The Son of Heaven is the master of man and is in charge of the life and death of all people in the world. The palace is the residence of the Son of Heaven, so it is regarded as a holy place. Those who are fortunate enough to live in the palace feel honored and proud.

The throne is a symbol of the highest power, and the closer you get to the right, the higher your status. They scramble for a position close to power, believing that it is the safest place to stand above ten thousand people. As everyone knows, the throne is a thing that is calculated by the whole world, and those who sit on the throne can decide the fate of others, and at the same time be restrained by others. Is the Royal Palace still a sacred place? No, that's the strongest cage.

When it came to the fifth watch, the inner courtyard of the palace was brightly lit, and hundreds of eunuchs, maids, and attendants were dispatched, what were they busy with? It was impossible to distinguish from the chaos, and strangely enough, they all became quiet, and went about their work in an orderly manner with their heads down, as if they were avoiding something. Hundreds of people walked around the palace, but there was not the slightest noise. From this, it can be seen that an extremely important thing has happened.

In accordance with Mrs. Zhang's order, all the doctors in the Tai Hospital came to report outside the Tai Chi Palace. After being summoned, they lined up in an orderly manner and came to the emperor's sickbed, surrounded three times inside and out.

They took turns to check the emperor's pulse, check the symptoms, and finally negotiated a unanimous result, and President Liu of the Tai Hospital reported the emperor's illness to Mrs. Zhang, who was sitting on the side.

Mrs. Zhang wiped the tears on her cheeks with a handkerchief and asked the dean, "Dean Liu, how is the emperor's condition?" ”

Dean Liu was already an ancient age, he knelt tremblingly in front of Mrs. Zhang, and said tremblingly: "Mrs. Qiyu, the emperor is ...... The emperor's condition deteriorated extremely, and the medicine stones were useless. The old minister is incompetent, please forgive the lady. ”

When Mrs. Zhang heard that the emperor was helpless, she immediately cried bitterly, until she felt that it was time to stop, she covered her face with a handkerchief, and waved her hand to signal Dean Liu to get up, "This palace believes that the Tai Hospital has done its best, since the emperor was seriously ill, the Tai Hospital has been doing its best to take care of the emperor, how can these palaces not notice?" You have alleviated the emperor's suffering, and you are meritorious ministers, how can this palace blame. ”

When Dean Liu heard this, his cloudy eyes regained their color, and he hurriedly kowtowed, "Mrs. Xie is aware of it!" ”

Mrs. Zhang's face was no longer cloudy at this time, she stood up, slowly walked behind Dean Liu, looked out of the door, and asked, "Your Majesty, how much time is left?" ”

Dean Liu turned around, bowed his head to Mrs. Zhang again, and bowed his head, "Your Majesty...... I'm afraid that the emperor doesn't have much time, it's just a matter of these days. ”

In the main hall where there were no maids waiting on the side, Mrs. Zhang smiled softly, which was beyond the sight of Dean Liu.

"If the emperor is not there, how about leaving the palace, it is better to follow the emperor to see the emperor!" Mrs. Zhang said without emotion.

Dean Liu has served the royal family for half a hundred, and he knows very well what to say, "Madam, the emperor is sick, for the sake of stability and social stability, I have to rely on Madame to preside over the overall situation!" Madame, take care of your body, don't have the idea of suicide! ”

"This palace is like a fluttering flotsam, insignificant, but this palace is not at ease."

Dean Liu immediately echoed: "That's right, that's right, Madame thinks about the prince, and she should also take care of her health!" ”

Mrs. Zhang personally helped Dean Liu up and said gently: "In the last period of the emperor's stay, please ask President Liu and the Tai Hospital to continue to take care of it, so that the emperor can spend it peacefully." ”

Dean Liu nodded hurriedly, and was about to reply, when he was suddenly stunned for a while, until he finally realized the other meaning of Mrs. Zhang's words, he knelt down again in panic and said, "The old minister obeys!" ”

An attendant came in from outside the door to report: "Mrs. Qiyu, the emperor has just woken up, and summoned Hua Xiashan, Fu Liang, Xu Xianzhi and others to meet him." ”

Mrs. Zhang suddenly raised her vigilance, "The emperor is awake?" How long have you been awake? ”

"Half an hour ago."

"Is there a summons for General Xie Hui?"

"Mrs. Hui, no."

Mrs. Zhang paced slowly in the hall uneasily, secretly guessing the emperor's intentions. Now is the critical moment for the overall situation of the world to reshuffle, and it is not easy to be sloppy in any detail.

