117. Clan

Although the new emperor had never personally ruled the country since he ascended the throne, he was still diligent in attending the morning court. However, the dragon throne was empty today. Rong Se had not deliberately intercepted the news that Emperor Jiancheng was poisoned, so the palace urgently summoned the imperial physician at night. Most of the ministers knew about it and inevitably asked about it during the morning court.

Rong Se simply said, "Your Majesty is alive and well, and you gentlemen don't need to worry."

Seeing that Cao Lun was not too anxious, he knew that Rong Jing was not at the critical moment of life and death. Moreover, this matter was sudden and strange, and there were many catty tricks involved.

Poisoning the emperor was a big deal, so Rong Se handed it over to the Ministry of Justice for investigation. After the court was dismissed, Rong Se was about to go to Zhaoyang Palace to see Rong Se again. As soon as he came out of Xuanzheng Hall, Prince Ning caught up with him from behind and called out, "Ninth Uncle——"

Rong Se had no official title. After being brought back to the palace, he was always called the Ninth Prince. Now he was the Regent Prince, so it was in accordance with the rules for Prince Ning to call him the Ninth Imperial Uncle. Rong Se didn't care about the title at all. He nodded to Rong Zhan and said, "Prince Ning, is there something?"

"Speaking of which... Alas, I just arrived in Jinjing yesterday, and His Majesty has already encountered such a big thing." Rong Zhan held the jade pendant on his waist and rubbed it, his smile faded, and he sighed: "I am a son of the royal family, I should go to pay my respects to the emperor."

Rong Se thought about it and nodded in agreement: "That makes sense, let's go together."

Rong Zhan thanked them and went with them. Rong Se wanted to ask about Zheng Fu, but because of Prince Youning, he only mentioned the eunuch who committed suicide when talking to Liang Shenyu. Liang Shenyu sneered and said, "He ordered the corpse of the eunuch who tested poison to be destroyed. When he was found, he committed suicide without saying a word. If someone didn't put the dead soil in the palace, then he must have been caught and killed."

"The death of the eunuch who tested poison was also strange." Rong Se nodded in agreement and continued, "He also died of poison, but it was obvious that he was silenced. If the poison the emperor was poisoned with was the same kind of poison, there is no reason why the emperor could save the eunuch if he died."

At this point, the two looked at each other, and even though they didn't say it out loud, they understood each other's meaning tacitly - someone wanted to put the blame of the emperor being poisoned on last night's palace banquet.

And Rongser reasonably believed that the pot might be put on his head.

Rong Se had roughly guessed who was responsible for this highly targeted and crudely executed game.

.

In Zhaoyang Palace, Rong Jing's face was pale, and he lay on the dragon bed, dying, with slow and weak breathing.

Only one imperial physician remained in the room, who knelt down and said, "Master Cao, His Majesty is no longer in danger."

Cao Lun said "hmm" and sat on the chair with a gloomy expression. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Your Majesty, what kind of poison was it? Is it life-threatening?"

The imperial physician hesitated for a moment, then raised his eyes and glanced at the emperor quietly.

Cao Lun said in a deep voice: "Doctor Li!"

The imperial physician immediately withdrew his gaze, bowed his head in a cold sweat, and stuttered, "I don't know yet, but your Majesty's pulse is stable and there is no other discomfort. I think... I think there is no harm. As for the poison, fortunately we treated him in time, otherwise it is very likely to harm your Majesty's body."

"That's enough, Doctor Li." Rong Jing sat up weakly, his voice hoarse: "You go out first."

"I obey your order." Doctor Li ran away in a hurry.

Rong Jing then smiled at Cao Lun, then sighed and said helplessly, "Uncle, don't worry, I won't die. It doesn't matter what kind of poison I was poisoned with. The important thing is that I was poisoned in the palace banquet. Anyone who dares to poison the emperor must be sentenced to death."

Cao Lun was confused. His face was completely gloomy and he looked a little gnashing his teeth, as if he had seen the younger generation's rage after committing suicide. After a long while, he said fiercely, "Your Majesty, you are confused!"

Rong Jing remained indifferent and said coldly: "This is an opportunity that he brought to himself."

"Chance?" Cao Lun was so angry that he almost laughed. "What kind of opportunity is this? Just relying on the chef of the Prince Regent's Palace to enter the palace and cook a dish? Well, even if this plan can succeed, if it were me, I would push a few chefs out to take the blame, and what if this matter was exposed? The Prince Regent is not so easy to fool. He found the body of the eunuch who tested the poison and ordered the eunuch who destroyed the body to commit suicide on the spot. Who can't see that there is something fishy?! Your Majesty, this move of yours hurts yourself instead of others!"

"So what?" Rong Jing sneered, his eyes revealing deep malice, "Uncle, do you think I want to use this incident to break up with the Regent Palace?"

Cao Lun was stunned.

Rong Jing laughed softly and asked, "Uncle, have you forgotten how our father died?"

Rong Xu was not old when he passed away, and he had never sought immortality. However, he fell ill for unknown reasons and suffered from the illness for a long time. Therefore, when the Ninth Prince took the opportunity to regent, there were rumors in the court that the Regent had tampered with the emperor's diet and medicine. Even though it was not said openly, people secretly thought that the death of the late emperor was not that simple. There were even rumors that Rong Se wanted to kill the emperor and seize the throne.

