In the afternoon of leisure, there was warm sunshine, Yunshang was a little afraid of the cold, but as soon as she lay on the soft couch under the winter sun, she couldn't help but want to doze off, so she took Qinyi and Qianyin to the garden for a walk.
After wandering in the garden for a while, feeling a little tired, Yunshang found a gazebo and sat down to rest. The lake had already started to freeze, and the sun shone on the ice surface, which was a bit dazzling. Yunshang looked at it for a while, then took it back look.
"It's windy by the lake, don't stay too long." A soft voice came from behind, with a bit of a smile.
Yun Shang was overjoyed when she heard the words, and quickly turned around and said, "Concubine Mother." After shouting, she suddenly remembered that this was in the palace, and it was still in the palace in the daytime, her heart skipped a beat, and she looked around Looking around, I knew that there must be many pairs of eyes watching in this harem, but I didn't want to act as if I refused people thousands of miles away. She was my mother and concubine...
Concubine Jin nodded slightly, sat down opposite Yunshang, stared at Yunshang for a long time, then smiled and said, "Every time I see you, I always feel that you seem to be a little more beautiful. Can’t get enough of it.”
Yun Shang smiled slightly, "Shang'er is the daughter of the concubine mother, my father always said that I look like the concubine mother, if the concubine mother praises me, isn't she also praising herself."
Concubine Jin was taken aback when she heard this, but lowered her head slightly. Only then did Yunshang suddenly remember that Concubine Jin had always had some resentment towards Emperor Ning these years. She was out of the cold palace under her own arrangement, but she was also lukewarm towards Emperor Ning. Then there is another scar on the heart full of scars.
Sure enough, Concubine Jin lowered her head and remained silent for a while, before she said softly, "A few days ago, I heard from you that you once sent a court lady to your father's side? Now, that court lady may be used by you?"
Yunshang didn't know why Concubine Jin suddenly asked about this matter, but she said perfectly, "The palace lady was originally the queen's eyeliner by my side, but she hurt her leg because of Prince Jing, and later the queen took her away to replace her. A new chess piece came over and wanted to destroy her, so she came to beg me. At that time, the empress was planning to choose a few beautiful ladies in her own palace who could be used by her and send them to her father. So I pushed the boat along and sent the woman. After that incident, the woman kept saying that she would obey me. However, I saw her temperament, she was not a law-abiding person, even if she used it, she couldn't use it with all her heart and soul. , can only treat her as a chess piece that can be discarded at any time... "
Concubine Jin smiled, nodded and said, "Betrayed you once, and it is possible to betray you a second time, you are indeed right."
After he finished speaking, he raised his head to look at Yun Shang and said, "When I was in the cold palace all these years, Concubine Shu was always a thorn in the empress's side. This time the empress is pregnant, although I don't know how many things were broken secretly, However, it is also a good opportunity. There has been no good news about heirs in the palace for many years, and the day before yesterday, I suggested to your father, let Concubine Shu take the lead to hold a small banquet in the palace."
"Concubine Shu?" Yunshang was taken aback, "Concubine Mu, when did you and Concubine Shu..."
Concubine Jin smiled, "Silly boy, there has never been an eternal enemy in this harem. I pushed Concubine Shu up, and she would naturally appreciate me, but it was not enough. Let's talk, at that time, if the queen can't move, I will be the person she wants to get rid of the most, so, mother concubine hopes that at this time, there is someone who can be used by us... "
Yunshang heard the words, turned her eyes to look at the lake, "Mother Concubine wants to..."
"I don't need her to do anything special, I just want you to make arrangements so that she will attract the emperor's attention at the small banquet a few days later..." Concubine Jin said softly, her hand unconsciously placed on her lower abdomen.
Yun Shang turned her head and stared at Concubine Jin for a long while before sighing quietly, "Concubine Mother, you and Imperial Father..."
