Hello Chang’an

The assassination occurred near Tangzhou.

It was the fifth day after Yu Zeng and his party left Jiangdu. Not far from Huainan Road, they suddenly encountered nearly a hundred assassins lurking here and intercepted them.

In addition to the official bodyguards, the Holy Book Emperor also arranged for a group of secret guards to accompany him secretly. They also suffered heavy casualties.

At this moment, the leader of the secret guard, who was injured but still rushed back quickly, was kneeling in front of the dragon case to plead guilty and explain what happened.

"...Those people lurked in secret and first used hidden arrows to disrupt the team's horses. Their arrows were all poisoned, and the horses went crazy..."

The situation suddenly fell into chaos. Even if they came forward immediately, the crazy horses were not under control at all.

Moreover, they were passing through the mountains at that time. The mountain road was narrow, the field of vision was blocked, and the carriages and horses were running wildly in different directions. They could not immediately tell which direction Yu Zeng's carriage was being towed, so he could only order them to split up and pursue it.

As a result, his manpower will inevitably be scattered.

Those assassins were menacing, extremely ruthless in their attacks, and were very good at using hidden weapons to poison... His sixty elite men lost forty, and most of them died from poisoning.

When they found Yu Zeng's carriage, the carriage and horses had already rolled down the mountain.

The mountain was steep, the carriage was smashed to pieces, and the horses were mutilated...

"My subordinates found the mutilated body of Yu Changshi five steps away from the carriage...the bones and flesh were broken apart, and the head was cut off and taken away..."

Apparently he was taken away by those assassins.

The assassins quickly retreated after succeeding. Except for Yu Zeng, two of the six imperial officials on the trip died on the spot. The remaining four were also seriously injured and were on their way back to Beijing.

The secret guard commander responded truthfully, not daring to make any excuses, and finally kowtowed: "My subordinates are not doing their job well, please be punished by your Majesty!"

After a moment, a cool and majestic voice came from above: "Step back."

The secret guard commander seemed to have been granted amnesty. After standing up and saluting, he retreated silently.

This result was expected by the emperor. This was a trial initiated by her.

At this moment, the result of this temptation was clearly laid out in front of her.

Li Yin took action to kill Yu Zeng, but Ah Huan did not intervene to stop him... So, King Rong's move to silence him was not a matter of smooth sailing.

"Ma Xiang, King Rong has taken action."

The Holy Emperor looked at Ma Xingzhou who came in to salute, and said slowly: "Yu Zeng is indeed the spy he placed beside me... For so many years, I have taken every precaution, but I have missed such an important person."

Although Ma Xingzhou didn't know all the emperor's testing process, now that the emperor had made such a firm statement, it was confirmed.

Ma Xingzhou felt a chill in his heart.

The result of this test not only proved that Yu Zeng was someone else's spy, but also made people realize later: "It turns out that King Rong had had different intentions more than ten years ago...and no one noticed."

"He has always hidden it well. I know that I have never trusted him, but I have never been able to find anything wrong with him." The Holy Book Emperor sneered: "Now that he has killed Yu Zeng, he can no longer hide it, and he also doesn't bother to do it anymore. Hidden."

"He is so blatantly carrying out my temptation... Firstly, there must be a reason why Yu Zeng has to die, and secondly, he is sure that even if I know his true identity, I can't touch him at this moment!"

The emperor said word by word: "Li Yin's heart is not hidden. He is no longer afraid of me, the emperor."

The Holy Emperor was sitting in the dragon chair, holding tightly the dragon relief on the armrest with one hand. His eyes contained the anger of the emperor's majesty being provoked, as well as the suppressed and endured murderous intention.

She can't kill Li Yin now.

Li Yin's name has been revealed, and there are many people who want to use Li Yin to achieve success. Those people are looking at her with eager eyes... If she dares to attack Li Yin directly at this time, as long as Li Yin is not willing to sit back and wait for death, and calls out injustice, there will be immediate consequences. Countless people followed him.

The ruthless thing about the struggle for imperial power is that truth and falsehood, right and wrong, never matter.

Therefore, even if she knew what Li Yin had done at this time, she could not do anything about it - would she reveal his ambition in the court tomorrow? That was the mind of a three-year-old child, and it served no purpose other than making her appear dim.

The Holy Book Emperor closed his eyes slightly and calmed down the anger boiling in his heart.

Ma Xingzhou could clearly sense that the emperor's anger did not lie in the matter itself. A woman who had sat on the throne for so many years did not lack determination and patience.

What really made the emperor angry was her powerlessness as the emperor at this moment.

He knew he should kill, but he was unable to do so.

And if you are powerless at one thing, you are doomed to have many troubles... and even everything will fall into this powerlessness.

The last time this infuriating feeling of powerlessness appeared in the Holy Book Emperor was before she took power.

Since she came to power and even ascended the throne, this feeling of powerlessness has completely disappeared. As an emperor, there are always times when she can't help herself. But with the power in her hands, she can fight for it and kill... vassal kings, generals, Anyone from the noble clan who tried to compete with her would be beaten to death by her first step.

