and son

The New Year banquet in the Taiqing Palace had come to an end, few people moved their chopsticks, but concentrated on enjoying the singing and dancing.

Meng Chuji returned to Pei Jing's side, and Pei Jing asked, "Why did it take so long?"

As he spoke, he pulled down the skirt for him so that he would not trip over himself.

Meng Chuji said casually, "I feel uncomfortable in my stomach, maybe I ate something bad."

Pei Jing frowned, reached out and rubbed his stomach, "Would this be better?"

"much better."

Meng Chuji replied, drinking the greasy tea lightly and slowly.

At the same time, he looked slightly sideways to the outside of the hall, as if he was vaguely expecting something.

Pei Jing noticed the look in his eyes and felt puzzled. Then, a mournful cry sounded outside the hall, interrupting the singing and dancing, attracting everyone's attention:

"Brother Huang, Brother Huang, someone wants to kill me, you have to make the decision for me!"

There was an uproar in the hall, because Pei Xian's nose was bruised, his face was swollen, his forehead was covered with blood, his body was dusty, and he looked horrible.

Pei Jing understood something, and asked in a low voice, "What did you do?"

Meng Chuji looked up in a daze, as if he couldn't understand what Pei Jing was saying.

Pei Jing was angry and funny, no wonder he went out for so long, he did something bad together, but he was bullied by Pei Xian, he didn't know how to tell himself, he did it secretly.

Above, Emperor Sui, who was talking to the Queen Mother, had a cold expression on his face. He hated the younger brother who had slept with his concubine, but he had to take into account the face of the Queen Mother, and pretended to be a respectful brother, pretending to be furious:

"Who is it that dares to be so bold as to attack the prince in the palace!"

Pei Xian cried loudly: "The assassin is a man in the palace, he sent me a note at the New Year's banquet, invited me to the Yingcui Pavilion, and then attacked me, but unfortunately, the moon was dark and the wind was high, so my brother didn't see the man's face clearly. .Brother Huang, you must investigate this matter thoroughly, capture the assassin, skin and bones, and expose him to the sun for three days, otherwise I will feel restless, Brother Huang!"

Emperor Sui looked at the Empress Dowager, hoping that the Empress Dowager would come out and say something. It is really inappropriate to go to war for him on New Year's Eve to ruin his interest. Anyway, he came back alive, but he was beaten up. After Pei Xian lost four fingers I'm afraid only he knows how many ridiculous things he has done and how many debts he has owed. It is normal to be tricked out and beaten up, and the beating is really in line with his wishes. If it is not because of his status that he can't do it, he can't wait to beat him to death .

The Empress Dowager agreed with Emperor Sui, and said: "This matter cannot be let go casually. Emperor, you should investigate it with all your heart. The annual banquet is over tonight, and I will give him an explanation tomorrow."

Emperor Sui respectfully replied: "Yes."

Pei Xian was extremely dissatisfied, how could he not be aware of such a perfunctory meaning, and immediately shouted: "No, the assassin has to be found out tonight, if he is among the people in the palace, wouldn't it be easy to let him go? "

After the words fell, the queen mother yelled angrily: "Absurd!"

Emperor Sui hurriedly followed the Empress Dowager Shun's back.

The queen mother continued: "The palace is full of royal family members, who are either siblings or nephews with you. How could they do anything to you? Your imperial brother Jinkouyu said that he would give you an explanation. What are you doing here?"

Pei Xian was reprimanded. Instead of being afraid of being ashamed, he looked straight into the Empress Dowager's eyes, wiped the blood from his mouth, and said with a sneer, "Doesn't the Empress know if I am messing around with you? Or does the Empress know?" I know it well, but I only think about how to save trouble for the emperor, and don't want to seek justice for my worthless second son? The people who hurt me are in the palace, but the queen mother wants to let them go, who is messing around?"

Even the queen couldn't bear to listen to these words, and called out in a warning tone: "King Yun!"

Pei Xian sat down on the spot, and Sapo yelled, "I don't care, if I can't catch the murderer tonight and give me an explanation, I won't leave here. If any of you dare to take a step away, I will hit the post and die here." In the palace, turn into ghosts and demand your lives one by one!"

"Pei Xian, enough is enough!"

Emperor Sui was furious and called him by his name.

Pei Xian met his eyes and said tauntingly: "My dear brother, I broke four fingers for you back then, and almost died, why now that I am seriously injured, you are not willing to ask you to do justice for me?"

Emperor Sui was so angry that his chest heaved, and the cup in his hand shattered, and the pieces pierced into his palm, but he couldn't refute a single word.

After a while, he compromised and gritted his teeth: "Okay, I'll investigate this matter on the spot and give you an explanation."

Pei smiled contentedly, narrowed his small eyes on his fat face, and swept around the hall leisurely, with a mean and vicious look.

Emperor Sui took a few deep breaths, barely suppressed the anger in his heart, and called out: "Come on!"

The guards outside the hall quickly entered in response.

"Summon all the maids and servants on duty near Yingcui Pavilion for questioning, to see who has seen the person who committed an attack on King Yun, and whoever provides evidence will be rewarded."

The guard led the order to retreat.

The hall was silent, and the atmosphere fell into a stagnation and embarrassment, and even the air seemed to slowly stop flowing.

No one dared to speak, and even less dared to eat, for fear that making a sound would provoke the emperor's anger, so everyone listened to the whistling wind outside the hall, waiting for the guards to come back to report the result.

