box of hearts

Chapter 90
Zhao Sheng first opened the window and looked around, then stepped back and said in a low voice: "The Queen Mother, it was Mr. Zhen Fu Simeng who said that there was an emergency and the matter was top secret, so he invited the Queen Mother here, but unexpectedly the Wang family arranged it like this. Zhou Xiang, it is actually difficult for a fly to fly in. What if the person who delivered the news cannot enter and leave, causing the Queen Mother to wait in vain, then what should I do?"

"Let's not worry about nothing." Yu Ming held the palace fan with a calm attitude, "Master Meng has always been scheming and unpredictable in his actions, otherwise, the prince would not entrust everything to him before leaving Beijing. He If you dare to work for the Empress Dowager, you must have a perfect plan, we just wait patiently. Empress Dowager, are you right?"

The frailty of Xihe's body has long since disappeared, leaving only the determined face of the city government, "The Wang family is in such a battle, the name is escort, but it is actually surveillance, and it is obviously also to prevent my name from offering incense and praying, which is actually fornication. Information. With Meng Zhongxian’s ingenuity, of course, the Wang family’s concern is taken into account. He will not use ordinary people, and pass through many barriers before he can have an audience. Since he asked me to come to Dalongfu Temple by name, the person who delivered the secret letter must hide here In the temple."

"Oh, this servant remembered." Yuming clenched the handle of the fan tightly, "That time when the Queen Mother and the servant exchanged clothes and makeup, and left the Dalongfu Temple in micro-clothes to visit the palace at night, the Wang family's eyes and ears didn't know about it, but the prince did it in advance. Then I got the news, it must be because there are secret agents of the Zhenfu Division lurking in the temple."

"By the way, it must be!" Zhao Sheng also slapped his thigh excitedly, and lowered his voice cautiously, "Since the prince restructured the Zhenfu Division, he has distributed these spies in all walks of life and everywhere, which can prove that Their identities are only the special copper fish badges made by the Zhenfu Division. Except for the straight-line contacts, even the relatives around these spies don’t know their real business. There are even some beggars on the street, why can’t they be a monk? So if there is a monk with a bronze fish medal in a while, that’s it.”

Xihe stopped talking, just nodded her eyes, and tapped the kang table next to her elbows with her five fingers continuously.The armor inlaid with silk agate knocked against the rosewood, making a small "da da" sound.

After a short wait, the curtain of the inner room was opened.The one who stepped forward was a young novice monk, who approached him respectfully to offer tea.There is a five-stem lotus tea bowl in a small black lacquer tea tray, and beside the bowl is a bronze plate in the shape of a fish with a scorpion engraved on it[8].

Xihe took the sign and looked at the front and back, and then went to see the monk.Its appearance is very ordinary, and it can be forgotten in a blink of an eye.So it was just a novice, clasping his palms flatly, "The Commander of the Zhenfu Division, Mr. Meng, asked the villain to ask the Holy Mother and the Empress Dowager for peace and prosperity."

Xi He confirmed it in his heart, stretched out his arm, and handed back the bronze medal, "How many years have you been in this temple?"

The monk took it, and with a flick of his hand, he didn't know where to hide it, "Return to the empress dowager, three years."

"The regent will arrive in Beijing tomorrow. What big event has happened, and Mr. Meng must report it to me today?"

"It's really a big deal." The novice went straight in, and there was a flash of swords and swords in his words, "The capital governor Zuo Jian was rebelled by the Wang family, and he has deployed heavy troops outside the nine gates of the capital. Tomorrow, he will arrest and kill the regent. "

As if something shook the entire Buddhist hall, Zhao Sheng and Yuming suddenly stopped breathing.Xi He only felt that her feet were empty, her body stood up straight, her palms firmly pressed against the Kang table, her gray-white knuckles looked like small corpses.

"Then Zuo Jian was single-handedly promoted by the regent, and was the deputy general who was also in the Tatar army. He was born and died, and he was loyal. How could he do such a rebellious thing?!"

The novice glanced at the panic-stricken Empress Dowager, still calm and calm, "Master Zuo lost his mother when he was young, and he was brought up by his father alone. He has a very deep relationship with his father. He is a well-known dutiful son." Five days ago, the old lady Zuo went out to watch a theater, and the Wang family took him away halfway as a hostage. Loyalty and filial piety cannot be combined, and the governor chose filial piety."

Xihe doesn't need to lie anymore, this time it is really dark and he is about to faint.She felt Zhao Sheng's hand supporting her, and Yu Tea put an amber snuff bottle with a picture of a horse carrying a jade bottle on her back - which means "safe immediately" - to her nose, and listened to the mechanical The voice continued: "Master Meng entrusted the villain to tell the Queen Mother that the Zhenfusi will swear allegiance to the Regent, but in the current situation, even if the Queen Mother immediately orders to remove Zuo Jian, the decree to dismiss Zuo Jian must be issued by the cabinet. If the decree is not issued, or delayed for half a day, it will not help the big thing. If the cabinet is bypassed to issue the decree or Zuo Jian is assassinated directly, the royal family may take the opportunity to incite the soldiers to mutiny. There is no other way but to inform the queen mother and the regent in advance , ask the Regent to postpone entering the city, and make a long-term plan."

