King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 728 The Queen falls ill

Seeing Sun Shaozu's expression change, the captain who was talking happily stopped immediately, then bowed and apologized: "I forgot the rules, please don't blame me!"

Sun Shaozu was in no mood to blame others, he just wanted to make things clear.

"You...tell me exactly what happened just now, don't leave out a single word!"

Seeing Sun Shaozu being so serious, the captain, although he didn't understand what was going on, still carefully replied, "Yes!"

Then he recounted the situation in detail.

Hearing the key point, Sun Shaozu asked in a deep voice: "You mean... that person heard the surname Meng scolding me, and then said that he wanted to go to the Censorate and report something?"

“Exactly…exactly!”

Sun Shaozu nodded. He was almost certain that Guo Xing behaved so abnormally because he heard his name.

He came to the capital today, and he probably didn't know that I had already taken office as the commander of the Five Cities Army, so when he heard the man named Meng scolding me, he was so frightened and abnormal... Sun Shaozu thought further.

Guo Xing's reaction proved a more serious problem, that is, this person had thought through what happened that year...Sun Shaozu became more and more frightened.

Back then, he sold out information and killed Governor Ning Huanxiang, which was a first-rate crime of treason, and his property would be confiscated and his family exterminated.

If his master Zhu Jinghong knew about this, he would immediately draw a clear line between him and want to get rid of him as soon as possible!
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozu broke out in a cold sweat, and his expression became more murderous.

This frightened the captain in front of him, and he carefully thought about what he had said wrong to make the commander so angry.

"Where is the beggar?"

"My Lord... He was taken away by Censor Meng, and I'm afraid he's in the Censorate now!"

"Go down!"

"Yes!"

The captain didn't dare to ask any more questions. He immediately retreated after hearing this, and even dared to breathe a sigh of relief only after he left the door.

Inside the house, Sun Shaozu had made up his mind to get rid of Guo Xing.

But the problem now is that Guo Xing has already gone to the Censorate. If the truth has been revealed by him, Sun Shaozu will also be in trouble.

Pacing back and forth, Sun Shaozu kept wiping the sweat off his face. At this moment, he was in a situation where he was doomed to die.

"There must be a way. I have to think about it. I have to think about it carefully..."

After walking back and forth for more than ten times, Sun Shaozu suddenly stopped, slapped his forehead and said, "I'm so stupid. This matter... can't I just muddy the water?"

Sitting back in his chair, Sun Shaozu poured himself a cup of tea and whispered, "I took the initiative and said that Guo Xing and I had an old grudge and he framed me to exonerate himself!"

"The one with the surname Meng is a disciple of the Rui Palace. If he really wants to meddle in other people's business, I can also say... that they are the two of them who conspired together and intended to use me to cause trouble for the Xiang Palace!"

"In this way, the grudge between Guo Xing and me becomes the grudge between the Rui Palace and the Xiang Palace!"

Thinking of this, Sun Shaozu's heart was pounding, because he was walking on a tightrope and if he was not careful he would be crushed to pieces.

However, even a situation where there is a high risk of death is always better than a situation where death is certain.

"No, no, no... I still think too little. If Guo Xing really tells the truth to Meng, the latter may not attack immediately!"

"First, he needs to do more research instead of just listening to Guo Xing's one-sided story. Second, this matter can indeed be used by the Rui Palace, and they can strike at the critical moment!"

It was at this time that Sun Shaozu realized that if this matter were to be exposed, it would really be a matter involving the two royal palaces and even the Eastern Palace.

In this way, Sun Shaozu felt more at ease.

If the incident wasn't about to happen, perhaps I could have made arrangements calmly to prevent it from happening...Sun Shaozu had a new idea.

The so-called calm arrangement actually means getting rid of Guo Xing, so that the matter will come to no avail, and the sooner this happens, the better.

"Who should I find to kill him?" Sun Shaozu was a little troubled.

There are many people who are willing to work for him, but there are only a few he can truly trust, so he has to rack his brains to think about it!

As for Guo Xing, he went to the Censorate with Meng Kuan and explained the situation directly.

He said that he was the commander of Ning Huanxiang's guards and that he did not betray his country and surrender to the enemy, but was defeated in a battle and then captured.

Guo Xing did not take the initiative to mention the matter of Sun Shaozu. He just wanted to clear himself of the charges rather than create unnecessary trouble.

As a city inspector, Meng Kuan had seen all kinds of strange things, but what he heard today still surprised him.

"Are you serious?" Meng Kuan looked doubtful.

"How dare I lie? My Lord, think about it. If I were really guilty, why would I come back to Beijing and follow you to the government office?"

"Isn't this just walking into a trap?"

After thinking about it carefully, Meng Kuan felt that there was some truth in it, but he did not believe Guo Xing directly.

