Chu Xue did not guess wrong, the reason why Song Chen returned to Beijing early was precisely because on the battlefield in the north, the Qi army fought a big victory.

About half a month ago, heavy snow fell on the battlefield, and under the bitter cold, the rear supplies could not keep up, and the Hu people were already in a state of sorrow. In order to boost the morale of the army, the new leader of Beihu Eke followed Song Chen's example and personally went into battle to defend against the attack of the Qi army, but it was a pity that Eke was a young hairy boy, although he had the courage to be afraid of the heavens and the earth, but he really lacked the experience of leading troops and facing the Qi army.

On the contrary, Song Chen was a general with great combat experience, and under his personal deployment, after only three battles, the Yan army led by the general Xiang Wei had already defeated the Hu people. At the time of the last confrontation, Eke saw that the shape was not good, and he planned to abandon the army and flee for his life, but the elite soldiers who escorted him did not go far, so they met the intercepting Qi army head-on.

The leader was Qin Yuan.

Because Qin Yuan's kung fu is excellent, Xiang Wei sent him for only one purpose, to take the head of Eke.

And although the Hu people, who had been cornered, resisted to the death, the brave General Qin led his men to kill all the enemies, and with one arrow, he personally took the head of Eke, and returned to Song Chen to restore his life.

Song Chen was overjoyed and immediately rewarded him.

Once the leader is dead, how can the few barbarians left stubbornly resist? A few days later, Eke's younger brother Eji personally wrote a letter of surrender and sent an envoy to deliver it to the Qi military camp.

Although the other party has bowed his head and admitted defeat, the letter of surrender has not entered Song Chen's eyes, how familiar is this scene? More than ten years ago, he was still the newly crowned King Heng, and he had never received a truce from this barbarian, and the other party agreed with him not to attack, but what was the result? Before their scars were healed, they had forgotten the pain. To them, faith is just a cloud in the sky, and the slightest wind blows and disappears without a trace.

Therefore, this time, Song Chen refused to accept the surrender letter again, but bluntly put forward the only condition for the truce - the Northern Hu will return to the Great Qi from now on, and the Hu people will be governed by the Great Qi court from now on. If he agrees, he can reward him with a prince, and if he refuses, the Qi army will continue to march on the territory of the Northern Hu, and will surely set foot on the entire territory of the Hu people.

Of course, Eji and those royal families were afraid, to be honest, they knew very well that the clansmen had only been delayed for more than ten years, and they couldn't withstand the war at all, but Eke was so arrogant, he had to provoke the bottom line of the Great Qi Emperor, and he had to turn a good independent kingdom into someone else's territory.

In order to seek a little vitality for the clansmen, Eji agreed to Song Chen's request and was willing to be a courtier of Great Qi.

When the news came, it was the end of the old year, the major events were over, and Song Chen returned to his heart like an arrow, but he still spent Chinese New Year's Eve in the camp with the soldiers before leaving for Beijing. How heartening it would be if he could announce this at the feast of the first night, as a king, he would like to see the praise of his subjects, and he also believed that this praise came from the hearts of his subjects.

Leaving the follow-up matters to several generals, he embarked on the journey back to Beijing on the second day of the new year.

Because of the concern for political affairs and relatives, the return journey was not delayed, and after seven or eight days, the holy car was about to enter Gyeonggi.

And after a night and a day, the news from Yufu Palace finally reached Song Chen.

At that time, the royal driver had just entered a state capital, and it was expected that there would be two days away from Beijing, and Liangxi presented the last batch of political letters he had just received.

At first, there were some doubts, unlike the letterhead written by her own hands in the past, the writer this time was not Xue'er, and when the words in the letter were clearly read, the king was furious, and immediately dropped the tea cup in his hand.

The people who were waiting for it didn't know why, so they naturally knelt together, and Liangxi was even more puzzled, just thinking about opening his mouth to ask, but he heard Song Chen say angrily: "Go back to the palace immediately!" ”

The crowd who had just settled down to rest immediately got busy, and half an hour later, the galloping royal car disappeared into the darkness again.

~~

The sky was bright, and there was peace in Yufu Palace.

Chu Xue was still immersed in her dreams.

