When Concubine Han arrived at Xiande Hall, she had already turned on the lamp. Concubine Hua greeted her in person. When she saw her, she almost cried: "My dear sister, it's good that you come. These days, it's really hard for you." There seemed to be a thousand words in the emotion, but there was no way to say it. . Concubine Han had heard a little about Concubine Hua's situation, and saw that she looked haggard, no longer the airy person she used to be, holding her hand with a very sincere look. She couldn't help but feel a little sad in her heart, and she just replied: "Thank you, sister, for your concern." Xiangli has four wet nurses to take care of the prince. Saluting, said: "The little prince just fell asleep."
Concubine Han was in a hurry and walked in quickly. The maid raised the curtain, and through the light gauze tent, she saw the child sleeping on the couch vaguely. Yes, there were fine beads of sweat on his lips, he didn't know what he dreamed of, and there was a smile on his lips. As soon as she felt relieved, she felt the pain of trekking, physically and mentally exhausted, and as soon as her legs softened, she sat on the edge of the bed. He took a feather fan from Mrs. Chen and fanned it lightly for his son.
The night became quiet, and the cool breeze blew gently, blowing the silk yarn in the hall. The prince was sleeping soundly in the hall, while Concubine Han and Concubine Hua sat side by side in the outer hall, having a long chat. But seeing the bright moon shining on the jade steps in front of the hall, it is very bright like mercury pouring down the ground. Concubine Han sighed: "I didn't expect to see the moonlight in Donghuajing." Concubine Hua said with a smile: "My sister is very blessed, how can you make such discouraging words?" The emperor married a concubine before he ascended the throne, and now he feels like turning a war into a jade silk. Speaking of Rushuang, Concubine Hua was deeply worried, and said: "I didn't expect that we would fall into the current situation. I am not afraid of the other side, but I am afraid that she will live in Kunyuan Palace one day. At that time, you and I will only I'm afraid there will be no way to survive." The Kunyuan Hall is the central palace where the empress lives. Concubine Han was greatly surprised: "She was born in a criminal family, how can she be the mother of the world?"
Concubine Hua said: "This kind of evildoer who hides his sleeves and slanders and seduces the emperor must not be treated with common sense. When he was appointed as a concubine, the cabinet also strongly advised him, but the emperor insisted on doing it. Cheng Taifu was so angry that he became seriously ill. After all, I still can’t stop it.” Concubine Han took a breath, and asked hastily: “Sister, what should we do now, do we just let her bully us?” Concubine Hua said: “The only solution now is to Focus on the eldest son of the emperor—the emperor has always loved and valued the eldest son of the emperor, and the relationship between father and son is very strong. As long as the emperor treats the eldest son well, there will be no way for the evildoer." Concubine Han sighed: "That's what I said, but the emperor has always Treat me lightly, after what happened last time, let alone any affection."
Concubine Hua held onto her hand, their words were already very light, but now it was like whispering: "I have an important matter to discuss with my sister right now - I'm afraid that evildoer will climb onto our heads in a few days. Concubine Han saw that she was so solemn, so she couldn't help asking: "My sister is of noble birth, and now she is the head of the harem, how can that evildoer go past my sister?" That evildoer doesn't want to eat and drink, and feels nauseous in the morning, although she hasn't been consulted by the imperial doctor, but judging from her symptoms, I'm afraid something is wrong." Concubine Han was shocked, and she lost her voice: "Oh, maybe there is... there..." Concubine Han forcibly swallowed the latter words, and after thinking about it, she became even more anxious, "Now she only favors the sixth palace, what if she gives birth to a prince, what should I do?" She didn't give up, and then asked, "No Could it be a mistake, is it some kind of disease?" Concubine Hua picked up a bowl of herbal tea on the high table, took a sip, and said casually: "Whether it is a mistake or not, anyway, we have to find a way to make her never Can't give birth to a prince."
Concubine Han shuddered, remembering the secret legend of the old man in the palace that there was a prescription called "Nine Musk Decoction" in the imperial hospital, which was a medicine for extreme yin and coldness. It was originally handed down by Emperor Zhou Ai, the deposed emperor of the previous dynasty. It is said that not only can abortion, but also lifelong infertility after taking it. She said in a daze: "Could it be...could it be...that is a serious crime of ransacking the house, if the emperor knows..."
