Chapter 5: Horror

When only the mother and son were left, Qian Hongzuo hesitated for a moment, then sat up and hugged his mother, put his head on his mother's shoulder, and choked up: "Queen Mother, it was really dangerous just now, that assassin was ambushed on the beam of the Washing Heart Hall, if it wasn't for Shi Liang who saved me, I'm afraid I won't see you again." Tears welled up in her eyes.

Empress Dowager Xu hugged Qian Hongzuo's back and comforted: "Don't be afraid, my mother will definitely strengthen the palace guards and never let this happen again." The Holy Benevolence is natural, and the Bodhisattva will definitely bless you! ”

Qian Hongzuo was still crying, and the Empress Dowager Xu didn't speak again, but just hugged Qian Hongzuo tightly and patted it gently. Although Qian Hongzuo is quite dignified in front of people, he is only a teenager after all, and the death just now really frightened him. Empress Dowager Xu listened to her son's cry, her heart was like a knife, but she still endured her grief and tried her best to comfort Qian Hongzuo. In his mother's gentle embrace, Qian Hongzuo gradually stopped crying. Empress Dowager Xu gently put Qian Hongzuo's head on the pillow and said to him softly: "Baby child, you can sleep for a while, my mother will always guard you." ”

Qian Hongzuo closed his eyes as he said, but there were tears in the corners of his eyes, and Empress Dowager Xu took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped it for him.

When Qian Hongzuo woke up again, the candle shadow was already shaking in the room, and Empress Dowager Xu was half-leaning on the side of his bed as if she was contemplative, her face full of melancholy. Outside the veil, there were several palace maids who knew martial arts sitting on the vigil, and they all had swords by their sides.

When Empress Dowager Xu saw Qian Hongzuo wake up, she hurriedly lowered her head and looked down at him, half happy and half concerned: "Holy Lord, you are awake." What's wrong with you? ”

Qian Hongzuo looked at the candlelight around him and asked, "Has the child been asleep for a long time?" ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "The saint slept for nearly two hours. Then he said, "It's getting late, so it's better for the saint to continue to sleep peacefully." ”

According to the rules of the palace, Qian Hongzuo couldn't sleep with his mother for a long time, so he reluctantly got up and said, "Queen Mother, there will be an early dynasty tomorrow, and you should rest." I'm fine, I'm back in my bedroom, I'm just afraid of disturbing the queen mother. ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "The child will sleep here tonight." ”

Qian Hongzuo's face flushed slightly, but he immediately nodded yes.

Empress Dowager Xu asked: "You are injured, will you still be in the morning tomorrow?" "Qian Hongzuo's advent to the court was actually to sit beside the Empress Dowager Xu without saying a word, listening to his mother and ministers discuss politics.

Qian Hongzuo was stunned for a moment, and then said, "I listen to the arrangement of the queen mother." ”

Empress Dowager Xu gently combed Qian Hongzuo's hanging hair and said: "Your father once became famous in a battle for burning 400 enemy ships, and he was seriously injured at that time, but he did not flinch. ～～～”

Qian Hongzuo didn't wait for his mother's words to finish, and said: "Queen Mother, please rest assured, a little assassin attempted assassination, is the child still afraid?" I'll go to court tomorrow as usual. ”

Empress Dowager Xu nodded approvingly.

As soon as the assassin was mentioned, Qian Hongzuo immediately thought of the beautiful boy who saved him, and hurriedly asked, "The Shi Liang who saved me, how is his injury?" ”

Empress Dowager Xu was only worried about Qian Hongzuo, and did not ask about the injury of the rescuer, so she said: "Before the mourning family left the Xixin Hall, I instructed the royal doctor to treat him, if you are anxious to know his injury, the mourning family will send someone to ask." ”

The palace maid who was sent out for questioning did not come back for a long time, and Qian Hongzuo waited in horror, lest "Shi Liang" be seriously injured and already die, and the more he waited, the more anxious he became.

The palace maid who was finally sent out re-entered the room and replied: "The Empress Dowager Qi, the Holy Saint, the injured slaves and maids of the four taels have not inquired about it. ”

Qian Hongzuo said angrily: "You have been here for a long time, will you reply with this sentence?" ”

The palace maid bowed her head and said, "The slave maid was afraid that she wouldn't understand, so she invited the royal doctor to come over, and the chief steward of the inner court, Lord Shang, also came." ”

Qian Hongzuo said impatiently: "Let them in." ”

Because it was late, the queen mother's bedroom was not allowed to enter without the queen mother's summons, although Qian Hongzuo gave an order, but the palace maid still glanced at the queen mother Xu and did not respond.

Empress Dowager Xu saw that Qian Hongzuo was quite anxious, so she said, "Let them come in and talk back." ”

The chief merchant was in front, and the imperial physician Wang was behind, and walked in quickly, and before Qian Hongzuo could ask, the chief merchant hurriedly said a lot of words to greet the injury. Although Qian Hongzuo was anxious, because the head of Shang had a good identity, he still waited for him to finish speaking, and then asked Imperial Doctor Wang: "The Shi Liang who saved me in Xixin Hall today, how is his current injury?" ”

Before Imperial Doctor Wang could answer, the chief merchant preemptively said, "It's nothing, I've already sent someone to send him back to Fangli Villa." ”

Qian Hongzuo was stunned and said: "His wound is so deep, he has shed so much blood, life and death are on the line!" The imitation pear villa is on the middle of the mountain, far away from the palace, the carriages and horses are bumpy, even if the wound that stops bleeding will be reopened, why are you so careless about people's lives? ”

