This hug was beyond Xiao Yanzhou's expectation. He was distracted for a moment and lost his energy holding King Qin.
The latter finally got his wish, rolled his eyes and fainted.
Xiao Yanzhou had no intention of caring about him at this time.
He looked at the hand around his waist in silence for a long time, then asked in a hoarse voice:
"Why?"
She tightened her arms around him, almost pressing her whole body against his back.
She muffled: "What about Your Majesty? Why is Your Majesty doing this for my concubine?"
Xiao Yanzhou subconsciously retorted: "Who said I am doing it for you..."
But he soon fell silent.
Why is he?
Is it because the King of Qin dared to conspire with the Queen Mother, covet his people, and despise the imperial power, or is it because...
King Qin made her so helpless and embarrassed?
The former is for Xiao Yanzhou himself, but the latter is for Xie Hengwu.
He had done things in the past, and although his methods were brutal, at least he had a reason. This time, in the eyes of everyone, he got angry for no reason.
Is he doing it for himself?
Xiao Yanzhou thought that he had really read too many of those story books. He originally just wanted to make this fragrant medicine more effective, but it seemed that he got involved in it.
After a long time, he sighed quietly.
"Gu Zhen is crazy."
He paused and chuckled: "...That's all, Gu Ben is crazy."
King Qin has already died, and tonight is just an early solution.
It's just that the follow-up processing is a little tricky...but it can always be solved.
He lowered his eyes and glanced at the limp King Qin on the ground, and kicked him with his boot in disgust. King Qin didn't react at all, just like a pile of soft meat.
"...Your Majesty, what should he do?"
Xie Hengwu walked up to him and bravely took a look.
"Huo Heng."
Huo Heng appeared in response, standing expressionlessly next to the corpse-like King of Qin.
"Send him back to the house." Xiao Yanzhou whispered, wiping his hands carefully with the brocade handkerchief, "carry him in through the gate."
Huo Heng glanced at King Qin and hesitated to speak.
"yes."
It was impossible to go back to the New Year's Eve banquet. Xiao Yanzhou ordered Zhao Quan to let them go, and then looked at the people beside him:
"What, you have something to say?"
Xie Hengwu pursed his lips and couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, you don't have to be like this..."
"Oh?" Xiao Yanzhou raised his eyebrows, "Are you going to swallow this breath and endure it?"
"No, King Qin is certainly hateful, but... there were too many important ministers at the New Year's Eve banquet. Your Majesty is a little too showy this time, and I am worried about your Majesty."
Xiao Yanzhou drooped his eyelids and sneered slightly for a while.
"Then in your opinion, what should be done safely?"
He asked casually, but Xie Hengwu really thought about it seriously, then raised his eyes to look at him,
"Since the King of Qin has dealings with the Queen Mother, I think he will have the opportunity to meet her. If we can treat her in the same way, we will repay the humiliation a hundred times."
Xiao Yanzhou stared at her for a long time, until Xie Hengwu began to reflect on whether he should not have said so much in front of Xiao Yanzhou.
She was speechless.
Then Xiao Yanzhou laughed and looked at her in novelty as if he knew her for the first time.
He sounded very happy: "Unexpectedly, Ah Heng, who is alone, has a dirty heart."
As he said that, Xiao Yanzhou pinched her face.
Xie Hengwu frowned and said, "Your Majesty!"
There was a smile on Xiao Yanzhou's lips, and his fingers moved gently, sliding down her face, stopping at her chin, and then lifting her face.
"Ah Heng...what do you know?"
His tone was gentle, and Xie Hengwu couldn't help but relax his breath.
"The Queen Mother often summons me, and there are some clues... I can always detect it." She said softly, "What's more, this time, it was the Queen Mother who ordered me to go there."
"I was already unconscious at that time, but King Qin... was very sober. If you say that the two of them did not collude, I don't believe it."
Xiao Yanzhou's fingertips groped her face, leaving a gentle and greasy touch.
"What a great idea. Why didn't Ah Heng tell me earlier?"
"If I had told you earlier, Gu Gu would have complied with it, and I would have saved myself from getting stained with this bitch's blood."
Xie Hengwu muttered softly: "Your Majesty didn't even ask."
She thought to herself, who knew Xiao Yanzhou would take action so quickly.
What's more, Queen Mother Cui is his biological mother. Although she knows that the two of them don't get along, she doesn't know to what extent. If it arouses his disgust, wouldn't it be worth the loss?
He took advantage of the situation and pinched Xie Hengwu's soft cheek again, and then reluctantly took back his hand.
"Go back to Shicui Palace and wait for me."
Xie Hengwu was slightly surprised: "Your Majesty, won't you return to Zichen Palace?"
Xiao Yanzhou frowned: "You don't want to be alone with you?"
"No... His Majesty has just come back. There should be a lot of things to deal with, right?"
"What can be the matter?" Xiao Yanzhou had forgotten about Zhang, who was in custody in the Prison Department. "On New Year's Eve, do you still want Gu to handle government affairs?"
Xie Hengwu smiled: "Of course not, that concubine returned first."
--
When Xiao Yanzhou slowly arrived at Shicui Palace, Xie Hengwu was sitting and eating with the palace officials.
Compared with those noble people who rely on their status, some pleasant palace people are easier to get along with.
What's more, the people in Shicui Palace were all arranged by Xiao Yanzhou.
Xie Hengwu was very gentle during the day, even though he didn't have much contact with him, the palace people also liked this master very much. When they learned that they could eat at the table with their master, they hesitated for a while.
After Li Luo and Heng Shu sat down first, a few others joined in, pushing and pulling.
