"Chonghui, don't run away, come to the queen mother."

The pearl in the hall shines high, and the queen reclines on the chaise longue, her face is like the autumn moon, and she smiles. Aunt Yurong on the side pinched her shoulders for her and said with a smile: "It's rare for the eldest prince to be energetic today, let him be stubborn for a while, it's no big deal." ”

Chonghui is two and a half years old this year, and he is well-behaved and exquisite, and he is very endearing. It's a pity that he has been weak since he was born out of his mother's womb, and he has been sick all year round. As the only heir of Emperor Yuan Feng and the eldest son of the Great Zhou, Chonghui's every move will inevitably be taken care of by the most cautious people in the palace.

The queen looked at her son gently, and her eyebrows were shallow and twisted into a line: "I ran sweating for a while, and I had to get cold again when I turned around, so ask the nurse to take him down to change his clothes first." ”

After the nurse took Chonghui away, Yurong whispered: "Niangniang, I heard that the emperor favored another dancing girl of Yuefu yesterday and sealed the ...... of picking girls."

The queen was silent for a moment, and then said: "You also know that now that Concubine Min is pregnant, among the high-ranking concubines in the palace, only Concubine Mei can still enter the emperor's eyes a little." Besides, the emperor's heirs are thin, and there is nothing wrong with him having the heart to look forward to young and beautiful women. ”

Yurong opened her mouth, but stopped talking.

The queen asked, "What do you want to say?" ”

Yu Rong said in a very low voice: "Niangniang, look at the emperor's current appearance, is it very similar to the situation after the death of the imperial concubine and the crown prince when the first emperor died......"

The queen suddenly said sharply: "Hugh is talking nonsense! ”

Yu Rong hurriedly bowed her head and said yes, and the queen eased her expression again, closed her eyes and fell into deep thought.

If you only look at the harem-shaped shì, what Yu Rong said is not unreasonable. After the Emperor Gongding and Prince Jingqi left, the first emperor abandoned government affairs for decades, indulged in lustful dogs and horses, and allowed the Zhang family and Mu relatives to control the power inside and outside the court. The same is true of today's emperor, the death of Concubine Lan Guifei made him start to set foot in the harem frequently.

But with her intuition as a husband and wife with the emperor for many years, Chun Yu Leyi knew that the father and son were very different. Two years ago, the Empress Dowager forcibly shot Wei Han in the imperial city in the name of a "traitor", and the emperor not only lost his beloved general, but also deeply realized that he was just a puppet of the Zhang family. After that, the emperor began to secretly support his own men and horses, and promoted the Hanmen clan, and his power in the court was gradually able to compete with the queen mother's family.

For the concubines in the harem, the emperor is not as fond of only one person as before. He gave the supreme favor and status of the Zhang family and the Mei family promoted by the queen mother, and at the same time selected many women from the Hanmen clan to enter the harem. These young women are of low rank, but they are full of grace and honor. It only took less than a year to gradually form a force in the harem and show their prominence.

The queen sighed softly, no matter how rapidly the forces of the previous dynasty changed and how the harem pattern was intertwined, she at least had an eldest son to follow. She just wants to do her duty as a queen quietly and watch Chonghui grow up, as for other things, she really doesn't want to ask more.

Yu Rong saw her frowning, as if she was worried, and asked quietly, "Niangniang remembered that incident again?" ”

Because of her sudden question, a trace of fear flashed in the queen's eyes. She knew what Yu Rong was referring to: two years ago, the young man named Wei Han was covered in blood and knocked on the door of Chengqing Palace. In despair, he had no choice but to trust the emperor's pillow man and reveal a shocking secret to her.

How many times did she dream back at midnight, she had thought that the palace would eventually be slaughtered and bloody. She can't say, she can't say. In any case, all she hopes for is peace in the world, and she doesn't want to disturb her current stable life because of those past events.

Yu Rong's hand kneaded a little lighter, and sighed: "That person is dead when he dies, and he doesn't have to bother Niangniang." ”

The queen said faintly: "Don't you know that the person he originally wanted to see was the emperor." ”

Yu Rong sighed: "Fortunately, he didn't let him see the emperor alive, if the emperor knows about this matter, I don't know how big a mess it will be, even the second half of the ......" sentence didn't dare to go on again, she originally wanted to speak, even the queen throne of the Chunyu clan is probably in jeopardy.

The queen lowered her eyes, all the qiē she had was given by the queen mother, but she relied on the emperor. Now sandwiched between the two people who are fighting openly and secretly, it is really difficult for both sides, and they are exhausted every step of the way.

