Adoption brings disaster

When it comes to the matter of Buddha's escape, it does not depend on how superb the female craftsman's disguise skills are, whether she can hide from the eyes and ears of others, nor does it depend on how calm the female craftsman is, whether she can disguise herself perfectly.

It depends on how much courage the Empress Dowager has to do this, and more importantly, it depends on whether Chongguang and I are willing to turn a blind eye and pretend not to notice.

Of course I am willing to cover up for the Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager also mysteriously trusts me and feels that as long as I am willing to cover up, the Emperor will naturally turn a blind eye.

Although I don't know why the Queen Mother trusts me so much, I still hope that she can do something to make herself happy. After all, life is only 30,000 days long and one must live for oneself. Therefore, I didn't ask too much and just urged the Queen Mother to escape from Buddhism.

The Empress Dowager was already interested, and with my encouragement, she naturally went to see the female craftsman.

When I met the female craftsman, I found that they were really about 70% similar. If we were in the dim and smoky Buddhist temple, they would naturally be exactly the same.

The Empress Dowager was very satisfied with the plan and thought it was perfect. She said that it would be better to do it today than to wait for another day. She would leave the capital today and leave the rest to me.

Although I feel it is a bit hasty to leave today, life waits for no one, so it is a wise thing to leave when I say so, at least that's the way it seems to me.

Therefore, I fully supported the Empress Dowager and discussed some details of the Buddhist escape with her.

After finalizing the matter of Fodun's escape, I asked Li Er to prepare some necessary things for the Queen Mother to travel the world, and then it was already evening.

Although the things needed to make a living in the world are not many, they are not few either. It will take some time for Li Er to prepare this sudden idea.

Seeing that Li Er was busy, I went with the Queen Mother to find a small restaurant in a small alley and had a delicious dog meat hotpot, which was also a farewell party for her.

Dog meat hotpot is a very nutritious food. In this snowy winter day, having a farewell dinner of dog meat hotpot in front of a small stall with leaks everywhere is quite special. It makes the Empress Dowager very happy and she doesn't feel it is shabby at all.

This alley was inhabited by poor families. As the Queen Mother ate her hot pot, she watched people hurrying through the snow in thin clothing. She couldn't help but say uncomfortably, "How can they survive this winter when they're wearing such thin clothes?"

The Queen Mother is a kind-hearted person and cannot bear to see these things. Now she is going to venture into the world and become a chivalrous hero, which she cannot bear to see even more.

As he spoke, he was about to cry, and after wiping away his tears twice, he said, "This is only in the capital, and there are people so miserable. How miserable must the situation be in other places?"

Seeing that we were both dressed elegantly and speaking in a reasonable manner, the shopkeeper boldly approached us and said, "People in our alley are doing quite well."

The shopkeeper grinned and pointed to a nearby courtyard wall. "The owner of this house is kind-hearted. Every winter he gives everyone money and rice. If you two walk a few steps further, you'll see a few sheltered pavilions. They're surrounded by fine quilts to block the wind. Otherwise, this alley would have been filled with people dying of cold and starvation."

The Queen Mother heard this and said admiringly, "There are kind people in the market. After we eat this dog meat hot pot, we can go a few steps forward and see if they are really as good as the store owner said. If they are, the Emperor should reward them. We must not let such kind people down."

The shopkeeper was not annoyed when he saw the Queen Mother questioning him. He just kept talking to himself, "God is blind. Such a good family has met with such a disaster."

The Queen Mother was very interested in these things. After hearing what the shopkeeper said, she hurriedly said, "How did you get into such a disaster? Shopkeeper, please tell us. We two are quite capable. If it is really a good family that has suffered a disaster, we must help them."

"Hey, wasn't it a while ago when the former crown prince committed rebellion that the daughter and wife of this master were captured by thieves? Oh, how pitiful they are," the shopkeeper said bitterly. "What a good girl! She distributed rice and porridge to everyone every year. Her voice was so sweet, and you could tell she was blessed. But to think someone had her tongue pulled out and she went crazy. And now, in such cold weather, she keeps running out in her underwear. How pitiful she is!"

After hearing this, the Empress Dowager lost her appetite. I also remembered that when I was returning to the palace before, I seemed to have seen a crazy woman on the road. Her back looked very familiar. When I heard the shopkeeper mention this matter again today, I felt uneasy.

