When Xiao Rui said this, he stopped and took a breath. Xie Mulin handed him a warm cup of tea and asked him to moisten his throat.

Xie Jinzhi first opened his mouth and put forward his thoughts: "In this way, Lin Zhaoyi is probably really provoked and calculated by Concubine Xiao, so she will run to assassinate the queen." The Cao and Lin families have been feuding for many years, and the Lin family is now in a miserable situation, at least half of it is because the Cao family has fallen into a well, and Lin Zhaoyi must have hated Queen Cao to the extreme in her heart. Since she was already delirious and half-crazy, I was afraid that she couldn't tell how serious the consequences of what she had done. She killed Empress Cao, not only to bury her own life, but also to ruin the future of the second prince.

"As for Concubine Xiao and the three princes born to her, it is indeed more likely to clear the way for Lin Zhaoyi's assassination in the palace. Xiao Mingde, the general of the Pillar State, once served as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, although he has long since stepped down, there are still many people in the Praetorian Guard who were brought out by him, and they have a bit of incense with him. In contrast, the second prince has only befriended a few Janissaries in the wall, and now he has long lost power, how can he do this? He didn't have to do that. Lin Zhaoyi is his biological mother in the end, and Queen Cao's death will not help him in his current situation, so why should he lose his biological mother's life? ”

Xie Xianzhi's face turned pale and said, "But why did Concubine Xiao and the third prince do this?" The second prince will soon leave the succession clan, and he has long lost the qualification to compete for the throne. The prince has lost his holy favor again, and sooner or later he will be deposed. The Cao family is now gone, but they are just praying for the emperor's mercy, remembering their former merits, and taking it lightly. Regardless of whether the three princes are favored or not, and whether they are expected to compete for the storage position, there is no need to kill the two brothers who have long been out of fashion, right?! Not to mention...... Lin Zhaoyi assassinated the queen, although she and the second prince ruined their future, but the crown prince ...... If you lose the queen's protection, you won't necessarily shake the storage position, right? What are Xiao Guifei and the Third Prince for?! ”

Xie Yinghui bit her lip, also pale. She had an idea, but looking at the people in the room, she hesitated for a moment and didn't dare to say it.

Xie Mulin asked Xiao Rui: "How did these news come out?" At the beginning, it was Lin Zhaoyi who killed Queen Cao, and the second prince assisted from the side. Later, the news came out that Xiao Guifei sowed discord, and there may be a shadow of her mother's Xiao family. You have been in the Xiao family for many years, do you think ...... Is this possible? General Xiao has always been loyal to the emperor, he won't do this, right? Do Lady Xiao and Grand Prince Xiao have the ability to control the people of the Praetorian Guard to follow orders? And, whether they do it or not, who is the news coming from? ”

Xiao Rui sighed and shook Xie Mulin's hand, causing Xie Pu and Xie Jinzhi to look over at the same time, and then stared at the former seriously.

Xiao Rui didn't seem to notice the eyes of his future father-in-law and second uncle, and replied with a heavy heart: "I'm also paying attention to this matter." From my side, it is impossible for General Xiao to mobilize the Praetorian Guards without authorization. He never supported Concubine Xiao and the three princes to make waves in the palace. Take 10,000 steps back and say, if General Xiao feels that the throne of the third prince is promising, and he has no intention of blocking it, then he will never take action personally and do anything against the holy will. concealed from the emperor and connived at Concubine Xiao Guifei to provoke Lin Zhaoyi and attack Empress Cao...... This is absolutely not in line with his behavior!

"If the emperor wants to deal with Empress Cao, he will definitely use a reason that no one can find fault, or to investigate her guilt and cancel it, or wait for the queen to die of serious illness, or even let the queen 'commit suicide in fear of crime'. But he would never want Empress Cao to be assassinated by the palace concubine. This not only did not help the emperor's good name, but also put his disposal of the Cao family in a difficult situation! General Xiao is loyal to the emperor, how can he embarrass the emperor? ”

Xie Mulin raised his eyebrows: "Will Empress Cao's death affect the emperor's treatment of the Cao family?" What about the prince of the East Palace? ”

Xiao Rui told her: "Empress Cao saw the emperor for the last time before she died and left her last words. She said that when she was about to die, she recalled this life and the teachings of her late father Cheng Engong, and realized that she and her brother had embarked on a crooked path, only coveting the wealth and glory that their relatives could bring, but forgetting the glory of the Cao family's generations of honorable generals. She asked the emperor to remove the Cao family from their official positions, and not to give the Cao family more rights except for a title that represented the identity of a relative. The Cao family, who has no reliance, can remember the ancestral teachings, concentrate on martial arts like their ancestors again, study the art of war hard, gain a foothold in the army, and revitalize the lintel, instead of the whole family thinking about how to be a relative again and compete for power and profit in the DPRK and China......"

Empress Cao even pleaded guilty to the emperor for the words and deeds of her son Prince Donggong, saying that her mother did not teach her son well, spoiled people, and spoiled her into a mediocre appearance that does not distinguish between severity, does not know filial piety, and is obsessed with beauty. Such a prince, even if he can succeed to the throne in the future, will not do the country and society any good, but may become a faint monarch who will bring disaster to the country and the people, and will eventually be overthrown and will not die a good death. As a mother, she can't bear to see her son end up so miserable, so she hopes that the emperor can directly abolish the prince's throne and change the title of an idle prince, so that he can be a rich and idler for the rest of his life, and never touch power.

Empress Cao also mentioned Wang Meiru. She thinks that this woman has bad intentions and hatred for both the Cao family and the prince, and she never really entered the palace to serve the prince. Continuing to keep her by the prince's side will only make the prince make more mistakes. Therefore, even if Wang Meiru is pregnant and will soon give birth to the eldest son or eldest daughter of the crown prince, Empress Cao does not want to tolerate it. She asked the emperor to intervene and immediately put Wang Meiru to death. If the emperor is unwilling, she can also send her own henchmen to do such things. The prince will not lack women in the future anyway, and sooner or later he will have other heirs, but if Wang Meiru is allowed to leave his bloodline, it may be a bane in the future.

Empress Cao said a lot of words, but in the end she couldn't support it and died of anger. The emperor did not immediately allow her henchmen to go to the East Palace to execute Wang Meiru, but only locked people in the Kunning Palace, lest anyone take the opportunity to pass on the news.

However, from the last words of Empress Cao from the palace, it can be seen that she used her death to intercede for the crown prince and the Cao family before she died. As an "innocent" assassination of the queen of the middle palace by the palace concubine, there is no obvious bad deeds on the surface, and it is difficult to find a reason to be abolished. Now after her death, if the emperor wants to kill the Cao family on a certain charge, it will be very unkind. The emperor now attaches more importance to his own reputation, especially the name behind him. Therefore, Empress Cao left these last words and died, showing great humility, generosity, and wisdom, but made him unable to dispose of the Cao family according to the original plan.

After Xie Mulin figured out the truth of this, he had an idea in his heart.

Xie Yinghui took the first step to express the question in her heart for her: "Isn't Empress Cao really making a bitter trick?" ”