Xie Hengwu thought that Xiao Yanzhou would be back in a day or two at most.
However, five days passed and she didn't even see Xiao Yanzhou's shadow.
No matter how big the garden is, five days is enough to get around. What's more, the waiter here was very strict. Xie Hengwu made insinuations several times but didn't ask anything.
She leaned on the small bridge over the pond in boredom, looking at a pond of broken lotuses and fallen leaves, silently cursing Xiao Yanzhou in her heart.
On the other side, Xiao Yanzhou sneezed inexplicably.
Huo Heng immediately became nervous: "Did your Majesty catch a cold?"
Xiao Yanzhou coughed a few times and said, "Nothing."
"In the five days since His Majesty reported his illness, the King of Qin had been doing many things secretly. He visited Shou'an Palace three times in the past five days."
Xiao Yanzhou tugged at the corners of his lips: "Concubine Shu died young. His filial piety had nowhere to express, so he naturally found his mother."
His tone was contemptuous and disdainful. Although he said "mother", it was as cold as referring to an unrelated person.
Huo Heng couldn't help but wonder when this started.
Perhaps... the ending was decided when it was discovered that Xiao Yanzhou had been poisoned one after another, but Empress Dowager Cui, who was still Zhaoyi, showed little reaction.
He calmed down and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, King Qin's people should have received the news previously released by his subordinates and are coming here."
Since Xiao Yanzhou had been ill for five days, wouldn't it be a good idea to simply let him die of a sudden illness?
In the past, King Qin would never have taken such a risk.
However, the King of Qin has been plotting to usurp the throne for a long time. As long as Xiao Yanzhou provokes him a little, the King of Qin will go crazy like a hungry dog that smells the smell of meat.
So Xiao Yanzhou made King Qin think that he was seriously ill and left the palace to seek medical treatment.
The carriage rumbled by, and a sharp arrow shot out of the air and nailed the carriage firmly.
Then appeared together several masked assassins.
Arrows flew like a rain, and soon the carriage was turned into a hedgehog. The coachman was pierced by an arrow and died on the spot. Without the coachman, the horse suffered pain again and suddenly lost control.
An assassin flashed a cold light in his hand, cut the horse's reins, and forced the carriage to a stop.
Several people looked at each other and carefully surrounded the carriage. The leader approached the car curtain and stabbed it in hard, but felt something was wrong.
He suddenly opened the curtain and saw that the car was empty, no one was there.
Everyone's expressions changed. I don't know who whispered "evacuate" first. They were about to take action, but they found that they were already surrounded by Yulin guards wearing armor.
Looking up, there were even more densely packed bows and arrows pointing at them. As long as anyone dared to move, those arrows would shoot through their hearts without hesitation.
Xiao Yanzhou, wearing Xuanyi, strolled out of the Yulin Guards.
"I know who you are, but I want to hear it from your own mouth." He said quietly. The emperor's power and his inherent sense of chill made the knees of the assassins weak and they almost knelt down on the spot.
Xiao Yanzhou couldn't help but squint his eyes as he watched the fear in those people's eyes turn into determination.
Huo Heng was obviously aware of this. Just as he was about to stop them, those people fell to the ground one after another.
He stepped forward to check their pulse, and found that they had all taken poison and committed suicide.
Xiao Yanzhou sighed leisurely: "What a pity. If they were willing to tell me, I could have spared their lives."
Huo Heng cursed, if these people really tell them, I'm afraid that Your Majesty will turn them all into human pigs.
It would be better to die than to live in such a hopeless way.
"Your Majesty, what about us...?"
Xiao Yanzhou nodded and said coldly: "As usual."
"yes!"
--
Xie Hengwu knew nothing about what happened to Xiao Yanzhou.
After lunch, she flipped through the "Jiang Guo Lu" she found in the Bieyuan Library. This is a book that records the major and minor events in Beijiang since the founding of the dynasty. In the past five days, Xie Hengwu has read all the events in the court one by one.
Although there are some embellishments, it is generally true. "Jiang Guo Lu" goes all the way to the late emperor, and Xie Hengwu looked at the words "Chen Hou was suddenly ill" for a while.
At this time, Li Luo raised the bead curtain and entered gently.
