Xie Mulin was stunned.

The emperor is not in good health?! How can it be?! How old is he? It's barely just entering middle age. Wasn't it very healthy and mental a few years ago? I haven't heard of any illness in him, why is it so serious all of a sudden?! Besides, even if he has any stubborn illness in his body, with his status and status, there must be a skilled imperial doctor who asks for peace in three days, and any signs of illness will be detected and controlled early, and it is impossible to suddenly become seriously ill to the point of dying soon, right? Could it be a heart attack? Or is it some other terminal illness?!

Xie Mulin lowered his voice and asked Zhu Rui: "Is the emperor forty years old this year?" It's still the prime of life, why is it like this all of a sudden? What exactly is the disease? Didn't you have the slightest sign before?! ”

Zhu Rui shook his head slightly: "I can see that the emperor's spirit is not as good as before, but I can't see that he has any serious illness." If His Royal Highness hadn't told my father and me, I wouldn't have known of such a thing. Next year will be 400,000 years old, and the emperor really can't live long. When he was young, he never lost his body, even when he was serving the first emperor, he survived a period of time, and he never hurt his foundation, God knows how he declined to this point. If it weren't for the emperor's poor physical condition, he might not be in a hurry to save it, and he could have slowly dragged it out for a few years, and when His Royal Highness left the palace to build a mansion, set up a family affair, and entered the court to emerge, so that the courtiers could see their outstandingness, and it was not too late to mention the abolition of the prince. Now...... It's a bit of a rush, indeed. ”

This secret, in addition to the emperor and the four princes, was only known to the emperor's most confidants, such as the two imperial doctors who treated the emperor, and the great eunuchs and female officials who waited for them every day. In addition, not to mention the ministers and queens of the court, the imperial concubines and the princes, even the queen mother and the king of Yan are in the dark! The emperor once instructed the four princes not to divulge this secret. The fourth prince also kept this in mind, and even his biological mother, Qiao Meiren, never revealed it. If it weren't for the young age of the four princes, once they wanted to establish a prince after the abolition of the crown prince, they would definitely not make any mistakes, which would make people picky, and the tacit cooperation of the four princes themselves was very much needed, and the emperor might not even tell this little son.

Now the fourth prince knows that the matter is important, and he doesn't need to do anything, as long as he honestly obeys the arrangement of the imperial father, he can become the new monarch steadily, so he is very low-key on weekdays, and he also persuades Qiao Meiren not to make trouble, under the pretext of recuperation, to avoid right and wrong in the palace, so as not to cause trouble. All the while, he has been very successful. The emperor was also very pleased with him. If it weren't for the "assassination" of Empress Cao, which caused the emperor's arrangement to go wrong, he wouldn't have found an excuse to leave the capital to avoid the limelight.

It's just that now that the four princes were poisoned first, and then there were all kinds of disturbing signs, the four princes felt that they couldn't be silent anymore. The emperor is not around, the queen mother is old, and her health is not good, the younger generation does not dare to disturb easily, and the only thing he can discuss with is the father and son of King Yan. King Yan was originally the emperor's younger brother, even though the two brothers had many conflicts, his loyalty to the emperor has never changed. As for his cousin, Zhu Rui, the king of Yong'an County, is one of the heroes who were rescued after the poisoning of the four princes. The four princes believed that they were credible and had enough strength to help the emperor, so they did not hesitate to pull them to talk secretly and leak the confidential information they had.

And the reason why the fourth prince had to discuss with King Yan and his son was because he discovered a secret that was related to the emperor's current physical condition.

The young imperial physician who discovered that he had been poisoned brought from his hometown in Tianjin the ancient book that recorded the knowledge of various poisons. After the situation of the fourth prince improved, he took the book to read it, it turned out that he just wanted to pass the time, but when he looked at it, he felt that his knowledge had increased greatly. In this ancient book, there is another record of a strange poison of the previous dynasty, which is a chronic poison that can make people die within three years after being poisoned, and basically does not leave traces on the surface of the body. The four princes were curious about the situation of this poison, but after reading the cases recorded in the book, they were suddenly shocked to find that those patients who had been poisoned showed symptoms that were quite similar to those of the emperor. He remembered that he had been poisoned, and he was immediately unsure.

Is the emperor sick normally, or is it a calculating person who has been poisoned?!

The stakes were so important that the four princes did not dare to be specialized, so they had to invite King Yan's father and son to consult together. Zhu Rui followed King Yan and flipped through the ancient book that recorded poisons, but he didn't dare to draw conclusions.

Because the effect of that strange poison is so amazing, on the surface, the poisoned person looks like a normal body is weakened, the oil runs out, and the lamp dies slowly. If it weren't for the fact that the poisoned person had some kind of hidden characteristic that could be used as evidence, the person who wrote the book would not have known that he had been poisoned!

The news of the emperor's dragon's poor health, King Yan and Zhu Rui didn't know anything, only the four princes knew the general symptoms. Without seeing the characteristics of the emperor, who dares to say that the emperor was poisoned and not sick? Of course, such a big event, King Yan did not dare to ignore it. He didn't dare to alarm the Queen Mother, but he had already discussed it with the four princes, and sent a secret letter again, urgently reporting to the emperor, the key is to inform the emperor of the characteristics of the strange poison that will be revealed on the human body, so that the emperor can find out whether he has been poisoned!

King Yan is now eager to fly back to the capital to see the emperor and figure out the answer, but the queen mother and the four princes are in Beiping, and the residual poison in the latter's body has not yet been removed, so he really doesn't dare to act rashly.

Zhu Rui was also shocked by this matter, and no one dared to say it. If it weren't for the fact that his fiancée was one of his most trusted people in the world, he wouldn't have revealed secrets so easily.

Xie Mulin lived up to his trust, and after hearing the shocking news, he quickly had some thoughts: "If the emperor was really poisoned, then who would be the one who poisoned him?" I think...... This matter should have nothing to do with the three princes. ”

Zhu Rui nodded silently.

Of course, this matter has nothing to do with the three princes. The third prince wants to be the prince and become the next emperor, and before he officially establishes the prince, he will definitely not be unfavorable to the emperor. Because at this time, only the emperor is the one he relies on to realize his ambitions. At present, the crown prince has not been deposed, and once the emperor has an accident, the prince can rightfully succeed to the throne. The third prince has already offended the prince and the Cao family so badly, and he doesn't know how he will die when the time comes. He is just stingy and vicious, but he is not stupid, so naturally he will not do such a stupid thing that destroys his future.

The same is true for the second prince, who has already been succeeded, so there is no need to mention it.

The Four Princes are even more unlikely.

In this way, the suspect who is most likely to be poisoned is very obvious. The crown prince may not have this brain, but Empress Cao will never be willing to watch her only son lose his position and fall into the hands of others.

If she planned her assassination at the beginning of the year, and at the same time confessed that her henchmen spread rumors afterwards to ruin the reputation and future of the second prince and the third prince, then she is also likely to confess that her brother took retreat as advance and pretended to show weakness, but in fact, it was to delay time and let the prince stay in the storage seat and wait for the emperor to be poisoned.

At that time, the crown prince will be the unquestioned candidate for the new monarchy. The three princes and the four princes are not qualified to compete with him!