Two days later.

The sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

Afternoon.

Dawei Imperial Palace, Spring Warm Pavilion.

A stick of sandalwood faintly exuded a fragrance, although it was noon, the doors and windows of the pavilion were closed, and the candlesticks were lit with lights.

Empress Sikong Wenlan and Prime Minister Sikong Man sat opposite each other.

"Lan'er, what's the matter with you calling your father so urgently?"

"Father, this is the reply from Dajingguo that my daughter just received, this letter is very strange, do you think, do you want to convene the ministers to discuss?"

The queen took out a note and put it on the table, but Sikong Man didn't look at it.

"What is written, is there any possibility of recovering the former sixteen states?"

"No, Dajing is very arrogant, not only did they refuse, but they also demanded a price, asking us to prepare a tribute to Youzhou immediately!"

Sikong Man snorted angrily.

"Let's talk about this matter tomorrow, even if we want to pay tribute, we will wait until the messenger comes."

The queen shook her head and said, "Father, after reading this letter, let's talk about it." ”

Sikong Man picked up the note, he read it twice, and his face suddenly changed.

"There is a code word on this letter, and the person who wrote the letter said that Dajing is about to send troops to fight, let us prepare for war immediately!"

"Not bad."

"Who wrote this letter?"

"My daughter doesn't know."

"Do we have any hidden piles in Dajing?"

"As far as my daughter knows, there shouldn't be."

Sikong Man pondered for a moment and said: "This character is very well written, definitely not written by ordinary people, do you think it is possible that His Royal Highness King Sui, he is now on the prairie?" ”

"How is this possible, could it be that he was arrested by Wan Yan A Shilan and deliberately wrote this letter to us?"

Sikong Man nodded and said, "I know about this matter, you must suppress it, and you can't let other ministers know, well, you can't let anyone know!" ”

The queen sighed, a little strange.

"Why don't you let people know, what if it's really a warning from His Royal Highness?"

"If it's true, then there is only one possibility, that is, King Sui resents that someone stabbed him in the back, and now he has surrendered Dajing and wants to blackmail us!"

"Father, are you saying that it was the idea of King Sui that Dajing asked us to pay tribute, so why did he hide a warning message?"

"This is unknown, but at the moment, it is impossible for the Great Capital Kingdom to use troops against us, he wants to disrupt the situation, so this letter cannot be known, especially before General Zhao brings back with the army!"

Speaking of Zhao Huawen, the queen was a little angry.

"This Zhao Huawen is doing things like mud and water, obviously he is less than 100 miles away from Beijing today, but he can't come until tomorrow!"

"General Zhao specially sent someone to tell my father about this matter, well, it's not bad to be cautious, after all, the army is open, but my family has been closely monitored, and I am not afraid that he will dare to do something!"

"Yes, my father is thoughtful, I heard that Lin Chengyong is still ready to move in the past few days, he led the Praetorian Guard cavalry to arrest the gangster sect in Gale City two days ago, and I heard that he also caught the killer who assassinated the emperor."

"Yes, he and Prince Dongping are hiding this matter from the old man, and they must be famous, but Daddy doesn't dare to preemptively strike now, so it is the key for General Zhao to return to Beijing with the army tomorrow!"

"Father, I have a little worry in my heart, will that Zhao Huawen deliberately wait for chaos in the capital to bring troops?"

"Probably not, the army will go back and forth, and the morale of the army will be weakened, I think this letter from Dajing Guo needs to be pondered more."

"Pondering what?"

"This letter is really written by His Royal Highness King Sui, so his scheming is also quite profound!"

"What's his scheming?"

"What else could there be, have you forgotten about the corpse coffin of the soldier?"

Queen Huo Di was shocked, Wu Yuan is Wu Zixu, she knows this allusion, Wu Zixu's father and brother were killed, and he was chased and killed by the Chu State, he fled to the Wu State, endured humiliation and burdened for 16 years, and finally waited for the opportunity to lead the troops to break the Chu army and whip the corpse of King Chuping.

"He, he wants to borrow the army of the Great Capital Kingdom to seize the heir?"

Sikong Man nodded.

