Linglong Court
Concubine Xiao rubbed her shoulders, squinted her eyes at Qing Yu, "What is Lord Hou up to lately, he hasn't been seen for the past few days."
At the dinner table just now, Prime Minister Right said something unsightly. Three words were wrong in the family rules, so Concubine Xiao was grounded for a month.
This time Mrs. Xiao agreed with all her hands. After all, there is chaos outside, and it is better for Concubine Xiao to stay at home.
Xiao Concubine curled her lips when she heard this, but her father simply said that it was enough to be grounded, and deliberately made such an excuse.
After a while, the servant girl actually brought over the wrongly copied family rules. Xiao Concubine saw that there were really three words wrong, so obviously it would be difficult for people to ignore it, it must be on purpose!
"That's all, one month is one month, I don't want to go out anyway."
Xiao Concubine fell headlong on the couch and thought, unknowingly, she hadn't seen him for several days. Although the court said that the plague was temporarily under control and no one died, Xiao Concubine was still worried.
I just feel that this sudden change is unusual, as if it was arranged in advance.
Asking Rong Yue, Rong Yue didn't know about it, she just chatted with the old lady at home, and was taught by the old lady to deal with housework all day long, so she didn't have time to talk to Miss Xiao.
Xiao Concubine calmed down by herself, instead thinking wildly, it would be great if Zhao Zun was by her side.
"Zhao Qi came here once this morning. Master Hou has been very busy these days, and the Lord Xiang is at home, so the burden on him is even heavier." Qing Yu said again, "When the emperor summons Lord Hou today, , Those ministers were all terrified.”
Miss Xiao chuckled when she heard the words, "These ministers are all greedy for life and afraid of death. Few of them are willing to serve the court. Whenever something happens, they hide faster than anyone else."
Qingyu seemed to have thought of something, and said again, "Miss, after Mrs. Tao and Mrs. Tao left the prime minister's mansion today, Mrs. Tao went to Xiao's mansion to visit the second master's family to congratulate. The second master is here today. Just been made a third-rank official by the emperor."
Qing Yu paused and said again, "I heard that Princess Chaoren and Aunt Du were arrested as refugees. They were locked up all night last night and were picked up at noon."
Concubine Xiao raised her eyebrows, thinking about the scene, she found it funny, "This night must have been a lot of tossing, Tao Fangfei is so eager to get the second room, and she is not afraid of getting involved, she is very courageous."
Concubine Xiao snorted twice, but seeing that her father lost his official position, she was in a hurry to find a backer.
Xiao Concubine still had a lot of doubts to solve, she couldn't see clearly through the fog, the right side couldn't understand a word, and Zhao Zun was nowhere to be seen, which really worried her.
Concubine Xiao put her hands on her chin and thought about it. She always felt that something was wrong. The second room suddenly returned to Beijing. A man behind the scenes.
Now there is a plague in the city, but the right minister resigned from office and went home, and asked the king of Chen to lead troops to control the plague.
"Chen Wang... Chen Wang." Xiao Concubine couldn't help murmuring, but her eyes lit up, "It's the Queen Mother!"
"What does this matter have to do with the Empress Dowager?" Qing Yu asked puzzled.
Concubine Xiao was sure, "It must be the queen mother. The emperor and the queen mother have been very close these days. Yesterday, Eunuch He was slapped when he returned to the palace after announcing the imperial decree. His condition was not right yesterday. There is no one else except the queen mother."
It must be that Emperor Dongming and Empress Dowager Lian had reached some kind of agreement in private. Empress Dowager Lian was seeking revenge, revenge for Prince Chen's son!
The grandson I raised by my side had invested so much affection and died so miserable, even the queen mother must have hated him so much to cooperate with Emperor Dongming.
After the tragic death of Prince Chen, concubine Xiao followed Rong Yue to Xiyue, so she forgot about it.
In the hall, the Empress Dowager Lian changed her usual attitude towards Prime Minister Right and pressed her step by step, which is the best proof that the Empress Dowager must have known something.
The right minister resigned this time, and the emperor did not stop him. The imperial decree would definitely not be aimed at the right minister's mansion as the right minister said.
The imperial decree was that Emperor Dongming showed his favor to Empress Dowager Lian, stated his position, and drew a clear line with the right minister, and the two reached some kind of agreement for the time being.
