==Chapter 41==

It wasn't until she entered the palace gate of Heluan Hall that Queen Xiao showed a little indignation and resentment on her face.

She kept telling herself not to care, but she really couldn't calm the anger that had been hidden in her heart for more than ten years. Obviously, they are all queens, and they are all the mothers of a country in the world, so the first queen is to stabilize her. Not only is the status in the mind of Emperor Chengyuan, but even the family. The Meng family, where the first queen is located, everyone in Chang'an City knows that this is the descendant clan, and the Xiao family is also the descendant clan, but this 'descendant clan' is not as confident as the Meng family.

How so? Because everyone knows that Emperor Chengyuan does not attach importance to the Xiao family, even if the Xiao family is one of the four great families, he will bow his head when he sees the Meng family.

Without him, the family is the original match, you are the stepfamily, you are born shorter, and Emperor Chengyuan does not allow anyone to cross the head of the first queen, the son is not good, and the family is not good.

Emperor Chengyuan has always treated the Meng family well, and he has not changed his original intention for decades, and he has been rewarded generously every year, and there are always several times a year to summon the Meng family to meet him to show his love. But when he treated the Xiao family, he didn't treat the descendants with the tolerance and kindness they should have. Just like Fang Cai, if it is changed to the Meng family, it is estimated that Emperor Chengyuan will not say a word about the big things. can be replaced by the Xiao family, but it is mean to the bones.

That person, when she didn't die, she couldn't fight. Now that she has long since died and turned to ashes, she still can't fight.

But it doesn't matter, she herself is short-lived, and her son is also short-lived, and one day she will make all the qiē related to the surname Meng bow their noble heads to her.

After entering the Heluan Hall and sitting on her phoenix seat, it took a long time for Queen Xiao to calm down the resentment in her heart. She beckoned, and a palace man leaned forward.

"Send a message to the Xiao family, and tell them that they don't have to worry about it." After a pause, she thought of what Emperor Chengyuan had said before, and told her confidant palace people that Xiao Jiuniang was about to be named the county lord, and asked her to send a message out of the palace.

After that, Empress Xiao glanced at the void on her right with a fierce look, which was where Concubine Liu's palace was located.

"Concubine Liu, I'll see how you take it this time!"

*

In Concubine Liu's Chunhe Palace, King Zhao looked at his mother with a slightly anxious face at this time.

"Mother, how is this good? The king of Chu was attacked when he left Beijing, and his sons were afraid that his father would suspect us because of this. ”

Compared with King Zhao, Liu Guifei is much calmer.

This is a very gentle woman, full of a feeling that makes people feel like a spring breeze, gentle, soft, and obedient and kind. She is not extremely beautiful, but she gives people an extremely comfortable feeling.

At this time, Concubine Liu Guifei smiled faintly and said softly: "Emperor, don't panic." ”

King Zhao's panic seemed to be calmed down by this, he stopped pacing a little anxiously, and sat down in front of Liu Guifei.

"Something like this, whoever can't hold his breath first loses. We survived before, and we are not in a hurry at this time, you don't care about what is happening outside, what some people say, you just have to do things normally. If your father is suspicious, let him be suspicious, but if we can't be in a hurry, your father won't be suspicious. On the contrary, if we make any move, your father will only be more suspicious. ”

"But-" King Zhao hesitated: "Obviously, the odds of victory are ours, and all the Yiqiē are also properly deployed, why does the queen mother still hold her troops?" Since we haven't dealt with the crown prince, we should take the opportunity to get the queen and King Cheng down, so as not to do futile work. ”

King Zhao wanted to say these words for a long time, but Liu Guifei has always been a steady and victorious, not impatient and impatient, in order not to disappoint his mother, King Zhao has been pressing this question, and he also acts according to Liu Guifei's instructions on weekdays, but he is still puzzled. He couldn't understand why they had to endure it despite the opportunity.

Liu Guifei sighed, put down the teacup in her hand, and looked at King Zhao gently.

