Lu Zuo asked Lu Manxi angrily, "You kid, let me ask you, where did the ginseng you gave me a few days ago come from?"
Lu Manxi replied without any doubt: "Prince Ning...oh no, it was a gift from His Majesty. I thought I wouldn't need to eat this. Senior brother, you are not in good health, so I thought of giving it to you... What is the problem?"
After Lu Zuo heard this, a mouthful of blood surged from his chest and he was about to vomit it out. An Shiqing turned pale with fright. An Jing Ruoze skillfully took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of Lu Zuo's mouth. Yin Ji also hurriedly got some tea to rinse his master's mouth and stroke his back.
An Shiqing observed Lu Zuo's condition and felt sad. This was not a sign of longevity. Looking at his sister's skillful appearance, he felt even more distressed and couldn't help but shake his head.
Lu Manxi was confused, and anxiously and fearfully helped her senior brother rub his back. After her senior brother calmed down a lot, she asked, "What's wrong, senior brother? I gave you ginseng, but I had good intentions..."
When Yin Ji saw his master panting and unable to speak, he also felt that something was wrong, and he guessed something in his heart.
Jing Jingruo's face was getting redder and redder, her brows were furrowed tighter and tighter, her eyes were filled with tears, and she finally couldn't help but said: "Your senior brother has been acting abnormally since he drank ginseng soup in the past few days. , although his complexion looks good, his condition always seems to be getting worse. We didn't suspect him at first, but when Liu Xingyuan came to see your senior brother tonight, he behaved very strangely. He saw us making ginseng soup. But he accidentally knocked over the ginseng soup and left in a hurry. The ginseng must have been poisoned..."
Lu Manxi and An Shiqing turned pale with fright. They didn't know how to explain it. If it was Liu Xingyuan who poisoned him, he did have a motive. After all, Lu Zuo was his biggest competitor. Today Lu Zuo gave up the throne to Liu Xingyuan, and Liu Xingyuan Maybe it was because of my conscience that I spilled the ginseng soup and left in a hurry.
An Shiqing has always been a good-tempered person. Seeing his sister like this, he felt pity and pain in his heart, and couldn't help but punch her on the case.
Lu Manxi was too frightened to speak. After hesitating for a long time, she muttered: "I...I don't know. I also have good intentions. Could this be a misunderstanding?"
Yin Ji didn't want to pay attention to him at the moment and said angrily: "I'm going to settle the score with Liu Xingyuan, you ungrateful villain..."
Lu Zuo waved his hand and signaled Yin Ji to sit down, and he slowly sat back down. After coughing, he said seriously: "I know my body well. Without his poison, I'm afraid I won't have much time left. The world is in a crisis now." The situation is chaotic and unstable, and we need people like Liu Xingyuan." After that, he sighed again, "Forget it..."
Jing Jingruo's expression was solemn, "You don't have to be sad. My uncle left a letter a few days ago, asking us to go to Penglai to find him when we are in trouble. I think he must have a way to save you..."
After Liu Xingyuan left Lu Zuo's mansion, he sat alone in the carriage. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He always felt that he was not too careless, or would Lu Zuo notice that something was wrong? After thinking about it like this, it was already late at night when I returned to the palace, and there were still a lot of official matters to be dealt with the next day, so I fell asleep casually.
