Chapter 360: Abuse and Cursing

Yanghe Hall.

Zhao Heng slowly regained consciousness, the extreme rage still causing a dull ache in his chest.

At this moment, his bedside was crowded with people; Xie Huanghou had arrived with Noble Mi Fei and other concubines, and the Imperial Princes and Princesses had come as well.

Even officials like Dou Wei and Mi Yan had arrived.

However, they had been ordered to wait outside the hall and were not permitted to enter.

Zhao Heng was over fifty years old, and due to his lifelong indulgence in pleasure, his health was not very good.

This sudden collapse naturally stirred everyone's hearts.

If something were to happen to this monarch, it was feared that the Great Song would fall into chaos.

After all, Zhao Heng had not yet established an heir.

This would inevitably trigger a bloody struggle for the throne.

"Your Majesty, are you awake?" Xie Huanghou breathed a heavy sigh of relief upon seeing Zhao Heng open his eyes.

When Zhao Heng had collapsed, the first thing she thought of was the matter of the heir.

To this day, her eldest son, Zhao Gang, had not been restored to the position of Crown Prince.

If Zhao Heng were to pass away, the position of the new monarch would have to be fought for by force, and it would be hard to say who would win or lose.

Thinking of this, a chill ran through her heart, and she could not help but say, "Your Majesty, you truly frightened me. If something were to happen to you, with no heir established, what would become of the Great Song empire? But since you are unharmed, this is a joyous occasion. However, to ensure complete security, why not issue an edict to restore Gang Er to the position of Crown Prince to prevent any unforeseen events?"

Zhao Gang stood behind the concubines and, upon hearing this, was delighted and interjected, "Father Emperor, this time I will certainly keep my heart and mind focused and will not let you down."

The Second Prince's mother, Noble Han Guifei, frowned upon hearing this. "Empress, it is inappropriate to bring this up now. Furthermore, the heir is the foundation of the state; how can it be decided so rashly? My Qu'er is shrewd and capable, deeply supported by the officials; he is not necessarily unfit to be the heir."

"My Mu'er is not bad either..." Noble Dou Guifei rolled her eyes.

Zhao Heng had been angered into a faint and now just wanted some peace and quiet.

But now, not one of these concubines or princes cared about his condition; instead, they were arguing about the heir right in front of him.

Were they not wishing for his death?

A surge of fury instantly rushed to his head.

He pointed a trembling finger at Xie Huanghou and the others and roared, "Get out! All of you, get out! You all want me to die right now, don't you? Scoundrels, you are all scoundrels!"

"Your Majesty, I did not..." Seeing Zhao Heng in such a rage, Xie Huanghou immediately realized she had been too hasty.

But before she could explain, Zhao Heng grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at her.

Then, he got out of bed, intending to strike Noble Dou Guifei and Noble Han Guifei.

The crowd was terrified; Zhao Gang, Zhao Qu, and Zhao Mu, fearing they would be implicated, hurriedly exited the hall.

The other concubines naturally did not want to invite trouble upon themselves and slipped away in a flash.

In a few breaths, only Liang Cheng, Noble Mi Fei, and one Princess remained in the hall.

"Your Majesty, calm your anger; do not damage your imperial health." Noble Mi Fei stepped forward to support Zhao Heng and gently patted his back.

Changle also stepped forward to assist Zhao Heng, helping him sit on the bed.

Looking at Noble Mi Fei, then at Changle, Zhao Heng revealed a miserable smile.

He said, "You are the only ones who truly care for me. In their eyes, I am merely a tool."

Changle said, "Father Emperor, why bother with them? This has not been a matter of just one or two days."

Noble Mi Fei chose silence; she had always disliked being drawn into these conflicts.

She remained only because she feared something might happen to Zhao Heng; regardless of anything else, the monarch before her was her husband.

Furthermore, she had heard that the Emperor had collapsed after reading the Yan Wang's memorial, and she could not help but feel anxious, so she said, "Your Majesty, if Xu has made a mistake, you need only punish him; why get so angry?"