"My lord, Eunuch Zhao sent a letter."
Hearing that it was Zhao Quan, Xie Hengwu didn't ask any more questions: "Bring it over."
The letter has delicate tentacles and is sealed with gold paint. When Xie Hengwu took out the letter paper inside, he smelled a familiar smell.
She roughly scanned the contents of the letter and raised her eyebrows slightly.
It was actually written by Xiao Yanzhou.
The handwriting in the letter was vigorous and powerful, and the sentences were as short as Xiao Yanzhou's usual speech.
The superiors only said that he had important matters to deal with, and ordered Xie Hengwu not to think too much or ask too many questions.
Looking at the letter, she almost heard Xiao Yanzhou's cold and arrogant voice.
Xie Hengwu smiled.
Is this a sign of peace?
For someone like Xiao Yanzhou, this is too strange.
There was an obvious smile on her lips. Li Luo looked at her and quietly withdrew.
__
At night, the remote courtyard in the capital that should have been deserted was now surrounded by the Yulin Guards.
There was a lot of blood inside, and several corpses were lying on the ground. The blood dyed the soil dark red.
Xiao Yanzhou held the sword in one hand, and blood was dripping from the blade. Dark red blood drops dripped down and disappeared into the soil silently.
He lowered his eyes and looked at the man who had been tied up by Huo Heng, as indifferently as if he were looking at a dead thing.
"Xiao Yanzhou! You must die a good death!"
The man's eyes were scarlet, and he obviously knew that his death was imminent, so he simply cursed.
Xiao Yanzhou raised his arm and gently placed the sword blade on the man's neck.
"Noisy." He said the word lightly. Huo Heng understood it and tapped the man's mute point.
"If it weren't for the impatience of our good second brother Gu, I wouldn't have been able to find you so quickly." Xiao Yanzhou raised the corner of his lips, "right, He An?"
The man named He An stared at Xiao Yanzhou with red eyes. If he hadn't been tapped on his mute point, he would have cursed loudly in the next moment.
He An is the son of the former imperial hospital envoy He Yuan.
The He family has been practicing medicine for generations, and the reason why He Yuanshi can become the hospital envoy is because of the support of the Cui family.
When Xiao Yanzhou was poisoned, it was the envoy of the He Academy who found out. After that, he was first grounded, and later found out about several plots to murder the emperor's heirs. He was completely thrown into the cold palace and became violently ill.
It's just that the He family was too involved, and soon the envoy He Yuan also "died" of illness, and He An's whereabouts are also unknown.
It took Xiao Yanzhou some time to figure out that it was King Qin who hid He An.
The He family knew a lot about the secrets in the palace back then. King Qin hid He An in order to restrain Cui.
Unfortunately, this bargaining chip will soon be destroyed by Xiao Yanzhou.
"I want to know... who was responsible for that inexplicable poison that year." Xiao Yanzhou said slowly, tapping He An's cheek with the blood-stained sword, "Is it really Empress Chen?"
Huo Heng was shocked when he heard this.
If not Queen Chen, who could it be...?
A terrible guess came to mind.
Your Majesty, what do you mean by this... Could it be...
The panic in He An's eyes flashed away, but Xiao Yanzhou saw it clearly.
He snorted softly, not sure whether it was disappointment or calmness.
"Take it back and prevent him from vomiting it all up. You will all come to see him with his head raised."
Xiao Yanzhou's voice sounded the same, and Huo Heng agreed. When he raised his eyes, he saw that Xiao Yanzhou's eyes were faintly blood red, looking sinister and crazy.
His heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously took half a step back.
Xiao Yanzhou noticed Huo Heng's fear. He closed his eyes, covered his eyes with his palms, and spoke in a mute voice,
"Go back to Bieyuan."
--
When Xiao Yanzhou came back, Xie Hengwu had already fallen asleep.
Zhao Quan looked at Xiao Yanzhou with scarlet eyes and said nothing in a wise manner.
Xiao Yanzhou felt a splitting headache, as if a dull knife was beating and stirring in his head, and everything seemed to be stained red now.
In a daze, he seemed to have returned to that year again.
He was poisoned and lost control of his mind. When he woke up, the whole palace was in a mess.
