After knowing that the incident in Yongning Palace was related to Empress Zhou's father, even though Chongzhen knew in his heart that this matter had nothing to do with the queen, he was also tired of seeing her in the past two days, and he even went to Kunning Palace to visit his two children less often.

Hearing the news of the queen's arrival, Zhu Youzhen's first reaction was, "What is she here for?" It's not good to be confined in Kunning Palace, what kind of wind is blowing when you run out, let her go back quickly. ”

The eunuch who came in to report the news also knew that Chongzhen was unhappy in the past two days, so when he heard the order, he promised to go down to intercept the queen. Wang Chengen, who had been with Chongzhen for the longest time, knew that this was not the emperor's true words, so he quickly coughed, and said carefully: "Your Majesty, let's meet the queen, if something important doesn't happen, Your Highness can't run out of Kunning Palace." ”

Listening to Wang Chengen's unfinished exhortation, Chongzhen immediately thought of the two children in Kunning Palace, and he was also shocked, so he hurriedly stood up and said: "Wang Banban said the same, where is the queen?" Take me to see it..."

As soon as he heard Wang Chengen's cough, the eunuch who stopped his steps agreed again and led the emperor out. Wang Chengen, who had the courage to persuade Chongzhen, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his forehead, and then followed the emperor in small steps.

As soon as Chongzhen walked to the white marble platform, he saw Zhou Yufeng and his party walking to the bottom of the steps, he hurriedly carried the corner of the robe, and went down the steps in three steps and two steps, so that the two eunuchs who were lighting the way in front of Zhou Yufeng were suddenly frightened and avoided.

In Beijing in the second lunar month, it is still a little warm when there is sunshine during the day, but it is still cold and tight at night. When Zhu Youzhen saw in the light that Zhou Yufeng in front of him was only wrapped in a cloak on the outside, but still a single coat on the inside, he suddenly said to others with some displeasure: "That's how you serve the queen?" Such weather makes the queen run around in a cloak? ”

The eunuchs and palace maids who followed the queen knelt down to ask for guilt, and Zhou Yufeng said with a smile: "Please don't blame them, Your Majesty, it's the concubines who are in a hurry, not their fault." ”

Holding Zhou Yufeng's cold hands, Zhu Youzhen finally didn't say anything, just hugged her with one hand and walked towards the Qianqing Palace. After entering the study room, Wang Chengen had already ordered someone to make a cup of brown sugar ginger water to give the queen a cold.

After watching Zhou Yufeng drink it, Zhu Youzhen asked with satisfaction: "Why are you in such a hurry, and let you come over in person." You're not out of confinement yet, so you can't stand the cold. What's the matter, wouldn't it be enough to let Du Xun pass on a word? ”

Zhou Yufeng, who had been speechless since seeing Chongzhen, suddenly got up and knelt down towards Chongzhen, and quickly said to the emperor: "The concubine knows that today is presumptuous, but the concubine is really relieved, the concubine came to ask Your Majesty, where did my father go?" What exactly did they do wrong? Please don't hide your concubines. ”

Seeing that Zhou Yufeng suddenly knelt down to herself, Chongzhen, who was reaching out to help her, suddenly froze, he looked into the queen's eyes and asked angrily, "Just for this?" Whoever is chewing your tongue at the base of your ear, tell me. ”

Zhou Yufeng's expression was a little panicked, but he didn't avoid Chongzhen's gaze, "The concubine's mother has been taking care of the concubine in the palace these days, and today the concubine sent someone to the house to get some things that her mother wanted, but she was told that her father and brother were all taken into the palace by the concubine." The concubine waited in Kunning Palace for a day, but she didn't see the arrival of her father and brother, so she could only come to inquire about His Majesty. ”

After listening to the queen's explanation, Zhu Youzhen's eyes soothed a little, and he continued to help Zhou Yufeng up, "Get up and talk, it's so cold on the ground, do you really want to damage your body." I asked them to come over, but there are some things I want to ask, and you don't have to pay too much attention to them. When I finish asking, I'll let them go to Kunning Palace tomorrow to see you, okay? ”

Chongzhen's consolation did not make Zhou Yufeng feel at ease, and after confirming that her father and brother were really taken away by the emperor, she suddenly thought of the events that had happened in the palace in the past few days, and couldn't help but ask nervously: "Could it be that the concubine's father and brother have something to do with what happened in Yongning Palace?" ”

"Who told you about Yongning Palace?" Chongzhen subconsciously roared, but looking at the queen's somewhat pale little face and her constantly twisted hands, Chongzhen couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted. He waved his hand for Wang Chengen to leave the study room with everyone, and decided to talk to Zhou Yufeng quietly.

After hearing that the door was closed, Zhou Yufeng plucked up the courage and said: "On the day Your Majesty came back, Concubine Li came to Kunning Palace to ask to see Your Majesty, and then Concubine Li was sent to Yonghe Palace, but Yongning Palace was blocked for a few days, and the eldest prince was also personally brought to Qianqing Palace by His Majesty to take care of it. The concubine thought that there must be something wrong in the Yongning Palace. But how could my father and brother have anything to do with the affairs of Yongning Palace, is Your Majesty mistaken..."

