In the inner room, Gu Zhen spoke to the third concubine through a 20% gold-painted fish playing with lotus leaves and a jujube screen with crocodile silk and jujube: "... I have nothing to do, but I am tired from taking care of the King of Chu these two days. I am lying down." Just lie down and it’ll be fine.”
Yun Fenghuang knew that her mental illness was worse than her physical illness now, but he couldn't speak frankly in front of Concubine Shu, so he gave some general words of comfort and asked the queen to concentrate on resting.
"The noble concubine will stay for a while. I will tell you a few things." Gu Zhen agreed one by one and said that while he was ill, all palace affairs would be left to the noble concubine, with Shu Fei De as her assistant. Finally, he said, "Shu Fei De Concubine, please go back first."
Ouyang Fulu and Wei Hengyan were curious, but they did not dare to disobey the queen and concubine. They suppressed the urge to ask and bowed before leaving.
After they left, the room was silent for a while, and then the queen asked: "Is everything you told the palace maid that day true?"
"It's just speculation based on reason." Yun Fenghuang said calmly, "After all, neither your Majesty nor you have found out the clues. I just listened to the palace maid relaying the whole story. How could I know the details? In fact, from my perspective, maybe Is it just a coincidence?"
"If King Qin is like this this time, do you believe it is an accident?" Gu Zhen sneered, "Before His Majesty took charge, all the emperor's heirs failed to come to the throne! After His Majesty took charge, the former noble concubine and commoner Sun was pregnant with There are no more male fetuses. There are many mistakes in the past. Do you still think that the disaster of the emperor's heir in this palace is accidental? It is also that I am too careless. Since the fall of the Ji family, more emperors have been added to the palace one after another. Heirs, regardless of male or female, even if the birth mother of a lowly status at most dies, the emperor's heir can always stay. So I thought that the palace is generally stable now, but it turns out... "
She exhaled slowly and said, "You all know what King Chu is like now, right?"
"Empress, His Royal Highness the King of Chu is still young and has just recovered from his illness. It is reasonable to see that he is a little slower." Yun Fenghuang persuaded him in a pretentious manner, "Just wait a little longer and it will be fine."
Gu Zhen said coldly: "What if it doesn't get better?"
Yun Fenghuang said: "You are the Queen. Your Majesty is in the prime of life. You will definitely have more heirs."
"But the King of Chu is my first legitimate son." Gu Zhen sneered and said, "If I can't protect him, how can I protect other children in the future?"
"Then what do you want?" Yun Fenghuang sighed, "In other words, what can be done? Not to mention that the real murderer is just my conjecture and there is no evidence. Even if there is evidence, do you think His Majesty can give you and Chu Your Highness, this justice? Or, can you seek justice from your loving mother, the Queen Mother?"
Gu Zhen was silent for a while and said, "When you were poisoned and narrowly escaped death, some people seemed to suspect that you were the empress dowager, the loving mother?"
"...Actually, I have always been suspicious of my loving mother, the Empress Dowager." Yun Fenghuang thought about it and said, "But the empress also saw that the result of the Imperial City Department's thorough investigation was the regent's side. So, I can only suspect and target the regent Weng’s son-in-law!"
"Yes, what can I do that even your beloved concubine can't do?" Gu Zhen was silent for a moment, then whispered, "That's all, go ahead."
Yun Fenghuang respectfully resigned. After going out, he thought about his previous answer and felt that there was nothing wrong with it, so he left.
As for whether Gu Zhen would be disheartened from now on, even if she suspected Empress Dowager Yuan, she would not dare to make a mistake... She was not worried at all.
After all, if the queen herself can endure it, the Zhaowu Palace behind her will not tolerate it either!
Gu Zhen's grandfather and uncle forced Uncle Zhaowu to rebel and join Chunjia because of his status as a descendant. However, the Queen Mother Yuan wanted to replace the old one and let the Xingning House enjoy the benefits. How could the Gu family agree!
Not only did they not agree, they had to fight back!
