Cha Jing came out and heard Pang Jinghui's poem talking to his daughter, so he decided to send Cai Jing to the main gate of Tianshui Hutong all the time.

Before Cai Jing got into the sedan chair, he turned around and said goodbye. When he looked up and saw that the gate of Du Wenhao's mansion was empty, he sighed: "The virtuous brother is an important minister of the imperial court, this mansion is too simple, and there is no good plaque. ”

Du Wenhao's heart moved, remembering that in "Water Margin", in order to rescue Song Jiang trapped in Jiangzhou, when Wu used a plan to find someone to copy Cai Jing's calligraphy, Zhuo told the brothers that the popular homecoming fonts at that time were Su Dongpo, Huang Luzhi, Mi Yuanzhang, and Cai Taishi's homecoming fonts. It is called "Su, Huang, Mi, Cai." "It can be called the four uniques of the Song Dynasty. Among them, Cai Jing's calligraphy is actually Ju, Wu Yong deliberately put it at the end and said that Cai Jing's calligraphy is not as good as the arrogant rice belt. This Kaifeng Mansion Yin Caijing boasted that his calligraphy was good, and offered to inscribe a plaque to himself. It is likely to be the traitor Cai Jing.

At that moment, Du Wenhao hugged his fists and said: "The calligraphy of the eldest brother of Jiuwen Yuan is the best in the world, and he is a rare genius in ancient and modern times. If you can get Brother Yuan's ink treasure, it will really shine! ”

This Cai Jing is indeed the later traitor Cai Taishi, at that time his calligraphy has been famous, and there has been the praise of the four famous writers of Cai Su and Huangmi, this Cai Jing is very proud, and said with a smile: "The virtuous brother praises falsely, since this is the case, let's just say okay and say goodbye!" ”

After that, he got on the official sedan chair and walked away all the way.

Du Wenhao looked at his official sedan chair and went away, his heart was really depressed, and he couldn't imagine that he had crossed into the Song Dynasty. It's really unfortunate to call this traitor a brother.

When he returned to the inner house, Pang Yuqin and Ke Yao were still waiting for him, and the two of them must be separated. Du Wenhao didn't have the heart to talk to them about medical skills at this time, and listened to them learn to bark puppies, so he only said that he would let the two of them go back and read books again, and come back the next day. Seeing that Du Wenhao was absent-minded, the two didn't dare to say more and went out.

Du Wenhao thought heavily and circled around the study. I was looking forward to Master Shen's return, but after noon, Master Shen hadn't shown up yet.

After lunch, the servants came to report, and there were distinguished guests visiting, but this time it was the old minister Sima Guang!

When Du Wenhao heard that Sima Guang was coming, he was too busy to come out, but fortunately, he didn't take off his official robe just now. There is also no need to change clothes.

When I came to the living room, I saw Sima Guang standing in the living room with the support of the housekeeper Sima Dao, holding an ebony cane in his hand, and standing with his waist bowed and back. Seeing Du Wenhao coming in, he snuggled his crutches in his arms and waved his hands: "Brother Du! You're back! ”

Du Wenhao hurriedly went over and hugged each other: "Brother Sima, please sit down quickly, you can't be too tired when you are seriously ill." I'll help you get a follow-up. ”

After supporting Sima Guang to sit flat, Yingzi brought fragrant tea.

Du Wenhao took his wrist and concentrated on the pulse. After looking at his tongue, he asked about his daily feelings, eating, sleeping, stool, etc., although Sima Guang has no signs of further spread of cancer cells, but there are no obvious signs of recovery, but for the old man Sima Guang, who has been judged to die in March, he can survive for nearly a year after surgery and maintain the status quo. This is already a terrific victory.

Sima Guang didn't care about his body, his face was solemn, and he looked at Du Wenhao to diagnose him. The housekeeper Sima Dao saw that Du Wenhao was finished. Ha Yin asked, "Master Imperial Doctor, our master is sick,,? ”

"I've been eating the cordyceps I sent back last time, right?"

"Eating all the time, as you commanded. I didn't dare to drop it at all, and I kept taking the medicine as you prescribed.

