Who among the gangsters wants to fall in love?

Chapter 118 The Man Protected by the Queen

"The Queen has arrived————"

The maid's voice was not loud, but who among them was not an expert? Their five senses were sharp, and their faces changed slightly when they heard this.

Eunuch Lin is even worse. Even if the queen was not favored by the late emperor, she is still the queen, the mother of a country, not to mention that the Shen family is behind her.

When Luo Chaoyan's mother became the queen, the Xu family took advantage of this opportunity to soar to fame. Not only did they have a naval force of 100,000 soldiers, but Xu Ran also got the opportunity to enter the palace to comprehend the Nine Bells, thus crossing the bridge between heaven and earth.

The Shen family behind the current queen is even worse. Even if they don't hold military power, the Shen family faction exists in all six ministries of the court, and they are the backbone of the civil service group. Everyone who sees them has to give some face to this royal relative... No matter how high Eunuch Lin's martial arts skills are or how powerful he is, he is only the chief steward of the palace and is only in charge of the defense of the Eastern Palace.

In this huge palace, the real person in power is the Queen Mother.

But why did the Queen suddenly come to the East Palace?
"Stop the Queen and delay her for a while." Eunuch Lin raised his hand slightly. No matter why the Queen came to the East Palace at this moment, he couldn't delay her from catching Zhao Wumian.

Zhao Wumian is the only clue to Luo Chaoyan at present, and he must be caught. Moreover, Eunuch Lin knows that Zhao Wumian is the thief from Taixuan Palace who sneaked into the palace and stole the Nine Bells half a month ago, was later injured by him, but escaped... and he has the clue to the Nine Bells on him.

"Oh? The steward is stopping me, what do you want to do?" But before Eunuch Lin could finish his words, a graceful, yet mature and beautiful voice with a hint of anger came from behind Zhao Wumian.

Looking up, the Queen was wearing a phoenix skirt, walking slowly towards her, her beautiful face was as cold as ice, and Lian Xue was holding a palace lantern to light the way for the Queen. The guards around her wanted to stop her but didn't dare to... If the Queen wanted to go somewhere in the palace, who would dare to stop her? Who had the right to stop her?
Only Emperor Jingzheng and the Empress Dowager had the qualifications...but Emperor Jingzheng had just passed away, and the Empress Dowager had died in the Jingnan Campaign, so she was only given the title of Empress Dowager.

It was easy for the Queen to enter the Eastern Palace, but it was difficult to sneak into the Eastern Palace with Zhao Wumian openly without being noticed. That was why Zhao Wumian took the initiative to enter the Sky Prison and wait for Lin Daoren to catch him.

Zhao Wumian did not turn around to look at the queen, but he had already put away his attitude, and his face showed no sadness or joy, and was as calm as usual.

Eunuch Lin frowned slightly, thinking to himself, could it be that the Queen's visit was part of Zhao Wumian's plan?
This shouldn't be the case. How could Zhao Wumian be related to the Queen? Why would the Queen come all the way to help him?
You can't say that Zhao Wumian is actually the queen's secret lover, right?

That was impossible. After all, Eunuch Lin had been the chief eunuch of the imperial palace for ten years. He knew that the queen was a chaste woman who remained as chaste as a jade. Even if Emperor Jingzheng wanted to touch her, he probably couldn't.

However, if all this was really as Zhao Wumian had expected, he would have planned all the way from Bi Ziding following him to sneaking into the East Palace, and even prepared a retreat. Such improvisational wisdom was too terrifying.

Eunuch Lin's heart was in turmoil, full of questions, but he remained calm, bowed slightly, and patiently explained to the queen:
"It is late at night now, and a thief has just sneaked into the East Palace. In my opinion, this person intends to assassinate the Crown Prince." As he said this, Eunuch Lin pointed at Zhao Wumian, and then continued earnestly:
"Stop the Queen to prevent the thief from hurting her."

"Hmm~Is that so?" The Queen folded her hands on her belly and let out a long nasal sound.

Then he saw the East Palace guards, all holding swords and looking murderous, Yu Wuwu actually came to Zhao Wumian's side and glanced at him.

