"No matter how much we value the legitimate concubine, heirs will not be successful. How can we not like the children who grow up before our eyes, even if they are concubines?" The Empress Dowager said lightly, "Sejong is indeed not short of heirs, but He was getting older at that time..."
She looked down at the age spots on the back of her hands and smiled self-deprecatingly, "You are still too young. You don't understand. When people reach their old age, many of their thoughts will be very different from when they were young. For a long time in Sejong's later years, He has no heir apparent and allows the heirs to attack each other. Do you think it’s because he loves so many princes that he can’t make a decision? No, it’s also because he’s old and out of his depth, fearing that he won’t be able to control those full-fledged princes. Ambitious, young and powerful sons! So at this time, the Qu family is pregnant, which is like a treasure for Shizong who is being pressed by the prince and courtiers step by step! "
After all, under the ancestral motto that there are only direct heirs and no direct heirs, even if King Sejong is old, the new prince is still an infant and does not know the virtues and fools, and he does not even know whether he can survive the hurdle of premature death and grow up safely. Big, but it also gave Shizong a reason to argue.
Continue to postpone the appointment of the crown prince.
So even though the Qu family was not favored at first, she immediately became the queen after she became pregnant and confirmed that she was a male heir!
The truth was lost in the years. The status of the palace people back then was too low, and only the Qu family was favored... In fact, she did not become the queen because she was favored, but because she catered to Shizong's needs at that time, she became the successor and gained the status. pet!
Maybe Sejong doesn't dislike her. After all, what man would hate a young and beautiful woman who flatters him everywhere
But you may not like it to the point of being registered out of love.
"The Ai family synthesized the information at that time and came to a conclusion." The Empress Dowager said calmly, "The Ai family thought that they were quite destined to meet the late Emperor Shenzong frequently before their marriage, so when they left the cabinet, although they did not marry other more recent The favored prince and grandson had the opportunity, but he still pestered his elders to agree and chose him... But in fact, maybe the late emperor always met the Ai family by chance at that time because of the Qu family's humble maid."
"It's just that Qu's stepmother has always suppressed her. Even if she knew that she was in love with the late emperor, she was determined not to let her have the chance to become a princess."
This is the tragedy of a girl whose biological mother dies young and cannot be taken care of by her biological father or other elders in the clan. Qu's marriage is entirely in the hands of her stepmother, who will do whatever she wants, or her maternal family and the elders in the clan will not agree.
But if the stepmother doesn't want her to marry high, or doesn't want her to marry the person she likes, there are simply too many reasons to object.
"The Qu family was ambitious, so on the one hand, she stabilized the late emperor, and also encouraged the late emperor to use his plan. On the grounds of admiration for the Ai family, she asked Ji to marry the Ai family; on the other hand, she followed her stepmother's pressure and entered the palace... It's just that There are many talented people in the palace, and with her talent and appearance, she can occupy a place. But if you want to stand out, especially if you want to have the last laugh, it is extremely difficult!"
"But they knew what Sejong was thinking at the time... At that time, Sejong had not had an heir born for five consecutive years. He was really old."
"When an old man comes at this time, Shizong must be very happy even if he doesn't consider the political situation."
And Sejong didn't get his concubine pregnant for five consecutive years, which shows that she probably won't be able to give birth.
In this case, Mrs. Qu wants to have a child, and a good mother is more valuable than a child. What should she do
Of course it was the late Emperor Shenzong who the Empress Dowager thought had an affair with her!
If the Empress Dowager didn't know anything, she might have been ignored by her husband first, and then received various accusations for having nothing to do, and she felt that she could not bear her husband's honour. Later, once Queen Qu's plan is completed, she ascends the throne with her young son, and enters the Qingci Palace, and there is no longer any obstacle between her and Shenzong, what good results can the Empress Dowager have
But the Empress Dowager knew that as the legitimate daughter carefully cultivated by the Ji family, she was naturally not a soft persimmon.
Therefore, the loser was Queen Qu.
Thinking of what those elderly palace officials said, Shenzong hated Queen Qu very much. He even ordered Shanyuan Temple not to keep cats because he failed to compete with Queen Qu for a civet cat... Yun Fenghuang probably understood the whole story: "The emperor's grandmother was the former emperor of Shenzong. The issue of the heir abandonment was framed to Queen Qu, so the two of them just turned against each other?"
At such a big age, Queen Qu would definitely explain it, but it was precisely because this matter was so big!
The late Emperor Shenzong may not be able to listen to her explanation.
You might even think that this was because Queen Qu was cruel and deep-tempered. She coaxed him to borrow seeds from him with sweet words, but also tried to prevent him from having other children, so she could only help mother and son wholeheartedly!
but…
She hesitated for a moment and looked at the silent Empress Dowager: "If the youngest so-called legitimate prince of Shizong is really of the blood of Shenzong, how could Shenzong, no matter how angry and hating Queen Qu, still want his only flesh and blood?" Poisonous hand?"
Could it be that Shenzong hated Queen Qu so much that he didn't even care about his own flesh and blood
Yun Fenghuang asked cautiously: "Royal Grandmother, could it be that... the truth is actually not like this?"
