The next day, Xie Wuzheng went to the palace to see him.
He was led into the Huanhua Hall by the palace servants, and he saluted and greeted him. Yun Fenghuang stood high above him, and after a quick look, he saw that his face was gloomy. He already had an idea in his mind, so he stepped back and asked: "Brother Twenty-One Is there any reason why you have deliberately alienated and neglected your close bloodline over the years?"
"..." Xie Wuzheng lost the composure and reliability he had when he met his cousin in the past two years. He was like a fish thrown ashore. He opened his mouth but made no sound. Only a suffocating sob rolled out of his throat.
"It seems that you also know that you are exposed." Yun Fenghuang sighed, with a glimmer of water in his eyes, and said softly, "I have always thought that even if my aunt and my mother have always been incompatible with each other in their early years, you and I are related by blood. First cousins. Before the Xie family was destroyed, we were mutually beneficial to each other. After the Xie family was destroyed, we were even more dependent on each other. What else can’t be said? Now it seems that Brother Twenty-one still doesn’t trust me!"
Xie Wuzheng staggered and slowly fell to his knees without saying a word.
When Yun Fenghuang saw this, he asked himself: "Is the person behind you the Ji family?"
"...Yes." Xie Wuzheng tilted his head to one side as if he couldn't bear it, and there was a hint of disbelief in his hoarse voice, "Did Mrs. Ji tell the empress, or did the empress find out from somewhere?"
"Ji has been assisting Brother Twenty-One for many years, but he never gave me the opportunity to be rewarded for being my sister." Yun Fenghuang said calmly, "How could he take the initiative to expose it? As for asking, Brother Twenty-One is too young. I look down upon me. Brother Twenty-one may be grudged against me because of those trivial feuds with the family back then and cannot trust me. But I have never had any doubts about Brother Twenty-one. Otherwise, I would not be my wife. I boast that if I had doubted Brother Twenty-one earlier, how could Brother Twenty-one be able to deceive me to this day?"
"I have never inquired about your behavior in private."
"Because this woman who has changed her surname to Yun is deeply attached to the Xie family and cannot forget it! What's more, Brother Twenty-one is the legitimate son of the eldest son of the Xie family?"
"According to the rules, it is your duty to avenge Mr. Xie's hatred."
"It's up to me to retaliate or not. After all, in terms of name, my father's family is the Yun family, and my husband's family is the Gongxiang family."
"I want to recognize the Xie family's grievances and hatreds, but the law doesn't even allow it."
"Is not it?"
"So not to mention other things, regarding Xie's case, I doubt anyone, and it is impossible to doubt Brother Twenty-one."
"If I don't believe anyone, I won't distrust Brother Twenty-One."
She picked up a record stained with blood from her hand, with neither joy nor sadness in her eyes, and said calmly, "Unexpectedly, the authorities are so confused that they really know the true identity of Brother Twenty-one, and he is still an enemy!"
"Crack!"
The record was thrown in front of Xie Wuzheng, and the imperial concubine said slowly: "The Gu family is a descendant, a high-ranking family, and has military achievements. It is deeply rooted in the former dynasty and the harem. Over the past many years, they have They have never taken advantage of me. In fact, they have been manipulated by me time and time again. Since I entered the palace, except for the Xie family matter, I have always been the only one to stab them, without them. There is room for the palace to stab me. However, they conducted a thorough investigation of Brother Twenty-one in private, and they gave me a knife!"
"This knife hurt me more and more deeply than when Sixth Sister's accident happened... After all, although I was young at that time, and although I was helpless and confused at that time, at least my parents, brothers and sister-in-law were all there. , the family is also here. Even if the elder family secretly adds fuel to the fire, at any rate, my parents, brothers and sister-in-law can handle it."
"There is also an aunt far away in the Imperial Capital who is willing to lend a helping hand."
"And now, I am almost without acquaintance."
"Brother Twenty-One is the most valued blood relative of this palace, the relative I rely on the most, and the person closest to me who I least suspect...but he works as a villain and helps the evildoer... In contrast, when I was twelve years old, I felt that the world was falling apart. The nightmare , it seems like it’s all pretentious.”
She said this calmly.
In fact, the imperial concubine had never been excited since Xie Wuzheng came in.
But he broke out in a cold sweat and found it difficult to breathe.
Xie Wuzheng had seen the imperial concubine be so calm. After Xie's death that year, when Gu Zhen came to visit, she was also so calm instantly.
"Your Majesty must hate me to the core." Xie Wuzheng was silent for a while, laughed to himself a few times, and said in a low voice.
Yun Fenghuang listened, but shook his head and said slowly: "Have you hated him to the core? No, at least not yet. At present, I don't have much free time to hate you or anyone else. I just want to deal with the aftermath."
