◇ Chapter 41 (41) Counterattack
"Minister Bai used to be my personal guard. I never imagined he'd marry someone as remarkable as you. The more I see you, the more I like you." The Queen Mother held his hand, grinning from ear to ear, as if the previous punishment hadn't happened. Lianzhi waved her hands in mock fear and gave another comical salute.
He did not miss the hint of disgust in the Queen Mother's eyes.
It was already June, and the Imperial Garden was still ablaze with vibrant blossoms. A gentle breeze carried the fragrance of the flowers. The Queen Mother raised her teacup and took a sip. "Everyone, please don't hesitate to enjoy the view."
With that, the Queen Mother stood up and ordered Nanny Xuemei to bring over brush and ink. She smiled and said, "Such a beautiful scene deserves poetry. You are all talented women, so why don't you each compose one? In my opinion, we should let Madam Bai come up with the theme. Madam Bai, what do you think?"
"I dare not disobey the Empress Dowager's order." Lianzhi rubbed her hands, sweat dripping down her face. "Then... let's just give it to her as a flower."
Perhaps he was acting too timid and introverted, so the Queen Mother simply nodded and said nothing more. The maids carrying paper and brushes quickly arrived, placing the inkstone in front of each person. Lianzhi sat beside the Queen Mother. When the last maid came over, her hands trembling slightly, she placed the inkstone in front of her.
Lianzhi reached out to take it, her fingertips accidentally brushing the little maid's sleeve. A small paper ball was thrown into Lianzhi's sleeve. It was very light, but it made her sleeve drop down, as if it weighed a thousand pounds.
The Empress Dowager's eyes swept over her calmly, and Lianzhi smiled shyly: "The maids in the palace are really amazing, they are different from those in the Shangshu Mansion."
Too stupid. Without even checking the looks of the people around her, Lianzhi herself was stunned by her own stupidity.
He picked up his pen and wrote a few words on the paper, scratched his head, and stopped thinking about the words. He picked up the snacks at hand and ate a few pieces. The snacks in the palace were still delicious. It would be a waste if he didn't take the opportunity to eat a few more pieces.
"I think General Shan's daughter is quite good."
A voice, cold yet slightly gentle, came over, soft and quiet, barely audible to just a few of them. Lianzhi instinctively glanced over. It was the imperial concubine speaking. The voice was indistinguishable between male and female, and one could easily pass it off as a woman's.
He pretended not to hear, and the Queen Mother nodded: "She is very beautiful, but her family background is a bit low."
"The general's daughter doesn't insult the emperor's brother." The imperial concubine disagreed, "Your Majesty hasn't appointed a queen yet."
The Queen Mother seemed to have just woken up from her dream and tapped the table in front of Lianzhi with her fingers: "What do you think, Madam Bai?"
Lianzhi had just swallowed a piece of dessert and taken a sip of tea before she said, "I think they are all very good. All the ladies are very talented."
Seeing that the Queen Mother had no intention of speaking to him, Lianzhi emptied the tea in her cup, trying to play the role of a fool who only cared about eating and drinking, had no knowledge of literature, and had nothing to show for it except a pretty face. The Imperial Concubine looked at him, suddenly laughed, and waved to the maid beside her: "Go and pour tea for Madam Bai."
The maid beside him immediately stepped forward to help Lianzhi add more tea. Lianzhi looked at the tea in front of her and smiled flatteredly: "Empress Dowager, Imperial Concubine, I...I want to change my clothes."
The imperial concubine burst into laughter again and waved to the little palace maid beside her.
It was the little palace maid who had just come to deliver pen and ink.
Lianzhi quickly picked up her skirt and left with the maid. After entering the guest room, Lianzhi took out the paper ball and unfolded it. On it were four big words written in coal slag: Be careful with the tea!
Sure enough, there was something wrong with the tea.
Lianzhi tore up the note and walked out of the palace. The young maid looked around timidly, not knowing what she was afraid of. He walked over with a smile and reminded her, "Don't be afraid."
The little maid did not answer him.
"You have the opportunity to communicate with your family every month, right?" Lianzhi whispered. His voice was so soft that at first, the young palace maid thought he was talking to himself. Lianzhi continued, "Does your brother fall ill and urgently need money? You can exchange it for silver notes at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and send it to your family. You can pick it up at the palace gate every month, and someone will contact you."
After a moment, the young maid replied, "Thank you, Madam, for your guidance."
He quickly returned to the Imperial Garden, where the ladies had already submitted their poems. He glanced at a few and found them quite good, much better than his own.
The tea on the table had grown cold. Lianzhi took only one sip before setting it down. As she raised the cup, her slender, white fingers shone like jade, making the jade ring on her index finger seem less bright. The Queen Mother looked at the ring and asked with a smile, "It seemed Madam Bai wasn't wearing a ring just now?"
