The next day, before it was dark, the people got up and set out.

The thin cold mountains spread all the way forward with the boundless wilderness, Zhang Lihu and Zhang Li looked at the scenery in front of them that was completely different from Liaodong, and they were very excited, and the deepest impression was that the official road was getting wider and smoother, which was many times better than the sheep intestine trail in Liaodong, and the carriage walked fast and steadily on it.

Sure enough, it's the capital!

When they passed through the shops, cars and horses coming and going to the market, Zhang Lihu and his wife sighed even more.

It is worthy of being at the foot of the Son of Heaven, and the people are abundant and prosperous.

From a distance, I saw the ten-mile long pavilion, and the dignified officials dressed in court clothes lined up in a neat line, looking over this side incessantly, obviously to greet the holy driver.

Jiang Yi, who was at the forefront of the team, saw this and turned around to Emperor Yuanjia's Luan, and reported in a low voice: "Qi Qi Sheng, the courtiers will take over in the Ten Mile Long Pavilion." Among them, there seems to be His Royal Highness the King of Qi. ”

Emperor Yuanjia didn't care, after all, when the emperor returned from his tour, it was customary for the cabinet to lead his ministers to greet him, but what he didn't expect was that Liu Min, the king of Qi, also came.

Why, can't wait to see him "seriously injured" and hurry to replace him?

Emperor Yuan Jia sneered, sat up straight, and said solemnly: "Got it." Continue as planned. ”

"Yes." Jiang Yi received the order and rode forward.

Zhao Guifei on the side asked worriedly: "Isn't King Qi in collusion with Wara?" How can you still come to meet you? ”

Knowing the traitor who collaborated with the enemy and treason, Emperor Yuan Jia, in order to avoid Zhao Guifei's worry, has always reported good news but not bad news. Therefore, Zhao Guifei did not know about Empress Dowager Zhao's protection of King Qi.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Emperor Yuan Jia's voice was gentle, but his eyebrows and eyes were full of coldness.

Relying on the support of the Empress Dowager Zhao, King Qi not only temporarily restrained himself because of the affair with Wara, but intended to take advantage of his injury and illness to shout in front of him in front of hundreds of civil and military officials, in a vain attempt to replace him.

In this case, if you don't "repay" him well, how can you be worthy of the kindness he took the initiative to send to the door!

Zhao Guifei was uneasy, but she was unwilling to show her deeds to make Emperor Yuanjia even more annoyed, which was useless to his body, so she had to smile and nod her head in agreement, and waited silently on the side, ready to sacrifice her life to protect Emperor Yuanjia at any time.

The team kept moving forward, and soon arrived at the Ten Mile Long Pavilion.

Sun Changyu, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Liu Min, the king of Qi, hurriedly led the officials around Jing Zhaoyin to step forward to take over: "The ministers welcome Your Majesty's holy drive, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" ”

A palace man had already stepped forward and lifted the curtain to help Emperor Yuan Jia get out of the carriage.

Who knew that Emperor Yuanjia stood proudly on the carriage, pointed at Liu Min, the king of Qi, and shouted angrily: "Come on, tie up this thing that collaborates with the enemy and treason and intends to kill the king!" ”

Everyone was stunned by this sudden change, and King Qi didn't even have time to resist, he was personally detained by Jiang Yi, and surrounded by a few guards of the Son of Heaven with cold faces like killing gods, firmly guarded, so that he could not escape.

As for Sun Changyu and other ministers who knelt on the ground next to him to greet the holy driver, they suddenly came back to their senses at this time, and hurriedly asked, "What does the Holy Lord mean by this?" Why are His Royal Highnesses being detained? ”

The news that Emperor Yuan Jia is seriously ill and difficult to recover has long been transmitted back to the capital by those who have a heart, and now Liu Min, the king of Qi, is the first heir to the throne after Emperor Yuan Jia's death, and there can be no more accidents.

