Outside Donghua Gate.

King Zhongshun's carriage slowly stopped at the gate of the palace, and behind it, four large carts loaded with gifts also stopped one after another.

In the large carriage, King Zhongshun was absentmindedly coiling his bracelets. Because he had been thinking about Nan'an, he sent someone to buy a few magic weapons a while ago, and this bracelet was one of them.

But just looking at his current state, one can tell that these Laoshizi magic weapons have no effect at all.

Alas~

King Zhongshun sighed secretly and leaned on the car with some dejection. A few days ago, when Concubine Rong left the palace to visit the bride, he once thought of asking someone to bring Concubine Rong a message to make her give up her plan to poison the prince.

But when he thought about the possibility of joining the Ninth Five-Year Plan, he hesitated to make up his mind, and finally missed this opportunity.

Right now, I can only be on tenterhooks and hope that things will go smoothly.

"Your Majesty."

At this moment, the steward's voice suddenly sounded outside the car.

"Um?"

King Zhongshun spurted questions from his nostrils.

The steward hurriedly continued to report: "The palace gate has been temporarily sealed. It is said that the palace must send word before it can be released."

"Um?!"

King Zhongshun sat up straight after hearing this. Today is the day for people to worship stoves, and as usual every year, he enters the palace to offer New Year's gifts in the afternoon. Not to mention that the palace door should not be closed at this time. Even if it is closed, it stands to reason.

It would be right to inform Prince Zhongshun.

Now the palace gate has been sealed without any warning. No need to ask, there must be something big happening in the palace!

Could it be that……

King Zhongshun shuddered. The first thing he felt was not excitement but fear - if the prince had been poisoned, the most critical moment would come next!

He carefully lifted up the carriage curtain, first looked at the group of dragon guards guarding the city gate, and then looked up at the shadowy sentry on the palace wall.

In the past, I was used to this and didn't think much of it, but now I always feel as if the muskets are aimed at me.

"Your Majesty?"

At this time, the steward asked for instructions again: "Should we ask them to report to the superiors, or..."

"No need, let's..."

King Zhongshun subconsciously wanted to smear oil on the soles of his feet and be safe, but then he thought again, it would be too guilty to do so. Normally, he should find out what happened, or leave in vain.

.

Thinking of this, even though his calves were twisted, King Zhongshun still gritted his teeth and changed his words: "Repay, let them repay!"

When the steward took the order, he couldn't help but pick up the curtain and peek. Although the more he looked, the more he was afraid, but he was also afraid that if he couldn't see it at a glance, he would end up with a lot of holes.

At the moment of great panic, a carriage slowly passed the convoy of Prince Zhongshun's palace and only stayed at the gate of the palace for a moment before being let go.

King Zhongshun was slightly moved in his heart and hurriedly asked people to find out who was in the car and how he could come in and out at will regardless of the ban.

Not long after, the steward reported back that the school captain guarding the gate was unwilling to disclose the truth. He only said that the other party was following the Queen's orders, so he could pass through unimpeded.

The Queen's decree?

It stands to reason that such a thing has been said, and the emperor has been unconscious for a long time and cannot handle affairs. It is appropriate for the emperor to take charge of the overall situation. Why is it that the queen is sending people to the palace now?

King Zhongshun thought for a while but couldn't figure it out, so he forgot about it and cautiously scanned the Dragon Guards who were armed with live ammunition again.

I don't know how long it took, but the captain in charge suddenly pressed his knife on his waist and ran towards this side quickly.

King Zhongshun's heart suddenly rose to his throat, until he heard the captain's respectful report: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has announced that you will enter the palace to see me, but it is best to leave these next gifts here first."

He then breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't have military power. If the incident happened, he should have captured him on the spot. Now that he said it was a casualty, it was obvious that the incident had not implicated him.

But then he felt very strange. He was the empress before, and now he is the empress dowager, but why are all the women in the Forbidden City making the decisions? What is the emperor doing now?

But King Zhongshun didn't have time to think too much. When the carriage drove into the palace gate, he got out of the carriage and followed the eunuch who led the way to the harem.

As he walked, he couldn't help but feel dizzy again.

Because he had always had a very normal relationship with the emperor's sister-in-law, and rarely met her when he entered the palace in the past, but today it was the emperor's sister-in-law who summoned her, so he felt strange no matter how he thought about it.

It's just that he couldn't figure out the strange method for a while.

Arriving at Cining Palace in such a blur, the Queen Mother came out dressed in plain clothes, wiping her tears and saying: "Your brother, he... he's gone!"

"ah?!"

King Zhongshun was stunned immediately, and he listened to every word the Queen Mother said later.

After a long while, he asked: "How could such a good person do this?!"