Otherwise, once he is found to be easy to bully, who knows how many troubles will be waiting for him in the future
Originally, Gu Zhen was not the kind of intimidating presence in the palace. No matter how gentle her mother-in-law was, how could they live like this
You must know that Chunjia is only in his twenties, and the princes are still toddling. Now someone is making trouble. When the princes are older and know how to fight, what's the point
Therefore, Yun Fenghuang was not in a hurry at all. Not only was she not in a hurry, she also persuaded the queen to calm down. This not only showed that she had a clear conscience, but also had nothing to do with her if Gu's troubles happened.
Back at Lanzhou Yeyu Pavilion, Chunjia had been here for a while and was teasing Princess Zhaoqing in her arms.
Seeing Yun Fenghuang coming in, he asked someone to take the princess down.
Princess Zhaoqing was reluctant, pulling on his sleeve and babbling and refusing to let go.
Yun Fenghuang smiled and said to Chunjia: "Just hold her for a while. She will remember you now. If you ask someone to hold her down now, she will definitely cry. Don't make your voice hoarse from crying." "
Chunjia hugged the princess as she said, waving the wet nurse who came up to pick her up to step back, and said: "We can't let her have a temperament that will be submissive as soon as she cries. Wouldn't it mean that she will cry if she doesn't get what she wants in the future?"
"Just teach her slowly in the future. How old is she now?" Yun Fenghuang said, "In a few years, the child will have to run around on her own. She may not be willing to hold her by then."
The two of them talked around Zhaoqing for a while, and Chunjia asked Gu Zhen, "Did she leave you alone to talk to Shufei and Defei today?"
"He said that he should concentrate on recuperating from now on." Yun Fenghuang nodded, "The palace affairs will let us keep an eye on it."
After a pause, "Later, I was left alone for questioning. Judging from the queen's intentions, she still had some doubts about King Chu's illness."
Chunjia said "hmm" and said, "What does she suspect?"
"I suspect that someone is harming the King of Chu." Yun Fenghuang said, "There were also too many concubines and royal heirs who disappeared in the palace before. I thought the queen was a bit dissatisfied, so I gave some advice. But..."
Seeing Chunjia's questioning look, she said slowly, "If there is really something wrong with the King of Chu, in my opinion, it is better to arrange a strong heir for the Queen as soon as possible. Otherwise, the Queen will wait for a while, I’m afraid I can’t even figure it out.”
"There are currently six imperial heirs in the palace, and they all have heirs. The pregnant Concubine Xian and Concubine Shao can also be raised by themselves." Chunjia pondered for a while and said, "Anyway, the heirs are still young. We will wait for another two years. Right. And it’s not like there’s no one around the queen to let her enjoy family happiness, so why are you in such a hurry?”
He seemed to be dissatisfied with Gu Zhen in his words. Yun Fenghuang pretended not to hear it and obeyed: "That's right."
The imperial concubine did not mention the queen and her son, but instead talked about other things, such as Empress Dowager Yuan's birthday.
Chunjia was a little regretful because when he came to the throne, he had argued hard for the birthday of this loving mother, the Empress Dowager. At one time, because the Ji family did not agree to celebrate the Longevity Festival for the Empress Dowager Yuan, he set up a personal hunt for Yuan in anger. Rules for celebrating the Queen Mother's birthday. Until last year, I was finally able to express my congratulations to the Queen Mother openly, but Queen Mother Yuan refused due to various reasons.
This year he can be more willful, but the two empress dowagers are still ill.
He didn't even come to the palace.
When he mentioned this matter at this moment, he felt very owed in his words. He meant that he was sorry for Empress Dowager Yuan.
Yun Fenghuang listened with a smile and echoed a few words from time to time, but he was very disapproving in his heart. He said perfunctorily: "It will be fine after a few days, when there are not so many troublemakers in the former harem. The empress dowager, the loving mother, has always cared about you, so I don't care. Compared with these things."
Then he remembered Wei He's incident and asked politely.
Chunjia said: "The Imperial City Secretary reported that Mu'e did have some bad things. He just blocked the news and even the old Khan was not allowed to tell him. Otherwise, the old Khan might contact Hele and change his name to Khan."
