On July 18th, under the scorching sun, Chu Shao, the young emperor of Darui, met at the Zen throne in the Ancestral Temple with Jiang Qianchuan, the Duke of the State of Qin.
On that day, the dynasty changed. The powerful Jiang family replaced the royal Chu family and became the master of the world. Chu Shao, the last emperor of Dari, was renamed King Lu, and the Queen Mother Xin was renamed the Queen Mother Rui.
After a short discussion, it was decided to take the title of "Qin" from the Duke of Qin as the title of the new dynasty.
On the same day, the Yuan Dynasty was changed to "Zhaode".
The new Qin Dynasty has been busy since its birth, and the government and the public have been in turmoil. Due to the usurpation of power by the Gu family after Dezong, Funing Palace, which had been dormant for many years, finally restored its former majesty and glory. In stark contrast, the Ganli Palace where Empress Dowager Rui and Prince Lu stayed temporarily was as deserted as death.
Qiu Yilan followed the palace guests through the corridor with red lacquer railings. Outside the corridor, from time to time, she saw weeds that were too late to be mowed out, stubbornly poking their heads out of every gap, looking at the world curiously and chaotically; the few summer flowers The lonely swaying in the wind gives people a sense of desolation for no reason.
In the tall and gorgeous palace, the footsteps of her and the palace servants echoed far and near, and occasionally, traces of snakes and rats darting past after being frightened could be seen.
"Your Majesty... How is Prince Lu?" Such a dull atmosphere made Qiu Yilan feel extremely depressed. She tried to break it by talking to the palace people, "Is the Queen Mother okay?"
"His Royal Highness, Prince Lu, just took the medicine and should be feeling better now." The palace attendant seemed a little surprised and hesitated before whispering, "The Queen Mother has been accompanying Your Highness... The Queen Mother has been a little afraid of summer these days and doesn't like meals."
"..." Upon hearing this, Qiu Yilan suddenly lost interest in talking and could only grasp the handkerchief tightly.
Finally arriving at the main hall, the palace man breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Young Madam, your Majesty is waiting for you inside!"
Although the Qin Dynasty has been established and Jiang Qianchuan and his wife have moved to the imperial city, the new dynasty has countless complicated matters at once, and the canonization has not yet begun, so the palace people still call the young lady of the Jiang family.
Qiu Yilan didn't care about this. Hearing this, he entered the palace in three steps and two steps at a time.
The hall is spacious and dark.
Qiu Yilan opened the curtains one after another, and only when she reached the innermost part did she see Chu Shao on the brocade couch, and Xin Fubing guarding the couch.
"Are you here to urge us to leave the palace?" Eight melon-style blue gauze palace lanterns were lit on the four walls, illuminating the palace behind the scenes. However, the eight-treasure cigarette tent hanging from the couch blocked most of the light like smoke. So as not to disturb the sleeping Chu Shao.
Xin Fubing, whose face was mostly hidden in the shadow of the gauze tent, held her son's hand tightly, looked into the tent without blinking, and asked without looking back, "Do you think Shao'er can move like this now?"
Although no one will use the Ganli Palace for the time being, the mother and son are still only staying there temporarily - according to what someone came to reveal before the abdication, Lu Di is where the mother and son will live permanently in the future.
If it weren't for Chu Shao's body, they would have been on their way to Lu Di by now.
"Let me see you." Qiu Yilan sighed.
Xin Fubing recognized her voice and relaxed a little, but still asked: "Did you tell us when to leave?"
"I asked my mother before I came here. She said that since Shao'er is seriously ill, she would definitely not let him leave while still sick." Qiu Yilan walked to the table not far from the couch and opened the food box she had brought in. He opened it and took out a cup of bird's nest porridge and a few delicious side dishes, "I know you won't be able to eat it now, so I made some porridge at home. You can taste a little bit. At least you will gain strength and be more energetic when you spend time with Shao'er?"
