Questioning the truth

When Yan Yu arrived at Renshou Palace, he was wearing mourning clothes. The plain white color made Yan Qing's heart skip a beat. Just two years ago, he had also worn mourning clothes on his body.

She will never forget the despair and mourning that made the whole world collapse when the late emperor passed away. She almost feels the same way as Yan Yu's mood at this moment.

"Empress..." As soon as Yan Yu opened her mouth, her tears became harder to hold back. Her eyes were extremely red and swollen, and her voice became extremely hoarse. Yan Qing ordered someone to help her onto the kang, but unexpectedly Yan Yu " With a bang, he knelt on the ground.

"Sister!"

Yan Qing hurriedly went to help her personally, but Yan Yu struggled and refused to get up. She clung to Yan Qing's arm, looked at her sadly and said, "I beg you... to make the decision for me!"

"Yes ! What do you want to say when you get up..." Yan Qing and the palace staff helped her up, and the eunuch brought a stool and placed it behind her.

Seeing Yan Yu looking around, Yan Qing asked all the palace officials and eunuchs to leave first. Seeing that there were only two of them left in the palace, Yan Yu then said: "Qing'er, I'm here today. I want to ask you something."

Yan Qing asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Yan Yu looked at her and choked, "I know you never liked your brother-in-law, but now he died unjustly, and only you can do it. Prince Cheng made the decision for our mother and son..."

"Died unjustly?" Yan Qing said in shock. She vaguely guessed what her cousin wanted to say, "The imperial doctor was at the palace on the night that Prince Cheng died. Early that morning, the Empress Dowager Ciyi and I summoned the two imperial doctors. They both said that King Cheng was seriously ill and died of illness. "

"Yes, my prince was ill, but it was not a serious illness. He has been taking the medicine according to the prescription and his health has gradually improved. Why did he suddenly become unable to hold on for a few days? "

Yan Qing looked at her and was silent for a while before speaking again: "Who do you think is trying to harm him? "

Yan Yu? He sneered, "It's not just me, no one in the capital knows who the prince has offended..." In

the two days after King Cheng's accident, rumors spread throughout the capital. Like Princess Cheng's concubine Yan Yu, everyone thought that King Cheng Jiang Weiren's death will not be so simple. Everyone knows that Jiang Weiren and Cheng Wang's death are inseparable from him.

"But everything has to be proven," Yan Qing held a handkerchief and wiped away her cousin's tears bit by bit, then lowered her voice and said slowly, "The typhoid he contracted before he became the king was indeed not serious, but Ah Sister, are there many people in this world who have been killed by 'common' typhoid fever?

"The imperial doctor said that Wang Cheng's illness took a turn for the worse a few days ago. I wonder if the imperial doctor dared to deceive me and Empress Dowager Ciyi? "

A few days ago..." Yan Yu shed tears, her whole body trembling, "My prince visited Jiang Weiren's mansion a few days ago!" Yan

Qing was shocked when he heard this and murmured: "What did he go to Jiang Mansion for?" "

When Yan Yu remembered what Zhao Chun said to her a few days ago, the words were still ringing in her ears. She was no longer alive, and she felt even more heartbroken. She sobbed: "The prince told me that while the late emperor was here, nothing would happen to Prince Cheng. As soon as the late emperor left..."

When the late emperor was mentioned, Yan Qing's pupils shrank immediately. He felt a lump in his throat and his eyes were sore. He wanted to comfort Yan Yu, but his own sadness was involved and he almost shed tears.

"The late emperor is gone . Well, now that Jiang Weiren covers the sky with one hand, the two Queen Mothers and Your Majesty are all letting him go. The prince said that he is inferior to others, how can he not bow his head... He went to Jiang Mansion... because he wanted to ask Jiang Weiren to show his noble hand and let us go..."

Yan Qing stretched out her hand, stroked her cousin's back, and patted her gently, waiting for her to gradually recover.

"Qing'er, why did the prince's condition worsen after he came back from Jiang Mansion? I don't believe it. If I don't believe it, it really has nothing to do with Jiang Weiren. ! "Yan Yu gritted her teeth and said.