Wei He's old khan was in poor health due to an illness, but the prince he had cultivated for many years passed away before him. He was afraid that if he died, his sons would compete for the throne, weakening the country's power, and being taken advantage of by the Central Plains and surrounding small countries, so he followed suit. The Supreme Emperor of the Central Plains passed the throne to Mu E in advance.
As a result, I don’t know what evil the old Khan and his son had done, or whether the soil and water on the grassland could not support people. In short, Mu’e fell ill just a few months after he came to power.
If this matter was known to the old Khan, who was already resigned to his fate and waiting to die, how could he not worry about Wei He and instead appoint other strong and capable sons, such as Mu'e's biggest rival Hele
"Your Majesty, do you want to help the old Khan?" Yun Fenghuang thought for a while and asked with a smile.
Chunjia just shook his head and muttered: "Mu'e gave me a daughter to take care of him. How could I do such a thing? Besides, Mu'e has a son. Since he is a khan, even if there are mistakes, he should be Roukun's. It is the brother who takes over. According to our rules in the Central Plains, there is absolutely no reason for brothers to inherit the throne over their parents and children."
Yun Fenghuang understood that Rou Kun's brother was probably not very capable. If Mu E was not good, he would probably not be able to compete with Hele on his own.
It's no wonder that Kehe Dun of Mu'e took the risk to deliver news to the palace, asking Roukun to be prepared to help his brother fight for the throne by blowing pillow wind.
And this is also a good thing for Chunjia. Wei He's Khan needs the support of the Central Plains to be able to firmly sit on the throne. It is better than Wei He's Khan who is independent, capable and still in his prime.
"It seems that it is no wonder that Wei He suddenly sent the princess to serve him." Yun Fenghuang said, "Mu E was probably worried that his legitimate son would not succeed... It's just that Wei He and the two generations of khans contracted some disease. What? Why is the old Khan sick, his eldest son died of illness, and now Mu'e is not well either?"
Chunjia muttered: "Listening to the report from the Imperial City Division, the old Khan's symptoms seem to be chronic dysentery. His eldest son has chest paralysis. As for Mu'e, the surroundings are heavily guarded, but there are no clues."
It seems that he is not very satisfied with the Imperial City Division, but the current Imperial City Division first experienced Xiaozong being suppressed by the Ji family, and then fell into the hands of the regent, and then was fought over between Chunjia and the regent... It was originally full of vitality With a serious injury, it is impossible to compare with the peak time.
Yun Fenghuang comforted him: "It will be good if you know that he is indeed ill."
Even if it is not certain whether Mu'e's illness can be alleviated, Chunjia will not help the old khan to replace the khan, but he may not be able to do good deeds for Hele without leaving his name.
By using Hele's hand to put pressure on Mu'e, even if Mu'e survives, in order to stabilize the situation, he will definitely provide more benefits to the Central Plains in exchange for a greater degree of support.
Yun Fenghuang wasn't very good at the details of this kind of temple matter. After getting an overview with Chunjia, he got the emperor's euphemistic promise that he would reuse the Xie family's children here, so he didn't mention it anymore.
Two days later it was the day for the married women to visit. Empress Gu refused the foreign wives' visit because she was still ill, leaving only Gu's female family members inside to talk.
On Yun Fenghuang's side, after talking to his aunts and sisters-in-law, he left a meal. After finishing it, he received a report that Princess Sui'an had come from the Empress Dowager.
"Second sister has a weird appetite during pregnancy. The imperial grandmother specially prepared a bowl of shark fin soup for her, but she vomited as soon as it was served." After Princess Sui'an sat down, she frowned slightly and explained to Yun Fenghuang what she was doing. Because she came here early, "the imperial grandmother was very worried. She asked the imperial doctor to look at her for a long time, and then she felt relieved after saying that it was nothing serious. She didn't have the intention to eat at this time. The second sister was in low spirits after vomiting, so the imperial grandmother left her for a while. After you rest and leave the palace, I will come over to see you."