King Zhao is half a year older than King Cheng, but he is only less than seventeen years old, and he is also a good face. But compared to scheming and scheming, it is much worse than King Cheng, and Concubine Liu knows everything.

But her son is her own son, and her son is always good at home, so Liu Guifei doesn't think that King Zhao is inferior to Chengwang, she only feels that her teaching is not enough.

In fact, if she could have thought about it back then, the position of the queen should be hers now, and Her Majesty has revealed that kind of clue more than once. As long as she can raise the prince well, she will be the first person in the harem.

It's a pity that as a woman, she wants to be a mother after all, even if she loses the qualification to raise the prince, even if she is pregnant, Her Majesty's gaze at her changes, even if she gives birth to King Zhao, Her Majesty treats her not as well as before, even if Her Majesty sets up the woman of the Xiao family as the queen in order to contain her, Liu Guifei still feels that it is worth it.

It's nothing else, it's about a woman's heart that wants to be a mother.

No woman wants to raise someone else's son, year after year, as her own, selflessly, even if she has a lofty position. In this harem, a woman has no blood of her own, and all of them are castles in the air, so Liu Guifei has a handful.

These years have been extremely difficult, but she is willing to eat......

King Zhao was a little flustered by Concubine Liu's trance-like eyes.

No one knows that he doesn't actually want his mother to see him like this, that feeling as if he is carrying a heavy burden and being expected to be high, he must make himself outstanding, otherwise he is sorry for his mother's teaching and cultivation of him.

"Mother, I'm sorry, my son is stupid."

There was shame in King Zhao's eyes, compared to his brothers, he really seemed to be a lot worse.

"How can my son be stupid?!" Liu Guifei said softly, her voice soft.

After that, he told King Zhao about one of these tricks in detail, and King Zhao suddenly realized it and sweated profusely.

"Hao'er, you have to remember that we were born in this palace, and all the qiē is to see the most noble and supreme person. Regardless of whether it is reasonable or unreasonable, whether it is right or wrong, as long as you can get the Sacred Heart, you will win. It's like your crown prince and brother, obviously everyone knows that he is not suitable for the crown prince, but your father thinks so, and no one can oppose it. So now we don't have to be anxious, there are people who are more anxious than us, and the more anxious they are, the more loopholes they have, and the more suspicious your father will be. When your father's suspicion arises, we win. ”

While saying this, Liu Guifei looked at the void in front of her left, as if she was smiling.

Empress Xiao, are you in a hurry now?

Heh, you have always been so impatient, otherwise according to that person, how can you say that it will make Your Majesty look at you differently, but it's a pity that you are too anxious......

*

Jiuniang was confused and always felt that someone was looking at her.

She wondered who the man was and why her gaze was so strange, and she awoke from her slumber to find that there was no one around.

The movement on the bed attracted Lianzhi's visit, and when she saw Jiuniang wake up, Lianzhi was so happy that she almost burst into tears.

"The lady is awake, the lady is awake, go and inform the old lady and His Royal Highness the King of Chu." While speaking, Lianzhi came to the couch, "Lady, you are awake, and you are in a hurry to die." ”

Jiu Niang sat up with the support of the lotus branch, "Where is this?" Did I sleep for a long time? ”

At this moment, Xiao Jiuniang had already seen that she was not in the room on the ship. Her memory is still stuck in the black and boundless river, and the extremely terrible but representative of the reeds that represent life, she remembers that she seems to have fainted, but looking at the lotus branches, she knows that they must have been rescued, so what about the king of Chu-

"What about His Royal Highness the King of Chu?" Jiuniang asked anxiously.

Lianzhi wiped her tears excitedly and said, "His Royal Highness the King of Chu is fine, it's fine." It's just that you're not good, you have a high fever for two days, and you have been asleep for a total of four days......"

As he spoke, a slight movement of the wheels rolling entered the ears of the two of them, and as soon as they raised their eyes, they saw King Chu sitting in a wheelchair and being pushed in by Chang Shun.

"Lord, cousin!" Jiu Niang's pale face showed a flush of excitement.

