Chapter 194 Renzong
Hearing the shrill cries in the inner hall, both Lu Sen and Prince Runan looked a little surprised.
No way!
The young eunuch leading them immediately quickened his pace, and Lu Sen and Prince of Runan followed immediately.
Bao Zheng, Master Pang and others behind also sped up.
When they entered the room, they found that there were many people gathered inside. Empress Cao was also there, and several people who looked like imperial doctors were lying on the ground with their heads down, shivering.
There was also an old eunuch who forced half a bottle of honey into Zhao Zhen's mouth.
However, only a small part of the honey entered his throat, while most of it flowed out. But the old eunuch still kept drinking it, with a look of panic on his face.
Empress Cao, who was sitting on the bed, was crying. When she saw Bao Zheng and others coming in, she seemed to have found her backbone. She rushed over and shouted, "My dear ministers, the emperor, the emperor..."
Bao Zheng turned around and asked the imperial physician beside him: "How is the emperor's condition?"
Several imperial doctors bowed their heads even lower. After a while, an old imperial doctor raised his head and said with confused eyes: "The emperor has had a sudden stroke... He has passed away."
Bao Zheng took a deep breath and took a few steps back in a daze.
As for Master Pang and others, their faces were also pale.
Although Zhao Zhen was not an emperor of great talent and strategy, in the eyes of civil and military officials, he was considered a good emperor who was good at accepting advice and could tolerate people speaking frankly.
It can be said that from the perspective of literati, Zhao Zhen was the kind of emperor they most admired.
But in their eyes, this good emperor, who was rarely seen in a thousand years, actually passed away?
He is only in his early forties, in the prime of his life.
Bao Zheng murmured, "Why is it so sudden?"
The Prince of Runan was also surprised: "Yes, I usually send some fairy fruit and honey water in from time to time? And half an hour ago, I specially asked someone to send Master Lu's honey in, why didn't you drink it?"
Empress Cao collapsed on the ground, crying so hard that she could hardly breathe: "Half an hour ago, the emperor could still open his eyes. How could he have known that before the honey water came in, he had already..."
Lu Sen walked to the bed and looked at Zhao Zhen's body.
Bao Zheng immediately came up and asked, "Master Lu, do you have any ideas?"
His eyes were filled with hope.
Lu Sen shook his head: "If there is still a trace of breath, it can be saved by pouring honey into it. It is obvious that there is no breath."
Upon hearing this, Bao Zheng raised his head and let out a long breath.
"There are unexpected changes in the world!" Master Pang shook his head with emotion.
He was the oldest among the crowd and had long been accustomed to the separation of life and death.
Lu Sen frowned, but felt very strange. In history, Zhao Zhen lived to be fifty-four years old, but now Zhao Zhen seemed to be only forty-four years old.
"Logically speaking, he should have at least ten years left to live."
Lu Sen muttered quietly.
Because Empress Cao was crying and making a lot of noise, almost no one could hear Lu Sen's voice.
However, Bao Zheng was very close to him and could still barely hear it.
Upon hearing this, he immediately turned around and asked, "Master Lu, what does this mean?"
"The emperor's death is a bit strange." Lu Sen directly expressed his thoughts: "As far as I know, even the most severe stroke can last for several hours, especially when there are several imperial doctors around. But the emperor's death has lasted only a little more than an hour. This is too fast."
Several imperial doctors who were lying on the ground waiting to be interrogated nodded repeatedly.
The old imperial physician who had spoken before raised his head and said hastily as if he had grasped a straw: "The emperor's illness is extremely severe. After hearing that he fell for no reason, we rushed over in less than an incense stick of time. At that time, the emperor was still somewhat conscious and comforted us, saying, don't worry, take your time, he just fell accidentally, but then the emperor's condition took a sharp turn for the worse, he lost consciousness, was awake but not asleep, his hands and feet twitched, and he was snoring. We knew it was a stroke, so we urgently used acupuncture and moxibustion, and finally calmed the emperor's breath a little, but we didn't expect that after the emperor woke up, he asked his personal eunuch to bring him a few elixirs to eat!"
"What!"
Upon hearing this, the group of people who came from behind were all stunned.
Bao Zheng could not help but roared: "Elixir? What elixir? Can't you stop him?"
Lu Sen also found it strange.
"We tried to persuade him, but he didn't listen." The old imperial physician cried, "He said that the elixir was extremely miraculous, no worse than Master Lu's elixir fruit, and that after taking it, one's body and mind would be relaxed and vigorous. He's not feeling well now, so wouldn't it be just right to take it? Who knew that after taking it, he fainted again within an incense stick, and this time he didn't even last half an hour. Acupuncture didn't work at all."
After all, these people are just imperial doctors. They are not Bao Zheng, and they do not have the arrogance of Bao Zheng who can point at the officials' noses and scold them.