Xin Fubing was silent for a while, then suddenly smiled and said: "You are really brave! Do you know that the imperial doctor who came to treat Shaoer this morning didn't even want to prescribe a prescription? Although your bird's nest porridge is He did it for me, but Shao'er was also here. No one outside saw it with his own eyes. Who knows whether he ate or not? If something happens to him by then, you can't tell, but it will cause big trouble for the Jiang family! "
"Everything has been done, it's natural to be discussed." Qiu Yilan said lightly, "Eat it while it's hot... Do you think your lips are so dry?" He picked up the teapot on the table, it was probably too heavy. Not a single cup of tea was poured out.
"I don't want to let go of Shao'er, please bring it to me!" Xin Fubing turned to look at the steaming porridge on the table. Her face, which was rapidly losing weight, still retained its beauty. When she turned her head, her face was half-covered in the shadows. He was unclear, but his eyes were extremely sharp, like needles piercing people. There was still a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, and tears fell without any warning, "Do you think this is life?"
Qiu Yilan didn't know how to answer her, so she put some vegetables into the porridge and simply brought it to the couch to feed her. While feeding her, she said: "The most important thing now is Shao'er's body, don't think about anything else! "
No use even thinking about it.
Xin Fubing understood what she meant, but she still couldn't help but cry: "If Shao'er can get well, we, mother and son, will be willing to be reduced to common people!" In the past, she was not willing to let her son be a puppet, but now she knows that he is a puppet. It is also a luxury wish - not only to be a puppet, but also to be a commoner, to be a healthy and long-lived commoner, is also a luxury wish.
"Eat!" Qiu Yilan's hand paused, then scooped out another spoonful of porridge and handed it over, "Who can know the result until the end? Ten years ago in the snowy day in Dizi Mountain, I thought I was gone. Xin Fubing's current situation makes her very worried. Her mother-in-law and husband are dead, and Dali has been usurped. The blow is already huge. If Chu Shao is gone, who knows if she will still live
Although she didn't have any hope in her heart, she hoped that Xin Fubing still had hope.
Otherwise, Chu Shao would be gone and Xin Fubing's body would collapse...
"Originally there might have been a glimmer of hope, but for the sake of Zen position, the imperial doctor gave Shao'er an injection - did you know? As soon as the ceremony was over, Shao'er went down Danqi by himself, and rolled down halfway!" Xin Fubing swallowed Porridge, tilted his head and asked Qiu Yilan to feed him later, and whispered, "He has never opened his eyes since he was sent to me... He is so young, how can he withstand the torture? The imperial doctor did not dare to answer me, and the palace people did not dare to tell me, But I know in my heart that Shao'er won't last long...my son won't live long!"
Qiu Yilan looked at Chu Shao on the couch. The little child was curled up, and on his burned-red little face, his two eyebrows that looked like the late emperor's were tightly furrowed, seeming to express the pain of illness. Her eyes were dazed for a moment, and suddenly she heard Xin Fubing say: "Don't think you can't answer me. This is Chu Weisang's own fault, and he can't blame others."
"...What?" Qiu Yilan was startled.
"On New Year's Eve, it was his biological father Chu Weisang who allowed Shao'er to be thrown into the lake!" Xin Fubing said lightly, "I didn't take good care of his illness this time, and it was not the Jiang family's fault. So you don't have to feel guilty. Wife of the Jiang family, I’m sorry!”
"Actually, it's me who feels sorry for you—your twins seem to be sick every three days?"
"I can't see clearly what's in the lake in the middle of the night." Qiu Yilan put down the bowl and asked bitterly after being lost for a while, "It's because I couldn't find An'er and Lang'er in the imperial garden. Being deceived by the palace man again, plus the sachet thrown by the lake, I jumped in without caring... When I woke up at the end of the first month, Su He and the others told me that it was Shao'er. , I realized it wasn’t An’er or Lang’er who fell into the lake.”
She glanced at Chu Shao and then looked away, "So just throwing a bunch of clothes in the lake was enough to deceive me. Even if I was afraid that I would find out that I was not a human being, there was no shortage of little maids and chamberlains in the palace... Even if they could enter The youngest palace servant is older than An'er, but in that case, who can look at her so carefully? "
"Why does he use Shao'er?!"