There was even a palace maid who was accidentally killed by him when he blocked her.
The rest of the palace people retreated far away, looking at him with eyes full of fear and disgust.
The late emperor once despised him because of this. It was not until the "truth" was found out and the poison was removed that the late emperor showed mercy to his young son for a period of time.
Uncontrollable violence surged from his heart. Xiao Yanzhou stumbled to Xie Hengwu's room, and when he smelled the familiar fragrance, he felt his headache ease a little.
He roughly opened the curtain, causing Xie Hengwu to wake up.
She sat up in a daze, and the toad palace moved slightly, letting out the silver light through the window and shining on her face, which made her beauty feel unreal and fragile, just like a delicate glass cup.
At this time, someone wanted to break the glass cup.
Seeing the familiar figure on the bedside, Xie Hengwu subconsciously called "Your Majesty," although he was not completely awake.
The black shadow suddenly pressed forward, and then a huge force grabbed her.
Xie Hengwu raised her head and let Xiao Yanzhou hold her tightly.
He had hugged her before, but never with such force. She almost felt like she was going to be crushed by him.
"His Majesty?"
Xiao Yanzhou buried his head in her neck and remained silent for a long time. Only the sound of heavy breathing could be heard in the tent.
Xie Hengwu felt like he was about to be strangled to death.
However, Xiao Yanzhou's mood was obviously not right. Xie Hengwu had never seen him look like this before.
Like...a beast that acts entirely on instinct and is on the verge of losing control.
Xie Hengwu wisely didn't ask any more questions, and gently stroked his back with his bare hands, one after another, as if smoothing his hair.
The headache gradually subsided, but the irritating murderous intention in my heart was still difficult to calm down.
Xiao Yanzhou slowly raised his head, with scarlet eyes that shocked Xie Hengwu.
They were all afraid of him...even Zhao Quan, even Huo Heng.
Xiao Yanzhou stared into Xie Hengwu's eyes,
"Aheng, are you scared?"
His voice was hoarse and sinister, as if if Xie Hengwu dared to say "fear", he would crush her.
In his eyes was a violent and sinister bird of prey that Xie Hengwu had never seen before. While she was frightened, she also felt that he looked indescribably fragile.
She whispered: "Your Majesty is unhappy?"
Xiao Yanzhou's lacquered eyes were hidden deep under his eyebrows, his expression dark and unclear, and he did not answer her.
Xie Hengwu smiled: "I am not afraid of you."
Xiao Yanzhou stared at her expression closely, trying to find any trace of her lying.
However, no matter how hard he searched, he could not find the hidden fear of the person in front of him.
Xiao Yanzhou frowned, as if he was unhappy with this result.
"It's empty talk," he nodded solemnly, with cold eyes, "prove it to me."
Xie Hengwu raised his eyebrows slightly, finding Xiao Yanzhou very interesting.
Even though he was still as... uncertain as before, he still felt like a child having a tantrum for no reason.
Trying to prove that others care about you.
Xiao Yanzhou like this is much easier to deal with than his normal appearance.
Her methods finally came into use.
"How can you prove that Your Majesty wants to be a concubine?"
The beauty has such a sweet fragrance, her voice is soft, her fox eyes are clear and charming, and her plain clothes cannot hide her exquisiteness. She held Xiao Yanzhou's cheek, like a beautiful spirit trying to seduce mortals to fall.
When Xie Hengwu's hand touched his, Xiao Yanzhou's jawline suddenly tightened.
He lowered his eyes and looked at her, cherishing his words like gold: "Think for yourself."
Xie Heng's eyelashes trembled slightly, she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek.
She remembered that on the day she first came to Bieyuan, he forced her to kiss him several times.
Xiao Yanzhou was obviously stunned, and immediately there was a storm in his eyes.
His burning eyes moved on her face inch by inch, and finally stopped at her lips.
Xie Hengwu understood it, but the stinging pain when he bit her last time was something she could not forget.
She must not let him come!
So Xie Hengwu put a finger against Xiao Yanzhou's thin lips, facing his increasingly dark and dangerous gaze, and smiled as if nothing had happened:
"Your Majesty, this time... let me teach you by myself."
