The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 738 Paving the Way
After leaving Hengwuyuan, Zhang Yunyi's face darkened.

It would be fine if the emperor emeritus passed away, but if something happened to the emperor, even if Prince Ning was removed from the royal family, who could guarantee that the emperor emeritus would not change his ways?

In addition, considering that Prince Ning had to return to the royal family before he had the possibility of succeeding to the throne, and that he was a favorite of the retired emperor, even if he really succeeded to the throne, he might not dare to take action against him immediately.

In addition, several members of his family were about to give birth, so he gave up the plan of sending his family out of the city first.

However, all these worries disappeared when he rushed to Xiyuan and saw Emperor Wanlong.

However, the emperor did not look like he was heartbroken. Why did his steps seem unsteady and he seemed unable to stand steadily? Could it be that he had just gotten up from a woman's belly like himself, and was this an aftereffect of the medication?
Although Zhang Yun逸 was puzzled, he could not ask about the affairs of the palace. Instead, he followed the ministers who had arrived and joined the group of people crying.

When a person dies, it is like a light going out, even if he is an emperor emeritus.

Before convening a group of ministers to discuss funeral arrangements, the emperor first proposed changing the reign title.

Yes, although Emperor Wanlong succeeded to the throne, his reign title continued to be that of the retired emperor.

Now that the emperor is dead, it is legitimate to change the era name.

However, this allowed a group of worldly-wise ministers to guess the emperor's intention.

In the end, under the guise of busy state affairs, they decided to keep the body for seven days, send it to the imperial mausoleum, and observe a national mourning period for half a year.

However, even during these seven days, the emperor, whose body was already exhausted, was exhausted.

After the coffin was carried to the burial site, he fell ill and could not get up again.

During the period of national mourning, the emperor was bedridden and the capital was in a state of desolation. Not only were all wedding banquets stopped, but the capital's brothels, theaters such as Quyuan and Zatan were also almost closed.

This was even more so in the imperial palace. Even the birth of the royal heir by Madam Miaoyin did not bring much joy, but instead added a bit of bleakness and murderous atmosphere.

"Tell me! What happened to Huang'er?"

Emperor Wanlong, who was lying on the dragon couch with a pale face, shouted sternly.

Several imperial doctors stared at each other in amazement, but finally said with gritted teeth: "Your Majesty is suffering from erysipelas, which has also affected the prince, causing... causing congenital deficiencies..."

The prince had all his limbs intact, but he was still different from normal children.

Although it is only one month old, even a newborn baby will instinctively clench his hands when his palms touch the fingers extended by adults, which is a similar instinctive reaction.

However, the prince born to Madam Miaoyin had no reaction at all and showed some symptoms of dementia.

But how could they dare to speak openly to the emperor?

The imperial doctors had carefully considered the issue of congenital deficiency before giving the most tactful answer possible.

But even so, it still came as a bolt from the blue to Emperor Wanlong.

"what?"

Emperor Wanlong screamed in shock and almost fainted.

Several imperial doctors came forward and took a lot of trouble to treat the emperor, and he finally recovered.

"Waste, are you helpless?"

Seeing that the situation was not good, several imperial doctors hurriedly evaded the question, saying, "The prince is still young, and we have no way of judging. Perhaps he is just born with some deficiencies, and he may recover after two years of recuperation..."

"Then you should take good care of the emperor. If anything goes wrong, you will be beheaded!"

Being able to save his life temporarily, the imperial doctors were relieved and said hurriedly, "Yes, yes, yes! Your Majesty, rest assured, we will do our best to protect your majesty."

After the imperial doctors left, Emperor Wanlong said to Xia Shouzhong, who was trembling beside him, in a deep voice, "Did the old thief Chongxu confess?"

The emperor came back with his coffin, and was bedridden. After the imperial physician made the diagnosis, he immediately took control of the Taoist Chongxu who had offered the elixir.

Whenever a problem occurs, few people will self-examine and reflect, but most will look for the reasons in others, and Emperor Wanlong is no exception.

