Since that day Gao Zhen suddenly came to the house, made such a speech, and left in a hurry, Zhao Xiu has not seen him for several days. In fact, she was quite concerned in her heart, as soon as there was news from the sixth room, she immediately sent her cronies to send a letter to the Guangping Palace. I thought Gao Zhen would come over, but he didn't come. She had no choice but to be secretly depressed in her heart, and she didn't dare to mention it in front of her grandmother and brother.

Suddenly, one day, the housekeeper heard outside that the former Ying princess Zhang died violently, and when she reported home, she was greatly surprised: "Violent death? How so? What died because of what? ”

The steward couldn't say clearly: "I don't know, people outside are also talking about it, some say that she has been bedridden for many years and died of illness, and some people say that it is because the boss can't tolerate the sinner's wife, so he gave her a break." No one has any accurate information. ”

Hearing this, Zhang said sternly: "Don't pay attention to these rumors!" What's not tolerated? It's all up to this time. If she really can't tolerate her, when she rebelled against the king and subdued the law, he disposed of her, who would have two words? How did it stay until now? Besides, if the emperor really wants to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, what is the use of cutting off a former princess? The former prince of Ying is still alive! This must be someone with bad intentions deliberately spreading rumors outside, and the court will definitely investigate and deal with it strictly, don't chew your tongue and cause trouble for yourself. If the government comes to the door, I won't cover it up! ”

The steward was so frightened by her words that he hurriedly nodded: "Yes, old lady!" The little ones must be kept in mind! ”

When the steward went down, Zhao Xiu sent all the girls in the house out of the door, and then asked Zhang in a low voice: "Grandmother." You say...... Did Princess Ying really die violently? Will these rumors be ...... out there Does it have anything to do with the things that Shizi mentioned a few days ago? ”

Zhang's face was slightly gloomy: "Who can tell?" If it's really just idle people and others chewing their tongues unintentionally, if there are really people with bad intentions secretly spreading rumors, I'm afraid there will be chaos in the capital again. I don't know how the emperor will deal with it. Saying that, she also sighed: "Princess Ying died at an inopportune time. Why did she die? ”

Zhao Xiu also thinks. Princess Ying died a strange death. People live in Yingtai, almost completely isolated from the outside world, without the emperor's consent, without the forbidden army guarding Yingtai to let go, she can't even see people outside......

Zhao Xiu suddenly paused, and looked at the Zhang family with a strange expression: "Grandmother, Princess Ruoying didn't die of natural illness. It's not that she can't think of committing suicide, but she was killed by someone, so most of the people who hurt her were from outside, right? ”

Zhang was a little confused when he heard this: "This is a matter of course. The Queen Mother, the Emperor and the Queen Mother had no intention of embarrassing her. Even her son could be accommodated, let alone a sick and weak woman? I was in the palace before, and the Queen Mother also mentioned it, saying that she was in the palace. She is the most pitiful. When I was a princess, I was angry a lot, I didn't get any benefits, I had nowhere to complain if I had suffering, and now I have to be affected by my husband. For this reason, the Queen Mother often ordered people to send some food and clothing, and also instructed the people in the hospital to treat her attentively. Actually, what disease could she have? It's all in the back house that people plotted, and they were angry again, which is the root of the accumulated disease. ”

Zhao Xiu hurriedly said: "Since the palace doesn't plan to kill her, the people around her, except for her son, are the old slaves when they were in King Ying's mansion in the past." can accompany her to this day, and it is reliable to think about it. And who will harm her? It must have come from outside. But how did this man move his hands? It is said that the guards on the Yingtai are very strict, and anyone who wants to go to the island must go through several guards. How did this attacker get in? The dead soldiers mentioned by the prince of Quang Binh earlier...... Could it be that you have the ability to come and go? But they have no reason to harm Princess Ying? It's more possible to get people out. ”

Zhang listened solemnly: "This is impossible. What is the ability to come and go? It's all a storyteller out there. You're underestimating the guards in the Forbidden Middle. There are many palaces in the imperial city, if this person really has the ability to fly the eaves and walk the wall, he must first cross the palace wall into the imperial city, and then cross the checkpoints in the imperial city, touch the South China Sea, and then hope to go to the island. If you are going to the island by land, you have to go through at least three guards; If he went by water, there was such a large area of water in the South China Sea, and there were so many guards patrolling every night, wouldn't anyone find his trace? If the guards are so incompetent, wouldn't the emperor in the palace be in danger? Since the construction of the Forbidden City, when have you ever heard that someone could sneak into the palace from outside? It can be seen that it is all nonsense! ”

