Chang'an, Qinzheng Hall.
Just after a heavy rainstorm, the entire palace was wet, and the sky was gloomy like a black pot turned upside down.
Empress Zhou brought the soup she cooked herself to warm Emperor Zhaokang.
She never thought that when she stepped into the Qinzheng Hall, Luoyang's urgent letter would be sent to Emperor Zhaokang's desk.
Emperor Zhaokang casually pushed aside the soup delivered by Queen Zhou, and took the letter from Luoyang first.
There were only a few short and concise sentences in the letter, but it was like a thunderbolt from the blue sky, shaking Emperor Zhaokang to pieces—
The prince was assassinated, and the princess gave up her life to save her. The two fell into the Luo River together, and their life and death were uncertain.
"Your Majesty, what's the matter with you?" Queen Zhou has not seen Emperor Zhaokang's gloomy and dignified appearance for many years. The last time I saw him was when Gu Yuan passed away...
Could it be—
Empress Zhou's heart skipped a beat, what happened to the prince in Luoyang
Emperor Zhaokang sat on the dragon chair with a sullen face. Although he was no longer youthful, his face was still handsome, with deep outlines, and the charm of a mature man was in his handsome brows, exuding the incomparable majesty of an emperor.
He didn't know what he was thinking, but when he regained his composure, he narrowed his long and narrow black eyes, and turned to look at Empress Zhou who was at the side, with a sinister and fierce light bursting out of his eyes.
There was a chill behind Queen Zhou, but she still insisted on her face, "Your Majesty?"
Emperor Zhaokang opened his thin lips lightly, "The crown prince was assassinated in Luoyang and his whereabouts are unknown..."
Although she guessed a little bit, when she heard Emperor Zhaokang say it with her own ears, Empress Zhou was still unavoidably shocked, her face turned pale, and she frowned in concern, "How could this happen? ? What do the generals of the Luoyang Mansion eat? Your Majesty, don't worry too much, the prince is auspicious, and he will be fine."
Emperor Zhaokang gave her a sideways glance, "I am very relieved to see the queen is so worried about the prince's safety."
The meaning of these words is unclear, Queen Zhou's heart shuddered, and she said softly, "The concubine is the queen, and the crown prince is the prince. If this happened, the concubine must be worried about him."
If it were a stepmother from an ordinary family, she would definitely say something like "Although he is not my own, but I treat him as my own"—
But Queen Zhou dared not.
Many years ago, she once said this, and in return Emperor Zhaokang sneered, "The crown prince was born by Yuan Yuan, so what does it have to do with you?"
These words were like a poisonous thorn that pierced deeply in her heart, and every time she thought about it, it hurt.
In his eyes, Gu Yan is good everywhere, how can she, Zhou Mingmiao, compare with her
Empress Zhou thought bitterly, yes, Gu Yan is good everywhere, but it's not that she doesn't love you, she doesn't care to take a look at you holding your heart in front of her eyes. You are a powerful emperor, in front of her, you are not a poor wretch who yearns for love
Thinking of this, she felt both happy and... uncomfortable.
After such a thing happened, Emperor Zhaokang was naturally not in the mood to drink any tonic soup, and began to write the imperial decree while sitting at his desk.
Empress Zhou was also sensible and took the initiative to retreat.
The rain that had just left the Qinzheng Palace and had just rested for a short time fell again, the thunder god rumbled, and a frightening flash of lightning flashed in the air.
Queen Zhou narrowed her eyes and sighed, "It's going to be summer, and there will be more rain."
The palace maid held an umbrella for her, and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, the prince..."
Empress Zhou's complexion suddenly darkened, her two exquisite eyebrows were tightly knitted, and her breathing became slow.
The prince was assassinated, who did it
Could it be the brother? No, my brother has always been meticulous in his work, and would never make such a dangerous move.
Could it be... Cheung Chau
As soon as this idea came up, the more Empress Zhou thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. Under the gorgeous phoenix robe, the jade fingers dyed with bright red Kodan gradually clenched tightly.
She gritted her teeth, "Go, go and call the third prince to my palace."