She has sat on the throne like this for more than ten years, and has also spent more than ten years in countless struggles and killings. However, instead of getting better, the situation has pushed her into a precarious situation.

She was confused and unwilling, thinking that everything shouldn't be like this, but her hands were becoming increasingly out of control and powerless.

This familiar yet unfamiliar feeling of powerlessness brought back many unpleasant memories for her, but the powerlessness of the palace concubine was completely different from that of the emperor.

Once you have experienced the feeling of life and death, it is destined to be difficult to accept the loss of power above tens of millions of people.

Concubine Ming could lay low and plan, patiently waiting for the opportunity...but as an emperor, she had no way to retreat, and the situation would not give her any chance to lie dormant.

Ma Xingzhou looked at the emperor in front of him, and suddenly felt that she was much older.

His temples have turned white, and his figure has become thinner...but the majesty and ambition surrounding him have not faded at all.

The still vigorous desire for power was locked in a body that was about to become old. The predicament in front of her made her feel like a candle dragon that was trapped by layers of iron chains but had already given birth to an old white beard.

After a moment of daze, Ma Xingzhou suppressed the ominous feeling of defeat in his heart.

"Your Majesty..." He seemed to be persuading the emperor, but also seemed to be comforting himself, or this was indeed part of the truth: "Now at least the Huainan Road has been leveled, the Japanese rebellion has ended, and Dongluo is also willing to continue repairing with our court... Kangding The Shanpinglu rebellion has also subsided, which shows that there is still a chance to reverse the situation. "

"Ma Xiang is right..." The Holy Book Emperor exhaled slowly, and all of these have the shadow of Ashang.

Although Ashang doesn't want to recognize her, he still helps her a lot...at least for now.

After receiving her reminder, Ah Shang did not go to protect Yu Zeng. It can be seen that the existence of Yu Zeng was indeed a means used by King Rong to monitor Ah Shang in the past... Perhaps King Rong even used Yu Zeng's hand to do something against him. Something bad happened to Ashang.

If that's the case, she might try to convince Ah Shang to join forces with her and try to get rid of King Rong together.

But even so, we still have to wait for an opportunity—

"I may not have a chance to kill him..." The Holy Emperor slightly narrowed his eyes with murderous intent, and said slowly: "With the current open-faced chaos, Bian Chunliang poses the greatest threat. If Bian Chunliang's chaos can be quelled, trouble will spread everywhere. I will definitely not dare to make any big moves for a while. When the situation is a little calmer and all parties are watching, I will take Li Yin’s life quickly!”

That would be her only chance to take action. Even if she still took the risk, she had to do it.

Ma Xingzhou looked slightly solemn when he heard this. He suppressed all his emotions and tried to ask: "In your Majesty's opinion, is it safe in Jingzhou?"

"Since Xiao Min led the reinforcements to Jingzhou, he has fought twice with Bian's army. Bian's army attacked twice, but failed to get close to Jingzhou. Now it is still defending Yuezhou..." The emperor said: "In my opinion, Jingzhou can be install."

But just holding Jingzhou is not enough. What she wants is to defeat Bian's army.

"Yesterday Li Xian sent a letter back to Beijing and swore to me that he would return to Yuezhou within one month, otherwise he would come to see me."

Although she no longer believed in Li Xian's ability, otherwise she would not have let Xiao Min go, but Li Xian repeatedly assured her in the letter that she had a good strategy to defeat the enemy and would not disappoint her.

If Li Xian really has a good plan and Xiao Min is by his side, he may not be able to wipe out Bian Chunliang's rebellious party within this year. One year is enough time for Ashang to take care of Huainan Road... After that, she can try to persuade Ashang to deal with King Rong with her.

Bian Chunliang, Li Yin... If these two are eliminated, she can reverse the decline.

The look in the empress's eyes was very strong, and there was no sign of depression or defeat at all.

After discussing all important matters with the empress, Ma Xingzhou raised his hands and bowed before leaving after half an hour.

"It's already getting late, and the spring rain is still chilly. I'll send someone to prepare a sedan for the horses and ministers to leave the palace."

Ma Xingzhou saluted again: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After Ma Xingzhou exited the Manna Hall, a palace lady came to the dragon table with pills in her hands and whispered: "Sage, it's time to take the medicine..."

The Holy Emperor swept his eyes away and saw that there was only one pill in the medicine box that Gong E was holding, and she had been taking two pills every time recently.

Sensing the emperor's gaze, Gong E lowered her eyes lower: "Your Majesty, this is the last pill left by the imperial master..."

There was no emotion or anger in the voice of the Holy Book Emperor: "Let it go."

"Yes." Gong E responded, put down the elixir, and slowly retreated.

The Holy Emperor looked at the elixir quietly - her national master had indeed been away for too long.

She also asked for the return date several times, but Tianjing never showed any intention of returning.

