"Mother, drink the medicine."
Prince Ah Sui took the medicine bowl from Qi Pingzhi's hand, stirred the thick black medicine soup with a porcelain spoon, and handed it to Qi Yaoning's mouth.
Yao Ning looked at him with gentle eyes, "I heard that Taifu Jiang was telling you about the history of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty recently. Where did he go?"
Li Sui put down the medicine bowl and recited what the Taifu said to her from the beginning. When he recited the words "The servant mother is sincere, her eyes are closed, her clothes are not unbuttoned, she tastes the medicine first", Yao Ning asked him with a smile: "What do we As Sui want?" Follow Emperor Wen?"
Li Sui replied matter-of-factly: "Taifu Jiang said that Emperor Wen promoted filial piety and virtue, which made the Han Dynasty prosperous. His sons and ministers are willing to follow Emperor Wen's example and govern the country with filial piety."
After saying that, he picked up the medicine bowl again and took a sip of the medicine.
The decoction was bitter and astringent. Li Sui's throat rolled and he frowned. Yao Ning just looked at it with a smile, and Li Sui had no choice but to scoop up another spoonful.
Qi Pingzhi advised from the side: "Cousin, the prince is still young, why bother him?"
Yao Ning said: "I just teach him to remember the suffering of being a mother. Asui, those who are willing to endure hardship for you are the ones who truly treat you well. Do you remember it?"
Li Sui nodded with the decoction in his mouth.
It wasn't until he drank most of the bowl that Yao Ning stopped him, took the medicine bowl, and drank the remaining medicine in one go.
Qi Pingzhi handed her water to rinse her mouth, and the chamberlain informed her that His Majesty had arrived. Yao Ning caught a glimpse of her raising her eyebrows and looked out the door with uncontrollable emotion.
Yao Ning snorted secretly in her heart.
Emperor Changning strode in, picked up the prince, spun him twice in the air, and sat down beside Yao Ning's couch. Because several grain transport officials and merchants who had been appointed years ago had successfully arrived at the place and handed over the greeting notes, Emperor Changning was in a good mood today, with smiles on his face and eyes. He asked the prince, "Are you good today? Please make your mother happy." Yet?"
But he saw the prince frowning, his face pale, and his lips trembling. He suddenly pushed away from his arms, turned around and vomited on the floor.
Qi Yaoning's expression changed: "A Sui!"
The maids were busy, passing water to one and cleaning to another. Qi Pingzhi trembled and wanted to ask the imperial doctor. Yao Ning scolded her and said, "Stop, you are not allowed to go anywhere! Jinchun, go ask Yang Yizheng." .”
Qi Pingzhi already had a guilty conscience, and when he heard this, his face turned pale with fright: "Cousin, I..."
Yang Xushi, who was waiting for the imperial edict to Kunming Palace, rushed over quickly. He first checked the prince's pulse and the whites of his eyes, and was relieved to see that although he felt uncomfortable in his stomach, he was still mentally alert. After asking the prince what he had eaten today, he turned around and picked up the medicine bowl, smelled the bottom of the medicine, and asked the medicine boy to take it down, boil it, and test the powder.
Yang Xushi said: "This medicine was boiled by my own hands, but it had a strange smell when I smelled it just now. May I ask, who has this medicine passed through?"
Yao Ning held the prince in her arms and cried. She was out of breath due to illness and almost fainted. She raised her hand tremblingly and pointed at Qi Pingzhi, crying: "So the family members can't be trusted...you want me to Death, even the prince will not be spared..."
"Cousin! I didn't..."
Qi Pingzhi fell to her knees with a plop, and faced Emperor Changning's red eyes full of hatred. The emperor's thunderous anger made her tremble all over, and she was speechless, unable to utter a single word.
"Zhang Zhi!" Emperor Changning supported the heartbroken empress, loudly called Zhang Zhi, the chamberlain's supervisor, pointed at Qi Pingzhi and said: "Keep an eye on her, search her residence, and take all the relevant people into custody. We need to investigate strictly!”
Zhang Zhi took the order and left. About half a quarter of an hour later, Yang Xushi's medical attendant brought back the dried medicinal powder. After checking it, Yang Xushi knelt down and reported back: "Your Majesty, the empress, there is an extra ingredient in the medicine, which seems to be cold." Shizhi. This medicinal powder is extremely cold in nature. It is often used to treat excessive fire in the body and the accumulation of stones in the spleen and stomach. If a young child eats it by mistake, it will cause vomiting and diarrhea. His Royal Highness must have taken this medicinal powder by mistake."
Emperor Changning asked: "Is it important?"
