Let's say that after Ziyan returned to the palace, she immediately reported the matter of the Nineteen Middle Gu to Concubine Xi. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Concubine Xi suddenly panicked, and immediately went to find the King of Chu. Ziyan hurriedly dissuaded, and Concubine Xi gave up her momentary impulse, but went to the Zhao Balcony with Ziyan to report to the queen first. According to the rules of the Chu Palace, except for the queen, other concubines are not allowed to go directly to the king of Chu unless the king of Chu is summoned. Instead, it was necessary to be accompanied by the queen or the queen after the queen's consent, and then he could ask to see the king of Chu through the eunuchs.

After listening to the report, the queen was unusually calm, and when she saw Concubine Xi who was in a state of confusion, she persuaded softly:

"Sister, don't be impatient, first, since Xiang Gongzi brought Nineteen to Yuncheng for detoxification, he must be very sure, and Nineteen will definitely not worry about his life. The second is that it is not clear whether the king is in the palace, and the mourning family will send someone to investigate, if the king is in the palace, the mourning family will accompany his sister to see the king. ”

After listening to the queen's words of consolation, Concubine Xi also calmed down, but the anxiety in her heart did not diminish a little. After a short time, the word came back that the king was in the palace. So, the queen and Concubine Xi hurried to the bedroom of King Chu of Zhanghuatai.

The king of Chu has recently suffered from a cold, and although he has been treated by a medical officer, he is no longer in serious trouble, but his body is lazy and he has not been in court for a long time. Hearing that the queen and Concubine Xi were coming, the king of Chu did not get up, leaned on the bed, half-squinted at the two women he trusted the most and were kneeling in front of him, and said casually:

"The widow is not feeling well, and he is too lazy to get up, so he did not call the two ladies to come today, and the two ladies came uninvited, what is the matter?"

The queen and Concubine Xi hurriedly reported the matter of the Gu in the nineteen sons in detail. After hearing this, Chu Wangshang, who was originally leaning on the bed, sat up "Teng", his face was cloudy, and then he roared loudly:

"Who dares to touch the widow's beloved son? The widow wants to destroy his nine clans! Are they bullying the widow and the old man? The widow wants to set off a bloody storm in Yingdu!"

The queen kowtowed again and again, and said in a trembling voice: "The king is angry, this matter still needs to be inquired in detail after the return of the nineteenth prince, and the reason will be inferred, and it will not be too late for the king to descend the power of thunder at that time." ”

Chu Wangshang snorted continuously, gritted his teeth and said: "Does this still need to be investigated? There must be someone who speculates that the widow wants to make the nineteen sons the crown prince, so he can't wait to get rid of the nineteen sons as soon as possible." Hmph, the nineteen sons are born with martial arts, how can a few traitors harm them? The more they don't want the widow to set up the nineteen sons, the widow wants to make the nineteen sons the crown prince!"

When the queen and Concubine Xi heard this, they were all worried and panicked. Of course, the queen had other ideas, but Concubine Xi never thought that the nineteenth son would become the crown prince. She didn't want her nineteen sons to participate in the turmoil of seizing the heir, and she was afraid when she thought that competing for the crown prince would inevitably lead to turbulent waves. She would rather live peacefully and quietly with her nineteen sons than be on the cusp of the nineteenth son.

The queen was silent for a moment, and then said cautiously:

"Xiang Bei, the guard beside the nine sons Xiong Huai, was ordered by the nine sons to protect the nineteen sons, if the nineteen sons were successfully rescued, the credit is not small, and the king should be rewarded!"

The king of Chu said: "With the mediocrity of the ninth son, would you think of protecting the nineteenth son?

The queen hurriedly said: "This matter is true, the ninth son is usually benevolent and generous, although he is weak, he is very clear in major matters. ”

Chu Wang Shang sneered. Then asked:

"Since it was arranged by the nine sons, why didn't he come to report the matter of Gu in the nineteen sons until now?"

The queen said: "Xiang Bei must have been in a hurry to report to the ninth son first, so the ninth son did not know that the nineteenth son had been poisoned. When Xiang Bei returns, the king will know as soon as he asks. ”

The king of Chu was silent for a while, obviously feeling that the queen had some truth in what he said, his angry face eased slightly, and then turned to the eunuch beside him and ordered:

"Order Yin Zhaoyang to enter the palace!"

After a while, Zhaoyang hurriedly walked into the dormitory, first bowed to the king of Chu, and then respectfully saluted the queen and concubine Xi who were already sitting on the brocade bench on one side, and then sat on the brocade stool on the other side under the signal of the king of Chu.