This is about really left.

She had always known that Tianjing was not loyal to her, but to the person with the destiny.

She asked Tianjing many times whether her imperial destiny was gone, and Tianjing always replied that Tianjing's secret should not be revealed.

So she thought that Tianjing might have already caught a glimpse of the secret. He was not looking for some "disaster star" for her, but looking for the next emperor star for himself...

But for a person like him, if he doesn't want to reveal anything, no matter what means she uses, he won't say anything.

People like him have always been regarded as the messengers of God's will, and the words spoken from his mouth can often become a sharp sword... She has used such a sword, so she knows its power.

After a while, the Holy Book Emperor summoned a chamberlain.

The **** in the red robe was ordinary-looking, about thirty years old. After Yu Zeng left the capital, he took care of all the affairs of the palace.

"Where has the Imperial Master been recently?"

The chamberlain respectfully replied: "Your Majesty, a letter came back yesterday that the Imperial Guard has arrived near Quzhou."

"Enter Jiannan Road..." Shengzhu Emperor said with a half-smile, "It's quite close to Prince Rong's Mansion."

The chamberlain did not answer, but bowed slightly, waiting attentively for the emperor's next words.

"Forget it, the Imperial Master is old and does not want to return to the capital, so I will fulfill his intention to travel around the world." The Holy Emperor took the vermilion elixir and put a little force between his fingers: "In this case, I will let the Imperial Master guard Everyone, please come back."

As she finished speaking, the scarlet pill also shattered into powder.

"Yes, I will arrange this later." The chamberlain held a brocade handkerchief in both hands and handed it over with his head lowered.

When the Holy Emperor took it, the chamberlain asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, I don't know how to arrange the family members of Yu Changshi?"

"Bring them to the palace platform and wait for them to be used as a metaphor to identify the corpses."

Yu Zeng acted so cautiously. Although the chance of revealing the secrets of Prince Rong's palace to his family was slim, there was no harm in giving it a try.

The waiter understood and withdrew.

That night, a servant came to Yu's house in the rain.

Yu's mother heard the noise and rushed forward to greet him.

The chamberlain who arrived informed him of the assassination of Yu Zeng.

When Yu's mother heard the words, the color on her face faded in an instant, she opened her mouth, unable to make a clear sound.

"My condolences, Madam." The young chamberlain said, "Right now, Madam Lao and Mr. Yu have to go with us to the palace. Mr. Yu's body is incomplete, and we need you two to identify him later."

Mother Yu's eyes were red, and she nodded blankly, then shook her head again: "But the second brother is not at home... The child is sick, and several doctors have been called in, but he has not recovered. After he got off duty today, he took his wife and children with him. Burning incense and praying for blessings at Dayun Temple..."

"Unfortunately, it rained, so I asked someone to come back and send a message, saying that I would rest in the temple for one night and come back tomorrow!"

As she said this, Yu's mother couldn't control her tears any longer, and she felt a little at a loss: "Such a big thing happened... I'll go find him and bring him back!"

When she was about to walk out, she was blocked by two chamberlains who came forward.

"It's rainy and the roads are slippery. It's inconvenient to leave the city, so I don't bother the old lady and go there in person." The leader of the chamberlain said: "Our family will just send someone to pick up the second master back to the city."

"It's okay, it's okay..." Yu's mother wiped her tears and broke down in tears.

"Then please first ask the old lady to follow me into the palace."

Yu's mother seemed so sad that she didn't even bother to change her clothes, so she hurried away with the waiter.

When the chamberlain left, more than ten chamberlains were left behind in the name of protection, guarding all the entrances and exits of the Yu family.

The mother-in-law beside Yu's mother came to Yu Guang's yard in a panic.

Yu Guang's family of three did not go out of the city to offer incense at all.

The mother-in-law explained the matter with an anxious look on her face.

"What happened to my brother?!" Yu Guangda turned pale with shock.

how so? Why did Aniang enter the palace alone?

"Second Master, please leave with me quickly... We have to escape! Those people will soon find out that something is wrong!"

Yu Guang was confused, why did he run away? It happened suddenly, and it was unclear. He wouldn't leave until he made it clear!

Seeing the annoying and stubborn look on his face, the mother-in-law simply stopped looking at him and pulled her up: "Madam, hurry up!"

"Okay..." The woman hurried to the next room to call the child, and said hurriedly: "Let's talk while walking!"

Soon only Yu Guang was left in the room. He stayed for a moment and then ran out.

The mother-in-law took Yu Guang's family to Yu Zeng's wine cellar in the rain and darkness.

There is an unknown secret passage here, and Yu's mother only learned of its existence not long ago.

Before Yu Zeng left Beijing, he had a secret conversation with her, in this wine cellar.

At this moment, Yu's mother was sitting in the carriage entering the palace, and her mind was filled with the conversation that night.

4200 words. Happy New Year (but no dumplings) and good night! (I can write about Xiao Wei tomorrow)