The chief merchant was taken by Qian Hongzuo's anger, and snorted: "Holy Lord, according to the rules of the palace, people who are not in the palace cannot spend the night in the palace. Although that kid is young and his master is disabled, he is a man after all. ”

Qian Hongzuo shouted angrily: "Okay! You can say that again. There are so many rules in the palace, why was the assassin able to enter the Washing Heart Hall to assassinate the Lone King? As the head of the inner court, how do you set up your guards? If it weren't for Shi Liang accompanying his master into the palace by chance and playing the piano music while I was bathing, the lonely king would have been corpse in the heart hall. The assassin chose a moment when the lone king's defense was the weakest, and chose a place that was most conducive to assassination, and the palace raised many of you, and when it came to life and death, the lone king relied on a person who came in by chance to pick up a life. Chief Shang, tell King Gu, which dynasty and generation of palace rules are this? ”

The chief merchant was dumbfounded, unable to answer, and froze on the ground.

Qian Hongzuo turned back to the Empress Dowager Xu and said: "Queen Mother, Shi Liang, who saved me, was not injured by the assassin, but was cut by the palace guards, a person who lost a lot of blood and was unconscious, can he hurt the concubines in the palace?" I guess now that he has lost his life, even if he is not dead, then there is no medical treatment in the imitation pear villa, how to treat it? How much pain did it take to rush back to the villa after being seriously injured? Is this what happened to him to save the orphan king? ”

Empress Dowager Xu frowned deeply and did not speak. She could see that Qian Hongzuo, who had always been restrained, was extremely angry.

The chief merchant knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and said, "It's the slave who didn't think well, please punish the saint and the queen mother." On weekdays, because the slave is in charge of the palace rules, so ~~ I don't dare to violate it slightly, so as not to be honest. ”

Qian Hongzuo glared at the head of Shang and waited for his mother's ruling, after all, he was not pro-government and rarely made his own decisions.

Empress Dowager Xu pondered for a while, and then said: "Imperial Doctor Wang, you take the medicine overnight, and then bring the escort of the imperial hospital who knows how to take care of the wounded, rush to the imitation pear villa, and do your best to treat the injured, until he is in good health, you can not return." If there is another mistake, the mourner will never forgive! ”

The royal physician Nuo Nuo said yes and left in a hurry.

Empress Dowager Xu didn't let the chief merchant who was kneeling on the ground get up, and knelt for a long time, and the chief merchant didn't know if the queen mother would condemn him, and cold sweat was dripping on his forehead.

Empress Dowager Xu called: "Chief Merchant." ”

The chief merchant responded: "The slave is here." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "The mourning family knows that you have followed the previous king for many years and are a loyal protector. The mourners have always trusted you. ”

The general manager hurriedly said respectfully; "Queen Mother Shengming."

Empress Dowager Xu turned to say: "But the assassination of the Holy Lord has a lot to do with the negligence of guarding. On an errand in the palace, how can you be so careless when you are in danger of being a saint? ”

The head of the merchant kowtowed again: "The slave must strengthen the guard to ensure that nothing goes wrong." ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "The mourning family ordered you to detain Mu Quanan and others who were on duty in the Xixin Hall today, and Wu Dezhang, who was waiting for the emperor to go to the Xixin Hall to bathe, and all the guards to the inner court prison, how did you do it?" ”

Mr. Shang: "All of them have been detained. ”

Empress Dowager Xu softened her breath and said, "You get up." ”

The general manager stood up, a little dejected.

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Chief Shang, the first king chose you to be the head of the inner court because he believed that you could deal with the crisis. His painstaking efforts, I hope you can understand. ”

Mr. Shang said: "The Queen Mother, please rest assured, the slave must be smeared with liver and brains, and after death, in order to repay the king's kindness." ”

Qian Hongzuo wanted to blame him again, but Empress Dowager Xu stopped him with her eyes and said to the general merchant: "The mourning family wants to interrogate the person who was arrested today overnight, you should go to the inner court to prepare for the prison quickly." ”

After the chief merchant retreated, the Empress Dowager Xu said to Qian Hongzuo: "The chief merchant once followed your father from birth to death on the battlefield. Now that he is in a position of great power, the inner court is the elbow and armpit, and his loyalty is of paramount importance, even if he is at fault, he cannot be blamed. ”

Qian Hongzuo was also anxious, and he lost his temper for a while, and replied: "The child wrote it down." ”

Empress Dowager Xu asked in detail about the process of Qian Hongzuo's assassination, and then said: "The mourning family will immediately go to the inner court prison for arraignment, and the holy lord is here to rest." ”

Qian Hongzuo said worriedly: "Queen Mother, the assassin has been hacked to death by the guards, can you still find out the truth?" ”

Empress Dowager Xu said: "Do your best in everything." As the Holy Lord said, the assassin chose a time when your defense was weakest, and chose a place that was most conducive to assassination, and there was no internal response, how could you do it? I will do my best to find out the truth and keep the peace of the Inner Court. Holy Lord, rest first. ”

Qian Hongzuo was not seriously injured, and said, "Queen Mother, I'll go with you." ”

Empress Dowager Xu shook her head and said, "For the rest of your life after today's catastrophe, your body and mind will be shaken, and you can't work anymore." Then he turned his head to the palace maid with a knife who was keeping vigil and said, "You have to wake up the spirit of the twelve points tonight and protect the saint, you know?" ”

The palace maids of the night vigil should have said in unison, and the Empress Dowager Xu did not look at Qian Hongzuo again, and hurried away.