Concubine Jin lowered her head and glanced at her belly, which was not yet fully pregnant, "Since your father married Li Yiran, since Hua Jing was born, and since there were more and more women in this palace, I have I have given up my mind. I am willing to come out of the cold palace, but I am afraid that you will be wronged. More than ten years ago, I was young and ignorant, so I threw you down. Your mother and concubine know all about your hardships these years. It is not good for the mother concubine , since you came back from Ningguo Temple, I have already figured it out. The queen's decision is not as simple as imagined. I am worried that you will suffer. No matter what, I should not be a shrinking turtle. I hope my child can be happy. "
Yun Chang was silent for a long while, before saying, "Mother Concubine, father, he is... an emperor after all..."
Concubine Jin nodded, "I know, I know, maybe, Concubine Mother is crazy, but Concubine Mother can't get out of the hurdle in her heart, but now she also wants to understand, if she can't get out, she can't get out Well, that's it, that's fine."
Yunshang knew that Concubine Jin had her own ideas in mind, and it was useless to persuade her, so she didn't say any more, but agreed softly.
"What? Concubine Jin and Yunshang?" The queen turned around abruptly, looked at the maid who came forward to report, and frowned, "How did they meet? Concubine Jin went looking for Yunshang, or Yunshang The concubine Jin you went to find? What did you say?"
The palace maid lowered her head, hearing the empress's voice was a bit unkind, she hurriedly said, "Reporting to the empress, they met by chance while taking a walk. Princess Yunshang was resting in the pavilion by the lake, and the empress concubine Jin saw it I went up and talked to her for a while, but the servants were too far away to hear what they were saying."
The queen paced back and forth in the room for a long while, murmuring, "Concubine Jin is really scheming, she has been out of the cold palace for so long, and she never took the initiative to say a word to Yun Shang. When I heard that Bengong was pregnant, I hurried there, trying to find a breakthrough from Yunshang, right? I really didn’t let Bengong relax for a moment.” After a long while, he turned his head and asked, “You guys? Can you see the expressions of the two of them at that time?"
The maid tried her best to recall for a moment before she said, "I saw that Empress Jin seemed to keep her head down, and Princess Yunshang didn't have a smile on her face, she kept frowning."
The queen frowned, turned around and sat down on the chair, closed her eyes, but kept frowning tightly.
When Xiuxin entered the inner hall, she saw such a scene, her footsteps paused slightly, she only needed one glance to know that the queen was bored, so she quickly slowed down and stood aside, watching The queen on the chair hesitated to speak.
After a long while, the queen opened her eyes, and when she saw Xiu Xin, she turned her eyes away again.
Only then did Xiu Xin take a quick step forward, and said softly, "Your Majesty, this slave has just inquired about it, and as soon as Xiaoyan said it was true. According to Eunuch Qi, who is serving the Emperor, this matter was brought up by Concubine Jin to the Emperor Well, Concubine Jin said, there haven’t been so many happy events in the palace for a long time, and we must celebrate them properly, but now that you are pregnant, empress, you should not worry about it. So, the emperor said, it’s better to leave it to Concubine Shu.”
The queen was very angry when she heard the words, but instead she laughed, "What a concubine Jin, everything started because of her, but she pretended to know it by accident, I don't know what's on her mind. Ask clearly ? When and where will the banquet be held?"
Xiu Xin hurriedly said, "Ask me clearly, after three days, I will be in Jinxiu Palace."
The queen overturned the teacup in her hand suddenly, her eyes filled with coldness, "Splendid Palace... oh, it's really a good place, it's the place where Concubine Jin lived when she was in favor, but since Concubine Jin After being thrown into the cold palace, it was vacant. There are so many palaces in this palace, and so many places on Penglai Island where banquets can be held, why did she choose Jinxiu Palace? Miyazaki was right!"
Xiuxin hurriedly lowered her head a little lower, and said softly, "Concubine Shu said, it's not a big palace banquet, and it's not convenient to hold it in the Jinluan Hall, but it's cold and the lake is frozen, so it's not easy to go On Penglai Island, most of the palaces in the harem are inhabited by concubines, and most of the empty ones are also abandoned. Only Jinxiu Palace, although it has been empty, has been cleaned all the time, so It was chosen there."
