After hearing that Mrs. Qin had returned home in vain, King Gaomi no longer expected Princess Gaomi to give him face in regard to Concubine Mo's funeral.
What I didn't expect was that the princess would appear at the mourning hall in the palace the next day.
This was not because she had imagined it, but because Mrs. Qi went back with a few children and knelt in the Xiangji Hall for a day and a night, forcing Princess Gaomi to relent.
"How can you not take good care of such a virtuous woman?" After hearing the news, King Gaomi was silent for a long time. He called his son Rong Qingzui to him and tactfully scolded him, "What's more, in a family like ours, your grandmother passed away. On this occasion, , are messy people allowed to mingle everywhere?!"
Rong Qingzuo knew that these words were referring to Tonglian, so he smiled apologetically and said: "Father, I'm just afraid that Yuan'er will be too tired, so I'll find a helper for her. We made an agreement before entering the palace that she should listen to Yuan'er. Do what you are told and don’t contradict me!”
"It is natural for concubine Ji to obey the orders of the mistress." King Gaomi frowned, "Is this concubine of yours actually asking you to give special instructions? This is simply ridiculous!"
Knowing his son's nature well, he thought about it carefully now and found it strange, "You have never been a lustful person. You have been sent to me by many stunning singers and dancers before, and you would not accept them without any hesitation." Why is this Tonglian's appearance among those beauties, her appearance is ordinary at best, her temperament is not virtuous, and it is said that she is not as considerate as the wife of the royal family when she usually serves you... Why are you so fascinated by her that even Jian'an's children are dizzy? Even if you are bullied by her, you can continue to favor her?"
King Gaomi couldn't help but become suspicious, "You shouldn't have any leverage falling into her hands and have to make concessions to her frequently, right?"
"Father, how is this possible?" Rong Qingzui said quickly after hearing this, "Not to mention what the child did, she has never been hid from the father. Just say that even if the child has something to do with her, she is a slut with a reckless background. , how can you threaten a child?"
King Gaomi thought so, and became even more strange: "Then why do you favor her like this? You should know that neither I nor your mother and concubine like that concubine! You are neither a womanizer nor a filial piety. Why can't you listen to your mother-in-law and I openly speaking for the sake of my son-in-law? You have never been so disobedient before."
"..." Rong Qingzuo opened his mouth, as if he didn't know what to say, and was thinking quickly. At this time, some personal guards came in to report the situation of the battle, saying that the imperial army from Chang'an rushed all the way into Shanglinyuan, but in Tasha The riverside was blocked.
The Tasha River is about ten miles away from the West City Wall of Chang'an. It is surrounded by lush vegetation. It was originally just an unknown river, with nothing else besides the weeping willows that can be seen everywhere.
During the reign of the late Emperor Xiaozong, during a royal outing, Concubine Rou lifted up the curtain from the car to enjoy the scenery along the way. When crossing the Tasha River, she casually said that this place was just like in the predecessor's "Travel to Tasha", "The spring breeze cannot release the poplar flowers, and the mist is chaotic." In order to please his beloved concubine, Emperor Xiaozong ordered the river to be renamed Tasha River.
The river is actually not very deep or wide, otherwise it would not have had a proper name before Emperor Xiaozong gave it to it.
However, after King Gaomi was defeated from Hehuan Palace that night, the imperial troops in Shanglin Garden, under the command of the generals, began to build fortifications day and night. During this time, the river that an adult man could walk across had already It was dug deep, wide and reinforced, and the whole place changed from a good place for outing with green vegetation and leisurely rivers to a battlefield filled with traps and murderous intent.
King Gaomi, under the banner of avenging Concubine Mo, entered the palace's Shanglin Garden for the first time, but was blocked here.
"Go ahead with the order. Anyone who defeats the enemy will be rewarded with a thousand taels of reward, and he will be promoted to the third level of official position!" After hearing the detailed report, King Gaomi frowned slightly, and after ordering his bodyguard to convey the order of the heavy reward, he turned to ask Rong Qingzuo, " What's going on with the Huan family? There's no news yet?"
Rong Qingzuo shook his head: "The people below said they have never found it."
"Huan Guanlan, that old fox!" King Gaomi said with a hint of disappointment in his eyes, "Let's see how long he can hide!!!"
When Concubine Mo was assassinated, King Gaomi announced to the public that it was the Meng family led by Empress Dowager Meng who was ambitious and attempted to usurp the throne. He was resentful of King Gaomi for exposing the truth, so he murdered Concubine Mo as revenge. However, he actually suspected that Huan Guanlan was responsible.
At that time, he summoned Mrs. Sheng and others for questioning.
This was not only because Mrs. Sheng and others had a close relationship with Rong Suihe, but also mainly because he could not find the Huan family.
