Yun Fenghuang instinctively moved back, but halfway, she stiffened for a moment and stopped the movement abruptly.
"Snapped!"
The movement was not that the Queen Mother's palm slapped the Queen's face, but that Queen Mother Yuan, who was half a step behind the Queen Mother, suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the Queen Mother's wrist, forcing the Queen Mother's arm to stop. Half empty.
Everyone was shocked by this scene of the rabbit rising and the falcon falling.
Yun Fenghuang was also stunned.
But the most surprised one was the Empress Dowager. She struggled subconsciously and found that Empress Dowager Yuan's grip was very tight and she was really not letting her fight.
"Are you crazy too?" The Empress Dowager laughed angrily, "Are you still pretending to be your loving mother now? You are just pretending to be the emperor, why are you pretending to be this slut!?"
Empress Dowager Yuan didn't look at her, her gaze fell firmly on Yun Fenghuang's face, she burst into tears and said word by word: "To tell you the truth, I'm not crazy! It's just that the emperor risked his own life. Don't even want it, but you have to save her... Now that you hit her in the face, won't it still hurt the emperor's heart when you look back? Please remember that in my life, for the sake of the emperor's child, don't do it Let’s punish this little Yun clan.”
She covered her mouth with her sleeves and wailed, "If the Empress Dowager wants to beat me, just beat me. I always failed to teach my children well, and I raised this bastard Gong Xiangji!!! If I had known this, I would have rather died alone. , stay in the ancestral hall of King Fuyang’s lineage for the rest of your life!!!”
The Queen Mother was startled. Immediately, her whole body was like a deflated rubber ball, weakening at a speed visible to the naked eye. She seemed to have aged more than ten years in an instant. She shook and slowly retracted her arm. What? He didn't say anything, and he didn't look at the Queen or Queen Mother Yuan anymore. He just walked towards Jiang Lan with some unsteady steps and asked about the emperor's situation.
Empress Dowager Yuan did not look at Yun Fenghuang anymore and followed the Empress Dowager over. She held her breath and listened carefully to Jiang Lan's report.
Yun Fenghuang stood on the spot, intact, but his wide sleeves hanging on the ground couldn't help but tremble.
"Your Majesty..." the attendant whispered worriedly, but she saw that Yun Fenghuang's eyes were red, and the tears that had just dried up came out of his eyes again.
The Queen Mother and Queen Mother Yuan were silent for a while after listening to Jiang Lan's report. Queen Mother Yuan made the same request as Yun Fenghuang just now in a hoarse voice. She wanted to go in and see Chunjia's condition in person, so that she could feel at ease.
After saying this, she hesitated for a moment, turned her head to look at the Empress Dowager, and whispered: "You... want to come together?"
"The Ai family won't go." The Empress Dowager looked at the room leading to the inner chamber. She was silent for a moment, then shook her head and said lightly, "The Queen has obviously gone in. She can still stand there calmly, so she must be fine. But after all, this is a child you raised with your own hands. If you don’t feel at ease, just go.”
Empress Dowager Yuan blessed her, and was supported by Jiang Lan as she staggered in.
After the Empress Dowager watched her go in, she lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, and then suddenly said: "Come with the Ai family!"
Then he rolled his sleeves and walked out first.
Yun Fenghuang was stunned for a moment before he realized that these words were meant for her.
She hesitated for a moment, and the attendant at her side subconsciously wanted to stop her: "Empress, you just said that you can't worry about Your Majesty, so you have to wait here."
This was because she was afraid that if she went outside with the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager would take action again.
But Yun Fenghuang thought about it briefly and followed.
The Empress Dowager had almost never been to Xingxin Hall in this dynasty, but she was obviously no stranger to this place. She took Yun Fenghuang and turned left and right on the winding corridor, and soon arrived at a secluded waterside pavilion.
The palace servants were ordered to guard outside and only Yun Fenghuang was allowed to enter.
"..." Yun Fenghuang walked in and saw the Empress Dowager holding the window lattice and standing in front of the waterside window of the waterside pavilion with an indifferent expression. She stepped forward to bless her and said nothing.
After a while, the Queen Mother asked in a cold voice: "What do you think?"
"My grandson-in-law doesn't understand what the imperial grandmother means."
The Empress Dowager said coldly: "What else can it be now?"
"..." Yun Fenghuang was silent for a moment and said, "My granddaughter-in-law is in confusion now and doesn't know what to say. But if she talks the most, it's probably an accident."
"Accident?" The Empress Dowager sneered and turned around. She was old, and now she was ill, and she didn't have much time left. She was supposed to lie down and rest, but now she stood up with self-support and was overdrawn. Underneath, the whole person showed a dying frailty.
But in his rage, his eyes were shining brightly.
He scraped Yun Fenghuang's body up and down like a knife, but he said in a neutral tone, "These words are quite honest."
Yun Fenghuang didn't say anything. She was really confused.
The Empress Dowager continued: "But what surprises you? The emperor favors you not just for a day or two. Over the years, what you have done in the harem of the previous dynasty, your treatment of the successor, the emperor, the king, the prince, and the princess Even if he doesn't know clearly what he has done, doesn't he still have an approximate number? Yet he still turns a blind eye, knowing that your existence will inevitably cause civil strife in the royal family. With the importance he attaches to the world, he still turns a blind eye. He hasn’t cleaned you up yet... Doesn’t this mean he’s lost his mind?!”
