late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 23
As I was thinking about it, the voice of Ling'er, the little maid next to Lan'er, suddenly came in.

"Master Tang, the Empress Dowager invites you to have dinner together."

"Understood, I'll go right away."

I raised my voice, replied to Linger, tidied my clothes, and went to the main hall.

When I passed by, Lan Er was sitting at the dining table, and Empress Dowager Ci'an was with her.

This surprised me a bit, since the Empress Dowager Ci'an is here, why did Lan'er call me over, she should be very clear in her heart that the Empress Dowager Ci'an and I are not at odds.

"I see the empress dowagers of the two palaces!"

I bowed slightly, as a salute to the two of them.

"Sit down, these vain rituals will be avoided in the future!"

Lan'er waved her hand, but she looked calm and at ease, while the Empress Dowager Ci'an looked at me coldly and didn't say anything more.

I sat a little far away from them, staring at the food on the table without speaking.

"Sister, you should have seen it these days. Everyone knows Sushun's conspiracy."

"Hey!" The Empress Dowager Ci'an sighed heavily, and looked at Lan'er helplessly, "You said they are university scholars and ministers of military aircraft, so what can we do to them!"

"If we can't deal with them, there is only one way to go."

Lan'er put the chopsticks aside, and looked at the Empress Dowager Ci'an with burning eyes.

Ci'an was slightly taken aback, and then said cautiously, "What way?"

"Huang, Quan, Lu." Lan'er spoke every word, biting every word very hard.

Empress Dowager Ci'an's body shook, and she looked at Lan'er in disbelief. Obviously, she didn't realize that the consequences of the matter would be so serious.

It's even more obvious that she didn't believe what I said to her last time, and she didn't even listen to it.

I really don't know whether to say she is too kind or too stupid.

After all, I originally thought that to be able to sit in the position of queen must not be an ordinary person, but now it seems that things are different from what I thought.

"Sister, I have received definite news that Sushun will rebel when the former emperor's Zi Palace returns to Beijing."

Lan'er's eyes were full of bewilderment, she couldn't tolerate Empress Dowager Ci'an not believing her words, not to mention, what she said was the truth.

"Then what are we going to do?!"

The Empress Dowager Ci'an glanced at Lan'er first, and then looked at me, with regret in her eyes.

"When we meet on a narrow road, the brave wins. If we don't want to die, then Sushun must die!"

"You want to assassinate Sushun?"

Empress Dowager Ci'an looked at Lan'er in surprise, this time, even I was a little surprised, assassinating Sushun here is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg.

"What's the use of assassinating alone? The current eight ministers of Gu Ming, except for the sixth son-in-law Jingshou, have already started plotting against him!"

Lan'er glanced at the Empress Dowager Ci'an, then turned to look at me with probing eyes.

"Master Tang, what do you think?"

"The queen mother is right. We must not attack Rehe. For the present plan, we must join forces with Prince Gong, Wen Xiang and others, so as to have a chance of winning."

"That's exactly what I mean, sister, what do you think?"

Lan'er nodded, and looked at Empress Dowager Ci'an.

The Empress Dowager Ci'an still had lingering fears. After hesitating for a long time, she asked dully, "Uncle Liu Huang, will he really help us?"

"It's up to people. In the next few days, Prince Gong will reach Rehe. At that time, my sister will find a way to meet Prince Gong."

Under Lan'er's persuasion, the Empress Dowager Ci'an nodded slightly, "I will try my best."

"It's not about trying my best, but I must do it, otherwise, you and I will both be decapitated." Lan'er held the hand of Empress Dowager Ci'an, staring at Empress Dowager Ci'an as if she was dying.

Empress Dowager Ci'an was so frightened that she took a deep breath, and after working hard for a long time, she nodded, "I will definitely do my best."

I saw the Empress Dowager Ci'an's panicked look, she didn't have the arrogance of the last time at all, and I thought, she really didn't know that Sushun was going to harm her.

"In this way, we still have a glimmer of hope. Facing such a situation, we have no choice but to fight to the death and survive."

Lan'er looked at the two of us with a stubborn gaze, not allowing us to back down.

"So, I'll go back and prepare first."

The Empress Dowager Ci'an simply left a word and left in a panic. Looking at her appearance, I was worried that Sushun would notice her abnormality.

"Some things can only be done by my sister. After all, she is the empress of the Qing Dynasty."

While fiddling with the dishes on the plate, Lan Er said, she didn't look at me, and her tone was a little light, as if she was talking to herself.

"Ah."

I responded, and casually ate the dishes served to me by the little maid.

"You went to Concubine Li's palace today?"

Lan'er suddenly raised her head and looked at me lightly.

I noticed that there was no smile in her eyes. It seems that she and Concubine Li really didn't get along very well, and Concubine Li didn't lie to me.

"She asked the little eunuch to call me over, saying that she wanted me to save her life."

I'm telling the truth, even if she doesn't ask, I'm about to discuss this matter with her.

"Why, someone wants to kill her?"

Lan'er sneered, obviously dismissive, thinking that Concubine Li had also played such a trick before.

"She said she had some trouble with you, let me say something nice for her in front of you."

"She really knows how to find a rescuer, but I don't know if she is sincere."

"I think so. The truth of Li Fei's words is unpredictable, and there must be one of us who is a spy. This person knows everything about us. Just thinking about it makes people creepy."

After hearing what I said, Lan'er frowned tightly, probably thinking about who the spy was.

After a long time, Lan'er looked at me in confusion, "Tell me, why are you so sure, there are spies among us."

"Sushun came over so quickly last night, someone must have tipped off the news..."

I explained my reasoning to Lan'er carefully, and she nodded, feeling that something was wrong.

"So, let's invite you into the urn and see who that person is!" I suggested.

(End of this chapter)