… The donation went very smoothly. When the wealthy businessmen in Beijing heard that this was the intention of the Duke of Qin, they expressed whether they were happy or not.
Xue Chang personally presided over it, and before the end of March, he had raised enough food and grass to support the Western Army for three months. During this period, bad news spread continuously in Shazhou. The state city and a series of subsequent forts were lost, and even Wangcheng was in danger. .
The words of Xue Chang and Yi Taizhang made the government and the public know that the two so-called great passes behind Wangcheng had been ruined by the Gu clan's guards. In other words, if Wangcheng cannot be defended, it will be difficult for the Western Barbarians to be blocked from Xiangzhou.
In terms of dense population and circulation of goods, Xiangzhou should belong to Zhongzhou, but administratively it was divided into Shangzhou: the reason is very simple. The tombs of the ancestors of the Darui royal family were built in Xiangzhou.
In fact, the birthplace of the Chu family is not in Xiangzhou. The reason why the cemetery was chosen there was because the ancestors of the Chu family found a geomantic treasure land there, which was said to be able to provide great wealth to future generations.
It is conceivable that after the Chu family established Dali, they naturally believed in this statement. Although the geomantic treasure land was limited in space and it was inconvenient to build an imperial mausoleum. None of the kings of Darui from Taizu Rui were buried there, it was greatly repaired and the Imperial Guard was sent to guard it. They paid great attention to it.
During the Xiangzhou Rebellion during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, although the Western Barbarians were blocked hundreds of miles away from the Chu family's mausoleum, Emperor Gaozong still beat his chest and issued an edict to punish himself and severely punished the general of the Zhenxi Army at that time - this was also the surrender of Qin Guogong After Qiu Jinglan took over the Zhenxi Army, no matter how he was defeated, the bottom line was to defend Xiangzhou.
After all, victory or defeat is a common thing for military officers, but the crime of disturbing the spirits of the ancestors of the Darui royal family is not so easy to get rid of. If Qiu Jinglan really lets the Western Man cheat the Chu family's ancestral tomb in Xiangzhou, no one in the government or the public will be able to speak for him!
All in all, after Empress Dowager Jiang checked the accounts with Xue Chang, she sent people to escort him to Xijiang without stopping, for fear of delaying the war!
"If there is no accident, there should be no problem until after the autumn harvest!" After the grain and grass were sent away, Queen Mother Jiang finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly paid attention to her biological daughter's life events, "Yongfu will descend next month, everything is ready. how's it going?"
As Jiang Huizhi expected, Xin Fubing was released by the Empress Dowager Jiang a few days ago on the grounds that "the eldest princess has descended, and the harem must not be left unattended" to arrange the disappearance of the eldest princess Yongfu. At this moment, Wen Yan reported: "According to your majesty's past years, The charter discussed with Cousin Nineteen is ready!"
Then he told Empress Dowager Jiang everything.
Empress Dowager Jiang nodded while listening, and said with a smile: "The Ai family can rest assured when you do things."
The queen blushed slightly: "My daughter-in-law was in the Bei Que Palace before, and your Majesty probably did all of this. I just handed it over to my daughter-in-law these days!"
"Husband and wife are one, isn't what he does the same as what you do?" Empress Dowager Jiang joked, calling Chu Shao, who was leaning on the queen's lap, "I haven't seen the empress' grandmother for several days, come here and give her a good look. !”
Prince Chu Shao, who is nominally three years old but actually not yet two years old, can already walk and talk, but his walking is not very steady and his speech is not very clear. With the encouragement of his mother, he jumped into the Empress Dowager Jiang's arms with his short fat legs and called out "Royal Grandmother" softly, causing the Empress Dowager Jiang to hold him on her lap and kiss and love him.
Such a harmonious family moment was interrupted not long after by a piece of news: "Concubine Jiang Guifei was feeling unwell just now. She asked the imperial doctor to see her, and it was confirmed that she is fine!"
Empress Dowager Jiang, who was feeding Chu Shao snacks with her own hands, paused and looked at the queen - only to see a trace of loneliness flash across the queen's face, and then she showed a gentle smile: "This is really good news!" Then she said to Empress Dowager Jiang. , "Congratulations to my mother, you will have another grandson or granddaughter!"
"It's your child too!" Empress Dowager Jiang sighed, lowered her head and touched Chu Shao's little head, and chuckled, "Shao'er, you are going to have more brothers or sisters!" The implication was to remind the queen, no matter what Whether Jiang Huizhi's child is a boy or a girl, she is ultimately not as good as Chu Shao.
Sure enough, when Chu Shao was mentioned, the queen pursed her lips and calmed down from her pretense of calmness: "Mother, the noble concubine is happy, according to the rules..."
"Look at the memory of the Ai family!" Of course Empress Dowager Jiang did not really forget about the usual reward after the concubine was pregnant. The reason why she did not mention it was because she was waiting for the empress to ask. This not only gave the empress dignity, but also discouraged Jiang Huizhi. Don't think that she is pregnant. What thoughts should not arise!
At this moment, based on the queen's words, she calmly told Miss Lin, "The noble concubine is pregnant, so she should be rewarded! Go and do it!"
However, such words were not taken seriously at all - this attitude made the queen feel much better. She pursed her lips and said: "The mother is rewarded, and the daughter-in-law has to express it..." Then she proposed to resign and went back to Beique in person to prepare. Li, go to Quezhi Palace to visit.
As soon as she left the Taishi Palace, the queen's face darkened.
