The emperor woke up the day after his assassination, but he was extremely weak, the traces of the strangled neck had not disappeared, he had difficulty swallowing, he could only eat a little liquid food every day, he could not speak, he was also a little infatuated, and his eyes occasionally flashed, but most of the time he was dull and unfocused. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

One imperial doctor stayed, not allowed to leave the palace for half a step, two eunuchs and two palace maids served the emperor, and were strictly ordered by the queen mother to never reveal the emperor's illness to anyone.

The imperial doctor tried his best to be tactful, but the meaning was very clear, the emperor was not completely out of danger, and the Empress Dowager Cining could not rest assured, and she still had to guard against accidents, so she deliberately made the outside world think that the emperor was dying.

The news brought by Jing Yao disrupted the plan and gained the trust of the Empress Dowager Cining.

Her foundation is still too shallow, her mother's family has just arrived in the capital, she has no way to rely on, and she can't control the minister freely, so she can't fully believe it.

But she desperately needed someone who could use it.

Jing Yao was taken to Cining Palace, where the emperor had been staying, the house was full of the strong smell of medicine, the imperial doctor sat on a chair and yawned, and as soon as he saw someone coming in, he immediately got up and stepped aside.

Empress Dowager Cining walked to the side of the bed, looked at her son, her face was sad, and she immediately tried to squeeze out a smile, "My son, you are going to have a son too, if you can understand my words, make a statement." ”

After waiting for a while, there was a snoring sound from the bed, as if phlegm was stuck in the throat.

Empress Dowager Cining was surprised and delighted, and turned her head to look at the imperial doctor, "Your Majesty can understand my words." ”

The imperial doctor was also taken aback, stepped forward quickly, first asked the Queen Mother to retreat, and then checked again, this pinch, that press, take turns on the two wrists to take the pulse, get up and say to the Queen Mother: "Congratulations to the Queen Mother, Your Majesty's situation has indeed improved, but ......"

"Just what?"

"It's just that the pulse is a little disordered, and Weichen doesn't know why, so it's hard to make a conclusion."

"But will Your Majesty get better?"

"Uh......" The imperial doctor understood that he was answering with his life, and he didn't dare to give a clear answer.

The Empress Dowager Cining was dissatisfied, but she didn't say anything, waved her hand to let the imperial doctor retreat, walked to the bedside, and said softly: "Your Majesty will recover, and there will be children and grandchildren, leaving a legacy for Dachu for all generations." ”

Empress Dowager Cining stood there, looking at the emperor silently, as if she had forgotten that there were other people in the room, and only after a long time did she turn around and signal that Jing Yao could come over.

Jing Yao walked lightly to the side of the bed, knelt down and kowtowed first, and then got up, turned slightly sideways, and looked at the emperor on the bed.

The emperor's face was not very normal, his breathing was like nothing, his eyes were open, he didn't blink or move, he looked a little weird, the imperial doctor didn't dare to say more, Jing Yao naturally didn't open his mouth randomly, and said softly: "Old slave Jing Yao, please meet Your Majesty." ”

Empress Dowager Cining said: "It was Your Majesty who rescued you from your humble position and entrusted you with a heavy responsibility, Jing Yao, are you willing to repay Your Majesty?" ”

Jing Yao immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the emperor and the queen mother successively, "The life of the old slave belongs to His Majesty, as long as he can serve His Majesty, the old slave will die without regrets." ”

"Okay, let the people outside think that the four concubines are pregnant, anyway, the imperial doctor can't identify it, and no one can say that this is false news. Jing Yao, in front of His Majesty, do you say that you can protect these four people, especially Concubine Tong? ”

"Jing Yao swears to the heavens that if he doesn't do his best, he will be willing to suffer a thousand cuts, and if there is an accident, he will never be able to live in hell."

The Queen Mother nodded, "Before Your Majesty recovers, don't reveal Your Majesty's condition, the news of the pregnancy of the four concubines is enough to stabilize the imperial court." ”

"What the Queen Mother said is extremely true." Jing Yao got up slowly.

