Chapter 9 Turmoil caused by a pill
When they woke up the next day, Shangguan Rong accompanied Zhou An to the imperial study, which belonged to the main palace and was where the emperor read and worked. In the past, no one was allowed to step into it.
After entering here and signing in, he received a complete set of books on the way of the emperor, which he used immediately and turned into white light and flew into his eyebrows.
Although he was not interested in this, he at least understood the emperor's strategy, which was very different from that of ordinary people. Everything was no longer judged simply by good and evil and interests. He was amazed that being an emperor was not something that ordinary people could do. It was too tiring.
After he sat down, he looked around the place and picked up some books to read. They were all useless books and should have been specially sorted by the Queen Mother.
He had no intention of reading, he came here only to sign in and light up the entire map of the main palace as quickly as possible, while thinking back to the night he had with the queen last night.
He discovered that the queen was also a master, probably at the sixth level of the acquired realm. He used the Yin-Yang technique with her, which increased his internal strength by three years.
Shangguan Rong seemed to be more familiar with this place. At Zhou An's request, she took him to stroll around the main palace and sign in. The things here were much better than before, with many rare treasures and precious calligraphy and paintings.
The Queen was always by his side, and the two of them were chatting and laughing, feeling like a couple who were traveling here.
Of course, there must be a group of palace maids and four purple-robed guards following behind them, ostensibly to protect their safety, but in fact to monitor their every move.
With Shangguan Rong as his talisman, it was difficult for the Purple Guards to stop him when he just walked into the palaces to take a look, so Zhou An finally walked through all the palaces in the main palace, plus he had already signed in at several important places on the day of the wedding.
He got the Qianyuan Dragon Boots, Qianyuan Dragon Hands, Qianyuan Dragon Helmet, plus the Qianyuan Dragon Armor he got before, so he has a complete set of equipment.
After the entire main palace map is lit up, the system rewards the Qianyang Tiangang Fist, which is the earth-level martial arts of the royal family. It is a boxing method created by the founding emperor based on the vast Qiankun Jue. When used together, it can exert amazing power.
After the two finished lunch together, the queen went to Yongshou Palace to see the queen mother, and Zhou An came to Changle Palace and called Sainaimu to have fun.
After the song and dance began, Sai Naimu leaned into Zhou An's arms and said in a jealous voice, "Your Majesty, now that you have a queen, have you forgotten about me?"
Zhou An took a sip of wine and laughed, "You get jealous too?"
"I am worried about the emperor, afraid that you will be controlled by the queen. After all, she is from the Shangguan family." Sai Naimu said, his fingers slowly sliding across Zhou An's chest.
"Now the entire palace is controlled by the Queen Mother, there is no need for the Shangguan family to do anything unnecessary. How is the person who poisoned you doing?" Zhou An asked, grabbing her mischievous hand.
"Ma Kangbo of the Imperial Hospital, this poison is not particularly toxic, but it is fatal to ordinary people, especially when the blood circulation is accelerated. The poison will quickly spread throughout the body, and eventually it will be difficult to breathe, until death.
There will be no trace until death, just like dying from suffocation. And within half an hour after death, the poison will be converted into water and dissolved in the blood, making it difficult to be detected.
Your Majesty, do you want me to give him back his own way?" Sai Naimu said, and when he saw his hand was grabbed, he pressed his body forward.
"No, if you do it, the Purple Guards might find out that you are the one. Is there any way to let people see the poison?" How could Zhou An refuse? He took action without hesitation.
"It's simple. Just soak it in the wine. I'll add something else and the poison will show up." Sai Naimu giggled coquettishly, pulled out her hairpin, and stirred it in her wine glass.
Zhou An immediately shouted, "Come here, ask the Imperial Hospital to send us the Yuan Yang Pill."
Not long after, the pills were delivered. Zhou An opened the exquisite wooden box, which contained six red pills.
"Your Majesty, let me feed you." Sai Naimu smelled the pills, picked up one and was about to put it into Zhou An's mouth, but his hand slipped and the pill fell into the wine glass on the table.
Soon the wine turned purple-red. Zhou An was furious when he saw it and pointed at the person who was delivering medicine from the Imperial Hospital and said angrily, "Come here, arrest him."
The purple-clad guards at the door immediately rushed in and subdued the two people who were delivering the medicine.
"Your Majesty, please spare our lives. I am only following your orders to deliver the Yuan Yang Pill." The two men knelt down and kowtowed in panic, their faces full of fear, not knowing what was going on.
"Number 7 Ziyi, send the contents of the cup for inspection to see if there is any problem."
Just as Zhou An finished speaking, a man jumped out from the corner next to him, landed in front of Zhou An, glanced at the wine in the glass, picked it up with both hands and said, "Yes."