With Li Luo, a talkative one, and Heng Shu, a smart one, the atmosphere quickly became lively. After a palace man boldly told some interesting things that he had heard from people inside and outside the palace, he saw Xie Hengwu smiling and nodding, without any harsh intention. He spoke even more enthusiastically.
"I heard that something happened to the third wife of the Minister of Rites a few days ago. The news was covered up by the Minister, and not many people knew about it."
"Others don't know, how do you know? Don't tell me in front of your Majesty, right?"
"What are you talking about! I know, naturally she has her own way." The man said proudly, "The third lady was given a rare plum blossom by the Queen Mother last month, and she put it in the courtyard and took good care of it every day."
"As a result, the plum blossoms seemed to be withering day by day. Just a few days ago, the plum blossoms were completely dead, which made the third lady so angry that she sent away a large number of servants."
"Withered?" Xie Hengwu was very interested. She already knew who this person was. "It's fine if the flower withers. How can it still wither?"
"That's what's strange. The Minister invited several garden experts to find out the reason, but they all said they couldn't figure it out. In fact, it's obvious that they didn't dare to tell."
"It is said that there are a lot of red flowers and cold medicine buried in the roots of the plum blossom. The two medicinal properties conflict, and the red flowers... naturally withered."
"The third lady likes plum blossoms so much that she keeps them company every day, but she doesn't know..."
When talking about secrets like this, my voice gradually became softer. The smile on Xie Hengwu's face gradually turned cold, and he secretly sighed that the Queen Mother was really vicious.
Rare plum blossoms require careful care. It is impossible to dig out the roots. Once the plum tree dies, it can be raked down. If you are lucky, it can cause physical damage. It is a good deal.
That's it... Then Qiaoqiao seems to have a good relationship with Mrs. Cui. Why would Queen Mother Cui attack her?
She couldn't figure it out for a moment, so she stopped thinking about it and just said: "Okay, why are you talking about this kind of thing on New Year's Eve? Let's talk about something interesting."
When she opened her mouth, the topic came up naturally. Several people were talking, probably because they were drunk, so they talked about Xiao Yanzhou again.
"Empress, please don't look at how your Majesty looks like this now. In fact, your Majesty was not like this at all before."
Someone on the side poked him lightly, and Xie Hengwu rolled his eyes: "It doesn't matter, I want to know too."
"I also heard from the old nun in the palace. She said that when His Majesty was still the prince, he was the most noisy one in the palace."
Xie Hengwu raised her eyebrows. She really couldn't imagine Xiao Yanzhou being so noisy.
"I heard that your Majesty once made a slingshot, which ended up breaking the late emperor's favorite white jade parrot. The late emperor wanted to punish your majesty, but your majesty refused to accept it, and the two of them had a huge quarrel in the imperial study."
"Later, His Majesty ran out, and the palace guards searched for three hours before finding His Majesty sleeping in a tree next to an abandoned palace."
Xie Hengwu was still surprised.
After being mentioned like this by the palace man, she realized that Xiao Yanzhou had never mentioned her past.
Even when talking about it, it is full of hatred, such as about Changning Palace and Queen Mother Cui. She thought that Xiao Yanzhou's period as a prince was not going well, but it sounded like... he seemed to be a quite favored prince.
If he was once the most naughty and noisy prince in the palace, then what... made him become like this?
Outside the hall, Xiao Yanzhou had been standing for a while.
Ever since the palace man mentioned him, he put down his hand to push the door open.
The orange light passed through the window paper and dimly illuminated Xiao Yanzhou outside, while behind him was the heavy snow falling.
The door in front of me is like an insurmountable barrier between two worlds.
Zhao Quan followed Xiao Yanzhou and suddenly felt that Xiao Yanzhou's figure was a little lonely.
Naturally, he also heard a few words inside, and felt panic in his heart.
His Majesty's past...
But what the palace man said was indeed the same. At that time, Zhao Quan was still the lowest eunuch who had just entered the palace. Even so, he had vaguely heard of the "prestige" of the seventh prince.
Hengshu was already talking about something else, and Xie Hengwu's chuckle could be heard faintly.
Xiao Yanzhou stood silently for a while, then suddenly turned around, took a long step and walked out.
Zhao Quan quickly followed.
"Why doesn't Your Majesty go in?" Xiao Yanzhou walked too fast, and Zhao Quan had to jog to catch up, asking breathlessly.
Xiao Yanzhou's brows were solemn and his thin lips pursed into a straight line.
Zhao Quan had to change his question.
"Where are you going, Your Majesty?"
This time Xiao Yanzhou was willing to speak.
"The Criminal and Prison Department is here to interrogate Mr. Zhang."
He is no longer the careless prince who made trouble all day long.
He is a feared tyrant.
Xiao Yanzhou could already imagine how embarrassing the scene would be if he went in by himself. They will only tremble and beg for mercy, and eat the food they keep for the whole year like a funeral banquet.
That being the case, why should he go in and spoil the fun when she was so happy.
She...this is her first year here, she shouldn't have become so miserable.
Xiao Yanzhou thought with an indifferent face, he didn't want to live any new year, so he might as well torture Mrs. Zhang.
He can't be the only one unhappy.
--
Yan Yan was laughing in Shicui Palace. Xie Hengwu didn't eat anything at the palace banquet, but he could finally have a good meal in his own palace.
She smiled as she listened to Li Luo bragging with them. When she took a sip of wine, she remembered that Xiao Yanzhou had said that he was coming over.
It's been almost an hour, why hasn't he come yet?
Xie Hengwu put down the wine bottle, worry rising in his heart.
Xiao Yanzhou is not a person who breaks his promise. If he doesn't come... what's wrong?
Since he didn't come, she just went to look for him.
