Several female officials were tied up and escorted outside the palace. Several more palace ladies came in and carried the queen back to Liangfeng Palace.
The emperor moved to Zhaoyang Palace and ordered Wang Xian to urgently interrogate the female officials on the spot, and ordered Hou Gang, Li Chengzhi, and Gao Wenjun to enter the palace for confrontation
Poor Li Chengzhi, he didn't even have time to draw his sword and apply medicine...
The moment he stepped into Zhaoyang Hall, everyone almost didn't recognize him: Li Chengzhi's body was covered in blood, as if it had been dyed.
Half of it flowed out from the queen's wound due to bumps and squeezing. The other half was naturally Li Chengzhi's own blood.
At this moment, Li Chengzhi actually had a bright sharp knife stuck in his arm, and blood was still dripping down?
The strange thing is that no one saw a hint of pain on Li Chengzhi's face, and it seemed as if the arm with the knife in it was not his.
Many of them have led troops, such as Gao Zhao, Yu Zhong, etc., who from time to time will uphold integrity and lead the army to the south as a general. They can be said to have experienced hundreds of battles.
Just like Wang Xian, he also supervised the military affairs of a state and experienced many battles.
It’s not like we haven’t fought bad battles before. Soldiers become more fearless the more they see blood, and villains become more ferocious the more they are injured. The army is full of them.
But I have never seen someone stained with his own blood like a gourd of blood, yet so indifferent.
Isn’t it painful for Li Chengzhi?
How could it not hurt?
Li Chengzhi even had the urge to cut off his arm with a knife.
Even the emperor was moved and asked suspiciously: "Why not cure it?"
Li Chengzhi almost said: You have to give me time to heal...
Holding back his anger, Li Chengzhi replied calmly: "I will treat you right now!"
As if he had the emperor's permission, he turned around, stared at Gao Wenjun and said: "Hurry!"
Gao Wenjun held back tears and nodded vigorously.
He nodded, but before he even raised his head, he heard a "chi" sound, and a blood arrow shot out immediately. Hearing another "clang" sound, a sharp knife about a foot long with teeth in the blade fell.
On the ground.
It was only then that Li Chengzhi changed his expression, gritted his teeth fiercely, and stretched his arms forward.
Gao Wenjun's movements were very fast. He covered the wound with a handful of medicinal powder, and with a stroke of his hands, a roll of medicinal gauze unfolded, and with a few "swish"s, it was wrapped around it.
His movements were extremely fast, and even before ten breaths had passed, Gao Wenjun had tied the knot.
But the bleeding was not stopped.
Li Chengzhi gritted his teeth with hatred: He probably injured his blood vessels when he was protecting Gao Wenjun and the queen from the arrows.
Fortunately, the movement of the arm was fine, the fingers were still flexible, and 99% of the muscles were not injured. Otherwise, the feud with Hou Gang would have been endless...
Cursing in his mind, he stretched out his hand, took the gauze ribbon from Gao Wenjun's hand, bit one end with his teeth, and quickly wrapped it around his left arm a few times with his right hand.
Until they saw that the blood seepage had slowed down, everyone who saw it breathed a sigh of relief.
It would be a pity if such a fierce general was wasted like this...
With this thought in mind, most of them did not realize that they had secretly determined that Li Chengzhi could never be an accomplice of the assassin...
Except Hou Gang!
"Your Majesty, I heard the sound of fighting and quickly led my guards to escort me. When I entered the palace, I saw that the female officer had committed suicide out of fear of crime. Before she died, she claimed that she had conspired with Li Chengzhi to assassinate... And if I didn't remember wrongly, the female officer was from Jingzhou.
People..."
The faces of the officials changed slightly, and even Li Chengzhi couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat: Such a coincidence?
Just as he was doubting himself, he heard Gao Zhao shout and ask: "Even so, Hou Zhonglang should not have rashly concluded that Li Chengzhi was the assassin, nor should he have ordered the soldiers to fire crossbows without receiving the imperial edict. Fortunately, Your Highness is fine.