He asked Guo Xing other questions, and then found an old acquaintance of his in the Beijing camp. After verifying Guo Xing's identity, he let him go home and wait for verification.

Seeing that the censor was willing to give him a chance, Guo Xing was so grateful that he immediately knelt down and kowtowed to express his gratitude.

"Thank you, sir, for clearing my name!"

"Forget it, if what you said is true, you are still a meritorious official of the court. If you are wrongly accused, it is also our fault for not doing enough to correct the mistake!"

When it comes to not involving party struggles or personal interests, these censors are still more ethical than other officials.

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"

After expressing his gratitude, Guo Xing rushed home accompanied by his former colleagues.

He hadn't been home for several years and missed his wife and children very much. At this moment, he wished he could grow wings and fly back.

Shortly after he returned home, Sun Shaozu changed into casual clothes and personally went to the Guo family to survey the terrain.

Since we are going to kill someone, we naturally have to ensure that everything goes smoothly, and surveying the terrain is a must.

As for the candidates, Sun Shaozu already had several candidates, all of whom were his old subordinates in the army, and he was ready to reward them generously.

After walking around twice, Sun Shaozu had a rough idea and then went back home.

Even though he had already decided on a few candidates in mind, Sun Shaozu still had to be extremely cautious when hiring someone to do such a life-threatening business.

The first step is to test the so-called candidates, and then express your intentions after confirming that they are suitable. This kind of thing will take at least two or three days.

Sun Shaozu's early analysis was that even if Guo Xing told the truth, Prince Rui's party would verify it before taking action, so he was not very anxious.

Three days passed in a blink of an eye, and it was the tenth day of the first lunar month.

A major incident occurred in the Heavenly Palace. When the emperor and the empress were entertaining all the concubines in Kunning Palace, the empress fainted due to exhaustion.

The originally harmonious and happy banquet had to end hastily. The emperor summoned several imperial doctors to treat the queen, but they only knew that the queen was weak, but there was no consensus on the cause of the disease.

Under the current medical conditions, it was impossible to determine the cause of the Queen's illness.

Therefore, these imperial doctors were at a loss as to how to cure the queen.

Before this, they had treated the queen before, but they only prescribed some tonic medicines and did not dare to treat her boldly.

In recent years, the Queen's symptoms appeared to be only slightly weaker than those of ordinary people, which made these imperial doctors believe that their medication was effective and at least maintained the Queen's condition.

But now, the queen suddenly fell ill and couldn't get up, which shocked these people.

"If you can't cure it, you'll all die!" Zhu Xianming shouted angrily. The panicked imperial doctors knelt on the ground, their bodies trembling like sieves. They were so frightened that they had lost their ability to think.

"Your Majesty, if you don't want me to be anxious, don't embarrass them!"

The queen suddenly woke up, and Zhu Xianming left behind several imperial doctors and quickly sat down in front of the queen's bed.

"Qingyin, don't worry...you will get better!" Zhu Xianming said with great concern.

"This is not a disease, it's my fate... Don't make things difficult for them, and don't... make things difficult for others!" Yang Qingyin said weakly.

"If it weren't for these quack doctors, if it weren't for those servants who didn't care, how could you..."

Before the emperor could finish his words, Yang Qingyin tried to stand up and pleaded, "Your Majesty, are you going to force me to death?"

"Just lie down, lie down...I won't kill them!" Zhu Xianming was extremely anxious.

At this point, Zhu Xianming turned around and shouted, "You idiots, get out of here!"

At this moment, several imperial doctors, who had just returned from a trip to the gates of hell, were frightened half to death. Upon hearing this, they immediately kowtowed and retreated.

"Your Majesty, don't embarrass anyone, blame me...

"you!"

"I hid my illness from them. It has nothing to do with them!"

"Why are you doing this?" Zhu Xianming looked anxious. He rarely lost his composure like this.

The truth is, Yang Qingyin had actively received treatment before, but it had basically no effect, and her health was getting worse day by day, so she no longer expected to recover.

But in order not to worry the emperor and not to embarrass the imperial doctors, she had to conceal her illness.

"I said, this is not a disease, it's fate!"

Yang Qingyin's face was pale, but she still managed a smile: "I killed so many people back then, maybe I should have died when I was hit by that arrow... I am alive today, and even Old Thirteen and Sheng'er have children. I have no regrets in this life!"

Zhu Xianming was furious: "I was the one who killed so many people back then, and that arrow was also shot at me. If God wants to punish me, it should be me... It has nothing to do with you!"

"Okay, stop talking about this..."

"Okay... okay... I won't say any more, I won't say any more!" Zhu Xianming replied quickly. A man in his fifties, he was as cautious as a child.

"In this life... I gave birth to your children, took care of your household affairs, and I... never asked you for anything!"