Zhou Yufeng's words at the beginning were quite organized, but as soon as it involved her family, she became a little incoherent. Zhu Youzhen thought about it silently, and then opened his mouth to briefly tell what happened in Yongning Palace, but he hid the clue about the British Mansion.

Zhou Yufeng did not intercede for his father and brother as Chongzhen guessed, but kept wiping his tears and crying. This made Chongzhen, who originally wanted to deal with the queen's plea, stunned for a while, and was a little overwhelmed.

Since he woke up, he has spent the most time with Zhou Yufeng, and the relationship between the two is also the deepest. Looking at Zhou Yufeng's sad appearance for his family, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but think of the words that Tang Wang Shisun missed his father just now, and under the attack of the two, his heart softened first.

Zhu Youzhen leaned over and squatted in front of Zhou Yufeng, who was sitting and crying, and wiped her tears with a handkerchief, while whispering: "Now the matter has not been fully verified, don't be sad first." If you cry and break your body, who will I ask to compensate me..."

Zhou Yufeng finally stopped crying, wiped her tears with the handkerchief given by Chongzhen, choked up and said: "The concubine is not crying for her father and brother, but crying for Cizhao." For such a young child, someone actually calculates him, which is really unconscionable. If it happens to Cihong and Tingting, how can I live..."

Zhu Youzhen was speechless, just reached out and hugged Zhou Yufeng in his arms, letting her snuggle up to herself and slowly calm down her emotions. After that, there was silence in the Shang study, and neither Chongzhen nor Zhou Yufeng mentioned the matter of Yongning Palace and Zhou Guozhang's family.

I don't know how long it took, Zhou Yufeng finally gently pushed the emperor away, lowered his head and said, "The concubine should go back, and Your Majesty should rest early." ”

Zhu Youzhen was silent for a moment, and then shouted outside the door: "Wang Chengen, go and prepare a warm sedan chair to send the queen back to Kunning Palace..."

The next day, Wang Dehua and Lü Qi came to see the emperor with the latest facts of the case. Wang Dehua reported to Chongzhen: "... Zhou Guozhang said that the things explained by the monk and the food supervisor Wu Guan are all consistent, and the three uncles really do not know the conspiracy between the monk and Wu Guan.

According to Zhou Guozhang himself, it was indeed he who came up with it himself to link the rumors of the Empress Dowager Xiaoding with the intimidation of the eldest prince with a mask. But the rumors about the Empress Dowager Xiaoding and the curse of the demon mask were all heard at the banquet held by the Xun family, but he has forgotten who started spreading it first..."

Lu Qi continued: "After several subordinates of the British government left Guang'anmen with the coffin, they were intercepted by the Jinyi guard.

The minister found someone to check the body in the coffin, and it was indeed the British government steward who had contact with Zhao Yishu. After an examination of the body, it was found that the man had indeed hanged himself, but his body was smoky with alcohol, and it seemed that he had committed suicide while drunk.

The minister also inquired about the subordinates of the British Commonwealth, and learned that the steward was still conscious when he returned to the palace last night, and that the British Commonwealth was still strict, and that the steward was not known for being greedy for good wine in the palace, and had never been drunk and mishap. Therefore, the ministers thought that the steward might have been drunk and hanged.

In addition, after the death of the steward, it is said that he left a suicide note to the little grandfather. After reading this, the little grandfather went to the steward's room to stay alone for a while, and when he came out, he ordered them to pull the steward out of the city and bury him, so that he didn't have to wait for the steward's family to take care of the aftermath. and also oversaw the burning of everything in the steward's room, and said that he would go to the bad luck..."

After listening to the reports of the two, Chongzhen was surprisingly calm, and he was not as angry as yesterday, so naturally there would be no orders to arrest people.

After waiting for a long time, Wang Dehua finally broke the silence in the room, and cautiously said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the minister has asked Jinyiwei to prepare, do you want to order someone to be taken?" These British princes did not return overnight, and if they waited any longer, the minister feared that someone would destroy the evidence. ”

Chongzhen, who had been silent, finally spoke, and he said leisurely: "If I want to arrest someone, do I still need evidence?"

arrested the family of Emperor Zhou, and then arrested the prince of England, and the case is over? Zhou Kui, the villain, was played with and applauded without knowing it. Arresting him will do nothing good except to shake the position of the Middle Palace.

The British government has always been a noble leader, a loyal minister of the royal family, and the British prince of this generation is in his last years, and he has captured the prince of the United Kingdom, and the British prince will die if he does not say it is good. Can a British government that murdered the heirs of the royal family continue to be the leader of the nobles and the loyal servants of the royal family?

The implementation of this case is the end of the fire in the harem and the centrifugation of the relatives. Let it go gently, who will be in awe of my authority in the future? I can't get out of this evil breath, it's all in other people's calculations, let's talk about it, who should I arrest? ”

Wang Chengen, Wang Dehua, and Lu Qi hurriedly knelt down, none of them dared to take the emperor's words, so until now, they had not found the person who was behind the Zhou emperor and the British public steward to give them advice and plot to kill the prince.

But now they know very well that there is indeed such a person, or a group of people. As a close minister of the emperor's side, they couldn't discover the conspiracy against the imperial family in advance, and they couldn't find the mastermind behind the conspiracy, so it was really difficult for the three of them to defend themselves in addition to asking the emperor for their guilt.