, if you hurt His Highness, you will never be able to redeem yourself even if you die..."
"Gao Sikong, when the subordinate ordered the bow to be fired, His Highness had already been placed on the couch by Li Chengzhi. How could he be accidentally injured?"
After making an argument, he bowed his head towards Yuan Ke again: "I am not making an arbitrary judgment: when the imperial guards entered the palace, Li Chengzhi had already captured His Highness on his shoulders, and ordered him to put His Highness down several times, but he refused.
Later, he even stopped me from entering for rescue. It was based on these two points that I decided that he was an accomplice of the assassin..."
As he spoke, he turned around, pointed at Li Chengzhi and asked sternly: "I often hear that Li Houlang is the bravest of the three armies, and has the courage that ten thousand people cannot match. But why is the assassin, just a weak woman, able to hurt you to such an extent? p>
Why didn't you repel the assassin and instead carried His Highness on your shoulders? Why didn't you stop the assassin when he committed suicide? You clearly regretted it temporarily and resorted to a painful trick..."
You ask me why?
Li Chengzhi held back his anger and pointed at Hou Gang: "Hou Zhonglang is really smart. He only saw the official carrying His Highness, and the assassin who committed suicide in fear of crime. He did not see that there were five other female officials in the palace who had the same duties as the assassins.
?
Forgive me for my poor eyesight, but I am not as dedicated to serving the emperor as Hou Zhonglang. I have the position of attendant, and I know all the internal officials very well. It is impossible to tell which one is from Jingzhou. It is most likely that I am Li.
Any of my comrades who are not from Jingzhou must be devoted to the king's affairs and are extremely loyal.
Therefore, Xiaguan can only protect His Highness and retreat to a corner, just in case... As for Xiaguan's injury..."
Li Chengzhi smiled coldly and pointed to the knife that had just been picked up by the strongman: "If it had not stabbed the lower official's arm, this knife must have been inserted into His Highness's heart at this time..."
Those who responded quickly already secretly cheered in their hearts.
A good person who specializes in the position of attendant of the emperor and empress?
How could a dignified knight and a regular attendant, armed with swords and swords, allow an assassin to sneak into the queen's side and hide it for so long?
What do you do for food?
This is definitely what Li Chengzhi means...
Even those who responded more slowly nodded their heads involuntarily.
If they had put themselves in Li Chengzhi's shoes, they would have gone after the assassin just as Hou Gang said. If there were assassin accomplices among the female officials, the queen would definitely die.
Only Li Chengzhi is the safest and safest choice...
Hou Gang's expression suddenly changed.
I secretly hate Li Chengzhi for humiliating others so much, but I haven’t really thought about this?
His heart skipped a beat, and he asked sharply: "What happens after that, why do you have to block His Highness behind you and not let me save you?"
Yuan Ke asked Li Chengzhi coldly: "Why?"
Why else?
If I don’t stop you, your wife will be exposed...
As for what he had already seen exposed, he would not admit it even to death.
Do you really think that Xuansi pulse diagnosis is a legend?
No matter how magnanimous the emperor was, no matter how open the atmosphere in the Northern and Southern Dynasties was, Li Chengzhi had a reason for everything, and he should not be afraid of medical treatment. He risked his life to save the queen... No matter how many reasons and excuses there were, there was no way he could be the queen.
Even though he looked down upon him, the emperor didn’t have the slightest grudge?
This is exactly the same as the mentality of every man in later generations who hopes that his wife will be delivered by a female doctor.
When it comes to the emperor, there is no way to judge it with reason: To put it bluntly, Yuan Ke and Gao Ying have a deep relationship. If it were another concubine, Yuan Ke would rather she die of pain than force Li Chengzhi to do so.
Healing...
After Yuan Ke finds out, it is not known whether he will dislike Gao Ying and become indifferent. But he will definitely have a prejudice against Li Chengzhi.