Du Wenhao nodded and said, "Brother's illness is no longer in danger, but my brother is old." I have been worried for many years, and my body has been weakened several times before the operation, and the trauma caused by this operation has made the righteousness in the body even more decayed. ”

Speaking of this, Du Wenhao paused and patted Sima Guang's hand: "Brother, your body is your own, you have to cherish it!" To be honest, your recovery is far from as good as I expected. Presumably you've been worried a lot this year, right? ”

Sima Dao said: "It's not! The old man has just gotten a little better in the past few months, and he has begun to sort out his books again, and he has been busy until late at night, and he will not listen to any persuasion

Du Wenhao knew that Sima Guang was sorting it out. It is his magnum opus "Zizhi Tongjian". said: "Brother Sima, you really take care of your body, if you exhaust your body, the loss will be great." ”

Sima Guang shook his head with a wry smile: "That's it, I'll talk about these things later." I heard that you are back, brother, I am very happy, I came to visit today, first, to see you, and secondly, there is another thing I want to discuss with you. With that, he glanced back at Sima Dao.

Sima Dao walked out of the door playfully and closed the door.

Sima Guang said: "After the death of the emperor and the empress dowager, does my brother know about the succession to the throne?" ”

"I know a little bit about it, and what Du Wenhao heard about was this matter again. was on the alert, although he trusted Sima Guang's character, he was still careful. So it's more subtle.

"Well, according to the orthodoxy of successive dynasties to inherit the throne, it should be inherited by the six princes, there is no objection to this, but King Yong glanced sideways and said that he wanted to inherit the throne, which is simply ignoring the ancestors! Ahem, ahem".

Speaking of excitement, Sima Guangzhu bent over with his cane and coughed incessantly.

Seeing this, Du Wenhao immediately understood that this Sima Guang supported the feet of the six princes and dared to interject. Wait for him to speak. Sima Guang coughed and wheezed for a while, picked up the teacup and took a sip, and said, "Brother Yunfan, brother, I came this time to ask you for something." You have to say yes, think about it, only you can do it! If it can't be done, let the wolf ambition King Yongwang succeed, what kind of face will my generation have to go to see the ancestors and ancestors

Du Wenhao thought to himself, what is this, isn't there Song Taizong in the list of dead ancestors, isn't he just violating the primogeniture inheritance system and inheriting his brother's throne, isn't he doing a good job, why do you have to stick to that tradition.

But this could not be said, he quietly listened to Sima Guang where he was wearing a rough air and pulling a cane and sighed. After a while, Sima Guang said: "At present, the only person who can decide the succession to the throne is the queen mother." But the queen mother is weak by nature, and she is afraid that he will not be able to withstand the soft grinding and hard bubbles of her son King Yong. The elder brother wanted to meet the Queen Mother to admonish her, but the Queen Mother was the first to be treated after she left the customs last night. Even if they are not summoned, no minister will be seen. and thou shalt not trespass into the palace to admonish. Alas! ”

Du Wenhao knew in his heart that the Queen Mother wanted to hide. This is a common problem of women, when a woman is in trouble, the first thought is to avoid and bypass. Even if this matter can't be bypassed at all, it can't be avoided, and it will try to drag it back.

Du Wenhao said: "After the emperor died, before the queen mother retreated, why didn't you give her advice?" ”

"Why not!" Sima Guang stomped his feet and said, "The emperor has just died, and the ministers such as Zuo Chengxiang Wang Jiao and my brother and I went to the queen mother and asked her to inherit the throne according to the eldest son of the ancestor and designate the six princes to inherit the throne. At this time, King Nayong stood up. said that he wanted to uphold the legacy of Emperor Taizong. Brother to brother, he inherited the throne. Cai Qu and a group of ministers echoed the voice. I waited to kneel down and beg the queen mother, crying that this matter must not be done, the throne can only be inherited by the prince, this is orthodox. There was a mess upwards, and the Queen Mother retreated. Immediately after the decree was announced, the four princely ministers who temporarily took over the affairs of the state were appointed. said that she was going to retreat and chant sutras to pray for the emperor and the queen mother. No one is seen. So he hid and didn't get out until last night. ”

"Did you go to counsel last night?"

"Go, people on both sides are waiting outside the palace gate, but the queen mother announced that she can't see it. Let's all break up

Du Wenhao smiled bitterly: "Since the Queen Mother has issued an edict, then I will be the same, I will not see the Queen Mother." ”

"You can see it! As soon as the Queen Mother came out of the customs yesterday, the first sentence was to ask if you had come back. I'm sure I'll be summoned soon! ”

Du Wenhao's heart sank, it was obvious that the six princes also had someone next to the queen mother. Almost simultaneously learned the news. This made Du Wenhao even more vigilant, if this is the case, then he needs to be more careful in his conversation with Sima Guang, it is difficult to ensure that Sima Guang does not have anyone from King Yong in their camp. If you get the conversation out there, you're going to get in trouble.