Everyone in the palace knew that she must be in a bad mood at this moment, so they all looked down and did not dare to say anything, for fear of offending her.
After the phoenix chariot arrived at the Beique Hall, the queen forced Chu Shao and her wet nurse to return to the side hall with a forced smile. She walked into her bedroom with her confidants. When she entered, she was stunned: "Why is your majesty here?"
On the low mica couch where she often lay, a young man wearing bright yellow uniforms was leaning on his arms, flipping through a half-worn book. Who else could he be if he wasn't the emperor
"Don't I often use your place to take a nap?" The emperor put down the book and asked disapprovingly.
"But just now the palace people said that the imperial concubine is pregnant." The queen asked suspiciously, "Does your Majesty still not know?" It should be impossible. Although the emperor is not involved in state affairs, how could he not report the news of his heir in time? Especially now the harem only has one queen and one concubine, which is very simple.
Sure enough, when the emperor heard this, he showed no expression of surprise or surprise. He only said a faint "hmm": "I know!"
The queen looked around, and the maids all retreated obediently.
She then sat down not far from the emperor and asked with concern: "Then why didn't your majesty go over and see her? This is the first time this woman is pregnant, and she is most looking forward to her husband's company!"
"You are very tolerant!" The emperor glanced at her with a half-smile and said calmly, "But when it comes to husband, it seems that you are the only one in this palace who is qualified to call me husband, right? In the final analysis, the imperial concubine is nothing more than a concubine. "
The queen loved hearing such words the most, but she still said angrily in front of the emperor: "Your Majesty, it's a shame that you only have to say these words here! It should be very sad if the noble concubine finds out... Is it because she has not been serving well recently and has offended your Majesty? Not happy? Otherwise, Your Majesty has always been the most generous, so why don’t you go see her now?”
The queen actually had some doubts at this moment: "Jiang Huizhi is quite scheming. She has followed the rules since entering the palace. A few days ago, she used me to be grounded and tried her best to please the queen mother... How could she offend your majesty?"
Moreover, "Even if there is something wrong with her, she is pregnant anyway, why would Your Majesty be so cold to her? It seems... It seems like it was specially made for me to see!"
Although she hopes that the emperor's thoughts will be on her, she also knows that "Your Majesty and I have a close relationship, and we have Shao'er. The relationship is definitely deeper than with Jiang Huizhi. But the reason why he is always protective and considerate towards me is very important." Part of it is because I am the Queen Mother’s choice. Although Jiang Huizhi has not been favored since entering the palace, Your Majesty still visits her once or twice every month. In this case, she is pregnant, so it is natural to go to visit her. ? His Majesty deliberately refused to go, and I don’t know why?”
Then the emperor said: "I was going to go, but I just heard some bad words on the road. After thinking about it, I might as well go tomorrow!"
The queen asked doubtfully: "What are you talking about?"
"It's nothing... Where is Shao'er?" The emperor avoided answering and asked about his son instead.
"... The wet nurse took him to the side hall to change clothes." The queen thought for a while and said, "I'll call him over!"
When Chu Shao was asked to enter the palace to pester the emperor, the queen did not bother to go to Quezhi Palace in person for a while. She just asked a female official to take care of it and summoned Cen Wei to her: "Just now, Your Majesty was on his way to Quezhi Palace. I heard that What are you saying not to go?"
Cen Wei hesitated to speak at first, and then hesitated to say anything. The queen was nice to persuade him at first, but later she became impatient when she saw that he kept avoiding him: "Is the Bei Que Hall of this palace not qualified enough to let you, Eunuch Cen?" Open your mouth! Or do you want me to ask my mother to go to Taishi Palace?"
"I don't dare!" Upon hearing this, Cen Wei hurriedly knelt on the ground with a plop, showing his loyalty, "I have received great kindness from the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother also takes care of me in every possible way. How can I dare to despise you? This is really the case. I really don’t know how to say this!”
The queen's heart sank, and she scolded with a sullen face: "Where did all this nonsense come from - you said you didn't say it?!"
Cen Wei had a bitter look on his face, and he looked up and around cautiously.
The queen winked, and everyone except her confidants withdrew. Cen Wei then whispered: "It was two palace maids gossiping behind the rockery, which made His Majesty displeased!"
"What kind of gossip?! Please explain it clearly to me!" The queen was really impatient after not getting to the point for so long!
Cen Wei sensed something was wrong in her tone and quickly said: "Those two cheap maids said... said... said something about the crown prince!"
The queen suddenly became awe-struck: "What did they say?!"
"They said... It's strange that the eldest prince, as the eldest prince and deeply loved by the Queen Mother, has not been able to be established as the prince so far. Co-author... Co-author is waiting for news about Concubine Jiang!" Cen Wei gritted his teeth and spoke. After saying everything, he lay prone on the ground and did not dare to raise his head, thinking that he was already a dead person.
The queen's face turned livid at first, then turned red, and then turned white...red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple turned around in a circle, and then she asked coldly: "Where did the palace maid say that?"
"They are the palace maids who are sweeping the imperial garden. The servants were so bold that they were escorted to the violent chamber by His Majesty when they saw His Majesty's unhappy expression!" Cen Wei buried his face in the carpet and said angrily.
"..." The Queen was silent for a long time, until Cen Wei was sweating profusely, and then she said calmly, "I know, please go down and serve His Majesty, remember not to spread these words!"
"This slave will obey Yi's decree!" Cen Wei said loudly with a secret sigh of relief.