The queen mother's eyes were fixed on Ying Zheng, and for the first time she hoped from the bottom of her heart that this was her own son, and her tone was even mixed with a little pleading: "Your Majesty ......"

Concubine Zhang said sharply: "Your Majesty inherited the world of the first emperor and is the son of the first emperor, how can you not be proud of your father?" This demon woman killed all the heirs of the first emperor, almost cut off the emperor's dominance, and did not punish his nine clans, how could she comfort the first emperor?! ”

Ying Zheng watched silently as Concubine Zhang forced the Empress Dowager into a corner, just like watching a spider gradually crawl to its prey caught by a spider's web, kill it, and then slowly divide its food.

He knew that the Queen Mother could not escape.

It doesn't really matter whether what Concubine Zhang said today is the truth or not.

Because it is absolutely impossible for the Empress Dowager to agree to open the coffin for an autopsy, it is possible that until the end of the story, no one will know the true cause of death of many of the emperor's heirs.

But at the same time, because the Empress Dowager refused to perform the autopsy with the most resolute words and attitude, the clans headed by the acting king could only make a presumption of guilt against her - if she was not a thief, why did she dare not open the coffin for the autopsy?

But for the Queen Mother, this matter itself is a dead end, and she will lose both horizontally and vertically.

If the coffin is not opened, the clan will make a presumption of guilt against her.

Open the coffin - found that Princess Chongqing's body was missing, causing a shock in Chang'an, and at the same time, the royal family began to investigate the matter thoroughly, and the Feng family's conspiracy was completely exposed.

The lesser of two evils, the Queen Mother can only choose the first.

Chronic poison can kill people, but it is better than a poison that seals the throat with blood.

A faint fragrance crept into the hall through the window, and Ying Zheng heard a crackling sound in his ears, which was the sound of agarwood piled up in one place outside the hall burning.

On the special day of the Queen Mother's birthday, the agarwood worth thousands of gold is only a trivial decoration, dozens of sticks are piled up in one place to ignite, so that the fragrance rises to the sky, through the closed doors and windows in the summer, only a wisp of light smoke through the window......

The sunlight entered the inner hall through the shark gauze tent, and the wisp of light smoke seemed to turn into a fine mist, flowing in mid-air, and Ying Zheng lowered his eyelashes, covering the emotions under his eyes.

Mother, today is your birthday.

I don't know if the birthday gift I gave is still to your liking?

Chapter 22

The Empress Dowager, Concubine Zhang, and even the acting king and other elders of the clan all set their eyes on Yingzheng and waited for the Son of Heaven to be judged.

Ying Zheng's expression was a little embarrassed.

After hesitating for a long time, he finally said: "Queen Mother, do you really want to open the coffin?" I'm afraid that it will be difficult to convince the public......"

The Queen Mother's nails dug into her palms, but she sneered and asked, "Is it difficult to convince the public?" Could it be that Zhang's words today are not empty words? Just because this slut is talking nonsense, Your Majesty is going to open the tomb of the first emperor, and suspect your mother to come here? As for the lives of her and the nine clans of the Zhang family - joke, are these cheap lives worth the peace after the death of the first emperor?! ”

The faces of the clans changed again, and they didn't want to Concubine Zhang immediately went back: "Since the concubine dares to sue the empress dowager in front of everyone today, naturally there is someone to testify to!" On the day the prince was born, what was his physical appearance, everyone had seen it, and the Tai Hospital's own pulse case remained, and the prince's body had blue spots and purple nail beds, all of which were recorded! ”

The Queen Mother's face turned blue for a moment.

And Concubine Zhang looked at her from the corner of her eyes and sneered: "In addition to this matter, the concubine did everything possible to find the palace attendants who had served Princess Chongqing, and asked what the ritual system was after the death of Princess Chongqing -- the regulations of this dynasty are that after the death of the unmarried prince and princess, the spirit can be suspended for seven days before the funeral can be performed, but only three days after the death of Princess Chongqing, the coffin was hurriedly sent to the imperial mausoleum, and there is not even anyone who prays for the princess's body, isn't it strange?!" ”

"The Queen Mother!"

Her voice dragged on for a long time: "After the death of Princess Chongqing, the first emperor was very sad and bedridden, and the princess's funeral was handled by you, can you explain why you want to cut the princess's funeral after her death?" Is it because the princess is young and has offended you in something during her lifetime, or is there a difference in the cause of the princess's death, and you are afraid that others will find out the strangeness of the princess's corpse, and you don't even dare to ask someone to pray for the princess's purification, so you hurriedly bury the princess and send it to the imperial mausoleum?! ”

The Queen Mother was speechless.

