In the afternoon, the snow became heavier, and no one could be seen outside the foot. There was a tense atmosphere in Chang'an City.

In the eighth year of Zhao Xiangguan's higher than the Han Dynasty, when Emperor Gao Liu Bang returned to Chang'an from Dongyuan, the matter of trying to send someone to assassinate the emperor was spreading, and the ministers with low official titles and marquis could not say anything about it, and several prestigious ministers in the court, such as Prime Minister Xiao He, Qu Reverse Hou Chen Ping, and Jiang Hou Zhou Bo, did not know much about the affairs of that year, that is, they wanted to help King Zhao in the face of Empress Lu, but they couldn't speak. Empress Lu waited and watched the matter change, but Liu Bang couldn't wait to instruct the Tingwei Mansion to carefully examine the matter at that time.

Tingwei's Mansion. Zhang Tingwei interrogated Guan Gao but did not find out from Guan Gao's mouth that King Zhao had rebelled, so he thought that this person might be able to speak after seeing blood or a little punishment, so he sent Guan Gao and others to prison for trial. A musty smell came from the prison door, and the interior was even more smoky, cold and frightening, water dripping from the corners of the house, and the people who were being tortured pending trial were held in various cells, and the prison was full of grief and complaints, and a gloomy and cruel atmosphere had long been in the sky above the Tingwei's mansion.

In a dark room, Guan Gao and others were being taken on trial, and the jailer asked them if they were instructed by King Zhao, Guan Gao was not in a hurry and looked calm, but some righteous people always insisted that they did it, and King Zhao never knew about these things. The jailers had already learned from elsewhere that Guan Gao was ordered by King Zhao to assassinate the emperor, and now Guan Gao's 'grandiose' deception of the jailers made the jailers angry, and they had long forgotten that Guan Gao was still Zhao Xiangguo a few hours ago, and the jailers took turns to replace the whip and cone Guan Gao, Guan Gao just roared a few times as if he was cathartic, and a pair of cloudy old eyes did not change his righteousness at all. In one afternoon, Guan Gao was tortured and questioned more than a dozen times, but Guan Gao was upright and never changed his statement, so that the jailer suddenly had no choice. The emperor ordered that except for King Zhao, no punishment could be used, and the rest of the people could be punished. The jailer brought several other old men and tied them to Guan Gao to torture, intending to force them to admit that Guan Gao had been ordered by King Zhao to assassinate the emperor. The jailers tortured the old fathers cruelly, whipped hundreds, and all the old fathers refused to slander King Zhao, insisting that they did it, and King Zhao didn't know everything. The warden instructed the jailers to prepare salt water, and kindly persuaded several old fathers not to endanger the lives of the family for a rebellious king, but the old fathers were quite moved but still did not change their words, which made the warden angry, and the jailer immediately angrily asked the jailers to bring salt water and pour it on the old father who was covered with wounds, and suddenly there was a miserable wail in the prison, and the wailing frightened some other criminal slaves in the prison. All the old fathers were old men, and after such a toss, they couldn't bear it anymore, and soon fainted. The exhausted Guan Gao watched the thrilling, but he was not moved.

The jailer was also tired from being tossed by several old fathers, and they were all exhausted and panting after the execution, and the leading warden took a leather whip and kicked on the 'earth' shaped shelf tied to Guan Gao, and Guan Gao's hands were tied to the shelf with ropes, and his hands were no longer felt. The warden glared at the leopard and sneered, "It's not comfortable, is it? Guan Gao's face did not change his color and snorted coldly, and he turned his head not to look at him. Guan Gao toasted and didn't eat, and the warden unceremoniously broke the already bloody Guan Gao's face to face him, and approached Guan Gao Gangzhong and said ruthlessly, "Zhao Xiangguo, tell the truth, you don't have to be tortured, and I don't have to pry your mouth open, you are already in the year of the sixtieth year, and you are the year of enjoying your family, why do you have to ignore your family and your own life and death for the sake of King Zhao?" ”

"Hugh wants to say more, what the old man did, the old man admitted, want to ask the old man to frame King Zhao? Hum! Guan can't do it. Guan Gao looked righteous and never changed his statement at all.

The warden smiled disdainfully, snorted coldly, and ordered, "Fight!" ”

Several of his guards stripped him of his clothes, leaving only a thin shirt and trousers, and tortured him, first with whipping, then with cone stabs, and then with fingernails, and Guan Gao's body immediately flowed blood. After being beaten in all kinds of ways and being stabbed all over the body by the jailers, Guan Gao could no longer find a place where he could be tortured, but the jailer did not get half a sentence about King Zhao's rebellion from Guan Gao's mouth, and he was suddenly a little afraid of Guan Gao, and was afraid of his perseverance, and few people in the world gave up their lives for their masters. The jailers were tired of fighting, and the warden saw that his mouth was tight, so he didn't change his words at all and told people to stop, and he comforted Guan Gao, but Guan Gao still didn't change his words. The prison warden had no choice but to tell Zhang Tingwei about the kind of death and grinding of Guan Gao Zhao Wu and others in prison, who were not afraid of torture, and Zhang Tingwei wrote a report to the emperor Liu Bang. Liu Bang threw the report in his hand on the ground, and suddenly Long Yan was furious, pointed at Zhang Tingwei and said angrily, "Torture King Zhao!" ”

Zhang Tingwei was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly stopped, "No, King Zhao is the prince of a country, and he can't be tortured." ”

Liu Bang was so angry that he paced around the hall, thought for a moment and said, "Escort all the families of King Zhao and Guan Gao to Chang'an and prison, I don't believe Guan Gao and don't admit it." Zhang Tingwei was silent for a long time before he obeyed the order and went out. In two days, Zhang Tingwei sent people to Zhao to escort all the families of King Zhao and Guan Gao to Chang'an and imprisoned them in Tingwei's mansion.