"No matter who poisoned me this time, the most suspicious person is the Regent King." Rong Jing smiled slowly, "This move will not hurt him, but uncle, have you forgotten that we still have Zheng Fu in our hands?"

Cao Lun was skeptical, "Your Majesty, are you saying..."

"Dripping water wears away a stone." Rong Jing's tone was calm, but jealousy and anger had already surged in his heart. He wished he could kill Rong Se right now, but he still forbeared and said: "Even if I can't do anything to him this time, in the future, everyone in the court of Dajin will know that Rong Se is a traitor who killed the king!"

Cao Lun fell silent, thought carefully, frowned and said, "This matter cannot be taken lightly, let me be careful."

Rong Jing was still weak, and nodded gently: "Thank you, Uncle Lao."

Not long after Cao Lun left, Rong Se brought Liang Shenyu and Rong Zhan back to Zhaoyang Palace. Rong Jing originally refused to summon them with excuses, but Rong Se refused to give in and insisted on seeing the emperor with his own eyes. Who dared to disobey the order of the Regent?

The servants could only give way obediently.

Rong Zhan remained calm and followed the Regent Prince into the palace. After paying his respects, he said with concern, "May your majesty be well. I just heard about this matter in the morning court. How could someone be so bold under the feet of the emperor of the capital? How can we tolerate such a traitor? We must capture him and punish him severely to make up for the suffering your majesty has endured today."

Prince Ning was making a lot of noise.

Rong Jing lay on the couch, his face stiff and frozen.

Rong Se tilted her head, curled her fingers and put them on her lips, and used the greatest self-control in her life to restrain herself from laughing out loud.

Seeing that no one was talking, Rong Zhan looked up in confusion and asked cautiously, "What, what's wrong? Did Xiao Wang say something wrong?"

An anxious and self-critical look.

"No, no, no." Rong Se straightened his face, "Prince Ning is right, this thief——" He emphasized these two words, glanced at Rong Jing meaningfully, and then slowly said: "He really deserves to die."

Rong Jing seemed exhausted and in low spirits. He forced a smile and said perfunctorily, "Uncle Emperor is right."

Rong Se just came to see if Rong Jing was really poisoned. Seeing that he looked half dead, he guessed that he really had eaten something. But it couldn't be some kind of poison that would kill instantly upon contact with blood, otherwise he wouldn't have been alive until now.

But seeing Rong Jing unhappy made him happy, so he didn't rush to leave for the moment, and said slowly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will strictly interrogate everyone who touched the palace banquet dishes yesterday. Even if I have to turn the palace upside down, I will catch the thief who poisoned the food and bring him to justice."

As he spoke, Rong Se's eyes became more and more oppressive, staring straight at Rong Jing. Rong Jing felt frightened by his gaze, and for some reason he suddenly became uneasy, so his already ugly face became even paler.

"Thank you... Uncle." Rong Jing forced a smile, very softly, "But... there's no need to mobilize a large force, I'm fine, don't hurt the innocent."

Rong Se now felt like a villain bullying the little white flower.

Don't ask, it feels great.

If it had not been for the time being, Rong Se really wanted to pull him off the bed, throw him into the yard, and ask him again, when he did not treat the original owner and her son as human beings, and beat, scolded and humiliated them like animals, did he ever think that this day would come?

"The emperor is kind-hearted." Rong Se's words were somewhat sarcastic, but his eyes were calm. He didn't care about Rong Zhan's presence at all, and smiled slowly: "If I had done this earlier, I wouldn't be in this situation today."

Rong Jing's expression changed, "Uncle, what do you mean?"

"It would be even more unpleasant to put it in plain words." Rong Se smiled slightly, "Your Majesty, it's good that you know this in your heart, but Your Majesty must also take care of yourself. There is no heir yet, and I will not have children. If something happens to Your Majesty, this Jin Dynasty will have no successor."

These words were extremely treasonous, and Prince Ning was shocked when he heard them.

Rong Se suddenly seemed to remember something, and said with a "Oh", "I forgot, there is also the Prince of Ning, the Prince of Ning also has the surname Rong."

Rong Jing's face was so ugly that it couldn't be more ugly.

Rong Zhan was also stunned for a moment, and quickly said: "Uncle Nine, this is not a joke!"

Rong Se smiled but didn't respond. He patted Liang Shenyu's sleeve and said, "Sanlang, let's go and let the emperor have a good rest. As for the Prince of Ning, do as you please."

Rong Zhan was even more unwilling to stay any longer. He exchanged a few polite words with Rong Jing and hurried out of the palace. The Regent Prince's carriage had already gone far away. Rong Zhan got on his own carriage and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Highness looks unhappy. Did something happen in the palace?" asked the driver.

The tension in Rong Zhan's eyes had long since faded away, and turned into a playful expression. He said softly, "It's nothing, it's just that the Ninth Prince—" He paused, organized his words for a moment, and then chuckled, "Very smart."

He originally really thought that the Regent was going to kill the Emperor.

Now it seems that this is not the case.

For example, what he said in the palace was a test. Everyone knew who he was scolding. The Regent remained calm, but the Emperor's expression changed slightly.

Rong Zhan rubbed the smooth jade pendant and said with a smile: "It's quite sensitive."

He recalled the confrontation between the Regent and the Emperor, in which the Emperor was losing ground.

And I think the Regent must have noticed his temptation.

So he used his status as a royal relative to respond to him as a counterattack.

"I've been warned."

Rong Zhan murmured, his voice ending in a cynical smile, almost inaudible.