So Du Wenhao smiled and said: "Maybe the Queen Mother is looking for me, just to see a doctor, the emperor and the Queen Mother died, she should be very sad, and asked me to help her recuperate." ”

"That's it! As long as you can meet the Queen Mother and talk, you will achieve your goal! The queen mother needs someone else to help her make a judgment at this time, and you have saved her life, and you have been mainly working as a royal doctor, and the collusion of Chang Ping and the mention of the prison are also in the place, and there is no obvious stake between the two factions, so she is the most suitable person, so if my brother is right, she will definitely summon you to ask your idea! ”

Du Wenhao smiled dryly: "Hehe, if I have any idea, I will see a doctor, I really don't know anything about this national matter." ”

Sima Guang stared at Du Wenhao and said, "I'll just ask you one thing first: Do you support the Six Princes, or do you assist King Yong, who is trying to usurp the country?"

Du Wenhao hesitated for a moment, and said with a smile that he felt was very honest: "Brother Sima, to be honest, whoever becomes the emperor, the queen mother must have already made a decision, and there will be a conclusion in the near future!" We just have to be patient.

Sima Guang's ebony crutch technique slammed: "Brother, how smart are you and confused for a while!" If the queen mother had an idea, she would not hide in the palace and recite the scriptures for seven days without going out, and she would not have made an order! She has no idea! At this time, if there is no one who understands to wake him up. Once the choice is wrong, then I will be a big song. It's messed up with orthodoxy! It's a big deal. Brother! cough cough cough,

Sima Guang coughed violently again. I almost couldn't breathe.

Du Wenhao hurriedly comforted: "Old man." Don't worry, don't worry, say something slowly! ”

"Slowly? It's too late to talk about it any longer! Sima Guangzhu put on crutches and began to give Du Wenhao a history lesson, counting the cases of the eldest son inheriting the orthodoxy and the fate of those usurpers, he said that he would not collect, but he kept saying for most of the hour, and Du Wenhao's head was almost like a bucket of paste, so he stopped, gasped and asked: "Brother, look at it, the eldest son inherits the unification, which is the orthodoxy of Gangchang ethics, and you can't mess with the patriarchal!" You say, don't you? Brother. ”

Du Wenhao nodded again and again. However, remembering that he had promised King Yong to help him ascend the throne, if he promised Sima Guang to persuade the Queen Mother to let the six princes inherit the throne, once the news leaked to let King Yong know, the result could be imagined. So there is still no statement.

Sima Guang saw that Du Wenhao obviously wanted to stay out of the matter, so he was so anxious that he turned around and said, "Brother." At this time, only you can save the Great Song Kingdom and do a few earth-shattering feats of ghosts and gods, wouldn't it be worthy of heaven and earth,,! ”

As soon as he said this, he heard a knock at the door.

Du Wenhao frowned and shouted, "Come in!" ”

The door creaked open, it was the maid Yingzi, and Fuli said, "Young master!" The Queen Mother's decree has arrived, let you go to the main hall to receive the decree! ”

Du Wenhao and Sima Guang were both shocked, Sima Guang threw his cane, and clenched his fists and said, "Brother! I beg you, a brother today, be sure to take the orthodoxy of the country as a calculation"! ”

The holy decree came, how dare Du Wenhao delay, it was a good opportunity to get out, arched his hands, and hurriedly went out to the front hall.

The one who came to deliver the decree turned out to be Gonggong Jiao, who was wearing filial piety clothes, saw Du Wenhao coming in with a sad face, and said loudly: "The Queen Mother dictated, and the criminal officer Du Wenhao came to see him."

"Command, thank you!"

Du Wenhao got up, bowed down and said, "My father-in-law is working hard, please go inside to have tea?"

"No, the Queen Mother is still waiting, let's enter the palace together

"Yes!"

Du Wenhao swept around, but still didn't see the shadow of Master Shen, at this time, when he needed someone to get an idea the most, but this Zhi Duoxing never came back, he was really anxious.

