The drum beat four times.
Emperor Baoqing wore only a white singlet and sat in front of a bronze mirror. A young palace maid stood behind him and took off his hair crown.
Eunuch Li came in a hurry.
"emperor."
Emperor Baoqing glanced at him sideways and said, "What's the matter?"
Eunuch Li glanced at the maid, who bowed and left. He bent even lower and said hoarsely, "Back to the emperor, Mr. Lu died of illness?"
"Lu family, which Lu family?" Emperor Baoqing rolled his eyes, confused.
Li Eunuch said: "Depose the Crown Princess Lu."
The hand that was stroking Daozhu suddenly paused. Emperor Baoqing's face looked a little ugly, and his eyes were fixed on a certain place on the ground. His whole body was as motionless as a sculpture.
Eunuch Li secretly took a breath and said, "Your Majesty, someone is sent over there to ask how to bury him?"
A sneer came from the corner of his mouth. Emperor Baoqing looked out the window. Eunuch Li stretched out his hand to support the emperor and walked to the window.
"Push away."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Eunuch Li opened the window as instructed.
I don't know when a drizzle started to fall outside the window, with a bit of cold wind and a bit of chill. Emperor Baoqing stroked the white hair on his temples and said after a long time: "I will be buried secretly in Huanghua Mountain with the ceremony of a princess."
Eunuch Li felt his heart beating faster and his blood flowing backwards. He lowered his face and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
"With the ceremony of a princess, I will be buried secretly in Huanghua Mountain." Zhao Jingyan muttered these words repeatedly without any expression on her face.
Counselor Li Zhuo thought: "Your Majesty, these words are thought-provoking."
Zhao Jingyan's eyes tightened, and she turned around with her hands behind her back, "Let's talk and listen."
"The Crown Prince was deposed six years ago. Since there is no such thing as a Crown Prince, naturally there is no Crown Princess. It is incredible that the Emperor wants to be buried with the ceremony of a Crown Princess."
Zhao Jingyan answered, "You are absolutely right. Huanghua Mountain is not the royal mausoleum. Most of the people buried there are those who caused trouble for the clan. The name of the princess is hidden in Huanghua Mountain... What on earth is this?"
Li Zhuo sighed: "It's hard to fathom whether he is promoted or demoted."
Jiang Hongwen, who has not been born for a long time, said coldly: "The king's heart is unpredictable, why do you care so much?"
Counselor Fan Zonghan shook his head and said: "Qiye, that's not true. I heard someone said that the emperor thought about it for a long time before saying such a sentence. It can be seen that he didn't say it casually, but he thought deeply about it."
"So what? If we are thinking about the emperor's thoughts, we might as well do our own thing. At least our fate is in our own hands, not in other people's mouths."
"This..." Fan Zonghan and Li Zhuo looked at each other and did not dare to continue.
"pretty!"
Zhao Jingyan shouted loudly, "Hongwen's words deeply touched my heart. We have more important things to do. Let others do the guessing of your heart."
The lights in Prince Rui's mansion were brightly lit.
Zhao Jingjue yawned, pointed at the seven or eight counselors below and said, "Tell me, what is the profound meaning of this sentence?"
A fat counselor stroked his beard and thought, "Back to the prince, I think that the courtesy of the princess is just to give some face to the Duke of Ding."
Someone in the audience echoed, "Exactly, otherwise I wouldn't be buried in Huanghua Mountain."
But some people objected, "Why does the Emperor still call her the Crown Princess when she is clearly the deposed Crown Princess? What's the point of this?"
"It's not necessarily a slip of the tongue. There is a secret word in the emperor's mouth. It shows that he does not want to publicize this matter. If a princess dies of illness and is buried secretly, the world must be informed." The man who spoke was a bit young.
The one-year-old old man shook his head of white hair and said, "In ancient times, there was a saying that husband and wife were buried together. The prince and concubine were buried in Huanghua Mountain. After a hundred years of deposing the prince, there is only one place to go. I think that the prince can rest assured that the prince will be buried here." It’s impossible for people to stand up again.”
Everyone said something to me, and it was as lively as a vegetable market.
Where Zhao Jingjue focused his eyes was on his most proud counselor, Yu Qing. This man was in his early thirties, and he knew a lot about astronomy and geography. He was a rare talent that could only be seen in a hundred years.
Yu Qing felt King Rui's gaze and coughed slightly, "My lord, I believe that the emperor's move has two profound meanings."
As soon as these words came out, there was silence in the study.
"The emperor still calls Mrs. Lu the crown prince, which is obviously extremely unruly. The unruly behavior at least sends a signal that the emperor still has old feelings for the prince."
Everyone nodded frequently.
The late Empress Lu married the emperor before he ascended the throne. It could be said that they shared weal and woe, and this feeling was unparalleled by others. If the Lu family hadn't died first and the prince had rebelled, there would have been nothing the emperor could say to depose the prince.
Yu Qing added: "However, old feelings return to old feelings. How can we allow others to sleep soundly on the couch? The royal family has no family relationship between father and son. This move is intended to tell you princes. This world belongs to the emperor, and this country belongs to the emperor. Your prince. Don’t forget how the emperor took over the world.”
Everyone's hearts were tense.
Baoqing Emperor Zhao Yong, the youngest son of the late emperor, ranked fourteenth.
The late emperor always had children, and even favored them. His mother, Concubine Zhen, died young. The Empress Dowager loved her very much and raised her personally.
Zhao Yong was outstanding in both civil and military talents. Under the upbringing of the Empress Dowager, he was tolerant, decisive, and even a little ruthless.
Because he was the youngest, the former emperor's sons did not put up any defenses, and most of them were friendly with him.
