Yun Fenghuang was stunned for a moment, thought for a moment, and said calmly: "My granddaughter-in-law should know that Zhu Qi doesn't know about it at all, and then... secretly accumulate strength to take revenge!"
"So, if the Ai family is as infertile as I suspected." The Queen Mother seemed a little tired. She slowly walked to a seat not far away and said slowly, "The Ai family simply thinks that I am the biological daughter or granddaughter of the Ai family who has been separated for many years... Even the Ai family's niece, Ji Sheng, does not have the same ideas as the Ai family."
"The Ai family didn't do that back then."
She said lightly, "At that time, although the late emperor was not an ambitious vassal king, the Qu family was quite favored. She was even appointed as the successor of Emperor Shizong soon. She had a distinguished status. Every time the Ai family saw her, they would ask her for a big gift. . How can we retaliate against them like that?"
Yun Fenghuang said without thinking: "Even if Queen Qu is the new favorite of Emperor Shizong, and even ranks as the queen, she is still the fourth queen of Emperor Shizong after all, and all of Emperor Shizong's descendants have grown up. She is not the empress of the Yuan Dynasty, and the prince to the east of her knees is young. On the contrary, Many older heirs and even concubines and relatives were a thorn in their side. They seemed to be noble, but they had many flaws. It was not difficult to pay for the opportunity to show off. On the contrary, the late Emperor Shenzong, even if he was unsuccessful at that time, he was still right. Because of lack of ambition, ordinary people generally will not take the initiative to pay him the wrong price. And you are his true concubine, and you will be both prosperous and devastated with him, but you can't stand your ground."
"I thought the same thing as the Ai family at the time." The Empress Dowager said calmly, "And because King Shu was abandoned by the emperor at that time, although he may not have a chance to stand up due to his favor in front of Shizong, the other descendants of Shizong She would not wait to see him regain his favor, so the pursuit and interception of King Shu's faction was endless. Even the Ji family had lingering fears and had the intention of giving up King Shu and supporting the late emperor. After all, after the Qu family was granted the title of empress, Shizong was very happy. , and she recommended the late emperor in front of Shizong from time to time...so that the late emperor was originally inconspicuous, but because of the Qu family, he gradually became prominent in the imperial court."
Yun Fenghuang was thoughtful.
The Empress Dowager continued: "The late Emperor met with Queen Qu more and more without telling the Aijia. The Aijia even discovered that the late Emperor had close private relations with the imperial guards who guarded the palace at that time... The Aijia and him The young couple had known each other before their wedding, and they had always thought that they were in love. Therefore, after thinking about it for a long time, Ai couldn't help but ventured to make some insidious remarks. But unexpectedly, the late emperor remained silent for half a month, but I found an excuse to send the Ai family to Zhuangzi outside the city to stay for a while. Moreover, I didn’t say at all when I would take the Ai family back.”
She showed a look of sadness, "I said, please, what would I do if faced with such a situation?"
"..." Yun Fenghuang had a vague suspicion in her heart that if she could not grasp the thread for a while, she pondered for a while and said truthfully, "If I am a grandson-in-law, I am afraid... I will be prepared to be a young widow. "
The Empress Dowager turned her head, looked at her for a while, and smiled to herself: "It seems that we two wanted to go together! The Ai family was extremely sad and angry at that time, wondering whether the late emperor had probably forgotten the vows made when we were married... In fact, the Ai family grew up in a prominent family, and they were used to seeing all kinds of dirty things in the back house, and they never expected to be successful until old age. But thinking about it, after all, they met young people and got married only after they were in love. On the Ai family, His talent, appearance, and family background were not all those of the late Emperor. How could he say that he should have been in love with each other for ten or eight years? From now on, even if the late Emperor fell in love with someone else, he would be willing to follow the rules and hand over the harem to Ai. The family is in charge, don’t teach your beloved concubine to crawl into the Ai family, and give the Ai family’s heirs the dignity and things that children should have... Even if the Ai family is disappointed, they can still accept it calmly... "
Not to mention the family background of the Ji family, it was Yun Fenghuang, who was dismissed by the imperial family as a poor family in a remote place, because the family was quite wealthy and powerful in the countryside, and she had not been used to it since she was a child. In addition to the main wives of fathers, brothers, uncles, and concubines, they even kept wives outside and made good friends with prostitutes.
That person who grew up in the aspirational realm, even if she is held in the lap of a legitimate daughter, unless she is out of her mind, who would expect to marry a well-matched husband in the future and stay with her husband for the rest of her life?
When you are in love, you may have some lucky expectations, but you must know the reality in your heart.
Yun Fenghuang was like this, and the Empress Dowager had a similar attitude when she was young, so she couldn't accept that the late Emperor Shenzong had moved on and had a different love. She didn't expect that the late Emperor Shenzong had moved on so quickly.
It had only been a few days since she left the cabinet at that time
You can't keep your husband's heart even in your youth, so how can you look forward to the future
It would be fine if her husband-in-law was just an ordinary nobleman's son. After all, he was relying on his parents' family. Unless he went crazy, he wouldn't dare to be harsh on her openly. Even if they respected each other like ice, they might not be able to survive. But whether the late Emperor Shenzong was a prince or not, and when the position of prince was still up in the air, he was secretly involved with his stepmother... If one mistake was made, the whole army could be wiped out!