The news that Lu Zuo wanted to leave the capital gradually spread throughout the capital, and everyone knew about his poor health, so many people turned to Liu Xingyuan, and Liu Xingyuan was able to get a big deal in the shortest time. Support from some people, including Lu Manxi. Liu Xingyuan put on a show of pretense and went to Lu Zuo's house many times to ask him to take up the post of prime minister, but Lu Zuo declined each time. So Liu Xingyuan decided to keep the post of prime minister vacant until Mr. Lu nodded and was willing to take up the post. Then Liu Xingyuan wanted to arrange for An Shiqing to be the marshal of the army and conquer the south, but An Shiqing refused. An Shiqing no longer wanted to serve Liu Xingyuan, so he simply decided to resign and retire. As his sister, An Jing was also very I support my brother in doing this. Liu Xingyuan knew that An Shiqing was a pillar of talent, not even much worse than Lu Zuo. After repeatedly begging to stay in office to no avail, he decisively let Lu Manxi take over. He also ordered Meng Silang to take over as General of the Jinwu Guard, and asked Lekang, who had been with him for several years, to fill the vacancy of the Yulin Guard. Since Yin Ji had also resigned as General of the Longhu Guard, he asked Liu Xingyuan's confidant, General Hong, to fill the vacancy. Jin took over this position.
Qin Fu and Lu Xiuyuan were also a little disheartened. They finally decided to go back to Fengji Mountain to live in seclusion. Originally, they persuaded Huo Yan to go back to Fengji Mountain with them. However, Huo Yan was young and energetic and wanted to make a difference. , Yixin chose to stay. Liu Xingyuan also only gave Huo Yan a casual official position as a champion general, but did not give him real power. This also made Huo Yan quite depressed. Watching Lu Manxi lead his troops to the south, Huo Yan felt even more angry and went to Lu Manxi many times. Zuo complained, but Lu Zuo turned him away.
It coincides with the New Year, the fifth day of the first lunar month, the weather is fine, the streets and alleys are lively, and the sound of firecrackers can be heard on the streets from time to time. Huo Yan was idle in his house for more than a month, which made him even more depressed. He wandered in the courtyard for a while, and when he was frowning, the wolf he raised ran towards him and jumped into Huo Yan. Jin's arms. Huo Yan caressed the gray wolf in his hand and murmured: "Mountain Ghost, you are the best..."
One person and one wolf wandered back and forth in the courtyard again. The gray wolf seemed to be feeling a little depressed and howled from time to time. No matter how Huo Yan teased it, it just turned its head and did not respond.
"It seems that you also miss Fengji Mountain, right?" Huo Yan sighed softly, "Okay, I will go to the palace to resign."
The Yanfu Temple in the palace has always been a place of prayer for the Han royal family. Every first or fifteenth day of the lunar month, the emperor would offer incense and worship Buddha here. However, since Liu Yan committed suicide in Yanfu Temple, Liu Xingyuan has become quite fond of this place. He was disgusted with it, so he had the main hall of Yanfu Temple rebuilt a year ago and renamed Yanfu Temple "Xingguo Temple".
Since Liu Xingyuan entered the palace, all the rules have remained the same. Except for the changes in a few key positions, other changes have not been major. Even his personal servant is an old servant who has been hired to take care of his father for many years. After Liu Xingyuan washed his hands and burned incense, he took down the seven-star sword hanging on the wall. After admiring it for a while, he pulled out the sword again, and then asked the chamberlain beside him playfully: "Old Pan, are you following Lu Zuo's house? We have been getting along with him for some time, how do you know him?"
Old Pan was originally a housekeeper in Lu Zuo's house, and was also the spy installed by Liu Xingyuan's father, Liu Xun, around Lu Zuo. Later, Lu Zuo left the capital, the Lu house was also raided, and Old King Ning died, so Old Pan left. After arriving in the capital, he was hiding in Tibet. Now that Liu Xingyuan became emperor, Lao Pan naturally came to seek refuge.
Lao Pan was already the abbot of Xingguo Temple at this time. This was also Liu Xingyuan's arrangement. Now seeing His Majesty asking this question, he replied with a smile: "I have only stayed in Lu Mansion for more than half a year. I don't know him well." Not too deep!”
"Oh?" Liu Xingyuan was a little surprised. After sheathing his sword, he put it back on the incense table. "Old King Ning always praises you very much, saying that you are very accurate in reading people. Why, after staying in Lu Mansion for more than half a year, is it possible? Don’t you know Lu Zuo yet?”
