Chapter 114: Strange Attitude
Wei Qingyan stood at the door of the dark room, heard the Queen Mother's words clearly, and clenched his fists.
It was only when she went to Yongzhou with Shi Yu this time that she realized that Shi Yu's current power was greater than she had imagined.
He had pharmacies and clinics all over the Wei Dynasty, and he had many talented people at his disposal, some of whom he recruited and some of whom came to him voluntarily after receiving his favor.
Although the 100,000 troops given by the previous emperor were taken away by the emperor, he secretly trained an army of 50,000 in order to protect himself.
With these, plus Shi Yu's intelligence, it would not be difficult for him to escape from the control of the emperor and the empress dowager and return to his fiefdom, but he stayed in the capital, mainly because of her.
He waited for her to come back in the capital and provided her with solid support.
But now, her backer was threatened by the Queen Mother, and Wei Qingyan felt that she had not hit him lightly in the two attacks just now.
Shi Yu seemed to not want her to worry, and said, "The mansion is not safe, mother, please return to the palace as soon as possible. If you want to take your son's life, you must first stay alive."
"I will definitely live a long, long time." The Queen Mother snorted, turned around, and flicked the handkerchief in her hand. "I advise you to be quiet and stop causing trouble. Otherwise, don't blame me for not caring about the relationship between mother and son."
A hint of sarcasm appeared at the corner of Shi Yu's lips.
Ever since he returned to Beijing from Beiling three years ago, the empress dowager has never given him a good look, and she no longer cares about the mother-son relationship.
At first, he had hope in his heart, even though his mother knew that he was not her child, and even though she was disappointed that he had such thoughts about Xiao Yan.
He still hoped to continue being her child, so he knelt in the Cining Palace for two days and two nights, but in return he was given a bone-breaking poison after he fainted from kneeling.
When he was in excruciating pain, he realized that his mother no longer wanted him as her son.
The Queen Mother didn't hear Shi Yu's reply. She turned around and saw that the man had closed his eyes and looked like he was trying to get rid of her. Her anger rose again, and finally, with a sullen face, she ordered the nanny beside her, "Return to the palace."
The news that an assassin had sneaked into Prince Rong's mansion had already reached the palace when Jingzhe reported it to the authorities.
The emperor hurriedly sent someone out of the palace to pick up the empress dowager. The prince also got the news and took the task personally. He brought people and met the empress dowager and her entourage at the gate of Prince Rong's mansion.
When the prince saw the Queen Mother, he hurriedly asked, "Is the Royal Grandmother okay?"
The Queen Mother was so angry at Shi Yu that she didn't want to say anything more and just nodded.
Seeing her unhappy expression, the Crown Prince frowned and said, "How on earth does Uncle Rong manage this mansion? He can't even protect the safety of your Royal Grandmother. Or maybe he doesn't even have your Royal Grandmother in his heart..."
"Your uncle is ill this time. Has the prince come to visit him?" The Queen Mother interrupted the prince with a cold voice.
The prince choked.
Before he could say anything, the Queen Mother continued, "Since you are here to fetch me, please return to the palace immediately. I am tired."
"Yes, grandson will help you." The prince lowered his head and helped the empress dowager to the carriage. There was a hint of anger and worry in his eyes.
He always felt that the Empress Dowager was not as cold towards Prince Rong as she seemed. Just now, the Empress Dowager was clearly defending Prince Rong.
The Queen Mother is no longer with us. If the Empress Dowager's heart also leans towards Prince Rong, then the Xie family...
There was a hint of ruthlessness in the prince's eyes. He had seen Prince Rong being favored since he was a child. Although Prince Rong was four years younger than him and the eldest grandson of the emperor, the late emperor would often hold the eight or nine-year-old Prince Rong on his knees, but never hugged him.
It was obvious that he studied hard every day, while Prince Rong was fooling around and playing all day long, but the late emperor still praised Prince Rong the most.
The Empress Dowager always said that she favored her eldest grandson, but she always protected her youngest son.
He dreamed of the moment when the person who was superior to him would fall from the altar. Finally, that day came, but he still couldn't do anything to him.
Maybe tonight is a good opportunity.
The words of the prince and the queen mother at the gate of the mansion were quickly reported to Shi Yu word for word by the secret guards.