"What do you think, His Royal Highness King Sui has lived in seclusion all these years, is it too low-key? Don't forget, he is the nephew of the old general Wei Xingwei, Concubine Ren was forced to death by the Queen Mother, he can't be indifferent, this time, maybe we are letting the tiger go back to the mountain! ”

"Okay, my daughter knows, I will immediately write a reply to Dajingguo, telling Wan Yan that there is a code in this letter, let him verify, don't be deceived by the villains around him, and talk about the matter of the New Year's tribute, and wait for the envoy to discuss it after he arrives in Beijing."

Sikong Man nodded.

"Father, you have to do something for me!"

"What?"

"You wrote a letter to Tang Jingcai, the old general Wei is old, I don't know how his health is, I want him to take good care of it!"

This was full of murderous intentions, Sikong Man nodded, he understood the meaning of the queen's words, if Zhaoju really dared to betray Dawei, then he had to eradicate the possible backers behind him, Zhaoju never imagined that the warning signal sent by him risking his life would become evidence against himself.

"Okay, this daddy knows, by the way, how is the emperor's body in the past few days?"

The queen frowned.

"The imperial doctor said that His Majesty has improved slightly, he can drink two meals of porridge a day, and he can sit up in a daze, but he doesn't understand or say anything you ask him."

"You have to go to see him often, no matter what, Your Majesty can't fall now, if it falls, you must immediately determine the successor!"

"Yes, my daughter knows, now the palace is waiting for General Zhao to return to Beijing, and if he wants to abolish the prince and others, Lin Chengyong must comply!"

"It's inevitable, and now it's just a showdown."

"Daddy, has the mysterious woman who assassinated King Shin been caught?"

"Not yet, this killer is so weird that people can't do it."

The queen's eyebrows tightened.

"This woman actually knows Zhou Shanggong, and she is also a little familiar with the situation in the palace, and she is a dangerous person."

"Do you have a suspicion?"

"Yes, that's Concubine Yuan, I can't think of anyone else except her!"

"Then imprison her!"

"No, this woman has a very dangerous atmosphere, what hole cards and means she has is not yet known, so if her daughter doesn't make a move, once she makes a move, she will be put to death, for the sake of prudence, Concubine Yuan will wait and see what happens, and wait for General Zhao to come back, and then start together!"

"It's okay, when the overall situation is decided, Concubine Yuan has a trick here, and she can't use it!"

"Dad, is the hidden power you said going to be used tomorrow?"

"Yes, to deal with Zhao Huawen, Daddy found the most suitable person, he doesn't belong to any force in the capital!"

"Oh, who is it?"

Sikong Man whispered a name in the queen's ear, and the queen looked surprised.

"He, can he?"

Sikong Man nodded, the queen looked solemn, she got up and came to the window, there was a vast sky outside the window, and the sky was getting dark.

At this moment, in one of the dormitories of the Manna Temple, there were also people who pushed open the windows.

It's a woman.

This woman is about forty, and she originally had a very delicate melon seed face, but she did not apply powder on her face, and the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes were visible, which made people can't help but feel that the years have passed and the youth is not there. This woman is none other than the concubine of the palace master of Qihua Palace.

There was a creak behind him, and someone walked in.

"Lord Palace!"

Concubine Yuan's voice carried serious anxiety.

"Is there any news of the Red Envoy?"

"Still not."

Concubine Yuan turned around and saw Ling Shangyu holding a brocade box in his hand.

"What is this?"

"This is something that someone sent to the pharmacy this morning, and there is a seal on it, as if it is medicine."

"What kind of seal, didn't you open it, it was sent in the morning, why did it arrive so late, you see, it's getting dark!"

"Yes, there are three words written on the seal, Ascension Immortal Pill, so no one dares to read it!"

Concubine Yuan sighed.

"Ascension Pill?"

"Yes, the palace is closely checked, and there are queen's eyeliner and secret agents everywhere, which were personally sent by the head of Chunlei."

"Okay, you can open it now."

"Yes—"

Ling Shangyu took the brocade box, tore open the seal and opened the lid.

As soon as the lid of the box was opened, Concubine Yuan's expression changed slightly.

There is a letter in this brocade box.

"This, this is sent by Simon's people?"

"I don't know, the other party didn't say his identity, only said four words - give it to the palace master!"

Concubine Yuan's eyes flashed fiercely.

"She said to give it to the palace master?"

"Maybe it's the princess, maybe it's the palace master."

Ling Shangyu replied cautiously.