In December of the fourth year of Jianwu (28 AD), Liu Xiu left the palace to comfort the soldiers everywhere. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 In late January of the fifth year of Jianwu (29 AD), the car turned back to Luoyang.

When I returned to the palace, it was the middle of the night. Liu Xiu came to the West Palace for the first time to take a look at Yin Lihua, Liu Yiwang, and Liu Yang, who he missed day and night.

Yin Lihua didn't expect Liu Xiu to come back early, but fortunately, the palace people did things neatly, and quickly prepared hot water for Liu Xiu to bathe and prepare meals.

After Liu Xiu finished eating, he went to see Liu Yiwang and Liu Yang who were sleeping for a while, and then returned to Yin Lihuade's bedroom. The two lay on the bed and exchanged heartfelt feelings.

Yin Lihua suddenly remembered that Guo Shengtong gave birth to the fifth prince yesterday, so she said to Liu Xiu: "The concubine forgot to congratulate Uncle Wen, the queen gave birth to the fifth prince yesterday." ”

Liu Xiu was not happy about this, and responded calmly: "Hmm." ”

Liu Xiu's reaction made Yin Lihua's heart a little happy, and seeing that Liu Xiu was not interested in this, she didn't say anything, but instead talked about what happened in the harem during Liu Xiu's departure, and said her own views and requests by the way.

Liu Xiu has always been responsive to Yin Lihua's needs, and she did not refuse her request.

Yin Lihua smiled, and was about to tell Liu Xiu about Liu Huang again, but Liu Xiu turned over and covered her.

"Kyaukyue, give me a few more princes." Saying that, he went to Wushan Yunyu with Yin Lihua with long-lost enthusiasm.

The next day, Yin Lihua woke up and remembered what she hadn't had time to say, thinking that it would be okay to wait for Liu Xiu to come and talk about it. But it didn't take long to hear the news that the palace banquet would be held tomorrow night, and then thought that Liu Xiu might not come to the West Palace tonight, Yin Lihua suddenly felt that time was tight and urgent. So, on this day, when she was sending lunch to Liu Xiu, she said to Liu Xiu: "Uncle Wen, the concubine heard that there is a palace banquet tomorrow night, and she wants the eldest sister to participate." ”

Liu Xiu couldn't help but be a little puzzled by this, "Since the death of my eldest brother-in-law, my eldest sister has not liked to be lively, and you also know this, why did you say this today?" ”

Yin Lihua didn't expect Liu Xiu to know Liu Huang so much, and he also said that Liu Huang was the most beloved, so she couldn't help but feel worthless for Liu Huang, she said with a slight annoyance: "Eldest sister really doesn't like to be lively." The eldest sister said, firstly, because she is alone now, and she is afraid that there will be inconvenience in the lively place; Second, I am afraid that she is lonely in her heart, and the excitement will only make her sad. ”

Liu Xiu recognized Yin Lihua's words, and asked, "In that case, why do you want the eldest sister to participate?" ”

Yin Lihua also knew at this time, Liu Xiu never thought about finding a good son-in-law for Liu Huang at all. After thinking about it, in fact, she could understand Liu Xiu, but she still felt that she couldn't let Liu Huang be lonely for the rest of her life. So, she patiently said to Liu Xiu: "The eldest sister has been removed, she is still young, if she is lonely for the rest of her life, not to mention what the eldest sister thinks in her heart, even the concubines feel sad for the eldest sister." The eldest sister has always had an unsatisfactory life, wouldn't it be a good thing if she could have a good person to accompany her for the rest of her life? ”

Liu Xiu really didn't think about it, but now that he heard Yin Lihua say this, he thought about Liu Huang's past from childhood to the present, and he couldn't help but agree with Yin Lihua's words very much. It's just that it's a little difficult to do, and he asked Yin Lihua: "Can you convince the eldest sister to participate?" ”

Yin Lihua shook her head at this, but she said to Liu Xiu firmly: "You and I are committed together, it must be very likely." ”

Liu Xiu bowed his head at this. He felt that it would be too hasty to persuade Liu Huang tomorrow, and that Liu Huang should have time to prepare. So, he immediately called the palace people to bring King Liu Yi and Liu Yang, and went straight to Liu Huang's princess mansion outside the palace.

Yin Lihua knew that Liu Huang was a human being, and she didn't like others to talk and do things, so she waited for Liu Huang to get close to Liu Yiwang and Liu Yang, and went straight to her senses. "Jiaoyue and Uncle Wen want to find another lover for the eldest sister from among the ministers, so that the eldest sister can also have both children and daughters. I don't know what the eldest sister thinks? ”

Although Liu Huang has been nurtured by the three obedience and four virtues since childhood, although it is the best to keep chastity for her deceased husband, she has never been a conformist woman, but she has never thought about remarrying. Just thinking of the loneliness and loneliness of the past few years, thinking of Liu Yiwang's cuteness, and thinking of the beauty that Yin Lihua said, after she was silent for a long time, Fang said: "Okay." ”

Yin Lihua didn't expect things to go so smoothly, she immediately told Liu Huang happily: "Tomorrow's palace banquet, I hope my sister will participate, and I will see if there are people who are favored among the ministers." ”

Liu Huang bowed his head.

Liu Xiu saw that the matter had been decided, so he hurriedly wanted to go back to the palace to deal with government affairs.

Before parting, King Liu Yi hugged Liu Huang tightly and did not let go. If it was usual, Yin Lihua would let King Liu Yi stay, but now that Liu Huang wants to prepare for tomorrow night's palace banquet, she can't let King Liu Yi hinder Liu Huang, so she coaxed King Liu Yi and said: "King Yi will go back with his father and mother, and the eldest aunt will come to see you soon." ”

When Liu Yiwang heard this, he looked at Liu Huang cutely.