Concubine Hua interrupted her: "How does the emperor know? The emperor will only think that she is unlucky and unable to bear children." The man's clothes are fluttering. The faint sound of silk and bamboo singing also came along with the night wind, and Concubine Han unconsciously looked towards the direction of the singing. Concubine Hua sneered and said, "That's the Qingliang Palace. I heard that there is a maiko night banquet tonight. She will really enjoy herself."
Concubine Han was silent, and Concubine Hua said: "Don't think too much about it. If you procrastinate, if she gives birth to a son, the emperor will definitely make her son the heir apparent. At that time, don't regret it for the eldest son of the emperor." .”
Concubine Han turned her head, and through several layers of veil, she could vaguely see her son sleeping on the couch. That small body was all her hopes, her heaven, and her future. She must not wrong her son, she finally made up her mind: "I will just listen to my sister."
The eldest son of the emperor had just suffered from heatstroke, and after a few days of intensive care, he gradually recovered. Concubine Han took him to greet the emperor as usual, and the emperor happened to come back from court. He had just returned to the dormitory and changed his clothes. Concubine Han led the eldest son of the emperor to the palace. After the mother and son saluted, they said a few words. Suddenly, the palace maid reported that Concubine Shu had arrived.
Concubine Han's heart trembled, and she couldn't help but tightly grasped her son's little hand, but hearing the sound of footsteps, the four palace servants had already led Rushuang to her. The wind passed through the Wudian Hall, and it was as cool as water. She was wearing a bright red tulle gauze, and her whole body was wrapped in such a bright gauze. Her lotus steps were slow, and her steps were as light as if they had never landed. ", That's it. Her long skirt silently brushed across the mirror-like ground, and her faint figure was reflected on the black and bright brick surface. As the eyes flowed, there was an elusive and blurred light, which made her even more beautiful. The glamorous beauty seems to be separated by a layer of tulle, which is indistinct and indistinct, making it hard to see clearly. Concubine Han lost her mind for a moment, Rushuang was already close, and saluted gracefully: "I have seen the emperor."
The emperor said: "Didn't you say you were uncomfortable, why did you get up again?" Rushuang said: "My bones hurt from sleeping, so I got up and walked around." Chengjing's eyes like autumn water had already looked at Yu Zhu, "This is The eldest son of the emperor, I have never seen it before."
The little Yu Zhu was quite a governor, and she saluted like a rite: "Zhu'er has met my concubine mother." Rushuang suddenly smiled, her beauty was better than snow, but with this smile, it was as if the ice had been broken. The spring is warm and the snow is melting, and I can't express a warm meaning: "Children are so interesting." The emperor rarely saw her smiling so happily, and said casually: "I didn't expect you to like children." He added, "In a few days It is the birthday of the eldest son of the emperor, even though it is inconvenient for children to have a birthday, holding a banquet in Jingren Palace can be regarded as cleaning up the dust for Concubine Han."
Concubine Han said anxiously: "Thank you, Your Majesty, my concubine is terrified..."
The emperor was always impatient to listen to her talk, and seeing Rushuang's displeasure, he waved his hand and ordered Concubine Han and Yu Zhu to retreat.
Seeing Concubine Han retreating cautiously, Rushuang suddenly sighed and said, "Actually, I don't hate her."
The emperor smiled and asked: "Then what do you hate?" Rushuang stretched out her hand, her palm was hot, pressing it on his hand, it was like a soldering iron, he felt a burning sensation on the back of her hand, and the corner of her lips smiled slightly: "I I just hate the woman you look at." The emperor sneered, and said, "It's as if it's true." Rushuang sighed slowly, and said, "People tell you the truth, but you never take it seriously. .”
The ninth day of June is the birthday of the eldest son of the emperor, and the whole palace gave a banquet to Jingren Palace, and even Concubine Mu, who seldom walked around the palace, came to congratulate him. When Concubine Han heard that Rushuang had come with the emperor, she was very surprised. She exchanged glances with Concubine Hua, and stood up to greet her.
