Early the next morning, Jiang Suzhou boarded his carriage and went straight to the palace to attend the imperial court meeting.
He did not sleep well the night before and only managed to fall asleep in the second night watch period. When the sun rose, he got up again.
However, he knew that he had to attend the imperial court meeting.
If he claimed that he was sick and could not attend, the palace would definitely send an imperial physician to treat him. Everyone knew that Huo Wujiu was in his courtyard. If an outsider came, they would be exposed as soon as they saw some clues.
He could only bite the bullet and get on the carriage.
The swaying of the carriage made him dizzy. When he got off the carriage at Kaiyang Gate, the morning sun made him dizzy again.
He frowned, gathered his robe, and walked into the palace.
Based on his estimated speed, Huo Wujiu should have reached the southern bank of the Yangtze River in two days. However, he did not receive any news. He did not know if everything was going well.
He walked through the vast white marble square in Kaiyang Gate and entered Guangyuan Hall.
He arrived early, but Pang Shao, who was usually late, was already waiting in the hall. A few officials surrounded him and talked, but he looked disinterested. It was as if he had something on his mind.
Jiang Suzhou frowned. He had an idea.
Pang Shao was acting strangely. He must have done something, or was about to do something strange. He did not know if he would be able to find out anything during the imperial court meeting. If not, he would need Xu Du to investigate further.
As he was thinking, he saw Pang Shao looking at him.
It was just a hurried glance that swept past him. However, that gaze contained an inexplicable coldness, causing Jiang Suizhou's hair to stand on end.
He retracted his gaze as a bad premonition arose in his heart.
Could it be that he had found out about Huo Wujiu? However, why was there no movement in the residence? Why did he not send anyone to investigate?
Jiang Suzhou glanced at Pang Shao, then turned around and looked out of the hall.
The strict Imperial Guards were stationed around the several palace gates, and the ministers were scattered in the square that was filled with sunlight, slowly making their way to Guang Yuan Palace.
Now that he had entered the palace, he naturally could not leave before the court session. After the morning court session, he needed to go back immediately to see what had happened.
In the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the courtiers had all arrived and were waiting quietly in the hall. According to the Houzhu's usual habits, they would have to wait at least a quarter of an hour before he would arrive.
But at this moment, the eunuch's voice rang out.
Hundreds of officials knelt down to pay their respects, and the Empress Dowager sat on the dragon throne.
Jiang Suzhou felt even more uneasy.
There must be something fishy going on. Moreover, both Pang Shao and Houzhu seemed to be acting strangely today.
He suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, but he couldn't help but think about Huo Wujiu.
Although the two of them were different from usual, they were calm and steady, and didn't seem anxious at all. Could it be that Huo Wujiu had been exposed and the plan had failed? Jiang Suzhou knew that he shouldn't distrust Huo Wujiu so much, but he couldn't help but be confused by his concern.
With his heart full of uneasiness, he finally made it through the court session.
He reluctantly let out a sigh of relief and bowed along with the other courtiers. Seeing that many courtiers had already left, he turned around and blended into the crowd of courtiers.
But at this moment, the Empress Dowager on the dragon throne spoke.
"Fifth Younger Brother," he said. "Wait a moment."
His expression was normal, but Jiang Suzhou felt inexplicably uneasy. He thought for a moment, then coughed a few times with a pale face due to lack of sleep. With a hoarse voice and a weak breath, he said with a forced smile, "Imperial Brother … I just caught a cold two days ago. I'm afraid that I'll pass the illness to you, so I have to rush back home to take medicine."
The Empress Dowager moved his body and leaned against the dragon throne.
"There's an important matter," he said. "This matter needs to be handled by you. No one else can do it."
Jiang Suzhou's eyebrows moved slightly, and he asked, "What is it, Imperial Brother?"
The Empress Dowager looked at him quietly for a while.
"There's still more than a month until the anniversary of the Imperial Examination." His expression was cold as he looked at Jiang Suzhou quietly. His tone was very stiff. "I want the Ministry of Rites to hold a ceremony for the Imperial Examination. Fifth Younger Brother, you and I are the only two sons left in the Imperial Examination. Are you not willing to do this? "
Jiang Suzhou coughed again. At this moment, his face was pale, but there was an abnormal flush. He looked sickly.
But he quickly thought about it in his mind.
The biggest grudge between the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager probably came from the Spirit Emperor's favoritism. The Empress Dowager was cold to him because of this and even insisted on keeping him. Could it be that Pang Shao persuaded him?
No wonder Pang Shao had such a strange expression this morning.
Thinking about it this way, it made sense.
But Jiang Suzhou still had doubts in his heart. He glanced at the Empress Dowager hesitantly, then turned around and looked out of the hall.
After the court meeting, the officials were not allowed to stay in the palace without an imperial edict. At this moment, the officials in the court had all left. In front of the palace gates in the distance, guards and eunuchs had already gone to close the gates.
Jiang Suzhou was shocked.
