Hanging Knife (3)
When He Mu arrived at Fushou Palace, Empress Zhang Wan was lying on the chaise longue under the window, with a thin quilt half covering her, her black hair like a waterfall. Two palace maids stood behind her, tidying up her smooth long hair.
There were two palace maids on both sides, carrying seasonal fruits and vegetables and hot tea, serving them to Zhang Wan from time to time.
A breeze blew outside the window, and the spring flowers bloomed brilliantly. Zhang Wan lazily bathed in the spring sunshine. Having been in a high position for many years, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and eyebrows were full of nobility and majesty. She half-closed her eyes and glanced at He Mu with a light look as if she was looking at an ant.
"Your father and brother were both sent to prison, but you are still safe and sound. You must be quite capable." Zhang Wan said casually, with a mixture of praise and contempt.
In today's world, it is extremely rare for a woman like He Mu to not only survive but also keep the huge He Mansion together.
Zhang Wan couldn't help but look at her a few more times, selfishly comparing her to herself who had been forced into a desperate situation by Zhang Zhouzhu.
"You have some of the backbone I once had." Zhang Wan laughed meaningfully.
He Mu smiled, seemingly unconcerned about Zhang Wan's attitude. She said calmly, "It can be seen that the Empress's complexion has improved a lot since the Prime Minister fled the capital."
Zhang Wan played with her delicately painted nails and snorted, "Why bring up that unlucky thing?" Although her breathing did become much easier.
A palace servant brought a low stool outside. After thanking her, He Mu sat down next to Zhang Wan. He took the initiative to massage her calves and knees and said, "Does your Majesty know that the county lady is in prison?"
Zhang Wan paused before realizing: "What do you mean?"
He Mu lowered his voice and said, "I just knew that Lord Feng had no intention of making this public."
He Mu recounted to Zhang Wan the entire story of how Li Qi was captured, then added, "Feng Siji has been stalling for time, concealing the truth. Despite public outcry and inquiries, he remains silent. I suspect he wants to shield and forgive Li Qi, but, Your Majesty, are you willing to let Li Qi go just like that?"
Zhang Wan's hands slowly tightened, and the thin quilt on her knees crumpled into a ball in her hands.
She used to hate Concubine Li the most, and also hated Li Qi.
If Li Qi doesn't die, Your Majesty will not give up, and sooner or later she will enter the palace to oppose you.
It took a lot of effort to secure the position of Queen and suppress Jiao Lan. Could it be that another Li Qi is going to appear?
Zhang Wan looked at He Mu: "Do you have a solution?"
He Mu said: "I want to save my father and brother. As long as Your Majesty is willing to help, I can help you to execute Li Qi as soon as possible and relieve your great worry.
"Your Majesty, don't underestimate Li Qi and think she's not worth the trouble. But don't forget, she's a refugee from Yunzhou. For so many years, if it weren't for the incident involving my father and brother, no one would have known she was from Yunzhou. Didn't she always say that she and Concubine Li were both from Qianzhou?"
The more He Mu thought about it, the more he felt that Li Qi and Concubine Li had been hiding their true identities in Beijing for so many years, and there must be some ulterior motive.
All of them have been deceived for years.
He Mu is not stupid. He can figure out that Li Qi is most likely here to avenge Yunzhou.
He Mu continued, "She's from Yunzhou, and I think her brother, General Dong, is also from Yunzhou. If they've been hiding in Beijing for years just for the reward, how can we expect peace when General Dong leads his troops to attack us? It's better to execute Li Qi as soon as possible. Without Li Qi, those people will be like losing their backbone, and we can manipulate them at will."
Zhang Wan understood this logic. When Yunzhou fell, all of them were guilty.
She also wanted to save people. If she could make He owe her a favor, she would never have to worry about not having anyone to use her in the future.
But she had been controlled by Zhang Zhouzhu all these years. Where did she get the power? Even if she had some people she could use, it was not enough to save the He family father and son.
He Mu seemed to see what she was thinking and reassured her, "As long as your Majesty agrees, I will have my own way. You just need to listen to my arrangements."
Zhang Wan was suspicious and a little bit unconvinced. She had been cheated by Feng Siji and Li Qi before, so how could she dare to trust others now?
He Mu had no patience and said, "There are always risks in achieving something. Your Majesty is afraid of this and that, and you will never accomplish anything."
Zhang Wan listened, thought for a moment, gritted her teeth and agreed, "What are you going to do?"
He Mu said: "Your Majesty, please listen to my arrangements. I need your Phoenix Seal."
Zhang Wan had little power, and the Phoenix Seal was of little use. He could only summon some unimportant people, and handing it over would have little impact, so he ordered someone to get it.
Not long after, a palace maid came over with the seal box and handed it to He Mu.
He Mu opened the lid, revealing the phoenix seal inside, which was crystal clear. She gently stroked the phoenix's tail and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, please listen to my news. You have worked very hard these past few days, holding back Eunuch Li."
"Don't worry. Chen Hu and your father have been stationed at the Dali Temple and the Prison for many years. Li Ke can't reach out to them. Even if he wanted to intervene, he would be powerless."
He Mu took a deep breath and felt relieved.
She went to see Li Qi today, originally wanting Li Qi to change her story about the case of Wei Ming and Yun Zhou so that her father and brother could be released without guilt.
She would also change her story and deny the fact that Li Qi killed Concubine Li, thus killing two birds with one stone and letting both parties off the hook.
But Li Qi was ungrateful, so she had no choice but to execute him without mercy to put an end to it all.
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Feng Mansion.
As night fell, the last three or two busy servants returned to their rooms one after another. The mansion was quiet and the only sound was the occasional sound of wind whistling past the eaves.