The emperor summoned these old ministers when he was in danger, presumably to make some instructions to pass on the throne. But Xie Hui is also one of the ministers who care for his life, but the emperor is the only one who does not summon him, is the emperor suspicious? Liu Yifu's position as the crown prince was ordained by the emperor himself, but after all, he was still sick at that time, and his consciousness was not very clear, including her control. At this time, if the emperor says anything inappropriate to these ministers, I am afraid that there will be extraneous branches.

But the emperor's order cannot be violated, and even if the last order is given at the end of his life, there are still loyal people in the palace, and she cannot openly disobey it.

What's more, even if the emperor temporarily changes his mind to establish a prince, all the military power in the world is in her hands, and she is on standby at any time, and these old men are helpless.

After weighing left and right, Mrs. Zhang decided to agree to the emperor's request on the sickbed.

"Do it as the emperor wants!" Mrs. Zhang leaned close to the waiter's ear and whispered, "Let the prince be ready at all times!" ”

"Yes!" The squire was ordered to retreat.

Mrs. Zhang then ordered Dean Liu to retire and quietly came to the cabinet of the Taiji Hall to wait.

The eunuch who heard the decree came to report, did not dare to stay for a moment, changed into official clothes, and rushed to the palace without stopping.

Outside the gate of the Taiji Palace, he met another minister who also came in a hurry, Xu Xianzhi.

"Gong Xu," painted Xia Shan saluted first.

"Painter-sama is here too?" Xu Xianzhi asked pretending to be surprised.

"The emperor called, I didn't dare to delay, I came immediately." Painting Xia Shan's face was heavy.

Xu Xianzhi inquired left and right, and when he saw that there was no one around, he approached the painting Xia Shan and asked, "Does the painting know what the emperor has summoned?" ”

Hua Xia Shan said solemnly: "The emperor is most at ease with the government, think about what problems we want to solve." ”

Xu Xianzhi put his hand behind his back and chuckled: "Master Painting, it's this time, you still refuse to tell the old man the truth?" ”

Painting Xia Shan humbly arched his hand and said, "Has Gong Xu ever told the truth to Hua Mou?" ”

"Hahaha!" Xu Xianzhi was silent.

"The two adults are here too?" Fu Liang hurried over under the leadership of the two attendants with lanterns.

Xu Xianzhi and the painting Xia Shan bowed down to him respectively, in terms of the official class of these three people, Fu Liang should be the first in the court, Xu Xianzhi is the second, and the last is to paint Xia Shan. Although when Liu Yu was sober, the most important thing was to paint Xia Mountain, but unfortunately this time is not the same as in the past.

Fu Liang ordered the attendants beside him to retreat, and said to the two adults: "Just outside the palace gate, I saw that all the princes were waiting beside me, but they were not allowed to enter the palace gate, whose order was it?" But the prince was not among them. What's going on? Do you know about the two adults? ”

Xu Xianzhi led Fu Liang to take a closer look around the Taiji Hall and smiled meaningfully.

It turned out that not only outside the Taiji Palace, but also the entire palace was full of soldiers with knives.

Painting Xia Shan did not look, bowed his head and was silent.

Fu Liang sighed and whispered his dissatisfaction, "She is also too careful, the crown prince has been established, why bother to make people inside and outside the palace panic." After speaking, he looked around and asked, "Why didn't General Xie Hui see him?" ”

Xu Xianzhi replied with a smile: "The emperor doesn't seem to have summoned him. ”

"Oh?" Fu Liang was about to express his doubts, when he saw the emperor close to the eunuch and came out of the Taiji Hall to say, "Three adults, the emperor is invited." ”

Fu Liang took the lead, and the three of them entered the hall one after another. The door of the Taiji Hall was immediately closed.

"Ministers and others see the emperor!" The three of them knelt down in front of the emperor's sickbed.

There was a coughing sound from inside the golden bed curtain, and after a long time, a weak voice slowly floated out, "I have summoned you to come, not only to remind you of the rules of being a minister, but also to explain otherwise. ”

Fu Liang replied on his behalf: "Although the emperor orders, the ministers will not give up!" ”

However, after a long time, there was no sound on the sickbed.

Fu Liang knelt forward a few steps in a panic and asked cautiously, "Your Majesty?" What did the emperor do? ”

"Draw Aiqing forward!" A hoarse voice suddenly came from the sickbed.

Painting Xia Shan didn't dare to slack off, hurriedly lifted the robe and crown, and came to the emperor's bed, "The minister is here." ”

A withered hand stretched out from inside the golden bed curtain, signaling Xia Shan to come closer. Liu Yu said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "If the prince can't be a good emperor in the future, he will be abolished and the chariot will be on the throne." At that time, there will be someone to help you. Remember! ”

"Command! The ministers will live up to the emperor's trust! Painting Xia Shan tried his best to recover his composure from the shock and bowed down to Liu Yu.