Although the weather is hot, the Jingren Palace is deep and grand, and it is very cool. Although it is a simple banquet, it is still a banquet for each person, and the delicacies of mountains and seas are listed. The emperor was in a good mood, and personally summoned the eldest son of the emperor to sit with him. Rushuang originally lived by the emperor's side, and it was another feast. She has lost her appetite recently, and she really likes sour cold, so the imperial dining room specially prepared green plum soup for her. Ice cubes were put in the green plum soup, and the cold aroma overflowed, when stirred with the silver spoon, there was a sound of shattered ice. Yu Zhu couldn't help but glanced at it. Although he was young, he was extremely sensible and polite, tried his best to restrain himself, and stopped looking. Rushuang said: "This soup is very good, I will also serve a bowl for the eldest son of the emperor."
The palace servants also presented a bowl to Yu Zhu, and Yu Zhu left the table to salute and thank him before accepting the gift. After finally waiting for the banquet, the internal officials brought tea, Concubine Han said: "I don't have any good tea here, this is this year's Ding Jue Xiangwu, please the emperor and Concubine Hua and Concubine Shu to try something new." She took one My heart was in my throat, pounding wildly, almost bursting out of my chest, even speaking very stiffly. Concubine Hua was very calm, and said with a smile: "We are all ordinary people, and we eat peonies every time we eat tea. Concubine Shu has eaten good tea, and I would like to invite Concubine Shu to taste the tea today." Rushuang Said: "I'm sorry, but I never eat fragrant tea." The emperor smiled and said: "You are the most tricky and weird." , let’s eat.” Then he discussed the tea ceremony with Concubine Han in detail, Concubine Han’s forehead was covered with sweat, but she was tongue-tied and could hardly answer, Concubine Hua gave her a hard look, and she calmed down down. The emperor and Rushuang just sat down for a while, and then went back together.
After sending the driver back and dismissing the crowd, Concubine Han said in shock, "Sister, it won't work, my heart is about to jump out, it won't work." Concubine Hua said, "Didn't she drink tea? What are you afraid of? If it doesn’t work this time, there will be a next time.” Concubine Han almost cried: “Let’s forget it, I always feel that a catastrophe is imminent, if the emperor finds out…” Concubine Hua sighed, and said: “This matter was originally For the sake of Zhu'er, since you say it's up to you, what else can I, an outsider, say. Let's stop here and let her go. When her son becomes the crown prince and she becomes the queen, we will live with her. It's not too difficult to let her abuse this face." Concubine Han frowned, bit her lips and said nothing, suddenly heard the footsteps hurriedly, from far to near. The two of them talked in secret, extremely vigilant, Concubine Han raised her voice and asked, "Who is it?"
The palace servant's voice was panicked: "Madam, it's not good, the little prince suddenly said that his stomach hurts, and now he's rolling in pain."
But when she heard the sound of "boom", it was Concubine Han who brought over the tea, she was in a mess and ran straight outside. Concubine Hua was shocked, and followed her to the side hall, where she heard the crying of the wet nurses from afar, and the wet nurses all burst into tears, surrounded Yu Zhu, bewildered. Concubine Han saw the child's pale face, foaming at the mouth, twitching all over his body, his breathing was shallow, and he was already unconscious. Concubine Han felt dizzy, her body went limp, and she almost fainted. Concubine Hua hurriedly said: "Send to the imperial doctor, quickly pass on to the imperial doctor." Some palace people had already rushed out, and Concubine Hua said again, "Go and send someone to report to the emperor, hurry up!"
Rushuang was in cold sweat from the pain, her limbs twitched, her fingers weakly grabbed the bedding, and even breathing became the most difficult thing. She bit her lip, and a thread of blood seeped down the corner of her mouth. The teeth sank deeply into her lip, biting her lips so that the color of her lips turned pale. Her face was also horribly pale. The cracking pain made her want to cry out, but all she could get out was a muffled groan. It is better to die, such pain, it is really better to die. There seemed to be an extremely blunt knife in her body, cutting through the flesh and blood piece by piece, stripping her whole body apart. The pain burst out again and again, and she endured it to the limit, sobbing like she was dying. She remembered that hot morning, she held her mother's hand tightly, and refused to let go. The jailer beat her desperately with a leather whip, and the hot whip hit her arm, causing her to jump in pain. Willing to let go, no matter what. She would only cry hysterically: "Mother! Mother!" No... no... She would never cry again, big tears rolled down the corners of her eyes, and the severe pain of flesh and blood distorted her sanity, and she was almost exhausted It took all the strength to make a weak voice: "Dingchun..."