There was still candlelight in the study, and Feng Siji was reading letters under the warm light.
He was wearing a white middle garment, his black hair was scattered and casually draped over his shoulders, and a warm yellow light extended around him. He seemed to have merged with the light, which was incredibly warm and bright, yet untouchable.
He looked back and forth at the letters sent by his subordinates from various places, and read the messages in each letter carefully, but there was no news about Dong Mingrong and Zhang Zhouzhu.
Next to the messy letters was a bowl of black medicine. After Feng Siji finished reading the last letter, he still didn't get the news he wanted.
Feng Siji pressed his brows tiredly and reached out to pick up the bowl of medicine. It was already cold. In the spring night, when his fingertips touched it, he felt a bone-chilling chill.
"Knock knock—"
He brought the bowl of medicine to his lips and was about to drink it when there was a knock on the door. Feng Siji moved the bowl away a little, looked at the closed door in front of him and said, "Come in."
Qinglan pushed the door open and walked to the table. She lowered her head and held her breath as she spoke, "Jiao Lan has sent word from the palace that He Mu has taken the Empress's Phoenix Seal. Tomorrow they will parade the County Princess through the streets and announce to the world that she will be beheaded in Qingqi Temple in seven days on the charge of murdering a concubine."
There was a loud bang in the silent night, and the medicine bowl in Feng Siji's hand fell to the ground with a crackle, the medicine splattered everywhere, and the fragments were all over the ground.
Qinglan's heart was pounding and she didn't dare to look at Feng Siji's expression.
I felt the room getting colder and colder, until it was almost frozen and it was difficult to breathe.
After a long while, Feng Siji finally heard a hoarse voice asking, "Is the news true?"
Qinglan said, "It's absolutely true. My Lord, what should we do? If we can't find Concubine Li in seven days..."
Then there would be no way to clear Li Qi's name, and all the efforts would be wasted.
"Prepare the horses, I want to go to the palace."
Feng Siji stood up, grabbed his coat from the shelf, put it on, and strode out of the study.
Qinglan quickly stopped in front of him and looked at him worriedly: "My lord, your arrow wound hasn't healed yet. You haven't even finished the medicine the doctor prescribed when you vomited blood last time. You should focus on resting now..."
As he spoke, Feng Siji had already put on his coat and looked at Qinglan coldly: "Go and prepare the horses."
Qinglan listened to his unyielding order, and there was already a hint of impatience in his eyes. She didn't dare to persuade him anymore and obeyed his order to bring the horse over.
Feng Siji jumped on his horse outside the mansion and galloped towards the palace at full speed.
Time was running out. If he was any later, the palace would be locked and he would not be able to stop Zhang Wan and He Mu's plan.
A quarter of an hour before the palace gates were locked, Feng Si ran out of the palace.
Except for the emperor, no one in the palace was allowed to ride in a carriage. He dismounted outside the palace and ran to Fushou Palace on foot.
When they arrived, a night watch lamp was still on in the palace. A young palace maid was sleeping in the corridor keeping watch. She was suddenly awakened by footsteps. When she opened her eyes and saw the stranger, she screamed in fear, "Who is it?"
The scream caused the night lights to light up everywhere in Fushou Palace. After a while, Aunt Chen walked out of the door, and the night lights illuminated Feng Fengsiji's face. Seeing that it was him, Aunt Chen asked the unsteady little palace maid to go down and receive punishment, and then took Fengsiji in.
As he walked, he said, "The Queen has already gone to bed. Lord Feng has a good reputation and he must know that this is not in accordance with etiquette. If it happens again, the Queen will not be able to protect you."
Walking around the roller curtain, Zhang Wan was leaning on the chaise longue. She was already dressed and drinking the warm soup brought by the palace maid as a midnight snack.
As soon as Feng Siji came in, he asked, "Have you forgotten what you promised me before?"
Zhang Wan paused while drinking her soup, glared at him angrily, and said, "Feng Siji, you are so rude!"
"Heh," Feng Siji sneered, moving closer to her. "I helped you escape Zhang Zhouzhu's control, and you followed my instructions. Now that Zhang Zhouzhu has simply escaped and hasn't been eliminated, you can't hold back anymore?"
Zhang Wan became angry when she heard this. She slammed the soup bowl heavily at Feng Siji's feet. Broken pieces of porcelain flew everywhere, and the brown soup splashed on Feng Siji's snow-blue robe, making it dirty.
Zhang Wan stood up in anger, pointing at Feng Siji's nose and angrily said, "How dare you say that? It was you who deceived me at the Xianglai Inn and caused me to be banned, which gave that bitch Jiao Lan the opportunity to take over!"
She laughed evilly, stared at Feng Siji hatefully and said, "I only have Your Majesty, but that bitch Jiao Lan took him away!"
Everything she has in the palace depends on the little love she has with His Majesty. If even His Majesty is fooled by the vixen, her situation will be precarious.
Zhang Wan's capture of Emperor Liang was like grabbing a lifeline.
The more Zhang Wan thought about it, the more she felt like there was a fire burning in her heart, and no matter what she did, she couldn't put it out.
It was not until He Mu came to see her today that Zhang Wan realized that only revenge could quench the anger in her heart.
Zhang Wan breathed shortly and angrily said, "I am walking on thin ice every day. If I am not doing well, none of you will be doing well either. I will definitely take vengeance and make sure Li Qi dies a miserable death!
"If you help her, you will disappoint everyone's expectations. All the good reputation you've earned in your lifetime will be destroyed. Then I will charge you with being an accomplice and I will not let you go!"
Zhang Wan felt so happy when she heard this that she laughed heartily and said, "I don't believe you, a life of integrity, would give up all your fame and honor for a villain like Li Qi who deserved death long ago!"
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