Just imagine, once he meets Li Chengzhi, the emperor will definitely think of it and feel unhappy. What if it takes a long time and happens too many times?
Only a fool would admit it...
Li Chengzhi looked directly at Yuan Ke, with no trace of fear in his eyes: "Your Majesty, I have always been carrying His Highness behind me. I didn't know the reason. But after listening to Gao Nu Shi's orders several times, he ordered me not to look back, I guessed something... Gao Nu Shi
That's it, you'll know just by asking..."
Why should I ask Gao Wenjun?
Anyone who is not a fool can guess it: the queen is afraid that her love affair has been leaked...
Is this the reason...impossible?
Hou Gang's expression changed: "You are full of nonsense..."
Am I messing with your mother?
Li Chengzhi pointed outside the palace: The five female officials are kneeling outside, and Wang Xian is interrogating them one by one...
"It's not like only Xiaguan and Gao Nushi are in the palace? Or, Hou Zhonglang thought those five were also Xiaguan's accomplices..."
"Enough!"
It seemed that he was on the verge of an explosion. Yuan Ke's face turned black and his body was trembling slightly.
"Hou Gang, I always thought you were loyal and loyal, but I didn't expect you to be so insane. Get rid of your official position, remove your title, go to prison, and wait for your crimes to be punished..."
"Your Majesty?"
Hou Gang let out a sharp cry, and his eyes were as wide as walnuts, as if he was extremely unbelievable.
Before he could complain, Yu Zhong yelled: "Shut up...you still haven't admitted your guilt?"
Yu Zhong is the general of the military guard and the minister of the guard. He is Hou Gang's immediate superior whether in the army or as a guard. And the two have always been on good terms, but they don't even defend him?
Looking at the anxious expression on Yu Zhong's face, Hou Gangfu came to his heart and suddenly realized: When your Majesty was judging the crime, he said that he was "so mentally retarded"?
It was not Li Chengzhi's words to sow discord at all, but because he was good at ordering archers to shoot arrows and forcing the guards to attack, which made His Majesty feel taboo: This time it is the queen, what about me next time?
Do you also dare to disregard my safety, shoot arrows when you say to shoot, and attack with force when you say to attack?
But at that time, the queen had been lowered to the ground by Li Chengzhi, how could she be accidentally injured?
But who can listen to my own explanation...
Hou just gritted his teeth and knelt down with a pop: "I plead guilty!"
The moment he knelt down and lowered his head, his eyes couldn't help but glare at Li Chengzhi, full of resentment.
Li Chengzhi sneered faintly: Is this because of hatred?
Hou Gang?
If Gao Wenjun hadn't reminded him that Hou Gang and Jiangyang Wang Yuanji were related by marriage, Li Chengzhi would not have remembered that after Yuan Ke died, Gao Zhao was the one who killed him.
One of the powerful officials during the period of the Queen Mother Ling, she helped each other with Liu Teng, Prince Jiangyang, also known as Yuan Yi, and imprisoned the Queen Mother Ling for nearly ten years...
There's no rush, let's take our time...
With this sneer, the two people's eyes seemed to be glued together, and they were inseparable. Until they were escorted away, the two of them seemed to be still having electricity...
Everyone was surprised, thinking that Hou Gang was not surprised, but where did Li Chengzhi get his confidence?
Gao Zhao was quite pleased, secretly thinking that this boy could be taught...
As soon as Hou Gang was escorted away, Yuan Yong and Yuan Yi also hurriedly entered the palace. One of these two men was serving as a Taiwei, the other as a Situ, and together with Gao Zhao, the Sikong, the three commanders were already here.
At this time, Wang Xian also returned to the palace and whispered in Yuan Ke's ear.
His Tingwei Shaoqing, who he had served for several years, was an expert in solving criminal cases and was able to deal with several female officials easily. He asked them all thoroughly in a short time.
