eighth brother is thinking." After saying this, a smile of relief appeared on the prince's face. "My eighth brother always considers me, thinks carefully about everything for me, and never causes me any trouble. This time I was deeply touched. The serious injury was also hidden from me, and I asked the Pengcheng Prefect not to tell me."

Lu Cong echoed: "His Royal Highness the King of Wei has always been attentive and considerate, and he has always been grateful to you."

"Yes, the eighth brother is considerate of me, but the seventh brother is." When he mentioned King Jing, the prince's face immediately darkened, and his eyes were full of resentment and viciousness, "He is the younger brother who is closest to Gu by blood, but he If you want to replace Gu as the crown prince, you will oppose Gu in everything."

"Your Highness, the Empress and Prince Jing are both white-eyed wolves. If the former Empress hadn't asked the Emperor to marry her as his successor before her death, the Emperor would not have been able to marry her." Compared with the Dai Wang, the Empress and Prince Jing are more attractive. Hateful, "If it weren't for the late Queen, where would their mother and son be today? Also, Your Highness, you were so kind to them, mother and son, but they stabbed you in the back. It's really abominable."

Thinking of Queen Xie, the prince's eyes were filled with evil spirits, and his expression became distorted.

"The queen mother should not have allowed the father to marry her back then. If the queen mother knew that her good sister was treating the orphan like this now, she would definitely regret it."

While they were talking, a young eunuch came in and reported to the prince respectfully: "Your Highness, the Queen is ill."

When the prince heard this, he raised the corners of his mouth and smiled meaningfully: "I'm well."

Lu Cong said very cleverly: "Your Highness, the Queen is ill. As a junior, you should send someone to check on her."

The prince understood what Lu Cong meant and said to him: "Go and have a look for me." After saying that, he glanced at Lu Cong, who immediately understood.

"The slave is going here."

Lu Cong rushed to Zhaoyang Palace and happened to meet the imperial physician who had just walked out of Zhaoyang Palace. He grabbed the imperial physician and asked, "Imperial physician, how is the Queen? Is it serious?"

The imperial doctor said to Lu Cong in a polite tone: "Don't worry, Eunuch Lu, the queen just feels cold occasionally, it's nothing serious. She will be fine after a few days of rest."

After hearing this, Lu Cong said with a relieved look on his face: "That's good, I'll thank you, the doctor."

"You're welcome, Eunuch Lu." After saying this, the imperial doctor left Zhaoyang Palace.

Naturally, Lu Cong did not see Queen Xie, but met Jiang Chuan, the maid beside Queen Xie.

Jiang Chuan told Lu Cong that there was nothing serious about Queen Xie and that the Crown Prince should not worry.

Back in the East Palace, Lu Cong told the prince exactly what the imperial doctor said.

The prince sneered: "This is just the beginning." His uncle would never let Queen Xie simply suffer from cold syndrome.He would make Queen Xie's condition gradually worsen until she finally became ill, unable to get out of bed or do anything.When King Jing dies, Queen Xie will die too. "Send some tonics over there."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Lu Cong took some tonics and sent them to Zhaoyang Palace. Whether Queen Xie took them or not was not his concern.

When the concubines in the harem learned that Queen Xie was ill, they naturally wanted to visit her.Concubine Ying, Concubine Rong, Concubine Shu and Concubine De did not come to Zhaoyang Palace in person, but sent their maids over.The other concubines came in person.

When Jiang Chuan saw that Concubine Ying and Concubine Shu were not here, he felt very angry and dissatisfied.

As the highest-ranking concubine among the concubines who came, Concubine Li naturally took the lead in asking about Empress Xie's condition.

Jiang Chuan said that the queen's condition was not serious and that the empresses were not bothered, and then asked the empresses to leave.

Just as Concubine Li was about to leave, she was stopped by Jiang Chuan.

Concubine Liang and the others looked back at Concubine Li, and then walked away.