She dreamed of a little child sitting in an empty palace crying, and she wanted to go up and hug her, but the child pushed her hand away and ran out crying. She was very uncomfortable, thinking that it must be the child she had just lost, the child must have hated herself, the child was so young, crying so sadly......

She chased after her and cried: "Child, child......"

The tears in the dream slipped down, and her sobbing made the man staring at the bed feel distressed, and the familiar warmth fell on her cheeks, and she was startled and finally woke up.

When she opened her eyes, the outline of the man in her sight gradually became clear, she was stunned for a long time, and finally called softly: "Your Majesty." ”

"Awake?"

His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were full of distress.

She nodded, trying to sit up, but was stopped by him, he said, "Lie down, it's cold outside." ”

After all, the border pass was bitterly cold, he cleared a lot, and looked at him carefully for a while before she said softly: "The emperor came back so soon, didn't he have a good rest on the way?" ”

He didn't speak, he just looked at her distressedly, and after looking at her for a while, he saw her lowering her eyes, and her tears fell again, she trembled lightly: "It's all because the concubine is not good, and she failed to keep the child for the emperor, which disappointed the emperor......"

At the end of the words, it turned into a silent cry, and his heart was like a knife, so he had to pick her up and take her into his arms.

"I don't blame you, I don't blame you." He said softly.

It's my fault, he said in his heart. If it weren't for the plan to snub her and make Concubine Li proud, how could she be suspected for no reason and drugged for absurd reasons? In the final analysis, she was injured so much because of him, because he failed to protect their mother and son.

For some reason, it was obvious that she didn't give the child a chance to be born, but the moment she saw him, these self-blame and torture all turned into grievances, she fell into his arms, and finally cried happily for a few days.

For a long time, tears wet his clothes, and he just hugged her quietly, but a storm was brewing in his heart.

When she finally calmed down, she whispered in his arms: "The emperor must be tired from the journey, the concubines are much better now, you go and rest first, don't worry about the concubines." ”

Even at this time, she didn't complain about her grievances, she still remembered to care for herself, guilt and self-blame came to her heart, and he said softly: "Take care of your body, don't think about anything else." ”

I'll take care of the rest.

Chu Xue nodded tearfully, and suddenly remembered Le'er, so she said to him: "Your Majesty, the concubine is like this, she can't take care of Le'er for a while, so the Queen Mother took Le'er to Funing Palace, and after a while, the concubine asked someone to take her to greet you." ”

Sighing, he said, "No need, I haven't seen the Queen Mother for a long time, and I should go over in person." Looking up at the sky outside the window, he continued, "I'll lie here for a while, and I'll go back after breakfast." ”

Seeing that he was about to go in addition to his outer robe, Chu Xue hurriedly dissuaded him, "The concubine is bloody now, and the emperor is still ......"

He smiled and interrupted her: "I just came back from the battlefield, and the Hu people were killed and wounded by tens of thousands, Xue'er said, who is more bloody between you and me?" At this time, there is no need to be formal, just rest with me for a while. ”

She nodded, seeing him lying beside her.

Returning to her long-lost embrace, she closed her eyes again, and fell asleep again in a few moments.

Listening to the gentle breathing of the beauty in his arms, Song Chen also closed his eyes, but he didn't fall asleep for a long time.

The good child is gone like this, the beloved woman has suffered such a great grievance, and some things are not easy for the queen mother to decide, but now that he is back, he must not do nothing again.

He was not the father of the year, and he knew that his mother had been wronged, but he couldn't give her an explanation and comfort. And now, no matter who the other party is, he will be an emperor and will no longer be coerced!

When Chu Xue woke up, the sun was shining in the courtyard, and Song Chen had already gone to Funing Palace.

After living with the imperial grandmother for a few days, Le'er gradually adapted to Funing Palace, and temporarily forgot about the discomfort of leaving her mother.

When Song Chen arrived, the little guy was having breakfast at the same table with the imperial grandmother, and the little man was sitting obediently, waiting for the porridge in the hands of the nurse, when he heard the voice of the palace people, the little man immediately turned his head to look at the palace door.

Then I saw a tall figure step in.

