On the eighth day of the first month of the fourth year of the Heavenly Grant, Gu Heng, the patriarch of the Northern Xia Dynasty, passed away due to illness.

The once powerful figure of the court passed away suddenly, and the whole country was shocked.

The next day, more than 140 people from the Prime Minister's Mansion were all imprisoned, and they were charged with rebellion, and the court was shocked again.

Subsequently, the young Emperor Tianzhu couldn't wait to issue a holy decree - Gu Mansion was full of doors, men were servants, women were maids, and they were exiled to Beiyaozhou.

Northern Yaozhou, the most bitter cold land in the empire.

Since the founding of Taizu in the past 243 years, countless civil and military generals have been exiled here, but there are very few officials who have actually arrived in Beiyao Prefecture.

In the corner of the prison, there was a cell where only four or five women were locked together, covered in dirt, but the whole body was still imposed, and it was not affected by the surrounding environment and languished.

They sat there with solemn faces and knelt without saying a word.

It is not difficult to guess that this should be the ladies of the Gu Mansion.

The maidservants and mothers-in-law in the cell next to them sat together in twos and threes, muttering quietly.

It is said that it took three years to travel from the imperial capital to Beiyaozhou;

It is said that Beiyao Prefecture is really a land where no grass grows;

Reputedly......

The women and children spread these rumors by word of mouth, and gradually the crowd began to stir.

But because of the masters in the adjacent cells, they were only sobbing lowly, but before long, the voice of complaint was like the momentum of the withered grass burning the plain, and it was irresistible!

When the jailer heard the noise, he rushed over, with messy hair, scarlet eyes, and a mouth full of yellow teeth, and scolded: "What's the trouble? No matter how much trouble you make, I'll send you to the Qinglou Red Square! ”

The crowd fell silent suddenly, and no one dared to speak again.

When the jailer saw this, he smiled lewdly, and then said some foul language to laugh at the maids.

A woman in a fancy dress in the cell next to her couldn't hold her breath, and stood up and shouted: "It's really a tiger falling in Pingyang and being bullied by dogs!" When my father-in-law was alive, who would dare to be disrespectful to the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty? ”

"Could this be the eldest daughter-in-law of the Gu Mansion?" A jailer walked up to the woman's cell and sneered, "Your husband, Lord Gu, is still locked up in the cell at the end of the north side, why don't I say hello for you?" ”

Then he walked away haha, and stomped on this woman, Shen Zhuoying, the daughter-in-law of the Gu family, angrily.

And an old lady with silver sideburns behind her sat on the straw mat kang like Mount Tai, and said in a low voice: "Don't bother you!" Even if the people of my Gu family live in Pingyang, they still have their unchanging bones! How can you make fun of it so easily! ”

The words word by word are not angry and self-threatening.

Those jailers who were hanging on were stunned for a moment, looking at her with some fear, and their hearts were in awe, worthy of the prime minister's wife!

Li Yuwei, the second daughter-in-law who was watching from the sidelines, pulled Shen Zhuoying over and whispered a few words of comfort, "Sister-in-law, why do you bother with those jailers. ”

Unexpectedly, Shen Zhuoying rolled her eyes, her demeanor was far from the usual noble lady, she snorted coldly, and said meanly: "You are so wide-hearted!" ”

Li Yuwei shook her head, smiled helplessly, turned around again, straightened her clothes, sat beside the old lady honestly, and did not open her mouth to refute Shen Zhuoying.

Shen Zhuoying was not reconciled, and walked to the old lady's side, wanting to tell her about the "bitter water".

The old lady looked at Shen Zhuoying with some disdain, why didn't she find out that her eldest daughter-in-law was like this before?

She cursed angrily and in a low voice, "Idiot! ”

The innocent Shen Zhuoying didn't know who she was talking about, she thought it was the second daughter-in-law, so she was overjoyed for a long time, and looked at Li Yuwei provocatively.

The old lady held her forehead again, what a stupid can!

The sky was getting darker, and the small commotion of the crowd was gradually subsided, and they were all looking forward to it.

In the prison, only two meals a day are served.

Naturally, they were looking forward to a dinner that would only ensure that they would not die of hunger.

After a while, the food delivery guards came with rice buckets and colorful glow in people's expectant eyes.

Commotion.

Confusion.

The jailer slowly stood in front of the noisy cell and shouted, "All line up!" Or not a single steamed bun! ”

Then he said: "Concubine Chen gave birth to His Majesty's first child today - Princess Changping!" So add vegetables today! Two meat and three vegetables! ”

While dividing the meal, he muttered: "When the little princess is full moon, Your Majesty will also give amnesty to the world, and these prisoners in the prison may see the light of day again......

When Shen Zhuoying heard this, she didn't have time to put down the bowl in her hand, walked to the door of the cell and asked, "In this way, after more than a month, Mrs. Ben will also be released?" ”

The jailer good-naturedly explained: "No! You'll be deported in less than a month. ”

Shen Zhuoying was furious when she heard this, "Why! The case of Dali Temple has not yet been concluded, where does the conviction come from? ”

The king wants his ministers to die, and the ministers have to die.