Lianzhi smiled sheepishly: "I wore it on my right hand just now, and it hurt. Now I'm wearing it on my left hand."
After saying this, he showed the marks on his right hand, which clearly showed that he had worn a ring that was not the right size for his finger. Seeing that the Queen Mother did not ask any more questions, he asked the little palace maid to come over and add some tea for him.
"I just met the young lady of the Prime Minister's family. Her poems are very good and her handwriting is beautiful too." Lianzhi looked at one place with envy.
The Queen Mother's heart spun. She had indeed intended for her youngest son to marry the daughter of the Prime Minister. However, fearing the Emperor's suspicion, she hesitated to choose a woman from a prominent family. Even the unremarkable Imperial Concubine's reminders hadn't rebutted her, and she was now simmering with anger. Although she disliked Lianzhi, her words had hit the nail on the head.
This boy can also say nice things, much better than the late emperor. Thinking of the late emperor, the empress dowager's initial fondness for Lianzhi vanished in an instant, and she summoned the young lady from the prime minister's family to question her.
Seeing this, the other ladies knew who the Queen Mother had her heart set on. Some were disappointed that she wasn't valued by the Queen Mother, while others were reluctant to marry into the royal family. The Imperial Concubine looked at the Queen Mother, hesitant to speak: "Mother..."
The Queen Mother didn't even glance at him, asked the palace maid to pour her a cup of tea, and then took the Prime Minister's daughter aside to talk for a few words.
When she released her hand, she felt a sudden pain in her abdomen. The Queen Mother frowned and looked down at the teacup in front of her.
She had clearly asked Xuemei to put the poison in the man's wife's cup. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her own cup. The abdominal pain might be due to something else. But the increasingly severe pain made her unable to ignore it. She quickly claimed to be unwell and asked Xuemei to help her back to the palace. She also called the Imperial Concubine and Lianzhi.
Seeing this, Lianzhi curled the corners of her lips.
The Queen Mother, always conceited, would never have expected that a "dumb male wife" like him would be able to switch teacups and poison her. It wasn't really poison; he wasn't stupid enough to kill the Queen Mother on a day like today. It was just some laxative.
But I didn't expect that the Queen Mother would be so hateful that she would kill someone who looked like Chen Fenglian.
The two knelt outside the hall, Lianzhi silently watching the imperial concubine with her peripheral vision. It was past 9 o'clock, the sky was a little gloomy, and the wind blew up the gauze curtain covering the imperial concubine's face, revealing half of her face.
That half of the face looks a bit like him?
It wasn't that he was feeling sorry for himself; Lianzhi always felt that there were too many people around him who looked like him, so many that he was a little scared, and the imperial concubine in front of him was no exception. Even the imperial concubines in the palace looked a bit like him, which was too scary.
Moreover, at the banquet just now, those ladies called this imperial concubine "Empress Lian Imperial Concubine"...
Lianzhi couldn't help but move away a little.
Several imperial physicians were in and out of the Cining Palace, ordering the small kitchen to prepare medicine. They found no poison in the tea, but they did find some powder at the bottom of the cup. It wasn't medicine, but rather something like ground food.
It is a common food ingredient and is not toxic. At most it will cause stomach upset.
The Queen Mother wanted to seize the opportunity to pin the blame on Lianzhi, accusing him of plotting to murder her, and punishing Bo Kang for his poor wife-rearing. Furthermore, she was certain that Lianzhi had poisoned her, and she would not let him go.
But she had clearly poisoned the cup, and even used a special teapot filled with poisoned tea just in case. How could Lianzhi be safe and sound after drinking the tea right under her nose?
That boy was very thoughtful. It was not her illusion. He looked exactly like the late emperor!
The Empress Dowager gritted her teeth and ordered Madam Xuemei to summon the man into the palace. She was determined to eliminate that brat, no matter what. Anyone who resembled the late emperor, anyone with even the slightest connection to him, must die.
Only in this way could she feel at ease and convince herself that she had never done anything to murder the late emperor!
Lianzhi, who had been kneeling outside the palace for a long time and was already feeling impatient, heard Nanny Xuemei calling for her. Without getting anxious, she pounded her legs and followed. As soon as she entered the palace, she heard the Empress Dowager angrily demand, "Madam Bai, do you admit your guilt?"
"In my humble opinion, sending troops to provide support is the safest option."
In the imperial study, after Bai Kang finished speaking, he stood aside with his head bowed. After the court session, Emperor Jianguang asked Eunuch Lu to summon him to discuss military affairs at the border.
He was somewhat speechless. How could he, a mere civil servant, comment on this matter? But when Emperor Jianguang asked him, he spoke up. Seeing that the other party remained silent for a long time, he continued, "Your Majesty knows that I have no knowledge of military tactics. I just believe that we should take precautions before disaster strikes. If I have said anything wrong, please do not blame me."
