There was an undercurrent in Cao Rong's eyes. He was not surprised that the Queen Mother would make such a choice. In his opinion, the Queen Mother had always been an upright person. However, such an upright person gave birth to a sad person. The most conscientious son. Oh, this is not an irony. Now the Queen Mother is risking her life to let the truth be revealed to the world. The magnanimity and justice in her actually compare to him, a man who is upright and upright. He had lived for more than forty years, and in the end he was worse than a woman. Cao Rong felt that it was particularly sad and ridiculous. The Queen Mother took a few steps back. At this moment, she seemed to have aged more than ten years. She stared at Cao Rong with turbid eyes: "Cao Rong, while there is still time, you can continue to complete your mission. The Ai family is not afraid of death...you don't have to have any worries...just complete the mission he assigned you."

"However, as long as Aijia survives, Aijia will help King Yan and expose his sins in front of everyone in the world. Cao Rong, you have to decide how you choose... Even if you kill Aijia, Aijia I won’t blame you.”

Nanny Chen made a plop and knelt on her knees with red eyes. "Queen Mother...you can't die."

After she said that, she turned to look at Cao Rong: "Master Cao, the Queen Mother once saved your life. You can't repay kindness with hatred just to complete any task. Over the years, you have ignored the Queen Mother's orders and helped the emperor do all the bad things... Your hands are stained with so much blood, do you still want to be stained with the blood of your savior?"

Cao Rong pursed his lips and smiled sadly. He really couldn't kill the Queen Mother. He didn't want to. Without the Queen Mother, he wouldn't be what he is now. How could he do it? Cao Rong laughed a few times in a low voice, and then slowly Get up from the ground... The Queen Mother frowned slightly: "Cao Rong... The Ai family hopes that you can follow your inner choice. I hope you will not be influenced by anyone or anything..." Cao Rong looked at the Queen Mother deeply: " Empress... No matter what kind of person I am, no matter how much blood is stained on my hands, I will never swing a butcher's knife at you. Even if I die, I will not hurt you..." Aunt Chen was completely relieved. Taking a deep breath, she slumped there with lingering fear, crying with joy. But the Queen Mother looked at Cao Rong with extremely complicated expressions, and she suddenly had a bad premonition: "Cao Rong, the Ai family doesn't want you to hurt yourself..." Cao Rong Rong walked out of the inner hall without saying a word and did not respond to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother's heart could not help but beat fast. Her eyes flashed with worry. She quickly followed after her, and Nanny Chen quickly hugged the Queen Mother's arms. Legs: "Queen Mother, don't go. This is Lord Cao's choice, so be it... It's better to let something happen to him than to let something happen to you."

The Queen Mother felt extremely uncomfortable, her eyes were red, and she wanted to break open Nanny Chen's arms holding her legs. "Nanny Chen, let go of Aijia. Aijia doesn't want to see Cao Rong hurt himself... with me. Yan, he is also my child."

"I watched him grow up, how could I bear to see him hurt himself? In these years, he was forced by the emperor to do those things. Everything he did was out of his own control, and he was all repaying his kindness..." Nanny Chen burst into tears, gritted her teeth, and refused to let go of the Queen Mother. No matter how hard the Queen Mother pulled her fingers, she still held her tightly... The Queen Mother was so anxious... The next moment, she suddenly heard Cao Rong's voice. She screamed in pain. Her body couldn't help but trembled suddenly: "Cao Rong... what's wrong? What did you do to yourself?"

Only then did Nanny Chen let go of the Queen Mother, who stumbled and ran outside. On the high steps, the Queen Mother saw a pool of dazzling blood. Cao Rong fell to his knees in the blood, and there was a pile of blood on the ground. Holding a severed limb. The Queen Mother covered her mouth in disbelief and stood there dumbfounded watching this scene. Aunt Chen couldn't help but exclaimed: "Ah... Master Cao, he chopped off his own limb. Arms?”

The next moment, many dragon guards surrounded Cao Rong, their eyes full of concern. "Master Cao, why are you doing this?"

"Master Cao, are you okay?"

Cao Rong's broken arm was constantly flowing with blood. He reluctantly pressed an acupuncture point there to stop the bleeding, and then stood up tremblingly. He asked one of the dragon guards to pick up his broken arm. "You will My broken arm will be sent back to Kyoto and presented to the emperor. Just tell the emperor that I cannot complete the task he assigned me."

