&nbZhang Yuan knew that during these years when he was with Emperor Tianwu, he had stopped many concubines who came forward on their own initiative. Most of those concubines who wanted to approach the emperor with a bowl of tonic soup were sent away by him. Even Concubine Yuan Shu was stopped by him countless times. Now that he has fallen to this point, there must be a lot of people who want to torture him, right? Count them... Forget it, there is no way to count them. If he has the mind to do that, he might as well wash more clothes. Anyway, the old emperor is suffering now, so he will suffer with him. If he can't continue to share the happiness, then he will share the suffering.
&nbZhang Yuan firmly believed that Emperor Tianwu was suffering, even though he often heard people talking about how loving the emperor was to Concubine Yuan Shu, how much he loved the Eighth Prince, and even how the emperor praised the Eighth Prince countless times every day during the morning court. The more happy the family sounded, the more Zhang Yuan concluded that Emperor Tianwu was not happy. Either he was pretending, or the old emperor had a problem with his brain. The old emperor was too pitiful, and he couldn't be with him, it was sad to think about it.
&nbHe wiped his tears again and continued to wash clothes. The three people watching were still watching and laughing. One of them kept throwing Zhang Yuan's washed clothes to the ground and even stepped on them. Zhang Yuan saw it, but didn't say anything. He picked them up silently until the man kept stepping on the clothes. Then he said, "These clothes belong to the masters in the harem. It's no joke to step on them. You can torment me, but don't go hard on these clothes."
"Hey! Are you lecturing people?" The slave who stepped on the clothes screamed and pointed at Zhang Yuan and said, "You still think you are a favorite of the emperor? You still think that everyone has to respectfully call you Eunuch Yuan? Don't you see what kind of character you have now? People have been put in the Criminal Slave Department. Who else can you teach a lesson to?"
"Okay! You don't want us to step on your clothes? Then we'll step on you! Come on, brothers. The chief eunuch whom we could only look up to before is now in front of us. We can do whatever we want to him. It would be a shame if we don't step on him!"
&nbThe phrase "if you don't step on him, it's useless" completely aroused the three people's interest, so they all raised their feet and kicked Zhang Yuan vigorously. Someone even shouted at the houses in the yard: "Come out quickly! Those who have grudges should take revenge, and those who have grievances should complain. It's not easy for this eunuch chief steward to fall into our hands, so don't miss the opportunity!"
&nbWith this shout, a large number of slaves rushed out of the house. These eunuchs were already physically disabled and mentally abnormal, and they were not successful by their masters' side before, otherwise they would not be sent here for making a mistake. As time went by, their mental abnormality became even stronger, so that when they heard about such a good thing, they rushed out of the house like crazy, without thinking twice, and followed the three people who started the fight, punching and kicking, and beat Zhang Yuan so hard that he could only shrink in the snow and hug his head to protect his head and face as much as possible.
&nbThe pain on his body was nothing to Zhang Yuan. Ever since he was beaten with thirty boards in front of the square outside Zhaohe Hall, the pain was nothing. He had only one belief, which was to save his life. As for being beaten, or even having his arms and legs broken, that didn't matter. He was a worthless life. The reason he wanted to live was nothing more than to see the old emperor again. As long as he could see the old emperor again, he would be willing to die immediately.
&nbThe punches and kicks on his body were getting heavier and heavier, and many of them were aimed at his head. Although Zhang Yuan tried hard to protect his head, he was still kicked. Gradually, he felt a little dizzy and was about to lose his mind from the beatings. He felt that he was about to collapse. The image of the old emperor appeared in his mind. The old emperor was drinking. The old emperor asked him to accompany him to sing at the gate of Yuehan Palace. The old emperor was willful and arguing with the ninth prince. The old emperor quarreled with him. The old prince also secretly left delicious food for him and told him that this dish was especially delicious today. I couldn’t bear to finish it all, so I left half for you. Xiao Yuanzi, you must remember to be grateful to me. Sometimes the old emperor was very awkward. He didn’t say directly that it was delicious food left for him. He just said that this thing was too disgusting and he couldn’t eat it at all. Xiao Yuanzi, you should finish them all quickly.
&nbThese images kept flashing through Zhang Yuan's mind, and tears kept flowing from his eyes. Gradually, his vision became blurred, so blurred that he didn't know whether it was because of the tears or because his brain was kicked so hard. The shouting and cursing by his ears gradually faded away, and it seemed that the pain in his body was also relieved, as if no one was stopping him anymore.
&nbHe felt that he must be dying and had hallucinations, otherwise how could these people let him go so easily? Just a few days ago, they even poured a large basin of cold water on him and drove him out of the house to freeze him into an ice man. Later, if they were not afraid that he would really freeze to death, no one would let him into the house.
&nbZhang Yuan was still curled up on the ground with his head in his hands, his body trembling, but he was thinking in his heart that if he didn't die, he would still have to finish washing the clothes tonight.
&nbAt this time, a woman's voice was heard, and she shouted coldly: "Who gave you the courage to bully others like this? We are both criminal slaves, what is the difference between you and him? Why are you hurting others?"
&nbSomeone answered: "He doesn't wash his clothes properly."