The Huan family, where Huan Guanlan lived, had a status similar to that of an ordinary squire in Bishui County before the emergence of Huan Guanlan, the famous imperial master, famous minister, and great scholar.
After that, Huan Guanlan became famous. Because his descendants had mediocre qualifications, he banned almost all of them from serving as officials. He only taught them to develop in Sangzi, and gradually became one of the first-class wealthy families in Bishui County.
But there is still no one to serve as an official.
Later, when Huan Guanlan returned to his hometown after serving his official career, he suddenly disappeared.
Empress Dowager Meng was not only grateful for Huan Guanlan's support to their mother and son, but also to calm the indignation of the people in the world, especially Huan Guanlan's family, when she ordered Enze Huan Guanlan to have an heir. Only Huan Guanlan's eldest son, Yong Yibo, was willing to go to Chang'an. Others still stayed in Bishui County.
After Yong Yibo's family arrived in Chang'an, although they had close contact with Huan Guanlan's disciples in the court, especially Luo Pu and others, they had no intention of getting involved in the fight between King Gaomi and the Meng family.
Moreover, Yong Yibo and several others were very low-key, and except for receiving Huan Guanlan's disciples, they did not move around at all with other people. The only exception is Huan Yehe, the head of Jingshu County. He is only a female, and he was still young when he came to Chang'an. He only hangs out with Guizhou girls of the same age. They only talk about basic necessities, food, housing, transportation, rouge, gouache, and things in the same temple. It has nothing to do with it.
In this case, although both the King of Gaomi and the Meng family hope to win the support of the Huan family, Huan Guanlan's reputation lies there, and it is difficult to use force. He can only get older and can propose marriage. Huan Ye joined hands, but subconsciously ignored Yong Yibo and others.
So much so that on the night when the King of Gaomi suddenly launched an army to seize the palace, after sealing off the whole city to pursue the Meng family members, he remembered the Huan family and sent people there, only to find that the Yongyi Bo Mansion was already empty, and the people in the house were all gone. There was even a thick layer of dust on everything!
After asking around, the reason is that except for Huan Yehe, the head of Jingshu County, no one in the Yongyi Mansion is very adaptable to the customs and climate of Chang'an. Therefore, I have always had the habit of leaving Chang'an and staying in Zhuangzi outside the city.
So when they left this time, no one suspected and no one thought much about it... Well, maybe they just went to Zhuangzi to stay for a while, so they were lucky enough to avoid the incident of seizing the palace
In short, the situation in Chang'an now would make Yong Yibo's family stupid enough to come here again!
After hearing the news, King Gaomi of course immediately asked people to find him.
But the servant took the address of the other courtyard of Yongyi Bo Mansion that they had found out, and searched around the farm one by one. They walked through everything in the farm, but there was no trace of this family!
Under this situation, King Gaomi became more and more certain that Concubine Mo was assassinated, and that the real culprit was Huan Guanlan.
Because according to the information I heard, the Yongyi family lived away from the city for a short time. They just lived in several other houses, and they didn't change at all in the past few years! Moreover, when they went to stay for a while, Huan Yehe, the head of Jingshu County, refused to participate nine times out of ten in order to ensure that his position in the circle of ladies in Chang'an would not be shaken.
This time, the whole family, including Huan Yehe, left Chang'an, and there has been no news from them until now. Who would believe that there is no inside story? !
"If the change in Chang'an was not determined by Gu himself, but Huan Guanlan was used as a spearhead unknowingly..." King Gaomi felt on pins and needles whenever he thought of this possibility!
Because this means that the situation that seems to be gradually gaining the upper hand and becoming more and more beneficial to me day by day is just a mirror image, and may be used as wedding clothes for others at any time!
The terrible thing was that although he was aware of this, he did not dare to announce it, let alone discuss it with his subordinates. Because once the news leaks out, Shakejun is too worried. Who knows if the people behind the scenes will take action in advance, leaving him without a chance to resist
Therefore, King Gaomi did not dare to entrust anyone else with the task of finding the Huan family, but could only leave it to Prince Rong Qingchun.
At this moment, Qiang Zhi calmly waved his hand and said: "Huan Guanlan and Mi Zhen have an ambiguous relationship. One of them is in the light and the other is in the dark. I originally thought that Mi Zhen was thousands of miles away, and secondly, who was it? After taking over Huan Guanlan, our own flesh and blood, no one was behind the scenes to instigate him to have an affair with us, and there is no way we can continue the father-son relationship! Now it seems that Huan Guanlan is a veteran of two dynasties, and he is a cunning old man!"
"However, he has been hiding his head and refusing to come forward. I was thinking before that he might have an ulterior motive and did it on purpose!"
"but now… "
King Gaomi sneered and said, "It's 10% that there is something unspeakable, why don't you come forward?"
