Chapter 50 Summoning

Princess Zhaoqing, who is she?

Chi Li frowned slightly and searched for information about this person in her mind, but found nothing.

In the original novel "The Beloved of the Usurping General", the plot before the heroine's marriage was all about how the heroine was bullied and humiliated by her vicious stepmother, and how the people in the harem looked down on the powerful and flattered the weak, and treated the unfavored heroine coldly and poorly.

But when the heroine returned to the capital with the help of the hero, their status was reversed. The heroine became the beloved queen, while they became prisoners.

The plot naturally turns out to be that the male protagonist is furious for his beloved and wants to avenge the female protagonist by killing all those who bullied her.

After all, these people are just a part of the love play between the heroine and heroine. It doesn't matter what their last names are or what they have experienced.

After all, this novel world is built around the heroine and heroine.

Chi Qi raised a sarcastic smile at the corner of her mouth. What kind of energy could the Lord God obtain from such a world?

Perhaps because she had been silent for a long time, Zhao Mingyue, who was sitting beside her, gently tugged at the corner of her clothes and said, "Mother, please call Wu Shishu in quickly. Perhaps Aunt Zhaoqing has something important to report."

Chi Yan finally collected her thoughts and looked at Zhao Mingyue. "You and your aunt have a good relationship?"

Zhao Mingyue shook her head. "No, the last time I saw Aunt Zhaoqing was when I was eight years old. That was five or six years ago. I remember that time—"

She paused for a moment, as if recalling something, before continuing, "Aunt Zhaoqing must have returned from Tangzhou City. I saw her, dressed in a red cape, leading a group of soldiers, striding past me. Thinking back now, Aunt Zhaoqing was truly majestic back then."

Speaking of this, Zhao Mingyue's eyes lit up.

At the time, I thought it was an ordinary thing, but when I looked back on it many years later, I realized how extraordinary it was.

But the light in Zhao Mingyue's eyes only lit up for a moment, and then quickly went out, and even her tone became low.

"But not long after, my aunt was locked up in the princess's mansion by my father. I don't know what happened, but I heard from the maids in the palace that my aunt had gone crazy."

"Crazy?" Chi Li suddenly became interested in exploring and sat up straight.

Zhao Mingyue hesitated, "They said it was because my aunt and Prince Consort Zhen were deeply in love, and that he had taught my aunt martial arts. Seeing Prince Consort Zhen die on the battlefield was too much for my aunt to accept, and she was so heartbroken that she went mad."

Chi Li's mouth twitched slightly. A princess of a country, leading an army to war, only to go crazy for love in the end, what kind of outrageous plot was this? It had to be a rumor.

What’s funny is that people love to hear this rumor about the supremacy of love. They even make up stories to spread it, compose songs to sing it, and even believe it to be true and spend their entire lives pursuing it.

From ancient times to the present, people have never tired of this.

But this is not Zhao Mingyue's fault. She was only eight years old at the time and lived deep in the palace. She learned needlework and embroidery and read the "Female Commandments and Instructions". How could she distinguish clearly what was true and what was false?

At this time, Danying also added: "I have heard about this matter. It seems that Princess Zhaoqing wanted to build a memorial pavilion for Prince Consort Zhen, but the late emperor disagreed. So she took people to the Ministry of War and caused a big commotion, injuring several officials. The late emperor was furious and imprisoned Princess Zhaoqing."

Chi Qi pondered for a moment, thinking that this matter sounded like it had some substance.

What exactly happened back then? Was Princess Zhaoqing truly insane? If so, why did he suddenly submit a memorial to her?

These things can probably only be known by asking Princess Zhaoqing. Now, let her take a look at what Princess Zhaoqing wrote in her memorial.

Chi Li raised her hand and said, "Let Wu Wenxiu come in."

Danying agreed, turned around and went out, telling Wu Wenxiu to enter the hall.

Zhao Mingyue already knew that she had to avoid suspicion, so she immediately stood up and was about to leave.

Chi Li held her hand and patted the chair next to her. "It's probably a family matter. You should listen to it too."

"Thank you, mother." Zhao Mingyue sat down again.

Wu Wenxiu came in, bowed, and handed the memorial to Chi Lu.

He spoke carefully, "Your Majesty, Princess Zhaoqing was attacked late at night. I request that Zhen Ruicai be held accountable for dereliction of duty and his palace guards be removed. This matter is of great importance, and I dare not make a decision on my own. I ask Your Majesty to make the decision."

Chi Li raised an eyebrow, a little surprised, "Attacked late at night... Who did it?"

Zhao Mingyue screamed and stood up, "Auntie, are you okay?"

Wu Wenxiu said calmly, "According to the memorial, Princess Zhaoqing is not seriously injured, but they failed to catch the villain."

Zhao Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief and slowly sat down.

Chi Li looked at her, "Mingyue, what do you think we should do about this?"

Zhao Mingyue immediately straightened her back and replied, "Of course, we should punish Zhen Ruicai immediately and send the Golden Crow Guards to protect Auntie and find the murderer who attacked her!"

Just as he finished speaking, there was the sound of boots outside the door. Ling Qiong hurried in and knelt on one knee, "Your Majesty, the criminals who attacked Princess Zhaoqing have been caught."

