Chaos in the Chu Palace

Chapter 40
"Go first and then contact Mr. Zhao Da, and ask what should we do? Will the people in our Hou's mansion be in danger? Go!" Ouyang Ruo hurriedly said, Dexuan responded, and was about to turn around and leave , Ouyang Ruo hurriedly grabbed him again: "Also, hurry up and pack up the package. Just in case of an emergency, several principals and managers in the mansion called over at this time. I have something to say with them."

Dexuan hurriedly retreated.Seeing his disappearance, Ouyang Ruo turned around and went back to Lin's hall, hugged Lin Xiang and found an excuse to quickly go back to her yard.

Several stewards have arrived, Ouyang Ruo did not beat around the bush with them, and said solemnly: "Now there are changes outside, and the wives including the Lord Hou and the Princess are not in the mansion. Until there is no news, you all take care of your subordinates." People, lock all the four doors of the Hou Mansion, and no servants are allowed to enter or leave the mansion at will. If anyone wants to leave the mansion by force, the stick will be thirty! If there is any doubt, the stick will be twenty! Half a step into the mansion. It's over here, and I will receive the punishment for all the consequences when Lord Hou and Concubine come back."

After she finished speaking, she stood up and glanced at them.That glance carried the sharpness of being in a high position, and they couldn't help but shrink back.Although the several stewards were still at a loss, they responded quickly and retreated.

Ouyang Ruo sat down on the chair slumped after seeing them leave.Wan Hui held a cup of tea, stepped forward and said worriedly: "Madam, don't worry too much, maybe it's not that serious."

Ouyang Ruo rubbed her forehead, said with a wry smile: "My aunt also came out of the palace, so aunt naturally understands whether it's serious or not. If I'm an ignorant woman, it's okay, I will stay at home embroidering and playing the piano obediently, but in China After coming out of the palace for three years, the way of thinking about things is different from others. Auntie can see when the palace gates will be closed? Hou Ye has always been a figure in the forefront. If this matter has nothing to do with him, it is someone else's design. I think the world of Chu is about to be turned upside down."

Wan Hui stopped talking.Ouyang Ruo leaned on the sour jujube wood chair, only felt his eyelids twitch, and thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, but he couldn't grasp a clear train of thought.It is too strange that the emperor and the empress were assassinated together.Chu Huotian once told her that when he went out to fight in the early years, the affairs in the palace were all controlled by the queen. When he returned to Chu Jingzhong a few years later, the inner courtyard of the palace was already full of the queen's forces, which were so intertwined that it was almost impossible to install him. people.If what Chu Huotian said is correct, then it is absolutely impossible for this assassination to target the queen.

Could it be a play played by the queen?

The more Ouyang Ruo thought about it, the colder the sweat, no wonder Mr. Zhao Da wanted to inform Dexuan immediately.

Just as she was thinking, Ming Ying ran in with a panicked expression: "Ma'am, Ma'am, it's not good. The slaves went shopping and saw many officers and soldiers arresting people on the street. They said they were arresting the chaotic party... Also, they are so good The elephant is coming towards our Hou Mansion, and they say that we have run into a rebellious party." She was panting as she spoke, and it was very difficult.I think I ran all the way back.

Ouyang Ruo's eyelids twitched, the Hou Mansion was in a single alley, and Ming Ying must have been right when she said that the officers and soldiers were coming this way.Ouyang Ruo calmed down and said to her: "Go down first, don't tell others about this, lest people panic. There is no disorderly party in the Hou's mansion."

Then he turned into the inner room to change clothes.Wan Hui was on the sidelines to help.Ouyang Ruo changed into a deep purple red group embroidered bird palace dress. The skirt was adorned with long tassels twisted with gold and silver threads. The ends of the tassels were strung with huge pearls the size of little fingers, very graceful and luxurious. .It is covered with a translucent smoky cloak with interlaced gold thread of the same color.The head is tied up in a startled bun, and the hairpin is covered with thin golden taen flowers. The flower cores are decorated with the same purple gemstones, and two green gold hairpins inlaid with cat's eyes are inserted on each side. Gemstone earrings.Eyebrows are like distant mountains, eyes are like spring water.The cold and peerless face is full of arrogance and dignity, which is eye-catching.

After she finished her makeup, Wan Hui was stunned.

"Auntie, let's go to the main hall." Ouyang Ruo said.

At this moment, Dexuan ran into the courtyard and said in a hurry: "Madam, Madam... Mr. Zhao has sent a message. Madam, take a look..."

