Chapter 4 — The Regent Hides Thousands of Secrets

I looked at him with interest, "Then why is the poison only found in the tea that Your Majesty gives you? Why did Minister Vuong come forward sooner or later, but at this very moment, he stood up and accused this king of being seriously ill, wanting to take away his right to be regent?" My eyes focused straight on Minister Vuong who was trembling like a leaf.

“Your Majesty, is this a coincidence, or... you guys were in cahoots with each other？”

With a "thump" sound, the Minister Vuong knelt down on the ground, sweating like rain: "Your Majesty please forgive me！I... I only want you to rest assured about the poisoning, I know absolutely nothing about the poisoning！"

“Really？”

I walked over, bent down, my voice was as soft as a ghost: "Do you think that I secretly had an affair with a little eunuch in the palace and did so many dirty things? This king doesn't know?" I stood up, not bothering to pay attention to him anymore, turned towards Tieu Tuan on the long chair, and shouted loudly:

“Your Majesty！There must be a hidden meaning in this matter！There is definitely someone who wants to separate our military and officials and shake the Great Zhou national foundation！Please, Your Majesty, please, thoroughly investigate this case！Return justice to me！”

As soon as he finished speaking, with a "puff" sound, the Minister spat out a mouthful of black blood and fell to the ground dead on the spot. He... killed himself with poison！ In the palace, it was as quiet as death. Everyone was so scared by this unexpected event that they were speechless. We know, this is the person behind the attack. Tieu Tuan looked blankly at Minister Vuong's body, then looked back at me, his lips trembling, unable to speak. I looked at him blankly, but in my heart I was not happy, but on the contrary, I felt frustrated. His appearance like that makes me look even more like an oppressor. I took a deep breath and knelt down.

"Your Majesty, I... request to be allowed to return to the palace to recuperate. National affairs, please leave it to the six cabinet ministries to handle temporarily."

Backward to move forward. I want to see if without me, this little emperor... can still sit on this throne or not. 8. I used the excuse of illness to return to the royal palace, temporarily handing over all power. The gate of the Regent's Palace was tightly closed for twenty-four hours. I announced publicly that I needed to recuperate and detoxify, refusing all visits. This is the plan we have prepared in advance. Taking advantage of this "poisoned" event, he escaped and retreated. First, it can completely quell Tieu Tuan's doubts about my body's condition, and attribute the "nausea" symptom to poisoning. Second, we can take this opportunity to rest assured and nurture our pregnancy. Third, I also want to see what tricks the demons and monsters in the court will do when I no longer suppress them. And how much does Tieu Tuan - that little emperor - weigh in the end? As for that poison, of course it was our own doing. The tea leaves are real, but the poison is fake. We just use a medicinal powder made from herbs, which can produce symptoms similar to poisoning, and then mix it into tea. The king is just a sacrifice that I push out as a good offering. He has secretly colluded with the enemy country, we have long wanted to eliminate him. It's just that he didn't expect that the person behind him would act so decisively, directly making him commit suicide by taking medicine, cutting off all the clues. But that's good too. When you're dead, there's no evidence. Even if Tieu Tuan doubts me, he doesn't either Can't find any evidence. I leisurely stayed in the royal palace to raise my baby. There are no more government affairs to bother me, my appetite is better, and my morning sickness has calmed down quite a bit. It's just that every day when I listen to Lam Phong report on the situation at the court, my eyebrows never relax. Without me holding their head down, the ministers immediately divided into three factions. One faction is the royalist faction led by the Prime Minister, who advocates returning power to the Emperor. One faction is the old gods, led by the Minister of Ministry, who advocates maintaining the situation and waiting for us to recover. As for the other side, they are like grass growing at the top of a wall, swaying with the wind, sitting on the mountain watching tigers fight. Tieu Tuan was turned around like a pinwheel. Although he is smart, he is still too young and lacks political tricks. Faced with a group of old foxes who have been busy in officialdom for decades, he is clearly helpless. In just half a short month, many policies that we have issued for the benefit of the country and the people have been rejected and shelved by them using all kinds of excuses. Border military fees continued to be reduced. When I heard that, I almost crushed the bowl of antenatal medicine in my hand. A bunch of idiots!

“Your Majesty, don't be angry, be careful of your body.”

Lam Phong looked at me worriedly. I took a deep breath and placed my hand on my slightly protruding belly. For this child, we must be patient.

“Wait a little longer.”

I told myself, "Wait until Tieu Tuan can't stand it anymore, he will automatically come and beg me." 9. I didn't expect that Tieu Tuan would be more patient than I thought. He did not come to pray for me. Not only that, he also did something that opened my eyes. He began to regularly send people to bring things to the royal palace. Today they send thousand-year-old ginseng, tomorrow they send Snow Mountain Ganoderma, and the next day they send a pile of precious medicinal herbs that are said to cure hundreds of poisons. The person delivering the goods is still Tieu An Tu. Every time he came, he thoughtfully asked questions, took care of him wholeheartedly, and had a respectful attitude as if he were serving his own father. At first we thought this was just a show for outsiders to show, showing Tieu Tuan's image of a kind and gentle warrior. But gradually, we discover something is not right. The things he brought became more and more strange. One time, he brought a pair of peach seeds delicately carved with premium Hoa Dien jade, saying that I could hold them in my hand and play with them, so that they could stimulate my blood and calm my mind. Another time, a book was given to me called the "Nam Hoa Sutra", which said it was for me to calm down and relax, not to think too much. The funniest thing was that one time, he actually sent a... hand drum. Tieu An Tu said, this is the toy that His Majesty liked the most when he was a child. It jingles happily and is extremely soothing. I looked at that childish rattle and was silent for a long time. Tieu Tuan... what does it mean? Did he think I was an easy-to-push three-year-old? Or… did he know something? My heart was filled with vigilance and I ordered Lam Phong to strengthen the guard of the royal palace. However, besides delivering the goods, Tieu Tuan did not have any other actions. At court, he was still being tormented by the old mandarins, but he never opened his mouth to ask for help from me. The more he is like that, the more uneasy I feel. Feeling like a hunter, suddenly losing the initiative over the prey, makes us extremely uncomfortable. That night, while I was sleeping soundly, I was suddenly awakened by a very small noise. I immediately opened my eyes and shouted: "Who?" In the darkness, a black shadow shot down from the rafters and landed right in front of my bed. My heart is shocked moved, reflexively reaching under his pillow to look for a dagger.

“Don't move.”

A familiar, hoarse voice rang out. It's Tieu Tuan.