Emperor Jianguang clutched the memorial, tapping his hands on the table, his annoyance palpable. After a moment, he spoke, "My dear minister, please speak freely. Coming from the northern frontier, you're more familiar with the situation there. Of the three tribes in the North Sea, only the Helan remains capable of fighting. I cannot help but worry. However..."
He moved his tongue slightly and asked, "The Helan tribe and Mobei have no ties, so how could they start a war now? My dear, do you think it's possible that King Mu is taking advantage of this incident?"
It turned out that he was not worried about the soldiers, but was afraid of King Mu and suspected that King Mu was plotting treason.
"In that case, Your Majesty should send troops. I believe that with Your Majesty's trusted confidants watching over him, King Mu wouldn't dare act rashly." Bai Kang knelt and saluted. "If a war really breaks out at the border, Your Majesty will still need men. It won't be too late to make plans after the fighting subsides. If the border is safe and sound, Your Majesty can proceed with the punishment."
Emperor Jianguang cast a meaningful glance at Bo Kang. "King Mu is well acquainted with you, and you're going to betray him like that? How about I leave this matter to you?"
Bai Kang said calmly, "I am now your Majesty's subject and will obey your Majesty's orders in everything."
After saying this, Emperor Jianguang laughed heartily.
"My dear minister, you have lived up to my trust. Persevere and you will have everything." Emperor Jianguang gave Bai Kang a suggestive look, then stood up and patted him firmly on the shoulder. "A few days ago, I obtained a precious sword presented by Mobei. I give it to you as a reward."
Bai Kang smiled and thanked him. He didn't want to care about the broken sword anymore, he just wanted to go and get Lianzhi back home. But he had to accept the reward from His Majesty. He waited for a long time, but no one from the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to deliver the sword.
Emperor Jianguang lost all dignity and knocked on Eunuch Lu's head, angrily demanding, "Where are the people? Didn't I order you to fetch the sword? Why haven't you brought it yet?"
Eunuch Lu, clutching his hat, ran out to inquire, and soon returned with a young eunuch. The young eunuch was crying, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Household Department is now in the Cining Palace. The Empress Dowager drank the tea prepared by the Imperial Household Department and is suffering from severe abdominal pain. Madam Bai, who entered the palace today, has been poisoned and is now unconscious! The Empress Dowager is furious and wants to have the tea-preparing chef killed!"
"Are they all here?" Emperor Jianguang also felt something was wrong. "Take me there."
A group of palace maids knelt outside the Cining Palace. The Empress Dowager's tea had been poisoned, and the entire Imperial Household Department was implicated. Even worse, Madam Bai was implicated. Their heads were in danger!
Lianzhi pretended to faint on the newly brought small couch outside the palace, listening to the Queen Mother's rage, feeling very happy. When the Queen Mother questioned him, he fainted on the spot without thinking. Want to punish him? Not so easy.
Is that little palace maid capable of doing this? Didn't she say she would send someone to report the news? He was almost unable to pretend anymore, so why hadn't anyone come yet?
The hot spoon was stuffed into his mouth, burning his lips a little. Lianzhi tilted her head slightly. The little palace maid paused and continued to feed him medicine. A bitter taste filled the tip of her nose. Lianzhi couldn't help it, not afraid of being seen, and wanted to hint at her with her eyes.
When he opened his eyes, the person sitting next to him was not the little palace maid, but Bai Kang.
How come Bai Kang appears in the harem!
Lianzhi almost thought he had been poisoned to death, and that he had been poisoned back to his previous life, where Bai Kang was still his bodyguard. He stared at Bai Kang blankly, but Bai Kang didn't smile. He picked him up and knelt on his knees, his voice sonorous and powerful.
"My wife has been murdered by a traitor. Your Majesty, please investigate!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a pair of golden boots embroidered with dragon patterns came into Lianzhi's sight.
"Raise your head." said Emperor Jianguang.
Then, the person in Bo Kang's arms trembled uncontrollably.
Lianzhi's pupils trembled unconsciously.
Chen Fengke can't be allowed to see him.
I can't let the other person know even a little bit that I'm still alive.
For now, it's best to continue pretending to be unconscious. Lianzhi didn't move, breathing steadily in Bai Kang's arms, curled up into a small ball. He was very good at pretending to be unconscious, his breathing rate was completely different from that of being asleep, and his pale face still had a trace of unresolved pain and sorrow.
It was so familiar that it was frightening, and Emperor Jianguang couldn't wait to see the man's true face.
"I have trespassed into the palace. Your Majesty, please punish me." Bai Kang wrapped a blanket around Lianzhi's head, blocking her from all eyes. "I beg Your Majesty to allow me to take my wife out of the palace immediately."
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