"Hehe, Jinxiu Palace should be Jinxiu Palace. I don't believe it. Concubine Jin won't be worried when she sees it. Concubine Shu's move is really ruthless. It kills two birds with one stone. A Jinxiu Palace is able to defeat both this palace and Concubine Jin." People. I don’t know what Concubine Jin’s expression will be like when Concubine Shu specially chooses Jinxiu Palace to hold the banquet that she personally facilitated.” The Queen gritted her teeth and said with a smile on her face.
Xiuxin paused, and after a long silence, she said softly, "Only when the people around Princess Huajing came to report, the princess left the imperial city with only four attendants and two maids, saying that she was going to the border to rescue her son-in-law. .”
The queen was even more furious when she heard the words, "Nonsense! It's just nonsense! Why is it that everyone who is worry-free, Ben Gong specially asked her to go to find her father, and asked him to send a bodyguard to escort her, but she didn't listen to Ben's words?" For the sake of the palace, she disregarded her own safety and acted nonsense just to annoy me!"
Xiu Xin hurriedly said, "Your Majesty calm down, the matter has come to an end, what should I do now? The princess is young and vigorous, leaving the imperial city in such a hurry, the slaves are afraid..."
It took a long time for the queen to calm down the anger in her heart, and she said after a long time, "Send a message to the prime minister's mansion as soon as possible, and ask my father to send someone to chase after the mirror."
Xiu Xin nodded, turned around and exited the inner hall, the queen was disturbed by one thing after another, and was about to rest for a while, when she heard Xiu Xin's voice from the outer hall, "Ming Taifei is auspicious."
Concubine Ming
The queen was taken aback, and quickly asked the maid to help her tidy up the phoenix robe, and after calming down a little, she turned around and left the inner hall.
Sitting on a chair in the outer hall was an old woman with grizzled hair, dressed in blue brocade, with a graceful temperament and a calm complexion. The queen hurried forward and said, "Auntie hasn't visited Yiyi for a long time, why do you think of it today?"
The old woman turned her head to look at the queen, then raised her hand and waved to the queen, motioning for the queen to sit beside her, and the queen quickly stepped forward and sat down beside Concubine Ming.
"Your father said, you summoned your mother to enter the palace, but you didn't summon him, so I came to see you. As soon as I entered the palace, I heard you lose your temper. You have been a queen for so many years, why do you do this?" Her temper still hasn't changed much. This time, what is it for?" Concubine Ming said slowly, twisting the beads in her hand.
The queen sighed, frowned and said, "I have been in pain since my little aunt, and now I am able to sit in this position thanks to my aunt's help, and I still don't want to hide it from my aunt. It's all because of those bad things, Concubine Jin Now that she is pregnant and living in this Qiwu Palace, the emperor made a special trip to give Yiran an order before, if anything happens to the child in her womb, it will be remembered on my head. Concubine Jin became more and more presumptuous, Shu The concubine is also staring at me. I am preparing for a family banquet these days, and the venue I chose is Jinxiu Palace, which I dislike the most. Jing'er is not a worry. It was very tense, General Zhao was trapped at the border, I asked her to take a team of personal guards to the border to check the situation, but she got angry with me, and went with only a few servants and maidservants."
Concubine Ming smiled slightly, put away the prayer beads, turned her head to look at the queen, "Queen, you are upset."
The queen nodded, "Yes, I'm still very upset right now."
Concubine Ming turned her eyes to look at the phoenix carved on the pillar in the hall, pointing at the phoenix and said, "What kind of bird is this?"
The queen was a little dazed, but still replied, "It's Phoenix."
Concubine Ming nodded, "That's right, it's a phoenix. In this harem, you are the only woman who can carve a phoenix in this harem. You are the master of this harem. There is no quiet place in this harem Hey, I have been up and down in this palace for more than 40 years. I have seen a lot of blood in this palace. Your position is what the women in the harem want. You sit in this position Above, once you relax a little bit, you will be in jeopardy. But now that your mind is disturbed, you will not see what you should see, you will be deceived by some appearances, and others will have an opportunity to take advantage of it. "
The queen listened in silence without opening her mouth.
