Chapter 137 A Tragedy Caused by a Rat (Two Chapters Combined into One)
Zhao Yunnuan had been on the battlefield and led troops, and had old injuries, so Sun Lingzhi, under the guise of helping her recuperate, either stewed tonic food or made chicken soup for her. The poison was like this, and Zhao Yunnuan drank it bit by bit.
Originally, only Zhu Yu and Sun Lingzhi knew about this matter; even Madam Wei was not aware of it.
After all, she was the eldest princess of the Prince of Liang's Mansion, and also a hostage sent to the capital by the Prince of Liang's Mansion.
But even Zhu Yu did not expect that one day, Madam Wei came back from the palace and conspired with Marquis Zhu in the room for two hours. Later, Madam Wei gave a packet of medicine to the Marquis' wife Ma.
Madam Wei was graceful and elegant, so of course she would let Ma, whom she disliked, do this kind of dirty work.
Unfortunately, Ma was stupid and Zhao Yunnuan discovered the clue. Zhao Yunnuan put the bowl of medicine on Ma's face and poured the boiling hot medicine into her eyes and nose. Although Ma did not die, her eyes became blind and her face was disfigured.
But Zhao Yunnuan was already at the end of her life by then. This final struggle exhausted all her strength, and she died that night.
It was not until then that Zhu Yu told Madam Wei about the poisoning of Zhao Yunnuan. Madam Wei was heartbroken. Her eldest grandson was so smart and capable, but it was a pity that such a good grandson was delayed by Zhao Yunnuan, so that no matter who became the prince's wife in the future, she would be a concubine or a second wife.
In a daze, Zhu Yu curled the corners of his mouth. He finally got what he wanted. The proud woman finally turned into a corpse.
He had long forgotten how many women he had killed.
Zhao Yunnuan?
Lead troops to fight?
Heroine?
Hahaha!
joke!
His Zhu Yu's woman can only be a plaything!
If you don't obey, you will die.
He didn't kill Sun Lingzhi. He liked such a vicious woman!
A burst of intense pain made Zhu Yu tremble all over. It hurt so much, it really hurt. Yan Xia was too cruel, too cruel!
Yan Xia actually found out that the woman who was kidnapped from Ding'an Prefecture was his cousin, and he also found the woman's body!
Nanny Niu, that old bitch actually betrayed her master and told everything.
Yan Xia found Sun Hongbin, Sun Lingzhi's gambling father.
Sun Hongbin told Yan Xia that he had bought a chronic poison from Blind Wang, a man who specialized in selling banned drugs, to help Sun Lingzhi.
Yan Xia therefore became suspicious of Zhao Yunnuan's death. He went to the emperor and asked to open the coffin for an autopsy. The emperor refused and found an excuse to let him leave the Ministry of Justice!
After leaving the Ministry of Justice, Yan Xia still did not give up. Two months later, he secretly dug up Zhao Yunnuan's grave and asked the midwife Wen Da Niang from the Ministry of Justice and his daughter-in-law A Ping to perform an autopsy on Zhao Yunnuan.
Yan Xia wanted to inform the Liang Wang Mansion of the cause of Zhao Yunnuan's death, but unfortunately, Zhao Tingxuan was dead and the Liang Wang Mansion was in trouble. Who would care about a married woman who had passed away long ago?
Yan Xia wanted to report the matter to the emperor through the censors, but none of the censors, who were usually so righteous, were willing to take over the matter.
Even in the Ministry of Justice, no one dared to take this case.
When Zhu Yu heard about this, he was very proud of himself. He first used a frightened horse to trample to death Aunt Wen and Sister Aping who were performing the autopsy on Zhao Yunnuan's body, and then killed Sun Lingzhi's family. Then, he filed a lawsuit and sued Yan Xia.
He accused Yan Xia of grave robbery and offending his first wife.