Shaking his head, Zhao Heng said, "Xu has always been good, much less trouble than the other princes. This time, it is the Ma Family that has caused trouble..."

He spoke of how Ma Jin had defected to Western Liang and was now titled the Qin Wang.

Liang Cheng nodded from the side, "It is precisely this matter that has angered Your Majesty."

"These powerful clans are truly unreliable. Ninth Brother just captured Jinzhou, and now this Ma Family has handed two prefectures over to Western Liang. It is simply abominable." Princess Changle furrowed her brows.

Zhao Heng's heart was also in a violent struggle at this moment.

Since the rise of the Yan Wang, he had always tried to maintain a balance between the powerful clans and the Yan Wang to profit from the middle.

But now, he deeply doubted whether doing so was correct.

First the Yuan Family, and now the Ma Family; they had repeatedly plunged the Great Song into crisis.

Who would jump out next? No one knew.

In contrast, the Yan Wang had repeatedly saved the situation from crisis.

He executed his imperial orders without hesitation, and perfectly at that.

Regarding the matter of Jinzhou, he had only asked Zhao Xu to recover Jincheng, yet Zhao Xu had handed him the entire Jinzhou.

Thinking of this, he could not help but feel remorse, feeling that the reward he gave Zhao Xu last time was too small.

Even if he had given Jinzhou to the Yan Wang back then, it would have been better than the Ma Family handing Qinzhou and Yongzhou over to Western Liang now.

He was grieving in secret.

At this moment, a young eunuch hurried into the hall and handed a memorial to Liang Cheng.

Seeing that the name on the memorial was Ma Yuan, Liang Cheng presented the memorial to Zhao Heng.

"What is it?" Zhao Heng took the memorial and merely glanced at it; stars danced before his eyes, and he nearly fainted again.

Seeing that Zhao Heng was not well, Noble Mi Fei, Changle, and Liang Cheng hurriedly supported him.

"Where is Dou Wei?" Zhao Heng asked weakly.

"Replying to Your Majesty, the officials are all waiting outside the hall," Liang Cheng said.

"Call him in." Zhao Heng took a deep breath, forced himself to steady his body, and sat upright on the bed.

Liang Cheng received the order and went out; when he returned, Dou Wei followed him in.

"Your Majesty, what exactly has Yan Wang done to make Your Majesty so enraged..."

Arriving before Zhao Heng, Dou Wei bowed and said.

But before he could finish his words, Zhao Heng suddenly slammed a Memorial onto his face.

Then came a second Memorial.

"Open your eyes and look, look carefully." Zhao Heng stared fixedly at Dou Wei, a flash of killing intent passing through his eyes in an instant.

Never had Dou Wei suffered such humiliation from Zhao Heng.

He was furious in his heart, but he forced himself to endure it.

Putting on a smiling face, he picked up the Memorials and read them both, his face instantly turning pale.

"Your Majesty, this is slander, Ma Jin is slandering your subject, Your Majesty, how could I possibly collude with him to kill Ma Xuan?" Dou Wei cried out: "Your Majesty, you cannot believe the words of such a traitor."

On the first Imperial Edict, Zhao Xu reported that Ma Jin had defected to Western Liang, and Ma Han and his army could only retreat to Qin Pass to strictly defend, to prevent the arrival of Western Liang and Northern Di troops.

This second Memorial was submitted by Ma Yuan, stating that Ma Jin had sent him a letter, clearly detailing how he had colluded with the Dou Family to kill Ma Xuan.

Furthermore, in the letter, he cursed the Dou Family for being faithless, actually sending men to kill him to silence him, forcing him to defect to Western Liang.

Zhao Heng sneered repeatedly, "Then let me ask you, why did Ma Jin not say it was the Han Family, nor the Wang Family, but specifically said it was your Dou Family?"

"This, this... your subject does not know either, perhaps he is just trying to sow discord, Your Majesty, please investigate clearly!" Dou Wei continued to argue, but at this moment, he was covered in cold sweat.