Mrs. Zhong is the orderly wife of the fourth rank, so it stands to reason that she can have an audience with the empress dowager.
In particular, she has an additional identity, being the grandmother of the Fifth Prince.
It's just that the Zhong family is low-key and never publicizes this matter in front of others. In addition, there is a concubine Xian in the middle. The concubine Xian raised the fifth prince by her side, which happened before Emperor Jianping ascended the throne.
After he ascended the throne, the fifth prince was raised by the concubine Xian. As time passed, very few people outside the palace knew about it.
But Empress Dowager Fu knew, and she also noticed all the recent maneuvers in the palace, but she was too old to bother with these things.
However, Mrs. Zhong's sudden request to see her seemed a little unusual. Originally, the queen mother was unwell for a while, and she was not seeing a married woman, but today she made an exception to see Mrs. Zhong.
The queen mother gave her a seat, Mrs. Zhong had sat down, but she knelt down on the ground with a plop when she heard the queen mother said that someone would serve tea.
"Queen."
"What's the matter? Nianci, quickly help Zhong Gongren up, and speak as soon as you have something to say, why did you kneel down all of a sudden?"
Mrs. Zhong prostrated herself on the ground, shedding tears without saying a word.
"It's really hard to say what the minister's wife said. The Queen Mother should let the minister's wife kneel and say it."
Mrs. Zhong didn't want to get up, Nian Ci had no choice but to withdraw her hand, Empress Dowager Fu took a deep breath and leaned back into the phoenix seat.
"Then you can tell."
Mrs. Zhong kowtowed, and then slowly said the reason.
"The minister's wife has only one daughter, surnamed Zhong and named Shuyu. At the age of sixteen, she was selected into the East Palace to serve beside His Highness the Crown Prince. The little girl is docile, beautiful and intelligent... In fact, the minister's wife didn't want her daughter to enter the palace for draft. Persevere... Unexpectedly, the little girl was unlucky, and died not long after giving birth to the fifth prince.
"For this reason, the minister's wife often complained about her husband and why he let his daughter into the palace. But since the incident has happened, it is also the daughter's blessing to be able to continue the heirs for His Royal Highness, but she is not lucky enough to enjoy this blessing Gradually, the minister's wife felt relieved. She also thought about the loneliness of the fifth prince, but saw that His Highness had chosen Xu Liangyuan, the adoptive mother for the fifth prince. I let go of my heart...
"It's embarrassing for the minister's wife to think about the adoptive mother, and she is afraid that the fifth prince will miss the biological mother and ruin the bond with the adoptive mother. Usually, even if they enter the palace and meet at the palace banquet, they will pay attention silently and dare not go forward to talk. As long as the fifth prince's natal family is the Xu family, not the Zhong family, as long as he treats the fifth prince well, my Zhong family will never complain."
Mrs. Zhong's speech was not long, but it was well-organized and full of heart, which made people feel the same way.
But Empress Dowager Fu knew that there was more to come. In fact, everyone present could tell that Mrs. Zhong must have something to say before she said these words.
"Unfortunately, the Zhongfu bought a group of servants a few days ago, among these people was a family of three, and that woman was the maid who had served the little girl back then, because her husband's family suffered an accident, the family of three had no choice but to sell themselves. Originally, the minister's wife didn't know about it, but it was the servants in the family who talked with her, and then she found out the reason.
"The young girl's youth died early, and these years has become a heart disease for the minister. I heard that this woman served the young girl in the Eastern Palace, so I transferred her to my side, and wanted to hear her tell me something about the young girl in the palace. I don't know if this woman named Cui Liu was moved by my wife's love for her daughter, or if she felt guilty, she told my wife a secret, and this secret is related to the death of my daughter."
Empress Dowager Fu couldn't help taking a deep breath, and she didn't calm down until she touched the teacup.
After all, time is not forgiving, she has never seen such a scene before, and now she needs to borrow something to cover up the ups and downs of her mood.
Empress Dowager Fu took a sip of tea before saying, "Go on."
At this time, Mrs. Clock had already raised her head, her face was full of tears, and her expression was agitated.
"The Zhong family can deny their grandson, and they can forcibly endure the lack of acquaintances with their blood relatives, but the Zhong family will never allow the grandson of the Zhong family to admit that a thief is their mother. The reason why the little girl was so sweet and beautiful back then is inseparable from the virtuous concubine. Concubine Xian’s reason for wanting her little girl to die is precisely to support the fifth prince. Now that Cui Liu is outside the Shenwu Gate, the Empress Dowager can come and ask in detail, and she will know whether the minister’s wife has slandered Concubine Xian or not.”
