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"Your Highness, there are people coming from Chunhua. They seem to be coming with great force, and it doesn't seem like a good thing."
Liu Ju was playing chess with Zhang Yannian when a palace maid came in in a panic to report. They got up and walked outside the courtyard and saw Jiang Chong coming with a group of guards. They pushed out two tied people, and he felt that they looked familiar.
"Eunuch Jiang, what does this mean?"
"I have come here on the orders of His Majesty, and I would also like to ask, Your Highness, what is your purpose in sending these two men to Ganquan Palace stealthily, armed with weapons?"
Liu Ju seemed confused after hearing this. "I didn't send anyone to Ganquan Palace, and I don't recognize them. Could it be that Eunuch Jiang has misunderstood?"
Jiang Chong smiled faintly, "The arrows they carry are all made by the Eastern Palace, with unique markings. And they are your retainers. Now that things have come to this, you don't have to deny it, right?"
"Even if they are from my East Palace, they can't prove that I sent them."
Liu Ju was puzzled and asked the two men, "Tell me clearly, who told you to go to Ganquan Palace?"
One of them raised his head slightly and looked in Zhang Yannian's direction, whimpering and drooling. His tongue had been cut, so he couldn't speak.
Seeing everyone's eyes on him, Zhang Yannian said, "I sent them."
"Why, Master?"
"I heard that Your Majesty is not attending to state affairs, and the ministers are not allowed to see the emperor. I am worried that some villains are taking advantage of Your Majesty's illness to hold the emperor hostage and issue false orders, so I sent people to investigate."
Zhang Yannian had a hidden agenda and directed his attack at Jiang Chong.
"Have you seen His Majesty?" He looked at the two guests and they nodded.
Jiang Chong sneered, "Master Zhang, what do you mean? Do you suspect that my order is false?"
"These two have been severely tortured, their tongues choking. You've left them here, so you can argue with them. Eunuch Jiang, you brought so many people with you, sealing off the Eastern Palace. We both know what you're up to, so why are you making excuses? His Highness will not admit to the crimes you're trying to accuse him of. This was all my idea, and His Highness is unaware of it. You can take me to His Majesty to report."
Liu Ju, upon hearing Zhang Yannian's words, sensed something was amiss. He looked at Jiang Chong suspiciously. He had long been aware of the emperor's displeasure with him. Jiang Chong's adopted son had a grudge against him and must have spoken ill of him. This eunuch was a man of the moment, and it was he who had introduced the Concubine Gu who had recently accompanied the emperor. Ganquan and Chang'an were two hundred miles apart, and he hadn't even seen the emperor, leaving him with no idea what had transpired. Zhang Yannian had simply done something for him that he was reluctant to do but wanted to do, and yet the reaction was so violent...
Did this eunuch and Concubine Gu conspire to do something while the emperor was ill, or did the emperor want to force him to confess and use the opportunity to depose him from the position of crown prince?
He pulled Zhang Yannian's sleeve, not wanting him to leave in such an unclear manner, especially since the other party probably didn't want him.
Jiang Chong said with a forced smile, "Your Majesty wants an explanation from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. What do I need Lord Zhang for? Besides, everyone knows that Lord Zhang is the Crown Prince's tutor and has close ties with His Royal Highness. If you want to take on this matter alone and distance yourself from His Royal Highness, you'll have to see how many people are convinced."
"So what does Eunuch Jiang want to explain about this trip?"
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sent people to infiltrate the Eastern Palace with the intention of murdering the concubines. Is he planning to murder Your Majesty and usurp the throne?"
"I've made it very clear, there's absolutely no such thing. I'm worried about my father's safety, so I sent people to investigate. If Eunuch Jiang wants to accuse me of something, he has to produce evidence."
"Evidence?" Jiang Chong asked, "I'm here to find evidence. Come on, search!"
After a while, the guard handed something to Jiang Chong, "We found this under a loose brick in the garden."
Jiang Chong flung it to the ground. Everyone saw what it looked like: a doll dressed in a black robe, its body covered in dense needles—it was the emperor. A doll that cursed the emperor had been unearthed in the Eastern Palace, and the one who cursed him was his own son! Everyone's eyes widened.
"This isn't my stuff."
Liu Ju couldn't help but sneer. Even the things were prepared for him. It seemed that Jiang Chong was determined to pin the crime on him this time.
"How can Your Highness deny the Gu puppets found in the Eastern Palace? Was it also secretly made by Lord Zhang?"
Jiang Chong's face turned cold, "Come here, take them down for me."
Ganquan Palace:
"Your Majesty, urgent news from Chang'an!"
"explain."
"The Eastern Palace Guards surrounded Lord Jiang and his men with the intention of rebellion."
Liu Che was initially surprised, then thought for a moment, "Pass on my order. All the princes in the four directions must immediately go to Chang'an to assist Jiang Chong in suppressing the riot."
That night, Liu Che did not sleep well, nor did he go to his own palace. He sat under the porch, looking at the dim moonlight in the courtyard and the bleak crabapple trees swaying in the autumn wind, feeling extremely tired.
He stretched out his hand, carefully examining it from back to palm. His skin was already wrinkled, his veins bulging. A simple cold had already caused him immense pain. An unquenchable fire burned in his chest and throat, draining away the vital energy within him bit by bit. Like the fleeting thought of life, he felt irritated and subtly terrified. He couldn't help but think of this previous illness.
Is his health really this bad?