Yan Qing sighed, "Even if it is related to him, we need evidence. If we want evidence, then there is only..." She paused, looked at Yan Yu, and spoke slowly, "An autopsy will be performed. "

Yan Yu's eyes widened, a little frightened, and a little confused. After a while, he murmured: "No, no, how could you do that to the prince..."

Yan Qing did not speak. The scene at this time reminded her of Many years ago in Jiangling, I’m afraid my cousin won’t even remember it. One day in the 17th year of Chenghua, there was also a young man in green shirt kneeling in the courtyard of Prince Cheng’s palace. The young man once firmly said that he would ask a widower to be his father. Autopsy. Who could watch the autopsy of a close relative? She remembered the desperate hatred in the young man's eyes at that time. The hatred

made him willing to bear the infamy and deep guilt to avenge his father.

The cousin took her into his arms and let her lean against him, "That's the prince, so how can you really let him do an autopsy? Don't say you don't want to, the court won't allow it.

"I can issue an order and ask Dali Temple to investigate the matter thoroughly, but Jiang Weiren is the chief minister of the dynasty. Sister, have you ever thought about it, if the final result is not what you expected, what will happen again when the time comes? How will it end..."

Although she is the Queen Mother, if she lets Dali Temple investigate the chief minister based on groundless speculation, and if it ends in a farce, how will she give an explanation to the court?

"Sister, can you guarantee that it was definitely Jiang Weiren who harmed King Cheng?"

Yan Yu looked at her desperately and asked, "Don't you even believe it?"

She gripped the corner of Yan Qing's clothes and shook her head with a wry smile. "Qing'er, have you forgotten how Master Shen Shen died?"

This sentence made Yan Qing stunned on the spot as if struck by lightning.

Chong noted...

"Jiang Weiren was your father's disciple at the beginning. He and A Lan were as close as brothers at that time, but what happened later? Later, because of his dispute with Cai Yong, he was ordered by your father to impeach Cai's party, but he was demoted back to Jiangling. You Neither his father nor Shen Zhu came to rescue him, so he always held a grudge, and later turned to Cai Yong.

"After Cai Yong died, he brought down Shen Zhu again, and finally Shen Zhu was exiled to Qiongzhou and died inexplicably..." Yan Yu looked at her and asked word for word, "What kind of person are you, Jiang Weiren, do you really not know? "

Yan Yu was silent. Shen Zhu's death at the time was more suspicious than Cheng Wang's death now, but he had lost power at that time and no one dared to speak for him.

If Jiang Weiren refused to let Shen Zhu go, what would happen again? How could she let Zhao Cong, the King of Chengdu, who was accused of killing his father

, not even she know clearly what kind of person Jiang Weiren is?

"Sister, you have to understand," Yan Qing held her hand. Regardless of whether there is a secret behind Cheng Wang's death, there is nothing you can do to Jiang Weiren. You can't and neither can I. "

Things in the world are never that simple. If you have grievances, you may not be redressed, and if you have revenge, you may not be repaid.

Even if you are the emperor, you cannot really do whatever you want.

Yan Qingxuan saw Jiang Weiren in Wende Hall, and he was talking about the state minister. When

Jiang Weiren heard what the eunuch said in Wenyuan Pavilion, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He didn't know what rumors were being spread in Beijing. When he returned home yesterday, even Shi Ying was careful to test her words. The king's death was indeed sudden.

Zhang Fang sent him a message privately. Princess Cheng went to see Yan Qing last night. Without thinking, he could guess what Princess Cheng said to her when she

came out of Wenyuan Pavilion . At that time, I also met Liang Chenghuan, the Minister of Rites. Mr. Liang looked him up and down and said, "Tingchen, why do you look so unhappy..."

Although Jiang Weiren is the head of the civil service, his age, not to mention compared with the cabinet members, is almost all older than him, even the officials who have reached the third rank in the court. Not to mention Liang Chenghuan, a veteran of the Four Dynasties, whose qualifications are second to none in the current imperial court, so privately, he also respects Mr. Liang very much.

