On the other hand, Zhang Bingzhi, unwilling to give up, used the pretext of a blank star to request an audience with the Empress Dowager after only a stick of incense had burned.
Although the Empress Dowager was weak, she was not stupid and naturally understood why he wanted to see her.
"Your Excellency is here because of that person, isn't that it?"
Zhang Bingzhi said yes, and then asked the Empress Dowager, "Does Your Majesty truly believe that this Huaiyue is not Chu Huaixu?"
"I don't think so." Mentioning this, the Empress Dowager's expression darkened, and she coughed softly a few times. "But... he looks so much like that person, I can't be sure..."
The toxins accumulated in her body, damaging her physical constitution. She felt genuinely exhausted, which was why she hadn't originally planned to see Zhang Bingzhi.
But after much deliberation, his doubts remained, and he finally allowed Zhang Bingzhi to enter.
Zhang Bingzhi handed her a bowl of tea: "Has Your Highness considered the saying, 'It's better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free'?"
The Empress Dowager's fingertips trembled, and she nearly dropped the teacup. Zhang Bingzhi grasped her arm, narrowed his eyes, and said slowly:
"This old minister knows that Your Majesty is kind and unwilling to kill the innocent, but it is a fact that this sorcerer wanted to harm Your Majesty and Your Majesty, and we saw those paper figures that had been cursed with poison with our own eyes."
"Your Majesty, please think carefully. If Huaiyue is really just an ordinary male prostitute, why would she take such a great risk to do such a vicious thing?"
"Therefore, I believe that regardless of whether this person is Chu Huaixu or not, his identity is definitely questionable and his intentions are certainly different."
“If someone has ulterior motives, they should be eliminated to prevent future troubles. What does Your Majesty think? Besides, this old minister still believes that this so-called Huaiyue is Chu Huaixu.”
"He somehow managed to survive back then, changed his identity, and is now seeking revenge. Your Majesty, we must be on guard..."
This speculation greatly alarmed the Empress Dowager, who looked helplessly at Zhang Bingzhi: "I...I don't know..."
Zhang Bingzhi knew their Empress Dowager very well, and gently patted her hand:
"Your Majesty, we have come to this point after so much effort and so many deaths. We really cannot keep Huaiyue."
"Your Majesty, when it comes to matters of principle, you must not be soft-hearted..."
The Empress Dowager still hesitated: "But what about Commander Song..."
"Lord Song has been bewitched by a sorcerer. If Your Majesty kills that sorcerer, it will be for Lord Song's own good."
“Amitabha, Lord Zhang is right,” Kongxing also spoke up at the right time, “The sorcerer is cunning and resourceful, but as long as he is killed, his sorcery will lose its power, and both the Empress and Lord Song will recover.”
The Empress Dowager had been somewhat hesitant, but now that she heard the Master Kongxing say the same thing, she was immediately tempted: "Is what the Master said true?"
“Amitabha Buddha, monks do not lie.”
The Empress Dowager finally seemed to have made up her mind: "Very well, then let it be as the Grand Secretary says..."
However, at that moment, the Empress Dowager felt a metallic taste in her throat, and then she vomited a mouthful of black blood!
"Your Majesty—"
·
After arranging everything, Song Ting thought it over and over, but he still wanted to see Huai Xu. The slap he received earlier still bothered him, and he couldn't rest easy about it. No matter what, he had to see him.
A young novice monk knocked on the door: "Sir, the Empress Dowager has vomited blood and urgently summons you."
The Empress Dowager is now wary of everyone, and the people she trusts most are the monks of the White Horse Temple. Even the servants at the door have been replaced by young novices from the temple.
When Song Ting followed the little monk over, the Empress Dowager's room was already in chaos. Several palace maids were going in and out, each carrying a copper basin. When they went in, the basins were filled with clear water, but when they came out, they were stained with blood.
Zhang Chongyi and He Bei stood nervously beside the Empress Dowager.
The latter, with sharp eyes, noticed Song Ting: "Make way, everyone, Commander Song is here!" He looked at Song Ting as if he had seen his second parents. "Commander, the Empress has suddenly been vomiting blood continuously, it seems that poison has invaded her lungs."
The Empress Dowager's lips had turned a deep purple, and she was completely unconscious, vomiting blood continuously. Chunxin and another palace maid kept wiping the blood off her with handkerchiefs, but they couldn't get it clean no matter what they did.
Song Ting's expression was grave: "Weren't those paper effigies already burned?"
The so-called master of the sky even performed a ritual to exorcise evil spirits, but instead of improving, the Empress Dowager's condition worsened.
"It seems that the skills of the Master of Emptiness are nothing more than this," he scoffed.
Zhang Bingzhi looked rather grim, standing to the side with a blank expression: "This is not the time to talk about these things. Your Excellency should hurry and check on the Empress."
Song Ting coldly curled the corner of her lips and waved away the crowd surrounding the bed: "The two imperial physicians stay, the rest of you get out!"
Helping the Empress Dowager expel poison through internal energy was Song Ting's daily task, with the two imperial physicians always standing by to assist. This time was no different, but Song Ting simply stood expressionless beside the Empress Dowager's bedside, remaining motionless for a long time.
The two imperial physicians, unsure of his meaning, exchanged a glance and shook their heads, neither daring to speak.
Song Ting was actually weighing the pros and cons. The Empress Dowager was lying unknowingly in front of him, and he could kill her silently.
Kill the enemy and take Huaixu away. Even worse, you could kill the young emperor as well.
But what awaited him and Huaixu afterward was the infamy that would last for eternity, and the fact that the Duan Prince's Mansion had definitively confirmed the charge of treason.
He himself didn't care what happened to him, but Huai Xu was innocent. He shouldn't have to bear those unfounded accusations or be subjected to rumors and slander.
He should step forward openly and honestly, as the young heir of the Prince Duan's mansion.
There was also the old prince and the 100,000 Xuanbei soldiers buried on the frontier. They were all heroes of Dayan, and they should not be scorned and cursed after dying for the people of Dayan.
That was a promise he had made to the old prince; he had sworn a solemn oath not to betray the old prince's trust. Therefore, he had to protect Huaixu while clearing the name of the Duan Prince's Mansion and exonerating the 100,000 innocent souls.
—The Empress Dowager cannot die yet.
—Things haven't reached the point of no return yet.
"My lord... Commander?" Zhang Chong asked cautiously, "My lord, the Empress Dowager's condition is critical and cannot be delayed. What do you think—"
Song Ting calmly composed himself and said, "I understand."
………
"Cough cough cough... cough cough..." An hour later, the Empress Dowager's condition finally improved. Song Ting helped her lie down and said, "Your Majesty, please be careful."
The woman gripped his arm tightly; her face was deathly pale, and her expression was sorrowful.
"It has to be Minister Song. Minister Song saved my life. He has saved me many times."
Zhang Chong and He Bei knelt to one side, not daring to raise their heads, until Song Ting waved his sleeve to dismiss them: "Get down!"
He felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly ran away.
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