So the Empress Dowager and I paid the bill, said goodbye to the shopkeeper, and walked deeper into the alley.

The Empress Dowager and I walked forward for less than a cup of tea, and sure enough, we saw the pavilion that the shopkeeper had mentioned. The firelight in the pavilion was flickering, and from the shadows cast on the curtains, we could tell that there were at least seven or eight people taking shelter from the cold inside. There were also a dozen such places to take shelter from the cold in the corridor next to it.

In winter, charcoal is expensive and wood is not cheap either. Burning wood to keep warm is just like throwing money into the water. It seems that what the shopkeeper said is true. The Empress Dowager and I looked at each other and smiled, our hearts filled with joy.

The Queen Mother and I stood in the wind and snow and watched. Soon, a small door in the dark opened and two servants came out, carrying a large bucket with great effort.

When the people who were avoiding the cold heard the noise, they rushed out of the pavilion one after another and lined up in an orderly manner, as if they wanted to receive something.

It gets dark early in the winter, and the light in the alley is very poor. The Queen Mother couldn't see the contents of the bucket clearly, so she asked, "What's in the bucket? It looks a bit like swill to me."

"It's not swill, it's leftovers." I looked at it carefully and said.

After hearing my affirmative answer, the Empress Dowager was visibly angry and cursed, "I originally thought you were a kind family, but I didn't expect you to be so mean, actually giving leftovers to others to eat. It's really despicable."

The Empress Dowager was the legitimate daughter of a noble family. Although she had experienced life in the martial arts world and knew the hardships of the common people, she knew that leftovers were precious good things for ordinary people. However, as a girl, she could not bear to see these things.

I didn't want to argue with the Empress Dowager about this matter, so I just sighed and said, "The leftovers from the rich and powerful are no worse than what the poor people have for New Year's Eve."

The Empress Dowager had also been around the world before, so she naturally knew that what I said was true, but she felt uncomfortable. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she said nothing. She just sighed and said, "Alas, the people are suffering too much."

I smiled and said nothing. Most of the money earned by the escort agency over the years was used to build roads and alleviate poverty. The academy and the poor medical clinic spent a lot of effort to cultivate so many talents, and all of it was used to help the people. Otherwise, the lives of these people would be five or six times more difficult.

However, I am not a person who brags. Although these are real achievements, I have not publicized them everywhere. Therefore, few dignitaries and scholars in the capital know about these things.

The Empress Dowager and I stood in the wind and snow for a while. The Empress Dowager felt really uncomfortable and wanted to leave. At this moment, there was a commotion at the small door. It was noisy and chaotic for a while.

As we were about to leave, we looked back and saw a well-dressed woman running barefoot in the alley, mumbling something. However, because her tongue had been pulled out, we could only hear some unpleasant and strange words, and we couldn't hear a word she wanted to say.

Several servants were chasing the woman, wanting to put a cloak on her to prevent her from catching a cold. The common people also put down their bowls and chopsticks and helped to catch the woman.

"This girl has some fists and kicks on her body, which looks a bit like the entry-level kung fu of Wudang Sect." The Queen Mother said after seeing it.

I didn't pay attention to her martial arts, but her clothes made me pay more attention. I frowned and said, "Although her clothes are bright and colorful, the material and pattern are those used by servants. They don't look like the lady or young lady that the shopkeeper said they were."

I always felt familiar with the woman, and my uneasiness grew even stronger.

"I didn't expect Qianqiu to know this." The Queen Mother looked at me in surprise, then looked at the woman who was still running and said, "I'm afraid these people and servants can't catch this woman."

I felt uneasy and wanted to take a closer look. I said, "I'll go and restrain her. It's freezing cold, and if I let her run around in the snow for a while, I'm afraid she'll get seriously ill."

After saying that, he flew over, controlled the woman in a few moves, and picked her up to prevent her feet from being hurt by the winter cold.

I looked at the woman I was holding and felt like I knew her. However, she had been running for a while and her hair was disheveled and her clothes were in disarray. I really couldn't tell who she was.

At this moment, the servant beside me recognized me and hurried over to my side, bowing and saying, "This servant greets the master. May the master be blessed with good health."

