It was midnight when the eldest prince returned to his palace outside the palace. The spring wind was extremely cold at night, and the eldest prince, though he had an extra cloak, shrunk and walked in the darkness with two close retinues. Because he couldn't let anyone find out his whereabouts, he didn't have a palm lamp, and at this time, he could only rely on the lights in front of the doors of the people on the street and the light of the moon to walk forward, and there was a bright galaxy between his heads, which seemed a little lonely at this time.

When they arrived at the gate of the garden, the entourage rhythmically buckled the door four times, and the big red vermilion door opened the small door on the side, and the three people had to turn sideways to enter. As soon as he entered the door, the house slave guarding the door first gave a big salute to the eldest prince and said:

"Your Majesty, Jing Niangniang is here." The eldest prince frowned when he heard this, and asked;

"Where?"

"I'm still waiting for you in His Majesty's study." The eldest prince sighed lowly, waved his hand to let the house slave retreat, and walked straight to the study.

The eldest prince entered the study, reflexively closed the door tightly, and then turned around and walked towards the noble lady sitting on the Taishi chair behind the desk, walked in front of him, lifted his hands and swung forward, knelt down on one leg, and clasped his fists with both hands:

"The second minister visited his mother. Has my mother been okay lately? The eldest prince lowered his head and did not dare to look at the woman in front of him. The woman sat on the Taishi's chair and said coldly:

"The body is fine, but sooner or later you will get sick. Liu Shuheng went to Yangzhou to look for you, and when he came back, he became a corpse, and the Shangshu Zuo Cheng surnamed Li, if he refused to submit to you, why did you take his life! The eldest prince raised his head in response and hurriedly defended:

"Mother, can you know that Shang Shu Zuo Cheng killed Liu Shuheng? Now that my father is in poor health, and seeing that the crown prince is about to succeed to the throne, and the ministers of the court and the central government are divided into several factions, if I still want to win a place in the Zhongli Dynasty, I must be ruthless. Mother ••••••"

"Shuo'er••••••" The woman's face relaxed and she whispered her son's name. The eldest prince said this, becoming more and more excited, and continued:

"Mother, do you remember the humiliation of the past? Because of her father's own uncle Zhong Linan controlled the government, his father was anxious to govern the government, and gave the throne that should have belonged to you to Shangguan Qin, who entered the palace later, if it weren't for her brother Zuo Shenwu General Shangguan Hong holding military power, the queen of the Zhongli Dynasty today is her mother. Although Erchen is the eldest prince, he should be in the position of the crown prince, but now he wants to bow down to others and call others the prince, and Erchen is naturally unwilling. Let's talk about my mother, since my father was in power, I still seem to my mother as before? If it weren't for Erchen's mistake, the number of times my father went to see my mother every year could be counted with one pair of hands, and every time I came, I was in a hurry, if my mother didn't feel it, Erchen looked distressed••••••"

"Enough!" The eldest prince wanted to continue, but was stopped by the woman sitting on the Taishi's chair. The eldest prince was startled, looked up at his mother, the woman's face had anger that could not be concealed, and there was also helplessness in the sore spot of being poked, and there seemed to be tears in her eyes, and she was trapped in the bottom of her eyes. The woman exhaled deeply, calmed her mind, and returned to her old form:

"Okay, Shuo'er, I'll go back first. Tomorrow I will go and greet your father. Remember, I don't want to hear that again. With that, he got up and walked out the door. Only the eldest prince was left to kneel on the ground alone.

The eldest prince's single name is a Shuo character, and Zhong Li's surname is added, which is Zhong Li Shuo. His mother, Concubine Jing, was originally the emperor of this dynasty, Zhongli Xiachen's Jing Zhaoyi. Zhongli Xiachen ascended the throne at a young age, and his father entrusted him to his younger brother Zhong Linan, asking Zhong Linan to assist in the administration of the court. But he didn't want Zhongli Nan to be in charge of power alone, control the government, and make Zhongli Xiachen a real puppet emperor. Ten years have passed in this way, and within ten years, Zhongli Nan has continued to select and send all kinds of women to Zhongli Xiachen's side, in the name of choosing concubines for Zhongli Xiachen, enriching the harem, and extending the heirs, which is actually to install eyes and ears in Zhongli Xiachen. Zhongli Xia Chen naturally understood, but it was not easy to have a seizure, on the surface, he was wet with rain and dew on those women, but he never let them get pregnant, only one Su Lingluo, and in the end it ended miserably.

