Zhao Zhen had just fallen asleep, but he hadn't fallen asleep yet, when a eunuch whispered outside the tent curtain to report, "Your Majesty, the queen mother has something urgent to see!" ”

Zhao Zhen didn't want to see him, but when he thought about it, it seemed that this was the first time Empress Cao asked to see him at night, so he agreed, "Please wait a while, I will come soon!" ”

Zhao Zhen got up again, and the two palace maids helped him put on a loose Zen robe, pulled his hair a little, and put on a gauze hat, and Zhao Zhen walked towards the warm pavilion with the support of the palace maids.

The warm pavilion was brightly lit, Empress Cao was sitting on the soft couch in palace clothes, and behind her, Gao Tao looked a little nervous.

Empress Cao didn't want to come to the Son of Heaven at night, she didn't have this habit, but she couldn't help her niece's bitter pleading, so she had to pull down her face and come to see the Son of Heaven at night.

In the palace, the relationship between the monarch and the minister is the first, and the relationship between husband and wife is the second, so when Zhao Zhen walked into the warm pavilion, Queen Cao hurriedly got up and saluted, and they couldn't see that they were a husband and wife at all, of course, Zhang Guifei was different, she would be coquettish, and she would hug Zhao Zhen's neck, making Zhao Zhen feel that she was her husband.

Queen Cao can't see this, the two of them have too much respect and too many courtesies, but they have lost their human touch.

Zhao Zhen waved his hand, "The queen is exempt, is there something to do with me so late?" ”

Empress Cao hesitated and said, "It's Princess Julu who has something urgent to report to Your Majesty." ”

Zhao Zhen saw Gao Taotao, Gao Taotao grew up in the palace, back then, when he first favored Zhang Guifei, Empress Cao wanted to give the fourteen-year-old Gao Taotao to Zhao Zhen to replace Zhang Guifei, but Zhao Zhen refused.

Gao Tao is very beautiful and charming, enough to impress any man, if it weren't for Empress Cao's dedication to him, maybe Zhao Zhen would have spoiled her, but at that time, Zhao Zhen's heart had been filled by Zhang Guifei, and he didn't want to have anything to do with Empress Cao.

And now, Zhao Zhen does have a little regret in his heart, but his body no longer allows him to have any more thoughts, and he can only quickly suppress this regret in his heart, he doesn't want to be seen by Queen Cao.

"Please be seated!"

Zhao Zhen smiled gently: "You don't have to be too polite, just like in the palace before." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Gao Tao's heart was a little settled, just on her way to the palace, a long-suppressed thought gradually matured in her heart, since her husband seriously threatened her son's throne, then why couldn't she replace her husband to defend her son's throne?

In fact, her idea was also activated by Fanning this afternoon, and when she and Fanning were passionate, Fanning said this in her ear, 'You will become the most beautiful queen mother of the Great Song Dynasty'.

She didn't understand the meaning of Fanning's words at the time, but it was like a long-dormant seed, revived by the right temperature and humidity.

The idea had matured in her heart, but she still needed the approval of the Son of Heaven.

Gao Tao sat down and said in a deep voice: "The king of Julu County has done something that should not be done these days, threatening the status of the imperial heir, the concubine thought about it again and decided to report this matter to Your Majesty, and ask Your Majesty to stop him!" ”

Zhao Zhen was obviously mentally prepared for Zhao Zongshi's behavior, and he was not surprised.

However, he was a little surprised by Gao Tao's decision, this woman was actually exposing her husband.

"What did he do again?" Zhao Zhen picked up the teacup and asked lightly.

"The concubine found that he had a close relationship with the three or so generals during this time, and today he actually transferred 1,000 taels of gold to each of them."

Zhao Zhen's hand shook slightly, and the ginseng soup in the teacup almost spilled, and his gaze instantly became grim, but it was quickly covered by his usual indifference.

"Where does he have so much gold?"

"He asked the Zhu family what he wanted, and the Zhu family told me about it."

Zhao Zhen nodded, he already knew the relationship between the Zhu family and Zhao Zongshi, this is also normal, he was able to sit on the throne of heaven back then, wasn't it the Guo family and the Cao family who supported him in the back?

The Zhu family obviously also wants to invest in Zhao Zongshi, which can be regarded as relatively successful, at least Zhao Zongshi's son is on the throne.

"I have already assigned the Shenwu Army to the East Palace, Zhao Zongshi should not need to contact other armies!"

Gao Taotao already felt that her aunt was looking at her with a stern gaze, but she didn't want to lose the opportunity, she bit her lip and said in a low voice: "He contacted the military, not for the needle." ”

Empress Cao sighed in her heart, this woman betrayed her husband, I don't know if she brought her to see the Son of Heaven, is it the stupidest thing in her life?

Zhao Zhen's pupils suddenly contracted into a line, of course he understood what Gao Tao meant, Zhao Zongshi wanted to take his son's throne.

After a while, Zhao Zhen said slowly: "I'm a little tired, you guys should step down!" ”

Empress Cao and Gao Tao got up to say goodbye, and Zhao Zhen got up and walked towards his bedroom.

Walking out of the palace gate, Empress Cao said coldly: "Go back by yourself, don't come to me again in the future." ”

Empress Cao ignored her anymore, turned around and went to Fengren, and returned to her bedroom.

Gao Taotao also breathed a sigh of relief, she didn't care about her aunt's attitude, at least she had successfully laid a defense in the heart of the Son of Heaven tonight, no matter how much Zhang Yaozuo tossed, it would not affect her son again.