The king of Chu briefly recounted the matter of the nineteen sons, and then said:

"Someone is bold enough to bully the widow, the widow will never give up, and I invite Aiqing to come here today, just to let Aiqing come out with an opinion. ”

Zhaoyang pondered for a long time, and then said slowly:

"Plotting to assassinate the prince is a crime that cannot be forgiven, and of course it must be thoroughly investigated. There are three things that need to be done urgently. The first is to immediately send capable personnel to Yuncheng to guard the nineteen sons and protect them to return to the palace safely. The second is to select people close to the king to quickly investigate. Weichen thought that the investigation should be carried out secretly at this stage to prevent the grass from startling the snake. The king endured the hatred in his heart for the time being, and after he found out, he struck another thunderous blow. The third is to re-select and transfer the guards to strengthen the guards of the nineteen sons. ”

The King of Chu led the way slightly, and said in a deep voice:

Aiqing was really thoughtful, so she handled it according to Aiqing's opinion. When he went to Yuncheng to greet the nineteenth son, he sent a first-class guard Zhaohu to go, and let the Sanlu doctor Gongzi Lan be responsible for the investigation, Zilan is a widow's closest relative, and he must be able to investigate and deal with it impartially. As for the escort of the nineteenth prince, it was originally in charge of the protector general Sniper Gong, but the Sniper Gong asked for leave to go out, and before the Sniper Gong came back, Zhaohu was in charge. King Chu paused, and then continued:

"Aiqing is wise, the nineteenth son was stabbed, who does Aiqing think it should be?"

Zhaoyang did not hesitate at all, and replied proudly: "The nineteenth son is young and has no personal vendetta, of course, this matter is related to the plot to seize the crown prince's position, and Xiong Zhang and the ninth son Xiong Huai are the main suspects. ”

King Chu Shang said: "I heard that Xiang Bei, who rescued the nineteenth son, is the escort of the ninth son, and the ninth son seems to be able to clear the suspicion." But where did Xiong Huai, the ninth son, know that the nineteenth son might be assassinated, and how could he send guards to rescue the nineteenth son in advance? And why didn't he report it to the widow after receiving the news? There are many doubts. ”

Zhaoyang said: "This matter is understandable. Even if the ninth son gets the news, there may not be conclusive evidence, and it may even come from speculation, otherwise, the nineteenth son would not have been poisoned in the end. From the position of the ninth son, on the one hand, there is no reliable evidence, and it is impossible to report to the king based on speculation. On the other hand, he was worried that the nineteenth son would really be in danger, so he had to send Xiang Bei to protect him. ”

Chu Wangshang nodded, expressing his approval of Zhaoyang's analysis, and then asked:

"Jiuzi is no longer suspicious, then this matter must be done by Xiong Zhang. ”

Zhaoyang said categorically: "This is already undoubted, Xiong Zhang can be said to hate the nineteenth son because of the loss of the crown prince, and it is not surprising that Xiong Zhang's character seeks revenge." ”

The king of Chu shook his head and said: "The widow has ordered him to think about it behind closed doors, he knows too much about the trip to worship his ancestors in Jingshan, how can he accurately detect the whereabouts of the nineteen sons?"

Zhaoyang said: "Xiong Zhang has some big families behind him to give support, he can't do it himself, but he can use other forces." ”

The king of Chu asked, "Do you mean the Jing clan?"

Zhaoyang did not answer directly, but arched his hand to the king of Chu and said, "The king is wise." ”

The King of Chu was silent for a while, and said slowly: "Although Jing's actions make people feel arrogant and arrogant, they have always been loyal to the widow. ”

Zhaoyang secretly sneered in his heart. In fact, Jing's plot against the nineteenth son was the speculation he first detected some signs and made, and then revealed it to his eldest grandson, Zhaohua. Now that the King of Chu has blind trust in the Jing family, he wants to report the news he has to the King of Chu, but after thinking about it carefully, he feels that it is inappropriate. The whole Chu State knew that the Zhaojing family was political enemies, and playing the Jing family behind their backs was quite suspected of taking revenge for personal gain, and the suspicion of the Chu Wang Shang was not good for the Zhao family. So, Zhaoyang did not refute the king of Chu, but said according to the meaning of the king of Chu:

"The king's words are also reasonable, it is better to wait for Xiang Bei and the nineteenth son to come back, and then investigate in detail, and then it is not too late to draw conclusions. ”

At this time, the anger of the king of Chu had calmed down slightly, and he felt tired again on his body, so he said to Zhaoyang:

"According to Aiqing's wishes, this matter will be fully presided over by Aiqing's widow!"

At this time, the queen got up and played: "Please ask the king's favor to allow the nineteen sons to be the personal palace maid Ziyan and Zhaohu's son Zhao Hua to go with Zhaohu to meet the nineteen sons." ”

The king of Chu looked at the queen suspiciously, and did not understand why the queen suddenly remembered to let Zhao slip accompany him, Zhao slip was just a teenager, was there any reason why he had to go? However, because the king of Chu trusted the queen very much, although he was slightly surprised, he did not ask, but waved his hand and said:

"Queen, feel free. The widow is tired, let Concubine Xi stay, give the widow a beating on the shoulder, the queen and Zhaoyang Aiqing retreat. ”

The queen and Zhaoyang bowed and left.

Out of Zhanghuatai, Zhaoyang saw that the guards and maidservants were still far away, so he whispered to the queen:

"Why do you have to go there?"

The queen bowed deeply to Zhaoyang and said in response:

"The matter of the Nine Sons Xionghuai has bothered Lord Yin. What the adults ask, the mourning family has its own opinions. There are many people here, and it is inconvenient to speak clearly. ”

Zhaoyang looked at the queen meaningfully, then bowed and said goodbye to each other.