The villain hadn't seen her father for a long time, and she was still a little stunned at first, but when Song Chen called her name softly, she pursed her lips and laughed. The little girl combed her hair in a small bun, and sat beside her grandmother with a good appearance, but she hadn't seen her for a few days, and seemed to have grown up a little more. still has a delicate and beautiful face, big bright eyes flickering, at this time, when I saw my father, it seemed that I was still a little shy. With such a little person carved in pink and jade, Song Chen's heart melted when he saw it, and when he saluted the Queen Mother, he hurriedly stepped forward and hugged her into his arms.

Seeing him suddenly appear, the Queen Mother was also surprised, and hurriedly asked, "Why did you come back so soon?" ”

Song Chen said: "There is nothing important on the road, so I want to return to the palace as soon as possible, and I can also catch up with my mother to spend the New Year's Eve together."

The son's words are good, the queen mother smiled smoothly, but after laughing, her heart was clear, although he slept for a while, his face was still tired, seeing his son like this, how could the queen mother not understand? This must have received the letter, thinking about Concubine Yi in his heart, and hurried back in a hurry.

In front of Le'er, it was not good for the mother and son to talk about Chu Xue's miscarriage, and it happened that Song Chen had not yet had breakfast, so the three of them had a reunion dinner together in Funing Palace.

Le'er actually misses her father very much, at this time she eats at the same table with her father, showing her extra enthusiasm, handing her father everything she thinks is delicious, wanting him to taste it, her father and grandmother praised her a few words, she became more and more proud, and immediately shook her head, and the atmosphere at the dinner table was a lot more cheerful. The Queen Mother looked at her lovely little granddaughter and couldn't help but smile.

Song Chen also looked at his daughter and smiled, but after laughing, his heart became more and more dull, originally in a few months, a child would be born, and the queen mother would be more happy, but now it is impossible, he, as a father, has never even been able to say a word to that child......

Looking at the innocent Le'er again, he thought of Xue'er who was still in bed in Yufu Palace, and the warm scene of a family of three in the past came to his heart, making the exquisite food in the entrance completely lose its taste.

After finishing breakfast with his mother, he was about to go out with his feet, and the Queen Mother hurriedly asked: "A few children will come over to say hello later, won't you meet together?" ”

Song Chen said: "Now that my son has returned to the palace, he has an opportunity, and now he has important things at hand, so he won't accompany his mother first." ”

The Queen Mother nodded, wanted to say something and stopped, he didn't say anything, and went straight back to the Qinzheng Palace.

It didn't take long for Zhou Yu, the extremely worried head of the inner court, to kneel in front of the king.

At this time, the king did not review the recital in front of the imperial case, but sat in front of the couch to ask him, although he had served two generations of kings, Zhou Yu at this time did not have the slightest confidence in his heart, and carefully reported the events of that night to the king carefully, and then, held his breath and waited for the holy decree.

After listening to what happened, Song Chen was silent for a long time, and asked, "What did Qiu Gui spit out?" ”

Zhou Yu bowed his head, "Back to Your Majesty, the inner court prison tried her best, but Qiu Gui always insisted that it was her own intention and did not ...... Confess to others. ”

Song Chen didn't answer anything, and said, "Such a big thing happened this time, and you, the manager, can't get rid of your responsibility." ”

Zhou Yu immediately knelt down and trembled: "The slave is guilty!" Please punish him. ”

Song Chen was quite satisfied with his attitude, and said lightly: "From now on, your errand will be demoted to a deputy position, and you will be retained for the time being, and what happens in the future depends on your performance in the future." ”

Zhou Yu kowtowed again and again, and said, "The slave knocks on Your Majesty!" Thank you! ”

"That's it." Song Chen raised his hand and explained: "I will go to the cold palace first, and give Concubine Li to cut herself." The people in his close palace were all killed. ”

The king's voice was faint, but his words were like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, so that everyone in the palace did not react for a long time.

Zhou Yu also paused for a moment, and said tentatively: "The meaning of majesty xià is...... Want Concubine Li to commit suicide? ”

That's Concubine Li, who won the sacred heart a while ago, and she's a princess of a country! This is said to be killed? If you don't know it, you'll start a war! If he didn't ask clearly, how dare he act rashly.