Concubine Zhang was especially not enough, so she sneered and said to several clansmen: "Uncle Daiwang, don't you know, there is an even more bizarre thing - after the death of Princess Chongqing, all the palace attendants who served her close have disappeared!" A group of people who have served Princess Chongqing, in the end, whose eyes have been erased from the world? Or did they find something they shouldn't know and were killed and killed?! ”

Cold sweat poured out from her back and forehead, wetting the queen mother's underwear, and making her sideburns flash with a touch of silver, her lips trembled a few times, and she was speechless for a while.

"The Queen Mother."

And the acting king spoke at this time: "The old minister thinks, do you have anything to explain about what Concubine Zhang said?" ”

"Hongu, Hongu ......"

The Empress Dowager repeated it twice weakly, and finally gradually regained the ability to speak: "This matter was originally intended to be brought to the grave, but today, I am afraid I have to say it." ”

She lowered her eyes and said slowly: "Those attendants who served Princess Chongqing are indeed dead, but it is not the palace that ordered their execution, but ...... Emperor Xian. ”

The faces of the acting king and the others changed again.

And Concubine Zhang said sharply: "You are talking nonsense! The Emperor has always been benevolent—"

"No matter how kind a person is, he will be sad and lose his mind because of the death of his beloved daughter!"

The Empress Dowager's voice was filled with three points of strength: "The old confidant who served the first emperor is still recuperating outside the palace at this time, if you don't believe it, you can recall him to ask him!" ”

Speaking of this, she gradually regained some confidence, turned her eyes to Ying Zheng, and said earnestly: "Does Your Majesty think that this palace is determined to prevent the coffin from being opened, is it because this palace has a weak heart?" This palace is worried about His Majesty's reputation! digging the tomb of the emperor as the son of man, how should the world comment on this matter? Just because of this slut's nonsense, does Your Majesty want to see and laugh at the world?! ”

"If we take 10,000 steps back, even if the coffin is opened, and the bodies of the prince and the princess are really different, can it be proved that the palace did it? If someone defiles the bodies of the prince and princess after their deaths, and frames the palace, what will he do?! ”

After saying this, she softened her voice again and said slowly: "If the Zhang family dares to swear, won't this palace dare?" If it is true as she said, all the heirs of the first emperor died at my hands, then I will be told to thunder five thunders, and I will not be able to live beyond the life after death, and the nine clans of the Feng family will not die well! ”

Ying Zheng was silent for a while, and after a long time, he finally looked at the acting king: "Uncle Acting Wang, according to your opinion, ......"

The acting king was also silent for a while.

The Empress Dowager's remarks are true, but the doubts in them cannot be fully resolved.

The physical and human evidence mentioned by Concubine Zhang is a real thing that happened after the birth of the prince, the funeral of Princess Chongqing after her death, and even the disappearance of Princess Chongqing's close attendants.

And the explanation made by the Queen Mother......

What the emperor's close attendants said must be true?

Objects are dead, and real is real, but people are different.

The acting king is the uncle of the former emperor and the uncle and grandfather of the present, and he is also the oldest person in the clan.

"Your Majesty," said the acting king in a deep voice, "the matter is very important, and the ministers ask to summon the prime ministers of the three provinces to discuss this case!" ”

The Queen Mother's breathing was involuntarily shortened for a moment.

Her eyes were fixed on Ying Zheng: "Your Majesty ......"

Ying Zheng's thick eyebrows furrowed, and after thinking for a few moments, he finally said with some hesitation: "Taiping, go, go and pass the prime ministers in." ”

The Empress Dowager was almost in despair: "Your Majesty! ”

……

Today is the birthday of the Queen Mother, and it is the first grand palace banquet after the succession to the throne today.

The clan members are members of the royal family, and after entering the palace, they go to the queen mother to greet each other, and the wives of each family attend the table according to their rank and greet each other.

After some time, the prime ministers and important ministers of the three provinces came together, chatted and laughed with the neighboring nobles, and waited together for the Son of Heaven and the Empress Dowager to come to the main hall.

After waiting for two quarters of an hour, seeing that the hour was coming, but everyone never saw the main figure, they inevitably murmured in their hearts.

Li Chun has always been cautious, his eyes looked around, and he couldn't help but whisper to another waiter, Wei Zhongdao: "It's strange that the venerable clan relatives have never attended. ”

Wei Zhongzhi frowned slightly, and also said in a low voice: "Maybe there are some unexpected changes in the Queen Mother's place." ”

Feng Mingda, as the right servant of Shangshu and the younger brother of the Empress Dowager, knew well about the Feng family's plans today, and suddenly saw that the situation was going differently, and his heart was inevitably abrupt - not only the Empress Dowager, but also the female relatives of the Feng family were not in the palace.