Thinking about it this way, Concubine Xiao suddenly figured it out a lot. The funeral affairs of the four families must have been arranged by the Queen Mother in advance, and the right minister seemed to have expected it long ago, so she avoided the edge and remained silent in the mansion.
In the past, there was a tripartite confrontation with equal strengths, but this time even the Empress Dowager deliberately showed weakness with Emperor Dongming and joined forces to deal with the Right Prime Minister.
"This plague came really cleverly." Xiao Concubine suddenly sighed. Her father seemed to be retreating behind the scenes, but in fact he was forcing Empress Dowager Lian to turn against Emperor Dongming.
Chen Wang will not give up such a good opportunity to become famous, the cooperation is only temporary, if they can cooperate, they can naturally be dismantled.
It's no wonder Princess Chaoren didn't hold back at all, and dared to embarrass the Xiangfu in public. It turned out that someone was behind her back, so she was unscrupulous.
Concubine Xiao half-closed her eyes and thought about Chen, and said after a long time, "Qingyu, keep a close eye on the second wife of the Xiao family and the Tao family, and let me know if there is any trouble."
Qingyu nodded.
Xiao's
Princess Chaoren was so frightened that she was trembling all over. When she came back, she was still a little confused, her hair was disheveled, and her body was bruised and purple. Compared with her delicate and delicate skin in the past, it was simply unsightly.
Aunt Du was not too strong, she was unconscious when she was brought back to the house by Tai, and kept talking in her sleep.
Xiao Wu accompanied Princess Chaoren, glanced at Tao Fangfei, "Thank you Mrs. Tao for your concern, my mother was frightened and needs to recuperate temporarily."
Tao Fangfei nodded when she heard it, "What you said is that I am the princess, so I came here to take a look. Since the princess is fine, I'll take a step ahead."
Xiao Wu asked the servant girl to send Tao Fangfei away, and as soon as she left, Princess Chao Ren immediately opened her eyes, clenched her fists tightly, and trembled with anger.
"Mother, are you alright?" Xiao Wu asked with concern while supporting Princess Chaoren tightly.
Princess Chaoren gritted her teeth, and her eyes were stained with anger. After she left the gate of Xiangfu yesterday, she hurried back towards Xiao's other courtyard, but a group of people rushed out from nowhere to separate her and the guards. , and took her to the Ministry of Punishment.
That night yesterday was her nightmare. She was squeezed into a prison with countless people, not to mention the disgusting smell, and all the jewelry on her body was touched away.
Even though she yelled loudly and no one answered her, many people still touched her. This was definitely the biggest insult Princess Chaoren had ever suffered.
Every point is tormented, so many people are very likely to be infected with the plague, two of the next cell have died, the whole cell is boiling, everyone is noisy and wants to rush out, in exchange for the jailer He took a whip and lashed at them fiercely.
Princess Chaoren was pushed out and whipped several times. She was so painful that she almost fainted, and she gritted her teeth until dawn.
Princess Chaoren glanced at Xiao Wu, "Where's your father?"
"Father went to grandma's place, and grandma was unconscious and seriously injured, but father settled down with mother before going to grandma's."
Seeing that Princess Chaoren's complexion was not good, Xiao Wu changed her words very quickly, and then Princess Chaoren's complexion improved a bit.
"Mother, you suffered a lot yesterday. My father sent people to search for it for a long time. It was only in the middle of the night that I realized that you might have been among the refugees. Unfortunately, the minister of the Ministry of punishment refused to let you go. My father went to look for the emperor overnight, and the emperor let the imperial physician follow my father." I went to the prison and confirmed that you are not infected with the epidemic before agreeing to release you."
Princess Chaoren frowned, "Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment?"
"That's right, this person doesn't care about anything. My father dealt with him for a long time, but he didn't take advantage of it. That's why I went to the palace to look for the emperor."
Xiao Wu bit her lips tightly, "Last night my uncle was dismissed from his official position, my father was promoted to three ranks, the emperor and the queen mother both intend to promote my father, and there are not a few people who come to visit the mansion today. Open up, even the emperor can't do anything about him, so he agreed to let him go."
