Huaibi

One cannot live alone in the world, and this principle is especially true in official career.

Monarchs, ministers, friends, and enemies are inextricably linked, forming a dense net, making it difficult for those caught in the net to breathe and move forward.

Today the crown prince is caught in the net, with shackles and thorns on his back, as if there are thousands of hands choking his throat, trying to force him to fall into the abyss.

The word "blood" was cold and hard embedded in the depths of his eyes, Ping Huaizhen stared at the wall motionlessly, the cold iron grille beside him was soaked in the fishy smell of many years, so pungent that he didn't know whether to go forward or backward.

Both advance and retreat are life-threatening traps. At this moment, it is like standing on a tall and isolated island, and the surrounding fire waves are rushing to engulf him.Unable to move, he slowly raised his hand and gripped the rough grid post tightly. The uneven iron filings made his palm a dull pain.

In this feeling of suffocation intertwined with tranquility and anger, Ping Huaizhen finally felt that he had thought the wrong way.

Right now I'm fighting against the inferior, and those people have no time to deal with the queen leisurely - what they want is the emperor who is as weak as a dragon that turns into a snake, and the prince who falls out of favor like a boneless tiger.

That's why seven points of the poison will be used, and three points will be kept, so that Emperor Hongxuan will recover from his illness and will not be in danger, and then make the crown prince guilty of this indisputable crime.

There was mockery in Ping Huai's eyes, the palace man's corpse was already cold in his eyes, did he ever think that he would end up like this when he was playing chess for others?

This palace is really a place that eats people without spitting out their bones.

The jailer behind him bowed his head and dared not speak nonsense, his surprised eyes scattered all over his feet to the bluestone and iron chain shackles, but he dared not fall on the blood-stained wall, lest he should see what he shouldn't see, or understand what he shouldn't know.

There is a faint sound of water coming from the depths of the prison, drop after drop, like the accumulated tide and mist condensed into pieces, hitting the ground one after another from the top of the prison, the few drops can't wash away the hundreds of years old strips Injustice, but it broke the ghostly tranquility and gloom in my ears.

Amid the sound of dripping water, Ping Huaizhen slowly withdrew his hand, and when he let go of Tie Shan, his palm felt cold. When he turned around, the guards and servants bowed their heads to give way, and no one stopped him.He walked all the way to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, his face was calm, but at the moment when he was caught in injustice, his heart was as calm as still water.

In the hall, Emperor Hongxuan drank the decoction for about a stick of incense, and after that, he woke up and fell asleep sometimes, and fell asleep so groggyly that he didn't think he really fell asleep.Ping Huaizhen walked closer to the couch, and knelt down silently. After such a long time, the emperor on the couch seemed to feel something, opened his eyes sideways, and met his son's fearless eyes.

There was no one else in the hall except for a frowning Wang Gonggong, Emperor Hongxuan was about to raise his elbows, Wang Gonggong hurriedly came to serve him, helped him to sit on the head of the bed, took a soft pillow and carefully placed it on the back of his waist.

Emperor Hongxuan clenched his fists with his palms and coughed a few times. Under his eyelids was a very conspicuous black and blue shadow. He looked sideways at Ping Huaizhen. Seeing him coming back from the prison, he didn't follow anyone behind him. He listened before asking. He made a statement and said: "My son is guilty, the palace man who poisoned you cannot be brought for trial, he has already died in prison."

Emperor Hongxuan frowned when he heard the words. He had been traveling in the palace for many years. Although he felt blocked by this, he was not surprised. He was only angry that the king was still there, and the assailant dared to be so arrogant.He looked at Ping Huaizhen, who had been kneeling for a long time, with a serious look on his face, as if he was not afraid of the shadows, but there was always a moment of helplessness hidden in it, so Asked: "What is the prince's crime?"

Ping Huaizhen did not hide anything, nor was he in a hurry to excuse: "The palace man left a blood letter before his death."

"What word?"

"It's for the word 'Prince'."

The inner hall of Yangxin was suddenly quiet, the prince's forehead was throbbing with blue veins, and he peeked at the emperor.

Emperor Hongxuan did not change his expression, he thought for a while silently, and then asked: "Is this matter related to the crown prince?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Since that's the case, why is the prince guilty?" Emperor Hongxuan said something similar to what he had just said, but it was no longer a question.