Yang Xushi said: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in good health. He will recover after two days of vomiting. I am afraid the Queen is the one who is in the way. The Queen has already been damaged by the cold. She relies on cordyceps, snow lotus and other yangyang medicines to nourish her body. She must not be able to take this cold." Shizhi, I'm afraid my life is in danger! I don't know how long I've been taking it, if...if..."
Emperor Changning couldn't bear it anymore and kicked Qi Pingzhi to the ground. If he hadn't looked around without a sword, he would have chopped her alive.
"If there is something wrong with the queen, I want your whole family to apologize late!"
Qi Pingzhi trembled like chaff, hoarsely explaining that it was not his fault, and kept kowtowing to beg for mercy. Suddenly his eyes met Qi Yaoning's, and he saw her cold eyes filled with tears, looking at her with a smile but not a smile. Instead of being surprised and flustered, there was a hint of The calmness of having everything under control.
As if a basin of ice water was poured down on his head, Qi Pingzhi seemed to have figured out something.
"You framed me? You summoned me into the palace to frame me? Qi Yaoning, you-"
The chamberlain stepped forward and covered her mouth.
Yang Xushi took the pulse of the empress and the prince again and prescribed medicine. Zhang Zhi quickly led people to search for the things and returned to present them to the empress.
In the brocade tray were placed the collected medicinal materials, all of which were cordyceps and snow lotus. Some were of excellent quality, and some were of extremely poor quality. After Yang Xushi inspected them, he found that the top-grade cordyceps and snow lotus were provided by the Imperial Medical Office for the queen's treatment, while the inferior quality ones were Cordyceps and snow lotus are not even comparable to ordinary medicinal roots.
After comparing for a long time, Yang Xushi came to a conclusion.
"Someone must have changed the medicinal materials in the pottery stove while I was away, replacing the superior cordyceps and snow lotus with inferior ones. Although these dregs cannot poison people to death at once, they have no therapeutic effect at all. If His Highness hadn't tested the medicine, He accidentally ate cold stone fat, which is extremely difficult to detect... Your Majesty, Madam, this person has evil intentions and wants to kill Her Royal Highness the Queen quietly!"
Emperor Changning sent Zhou Yuan Zhengxuan from the Imperial Medical Office to check again, and he came to the same conclusion as Yang Xushi.
At this time, Zhang Zhi came forward to report: "The servant sent someone to examine all the palace servants who had contact with Lady Qi, and found out those who had given Lady Qi inferior medicines and helped her take the secretly exchanged medicinal materials out of the palace. Palace man. This person's name is Xue, and he is the deputy head of Kunming Palace. She confessed that a cousin is on duty at Donghua Gate and will take the opportunity to let her out of the palace."
Emperor Changning said angrily: "Catch him!"
Would a palace maid and a palace guard dare to frame the queen of the palace? Anyone who is interested can guess that there is something hidden in this.
Emperor Changning was aware of Zhang Zhi's methods and asked him to escort Qi Pingzhi to confront Huanxue. Huanxue had been tortured, her fingers were dripping with blood, her back was scarred to the bone, and she was so painful that her teeth were broken, and Qi Pingzhi was stunned on the spot. passed.
After being poured cold water on him and brought back to Kunming Palace, Qi Pingzhi was so frightened that he could hardly stand and was about to do anything.
"It's Concubine Yao... She persuaded me to secretly change the medicinal materials, saying that this would not be discovered. If I didn't do it, she would send someone to kill me... Huanxue is hers! She came to help me on the order of the concubine. , is also here to supervise me..."
Qi Ping's tears flowed down the branches, and he wanted to crawl to Qi Yaoning's side, kowtowing and begging for mercy: "Cousin, I never dare to harm you, I am forced by others, please spare me for the sake of my parents and the old lady. Cousin! I can recruit anything... I changed the medicinal materials, but I don't know what Hanshizhi is, and I dare not harm His Highness the Crown Prince! Cousin... please spare me..."
When Concubine Yao was involved, the palace was completely silent. Only Qi Pingzhi's heartbreaking cries could be heard, but Qi Yaoning didn't look at her. She just hugged the prince tightly and cried silently.
Emperor Changning was disgusted and helpless, and asked Zhang Zhi: "Did Huanxue ever mention Concubine Yao?"
Zhang Zhi said no. He has stayed in the palace for twenty-six years and is well aware of the methods of the harem. The more Concubine Yao's people are, the less likely they are to reveal Concubine Yao's name. If Concubine Yao dares to send her to Kunming Palace to attack, she must have already grasped her. Seven inches.
Emperor Changning asked again: "Where is the guard at Donghua Gate?"
The chamberlain hurriedly came to report to Zhang Zhi. Zhang Zhi turned his face aside and whispered back: "My servant did not do his job well, and the guard just... committed suicide."
