one
In the blink of an eye, it was February of the following year. Shang Rui was annoyed by the constant chatter about the Queen Mother's birthday next month. As soon as he came back from the Queen Mother's Chengfu Palace, Shang Rui was anxious to ask the eunuch to change his clothes.
Ming Lian asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
"We are leaving the palace."
Cuiyan Lake in the south of the city is known as a famous scenic spot in the imperial capital. The several pleasure boats moored in the center of the lake are the famous flower boats in the imperial capital.
In the rainy season of autumn, the hazy rain covering the lake surface is like a veil on a girl's face, making her delicate features appear and disappear from time to time, making her even more attractive.
The sound of a zither came from the boat, and a Wusun woman from the west was singing a touching story in her native dialect. Although I couldn't quite understand it, from her expression I could tell that it was nothing more than who loved and who hated, who missed and who was missing.
Shang Rui suddenly said to the person next to him: "You say that the Wusun people have been invading my border for a long time and are so hateful, but the Wusun women are beautiful." After saying that, he smiled heartily.
The laughter attracted the attention of the Wusun woman who was playing the zither. Her eyes met Shang Rui's, so she lowered her head shyly.
The fragrance of the locust flowers by the lakeside lifted the gauze curtain with the moist breeze, and the warm sunshine, which is rare in the capital city in spring, also shone in, falling on Shang Rui's smiling eyebrows. It was as if a warm light was shining on his face, making him so handsome that people couldn't open their eyes.
At night, when the Queen Mother was about to go to bed, she heard Mingfu rush in with a pale face and fell to his knees on the ground.
"What's wrong?" This eunuch had been with her for more than twenty years and was rarely so reckless.
“Your Majesty… Your Majesty…” Mingfu’s hands were shaking.
"Just tell me!" The Queen Mother was slightly angry.
"The Emperor is ill."
The Queen Mother stood up suddenly. As soon as she heard it, she knew that it was not just a simple illness. While ordering people to change clothes, she asked, "Who reported the news and what happened?"
The person who brought the news was from Jinde Palace. When he saw the Queen Mother, he quickly said, "The Emperor came to Jinde Palace for a short while and then he lost consciousness."
"Where is the imperial physician?" asked the Queen Mother.
"Li Ji is on duty at the Imperial Hospital, and he's already prescribing medicine."
The Queen Mother quickly boarded the sedan chair and said nothing during the journey. When she arrived at the Jinde Palace, the calm old lady saw her son lying on the bed with a pale face and eyes closed. She almost lost her legs and said, "My son—"
"Mother." The queen took a few steps forward and supported her.
"Tell me, what's going on?" She suddenly stared at the queen.
"The Emperor was reading a book, and when it was time for him to go to bed, he told me that his legs were numb and he couldn't get up. I asked someone to call the imperial physician, and then Lord Li came. Not long after, the Emperor..."
"He has almost never caught a cold since he was a child, and he was fine when I saw him during the day." The Queen Mother leaned over and used the back of her hand to test the temperature of Shang Rui's forehead, her voice trembling slightly. When she turned around, she calmed down and asked the group of anxious imperial doctors, "How long are you going to discuss this?"
One of the older imperial doctors stepped forward with an awkward look on his face: "I have something to ask, but I don't know if it's appropriate to ask."
"Speak!" The Queen Mother uttered the word in a clear voice while sitting on the embroidered cushion beside the bed.
"We are afraid that the emperor is not ill, so we would like to ask about his whereabouts during the day." The man asked with a bow.
The empress dowager understood the pros and cons of this, so she thought for a moment and said, "After the emperor came back from the morning court, he went to my palace to have lunch and then left. Minglian, what happened next?" Huang Minglian had been Shang Rui's personal eunuch for many years, and was always by his side.
"Later, the emperor was reading in the imperial study." Ming Lian replied.
"Oh?" The Queen Mother asked again, "He is so honest. Isn't he always busy? Whenever he has time, he takes you and Hongwu out of the palace to have fun? Don't think I don't know anything. The next time he goes to those places to fool around with others, I will take your head first."
The Queen Mother stared at Ming Lian as she spoke. Her sharp eyes made Ming Lian feel as if he were being tortured to death. "I dare not lie to the Queen Mother. The Emperor did not leave the palace. He was just reading in the Imperial Study, and then..."
"Go on," the Queen Mother ordered sternly.