Jiang Chuan led Concubine Li into Queen Xie's bedroom. Queen Xie was sitting on the bed, her face looking pretty good.

Concubine Li hurriedly saluted Queen Xie and asked her about Queen Xie's health.

Queen Xie said that there was nothing wrong with her health and she could just rest for two days.

Concubine Li knew that Queen Xie had asked her to come in, and she must have something to tell her.

"The Queen, do you have something to tell me?" With the Queen's temperament, she would never see her alone unless she had something to do with her.

Queen Xie smiled slightly: "It's not that I have anything to tell you, but I have something to tell you."

Concubine Li was frightened when she heard this, but she didn't show it on her face.Her expression became more respectful: "Please express it clearly, Queen."

Empress Xie likes concubines like Concubine Li the most, who are calm and well-behaved and never show off or domineering.

"I have received news from King Jing that something happened to King Chu in Jinling."

When Concubine Li heard this, her expression immediately changed.She asked anxiously and uneasily: "What happened to King Chu?"

Queen Xie said: "The King of Chu was assassinated by the prince's men and died on the Jinling River."

With a bang, Concubine Li stood up suddenly, and the stool under her fell to the ground.

"Queen, your words..."

Queen Xie knew what Concubine Li wanted to say, and said to her in a firm tone: "I did not lie to you. The prince's people were chasing King Chu two days ago..." She told Li the story of King Chu's murder in detail. Concubine.

After Concubine Li heard this, she staggered and almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Qiu Sang reached out to support her in time.

"Ma'am, are you alright?"

"I..." Concubine Li's face turned pale, her eyes were full of horror and worry, and her body was trembling slightly. "King Chu is really..."

Queen Xie was very satisfied with Concubine Li's reaction. She continued to add insult to injury: "I heard that when King Chu fell into the Jinling River, the river turned red."

Concubine Li's eyes were red and her face was filled with tears.

"Queen, King Chu..." She wanted to say something, but she was too sad to say a complete sentence.

"King Jing said that he sent people to salvage King Chu's body but did not find it. He was afraid that King Chu's body was washed away by the river." Queen Xie sighed heavily, "The body of King Chu has not been found yet."

Concubine Li's vision went dark, she fell backwards and completely lost consciousness.

Jiang Chuan and the palace maid Qiu Sang beside her hurriedly supported her, and they both exclaimed in unison: "Your Majesty..."

Concubine Li fainted due to excessive grief and woke up less than half an hour later.After waking up, Queen Xie not only failed to comfort her properly, but also asked her to go to the emperor to find out.

After leaving Zhaoyang Palace, Concubine Li stumbled to the Imperial Study Room with a pale face.

In the imperial study, the emperor was reviewing memorials when Sun Kui walked in with his waist hunched over.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Li wishes to see you."

The emperor was holding a pen and writing something on the memorial. When he heard Sun Kui's words, the pen in his hand couldn't help but pause.He raised his eyes and looked at Sun Kui, slightly surprised and said: "Concubine Li?" Concubine Li rarely came to the imperial study to see him, especially at this time. She knew that he was the busiest at this time.

"Yes, Concubine Li's face is pale and she looks very sad. She is afraid something has happened."

The emperor frowned slightly and said, "Let her in."

Sun Kui led Concubine Li in, whose face was pale and bloodless, and looked sad.

The emperor waved to Sun Kui, then walked to Concubine Li, stretched out his hand to help her up.

Sun Kui walked to the door and stood at the door with his apprentice Sun Doudou.

"Master, what's wrong with Concubine Li? Does she look like the sky is falling?" In Sun Doudou's impression, Concubine Li had always looked dignified and decent, and had never lost her composure.This was the first time he had seen Concubine Li acting so rude.

Sun Kui shook his head gently and said, "I don't know."

Sun Doudou leaned close to Sun Kui's ear and said in a low voice: "Master, Concubine Li just came from Zhaoyang Palace."