Since the death of the two eldest princesses, they will enter the palace every time they meet their wives or on New Year's Eve.
The Empress Dowager did not pay special attention to them, she only followed the rules, and rarely summoned them on her own initiative, but she still loved them every time they met.
Therefore, although Sui'an always came to Yun Fenghuang when he entered the palace, it was usually quite late.
This is the first time this morning.
After hearing this, Yun Fenghuang couldn't help but express some concern for Princess Yun'an, and also arranged for Qingdu to pack some nourishing food and send it over.
Finally, seeing that Sui'an was not in a very high mood, she thought about it and guessed that she might be worried because the two of them had passed away at about the same time. Yun'an was pregnant but she had no news, so she tactfully comforted her not to be impatient. The former imperial concubine, Isn't it possible that Zheng, a commoner, got pregnant for the first time almost ten years after entering the palace? That’s still a male fetus!
After giving this example, I felt a bit unlucky. Just as I was thinking about changing it, Sui'an smiled bitterly and said, "My dear, when Mrs. Zheng was in the palace, although she was a noble concubine for a time, she was not favored by the emperor. My brother doesn’t necessarily go to her place a few times throughout the year. So it’s understandable that I got pregnant late. But I...after I landed, I was the only one who had the consort."
Yun Fenghuang asked: "How many days has it been since you descended?"
I was suspicious, "Did the consort say something?"
If Xie Wuzheng was so ignorant, she would ask her cousin to come over and give him a good beating.
The Xie family seems to be rising rapidly now, but in fact, the foundation is still empty. If you dare to look down on the eldest princess, you are losing your mind!
"No." Fortunately, Sui'an shook his head and said, "The prince-in-law is very good, he said..."
She flushed her cheeks with embarrassment and whispered, "The prince-in-law said that it would be fine just for the two of us. But...but I always feel that something is wrong."
"What's wrong with this?" Yun Fenghuang said nonchalantly, "You and your consort are spending your days together. The consort thinks it's okay. What are you doing to make things difficult for yourself? Do you think you are both still so young? Maybe It’s just that the fate of having an heir has not arrived. There are many people who don’t have their eldest son until three to five years after they get married, and that’s nothing.”
Sui'an secretly breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, after Xie Wuzheng said he didn't care, what she was most worried about was Yun Fenghuang's objection.
After all, this is not only her sister-in-law, but also Chunjia's favorite concubine.
If Yun Fenghuang caused the birth, Sui'an was really afraid that his consort would not be able to withstand the pressure.
But Sui'an felt relieved because the imperial concubine was so considerate.
She didn't know that the imperial concubine was more considerate than she thought. After sending Sui'an away that day, Yun Fenghuang immediately called people from the Qing Dynasty to ask: "Recently, there is someone in the eldest princess's residence who said something that shouldn't be said. His name is Sui'an." Your Highness, Princess An, is having wild thoughts?"
The Qing people were at a loss: "Maybe not? In the eldest princess's mansion, in addition to the dowry of Her Royal Highness, there are also some of the 21st son's personal attendants. Those are all carefully selected and have a good eye for what's going on. Otherwise, how would they dare to let them go? Is the eldest princess’s mansion embarrassing the consort?”
"Go and check it out." Yun Fenghuang frowned and ordered, "And send a message to Beidi, so that uncles and aunts can take it easy and don't treat Her Royal Highness as an ordinary daughter-in-law. She is an ordinary match. My daughter-in-law never said that she was urging children to have children just a year and a half after joining the family. Besides, my Xie family is flourishing, and it is not a single descendant of the eighteenth generation! What are they anxious about? There are only a few elders in the royal family. Your Majesty, I have worked so hard to get Brother Twenty-One to fall into His Majesty’s eyes, in order to use my status as a golden branch and jade leaf to win over my Xie family, not to make them frivolous and arrogant and to displease Your Majesty!"
She said it so politely that Qingren didn't dare to be negligent and hurriedly went to give instructions.
After about six or seven days of this, I will report back.