This is indeed true. Although Yang Qingyin had many arguments with the emperor in her life, she always considered issues from the perspective of the emperor's interests and advised him against his mistakes so that he would not make more mistakes.

Holding his wife's hand tightly, Zhu Xianming said anxiously: "Whatever you want, I will agree to it!"

"One... don't make things difficult for anyone because of me!"

Zhu Xianming was stunned for a moment, then nodded, although he was reluctant to agree.

"Two... now that spring has arrived, please let Thirteen come back. I'm afraid... I won't be able to see him anymore!"

When she said the last sentence, tears welled up in Yang Qingyin's eyes. She was really afraid that she would not be able to see her son for the last time.

Zhu Xianming's eyes were filled with tears. He turned his head away and blinked, then turned back and replied, "Okay... okay... I'll send someone to tell him to come back to Beijing immediately!"

"Anything else? Tell me...tell me everything, and I'll get someone to do it right away!"

Yang Qingyin smiled, then shook her head, and even reached out her hand to wipe her husband's eyes.

As an emperor on horseback, Zhu Xianming always presented a steely image to the outside world. He never shed tears, let alone let others see him crying.

But at this moment he had to admit that he was really scared and wanted to cry. He didn't want to lose his wife with whom he had spent his life.

Bending down so that the Queen's hand could reach his eyes, Zhu Xianming still smiled, just to prevent the Queen from worrying too much.

"Shiro, do you still remember... the first time we met?"

"Remember... remember!" Zhu Xianming's voice was a little choked up. He didn't expect that he would be so disappointing.

Yang Qingyin sighed: "Forty years!"

Zhu Xianming is fifty-six years old this year. The royal family chooses concubines and gets married at the age of sixteen, which means it has been exactly forty years.

When Zhu Xianming heard this number, his thoughts flew far away and the afternoon more than forty years ago emerged in his mind.

At this time, Yang Qingyin asked with a smile: "Why did you choose me then?"

At this time, outside Kunning Gate, Yuanchun, Chen Zhi and Baochai rushed over after hearing the news, accompanied by their sister-in-law Zhu Yunsheng.

As for the Crown Prince and Prince Rui, they had gone out of the city to offer sacrifices to the tomb on behalf of the Emperor. It would take some time for the news to get through, perhaps another hour.

The queen was critically ill, and other ladies of the royal family also rushed to the palace one after another, but they were all blocked outside the Kunning Gate.

Watching these four people enter the palace, the women present began to discuss in low voices, but what they were discussing was the condition of the queen.

When they entered the hall, Yuanchun was naturally the first to come forward to greet them, but Yang Qingyin didn't want to see her, so she just nodded without saying a word.

As for Chen Zhi, who came forward second, she felt even more embarrassed in front of the Queen. Although she was very enthusiastic, she didn't even say a word in response. In the end, she could only retreat to the back in embarrassment.

Next was Baochai. The Queen just nodded and didn't say a few more words until Zhu Yunsheng approached her.

For the queen, her only relatives in the world, besides the emperor, are her three sons and one daughter.

Apart from these five people, she didn't care about anyone else at the moment. She wanted to conserve her energy as much as possible and wait until the day her youngest son came back.

As for whether she can survive, Yang Qingyin herself doesn't know.

Several people accompanied the queen for a while, and after she fell into a deep sleep, Zhu Xianming let everyone leave, and only Zhu Yunsheng was allowed to stay and serve.

About an hour later, the Crown Prince and Prince Rui rushed back, both looking worried.

Several people were waiting in the main hall of Kunning Palace. The emperor sat in the main seat with a sullen face. The others could only sit quietly. The atmosphere in the hall was extremely solemn.

Soon an hour passed, and when the queen woke up, everyone went into the palace to visit her, and the palace maids brought her medicine.

The Imperial Medical Bureau has held a consultation, and based on the Queen's condition today, they know that time is running out.

All they can do is to delay the queen's life as much as possible, so they are now bolder in using medicines, but they are mainly tonic medicines.

It's no wonder that the queen saw quick results after taking the medicine. Her face turned rosy and she could even sit up.

Everyone present felt at ease in this scene, but the reasons for their relief were somewhat different.

The emperor simply did not want to lose his wife. Although the crown prince and Prince Rui did not want to lose their mother, they were more concerned about the stability of the court.

That’s right, although the queen never took care of state affairs, she had a strong ability to interfere in the court affairs.

In terms of relevance, it has a strong balancing effect on the relationship between the three brothers.

From this point of view, the prince is the person who least wants his old mother to pass away.

Everyone stayed in the palace until the sun was about to set, then they left the palace and returned home.

After Baochai returned to the palace, she sat alone in the study, thinking about what to do next.

I don't know how much time had passed, but when the candles had been lit for a long time, Ying'er's voice came from the door: "Princess, Lady Lin is here!"

(End of this chapter)