Although everyone in the Sixth Palace knew that Queen Gu Zhen was not very popular with the emperor, after all, given her family background and status, not everyone dared to openly disagree with the middle palace.
Even so, what the third concubine sent to report was enough to give Gu Zhen a headache.
After all, the red flower incident at Concubine Shu was enough for the Ouyang family to go to the temple to seek justice.
Regardless of whether it was Chunjia or the previous dynasty, Gu Zhen would definitely not be pointed at Gu Zhen himself, but the crime of not restraining the palace servants in Woxia Tower would be clear.
"Your Majesty, why don't you let the noble concubines and the others assist in the affairs of the Sixth Palace?" Someone suggested to her, "It's better for you and His Highness the King of Chu. It's not suitable for you to do the hard work yourself. Besides, both Your Highnesses are still young. , it’s the time when I need your careful care.”
The Gu family knew early on that it was unreliable for Gu Zhen to compete for favor or seize power. From the beginning, they were counting on the position of the East Palace.
In the eyes of Gu Zhen's grandfather and uncle, except that the East Palace must come from Gu Zhen's knees, all other matters can be compromised or compromised.
In this way, the people around the queen now feel that there is no need to fight with the concubine and the others just for the sake of temporary anger.
Because Gu Zhen's most important mission is to take good care of the prince below him.
Especially the prince who will be appointed crown prince in the future.
With her ability and energy, even if there were no concubines in the palace who were eyeing the power of the harem, she would not be able to balance the heirs and palace power well.
Not to mention the three concubines headed by the noble concubine are not easy to mess with. They started to fight back the day after they took over the power. Is there more to come
Nowadays, Gu Zhen may not need to spend much energy on the emperor's heir. After all, the three princes have been tacitly excluded from the list of candidates for the East Palace. As for the King of Chu, his hope is a bit slim at present. Before Chunjia arranges another healthy and normal prince for Gu Zhen, from the perspective of interests, it is enough to raise these two princes casually.
But even so, Gu Zhen may not be able to cope with the turmoil caused by the third concubine's report.
Everyone couldn't help but feel that the queen had made a foolish move and rashly started a war with the third concubine. She did not get the support of her family and Chunjia, and it was also a point of hatred.
"Although I am the queen, everyone knows that the noble concubine in this palace is the one who really has the final say." Gu Zhen also knows these truths in her heart, but she has her own thoughts, "I am just for your Majesty's sake. The regent is just fighting for a chess piece of the Dingbei Army. Your Majesty doesn't have much affection for me at all... Of course, I don't blame your majesty, because the family's support for me to sit on the throne is for the prosperity of the family, not for this. Like Duke Yi, out of loyalty to His Majesty, everyone gets what they need! Therefore, since I was appointed as the queen, I have been letting the imperial concubine control the palace affairs, and even turning a blind eye to the concubine Shu and Concubine De, who took refuge with the imperial concubine."
"Because I have always kept the family's wishes in mind and raised the emperor's heir with all my heart."
"Others, as long as it's not too much, we won't fight or rob."
"But now I feel that my family's idea is wrong."
"In the palace, if you don't fight for yourself, you may not be fought over or robbed by others!"
"I am not your Majesty's wife. I have no extraordinary talent or beauty, and my family background is not unique. I am just valued by chance. I am not outstanding in terms of virtue. Even the prince below me is not my biological child..."
Gu Zhen smiled bitterly and said, "So, even if you sit on the phoenix throne, it will be difficult to convince the crowd. If Guo Guo still has to give in step by step, do you think I can really raise a healthy emperor in peace? Heir?"
"This..." There was hesitation on both sides. Indeed, for the Gu family, having a queen is not the goal, but having a prince or a queen mother is the fundamental goal.
