The carriage galloped on the road, leaving Xianyang City far behind.
Xingzhong and I were the only ones in the car. Besides Meng He, there were more than a dozen people escorting us.
Only now did I have time to ask about Ying Zheng's situation.
Xing Zhong answered truthfully: "The emperor hardly rested along the way. He arrived at Chengshan in early summer, and even the sacrifices to Jiuyi Mountain were done by Tingwei Mengyi. The emperor was already extremely weak after a long journey, and Prince Hu Hai also fell ill when he passed through Danyang County. Had a serious illness.
After arriving at Chengshan, after several days of rest, the emperor's health improved.
However, facing the vast sea, there was still no news about Xu Fu. The emperor was very anxious and took ten pills left by Xu Fu in the next half month. However, this time the pills were not as effective as before. After taking them, the emperor's body became weaker and he could not even eat. .
Seeing that the emperor's health was deteriorating, Li Xiang and Meng Yi jointly advised the emperor and asked the imperial physician to diagnose and treat him, but the emperor...
All the ministers who advised him were almost dismissed from office. From then on, no one dared to speak out about this matter.
However, just four days ago, the emperor suddenly coughed up blood, became confused, and sometimes couldn't even speak clearly. Li Xiang immediately blocked the news and did not allow anyone to enter the emperor's palace. All the people who were around the emperor that day were also detained in the palace. He also sent people to find the imperial physician Ling, who risked beheading and allowed the imperial physician Ling to make a diagnosis. But the imperial doctor’s order said…”
Having said this, Xingzhong paused and looked at me. I opened my mouth and comforted him: "In punishment, just say that there is no third person here."
Xing Zhong continued: "The imperial doctor said that the emperor is already terminally ill. He has taken so many elixirs in the past few days and is a little weak. Now it is too late to use medical methods. For now, the only way is to prescribe some medicine for the emperor. Next, we will make a decision after the emperor wakes up.
Everyone in the palace was paying attention to the emperor's condition. In addition to assisting the emperor in handling documents and memorials, Ranchen was also the emperor's bodyguard. On the night when the emperor fell ill, the clean room came to report, and two edicts were issued from the palace. At this time, the emperor was still unconscious and could not issue any imperial edict. However, the palace guards and ministers did not know who sent it.
When he found that there was only one person in the clean room with the edict, he came to report it immediately. The minister realized that something was wrong and reported it to Prime Minister Li and immediately sent people to chase him, but the trace of the person who carried the edict was lost. Then the minister and Li Xiang inspected everyone in the palace in turn, and found nothing. "
Hearing this, I wondered: "Two edicts? As far as I know, there were three edicts issued. One was to Xianyang to Prime Minister Feng, and the other two were to Shangjun and Nanyue."
Xing Zhong explained: "What His Highness said is true. There were indeed three edicts, but they were not issued at the same time. After the review was fruitless, Prime Minister Li and his ministers immediately put everyone in the palace under surveillance. Except for the two maids serving the emperor, everyone He was not allowed to step out of the room. But what made me feel ashamed was that the next day at Yinshi, another edict was sent from the palace and was intercepted by the Jingshi north of Jiaodong."
I felt incredible: "There is someone who can still take the edict out of the palace under such tight defense. Could this person have the ability to fly?"
Xing Zhong smiled bitterly and said: "I am incompetent. I really don't know how the edict left the palace. Fortunately, I failed to intercept the first two edicts, so I arranged a clean room to conduct secret checks around the area, and I intercepted the edict to His Highness in time." The minister took the edict back to the palace. It happened that the emperor woke up at this time and his consciousness was relatively clear.
After the minister informed the emperor, the emperor was furious and immediately wanted to kill all the people in the palace. Fortunately, Li Xiangjin said that if the thief has such ability, there must be someone to support him in the palace and elsewhere. Killing everyone in the palace may be able to get rid of the thief, but I don’t know if the traitor has other back-up plans. It is better to act according to the false edict. There will definitely be a chance to uncover the person behind the scenes.
The emperor adopted the words of Prime Minister Li and sent the false edict to Prime Minister Feng according to the plan. He wrote another edict and handed it to the Jiaodong clean room on a starry night for His Highness along with the tiger talisman for the North and South Army in Xianyang. At the same time, he was worried that the thieves would be alert and ordered the minister to Looking for an opportunity to leave the palace, rush to Xianyang, and escort His Highness to Chengshan, just to see what the traitors will do. "
I said helplessly: "It seems that I am being used as fishing bait. But now that you leave, doesn't it mean that there are no guards around my father?"
Xingzhong replied: "Your Highness, don't worry, all the ministers around the emperor have been replaced by clean rooms. This move is secret, and even Prime Minister Li doesn't know about it. Changing defenses is normal, but in the past, soldiers were exchanged. This time it was replaced with The pure room. Your Highness does not need to doubt the loyalty of the pure room to the emperor.
When the minister set out, the emperor's condition had gradually improved. If the emperor was sober, no one would dare to murder him.
In addition, the emperor had no choice but to do so. If the false edict to His Highness had not been delivered, there would not have been any movement in Xianyang City. If the thieves knew about it, they would definitely suspect that the matter was exposed, and it would not be so easy to catch them again.
The emperor was also worried about His Highness, so he specially ordered ministers to protect His Highness. "
I nodded: "Since this person has such great abilities, I'm afraid he won't take the bait unless he lays a heavy bait."
Xing Zhong cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness is wise!"
I asked again: "During the review, did you notice that Li Fu Linghe..." I thought for a moment and changed Li Si who was about to leave the house to a valet: "Is there any problem with the valet next to my father?"
Xing Zhong shook his head and said, "Nothing unusual was found. Li Fuling and everyone else were under guard. The maidservant was also replaced by me."
'Oh, I hope it goes well. 'I sighed secretly in my heart. Many unofficial histories describe Ying Zheng's death as being murdered. If I say that no one dared to kill Ying Zheng, I feel too confident.
At this time, it is no longer the time when the world was just unified. Ying Zheng is getting older and has lost his power to intimidate. The harsh government has led to widespread resentment among the people in the world. There are also the old tribes of the six countries hiding in the dark who are ready to make trouble. Da Qin seems to be in full swing, but in fact it has become like this. Ying Zheng was also terminally ill and on the verge of collapse.
At this time, we can only wait for the person in the darkness to show up.
Looking at Xing Zhong, I asked curiously: "Xing Zhong, have you been following your father?"
Xingzhong replied: "Your Highness, I started following the emperor after taking over from Zhongchefu Ling from Li Fu Ling."
"Then what did you do before?"
"I was originally the order of the clean room. Because the emperor performed his duties as a guard when he was assassinated in Bolangsha, the emperor gave me the gift of accompanying him, not only as a clerk, but also as a leader of the army of the clean room."
"Bolangsha was assassinated?" I asked, "Have you ever met Zhang Liang?"
Xingzhong replied: "I only protected the emperor at that time and did not catch the assassin. Moreover, the thief has not been caught so far, so I have never seen the thief."
I nodded. This advisor, one of the "Three Heroes of the Early Han Dynasty", is currently dormant, waiting for chaos in the world. Liu Bang praised him for "strategizing in the tents and winning the battle thousands of miles away." He is really a rare talent. He will wait for the future. Just search slowly and see if you can use it for me.