King Chu glanced at her with a dark look in his eyes, "Awake?" It's good to wake up, this king has already ordered someone to ask for Imperial Doctor Liu. ”

"Hmm." Jiu Niang nodded obediently.

The little man was only wearing a pale green bedgown, and the straps of the bedgown were loosely tied around the waist, revealing a little white collarbone. The little face was pale, the big eyes became more and more obvious, and the black hair like seaweed was scattered behind him, making him look thin and thin under the shirt.

"Doctor Liu will come to help you take your pulse in a while, you are not well injured and soaked in cold water, and there is still cold in your body. The medicine prescribed by the imperial doctor should be drunk without pulling it at a time, so as not to fall into the root of the disease. ”

This is the first time in his life that the King of Chu has said so many words to Jiu Niang, even in the previous life, this kind of situation is very rare, and Jiu Niang is very shocked.

Is this the benefit of life-saving grace? It seems that there is a reward for paying, and it is in vain that she tried her best to drag him ashore from the water.

She suppressed the joy and excitement in her heart and nodded again.

Just as he was about to ask the King of Chu about the ins and outs of that night, Imperial Physician Liu walked in.

After checking the pulse, Imperial Physician Liu looked at Jiu Niang's tongue and the whites of her eyes, and then said the words of changing the dressing, and repeated the words that King Chu had just explained, and it was more detailed than what he said. Xiao Jiuniang is a woman after all, and now is the time of development, according to the convention, women generally have menarche between the ages of eleven and thirteen, and this is the time to take care of their bodies. Therefore, there is no cold left in the body, I am afraid that it will hinder the tide in the future, and Xiao Jiuniang's old injury has not healed, and she has added a new creation, and if she wants to fully recover, she needs to recuperate for about half a year.

Jiuniang did not raise any objections, it is normal to take medicine when she is sick, she grew up in hardship, and she is not hypocritical. Whatever Imperial Physician Liu said was what it was, and whatever things to be taboo were all explained to Lianzhi and copied them down one by one.

After this time, Jiu Niang was already extremely tired, and she didn't feel it when she woke up, but at this moment she felt unbearable soreness, and a sense of exhaustion rose from the bottom of her heart.

Seeing the weakness and tiredness between Jiuniang's eyebrows, the king of Chu did not stay for long. After that, Jiuniang ate a bowl of gruel, drank medicine, and fell asleep.

She slept until it was dark and woke up, and when Lianzhi saw her wake up, she went to feed her with food. She is now recovering from a serious illness, and she can't eat meat and supplements, so she can only eat gruel.

After eating, Lianzhi helped her rinse her mouth and clean her face, and then Jiu Niang leaned on the soft pillow and began to ask about that day.

As for the events of that day, Lianzhi did not know much about it. When she woke up, there was already a big mess on the ship, saying that His Royal Highness the King of Chu had lost it. Then she found that the lady was also gone, and hurriedly reported it, and then it was a long wait, and when it was almost dawn, Chang Shun and they came back with the dismal King of Chu and Xiao Jiuniang.

Seeing such a wolf bèi and a high fever of Jiu Niang, Lian Zhi was almost stunned, and later knew that there was a gangster attack on the boat, and it was Jiu Niangzi who dragged the king of Chu who couldn't walk, jumped into the river and swam all the way to the shore, so he escaped.

For things that are too complicated, Lianzhi doesn't understand and doesn't have the opportunity to understand, except for feeling sorry for her own lady, her only thought is that the lady is really powerful, and she saved the king of Chu by herself. As for what dead people on the ship did not die, how many people died, how many people died, how many people died, and why Chang Shun and they were all safe and sound, but the king of Chu and the nine ladies went wrong, she didn't think much about this.

Lianzhi didn't think much about it, it didn't mean that Jiu Niang wouldn't think about it, the strange situation that night, the strangeness of other people, and the Xiao family's rhetoric to the outside world, she felt a strange feeling in her heart.

It's just that she didn't understand it thoroughly after all, and she still couldn't figure out what that strange thing was, but she felt that this matter was a little strange.

*

The Xiao family's ship has been staying in this county for more than ten days and has not set off.