How could the gates of the palace be locked in the middle of the day?
But at this moment, he heard Jiang Sunheng's cold laugh behind him.
"Fifth Younger Brother, are you going to defy the imperial edict?" he asked. "Fine. Come, invite His Highness Prince Jing over for me. "
Three or four tall and strong guards immediately came from all directions, sealing off Jiang Suzhou's escape route.
The old eunuch standing behind Jiang Sunheng slowly walked down the steps with a fake smile. He bowed slightly in front of Jiang Suzhou.
"Your Highness Prince Jing, please?"
The eunuch raised his head and looked at him with an unfathomable smile.
Jiang Suzhou's heart trembled. His original uneasiness was suddenly confirmed.
At this moment, he had fallen into an inescapable trap all by himself.
— —
Lou Yue left the palace. As soon as he arrived at the gate of the residence, he saw Lou Wanjun anxiously waiting for him at the door.
"Father!" She came forward to greet him.
Lou Yue hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?"
Lou Wanjun stuffed a note into Lou Yue's hand.
"There's news from Huo Wujiu," she said. "It was sent here by a fast horse just now."
Lou Yue hurriedly unfolded the note.
He saw that it was written in bold calligraphy. It was Huo Wujiu's handwriting.
"It's done. You can return in three days. Quickly surround Lin 'an and don't let Pang Shao escape. There may be changes in the city at any time. You must protect Jiang Suzhou well. "
The last few words were written extremely solemnly.
Lou Yue took a deep breath.
"It's done." As he spoke, he was about to quickly enter the residence. However, Lou Wanjun grabbed her arm and asked, "Where's Prince Jing? Since Huo Wujiu said that you should hurry and bring him here. It's better to bring him directly to the army. It'll be safer there. "
Lou Yue nodded and said, "You're right. Father needs to go outside the city to arrange the troops. You should immediately send people to the Prince Jing Estate to bring him over. "
Lou Wanjun complied and turned to go to the gatehouse to get the horse.
However, at this moment, a slight noise came from the eaves of the residence. Lou Wanjun looked up and saw a person's shadow quickly dashing up from the side of the alley. With a nimble leap, the person landed in front of her.
"Who is it?!" She was shocked.
However, the person didn't stop in front of her. He rushed out with large strides and pulled out Lou Yue, who was about to leave the city in a hurry.
Lou Yue turned his head and recognized this person as one of Huo Wujiu's subordinates in the capital.
"General Lou, there's been a change in the palace," he said.
Lou Yue frowned and asked, "What?"
The person hurriedly said, "The palace gates have been locked. His Highness Prince Jing hasn't come out."
Lou Yue was shocked. He turned around and was about to rush out of the city.
Lou Wanjun hurriedly took a few steps forward and pulled him back.
"Father, where are you going?!" She asked.
Lou Yue anxiously said, "Where else can I go?! There are still troops outside the palace. If we enter the city now to save them, we might be able to make it in time! "
As he said this, he couldn't help but blame himself in a low voice, "It's my fault for leaving too early. I should've waited for Prince Jing!"
Lou Wanjun was so anxious that his eyebrows furrowed.
"Is it faster for you to lead troops into the city to save people, or is it faster for the emperor to kill people?" She anxiously asked.
Lou Yue stopped in his tracks.
"Then what should we do?!" He was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.
Lou Wanjun asked the informant, "Did Pang Shao come out just now?"
The informant replied, "He came out a long time ago."
Lou Wanjun gritted his teeth.
"Father," she said. "Now, we can only make an exchange."
As she said this, she pulled out a horse from the gatehouse and galloped onto it.
"Quickly go outside the city and immediately seal off Lin 'an. I'll go to Pang Shao's residence and see if I can capture him alive, "she said. "Even if we can't make an exchange, both sides have hostages. The emperor won't dare to kill people so easily."
— —
The news that was sent into the palace came one after another.
After the court meeting, Pang Shao's subordinates left in a hurry with the imperial edict. However, they didn't expect that they would be intercepted before they could even leave the city.
The ones who intercepted them were Lou Yue's subordinates.
More than 40,000 people had sealed off all eight city gates of Lin 'an. For a moment, all the people and officials in the city were trapped in the city. Even a bird couldn't get in and out of Lin' an.
Lou Yue rebelled.
The Later Lord was so angry that his whole body trembled. He hated that this reckless man had learned to rebel. He couldn't think of a solution, so he immediately sent people to the Minister of the Interior's residence and asked them to quickly invite the Minister of the Interior to discuss countermeasures.
Unexpectedly, the Minister of the Interior's residence was empty. Pang Shao was nowhere to be found.
Only a group of servants, a few unfavored concubines, and the sons and daughters of concubines were left in the residence. Pang Shao himself, along with his youngest son and confidant, had disappeared.
Pang Shao had taken advantage of the chaos when the city was sealed off just now and escaped.