Amidst the hot and sour smell of snuff penetrating through the fontanel, Xi He took a deep breath, and slowly stood still, "So, Lord Meng has also sent someone out of the city to inform the regent?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll go too."

"This place has been deployed by the royal family as a garrison of soldiers and horses. It is difficult to fly with wings. How can the dignified Holy Mother and Empress Dowager get out?"

Xi He turned her gaze, "Yumu, let's do the same trick again."

The novice monk who was neither happy nor angry finally showed a trace of human expression, which was extremely astonishing, "Could it be that the queen mother wants to disguise herself? No, no, no, the Wang family's intention this time is to monitor, and many eagle dogs outside have seen the queen mother's appearance." Fengmian, you can still recognize it even if you have changed your clothes, once you are caught, the consequences will be disastrous. Queen Mother, you have a body of gold, and you must not put yourself in danger!"

Xi He pushed the attendant's hands and the snuff bottle away from her body one by one, and the pair of sweet pear dimples on her face disappeared without a trace, only two hard knots protruding high on her cheeks.

"I said I would go, and I must go."

Since Xihe entered the guest room to take a rest, all the visitors and visitors of Dalongfu Temple have crept around, not daring to take a breath.In the midst of this silence, I heard "crash" for a while, and then the Queen Mother's phoenix voice sounded: "Bitch, all the blessings of the country and the country are in your hands! What, dare to argue? Come, clap your mouth!" Forty, and then sent back to the Palace Supervisor for punishment! Hit, do it, hit me! I tell you to do it, hit me!" Immediately, the woman cried timidly and piercingly.

In the corridor, the monks were all surprised and whispered to each other: "What's going on?"

Someone inquired about it, shook his head and sighed, "There is a statue of Avalokitesvara on a jade body that has been kept in the palace for many years. The empress dowager wanted to donate it to the temple for collection, but a female official accidentally broke it. Amitabha."

"So that's the case, alas, it's really unlucky, no wonder the empress dowager is angry."

Through the closed door, the queen mother's anger grew stronger: "Hit again, harder! Do you want to lose your head? Hit me hard!" There was a solid and dull sound of something hitting the skin , let's clear it up.

In the room, Yuming knelt on her knees, crying like a tearful person.Zhao Sheng also had tears all over his face, hot tears fell from one side, and the instrument of torture in his hand - a leather slap specially used for slapping the mouth.The Empress Dowager Xihe was finally satisfied, and stopped screaming in anger—she was completely speechless, her lips, nose, cheeks, and cheeks were all slapped heavily by the leather palm held by the servant, The bloodstains were rushing and colorful, but as the mother of a country, she readily accepted it, as if she was just a girl in love, and before meeting her longing lover, she always had to do some eyebrows and eyes.

Not long after, the monks gathered outside the Zen corridor saw the red-eyed eunuch Zhao Sheng escorting the Queen Mother's maid out of the house.The maid's hair, which was originally neatly coiled, has been loosened, and the thick black hair hangs down to cover her face, and the exposed small face is also swollen out of shape with blood.All the way out of the Buddhist hall, under the half-joking and half-pitying gazes of a hundred or so royal guards, he was unsteadily loaded into a dense mule cart, accepted to go back to the palace to question his sins.

In the driveway under martial law, there are only rows of elms and willows and rows of flower beds, and there is no one there.

However, this cold road has led to a heated debate.In the densely-doored mansion of Chief Assistant Wang Kezhao, there are birds chirping among the corrugated eaves, and under the eaves are full of guns and swords.In front of the father, the two brothers of the Wang family were arguing impassionedly. The third brother Wang Zhengting clasped his hands together, his voice was dry and anxious, "Father, you must never believe that the servants smashed the Buddha statue and fell ill. Stay in the temple for one night, and do something else tomorrow—it’s all nonsense! From this point of view, she must have seen through our plan to deal with the regent, and she doesn’t know what tricks to play. We must quickly send someone to keep an eye on the punished court lady, and no matter what No matter what, we must invite the one from the west back to the palace today."

"This is an absurd story." The elder brother Wang Zhenghao refuted with contempt on his face, "Let's not talk about how the west could possibly know the information, even if she knew it, so what? What can a woman do? It's amazing, I just understand that the overall situation has been decided, and it’s all about avoiding disasters. The words are divided into two parts, regardless of whether the people in the west know the inside story or not, it’s better to stay in the temple. Father, think about it, once the big thing is decided tomorrow, of course it must be done as soon as possible. Ming issued an edict. If the woman in the west is in the palace, she will make it difficult for the little emperor. If she is not there, why don't we fiddle with that brat as he wants? According to my son, it may be true to smash the Buddha statue. It’s not something tricky, it’s just the divine apparition, which foretells the fate of the lame three and Xi Bian.”

"How can ghosts and gods be believed?" Wang Zhengting became more and more anxious, and began to speak indiscriminately, "It's so stupid!"

As soon as the words fell, there was a "slap" on the face, and he was slapped by his elder brother Wang Zhenghao. "Boy is rude!"

(End of this chapter)