Du Wenhao also changed into a filial piety suit, followed Gonggong Cao to the door, parked a luxury car, and after the two got into the car, they lowered the curtain. Du Wenhao asked in a low voice: "Gonggong Jiao, how did the Holy Lord and the Empress Dowager die?" ”

"Without warning!" Gonggong Jiao sighed, "Early that morning, the emperor was having dinner, and suddenly stood up, his whole body was **, and then he fell to the ground, and he didn't know what to do." Urgently recruited the doctor for diagnosis and treatment, and when the doctor arrived. The emperor has already swallowed his breath, and he has not even been able to leave the edict, "Are there any symptoms?" ”

"Our family was not present at the time, we were with the Queen Mother, and when we arrived, the emperor was already driving.

At that time, the Empress Dowager was not good, holding her heart and mouth, her whole body was weak and collapsed on the ground. Everyone panicked and carried the Empress Dowager back to the dormitory, the Empress Dowager was already unconscious, and she couldn't even pour the decoction, and in the afternoon, she also followed the immortals, alas."

Du Wenhao asked urgently, "Does the Empress Dowager have any symptoms?"

"Nothing else, just cover your heart and soften your mouth, and then you don't speak, and your breathing is intermittent. By the afternoon it was gone

"Are there any symptoms of vomiting, headaches, irritability?"

Father-in-law Jiao thought for a while: "None of these, anyway, it's like falling asleep, and I didn't even frown." ”

"Did she suddenly faint and lose consciousness, or did she feel dizzy and unconscious, and then she lost consciousness?"

"It was sudden, and it collapsed in one fell swoop

"What was the Queen Mother doing before? Isn't there any discomfort? ”

"Before this, the Queen Mother planted tweed in the flower garden."

"Didn't she eat?"

"No, the Queen Mother takes care of the flowers and plants in the flower garden every morning before having breakfast in the flower garden. It wasn't even a day before we had time to eat. ”

"Didn't you drink anything? Like decoction? ”

"Nope! King Yong and others have repeatedly inquired about the situation of the Empress Dowager before, and there was a group of female eunuchs with the Empress Dowager at that time, and everyone can see clearly that the Empress Dowager was dressed up in the early days. The habit is to look at the flowers and plants first, and then drink tea and eat breakfast, which is in Huaguli, so I didn't even drink tea that day, so I went to the flower garden. ”

Du Wenhao pondered, the evidence of the emperor's death is unknown, but the evidence of the empress dowager is obviously not poisoning, because the ancient poisons are almost all arsenic, and the so-called Heding red is actually a kind of arsenic, and the main symptoms of arsenic poisoning are gastrointestinal, that is, nausea, vomiting, irritability, which is easy to identify. The Empress Dowager's death, as if she was asleep, was completely different from arsenic poisoning, and she hadn't eaten in the morning, so the possibility of poisoning could basically be ruled out.

Could it be that someone poisoned himself with his own hemp* drunken medicine? Du Wenhao quickly ruled out this possibility, at present, his numb* drunken medicine is a decoction, which must be taken orally to anesthetize, and Gonggong Jiao has clearly affirmed that the Empress Dowager did not take the medicine and did not eat anything, not to mention, his numb* drunken medicine is more effective than Western anesthetics, and there is a process of loss of will, and it is impossible to lose consciousness so suddenly.

Judging from what Jiao Gonggong said, the Empress Dowager's symptoms are more like acute sudden death such as myocardial infarction, and it is likely that she saw the emperor die and suffered from great pain, which led to myocardial infarction. Sudden death caused by this cardiovascular disease is difficult to predict in advance under modern medical conditions, and it is generally too late to rescue, even if you are next to you at the time, you are afraid that you can't do anything.

Du Wenhao said: "Didn't the Empress Dowager say anything when she was dying?" ”

"No, but, before that, the Empress Dowager was always talking about you, at that time she always felt uncomfortable, very flustered, our family once persuaded her to make a decree to recruit you back to serve the doctor, but the Empress Dowager said that you had something to do with the White Clothes Society, and there was a matter of leading the army to fight without authorization, which made the emperor very unhappy. I can't get you back at this time, or the officials of the Imperial Observatory won't let you go.

Du Wenhao was sad in his heart, and said: "The Empress Dowager is really kind to me."

"yes!"

Du Wenhao cried silently, and the two were speechless for a while.

The carriage stopped at the heavily guarded gate of the Imperial City. Jiao Gonggong said: "Master Du, there is a saying" I don't know whether to say it or not. ”