Concubine Ming turned her head to look at the queen again, and said in a slow voice, "I heard that you are pregnant?"
The queen hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Mr. Li, you are the only woman who has been in the back seat for so many years. Although the late emperor felt guilty towards me, I was always one step away from the back seat. Fortunately, I helped you up. The Li family has been waiting for so many years, but now it is all tied to you alone, I hope that you will not let the Li family members down." Concubine Ming stroked the Buddhist beads in her hand, caressing them slowly.
"Yes, still awake." The queen said softly.
Concubine Ming stretched out her hand to touch the queen's abdomen. The queen didn't expect such a sudden movement from her, she froze on the chair and didn't move, "The emperor is also forty. At this time, it is a good thing that you can get pregnant. If you can give birth to a prince , everyone in the Li family will do their best to help him to the throne. However, there are some things that you have to weigh yourself, such as the lump of meat in Concubine Jin's stomach. It would be bad if her husband gave birth to the prince, so , You have to weigh it carefully, if it is necessary, it is not bad to exchange one life for another, and the child in Concubine Jin's belly must not be allowed to be born."
The Empress naturally knew what Concubine Ming meant by "one life for one life", but she couldn't help but sweat a little on her vest in this cold early winter, "I still remember it."
Concubine Ming gave a "hmm" and stood up, "Since you attacked, she has been very polite to your father on weekdays, but when there is any important matter, she just let others talk and never dared to tell him in person, You don't have to be so afraid of your father, you are his daughter after all, it is true that it is his fault that he forced you into the palace, but there are also his reasons, he is now the head of the Li family, he is no easier than anyone else, he forced you like that , you are only for the Li family. Although you are the empress of a country now, don't forget that you are also Li's."
The queen responded repeatedly, "I still know."
Concubine Ming said again, "By the way, I heard that Concubine Jin has been back for some time, but I haven't seen that girl for many years, maybe I haven't seen Concubine Jin for many years. Since the palace banquet is going to be held, when Make sure to send someone to inform Ben Gong, so that Ben Gong can go and see what is going on with them now, it will make you so sad, Queen."
The queen responded, and Concubine Ming turned around and left the inner hall.
After a long time, Xiu Xin poked her head out of the door, looked carefully into the hall, and saw only the queen, she walked in, and said in a low voice, "The concubine has come, do you still need to go to the prime minister?" ?”
The queen sighed, "Yes. What about my father, what happened to him? But in the morning, you were asked to inform your mother to see you tomorrow. In the afternoon, Concubine Ming came to the door."
Xiu Xin hesitated for a moment, and then asked softly, "Your Majesty, what is the purpose of the concubine's visit? This servant remembers that she hasn't been out of Yongkang Palace where she lives for a long time."
The queen smiled coldly, "Of course it's for Ben Gong's stomach. I just announced that I'm pregnant for two days, and they've already set their minds on Ben Gong's stomach, and they've already thought about it. This pregnancy gave birth to a child that may occur."
Xiuxin stood aside with her head bowed, when a palace maid walked in, holding a bowl of medicine in her hand, smoking, "Empress Empress, your birth control medicine is ready, I tried it just now, hot and cold are just right , Your Majesty, let’s drink it while it’s hot.”
The queen raised her eyes to look at the steaming medicine bowl, waved her hand and said, "Put it in the bedroom, you go down first."
The palace lady responded, carrying the medicine bowl into the bedroom, and then came out after a while and retreated.
The queen glanced at Xiuxin, sighed and said, "Go to the prime minister's mansion, I will rest for a while."
Xiuxin also retreated, and the queen turned around and entered the bedroom. The bowl of anti-natal medicine was placed on the table opposite the bed. The queen stood in front of the table, stared at it for a long time, then took it up, poured it directly There is a pot of Podocarpus planted in a pot by the bed.