"How do you plan to protect the four concubines and Your Majesty?"

"Send more guards, patrol day and night, eat and drink, and strictly supervise."

"Can you do these things that you said?"

"The old slave asks for instructions on everything, and he sends orders according to the decree of the Queen Mother, and there is no need for other duties."

The Empress Dowager Cining nodded again, worthy of being an old eunuch in the palace, and every word she said was in line with the master's heart.

The emperor on the bed let out another snoring sound, and the Empress Dowager Cining was a little confused in addition to her surprise, "Your Majesty seems to be saying something to me, Jing Yao, can you understand?" ”

Jing Yao looked at the emperor again, and after a while, he shook his head, "The old slave doesn't understand either. ”

Empress Dowager Cining sighed, "Maybe I should recruit one or two people from His Majesty's side back, how about Zhang Youcai?" He has followed His Majesty the longest and should be trusted. ”

"Zhang Youcai has no problem, but in this way, isn't it equivalent to announcing that His Majesty's condition has improved?"

Empress Dowager Cining thought for a while, "You go and get busy, if you need Yizhi, just look for me." ”

"Yes, Queen Mother." Jing Yao went out, asked a eunuch to prepare food for himself, went to the four concubines' residences to inspect the outside, came back to eat, and immediately drew up several decrees and gave himself several powers, he was very cautious, the scope of all powers was very narrow, and it was temporary, and it was abolished when it expired.

Empress Dowager Cining was suspicious, and the last thing Jing Yao wanted to do was arouse her suspicions.

Jing Yao actually understood what the emperor meant just now, the emperor was looking for someone, although he didn't know who it was, but with a little guidance, he could always guess it, but Jing Yao pretended not to understand anything in front of the Queen Mother, first, he didn't want the Queen Mother to think that he was too smart, and second, he didn't want to summon someone back so soon.

He wants to be the only pet, and he is indispensable.

The Empress Dowager's decree was quickly sent back, re-transcribed by the female official, with few changes, and stamped with the Empress Dowager's seal, at least in the palace without hindrance.

Although he did not resume his position as a central eunuch, Jing Yao returned to the top of power, and before dawn the next day, a group of familiar eunuchs came to visit, Jing Yao was not seen, he lived near Cining Palace, and he must not show signs of self-respect for power, and scolded these people in his heart for being stupid, even if he wanted to please, he should not be so blatant.

The first thing I did when I got up in the morning was to ask the Empress Dowager Cining for peace, report the situation, and ask for a few more edicts, and then go to the concubine's residence to inspect and set a dead rule: guard a team of eleven people, no one is allowed to act alone, even if it is an internal emergency, it must be accompanied by others, and each team of guards is equipped with three eunuchs to supervise each other; The same is true for the palace maids around the concubines, if one person makes a mistake, all of them will be connected; All the tea and rice, from the moment the materials enter the palace, every procedure must be checked.

For Jing Yao, it doesn't matter whether he believes it or not, everyone has to be under supervision to be trustworthy.

On the third pole of the sun, the person who pleases Jingyao is no longer a slave in the palace, but a master.

The three concubines who may be pregnant all gave gifts to Jing Yao through the palace maids, which were not very valuable, just used to show intimacy, and two of them hoped to find a royal doctor to enter the palace to diagnose it, or bring a letter to the family outside, Concubine Deng Yun was the most direct, called Jing Yao in, and said: "When I give birth to the prince, it will be the concubine, Jing Gong will do me a favor and send these two letters, one for my brother in the Western Regions, and one for the family in Jincheng." ”

Jing Yao politely refused, claiming that he did not have this power, and everything was decided by the two queen mothers.

Tong Qing'e, who was really pregnant, didn't say anything, she still felt nervous, feeling that with her own status and status, she should not and could not give birth to the first prince, always thinking that something was wrong, or that she was pregnant with a daughter.

