Chapter 419
When the emperor was assassinated in the Cui Mansion, Cai Xinghai was in charge of the day's perimeter vigilance, and had nothing to do with the assassins who had already infiltrated the mansion. Even so, he was still interrogated before he gained the trust of the Empress Dowager Cining, and the official resumed his post. The first thing was Choose five guards from the camp of the guards and send them to the Cining Palace.
These five people have practiced internal skills, nominally to protect the queen mother, but the real task is to heal the emperor.
The three imperial physicians were finally freed temporarily, but they were still not pardoned, and were reprimanded by the Empress Dowager Cining.
"Your Majesty's symptoms have been present for several days, why didn't you explain the situation earlier?"
The three imperial physicians kowtowed and pleaded guilty, the first imperial physician had the greatest responsibility, so he had to explain, "I, I am not an expert in treating this kind of internal injury, and, and I really can't think of it... Your Majesty... will Practiced inner strength."
Empress Dowager Ci Ning didn't think of it either, but she still put the responsibility on the imperial doctor, "Aren't you a genius doctor who can cure all ailments? You can't even think of such a thing? If the diagnosis is wrong, even if there is a little problem, you will not escape the death penalty."
The imperial doctor could only kowtow and did not dare to argue.
The five guards arrived one after another, and each of them had to go through three body searches, meet the queen mother alone, and heard that they were going to treat the emperor's internal injuries, and they were all shocked.
After reading it, the five people had different attitudes, either affirmative, cautious, or hesitant, but they all came to a similar conclusion, which was consistent with the judgment of the imperial physician: the emperor was indeed chaotic.
The queen mother finally believed.
The three imperial physicians were called again and gathered with the five guards to discuss the safest and most effective way to heal the wounds.
Shortly after noon, the healing began. Two guards gently lifted the emperor up, one guard massaged the emperor's body acupuncture points to help him restore his internal breathing, and two guards stood by, taking turns to replace their companions.
Treating internal injuries is like tidying up a mess. It is best not to be impatient and distracted. It can only be done little by little. They expect it to take a whole day to see the initial effect, and at least three days to have a noticeable effect.
The three imperial physicians prescribed medicines for nourishing the body and cooperated with the healing. They also had an important responsibility to explain the healing process to the Queen Mother Ci Ning, so that she should not worry, especially so that she would not be suspicious.
"During the healing period, or when there is danger, don't worry about the empress dowager Wanwang, the eight of us work together..."
Empress Dowager Cining said coldly, "I only see the final result."
With these words, the imperial doctor and the guards were satisfied.
Empress Dowager Cining personally supervised for a while, and a resting guard cautiously reminded: "The empress dowager is like a rainbow, I am afraid it is not conducive to healing."
Empress Dowager Ci Ning snorted. Even if she didn't know martial arts, she knew it was nonsense. With her present, it was true that the guards were too nervous.
She sent two eunuchs and a palace maid to stay behind, and left on her own. After resting for a while, she decided to summon Meng E.
Meng E, with her hands bound, was brought in by four female guards. After she bowed to the Queen Mother Cining, she was allowed to stand up.
Seeing the real person, Empress Dowager Cining was a little surprised and a little disappointed. It turned out that Meng E was not a perfect beauty. She was only ordinary in terms of appearance, and she was obviously older than the emperor. Although she kowtowed according to the rules, her face was arrogant. , completely without the humility and prudence of the palace servants.
The emperor would actually favor such a woman. Empress Dowager Cining couldn't think of a reason, so she looked up and down Meng E several times and asked directly, "Your Majesty has been fortunate to you?"
Ordinary women usually blush when asked about this kind of thing, but Meng E didn't change her face and shook her head: "No."
"If you let me find out that you are not a virgin..."
Meng E's face finally showed a hint of shyness, "I am willing to suffer capital punishment."
Empress Dowager Cining wouldn't do this, but she became more and more curious, "Who taught the emperor's inner strength?"
"I."
"why are you doing this?"
Meng E was silent for a while, "When His Majesty entered the palace for the first time and declared himself emperor, he had nothing. I hope he can have a skill."
"The inner function is close to you?"
"Even if you can't save yourself, you won't have the power to fight back."
The Empress Dowager Cining finally understood the reason. She could imagine how lonely and frightened Ruzi was when she was a puppet in the palace. This woman was taking advantage of the situation. A needle given to the emperor at that time could be worth thousands of dollars now. .
She trusted Meng E a little more, waved her hand, and motioned for the maid to untie the rope.
Meng E rubbed her wrist without thanking him.
"Without internal strength, there will be no internal disturbance. Your internal strength has harmed Your Majesty." Empress Dowager Cining felt that everyone should be responsible for the emperor's condition.
"The Assassin of Yunmengze is highly skilled in martial arts. If His Majesty had not practiced internal skills, he would have been killed at that time."
The Empress Dowager Ci Ning snorted in her heart, this woman is not timid, the so-called following the rules is only superficial.
"In what capacity are you staying by your Majesty's side now?"
"Ordinary palace maid."
Empress Dowager Cining asked the female official who was standing by the side, "Is there her name in the palace book?"
The female official had already investigated Meng E, and immediately replied: "Meng E used to belong to the Jiangan Camp, but she was removed from her name a few months ago, and she has searched the palace records, but she has no name."