These words left me unable to react for a moment, but when I looked carefully, I realized that this servant was the one who served in my house.

Then who was in my arms? I looked at the servant with some fear and asked hoarsely, "Is this Xiao Tao?"

"Sir, it is Miss Xiaotao." The servant answered respectfully.

"How did she become like this?" I felt so heartbroken that I almost cried.

"Sir, I don't know about this. A noble from the palace sent her some time ago and asked me to take good care of her." The servant looked at Xiao Tao, who was dusty and barefoot, and hurriedly said, "We all served her wholeheartedly, but Miss Xiao Tao's martial arts were so powerful that we couldn't control her. That's why..."

The Queen Mother saw the sorrow in my eyes and felt pity for the woman in my arms. She was also curious and asked, "Do you know this woman?"

"She was a maid in Qianqiu Pavilion before." I said calmly.

The Queen Mother saw that I didn't look quite right, so she didn't say anything. She just stayed quietly by my side. I looked at Xiao Tao in my arms, then at the shadow swaying in the dark, and said, "Go and call Qingyu Wuxinwude and Ah Er to me."

After saying that, I carried Xiaotao into the house and didn’t mention it again.

The secret guards serving me were not weak. Seeing me give the order in a stern manner, they naturally did not dare to delay. Wuxin and Wude acted very quickly after hearing the summons from the secret guards. After I settled Xiaotao, Wuxin and the others also arrived.

I sat on the armchair, looking at them expressionlessly, and said in a low voice, "Wu Xin Wu De, go see Xiao Tao. There's a way to cure this madness."

Wu Xin didn't look at Xiao Tao, but said with some hesitation: "This madness is certainly curable, but it's better not to cure it."

After hearing this, I understood most of what was going on. I snorted coldly, "It seems like you've been hiding a lot from me. Tell me more, Qingyu Er."

Qingyu and the others looked at each other, not daring to speak. Finally, Qingyu stepped forward and said, "We didn't mean to hide this from you, but Minister Wang's methods are truly despicable. We're afraid that if we tell Your Highness about it, it would pollute his ears."

I was already feeling sorry for Xiaotao, and after hearing this I felt even more distressed that I didn't want to say anything. I just gave Qingyu a look and asked her to continue.

"Minister Wang is a fence-sitter. When the two dragons were fighting, he saw the current emperor in trouble and sided with the former crown prince." Qingyu looked at my face as he spoke. Seeing that I didn't react, he continued in a low voice, "But everyone knows his relationship with Your Highness, so in order to prove his loyalty to the crown prince, he just... just..."

"I'm afraid Xiaotao's tongue is not enough to prove her loyalty. What else do you want to hide from me?" I was a little angry and said in a bad tone.

Qingyu knew he couldn't hide it, so he bravely said, "So he kidnapped Chunyu and Xiaotao and tortured them to force them to tell him where you were hiding."

"How could these two know the hiding place? What's the point of forcing them to answer? They are just doing it for show. This bastard is really good at pretending. I was fooled by him." I said angrily.

Seeing my rage, Qingyu also threw in the towel and said, "Your Highness is absolutely right. Minister Wang couldn't get a confession out of her, so he chopped Chunyu's child into meat paste in front of the two of them, made meatballs, and forced them to eat it."

Qingyu's voice gradually became quieter, until he finally spoke in a mosquito-like voice, "Xiaotao went crazy after eating the meatballs. She bit off her tongue and swallowed it. So, so, we haven't been able to cure her madness yet, just, just."

After hearing what Qingyu said, I felt very upset. If I had listened to Chongguang at that time and saved Xiaotao, she would not have suffered so much.

I really deserve to die, but the one who deserves to die even more is Minister Wang. No wonder he risked the whole world's condemnation to kill the prince. It turns out he wanted to cover up this matter.

He was already dead, but I wouldn't let it go like that. I asked Qingyu and the others to dig up all of Minister Wang's ancestral graves and throw his body into a mass grave. I still wasn't satisfied, so I asked the people from the escort agency to go around and slander Minister Wang.

This is just a way to vent my anger, but it doesn't help Xiaotao's madness. I can only accompany her every day, hoping to make her feel better.

Predict what will happen in the future, and listen to the next decomposition.