Zhao Xiu smiled: "I also think that this person who does it can't rely on his high skills to secretly kill people." If those Ying Wang dead soldiers had such skills, they would have killed the first emperor and the princes at that time a long time ago, and would they still need to take the trouble to send Jin Shangyu to Jiangnan to do it again? I think that if someone outside really killed Princess Ying, it must be someone who went in outside, and he entered it openly, not sneaking in in the middle of the night. ”

Zhang frowned: "How is this possible?" How easy is it for outsiders to want to enter the palace? A founding lord like our family, your grandmother and I have to hand over the sign before I enter the palace, and then go through many forbidden guards, and then have people in the Queen Mother's palace lead the way, so that I can enter Cining Palace along the way. Yingtai is originally a forbidden place, and even people in the palace are not allowed to approach without permission, let alone people outside? ”

"What if he has a fair and honest reason?" Zhao Xiu blinked, "Isn't there an outsider who wants to go to the island to do something recently?" said that he wanted to choose a wife for the son of the former Ying Wang? The Ministry of Rites received the order and had already selected a lot of candidates, and the emperor also asked them to convey the situation of these candidates to Princess Ying and Prince Ying, so that their mother and son could choose. Didn't the people of this Ministry of Rites go to the island smoothly? They're not alone, aren't they? The officials who do the work, the accompanying clerks, and maybe one or two small guys? Or is it the palace man who leads the way? ”

Zhang smiled: "How is this possible? Why did the people from the Ministry of Rites want to harm Princess Ying? After a pause, her expression suddenly changed greatly, "Could it be those imperial historians who have been writing to the emperor and want to give the sinner's family to death......" Her face was red for a while, on the one hand, she felt that this kind of thing was really possible, but on the other hand, she felt that this kind of practice was too much, ignoring the holy will of the king, and attacking the royal family, however, she could not say that these ministers were not loyal to the king. She could only sigh and shake her head.

Zhao Xiu couldn't laugh or cry: "Where did you think of going?" The Ministry of Rites is good, too. It is one thing for them to write to the emperor, and it is another thing for them to kill people on their own initiative. Besides, we really have to cut down the grass and eradicate the roots. should also kill the prince of Ying, what should he do to kill Princess Ying? I mean, there's a possibility that there is something wrong with the person who is being sent. Have you forgotten? On that day, the prince of Guangping put people in my long-term entourage and followed me to the Fang family, saying that it was to contact the third master of the Fang family. And isn't Fourth Master Fang the candidate sent by the Ministry of Rites to Yingtai to deal with the marriage of King Ying's son? ”

Zhang's face changed again, and he pondered for a moment: "Indeed...... There were no rumors yesterday. Is there an old man in the Fang family who is missing? ”

Zhao Xiu nodded: "It's this Fourth Master Fang." He is a member of the Ministry of Rites, and he doesn't have any errands on weekdays, but recently the people from the Ministry of Rites sent him to Yingtai on an errand. He had something to do. Since he didn't go home after going out to the yamen on a business trip, and Princess Ying died violently on the same day, I think he might have been mixed in. Let's take a look at the news behind. I believe that sooner or later. Things will fall out. ”

Her eyes sparkled. Holding a small pink fist, he was instantly knocked on the door of his head by his grandmother Zhang: "This is their business with the men outside, let's just listen to it at home, what are you doing with him?" How's the library tidying up? It is better to open the museum a day earlier if it can be opened a day earlier. You have a small tea party with the five girls of the Fang family, Sister Luo of the Cao family and the daughter of the fourth master of Jiang Si's family, but you have a charter for everything? You have a lot of things to do, why do you just focus on the things in the court? ”

Zhao Xiu was a little deflated and muttered, "Isn't it just to discuss?" Do I have nothing but housework. Nothing else to do? ”

Zhang glanced at her and thought for a while: "It's not that there is nothing to do. Princess Ying went to the funeral. Because of her embarrassing identity, it is impossible to do a big deal in the future, but it is not good if it is too shabby. I don't know what the emperor plans to do? How many days will it take to stop working? Do you want to worship with a foreign woman? I'll have to ask, don't be rude. General Cao is a general in the forbidden middle school, wait for me to come to Cao's house tomorrow to inquire. You come with me. ”

Zhao Xiu touched his brain, which was still a little painful, and replied with a long voice: "Oh-"

Just when Zhao Xiu said "oh", on the way to the imperial tomb on the outskirts of Beijing, an encounter was going on.