"Royal Grandmother, who do you think my granddaughter-in-law is?" Yun Fenghuang smiled bitterly, "When your majesty likes you, you will be more favored. If your majesty doesn't like it anymore, you can kill him. In this case, as long as your majesty doesn't want to, can your granddaughter-in-law really do it? Harmed the royal family?”
The Empress Dowager stared at her quietly for a moment, then suddenly curled her lips and revealed a somewhat sad smile: "It's really similar."
Yun Fenghuang didn't understand what he meant and showed doubts.
The Empress Dowager did not let her guess, and said slowly: "You really look like the Ai family when they were young."
"Granddaughter-in-law is terrified." Yun Fenghuang gradually came to his senses. The Empress Dowager... her relationship with Chunjia, is it a little strange to stand up and speak out for Chunjia now
Shouldn't she sit back and watch the fight between tigers and tigers, even wishing that the emperor would be unlucky
Why did he slap her for Chunjia's intention and summon her alone to teach her a lesson
The queen composed herself and said, "My grandson's daughter-in-law came from a humble background and is far less virtuous than the emperor's grandmother. How dare she be compared to the emperor's grandmother when she was young?"
"You are thinking about yourself, being suspicious and jealous, and trampling on the sincerity of others." The Empress Dowager slowly said the words that made her stunned, "It's really like the Ai family when they were young!"
Seeing Yun Fenghuang's eyes widened for a moment.
She laughed coldly and pointed to a building not far away that was emitting smoke: "Can't figure it out?"
Yun Fenghuang had a vague guess in his mind, but he always felt - how is it possible? !
She calmed down, forced herself to suppress all the complicated thoughts, and her mind was racing, trying to follow the Empress Dowager's thoughts. She shook her head and said: "I can't figure it out! Your Majesty is very perceptive and wise, and my granddaughter-in-law dare not say how virtuous and kind she is. But I believe that as a concubine and as a queen, I will abide by my responsibilities and work conscientiously, without daring to slack off in the slightest. It would be understandable if such a thing happened when His Majesty just took charge. But now it is the 23rd year of Chunjia. The Forbidden Army and the palace city have been purged many times, why would something like this happen again?"
"Why is it impossible?" the Empress Dowager said slowly, "You and the Emperor are indeed talented, but you are still young. The wisdom of the predecessors may not be inferior to yours, and they strike first, so how can you get to the bottom of it? , but you are young and ignorant, and a lot of the past has long been lost in the years, but how do you know it? No matter how you investigate or clean up the palace, the palace, or the forbidden army, after all, people have to do things. In this case, what is happening now What’s so surprising about the situation?”
Yun Fenghuang looked at her: "But if the imperial grandmother had such a method early on, why did you remain calm when the Jiu family was destroyed, why was it after the Ji family was destroyed, and why were you so peaceful in the more than ten years since the Ji family was destroyed?"
By this time, if you still don’t understand, today’s incident is inextricably related to the Empress Dowager, and she has been living in vain for many years.
But instead of suddenly realizing it, Yun Fenghuang became even more confused.
The Empress Dowager stared at her and said calmly: "Do you know why the Ai family asked you to come here to talk today?"
"My granddaughter-in-law is stupid." Yun Fenghuang was startled, but her thoughts were disrupted. He quickly calmed down and shook his head.
"The reason is what Ai Jia just said." The Empress Dowager said lightly, "You really look like Ai Jia when you were young."
She said, "You have been staring at Shanyuan Temple for a long time, and even when you didn't know anything about it, you set fire to Shanyuan Temple... You also specially found many old people from the time of Shizong and the late emperor to interrogate you. You must have some questions about the Ai family. In the past, I also had some understanding and speculation. Today, you and I will be more honest. Let Aijia first hear what you have gained over the years?"
"..." Yun Fenghuang pondered for a moment and said, "Then my granddaughter-in-law will be embarrassed."
She immediately explained in detail the speculations that she and Jiang had discussed together, which were the past grudges and grudges of Shenzong, Queen Qu, Princess Shu, and the Queen Mother, as well as those who were suspected of losing their fertility. Shenzong is also the Empress Dowager.
During this process, she carefully observed the expression of the Queen Mother, and found that the Queen Mother was very calm when talking about other things, including suspecting that the Queen Mother was infertile.
Only when Queen Qu was mentioned, the Empress Dowager showed a serious expression.
Got it right
Yun Fenghuang was thinking this in his heart, but he saw the Empress Dowager looking at her with a complicated expression, and said: "You really look like the Ai family... When the Ai family was young, they were related to the Qu family because of their elders. , often go to Shanyuan Temple. The Qu family is not as good as the Ai family, but her appearance is better than the Ai family. Her biological mother died young, and her stepmother is quite capable, so the situation at home is not very good. The Qu family and the Ji family have a tortuous relationship. , therefore, the Ai family’s grandmother met her in Shanyuan Temple and took good care of her. She also told the Ai family to protect her more... The Ai family listened to her grandmother’s advice and treated her as a sister, taking her with her wherever she went. Not only was she very familiar with the Ji family's children, but she was also on the sidelines when the Ai family and the late emperor met by chance... "
When the Empress Dowager said this, she suddenly shed tears, "So when it was later discovered that the late emperor had met with her privately without telling the Ai family, the Ai family... were shocked and angry. In addition to being annoyed that they were stupid enough to lead the wolf into the house... "
She suddenly stopped and did not continue. Instead, she asked Yun Fenghuang, "If you were the Ai family at that time, what would you do?"