The atmosphere in the hall was awkward, and Yu Rong tried her best to divert the topic, so she said: "I'm going to go tomorrow, and the slave and maid are ready to go and see things." The new little palace maids are always hairy, which is not very reassuring. ”

The queen bowed: "You go." ”

This trip was due to the death of Emperor Shengzhaoren, and Jingzhen decided to go to the Qianshan Emperor's Mausoleum to pay tribute. It only took three or two days to go back and forth, so I only planned to bring a little entourage, and two columns of iron horsemen to escort Luan.

The day before leaving, Mei Xueshen still went to Xihe Hall as usual to send her nourishing stew made by herself. In the past two years, she has been the most favored, and she has not drunk all kinds of maintenance decoctions, but she has never seen good news. Now, even Zhang Jingjing, who does not have a sacred heart, is pregnant, and she has been promoted to a concubine according to the routine. Mei Xue Shen touched her flat lower abdomen, and couldn't help but worry.

"What did Concubine Mei make for the emperor?" When the little eunuch in Xihe Hall saw her, he smiled and bowed down to greet her.

Mei Xue glanced at him indifferently: "You are on duty again today, why don't you serve inside, your master?" ”

That little eunuch was the apprentice of Zu Chengshou in the past, Shi Quan. Two years ago, due to Wei Han's death, the emperor was furious and thoroughly investigated the palace maids around him, and removed all the suspicious people who had been placed around him from all sides, and replaced them with these fresh faces who did not look very old.

Shi Quan said: "Master has gone to do something, and the emperor is still taking a lunch break." ”

Mei Xue Shen waited for a moment, put down the vermilion lacquer food box, and said, "Okay, the palace won't wait." The emperor has a poor appetite recently, and this is a sour bamboo shoot and meat soup soup. When he wakes up, you can bring it in. ”

She was just about to leave, but she saw a little palace maid walking out of the warm pavilion, and said timidly: "The emperor invites Concubine Mei to come in." ”

Mei Xue Shen happily entered, Ying Ying bowed, and saw that Jing Zhen had just gotten up from his lunch break, and the two palace maids beside him were serving him to change his clothes. She took the jade belt in the palace maid's hand, tied it around his waist for him personally, and then looked left and right, and met his clear face: "The emperor has lost weight." ”

The early spring afternoon sun shines through the screen window, sprinkling the beauty of the room. Jing Zhen smiled and took her hand and said, "I drink the soup you made every day, and I actually lose weight, so I'd better drink less." ”

Mei Xue Shen glanced at her obliquely, and said with a slight disappointment: "Even if the emperor doesn't drink it, the concubines will stew it every day and send it over." ”

Jing Zhen smiled: "Then I have to think about it, don't leave it outside, it's cheaper for those palace people." ”

I don't know when it began, and the emperor no longer had the cold demeanor he used to have in front of her. occasionally laughed a few words, and occasionally was full of tenderness, but it made Mei Xueshen feel that he was unfathomable, and when he was like honey, he added a little worry. Thinking about it carefully, this change happened about half a year after Concubine Lan's death. Could it be that the emperor had really forgotten about that woman? She naturally didn't believe it, otherwise, with the father-son relationship between him and the first emperor, why did he insist on going to Qianling to pay respects in person?

Jing Zhen saw that her thoughts were turning, her fingers touched her frowning brows, and asked, "What is Concubine Ai thinking?" ”

Mei Xue hurriedly gathered her thoughts, smiled lightly, like a spring flower blooming: "The concubine is thinking, the emperor is going to the tomb, the road is far away." I heard that there are not many people with the car, and the hidden mountain palace is in disrepair and desolate. I'm afraid that the palace people over there will not be good manners, and the emperor will be offended. ”

Jingzhen said: "Zuo will come back in two or three days, you don't need to worry." ”

Mei Xue hummed in a low voice, turned around to open the food box, filled a small bowl of sour bamboo shoots and meat soup and sent it to him, and went to take a few very light pastries and spread them one by one.

Jing Zhen barely ate a few bites of kidney bean rolls and drank some soup. Seeing that she always looked like she was in a state of desperation and wanted to stop talking, she lost interest anymore, so she asked her to retreat.

Mei Xue Shen walked out of the Xihe Hall with a sad expression, and the spring breeze of March blew on her body, making her can't help but feel a little chilled. Qianshan Imperial Mausoleum...... Two years ago, the palace maid named Ah Yuan invited herself to go to Qianshan to guard the mausoleum, was it just to find a way to live for herself? She wanted to ask the emperor about the situation of this palace maid, but she was afraid that he would be suspicious and implicate herself for no reason. In these years, the emperor has never talked about the death of Concubine Lan, and naturally no one dares to bring up the old things again, so as not to set off any new waves.

She couldn't help but shudder again when she thought of Ah Yuan's face that resembled Yang's and the pair of eyes full of hatred.