After the death of King Ying, the side concubine and the concubine, because they were great rebels, they were not qualified to be buried in the imperial tomb, so they found a low-lying place not too far from the imperial tomb and buried them. Several solitary tombs are located lower than the imperial tombs, as if the people buried in the tombs are confessing their sins to their ancestors. This area is very remote, coming from the capital, you have to pass through several dense and sparsely populated mountains and forests, and because it is near the imperial tomb, there are no ordinary villages. Only the periphery of the imperial tomb is a circle of houses, which is prepared for the people who guard the tomb. Princess Ying's "funeral procession" was attacked on the edge of a deserted mountain forest.

Gao Zhen and General Cao Taihe of the Praetorian Guard, with a team of more than 100 people, followed behind the funeral procession, it seemed that the number was very small, in fact, about three miles behind them, there were 500 elite soldiers. The Emperor will never allow the dead to have a chance to escape this time.

The dead men had observed the terrain early, chose a place to start, and lay in ambush on the side of the road, watching the funeral procession from a distance and walking tired, and seeing that the forest beside the road was shady and could be used as a resting place, they stopped to rest for a while, and someone invited the filial son Gao Ju out of the carriage, and asked him to sit under the tree, drink some water, and eat some dry food. The dead soldiers clearly saw Gao Ju's appearance, and seemed to have received a lot of blows, and the whole person was blank, but the guards on him were quite loose, and the others didn't seem to take him very seriously, and the people waiting around him also ran to the vicinity very casually to check if there was a water source, so that the water could be boiled, and wait for the prince to use medicine. The dead were secretly rejoicing, and when they saw the opportunity, they rushed down.

It seemed as if they had taken the funeral procession by surprise, but in fact they did not let their guard down even when they sat down to rest, and immediately stood up and stood on guard when they saw a figure emerging from a distance. With good behind, good weapons, and early preparations, the dead soldiers fought very hard, and in the blink of an eye, several were killed and wounded. Seeing that the situation was not good, the leader of the dead soldiers could only desperately rush in the direction of Gao Ju. Gao Ju was originally guarded by someone, but he probably did it on purpose, deliberately running to a place behind where there were few people, as if he wanted to avoid fighting. The leader of the dead was overjoyed, hurriedly fended off his opponent's sword, and ran in the direction he had fled. Strangely, the man who fought with him didn't catch up, but instead fought with the others. When the leader of the dead joined Gao Ju, took the latter's hand and got into the carriage that his men had driven over, and galloped away, there were only four or five of his men left alive, leaving behind twenty or thirty corpses and several seriously wounded.

The leader of the dead knew that this was a tough battle, but it was enough to successfully rescue Gao Ju. Considering Gao Ju's mood, he coaxed the former young master and said: "The princess's coffin is too heavy, and she can't grab it for the time being, so for the safety of the prince, she can only retreat first." We'll figure it out, so don't worry. ”

Gao Ju sneered: "You don't have to coax me, I know what kind of medicine you brought." My mother is dead and can't live. Let her stay, and the court will bury her well. If I take her away, won't she be a lonely ghost? ”

The face of the leader of the dead changed, and he reluctantly smiled: "What does the prince mean by this? Why don't I understand? ”

"You don't have to pretend. I know you're not good! You don't have to call it a son, if you still remember a little old love, you won't make me a sinner who kills my mother! Gao Ju suddenly became excited, "The reason why I didn't commit suicide immediately after confirming my mother's death is just to meet you and ask in person, why?!" Why are you doing this?! If you want to harm my mother, why do you save me? If you want to save me, why do you want to harm my mother? Don't sue me, this is to protect my father's bloodline, you even dare to kill your father's original wife, where is there still a father in your heart?! You're just a bunch of traitors! ”

"Enough!" The leader of the dead had a gloomy face when he heard this, and sneered, "Gao Ju, you don't have to put the young master's stinky shelf in front of us!" If it weren't for your father's incompetence, the good situation would have turned people around, how could so many of us have to die in the world? On that day, he provoked so many big families to work with him, but he ruined the family. I will call you the son of the world today, and it is not because of your father. It is true that Lao Tzu is a dead man, but Lao Tzu is a dead soldier of the Guo family, not a lackey of your Ying Wangfu! ”

"The Guo family?" Gao Ju was very surprised, "You are from your great-grandfather's family?!" ”

Shandong Guo family, is the mother of King Ying's biological mother Guo Shufei, they were once the biggest supporters of King Ying's seizure of the throne, after the failure of the rebellion, all adult men were beheaded, women and children were exiled to the southwest. All the domestic slaves were confiscated and sold by the government, and all the property was confiscated. It is said that none of them were able to escape.

This leader of the dead soldiers turned out to be from the Guo family? (To be continued......)