The Later Lord was anxious in the golden palace, waiting for Pang Shao to come and help him out. However, he didn't expect …
He sat on the dragon throne and listened to the report of the imperial guards who had hurriedly returned. He didn't say anything for a moment.
After a long time, he spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Uncle must have gone to get reinforcements for me," he said. "That's true. What can the people in the city do now? We can only find the soldiers outside to help me out. "
No one dared to make a sound.
After a moment, the eunuch next to him couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty …"
However, Hou Zhu took a deep breath.
"Great companion," he said. "But uncle promised me that he would stay in the city to protect me no matter what. Why would he go back on his word? "
The eunuch next to him was speechless.
The Later Lord laughed.
"I'll wait," he said. "Uncle won't not come back. Besides, didn't that old thief Lou Yue only lock the city gates and not do anything else? I don't believe that he dares to bring soldiers into the imperial city and kill me. I'll just wait for uncle to come back and save me. "
With that, he stood up and left without saying goodbye to anyone.
After taking two steps, he staggered and almost fell down. He barely managed to hold on to a pillar carved with a golden dragon.
"Your Majesty!" The eunuchs around him hurriedly went to help him.
"Your Majesty, don't worry! Lou Yue must have done this for the prime minister. He won't really do anything to you … "The old eunuch hurriedly advised.
The Later Lord said, "Shut up."
The old eunuch hurriedly shut up.
The Later Lord lowered his eyes.
He had originally thought that with the death of the evil concubine, the death of his biased father, and his ascension to the throne, with his uncle treating him so well, he would no longer be alone and abandoned like in the past.
However, he didn't expect that his uncle would abandon him one day.
"Your Majesty …" The old eunuch said in a trembling voice.
However, Hou Zhu took a deep breath.
"Has he been locked up in the dungeon in Jiang Suizhou?" he asked.
The old eunuch hurriedly replied, "Yes."
The Later Lord chuckled.
"Then let's go," he said. "I still have to discuss something with this younger brother."
—
As soon as he left the main hall in Jiang Suizhou, he was tied up tightly by those people.
He already knew what kind of situation it would be.
These people were really superfluous. With his broken body, why would he need to be tied up like this? Even if they let him go, he wouldn't be able to escape.
However … he was relieved.
The Later Lord spent so much effort to capture him, which meant that Huo Wujiu hadn't fallen into their hands and had succeeded. That was why they had to turn around and capture him.
Since that was the case … at least Huo Wujiu was safe.
He was pushed and shoved all the way to a remote area of the Imperial Palace. He entered a simple and dignified palace garden and was then brought to an underground prison cell.
There seemed to be no living person in the prison, but the smell of rot and blood was very strong.
The smell was somewhat familiar, like the smell on Huo Wujiu's body when he first met Huo Wujiu.
Presumably, this was the dungeon in the palace where serious criminals were locked up.
Jiang Suizhou couldn't help but laugh bitterly in his heart.
The Later Lord really thought highly of him.
These people opened the door to one of the prison cells and threw him inside. They locked the door and left. Jiang Suizhou fell onto the wet and rotten straw. His entire body hurt from the fall. He gasped for breath and began to look around.
It was eerie and decaying. The straw and walls were stained with dark red blood.
Jiang Suizhou had long heard that no one who entered this prison survived more than three days. After so many years, the only exception was Huo Wujiu. Other than him, there was no one else.
Jiang Suizhou lowered his eyes and sighed.
He thought that with his broken body, which required a lot of effort to walk a few steps, there was no chance of him being an exception.
However, at this time, he was much calmer and didn't feel much fear.
He originally thought that he was afraid of death, but he didn't expect that he was actually half a step into the gates of hell. He wasn't that afraid. Instead, he was glad that the thing he worried about in the imperial court didn't happen.
Huo Wujiu was safe. That was good.
After all, in history, he was only a sickly prince, and Huo Wujiu was a precious treasure of the Shi family.
After all … … he would rather be locked up here than let Huo Wujiu suffer.
He sighed.
He only felt that it was a pity.
It was a pity that until death, he was the only one who knew about his feelings.
He closed his eyes.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of messy footsteps could be heard outside the prison. He opened his eyes and saw that someone had already come to open the prison door. As soon as the door opened, before anyone could enter, two young eunuchs hurriedly carried a chair and placed it in the prison cell. They then retreated.
He saw a black robe embroidered with a golden dragon.
It was the Empress.
He looked up and saw the fat man in the dragon robe expressionlessly step into the prison cell and sit down on the chair. Many eunuchs and guards followed him in. In an instant, the narrow prison cell became lively.
However, even after everyone had entered, there was still no sign of Pang Shao.
Jiang Suizhou looked at the Empress and saw that the Empress was also looking at him.
For a moment, their eyes met. Both of them looked at each other coldly.
The Empress leaned back in her chair.
"Guards," she said lazily. "Hang him up for me."
Jiang Suizhou could vaguely see that something was wrong.
The Empress clearly wasn't here to interrogate him.
It seemed more like she was here to vent her anger.
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