Ping Huaizhen's heart was moved, knowing that his father still believed in him so far.

There are intrigues and intrigues in the palace, and the world says that the royal father and son have no relatives, but he has a father who is the king, and he has never doubted him for more than thirty years.Along the way, he was worried about his brothers taking over the heir, and worried about the loss of his family because of the king's indiscrimination of loyalty and traitors, but he never worried about his father and his favor.

Ping Huaizhen had mixed joys and sorrows, and her mood was complicated and difficult to describe.

After a while, he suppressed all his complicated emotions, and replied: "The son's crime, the first crime is that he did not guard against it, and failed to save the father from poison; I am jealous of my own body. Therefore, I ask the father and emperor to punish my son."

Emperor Hongxuan didn't make any rebuttals, he thought to himself and didn't know what to weigh, then he nodded slightly and admitted the crime he had committed.

That nod of the head shocked the prince for a while, and the prince was dripping with cold sweat, which was quite worrying for the prince, but before the sweat slipped off, he heard the order of Emperor Hongxuan: "I have ordered the prince to be confined to the Xu'an Palace. The case is not yet clear." Can't come out before."

The prince's body trembled: "Your Majesty..." Emperor Hongxuan glanced at him coldly, and the rest of his words were choked up.

Ping Huaizhen bowed his head to thank him: "Your servant accepts the decree."

Emperor Hongxuan was tired and closed his eyes, the crown prince left the palace as a scapegoat, and the son who had stayed in the Yangxin Palace for several days had to stay away temporarily, how could he really be willing to do so.He heard the steps getting farther and farther away until he couldn't hear him anymore, and called out; "Wang Chengde."

"Hey," the prince immediately responded, and turned to face the emperor, "Your Majesty, the servant is here."

"When night falls, you will go to Fengyi Hall in person." Emperor Hongxuan thought about it for a while, and after a while, he slowly told the following words carefully, "The crown prince is in adversity, and the empress should have a plan."

The prince raised his eyes in surprise, and forgot to answer, until he met Emperor Hongxuan's eyes full of deep meaning, he bowed his head in surprise, and all the worries and sorrows of a moment ago were gone, and he secretly sighed that the emperor is worthy of being an emperor... Hongxuan It has been 37 years. Emperor Hongxuan has been emperor for so long, and his thoughts are unmatched by others.

In fact, the emperor never cared about who was innocent and who was wronged, and his actions were only for the purpose of consolidating the imperial power and protecting the country.

Now pretending to confine the prince is actually to protect him; when he beheaded the He family, wasn't it just for the sake of "just in case" that the prince was replaced with a "safety"?

Taoism is ruthless but sentimental, but how much is right here, and how much is wrong... How dare the prince say it.

He exhausted all his thoughts, and responded to Emperor Hongxuan's order, just like in the past few decades, but he used this order to be loyal to the emperor, regardless of right and wrong.

The setting sun sets against the mountains, and the sunset glow warms the sky like fat. The thick cirrus clouds like red jade gradually cover a layer of purple light as the sun goes down, until the rays of the sun fade away and finally become dark, covering the sky and the earth like a curtain.

Prince Ye Lai watched the hour and waited for Emperor Hongxuan to take the decoction. After he fell asleep, he turned around and went out of the palace alone, looking for Shaorengong Lane and detoured to Fengyi Hall.

Compared with the Hall of Mental Cultivation where there was a low cough, the place where the Empress is located is much quieter. During the day, the palace people deliberately lighten their hands and feet so as not to disturb the Empress' recuperation. At night, they disperse separately, and it is even quieter here No sound, as if no one was there.

However, although the voice is shallow, when entering the hall, the strong smell of medicine is not half weaker than that of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

The prince sighed silently, frowned, walked to the curtain, and called softly: "Empress, my servant Wang Chengde, come to say hello to you."

The queen was having a headache, and she was startled when she heard the human voice coming from outside the bead curtain when she was not sleepy. After she recovered, she thought of the word "Wang Chengde", and became even more surprised when she thought of Emperor Hongxuan being poisoned. She wanted to get up, and signaled Yantong to call someone in for her.

Yan Tong leaned over to support her, while looking sideways at the person who came, he said in a low voice: "My lord, please."

