Several big men with bare chests and tangled muscles held cowhide whips soaked in salt water in their hands and looked at Qian Ning panting.

Several people looked at Qian Ning with a bit of admiration in their eyes. Even though what they were using was just whipping, with their experience and strength, even a strong man would never be able to withstand it.

That's right now.

However, Qian Ning was stunned and didn't say a word. This was the first time they had seen someone like Qian Ning in the prison of the Ministry of Punishments.

The leader picked up a bucket and poured it over Qian Ning's head. The salt water immediately invaded the wound, and the burning sting made Qian Ning groan and wake up from the pain.

Qian Ning raised his head hard and glanced at a few people.

Geng Li, who had been sitting next to him, said to Qian Ning: "Qian Ning, if I were you, I would accept everything. Even if you die, you can die happily, right? Why bother to suffer this here?"

Waiting for torture.”

Qian Ning glanced at Geng Li coldly, spat out a mouthful of blood-streaked saliva and cursed angrily: "Geng, you want Qian to bite Eunuch Liu. It's simply a delusion. Just wait, Eunuch Liu won't do it."

I’ll let you go.”

Geng Li heard this and sneered: "It seems that you won't shed tears until you see the coffin. In this case, I will let you know that Liu Jin, the one you rely on, may not even be able to protect himself!"

As he spoke, Geng Li waved his hands at the people, and they quickly left the cell, leaving the cell to Geng Li and Qian Ning.

After hearing Geng Li's words, Qian Ning naturally sneered with disdain.

Liu Jin has won the favor of the emperor and is now in the limelight, unparalleled in the world. It can be said that as long as nothing happens to the emperor, no matter what tricks these people do, they will be liquidated in the end.

Qian Ning naturally knows very well what kind of temper Liu Jin has. If he really dares to betray Liu Jin, Liu Jin will definitely put him in a dilemma of life and death.

Geng Li walked up to Qian Ning with his hands behind his back, looked at Qian Ning and said with a smile: "Don't you just hope that Liu Jin will come to save you?"

Qian Ning snorted coldly, but Geng Li didn't care at all and smiled and said: "As a member of the Imperial Guard of Qianhu, I think you should know beforehand that Liu Jin has been ordered by the Queen Mother to stay in the mansion to reflect on her mistakes and is not allowed to step out of the mansion."

Qian Ning naturally knew this. When he heard this, he glanced at Geng Li and said: "So what? Although I don't know what accident happened to your Majesty, you must know one thing. Your Majesty is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The Queen Mother can be trapped."

How can Eunuch Liu be able to trap Eunuch Liu for the rest of his life?"

Geng Li smiled sinisterly and said, "What if His Majesty is no longer here?"

Qian Ning's whole body went cold, and he stared at Geng Li with a look of disbelief in his eyes. He said with great horror: "Impossible... This is impossible. Your Majesty is in the prime of his life, so how can something happen to him?"

Geng Li said calmly: "So what? People will always die. For so many years in history, emperors, didn't they all die early? Your Majesty is no exception!"

Qian Ning reacted suddenly, stared at the other party fiercely and said: "You... you are so brave, you even dare to assassinate His Majesty!"

Geng Li shook his head and said: "You don't want to slander others. As ministers of the Ming Dynasty, we are loyal to your majesty. We are loyal to your majesty. How can we be detrimental to your majesty!"

Qian Ning just sneered. He knew these literati very well. If he could believe one out of ten words these people said, that would be good. If he really believed what these people said, he would probably die without even knowing how he died.

.

These people are really capable of committing regicide.

Thinking of this, Qian Ning couldn't help but feel despair in his heart. If the emperor finally collapsed as Geng Li said, earth-shaking changes would definitely take place in the court immediately.

Regardless of the overwhelming power of the eunuch party centered on Liu Jin, it seems that it can compete with the civil service group, but this is based on the emperor's support for Liu Jin. Without the emperor's support, those officials who are attached to Liu Jin will definitely fall behind.