For Concubine Tong, Jing Yao carefully comforted him, and found eunuchs and palace maids who were also "hard-working people" to accompany him, in short, to let Tong Qing'e raise the baby with peace of mind.

During this period, two eunuchs came to find Jing Yao, hinting that there were people outside the palace who wanted to see him, but they were all repulsed, Jing Yao knew who wanted to see him, Han Chou must be in a hurry, but Jing Yao didn't want to find out everything in front of him so quickly, he had to wait, observe, and not make any decisions until the situation was clear.

That afternoon, Jing Yao was summoned by another queen mother.

For the Empress Dowager Shangguan, Jing Yao respected and hated her, respected her for being the most majestic Empress Dowager, hated her for taking her own blame, and was directly demoted to **** by the central supervisor, which made him suffer endless suffering.

But he couldn't help but go, after asking the Empress Dowager Cining and obtaining permission, Jing Yao went to Cishun Palace, a little curious, the Empress Dowager Shangguan had already stopped asking about internal and external affairs, why did she want to see an old eunuch who had just returned to the palace?

The Empress Dowager Shangguan sat down, the palace maid offered tea, and then retreated, Jing Yao sat sideways with the teacup in his hand, his eyes lowered, and he couldn't help but be a little afraid of the Empress Dowager who had given up her power.

The Empress Dowager Shangguan didn't want to say more, so she said "drink tea", and after watching Jing Yao take a sip, she asked, "Is there anyone still alive in the Shangguan family?" ”

Jing Yao was shocked, and the teacup in his hand almost fell to the ground, "Queen Mother's ......",

The Empress Dowager Shangguan smiled slightly, "You went to the East China Sea Kingdom, but you didn't have any credit for the Wang family's arrival in Beijing, obviously not to investigate the truth of the Wang family, but to have other plans, I guess it is related to the Shangguan family, right?" ”

Jing Yao was even more surprised, and reluctantly smiled: "It's not a secret, the old slave is investigating the Yan family, Your Majesty suspects ......"

Empress Dowager Shangguan shook her head, "Jing Yao, you think that your position in front of Cining is already very solid, but I can beat you back to your original form with a word, do you believe it?" ”

Jing Yao's face changed, thinking that when the emperor was still a puppet and the Empress Dowager Cining was still a beauty, Jing Yao was ordered by the Empress Dowager to secretly do some things, once exposed, he would have to go to prison if he didn't die.

After all the calculations, he still couldn't fight the Empress Dowager Shangguan, so he had to reply: "The old slave did investigate the Empress Dowager's family, but the person who asked the old slave to do this was not the Empress Dowager Cining, nor His Majesty, but Mrs. Pingenhou." ”

The Empress Dowager Shangguan frowned, and then said with a smile: "People from the Cui family, she wants to separate me from the Empress Dowager Cining, what about the results of your investigation?" ”

"The Queen Mother has a nephew named Shangguan Ding."

"Hmm."

The old slave found a personal entourage of Shangguan Ding in the East China Sea Kingdom, and he said...... He said that the Shangguan family had received an order from the Queen Mother to help Yishi Island, but there was no evidence, Shangguan Ding did not know his whereabouts, and there was no way to prove it, so the old slave did not take it seriously and never mentioned it to anyone. ”

"It's not impossible, Shangguan Sheng was once in charge of my seal, and he is familiar with my handwriting, so it is extremely convenient to forge a letter."

"When the Queen Mother said this, the old slave's heart suddenly brightened." Jing Yao said immediately, not thinking that Shangguan Sheng would have the courage to do so at the beginning.

The Empress Dowager Shangguan no longer talked about her own affairs, "There is a female guard next to the emperor, named Meng E, do you recognize it?" ”

Jing Yao nodded, "It is said that she killed a very suspicious female luthier, which made the assassination case even more confusing, and now she is also detained in Cui's mansion." ”

"Well, you have to find a way to get her back to the palace, to live."

Jing Yao looked up at the Queen Mother in surprise, faintly uneasy, afraid that he would be involved in the conspiracy again. (To be continued.) )