The emperor chuckled, and then instructed the little eunuch: "I know, announce them in!" ”

"Yes!"

The little eunuch nodded, and then ran out, "The emperor has an order, Xuanzhenguo General's Mansion Prince Xiao and Princess Xiao will meet you!" ”

After Xiao Jingcong and Yan Zixi got the permission of the emperor, they came to the pavilion in the imperial garden under the guidance of the little eunuch.

The little eunuch led Xiao Jingcong and Yan Zixi to the emperor, and then bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Xiao and Princess Xiao have brought!" ”

"Well, I know, it's none of your business, let's go down!"

"Yes!"

The little eunuch respectfully retreated.

Xiao Jingcong and Yan Zixi glanced at each other, and then walked to the emperor and knelt down.

"The criminal minister Xiao Jingcong sees the emperor and the queen!"

"The guilty concubine Yan Zixi see the emperor, see the queen's mother!"

The emperor was still drinking tea, as if he hadn't heard Xiao Jingcong and Yan Zixi's words.

Xiao Jingcong remained silent and shouted again.

"The criminal minister Xiao Jingcong sees the emperor!"

At this time, the emperor slowly put down the teacup in his hand, and glanced at Xiao Jingcong who was kneeling in front of him, "Xiao Jingcong, you are so bold!" actually trespassed into the prison and let Yan Zixi go without permission, you are guilty! ”

"The guilty man is guilty."

At the end, Xiao Jingcong slowly explained: "But the emperor, how could Xi'er do such a rebellious thing as murdering the queen's mother? Now that the truth of the matter has not been investigated, Xi'er almost died unjustly in the prison, if the criminal minister does not rescue Xi'er in time, I am afraid that the emperor will never see Xi'er again. ”

"Presumptuous! Xiao Jingcong, do you mean that this palace wronged her?! Without waiting for the emperor to speak, the queen mother on the side couldn't help but point at Xiao Jingcong and scolded angrily.

"Don't dare, Queen Mother, I'm just telling the truth." Xiao Jingcong replied without changing his face.

"Hmph, you keep saying that Yan Zixi is innocent and will not do anything to murder this palace, so what is the explanation for the brocade box she left behind, isn't the box containing Gu worms hers?"

When Yan Zixi heard this, she also explained in her mouth: "Back to the queen's mother, the brocade box is indeed Zixi's, but this brocade box is used to store the Burning Sun Pill used to treat Shufei Niangniang, and after removing the cold poison for Shufei Niangniang, this brocade box was lost by me, and I don't know who picked it up and used it......"

The queen mother laughed coldly: "Yan Zixi, you don't have to quibble anymore, since you can't prove it, then your suspicion is the greatest, and it is completely reasonable for this palace to detain you!" ”

"Yes, the queen mother originally imprisoned Xi'er, and the criminal had no complaints, but why did you use lynching to torture Xi'er, and almost caused her to die in prison!"

"What? Is there such a thing?! The queen mother looked surprised, and she didn't know if she was pretending to be on purpose, or if she really didn't know.

Xiao Jingcong is more inclined to the Qing people, after all, the crime of beating and murdering the princess of the dignified general of the Zhenguo is not small, that is, the red sleeves are the maid of the queen's mother, and she will never dare to do it without the authorization of the queen's mother.

So Xiao Jingcong thought that it must have been given by the queen's mother, but he couldn't point it out in front of the emperor, so he could only answer in the queen's tone.

"The queen may not know about this, but it really happened."

Saying that, Xiao Jingcong glanced at Yan Zixi, "Xi'er, show the wounds on your body to the queen mother!" ”

"Good ......"

Yan Zixi nodded, and then rolled up his sleeves, revealing the terrifying Dao scar on his arm, and even the emperor couldn't help but be shocked when he saw it.

When the queen mother saw that Yan Zixi was covered with scars, she was immediately dumbfounded.

The emperor had a calm face, turned his head to look at the queen's mother, and asked lightly. Let's read a book

"Queen, what's going on?"

"Your Majesty, the concubines don't know anything about this matter, please ask the emperor to find out!" The queen mother was obviously a little flustered, and her mouth froze.

"Okay, okay, I don't know."

The emperor waved his hand, and then said to Xiao Jingcong and Yan Zixi: "You two should also get up." ”

"Emperor Xie!"

"Emperor Xie ......"

Xiao Jingcong and Yan Zixi each thanked each other, and then got up and stood up.

The emperor closed his eyes and asked again: "Jingcong, how did you investigate the case of poisoning Concubine Shuniang?" ”

"Back to the emperor, the minister is still investigating, and I believe that clues will be found soon."

"Really? Then you have to hurry up, the seven-day period is approaching, if you can't find out by then......" The emperor didn't finish his words, but his meaning was already obvious.

Even if he doesn't say it, Xiao Jingcong knows it.

Sure enough, Xiao Jingcong hugged his fists, and said again: "Your Majesty, the minister knows." If the minister can't find out by then, he will be willing to accept any punishment from the emperor. ”

"Well, Jingcong, this is what you said, don't blame me for being ruthless when the time comes!"

"If the minister can't find out the result, he will be punished willingly, and there will be no complaints!"

"Good! is worthy of being a peerless general who is personally sealed, and he really says the same. The emperor laughed, and seemed to be very satisfied with Xiao Jingcong's answer, "By the way, Jingcong, it turns out that the queen's mother is also related to your princess, and you have also investigated it clearly, so that you can give the queen an explanation." ”

"Yes!"

"Well, okay, I won't punish you this time, and quickly find out the murderer who poisoned Concubine Shuniang!"

"Obey the order!"

The emperor nodded with satisfaction, and then waved his hand again, "Okay, go down, I'm tired." ”

"The minister retired."

"The concubine retired ......"

……

After Xiao Jingcong and Yan Zixi retired and left, they were always depressed.

Yan Zixi saw that Xiao Jingcong didn't speak all the way, so she took the initiative to talk to him.

"It's okay, it's okay, I haven't been punished this time, Jingcong, you should be happy, why do you keep frowning?" Yan Zixi stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Jingcong's arm and asked with a smile.

Xiao Jingcong replied with a straight face: "Xi'er, this time the emperor has pardoned our crimes on the surface, but he asked the husband to find out the real culprit who poisoned Concubine Shuniang within the specified time. ”

"Well, what's wrong? Isn't that something you've been looking up all along? Yan Zixi didn't understand what Xiao Jingcong meant, and asked suspiciously.

"Then do you know the oath that the emperor once made with his husband?"

"Oath, what oath?!" Yan Zixi heard Xiao Jingcong mention it for the first time.

Xiao Jingcong sighed leisurely, and replied: "On that day, the emperor limited me to find out the truth about poisoning Concubine Shuniang within seven days, and if the real culprit cannot be found within the time limit, the emperor will dismiss me from his post and investigate it." Originally, I thought it was just the emperor talking casually, but I didn't expect him to mention it again today......"

"You mean to say...... Does the emperor want to use this incident of the lady concubine to remove your name as a general? ”

"Exactly!"