Yan Xia announced in the court that Zhao Yunnuan died of poisoning, and presented the corpse prepared by Aunt Wen.
In the end, the case was closed with a dispute between wives and concubines in the harem, and the concubine murdering her mistress, with the concubine, who had long since fallen out of favor, taking all the blame.
As for Yan Xia's cousin who had died many years ago, it was Nanny Niu who took the blame.
Yan Xia was convicted for digging up a corpse and performing an autopsy on a princess without authorization.
Yan Xia was beaten with forty sticks, his skin was torn and flesh was exposed. On the way back to the Duke's Mansion, Zhu Yu stopped his carriage.
Lifting the car curtain, Zhu Yu laughed heartily at the sight of Yan Xia, who was beaten to a bloody pulp.
"Yan Xia, you have come to this day! Haha, how many lives do you have? How dare you challenge this prince..."
The severe pain came again, and Zhu Yu no longer had the strength to scream. It was Yan Xia, the man who was only half dead, who actually pulled out a knife and stabbed it into Zhu Yu's chest!
Zhu Yu suddenly opened his eyes. Where was this?
He was clearly standing outside the car, lifting the curtain and talking nonsense to Yan Xia. Yan Xia stabbed him hard, and he felt pain. He thought he was going to die.
He is not dead, he is still alive, but where is this place, why does his body hurt so much, where is Yan Xia, where is Yan Xia?
Zhu Yuqiang tried to sit up, but found that he couldn't sit up at all.
The pain came from between his legs. He subconsciously touched it and found it was sticky.
Zhu Yu let out a scream, and this time, his scream finally received a response. The guard sitting outside the door pushed it open at this moment...
Zhu Yu did not die. Thanks to timely rescue, his life was saved, but his vitals were lost.
The incident happened in the Ministry of Justice. In order to save Zhu Yu's life, the Ministry of Justice sent people to invite imperial doctors from home in the middle of the night. When the first group of imperial doctors said that they were helpless against the rotten meat, several large pharmacies in the capital all received knocks on their doors in the middle of the night.
When they heard that the Ministry of Justice had sent someone to invite the doctors to sit in the clinic, these big pharmacies believed it to be true. So more than 20 doctors with little fame gathered in the Ministry of Justice, but were driven out by people from the Baoqing Marquis' Mansion who rushed over after hearing the news.
These doctors were called in late at night and were kicked out before they could even drink a sip of hot water. They were very resentful.
A small yamen runner named Liu Qi expressed sympathy for them, so they asked Liu Qi what had happened.
Liu Qi's face was filled with grief, and every word he said was filled with tears as he told them the unfortunate experience of Zhu Yu, the son of the Marquis of Baoqing.
"God is jealous of talented people. Prince Zhu's martial arts skills were crippled by a rat!"
What martial arts? That’s your life!
The doctors were stunned. The infamous Prince Zhu was eaten by rats and turned into a eunuch?
The doctors ran away immediately. They wanted to go back immediately and tell their dear fellow villagers about this!
Early in the morning, Zhao Shiqing, tired after a night of sleep, walked out of the Ministry of Justice and got on his boss Xiaopang's mule cart.
She changed into the coarse cloth she wore when she got on the mule cart, and turned into the ordinary-looking young man again.
"Where in the capital has the most people eating breakfast?" she asked in the mule cart.
Fatty Si thought for a moment and said, "Bai Cai Kou, half the street there is lined with breakfast stalls, and it's very close to the academy, so many students also eat breakfast there."
"Okay, let's go to Baicaikou." Zhao Shiqing yawned. She was at the age when she was prone to sleepiness, and now she felt tired and sleepy.
But she was reluctant to waste this golden opportunity. She wanted to make Zhu Yu the talk of the town in the shortest possible time.
"By the way, where can we hire a little beggar?" Zhao Shiqing asked again.
Fatty Si smiled and said, "You go have breakfast. Leave the job of hiring the beggars to me. I'm familiar with them."