After she finished speaking, she kowtowed heavily, then prostrated herself on the ground and remained silent.
Empress Dowager Fu's heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help rubbing her forehead: "Mr. Zhong Gong got up first, and the Ai family ordered people to proclaim the green willow. If it is true as you said, the Ai family will definitely decide with you."
Soon Cui Liu was recruited to Ningshou Palace, but at this time the palace didn't know what happened.
At the same time that Xuan Cui Liu had an audience, the Empress Dowager had ordered someone to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to check the roster of those who served the palace in the East Palace. It was only a matter of checking that the maid who served Zhong Liangyuan's side was exactly named Cui Liu.
And this person was also the one who witnessed Zhong Liangyuan's death.
Later, after Cui Liu was recruited to Ningshou Palace, they first had some questioning and questioning to verify her identity, and after responding one by one, Cui Liu explained the ins and outs of the original.
Because she was eager to go out of the palace and marry her childhood sweetheart, but she was too young and had no money, so she was bought by Xu Liangyuan, who instigated and fanned the flames, causing Zhong Liangyuan's condition to worsen, so that she was overwhelmed and died later.
"Evil is rewarded with evil. Although women go out of the palace to marry, they have suffered many hardships. They have four children, but they only supported one. Their parents also died of illness. This year, because of the flood in their hometown, they had no choice but to leave their hometown. , I really can't survive, so I will sell myself.
"But I didn't expect to be bought by the Zhong family. The master and wife treat the servants kindly, and the women can't bear the condemnation in their hearts, so they will tell the truth. I only hope that the Queen Mother can spare the women's lives. Poor women. The child has been sick since he was a child, and it's all because of the misdeeds of the mother-in-law..."
Cui Liu fell on the ground and wept uncontrollably, while Pan'er sitting beside her felt gloomy.
When it was found out that Cui Liu was indeed in the roster, Empress Dowager Fu asked Zong Cong to come over. It happened that Zong Cong was in Jingren Palace at that time, so Pan Er followed.
I didn't expect to see a big show. It's just that the timing of the big show is too coincidental, so Pan'er's heart is gloomy.
She took advantage of the spare time to glance at Zong Cong.
Zong Cong frowned, obviously extremely displeased, as if feeling that Pan Er was looking at him, he turned his eyes to look at her.
Pan'er winked at him.
Now the two have almost reached the point where they have a tacit understanding. Just by looking at each other's small movements, they can gain insight into what is in their hearts.
So Zong Cong naturally understood her meaning very smoothly—what do you think? Will there be some conspiracy
He glanced at her—what do you think
Pan'er blinked again—it felt a little strange, but it was sincere.
Haven't you seen the queen mother and are you all passive
But Empress Dowager Fu didn't have the time to pay attention to Cui Liu's words at the moment, the emperor was sitting next to her, and he was "eye-eyed" with the imperial concubine in front of her, so the empress dowager would not miss it.
The queen mother coughed: "Emperor, what do you think?"
Zong Cong hurriedly sat up straight, and conveniently brought back the teacup that he was going to put down, flicked the tea foam covertly, but put it down again.
"What does the queen mother mean?"
"This is a matter for the emperor's harem, so naturally the emperor decides."
"Then why don't you call Concubine Xian to ask?"
Since the emperor said so, he naturally did so.
After a while, Concubine Xian was informed.
However, not only Concubine Xian came, but also Empress Chen and Concubine Hu Shu.
"Seeing Concubine Xian hurriedly coming to Ningshou Palace, the concubine thought that the queen mother had something to do, so she followed her, and hoped that the queen mother and Your Majesty would not blame her." Empress Chen said after blessing her.
Concubine Hu Shu smiled a little shyly: "I just planned to go to Kunning Palace to talk to my empress, since we met, I followed."
"Since you're here, sit down." The Empress Dowager said.
There is something going on in this palace that can't be covered up. I didn't see that Ningshou Palace was announcing people at the Shenwu Gate, and then went to invite the emperor, so I knew something must have happened.
Something did happen, and it was not a trivial matter.
After listening to Nian Ci's report, Concubine Xu Xian fell into shock.
She staggered back and shouted: "I am wronged, my concubine is wronged, I hope Your Majesty and the Queen Mother will make decisions for my concubine. Back then, my concubine was at His Majesty's side, and she was still in Xiyuan. Attack Zhong Liangyuan, and the concubine's character, His Majesty and the Queen Mother both know, how could the concubine do such a thing."