Chapter 170 Assassination on the Long Street

May 4th is Song Zhao’s birthday.

Originally, Xiao Jingheng planned to hold a grand banquet for her.

But Song Zhao politely declined his kindness.

They said that she was only a concubine and it was not good for her to show off. They also said that holding a grand banquet was extravagant and wasteful, so it would be better to save the money to help the poor people, which would also be considered a good deed.

Xiao Jingheng then opened a porridge factory in the suburbs of Kyoto to help the poor.

This fulfilled Song Zhao's wish and also enhanced his reputation as a man who cares about the people.

Although the banquet was not held, Xiao Jingheng still gave Song Zhao the same reward.

He picked up some jewelry that women liked, selected the best and most expensive ones and gave them to them, spending all his money just to make a beautiful woman smile.

On her birthday, Xiao Jingheng went to Changle Palace right after the morning court session.

After lunch, the two planned to take a short rest.

Little Yinzi came to report in a panic,

"Your Majesty, the spirit tablet of the late emperor enshrined in the Fengxian Hall has fallen over..."

"What did you say?"

Xiao Jingheng was furious, "How dare you! How do those servants in the Ministry of Internal Affairs do their jobs?"

The fall of the late emperor's ancestral tablet is not a good sign.

Moreover, the emperor had to personally straighten it up, and no carelessness was allowed.

Song Zhao advised, "Your Majesty, please go and have a look. The Queen Mother has just sent a gift to me. I plan to go and talk to her when she takes her afternoon nap."

Xiao Jingheng nodded and said, "Then I will go and deal with this matter first. After you see the Queen Mother, come to Chaoyang Palace. I have specially asked the Imperial Kitchen to prepare dinner according to your taste. Although there will not be a banquet, it is your birthday after all, so we can't be too perfunctory."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Xiao Jingheng hurried to Fengxian Hall.

After taking a nap, Song Zhao took a sedan chair to Xianshou Palace to accompany the empress dowager.

At the same time, Concubine Chen was furious in Yonghe Palace.

It was just because Qiulan heard some gossip from the cold palace.

"Zhao is still not content in the cold palace. She keeps complaining and insulting the queen from time to time. She is really too presumptuous..."

The concubine's eyes flew up, and she suppressed her anger and said, "What did she scold me for?"

"This..." Qiulan lowered her head in fear, "I dare not say it."

'Peng'

The Concubine Chen slammed the table and raised her voice to scold:

"Just say it if I tell you to!"

Qiulan was frightened and trembled, then she said timidly:

"She said that since you can't have children yourself, you have to steal other people's children to raise. She said that you have done a lot of evil, which is why you have received the most rain and dew but still have no heirs..."

As Qiulan spoke, she raised her head slightly to peek at the Concubine Chen's expression, and her voice became weaker.

"They also said... that you were careless when walking and could fall even on flat ground. The miscarriage was your retribution..."

"How ridiculous! I think she is tired of living!"

The concubine was originally a hot-tempered person, and the miscarriage caused by the fall had always been a knot in her heart.

Hearing Qiulan say this, she was furious and rushed to the cold palace angrily, wanting to make trouble for Zhao.

In the huge cold palace, only Zhao lived.

In addition, the door to the cold palace was locked, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs only sent two eunuchs to guard outside the door, just for show.

As soon as they saw the Concubine Chen, they immediately bowed respectfully.

"Your servant kowtows to Her Majesty, the Empress Chen. May Your Majesty be blessed with good health."

The Concubine Chen didn't even look at them, "Open the door for me!"

"This... Madam, the Emperor's decree prohibits anyone from seeing Zhao, so you should..."

"You dare to stop me?" Concubine Chen narrowed her eyes and looked at the eunuch who was speaking. She said in a cold tone: "I am the assistant in charge of the six palaces, so I must manage the concubines for the emperor. Although Zhao is an abandoned concubine, she is a talkative person, and I will punish her anyway! If you say another word, I will have your tongue pulled out!"