When Sun Kui heard this, a look of astonishment appeared on his face: "Come from Zhaoyang Palace?"

"More than half an hour ago, all the ladies in the palace went to visit the Queen, and then the Queen left Concubine Li alone and talked for half an hour." Sun Doudou pursed his lips towards the imperial study, "Li The way the concubine looked just now, it’s probably because the queen concubine said something.”

Sun Kui suddenly thought of something and whispered: "It may be related to King Chu."

In the imperial study, I don’t know what the emperor and Concubine Li said.When Concubine Li came out of the royal study, she looked completely lost, as if she had suffered a huge blow.If it weren't for Qiu Sang's support, she might not even be able to walk.

Sun Kui and Sun Doudou: Concubine Li, what’s going on?
"Empress, do you need a servant to help you back to the palace?" Sun Doudou stepped forward and asked.

Concubine Li didn't react at all, as if she didn't hear anything.

Qiu Sang shook her head at Sun Doudou: "Thank you, little Eunuch Sun, I can help you back to the palace."

Sun Doudou did not follow and retreated to Sun Kui's side.

"Master, this..."

Sun Kui guessed that something big must have happened, otherwise Concubine Li would not be so grief-stricken. "Don't ask about anything." After saying that, he turned around and walked into the imperial study. He felt strange when he saw the emperor reviewing the memorials as before. His face was calm, as if nothing had happened.However, he didn't have the guts to ask.

Concubine Li cried silently all the way back to the palace, and many eunuchs and maids in the palace saw it.

After Jiang Chuan heard about it, he immediately reported it to Queen Xie.

After hearing this, Queen Xie smiled proudly: "The Li family will never let the prince go."

"If you offend the Li family, you will be equal to most of the scholars in the world. Now the prince and the others have something good to eat." After Qiu Sang finished speaking, he helped Queen Xie lie down, "Mother, you need to rest now."

"My head hurts a little, and I really need a good rest."

Queen Xie occasionally felt cold, but neither she nor the people around her took it seriously.

After Concubine Li returned to her palace, she put away the sad expression on her face, but her expression remained solemn.

Qiu Sang was very confused when she saw Concubine Li's expression changing so drastically.She hurriedly asked: "Your Majesty, what did the Emperor tell you? Did nothing happen to His Highness?"

"The emperor told me that King Chu did not go to Jinling. He also said that he sent King Chu to Pengcheng, not Jinling."

"The emperor means that His Highness did not go to Jinling, so His Highness is fine." Qiu Sang looked thankful, "It's really good."

"Things are not that simple." Concubine Li was a very smart person, and Empress Xie would not tell her about the assassination of King Chu without any reason.Presumably King Jing in Jinling really received the news of King Chu's trouble.But the emperor's reaction was strange. He didn't seem to know about it.Although Jinling is thousands of miles away from the capital, if something happens to King Chu, it is impossible that the emperor will not receive the news.

Before his son left, he told her not to believe whatever news she heard about him.Also, it's good news that he didn't send any news back.If someone tells him that something happened to him, let her take it seriously but don't actually believe it.

"Has King Chu sent any news back to Beijing?"

"No."

Concubine Li was worried, so she thought for a while and said, "Go and call Dou Le."

"Yes."

Soon, Qiu Sang brought Dou Le to see Concubine Li.

As soon as Concubine Li saw Dou Le, she asked him if he had received any news from King Chu today.

Dou Le told Concubine Li that he had not heard from King Chu since he left the capital.Today, like every other day, I didn't receive it.

Hearing what Dou Le said, Concubine Li felt relieved.

It seemed that my son had already expected what would happen today.

Seeing Concubine Li's expression changing, Qiu Sang felt a little uneasy and asked nervously: "My Lady, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." After Concubine Li finished speaking, she ordered Qiu Sang to take care of her.She wrote a letter asking Dou Le to leave the palace and give it to Li Pushe.