But if Gu Zhen's prestige is not enough and her children cannot survive the secrecy of the harem, then what's the use of her being a queen
"His Majesty is sizing up Wei He right now, which is the time when he is most willing to tolerate my family." Gu Zhen's attack was not just a whim, but he had seriously considered it, "If this happens after a while, there will be no hope. His Majesty came to Woxia Tower in person before and didn't say anything. He obviously didn't intend to openly cause trouble for the noble concubines and the others. In this case, if I don't take this opportunity to establish rules for the Sixth Palace, how long will it take?"
"Your Majesty is right." He thought about it for a moment, then wondered, "But now that the third concubine is clearly looking for trouble, what should we do?"
Gu Zhen was silent for a while and said: "I am not a smart person. In my opinion, the most mercurial person in the harem is probably Concubine Min. Let's not say whether she is a good or bad person, she is truly worthy of her. The title is banned. So if you don’t have any good ideas, then let’s learn from Concubine Min.”
What Yun Fenghuang meant was that Gu Zhen first sent someone to drag the palace official from Broken Bamboo House who allegedly mixed safflower into Shu Fei's anti-fetal medicine to Woxia Tower, and under the guise of personally getting to the bottom of the matter, killed him alive. Beaten to death in the courtyard of Woxia Tower.
When she was done, she told Ouyang Fulu: "This humble servant couldn't stand the torture and finally told the truth. However, she resented Concubine Shu for being suspicious since she was pregnant, so she sent them many more errands! Isn't this a joke? Are you a slave? Do they still want to rest all day like the nobles when they are working? Then what do the nobles want them to do? This cheap servant is so lazy that he thinks that there are too many things to do, so he thinks of letting Concubine Shu have a miscarriage, so that he can follow the past Just like that, there aren’t many jobs left for those who see the sky.”
He also said, "It's not that I'm talking about you, Concubine Shu. It's certainly the fault of this lowly maid. She murdered the master first and framed me second. But you should always be kind to the people below. After all, our Majesty is the best." A generous and kind person, since you are His Majesty’s concubine, you should learn from His Majesty, right?”
As for Concubine De's claim that she had lost something, Gu Zhen said that all the people serving Dan Ruoting would be sent there for questioning: "Otherwise, how can we know who is innocent and who is innocent?"
If she had said this from the beginning, Concubine De might have promised to hand over at least most of the palace people, which would have given her a headache.
But there was an example of the palace man from Broken Bamboo Pavilion being dragged to Woxia Tower and beaten to death without even seeing the Queen. How could Concubine De be so willing
After making excuses to refuse, he hurriedly rushed to Lanzhou Yeyu Pavilion to find Yun Fenghuang and cried: "Sister, look at the queen! This is too much!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Concubine Shu had already arrived first and had just finished explaining the whole story. After hearing this, she quickly helped, "Before, when the Empress said that she wanted to send the palace servant over for a thorough investigation, I also said that the Empress was sincere. The real intention is to think about my concubine. Who would have known that when a person went to Woxia Tower, he was killed without asking a single word! Wasn’t the rhetoric coming at this time made up casually by Woxia Tower? Is this taking my concubine as an excuse? A child is being fooled, and then he is blaming me for being in poor health, this... this is really too much!!!!"
As he spoke, he started to cry in grievance.
Yun Fenghuang's face was gloomy, thinking that she had really underestimated the queen. According to her previous understanding of Gu Zhen, the three concubines each asked a question, which was enough to make Gu Zhen anxious.
Who would have thought that the successor would become wise after listening to someone's advice, and he could quickly resolve the situation between Concubine Shu and Concubine De.
Yes, although the second concubine was still crying in front of her, and the queen couldn't help but scrutinize her methods, in Yun Fenghuang's view, as long as Gu Zhen didn't lose his head, the difficulties raised by Concubine Shu and De Concubine were over.
Because who told the emperor that now was the time to rely heavily on the Northern Army and Zhao Wu Bo
According to the tacit understanding, even if Gu Zhen does something outrageous now, the royal family must tolerate her, and at most they will settle the score later.
