In the dormitory, the Queen Mother sat alone behind the screen. After Shen Zhuangzhao was brought in by Gao Dezhong, he found that there was no maid and eunuch here, and even the female imperial chief was not beside the queen mother. "Queen Mother, Concubine Yuan has arrived." After speaking, Gao Dezhong brushed his body and left, so there were only two people left in the house, Shen Zhuangzhao and the Queen Mother.

At the same time, the Queen Mother's hand stretched out from behind the bright yellow silk tent, "Come here, child." ”

Shen Zhuangzhao walked over in a panic, she took the hand of the Queen Mother's wrinkled age, and then the Queen Mother held her backhand, the strength was acceptable, but Shen Zhuangzhao was made by this sudden move, her heart jumped suddenly, her eyes became erratic, and the Queen Mother held her tightly like this, and she didn't say a word. This posture not only has the love of the elders for the juniors, but also a little bit of grasping and grasping, the silence of the queen mother is more like an endless Ling Chi for her at this moment.

"It's you...... Do it? ”

The Queen Mother held her firmly, and her voice came from top to bottom.

Shen Zhuangzhao was even more worried, she didn't expect the Queen Mother's first sentence to be so straightforward, so she had to lower her head and replied with the words she had rehearsed many times on the sedan chair: "No, it's not a concubine......"

Hearing her answer, the Queen Mother closed her eyes unhurriedly, stared at her pale and beautiful cheeks with a slight look, and said bluntly: "Tell the truth to the mourning family." ”

"The concubine really didn't do ......"

"Zhuang Zhao, the mourning family has always treated you as a good child, don't deceive again."

“……”

The Queen Mother looked at her condescendingly, "The mourning family has been in the harem for more than 20 years, and everything you have seen and heard is beyond your reach, and the mourning family has always had a good impression of you since childhood, so I gave you a chance to confess, but I didn't expect it to be today...... You've really disappointed the mourners. ”

Knowing that the paper couldn't hold the fire, Shen Zhuangzhao hurriedly knelt down, kowtowed his head and said, "The Queen Mother is clear!" ”

"Discerning? Do you know who the mourning family found out among the people who came into contact with Zhou Qintianjian? ”

Shen Zhuangzhao's back unconsciously dripped.

"That person - you know it very well, you know it all too well." The Queen Mother sneered.

“……”

"She gets along with you day and night, so she secretly appeared in the Taishi Mansion, and people with a heart can naturally guess a clue, your mistake is to believe too much and let her do it." The Queen Mother's words did not carry a trace of emotion, and she was so indifferent that she didn't seem to be the old man with a charitable face when she first entered the palace, Shen Zhuangzhao trembled, could she really not hide it? She closed her eyes and listened to the death sentence of the Queen Mother, and then the Queen Mother said to her word by word-

"That person is your person. She was...... The first-class palace maid of Changle Palace, the personal maid brought in from the Shen Mansion, the Li family. ”

Shen Zhuang Zhao suddenly let out a long sigh, her pale face receded a few layers of shadows, she didn't expect her mother to order the people around her to do it, it was really fortunate that it was not her mother who came forward. She buried her head deeply, her slender and curvacated face only half an inch from the ground...... Fortunately, fortunately, half of the fate of the Shen Mansion was saved.

"If it weren't for you, the people in the shadows wouldn't have said it to me so easily." The Queen Mother said, "Do you have anything else to say?" ”

Shen Zhuangzhao got up, she shook her head and bit her lip, "No." ”

"Not at all?"

"Nope." She said.

"Okay," the Queen Mother regarded her attitude as calm after breaking the can, "Do you know how the mourning family will punish you?" ”

"I listened to the Queen Mother. All the things are done by the concubine, and it has nothing to do with the Shen Mansion, please don't be angry with the concubine's family, the concubine has no regrets about the punishment of the queen mother. Shen Zhuangzhao replied firmly.

"Your servant girl who has been with her since she was a child has ordered her to be subdued and imprisoned in the violent room."

Hearing the word violent room, Shen Zhuangzhao's expression flashed with panic at a loss, normal people will either go crazy or die if they enter that kind of place! Her maidservant has been accustomed to the respect and fine clothes and food of others since she was a child, how can she still withstand this kind of torture? She hurriedly pleaded: "Queen Mother...... The Li family did it at the behest of the concubine! These are the decisions of concubines! The concubine would rather the Queen Mother imprison her in a dungeon than send her to that kind of place, please! ”

The Queen Mother looked coldly at Shen Zhuangzhao who was holding the corner of her skirt at her feet, this incomparably beautiful girl in front of her, crying with pear blossoms and rain, her eyes were shining with starlight, if she was seen by a man, she might have a hot head and forgive, but ...... The most stupid thing she committed is that she never hesitated to use her beauty, and after being deliberately snubbed by the emperor, she was more like a black shadow thrown into the abyss silently and never made any waves, but was trampled on by her sister and couldn't get up.