He was secretly worried, and when he shot Dong Chang with the left servant of Shangshu next to him, he handed over a few words, and then got up to investigate the situation in person, but no one could get out of the palace, so he was invited back by the commander of Zuo Wuwei, who seemed polite, but in fact could not refuse.

Although several prime ministers were far away from the entrance of the main hall, they also saw the armor soldiers and military guards standing outside the door, exchanged glances with each other, and their expressions became solemn.

When the people in the hall saw this, they also noticed that something was wrong, and gradually stopped laughing, and looked at them uneasily.

Commander Zuo Wuwei came to the hall with Feng Mingda, and said in a deep voice: "The Son of Heaven has spoken. ”

Everyone's hearts jumped, and they hurriedly left the table and knelt on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, he listened to Zuo Wuwei's command: "Today, the empress dowager's birthday, the country's great celebration, I don't want a traitor to assassinate on the palace banquet, the crime is unforgivable." For the sake of safety, the palace banquet was temporarily suspended, and the king of Zhou, the left servant of Shangshu shot Dong Changshi, and the right servant of Shangshu shot Feng Mingda, and the three of them were led to soothe the courtiers' daughters, and waited in the palace for the time being, and there must be no mistakes! ”

The three people who were ordered hurriedly said, "I am respectfully ordered." ”

When Dong Changshi heard that there was an assassination at the palace banquet, his heart inevitably jumped, and he thought that the Son of Heaven was still able to give orders with spare time, and he expected that he should be safe.

As such......

When he was thinking about it, Feng Mingda couldn't help but ask, "Is the holy car safe and sound?" ”

Commander Zuo Wuwei paused, looked a little hesitant, and saw that the eyes of several prime ministers and the guests in the hall were all turned over, and finally said: "The holy driver is safe." ”

lowered his voice again, with a bit of sympathy on his face: "Feng Servant shoots the festival and mourns, just now, the old lady in the house has passed away." ”

Feng Mingda was caught off guard, his face turned pale suddenly, and his legs were weak, so Dong Changshi's eyes were quick and he grabbed the person: "Brother Mingda!" ”

Feng Mingda was sad and afraid in his heart.

Grieving the loss of a mother, fearing that things will change, the plan has obviously been disrupted at this point.

What's going on?

How could something happen to the mother?

It's the Son of Heaven......

Or did someone else secretly make a move?

A sudden panic came to his heart, and Feng Mingda only felt as if a black hole had appeared in the place where his eyes could not reach, and he swallowed him in one bite without giving him a chance to react......

When Dong Changshi saw his stunned appearance, he knew that he was afraid that he would not be able to count on this colleague in a short time, but fortunately, there was still King Zhou, who came forward to stabilize the courtiers, and King Zhou came forward to comfort the clan.

After most of the hour, they finally waited for the result, though they did not know whether it was good or bad.

Tai Ping, the provincial eunuch in the palace beside the Son of Heaven, personally came to announce the decree: "Your Majesty has an order, please invite the prime ministers to go to the meeting." ”

Then he respectfully said to the king of Zhou: "All the affairs in the palace will be entrusted to the king of Zhou." ”

Prime ministers, if you look at me, I look at you, I can't guess what kind of medicine is sold in the Tianzi Pot.

If you can issue an order to let the prime ministers pass, instead of turning big things into small things and small things, it can be seen that today's affairs cannot be touched by the Son of Heaven, but since this is the case, to what extent has the affairs of the Queen Mother been corrupted to the bottom, and the Son of Heaven and the old men of the clan cannot be the masters, so they need to call the prime ministers over together?

When I arrived in the hall, I heard it - Mom, it shocked my whole family, it was really an earth-shattering event!

I'm afraid that if I leave the palace today, I will be immediately grabbed by the Son of Heaven and screwed off my head on the grounds that I know too much!

The concubine of the first emperor accused the queen mother of severing the heirship of the first emperor, and asked for the coffin of the prince and princess to be opened for an autopsy.

The Empress Dowager said that the killing of Princess Chongqing's close attendants to vent his anger was done by the first emperor, and she resolutely refused to allow it on the grounds that the mausoleum of the former emperor should not be touched lightly, let alone disturb the souls of the deceased!

Prime Ministers: "......"

Emmm。

It's not that we pull the shelf, the Queen Mother, the current situation is a little unfavorable for you!

Ying Zheng looked embarrassed and had a headache: "The queen mother is my mother, and what the concubine said involves the first emperor, I really don't know what to do!" ”