The Queen took over the conversation: "Then, the Emperor came to Jinde Palace."
"Then I would like to ask the Queen again, what did His Majesty have for dinner?" the imperial physician surnamed Lan asked again.
The Queen had already had this premonition in her mind, and had summoned all the people from Jinde Palace who were going to present the imperial meal tonight to the outside of the palace. Now she asked the imperial doctors and eunuchs to go out and interrogate them one by one.
At the same time, Li Ji took Shang Rui's pulse in front of the bed and then gave him acupuncture.
He gave the acupuncture and asked again: "I would like to ask you one more question. What did the emperor eat last time?"
The queen was very perceptive and said sternly, "Lord Li, you are the head of the Imperial Hospital. The emperor is seriously ill now. Please don't beat around the bush when asking questions. It's better to save time."
Li Ji bowed again: "Has the emperor used anything unusual? What I mean is, has anyone tested the poison?" He glanced at the queen and stopped, unable to think of any appropriate words that would not be so sharp.
"He drank the lotus seed soup I made myself an hour ago. The emperor often eats lotus seeds and he didn't feel any discomfort. Today he was testing the poison..." The queen suddenly stopped talking here, her face turning pale.
"Is there anything left in the bowl? Can I have some too?"
"The emperor has eaten everything and the bowls have been cleared away long ago." This was natural. Not to mention that Shang Rui had just eaten as if he was angry with her, why had the empty bowls been left there for more than an hour and not been cleared away
She thought for a moment, then told the maid beside her, "Ningzhu, go see if there is any lotus seed soup in the kitchen."
"Wait." The Queen Mother, who had been silent for a long time, gently brushed aside a lock of hair from Shang Rui's forehead and said to the eunuch accompanying her, "Mingfu, the two of you go and get it together."
Watching the people who took the bowls leave one after another, the Queen Mother slowly stood up and said, "Li Ji, tell me clearly what the Emperor is like."
"To reply to the Queen Mother, it seems that—"
"What is it? Feel free to tell me," the Queen Mother asked.
"It's poisoning." Imperial physician Li Ji said this and couldn't help but glance at the queen.
Although she was vaguely prepared in her heart, the empress dowager still felt dizzy when she heard these two words. Fortunately, she held on to the bed railing with both hands and did not fall.
"What kind of poison?" asked the Queen Mother, raising her head.
"The emperor's limbs are numb and his body is cold, but he is not vomiting blood. The symptoms are very strange, and we are ignorant and cannot diagnose them. However, when the emperor was still conscious, he had already taken a large amount of mung bean and patchouli soup to dilute the poison."
After hearing this, the Queen Mother was silent for a while, and suddenly called Huang Minglian's name in a deep voice.
"Your servant is here." Ming Lian had been kneeling on the ground, and now he was walking forward with a hunched back.
"Do you admit your guilt?" The Queen Mother's tone was deep and slow, revealing an irresistible coldness and severity.
Ming Lian knocked his head to the ground with a thump: "I let the emperor eat it without testing the poison first. I deserve death for dereliction of duty."
"Of course you deserve to die!" The Queen Mother suddenly raised her voice, stood up and said angrily, "You are safe and sound now, but the master you serve is lying there, life or death is uncertain. How dare you, a slave, live on!"
Her suppressed anger suddenly erupted because of the words "You deserve to die", and at the same time, she also burst out with unstoppable sadness. This woman had originally thought that she would just smile calmly at all the ups and downs she had seen in the palace for so many years. Emotions seemed to have become a kind of accessory to life, and her laughter, anger and resentment all existed for certain occasions and needs. It was not until this moment that she realized that it was not the case.
"I am willing to die." Ming Lian still bowed his head and said. He did not beg for mercy or try to defend himself, but said this sentence firmly.
The Queen Mother became even angrier after hearing this. She picked up something nearby and smashed it on his shoulder: "You are so willing to die. It would not be a pity if you died a thousand or ten thousand times. But what about my emperor?"
The empress dowager seemed to have suddenly transformed from a pillar of power standing on the foundation of the mother of the country and the existence of the future prosperity of the Xu family into a mother, and a thin layer of mist quietly covered her eyes.
"Mother, calm down." The Queen supported her and advised, "It is also my fault. The Emperor and I were angry just now, and the Emperor was angry and did not let Huang Minglian test the poison."
