Work overtime

Chapter 691

The eunuch who came to deliver the decree had a big smile on his face and said, "Don't be in a hurry, young master, take your time."

Wei Changzai did not dare to take her time. She hurriedly changed her sweaty clothes, washed her face, and without even putting on makeup, she nervously followed the young eunuch in the sedan chair to the Qinzheng Hall.

Concubine Lan watched Wei Changzai leave with her eyes wide open. She was so angry that she threw her handkerchief and stomped her feet. She thought in her heart with dissatisfaction, I really don't know what's so good about a blockhead like Wei Changzai.

Changpinghou Mansion.

Prime Minister Meng called Chanjuan into the secret room alone and asked her about the news in the harem and the emperor's health.

The emperor has been behaving normally lately, he is full of energy and in a stable mood, but Prime Minister Meng always feels something is wrong.

A mysterious person found him and told him that his daughter Meng Zhao and the emperor were both poisoned by a kind of Gu. If Meng Zhao took medicine now, she could still save her life and the fetus in her belly. But there was only one bottle of medicine, and the person who was poisoned had to take the heart of a loved one as a guide for the medicine to work.

So he had to choose between being a good minister and a good father.

Naturally, he would not easily believe the mysterious man, but asked the mysterious man many questions, including the mysterious man's identity, what kind of poison it was, how long it would take for the symptoms to occur, whether he could fully recover to normal after taking the medicine, and so on.

The mysterious man told Prime Minister Meng that the emperor and his daughter were infected with the cold poison, the same poison that caused the queen mother's tragic death. The most important symptom is a very low body temperature and an abnormal fear of cold. As the disease worsens, the skin will turn darker and black lines will appear on the nails.

But he kept his identity a secret, saying that Meng Xiang would find out one day.

Finally, the mysterious man gave him the antidote with a sneer and did not ask for any reward.

This is very strange. There are not many free good things in this world, and most of them have a hidden price tag.

Prime Minister Meng remained expressionless, but his heart was filled with turmoil.

He had long suspected that the emperor did not use ice, and whether he had some hidden illness. Not using ice in summer was very painful, especially in the height of July.

He was able to get close to the emperor every few days and could observe that the emperor was indeed afraid of the cold.

The ministers gathered together, fanning themselves with their fans, sweating profusely, with beads of sweat dripping down their foreheads. However, the emperor remained calm and composed, without a single drop of sweat on his face. Some colleagues flattered him, saying that it was because the emperor had a high level of spiritual attainment, and his mind was naturally calm, unlike them, the common people.

He couldn't understand where the emperor, who beat his subjects with a stick all day long and was irritable and irritable, could be "calm".

The emperor's skin had indeed become darker. But he had carefully observed the emperor's nails and found no black lines as the mysterious man had mentioned.

Therefore, he was skeptical about what the mysterious man said.

After thinking carefully, Chanjuan found many doubts. She told Meng Xiang everything she knew.

Including Meng Zhao complaining that the emperor had to stay far away from her when sleeping at night. Occasionally, when she touched him, her body felt as cold as ice, and she had to cover herself with a thick quilt at night. When Meng Zhao touched the emperor, she would even shiver with cold.

Also, the emperor hasn't summoned his concubines to sleep with him for a long time.

After listening to Chanjuan's recollection, Meng Xiang grabbed her arm with a look of doubt, leaned over to look at her, and asked irritably, "Are you sure there is no lie in what you just said? Is the emperor's body temperature as cold as ice, not just a little cold?"

At this time, Meng Xiang's eyes were wide open, his thick eyebrows were furrowed, and he looked extremely fierce and ferocious.

Even someone as calm and experienced as Chanjuan was frightened by Meng Xiang.

"I dare not hide it. The young lady did tell me so."

Meng Xiang suddenly let go of Chan Juan's arm and said with a cold look, "Don't tell anyone what I asked you today. Get out."

Chanjuan staggered and almost fell to the ground.

"Yes." Chanjuan didn't know what had happened. She rubbed her arm that was pinched, tears on her face, and ran out in panic.

This appearance was seen by the little maid who was secretly monitoring Chanjuan outside, and she immediately ran back to report to Madam Meng.

After suppressing the rebellion two months ago, the emperor rewarded Meng Xiang according to his merits. In addition to conferring the title of nobility on him, he also gave him three beautiful young women aged fifteen or sixteen as concubines.

Although Prime Minister Meng had a concubine before, he loved his wife, Madam Meng, and respected her very much. Even if he went to his concubine's place to make love at night, he never stayed in the concubine's courtyard, but stayed with his wife.

Since the arrival of these three young women, Meng Xiang has completely changed.

At first, he said that if he didn't favor and treat these beauties well, the emperor would be suspicious of him and even punish him for disobeying the emperor's order. Later, he didn't even make an excuse and stayed in the concubines' rooms every night. All the concubines were too lazy to go and fell out of favor with him.

Now Meng Xiang's favorite concubine, Yao, has been pregnant for more than a month.

Madam Meng learned from the maid that Meng Xiang had fallen in love with Chanjuan and wanted to commit adultery in the study in broad daylight. She was extremely disappointed with Meng Xiang.

He was so angry that he fainted.

The little girl hurried to report to Prime Minister Meng. Prime Minister Meng was already furious and panicked. He thought that his wife was jealous of Yao again, so he threw all the tea sets on the table to the ground and kicked the little girl to the ground.

"Why don't you go and get a doctor? What's the point of telling me? I can't treat illnesses!"

After the little girl left, Meng Xiang punched the wall hard, breaking his finger bones and shaking with pain.