What Gu Zhen did was within the queen's power, so how could Chunjia conflict with her head-on
She bit Concubine Shu to death because she was a harsh palace person and was retaliated against. She was unjustly accused, and Concubine De refused to turn her in, so the investigation couldn't be carried out... Could Chunjia still know that Concubine Shu and Concubine De were framed to find trouble and forcibly punished her
What the queen has not yet dealt with is the suspicion raised by Yun Fenghuang that King Qin was murdered.
But in Yun Fenghuang's opinion, it would be easy to deal with this if he has the advantage of Gu Zhen, even if it's a bit vicious...
Gu Zhen said to the people around him: "The King of Qin is your Majesty's eldest son. He has a high status. Who dares to touch him? Moreover, the imperial concubine has always been delicate. Even if ordinary people have evil intentions, it is difficult for them to succeed. These days, people who often come in and out of Lanzhou Yeyu Pavilion often , they are nothing more than Concubine Shu, Concubine De, and the Qu family of Yi. Presumably, the real culprit who murdered King Qin is among the four of them. It is even possible that the four concubines conspired! Go and convey this idea to the noble concubine. , ask the noble concubine if she agrees to hand over these four concubines to this palace, torture them severely, thoroughly investigate the truth, and give justice to the King of Qin!"
"...Now the Empress's intention is very clear." Yun Fenghuang had just comforted Concubine Shu, and after receiving such a beating, he sent away the messenger with a calm expression, and said to the second concubine, "That's it. Relying on her mother's family, she regarded a deer as a horse. She knew that His Majesty would condone her unreasonableness, so she simply refused to be unreasonable."
Concubine Shu frowned and said, "My queen, are you just relying on her like this?"
She said unwillingly, "If the imperial concubine didn't make the decision, how could the harem be so peaceful these days? But the empress went across the river and demolished the bridge instead of talking about it, and even beat us in turn. Isn't it like a mother to respect the world? Such behavior , it’s really not a blessing to have a harem!”
He asked Yun Fenghuang, "I don't know if I can tell your majesty, please give me a few words about the empress?"
"Sister, His Majesty is busy with government affairs, so don't let him worry about me waiting for the harem." Concubine De glared at Concubine Shu, feeling that Ouyang Fulu was indeed harboring evil intentions, and knew that he was not sincere at all in provoking the concubine to stir up trouble. !
She turned to Yun Fenghuang and said, "The queen has mediocre talents and virtues. Even if she can rely on her family background for a while, she may not be able to rely on her family background for a lifetime. We might as well wait and see if she can continue to be so unreasonable!"
One advocated to retaliate, the other advocated to avoid the edge temporarily. After the two concubines finished speaking, they both focused on Yun Fenghuang, waiting for her decision.
Yun Fenghuang pondered.
In fact, it would be safer to follow Concubine De's suggestion. After all, Chunjia went to Woxia Tower in person but had no objection at all to Gu Zhen's act of taking over power. This meant that the emperor would not come forward in this turmoil, let alone end it in person.
Under such circumstances, even if he defeated Gu Zhen in the palace, it might not be of any benefit.
There are even consequences, that is, if the emperor needs the Gu family and the Gu family expresses dissatisfaction, they will be thrown out to quell the Gu family's resentment.
It's very unbearable.
It's better to wait for this period of time and wait until Chunjia no longer needs the Gu family so much, or Gu Zhen has done too many things to make people angry in the palace, giving everyone enough reason to resist... then stand up, It also has enough reputation.
But there's a problem with doing this.
Yun Fenghuang's rise began from the first day she entered the palace. She has been able to intimidate the previous harem these years because she was able to find a way out and survive even when she was in a low position and had no one to rely on.
If she gives in now, her prestige will definitely suffer a heavy blow.
When the time comes, Gu Zhen will step on her and become famous.