Suddenly they turned against each other and made matters worse.

Seeing the change in Qian Ning's expression, Geng Li said in Qian Ning's ear like a devil: "How about it, as long as you are willing to bite Liu Jin, tell Liu Jin to assassinate the emperor and intend to rebel. Then I may be able to help you."

Please forgive me and spare your family members."

Qian Ning suddenly burst into laughter, spat at Geng Li and said, "Qian cannot believe your words. I want Qian to admit to the death penalty of killing the nine tribes in his next life."

Unexpectedly, Qian Ning would be so stubborn. He screamed angrily: "Come here, I will execute you!"

Time flies so fast, another day passes.

british government

In the back garden, Zhang Mao was sitting there, his body tall and straight, even though his hair was gray, he looked full of energy, making people dare not underestimate him.

Zhang Lun stood next to Zhang Mao, standing there quietly without disturbing Zhang Mao.

There is a piece of information in Zhang Mao's hands.

With the ability of the British government, if they really investigate one thing, there really aren't many things that can be hidden from them.

The information in Zhang Mao's hands at this time was dense and dense, all of which were obtained overnight.

With a bang, Zhang Mao slapped his hand on the table with an angry look on his face.

"How brave, they are so brave, they even dare to plot against the emperor!"

Zhang Lun had already read the inquiring information in advance, which included the major events that occurred in the palace, the mobilization of troops and horses in the capital, and even what happened in the Jinyiwei Yamen. It was recorded in great detail.

.

After the Battle of Tumu Fort, Zhang Mao took charge of the British government. For decades, he remained anonymous but secretly weaved a ubiquitous web.

Of course, this intelligence network only has such great power in the capital, and it is also thanks to Zhang Maonai being the leader of the Xungui family. This large network can be said to have gathered the influence of the entire capital Xungui, so

He said that even if Jinyiwei and Dongchang couldn't find out the information at the moment, they could still get it.

Just like what happened in the palace, the main targets of the civil servant group's defense were naturally the Jin Yiwei and Liu Jin's eunuchs.

However, there was not much preparedness for the Xungui Group. Even the information obtained by the British government did not come from the Xungui Group. Instead, it came from the Zhang family, a relative of the family.

Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling, the two uncles of the state, desperately wanted to squeeze into the ranks of nobles, and naturally they were friends with many nobles.

The emperor was assassinated and fell into a coma. Even Liu Jin tried his best to find out the huge news. However, Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling found out about it from the Queen Mother.

Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling knew about it, so the British public would naturally have a way to find out from them.

It could be seen that Zhang Mao was very angry. Not long ago, in the leopard room, the martial spirit that Zhu Houzhao exuded made Zhang Mao see the hope of Wu Xun's rise.

Even during these days, Zhang Mao was thinking about whether to send a secret message to the noble family in Beijing, asking them to select some available children from their clan, so that he could arrange these people into the capital camp.

It's just that he just saw hope here and hasn't made any arrangements yet. As a result, something happened to the emperor in the palace.

What also made Zhang Mao furious was that the battalion that had been transferred by the Ministry of War was actually led by Chang Ningbo and Gao Changsheng himself. Now this battalion was sealing off several palace gates in the imperial city.

What this means is not clear to Zhang Mao.

Someone in their Xungui Group has blatantly attached themselves to the Civil Service Group. How could this not make Zhang Mao angry?

Although Zhang Mao also knew that over the years, Wu Xun had gradually lost power in the court, and many people had quarreled with the civil service group. Even the younger members of the clan had mostly abandoned martial arts and tried to follow the path of civility.

But this is the first time that Chang Ningbo and Gao Changsheng directly disregarded face and personally went out to defend the civil servant group.

At this moment, Zhang Mao even suspected that not only the civil servant group was involved in the emperor's assassination, but maybe even his noble group was personally involved.