"...The truth is of course not like this!" Crystal tears gradually welled up in the eyes of the Queen Mother, and she choked slightly, "The late emperor never liked the Qu family's humble maid. In fact, he hated the Qu family's humble maid from the beginning! "
"Then why did he meet Queen Qu in private? Many times?" Yun Fenghuang asked puzzledly.
The Empress Dowager burst into tears and said: "Yes, the Ai family feels the same way... If there is no personal relationship, which step-son in this world would frequently meet with his young and beautiful step-mother? And he would hide his hair from the marriage. His wife! Even because of his wife’s suspicion, he sent his wife to Zhuangzi without any explanation?!”
She wiped her face slowly and suddenly asked, "Do you know the late Emperor?"
Seeing Yun Fenghuang shaking his head, she sighed, "It's been too long, and you're not from a high background, so it's not surprising that you don't know. Let me tell you, the Ai family, the late emperor's biological mother was born in a humble family, and she was a concubine who was lucky enough by chance. After he was born, his biological mother was promoted, but her position was not high, so he was raised by Chen Zhaoyi during the reign of King Sejong. But Chen Zhaoyi himself had three sons and two daughters, all of his own blood, and several others. There are a total of seven or eight children raised by the people in the palace, but how can they take good care of them?"
"To be fair, Chen Zhaoyi was not particularly harsh on the late emperor."
"It's just that her methods and temperament are very different from yours. She doesn't take good care of every child under her knees, regardless of direct descendants."
"But this was only when the late Emperor was a child."
"After the age of ten, the prince moved out of the harem and moved into Qiongjiu Palace. This was the beginning of the late emperor's troubles."
"Shizong had many heirs. The late emperor was in the middle of the rankings, neither above nor below. He had no sense of presence in front of Shizong. His biological mother was humble and could not speak at all. His adoptive mother was not interested in him. After he entered the Qiongjiu Palace, there were a group of half-grown children, none of them. Proportion, after getting along for a long time, there will inevitably be conflicts... Although the late emperor tried his best to avoid it, he actually suffered several losses."
"After suffering a loss, the others had the love of Emperor Shizong, the comfort of their mothers and concubines, and even the sympathy and help of their brothers and sisters from the same mother. But he had nothing."
The Empress Dowager said softly, "The late Emperor grew up in such an environment, do you think he would find someone to discuss and help him when he encounters a problem?"
Of course not, because Shenzong is used to solving everything by himself, or in other words, he is used to having to deal with problems by himself.
"Besides, Aijia is still the concubine he has longed for and mustered up the courage to marry!" The Empress Dowager burst into tears and wanted to wipe her face. She couldn't help but tremble when her hands left the armrest.
Her lips were trembling so much that she could hardly speak. After a while, she did something similar to what Yun Fenghuang had done a while ago - she suddenly put her hand into her mouth and bit it, forcing herself to calm down.
"It's a pity that the Ai family was so young and vigorous back then that they couldn't have imagined so many things!!!"
"In the past few decades, Ai Jia has often woken up in the middle of the night, thinking about the past, and asking himself, if Ai Jia had been more mature, more considerate, or even more trusting..."
The Empress Dowager raised her sleeves to cover her mouth, once again so excited that she could not speak.
Yun Fenghuang quickly poured a cup of tea for her and served the imperial grandmother to drink it.
"Borrow the seed to give birth to a son, use it to seal the queen, and wait for the opportunity to ascend to the throne... These are all true, but the one who started the figurine is the Qu family's humble servant." The Queen Mother drank some hot tea, finally breathed a sigh of relief, and pushed away with a sad smile. Yun Fenghuang held his hand and said, "There were even Ji family and Prince Shu who were involved, but the late emperor...he was not involved. In fact, he was a victim from the beginning to the end."
Seeing Yun Fenghuang's gaze that was willing to hear the details, she took a few breaths and continued, "Shizong has had nothing to do for several years. After Qu entered the palace, he was not the only one to dote on him. How could he be sure of getting pregnant? And How to get a boy at one stroke? They conspired and thought that they could only borrow seeds. However, considering the appearance and bloodline of the emperor when he grew up, the consequences would be disastrous, so this borrowing could only be from someone in the royal family. "
At first, their choice was King Shu. After all, this was one of the conspiracy, the most concealed and safe.
The problem is, Princess Shu is not very happy.
In addition, the Qu family was not happy either, so the Qu family teamed up with Princess Shu to propose the candidate Shenzong.
"Since the late Emperor Shenzong is not happy, why would the Qu family do this?" Yun Fenghuang couldn't help but say, "For such a big matter, just a little test can tell us the attitude of the late Emperor Shenzong? The Qu family and the others are not afraid. Did the late Emperor Shenzong expose the matter and let them all die without a burial place?"
The Empress Dowager said in a hoarse voice: "The Ai family couldn't figure it out when they were young, so in the first few years after the late emperor's death, the Ai family suspected that the late emperor might have chosen the Ai family in the end, but he might not be ruthless towards the Qu family. Otherwise, Qu would After rejecting King Shu, why did you try your best to give birth to his bloodline and pretend to be the son of Shizong?"
"It was only later that I gradually understood that Qu did this not for the late emperor, but for the Ai family!"