Combined with the emperor's recent series of policies, such as the nationwide call for prescriptions for treating cold poison and the nationwide manhunt for the murder of the descendants of the Baili tribe, Meng Xiang, who is so experienced and shrewd, figured out the identity of the mysterious man and the purpose of giving him medicine for free after a little thought.

It was he who had advocated to the late emperor the conquest and expansion of the southwest region. It was also he who had heard of the beauty and nobility of the priestess and asked his confidant General Tian Jin to bring her back to the capital and present her to the late emperor.

Therefore, the Baili people are taking revenge on the royal family and him, and they want to completely overthrow the Ming Dynasty and make the emperor and his subjects infamous for eternity. The mysterious man is actually forcing him to either kill the emperor, his grandson, or himself, and take the heart of one of them to save his daughter Meng Zhao.

Or watch her daughter die.

Let him also experience the pain of watching his loved one suffer and die, but being unable to do anything.

After Mrs. Meng woke up, she heard that Prime Minister Meng had never come to visit her and even scolded her personal maid. She felt heartbroken and burst into tears.

After driving her personal maid out of the room, Mrs. Meng was so distressed and desperate that she wanted to die.

But after she hung her belt on the beam, she hesitated. She thought of her beloved Zhao'er, who was still alone in the palace. She had not seen Zhao'er's child yet.

She sat dejectedly on the bed, in great pain. Living was painful, but she didn't have the courage to die.

The maid suddenly rushed in. She was outside thinking about it, worried about her wife, and worried that she would do something stupid. As a result, she saw this scene when she came in.

The maid was so scared that she knelt on the ground and begged the lady to take care of herself for the sake of the young lady and not let those vixens get away with it.

After Mrs. Meng hugged her personal maid and cried for a while, she calmed down.

When Chanjuan came out of the Marquis' room, her clothes were disheveled and her arm was injured, which showed that Chanjuan was unwilling to take shortcuts and devote herself to the Marquis. She was a loyal servant. Such a person would be much more reliable than those vixens when placed beside the Marquis.

Rather than letting those vixen who are as old as her daughter seduce the Marquis, it would be better to give Chanjuan to the Marquis as a concubine.

After figuring it out, Madam Meng called Chanjuan over and explained her purpose behind closed doors. Chanjuan's mind flashed with the Marquis's hideous face, and she was so frightened that she refused to do it, which made Madam Meng even more satisfied with Chanjuan.

In order to get Chan Juan to agree, Mrs. Meng had to tell her true intention. Chan Juan reluctantly agreed to the arrangement in order to repay her.

Neither of them knew that they had misunderstood each other.

That night, Prime Minister Meng did not go anywhere and stayed alone in his study. The concubines brought him soup and were all sent away. The gatekeeper only said that the Marquis would not see anyone tonight.

The next day, when Meng Xiang walked out of the room with a serious face, his hair and beard were almost completely white.

The two servants serving Meng Xiang were so shocked that their jaws almost dropped. They looked at each other, then turned to look at Meng Xiang, unable to believe their eyes.

"My Lord. You."

Meng Xiang waved his hand and said, "Go get the doctor."

"Yes. I'll go now." One of the servants immediately ran away. The other stayed beside Prime Minister Meng, "Prime Minister, I will help you wash and change your clothes."

"Give this letter to the young marquis and have him deliver it to the palace immediately and give it to His Majesty. Tell him that I have a sudden heart attack and feel that I don't have much time left, so I resign and return home to rest."

The servant held the letter in doubt and said, "My Lord, can I help you go back to your room and rest?"

Meng Xiang looked at the distant sky and waved his hand, "Go quickly."

The servant ran in a panic to find the eldest son Meng Qing. After running a few steps, he couldn't help but look back at Prime Minister Meng.

Meng Xiang was seen wearing a blue and white robe, with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky, looking cold and majestic.

The boy looked up at the sky and saw the sun slowly rising from the horizon. He couldn't understand what had happened that night.

No need to attend the morning court today.

When the servant found Meng Qing, Meng Qing had not yet climbed out of the concubine's bed. But after listening to the servant's retelling, he immediately hurriedly put on his clothes with the help of four people, without even putting on his shoes, and ran to the study to find his father.

When Meng Qing saw his father with a head full of silver hair, he opened his mouth in shock, staggered and almost sprained his ankle.

I asked anxiously, "Dad! What happened to you? Why did you turn white overnight?"

Meng Xiang raised his hand and coughed, signaling to stop Meng Qing's questioning. "Birth, aging, illness and death are the laws of heaven and earth. Go to the palace quickly and give the letter to the emperor. If the emperor wants to send an imperial physician, you should kowtow and thank him."

These words sound like instructions for final arrangements.

Meng Qing couldn't help but shouted in a trembling voice, "Dad"

Meng Xiang glared at his son with a solemn expression, "What are you standing there for? Go quickly!"

"My" Meng Qing's legs felt like they were filled with lead, and he couldn't even lift them. This happened too suddenly. For him, it was like the sky was falling.

Meng Xiang ordered again, "Go!"

His voice is powerful and magnetic, like the sound of a huge bell.

Meng Qing hesitated and wanted to say something, but saw his father turned back to the study. Meng Xiang always had the final say at home, so Meng Qing didn't dare to chase him into the study to ask what was going on. His eyes turned red, and he hurried to the palace in a panic.

When Mrs. Meng heard the news, she felt dizzy and fell into her chair.

She couldn't understand how, after having survived so many ups and downs, anything could make her husband, a man who could remain calm and composed even under pressure, turn gray overnight.

It is said that gray hair is caused by kidney deficiency.

Could it be that this happened because the Marquis has been indulging himself in excessive sexual activities in the past few months and his vital energy has been depleted?
It’s all the fault of those vixens!
The more Mrs. Meng thought about it, the angrier she became, and the more pain she felt. "Help me over there."