The Queen Mother sighed, "The Emperor usually likes to play around with others instead of doing his job. I know you don't like it, but you are more sensible than him. You should just give in to him in everything. If you always lecture him, he will of course be angry with you, Queen, you! Forget it, there is no point in saying this." The Queen Mother narrowed her eyes slightly, her expression stern, and said, "If there is really someone who has this evil intention and wants to harm my son, no matter who it is, I will make him live a life worse than death."
A moment later, Mingfu and Ningzhu hurried back holding a celadon bowl with linked pearl patterns: "This is the leftover soup."
Li Ji dipped a little of the remaining soup with his little finger and put it into his mouth, then said to the people from the Imperial Hospital behind him, "It's the gourd vine." After a brief discussion, he quickly wrote a prescription on paper. There were only four very simple herbs on it: Scutellaria baicalensis, Coptis chinensis, Phellodendron amurense, and Licorice root.
Seeing the person boiling the medicine hurried away, the Queen Mother finally couldn't help but ask, "Can this detoxify you?"
Li Ji explained, "Your Majesty, your medical skills are limited, so this is the only way. The key... is still up to Your Majesty himself." His tone was not without regret, "Your Majesty was poisoned by the gourd vine poison. This thing grows in the southern region, and the locals often use it to relieve pain. However, once the dosage is excessive, it will become an incurable poison. The symptoms of poisoning are not obvious. You just feel exhausted, numbness in the limbs, difficulty breathing, and the pulse will first be fast and then slow, until..." He didn't dare to finish his words because everyone already understood.
The bright candlelight shone on Shang Rui's peaceful face. He seemed to be in a deep sleep, his brows relaxed, and even the smile that always stayed with him disappeared from his sleeping face.
Li Ji bowed and asked, "Queen, I want to ask who made this lotus seed soup?"
The Queen sighed and said, "This was made by me. I ordered Ningzhu to bring it to the Emperor on the way."
Ningzhu knelt down hurriedly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Queen Mother, I know nothing."
The Queen said: "Ningzhu..."
Li Ji looked up at the Queen Mother's expression.
The Queen Mother gave the order coldly: "First, arrest Ningzhu, Huang Minglian and all the people involved. Anything involving the Emperor is not a trivial matter. Hand the case over to the Dali Temple for a thorough investigation. I want to see who is rebelling against the Heaven!"
The Queen said nothing.
The Queen Mother grabbed the Queen's hand and said, "Queen, don't worry. I believe you!"
The four words of "mother-in-law" suddenly startled the queen's heart, and then she burst into tears. However, she was born sensitive and had long understood that the moment of silence of the queen mother just now had already created a gap, a gap that the Xu and Wang families could never fill.
By the time the empress dowager had finished feeding Shang Rui the second dose of medicine, it was already past the middle of the morning hour. There was no sign of further weakening of his pulse and breathing, and it seemed that his condition had stabilized somewhat. Li Ji said frankly that fortunately the poison was not enough, and as long as the emperor could still give him medicine, there was hope.
After all, the Queen Mother was old, and it took much persuasion to persuade her to take a nap.
All the imperial doctors from the Imperial Medical Bureau received the order and came to Jinde Palace. Some of them were waiting in the imperial kitchen to boil the medicine for the third time, others went back to the Imperial Medical Bureau to check the classics, and the rest, led by Li Ji, were still waiting in Jinde Palace, but had retreated to the next room.
Mingfu was ordered to guard Shang Rui and didn't dare to blink.
The queen tucked in the quilt for her husband, sat down on the embroidered cushion beside the bed, and looked at the face on the couch, feeling a mixture of emotions.
The Wang family is a family of high-ranking officials and nobles. Her mother is Princess Suying, who married into the Wang family. She has been gentle, elegant and well-mannered since childhood. Although she has not yet reached the age of 15, she already has the demeanor of a noble family.
Since she was born, she seemed to be born to enter the palace. She didn't quite understand at first, until she met the former crown prince at the age of fourteen.
That day, his mother was seriously ill, and the prince was ordered to visit his remarried aunt on behalf of the emperor.
The maids chattered excitedly, hiding in the dark to watch. She had often heard people say that Prince Shangning was gentle and elegant, and although she was curious, she dared only stay in her boudoir and listen to the noises in the garden next door.
Later, her grandfather called her to the main hall, but she met a man on the bridge of Xiangyuan. He was wearing a loose and light plain robe, with a faint smile on his face.