When Bao Zheng heard this, his face turned ashen at first, and then pale.
"Where did the elixir come from?"
Bao Zheng turned around and asked the old eunuch who was still pouring honey into Zhao Zhen's mouth.
The old eunuch was already pale, and his hands were shaking as he poured honey into Zhao Zhen's mouth. When he heard Bao Zheng 's shout, his whole body shook and the honey bottle in his hand fell to the ground. After a few bangs, a large amount of honey spilled out.
But no one cares about this little problem anymore.
The old eunuch slowly turned his head and said with a tearful face, "This elixir was brought in by this old servant from outside."
But when the old eunuch said this, Empress Cao next to him trembled.
The few veteran officials present were all shrewd men. Even when they were extremely angry, they still kept an eye on all directions.
The queen's unnaturalness still caught their attention.
It's just that they don't want to deal with this matter for the time being.
"Outside?" Bao Zheng said coldly, "How can things from outside be presented to the government at will? Who handed it in?"
"The Taoist priests from Mount Zhongnan."
After the old eunuch said this, he fell to the ground as if he had no bones.
Mount Zhongnan?
"Do you have any more of that elixir?" Master Pang stepped forward and asked.
The old eunuch did not move, but Empress Cao, who was standing next to him, took out a small white porcelain bottle from her clothes and handed it to him, crying.
Master Pang didn't even look at it and handed it to Lu Sen directly: "My dear grandson-in-law, take a look at this so-called elixir."
Among all the people in the room now, only Lu Sen has great supernatural powers, and he is also a serious cultivator. He has the say on whether these elixirs are good or bad.
After Lu Sen took it, he didn't say anything. He immediately opened the bottle cap and poured out a few pills.
You know what, this pill looks really good. It is about the size of a little finger, with shiny scales, and appears round, smooth, and silvery in color.
Moreover, after the pills were poured out, a strange fragrance immediately spread.
From the appearance point of view, this thing does look "extraordinary".
When Lu Sen opened the system video, his face distorted.
Tiger and Leopard Yang Pills: After taking them, the Yang will be high, the blood will surge, and the mind will be refreshed, which will last for about one stick of incense. However, they are extremely harmful to the body, and eating them will cause heavy metal poisoning. The main ingredients are mercury, silver powder, lead powder and other substances.
Seeing Lu Sen’s expression, everyone understood that this was definitely not a good thing.
Bao Zheng couldn't help but ask: "What exactly is this so-called elixir?"
"It's a poison that can kill tigers and wolves, and it has serious side effects!" Lu Sen sighed, "I guess two or three pills can kill a duck."
Queen Cao's body trembled again .
This time, both Bao Zheng and Master Pang could no longer bear it.
They all looked at Queen Cao.
Bao Zheng asked with a dark face: "Does the Queen have anything to do with this elixir?"
Although the old eunuch took the blame, Bao Zheng and others knew that in the palace, a eunuch could not influence the emperor's thoughts.
Empress Cao trembled all over, and she covered her face and cried loudly.
But Bao Zheng and others were also very patient and waited by the side.
After crying for a long time, Empress Cao said in a lost voice, "This elixir was offered by several Taoist priests from Mount Zhongnan, and it is indeed useful. Because the amount of elixir fruits and honey sent by the Prince of Runan every month is not much, the emperor gave these things to the crown prince and concubines in the palace. But when I felt that my health was getting worse, I remembered the elixir offered by several Taoist priests from Mount Zhongnan. After trying a few of them, I felt that they were extremely magical, no worse than the elixir fruits and honey of Master Lu, so I..."
I see. This thing was first sent to the Cao family, then to Queen Cao, and finally to the emperor.
"How long have you been taking the elixir?"
"More than a year!"
"absurd!"
Bao Zheng was so angry that he snatched the porcelain bottle from Lu Sen and threw it heavily.
The bottle broke into pieces, and small pills rolled all over the floor.
Master Pang sighed and said, "Xiren, don't be impulsive."
Bao Zheng swung his sleeves angrily, walked to Zhao Zhen's bed, and looked at Zhao Zhen's face, which still looked a little rosy!
After all, he died of high blood pressure and cerebral hemorrhage, and it wasn't long ago. He still looked the same as he did when he was alive.
Bao Zheng looked at Zhao Zhen's face for a while, and shed several tears. Then he wiped away his tears and said, "Notify the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to enter the palace immediately to handle the emperor's funeral."
Then he looked at the old eunuch next to him and said, "Eunuch Chang, where is the imperial guards' tiger talisman?"
The old eunuch took out half a tiger talisman from the cabinet next to him and presented it to Bao Zheng.
Under normal circumstances, the tiger talisman of the Northern Song Dynasty was divided into two parts, one in the hands of the emperor and the other in the hands of the Privy Councilor.