It was the self-esteem of the peerless beauty that hurt her!

At this time, Shen Zhuangzhao felt a chill on the back of his hand, and when he looked up, he saw that it was the Queen Mother's jade gold phoenix embroidered shoes stepping on his hand-

"The Queen Mother's ......"

"How do you look like a palace concubine now?"

The Queen Mother's voice had never been so cruel, her cold eyes were like the peak of the Cold Mountain, "Zhuang Zhao, what do you think the palace concubine is?" And what is a harem? Shen Zhuangzhao didn't know what to say when she asked her like this, and the Queen Mother looked at her and hated that iron could not become steel, "The mourning family chose you precisely because of your appearance and talent, but I didn't expect you to be so unreasonable, the harem is the battlefield, the palace concubine is a warrior, your every move is closely related to the Shen Mansion, you become, Shen Mansion becomes; If you lose, Shen Fu will lose. At least before you make a move, you have to wipe off a trace of qiē, if you can't do it, it is better to die in the harem as soon as possible. ”

Shen Zhuangzhao trembled again and again by her reprimand, and finally, the Queen Mother asked puzzledly, "Why Concubine Gu?" She didn't understand why it was Gu Concubine who was recruited.

This is exactly what Shen Zhuangzhao wanted to answer, she kowtowed and immediately retorted: "The concubine doesn't know either!" Please believe in the concubine! The concubine's original intention was to frame the second sister, but she didn't expect that the second sister would be protected by the queen mother in the end, and she didn't expect that Gu Concubine would end up being a scapegoat for no reason......"

When the Queen Mother heard her words, she suddenly raised her eyebrows, full of incredulity, "You mean that you didn't do Gu Concubine's business?" ”

"Since the concubine has already admitted to the frame-up, why should she deny that the frame-up is different?" Shen Zhuang Zhao said sincerely.

"Okay, the mourning family knows." After the Queen Mother finished speaking, she remembered something, and then she wanted to speak and stopped, hesitating.

Not long after, Shen Zhuangzhao, who kowtowed, heard the sound of the Queen Mother walking away, she raised her head blankly, and then saw the Queen Mother walking over with something in her hand, which was a snow-white plain brocade box, Shen Zhuangzhao's eyes were full of doubts. The Queen Mother walked slowly and slowly touched the surface of the box, as if she was touching something with pity.

"Zhuang Zhao, the mourning family will ask you one more word."

"Yes......"

"We never thought that your second sister would be so powerful, she was so sincere and frightened when she elected you to enter the palace not only deceived you, but also deceived the mourning family, but in retrospect, if she wanted to enter the palace, Li Chong's affairs would first affect you as a concubine, and the people of Xiao Chen's second mansion would intervene as much as possible, and it would be impossible for you to enter the palace, and she was likely to avoid her light because of her identity as a concubine, and finally become the imperial concubine with the emperor's other eyes, and you ...... It is the first choice for the marriage of the eldest son of the Jiang Mansion, so it is impossible to be in the palace. ”

The more Shen Zhuangzhao listened, the more he didn't know why, her second sister was indeed very strange, but what was the intention of the Queen Mother to say this?

"With the second girl's city, she won't know the possibility of sharing her favor after you enter the palace, but she still chose to push you into the palace at that time and left your whole life in the palace. Have you ever thought that she doesn't actually want you to enter the palace, but wants you to enter the palace? ”

The Queen Mother's tone of inquiry was very strange, and Shen Zhuangzhao was puzzled.

"Do you know who this box used to belong to?" The Queen Mother changed her words, she lowered her head and looked at the thing in her arms, and said.

"The concubine doesn't know, please ask the queen mother to point it out."

The Queen Mother's eyes flashed with a slight expression, "This is the mourning family...... This is...... A person you haven't met. She is the most beautiful woman in the world, and she is unmatched by any concubine in the harem of the first emperor. ”

Shen Zhuangzhao secretly had countless doubts in his heart, what kind of thing was it that made the Queen Mother show such a gentle expression and make the Queen Mother cherish that thing so much?

"She's your aunt." The Queen Mother was insipid and regretful, "Shen Qingwan." She's been dead for over twenty years, and you haven't seen her. ”

More than twenty years?