And King Qi pretended to be stupid on the side, shouting injustice: "Holy Lord, what mistake did your brother make, and you want people to detain me?" ”

Xiao Wangzhi in the carriage was startled by the movement outside, and hurriedly raised the curtain to look out, and as soon as he put his hand on the window, he heard Han Yan whispering outside the window: "Don't make a sound, and wait." ”

Shu Yu, who was riding with him, hurriedly grabbed Xiao Wangzhi and shook his head at him.

Han Yan told her that Liu Yan, the king of Qi, escaped by relying on the protection of the Empress Dowager Zhao, but how could Emperor Yuan Jia let go of the enemy who was in contact with foreign countries and intended to assassinate him in his place.

The reason why Empress Dowager Zhao sheltered King Qi was because Emperor Yuan Jia was seriously ill and difficult to recover.

After all, King Su and Emperor Xian are brothers, and if Emperor Yuanjia, who has no children under his knees, unfortunately dies, Liu Yan, the son of King Su, will be the first heir in line.

It's okay to let Emperor Yuanjia clean up the king of Qi Liu Yan first, and save Xiao Wangzhi from having to deal with this ruthless stumbling block after he ascends the throne in the future.

Xiao Wangzhi didn't know the reason, but he also understood that Han Yan and Shu Yu would never harm him, so he sat beside Shu Yu obediently when he heard the words, pursing his lips and saying nothing.

At that time, Emperor Yuanjia saw that King Qi refused to admit his guilt, and his attitude was still very arrogant, and he sneered: "I see that you don't cry when you don't see the coffin!" Come and take it, bring Zhao Ji over. ”

When King Qi heard this, his face suddenly changed.

Sun Changyu and the others, who were originally going to argue for King Qi, paused when they saw this, and bowed their heads in tacit understanding.

Clear-eyed people know at a glance that there is a lawsuit in this, and other cousins fight, so they can't get involved as cannon fodder!

Thanks to the efforts of the Empress Dowager Zhao, the matter of King Qi's illicit affair with Wara to kill the monarch did not spread, and even Sun Changyu, the first assistant of the cabinet, did not know much about it.

When King Qi saw that there was no one to "uphold justice" for him, and Zhao Ji was also escorted by the guards, his face turned white immediately, and he hurriedly changed the topic: "Shengshang, the younger brother is on the order of the Queen Mother, and he specially came to welcome the Holy Driver back to the palace." The saint punished him like this, how can the younger brother go back to the palace to give an account to the queen mother? ”

When Emperor Yuanjia saw that King Qi had moved the Empress Dowager Zhao out, he sneered and said with a cold smile: "When I return to the palace, I will explain what you have done to the queen mother, but I am afraid that the queen mother will not be able to stab you to death in person!" ”

King Qi shrunk his neck, and was about to open his mouth to defend himself, but he heard Emperor Yuanjia reprimand Zhao Ji and said: "Who instructed you to collude with the Vara Death Soldiers to assassinate me, you make it clear in front of all the ministers." ”

Zhao Ji, who had long been tortured to the point that he only had one breath left, dared to hesitate when he heard this, and hurriedly pointed at King Qi and shouted: "Back to the saint, it is King Qi, and His Royal Highness King Qi ordered the criminal ministers to do it, otherwise it is to borrow a hundred courage from the criminal ministers, and the criminal ministers will not dare......"

"You're spewing blood!" King Qi's mind turned quickly, and when he saw this, he immediately made a move to cause trouble, and shouted loudly, "Who in the Manchu Dynasty doesn't know that Zhao Ji is a close confidant of the noble concubine, how can the younger brother order him!" ”

The implication is that it is not that Zhao Guifei tried to kill the monarch in a foreign country, but that Emperor Yuan Jia pushed the charge to him in order to defend Zhao Guifei afterwards, or that Emperor Yuan Jia and Zhao Ji were acting and deliberately conspired to frame him.

After all, Emperor Yuan Jiadi favored Zhao Guifei unprincipledly, and even connived at her persecution of the concubine's heirs and meddling in the appointment and dismissal of officials in the previous dynasty, which is obvious to everyone.

And as the widow of King Su, Emperor Yuanjia's suspicion and defense of him are also well known.