The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 771 Ambush
Queen Zhou walked unsteadily, and with the help of palace servants, she stepped into Fengzao Palace with difficulty.

She had just breathed a sigh of relief when she saw soldiers armed with firearms standing outside the hall. The sharp knives shining on the tips of their guns made her shudder.

Queen Zhou was angry but dared not say anything. She secretly complained in her heart that Zhang Yun逸 spoke nicely in the Yangxin Palace, but he arranged soldiers to come in advance. How was this different from detention?

As if to confirm her guess, the soldiers in front of the palace suddenly raised their guns, blocked the accompanying palace servants, and said without question: "The Duke has ordered that in order to prevent rioters from causing trouble, all outsiders should retreat!"

Queen Zhou wanted to scold him, but she thought that she was at the mercy of others...

She had no choice but to swallow her anger, bite the bullet, and walk tremblingly through the soldiers alone.

As soon as I entered the hall, I suddenly heard a familiar voice: "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

"Brother...you are not going..."

Queen Zhou was halfway through her words when she remembered that her brother had gone to invite Zhang Yunyi during the day, and she was afraid that he would fall into his hands before she did. She changed the topic and asked, "You...you were also arrested?"

After hearing this, Zhou Xianzu smiled at a general-looking man in the hall and retorted, "What do you mean captured? Duke Wei is the reinforcement I invited!"

"What?" Queen Zhou subconsciously thought that her brother had ulterior motives and had invited a wolf into the house, giving Zhang Yunyi the opportunity to reap the benefits.

No wonder Zhang Yun逸 was able to move freely in the palace without any resistance from the imperial guards. It was not until the army arrived in front of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity and shouted loudly that he realized what was happening.

Thinking of this, Empress Zhou was struck by lightning. Her face turned pale and blue. She looked at Zhou Xianzu with a complicated expression, and angrily asked, "You... why are you so confused?"

After all, out of consideration for the soldiers inside and outside the hall, she did not dare to accuse Zhang Yunyi of his evil ambitions.

"I'm confused?" Zhou Xianzu complained, "I'm saving the queen and our Zhou family!"

"you you……"

Seeing that Zhou Xianzu was still stubborn, Queen Zhou's chest heaved and she was so angry that she couldn't speak.

"Your Majesty, you don't know that Duke Wei is acting in accordance with His Majesty's will!"

Zhou Xianzu also realized that there was a misunderstanding, and quickly told Zhang Yunyi about the secret decree in his hand, and said, "If I hadn't begged you, Duke Wei, to show mercy, the queen and our Zhou family would have been dead by now!"

Although he did trick the palace ban open, he felt justified in saying this when he thought about the fact that Zhang Yun逸 had already controlled Dongzhimen.

"Impossible!" Queen Zhou had a preconceived idea and flatly denied it, "How could the emperor..."

"Why not?" Zhou Xianzu interrupted her before she could finish, "Would I harm the Queen and the Crown Prince? I have read the secret decree, and it was indeed written by His Majesty... Queen!"

As he spoke, he bowed to Yunshan in the hall and said, "Please trouble you, General!"

Yunshan took out the secret decree that Zhang Yunyi had given him from his arms and unfolded it in front of Queen Zhou.

Queen Zhou raised her head with difficulty. At a glance, she recognized the emperor's handwriting. After seeing the contents of the secret decree clearly, she felt her legs go weak and she fell onto the chair behind her.

"It is said that serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. The emperor's heart is hard to predict!" Zhou Xianzu said while the iron was hot, "Your Majesty, you don't know that the secret decree was sent by the Emperor to the Duke of Wei by the Wu family!"

Originally, Queen Zhou still had some doubts, but after hearing this, she believed it about 80%.

Her open and secret struggles with Concubine Wu were no secret in the palace.

As the head of the six palaces and the biological mother of the only crown prince, she was at a time when the emperor was dying.

She didn't even need to ask around for someone to report it to her.

I heard yesterday that Concubine Wu was taken to the Yangxin Palace by Xia Shouzhong to take care of her illness and did not return to the palace all night.