With a "clang", the Eight Immortals table in front of him was kicked over by Emperor Chang Ning, and the ancient shelf behind him was knocked down. The precious vases, jades, and ornaments shattered all over the floor.
The palace attendant fell to his knees, and the prince was so frightened that he cried. When Qi Yaoning heard this, she closed her eyes in heartbreak and disappointment, and two lines of hot tears fell down, hitting the back of her cold and pale hands.
She really didn't underestimate Yao Qingyun, she was indeed capable of picking herself off. If Qi Pingzhi succeeds, the queen will naturally "die of illness"; if Qi Pingzhi fails, she will murder her cousin in order to replace the queen. This will be a joke made by the Qi family, and the dirty water will never be spilled. Go to her Yao Qingyun.
The tears were almost dry, and Qi Yaoning felt a fishy sweetness rising in her throat. When she was struggling to hold back her strength, she vaguely heard Jinchun whispering to report that Miss Qi Er had been summoned to the palace.
Zhaowei is here.
Qi Yaoning wiped away her tears and suddenly smiled.
It's a pity that Yao Qingyun had the right time and place, but he missed the most crucial thing.
Yao Ning asked Jin Chun to help her stand up, took the prince's hand, and ordered someone to escort her to Linhua Palace, Concubine Yao.
"Aning, don't go..."
Emperor Changning wanted to persuade him, but he saw Qi Yaoning shaking her head with tears in her eyes, looking at him deeply, and said in a low voice: "I just want to ask a few questions, and I will never be impulsive. Please be at ease, Your Majesty."
She took the prince on a carriage, and the group headed towards Linhua Palace.
Zhaowei came along the palace road, carefully guarding the pomegranate flower in her arms, and was full of joy to present it to Sister Yaoning. Because the market anecdotes made her laugh last time, Zhaowei deliberately learned a few more this time.
While checking whether the pomegranate flowers were damaged, she practiced muttering to herself: "Zhang Stick likes to judge people's merits. He secretly said that Wang Er, who sells livestock, is a heavenly eunuch. This has reached Wang Er's ears. Today, Zhang Stick is going to kill Wang Er. The mule was sold to Wang Er, but Wang Er was only willing to pay the price of the donkey. The two fought in front of the head of the village. The head of the village asked Wang Er why the price was unfair. Wang Er pointed at the mule and said, "This mule pouts, pout mule." You can only sell it at a donkey price, it’s just a mouthful!’… Hahahaha!”
Zhaowei arrived at Kunming Palace happily, but she saw the palace attendants kneeling all the way from the palace gate to the living room, all of them were too scared to raise their heads. No one greeted her, and no one stopped her.
She stepped into the palace confused and called her sister several times, but no one responded. The queen and the prince were not there. When she lowered her head and saw the mess on the ground, there were faint traces of blood on the ground, her heart slowly sank.
At this time, the female official Jinqiu came over, knelt down in front of Zhaowei, and told her everything that had just happened while sobbing, "...the Queen and the Prince were going to confront Concubine Yao. Your Majesty felt that it was inappropriate. After placing the suspect, I also went with her. The queen asked me to wait for the girl here. When the girl comes, she must rush to Linhua Palace to save her..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhaowei turned around and ran outside.
Her mind was in chaos and blank. She didn't know what was happening, but her heart was still tightly gripped by an almost intuitive fear.
Whose blood?
What happened to my sister?
How to save?
Her heart was stretched to the limit and almost broke. Unable to think, she just ran in the direction of Linhua Palace, even forgetting to throw down the jade vase and pomegranate flowers in her arms.
The spring breeze blows, the pomegranate flowers tremble, and the distance looks like fire.
Zhaowei ran to Linhua Palace in one breath, passed by the palace people who were kneeling, and saw Emperor Changning who was standing holding the door, leaning forward to softly plead to the palace.
Qi Yaoning, holding the prince's hand, was facing Concubine Yao in the palace, seemingly having a conversation. Zhaowei called her sister, and she turned around to look at her. Mingzhu burst into tears and suddenly smiled brightly at her.
That kind of smile, a smile that has never appeared on Yao Ning's face, is as bright as autumn flowers coming back to life in the rain, with the withered face turning green, and the tears show off, it is a burning beauty that has never been seen before.
It is not implicit or helpless, but a kind of relief that comes from reaching the end of the river.
Zhaowei's heart felt empty.
Yao Ning suddenly knelt down and kowtowed to Concubine Yao. Everyone was shocked. Yao Qingyun quickly backed away to avoid her salute, but saw her pull out the golden hairpin from her hairpin and stab it into her neck.
In an instant, the jade beads shattered and blood spurted out.