The Empress Dowager looked deeply tired, I don't know if it was an illusion, but the wrinkles under her eyes were deeper, her old and haggard appearance made people feel distressed, her body shook slightly, and even sitting still seemed to be holding herself up.

Meng Chuji asked Pei Jing uncertainly, and said in a very small voice, "Is Grandma Huang's body really all right?"

Pei Jing looked at the queen mother and felt that she was not in good health, but recalled that the queen mother's imperial physician said that the queen mother was fine, but that she was getting older and not as good as before, so she replied: "It should be that the New Year's banquet tonight is going well." It's been too long, Grandma Huang's body is a bit unbearable."

Meng Chuji thought it was the same, it was normal for such a big person to sit for a full hour or two, and the night was cold, so he was tired and tired.

After a while, the chief guard came back and knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the guard outside the palace who carried the letter said that it was a palace lady who delivered the letter. Because he didn't see the maid's face late at night, he asked the maids near Yingcui Pavilion, and no one admitted it."

"Miss?"

Emperor Sui opened his cloudy eyes.

There was a low noise in the hall.

There are not many people who can be called "mother".

Unexpectedly, it was a woman in the harem.

And at this moment, a soft and crisp "Your Majesty" drew their attention away from the guards.

Ping Pingting, a woman in a light pink jacket, walked out of the banquet, ignored King Zhennan's frowning, and said, "Your Majesty, Qinghe has something to say, and I don't know whether to say it or not."

With all eyes on her, how could she not be allowed to speak, Emperor Sui said, "Say!"

Shangguan Ting smiled slightly: "Qinghe just had a bold guess. All the women and girls in the harem of the New Year's Banquet are in the palace tonight. If they want to attack His Highness King Yun, they have to go out and make arrangements. Just find out who is at the table. I went out before His Royal Highness King Yun was assassinated, so the truth has come to light?"

Immediately, someone questioned: "The princess means that the assassination of His Royal Highness King Yun is a temporary idea? Then why can't it be arranged as soon as possible?"

Shangguan Ting raised her chin, looking confident and confident: "Because His Royal Highness King Yun never attended the banquet in previous years, and the women in the harem did not leave the deep palace, how could we know in advance that His Royal Highness King Yun will come today and make arrangements early?"

All the smart people present had a vague idea of ​​what she wanted to do.

Emperor Sui also did the same, and asked again: "Then, what clues does Princess Qinghe have?"

Sure enough, Shangguan Ting counted them one by one: "Before His Highness King Yun was assassinated, the people who left the palace were His Highness King Cai, His Highness Seventh Prince, His Highness Ninth Princess, Concubine Yan and..."

She turned her eyes and landed on Meng Chuji who was drinking tea calmly, "Princess and concubine."

As soon as the words fell, Gillian ran down from the hall and ran to Shangguan Ting, her almond eyes were jumping with anger, she stared at her fiercely and said, "What do you mean, are you trying to target sister-in-law by beating around the bush?"

The queen shouted displeasedly: "A-Jiao, come back!"

There is almost no silver 300 taels here.

Originally, there was still a suspicion of Princess Yan who had not been cleared, so 80.00% of the suspicion was attributed to Meng Chuji.

The corners of Shangguan Ting's mouth curled slightly, and she lowered her eyebrows to pretend to be submissive: "Sister Yu Xiao misunderstood, I didn't target anyone, I just told the truth."

Everyone's eyes immediately turned to Meng Chuji.

Meng Chuji seemed to have just realized that he was being called by name. He stopped drinking tea, raised his head full of doubts, and blinked innocently.

Pei Jing looked cold: "Princess Qinghe, you can eat indiscriminately, but you can't talk indiscriminately, you are responsible for what you say, if there is no murderer who assassinated the emperor's uncle among the people you named, what should you do? "

Shangguan Ting saluted after hearing the words: "Qinghe just wants to catch the murderer who assassinated the emperor's uncle as soon as possible. He has no other intentions. If he offends, please don't care about it like Qinghe. Qinghe will pay for it here."

Pei Jing frowned fiercely.

Emperor Sui said: "Appreciate Princess Qinghe, let Princess Qinghe return to the table!"

Shangguan Ting bowed and returned to her seat.

Now, Meng Chuji completely became the focus.

Emperor Sui couldn't believe that one-sided words were biased, so he first asked Princess Yan, who was dignified and generous, and directly stated the reason for leaving the palace. Meng Chuji.

Standing beside Princess Yan, Meng Chuji said calmly, "Father, my daughter-in-law came out of the palace for urgent reasons, and there are witnesses."

"Who is the witness?"

"The court lady near the Late Qing Palace doesn't remember who she is, but she remembers her face. If she recognizes her, she should be able to testify for me."

Meng Chuji was calm and at ease.

Pei Xian immediately asked: "Why did you go to the Palace of the Qing Dynasty in such a hurry?"

After being reminded by Shangguan Ting, he also felt that the hateful person was Meng Chuji, because he only teased Meng Chuji tonight and did nothing else.

It must be that Meng Chuji was upset at being molested by him, so he sent two strong men to arrest him in order to see if he would skin him alive.

Meng Chuji didn't raise his eyelids, and said calmly: "Because I got lost, Dasui's palace is much bigger than Dachu's. I didn't remember the geography of the palace until I was married, so I went to the nearest late Qing Dynasty. Find someone to lead the way."