Today, I heard the sad news of the emperor's death and rushed to the Yangxin Palace. I was also surprised that Concubine Wu was not in the palace, but came so late. Enemies often know you better than friends. Empress Zhou, who was always familiar with Concubine Wu, wondered at the time whether Concubine Wu had used some seductive means to seduce the emperor because the prince was born with a deficiency and was desperate, but accidentally caused the emperor's sudden death.

In order to distance himself from the matter and avoid suspicion, he slipped away.

However, the imperial physician did not seem to notice anything, and the emperor had just passed away, the palace was in chaos, and she had not yet had time to spare.

After hearing what Zhou Xianzu said, I realized that I might have misunderstood.

It is true that she is seductive and can seduce her master, but she does not work on herself. Instead, she tries to take his place in another way.

Thinking that the emperor had been bewitched by her and not only wanted to depose her and execute the entire Zhou family, but also wanted his son to recognize the thief as his mother, Queen Zhou felt chilled and frightened at the same time.

Now, she could understand why Zhang Yunyi killed Xia Shouzhong as soon as he entered the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.

Since it was Xia Shouzhong who summoned Concubine Wu to take care of the patient yesterday, he must know the inside story.

Zhang Yun逸 probably wanted to protect his own family and was worried that he would leak the news, so he made a prompt decision to kill him to silence him!

No wonder he claimed before leaving that he would come in person to apologize after dealing with the traitors.

Although she sensed Zhang Yunyi's good intentions, Queen Zhou knew that the secret decree in front of her could not be kept, so she subconsciously reached out to grab it, wanting to destroy it immediately.

Unexpectedly, Yunshan withdrew his hand in time, rolled up the secret decree and put it away.

Queen Zhou, who had gotten nothing and was afraid of backfired, did not dare to step forward to snatch it. She could only smile awkwardly and said, "Please tell the general that Duke Wei's kindness will be remembered by us brothers and sisters..."

Seeing this, Zhou Xianzu was afraid that his sister would cause trouble in a hurry, so he quickly advised: "Your Majesty should also understand Duke Wei. After all, this secret decree was handed over by the Wu family, and he doesn't know whether there are any backups outside. For now, the only thing to do is to drag as many people as possible into the water..."

Zhou Xianzu hurriedly told Zhang Yunyi all his thoughts, and then urged: "Your Majesty, there is no time to lose. The Duke can't delay for too long. He only gave us half an hour. You should quickly take out the jade seal..."

Although Queen Zhou felt that falsely conveying the imperial edict at this time was tantamount to giving others a handle, it was inappropriate.

But between two evils, one must choose the lesser of two evils. Now, Zhang Yunyi has already taken control of the Forbidden Palace. If he does not agree, the worst that can happen is that he will read the will, but he and his family will be in great trouble.

Moreover, Zhang Yun逸 now holds this secret edict, which is tantamount to holding his own Achilles' heel. There is really no need to go to such lengths to accuse himself of forging the edict.

There is no more hesitation now.

He also asked Yunshan to send someone to accompany Zhou Xianzu to the imperial study and bring back a stack of blank imperial edicts.

Zhou Xianzu quickly picked up his pen, drafted the content, stamped it with the imperial seal, and blew the ink dry.

Fang said to Queen Zhou: "Your Majesty, please be patient. I will go and report to Duke Wei first."

After saying this, he carefully put the drafted imperial edict into his arms, hunched his back, followed Yunshan, and walked out of the hall step by step.

Looking at her brother's attitude, Queen Zhou couldn't help but twitch her mouth.

He couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart, after all, he was the uncle of the emperor, the uncle of the future emperor, how could he be like a dog?

However, on second thought, the situation is stronger than the person. Not to mention the will in Zhang Yunyi's hand, the entire palace is now in his hands. His brother is humble and submissive, isn't it for the sake of himself and his son?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel relieved. Even though Zhang Yunyi had evil ambitions and wanted to blackmail the emperor to control the princes, he could still save his family's lives. The most important thing was to watch his son grow up safely.

……

(End of this chapter)