I saw Liu Huang lovingly touch Liu Yiwang's little head and nodded.

Liu Yi Wang Fang let go of his hand and returned to the palace with Yin Lihua and Liu Xiu.

Back in the palace, Yin Lihua asked Liu Xiu: "Do you want to tell the queen about the eldest sister attending the palace banquet tomorrow night." ”

Liu Xiu replied: "I just have something to find the queen, let me tell you by the way." ”

Yin Lihua had no objection to this, and when she wanted to say goodbye to Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu asked her such a question.

"If I had been unfortunate enough to leave in the past, would you have found a lover again?" Liu Xiu took this question to heart when he left Liu Huang's mansion, but he hesitated and didn't ask it, and finally asked it in one go.

Yin Lihua immediately told Liu Xiu seriously: "The concubine is different from the eldest sister, the concubine and Uncle Wen are in love, the concubine is your person in life, and death is also your ghost." ”

Liu Xiu listened to Yin Lihua's answer, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief, smiled at Yin Lihua, turned around and left.

Yin Lihua saw Liu Xiu leaving, and she also turned around and went back to the West Palace.

Liu Xiu first went to the Chengguang Hall to see Liu Qiang, and after talking to Liu Qiang, he went to the Changqiu Palace.

At this time, Guo Shengtong was thinking about where Liu Xiu and Yin Lihua would go out of the palace and what they would do. I didn't expect Liu Xiu to come.

Liu Xiu said to Guo Shengtong: "Tomorrow night, the imperial sister will also participate in the palace banquet, and they must not be negligent in your life." ”

When Guo Shengtong heard this, he couldn't help but be a little surprised, but he was smart and didn't ask, but just responded respectfully: "Oh." ”

This time, the palace people brought the five princes. Liu Xiu saw that the fifth prince seemed to be a little weak, so he said, "The fifth prince will be called Liu Kang." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Guo Shengtong is quite satisfied with this name, so this thank you is also sincere.

Liu Xiu didn't come this time just to see the fifth prince and Guo Shengtong, and inform Guo Shengtong that Liu Huang participated in the palace banquet, he still remembered the instructions to Guo Shengtong before leaving the palace, and he was waiting for Guo Shengtong to take the initiative to explain.

Guo Shengtong saw that Liu Xiu looked at Liu Kang and didn't speak, thinking that he liked Liu Kang, and was secretly happy in his heart.

Liu Xiu waited for a while, and when he saw that Guo Shengtong had nothing to say, he asked, "The queen has nothing to say to me?" ”

Guo Shengtong thought that Liu Xiu wanted to talk to her at first glance, but then she looked at Liu Xiu's expression and knew that it was not what she thought. In the blink of an eye, she thought about it too. She replied to Liu Xiu respectfully: "The minister has lived up to His Majesty's trust, and has found out the person who harbors evil intentions, and is being imprisoned in the violent room. ”

Liu Xiu's eyes finally fell on Guo Shengtong, but it made her heart tighten. Liu Xiu asked: "Who is so bold?" ”

Guo Shengtong replied without changing his face: "It's a poppy." ”

When Liu Xiu heard this, she looked away, and couldn't help sneering in her heart, but asked with interest on her face: "Oh, what kind of grudge does she have with the Yin noble?" ”

Guo Shengtong still calmly replied: "Yu Meiren doesn't want to say anything, and the concubine has no way of knowing this." ”

Hearing this, Liu Xiu was silent for a moment before asking, "What does the queen plan to do?" ”

Guo Shengtong seemed to have already ruled on this, but she immediately replied: "The concubine thinks that she should be executed to set an example." ”

Liu Xiu glanced at Guo Shengtong with his deep and dark gaze, and then said goodbye, "The matter of the back court is decided by the queen herself." I have a lot of government affairs, and I will come to see the queen another day. After speaking, he turned around and left, but he walked a few steps, but stopped again, and said to Guo Shengtong without looking back: "In the future, I will let the Yin nobles assist the queen in taking care of the affairs of the back court." When the queen is inconvenient, the Yin nobles take care of the backyard. This time, he didn't stay any longer, and his resolute back gradually disappeared from Guo Shengtong's sight.

Guo Shengtong never expected Liu Xiu to make such a decision, which made her realize that her decision was very inappropriate, but the matter has come to this, what can she do? She didn't regret letting the poppy bear the blame, she thought that it was meaningless for the poppy to be in this palace anyway, it was better to work for herself, maybe she would look at it for her part, and take care of her family, she had no regrets about it. Then everything in the palace has just been on the right track, if Yin Lihua is involved, it will be unfavorable to her, she can't let this situation appear. After thinking about it again and again, she decided that it would be better not to have children so often in the next few years, so as not to give Yin Lihua a chance, and now that she has given birth to three princes and a princess, it is enough to stabilize her position.

After some careful consideration, Guo Shengtong immediately ordered Zhou Ruyi to go to the violent room to execute Yu Meiren, so as not to have too many dreams at night. However, Liu Xiu released Yu Meiren one step ahead of her, saying that Yin Lihua interceded.

After Guo Shengtong listened to Zhou Ruyi's reply, her heart couldn't help but be a little flustered, she wondered if Liu Xiu knew something, and then she denied herself, because she was sure that she didn't leave any clues. After struggling like this for a long time, until she collapsed on the bed, she changed her mind weakly and began to think about how to save Liu Xiu's heart.