A few days later, Kaifeng Prefecture:

Xue Meng and Xu Ba came back to talk about what Lu Bu had said to Master Bao, but Master Bao only smiled faintly.

"You two have worked hard all the way, but you can go and rest first." Master Bao waved his hand.

The two of them took their leave, almost colliding with a man who had rushed in.

The man didn't reply, and went directly into the lobby of Kaifeng Mansion.

The person who came was a eunuch from the palace.

Master Bao knows him.

"Master Bao, the slave is under the command of Long Live and beckons you to the palace to discuss matters." The eunuch said, his voice very low, obviously not wanting to be heard by the rest of the hall.

Master Bao was stunned.

Today is not the day of the emperor's dynasty, so he hurriedly recruited himself into the palace, there must be something important.

"Father-in-law, please come back, and the lower official will arrive later."

"Long live the slave must go back with Master Bao, so that you can save a lot of trouble." The eunuch refused to go and said.

Mr. Bao realized that the matter must be urgent.

After changing into his official uniform as quickly as possible, Master Bao walked out behind the eunuch.

With the eunuch leading the way, it did save a lot of trouble, and after a while, Lord Bao had already appeared in the emperor's imperial study.

"Aiqing." The emperor did not ask Bao Zheng, who was kneeling on the ground, to get up, but said with a gloomy face, "Have you heard about the concubine's illness a few days ago?" ”

"Wechen has heard a little." Bao Zheng didn't dare to look up and replied.

"Hmm." The emperor nodded, suddenly waved his hand at the eunuch on duty who was standing aside, and ordered, "You go and wait outside the study, no summons, no one is allowed to enter." ”

"The minions obey." The eunuch didn't know what was going on, so he hurriedly agreed and walked out.

Bao Zheng also felt that the emperor was a little abnormal today.

"Long live, in such a hurry to recruit Weichen into the palace, but what is the urgent matter?"

The Emperor stood up and walked a few steps around the room, as if there was something unspeakable.

Bao Zheng stared at the emperor and thought.

"Aiqing, please get up first and sit down on the side." The Emperor said.

This is the first time that in the emperor's imperial study, a minister can sit next to the emperor, except for this famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, I am afraid that no one else can make the emperor so willing.

Bao Zheng got up, but he didn't dare to stand next to the emperor, but sat down on a chair below.

"Although Bao Aiqing knows about the concubine's illness, she may not know the cause of the illness." The Emperor finally spoke, "When the concubine's illness was subsided, I summoned the imperial physician You Bi alone, and according to him, the concubine's illness probably came from outside, not from herself. ”

Bao Zheng's body sitting on the chair shook and almost fell.

"Long live means that the illness of the concubine is not really sick, but someone ......"

The Emperor nodded.

"According to You Bi, the concubine's pulse was abnormal, her eyes were red and swollen, she had difficulty breathing, and there were obvious signs of poisoning.

Bao Zheng couldn't sit still anymore.

"Long live the suspicion that this poisoned person came from the palace?"

"I think the concubine hasn't been out of the palace for a long time, and she rarely eats things from outside the palace, so I think this matter is strange. It's just that this kind of thing should not be publicized, for fear that spreading it will damage my royal face. The emperor said, "I have recruited you into the palace today with the intention of handing over this case to you to investigate, and I must find the person who poisoned you as soon as possible, and it is best not to be known by outsiders, and it is best not to know even the concubine herself, lest she become angry and aggravate her condition." ”

Bao Zheng stood there and didn't speak for a long time.

"Does Bao Aiqing dare not help me solve the case?" The Emperor asked.

"Wechen doesn't dare." Bao Zheng hurriedly shook his head and hesitated, "Long live, please think about it, Weichen is a foreign minister, and this entry and exit from the inner palace needs to be reported layer by layer, if it comes urgently, it will inevitably alarm the person who poisoned it." And solving the case is not something that Weichen can do alone, and he needs to bring a few assistants. The minister is afraid that the thief will get the news and escape, or set up layers of obstacles. At that time, the minister will not be able to complete the work entrusted to him by Banzai. ”

The Emperor's brow furrowed.

"Aiqing is very worried, and I have already thought of it. I can immediately send a decree to the forbidden army in front of the palace gate, and you will be allowed to enter the palace without a pass, and no one who follows you will be allowed to stop you. ”

Bao Zheng was still hesitating.

"This is a long live family affair, Wechen ......"

With a "snap", the emperor slapped the dragon case in front of him.

"Bao Aiqing thinks he wants to deliberately shirk? Aiqing still has to shirk the big thing of assassinating the concubine, is it possible that tomorrow I am killed, Aiqing will also make an excuse because it is my family matter? ”

Bao Zheng panicked.

"Wechen has no such intention."

"That being the case, Aiqing quickly went back to prepare, and he could enter the palace tomorrow to investigate the case." After the emperor finished speaking, he flicked the sleeves of his robe and walked out.

Bao Zheng's black face was covered with dense layers of sweat beads.

Outside the back door of the imperial study, a petite figure flashed quickly, and disappeared into the bushes behind it in the blink of an eye. It wasn't long before she was in front of a palace.

At the top of the huge moon gate, there are three golden characters written by the emperor himself: Qifeng Palace.

This is the place of the harem Jiang Niangniang.

Jiang Niangniang's name is Jiang Shuping, who has been in the palace for many years, and was once one of Emperor Renzong's favorite concubines, given the name: Concubine Li. It is said that it is because he likes to eat lychees, which is quite similar to the concubine Yuhuan in the late Tang Dynasty. It's just that she is far from being as "loved by thousands of people" as Yang Yuhuan, since the emperor secretly befriended Fei Caihe, this concubine can only stay alone in this Qifeng Palace.

In fact, Jiang Shuping's age is two years younger than Fei Caihe, and her face is also very handsome.

At this time, she was sitting alone in front of the dresser in the dormitory, admiring herself in the mirror alone.

A palace goddess ran in nervously.

"Mother, the slave is back."

Jiang Shuping turned his head.

"Such a panic, but is there something big happening?"

The palace maid looked around, but didn't find that there were other palace maids here, so she leaned forward and said a few words to Jiang Shuping in a low voice.

Jiang Shuping's face became a little pale.

"You heard me right?"

"The slave maid went to invite Banzai to come over at the behest of the mother, and just happened to meet Lord Bao entering the imperial study, and the slave did not dare to show up, so she hid behind the screen, and heard the conversation between Banzai and Lord Bao, so she ran back to report to the mother." The palace maid said, and did not forget to deliberately wipe a handful of cold sweat that did not exist at the root of her face.

Jiang Shuping really had a cold sweat running down.

"Jifeng, you go and invite Father-in-law Yu to come over immediately, remember, you can't be discovered by anyone, as long as he sneaks behind the garden here, the palace will go there and wait for him."

"The slave obeys." The palace maid named Ji Feng agreed and ran out.

Jiang Shuping was no longer in the mood to put on makeup, so she quickly changed into a floor-length skirt and closed the door of the dormitory, so that the palace maids could mistakenly think that they were resting and did not dare to come to disturb.

She came out from behind, through a small narrow door, into the back garden, and sat down under a pavilion that was rarely visited, pretending to admire the flowers and plants, but with one hand covering her heart.