Chapter 491 [Hou Xiaoxiao is suspected]
The deputy commander of the secret guards said in a heavy tone, "The five secret guards Your Majesty sent to assassinate Prince Zhao and his son are all dead."
"What?"
Emperor Qingning was originally exhausted due to staying up late, but he suddenly became awake at this moment.
His personal secret guards were the best of the best, and Emperor Qingning found it hard to accept the reality that he had lost five of the most powerful ones all of a sudden.
"Are you sure all five are dead?"
The deputy commander of the secret guards lowered his head and said, "Prince Zhao's palace sent people to transport the five bodies to the military headquarters early this morning, saying that they had captured a group of assassins."
He shook his head: "The waters in Prince Zhao's mansion are very deep, and we have too few people."
"This second assassination attempt failed. Prince Zhao's palace will definitely strengthen its defenses. I'm afraid we don't have a chance."
"Aren't Prince Zhao and the Crown Prince both injured? The remaining Second Brother isn't as skilled as his father and eldest brother, he only knows a few techniques..."
Emperor Qingning paused at this point. "They've only been back in Beijing for a few days. They don't have enough time to install the mechanism, do they?"
"That might mean they have accomplices in the capital."
The deputy commander of the secret guards pondered, "Even if the prince is injured, he can still take action. I still remember that time at Binghe Pass, when it was freezing cold and food supplies were cut off, the prince was seriously injured, but he still led the Xin family army to fight his way out of the encirclement."
Emperor Qingning said with a sullen face: "Alright, you don't need to remind me how powerful Xin Che is."
The deputy commander choked and said, "Your Majesty, what should we do now?"
Emperor Qingning was in deep thought, and the more he thought, the angrier he became.
He originally thought that the five martial arts masters were not good enough, but he didn't expect that the people he sent to assassinate them failed even more, and all five of them died. He didn't know that these five people were the masters of the palace that he was most proud of.
This only proves that the strength of Prince Zhao's Mansion has reached an unfathomable level.
No one knows who is supporting Prince Zhao's palace in the capital.
Three years ago, Hou Xiaoxiao poisoned Xin Che, but the poison did not take effect.
Emperor Qingning was deeply suspicious about this, but it was obvious that his daughter-in-law Hou Xiaoxiao could not be in cahoots with Prince Zhao's Mansion. Firstly, she and Crown Princess Jiang Lili did not get along, and secondly, the General of the Cavalry had a feud with Prince Zhao's Mansion.
Emperor Qingning was so troubled that he decided to question Hou Xiaoxiao carefully to test her.
"But right now, Prince Zhao's family hasn't been completely wiped out, and I'm not at ease at all."
Zhou Jushan leaned against the bed and rubbed his eyes. Emperor Qingning was now extremely tolerant of him and didn't need him to do anything. He felt at ease as long as he had him by his side, acting as a mascot.
He stretched lazily and said leisurely, "Your Majesty, since the situation in Prince Zhao's mansion is so unfathomable, Your Majesty should invite Prince Zhao and his men out of the tortoise shell of Prince Chao's mansion and invite them to the palace."
Emperor Qingning's eyes lit up at Zhou Jushan's words, and he motioned Zhou Jushan to continue.
"Everyone in the palace is our own people, and weapons are not allowed inside the palace. No matter how they try to play tricks, they won't be able to escape."
Zhou Jushan narrowed his eyes, looking as if he was seriously giving advice to the Dog Emperor: "Mid-Autumn Festival is less than a month away."
"Didn't His Majesty ask Xue Wei to come back from the northwest to visit his old father during the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Using Master Xue as a hostage is the most convenient."
"You can take advantage of the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet to take care of Prince Zhao's Mansion and Xue Wei at the same time."
Zhou Jushan's words really touched the heart of Emperor Qingning.
“Okay, okay!”
"Zhou Jushan is still the one who pleases me the most!"
——"That's right."
Zhou Jushan's eyes flickered, and his tone was as sinister as that of a treacherous minister: "Don't forget, there are also hostages in the palace of Prince Zhao."
Emperor Qingning's eyes darkened. "You mean? Imperial Concubine Ying?"
Zhou Jushan nodded, the jade beads of the mountain hat hanging beside his ears swaying along with it: "Yes, even if Prince Zhao doesn't want to come, Your Majesty can say that Concubine Ying misses her family very much in the palace and wants to see them."
Emperor Qingning pondered for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll think about it."
*
Chen time.
Hou Xiaoxiao was summoned into the palace by the Queen Mother.
In the Cining Palace, Empress Dowager Yu, compared to the high-spirited woman she was three years ago, now had a sickly look between her brows.
After Hou Xiaoxiao arrived at the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace, she discovered that Emperor Qingning was also there.
Seeing the complete posture of these two kings, Hou Xiaoxiao understood that they might want to interrogate her and settle the score.
The Queen Mother twirled her Buddhist beads in her hand, her tone gentle as if she were chatting casually. "Xiaoxiao, didn't you say three years ago that you had poisoned Xin Che with the golden silkworm Gu in the Qinglin Mountains? Why didn't he die suddenly in Haizhou?"
The Queen Mother's attitude towards Hou Xiaoxiao was still as affectionate as before, but Hou Xiaoxiao knew that if she said something wrong at this moment, she would be killed.
Xue Wei and Yan Chaoyue's plan has not been set up yet. She doesn't want to shoot the old woman and the dog emperor in the palace right now. It would be too easy for these two big guys.
She will regret it after seeing these two big items.
"To be honest, I don't know why either."
Hou Xiaoxiao shook her head, a look of confusion on her face. She continued her analysis, "However, from what I've observed about Prince Zhao's family, it seems the changes started when they were captured by those pirates and taken to that island."
"We determined that the Crown Prince was completely dead because among the three bodies that were salvaged, the Crown Prince's body had a golden silkworm Gu worm..."
"ah!"
Hou Xiaoxiao suddenly yelled in surprise, startling the Queen Mother: "That proves that there is someone behind them who is skilled in using Gu to detoxify Gu and has seen through my poison!"
"This is a master that even we in Miaojiang don't know about!"
Hou Xiaoxiao immediately hugged the Queen Mother's arms and said, "Your Majesty, Queen Mother, please save me. I'm so scared that the Gu master behind them will target me."
The emperor and the empress dowager were confused when they saw Hou Xiaoxiao suddenly became frightened.
The Queen Mother patted her shoulder symbolically to comfort her. "Xiaoxiao, why do you say that? Why are you so sure that the Gu master behind them wants to take revenge on you?"
"You may not know, but since the Crown Princess returned, she has been sending invitations to the Prince of Jin's residence every day. She invited me to the Prince of Zhao's residence to sit and drink tea. She also gave me gifts."
"The gift box looked quite exquisite, so I opened it and thought it was a specialty of Haizhou in Lingnan."
"Turns out it's a dead toad!"
Hou Xiaoxiao shrank back in fear, wiping her snot and tears on the empress dowager.
The empress dowager frowned, but because of her face she couldn't say anything, so she silently pulled out her sleeves.
"When I was thirteen, I bribed Jiang Lili's personal maid to put a dead mouse on her bed. She probably still remembers it."
"She returned to the capital with great honor this time, and she is incredibly arrogant. I have been keeping my tail between my legs lately, not daring to confront her head-on."
Hou Xiaoxiao was extremely angry: "I didn't expect her to push her so far. After all, I am the prince's wife."
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