"I am the first wife chosen by the queen herself, and Shao'er is also deeply loved by the queen. If there is no change of dynasty and a heir apparent, how can the son of the imperial concubine compete with Shao'er?" Xin Fu Bing said numbly, "If there is no fight, where will he be? He didn't want to be a puppet when the opportunity came. In fact, I should have known it a long time ago, but even though I knew that he was just being nice to me because he was afraid of my mother and just to show off to the Jiang family, I still pretended not to. I found out... I not only sympathized with him, but I was also worried about myself. He is my husband. If something happens to him, what should I do? Without that ambition, I can live a good life... just like my father is gone... "
The young Queen Mother showed a sad smile, "Perhaps I am not suitable to be the royal wife at all? My heart is too small. I only want the love of husband and wife and the children around my knees... but I can't afford what countless poor women can enjoy. Can’t get it?”
"...How did you know?" Qiu Yilan asked after being silent for a while. She knew a little about the tragic death of Jiang Huizhi's mother and son, so she thought that the game on New Year's Eve was mainly planned by the imperial concubine, with Lady Lin's last attack and the emperor's attack - but she didn't expect the emperor's attack to be so ruthless!
"Shao'er told me that the reason why he snatched the sachet from An'er was because Chu Weisang instigated him privately." Xin Fubing looked at his son on the couch and said calmly, "You haven't been able to wake up during the first month. There was a commotion outside. Rumors say that you are dying... I think about it, Lang'er and Ying'er are still so young. If you die and the 19th cousin remarries, what will happen to these two children? But the best imperial doctors have been hired. I had no other choice but to find out what happened on New Year's Eve. Is there any way I can get revenge on you? But it was a mess. One day, I suddenly remembered the sachet and coaxed Shao'er for a long time before he admitted it. "
"Since Chu Weisang wants to use that sachet, how could he let Shao'er be thrown into the lake if he didn't nod?"
"He has always doted on Shao'er, and of course Shao'er is also very close to him. It's just that children are easy to coax, so it's not surprising that Shao'er was used and deceived by his father. As a mother, I was so stupid that I was not prepared at all. —Chu Weisang doesn’t want to be a puppet, so he can give up even his eldest son, just for such a small chance!”
"But even if I know about Chu Weisang... I still can't make up my mind to tell my mother!"
"I'm sorry for my mother, and I'm sorry for Yongfu! If I had said it earlier, maybe they wouldn't have..."
Xin Fubing turned her face into the shadow of the tent, and could only hear her rapid breathing, "So I know you have good intentions when you come to see me, but I really don't want to see you again - every time I see you, I feel very sad." It’s very uncomfortable... You go back and I’ll eat the porridge later, okay?”
The silver spoon Qiu Yilan was handing over froze in mid-air. She stood up silently and put the bowls and spoons on the table. She seemed to be leaving, but suddenly she rushed to the couch and felt Chu Shao's pulse - as expected. It was as cold as ice. Looking at Chu Shao's face, he was still flushed, but he didn't know when he was out of breath!
"When?!" She opened her mouth and struggled for a long time before she came out with a voice that was too hoarse to describe. "When?! When did you say that - you kept holding him!"
"It will be at least three to five years later." Xin Fubing still held his son's hand, without raising his head, and said calmly, "Otherwise, the last emperor of Darui, Cai Zen, would have died. Who wouldn't suspect that the Jiang family was behind the scenes? Even if Knowing that Shaoer was in poor health before he abdicated, who could not suspect that it was the torment of the abdication ceremony that prevented him from surviving? "
"So in a few days, I, Queen Mother Rui, will accompany King Lu, who is getting better, to live in Lu Di. In three to five years, everyone in the government and the public will forget about us, and King Lu will be insignificant if he passes away!"
"When I persuaded your father-in-law to accept the abdication, didn't he also say that Shao'er's serious illness was due to poor fortune, and he would not get better if he did not abdicate? He will be fine after abdicating. This can prove that the abdication is right, right?"
Xin Fubing closed her eyes and said weakly, "You go, I'm going to send someone to tell Emperor Qin right away: Shao'er has recovered. We, mother and son, don't want to disturb the palace anymore. We will leave within three days!"
"Don't come to see me off - you should know that I just told you everything, but I just don't want to see you again!!!"