In that case, retaliation is of secondary importance. The most important thing is to protect yourself, and even the family behind you, if you don't send the husband to death. What if
Anyway, Yunfeng Huang didn't think so.
"The Ai family also felt at that time that they would inevitably suffer from chaos, so they would have to do it themselves. Ji's birth and raising the Ai family had no reason to be affected by the inhumane entrustment of the Ai family." The Empress Dowager said sadly. , "So the Ai family stayed in Zhuangzi for some months, adjusted their mood, and never mentioned their suspicions from then on. They pretended that nothing had happened, but continued to write letters to the late emperor, recalling the past, and expressing their feelings of longing... When the Ai family did this, they felt quite uneasy, fearing that if he didn't care at all, then the Ai family would really have nothing to do. As the late emperor did not remember, after staying for about a few months, he finally took over the Ai family. Go home, go home.”
The matter of Jie Donglai came naturally. After she returned to the palace, she perfectly played the role of a princess who had a deep love for the late emperor of Shenzong. After stabilizing her husband, she secretly investigated the whole story intensively, and had a close relationship with the emperor. At the same time, she was also ready to be a widow.
At that time, the Queen Mother suddenly felt unwell.
Her first reaction was that she had fallen ill, so while she was cautious about drinking water, she did not dare to call the imperial doctor openly, and she did not even dare to let Shenzong know that she wanted to see a doctor.
Yu Chu dressed up in disguise, went out to choose a hairpin, and concealed his identity to find a doctor with a good reputation.
Yun Fenghuang listened with bated breath.
The Empress Dowager's tone had always been calm, but when she said this, her face twitched with muscles: "...The doctor said that if the Ai family has been stolen from the killer medicine, they will have no hope in this life."
"Granddaughter-in-law back then..." Yun Fenghuang was interrupted before she started speaking. The Empress Dowager said calmly: "Did I direct and act on my own back then? The choice of medicines and preparations were very weighty and controlled to protect myself to the greatest extent. , coupled with the emperor's favor after me, I can find the best doctor for diagnosis and treatment, everything is smooth sailing, and there is no drag on my thoughts, so I have a glimmer of hope. But the Ai family is different. Is the Ai family harmed by others? The person with the leg is afraid that Aijia can be cured, so he will not be polite! Otherwise, Aijia will not notice that he is unwell!"
She was silent for a moment and then said, "What the Ai family suspected most at that time was naturally not the late emperor, his mistress, or both of them."
Yun Fenghuang's heartbeat almost stopped, and she clenched her fists hard: "So, the late Emperor Shenzong has no heir... Do you want to give up his leg?"
"..." The Empress Dowager's eyes were a little misty for a moment, and then she softly said "Hmm" after a moment.
Yun Fenghuang felt that it was a little difficult to breathe: "... No wonder the late Emperor Shenzong would massacre his clan members after he ascended the throne!"
Although we have known for a long time that the reason why Shenzong would kill blood relatives indiscriminately was because they could not find the real culprit, so they would rather kill the wrong one than let it go.
But considering the patience of the Imperial City Division before it was cut off, it was just a matter of not finding the real culprit before Shenzong ascended the throne. After ascending the throne, he had great power, but there was never a clear scope for such a big matter. Almost all the Shizong bloodline was slaughtered... Yun Fenghuang had no doubts.
It was only then that I realized that the real murderer had always been on Shenzong's side, and he and Shenzong were both prosperous and harmed!
No wonder Shenzong never knew the truth.
"The reason why the Ai family wronged the late emperor is not just because of what happened to them." The Empress Dowager lowered her eyes and said in a tired voice, "It is also because the Ai family suspected that the legitimate prince born from that cheap maid of the Qu family... Could it be that the late emperor had an adulterous son with her, not the blood of Shizong?"
Yun Fenghuang was shocked. This was something she had never thought of before.
If not.
So, is Shenzong's marriage to the Empress Dowager a conspiracy in itself
"The Ai family just told me that although Mrs. Qu's background is not bad, her stepmother is in charge of the house, so her situation is actually not good. That may be why she will enter the palace later." The Empress Dowager said softly, "At that time, she Entering the palace, even if she is the legitimate daughter of the Qu family, she is still not a good errand."
That's not true, after all, Shizong is old and all the emperor's heirs have grown up.
Even if she is not a noble girl, if she enters the palace at that time, even if Prince Shengdong is very favored, she may not be able to compete with those full-fledged brothers and sisters.
When Sejong passes away, he will be young and widowed.
Even a bad one, like Queen Qu herself, is a clear example: her reputation was ruined and she couldn't even keep her children.
"Her situation was like this at first after she entered the palace. Relying on the little legacy left by the Yuan Dynasty, Shizong took good care of her, but he couldn't take care of her. Later, when she became pregnant, Shizong paid special attention to it... "
Yun Fenghuang couldn't help but ask: "Emperor Grandmother, is it possible that Emperor Shizong was not short of heirs at that time? Did the late emperor value his legitimate concubines so much? But I heard that the favored emperor's heirs, such as King Shu, seemed to be unwilling to produce legitimate children?"