Because of the health of Jiuniang and the King of Chu, all the people on the ship moved to the county seat, which is not big, only a very small inn. No, Xiao Heng could only order someone to find the local county order, reveal his identity and expose the Chu king's cunzài, and let the county order move a house in the local area for temporary residence.

Now because of Jiu Niang's act of saving the King of Chu, her status is very different from before, and the best two wings of the house here have been given to her and the King of Chu to live in, and the degree of application has been greatly improved.

In the past, Jiuniang had a lotus branch by her side, but because of the lotus branch, she was given a fang'er to her. Fang'er said that she was a servant, but she was too young, so she would give Lianzhi a shot on weekdays. Now it's different, there are three maidservants waiting for her by Jiu Niang's side, and they don't do other chores. It seems that all of a sudden, Jiu Niang's identity is different, and she has become the person with the highest status except for the King of Chu and the two old ladies.

Illness comes like a mountain, illness goes like a thread, this sentence is really true.

Although Jiu Niang has woken up, she is also extremely weak in the day, and it seems that the encounter that night took away her body, which has always been healthy, overnight, and she has become a sick person all day long.

In the past, Jiuniang never hated taking medicine, but now she drinks three meals a day, and she can't stand it after two days. I felt that not only was my mouth full of bitterness, but there was a strong bitter smell wafting in the hair and even on the bedding on my body.

Especially weak and unable to stay, eating and drinking and even changing clothes and going to the toilet have someone to serve, and several maids in Lianzhi treat her as a porcelain person, and they also raise Jiuniang to be pampered.

Now, Jiu Niang feels that she is extremely squeamish, and she has never had this mentality in her two lives combined. It may be due to physical discomfort, or it may be that he has come back to life, and he is young and his mentality seems to be a little naïve. Every time Lianzhi brings a medicine bowl, she will have an extremely fierce struggle with Jiu Niang, she will think of various ways to drink the medicine, but Lianzhi has fiery eyes, and the magic is one foot high and one foot high.

In fact, Jiu Niang is also really bored, because apart from this, she really has nothing to pass the time. After eating and drinking, she sleeps, and Lianzhi always asks her to sleep more, as if sleeping more will make her body better.

Jiuniang couldn't find someone to accompany her, Xiao Shi Niang stopped coming because of Jiu Niang's physical reasons, except for visiting her twice, because the doctor said that Jiu Niang wanted to recuperate. And the king of Chu, since Jiu Niang woke up that day, he came to see her once, which couldn't help but make Jiu Niang very angry, the person she saved with her life was so ungrateful, and she lost it if she used it.

But the king of Chu has always been like this, and there is a voice in his heart that says so.

Therefore, Jiu Niang felt that Lianzhi said that during her coma, the King of Chu would come to accompany her every day, so she must have lied to her. This really doesn't match the King of Chu in her memory, and that person has never cared about anyone. However, it was impossible for Lianzhi to lie to her, so Jiu Niang thought that the person must be afraid that she would die, that she would become a ghost to haunt him, and that she would feel guilty, so she would be like this.

But will he feel guilty?

On this day, the king of Chu rarely appeared, still in a wheelchair pushed by Chang Shun.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Much better, thank you cousin for your concern."

King Chu nodded.

After a long silence, he suddenly asked, "Do you remember the events of that day?" ”

That day, which day?

Jiuniang was stunned for a moment, and looked at each other with puzzled eyes.

King Chu tapped his fingers on the armrest of the wheelchair, "It was before you fainted that day." ”

Jiu Niang's expression became ugly for a moment, but she quickly covered it, she didn't think much about it, but thought of the small paper bag she had stuffed to King Chu before she fainted.

The small paper bag contained the powder prepared from the simple medicinal herbs she bought with lotus branches, which was a crude drug, but it was very effective, and it took about two hours to wake up, except for the special antidote, there was no other medicine to solve. In fact, she can also configure a better drug, but she has no materials in her hand, and the materials for this medicine are still brought back by the way when she helped King Chu buy herbs that day.

