Not long after Yue Jinghua went to the outer courtyard, Lie Rou took a jade bottle, carefully packed the few Zhuyan pills she got, applied some makeup and powder, and changed into a delicate dress.
"Hong Ling, prepare a carriage for me. I want to go to the palace to meet the Empress Dowager." Seeing Lie Rou's appearance, Hong Ling also knew that she was going to go to the palace to meet the Queen Mother.
"Madam, it's getting late, why don't you enter the palace tomorrow morning?" Hong Ling reminded.
Lierou shook her head, "There is no impenetrable wall in the world. The second uncle and the others have been sending people to monitor the meditation hall these days. I'm afraid they have already taken up the idea of what my mother left behind. Just now, Hua Er'er's words reminded me that it's been four years since my husband left. In these four years, I only know how to feel sorry for the autumn and the spring. Let me, a mother, fight for something for my child." Lie Rou had already thought through all the stakes.
Hong Ling listened, but nodded, prepared the vehicle, and followed Lie Rou to the palace.
The mistress of Liejiabao, Feng Wanwan, had a very good personal relationship with the current Empress Dowager Jin before she was alive.
Later, the empress dowager entered the palace as a queen and had no children for many years. Feng Wanwan used a secret method to make the empress dowager Jin pregnant with a dragon seed.
When the Empress Dowager was giving birth, she happened to suffer from a blood collapse, and the current emperor's life was almost in danger. Feng Wanwan used two life-extending pills to keep the Empress Dowager's mother and child safe.
After Feng Wanwan's death, Empress Dowager Jin has been taking care of Lierou's mother and son. "Yue Jinghua" was going to enter the Royal Xuanji Academy earlier, and it was also the face of the Empress Dowager. Even the marriage between "Yue Jinghua" and Fa Xiaoyi was facilitated by the Empress Dowager.
According to the relationship between the wife and the empress dowager, it is quite common to enter the palace, but today is approaching evening, so it is a bit unusual to enter the palace at this time.
Lierou packed her clothes, followed the eunuch who came from the palace, got into the chariot, and went to the Shang palace.
The carts and horses rumbled all the way to the direction of the Shang Palace.
The Kingdom of Shang is a small country in the middle of the border, but because of the favorable location and fertile land, although the country is small, it is very rich. The small Shang Palace built is also a collection of beautiful attics in the south, small bridges and flowing water, and is known as the fairy palace of the Southern Kingdom.
The Xiaoshang Palace covers more than 100 miles of land, and there are two artificial canals inside. To enter the palace, you need to pass through three palace walls, which are red yellow, red red, and red gold, which are the outer palace, imperial garden and inner palace.
Along the way, there are many pavilions and corridors.
Lie Rou was outside the outer palace wall. After getting off the car, she was led by an inner court eunuch to Zhaohua Palace where the Empress Dowager lived.
Walking to the empress dowager's bedroom, the female official only said that the empress dowager was at the place of the concubine Sha. Lierou then diverted to the Eldest Princess' biological mother, Concubine Sha, and went out of the Lotus Palace.
The current emperor, Fa Xiaoyun, ascended the throne at the age of sixteen. He was only two years younger than Fa Xiaoyi, who had a different mother and father. He had a queen and three concubines.
It's a pity that the current Empress Luo's stomach is not up to par, and she has never given birth to a prince. Now the emperor has only one eldest princess, and her mother Concubine Sha was just pregnant four months ago. People say that she is so bad this time. male heir. However, both inside and outside the government already knew that what was in Concubine Sha's belly was probably the future prince.
The empress dowager loved her only grandson, the eldest princess, so she ran to the Liu Palace every three days to enjoy the fun of being a grandson.
Unexpectedly, Lierou hadn't left the Willow Palace yet, when she saw the Empress Dowager leading a group of palace maids and inner eunuchs walking out in a huff.
Seeing Lierou, Gong'e, who was following closely, showed a bit of happiness, hurriedly stepped forward, and begged in a low voice: "Mrs. Yue, hurry up and persuade the empress dowager."
