Empress Dowager Yuan was mentally prepared to have a fight with Yun Fenghuang when she rushed to Huzhu Palace, but when she arrived, the imperial concubine had already left, and she only blocked the empress who had left late because she had to greet Concubine An.
"Where is Xiaoyun's cheap maid?" The grievances between the loving mother Queen Mother and Concubine Min were known to everyone in the harem. Now Queen Mother Yuan didn't bother to cover it up and asked the queen directly.
The queen smiled awkwardly and said, "As for my mother, someone came to Xuanqing Palace just now and said that the seventh prince has been crying, so the noble concubine was anxious to go back and see what was going on."
"It sounds like she personally took care of the Seventh Prince, and now she is the only one who can comfort him when he cries." Empress Dowager Yuan sneered, "She has three heirs under her knees, and how many times have she hugged them all? What if she really put all her thoughts into it? If we put aside raising the emperor's heir, how can the palace be so unstable?"
The queen apologized and said nothing.
During the turmoil caused by Yun Fenghuang's hunger strike, the Empress Dowager Yuan accompanied her, and her attitude towards the Empress was relatively gentle during this period.
Seeing this, Gu Zhen didn't feel embarrassed, he just asked what was going on
"After today's greetings, my daughter-in-law asked them to leave." Gu Zhen said, "Not long after, someone outside shouted in surprise. Immediately, the palace servants came to report. It was said that Mrs. Qu was talking to the people next to her when she came down the stairs. , accidentally blocked Concubine An, Concubine An ignored her and walked over, and then she bumped into... The daughter-in-law thought it was just an accident, and both parties were at fault, but Concubine An... "
"How does this mean that both parties are at fault?" Empress Dowager Yuan said coldly, "Qu's status is far below that of Concubine An. What qualifications does she have to block Concubine An's way? Is it possible that Concubine An still wants to let her go?" The concubine was right to walk over directly. This is simply the result of Qu's arrogance and frivolity. This is a frame-up!"
Gu Zhen glanced at her with a guilty conscience, and then said: "Under normal circumstances, my daughter-in-law would of course feel that this is all Qu's fault. It's just that Qu is pregnant now..."
Qu Hongzhuan's status is not as high as that of Concubine An, but if she carries the emperor's heir in her belly, no matter what everyone thinks in their hearts, they will definitely say that the emperor's heir is the most important!
Queen Mother Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Do you remember what happened to the former noble concubine?"
"Mother is suspicious that there is something wrong with Qu's pregnancy?" Gu Zhen's heart skipped a beat, and he forced a smile and said, "This shouldn't be a problem? I haven't heard of any conflict between Concubine An and the imperial concubine these days. Why is the imperial concubine acting like this? ?”
"You still don't know what kind of character Xiaoyun is?" Queen Mother Yuan asked, "She is not the kind of mistress who will not offend others until they offend me! Besides, who said that Xiaoyun has not caused trouble for Concubine An recently? An The concubine has been staying well in the palace before, but she was suddenly ordered by the emperor to go to Chongchang Hall every day to pay her respects. It can be seen that Xiaoyun has been thinking about Concubine An and deliberately causes trouble for her! "
She said that Gu Zhen was not very happy, and secretly wondered what did this mean? Do you also think that Concubine An should not do so if she doesn’t want to do so, regardless of the queen’s face
"That's what the Empress said." Gu Zhen said in his heart that the empress dowager and the noble concubine were indeed not good people, but he said respectfully, "It's just unfounded, but the news of Qu's miscarriage has been known to everyone in the Sixth Palace. Yes, this..."
Empress Dowager Yuan said: "You are also honest. If she said she had a miscarriage, then she had a miscarriage? The doctor who went to see her should be a member of the imperial concubine? How can you believe what you say? In this way, you are now using your concern for the Qu family As a matter of fact, I asked two trusted imperial physicians to go and have a look and see if Naqu's miscarriage was caused by a fall or something else."
Gu Zhen was furious. If she hadn't colluded with Yun Fenghuang, she would have put on a show for everyone inside and outside, and she would have acted as a live assassin for the Queen Mother!
The kind where you bear all the consequences yourself.
Think about it, with Yun Fenghuang's favor, it was easy for the person under her control to have a miscarriage. At this time, the queen still questioned whether Qu's miscarriage was true or not, and what was the real reason... Yun Fenghuang What will be done
It would be strange if she didn’t fight with the queen endlessly!
Even if the queen has family support, Chunjia will not give up on her easily, but not relinquishing the throne does not mean that she can live comfortably in the palace.
Just looking at the people Yun Fenghuang has fought against since she entered the palace, you will know that she has many ways to make people in high positions unhappy!
Not to mention that Gu Zhen had to think about his future legitimate son, so he didn't dare to offend the imperial concubine.