Before the grand lady agreed, she suddenly changed her words again, "No, I can't, I'm calling now, it seems that I have a guilty conscience..."
At this time, you can't act rashly.
It was night, the sky was dark, without stars or moon.
In the Yongwei Hou Mansion, the always dignified and prudent Mrs. Zhang ran to the study in a panic, and pushed the door open regardless of the obstruction of the servants.
Yong Weihou was burning something when he suddenly saw Mrs. Zhang barging in, his expression changed, "Ma'am, why are you here?"
Zhang couldn't hide her worry, "I heard that the crown prince had an accident, and our Ati, she also had an accident. Is this true?"
Yongweihou was taken aback, and pursed his lips.
Mrs. Zhang was in a hurry, so she stepped forward to pull him, "Speak up!"
Yongwei Hou's face was ashen, and he said in a deep voice, "There is such a thing."
Mrs. Zhang swayed, if she hadn't supported the desk in time, she might have fallen down.
"How could this happen, how could this happen... Who dared to attack the prince after eating the bear's heart and leopard's guts?" Mrs. Zhang fell down on the chair and murmured in a daze.
"Oh, I kept it from you, just because I was afraid that you would be worried if you found out... I didn't expect you to know anyway." Yong Weihou shook his head and sighed.
Mrs. Zhang stayed for a long time, and countless thoughts flashed through her mind. Finally, she stood up and said, "I have to go find her!"
Yong Weihou thought he heard it wrong, but saw Zhang's serious face, "I have to go to Arti... I have a close friend in my girlfriend, Alu, and her husband is the governor of Bianzhou. Bianzhou is close to Luoyang, so I'll go Look for her and see if her husband can send some soldiers to find her..."
"Nonsense!" Yongwei waited, "The whole city of Luoyang is looking for them, and the hundreds of guards who accompanied them are also looking for them. If you want to use Bianzhou's troops, His Majesty will definitely issue an order. Why do you want to run away?" go?"
With tears in her eyes, Mrs. Zhang blamed herself, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault... If I hadn't married her, this wouldn't have happened... Before she left Chang'an, I didn't even meet her. I'm afraid you're still blaming me..."
Thinking of her daughter's life and death is uncertain now, and he was betting with her before, Zhang's heart ached.
Yongwei Hou was quiet for a while, but he still couldn't bear it, so he stepped forward and patted her on the shoulder, and comforted her a few words.
Mrs. Zhang sobbed for a while, looked at Yong Weihou with tears in her eyes, and said in a low voice, "Tell me the truth, is this assassination the work of the Zhou family?"
Yong Weihou's expression froze, "How would I know?"
"Don't think that I don't know what you and the second room are thinking. Your daughter is marrying the prince, but you are secretly close to the Zhou family and supporting the third prince!"
"You... don't talk nonsense!"
"I'm talking nonsense? Aren't you planning to marry Si Niang to Saburo of the Zhou family so that you can marry the Zhou family?" Mrs. Zhang snorted coldly, "Tao Bosong, you are so cruel, you have thought of a way out so quickly... yes, ah Ti is a daughter, and you have never been welcome to see her, you have so many children, how can you think about her?"
Yong Weihou took a step back, and said coldly, "Why are you talking about this again? It's really unreasonable!"
Mrs. Zhang smiled, "It's unreasonable, you know I'm unreasonable! Back then I was blind to marry you."
The two of you came and went, and had a tit-for-tat quarrel.
The Ye Mingzhu at the beginning has also been worn into a fish-eyed pearl by more than 20 years of long years, and her affection has become weaker and weaker.
In the end, after the quarrel, no one was able to please, and they broke up unhappy.
Mrs. Zhang left the study angrily, wiping her tears fiercely along the way, she usually puts a lot of emphasis on dignity, but now she forgot all about it.
She knelt in front of the small Buddhist hall and prayed sincerely, "I beg the Bodhisattva to bless the two children, Arti and Yan'er, and believers are willing to sacrifice their lives for their safe return."
I don't know how long she sat on the futon, it seemed as long as a lifetime, and her tears were about to run dry.