In the past two days, Liu Bang was concerned about the affairs of King Zhao and Guan Gao, and he became a little angry, and asked people to continue to stare at the trial of Guan Gao in the Tingwei Mansion. Liu Bang rested in Yuzao Palace for two days, and Mrs. Qi also heard about King Zhao, but she didn't dare to say a word about it, and obediently served Liu Bang. Remembering that he hadn't gone to Liyang Palace to visit the Emperor Taishang for several days, and he didn't know what his father's condition was, Liu Bang sorted out his emotions this day and called a few eunuchs to follow him to Liyang Palace. After staying in Liyang Palace for a while, seeing that the emperor's condition was basically improving, and chatting with the emperor for a while, he came out with a heavy heart, his steps were heavy, his face was gloomy, and several little eunuchs followed the emperor and did not dare to say a word. In a few steps, he met the queen Lu Pheasant who was walking towards Liyang Palace, Liu Bang did not dodge and greeted him, and told Empress Lu to take care of the emperor. After Empress Lu agreed, she had the heart to ask the emperor about King Zhao, Liu Bang was not surprised, anyway, the matter of King Zhao had spread, Liu Bang was silent for a long time, and only said that the matter was still under trial and went to Weiyang Palace.

Lu Hou followed Liu Bang and walked back, and said eagerly in his heart, "Your Majesty, King Zhang is your son-in-law and Ayuan's husband, you know Zhang Er, Zhang Er's son will not do such a rebellious thing, King Zhang is docile, benevolent and kind, and treats you and me wholeheartedly." Do you really believe that King Zhao allowed Guan Gao to send someone to assassinate you? ”

Liu Bang turned around, his eyes were cold and forced Lu Pheasant, he brushed his sleeves and jumped like thunder, "People don't know their bones and their hearts, don't be confused by their appearance, I was dedicated to Han Wangxin, but he couldn't bear to rebel against the Han and return to the Huns." I have proof that Guan Gao was indeed ordered by King Zhao to assassinate me, and he wants to assassinate your husband! ”

Empress Lu frowned, looked at Liu Bangdao in disbelief, "King Zhao...... It shouldn't be like this, he is Ayuan's husband, and he is a virtuous son-in-law of you and me. ”

Liu Bang snorted, and shouted loudly after complaining that Lu Hou still didn't understand, "If the Zhang family has the world, will he still care about your daughter?" Do you still care about you and me? Then he threw up his sleeves and went to the front hall to ask for an inspection of the trial.

Empress Lu was stunned for a moment, feeling some truth in Liu Bang's words, but he didn't believe that King Zhang dared to rebel, so he also returned to Changxin Palace. Not long after, he also came to Changxin Palace, and told Empress Lu about Guan Gao's trial, and he also gasped after hearing it, Guan Gao was a person, and Empress Lu knew a little, he was worthy of Zhang Er after all. The only thing that is difficult is that the emperor always thinks that it was instigated by King Zhao, and the more Guan Gao is like this, the more angry the emperor becomes.

"Niangniang, what should I do next?" Judge the food base asked.

Empress Lu pondered and paced back and forth for a few steps, "It seems that the emperor has to think that King Zhao had a rebellious heart before he is willing to give up." After a pause, he said, "The emperor is already a preconceived notion, if it is concluded that King Zhao rebelled and assassinated the emperor, then it must be an exaggeration for the three clans, there has been a rebellion of Yan Wang Zang Di and Han Wang Xin, and now even if it is a troubled matter, the emperor must deal with it carefully, how can he tolerate his relatives betraying him?" ”

Judging his atmosphere, he sighed and couldn't think of a way to save King Zhao.

"The emperor ordered that all the families of King Zhao and Guan Gao be detained in the Chang'an Tingwei Mansion, will the emperor really want to raze their three clans?" Guan Gao asked again.

Empress Lu let out a long sigh, shook her head and said confidently, "I don't know, it's hard for me to intervene in this matter at all, do you think I can go to the Tingwei Mansion to force King Zhao back?" So the emperor was even more angry. ”

Suddenly, Princess Lu Yuan ran out from inside, and ran over and knelt in front of Empress Lu with tears and snot, dragging Empress Lu's clothes and crying, "Queen Mother, the only person Yuan'er can rely on is you, Queen Mother, if you can't save King Zhang, Yuan'er ...... Zhang Yan and Zhang Yan were left to the care of the queen mother. ”

Empress Lu picked up her tearful daughter, and said to her with a guilty face, "Maybe the queen mother has overestimated her ability, and now she only hopes that some people in the court who have prestige and methods can help King Zhao speak." ”

At this time, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Originally, after this happened, Zhou Chang, the Marquis of Fenyin, was the first to stand up and exonerate King Zhao, and said to the emperor that King Zhao had always treated the emperor politely and respectfully, but the emperor never disdained King Zhao, and always scolded him, and gave King Zhao mercilessly, and said that this matter had been figured out that it was done by Guan Gao and others, and the emperor insisted that King Zhao was the mastermind, just because the emperor was not used to King Zhao. At that time, the emperor was furious and threw the bamboo slips on the case under the steps, but there were also a few traces of being said to the heart, Zhou Chang never gave the emperor a son, and the emperor closed him home and thought about it. Although Xiao He, Chen Ping, Guan Ying and others had their hearts towards Her Royal Highness the Queen, they did not dare to mention this matter again. ”