......
Two hours later, Zhao Shiqing finally returned home. Without washing up, she fell on the bed with her clothes on and fell asleep with her frail face.
At this time, as she wished, the streets and alleys, teahouses and taverns in the capital were all talking about the tragic transformation of Prince Zhu into a eunuch.
Old Madam Wei got what she wished for. Her eldest grandson finally returned home, but he was carried back.
Zhu Yu has not fainted since he woke up. His mind is very clear and he clearly remembers what happened at that time.
A huge rat bit him!
At first, everyone thought he was unconscious due to the pain, because when he used his hands to measure the size of the mouse, it was as big as a rabbit.
Where in the world can there be such a big rat?
But the imperial physician soon confirmed that Zhu Yu was indeed bitten, and the tooth marks looked like those of a mouse.
Zhu Yu: "Rat spirit, that's a rat that has become a spirit, a monster. Go and ask the Taoist priest to catch it, go quickly!"
After Zhu Yu was sent away, everyone in the Ministry of Justice became busy. Warden Zhang was unable to go home after his shift ended. Such a big thing happened while he was on duty. Even if the culprit was a rat, he could not escape responsibility.
For the Ministry of Justice, the most urgent task is to catch the rat.
Lord Xu, an official from the Ministry of Justice, and two assistant ministers personally led people to hunt for the rats.
To this end, everyone in the Ministry of Justice showed their special abilities. Those who had cats sent cats, those who didn't had cats sent dogs, and those who had neither cats nor dogs at home sent people!
When Emperor Yongjia called Lord Xu to the imperial study for questioning, Lord Xu was in a dishevel with a spider web on his head.
"Lord Xu, what exactly happened? I want to hear the truth from you."
Lord Xu's smile was uglier than crying: "Your Majesty, the truth of this matter is..."
Lord Xu told the story of that night. Master Zhu Er was ordered to use two maids to exchange Zhu Yu for release. The case had not been solved yet, so Zhu Yu could not be released immediately. Therefore, Master Zhu Er did not dare to return home and took the initiative to ask to stay in prison.
Originally, the uncle and nephew were imprisoned in the same cell, but Zhu Yu humiliated Master Zhu Er in public. Warden Zhang could not stand it and moved Master Zhu Er to another cell.
Zhu Yu was dissatisfied with the fact that no one was warming his bed, so he asked the guard to go to Baihua Tower to call a girl. The guard refused and was driven out of the cell by Zhu Yu.
Therefore, when Zhu Yu was bitten by a rat, the guard was standing outside the door. This cannot be considered dereliction of duty, because he was guarding the door, and there were witnesses who could prove that the guard was not lazy and had been guarding outside the door diligently. It was also him who discovered that Zhu Yu was injured. If it weren't for him, Zhu Yu would have lost too much blood and would have been beyond saving.
As for the murderous rat, Emperor Yongjia was obviously more interested in it.
"It is said that this rat is shaped like a hare and is extremely ferocious. It is a demonic creature that has become a spirit. Lord Xu, is this true?"
Lord Xu smiled bitterly again. "Your Majesty, the place where Prince Zhu was in trouble was the Ministry of Justice's prison. There are prison gods guarding the prison. What monster would dare to go against the prison gods? Alas, in my opinion, Prince Zhu must have been dizzy and dazed by the severe pain, and mistook a group of rats for one."
Emperor Yongjia agreed with what he thought. Zhu Yu was uneducated and full of nonsense, so what he said could not be trusted.
Emperor Yongjia was actually still a little angry about Zhu Yu becoming a eunuch.
This Zhu Yu had caused so much trouble that Madam Wei came to see Concubine Li, and Concubine Li wanted the emperor to clean up the mess. The emperor was eager to make Zhu Yu suffer.
But this time, the suffering was a bit too great, and Emperor Yongjia felt a little regretful.