Although the Purple Guards were responsible for monitoring Zhou An, they were also responsible for his safety. Zhou An could ask them to do some small things.
After watching No. 7 Ziyi take away the wine soaked in pills and a box of Yuanyang Pills and leave, Zhou An sat down and said, "Continue."
The dancers immediately started dancing and the music started playing. He and Sainaimu smiled at each other. This gave the Queen Mother a chance to cause trouble for the Left Prime Minister. He believed that the Queen Mother would never miss such a good opportunity.
Inside Yongshou Palace, the Queen Mother was sitting cross-legged on a cushion practicing martial arts. The voice of No. 7 in purple came from outside the door: "Queen Mother, No. 7 has something important to report."
The Queen Mother finished her exercise, exhaled, and said calmly, "Come in."
No. 7 Ziyi immediately knelt down and said, "A deadly toxin was found in the Yuanyang Pill that the emperor took."
The Queen Mother was shocked, stood up suddenly, and asked angrily, "Have you found out who poisoned me?"
"I have taken control of all the people in the Imperial Hospital and am investigating. I believe there will be results soon."
"How is Zhou An? Is his life in danger?" the Queen Mother asked again.
"The emperor is not seriously ill and is currently enjoying himself in Changle Palace."
"Inform the results immediately and have the right prime minister come to see me." The Queen Mother walked out of the training room and headed towards the hall.
"Yes." Purple Guard No. 7 responded, stood up and left.
Half an hour later, the Right Prime Minister Shangguan Yuchen hurried to the hall of Yongshou Palace. As soon as he came in, the Queen Mother pointed at the box on the table and said, "Someone bribed the Imperial Hospital to poison the Emperor. I have blocked the news in the palace, and the Xuanyi Guard has already taken action. You must immediately delay the people of the Left Prime Minister's faction and don't let them destroy the evidence."
"These old foxes have finally revealed their flaws. I'll do something about it right away." Shangguan Yuchen was delighted and quickly got up and left.
In the Zuo Xiang Mansion, Jiang Xian frowned when he heard the spy's report and immediately said, "Notify Tan Daren, Lord Wang, Lord Cheng, and Lord Zou to come over."
"Yes." The spy responded and left.
At this time, a young man in a servant's uniform walked out from behind the screen. Jiang Xian stood up and saluted, saying, "Sixth Prince, the Black Guards have been dispatched in large numbers. I'm afraid the Queen Mother has made some major moves."
This person is Zhou An’s sixth brother Zhou Di. Everyone thought that Zhou Di fled the Qianyuan Empire when the emperor was critically ill. No one expected that he had stayed in the Zuo Xiangfu as a servant.
"Did Lord Zuo Xiang attack my ninth brother?" Zhou Di asked with a frown.
"Please forgive me, Sixth Prince. I know that you are concerned about the brotherhood and do not want to hurt the emperor. However, the current situation in the court has made the Queen Mother more powerful. It is impossible for us to overthrow her in other ways. The only loophole is that the current emperor dies, and then we can select the royal bloodline for registration.
Even if the Queen Mother is much more powerful than us, she cannot be crowned emperor, and can only let the Sixth Prince ascend the throne. This is why she let Zhou An, an incompetent man, be the emperor. "Jiang Xian bowed to apologize, but his expression and tone were very firm, and he didn't look like he had done anything wrong.
"According to Taizu's legacy, royal family members are forbidden to kill each other. Violators will be punished by death." Zhou Di said with a frown.
"Sixth Prince, this matter concerns the safety of our country and our people. If we had not really had no other choice, we would not have resorted to this desperate measure. The current emperor has been completely tamed by the empress dowager. If we delay for a few more years, the opposition forces in the court will be eliminated one by one, and then no one in the world will be able to stop the empress dowager from becoming emperor. I beg the sixth prince to make up his mind for the sake of the Qianyuan Empire." Jiang Xian immediately knelt down and begged.
Zhou Di immediately helped the left prime minister up and said with a sigh, "Ninth brother is innocent. When the rebellion of the queen mother is quelled in the future, I will personally go to the tablet of Taizu to apologize."
Jiang Xian frowned, but did not try to persuade him any further. This was what the royal family had been taught since childhood, so he naturally understood it. Now he should deal with the Queen Mother's followers first and deal with other matters later.
Half an hour later, several officials came to the Zuo Xiang residence. Cheng was the first to arrive. As soon as he arrived, he asked his guards to stand guard outside and said anxiously, "Zuo Xiang, something terrible has happened. Master Miao and Master Guan have been captured by the Xuanyi Guards. They bribed Ma Kangbo of the Imperial Hospital. I asked someone to check on the way here, but Ma Kangbo is nowhere to be found. I'm afraid the matter has been leaked."
(End of this chapter)
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