She leaned back, stared at Xie Wuzheng lying on the ground, and said calmly, "You can't hide it anymore. No matter how ruthless I am, I have never treated my own people badly. Not to mention the decline of Xie's immediate family. , Fu Forgot and Li'er haven't grown up yet, even if you help an outsider stab me, I'm not you, and I'm not willing to do things that make relatives happy and enemies happy! So, don't take any chances, if I won’t let you go, do you still expect outsiders to have mercy on you? From the beginning to the end, I think I can still turn the tide."
"Otherwise, you should know that you are where you are today, whether it is your marriage, your future, or there are people who are willing to support you silently behind the scenes, all because you are my brother."
"Without me, you are nothing!"
"Even if you have coaxed Sui'an very well over the years, but... without me, do you believe that you can't even keep your identity as the consort?"
"Even if I save it, I still don't know whether I will live to be the Prince Consort, or whether I will live in the name of Prince Consort!"
"This is what I said, you can do it yourself."
Xie Wuzheng lowered his head and did not dare to look at his cousin. He only said in a hoarse voice: "I... I have no choice but to..."
"I don't want to and have no time to listen to your reasons and ideas." Yun Fenghuang said softly, "Ji may have tricked you into boarding the ship, but at least at the beginning, you must have been moved on your own and willing to cooperate. . Otherwise, even when I was just a concubine, if you reminded me privately, I could have dismissed them! Ask yourself, without your own willingness, how could you or the remnants of the Ji family hide this from me? many years?"
"Or do you think that my achievements in the palace over the years are all due to His Majesty's favor?"
"..." Xie Wuzheng was silent for a moment, and suddenly straightened up. Both generations of the Xie family had good looks. At this moment, they were sitting upright. Their shoulders were wider and their waists were slimmer, and their manners were magnificent. However, there was strong hatred and resentment in his eyes. , but completely destroyed this innate good appearance, "Yes, the empress guessed it right! Over the years, I have regretted it. But at the beginning, I was willing to cooperate with Ji. After all, At that time, the Xie family was prosperous, and the empress was the legitimate daughter of the fourth house. Not only did the fourth house and the eldest house always have a grudge, how could the fourth aunt be so willing to let the eldest house take advantage of you, so much so that she, the actual tomb woman, was Isn’t it embarrassing?!”
"If you don't have no choice, you won't lift anyone up, right?"
"So it is wrong to say that I am nothing without you."
"It should be said that without Ji, I am nothing!"
Yun Fenghuang's expression suddenly changed.
It wasn't because of Xie Wuzheng's angry words, but because he instantly guessed: "You... you just came to the Imperial Capital?!"
Seeing Xie Wuzheng's sneer, she finally showed a look of horror, "So, the reason why Brother Eleven was plotted in the first place, and you got His Majesty's attention through the incident of Deng Wengu... Is it the Ji family?"
"My empress is blessed with a good life. She was born with a doting father and a loving mother, and she has been protected by a smart and capable mother like the fourth aunt. From childhood to adulthood, except for the sixth sister's incident, which caused you a big loss, you have always been successful." Xie Wuzheng With a ferocious face, he said in a cold voice, "How can you understand the despair and helplessness of my family?!"
"Originally, the fourth aunt has been steadily controlling one end of the big room."
"Even what happened to Sixth Sister has not shaken her status as a de facto tomb woman."
"The unlucky empress was sent to the Imperial Capital. She was banished from the family. Not only was she able to turn around, but she also became the emperor's favorite... The news was sent back to the Northland that day. My grandparents and your fourth brother-in-law were overjoyed. My eldest brother-in-law was … But my eldest brother just feels that he will never get ahead!”
Yun Fenghuang looked at him as if he were a fool: "How much can the Xie family have if they put all their wealth there and fight over it? I was lucky enough to receive the favor, and how can I measure the benefits it brings to the family? The past grievances and grievances , no matter how profound it is, isn’t the support I have given you over the years not enough to make up for it?!”
Xie Wuzheng smiled miserably and said: "Enough! But this is because I am the master of success! Otherwise, what do these noble people with great future have to do with me!?"
"Eleventh brother is old and romantic. When it comes to being the consort of the royal family, wouldn't a young and clean minister be more suitable? But although the empress listed the minister as a candidate, it was only because the family background of the Xie family was too low at that time, and the empress was worried. Brother Eleven alone is not safe enough, so I asked you to make up the numbers!"
"Actually, what I really want to support is Brother Eleven, isn't it?"
"After all, Brother Eleven is the second wife. Although the second aunt also complained about the fourth aunt taking over the three sisters-in-law as the head of the family, she is not the eldest daughter-in-law after all."
"So the empress is not worried that after the second brother-in-law has a consort, he will join the fourth brother-in-law to seize power."
