Chapter 135: The Nature of Jackals and Tigers
Tang Ying's words caused the temperature in Qingliang Palace to drop sharply, approaching the cold winter.
Zhang Wenhua knelt on the shiny tiles in the hall, feeling the cold running up along his kneecaps, stirring up a layer of white sweat on his back and up to his forehead. He couldn't help shivering: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, the man surnamed Tang is talking nonsense. I..."
Tang Ying: "The Dali Temple still has the autopsy record of the cause of death of Mr. Zhang's nephew Zhang Yu. Do you want to bring it to your majesty for your personal review?"
"Your Majesty, I am innocent!"
Tang Ying: "Master Zhang, His Majesty hasn't punished you yet, but you're already crying foul. Are you feeling guilty?"
Zhang Wenhua wanted to tear her mouth apart: "Tang, you are the one who instigated this!"
Suddenly, the Southern Qi Emperor shouted, "Shut up!"
He had only heard vaguely about Zhang Yu's death. He heard that it was somewhat related to Tang Ying's cousin. As for the details - he was an emperor who was busy with all kinds of affairs and had to find time to develop his hobby of practicing alchemy, so he didn't have the time to delve into it. Anyway, the ministers in charge of criminal law would handle it, and only if they couldn't make a decision would it be handed to him.
He was not in a hurry until Tang Ying revealed the cause of Zhang Yu's death.
But just now, after Tang Ying shouted, his heart sank rapidly, as if it was about to sink into an endless black hole, bottomless.
——Zhang Yu also had the symptoms of "fever all over the body, excitement, red face and light footsteps", which were particularly obvious every time after taking the golden elixir, and were also accompanied by symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, and a feeling of high temperature from both nostrils that could spit out fireballs.
Taoist Xuanzhen always comforted him by saying that it was the only way to immortality, so he believed it.
It's not that he didn't have doubts in the middle, but "immortality" was so tempting that he had already closed his eyes and ears for the sake of "immortality".
Zhang Wenhua was trembling.
Emperor of Southern Qi: "Tang Qing, you speak."
Tang Ying was not polite: "Your Majesty, I don't know why Lord Zhang recommended Taoist Xuanzhen, or if there is someone behind it, but since Zhang Yu died after taking the golden stone medicine, I sent people to investigate Taoist Xuanzhen and found that his master passed away at the age of forty. Their sect is the Danding Sect, and there is no longevity in their sect. I heard that they all like to swallow golden pills to practice, but they have not seen any immortals."
The Emperor of Southern Qi felt as if someone had poured a basin of ice water over his head, chilling him from head to toe. He pointed at Zhang Wenhua and shouted three times: "Tell me, who ordered you to do this? Tell me!"
His paranoia had already reached an advanced stage, and when it flared up, it was fine, but when it flared up, he was almost insane. Seeing that Zhang Wenhua refused to admit it and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, he felt that he could no longer suppress his anger: "Tang Ying, listen to my order, take Zhang Wenhua to the imperial prison and interrogate him strictly. Make sure to find out who is behind this!" As soon as he finished speaking, he could no longer suppress the surging blood and spurted out a mouthful of blood, and the whole person fell straight backwards.
Zhang Wenhua was so frightened that his soul left his body: "Your Majesty——" Although he had foreseen that the emperor's health would collapse, he must have cleared himself of all charges instead of falling into the hands of the maid named Tang from the Imperial Cavalry Division.
A shadow appeared from nowhere and acted as a human cushion when the Emperor of Southern Qi fell.
The eunuch quickly summoned the imperial physician, and after a busy period of acupuncture and rescue efforts, the Emperor of Southern Qi finally regained consciousness.
Tang Ying: "Master Zhang, please come in."
Zhang Wenhua: “…”
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In April of the sixteenth year of Jiazheng's reign, the Emperor of Southern Qi had been bedridden for half a month, and his health was deteriorating. He issued an edict to summon Prince Qing, Prince Xiang, and Prince Liao back to the capital.
Tang Ying watched the express horse leave the capital to convey the imperial edict, and then stepped into the Qingliang Palace holding a roll of confession.
A strong smell of medicine has been filling the Qingliang Palace for nearly a month. Even though the windows have been open day and night, it seems that the smell of medicine cannot be dispelled.
The Crown Prince was attending to the sick in the palace. Seeing Tang Ying, he lowered his voice and said, "Grandfather just fell asleep. Is there anything wrong, Chief Envoy Tang?"
Tang Ying handed over the confession in her hand. After receiving it, the Crown Prince Yuan Yi read through it quickly. He was so angry that he was shaking: "... Yuan Lang's methods were so cruel that he actually dared to attack my grandfather!"
He never dreamed that Yuan Lang, for the throne, would dare to collude with Taoist priests to trick the Emperor of Southern Qi into taking large amounts of elixirs, thus shortening his lifespan.
Tang Ying: "This is what Zhang Wenhua said. As for the Xuanzhen Immortal..." She looked sarcastic: "He is quite knowledgeable in medicine, but he still dreamed that he could survive. I think it's a bit too easy for him to die early. Didn't he brag about how effective his elixirs are? Your Majesty should have a lot of elixirs in your elixir room. Why not let him take a few more pills every day? Maybe he can live a few more days."
Yuan Yi: "Just follow what Tang Qing said."