Several female officials all said that the assassin suddenly attacked when he saw Li Houlang taking something out of His Highness's wound.
The queen had discharged pus several times before, all of which were caused by this female official... Therefore, Wang Xian suspected that the assassin had jumped over the wall after seeing that the incident had been exposed...
Just after listening to half of the sentence, the emperor's expression changed and he shouted sternly: "Li Chengzhi, what did you take out from the Queen's wound?"
All the ministers changed their colors and looked at Li Chengzhi in surprise and suspicion.
Looking at Li Chengzhi's eyes half-closed, he looked as if he was asleep.
It’s already pretty good.
Even if he didn't have two or three kilograms, he would at least have shed a kilogram of blood. If he hadn't been physically strong, he might not have been able to stand...
Li Chengzhi sighed secretly: What else could it be?
"It should be a poisonous needle!"
After replying, he waved again. Gao Wenjun took a step forward and handed something wrapped in gauze to Wang Xian.
It is as small as the tip of a needle and extremely short, only two points at most. But the strange thing is that it is already so thin, and it is actually covered with barbs?
This is obviously something someone deliberately thought out. What is it if it’s not a poisonous needle?
Yuan Ke's eyes were split with shock: No wonder the queen had only a minor injury, but it couldn't be cured no matter what, and the injury became worse day by day?
It was actually poisoned by a close confidant, or it was such a covert and ruthless plot. How can one guard against this?
Thanks to Li Chengzhi's boldness, he dared to do something that no one before him dared to do. If he hadn't cut off the sores of the queen, with Xu Jian, Wang Xian and others, I would have thought that the queen died of illness.
How did such a person sneak into the palace, how did he sneak into the queen's side and hide for so long?
Is there such a person around me?
Thinking of this, it was like a volcano erupting. Yuan Ke punched several cases hard, his facial features seemed to be deformed, and his voice was so high-pitched that it broke his voice: "Yu Zhong, do you know the crime?"
Perhaps he had thought of this incident for a long time, Yu Zhong knelt down with a "pop" sound: "It is the fault of the minister that caused this misfortune to His Highness. I will never be redeemed by death. Please punish your Majesty..."
"What's the use of punishing you now?"
The emperor kicked several cases over and pointed at Yu Zhong and shouted: "Queen, if anything happens, I will punish your three clans... whoever comes..."
Immediately, the imperial guards came forward, waiting for the emperor's order to take Yu Zhong into custody.
Seeing that Yu Zhong's face was ashen, Li Chengzhi couldn't help but take a peek at Gao Zhao's face.
If I remember correctly, this man and Gao Zhao were also mortal enemies. Historically, Gao Zhao was executed in Shiqian Palace on the orders of the new emperor Zhong and Fake...
Sure enough, I really saw a hint of joy in Gao Zhao's eyes...
While he was looking at it carefully, he noticed that his face seemed to be a little cold. Li Chengzhi instinctively turned around and caught Yuan Ke's gaze.
Let me go, you were angry just now, why are you targeting me again?
Well, your eyes are still so strange?
Not to mention his eyes, the emperor's next behavior was even stranger: just like the lightning, thunder, and violent storm a second ago, but he just blinked his eyelids, and the wind stopped and the rain stopped?
Although the emperor's face was cold, it was obviously much calmer than the darkening color just now, and even his tone was no longer as angry as before: "Yu Zhong, I will give you a chance first: to remove the title, remove the third level
, I will wait for my duties temporarily. You are given three days to clear the palace and arrest the assassin’s accomplices. If you can’t find out, go to Heyang to raise horses..."
Li Chengzhi was confused: Is the emperor schizophrenic?
Gao Zhao was even more confused: Seeing that Yu Zhong was about to be imprisoned, why did His Majesty suddenly change his mind?
Yu Zhong was surprised and happy: I thought that there would be no chance of death, but did you expect that His Majesty would allow him to serve his crimes?