Jiu Niang prepared this medicine to defend herself, but she was in a desperate situation that day, and she really couldn't support it anymore, so she gave it to the king of Chu to let him defend himself temporarily. But he never thought that the enemy did not come, and the two of them were found by the Xiao family, according to the temperament of the king of Chu, they must be suspicious.

After thinking about it for a moment, Jiu Niang pressed the panic, and said casually: "Is my cousin talking about that little paper bag?" It was some medicinal powder prepared by Jiu Niang, which was of no great use, that is, it could stun people. However, Jiuniang is also the first time to match it, and I don't know if it is useful. ”

Jiu Niang's appearance was very calm, as if this matter was not a big deal. Such a frank attitude made the King of Chu a little surprised.

His eyes flashed, "This medicine works very well, and this king has let Chang Shun try it." ”

The effect is excellent, and it only takes a little bit to fascinate a few strong men. This is also the reason why the King of Chu is here in the past two days, in addition to the previous conjectures, this package of medicinal powder is also suspicious. A girl who stays in the courtyard of the deep mansion all the year round, how she understands this, as well as the medicine that helped King Chu massage his legs and feet before and pull out the poison is very puzzling.

The king of Chu had a stomach full of doubts, and at this time, he only revealed a little.

Jiu Niang nodded, looking like this, there was a little joy on her little face, as if she was happy that the medicinal powder was effective.

"Does it really work? That's great! Without waiting for King Chu to react, Jiu Niang laughed twice: "I thought A-Niang lied to me." A-Niang said that the ancestor of the family seemed to be a doctor before, but she was young at that time and couldn't remember many things clearly. grew up in the Jiaofang Division, and later went to the music hall under the Jiaofang Division as a dancing girl when he was old, and then he was bought by his father and brought back to the Xiao family. This medicinal powder, as well as the method of massaging and decoction to the cousin of King Chu before, are all family heirlooms, sewn into a small dress that A-Niang wore back then, only a little bit of a cowhide was written on it. ”

Jiu Niang gestured with her hand to make the cowhide not big.

"These are all learned from that cowhide, I told my cousin before that there was a lady who taught me, and Ah Niang specially explained before she died, you must keep this secret and don't know it from outsiders. My cousin is not an outsider, we are also living and dying together, and now Jiuniang sues my cousin, and my cousin doesn't sue others. ”

This remark was rehearsed by Xiao Jiuniang a long time ago, just in case King Chu asked about the massage method and the medicinal soup for pulling out the poison, so that he could answer. I didn't know that there was a small paper bag, and it makes sense to explain it now.

Xiao Jiuniang is not untargeted, this is based on what happened later in her previous life. It is not unusual to be able to be submerged into the status of the Teaching Workshop Division, and most of the ancestors in the family used to be officials. The same is true of Yueji's family, according to Jiu Niang's knowledge in her previous life, her grandfather's family was a famous imperial doctor in the palace in his early years, and later he was beheaded without knowing what he had done, and his family was affected.

Jiuniang is not afraid of King Chu to investigate, this matter is not easy for some people to understand, but for some people, it is extremely simple to find out. Because once you enter the Teaching Division, there is a record, including where the person has gone. With the power of the king of Chu, it is just a command to make it all clear.

As for what Jiu Niang said vaguely, she didn't mention the imperial doctor or anything, but she just wanted the king of Chu to check it himself. When her aunt was confiscated into the teaching department, she was just ignorant, and she was not very old, how could she know so clearly. Sometimes some words are too full, but it is better to be vague and let the other party check it themselves. Jiu Niang knows the character of the King of Chu too well, he only believes what he believes.

Xiao Jiuniang's expression was very frank, and her rhetoric was well-founded, which really made people have to believe it. King Chu's face was gloomy, but in fact, his eyes kept staring at Jiu Niang's expression, and he really couldn't catch any clues, so he withdrew his eyes.

"Naturally, this king will not tell others about this."

Jiuniang breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, and before that breath could come out, King Chu's next sentence made her almost bounce off the couch

"Do you really not remember what you said that day?"