Back in the house, Cui He was worried, and smeared a cool dark green plaster on Chu Ning's fingertips.
Chu Ning was fascinated by the candlelight for a moment, then got up to wash up, fading away from the exhaustion. After the maids were sent out, she put on a big sleeved shirt, took out a treasure box from the bookcase, and sat under the lamp to open it.
This is an exquisite multi-treasure box inlaid with colorful snails in huanghuali wood. The upper layer has a lid that can be opened, and the lower layer has a small door that opens left and right. Inside are five small drawers of different sizes. Gold and jade ornaments that are rarely used on weekdays.
She reached out and groped carefully at the bottom of the treasure box, and finally opened the bottom mezzanine.
The mezzanine contained a thin letter. The envelope was unnamed, except for the folds and curls and frayed edges that showed how many twists and turns the letter had gone through before it reached her.
This was written by Fang Bo, the old steward of the Chu family, to her, and it was about three years ago.
…
The Jingzhao Chu family was also a famous family in the Great Liang Dynasty.
Chu Ning's father, Chu Qianyu, was intelligent and talented since he was a child. He became an official at the age of 22. Although there were bumps along the way, it was still smooth. He had served as a counselor, Huangmen servant, and moved to Zhongshuling, which was a veritable name at that time. Leader of the group.
Chu Ning grew up under the careful guidance of her father. She was originally a top-notch figure in Chang'an ladies. Her biggest regret at that time was the early death of her mother when she was nine years old.
Fortunately, Chu Qianyu had a deep affection for his deceased wife, and he loved his only daughter even more like a treasure. In the following six years, he never remarried, and the father and daughter depended on each other for life.
The marriage with the prince started when she was thirteen years old.
At that time, although Emperor Xiao Lian paid little attention to the government, he still had a father-son relationship with the seventeen-year-old crown prince Xiao Yu. He selected Chang'an ladies for his son, and finally listened to his son's wishes and wanted to propose marriage to the Chu family's wife.
It's just that Chu Qianyu has been ups and downs in the court for many years, and she understands that once her daughter is given to the prince, she will be involved in the party fight, and even the entire Chu family will be involved in the party battle, so she is very hesitant about this marriage. However, when the emperor came to ask in person, he could not refuse. He only said that his daughter was still young, and it would not be too late to make a decision after two years.
When Xiao Lian saw that the crown prince was only seventeen, and he had not yet reached the age of crown ceremony, he nodded in agreement.
Who knows, two years later, the Chu family is waiting for a disaster.
After ten years of Zhaode, Xiao Lian suddenly fell ill, and his condition was strange.
Chu Qianyu was accused of secretly communicating with Concubine Xue Gui and trying to poison the emperor.
After that, a series of "evidence" that no one could have thought of, appeared one after another under various coincidences, making the accusation true and teaching people to argue.
According to the law, Chu Qianyu was deprived of official positions and titles, demoted to the common people, and beheaded in the street. The rest of the Chu family were implicated. The males were exiled to Qianzhou and could not be employed since then, while the females became slaves, or were sold as servants, or sent to work in the borderlands.
In the court and the opposition, everyone knew that the Duke of Chu was an upright man, loyal to the Great Liang, and never involved in party disputes. Even if his daughter was the future crown prince, he would never befriend the prince in private.
How could such a person commit fornication with the concubine and poison the emperor? Apparently he was framed. But even so, due to Empress Dowager Qi's toughness and solid evidence, almost no one dared to speak for Chu Qianyu.
Overnight, the entire Chu family fell from the clouds.
Fifteen-year-old Chu Ning has not yet accepted the fact of losing his father, so he has to face the situation of changing from a noble girl to someone else's slave.
It was the Crown Prince Xiao Yu who pulled her back from that situation.
He took her away from the dilapidated and crowded house where the sinners' relatives lived, and then wrote to the emperor to continue to fulfill the unfinished marriage contract, and only then did he save her.
…
Thinking back on the old things, Chu Ning couldn't help turning his head to look around.