Princess Chaoren raised her eyebrows, "There is still such a character in Kyoto, what is his last name?"
Xiao Wu thought for a while, then blurted out, "Li Shangshu was demoted two days ago, and a newcomer who was promoted yesterday took Li Shangshu's place, and his surname seems to be Zhao..."
"But Zhao Zun?"
Xiao Wu immediately nodded, "That's right, it's called this name. Father said that this person is not a simple character, but also a famous person beside the emperor, so he refused to let him go for a long time."
When Princess Chaoren heard this, her face turned green, and she couldn't get angry. She picked up the teacup on the table and threw it on the ground, "It's unreasonable, and someone made another one. This Zhao Zun is the future son-in-law of the Prime Minister. , no wonder they hold me tight, it's on purpose!"
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that she was caught as soon as she came out and suffered a night of torture, all of which were bestowed by Zhao Zun.
Xiao Wu was a little surprised, "Isn't Xiao Jiu's husband dead? Could it be..."
Princess Chaoren's head was full of anger, and he sneered, "I really answered that sentence, it's not that one family doesn't enter one family, and they are as treacherous and cunning as the right minister. I will remember this account, and sooner or later I will have to Double the rewards to vent the hatred in my heart!"
"Mother, now that my uncle has been demoted, and my father has been promoted again, the emperor and the empress dowager admire my father very much, and they regard my uncle as a thorn in their side. The eldest house has suppressed the second room for so many years, and the feng shui turns, and it's our second room's turn." gone."
Xiao Wu comforted him, "Even if he is a young master, he can still be right with the emperor and the queen mother, maybe in a few days he will sever ties with his uncle and withdraw from that marriage. It's not the former prime minister's mansion."
Princess Chaoren shook her head, "Wu'er, you underestimate this uncle of yours too much. He has been able to hold military power for decades, and it is impossible to get to where he is today without any means. We have underestimated the enemy."
"Besides, although your uncle has lost the title of right minister, he still holds the military power in his hands. As long as he wants to, he will return to his original position at any time."
Princess Chaoren could see clearly that the water in this capital was too deep for her to figure it out, but the only thing she was sure of was that no military power was in her hands, no matter how big an official position was, it was useless.
Even if the right minister has no official position, as long as the military power is still there, no one dares to provoke. After all, the right minister for so many years is not in vain.
"If you want to bring down Dafang, the military power in your uncle's hands is the most important thing, otherwise everything will be in vain."
Otherwise, as long as there is a right minister for a day, the second room will never be able to stand up. Princess Chaoren's struggle is not overnight, but the glory that belongs to the Xiao family in a hundred years!
Princess Chaoren sighed suddenly, and even felt like hitting the cotton with a fist, feeling weak and angry.
Xiao Wu lowered her head, the flashing light in her eyes suddenly raised her eyes and said, "Mother, Wu'er has a plan."
Upon hearing this, Princess Chaoren immediately said, "What's the plan, you can tell me."
"Mother, all kinds of things happened one after another in the past two days, all of which were aimed at the prime minister's house. Wu'er even suspected that this plague was also caused by the eldest uncle, deliberately provoking the internal strife between the emperor and the queen mother, and lost it." The official position is actually to hide your strength, sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and finally a fisherman will benefit."
Xiao Wu pursed her red lips, and said again, "No matter who it is, once it gets infected with the epidemic, the people in the whole city will not let him go, if someone in Xiangfu is infected..."
Xiao Wu hesitated to speak, but Princess Chaoren's eyes lit up, "You are right, no matter whether the plague has been solved or not, the Prime Minister's House has become the target of public criticism, and I can't even open my mouth."
Soon Princess Chaoren became discouraged again, "It's just that the Prime Minister's Mansion is heavily guarded now, and it may not be easy to enter the Prime Minister's Mansion."
However, Xiao Wu glanced at the gift box that Tao Fangfei just sent over the table, and smiled, "Mother, the ginseng on the table was specially sent by Mrs. Tao, when mother gets better, let's just return another gift. "
Princess Chao Ren followed her gaze and saw that there was indeed a brocade box on the table. After understanding Xiao Wu's meaning, a smile curled up at the corner of her mouth, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
－－－－－Off Topic－－－－－
Dear friends, there is no third watch