After Cao Rong said this, he passed out due to excessive blood loss. The Queen Mother stumbled over and took Cao Rong, who was covered in blood, into her arms. She asked Nanny Chen to call the doctor quickly. At this moment, Xiao Tingyan hurriedly arrived with his people. He thought Cao Rong had killed the Queen Mother. When he saw Cao Rong covered in blood and lying in the Queen Mother's arms, he couldn't help but be slightly startled. He He stepped forward and asked about the specific situation. "What's going on?"

Doctor Lu took a look at Cao Rong's broken arm. Due to the instinct of a doctor, Xiao Tingyan didn't need to say anything. He quickly ran forward, opened the medicine box, and began to diagnose and treat Cao Rong. The Queen Mother's eyes were red, and tears kept falling from the corners of her eyes. She After leaving Cao Rong to Dr. Lu for treatment, she slowly stood up and looked blankly at Xiao Tingyan opposite. "Are you the King of Banquets?"

Only then did Xiao Tingyan's eyes fall on the Queen Mother. He quickly clasped his fists and bowed, saluting the Queen Mother. "The Queen Mother..." The Queen Mother walked forward with some excitement and held Xiao Tingyan's arm. Her eyes twinkled. Hot tears stared at Xiao Tingyan's face in confusion. Her vision was blurred by tears, and she felt extremely uncomfortable. "You look... very similar to the late emperor. Your eyes are particularly like those of Concubine Chen..." She Xiao Tingyan said hoarsely with choked voices. Xiao Tingyan didn't expect that the Queen Mother would be so excited when she saw him. She even couldn't help but stretched out her arms to hug him. His body was stiff, a little at a loss, and he didn't know how to face it. For the Queen Mother. In fact, this was the first time he had seen the Queen Mother since he could remember. Aunt Qin had said before that when she took him to escape from Kyoto, someone had secretly helped them and escaped the emperor's assassination. Nanny Qin once suspected that the person who secretly helped them would be the Queen Mother. Now, when he saw the Queen Mother, it seemed that some things from that year were gradually coming to light. When the Queen Mother saw Xiao Tingyan, she couldn't help herself. She couldn't control it at all. She couldn't help herself. Xiao Tingyan's appearance looked so much like the late emperor. When she saw him, she remembered the late emperor's handsome face... She couldn't help but have a bit of obsession in her eyes. She shook her hands and touched them gently. Looking at Xiao Tingyan's face. "If the late emperor was still alive and he saw his most beloved son who looked the most like him, he would definitely be very happy."

Xiao Tingyan was a little confused. He never thought that things would develop in this direction. He thought that his arrival would make the Queen Mother very repulsive. After all, the current emperor is her biological son. He came here for She shouldn't be so affectionate towards her own son. The Queen Mother held him for an unknown amount of time before she let go of him and wiped the tears from her face helplessly. She looked at him with some embarrassment. Xiao Tingyan smiled. "Sorry, the Ai family is a little excited. Are you scared?"

Xiao Tingyan shook his head in confusion: "I'm fine. What's going on with Cao Rong? Why did he cut off his own arm?"

"I was worried before that he would hurt you, Queen Mother, so I chased him quickly and slowly."

The Queen Mother held Xiao Tingyan's hand and was unwilling to let go. She pulled him into the inner hall. The path went straight to the inner room. The furnishings in the inner room were quite simple, except for a bed, wardrobe, and table. There was a bench and a bench, and there were no other furnishings. The Queen Mother pulled him straight across the bed. She pressed the switch somewhere, and the next moment there was a rumble, and a stone door slowly opened. A small dark room was revealed inside. There were no precious things placed in the darkroom, but instead there was an ink painting about half a person's height hung. On the ink painting, there were two people. A man and a woman clinging to each other, with a slight smile on their lips. Under the portrait, there was an incense burner, and incense was burning in the burner... Xiao Tingyan stood at the door, standing there blankly, staring at the painting and unable to take his eyes away. The appearance of the man and woman, he They looked very familiar. The Queen Mother choked her voice and said word by word: "You should be able to recognize them, right? They are the late emperor and Concubine Chen... Over the years, the Ai family has spent a lot of money to hire many literati. , secretly painted their portraits. After twenty years, I finally painted a portrait similar to them."