"Empress, is something really wrong with Your Highness?"

"should not."

"Then the Queen lied to you when she said that His Highness was killed in Jinling?"

"She didn't lie to me, but the person who was killed may not be the King of Chu." Concubine Li guessed in her heart that the King of Chu should have found the whereabouts of the stolen copper by now.The King of Chu let "himself" be assassinated in Jinling in order to paralyze the prince's people and make the prince and others really think that he was dead, so that he could return to the capital safely and smoothly.

Qiu Sang was confused by Concubine Li's words, "Concubine, I don't understand what you mean."

"From today on, we have to pretend that King Chu was assassinated and something went wrong, do you understand?"

"Understood." Although Qiu Sang didn't understand what happened, he was still good at acting.

Soon after, the entire palace knew that King Chu had been assassinated in Jinling and his whereabouts were unknown.It didn't take long for it to reach the ears of various ministers, and it immediately caused a storm.

In the palace of King Dai, after King Dai learned the news that King Chu had been assassinated and his whereabouts were unknown, he felt happy at first, and then felt a little regretful.

After Xuanpinghou learned the news, he hurriedly came to see King Dai.

"Your Highness, the death of the King of Chu is not a good thing for us." Marquis Xuanping did not want anything to happen to the King of Chu. He was still waiting for the King of Chu to bring back the evidence of the prince stealing copper to the capital.Now that something has happened to the King of Chu, then the matter of the prince and Duke Zhen stealing copper will not go unsolved.

"He is already dead, what else can we do." To King Dai, King Chu was also an inefficient lamp.The death of King Chu was not a bad thing for him.However, King Chu is dead now, which is indeed not the right time.However, the King of Chu was dead and there was nothing they could do.

Seeing that King Dai didn't care, Marquis Xuanping couldn't help but feel anxious.

"My good highness, the King of Chu must have found evidence that the prince stole copper. If he can return to Beijing safely, based on this matter, we will be able to hold on to the prince. Even if the emperor will not depose the prince for the time being, , but the reputation of the prince has been completely ruined. If we add more fire at that time, we will be able to remove the prince from power."

"Uncle, what's the use of talking about this now? The fourth child is already dead." Dai Wang said angrily, "Who would have thought that the fourth child is so useless."

"Your Highness, although King Chu is dead, we can still operate some things."

When King Dai heard what Marquis Xuanping said, his eyes lit up immediately and he hurriedly looked at his uncle.

"Uncle, what do you want to do?"

Marquis Xuanping stroked his beard and said with a smile, "We can cooperate with the Li family."

"Cooperate with the Li family?" Dai Wang didn't understand it at first, but he quickly came to his senses, "The fourth child is dead. The Li family will definitely not let it go and will definitely avenge the fourth child."

Marquis Xuanping nodded lightly and said, "Yes, we can work with the Li family to get rid of the prince and the Duke of Zhen."

"Is the Li family willing to cooperate with us?" Dai Wang was not optimistic. "The Li family has always looked down on me, a rude general. How can they cooperate with us?"

"Now and then, the Li family is definitely willing to cooperate with us at this time, because only by cooperating with us can we get rid of the prince and Duke Zhen." Marquis Xuanping was very confident.

King Dai felt that Marquis Xuanping was right and said with a smile: "Then we will cooperate with the Li family."

"I'll go talk to Li Pushe."

Dai Wang said: "I will ask my mother to talk to Concubine Li."

"Yes, let the noble concubine have a good chat with Concubine Li." Marquis Xuanping said with a smile, "The Li family has the support of most scholars in the world. If we cooperate with the Li family, the possibility of bringing down the prince and the Duke of Zhen will be very high."

King Dai stood up and saluted Marquis Xuanping solemnly: "Then I'll trouble my uncle."