Song Chen frowned slightly, and asked rhetorically, "Do you want me to say it again?" ”

With such words, Zhou Yu immediately bowed his head and said, "The slave doesn't dare, the slave, let's go to Lingyue Palace." ”

Song Chen snorted coldly, and then ordered: "Tell Xing Feng to go to the Tai Hospital to see who prescribed the medicine." ”

"Yes." Zhou Yu could hear it clearly this time, and hurriedly responded.

There was nothing to explain, the king waved his hand, and Zhou Yu hurriedly stepped back.

Seeing this, Liangxi beside the king secretly pinched a cold sweat for the master, and also secretly sighed for Concubine Li for a while.

Two quarters of an hour later, Zhou Yu and his entourage, who were carrying poisonous wine, had already arrived in the cold palace.

There are not many women in Song Chen, but the first emperor had a few cold concubines, and when the former Empress Chen was in power, she didn't live for a few years, so the current cold palace, in fact, there is only one concubine, and the gloomy and obscure building lives up to its name, which is really cold and terrible.

Concubine Li didn't actually live for a few days, but she was already on the verge of collapse. She is a princess, although she is a concubine, but when she was in her homeland in the past, how could she have been treated like this? The empty and dilapidated courtyard, the dilapidated furniture and utensils, and even the lowest food like the next person...... For the first time in her life, she missed the court of her homeland very much, and although it was boring, as long as the dynasty remained, she would always be a noble princess, and there she would never live such a life under any circumstances.

Suddenly, her maidservant brought from Jinli suddenly came in and reported to her that Zhou Yu was coming, and she immediately got up to look.

However, at first glance, she saw the wine jug held by the little eunuch behind Zhou Yu.

She was stunned and hurriedly asked, "Manager Zhou, why are you here?" ”

Zhou Yu said lightly: "The slave respects the holy decree and comes ......"

"Divine decree?"

Without waiting for Zhou Yu to finish speaking, Concubine Li hurriedly asked, "You said the holy decree?" Is the emperor back? Hope welled up in her eyes, and she said eagerly: "Did the emperor call you to let the palace out?" ”

Zhou Yu frowned slightly, and when she finished asking, she replied unhurriedly: "The emperor has returned to the palace, but the slave is here, not to invite the mother back to the palace, the emperor has a decree to give you the way." ”

"On the road?" Concubine Li didn't quite understand this statement, and asked, "What does it mean to be on the road?" ”

Zhou Yu sighed and said a big vernacular, "The emperor gave you self-determination, that is, suicide!" ”

Concubine Li was shocked, pointed to the wine jug that was served on the tray and trembled: "Suicide? The emperor asked you to bring this, is it for me to die? ”

Zhou Yu nodded.

Concubine Li immediately burst into tears and shouted, "Why does the emperor want me to die? Why do you want me to die? Doesn't he like me very much, he is willing to ......"

There are still a lot of things to be busy at hand, Zhou Yu didn't want to waste time with her, so he directly interrupted her: "You killed the prince in Yi Guifei's womb, and almost killed Yi Guifei, you said yourself, why did the emperor want you to commit suicide?" You said that you have been in the palace for so long, can't you see the weight of Concubine Yi in the emperor's heart? How dare you touch her...... The time has come, Niangniang, this poisonous wine is painless, and it will make it easy for you to go......"

Zhou Yu glanced behind him, and the little eunuch who served the wine hurriedly took a few steps forward, and Zhou Yu persuaded in a good voice: "Niangniang, please!" ”

But seeing Concubine Li looking at the pot of wine with wide tears in her eyes, she suddenly raised her hand and knocked the wine pot to the ground, gritted her teeth and said angrily: "I am Princess Jinli, you dare to treat me like this, aren't you afraid that my father will come to find an explanation?" I want to see the emperor, I want to see him! ”

Zhou Yu and the others never thought that Concubine Li would be so bold, even the poisonous wine given by the Holy Lord would dare to overturn, and it would be impossible to be any palace concubine, but think about her identity again...... Indeed, she is also a foreign princess after all.