Just like her and Yuan Niang back then, in fact, throughout the harem of the previous dynasties, the concubines stepped on the palace concubines to ascend to the throne, and even stepped on their own heads to ascend to the throne.
Why is Yuan Yuniang so embarrassing and Yun Fenghuang so legendary
Apart from the fact that she was extremely efficient in taking revenge on the spot and collecting debts, it was also because Yuan Yuniang was the recognized killer of palace concubines in the Sixth Palace.
He killed many concubines.
Suddenly one day, I was taking care of a concubine who had just entered the palace and was slapped in the face. How could this not attract attention and make people laugh
If Yuan Yuniang is the kind of person who hides her secret behind her smile to settle scores, she has been openly humiliated by her subordinates. Most people will still not look down upon her, but will whisper and wait for the follow-up.
Now Yun Fenghuang is in the same situation as Yuan Yuniang. Everyone knows that the imperial concubine is never wronged and it is very good not to make trouble for others. Yesterday, the queen wanted to take back power. Today, she leads the concubine Shu to look good to the queen. , and now the queen rudely refuted it to her. If she just settled the matter, even if everyone thought that she would take revenge in the future, they would still feel that the imperial concubine was afraid of the queen after all.
"That's it." Yun Fenghuang thought for a moment and said slowly, "Concubine Shu, please go and tell the queen later. You have no experience in getting pregnant for the first time, and you didn't expect that just by being a little cautious, you would make the people below you resentful. This is your fault. Fortunately, the queen is aware of everything and helps you find out the truth. You have to thank me."
Concubine Shu said "Ah" and sat upright: "Then, then?"
"Then I will naturally ask the Queen to give you some capable and sensible palace servants to serve you." Yun Fenghuang said calmly, "Let the people around you learn from it and avoid similar things happening again."
Concubine Shu understood that if the queen's people arrived at the Broken Bamboo Pavilion and something like this still happened, then the responsible queen herself would not be able to escape.
This method is not difficult to understand, but Concubine Shu was a little worried: "Mother, I am pregnant..."
What if the people sent by the queen have evil intentions towards her
Under normal circumstances, Queen Gu might not or dare not do this.
But this time Gu Zhen's reaction was very different from normal. Who knew if she would suddenly become cruel
Especially since the Queen is now protected by the Gu family, Concubine Shu is not sure. In Chunjia's mind, the emperor's heir in her belly is as important as the overall situation of the previous dynasty!
"You have to let them get started with what you're doing to make things happen?" Yun Fenghuang glanced at her sideways and said calmly, "Maybe they just went to the Broken Bamboo Pavilion, so you could tell something was wrong? Haven't you always been there? It is said that the queen is honest and honest, but is she not shrewd enough? Then when she rewards you, she may make mistakes. "
This is a clear sign of trouble. Do you really want to do a full show
Concubine Shu suddenly realized and said awkwardly: "Yes, I am confused."
Looking at Concubine De again, Concubine De quickly sat upright and listened to the concubine giving her advice.
"Isn't there not a single person missing from your place?" Yun Fenghuang picked up the tea and took a sip before asking.
Concubine De thought for a while and said: "My sister's service staff were not originally many, but this year because of the Third Emperor's daughter, many more people were added, which is not without redundancy. But the Empress said that everyone should be served Send it over, this..."
How is this possible? Not to mention what if the servants were beaten to death or maimed when they were delivered to the queen. Mother and daughter were both born as slaves and maidservants. They didn't even know for a moment that the palace people were gone. How are you living your life
"Are you going to do whatever the queen asks you to do?" Yun Fenghuang sighed, "Just send those dispensable things over, and then make a list for the queen, saying that the others have to serve you and the three. The princess cannot leave, but these days, the people in front of you have also been in contact with the Sixth Palace. Maybe those people and their masters are suspected? The list is longer, the Sixth Palace is involved, but I am. Let’s see, does the Queen have the courage to operate on the Sixth Palace together?!”