"I'm done with my words, and the matter is over, I'm tired, you all go down!" Liu Yu used his last strength, and after saying this, there was no sound in the golden bed curtain.

It wasn't until the three ministers left the gate of the Taiji Hall that the call of the attendants came: "Quickly pass the imperial doctor!" The emperor is in a coma again! ”

The three of them, who were panicked, glanced at each other, shook their heads and sighed for a while.

Fu Liang said sadly: "When the country was founded, we and the emperor went through a lot of hardships from the battlefield without swords and eyes, and finally returned safely, but I didn't expect the emperor to ...... now."

Xu Xianzhi sighed: "Yes! At that time, the emperor was so brave that he rode a spear and galloped easily among the enemy's ten thousand armies, but he was able to return unscathed. Among the kings of all ages, there is no one like him! ”

Painting Xia Shan nodded in agreement, he didn't have too many sighs like the other two ministers, not so much that he followed Liu Yu wholeheartedly, but rather that he followed the orthodox court wholeheartedly.

Xu Xianzhi saw that Xia Shan didn't speak, and once again tried to say: "Master Painting, what did the emperor entrust just now?" ”

Fu Liang couldn't help but ask: "Is it related to the handling of the new emperor's accession to the throne?" ”

Painting Xia Shan hesitated for a while, and said apologetically: "Two adults, please forgive me for not being able to tell each other, this is the emperor's secret edict." ”

Xu Xianzhi said happily: "That's that, I'm just asking casually, don't make it difficult for adults to paint." ”

Fu Liang saw that he could not find out the news, so he said goodbye to the two of them and left the palace in the carriage that had been prepared.

Xu Xianzhi and Hua Xia Shan walked outside the palace gate on foot, until the palace gate was separated, Xu Xianzhi suddenly stopped and said: "Although Lord Hua and I are the same ministers who care for their lives, their identity is more important than ours. In this way, it is inevitable to be feared, and the painter must keep your secret in case of accidents. Ah, and more importantly, take care of your body. After saying that, he glanced meaningfully at Xia Shan, then turned around and got into the carriage back home.

Painting Xia Shan naturally knew the meaning of Xu Xianzhi's words, but what could he do, the arrow had been wound, so he could only go forward.

Although she didn't know what the emperor said to Xia Shan in the end, she had always been rigorous in her work, and she would never let people with secret edicts stand on top of the court in a grand manner, and there would be endless troubles.

The lights have been turned off in the Taiji Palace, and the attendants have truthfully reported to the princes waiting outside the palace gate that the emperor has gone to bed. But how easy it is for the princes to give up the opportunity to meet the emperor, Liu Yikang first said dissatisfiedly: "Is it because my father is unwilling to see me, or Mrs. Zhang is not allowed!" ”

Liu Che'er hurriedly pulled Liu Yikang back and reproached: "Kang'er! Don't talk nonsense! ”

Liu Yikang saw that the third brother was really angry, so he stopped speaking.

Liu Che'er patted Liu Yikang's shoulder and sighed: "Father is unwell, let's go back first, and come to see my father next time!" ”

Liu Yizhen, who was on the side, suddenly turned to look at Liu Che'er and said, "See you next time, I don't know what year it is." ”

Liu Che'er looked at Liu Yizhen in surprise, "Is the second brother leaving the capital?" ”

Liu Yizhen nodded and said, "Yes, why don't you be the third brother?" He turned his head and pointed in the direction of Taiji Palace, shook his head and smiled: "If I don't leave, won't I be disliked?" ”

"How can the second brother have such an idea, take care of your body and recuperate with peace of mind." Liu Che'er said inappropriately. Of course, he knew that the new owner of the palace would not treat them lightly, and he himself was about to leave the capital for this reason.

Liu Yizhen smiled helplessly, and suddenly solemnly arched his hand to Liu Che'er and said: "Although you and I are siblings, we have not been in the same place since childhood, but the love of blood cannot be forgotten." This farewell, I don't know life and death, he is fortunate to meet again one day, and he will be a long-term brotherhood! ”

Liu Che'er also sighed: "No matter when, the younger brother will never forget the brotherly love!" Second brother, take care all the way! ”

"Second brother, take care!" Liu Yikang also bowed.

Liu Yizhen finally shook the shoulders of his two younger brothers and resolutely left the palace.

Looking at Liu Yizhen's thin but determined back, Liu Che'er knew that they would meet again soon, and they were here.