Chapter 27 There must be something fishy going on, but it's just a pawn
Zhao Changning didn't even raise his head. "Don't let him talk. Just send him to the Ministry of Justice. It will comfort the souls of those eight girls in heaven."
Yunhe was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. Knowing that begging for mercy was useless, he immediately started cursing.
"Zhao Changning, you bitch, you will not die well, you will not be reborn, you bitch who doesn't keep his word, if it weren't for me, would you be here today? Let me go, wuwu..."
Zhao Changning calmly picked up the tea bowl, took a sip of tea, and began to read the memorial again.
There have been too many memorials recently, and the old emperor cannot handle them all. Unless it is a national affair, Zhao Changning will not pass the memorials to him. When he is undecided, he will only ask for solutions when he is in a good mood, and will never make a rash decision.
I don’t know whether she did a good job or not, but the old emperor was very satisfied with her rigorous and diligent attitude. He praised her in front of the prince and compared her to his daughter.
Therefore, she has really grown rapidly these days, because she can really see many things from the memorials, and she also understands why eunuchs like Hu Gou'er are hated.
But the only thing that surprised Zhao Changning was that when Lord Sun was discussing matters in the Qinzheng Hall, he mentioned the incident of the gold mine in Suichang, Zhejiang, where civilians were killed. However, since Hu Gouzi's downfall, there has been no memorial mentioning this incident.
Even the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau was thoroughly investigated by the Zhejiang Provincial Governor, and all of Lian Yunhe's scandals in Fujian were exposed, but no one mentioned the matter of the Suichang gold mine in Zhejiang.
Thinking back to the court meeting that day when everyone was very secretive, Zhao Changning felt that Lord Sun could not have been shouting nonsense, and there must be something fishy about this matter.
It seems that what happened in Zhejiang that appeared to the public was just the tip of the iceberg, and the Weaving Bureau was just a pawn.
At this moment, she was really curious about Mingxuan.
As a single person, he was able to stir up huge waves, break the sky of Zhejiang, tear apart the Imperial Household Department, fight Hu Gou'er to death, and finally escape unscathed. He was truly amazing.
You have to know that with Hu Gou'er's ability and informants, he could only report Mingxuan for concealing the death. If it were any other official, he would have been charged with hundreds of crimes and would have been sentenced to death.
Zhao Changning kept these thoughts in her heart. Perhaps, she was just one of the links that contributed to this matter.
She is not afraid of being used, but it is more terrifying to lose her value.
At the end of March, Yujing, shrouded in mist, finally showed a hint of spring. The tiny buds on the ground or on the branches could feel the surge of spring.
"Oh no, oh no, Auntie..." Yun Hui rushed over anxiously, "Auntie, Prince, Prince..."
Zhao Changning asked her to drink some tea and said, "Don't be anxious. Talk to her nicely."
Yun Hui panted uncontrollably, "The prince is dying."
Zhao Changning was so frightened that his legs went weak. He pulled Yun Hui aside and asked again, "What did you say?"
Yun Hui took two sips of tea and finally managed to speak a long sentence. "The Crown Prince was in a meeting. For some reason, he got so angry that he said he was dizzy. He ended up lying there for a long time without moving. When the imperial physician was called, he discovered..."
Zhao Changning's head exploded, and it took him a long time to recover from the shock.
"Go and call the eunuchs who hold the seals here immediately. They must obey my orders. Also, no one is allowed to wander around. They must stay still."
She then said to Yunsheng, "Don't go to the inner study today. Go and help. If anyone dares to make trouble in the palace, arrest them all and inform the other palaces to behave themselves. If anything goes wrong, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Zhao Changning did not dare to delay and went to find the old emperor immediately. She was the only one who could deliver this news.
Sure enough, the news of the prince's accident spread very quickly, and everyone was rushing to the Qinzheng Hall. The old emperor was so old, no one dared to imagine how much of a blow this news would cause him. It was probably just a piece of news.
Besides, if the prince really didn’t survive and the old emperor really passed away, who would take the throne?
"Let us in, we want to see the emperor." The first to arrive were actually the harem. Concubine Xiang pulled Concubine Sun and made a big fuss at the door, "Let us in."
"No, my aunt has ordered that no one is allowed to disturb the emperor when he is resting." The person who spoke was the most ruthless eunuch who beat Yunhe. He was fat and his name was Anyi.
"You dog slave, how dare you stop me?" Concubine Xiang raised her hand and hit him, extremely angry.
"What's the quarrel?" Zhao Changning rushed over. "I don't need to explain the consequences of disturbing the Emperor, right? Concubine Xiang."
Concubine Sun took Zhao Changning's arm like a good sister and said with a smile: "Changning, we are good sisters, why should we be so distant? I..."
Zhao Changning pulled his arm away from her grasp and said sternly, "There's a lot going on today. Everyone, please go back. Don't make me bring up palace rules and make things awkward."
Concubine Sun winked at Concubine Xiang.
Xiangpin burst into tears, "Your Majesty, it's me. Haven't you seen Yao'er and Sister Yue? Your Majesty, we are worried about you, ah..."
She covered her face and glared at Zhao Changning, "You dare to hit me?"
Zhao Changning ignored her and said to Anyi with a cold face, "Tell someone to escort the ladies back to the palace."
Anyi responded, holding his head high.
Zhao Changning saw from afar that the princes and grandchildren were also running towards this side. He just told them not to come in and make a noise, and then he ignored what was happening outside and went straight into the hall.
After passing through the corridor, I arrived at the old emperor's small bedroom. I saw that the old emperor had sat up precariously, holding on to the bedpost, and stretched his neck to look outside. The black spots on his bald head were particularly conspicuous.
"Changning, what's going on outside?" The old emperor was inexplicably frightened. He wanted to listen but didn't dare to. His voice was hoarse. "I heard a noise."
Zhao Changning glanced obscurely at the bedside. She couldn't let the old emperor die at this time. Her name was on the list of people to be buried with him. Although the old emperor had verbally pardoned her, the list was the real killing weapon, and she couldn't explain it even if she had a thousand mouths.
She raised her hand and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.
"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. There's nothing wrong outside. You..."
The old emperor watched her tears well up in silence, his cloudy eyes rarely clear. He spoke gently, "I know something's wrong. Tell me what you want to say. I can handle it."
Zhao Changning bit his lip and tried to be as tactful as possible, "Prince, he... But there is no bad news yet. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. You must take care of your health..."
The old emperor was staggering, his hands as heavy as dead trees tightly grasping the bed curtains.
"Long life brings death. I've lived too long. God is punishing me..."
Zhao Changning fell to his knees and cried, "Your Majesty, please don't say that. The prince is blessed by heaven, and nothing will happen to him, Your Majesty..."
The old emperor seemed to have been drained of his energy and spirit. He quickly became listless, with two lines of turbid tears sliding down his wrinkled cheeks.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Zhao Changning sobbed while comforting the old emperor's body, his eyes occasionally glancing towards the bed with fiery eyes.
There is no time left. The old emperor is dying, and the list of people to be buried with him must be obtained as soon as possible.
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