As long as the emperor says a word, do you have to wait until Dali Temple closes the case?

Besides, this discerning person can see that this Gu family must have been in a slump from now on, and I really don't know where she got the confidence to think that she would be released.

The jailer smiled contemptuously, how could this eldest daughter-in-law of the Gu family be so stupid? Could it be that he was squatting in this prison? But it doesn't have many days.

Forget it, for the sake of her unclear mind, let's order more food for her.

Shen Zhuoying saw that the jailer didn't reply, and gave herself some more dishes, and she danced in her heart.

Sure enough, he was about to be released, and even the attitude of the jailers was different.

She happily returned to the old lady with the bowl, and gave the old lady a piece of the only two pieces of meat in the bowl, and then looked at Li Yuwei, who was also sitting next to the old lady, for a long time, and still put the meat into her mouth.

Li Yuwei has been in poor health since her miscarriage, and she is made up with various precious herbs in the Prime Minister's Mansion, but at the moment, this condition is ......

The old lady glanced at Li Yuwei, who only cared about eating with her head down, and then gave her the meat in the bowl again, and when she saw her excuse, the old lady said, "You are not in good health, eat some supplements." ”

Shen Zhuoying, who was making a lot of noise in her mouth, looked at all this, although she was angry at the old lady's partiality, but she was helpless, she couldn't ask for the meat back, right?

As soon as Li Yuwei smelled the smell of meat, her stomach tumbled, and then she retched in the corner.

When the old lady looked at it, didn't she have a sign of joy? But I also muttered in my heart, didn't the doctor say that the second daughter-in-law was injured and couldn't get pregnant?

She put down the dishes and chopsticks, walked to Li Yuwei's side, gently patted Li Yuwei's back with her right hand, and asked cautiously: "Second daughter-in-law, ...... are you?"

When the child was gone, Li Yuwei didn't go out to see anyone for a whole year, and locked herself in the house.

The old lady herself regretted it very much, if she hadn't sent the unconscious girl into the second room, the good child would not have been gone.

Since then, the old lady has ordered people to keep their mouths shut and not allow children in front of Li Yuwei.

The second child is twenty-three years old this year, and she still has no children under her knees, but she doesn't dare to urge Na Xiao. The eldest is twenty-five years old this year, and he is also a difficult heir.

My sister, who is three years different from me, has a lot of grandchildren, but what about myself......

If you can't ask for it, you can't force it all the time in your life.

The old lady had to comfort herself with this sentence.

Li Yuwei slowed down for a while, and said lightly in the voice that the two of them heard: "Mother, I'm afraid I have ......."

These words hit the old lady's heart like a thunderbolt from the sky!

She was ecstatic at first, and the Gu family finally had a queen!

Then he frowned, this kid didn't come at the right time!

Seeing that he was about to be exiled, the wind and rain along the way, the children suffered, and the adults also suffered! And if the emperor knew about it, he would not let go of this child.

At night, she tossed and turned in bed, watching the moonlight pouring through the small window, and she made a difficult decision.

She can't let the Gu family be broken from now on!

This night, Li Yuwei also couldn't sleep all night.

The people and events of that year flashed in her mind again, and she seemed to see the unborn child again.

The child cried and said to her, "Mother, don't leave me again......"

Every time she thought of this, Li Yuwei felt that her heart was pulled hard, and then she couldn't cry.

And this child is compensated by God, and she wants to protect it with her life.

However, it seems to be very difficult now.

But no matter what, I have to find a way out for this unborn child......

When she made this decision, the sky was white.

The dimly lit cell was cold and damp, and even when the sun came out, only the light could be faintly seen.

The light came through a small window.

Even the faint light still gives people hope to continue to survive.

And every day in this dark cell, it feels like a year......

There was a deep despair on everyone's face, for they knew that none of them would survive the prison.

Since the founding of the country, it has been.

Except for Shen Zhuoying.

She was very happy, and she was bent on how to look good to those who spit on her when she went out! Sometimes the eyes are foggy, sometimes the spirit is distracted.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this young lady of the Gu family is afraid that she is crazy.

The old lady sighed at all this.

Her only thought now is how to pass on the Gu family's bloodline and keep Li Yuwei and the child in her womb.

Although the emperor has hinted to Dali Temple many times openly and secretly, the sooner the Gu family's people are assigned to Beiyaozhou, the better, but in order to pursue the green history after a hundred years, he does not dare to be too blatant.

Just urge Dali Temple to close the case as soon as possible.

The ministers of Dali Temple got the emperor's edict, and they had to work day and night, step up to make up all kinds of trumped-up charges, and then beat them one by one.

The screams of the torture chamber passed through the cells and reached the ears of the old lady.

And she and Gu Heng's sons, Gu Qing and Gu Che, have not come back since they left the prison a few days ago, but they are afraid that they will be more than lucky.

But she is the head of the Gu family, and all she can do is to close her eyes calmly and raise her spirits.

Pretend not to care.

At the same time, it also strengthened her decision that she would keep the child no matter what.

This child is the only hope for the Gu family.