"You really look like the late emperor. If you didn't know better, I'm afraid you would have thought that the person in the painting was you... Before the Aijia, I often thought that sooner or later, the Aijia would bring you to Come and take a look at them in front of their portraits. You were still young when they died, so I guess you have almost forgotten what they looked like."

Xiao Tingyan listened quietly, and his eyes couldn't help but turn red. His nose was so sore, he clenched his fists tightly, and didn't say a word for a long time. Tears in his eyes kept welling up. I don't know. After a while, he finally calmed down the turmoil in his heart, and then turned to look at the Queen Mother. "I thought you wouldn't welcome my arrival this time..." The Queen Mother shook her head, and she sighed. "How could... Aijia Not a day goes by that I don't expect you to come to Aijia. Aijia stays here, chants sutras and chants Buddha's name day after day, and endures these years of suffering, just to atone for that evil obstacle."

"Now that the Ai family has finally waited for you, everything that happened back then should have come to an end. Now that you have grown up and have full wings, you should be able to compete with him. The Ai family will no longer worry about his The sharp claws will hurt you."

Xiao Tingyan looked at the Queen Mother with complicated eyes: "He is your biological son. Queen Mother, can you really kill your relatives with justice?"

The Queen Mother closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes were full of deep pain. "As early as twenty years ago, the Ai family regretted giving birth to him. In these years, Nan Chu has gone from prosperity to decline in his hands. …If it weren’t for the loyal ministers and generals who have always been loyal and loyal, I’m afraid Nan Chu’s empire would have been squandered by him long ago.”

"Now, he dares to ruthlessly eradicate even the century-old commander's mansion... He is cutting off his own foundation, and he has reached a hopeless point. If the Ai family allows him to continue to behave like this, I'm afraid I The people of Chu will be in dire straits."

Xiao Tingyan didn't expect that this business would go so smoothly. Later, he listened to the Queen Mother talk about what happened with Cao Rong. He also didn't expect that the reason why Cao Rong was loyal to the Emperor was because the Queen Mother saved his life. But The emperor wanted Cao Rong to kill the Queen Mother... With Cao Rong's character, how could he do it? So, Cao Rong did not hesitate to cut off his arm to show his loyalty... Xiao Tingyan left Ningyuan Temple with the Queen Mother that night. Rushed back to Kyoto. However, Cao Rong was diagnosed and treated by Dr. Lu, and his life was temporarily saved... Long Guard was still useful, and Cao Rong definitely couldn't die. Xiao Tingyan also used this method to hold Cao Rong. - The next day In the morning, Xiao Tingyan and his party finally rushed back to Kyoto. Unexpectedly, before they could enter the palace, news came out that the emperor had suffered a stroke and was paralyzed on the dragon bed. Not long after, the emperor's oral instructions were sent to the Sixth Palace. Wan Guiren saved With meritorious service, the title of imperial concubine will be restored... Xiao Xuanrui secretly helped Yun Luan in the Yongzhou bandit suppression, and he was relieved of his exile guilt, and Enzhun returned to Beijing as the county king. As soon as these two news came out, everyone was shocked. Many people They all felt that this imperial edict was very absurd. The suppression of bandits in Yongzhou was obviously the result of the Taiping County Lord, so how could Xiao Xuanrui be involved? Xiao Xuanrui was actually exempted again and had the opportunity to return to the capital. Prince Duan learned that This news made him so angry that he smashed things in the study. His face turned livid and he roared in a low voice: "Such a big thing happened in the palace. Is Xueyuan dead? Didn't she receive any news at all? Why did she let Zhao Waner Did that old woman have a chance to come into contact with the emperor?"

"The king sent her into the palace to confuse the emperor so that she could prevent Zhao Waner from regaining his favor. She is good, she is of no use... Now Zhao Waner has returned to the position of noble concubine... Xueyuan, this idiot, is waiting to be beaten by imperial concubine Wan. Kill him."