The emperor was extremely anxious, and walked around the room in the palace like a trapped animal. Suddenly I heard her voice, like a curse, called out by her so desperately, through the window curtain, so many people, through the dark night of wind and rain, she tossed and wept, the voice was shrill and painful: "Ding Chun ... Dingchun..." His heart felt as if he had been subjected to the cruelest torture, and his heart was riddled with holes, dripping with blood, and every drop of it hurt into the bone marrow. She was calling him, she was calling him... until the last breath of her life, but he was not there. His eyes were red, he turned around suddenly, and strode towards the gate of the palace. Zhao Youzhi panicked, and knelt down with a "plop" and hugged his legs tightly: "Long live, long live, you can't go in." The emperor was in a hurry, unable to get rid of it, more officials came up and knelt Kneeling and hugging, the emperor kicked and kicked indiscriminately, and even his voice changed his tune: "Whoever dares to stop me, I will kill him today."
Zhao Youzhi was about to cry: "Long Live Lord, even if you kill the servant today, the servant will not let you in."
The emperor's teeth were chattering, his entire face was almost distorted, he was snorting, and suddenly he struggled hard, several internal officials fell to the ground, still holding his legs tightly. The emperor was furious, grabbed the vase by his side, and slammed it on Zhao Youzhi's head fiercely, until Zhao Youzhi's head was bleeding, and he almost fainted. Several internal officials finally let go of their hands in fright, the emperor rushed to the door in a few steps, and was about to reach out to push the door, when the internal officials outside the hall rushed to report: "Long live, the concubine Hua sent someone to see you."
The emperor didn't turn his head back, and roared: "Get out!" Then he kicked open the door of the inner hall with a "bang", scaring the imperial doctor Wen Po and the maids in the inner hall to turn their heads, and the inner official kowtowed tremblingly. Said: "Long live, the concubine Hua said that the eldest son of the emperor is not good." The emperor had already stepped into the sill, and when he heard this sentence, he finally paused, turned around slowly, and suddenly bent down and grabbed the underwear with all his strength. Looking at the officer's skirt, his voice was hoarse: "What did you say?"
The eunuch was trembling with fright, like sifting chaff, he felt the emperor's eyes were like lightning, staring at him coldly, and stammered: "The concubine Hua ordered someone to come and play, saying that the eldest son of the emperor is not good. .”
The voices behind her gradually faded away, those buzzing whispers, the imperial doctor's urgent instructions, the footsteps of the palace people running back and forth, and her maddeningly sad call, all instantly freeze into a void. After a long time, he came back to his senses: "What happened to the eldest son of the emperor?"
The internal officer stammered back to the whole story, and after hearing a few sentences, he ordered in a deep voice: "Get up."
Fang stepped out of the threshold, and a low moan came from behind, so hard, so desperate and so helpless: "Dingchun..." It was like a sharp knife, piercing deeply into the heart, cutting people's liver and intestines apart. He couldn't help turning his head back, and when he looked back, he couldn't leave anymore. Her hands were scratching in the air, trying in vain to grab something, her whole body was twisted on the bed due to the pain, the mattress under her body was wet with blood, her whole body seemed to be nailed to the bed by invisible giant nails, curled up It was so terrible, she bled so much, it seemed that she had drained all the blood in her body. She was on the verge of dying, and she had no strength left. Her voice was as thin as a whisper, like the last trembling sound, and her words were already very vague: "I want... you are here..."
The past came rushing back, every inch of the coldest rainy night in my life was her last breath. He held her hand tightly, her hand was terribly cold and stiff, he clasped his fingers with her, as if he could give her some strength, and leaned into her ear and said: "I am here. "The corners of her mouth fluttered slightly, and the voice she made became lower. He had to lean on her lips to hear clearly: "My child..."
"It's fine." He comforted her clumsily, "the child must be fine, and you will be fine, too. I'm here, and I'll always be here with you."
Crystal tears flashed, and a big tear oozed from the corner of her eye, fell on his sleeve, slowly seeped into the gold silk embroidered dragon pattern, and disappeared without a trace.