Ouyang Ruo took the note in his hand, on which the word "Go" was written carelessly, as if written in a hurry, and the ink was not dry yet.

Ouyang Ruo pinched the note in her palm, calmed down and said with a smile, "I can't go now. Let's go to the main hall." Then, she helped Wan Hui's arm and walked out.

When we arrived at the main hall, Guanshi Zhang hurried forward and said, "Madam Seven, this old servant is just about to tell Madam Seven, but there are officers and soldiers knocking on the door outside, saying that they will enter the mansion to search for rebels. This old servant dare not let them in."

Ouyang Ruo saw his distressed face, smiled slightly and said, "Guard Zhang has done a good job. How many guards are there in the mansion? Tell them to wait by the main hall."

Guanshi Zhang responded quickly, and Ouyang Ruo said coldly again: "Go and tell the officer who knocked on the door that we are loyal and brave Dinghou appointed by the emperor. If you want to search for the emperor's imperial decree without an imperial edict, it is a crime of deceiving the emperor. When Chu Dinghou returns, he will play the imperial edict of the Ming emperor, confiscate the house, and punish the nine clans!"

After she finished speaking, she sat upright in the main seat in the hall.Zhang Guanshi heard the cold sweat behind his back and hurried down.After a while, Guanshi Zhang led in a well-armored general.Ouyang Ruo didn't get up, but just watched him approaching with cold eyes.The general saw two teams of Marquis's guards standing upright with sabers in the main hall, each of them looked serious and murderous, and felt a little timid in his heart.Arriving at the main hall, I looked up, but was stunned again.Ouyang Ruo is dressed in luxurious palace attire, with a beautiful appearance.

He didn't dare to be contemptuous in his heart, so he went forward to salute and said: "I have seen my wife, I have been ordered to search for the rebellious party this time, and I hope that my wife will pass by."

Ouyang Ruo sat down and said calmly: "General Wan has worked hard. I am only a concubine of the Marquis, and I dare not accept the big gift. This Marquis mansion is not an ordinary family. General Wan will search if he wants to. If he wants to search, he will search. When the general enters the mansion, even a concubine can't be the master. I hope the general understands."

General Wan's face turned dark when he heard this, he came here this time to search, and he didn't expect to meet such a character who was neither soft nor hard.

Ouyang Ruo looked at his face, and suddenly smiled slightly: "You can search whatever you want, the general, or the same sentence, the general will bring the imperial decree, and once I read it, I will naturally kneel down and listen to the decree. How about that?"

She spoke very politely, and General Wan couldn't get angry even if he wanted to, so he just kept his face dark and remained silent.Ouyang Ruo looked at him leisurely, but his heart was extremely nervous. If he got angry, the guards, large and small, in the mansion would not be able to stop them at all.

She has never needed Chu Huotian by her side like this moment.The whole house is full of servants and maids. The ladies who went to the palace were detained, and they were stranded in this deep house like abandoned children. Who can rescue them?

General Wan naturally didn't know the entanglement and tension in her heart, he hesitated for a while before slowly saying: "Because of the urgency of the situation, I have no time to ask for an order, please let Madam let me go, swords have no eyes, if Madam is hurt by this, we really should Wan is dead."

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Ruo raised her willow eyebrows, squinted her phoenix eyes, and said with a sneer, "What a sword without eyes! Who is General Wan trying to scare in front of a woman like me? Master Hou is extremely honored in Chu State, The emperor personally gave him the gift of walking through the middle gate, riding a horse in the forbidden area, and bringing a knife to see him. These Lord Hou have all resigned. Not to mention that Lord Hou has made great contributions to Chu, just because Lord Hou is the emperor's direct brother, the general can do the same thing, right? "

General Wan heard her stern voice, he couldn't help but feel guilty, he shouldn't, he shouldn't take this hot potato, he blamed him for being greedy, what should he do now that he can't advance or retreat?But the beautiful lady in front of her is not afraid of him at all, she is not a woman who can be scared away by him slapping a sword.Thinking of this, General Wan's head hurt even more.

Seeing him hesitate again, Ouyang Ruo calmed down and said, "General Wan is a member of the army, right? You should also know that our Lord Hou is as close to the soldiers as a family. He takes the lead in battle and shares the joys and sorrows with the army. If the general follows Lord Hou, Presumably, he is also a brave and invincible general in the army with illustrious military exploits."

In order to appease him, Ouyang Ruo made a random nonsense, trying to lure him with profit.Unexpectedly, General Wan showed embarrassment on his face: "To tell you the truth, Madam, I haven't really fought against Lord Hou yet." He said with fascination on his face.