In this spacious bedroom, the furnishings and decorations are almost the same as the bedroom she used to live in the boudoir.
From the folded screen of the bird-haired girl, the red sandalwood painting with Shi, to the three-colored couch, the gold and silver painted octagonal long table on pink ground, Xiao Yu specially invited craftsmen to buy it again according to the furnishings in her memory. .
He told her that her father was designed to be killed by the Queen Mother Qi. In the future, as long as he, the crown prince, could inherit the throne and take over the power alone, her father would be innocent.
Everyone thought that Xiao Yu treated her very well. She should be grateful that she could still marry the crown prince as the daughter of a criminal in her life.
She also thought so, so even if she didn't have any feelings between men and women for Xiao Yu, she had always treated him as a benefactor for the past two years, for fear that she would not be able to repay his original kindness in her life.
But it wasn't until half a month ago, when she suddenly received this letter in her hand, that she realized that everything she thought was wrong.
She thought that the prince was the benefactor who rescued her, but in fact, he was the culprit who framed her father!
The letter mentioned that it was Xiao Yu who wanted to use her marriage to bring Chu Qianyu under his command, so he ordered people to lobby several times in private.
However, Chu Qianyu had a firm mind and never got involved in party disputes, and did not let go. Even though Xiao Yu was so anxious and visited in person, it did not dispel his concerns.
Soon, when Chu Qianyu entered the palace, he accidentally discovered that Xiao Yu had secretly instructed the internal officials to poison the emperor's diet!
In his anger, he understood that the situation was complicated and he could not act rashly, so instead of exposing it on the spot, he went to Xiao Yu to ask questions.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Yu was in tears and remorse under the questioning, but turned his head and quickly fabricated evidence, creating the illusion that Chu Qianyu had attempted to poison the emperor, and even in order to get rid of Xue Guifei and Wu Wanghuan, he even added a A charge of fornicating with the harem.
Chuning didn't fully believe what the letter said at first.
But a few days ago, she entered the palace with Xiao Yu to attend to the illness, and by chance she saw that the emperor's illness was very similar to what Fang Bo wrote in the letter, and looking at the medical records of Feng Yu, it was almost the same as the description in the letter.
At the beginning, her father was convicted of the attempted murder of the emperor, and the poison found was also the most common poison.
And this time, as the crown princess, she just knew that the emperor's illness was inseparable from the crown prince.
As early as three years ago, Xiao Lian doted on Concubine Xue and Wu Wanghuan, and when he thought of Yi Chu, the relationship between the father and son was difficult to repair.
This time, Chu Ning watched Xiao Yu poison the emperor's soup with his own eyes.
In order to seize the throne as soon as possible, he obviously did not care about his father's life.
A cool autumn night breeze blew open the unclosed windows, causing the thin letter paper on the desk to flicker gently.
Chu Ning's shoulders trembled slightly, his fingertips stroked the folds on the letterhead, and his mind slowly regained clarity.
Prince Xiao Yu is a person who will do anything to achieve his goals.
He was willing to marry her, of course, because he did treat her differently in his heart, but more importantly, it was for profit.
At that time, he had just shown his ambitions in the political affairs, and he needed to win the support of more ministers. Marrying her, the daughter of a criminal minister, would not be opposed by the Queen Mother Qi, and could show his benevolence and righteousness as a prince, so as to win the favor. More people are convinced.
The colleagues and juniors who had made good friends with her father at the beginning, and as expected, many of them gradually changed their neutral positions because she, an orphan, became a crown princess, and quietly fell to the side of the crown prince.
I don't owe you anything.
She meditated in her heart, her eyes slowly turning cold.
Xiao Yu's kindness to her has been paid off by her sincerity in the past two years. The value she brought him has long exceeded the price he paid for marrying her.
Next, she should let go of the shackles he brought and slowly claim back everything he owed her father.
…
In the Guangtian Hall, Xiao Yu was sitting on the couch at the gate, closing his eyes and listening to the discussions of several close officials.