The guards around them all looked terrified and immediately flew over to stand between the Queen and Zhao Wumian.

Some of them are not Dongyan... they are obviously loyal to the royal family.

As I said just now, Lin Daoren took the back road because Eunuch Lin had not yet completely transformed the East Palace into Dongyan’s base camp.

Zhao Wumian looked normal, not afraid of the guards around him at all. The Queen even smiled coldly, "A thief who intends to assassinate the prince?"

She walked straight past the guards around her, came in front of Zhao Wumian, leaned over slightly, and took a token from Zhao Wumian's waist... In fact, she was worried that some of these guards would risk being executed by her to kill Zhao Wumian with a knife, so she didn't dare to stay too far away from him.

I can only say that older sisters are more considerate and caring.

The Queen gestured with the token in her hand and said to Eunuch Lin calmly:

"This man is a palace guard. He was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison because he claimed that Bi Ziding intended to do something unlawful to me, but there was no evidence for the time being. Everyone in the palace knows about this... But now he suddenly appears in the East Palace, and you say that he intends to assassinate the prince...

Are you saying this to disparage the lax defense of the palace prison? If so, everyone in the prison should pack up and get out of the palace!"

"That is not what I meant. It's just that no matter what, since he appeared in the East Palace, there are always many doubts..." Eunuch Lin bowed and explained, but the Queen did not let him finish his words. Instead, she threw the token in her hand to the ground, and her pretty face, as cold as frost, showed obvious anger.

The guards around immediately knelt down and remained silent.

"The Right Chief of the Imperial City Department, Lin Daoren, secretly took him away from the Heavenly Prison and brought him into the Eastern Palace. Don't you think that I don't know about this? Lin Daoren is your adopted son!"

Eunuch Lin narrowed his eyes, but immediately waved the hem of his robe, knelt down and blamed himself:
"Lin Daoren colluded with this man and brought him into the East Palace with the intention of assassinating the crown prince. I only realized this now. I am really ashamed of your Majesty's trust. In addition, this thief sneaked into the palace and stole the Nine Bells half a month ago. His crime is unforgivable. Once I catch this thief and interrogate him carefully, I will definitely give your Majesty a satisfactory answer."

No matter what the Queen said, Eunuch Lin was determined to pin the blame of "intending to assassinate the Crown Prince" on Zhao Wumian.

"Oh~" The Queen was so angry at what Eunuch Lin said that she laughed. Although she was smiling, her voice was extremely cold.
"I have just checked and found that Bi Ziding did sneak into Kunning Palace and peek at me bathing...

This person protected me, but was wrongly accused and thrown into the Heavenly Prison. Now, he is only escorted to the Eastern Palace by Lin Daoren, but he is suspected of assassinating the Crown Prince and will be caught by the steward and severely tortured..." The Queen paused for a moment, then stopped smiling, "Does the steward want me to bear the infamy of 'The Poisonous Queen of All Time'?"

These words are too harsh. Whoever dares to answer them will die.

But the main responsibility lies with Lin Daoren, and he should come forward to explain, but he is dead, why should he come forward? Anyway, the Queen's words show that Zhao Wumian did not come to the East Palace on his own initiative. He was escorted in after being thrown into the Sky Prison. Whether Zhao Wumian colluded with Lin Daoren or not will be determined after she investigates...but it cannot be investigated by you, Eunuch Lin.

Even though Eunuch Lin was a martial arts master, he did not dare to offend the queen at this moment. He immediately kowtowed to the ground and said, "I dare not."

The queen narrowed her almond-shaped eyes slightly, and then said calmly: "The chief steward has been protecting the crown prince recently, and has made great contributions. He is still helping my royal family in the middle of the night, so he should be rewarded with 100 taels of gold."

Eunuch Lin looked extremely cold and silent for a moment, but finally compromised, "I feel ashamed of the late emperor and dare not accept the reward."

"I know that the chief steward is angry, but..." The queen said calmly, but without question.
"First, this person has done me a great service in protecting me. Second, the prince is my son. Although we are not related by blood, I have the obligation to help him find hidden dangers.