The imperial physician said it was just the heat caused by the cold, and that it was normal for the qi to be exhausted and weak. Imperial physician... Imperial physician Wang had been in the palace for a long time and had taken his pulse when his father was still alive. Had someone bribed him?
He remembered that he'd gotten a fever after drinking the bowl of tea Gillian had brought him. What had she added to it? She certainly wouldn't have hurt him. It wasn't fatal, but it certainly wasn't harmless. She hated him, even though he loved her. She'd always misunderstood him as someone who'd poisoned her, then framed Wei Yun for it. He couldn't help but smile. How could he have done that? How could he have killed the only person he was close to and trusted so deeply?
Perhaps it was Wei Yun? Yes, the prince didn't have the guts. She had been planting people around him, trying to monitor his every move. She had long wanted him dead so her son could take the throne. First, she'd drugged him without the prince's knowledge, and then there would be some pointless arguments. Anyway, now that he was dead, his son would have no choice but to inherit his position, his money, his power, and her...
He actually dared to harbor rebellious thoughts towards her. The young man who became more and more cowardly and more and more like Wei Yun actually found a woman who looked like her as a concubine. He cut off his thoughts with a knife. He didn't dare to look for these fakes openly, so in the dead of night, he could only think about it over and over again in his mind and bury it in his heart... When Jiang Chong brought him back, he wanted to ask him what kind of entanglement he had with Madam Huo in the past.
Jiang Chong... yes, Jiang Chong was also a suspect, though there were no flaws to be found. He had entered the palace very early and had always been by his side. To outsiders, he seemed to represent his thoughts and attitudes, and was his closest person. But how could there be such a thing as closest? After all, they were two hearts, two shells. He looked obedient, but who could know what he was thinking or what he wanted? Perhaps he had accepted bribes from others and was involved...
His fingers dug deep into his hair, and his forehead felt like it had been sawed open and drilled with a sharp knife. He fell back against the pillar and fell into a deep sleep. As the daylight gradually brightened, his eyes were red and there was a dark blue patch under his eyes.
The sound of hurried footsteps instantly woke him up, and he looked towards the eunuch. "What's the matter?"
"Your Majesty, news has come from Chang'an that the Crown Prince plotted rebellion and, after being pursued to the Huai River, with nowhere to retreat, he committed suicide by drowning."
The eunuch trembled, afraid that he would be implicated by the emperor's wrath. He saw the dark hem of the clothes swaying out of the corner of his eye. Liu Che stood up with the help of a pillar, took a deep and unsmooth breath, and then looked ahead motionlessly.
A faint golden light gradually approached him. As dusk faded and the sun rose, its brightness was so blinding that he had to raise his sleeve to shield himself from it. The light seemed so close, so dazzling, yet on this autumn morning, he felt no warmth at all.
After a long moment, the eunuch heard him exhale. His voice was hoarse and low. "Ask the doctor to draft an edict for me. The Crown Prince and the Empress are guilty of treason, colluding with each other to usurp the throne. Considering the Crown Prince has committed suicide, I will spare his throne and retain his title. The rest of the East Palace's old clique, those involved in this, will be punished accordingly."
"The Queen has failed to raise her children properly, and her ambitions are growing. She is no longer worthy of her position. I depose her and give her a cup of poisoned wine and three feet of white silk."
The eunuch responded and was about to leave when he heard the man suddenly say, "Wait, keep this decree for now."
The eunuch thought to himself, could it be that the emperor still has feelings for him and is reluctant to let go?
"How is Miss Gu today?"
He dismissed the idea. The emperor was currently obsessed with Concubine Gu, and both generals of the Wei family were dead. He might be eager to depose the empress and leave the throne to someone else.
He said, "He still refuses to eat, and he's caught a cold lately."
"She stays in the room all day, how did she catch a cold?" Liu Che frowned. A cold is no small matter, and she has always been in poor health.
"The imperial physician said it was due to internal yin deficiency, constant anxiety and worry, and the changing seasons that triggered the cold symptoms."
Liu Che nodded and said, "Send someone to help me change my clothes."
He pulled himself together and sat before the mirror, looking at himself. He chose a cyan robe, tied his hair into a crown, and, like the young men, applied some white powder and lipstick. Although he had signs of aging, the perfect bones of his youth still supported his thin skin. This frail face suddenly glowed with a bright light.
"Do I look old?"
The palace maid applying his makeup trembled slightly, "Your Majesty is so handsome and graceful, you don't look old at all."
"Do you like this dress?"
The palace maid, not knowing what he meant, replied cautiously, "Young women generally prefer light blue colors, and Your Majesty looks very good in them."
Liu Che's serious face finally smiled, "I wore this when I first went on a boat trip with her."
She was so beautiful. It was late autumn, and the lakeside was chilly in the evening. He wore a green bamboo-patterned coat, with only a shirt underneath, and sat at the bow, rowing for her.
When she got on the boat, she was stunned for a long time, and her face turned red...
Back then, she blushed easily. If he dressed nicely, said a few words, or teased her a bit, she would blush. Unlike later, when she would often leave him speechless with a few words, and the two of them would often argue until their faces turned red and their necks were thick, and neither of them wanted to see each other...
It was his fault. Now everything was over, all the obstacles between them were gone, he had the ability to control everything, control himself, completely, just Liu Che.
They can go back to the past and be the same as before, she can do whatever she wants, and he will support her and follow her no matter what she does.
His heart was agitated. Watching the sun grow brighter and larger, he ordered the sedan bearers to quicken their pace. He wanted to tell her the good news. Then, let everything return to the starting point...
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