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Zhang Wenhua's life in the Imperial Cavalry Division was worse than death. Besides, he was not a tough guy to begin with, so he could not bear it any longer and not only betrayed his master, but also gave him an extra piece of news - if the Taoist Xuanzhen had not caught fire that day, Tang Ying would have become the Yin person he chose for the Emperor and would have served the Emperor in bed.
When Fu Chen heard about this, he was terrified and wished he could skin Taoist Xuanzhen and Zhang Wenhua alive. He also felt disgusted with the Emperor of Southern Qi.
Tang Ying comforted him: "Don't worry, don't worry. Even if you don't peel off Xuan Zhen's skin, he will shed a layer of skin on his own."
Xuanzhen had large areas of burns on his body. On the day Zhang Wenhua was taken to the imperial prison, he was moved out of the palace and sent to the imperial prison as well. All of this was in Tang Ying's hands.
He cried out in agony day and night in the imperial prison, and requested to see His Majesty countless times. When he saw Tang Ying, he was so excited that he wanted to rush over, and kept muttering: "How did you do this?"
Tang Ying was surprised and said, "What did Immortal Xuanzhen say? What did I do? You and Zhang Wenhua conspired to deceive His Majesty and were punished by heaven. Now you want to push the blame on me? Did I instigate you? Don't blame me!"
Xuan Zhen made another request: "I want to see the little eunuch who helped me pack my clothes!" He was just playing tricks on others and didn't believe in any "divine punishment". It was obvious that someone had tampered with his robes. Apart from the possibility that this person was Tang Ying, the easiest one could be the little eunuch who served him closely.
There was no one else involved in the conspiracy between him and Zhang Wenhua, but the Imperial Cavalry Division was the best at gathering information, so there was a chance that the news would leak out; or there might be ministers in the court who opposed him who secretly instigated them, and the first to bear the would be Weng Xianhe... In any case, this was definitely man-made and had nothing to do with God.
Tang Ying laughed loudly: "Look at this Taoist, has he gone crazy? He bites whoever he catches now . It's fine if he bites me, after all, he has always disliked me. Now he doesn't even let go of the eunuchs serving in the palace. He will try to drag anyone who can be used to take the blame for him into the water."
Liu Zhong and others who were accompanying him were laughing like crazy: "He's an immortal? Maybe his brain is burned out? Sir, don't bother with a madman. He will do anything to get rid of the crime. We have seen a lot of such prisoners. He will be obedient after a few good treatment ." As he said that, he was going to call a few people to go in and teach Xuan Zhen a lesson.
Tang Ying instead tried to be a peacemaker: "Forget it, forget it. The Crown Prince is kind and has rewarded him with a golden elixir to prolong his life. You can feed him the golden elixir three times a day. Who knows, he might really become an immortal in a few days."
Xuan Zhen saw a large box full of pills and stepped back in fear: "No no——"
Tang Ying: "Hey, this is strange. When you were coaxing His Majesty to eat it, didn't you say it was a good medicine for immortality? Why are you backing off when it's your turn to eat it?"
Liu Zhong brought a few people in, pressed on his neck, stuffed a few pills into his mouth and forced him to swallow them. In order to prevent him from vomiting them out by digging his throat, they tied him up. Xuan Zhen's burnt flesh could not withstand the bondage, and he wailed in pain. His appearance was very miserable.
Tang Ying couldn't help shaking her head and sighing, "You are committing a sin..." She seemed unable to bear to cover her eyes and leave.
Liu Zhong and others laughed.
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Naturally, Fu Chen also asked the Taoist Xuan Zhen's question: "Why did the demon Taoist spontaneously combust? Did you do anything?"
Tang Ying treated him differently: "Of course, she bribed the people around to sprinkle rosin powder on his robes, and sprinkled a few more handfuls while putting out the fire, so that the fire would burn more and more fiercely and could not be put out for a while."
Seeing her so proud like a mischievous child, Fu Chen found her adorable and couldn't help but rub her head twice: "You, Xuan Zhen is unlucky to meet you." He knew the ability of the Cavalry Banning Division: "Didn't you realize that there was something wrong with Xuan Zhen before?"
Tang Ying laughed sarcastically, "I knew it from the moment he instigated Your Majesty to make the elixir and take it. But why should I remind Your Majesty?" She held it in for a long time, and finally she was able to confide in others, "In the past two years, I have gradually figured out one thing. At the beginning, you found out for me that the Second Prince was secretly manipulating the White City incident, but could Your Majesty really not have noticed it?"
Fu Chen: “…”
She said, "How could he not know? It's just that the Crown Prince's health has been poor for a long time, and the Crown Prince's grandson is very smart, so he secretly acquiesced to the Second Prince's behavior with an attitude of going with the flow. He was just afraid that one day the Crown Prince would be sick, or the Crown Prince's grandson would not be able to control the old ministers, so he had to find a way to get rid of the old ministers who might hinder his children and grandchildren in the future, especially the Tang family, which has been in charge of the military for generations. It is even more necessary to destroy them as soon as possible, and it can't be too obvious. It just so happened that the Second Prince wanted to win over the military generals from the Tang family and set up this vicious plan, so he was even more happy to see it succeed and opened the door to convenience. In the past two years, I have been investigating the old ministers for him, and gradually figured out the key. He just wants to pave the way for his grandson, and ignores the life and death of others. Even the lives of tens of thousands of men are in his mind."
"Both father and son are wolves and tigers, birds of a feather!" Tears were about to fall from her eyes, but she wiped them away stubbornly: "I won't let him get his wish!"
