Chapter 415
The emperor woke up the day after he was assassinated, but he was extremely weak, the marks on the neck where he was strangled did not disappear, he had difficulty swallowing, he could only eat a little liquid food every day, he could not speak, and he was also a little crazy, with occasional light in his eyes. In a flash, most of the time it is bleak.
One imperial doctor stayed behind and was not allowed to leave the palace for half a step. Two eunuchs and two palace maids served the emperor. They were strictly ordered by the empress dowager and never allowed to disclose the emperor's condition to anyone.
The imperial doctor tried to be euphemistic, but the meaning was very clear. The emperor was not completely out of danger, and the Empress Dowager Cining could not rest assured and still had to be prepared for accidents, so she deliberately let the outside world think that the emperor was dying soon.
The news brought by Jing Yao disrupted the plan and gained the trust of the Empress Dowager Cining.
Her foundation is still too shallow. Her family has just arrived in the capital, so she has no way of relying on her. She can't control her ministers freely, so she can't fully trust her.
But she desperately needed someone who could use it.
Jing Yao was taken to the Cining Palace, where the emperor lived all the time. The house was filled with the strong smell of medicine. The imperial doctor sat on a chair and yawned. When he saw someone coming in, he immediately got up and stepped aside.
Empress Dowager Ci Ning walked to the bedside, looked at her son with a sad expression on her face, and immediately tried her best to squeeze out a smile, "My son, you are going to have a son too, if you can understand me, show me something. "
After waiting for a while, a snoring sound came from the bed, as if there was phlegm stuck in the throat.
Empress Dowager Cining was surprised and delighted, turned her head to look at the imperial doctor, "Your Majesty can understand me."
The imperial doctor was also taken aback, stepped forward quickly, asked the mother to step back, and then checked again, pinching and pressing, taking turns taking pulse on both wrists, getting up and saying to the queen mother, "Congratulations to the queen mother, Your Majesty's situation It's getting better, it's just..."
"Just what?"
"It's just that the pulse condition is a little disordered, and Wei Chen doesn't know why, so it's hard to draw a conclusion."
"But will your Majesty get better?"
"Uh..." The imperial doctor understood that he was giving his life to answer, and he was too late to give a clear answer.
Empress Dowager Cining was dissatisfied, but she didn't say anything. She waved the imperial doctor to step down, walked to the bedside, and said softly, "Your Majesty will recover, and she will be full of children and grandchildren, leaving a legacy for the Great Chu."
The Empress Dowager Cining stood there and looked at the emperor silently, as if she had forgotten that there were other people in the room.
Jing Yao lightly walked to the bedside, first knelt down and kowtowed, then got up, turned slightly and looked at the emperor on the bed.
The emperor's face was blushing abnormally, his breathing was absent, his eyes were open, he didn't blink or move, he looked a little weird, the imperial doctor didn't dare to say more, and Jing Yao naturally wouldn't speak indiscriminately, and said softly: "Old man Nu Jingyao, meet your majesty."
Empress Dowager Cining said: "It was Your Majesty who rescued you from your humble position and entrusted you with a heavy responsibility, Jing Yao, are you willing to repay His Majesty?"
Jing Yao immediately knelt down and kowtowed to the emperor and the queen mother successively, "This life of this old slave belongs to your majesty. As long as you can serve your majesty, this old servant will die without regret."
"Okay, let people outside think that the four concubines are pregnant. Anyway, the imperial doctor can't identify it, and no one can say that this is false news. Jing Yao, in front of His Majesty, can you say that you can protect this Four people, especially Concubine Tong?"
"Jing Yao swears to the sky that if he doesn't do his best, he will be slashed by thousands of knives, and if there is an accident, he will never be reborn in hell."
The queen mother nodded, "Until your majesty recovers, don't reveal your majesty's condition. The news of the pregnancy of the four concubines is enough to stabilize the court."
"What the Queen Mother said is very true." Jing Yao slowly got up.
"How are you going to protect the four concubines and your majesty?"
"Send more guards, patrol day and night, eat and drink daily, and strictly supervise."
"Can you do the things you said?"
"The old servant asks for instructions, and the order is issued by the empress dowager, and there is no need for other duties."
Empress Dowager Cining nodded again, as expected of an old eunuch in the palace, and every word she said was in line with the master's wishes.
The emperor on the bed made another snoring sound. In addition to being pleasantly surprised, the Queen Mother Cining was also a little confused, "Your Majesty seems to be saying something to me, Jing Yao, can you understand?"
Jing Yao looked at the emperor again, and shook his head after a while, "The old slave doesn't understand either."
Empress Dowager Cining sighed, "Perhaps I should recruit one or two of His Majesty's side. How about Zhang Youcai? He has been with His Majesty the longest, so he should be credible."
"Zhang Youcai is fine, but doesn't this mean that your Majesty's condition has improved?"
Empress Dowager Ci Ning thought for a while, "Go ahead, you need Yizhi, just find me."
"Yes, Empress Dowager." Jing Yao went out and asked a eunuch to prepare food for him. He went to inspect the residence of the four concubines. When he came back to eat, he immediately formulated several decrees and gave himself several powers. He was very cautious. All powers are narrow in scope and temporary, and expire upon expiration.
The Empress Dowager Cining was suspicious, and the last thing Jing Yao wanted to do was to arouse her suspicion.
Jing Yao actually understood a little what the emperor meant just now. The emperor was looking for someone. Although he didn't know who it was, he could always guess it with a little guidance. Jing Yao pretended not to understand anything in front of the queen mother. First, he didn't want the queen mother to think he Too smart, and second, he doesn't want to call people back so quickly.
He wants to be alone and indispensable.