The Xungui Group and the Ming Dynasty both prospered and suffered losses, but this does not mean that the Xungui Group will be loyal to a certain emperor. They don't care which emperor is from the Zhu family. As long as the Ming Dynasty is still there, they will be with the country.

Hugh's honor.

Zhang Lun looked at Zhang Mao's ugly face and couldn't help but said worriedly: "Grandpa, your health is important, don't get angry."

Zhang Mao patted the table and sneered: "Haha, now someone dares to lead troops to surround the gate of the imperial city. I really didn't expect that his elder brother Gao Changsheng is really confused, even doing such a taboo thing

You dare to end it yourself."

Zhang Lun said: "Grandpa, such a big thing happened in the palace, but the elders did not inform grandpa. They..."

Zhang Mao's eyes flashed, and he looked towards the Forbidden City and said slowly: "Lun'er, prepare your grandpa's court clothes. I want to enter the palace to meet the saint."

Zhang Lun couldn't help being stunned when he heard this and said: "Grandpa, is it right to enter the palace at this time..."

Seeing the worry in his grandson's eyes, Zhang Mao couldn't help laughing and said: "Don't worry, no matter how crazy they are, they will never do anything to me, grandpa."

As he spoke, Zhang Mao said slowly: "Grandpa entered the palace for Your Majesty. There is not even a trustworthy person around Your Majesty now. If it is true..."

Liu Jin was banned from the palace, Gao Feng, Qiu Ju, and even Gu Dayong, who was in charge of the Tengxiang Four Guards Camp, were also summoned into the palace and are now locked up in the side hall.

The commander of the Su Wei was replaced, and the Jinyi Guards were unable to enter the Imperial City. Each of these events showed how tense and dangerous the situation in the Imperial City was.

After glaring at the hesitant Zhang Lun, Zhang Mao shouted: "What are you still doing? Go and get my court clothes!"

Soon Zhang Lun changed into a full-dress court dress, and then the door of the British Palace opened, dozens of elite private soldiers cleared the way, and the carriage of the British Palace headed straight for the imperial city.

In the imperial city

Queen Mother Zhang and Queen Xia looked nervously at the imperial physician Chen Jiu who was diagnosing the emperor's pulse.

Chen Jiu slowly turned around and said to the Queen Mother Zhang: "Queen Mother, your Majesty's pulse has been beating weakly day after day. I'm afraid..."

"roll!"

Even though she was mentally prepared, Empress Dowager Zhang still couldn't help but get angry. If she hadn't relied on him to hang on to the emperor's life, she would have ordered him to be dragged out and executed with a cane.

Sitting next to the emperor's bed, looking at the unconscious Zhu Houzhao, Queen Mother Zhang couldn't help but reach out and gently caress Zhu Houzhao's face that resembled Emperor Xiaozong, but also had a somewhat childish air.

"Your Majesty, you are so cruel. If something happens to you, how can you let me, my mother, live alone?"

Queen Xia was just a girl of eighteen or nineteen years old, and she was sitting on the sidelines sobbing silently.

Her eyes fell on the obvious bruises between Zhu Houzhao's neck. Empress Dowager Zhang was so angry that she suddenly stood up and shouted to the outside: "Send Li Shoufu to this palace, and Mr. Yang Ge is here."

Soon they saw Yang Tinghe and Li Dongyang walking over quickly. Just looking at their extremely tired looks, it was clear that they must have been very tired in the past two days.

Seeing the appearance of the two of them, Empress Dowager Zhang sighed softly, stopped the two of them from greeting each other and said: "You two have worked hard. On behalf of the emperor, I would like to thank the two elders for stabilizing the situation in the court during this difficult time."

, so as not to cause trouble."

Li Dongyang, Yang Ting and Lian Dao didn't dare.

She ordered her chamberlain to prepare seats for Li Dongyang and Yang Tinghe. After the two sat down, Empress Dowager Zhang looked at them and said: "You are also aware of the emperor's situation. Now he is relying on the Taiyuan Hospital to hang on to his life. I don't know when.
To be continued...