What's more, the emperor had been taking elixirs for many years. Although he could not be called a long-lived person, he did live to be over fifty years old.

The emperor had only taken the medicine for less than two years, but the poison had already invaded his internal organs, forcing him to suspect that someone was secretly playing tricks on him. The first suspect was Prince Ning.

"Your Majesty, the recipe has been handed over to the Imperial Hospital to find a suitable remedy. The old villain also confessed that he was indeed ordered by Prince Ning."

At this point, Xia Shouzhong fell to his knees with a thump: "I failed to watch over you, and the emperor was harmed by the traitor. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Xia Shouzhong had followed the emperor for many years and had long understood the emperor's intentions. Although he did not dare to blatantly frame him, Taoist Chongxu could not stand the torture and with a little guidance, he got the result the emperor wanted.

However, he could handle the tasks on the emperor's side, but the task of testing the medicine was his job.

Even though he had repeatedly advised and remonstrated with the emperor, he was always rejected by the emperor. However, if there was a problem with the elixir, he could not escape the blame.

If you want to survive, you have to retreat and apologize proactively.

In order to remind the emperor, he could not help but hint at it: "Even if Duke Wei had been more careful when he reminded me, Your Majesty would not have been... poisoned by the traitor..."

After hearing what Xia Shouzhong said, the emperor couldn't help but regret it.

Thinking back to the time when Xia Shouzhong heard what Zhang Yun逸 said and rushed back to report the news, he was also shocked. The reason why he was reluctant to see a doctor was because Madam Miaoyin happened to announce that she was pregnant.

Unexpectedly, not only did she miss the best time for treatment, but even the prince she gave birth to had problems.

How happy I was then, how angry I am now.

In addition, Zhou Xianzu's outspokenness had caused the reform of the three judicial departments to fail halfway.

He couldn't help but vent his anger on Madam Miaoyin and Zhou Xianzu.

Thinking of this, Emperor Wanlong blurted out: "Pass on my order..."

But halfway through his words, he suddenly calmed down.

Although the imperial doctors' descriptions of the illness were very obscure, how could he not see that their attempt to cover up the truth was making it even more obvious?

In addition, my family knew about my family's affairs, and although the symptoms had not improved in more than a month since I returned from escorting the coffin, they had tended to get worse.

The emperor could more or less see that he probably wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

Now, the prince has symptoms of congenital deficiency. Once I am gone, it is inevitable that the ruler will be weak and the ministers will be strong.

Although he was unwilling to allow in-laws to interfere in politics, the Zhou family was Madam Miaoyin's family after all, and Zhou Xianzu was the prince's uncle. At least they had the same interests in protecting their son's throne.

Thinking of this, Emperor Wanlong quickly changed his words and said, "Go to the clan house now and give Prince Ning an intact body..."

Because the imperial physician did not dare to report the truth, and the prince was still young, he believed the congenital deficiency to be true.

Even if one's body is weak, as long as one survives to adulthood, there may be a chance to continue the bloodline.

Learning from the previous experience, the retired emperor refused to acknowledge the late emperor as his father throughout his life, and instead devoted himself to welcoming Emperor Xingxian into the Taimiao.

Even if his son was born with congenital defects, he was still his blood after all, which was better than letting the throne fall into someone else's hands.

Choose the lesser of two evils. After all, the threat from ministers is no less than that from the royal family.

Therefore, the first person to be eliminated is King Ning.

Otherwise, if he takes advantage of the opportunity to create chaos and fish in troubled waters, I'm afraid I won't know what to do with myself by then.

It might even be possible that he gave himself an unkind posthumous title like Emperor Ling.

Therefore, whether for the sake of his infant child or for his own sake, he could not only not vent his anger on the Zhou family, but also had to promote them.

Therefore, he paused and continued, "In addition, Madam Miaoyin gave birth to an heir to the throne and made contributions to the country, so she was specially named empress. Her brother Zhou Xianzu was transferred to the position of Minister of Personnel."

……

(End of this chapter)