Usually if other palace concubines are so resistant to the order, death is inevitable, and if the eunuchs do it themselves, they will have to suffer a lot, but if they are replaced by Concubine Li, Zhou Yu is really a little unable to do it, he thinks that what Concubine Li just said makes sense, if she dies and then provokes a war between the two countries, it is indeed a bit strict.

Zhou Yu thought about it and whispered a few words to the little eunuch, and the little eunuch hurriedly ran to the Qinzheng Palace.

In the imperial study, the king had just sat in front of the bookcase before picking up a folded book, when he saw Liangxi bow his head and walk in, hesitated again and again, and finally spoke: "Your Majesty, there is something wrong with the cold palace. ”

Song Chen didn't say anything, he was allowed to continue, Liangxi looked up at the king who was not angry, and continued: "Concubine Li Niangniang refused to die, insisted on seeing you, and threatened the war between the two countries......"

Before Liangxi finished speaking, he saw Song Chen sneer, slammed the fold in his hand on the case, and said, "Then bring her over." ”

Liangxi hurriedly retreated.

After a short period of effort, Concubine Li had already been taken to the imperial study.

"The concubine visits the emperor." She bowed politely.

Song Chen didn't raise his head, and asked directly, "What else do you have to say to me?" There was no emotion in his voice.

Concubine Li laughed sadly with tears in her eyes and asked, "Is the emperor really willing to kill his concubine for that woman?" You still liked concubines so much before you went on the expedition, just for the sake of that hypocritical woman, you ......"

"Shut up!"

Song Chen finally raised his head, looked at her and said, "That woman, no one in the world can move, let alone insult casually." I remember your status as a princess, so I gave you self-determination, and if you want to return to Jinli, I can also send your body back. I've said that, you can go. ”

As soon as these words came out, Concubine Li was stunned, and then suddenly laughed like crazy, and the grievances and anxiety that had been full of grievances and anxiety for a few days all turned into ridicule of herself at this moment, laughing at herself for thinking that this man liked her, it turned out that in his heart, he was nothing, he didn't even give a chance to defend himself, would he still believe that he was framed?

Concubine Li tearfully asked him: "You don't believe me, let me die, it's okay, but do you think those women who pretend to be innocent can be any better?" That bowl of medicine, Concubine Yi didn't drink it at all, she had a miscarriage, and it was completely arranged by her! It was she who killed her child, and it has nothing to do with me! ”

"Why did she kill her own child?" Song Chen's angry voice overshadowed Concubine Li's screams, he tightened his eyebrows, and asked, "Tell me, why did she harm her own child?" ”

Yes, didn't Xue'er bother to tell him the news of her pregnancy so much, didn't she just want him to protect their mother and child, she was so careful, why did she harm the child herself? Song Chen couldn't think of this truth, this was nonsense at all, and the hysterical quibbling of the woman in front of him made him completely impatient and made him angry in an instant.

Seeing the man like this, Concubine Li laughed desperately again, and after a while, she calmed down her feelings, and finally said: "Okay, good, you believe in Concubine Yi, then do you believe in your queen?" Do you know how shameless your dignified and virtuous queen is! She pretended to be sick herself, and lied to me that Concubine Yi was pregnant with a wild seed, and asked me to carry out the palace rules for her, and even the bowl of medicine was given by her, but in the end, she actually cleared all the sins! There is such a character in your harem, I wonder if your women have had a good time in the past? ”

Song Chen's eyes froze, but he saw Concubine Li and said word by word: "If you are a gentleman, send me back to Jinli." Then he turned around sharply and walked out of the Qinzheng Palace.

There are too many dark and filthy things in this Qi Palace, and she will never want to stay here even if she dies. It doesn't matter if Song Chen doesn't doubt Chu Xue, she doesn't believe him and she won't doubt the queen, Xu Jinhe is too despicable and vicious, she will never let her have a good time! There is also this man, who is the biological mother of his wife, the crown prince, and the queen wants to harm his favorite concubine, this problem, let him make his own choice!

A quarter of an hour later, the news of Concubine Li's death reached the Qinzheng Palace.

After being silent for a while, Song Chen got up and went to Fengyi Palace.