Just recently, Concubine Li had just mentioned Zhu Yu's marriage to him.
Coincidentally, before this, Concubine Qiao also talked to him about Zhu Yu's marriage, and Concubine Qiao also had her eyes on someone, that was the eldest princess of Prince Liang's Mansion.
Emperor Yongjia had heard of this princess a long time ago. It was said that the personal guard of Prince Liang had always been commanded by this princess. She was a brave and resourceful woman who was as capable as any man.
More importantly, she is Zhao Tinghan's right-hand man.
Emperor Yongjia kept waiting, but after waiting for a long time, until the end of the first month of the year and the beginning of spring, there was still no news of Zhao Tinghan's death in Liang.
Not only that, Zhao Tinghan also got married. His wife was the granddaughter of a retired Hanlin. Emperor Yongjia specially ordered someone to investigate this old Hanlin. It turned out that his granddaughter grew up in the countryside and did not return to her ancestral home until she was in her twenties.
Although Zhao Tinghan was still alive, he was a sickly person and it was uncertain whether he could have offspring. Marrying him would only give her a false title. However, with his status as the King of Liang, it was not difficult for him to marry a young and beautiful lady from a famous family.
However, it was heard that this marriage was also facilitated by Zhao Yunnuan. It is conceivable that Zhao Tinghan was in poor health, and the real person in charge of Liangdi was Zhao Yunnuan. If Zhao Tinghan married a princess with a powerful family background and who was smart and capable, it would undoubtedly take away the power in Zhao Yunnuan's hands. Therefore, Zhao Yunnuan found himself a sister-in-law who had nothing.
Princess Liang, who grew up in the countryside and had no family background or connections, could only be a decoration.
Whether it is the Prince of Liang's Mansion, the Royal Guards, or even the entire Liang area, they are still under Zhao Yunnuan's control.
Therefore, when Concubine Qiao wanted Zhu Yu to be Zhao Yunnuan's groom, Emperor Yongjia did not object immediately.
Although the Marquis of Baoqing's Mansion is marrying up with the Prince of Liang's Mansion, it is affordable.
The biggest problem still lies with Zhu Yu. This kid is too disappointing. Emperor Yongjia is worried that the old ministers in the court who like to meddle in other people's affairs will have something to say.
Originally, Emperor Yongjia wanted to arrange a job for Zhu Yu, letting him go to the army to gain some experience. Zhao Yunnuan was still in mourning, and Zhu Yu could make one or two small achievements and come back, which would be just the right time for him to get married.
But before Emperor Yongjia had the chance to tell Lord Zhu about this, Yan Xia had Zhu Yu thrown into jail. Later, until today, Zhu Yu has lost even his life.
This matter cannot be covered up and will spread sooner or later. Emperor Yongjia sighed. A good move was ruined before it was even made.
However, the idea of letting Zhao Yunnuan marry to the capital has not changed.
If there is no Zhu Yu, there are Wang Yu and Li Yu. There are also noble sons in the capital who are of the same age and have similar family background as Zhao Yunnuan.
When the time comes, I will choose someone who is loyal to me, so I won’t be afraid that Zhao Yunnuan will act rashly after she marries me.
In charge of the Royal Guards?
absurd!
How can a woman like you be qualified to lead troops?
Does she think she is Mulan?
The legendary Hua Mulan was also a woman disguised as a man, leading troops into battle as a man.
Concubine Qiao really understands my intentions the best. She said that one Zhao Yunnuan is worth several Zhao Tingxuans. Holding Zhao Yunnuan in one's hands is equivalent to controlling most of Liang.
Moreover, Princess Nie of the old Prince Liang also had this intention.
Zhao Yunnuan is more suitable to be sent to Beijing as a hostage than Zhao Tingxuan.
However, there was no precedent in the Yong Dynasty of using royal women as hostages.
Emperor Yongjia was not in a hurry about this. He still had time and he needed to prepare well.
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