Wang Gonggong got this reply, bowed behind the curtain, then stepped into the inner room, walked forward a few steps and repeated: "Your Majesty, this servant is here to greet you."

The queen took a light breath, and the throbbing thing in her chest suddenly hurt, knowing that something must have happened in the palace again.

Wang Gonggong raised his eyes to look at her uneasy face, guessing that she didn't know yet.

I think those who came to the prison today are cautious and dare not open their mouths to speak nonsense, and they have kept everything they saw in their hearts, so that the news of the crown prince's suspicion has not been spread in the palace yet.

"At this time, how can the prince and the palace invite you?" The queen asked him calmly with a beating heart.

The prince didn't reply immediately, he walked closer to the bed slowly after hearing the words, so as to make the voice of the voice a little softer, and then finally described the grievances of today in detail.

After listening to the queen, she felt a splitting headache, Yan Tong beside her was also red-eyed, and her fingers trembled—the emperor’s poisoning had already caused people to worry a lot, but today it would get worse, and the daring person would blame the prince for the crime Come on!

"Your Majesty, the servants of the emperor told you...'The prince is in adversity, the empress should have a plan'."

The prince listened intently as he spoke, he was silent in the room, not wanting to miss the slightest movement, waiting for the queen to answer him.

However, there was no sound from the bed, and the empress sat like a stone statue after saying this, accompanied by a dull pain and headache, thousands of things flashed through her mind, which could not be calmed down for a long time.

After a long while, she completely understood the deep meaning of the emperor.

The crown prince was in jail, and Emperor Hongxuan sent the prince to convey this message to her, hoping that she would save the crown prince from escape and regain his innocence.

This matter seems to be very easy. In such a huge imperial city, there are not a few people who die unjustly every year. The servants in this palace are like a piece of shit. Whether they want to or not, they can die for the master. at.

In order to save the prince, she had to do this cruel way, but this time it is different.Those who killed the palace man in the prison hadn't publicized the suspicion of the prince killing the king and father, and they were waiting to see how Emperor Hongxuan would deal with him.Emperor Hongxuan would not let it go if it was too heavy, but if it was too light, the other party would not let it go.

How can you easily find someone to take the blame, how can you stop the person who didn't get what he wanted?

The empress is sure, if she doesn't cut off a piece of meat this time, Emperor Hongxuan will still be in danger of being poisoned by others, and the prince will still be afraid of others, and Emperor Hongxuan has already thought about this.

That's why the scapegoat can't be anyone else, but her, the prince's aunt, the master of the palace.

The queen lifted off the brocade quilt very slowly, sat up straight in plain clothes, tentatively searched for a while with her feet, until Yantong bent down to fetch her shoes and put them on neatly.

"My lord," the queen straightened her hair, her eyes were empty and she was facing forward, she sat upright, her words cut like a knife in the hearts of the two people in the room, "please, my lord, go back to your majesty... the poisoning was ordered by my palace." .”

"Your Majesty!" Tears welled up in Yan Tong's eyes, and he knelt down in front of him.

The prince also bent over and knelt down with trembling lips, but the words were still falling into his ears.

"The emperor's body is no longer what it used to be. The prince is surrounded by wolves and dogs, and the people in the court are in panic. The palace cannot sleep all night. Rather than being like this every night, worrying that the prince will be killed by someone someday, it is better to help him ascend the throne as soon as possible... I was confused for a while, and I know that I have regretted it, please ask the prince to tell the emperor, the crown prince has no knowledge, let me punish the crime of only one person in the palace."

"Your Majesty..." Yan Tong pressed her knees tightly, not daring to call her loudly in this quiet night, holding back his sobs and shaking his head, "Young Lady must not be like this...Young Lady!"

The queen reprimanded cruelly: "Go!"

The prince was shaking non-stop, his eyes were filled with sour tears, he raised his sleeves and got up from the ground, and he was about to speak a few more words of persuasion: "Empress, you..."

"Go!" The queen clasped the bed string tightly with her palms, and hit a red mark on her palm.

The prince was at a loss for words, he took a few steps back with heavy feet, paused for a long time beside the curtain, gritted his teeth and turned around.

Outside, the bright moon hangs high, and the light is as thin as frost. I feel that summer is not like summer, and it is as cool as autumn.