Mr. Liang said with concern: "Those who are capable work hard, but you can't work too hard. You can't rely on your youth to not take your body seriously!"

Jiang Weiren couldn't help but smile, he was now standing Only in the eyes of these veterans, he is still young.

In the Wende Hall, Yan Qing had been waiting for him for a long time. When he saw the chief minister coming in, he dismissed the palace people in the hall.

The two of them had not seen each other since the Mid-Autumn Festival. She said she was ill and he had no chance to see her.

Jiang Weiren raised his eyes to look at her. He felt a little distressed at the first glance. She had really lost a lot of weight...

When the late emperor passed away two years ago, she was devastated. He just watched her lose weight little by little. Later, I finally managed to get better, but I have been sick this year, so I have lost a lot of weight. No matter how difficult the national affairs are, it is not as helpless as calling the chief minister at this time.

"Sir, please sit down," Yan Qing pointed to the chair next to her. Her expression was as usual, but she didn't show any emotion. "I summoned you here today because I have something to ask you."

"I'd like to ask you, your Majesty," he said calmly. , and looked at her without hesitation, "I will tell you everything I know."

"I will tell you everything I know..." She lowered her head and murmured, then laughed softly, "Okay, sir, I have a heavy state affairs, so I took the time to come here. There are only two of you in this hall, so I won’t go around in circles with you. I think you can guess what I asked, which is the cause of King Cheng’s death.”

Jiang Weiren naturally guessed why she came here. , but I didn’t expect her to be so direct.

He lowered his head and smiled suddenly. The smile was so shallow that Yan Qing did not see it.

Since Yan Yu met her that night, he must have pointed the finger at him, and what he said specifically was what he expected. Whether Yan Qing believed it or not, Jiang Weiren would not be surprised. What surprised him was that she would ask him directly.

He didn't really care about the rumors outside, but she was still willing to ask herself this question, which made him happy.

"The imperial physician has already informed the two queen mothers about the cause of King Cheng's death. Since the imperial physician said that he died due to illness, I think it must be correct."

Yan Qing looked at his indifferent expression and felt inexplicably angry. With such high-sounding words and such deep scheming, it was not easy to get rid of her few questions.

"King Cheng is indeed infected with wind and cold, but before the accident, he visited your Jiang Mansion once. What happened that night? Now that King Cheng is dead, there is no evidence. I just ask, sir, if he has a clear conscience?"

He sighed lowly, She replied with a rather helpless look: "Then what does the Queen Mother think I did to King Cheng? Did you poison him?"

"There are many ways to kill someone, and some don't even need to hurt their skin," she said calmly He said, "For example, threats, such as intimidation... For the revenge of killing my father, has Mr. never really thought about avenging his father?"

"The revenge for killing my father..." He whispered, "There are many ways to take revenge. You can't choose the right one. The most unfavorable thing for me. Speaking of which, in Jiangling that year, the empress was in Prince Cheng's palace."

Yan Qing's eyes flickered, not expecting him to suddenly mention her.

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but Jiang Weiren obviously lowered his voice, "That was also the first time I met the empress. What a coincidence. One person left and the other came..."

He tilted his head, with a faint smile on his lips. Thoughtful, sadness surged in his eyes.

"Don't say that King Cheng's death has nothing to do with me. Just like those baseless speculations, I harmed King Cheng so stupidly." He raised his head and said calmly, "I don't have any conscience at all.

" For a moment, he looked at her quietly without any regard for etiquette.

"How dare you forget the revenge of killing your father, but whether it was Cheng Wang's death or..." He paused, "It's still what happened that night during the Mid-Autumn Festival. If you don't believe me, then all my excuses will be in vain." She said

. She looked away and said no more. The hall was quiet for a while. Jiang Weiren didn't know what she was thinking at the moment. He stood up and walked slowly to her, "I know, whatever I say now seems to you to be sophistry, and there is no evidence to prove my innocence. But that night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was really just a misunderstanding. At that time I..."