It turned out that the Empress Dowager was in a good mood early this morning, and when she led a group of court ladies and eunuchs to the Liu Palace, the Eldest Princess, who could already walk, was guarded by her concubine and learned to walk in the courtyard.
Coincidentally, the empress dowager also came to visit the second prince.
Today's empress dowager and concubine concubines have secretly learned various tricks as early as when the late emperor was still alive. The concubine's surname is Fei, and her name is a color. With a charming appearance, when the late emperor was alive, he was very much loved by the late emperor. However, she is just a barbarian woman with unknown origin, who was donated to the first emperor by a small country in Fanbang.
Fortunately, the Empress Dowager Luo's natal family has a strong background, and she gave birth to a prince one step earlier, and gained the upper hand in the fight for the throne. Only then did one become the empress dowager and the other a concubine.
"The Empress Dowager and the Concubine have been getting along well all these years, why is there a conflict today?" As a woman who was born in a mansion, Lie Rou has long been familiar with the power struggles of these inner court women. It's just that the concubine can be regarded as an exquisite character. Once the first emperor died, she lived peacefully and never made trouble in front of the empress dowager. Even her son, Prince Fa Xiaoyi, is respectful in front of others, and has never shown any disrespect to the current emperor.
"This..." the leading Gong'e hesitated for a moment, "The empress dowager was very happy to see her grandson, so she went up to hug Her Royal Highness the eldest princess. The eldest princess also had a sweet mouth, calling her grandma, and the queen mother was still happy at that time I couldn’t close my mouth from ear to ear. The empress dowager came and said she wanted to hug the princess, and the eldest princess didn’t recognize her birth, so she let the empress dowager hug her. Who would have thought that after seeing the empress dowager, the eldest princess would not know what to do. Yes, I called my sister."
The Empress Dowager and the Concubine are people of the same generation, and both of them served the late Emperor. In terms of age, there is a difference of two or three years at most.
It is said that there is no scruples in children's words, one is called "grandma" and the other is called "sister". Comparing the two, any woman would be so angry that she would be half dead.
After Gong'e and others left, Lie Rou walked up to the Queen Mother and stretched her muscles.
The Empress Dowager is only in her forties this year, and she is well maintained. She looks dignified and graceful, and looks no more than thirty-five or sixteen, but compared to the charming dowager concubine, she looks like an eighteen-year-old girl, which is indeed far behind.
"Mother-in-law, the Eldest Princess is just a child's talk, don't take it too seriously," said the Empress Dowager, who has no daughter under her knees, and has always loved Lie Rou. At this time, there were only the Empress Dowager and Lie Rou in the inner hall, and Lie Rou comforted her softly up.
"I'm old, and this face is loose," the queen mother sighed.
With a slight movement in Lierou's heart, she took out the bottle of elixir, "Empress Dowager, you are not old. The empress dowager has been taking the elixir of Zhuyan and worked less, so she looks younger. I have a few here... Hua I use the elixir left by my mother to refine the elixir, which is very useful for beauty."
The Queen Mother heard that it was the prescription left by her friend Feng Wanwan, and then looked back at Lie Rou.
Lierou's appearance is like a daisy, fresh and elegant, although she does not dress up too much on weekdays, such an appearance is the most attractive, the queen mother muttered in her heart, Rou'er was almost like this when she was not married, maybe it is because of The miraculous effect of that elixir.
"Rou'er still has the heart, and everyone says that adopting a daughter is a treasure. Back then, the Ai family was fighting for the throne and didn't have a daughter. Now it seems that it was a mistake." The queen mother accepted the elixir and asked a few more questions current situation.
"Speaking of which, a few days ago, the queen sent word that it was Jinghua these days..." The empress dowager summoned someone for a meal, and kept Lierou for dinner.
Lierou's heart creaked.
Today's Empress, for some reason, has always been uncomfortable seeing Yue Jinghua, and when they meet on weekdays, they are always ridiculed. Ever since Fa Xiaoyi moved out of Xiaoshang Palace, Yue Jinghua rarely entered the palace again. The reason for this is that the queen has been in trouble for many times.
The current empress has always had some prejudices against Yue Jinghua, and the gossip about the mercenary incident this time was indeed spread into the palace by someone with a heart.