"Your Majesty is really careless, and you forgot to give the maids a name." Empress Dowager Cining said.
Meng E felt that this was not a problem, so she did not answer.
"Since you have nothing to do with the assassin, who is helping the assassin?"
"Han Chou." Meng E did not have Jing Yao's secret.
"There are a lot of people who speak ill of him, but they can't come up with evidence. Do you have any evidence?"
"If evidence is needed, why would the Queen Mother imprison all the people from both houses?"
Empress Dowager Cining was furious. She was no longer the little girl from the past, nor was she a hiding Wang Meiren. She was the biological mother of the current empress dowager and emperor. This woman, whose name is not even on the palace register, dared to question her decision. .
"What good does it do for Han Chou to assassinate the emperor? He has been trying to please me for so long, is it just to cover up the assassination?"
Meng E shook her head, "Han Chou really wanted to please the queen mother at first, hoping to please the emperor and stay in Luoyang forever. The queen mother was fooled, but her majesty didn't, and secretly arranged to punish Han Chou. Hope for Yun Mengze For those who are angry, Han Chou is dissatisfied, this is a ready-made 'follow the trend', so he came to the door, and the two sides hit it off."
The Empress Dowager Cining became more and more annoyed and forcibly held back, "But Han Chou handed over the hopeful person called the Holy Army Division."
"That's because the whereabouts of the Holy Soldier have been exposed. Han Chou has to do this. The Holy Soldier volunteered to sacrifice, but even in prison, he is helping Han Chou out of suspicion."
"These are your guesses."
"The Holy Army is from Jianghu, and so am I. I have seen him, I understand his character, and—His Majesty will believe me."
Empress Dowager Ci Ning was unbearable, "Take it down."
Meng E was escorted back to the original place, and the rope was no longer tied to her hand.
The Queen Mother Cining didn't like Meng E at all, but after getting angry, she still thought about Meng E's words carefully.
The eunuch who was guarding the emperor's room had to come over every once in a while to report the situation. At dusk, he brought good news. The emperor's face became less red, and he closed his eyes and slept for a while. The five guards were resting.
Empress Dowager Ci Ning felt relieved, but gradually calmed down, and began to reflect on her behavior in the past few days. If she hadn't reacted too violently and pressed too hard on all parties, Meng E would have healed the emperor long ago, and even the imperial doctor would not have done so. As for the guesses, they haven't dared to speak out.
As for Han Chou, Empress Dowager Cining still finds it difficult to accept the conclusion that he is a traitor. Han Chou must have a lot of bribery, otherwise he would not be able to give so many precious gifts to the Wang family, but he is stupid and timid, no matter how you look at it. Not like someone who dared to participate in the assassination.
After nightfall, the Empress Dowager Cining couldn't feel at ease and sent someone to summon Jing Yao.
Jing Yao was imprisoned in the prison in the palace, and he was soon brought in. He had a lot of ups and downs in the past few days. Even someone like him felt dizzy and weak. on the ground.
"What do you know about Han Chou, say it all." Empress Dowager Cining ordered.
Jing Yao didn't know why, but he didn't dare to hide it any more. He revealed some of the information he had found out. These things still could not prove that Han Chou was directly related to the assassination, but everything he did made the businessman destroy the IOU. , handing over the Holy Army Division, etc., are reducing the emperor's vigilance.
Empress Dowager Cining was silent. At such a time, she had to admit that Han Chou was indeed suspicious, and others saw it, but she was the only one who was confused.
She didn't want to admit her mistake in front of the eunuch, so she ordered Jing Yao to be taken away, and she was still in prison. She called a female official and drafted a decree. When she called Han Chou tomorrow morning, she wanted to ask her face to face.
It was getting late and it was inconvenient to leave the palace, so Yi Zhi stayed on the table and waited to send it out in the morning.
For Han Chou, it was a sleepless night. During the day, the interrogation of Meng E ended without a hitch. He had a premonition that the wind was changing, so he used all the connections in the palace to inquire about the every move of the Empress Dowager Cining.
The five guards, Meng E, and Jing Yao were summoned into the Cining Palace one after another. Han Chou all got the news. What shocked him the most was that there were rumors that the emperor might wake up.
All his plans are based on the fact that the emperor will never wake up again, and once the emperor can speak, the first thing is probably to arrest him.
Han Chou thought about it, and felt that he couldn't just sit still like this, so he left the house immediately and went to see the prime minister Shen Mingzhi first.
He went to those merchants again, but the merchants were very willing to see him, and they opened their mouths and asked when they would be able to compensate for the loss. They had conditions to burn the IOUs, and when they talked about other things, they all hesitated.
Han Chou made an excuse to leave the hall, and wanted to inquire about what was going on in the palace, but he couldn't find anyone to communicate.
Han Chou finally realized that he had nowhere to go. He had to leave the capital, go back to Luoyang, and return to his homeland, where he had his family, all his forces, and a chance to fight back.
The next morning, the emperor finally woke up, still weak, but able to speak. The first person he was looking for was not the Empress Dowager Cining, not the traitor Han Chou, not the queen, not many cronies.
"Call Cui Tenglai."
(One update today, hope to know.)