At that time, Zhongli Xia Chen had no power in his hands, but he also wanted to win over the ministers of the court, and one day he could keep the clouds open and see the moon, and there was no credible person around him, only Jing Zhaoyi, although he was from a low background, he was also the only surviving support in loneliness. So, Zhongli Xiachen promised Jing Zhaoyi to wait for him to be in power, and then made Jing Zhaoyi the queen and his son would be the prince. But I don't want to, a Shangguan Qin will destroy Jing Zhaoyi's dream.

Shangguan Qin is the younger sister of Shangguan Hong, the general of Zuo Shenwu, Zhongli Xia Chen summoned his sister Shangguan Qin into the palace in order to encircle Shangguan Hong and let the soldiers and horses in his hands be used for his own use. When he first entered the palace, he was crowned a noble concubine, and when he gave birth to a child, he was made the queen, and the young son who was still in infancy was also named the prince. Jing Zhaoyi naturally didn't comply, and went to the emperor to plead, but in the end she was accused of not being able to share the emperor's worries, and she was sent to the cold palace.

Three years later, Zhongli Xiachen raised troops against Zhongli Nan, and finally Zhong Li Nan was trapped in the desert wasteland and killed himself with his sword. After the victory, Zhongli Xiachen's class returned to the dynasty and sealed the position of Shangguan Hongyou, the general of Zuo Shenwu, but also cut off his military power. His sister Shangguanqin is the mother of the country, and her son is the future prince. At the time of the national celebration, Jing Zhaoyi was removed from the cold palace and respected as Jing Guifei, and her son was also respected as the eldest prince.

Zhong Lishuo will never forget those days in the cold palace.

The most remote courtyard in the palace, where he and his mother lived. The rice paper on the window was torn, and the wind poured into the house in the cold winter day, and the small charcoal fire in the house seemed to never burn, and he curled up by the fire, watching his mother busy. Although the concubines who entered the cold palace still had monthly money, they were deducted by the eunuchs in the palace, and there was not much that could be reached in their hands, and it was difficult to guarantee food and clothing. So Jing Zhaoyi began to do some needlework and find someone to take it out to buy.

So in Zhong Lishuo's memory, his mother always embroidered endlessly, and there were ridicules from various people in the palace. He deeply remembered that one day his mother's former maidservant gave him a candy man. He was happy and wanted to run back to show his mother, not wanting to be stopped by a few eunuchs on the way, who snatched his sugar man. The eunuchs looked at Zhong Lishuo, who was sitting on the ground crying, and said:

"What's the use of crying. The child that the emperor doesn't love is not as good as his subordinates! ”

Not even the next one! He will never forget this sentence, so when Jing Zhaoyi was removed from the cold palace and he was respected as the eldest prince, the eunuchs who had bullied him were punished by Ling Chi. It was only then that he wanted to win the emperor's affection.

However, even if he was better than the prince in everything, and when he worked harder than the prince, his father only praised him lightly, and more weight was left to the prince. He began to be unhappy, why did he work so hard, and he was still snubbed and looked at him, was it just because his mother's status was low, and he couldn't help his father. He began to hate that he had such a mother. So he went against his mother everywhere. Later, when he grew up, he gradually realized that hating his mother could not change his situation at this time, so he began to learn from his father, first slowly drawing strength, until finally defeating his crown prince and brother like his father defeated Zhong Linan. He wants to be emperor. In that way, no one would dare to despise him and bully him.

Thinking of this, Zhong Lishuo became more and more resentful, and a pair of fists slammed deep into the floor, followed by a dull pain. The pain was sobering, he thought, and slowly stood up. When I turned around, I saw Wen Shumei who had just pushed the door in.