Zhao Mingyue's eyes widened. "What?"

Ling Qiong raised her face and smiled, "It was Xie Qinjian who openly provoked the princess a few days ago. He has confessed everything."

Zhao Mingyue was stunned. How could it be such a coincidence?

"Oh?" Chi Yan curled her lips. "In that case, let's summon Zhen Ruicai, Princess Zhaoqing, and Xie Qinjian to the palace. Let's find out what the truth is."

————

Zhen Ruicai has had a hard time these past few days. Xie Qinjian was imprisoned in the Yiluansi, and his life or death was unknown. He couldn't even see Princess Mingyue. Then there was the matter of the Jinwu Guard recruiting soldiers. He had to watch helplessly as the applicants gathered, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Therefore, he hurriedly summoned a group of military officers to discuss countermeasures.

Among them, Qian Qian, the commander of the Left Eagle Guard, was his confidant, and the other generals were also his followers who were promoted by him.

"I have made great contributions to the country and should have been promoted to Prime Minister. I didn't expect that after Li Mian fell, Queen Mother Chi would replace him with the Sujisi and even support the establishment of the women's Golden Crow Guard. It's simply absurd!"

"Without the support of us military officers, how could Queen Mother Chi maintain her position as Queen Mother?"

Zhen Ruicai made an impassioned speech, and the military officers nodded repeatedly and clapped their hands on the table in agreement.

"A bunch of women want to join the army and fight in wars? This is outrageous!"

As he was speaking excitedly, Liu Feng, the captain of the guards in charge of guarding the princess's mansion, rushed into the mansion, "Master Zhen, something happened!"

Zhen Rui was startled. "What the hell is that? What else could have happened?"

Liu Feng wiped the sweat from his forehead and said tremblingly: "Yes, it was Empress Dowager Chi who sent someone to summon Princess Zhaoqing into the palace."

"What?" Zhen Ruicai jumped up from his chair. "Idiot! The late emperor issued an order not to allow Princess Zhaoqing to leave the palace. Didn't you know to stop her?"

Liu Feng's voice trembled, "I tried to stop him, but failed!"

Zhen Ruicai gasped, "If Zhao Yuzhang convinces Queen Mother Chi to release her, that would be bad. We must think of a way."

He looked at everyone and was about to ask them for advice when he heard footsteps outside the door. He looked up and saw a palace servant standing at the door holding an imperial edict.

"The imperial decree has arrived, summoning Zhen Ruicai to the palace!"

Zhen Ruicai felt his heart suddenly skip a beat, and had a premonition that disaster was about to happen.

————

Zhao Yuzhang tied up his long hair again, changed into plain clothes, and under the guidance of the Jinwu Guards, walked into the imperial city he had been away from for a long time.

It has indeed been too long, so long that the owner of this imperial city has changed.

Zhao Yuzhang's mood was indescribably complicated.

When she arrived at Xihua Hall, she looked up at the three familiar words on the plaque, and a wry smile appeared on her face.

The palace maid urged, "Princess Zhaoqing, please come in quickly. Her Majesty the Queen Mother is waiting for you."

Zhao Yuzhang finally came to his senses and walked into the hall.

The first thing that caught her eye was a little girl with a round face. Her eyes and eyebrows looked vaguely familiar. She stopped and felt confused.

"Aunt Zhaoqing!" the other person shouted, rushed over and hugged her tightly.

Zhao Yuzhang then remembered, a smile appeared on his face, and he reached out and gently hugged her, "It's Mingyue."

However, she only hugged him for a moment and then let go.

Zhao Mingyue's behavior was so casual, she must be very favored by Queen Mother Chi. However, even if Zhao Mingyue could be presumptuous in front of Queen Mother Chi, she could not.

Zhao Yuzhang walked into the hall, lowered his eyes, and knelt to pay his respects. "Your humble servant, Zhao Yuzhang, pays homage to Her Majesty the Queen Mother."

A cold voice came from above, "Stand up and take a seat."

Zhao Yuzhang stood up calmly, walked to the chair on the right side of the hall and sat down. Only then did he look up at Chi Qi, but she was also looking at him, and their eyes met in the air.

A pair of cold and sharp eyes, like a wild wolf lurking in the darkness.

Zhao Yuzhang was the first to look away, but this thought emerged in his mind.

Empress Dowager Chi was very different from what she had imagined.

She didn't look like a noble lady, nor like those women from military families. Instead, she looked like a... cold-blooded killer.

Zhao Yuzhang was shocked by this guess and then shook his head. This was impossible.

She could never have imagined that this outrageous guess was actually the truth.

Just as she was sizing up Chi Lan and guessing her character, Chi Lan was also sizing up her and guessing her character.

A general who can lead troops and win battles must have something different from ordinary people.

Or one must be almost inhumanely calm, so that he can slaughter and exterminate the enemy, and not collapse when his soldiers die one by one.

Or she must have extremely noble and firm beliefs, which can support her in facing death and blood.

Which of these two types of people is Zhao Yuzhang? Chi Li thinks he is both.

Such talents cannot be let go easily.

Chi Yan curled her lips and said, "Princess Zhaoqing, the criminal who attacked you has been caught. But before we deal with this matter, I want to know what exactly happened in Tangzhou City five years ago."