The Queen Mother's decree was quickly sent back and re-transcribed by the female official. There were few changes. With the seal of the Queen Mother, at least it could pass through the palace without hindrance.
Although he did not resume his position as the Central Superintendent, Jing Yao returned to the top of his power. Before dawn the next day, a group of eunuchs who knew each other came to visit. Jing Yao was not seen, and he lived near the Cining Palace. You must not show signs of self-respect, and scold these people for being stupid. Even if you want to please, you shouldn't be so brazen.
The first thing I did early in the morning was to greet the Empress Dowager Cining, report the situation, and ask for a few decrees. Then I went to the concubine's residence to inspect and set a deadly rule: Guard a team of eleven people, and no one is allowed to act alone. , even if you are in a hurry, you must be accompanied by others. Each team of guards is equipped with three eunuchs to supervise each other; the same is true for the maids beside the concubines. Every procedure needs to be checked by someone.
For Jing Yao, it doesn't matter whether they believe it or not, everyone must be under supervision before they can be trusted.
Three poles in the sun, the person who pleases Jing Yao is no longer the servant in the palace, but the master.
The three concubines who might be pregnant all sent gifts to Jing Yao through the palace maids. They were not very expensive, but were used to express intimacy. Two of them hoped to find the imperial doctor to enter the palace for a diagnosis, or to bring a letter to their family members outside. Concubine Shu Deng Yun was the most direct, and called Jing Yao in and said, "When I give birth to a prince, I will be a noble concubine, please do me a favor, Duke Jing, and send these two letters, one to my brother in the Western Regions, A letter to Jincheng's family."
Jing Yao refused all of them, claiming that he did not have this power and that everything had to be decided by the two queen mothers.
Tong Qing'e, who was really pregnant, didn't say anything. She was still nervous and felt that with her status, she should not and could not give birth to the first prince. She always thought that something went wrong, or that she was pregnant with a daughter.
For Concubine Tong, Jing Yao carefully comforted her, and found eunuchs and palace maids who were also "hard men" to accompany her.
During the period, two eunuchs came to look for Jing Yao, implying that someone outside the palace wanted to see him, but they were all repelled. Jing Yao knew who wanted to see him, Han Chou must be in a hurry, but Jing Yao didn't want to reveal everything to his face so quickly, he had to wait , to observe, until the situation is clear, do not make any decisions.
This afternoon, Jing Yao was summoned by another queen mother.
Jing Yao respected and hated the empress dowager Shangguan. He respected her the most majestic empress dowager, and hated her for taking his own guilt. He was directly demoted to a **** by the central supervisor, causing him to suffer endlessly.
But he had to go. After asking the Empress Dowager Cining and obtaining permission, Jing Yao went to the Cishun Palace. He was a little curious. The Empress Dowager Shangguan had not asked about internal and external affairs. Why did he want to see an old eunuch who had just returned to the palace?
The empress dowager Shangguan gave him a seat, the maid offered tea, and then stepped back. Jing Yao sat sideways with the tea cup in his hands, his eyes lowered, and he couldn't help being a little afraid of the empress dowager who had given up power.
The Empress Dowager Shangguan didn't want to bother, she said "drink tea", and after watching Jing Yao take a sip, she asked, "Is there anyone still alive in Shangguan's family?"
Jing Yao was startled, the teacup in his hand almost fell to the ground, "The Queen Mother...\
,"The Empress Dowager Shangguan smiled slightly, "You went to the East China Sea Kingdom, but you didn't get much credit for the Wang family's arrival in Beijing. Obviously, it was not to investigate the authenticity of the Wang family, but something else. I guess it has something to do with the Shangguan family, right?"
Jing Yao was even more shocked and forced a smile: "To be honest, the old slave is investigating the Yan family, and His Majesty suspects..."
The Empress Dowager Shangguan shook her head, "Jing Yao, you think your position in front of Ci Ning is already very stable, but I can knock you back to your original shape with a single word, do you believe it?"
Jing Yao's face changed, thinking that when the emperor was still a puppet and the Empress Dowager Cining was still Wang Meiren, Jing Yao was ordered by the Empress Dowager Shangguan and secretly did some things.
After all the calculations, he still couldn't fight the Empress Dowager Shangguan, so he had to reply: "The old slave did investigate the Empress Dowager's family, but the one who asked the old slave to do this was not the Empress Dowager Cining, nor His Majesty, but Mrs. Pingenhou."
The Empress Dowager Shangguan frowned, and then smiled: "The Cui family, she wants to divide me and the Empress Dowager Cining. What's the result of your investigation?"
"The Queen Mother has a nephew named Shangguan Ding."
"Um."
"The old slave found a personal entourage of Shangguan Ding in the East China Sea. He said... He said that the Shangguan family had received an decree from the Queen Mother to ask them to help the righteous island, but there was no evidence, Shangguan Ding did not know whereabouts, and there was no way to prove it. So the old slave didn't take it seriously and never mentioned it to anyone."
"It's not impossible. Shangguan Sheng used to be in charge of my seal, and he is familiar with my handwriting. It is very convenient to forge a letter."
"When the queen mother said this, the old slave's heart suddenly became enlightened." Jing Yao said immediately, and he didn't think Shangguan Sheng would have such courage in his heart.
The Empress Dowager Shangguan stopped talking about her own affairs, "The emperor has a female bodyguard named Meng E, do you recognize it?"
Jing Yao nodded, "It is said that she killed a very suspicious female pianist, which made the assassination case even more confusing, and is now detained in the Cui Mansion."
"Well, you find a way to get her back to the palace and live."
Jing Yao looked up at the Queen Mother in surprise, feeling faintly uneasy, afraid that he would be involved in the conspiracy again.