Xuanpinghou hurriedly stood up and helped the acting king: "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will definitely persuade the Li family to cooperate with us."

After many ministers who supported the King of Chu learned about the assassination of the King of Chu, they hurriedly went to find Li Pushe.

Li Pushe had just received Concubine Li's letter and found out that nothing had happened to King Chu, and felt relieved.When he learned that many ministers came to see him, he immediately put on a heavy expression.

In the palace, Concubine Liang was shocked when she heard about this incident and hurriedly went to find Concubine Li.Not only her, but other concubines also went, even Concubine Rong also came to visit Concubine Li.

Qiu Sang told Liang Bi and the others that Concubine Li needed to rest because she was too sad.

After hearing this, Liang Concubine and the others did not stay to disturb her. They would come to visit Li Concubine again after she had rested.But Concubine Rong did not leave.

Back at Kunde Hall, Poppy and Pan Cairen asked, "Sister, has something really happened to King Chu?"

Liang Bi didn't know the situation in Jinling either.However, seeing that Concubine Li was so sad and fell ill, I guessed it was probably true.

"I'm afraid something really happened to King Chu."

The expressions of Poppy and Pan Cairen changed drastically, and there was an uneasy look on their faces.

"Sister, is Yao Yao okay?" Poppy thought of Zhao Yao first.

Liang Bin comforted Poppy and the others and said, "Yao Yao is fine."

"That's good." Although the Chu King's accident frightened Poppy and the others, they were not too sad.If something happens to Zhao Yao, they will be like Concubine Li. "How could something happen to King Chu?"

"This matter is not something we can discuss." Liang Bi didn't want anything to happen to King Chu.If King Chu really has three strengths and two weaknesses, Yaoyao may not be able to accept it.The most important thing is that things are going to change in the capital next.

Seeing Concubine Liang's serious expression, Poppy and Pan Cairen quickly shut their mouths, not daring to ask any more questions.

"Next, there will be unrest in the capital and the palace, so we must be cautious in our words and deeds."

Poppy and the others' hearts tightened, and then there was a look of fear and uneasiness on their faces.

Concubine Liang comforted Poppy and the others, and then they returned to their house with a little peace of mind.

After Yu Meiren and the others left, Guixing said happily: "Fortunately, Your Highness went to Yangzhou. If Your Highness stayed in Yangzhou, I'm afraid Your Highness would not be able to accept it based on your relationship with the King of Chu."

Concubine Liang frowned, her face a little stern: "If Yaoyao learns that something happened to King Chu, I'm afraid he will rush to Jinling immediately."

Zhao Yao, who was forcibly sent to Yangzhou by the King of Wei, naturally also heard about the assassination of the King of Chu and his whereabouts were unknown.

"Your Highness, Your Highness the King of Chu is really..." Tong Xi couldn't believe that something had really happened to the King of Chu.

"With Fourth Brother's ability, how could he let Li Jue and the others kill him?" Zhao Yao didn't believe that King Chu was assassinated. "I guess Fourth Brother has found the whereabouts of the copper that the Prince and the others stole."

Tong Xi was surprised: "Ah, is it fake?"

Zhao Yao nodded slightly: "The fourth brother arranged a scene to paralyze the prince and the others."

Tongxi breathed a long sigh of relief: "It's good that nothing happens to Your Highness King Chu."

"Pack up, we will go to Jinling immediately."

"Ah? Your Highness, we have just arrived in Yangzhou, why are we going to Jinling again?" Tongxi asked in surprise, "His Royal Highness the King of Wei will be very angry if he knows that you have gone to Jinling again."

"Something happened to the fourth brother. Wouldn't it be too weird for me as a younger brother to stay in Yangzhou and be indifferent?" Zhao Yao said with a smile, "I have to cooperate with the fourth brother and act out this scene well, so that the prince and the others will believe it. Fourth brother is really dead. Of course, I have to go back to Li Jue to settle the score." (End of Chapter)