Xu Yixing's forehead was covered in sweat. According to what Lu Anyuan had told her, he should have submitted the good news immediately after "discovering" the Emperor's Sword. Now the good news has disappeared, and this secret report has arrived first. It seems that he really did keep the Emperor's Sword secretly...
"Empress Dowager, there may be a real reason why the memorial offering the treasure has not arrived. Please consider this carefully. This Emperor's Sword is only rumored to have been lost by the late emperor. Its whereabouts and appearance are still unknown. How can this secret report be so sure that it is the Emperor's Sword? This is one reason.
Secondly, even if this secret report is true, and my husband really did find the Emperor's Sword in the northern border, if he really wanted to conceal it, how did the person who wrote the secret report know about it? It's impossible that he could have reported it to the capital so quickly given my husband's layers of defense?
Thirdly, even if the Emperor's Sword is truly a treasure, I would like to ask the Queen Mother, can your husband, with this inexplicably obtained Emperor's Sword, command the soldiers of the Northern Territory to obey his orders and mercenaries to rebel? The Second Prince had the Tiger Tally and all the nobles and ministers of the Palace as hostages, but he still couldn't succeed in his rebellion. How could he, the King of Xiaoyi, dare to win over hundreds of thousands of border troops in the Northern Territory with a legendary Emperor's Sword? "The more Xu Yixing talked, the more he felt that something was wrong. The reasons she gave were enough to stump Lu Anyuan. So, did he rebel or not?
The Queen Mother was caught off guard by these three righteous questions. She seemed to have not expected that Xu Yixing could still say so much after being accused of treason. In the gap between these three questions, the momentum on both sides changed dramatically. Xu Yixing straightened his upper body and knelt upright. "Even if you say anything, Lu Anyuan won't rebel in my eyes!"
The nanny beside the Queen Mother immediately chimed in, "Princess Xiaoyi is quite sharp-tongued, but haven't you forgotten that your father is the renowned General Fuyuan? Everyone knows he was born in Miao Province and served in the Northern Frontier. It's not impossible that he acted as a middleman for Prince Xiaoyi to liaise with the border troops over the years?"
"Hmph." Xu Yixing snorted coldly, his gaze shifting from the Queen Mother to the nanny beside him. "You old woman, you dare challenge me?" You probably don't know, but what I'm best at is killing old women like you.
"This nanny is the one who speaks with conviction. Did you witness my father bribe the soldiers for the prince? Or did he admit it himself? Or do you rely on your noble status and frequent stays in the palace to know everything that happens outside? The Empress Dowager didn't even mention my father, yet you directly condemned him. I think you should have been the judge when Jingzhao Prefecture Governor Chen Yue retired. In three years, wouldn't our Great Xia be peaceful and prosperous?"
Xu Yixing turned his gaze back to the Queen Mother. Seeing her lips moving slightly as if she was about to say something, he quickly spoke in advance, blocking the Queen Mother's words from her mouth:
"Empress Dowager, I'm afraid you don't know yet. My father was poisoned more than ten days ago and has been in a coma ever since. Fearing someone would use this to cause trouble, my family has been keeping the news a secret, saying only that my father had a minor cold. If your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can ask Chao Jianyi, the imperial physician who visited my father yesterday. He is the son of the loyal minister Chao Guoan and will certainly not dishonor his father's reputation."
The Queen Mother's expression had changed, no longer as furious as before. She glared at the nanny beside her and said, "I already know about this matter, but there's something strange about General Xu's poison. I heard that even the Nine-Transformation Soul-Restoring Pill was used, but it didn't work. I don't know who did it."
"That's right. We've been searching our home for over ten days, but we can't find any trace of the thieves. We're extremely worried. And, Your Majesty, my father served in the northern borders twenty years ago. He's never left the capital in all those years, so how could he still have such close ties there? Your Majesty, I and the Xu family absolutely cannot bear your suspicions!"
"Yes." The Queen Mother breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest as if to ease the tension. Then she said, "You have to understand me. I don't believe such a thing happened, but since it concerns the Emperor and the throne, I have no choice but to ask. Yuan'er has been quite trusted by your father in recent years, so it's only natural for him to become the Crown Prince. I'm just worried that he might have some foolish thoughts!"
Xu Yixing didn't dare to respond. The Queen Mother never commented on state affairs, but today she even revealed who would be the Crown Prince. This was definitely a trick.
Seeing the kneeling man remained silent, the Queen Mother clearly didn't get the response she expected, so she sighed and continued, "Get up. I know this matter isn't so easy to conclude. This secret report is quite revealing, and I need to investigate it thoroughly. Do you mind staying in the palace for a few more days?"
"I'll listen to the Queen Mother." Xu Yixing stood up and left respectfully without overstepping the boundaries, as if she wasn't the one arguing with the Queen Mother just now.
After leaving Yian Palace, the person who came to pick me up this time simply changed to a sedan chair. Was he planning to completely hide me from being seen by people in the palace?
Xu Yixing ignored it and returned to Yixiao Pavilion in the sedan chair. Siqin was obviously frightened and trembled as soon as she came in, unable to believe what she had just heard.
"Miss! Our, our son-in-law really rebelled...rebelled...?"
Xu Yixing yelled at her, "Nothing has happened yet, why are you cutting off ties with me and becoming my son-in-law?"
"How could it be possible? If that were the case, would we have been able to walk out of Yi'an Palace alive and come here? Wouldn't we have been sent to the cold palace like the Second Prince's wife?"
Siqin glanced at the Yixiao Pavilion with a trembling voice. This place had closed doors and people were chased away. What was the difference between it and the cold palace?
"Don't think too much. Why is Lu Anyuan rebelling? Someone must be trying to harm him. I have to protect myself and find out who is behind this!" When she thought of this, she suddenly remembered Mr. Yao's figure who left angrily that day.
He is... what did he discover?
Xu Yixing closed his eyes and carefully recalled everything that had happened to Mr. Yao that day. I asked my father if he would never wake up, and he said, "Quite the opposite."
Quite the contrary... Xu Yixing pounded these three words into his mouth, then suddenly opened his eyes, and suddenly he understood.
In other words, by the time Mr. Yao stormed out of the house, Dad should have woken up, which is why Mr. Yao found it strange. If someone is already awake but then doesn't wake up, it can only mean one thing: Dad is pretending!
Mr. Yao must have realized this at the time and felt that he had been fooled by his father or himself, and that he had been made to see a healthy person in vain, so he left in anger.
Dad, Dad, you're already awake, why are you pretending to be unconscious? Is it because you know what's about to happen will implicate you and you're deliberately avoiding it, or is it because you're unconscious to facilitate something?
"Miss?" Siqin was still a little scared at this moment, and looked at Xu Yixing at a loss.
"What's wrong?"
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