Chapter 545: Emperor An uses both soft and hard tactics to manipulate his ministers
When Liu Tong'en learned that Emperor An had woken up and hurried into the palace, he saw that the guards who were supposed to be guarding the palace were actually outside the main hall. He strode over and asked anxiously, "Why are you here? Where is His Majesty?"
"As soon as His Majesty woke up, he kicked us all out, leaving only Eunuch Feng and Imperial Physician Jiang inside..."
"You bastard!"
Liu Tong'en flew into a rage upon hearing this: "Didn't I tell you to stay by His Majesty's side every step of the way? Who allowed you to leave those two alone with His Majesty? If anything were to happen to His Majesty, could you afford to take the fall?!"
While he was shouting angrily, he hurried into the hall, fearing that Feng Lai and Doctor Jiang would do something bad to Emperor An.
The situation in the court has become increasingly tense during this period. The crown prince is gaining more and more power, and the eunuch Xiao Yan has ill intentions towards Your Majesty. Even the fence-sitters in the court hope that Your Majesty will fall asleep forever.
Now that His Majesty has woken up, if they take a risk...
"Bang!"
The palace door was suddenly pushed open, and the hand of Doctor Jiang, who was giving acupuncture to Emperor An, trembled. The silver needle that was supposed to fall on the arm was half-way deviated and hit the wrong place. Emperor An immediately cried out in pain.
"His Majesty!"
When Liu Tong'en heard his cry of pain, he thought something had happened to Emperor An, so he quickly stepped forward, grabbed Doctor Jiang by the scruff of the neck and threw him away. Doctor Jiang stumbled and bumped into a shelf beside him. When something on the shelf crashed to the ground, he cried out in pain.
"Commander Liu, are you crazy?!"
Feng Lai's face was filled with shock. He looked down at Emperor An's arm and saw tiny beads of blood oozing out of it. He quickly grabbed a handkerchief and pressed it against his arm. "Your Majesty, you're bleeding!"
Emperor An was pricked in the wrong spot and gasped in pain. Seeing Doctor Jiang hunched over there, his face pale and unable to stand up straight, he suddenly looked up and shouted angrily, "Liu Tongen, what are you doing?!"
"His Majesty?"
Liu Tong'en looked at the silver needle with only half of the needle end sticking out of Emperor An's arm, and then saw Feng Lai anxiously trying to stop the bleeding. Emperor An was fine, and he immediately knew that he had misunderstood. He hurriedly said:
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I thought someone was trying to harm you, and in a moment of desperation..."
"Doctor Jiang, come and see His Majesty!"
Feng Lai interrupted Liu Tongen's explanation and covered the place where the silver needle had pierced and was bleeding profusely.
Doctor Jiang struggled to his feet, stumbled forward, and quickly supported Emperor An's arm: "I've hit the pulse point, Eunuch Feng, please help."
He quickly pointed at the top of the silver needle and asked Feng Lai to press it hard. Then he touched the end of the needle and said, "Your Majesty, please bear with it." Without waiting for Emperor An to speak, he pulled out the silver needle very quickly, and the blood from the needle splashed all over his face.
Emperor An bit his lips tightly in pain, while Imperial Physician Jiang quickly pricked his acupuncture points with silver needles, sealed several important acupoints near his pulse, and bandaged his wrist before he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, the silver needle only went in halfway. If it had pierced the pulse point and damaged the pulse, Your Majesty's hand would have been crippled..."
After Doctor Jiang finished speaking, he fell backwards, immediately holding his shoulders and groaning.
Feng Lai stepped forward and took a look: "Doctor Jiang, you are bleeding."
Emperor An also saw the scratches on Jiang Tian's back, and the shelf he had bumped into before was also stained with blood. At this time, Jiang Tian's face was pale with pain, and his hand was almost crippled by Liu Tongen's hands.
With a gloomy face, he said to Doctor Jiang, "Go apply the medicine first and ask someone to check you out. Feng Lai, take Jiang Tian out."
Feng Lai knew that Emperor An had something to say to Liu Tong'en in private: "Then I will send Doctor Jiang out first. If Your Majesty has any instructions, call me back."
Emperor An said "hmm".
Feng Lai stepped forward to support Jiang Tian, and the two of them went out carefully.
After the palace door was closed, Liu Tong'en looked at the mess on the ground and Emperor An opposite him with a gloomy face. He felt something was wrong and couldn't help but speak in a low voice.
"It was my fault just now. I was so anxious that I almost harmed Your Majesty. But I was also worried about Your Majesty's safety. Imperial Physician Jiang and Eunuch Feng have a history of colluding with Xiao Yan. I was afraid that being alone with Your Majesty would cause harm, so I acted impulsively."
"Since you suspect they are colluding with Xiao Yan, why do you still keep them in Yulongtai?"
Liu Tong'en was stunned for a moment, then quickly explained, "Eunuch Feng is an imperial eunuch, and I have no right to expel him. After Imperial Physician Jiang entered the Imperial Dragon Tower that night, I also had him under strict supervision. Xiao Yan is powerful outside, and Imperial Physician Jiang at least has the Jiang family members to contain him. I'm afraid that if I send him away, Xiao Yan will take the opportunity to send another imperial physician in to murder Your Majesty..."
Emperor An listened to his explanation, his expression not only did not relax, but his eyes became even colder and fiercer: "So? You will stay in the Imperial Dragon Terrace every day to guard me?"
"His Majesty……"
Bang!!
Emperor An grabbed the medicine bowl beside him and threw it at Liu Tongen: "Should I thank you for your loyalty to me?!"
The medicine bowl was not heavy when it flew over, and Emperor An had been unconscious for a long time and had no strength in his hands, but Liu Tongen was still stunned. He subconsciously knelt on the ground and heard Emperor An leaning on the edge of the bed and cursing at him:
"I am the Emperor, the Son of Heaven. The censors and historians of the Great Wei are not freeloaders. If Xiao Yan, the He family, and the Crown Prince want to legitimately claim the throne, they can't let me die in vain. You have so many men under your command, aren't they enough to surround the Imperial Dragon Terrace and guard Feng Lai and Jiang Tian?"
"Do I need you to stay by my side every day?!"
Liu Tong'en was scolded to the point of being drenched in anger. He couldn't help but say, "But Your Majesty, I'm just worried about you..."
"What's the point of you worrying about me?"
Emperor An angrily cursed: "If you are worried about me, you should find a way to save the situation. Even if it is just to muddy the waters, it is better than you guarding this palace every day."
"Do you know what's going on outside? Do you know how many court officials the Crown Prince has recruited? Do you know how many confidants Xiao Yan has in the army? Do you know that the aristocratic families have reached a conspiracy with the Crown Prince and his men? It may not be long before they overthrow my throne and push my second son, that rebellious son, into the throne!"
"This palace has become a sieve, the court is full of that rebellious son's people, and outsiders are flooded with obscenities against me, while the Crown Prince and Xiao Yan have become the forces of justice."
"What's the point of you guarding me? Will you let me be ruined when I wake up?!"
Liu Tong'en knelt on the ground and was scolded so much that he couldn't raise his head, while Emperor An was standing by the bed, panting.
Why did he choose such a fool like Liu Tongen to look after his private army, and handed all his cards to such a person? Although he was loyal, he was stubborn and inflexible, and he lost the situation that could have been turned around, making him extremely passive now.
In other words, he still has to rely on Liu Tongen, otherwise...
A murderous look flashed across Emperor An's eyes, and he quickly concealed it by lowering his eyes.
"Do you know how dangerous my situation is now?"
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