Yuan Cun was seriously injured in an assassination attempt.
When Zhu Sijia heard the news, she felt dizzy and had tinnitus in her ears. The scenes in front of her were distorted and blurred. She couldn't hear clearly what Hu Shunhai said to her.
She couldn't care less about making peace with Yan Xiu, she was about to turn around and leave now to visit Yuan Cun.
But the next moment, Zhu Sijia's steps were frivolous and she fell directly in front of the main hall door, her consciousness blurred.
…
Lingnan.
On a hot summer day, a sickly and handsome man was walking on foot under the escort of an official.
The officers who escorted him were extremely vicious and made him suffer a lot along the way. When he entered the Lingnan border, he frequently fainted from heat stroke due to lack of physical strength.
The last time, he lay completely motionless on the ground.
A bearded official kicked him: "Are you pretending to be dead? Get up quickly."
Another younger official squatted down and stretched out his hand to breathe at him: "Brother, he, he seems to be really out of breath this time!"
The bearded official didn't care: "If you die, you will die. How many dignitaries have died on the way to exile since ancient times, and he is the only one who died on the road? Wrap him in a straw mat and throw him away. Let's return to Beijing to resume our lives. .”
The young official reminded: "Brother, don't forget that we are in the middle of nowhere. There are tigers and wild wolves everywhere."
The bearded man picked his teeth with foxtail grass: "What? Do you still want to kill the tiger?"
The young official: "That's not what I meant. It's just that our lives are precious. If we encounter tigers and wild wolves on the way back to Beijing, wouldn't we become their dinner? This Zhu Yuancun will die if he dies. His body cannot be in vain." What a waste."
After a moment, the bearded man took out his sword and said, "That makes sense. Let's cut him into pieces before dark."
The broadsword reflected the dazzling light in the sun, causing Zhu Sijia to close her eyes.
"Yuan Cun!"
She actually dreamed about the tragic death of Zhu Yuancun in Lingnan in her previous life.
Her Yuan Cun, who was in his prime and kind-hearted, actually died in a foreign country in such a cruel way, even without his body intact.
Zhu Sijia sat up from the bed sweating profusely. What she saw in front of her was not her bedroom in Changle Palace.
Yan Xiu sat on the desk aside to review the memorial.
"Are you awake?" Yan Xiu put down the memorial, walked to the bed, stretched out his hand to touch her forehead, "The fever is gone."
When Zhu Sijia woke up from the dream, her face was pale, and her mind was filled with the tragic situation of Zhu Yuancun's previous life in Lingnan.
Although she could only see the frighteningly bright knife, it was not difficult to imagine how painful it would be for Zhu Yuancun when such a knife cuts flesh and blood.
Zhu Sijia clutched the quilt tightly, shaking violently, crying desperately.
It's because she's so useless. She didn't protect her brother well in her previous life, and she won't in this life either.
Yan Xiu didn't know how to comfort her. Her hands and feet were so cold that he silently stuffed a soup into her arms:
"Wu Xingbo was not injured and is no longer seriously injured. I have ordered him to stay in the palace to recuperate during this period. You can go see him at any time."
The noise caused by Zhu Sijia fainting outside Tai Chi Palace was too great, alarming everyone in the palace.
When Yan Xiu kicked open the main hall door angrily, he found that the person who fainted outside was actually her.
She had dressed up carefully today, and now the makeup on her face was caked with tears, and she looked embarrassed and pitiful.
Yan Xiu took a hot long towel to wipe her face. He frowned slightly and looked down at her: "Don't cry, it's all my fault."
She was already weak. If she hadn't been exposed to the cold wind outside the palace for so long and suffered such a huge blow, how could she have burned so badly?
Yan Xiu was angry with her over the jade pendant, but when he saw her falling ill, all the anger in his heart disappeared without a trace.
After wiping off the stain on her face, Zhu Sijia looked up at him and said in despair:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty is not at fault. It's my concubine. It's all my fault. I wanted to apologize to you today for the jade pendant, but who knew... who knew that such a big thing happened. I lost my manners in front of the emperor. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
"I only have one younger brother, Yuan Cun. I sincerely request Your Majesty to remove him from his post to protect him."
"I would also like to ask Your Majesty to punish my concubine for being guilty of disobedience and disturbing government, cut off one of my concubines, Jieyu, and take back the phoenix seal in my concubine's hand."
After just waking up, Zhu Sijia kept thinking about who could do this to Zhu Yuancun.
If it was because he was jealous of his smooth career, the person who took action should have taken action against him months ago.
But if it's someone from Prince Yan's palace...
Zhu Sijia immediately suspected Aunt Yun. How could it be such a coincidence? Not long after she said those words to Yun in Prince Yan's palace, Yuan Cun was assassinated.
Maybe Aunt Yun was annoyed by Zhu Sijia and was deliberately retaliating.
Soon, she gave up this suspicion.
The Yun family's life in Prince Yan's Mansion was no better than that of the Yu family before. Everything depended on Zhang Yin's face.
Zhu Yuancun has extraordinary skills, and anyone who can get close to him must be a first-class assassin. Where did the Yun family get the money and connections to hire such an assassin?
Moreover, she didn't want anything to happen to Zhu Yuancun. Once Zhu Yuancun lost his life, Prince Yan would only fall on her son.
After thinking about it, Zhu Sijia could only find the reason from herself.
A big tree attracts the wind. She is the one with the highest status in Yan Xiu's harem. A few days ago, she got the power to co-administer the Sixth Palace, which directly offended everyone in the harem.
The people behind her could not attack her, nor could they attack the Yu family and Zhu Siying in Prince Yan's palace, so they chose Zhu Yuancun who lived in Chongling County as a warning.
Yan Xiu heard her talk so much nonsense in one breath, and pinched her face gently: "What are you thinking about? I want you to sit in that position, who dares to say anything?"
"This matter has nothing to do with you or Wu Xingbo."
The assassination of Zhu Yuancun shocked both the government and the public, not only because Zhu Yuancun was seriously injured, but also because a respected veteran of the government was killed on the spot.
Chongling is far away, and the ministers who live in Chongling have to get up at almost midnight in order to rush to the city to attend court.
It was the middle of winter, so Zhu Yuancun chose a warm and comfortable carriage to travel. Halfway through the journey, he ran into Xia Lao, the Minister of Punishment who lived in Maolingyi.
Mr. Xia's carriage was accidentally damaged, so he asked Zhu Yuancun to give him a ride to the court.
Zhu Yuancun readily agreed.
Unexpectedly, two people were assassinated in the suburbs of Beijing. More than 20 mysterious dead warriors with high martial arts skills arrived. We were outnumbered and the enemy was outnumbered. Mr. Xia and the coachman's blood splattered on the carriage, and they died on the spot.
Zhu Yuancun fought against the assassins with one person and killed more than 20 assassins without knowing that he was seriously injured.
It wasn't until he drove a carriage into Beijing with Mr. Xia's body and found that he was bleeding profusely that he collapsed in front of everyone.
The blood on the carriage dripped all the way from the city gate to the palace gate.
"Your Majesty, what you mean is that the group of dead soldiers are here to target Mr. Xia, right?"
Zhu Sijia asked him with tears in her eyes.
In order to reassure her, Yan Xiu lied casually: "Yes, the Criminal Department is investigating a major case recently. The truth is about to surface. It seems that the real culprit behind the scenes can't sit still."