&nb"If you don't wash your clothes properly, you should be punished by the manager of the Criminal Slave Department. When and where did you get caught? You didn't do your job properly when you were with your master and made a big mistake. Now you have been sent to the Criminal Slave Department, but you are still so rampant. Is this palace no longer able to accommodate you?"
&nbZhang Yuan felt that the voice sounded familiar, and he turned his head in a daze, only to see a person dressed as a female official standing in front of him, fighting against the criminal slaves alone, making them lower their heads one by one, not daring to breathe. His brain was kicked and he was a little unclear, and he didn't recognize who it was. At this time, he saw the manager of the Criminal Slave Department, Eunuch Liu, hurriedly ran out of the room. When he arrived in front of the female official, he was stunned for a moment, then quickly saluted and said, "It turned out to be Aunt Fangyi. What brought Aunt Fangyi here on New Year's Eve?"
&nbZhang Yuan then reacted, oh, it turned out to be Fang Yi who was beside the Queen.
&nbThen Fang Yi snorted coldly, and looked at Eunuch Liu and said, "It's nothing. It's best if no wind blows me here. I came here today on the orders of the Empress to bring Zhang Yuan back, but I didn't expect to see your men beating him up when I entered the yard. If he is killed or injured, what will you say when the Empress asks about it?"
&nb"This..." Eunuch Liu was stunned, and subconsciously asked back: "Empress? Why did the Empress mention Zhang Yuan? He was sent by the Emperor and Concubine Shu!"
"Why, in your eyes, there is only one Concubine Shu in the harem, right? Let me tell you, Concubine Shu is still Concubine Shu. Even if she has climbed to the top, there is still a queen above her! Even if you follow Concubine Shu wholeheartedly, the harem now cannot allow her to make decisions alone. If you really want to cover up everything, you have to wait until the Eighth Prince really sits on the throne."
"Of course, of course. The Empress is still the most powerful in the harem." Eunuch Liu knew that Fang Yi was right, so he did not argue any more and only asked Fang Yi, "Does the Empress want to bring Zhang Yuan up? Is there an imperial decree? It's not that I am deliberately making things difficult for you, but it's really difficult for the Criminal Slave Office to release him without an imperial decree!"
&nb"There is no imperial decree." Fang Yi said coldly: "But there is the Queen's phoenix badge, open your eyes and take a good look!" As she spoke, she took out a waist badge given by the Queen and held it in front of Eunuch Liu.
&nbThe man knelt down immediately and said, "According to the order of the Queen, Zhang Yuan will be taken away by Aunt immediately." Seeing the Phoenix Card is like seeing the Queen, this is something that everyone in the palace knows. Although Concubine Yuan Shu is in power now, Fang Yi is right. After all, the Emperor has not deposed the Queen. Even if Concubine Yuan Shu turns the tables, there is still a Queen above her, and these criminal slaves dare not act rashly in front of the Queen.
&nbFang Yi saw him release the person, so she said no more, walked up to help Zhang Yuan up, and saw him staggering a few times, so she quickly asked: "Can we go?"
&nbZhang Yuan also understood the reason for the incident. It turned out that the Queen wanted to see him. He didn't know what the Queen meant, but based on his understanding of the palace and the Queen over the years, he could immediately figure out that it was not the Queen who wanted to see him, but the Emperor Tianwu. The Queen had always been the best spokesperson for the Emperor. She always looked at the Emperor Tianwu's expression when she spoke and did things, and basically had no opinions of her own. Now she suddenly asked him to see her, so it must be the old emperor who had spoken.
&nbZhang Yuan was quite excited and nodded repeatedly, saying: "Yes, I can go. I will crawl out of the Criminal Slave Division even if I have to."
Fang Yi felt that Zhang Yuan's health was not optimistic. She looked at his hands full of chilblains and bloody wounds and could not help but frown again. Then she said to Eunuch Liu, "Go find someone to bring a sedan chair. If anyone asks, tell them that it was the Queen's order."
&nbEunuch Liu didn't dare to say anything more, and hurried to do the work himself. After a while, he called a few palace servants to bring a soft chair over, and helped Fangyi to help Zhang Yuan sit on the soft chair. Only after Fangyi took Zhang Yuan away did he wipe his sweat and mutter to himself: "What is going on? Could it be that Zhang Yuan is going to revive? But if Zhang Yuan is revived, doesn't it mean that Concubine Yuan Shu will lose power again? Will the palace change so quickly?"
&nbNo matter what Eunuch Liu thought, Zhang Yuan was happy that he had left the Criminal Slave Division. Of course, this happiness was mostly because he could see the old emperor, which was his only wish now. He asked Fang Yi: "Did the emperor remember anything? Is he more sober than before? Did he remember me?"
Fang Yi shook her head helplessly and said, "I don't know what happened specifically. I only know that the emperor suddenly fell ill and the doctors said it was typhoid fever. The emperor called the queen to Zhaohe Hall and asked a question: Why did he drive you away in the first place?"
&nbZhang Yuan cried again. He felt that he was a complete loser who cried all the time. But when he heard the old emperor asking him this question, he couldn't help it and could only keep talking to Fang Yi: "I know that the emperor will not forget me. I know that the emperor will wake up one day. It is not the emperor's wish to be with Concubine Yuan Shu. The trick here will be exposed sooner or later. As long as I am alive, I can't let Concubine Yuan Shu harm the emperor!"
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