"It was at this time that the Ji family came to the minister. They did not threaten me. They only asked me calmly. It was for the sake of the empress. They sat back and watched as the empress supported the eleventh brother to become the consort. From then on, the second and fourth houses became prosperous, but the big house where the minister was born did not Being left far away, one has to look at the face of the empress and even Brother Eleven for a long time; it is better to consider for oneself, for parents, and for the sake of the eldest family, and with their help, take away Brother Eleven's opportunity. Become the royal consort and rise to prominence?!"
And of course he chose the latter.
"Your Majesty, do you still remember that after Brother Eleven's accident, you summoned me to the palace to see you and ask about the whole story?" Xie Wuzheng sighed deeply, "This move was expected by the Ji family. They specially taught me how to They even asked me to practice many times in front of them in private, striving to be perfect... As expected, I got through. On that day, when I walked out of the palace, my back and clothes were soaked with sweat. That was Chen I regret it for the first time. In the past, I had secretly suspected that my mother, as the eldest daughter-in-law, was not as smart as my fourth aunt, but she was from a noble family and knew the basic rules of running a family. Why was my mother taking over the power for so many years, and I was helpless? ? It wasn’t until that time, when the empress reacted sharply and Ji made all her plans, that I realized that a mediocre person is just a mediocre person.”
"I understand that there are indeed geniuses in this world."
"It's a pity that my mother is not, and neither is I."
"I was thinking at that time, did I do something wrong? As the empress said, even if the empress deliberately suppressed the big house because of the grievances between our mothers, she would not do it viciously. She would even slip some benefits into her fingers. Will be with Dafang."
"Nothing is better than seeking skin from outsiders."
"But the Ji family also expected the minister's retreat. They... haha... they pretended not to know and secretly arranged for people to lead the minister to see the top glory and wealth in the world..."
"I... only enjoyed it for a few days, and then I changed my mind about confessing to the queen."
"There are countless benefits in this world that I have never heard of before. If I turn to the empress, will the empress support me and let me do the same as you, rise to the sky in one step, and from then on become one of the most noble and powerful people in this great dynasty?" One?"
"Presumably the empress doesn't know how to do that."
"Because in the past, the empress did not care about me, and she might have been a bit repulsive. Both the empress and your majesty first changed their attitude towards me, and it was only after hearing the news... because the empress and your majesty thought that I was a talent that could be made. "
"Once my true ability is exposed, the empress may feel that I am not bad in nature and a good person, but she will not give me such a good opportunity as the Lord, let alone support me in a high position."
Xie Wuzheng smiled mockingly, "Since ancient times, there have been very few people who can see through the world's riches. I am a mediocre person who can't even compete with the Master. How can I do something that countless heroes and heroes can't do?" What about the matter? I... want a share of this incredible wealth, whether I earned it with my real skills or by being a puppet."
"..." Yun Fenghuang listened silently, and only at this moment did he sigh, "I was only fifteen at that time. When I first entered the palace, my life was precarious. After fighting, I was really unable to supervise my brothers and nephews outside the palace, so I did this. This gives Ji an opportunity to take advantage of. This miscalculation is not a crime of war."
She calmed down and said slowly, "Since the Ji family bought you early and promised to help you become the master, then the matter of Princess Sui'an's infertility is probably related to this?"
"..." The muscles on Xie Wuzheng's face twitched, and after a moment, he said in a solemn voice, "As expected, the Queen's mind is very sharp. As long as the thought of my bloodline is gone, nothing can be hidden from me."
He closed his eyes and nodded vigorously, "Not bad!"
Yun Fenghuang sighed softly, but he didn't get angry so far. He just said: "You said you are mediocre, but I think you are not as good as ordinary mediocre people. Although Shangzhu is your most important opportunity, but The bloodline with the eldest princess is your trump card to save your life for the rest of your life. As long as you and the eldest princess now have a son and a half daughter, I am the only one who knows the truth now. Even your majesty has no choice but to do it for the sake of his nephew's face. Be merciful. You don't fight for anything else, how can you not fight for this?! Dafang named you 'Wu Zheng', and you are not really aloof from the world. Why don't you know how to fight when you should fight?"
Xie Wuzheng was silent.
At this moment, the imperial concubine said softly, "So, Fu Wang, considering your age, is he the heir arranged for you by the Ji family before your master?"
Xie Wuzheng's body stiffened for a moment, then he gave up everything and relaxed.
He did not argue, but asked with some confusion and reluctance: "How did the empress... come up with this idea? That child... is obviously very similar to his grandfather. Moreover, Brother Ten does have such an illegitimate son living outside. After all, the empress was willing to trust me in the first place. , but also because of the evidence of Uncle Jiang's family. The Jiang family is your direct relative. How could it be possible for me to help you confuse the bloodline of the tenth brother? It's just that the child of the tenth brother has long since disappeared in the rebellion. I am thinking about this. The child seems to be his age, and his appearance is somewhat similar, no matter how good Li Daitao is, he will be stiff. If the empress comes to think of it in a few days, it will be fine. Now... now, how does the empress know? "