Ouyang Ruo suddenly realized when he heard the words, no wonder he dared to lead troops to search the Hou Ding's mansion, it turned out that he was not from the war with Chu Huotian.The two had their own thoughts in their hearts, and they were silent for a while.

Seeing him standing there, Ouyang Ruo was a little embarrassed, and said with a smile: "It's embarrassing for General Wan. Lord Hou is going back to the mansion soon, so the general will just wait. I'm a useless woman, and I really don't dare to make decisions."

General Wan was even more anxious when he heard the words, if Chu Dinghou came back, how could he search for it, and hearing Ouyang Ruo claiming to be a "useless woman" made his face even more ugly.It would have been fine if she was really a "useless woman", but she had sharp words and used the emperor and Lord Hou to suppress him at every turn, and stood in front of her so that he couldn't search him no matter what.Three thousand soldiers are outside, but Dinghou's mansion has closed the door tightly, so you can't ask him to let someone attack you, right?
The more he thought about it, the more difficult he became, and the time passed moment by moment.The guards of the Hou Mansion under the hall remained motionless, all of them were tall and straight like arrows, with awe-inspiring expressions.

General Wan had been thinking about the battle between heaven and man for a long time. Finally, his expression became ruthless, and he raised his head and said, "Madam has offended me. If I can't complete the errand assigned by my superiors today, I will be punished if I go back. So we have to wrong Madam and let us search for it." After a search, if there is no chaotic party, I will retreat naturally." With a "clang" sound, he drew his sword out of its sheath, and the sharp sword was full of cold air, and it was straight at the person's face.

Ouyang Ruo's heart skipped a beat, her face remained unchanged, and she walked towards him step by step, but her smile became colder.

"General Wan seems to be certain. Because of the reason, even if I die, I can't let General Wan step into the mansion. But since General Wan insists on going his own way, I have to offend him. Where are the guards? !"

"Here!" The guards under the hall responded with a bang, and pulled out their long knives in unison.

"Take down General Wan who broke into Dinghou's mansion!" Ouyang Ruo shouted.General Wan jumped up when he heard the words, and pointed at Ouyang Ruo, almost speechless: "You...you dare to ask someone to bind me? Do you know that I am...I am an official ordered by the court..."

Before he finished speaking, the guards on the left and right rushed up and tied him up firmly with knives.The situation in the hall suddenly changed, Zhang Guanshi shrank in a corner of the main hall, his face paled in shock, the Seventh Ladies kidnapped people as soon as they said they were kidnapped, and there was no sign of it before.General Wan's face was as red as a pig's liver, and he wanted to struggle but was afraid that the bright long knife on his neck would not have eyes.

Ouyang Ruo stood there coldly, glanced at him, and said, "General Wan said he was ordered, but whose order is he ordered by? Is it the emperor's order, or the order of the rebellious officials and thieves? How can you take the lives of hundreds of people in the Hefu if you want?" , Search it if you want, I am an ignorant woman, I dare not make mistakes, everything will be decided when the Hou Ye comes back." Said sitting on the main seat in the hall, without saying a word.

"You...you are not afraid to tie me up with thousands of people outside, will they attack?" General Wan You shouted unwillingly.

Ouyang Ruo said solemnly: "Although this Marquis' mansion is not as strong as the city wall, the hundreds of guards in the mansion are not vegetarians. If someone invades, we must fight to the last one, and let the people of Chu know that our Dinghou's mansion has been captured by rebellious officials and thieves." Murdered, lost in a bloody battle, but also vowed to die without fear of you!"

"I will not be afraid to die!" The guards under the hall shouted abruptly.General Wan's face turned ashen when he heard this, he knew that he would just attack regardless, he wanted to capture Chu Huotian's mansion without bloodshed, but in the end he was imprisoned unexpectedly.

At this moment, Dexuan hurriedly came from outside the hall, his footsteps were slightly chaotic, but he shouted in surprise: "Madam, madam! General Su is here."

Ouyang Ruo was shocked, he actually came!The eye sockets became hot, and the sour tears almost couldn't stop rolling down.

She hurriedly got up and walked forward, forcing herself to calmly say: "Where is it? Where is General Su?" Dexuan hurriedly helped her to walk out of the hall, and said as he walked: "It's at the gate of the mansion, and it's in a stalemate with the officers and soldiers. Ma'am …are you going?"

Hearing the words, Ouyang Ruo looked back at General Wan who was like a defeated rooster, and said with a smile, "Let's go! Let's open the gate to welcome General Su!" He said and walked out first.

(End of this chapter)