C235

Dong Fang Rong's expression changed, and he turned to the two palace servants standing by the side: "All of you, leave."

When only the few of them were left in the hall, Dong Fang Qian said softly, "Imperial Mother, what happened?"

Empress Dowager Wei turned to Yin Qiu and said, "Show the note to the emperor."

"Yes." Following this promise, Yin Qiu took out a letter from her sleeve and presented it to Dong Fang with both hands. "Please have a look, Your Majesty."

Dongfang Qun took it with a face full of suspicion. Inside was a thin piece of paper with only four words written on it, but it caused his expression to greatly change — "Be careful of King Rui."

"What's going on?"

Yin Qiuqu kneeled down, "In reply to His Majesty's words, a letter came in yesterday from home saying that this servant's mother is very ill and will die soon. The Empress Dowager pitied me, and Tyne allowed this servant to go home and take care of my mother for two days, to fulfill her final mother and daughter fate. She should have returned yesterday, but someone delivered this letter last night.

Dong Fang He frowned, "Where is the person who sent this letter?"

"The person who delivered the letter was a five or six-year-old kid. He said that someone gave him a bunch of candied fruits and told him to deliver this letter. Other than knowing that it was from a young man, he knows nothing."

Dong Fang Kun's expression was grave as he stared at the line of words written on the paper. After a long time, he raised his head and asked, "Imperial Mother, what do you think about this matter?"

Empress Dowager Wei stared at the ebony tortoiseshell screen in the palace, her gaze sharp as a sword. "This one isn't sure either, but …" No wind will come from the hole! "

Dongfang Ru understood what she meant, and said hesitantly, "But Imperial Mother knows who Seventh Brother is, and he has always been taciturn and unambitious. He shouldn't be acting this way."

Empress Dowager Wei narrowed her eyes slightly and said coldly, "People change. Having no ambition yesterday doesn't mean that today and tomorrow won't be the same. It's better to believe that there is one, than not to believe it."

Dong Fang Qian's expression was unsightly as he said, "If what mother says is true, then our son will grant him the military authority. Wouldn't that be luring a wolf into the mansion?"

Empress Dowager Wei stroked her robes as she sighed, "If this letter had arrived two days ago, This Dowager definitely wouldn't have agreed to the Emperor giving him the military authority."

Dong Fang Qian thought for a moment, and said hesitantly: "How about … Your son has now given the order to take back the weapon token in your seventh brother's hands and to choose him as your new commander-in-chief. "

After thinking for a moment, Empress Dowager Wei shook her head and said, "Tomorrow is the day the war is about to begin. It's too late to change the commander-in-chief now, and if word spreads out, it'll make the people of Zhou feel that the Emperor is changing his ways and going back on his word. Moreover, if he's really rebellious, the Emperor is withdrawing his military power and telling him that we already know what he's thinking and that when the time comes, it'll be even more disadvantageous for us."

"What Imperial Mother said is true, but the fact that this huge army of one hundred and eighty thousand falls into Seventh Brother's hands really makes my son uneasy."

Empress Dowager Wei took the tea offered by Huai En and said coldly, "Isn't it the same? However, the Southern Territory is in a critical situation right now, so he shouldn't have done anything excessive before chasing the Qi army out. I'm afraid that after the victory, she will be too proud to return the troops; although our Great Zhou has a million soldiers, under the civil war, our nation's power must have been greatly exhausted, and it will be difficult to suppress the ambitious Qi Empire and the East Tomb."

Dongfang Ju gritted his teeth and said, "It's a shame that our Queen Mother and I have been taking so much care of them all these years. To think that they were actually so cruel and unscrupulous!"

Empress Dowager Wei stared at the six black wood screens behind the Dragon Throne and said slowly, "Does the emperor feel that this son has become different from before?"

Dong Fang Qian thought back for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Guan Qi is usually in the imperial court, and his words and actions are nothing out of the ordinary."

Empress Dowager Wei shook her head slightly. "That's not what This Dowager is referring to."

Dong Fang Qian replied in confusion, "Then mother's meaning is …"

Empress Dowager Wei took a sip of her tea and said indifferently, "This Dowager told Zhou Ning to go look into some things. They should be here soon. Let's wait a bit."

"Yes." Dongfang Qian was suspicious, but he didn't say anything. He waited quietly with the empress dowager in the Cheng De Palace, and after about an incense stick of time, someone knocked on the door. Wai En looked over and bowed, "Reporting to the empress dowager, Your Majesty, Zhou Ning is requesting an audience."

"Let him in." At Empress Dowager Wei's words, a middle-aged eunuch walked in. It was the leader of the Ning Shou Palace, Zhou Ning.

Zhou Ning walked into the hall and slapped his sleeves before kneeling down. "This servant pays his respects to the empress dowager and to His Majesty!"

"Get up." "Speak," Empress Dowager Wei said coldly. "What's the answer?"

"Yes." Zhou Ning said respectfully: "On the orders of the empress dowager, this servant asked a few array masters, all of them said that they have never heard of the Three-forced Array, and have never seen the records of it."

After motioning for him to move to the side, Empress Dowager Wei said, "The emperor knows of those formation masters. They have all been masturbated in the formation for dozens of years and have read countless martial arts books during that time, but not a single one of them knows of the Three-forced Array. Doesn't the emperor feel that it's strange?"

Dongfang Ru seemed to have thought of something and said, "Imperial Mother is saying that Seventh Brother's Three-forced Array is not as simple as he claimed?"

"Three of them will be a formation, three to nine will be a force of nine. That is to say, one hundred and eighty thousand soldiers, if used appropriately, will be able to unleash the might of five hundred and forty thousand soldiers. How can such a formation remain completely silent, unless …" Empress Dowager Wei's expression was cold as she said, "It's only just been created!"

Dong Fang Kun was startled, but then said firmly, "That's impossible. Seventh Brother may have slightly mastered the formation, but that's all he is capable of. He definitely doesn't have the ability to create such a formation."

Empress Dowager Wei said coldly, "Besides the Three-forced Array, those ten wooden cows that were used to transport grain are also not simple objects. If it weren't for these, how could he have gotten the support of the court officials? Even This Dowager's elder brother was speaking up for him."

"As for those wooden oxen, my son also asked Seventh Bro about them. He said that they were done by a mechanism master with the surname of Gu."

"Formation master, mechanism master, they all suddenly gathered at his side, it's not something that can be explained by the word 'coincidence'."

After a moment of silence, Dong Fang Qian's gaze turned ice-cold as he said, "Someone is plotting behind Seventh Bro's back, planning to seize our son's throne!"

Empress Dowager Wei stood up and walked to the long, red, ribbed windows. She looked out and saw that the trees were lush and verdant under the morning sun. Suddenly, she heard a light cry, and a brightly feathered bird flew out from the dense foliage.

"Tomorrow, I will lead the troops and have the men in green secretly follow his movements. Also, I will try to find out who is behind him."

"Your son understands."

Empress Dowager Wei's expression relaxed slightly as she turned around. "How's the investigation at the Shen Ji Camp going?"

Dongfang Ru shook his head and said helplessly, "They've been hiding their heads very deeply. Up until now, they haven't found any clues."