Gao Tao's steps became very brisk, and at this moment she suddenly longed to see that man again.

Early the next morning, Zhao Zhen had just finished freshening up and was sitting at the table with breakfast, when a eunuch said beside him: "Your Majesty, Taishi Zhang said that he wanted to see him urgently, and it was a matter of Sheji!" ”

Zhao Zhen nodded, "Let him come to see me!" ”

Because of Empress Wen Cheng, Zhao Zhen is very tolerant of Zhang Yaozuo, although Zhang Yaozuo has made mistakes again and again, as long as he does not violate Zhao Zhen's bottom line, he will let Zhang Yaozuo go, and even the last time Zhao Ji was assassinated in Yingtianfu, Zhao Zhen also suspected that Zhang Yaozuo planned it, but because he had no evidence, he would not do it.

After a while, Zhang Yaozuo arrived in a hurry, he knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, Zhao Zongshi, the king of the giant deer, is trying to rebel, and Weichen has conclusive evidence!" ”

Zhao Zhen was stunned, and then he came to his senses, why did Gao Tao want to see him overnight last night, just to get ahead of Zhang Yaozuo, this woman is amazing!

At this moment, Zhao Zhen's impression of Gao Taotao completely changed, Gao Taotao's decisiveness and ruthlessness, in order to protect his son, he did not hesitate to draw a line with her husband, which made Zhao Zhen amazed.

Zhao Zhen said lightly: "Is it so serious?" ”

"Your Majesty, Zhao Zongshi instructed Li Weizhen to come forward for him, colluding with the left Xiaowei generals Qin Yougong, Wu Jinhan and the right Xiaowei general Liu Zhi, yesterday, Zhao Zongshi gave each of the three 1,000 taels of gold, and Weichen has money to shop records, and the evidence is conclusive."

Last night, Zhang Yaozuo bought off a steward in Zhu's money shop and obtained the account records of Zhao Zongshi and the three generals.

Zhao Zongshi took the account record and looked at it, it was indeed the case.

"I know about this matter, I will deal with it as appropriate, you should step back first!"

After the death of Empress Wen Cheng, Zhao Zhen saw things and thought about people, so he didn't want to live in the left palace anymore, but moved to live in the right palace of Queen Cao, and the right palace was full of Queen Cao's people, of course, no one would go to report to Zhang Yaozuo.

Zhang Yaozuo didn't know that Gao Taotao had taken the lead last night, he put down the secret letter and account records, got up and retreated.

Zhang Yaozuo was very proud in his heart, he knew the Son of Heaven very well, the calmer the Son of Heaven was, the more he didn't ask anything, which means that the more he attached importance to this matter, he would definitely investigate it thoroughly.

"Zhao Zongshi, Zhao Zhongzhen, where do I see your father and son running this time?"

Zhao Zhen did not go to the imperial study today, but stayed in the imperial study of the Qilin Palace, waiting for the results of the investigation.

This kind of thing can't be made public, it can only be done in secret, and even the prime minister can't say it, the person sent out is Zhao Shiyue, the general of Qianniu Beishen, he is the great-grandson of Zhao Pu, the founding prime minister, and has followed Zhao Zhen for more than 40 years, and is Zhao Zhen's most trusted general, and there is no one.

At this time, footsteps came, and a loud voice came from outside, "Your Majesty, Weichen is back!" ”

"Come in!"

A general with a white beard walked in from the outside, it was Zhao Shiyue, he was over sixty years old, still full of energy, and looked old and strong.

He knelt down on one knee and said, "Wechen has finished investigating!" ”

He stepped forward, put the three confessions on the royal case, and stepped back, "This is the confession of the three people!" ”

Zhao Zhen flipped through the confession and said, "Let's talk about it first!" ”

"Weichen secretly arrested Qin Yougong, Wu Jinhan and Liu Zhi, and took them to the secret camp for interrogation, according to their confession, Zhao Zongshi did have the idea of replacing the emperor's heir, first for the emperor to supervise the country, and then ascended the throne as the emperor with the support of the three of them, and promised the three of them a heavy lord and glory and wealth, in addition, they did accept a thousand taels of gold from Zhao Zongshi yesterday."

Zhao Zhen walked to the window with his hands in his hands, restraining the monstrous anger in his heart, in fact, he had long realized this risk that once Zhao Xuan ascended the throne as a minor, Zhao Zongshi was likely to become the imperial eunuch, in order to avoid this from happening, Zhao Zhen decided to implement the East Palace Deliberations and solve the transition problem in the way of the minister.

But Zhao Zongshi finally touched Zhao Zhen's bottom line, he actually wanted to take his son's throne, Zhao Zhen thought of Gao Taotao, who left a deep impression on him, this is a good woman, decisive and wise, her son's interests are above all else, maybe she can help Zhao Ji through that special period.

Zhao Zhen sighed softly, for the sake of the Great Song Sheji, he had to make a decision.

"Qin Yougong and the three of them were secretly beheaded, Zhao Zongshi was seriously ill, and he was immediately sent to Nanjing Hongqing Palace to recuperate, you personally sent him there, and after arriving at Hongqing Palace, give him a cup of Heding Red!"

"Wechen obeys!"

Zhao Shiyue left in a hurry.

Zhao Zhen only felt that his body was extremely tired, his eyes were dark, and he fainted in the inner study.