Lierou is also straightforward, dragging out all of Yue Jinghua's adventures.
"That child has a bit of a curvy temper. Jinghua is not young now, and her marriage with Xiaoyi should be done earlier, so let her calm down. That bastard Yue Nian has been missing for so long It's too hard for you to take care of the child by yourself, why don't you marry your daughter early and make some plans for yourself," said the Queen Mother earnestly.
She really treats Lierou as her daughter. Seeing that Yue Nian has been missing for several years, Lierou is only in her thirties, but she is burdened by a pair of children, otherwise she should have married another woman, so why bother As now, it's getting emaciated.
"The Empress Dowager, Hua'er is still young, and she hasn't been with Lord Xiaoyi for long, so it's better to spend some more time," Lie Rou's eyelids twitched when she heard that, unexpectedly, the Empress Dowager would suddenly change the subject. Today she intends to come to deliver pills, and wants to help her daughter, but the queen mother asked about Jinghua's marriage.
"There are many places. It will be the second prince's birthday in a few days. The emperor ordered the inner court to hold a palace banquet. You can let Jinghua come together, and then let them get close to each other. That child is rarely seen in the world. If you have such a temper, you will suffer in front of her powerful mother-in-law in the future," the queen mother waved her hand and ordered people to arrange dishes.
After hearing this, Lierou couldn't object, so she could only eat the food in silence, but she was secretly thinking about how to persuade her daughter to enter the palace together.
Before and after lighting the lamp, Lie Rou came out of the palace with a gloomy complexion.
Knowing daughter Mo Ruomu, although Lierou didn't know that Yue Jinghua had changed the core of the fake one, but Lierou also felt that Yue Jinghua's attitude towards Fa Xiaoyi was quite different after returning from Baishou Mountain this time. , It seems that she doesn't want to be a princess so much.
I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse for the empress dowager's kindness.
Lie Rou was thinking about something, and when she lowered her head and got into the carriage, a horse galloped towards her, and a burly middle-aged man came quickly. The horse under him has horns on its head and is blood red all over. It is a famous fifth-order black horse in the Great Barren Mountains, the Horned Dragon Horse.
The fast horse was so fast and fast that it almost ran into the carriage. Seeing the slender figure of the carriage in front of it, the horse immediately stopped.
Lierou was getting on the horse, and Ruyou was wearing more than a hundred catties of chain mail. The man just pulled it with his bare hands, and the horse stopped obediently.
Lie Rou was so startled, she hurriedly supported the shaft of the car, but she didn't panic, she raised her head slightly, nodded, and went straight into the car without looking at anyone.
In her panic, her docilely combed hair was scattered, a smear of oily black slipped onto her fair neck, and her slender eyelashes trembled slightly like frightened night moths.
The cold moonlight just shone on the side face of this preoccupied woman.
Lierou's beauty is not the kind of beauty that takes people's attention. Her beauty is just right. If it is more, it will be gaudy, and if it is less, it will be bland.
At this moment, she had something on her mind, and she raised her eyebrows, making her look even more delicate and elegant, like a white flower blooming quietly under the night light, which made people's hearts flutter.
The middle-aged man wanted to scold, but after seeing Lierou's appearance clearly, he took a deep breath, and his two eyeballs remained motionless, glued to their sockets.
After Lierou put down the curtain of the carriage and the sound of the carriage went away, the mysterious man on the horned dragon got off his horse.
When he turned over, his extraordinarily thick body landed silently.
The man asked the guard at the palace gate in a loud voice: "Who was in the car just now?"
When the palace guard saw the person coming, he bowed in a hurry and said, "General Tianwei, that person is Mrs. Yue from Liejiabao, the adopted daughter of the Empress Dowager."
After hearing this, the man's face flashed with joy, he pondered for a moment, and whispered: "Mrs. Yue? Isn't that the widow who moved from Longzhan, the little lady who is a sign today."
This night, because of this chance encounter, became no longer peaceful.
A storm that has been brewing for a long time and is about to affect the fate of the entire Shang country is about to move, but Yue Jinghua, who is at the core of the storm, is worrying about another thing at this time.