He didn't want to continue this topic, so he turned to ask Rong Qingzui, "How is the funeral in the palace? Your mother and concubine are in poor health and are tired, but these things are bothering Yuan'er's child!"
While the father and son were talking about trivial matters here, they went to Linyuan and Chengluan Palace.
Chengluan Palace got its name because it is close to the water. On the large beach in front of the palace, there are often hundreds of birds flying gracefully. At that time, someone proposed to name this scene Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix, and use Chengluan Palace as the residence of the queen, in order to be auspicious.
However, the queen who was in power at that time did not like the noise and chose another place to live. Naturally, this place did not dare to think of itself as "a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix", so it was downgraded to Luan.
Now it is the place where Queen Mother Meng temporarily stays.
Empress Dowager Meng was holding Meng Guiyu in tears: "Rong Jing really deceives people too much! Although the Ai family is not the middle palace of the late emperor, since the emperor ascended the throne, several of them have called them 'mother queen' and considered themselves I haven't done anything to feel sorry for them! When it comes to your three uncles, he also wants to call him "uncle". Why did he suddenly kill him and not even spare the darling girl? Now he even slanders the emperor as a substitute. , even the Ai family was framed for being the mastermind of the murder of the Mo family?!"
"I don't want to think about the fact that the Ai family has been the Queen Mother and the master of Naixin Longevity Palace for so many years!"
"Mr. Mo has always lived with the Ai family in the side hall of Xinshou Palace. If the Ai family wants to take care of her, when will there be no chance and when will it be impossible?!"
"I have lived peacefully with her for many years. I never thought that something like this would happen at the end of the day!"
"If I had known this, I shouldn't have listened to Duke Huan in the first place. I should have let Mo's bitch go down with that bitch Huang to see the late emperor!!!"
Huang is the concubine Rou during the reign of the late emperor.
"Auntie, Rong Jing has been coveting the throne for a long time because of the favor of the late emperor." Meng Guiyu's status is now different from what it used to be. Even if the supplies in Shanglin Garden are not as rich as Chang'an, the royal family has always been luxurious. This kind of palace is very close to Chang'an City. All clothing materials are always available.
Empress Dowager Meng, Emperor Xuan Jing, and the luxurious Shu sisters are all there, and there are also indispensable manpower for needlework and the like.
At this time, he had put on the tailor-made clothes of the commander-in-chief. Although he had lost a lot of weight, and there were some shadows under his cheekbones, the aura of a superior person had already settled between his eyebrows, and his eyes were full of energy. There was majesty and silent condescension, and the smiling and gentle appearance before was gone.
But in the face of the Queen Mother's cries, he still listened patiently, at least he seemed very patient, and finally comforted him softly, "We knew about his wolfish ambitions early! It's just that the late emperor was partial and left him many means, and Your Majesty didn't care. Brotherhood, he was allowed to grow up just now. Isn't it just revealed now? It's just as the saying goes, justice is in the heart!"
"He has done such unscrupulous things, and he will be punished sooner or later!"
"Let's wait until he is full of evil and his reputation will be ruined. Then his crimes will be made public to the world. Why worry about the world not returning my aunt and your majesty's innocence?!"
Queen Mother Meng wiped away her tears, looked at him, and sighed: "Oh, my good child, I have wronged you these days... You have lost a lot of weight, but you must take care of yourself!"
Meng Guiyu smiled and said, "Auntie, you misunderstood. It's been a bitter summer for my nephew."
He was in great power at the moment, and there were countless things that needed to be dealt with, so the aunt and nephew said a few more words, and people came over one after another to ask for instructions, and the Queen Mother let him go: "Good boy, you go do serious things. At this moment, the wealth and life of the Ai family and the emperor's son are all entrusted to you, so don't waste time in front of this old guy from the Ai family!"
"What did aunt say?" Meng Guiyu said softly, "My nephew's parents passed away early. Over the years, among the elders, aunt is the one who loves her nephew the most. In the eyes of her nephew, she is as much as her mother. It's no different! If it weren't for trivial matters, my nephew would wish to serve you every day, because I'm afraid that my aunt will annoy my nephew."
The Queen Mother burst into laughter at these words and said angrily: "Why didn't I realize before that you could still talk sweetly like this? Come on, go do your work quickly. The Ai family will ask the kitchen to stew the bird's nest for you. Chi Zuosi will send it over in person later. Remember to eat it while it’s hot!”
Meng Guiyu thanked her with a smile, and then left. The warm and affectionate atmosphere in the palace had not yet dissipated. Chi Zuosi turned out from behind the screen. The queen mother's face had turned cold. She turned to look at her and asked softly: "You said... Big Does what happened to my younger brother, second younger brother, and third younger brother have anything to do with him?"
[Note] Yan Shu's "Treading on the Shasha·The Path is Red and Thin".