Wen Shumei is the eldest daughter of the Metropolitan Governor Wentai, and has been married to Zhong Lishuo for four years. Zhong Lishuo knew very well that he married Wen Shumei only because her father could help him in the battle for the throne, and he did not have any love for Wen Shumei. What has accumulated under the love of husband and wife for many years is only the family affection of the morning and twilight. However, Wen Shumei is true love for herself, and that thoughtfulness and care cannot be found in other women. Thinking of this, it is inevitable to feel that Wen Shumei is living a little sad, but she herself is happy in this self-inflicted amorous love. Perhaps, for him, no matter who Zhong Lishuo is thinking about, as long as he is still by his side, she is happy.

"Your Highness." Wen Shumei called softly, and her voice was like the touch of a light veil, soft and thin, and it didn't seem to carry any weight.

"The concubine has returned to the palace. Go back to sleep, it's so cold this night, don't freeze to death. She continued.

Zhong Lishuo let out an "um" from his nose and said yes, and walked towards the door. Wen Shumei hurriedly greeted him, grabbed Zhong Lishuo's arm, came out of the door of the study, and walked to the dormitory.

Late at night, Zhong Lishuo lay on the bed, sleepless. He pillowed his arm, thinking of the Oiran named Hatsuchen, and had an inexplicable feeling in his heart.

This time he went to Yangzhou, he was originally going to persuade Master Shangshu Zuo Cheng Li to submit to himself and use it for his own use. Who knows that this surnamed Li is a hard bone, and he keeps saying that he is a courtier of the emperor of the current dynasty, if the emperor dies and the new emperor succeeds to the throne, he is also a courtier of the new emperor. He also advised Zhong Lishuo not to be too anxious for quick success, and to obey the destiny of heaven.

Now the crown prince has enveloped most of the ministers in the court, and even Shangguan Hong, who assisted his father and the emperor back then, is very close to him. Zhong Lishuo felt the pressure heavy, so he secretly sent Taichang Shaoqing Liu Shuheng to pay attention to Shangguan Hong. Presumably, Liu Shuheng found something and was in a hurry to report to Zhong Lishuo, so he rushed all the way to Yangzhou. But when Zhong Lishuo's attention was all on Shangshu Zuocheng Li, when he met Liu Shuheng in Drunken Xianju, he only used gestures to tell him to kill Shangshu Zuocheng, and he wanted to solve Shangshu Zuocheng and then discuss with Liu Shuheng slowly, but he didn't want Liu Shuheng to die in front of the surname Li.

Thinking about it like this, Zhong Lishuo thought at first that Shang Shu Zuo Cheng had killed Liu Shuheng, but now it is a little untenable. Shang Shu Zuo Cheng did not belong to the prince's party, and he did not know about Liu Shuheng's coming to Yangzhou, so he did not have the position of killing Liu Shuheng. Then, there is someone else who killed Liu Shuheng. Who could it be?

Isn't it Shangguan Hong? Liu Shuheng discovered his secret, and he rose up to kill him, and it didn't seem to make sense.

There is also that Oiran Jinse, although she has been famous in Yangzhou for three years, but she has been calling herself sick before Liu Shuheng goes, and Liu Shuheng is just in time for her to recover from her illness when she goes. Is it really such a coincidence? Moreover, her life and death are uncertain after the bloody drunken immortal residence, which always makes people feel a little strange.

These things were so complicated, Zhong Lishuo felt extremely tired, sighed, and woke up Wen Shumei beside him.

"Isn't Your Highness still sleeping?" She asked shallowly. Zhong Lishuo turned over, faced her, reached out and touched her face:

"And I went to sleep."

Then he also fell asleep.

Jin Se stretched out his hand to probe Xuan Ming's snort, he didn't feel anything unusual, and took his pulse again, the longer it was, the deeper Jin Se's brows locked. Minglong on the side looked at Jin Se, who didn't speak, and couldn't help but be a little anxious:

"What poison is in him?" As soon as the words fell, Jin Se let go of Xuan Ming's wrist and turned to go out. Minglong grabbed her, "Hey, ask you!" Why are you going? You haven't said anything poisonous about him! ”

"Confused." Jin Se lightly spit out two words, pulled out the hand that was caught by Minglong, and walked towards his room.

"Misty •••••• ••••••" Minglong recited the poison called "Misty" in his mind, and suddenly his heart was shocked, he screamed, and chased in the direction where Jin Se left.