"No wonder the imperial concubine was very affectionate with the Queen Mother at first, but she soon fell out." Gu Zhen sneered in his heart, "Sure enough, the only people this lady really cares about are Your Majesty and her nieces. Outsiders will please them. No matter how much I try to show my heart, she is still mean and ungrateful! Your concubine is not stupid, how can you continue to have fun with her? "
And if the imperial concubine is not stupid, is she, Gu Zhen, a fool
The feeling of being hugged by Empress Dowager Yuan and telling her about the hardships of raising Chunjia and the pain of being alienated by Chunjia disappeared in an instant.
The queen lowered her eyes slightly, wondering: "The daughter-in-law can send the imperial doctor to have a look, but if the imperial concubine does not allow it, the daughter-in-law has no choice. After all, everyone has seen the scene of Qu's miscarriage. Now she is going back to her palace. It is pitiful enough that she is crying and screaming. If the daughter-in-law rashly doubts her without any evidence, how can the noble concubine let it go? As you know, queen mother, the daughter-in-law is stupid and has never been liked by your majesty. If she is forced to do this, Your Majesty will definitely be unhappy. How about your mother sending someone? Your Majesty has always been filial to you, so if you send someone to investigate, it will be difficult for the imperial concubine to stop him by force."
Empress Dowager Yuan looked ugly, pursed her lips, and said after a while: "That's all, you have always made the decision regarding the harem. The Ai family is so old, but how can they withstand the torture of their old bones?"
After a pause, she asked the queen how she planned to deal with this matter.
"Although Concubine An didn't mean it, after all, Qu's miscarriage is related to her, so she must be punished symbolically." Gu Zhen said, "As for Qu's side... For the sake of her miscarriage, just Just reward me as a consolation."
Empress Dowager Yuan laughed and said, "Concubine An has already given up her life, what else do you want?"
Gu Zhen smiled apologetically and said: "How can a daughter-in-law be willing to make her mother sad? It's just that the state-owned legal family has family rules... "
"Don't use such words to excuse the Ai family." Empress Dowager Yuan said calmly, "In the final analysis, this matter was caused by Qu's disrespect for the high-ranking concubine. Even if it was a miscarriage, she deserved it, but why should she blame Concubine An? ? And Concubine An has already narrowly escaped death. To punish her now, is this any different from forcing her to die?!"
Gu Zhen felt disgusted and said: "If the mother insists on doing this, then... the daughter-in-law will discuss it with the imperial concubine later?"
The implication is that if the imperial concubine disagrees, then he may not be able to stop her.
Queen Mother Yuan looked at her deeply and sighed: "Queen, you must truly become a queen!"
I think so, but what can I do if you, the Queen Mother, can't do it
Gu Zhen slandered and pretended not to understand: "My daughter-in-law is stupid and will continue to serve His Majesty with all her heart."
The Queen Mother felt weak for a moment, shook her head and walked away without saying anything.
Not to mention how desolate she was after returning to Chunhuang Palace, Gu Zhen turned around and told Yun Fenghuang about the conversation. Yun Fenghuang sneered slightly: "So what if Concubine An committed suicide? It didn't work!" It can be seen that they are all pretending to be scary! Don’t pay attention! If those who blatantly murder the emperor’s heir cannot get the punishment they deserve, what rules will there be in the Sixth Palace in the future?”
She even turned around and cried to Chunjia in person, insisting that Concubine An did it on purpose, "Otherwise, many of the concubines in the palace had not seen her so blatantly murderous when they were pregnant, so why did they go after the Qu family? Isn't it jealousy? I hate the house and the crow!"
Chunjia had been busy tracking down the remnants of the Ji family these past two days to see if they had any other crazy behavior. She took time out of her busy schedule to ask Gu Zhen about the situation. She heard from Gu Zhen that it was true that Concubine An knocked Qu down the steps. , but it may not be intentional, it may be that they are relying on their status and are unwilling to give way to the Qu family, and they did not expect such serious consequences. In short, it is an ordinary dispute of temperament between the concubines, and the accident caused a big mess... This argument sounds fair. The most important thing is that Concubine An and Qu Hongzhuan's status in Chunjia's mind is just that.
It was not worth his effort to investigate thoroughly, so he believed it, comforted Yun Fenghuang, ordered Huzhu Palace to be fined one year's salary, and rewarded him with Qu Hongzhuan, and the matter was over. .
Within two days, the virtuous concubine Yuan Zhiniang was out of confinement and brought the eighth prince back to the palace, who was just one month old.
Perhaps because of Concubine An's incident, Mrs. Yuan did not mention any extra favors to mother and son, and only allowed mother and son to go to Chunxu Palace to talk for a while.
The queen and the noble concubine don't care about this. She is a direct aunt and nephew, and they are related by blood, so I can't envy her.
Besides, one of them relies on his family and the other on his own, so neither of them really needs the support of Empress Dowager Yuan.