Such a reversal of the situation was obviously unfavorable to King Duan. The time was so short, and he had not had time to gather the remaining members of Xiao Xuanrui's party. Now, the news that Xiao Xuanrui is coming back has spread throughout Kyoto, and those who were originally going to join him are afraid , they all changed their minds and chose Xiao Xuanrui again. King Duan’s guess was right. Two hours later, countless letters were sent to his desk, all of which were letters that clearly set a clear line with him. He was angry and put all those letters away. They were all torn apart. Prince Duan's side felt like the sky was falling and the earth was falling. Naturally, the people in the Zhenguo General's Mansion were not having a good time either. Yun Feng went to Luan Feng Pavilion with an ugly face. He sighed and sat across from Yun Luan: " I don’t know how the emperor did it, he is acting more and more carelessly now. The suppression of bandits in Yongzhou is obviously your credit, but he gave it all to Xiao Xuanrui without saying a word? "

"He is really old and confused... With such blatant favoritism, he is not afraid that the courtiers will have objections and will impeach him?"

Yun Luan motioned to Yun Feng to calm down. She didn't have much emotional ups and downs. She handed a piece of letter paper to Yun Feng's hand. "Second brother, don't worry, you should read the contents of this letter first."

Yun Feng was startled. He frowned and took the letter. He glanced at it roughly for a few times. Suddenly he was startled and looked at Yun Luan with his eyes wide open in disbelief. "Is the content of this letter true? Your Majesty, he is now He was poisoned, was he controlled by Concubine Wan?"

Yun Luan pursed her lips and nodded: "That's why such a ridiculous decree was promulgated early this morning. I guess this imperial decree was meant by Concubine Wan."

"The current emperor may have become Concubine Wan's puppet."

Yun Feng couldn't calm down for a long time. He never thought that the situation would be like this. He was a little panicked and held Yun Luan's hand. "Then what should we do? The emperor is controlled by Concubine Wan, and she and Xiao Xuanrui hate it very much. If they attack our General's Mansion, they will definitely attack our General's Mansion first."

"Luan'er, how about you take your mother and the others out of the capital immediately and find a place to hide while I stay here to guard them."

Yun Luan looked at Yun Feng's solemn look, and a hint of smile flashed across her eyes. She stood up slowly and poured a cup of tea for Yun Feng. "Second brother, although the current situation looks dangerous, we are not. There is no way to break it. You can just practice martial arts in the house with peace of mind, and there is no need to worry about anything else."

"Although our General's Mansion is currently surrounded by the Imperial Guards, there shouldn't be any major changes in a short period of time before Xiao Xuanrui comes back."

Yun Feng looked at his sister in confusion. He always felt that Luan'er had hidden something else from him. He wanted to ask clearly, but Yun Luan would never tell the truth again. Xiao Tingyan entered Kyoto. Even though the Queen Mother was escorted into the palace. When Zhao Waner heard that the Queen Mother was back, her eyes were full of surprise. She clenched her fists and looked coldly at the Emperor sitting on the couch. "Why is the Queen Mother coming back at this time? Could it be you? Did you hide it from me and ask someone to bring the Queen Mother back?"

The emperor was a little at a loss. He quickly shook his head and explained: "I, I didn't... In fact, I don't know why the Queen Mother returned to the palace at this time."

He clearly sent Cao Rong to deal with the Queen Mother... It seems that Cao Rong failed. The Queen Mother is not dead, and she has returned from Ningyuan Temple. The return of the Queen Mother is a good thing for him... He is the Queen Mother's after all. Son, if the Queen Mother knew that he was now being held hostage by Zhao Waner, the Queen Mother would definitely find a way to save him. New hope appeared in the Emperor's eyes. Zhao Waner understood his thoughts thoroughly. She approached the Emperor and pointed her fingernails Gently scratching his chin: "Your Majesty... don't you think that when the Queen Mother comes back, you can complain to the Queen Mother and let her rescue you?"

"Your idea is too whimsical. I have said that no one in this world can develop an antidote to save your life except me. If you don't want to die, don't even think about teaming up with outsiders to plot against me. Otherwise, if I die, you will die too..." "I know that you are the person who cherishes your life the most. You shouldn't risk your life, right? If you don't want to suffer, just be honest with me... Maybe you You can also suffer less. You will never forget the pain when the poison takes effect, right?"
Chapter completed!