Although she didn't know his identity, she knew from his clothes that he was an honored guest in the family, so she bowed slightly and let him go first. When they passed by, the man stopped and said, "Are you Xiaoxiang's cousin?"
She was startled at first, then suddenly understood, and bowed down: "Long live the Crown Prince." Her mind was suddenly disturbed as if by a gust of wind. The vagueness of her understanding of the palace was suddenly revealed, followed by an indescribable joy and happiness.
However, the fate between the two people was only this one. Later, someone told him that the prince asked for an imperial decree to make his only son the King of Yanping and his mother the Crown Princess.
In the 27th year of Yongqing, the Wusun invaded the David Dynasty from the border with great force. Xu Huiyong led his troops to a great victory over the Wusun and was promoted to the position of Taiwei, controlling half of the world's military forces. Xu Huiyong's daughter was Concubine Xu, who was favored by the emperor at that time.
In the 31st year of Yongqing's reign, the emperor was bedridden due to a cold since the first month of the year and ordered the crown prince to govern the country.
In April, a secret memorial reported that the Crown Prince was planning a rebellion. After verification, the matter was confirmed and the Emperor took back the power of the court and ordered the Crown Prince to be temporarily confined in the palace and not allowed to go out.
In May, the emperor passed away, leaving a will to pass the throne to the ninth son, Shang Rui, born to Concubine Xu. That night, the prince's mansion caught fire, and more than a hundred people in the mansion were killed.
Everything about that man was lost to the world, and no one dared to mention his name anymore. When I went back to my parents' home two years ago, I was shocked when I recalled his face on the Xiangyuan Arch Bridge. Such a handsome man is rare even in the royal family. It's a pity that we only met once.
When she was just over seventeen years old and had no time to feel sad about the end of this sad unrequited love, she heard from her grandfather that the new emperor wanted to make her the queen.
An emperor who was only thirteen years old and wanted to get married, perhaps what he urgently needed was not a wife, but a supporter. She, who grew up in the prime minister's mansion, naturally knew what kind of deal this was, but she could only lower her eyebrows and eyes and endure it quietly.
Looking at the face on the couch that had lost its youthful appearance, she sighed softly and stood up to open the window. The stars and the moon under the sky had lost their light, and the night was terribly dark.
two
After dawn, the queen had just gone to the side hall to change out of the clothes she had worn all night when she heard Yubi hurriedly report, with a look of joy on her face: "Your Majesty, the emperor has woken up."
When the queen arrived, Shang Rui had already been helped up and leaned against a cushion.
The maid fed him soybean juice as ordered by the imperial physician, saying it could remove the remaining poison in his body. He frowned and turned away reluctantly.
"I was wondering why I felt so sick. It turns out that Li Ji took advantage of me being unconscious and fed me this stuff yesterday." He has never eaten things like soybeans since he was a child, so he also included soybean juice, tofu, bean cakes, etc.
The queen couldn't help but smile at first, but when she saw that he was so weak that even turning his head was extremely difficult, she felt sad and lowered her head.
A eunuch was the first to see her and bowed, saying, "Long live the Queen." The others followed suit.
After she was exempted from the formalities, she took the soy milk from the palace maid and sat on the edge of the bed.
Shang Rui saw that she looked haggard and exhausted, and murmured, "Xiaoxiang, I'm sorry."
The queen raised her eyes slightly and looked at Shang Rui without saying a word. She scooped a spoonful and habitually put it to her lips to test it, then brought it to Shang Rui's mouth.
Shang Rui still frowned: "I..." When he was about to refuse, he met the queen's gaze. He looked at the snow-white and thick bean juice in the bowl, then looked at the queen. He struggled in his heart for a while, and finally sighed helplessly.
"All right."
On that day, after his condition stabilized, Shang Rui ordered his men to release Huang Minglian and move him from Jinde Palace to Qiantai Palace.
At night, Ningzhu, who was detained in prison, disappeared like a magic trick. Some people said that some old palace servants said Ningzhu looked like "Hou Xian". The Hou Xian they were talking about was not Empress Xu, the mother of Shang Rui, but the "Queen Wen Ding" of the previous emperor, the mother of the previous crown prince Shang Ning. It is said that Queen Wen Ding loved white plums the most during her lifetime, and the clusters of white plums in the Jinde Palace were planted by her when she was young.
Rumors spread that the palace was haunted.
The Queen Mother was furious about this and for the first time ever complained to the Queen for not managing the harem well enough.