Wei Qingyan was angry at the Queen Mother's attitude towards Shi Yu just now, but she had led troops for many years and was used to putting aside prejudices and thinking about problems objectively.
After hearing what the secret guard said, she said suspiciously, "Shi Yu, I think the Queen Mother's attitude towards you is a little strange."
The Queen Mother was high and mighty, and she had probably never been slapped in her entire life. However, she was not in a hurry to ask the guards to kill her to avenge her, but was worried about Shi Yu.
If there is such an abnormality, it is because she noticed the mistake.
But just now at the gate of the mansion, the prince wanted to accuse Shi Yu of being incompetent and unfilial, but the empress dowager retorted and gave the prince the label of being disrespectful to his elders.
This is clearly to protect Shi Yu.
After Shi Yu no longer had any hope for the Queen Mother, he had little contact with her. Every time they met, he was either scolded, poisoned, or whipped. He no longer had the heart to think about the Queen Mother.
Wei Qingyan brought it up today, and after careful consideration, he realized that there was indeed a problem, just as Wei Qingyan had said.
But he would not forget the empress dowager's cruel treatment of him over the past three years just because of her two abnormal behaviors today.
"I'll order someone to keep an eye on the Cining Palace."
When things are out of the ordinary, there must be something wrong. He was worried about what the Queen Mother would do next. Now, he was not alone.
Wei Qingyan knew that Shi Yu was never willing to spend too much time on people he didn't care about, and the Queen Mother had destroyed their mother-son relationship that had lasted for many years.
The topic was promptly dropped, and the conversation returned to the Crown Prince. "He came here eagerly tonight, and if he fails to stir things up, I'm afraid he won't give up."
Don’t let the prince ruin their plans for tonight.
Mentioning the Crown Prince, Shi Yu's face turned grim. "He probably wanted to take advantage of the chaos to break into the palace and assassinate him. If he failed, he could put the blame on the previous assassin, making it look like the assassin had come back to attack."
Over the years, the prince has sent people to assassinate him many times, and each time they used some shameful tricks.
"He has always liked to compare himself with you since he was young. How about we help him tonight and give him some credit?" Wei Qingyan smiled a little wickedly.
Seeing her like this, Shi Yu instantly understood what she was going to do.
Half an hour later, Dong Zang grabbed the doctor Jingyang's sleeve and said, "Doctor Jing, please make sure to wake up my prince.
Jingzhe was chasing an assassin tonight and accidentally entered a farm outside the city, where he discovered a shocking case. If my prince can enter the palace in time and report this to the emperor, it will be a great achievement.
It’s possible that the Emperor and the court officials will treat my prince differently because of his contribution. Hurry up, the people from the Dali Temple are already chasing him. If you’re late, I’m afraid someone will get there first and steal the credit…”
Following the orders of the Crown Prince, several assassins who wanted to take advantage of the chaos to assassinate Prince Rong looked at each other, and one of them quietly left Prince Rong's mansion and ran towards the imperial palace.
Wei Qingyan and Shi Yu smiled at each other in the dark, holding hands and walking out of the city.
Outside the city, Princess Yu and the Liu family's manor were both controlled by officials.
The lights are as bright as day.
After Lan Shu led Jingzhe and others to the manor, Wang Zhi and Xiao Zhian appeared and took Jingzhe and others into the underground where they were imprisoned.
More than a dozen people who were imprisoned inside were rescued.
Without the confusion of the formation, the secret guards quickly discovered that Princess Yu's manor and the manor of the neighboring Liu Mansion were connected underground.
Jingzhe and others controlled the people on Princess Yu's farm. When the people on Liu's farm wanted to retreat in time, the secret guards had already blocked the entrance and exit.
They couldn't escape, and couldn't even report back to Beijing.
When Princess Yu and Liu Huan, the head of the Liu family, were arrested by the police, they realized that the matter on the farm had been exposed.
The one who noticed that there was something wrong with Zhuangzi was the crown prince of the current dynasty.
The Queen Mother was assassinated while staying overnight at Prince Rong's mansion. The filial prince ordered people to track down the assassin, and only then did he discover what happened on Zhuangzishang.
As the Crown Prince was gloating over his great achievement, in a dimly candlelit room, a hooded man uttered a cold, sinister remark through gritted teeth, "Prince, if you dare to ruin my cause, I will devour your flesh and blood..."
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