She is always arrogant.

Even the Queen had to give her some face, so how could these two palace maids dare to stop her?

In desperation, he had to unlock the door and open the palace gate.

But I didn't expect that

As soon as the door was opened a crack, a dirty and unkempt crazy woman rushed out.

She bumped into the Concubine Chen and threw her to the ground.

He stood up and ran away.

"Empress Chen! Are you okay?"

The Concubine Chen fell hard, and the palace maids hurried forward to support her.

She covered her aching waist, looked at the back of the crazy woman running in the corridor, and said in disbelief:

"That ghost thing is Shu Fei?"

"Your Majesty, it is Zhao..."

"Then why are you still standing there?"

The concubine herself was also panicked.

If she let this crazy Zhao run away and cause trouble, she would be in big trouble.

So she pushed the eunuch and cursed, "You blind bastard! Go and bring her back to me!"

The eunuch hurriedly chased after him.

Zhao was crazy and didn't eat much, so she shouldn't have the strength to run far.

But the strange thing was that the eunuch saw her turn a corner.

When I caught up with him, he disappeared out of thin air in the narrow corridor?

On the other side, Song Zhao spent the whole afternoon chatting with the Queen Mother.

Later, Xiao Yinzi came to inform that Xiao Jingheng was ready and asked her to come over.

Song Zhao then asked the Queen Mother, "It's dinner time now, shall the Queen Mother come with us?"

The Queen Mother smiled and waved her hand, jokingly saying, "When I, an old woman, go, you and the Emperor will always feel restrained. Go ahead and let the Emperor accompany you, and celebrate your birthday happily."

The Queen Mother really liked Song Zhao.

She was too lazy to even see other concubines, but when Song Zhao came, she was even treated to a personal send-off by him.

The Queen Mother escorted Song Zhao to the gate of Xianshou Palace. Song Zhao wanted to get on the sedan chair, but the palace servants carrying the sedan chair said:

"My lady, I just discovered that the pole of this sedan chair is a little swollen. It may be because of the humid weather these past two days. It is not very stable when lifted.

I am worried that if something unexpected happens, Your Majesty will be hurt again. How about I go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to get a new one? But Your Majesty will have to wait for a while."

Song Zhao was silent for a moment.

I don't know how much time this back and forth will take.

The Queen Mother was watching from the side.

If Song Zhao really asked them to carry a new sedan chair, people would inevitably think it was pretentious.

So she said, "No need. The Queen Mother's Palace is not far from Chaoyang Palace. Taking advantage of the clear weather today, I also want to take a walk and enjoy the scenery."

The Queen Mother smiled and said, "You are like your mother, and you are the least pretentious. Go ahead, and go slowly."

He glanced at Yunshan and warned, "Take good care of your mistress and don't let her get hurt."

After saying goodbye to the Queen Mother, Yunshan supported Song Zhao and walked along the long street leading to Chaoyang Palace.

It was the time when the guards were replaced, and ordinary palace servants were not allowed to walk on the long street, so it was quite quiet.

The master and servant took a leisurely walk while enjoying the scenery along the way, talking and laughing all the way.

"When the Majesty was in the mansion, birthdays were never taken seriously. Now, the Emperor and the Queen Mother are both thinking about the Majesty's birthday, and it is no longer just me who accompanies the Majesty on her birthday."

Song Zhao looked at the bright road ahead and smiled.

"Life will always get better and better."

--"ah!!"

Suddenly, a shrill scream sounded behind them.

Song Zhao turned around suddenly and saw a woman with disheveled hair and wearing a filthy plain cloth stumbling towards her.

She was as crazy as a ghost, and her face was extremely distorted and hideous.

It was only when she got closer that Song Zhao recognized that the crazy woman in front of him, who looked neither human nor ghost, was actually the gentle and quiet Shu Fei of the past?

"My lady, be careful! She has a knife in her hand!"

When Yunshan screamed, Zhao had already pulled out the dagger and stabbed it directly towards Song Zhao's bulging belly!