When the weak crown was not available, the Empress Dowager made the decision to marry the Lu family. After the marriage, the couple loved each other lovingly. The Lu family was originally a powerful family member of the imperial court. He was the Duke of the Three Dynasties and Three Kingdoms, and was highly favored by the emperor. He has a close relationship with Mr. Shige, the chief minister of General Sheng's Mansion and the cabinet chief.
Zhao Yong got the support of the Lu family, and gradually brought General Sheng's Mansion and Shige Lao under his banner.
However, he is invisible and takes the crown prince as the leader in everything. Everyone thinks that he is of the prince's lineage, and the prince has no doubts about him.
When the late emperor was critically ill, the eight virtuous kings, the fourth son of the late emperor, took the lead in launching the Shenwu Sect Incident that shocked the government and the public, in an attempt to trap and kill the prince in front of the Shenwu Sect.
Zhao Yong led the Shengfu and supported Yulin's three thousand battalions, and united with King Su's five military camps. In the name of saving the prince, he led his troops to the Shenwu Gate and killed the four princes and the prince together. A mantis came to catch the cicada, and Huang The bird is behind.
That night, he killed the prince's cronies, four princes in total, and five princes from the eight sage kings, and bloodbathed all the palaces.
The next day the first emperor died and Zhao Yong ascended the throne. After he ascended the throne, he exiled the two princes and slaughtered them on the way. Among the fourteen princes, only Prince Qing and Prince Su remained.
Emperor Baoqing usurped the Zhao family's power with iron-fisted killings, so what he was most afraid of was for others to imitate him. Therefore, even if the Sheng family had merit in supporting him to the throne, death would still be inevitable.
"Your Majesty."
Yu Qing took a step forward and said: "The emperor is old, and his actions are much more affectionate than before. However, the emperor is the emperor, and the power of the dragon is still there. Therefore, the prince should just pretend that he does not know about this matter, and there is no need to over-guess, instead he will mess up his position."
Zhao Jingjue raised her lips slightly and said, "Well said."
Yu Qing added: "The most urgent task is how to win over King Shou. Not only can we show brotherhood and respect in front of the emperor, but we can also have one more helper. Why not do it."
Zhao Jingjue nodded in agreement and said with a smile: "I got good news today. Jiang Laoqi and the Gu family are engaged."
Yu Qing cupped his fists and said with a smile: "Congratulations to the prince, congratulations to the prince. Soon the Jiang family will be able to be used by the prince."
Zhao Jingjue waved his hands proudly and said: "If these two people enter my camp, I will be even more powerful. Even if the third brother makes the entire military department his, what's the use?"
Everyone looked at each other and congratulated in unison: "Your Majesty is wise!"
The fifth watch has passed, and the door to the study room of Prince Shou's Mansion finally opens.
After a long time, Zhao Jingyan's lazy voice came out, "Ali, go and prepare a table of wine and food. Hongwen and I are going to get drunk before we rest."
A Li frowned and left immediately, but in a short time, the food and drinks were ready.
Zhao Jingyan poured a cup of wine for Hongwen and then filled it for herself.
"They say a drunkenness can solve a thousand worries. You and I, brothers, can't help you. I'll just get drunk with you today."
Jiang Hongwen forced a smile and drank all the wine in the glass, "Tinglin, when was the last time you and I were drunk together?"
Zhao Jingyan slowly rolled her eyes, seeming to be recalling.
Jiang Hongwen silently poured a glass for himself, "You don't remember, and I don't remember either. But there was one time, I remember it very clearly. That summer in the Prince's Mansion, he celebrated his birthday, sent away the guests, and went to Shuixie A table of food and drinks was reset.”
Zhao Jingyan held the wine cup and smiled lightly, "That night, the heavy rain had just stopped, and there was moisture in the air. You and I, as well as the two from the Sheng family, gathered around my brother."
"She came later and brought a plate of fermented glutinous rice wine. The wine was sweet-scented osmanthus rice wine. She made the glutinous rice balls one by one. It was sweet. I drank a big bowl."
"You still have the nerve to say that you took all our shares by yourself. The two Sheng family members were so anxious that their eyes were red."
Jiang Hongwen took a deep breath and seemed to smell the fragrance of osmanthus on the tip of his nose. "This is her specialty. In fact, this is the only thing she can cook."
Zhao Jingyan felt inexplicably melancholy and said lightly: "You became drunk after drinking. Is it because of her?"
Jiang Hongwen looked a little distracted, "That's not entirely true. I saw their husband and wife were so harmonious and felt so happy, so I got drunk."
There is a seven-year age difference between him and her, so there should not be any intersection between them. Coincidentally, when he was six years old, during the Lantern Festival, he and his family went to the market to watch lanterns.
In the early years, the Lantern Festival Lantern Festival in Beijing was a unique event in Beijing, and it was truly a huge crowd. He was riding on the servant's neck, holding a bunch of Tang gourds in his hands, his eyes full of excitement.
On the way, they met the Lu family of Duke Dingguo. The Lu family was in full swing, with more than a dozen strong servants surrounding the young girls, laughing and laughing all the way.
At that time, her aunt, Concubine Shu, had passed away and Tinglin was still young. Empress Lu took care of her, and the empress regarded her as if she had already left. Therefore, the Jiang family was very grateful and had close ties with the Lu family. The two families immediately watched the lanterns together.
Unexpectedly, in just a short moment, the clear night sky was covered with dark clouds, and it rained heavily. Passers-by ducked and dodged, and for a while they behaved like birds and beasts.
The servant beneath him stumbled, and he fell down. His forehead hit the ground, blood flowed all over his face, and he cried out in pain.
But at this moment, the crowd rushed over and dispersed him and the servants. He was so panicked that he stumbled, his eyes glowing red. At this moment, a gentle hand quickly held him, and the owner of the hand gently pulled him into his arms.