"What about Shen Zhu's death?" Yan Qing suddenly interrupted him and asked, "Are you also innocent of Shen Zhu's death?"

He paused suddenly and did not answer.

Yan Qing asked him to ask about the cause of Wang Cheng's death, but what he saw was not his answer. She had just carefully studied his expression. Unless he had been able to control his emotions enough to be fake, Yan Qing would still rather believe that this matter had nothing to do with him.

At this moment, he didn't answer, but his expression gave Yan Qing the answer.

"You can lie to me, but I can't do anything for him anyway..." She murmured with a wry smile.

He pursed his lips, a trace of pain flashed in his eyes, and his voice became darker, "You still care about him... If you want to listen to the truth, then I will tell you the truth. Shen Zhu's death was not caused by my hands. But it is true that I am not innocent."

His eyes were extremely cold, just like the smile on his lips at this moment, "In my eyes, he deserves to die."

It was not his hand, but there was no need. Did he do it himself? Shen Zhu was sent to Qiongzhou, where the mountains and rivers were dangerous, not to mention the officials and soldiers there. Who didn't know that Shen Zhu was Lord Jiang Weiren's mortal enemy and a thorn in his Lord Jiang's side.

Shen Zhun has completely lost power. The mountains are high and the rivers are far away. No one cares about him even if he dies in the end of the world. The people below him will do anything to please Mr. Jiang who holds great power, so they will naturally try to figure out his intentions and do it for him. this matter.

If Jiang Weiren was just a person who repaid evil with kindness and had a pure heart, then it would not be his turn to take the position of chief minister of the dynasty now.

"I understand..." Yan Qing spoke softly.

"What happened on the Mid-Autumn Festival night," he said in a low voice, looking at her persistently, "Do you not believe it, or do you not want to know?"

Hearing this, Yan Qing raised her head, looked at him and sneered: "What happened that night is important. "What?"

Jiang Weiren turned his head, but heard her say softly: "Maybe, maybe it was such a coincidence. You didn't mean it, but she did. You didn't have time to refuse, but I broke it..."

Those For days, she thought over and over again, thinking about the possibilities of what happened that night.

Did he and Cao Dingzhen have an affair for a long time? Maybe she had misunderstood, and if she had misunderstood, what kind of misunderstanding would it be...

Over and over again, she kept thinking, sitting in the bathtub and thinking that the water was cold, and lying on the bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She found a thousand reasons for him, and then slowly overturned those thousand reasons. She felt that she was really sad and pitiful...

"No matter what happened that night, Mr. Jiang, the first assistant, needs Empress Dowager Ciyi Empress Dowager Ciyi also needs your help, Mr. Jiang. This can’t be wrong... I understand the power of the government, and the two palaces are respected..."

She laughed, "How can it be possible to respect each other, Emperor? There is only one biological mother. She will always grow up and be able to govern herself. Everything can change, but the blood relationship will not change. This world belongs to their mother and son. No matter how high the world, Mr. Jiang is just a minister, and no matter how sincere I am, I am just an outsider. ..."

Jiang Weiren stood in the hall without saying anything. Yan Qing would not know that the hands in his sleeves were so clenched that they pierced his palms.

"Jiang Weiren..." She suddenly spoke.

It was so rare that she called his name like this, just three words, but hearing these three words come out of her mouth seemed like a luxury.

"Yan Yu is my sister, and I won't let anyone hurt her."

He frowned and smiled bitterly. His voice was very soft, as if he was mocking himself: "In your eyes, how vicious I am, even the orphans Even the widowed mother won't let it go... Maybe you won't believe me if I tell you, but I won't hurt their mother and son, let alone lie to you."

Yan Qing didn't say anything, but he suddenly said in a low voice: "This. I've only lied to you once in my life."

She looked at him doubtfully.

"That year in the pavilion on the outskirts of Beijing, you came to see me off..."

"Stop talking..." She suddenly spoke, but there was a look of pain in her eyes.

Jiang Weiren did not remain silent. He continued, "You asked me then, you asked me if I had you in my heart." He looked at her and said slowly word by word, "I lied to you then..."