"Why does Concubine Xian look so bad?" She muttered a few words in private, "No one else looks like she is full of energy after the confinement. Those who don't know think she is just pregnant, with that face It's sallow. Her appearance was quite good when she first entered the palace, but now she is extremely damaged... Even if everything in Wannian County is incomplete and far less convenient than the palace, it won't be like this? "
Gu Zhen whispered to Yun Fenghuang, "Is it because the production was not going well and it was too much trouble?"
"I have never given birth to a child, how do I know this?" Yun Fenghuang did not take it seriously and said, "Maybe it was caused by the bumpy road as we set off just after confinement? Anyway, now that she is back, the loving mother Queen Mother is still here Can you take good care of her?"
However, the Empress Dowager's thoughts as a loving mother only stayed on Yuan Zhi's mother and son for a few days. Something happened again in Huzhu Palace over there. Concubine An tried to commit suicide again but was stopped by the palace staff. She cried and went to the Empress Dowager Yuan for help. .
Naturally, Empress Dowager Yuan would not settle the matter, and directly called Chunjia over, saying that Concubine An had always been well behaved, so why could she not think about it? This was obviously caused by being forced by the imperial concubine!
Now she also knew that Yun Fenghuang was deeply interested in her, so she didn't expect that such an accusation would do anything to the imperial concubine. She just proposed to restore Concubine An's previous treatment. She didn't need to go to the empress to pay her respects, so she closed the door in her palace. Live life: "If you don't think about anything else, at least think about the friendship between you two who grew up together! You know the character of Melia. How did she endure all those humiliations? If you insist on asking her to pay her respects now, She can't survive at all. After spending twenty years together day and night, do you really have the heart to let her die like this, and let the white-haired person of the Ai family give away the black-haired person?!"
Chunjia was silent.
To say how much affection she still has for Yuan Niang, it must be very thin.
On the premise that Concubine An stopped causing trouble, the emperor was willing to give her a child so that she could live a prosperous life in the palace in advance.
But this little affection couldn't withstand Yun Fenghuang's cries and entanglements.
Otherwise, he would not have forced Yuan Yuniang to pay respects to the queen, just to show Yun Fenghuang that he was not attached to his old friend.
But now Empress Dowager Yuan intercedes, this...
"The Ai family knew you wouldn't agree." Seeing that he couldn't decide for a long time, Queen Mother Yuan stopped sobbing. She sighed sadly and said, "The Ai family used to think that as long as the Ji family is gone, you Now that you have taken over the power, the Ai family can breathe a sigh of relief! But at this time, you are the emperor and no longer the prince of the Ai family."
"What did the Queen Mother say?" Chunjia lowered her head slightly and said softly, "Of course my child will always be your royal son."
But before, when Aijia said this, you would immediately kneel down and explain with great fear. You would immediately agree to whatever Aijia said... Now you are not like this.
Queen Mother Yuan thought with some melancholy. When Chunjia was still young, she hoped that the child would grow up quickly and become strong so that he would no longer be bullied or manipulated, and would even protect herself in turn.
Now that Chunjia is really growing up, she realizes that this may not be a good thing.
Now that he has a palace, concubines, and children of his own, it is impossible for his thoughts to be as devoted to her as before.
Chunjia is worried about many things now, the throne, the world, hegemony, history, concubines, heirs... He is also worried about Empress Dowager Yuan, but it is just one of them.
"The Ai family is tired and wants to be quiet." Queen Mother Yuan looked at him and was a little lost for a moment. She didn't know whether she should be happy that he no longer had to ask for advice before making a decision, or she was angry. His disobedience was unfilial. After a moment, she said softly, "Just go."
"Mother." Chunjia didn't leave, but held her hand and said sincerely, "In the child's heart, you will always be the child's mother. Please take care of yourself, and don't disturb your life with these right and wrong." Pure. My child is sincere and I hope you can stay with me all the time."
Queen Mother Yuan looked at him for a while and then said calmly: "The Ai family knows."
She understood what Chunjia meant. Chunjia was willing to be filial to her, but only to herself.
He was unwilling to do favors to Yuan Yuniang, Yuan Zhiniang, Xing Ningbo Mansion, etc. for her sake... He even hoped that the Queen Mother would never care about the life and death of those people from now on.
But how is this possible
Not only because of the Queen Mother's feelings for her natal family, but also because, in the Queen Mother's view, this move also meant that she would be attached to Chunjia from this matter and live a life of subordination after her husband's death.
Then why has she worked so hard all these years
Could it be that the origin of the Yuan family in Fuyang, the widow of King Duan of Fuyang, and her two identities were not enough for her to spend her old age alone among the maidservants of Hunushi? ?
After Chunjia left, Empress Dowager Yuan called Zhanliu to her. She didn't say anything for a long time. After a while, she said, "The things we talked about at home before... let them do it again."