Therefore, for both public and private reasons, I will find out whether this person appeared in the East Palace with the intention of assassinating the Crown Prince or stealing the Nine Bells, so there is no need for the steward to worry about it. Today, no one except me can take him away... Have I made it clear?"

"The Queen is very wise!" All the guards in the field spoke up, and no one dared to object.

Eunuch Lin gritted his teeth and weighed the pros and cons in his mind, considering whether to risk offending the Queen and capture Zhao Wumian alive. However, seeing that the Queen was so determined, it would be impossible for him to do so. In the worst case, the Queen might have to be killed.

The chief eunuch killed the queen in public? Then he killed all the guards present who were not Dong Yan, and put the blame on Zhao Wumian...

It is feasible, but the risk is too great. If the Shen family knows that the queen died in the palace, and if the court knows that the queen died in the palace, even if they think that the person was not killed by Eunuch Lin, then Eunuch Lin will not be able to escape the blame. At least he will be charged with "failure to protect the master". Do you still want to stay in the East Palace at that time? What a joke.

At that time, all of Eunuch Lin's plans would be ruined, and this was what they meant by "both sides suffer losses".

Dong Yan is not that simple, and he is not the leader of Dong Yan. Dong Yan needs the platform of the court, so he cannot offend the Shen family, who is the leader of the Wenguan Group, and he cannot offend Queen Shen.

The most important thing is that the Shen family just doesn’t have military power, but it does not mean they can’t invite the best martial artist.

Eunuch Lin looked uncertain. Seeing that the current queen was determined to protect Zhao Wumian, he could only say, "He is a disciple of Taixuan Palace. Is the queen sure you want to protect him?"

"Where is the evidence?" the queen asked calmly, tilting her head.

Eunuch Lin's eyes twitched, but he saw the Queen gently raise her hand, "I am not trying to protect him, but I want to investigate him myself... So Eunuch Lin still thinks that I don't take this matter seriously enough?"

Having said that, Eunuch Lin had no choice but to grit his teeth and nod: "Old slave, I will protect the prince and not let anyone attack him!"

These words were a threat to Zhao Wumian.

The prince is still in my hands, so you'd better be careful in everything. Otherwise, once the prince dies, how many people in the court will be willing to wait for Luo Chaoyan to return to the capital?
Zhao Wumian cannot kill the prince, otherwise, once the prince dies, the court will immediately support the emperor's eldest grandson to take the throne, and all his arrangements will then be in vain...Zhao Wumian's ultimate goal is not simply to eliminate Dong Yan, but to support Luo Chaoyan to take the throne.

No matter what happens, even if they come behind my back and want to kill me or whatever, I can handle it. But if Zhao Wumian dares to break up with me, it will be a lose-lose situation for both sides.

Similarly, Eunuch Lin would kill him at all costs.

Zhao Wumian ignored Eunuch Lin, but looked at the queen and bowed slightly, "Thank you, Queen."

The queen shook her head slightly, glanced at Zhao Wumian with her majestic phoenix eyes, and opened her red lips slightly.
"Follow me back to Kunning Palace."

After saying that, the Queen glanced at the guards kneeling on the ground, still holding their weapons, and ordered calmly, "Put them away."

No matter whether the guards of the Eastern Palace were loyal to the royal family or Dong Yan, they did not dare to act rashly at this moment and silently put away their weapons.

Then the Queen Mother led Zhao Wumian away from the East Palace.

After the Empress and Zhao Wumian disappeared, Eunuch Lin stood up silently, then waved his sleeves violently, and an ancient tree beside him was broken in half. The crackling sound was extremely harsh.

Zhao Wumian had gotten most of Dong Yan's information, but he could only let Zhao Wumian leave... But Eunuch Lin had no intention of letting Zhao Wumian go.

On the surface, Eunuch Lin cannot offend the Queen, but if he hides his identity and forcibly abducts Zhao Wumian, what can the Queen say without evidence?
Therefore, when Eunuch Lin saw Zhao Wumian leaving with the queen, he returned to the palace with his hands behind his back. Not long after, he disguised himself and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

(End of this chapter)