Only when the two pieces are united will there be the power to mobilize the imperial guards.
Bao Zheng grabbed the half tiger talisman in his hand, and then said: "Master Pang, you will be in charge of the palace. You will be in charge of the emperor's funeral and the dispatch of various departments."
Master Pang nodded and agreed.
Bao Zheng then looked at Empress Cao and said, "My Queen, where is the Crown Prince now?"
"Jinshui... Street... in Zhaojiazhuang."
Queen Cao almost cried to death.
Bao Zheng lowered his eyelids, looked at Lu Sen, and asked, "Master Lu, do you plan to stay in Bianjing City for the time being?"
Lu Sen shook his head slightly: "No, I will go back to Hangzhou immediately."
"Very good! Thank you!" Bao Zheng then looked at the Prince of Runan and said, "Please go home and stay for three months immediately. It is best not to let your family wander around during this period. Is that okay?"
"Can!"
The Prince of Runan clasped his fists, turned around and left, and Lu Sen followed.
After Bao Zheng and the other two left the inner palace, they took the tiger talisman and left the palace.
Half an hour later, Lu Sen's aircraft carrying Yang Jinhua flew away from Bianjing City.
Not long after he left, a large number of imperial guards entered the city and were divided into four parts. One part guarded the imperial palace, one part guarded Zhaojiazhuang, and another part captured Taoists who had connections with Mount Zhongnan in the city.
The last part of the imperial guards, led by Mu Guiying, rushed to the southern suburbs of Xi'an and surrounded the entire Zhongnan Mountain.
A few days later, the obituary of the emperor's death spread throughout the world, and his posthumous title was "Ren".
The whole country stopped trading for several days in mourning, people were crying in every household on the streets, and black smoke from burning paper money rose into the sky, dimming the sun and moon.
Lu Sen stayed in the cave and felt a little emotional.
He really didn't expect that Zhao Zhen would leave so quickly.
After staying in the cave for a while, he heard the rumor that Bao Zheng had closed the Taiyi Palace in Zhongnan Mountain. A large number of Taoists were dismissed, and the twelve leaders were tattooed with names and sent to the northern border as exiles.
If the news of Zhao Zhen's death made the whole world mourn, then Bao Zheng's suppression of the Taoist priests shocked the whole world.
They didn't understand why.
For Zhao Zhen's sake, Bao Zheng, Grand Tutor Pang and other high-ranking officials did not say that Zhao Zhen had eaten the elixir made by the Taoist priest.
He even promulgated a law that prohibited Taoists from entering the capital for ten years.
Although they didn't know why Bao Zheng did this, the monks were happy.
A large number of monks began to pour into the city of Bianliang.
What happened next was that Crown Prince Zhao Xi was placed on the throne, and Empress Dowager Cao began to rule the country from behind the scenes.
Bao Zheng and Master Pang handled the government affairs very well, and there was no turmoil at all, allowing the imperial power to be smoothly transferred to Zhao Xi.
This is a kind of skill. After hearing the news of Zhao Zhen's death, the Khitan leader Yelu Hongji cried for two days, and then ordered hundreds of thousands of troops to the border between Song and Liao, waiting to see whether the Song court would fall into civil strife.
When he heard that Zhao Xi had sat on the throne and there were almost no changes in the officials of the Song Dynasty, he had no choice but to call his troops back.
No chance at all.
"Bao Longtu and Master Pang are still very powerful." Lu Sen was playing Go with Lu Xianxian. He placed a chess piece on the Tianyuan position, cutting off a small dragon of his opponent, and said with a smile: "It's just that we were implicated by the bunch of idiots in Zhongnan Mountain. From now on, the Taoists in the world will have a hard time."
Lu Xianxian frowned and looked at Lu's chessboard. She was actually quite good at chess, but not as good as Lu Sen. However, she was the type who wanted to play more the more she lost. "The Taoist priests have a hard time. What's wrong with you, Mr. Guan? You are not a Taoist priest."
"But now the Taoist priests seem to want me to step forward and talk to Bao Zheng." Lu Sen said with a smile, "There are many Taoist priests wandering around Hangzhou City. There are more and more rumors in the market that I am going to Bianliang, and they are getting more and more true. It would be strange if this is not the Taoist priests secretly using public opinion to force me to support them."
To be honest, Lu Sen thought this was quite funny.
Lu Xianxian sighed and said, "This isn't surprising. My great-grandmother has said that humans are best at forcing people to do things they don't want to do."
Lu Sen twitched his eyebrows.
Just at this time, Yang Jinhua and Zhao Bilian came back from outside.
The two men walked up to Lu Sen with serious expressions.
Lu Sen was obsessed with Heizi, turned his head and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhao Bilian's face was grumpy. She held it in for a while and said, "My brother Zhao Shu was driven to Hangzhou City!"
What?