The Queen Mother just thought that they had a deep brotherhood, so she explained the matter in general.

Only then did King Zhongshun clarify his thoughts.

He guessed that the snack must have been poisoned by Concubine Rong, and as a result, the Emperor was poisoned to death by some combination of circumstances.

Later, I heard that Jiao Shun had been invited by the queen to investigate. The car earlier was actually a few death row prisoners who came to test the medicine. King Zhongshun couldn't help but thought. Now that the matter has come to this, it is impossible for him to think about his brother again.

, but if the blame can be placed on the imperial doctor and the imperial kitchen, at least future troubles can be avoided.

So he hurriedly took the initiative to invite me, saying that I would go to observe the trial.

The Queen Mother certainly has no reason to be inaccurate.

King Zhongshun asked for instructions, put on his mourning clothes, and hurriedly left Cining Palace.

At that time, Jiao Shun was convening a meeting between the imperial physician and the three officials in the imperial kitchen. He could not help but watch the palace maids and eunuchs, and he cooked medicine in public in an open space outside the Qianqing Palace, preparing to feed several prisoners on death row.

Seeing King Zhongshun suddenly feel something, Jiao Shun hurriedly stood up and bowed his hands in greeting.

King Zhongshun panted slightly, looked at the skinny prisoners on death row, then looked at the three pale-faced imperial doctors on the side, and asked tentatively: "I wonder how sure Mr. Jiao is?"

Jiao Shun shook his head: "Your Majesty has misunderstood. I don't have any solid evidence yet. I am just making an argument based on speculation. There is no certainty."

"oh."

After hearing this, King Zhongshun was in his heart. He knew the truth best. If it were a serious argument, the imperial doctor and the imperial kitchen would definitely be innocent.

But this is not the result he wants.

I wanted to try to guide him, but I was afraid that I would add something to the problem and miss the mark. I felt like a hot pot ant in a hurry, but I didn't dare to show it.

At this moment, a young eunuch came forward to report that the medicinal soup was ready.

Jiao Shun immediately waved his hand: "I ordered the imperial physician to come forward and examine it."

With that said, he explained to King Zhongshun: "Every medicinal material and food has been tested by them personally before decoction. Now if the test is correct, the death row prisoners can be ordered to test the medicine."

Upon hearing this, King Zhongshun nodded repeatedly and praised Jiao Shun for being "rigorous", but secretly complained in his heart.

For the sake of their own lives, the imperial doctor would definitely strictly control the situation. Wouldn't this make it difficult for him to do anything?

"grown ups."

At this time, a pale-faced imperial doctor rushed over and said, "There is nothing abnormal about the medicine."

"Then the three of you will feed the five death row prisoners with your own hands!"

Upon hearing Jiao Shun's order, King Zhongshun felt more and more hopeless, so it was better to find another way to cover it up.

As a result, he lost interest in the trial and just kept his head down and meditated on countermeasures, but he didn't expect that half an hour later, heartbreaking screams of pain suddenly rang out in the middle of the empty field!

King Zhongshun's eyes were fixed as he watched the two death row prisoners rolling on the ground in pain. After a while, their voices gradually became weak again. One had a hoarse voice and twitched a few times from time to time, and the other simply lost his life.

Obviously, when the drug is mixed with food, it has a certain probability of causing death.

But how is this possible?!

Could it be that I thought wrongly, that the Supreme Emperor was not accidentally hit by the passenger car, but was tricked to death by these imperial doctors?!

But, but this is too...

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

At this time, an imperial doctor shouted excitedly: "There is absolutely no problem with the prescription we prescribe!"

"Absolutely impossible?"

Jiao Shun sneered, pointed at the two death row inmates and asked, "Could it be that this death and one disability are all fake?!"

As he said that, he looked at the other two imperial doctors: "The facts are all there, do you still want to continue to quibble?"

When the two imperial doctors heard this, one staggered and fell down and cried loudly, while the other knelt on the ground and took off his official hat tremblingly. He leaned on the ground and said: "It was our lack of academic skills that caused us to commit this heinous disaster. We are willing to die."

Apologize!"

As soon as these words came out, the man who had previously shouted that it was absolutely impossible also collapsed on the ground and covered his face and cried bitterly.

Seeing that none of the three suspects had objections, Jiao Shun turned to King Zhongshun and asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, now that the evidence of the crime is conclusive, should the criminal be detained as soon as possible to await his punishment?"

"Um, ah? Uh..."

King Zhongshun, who still hadn't turned a corner, hummed and hahaed a few times before he understood what Jiao Shun was going to say, and said hurriedly: "That's how it should be, that's exactly what it should be!"
To be continued...