"His Royal Highness has been the prince for many years, and his position is stable. He should inherit the line without any edict, and the king of Qin is only the son of a palace servant. When Emperor Gaozong was alive, he had already sent him to a remote place like Ganzhou, where more than a dozen No one cared about it in years, and now I can suddenly enter the capital, but it is only with the support of the Queen Mother!"
Xu Rong, the attendant of the East Palace, said with a look of indignation, and Dayou immediately broke into the Taiji Palace and pulled the Queen Mother Qi and King Qin from their positions.
He has been with Xiao Yu since he was ten years old. He has been loyal and loyal to Xiao Yu for more than ten years now. He has an extraordinary position among the ministers of the Eastern Palace.
The other two ministers also echoed: "Yes, in the final analysis, it was the Queen Mother Qi who had no choice but to call the King of Qin! His Royal Highness is the rightful crown prince, how can he be placed in the position of the King of Qin?"
"The news came out that the court and the public must have seen the faces of these two people! Your Highness, as usual, the new emperor's ascension pawn will be held a few days after the funeral. "
A few people said a word, and I discussed it in a word, only the Dong Gong Zhan Shi Si Zhi Zhao Yanzhou always lowered his eyebrows expressionlessly and said nothing.
Xu Rong watched his reaction from the corner of his eye, and could not help but squinted slightly, and asked, "I wonder what Zhao Sizhi sees?"
When the others heard this, they all turned their attention to him, and even Xiao Yu opened his eyes.
Zhao Yanzhou lifted his eyelids, glanced at the crowd quickly, and then resumed his cold look, saying: "According to the view of the minister, since King Qin invited His Highness to enter the Taiji Palace to attend the funeral and prepare for the ceremony, he indicated that he would not do it for the time being, Your Highness. You don’t have to rush for success, you can watch the situation first, and then make plans slowly.”
After Xu Rong heard it, he immediately snorted coldly: "There are only a few days left until the ceremony of ascension to the Great Hall. If you continue to make plans, don't you have to be a knife, and I will be a fish? Zhao Si will be conservative until he arrives at the East Palace."
Zhao Yanzhou heard the sarcasm in his words, and he was accustomed to it.
Xiao Yu's eyes swiveled around several people, he pondered for a moment, and said, "If you can leave the East Palace tomorrow, please ask Xu Shidu to contact a few courtiers first."
It sounded like he had adopted Xu Rong's meaning, but in fact he had other plans.
Zhao Yanzhou is right, when you don't know the details of the other party, you really shouldn't act rashly. However, the current situation did not allow him to back down. In this case, you might as well seize the opportunity to test the other party's details before ascending the ceremony.
After hearing this, Xu Rong's tense expression eased, while Zhao Yanzhou remained calm. Several people agreed on the list of courtiers, and then they retired one by one.
Before leaving, Xu Rong deliberately landed at the end, and when there was no one else in the room, he walked to Xiao Yu's side, leaned over and whispered: "I got the news earlier that the Crown Princess found a former Chu family home from Qianzhou. Servant, Zhao Sizhi is currently placed in Yongchang Square."
Xiao Yu's tired expression froze, and then frowned: "What servant? Wasn't found by our people before?"
"It's the old steward of the Chu family. When he was taken to Qianzhou, he fled first. He hasn't been seen for two years, and somehow Zhao Sizhi found him first." It's not good either. If it's an unimportant ordinary servant, he doesn't have to worry about it, but this old steward seems to be Chu Qianyu's former confidant. "Your Highness, do you follow the old rules and deal with people cleanly?"
Xiao Yu was about to nod his head, but hesitation suddenly flashed. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and said, "No, keep it for now."
"His Royal Highness—" Xu Rong knew in his heart that he was soft-hearted because of the Crown Princess, but the current situation could not tolerate any surprises.
"Okay, I have a measure, you go down first."
He leaned on the couch, closed his eyes and fell asleep, and had no intention of speaking.
Xu Rong had no choice but to withdraw from the Guangtian Temple unwillingly.