When Shen Zhuangzhao heard this long word, she was not moved, but she suddenly glanced at the face of the Queen Mother, and she was frozen at that moment - the Queen Mother's expression was so sad, all kinds of complex tastes echoed in her eyes, alternating between light and extinction, and she was sad alone, and no one could interrupt her. The Queen Mother sat there, but she felt that she was no longer there, she was completely immersed in the memories of the past, and there was like an invisible layer of mist in the middle, far away from reality and unable to extricate herself.

"The Queen Mother?" Shen Zhuangzhao moved his lips slightly, and his voice was scattered in the silent and empty dormitory, for fear of disturbing the Queen Mother, who suddenly became fragile - the most touching thing is not that a person has always been strong, but that a strong person suddenly reveals a moment of vulnerability.

The Queen Mother gradually came back to her senses, she touched the satin box, "The mourning family was fostered in the name of the concubine when she was ten years old, and your Aunt Qingwan has always treated the mourning family very well, so good that the mourning family still can't forget it." A grandson who can be so friendly to his concubine is really a pure and good person. In fact...... The mourning family never resented her because she entered the palace later as the old lady thought, but in fact, the mourning family hated the fact that she was sent to the palace. She shouldn't have come here, her figure should always live in the beautiful Book of Poetry, not in the cruel and bloody harem under the beauty. ”

Shen Zhuangzhao was surprised, she learned from the reaction of her elders since she was a child that the Queen Mother was very angry about Aunt Qingwan's entry into the palace, not only did she lose the dragon fetus she was carrying, but she also willfully broke off the relationship with Shen Fu for a long time, but she didn't expect that the Queen Mother never hated Aunt Qingwan, on the contrary, she was very protective of her.

What's going on between them?

The Queen Mother continued to murmur: "The most tragic thing is that she has a deep affection for the first emperor, and her feelings are more sincere than all the hypocritical women in the Sixth Palace, which is also what the mourning family can imagine, she is so pure and immaculate, and she should love someone like this." At that time, the mourning family was very distressed, and the mourning family entered the palace to bear the endless cruelty of intrigue on her behalf, so one of them chose to leave first, but she did not expect her to live up to the will of the mourning family, and finally really entered the palace and stood on the opposite side of the mourning family. Even if the mourning family resents her ignorance, there is nothing to be done. ”

"That'...... And then? ”

"Later, she died."

Shen Zhuangzhao was stunned by the Queen Mother's sudden words.

The mourning family could only watch her flower gradually wither in the sixth house, and there was nothing they could do. But if the mourning family did not enter the palace because of the support of the family, if she was the first to enter the palace, the mourning family would also do their best to enter the palace to accompany her. ”

"The Queen Mother means ......"

"Do you think, why is your second sister so rebellious? Although the mourning family doesn't know what has happened between you, any choice your second sister makes must have a reason. ”

"I really don't know about the concubine." Shen Zhuangzhao replied, "The second sister is not as good as the queen mother's treatment of Aunt Qingwan, and the concubine is too. ”

"The mourning family knows that there is a difference between the concubines, and they may not have seen each other many times even if they grew up in the house, have you ever played together when you were children?"

"Back to the Queen Mother...... Yes, there is. Shen Zhuangzhao said reluctantly, she felt that the more the Queen Mother asked, the more strange it became, "The concubine didn't realize what was wrong with playing with her because she was young and ignorant, until her mother silently cried for her biological mother Ruan's favor at night and was seen by the concubine, so she alienated her." ”

The Queen Mother snorted, and then said: "Your second sister is the most difficult person the mourning family has ever seen, you should learn more about her." As for the matter of Qin Tianjian, your palace maid was locked up in the violent room first, and whether she can be rescued as soon as possible in the future depends on the table behind you. After saying that, she regained her former majesty, and the cold air was overwhelming: "But, don't think that the mourning family will forgive you from today onwards." ”

"Concubines listen to the teachings......"

"Your year's salary and all the palace people in your harem are all deducted in the Internal Affairs Office, and you go to the palace temple to copy Buddhist scriptures at noon every day, and whether you can get the emperor's blessing and favor in the future depends on your creation. Remember, today's event is the last, and any means in the future must be known to the mourners. ”

"Yes."

"The mourning family advises you again, the mourning family knows that you remember the emperor's harm to you very deeply, but what is the use of you always avoiding and refusing? The mourning family asked the queen about the palace banquet performance, but you didn't seem to have made any preparations, so your name was not in the paper stick? ”

Shen Zhuangzhao became nervous, he didn't expect this matter to be discovered by the Queen Mother! She thought that if she didn't prepare, the queen would cover herself up for this, who would have thought that this woman could be so "honest"?

"Yes, no."

"Okay, put away your hatred from now on, learn how to please the emperor, and show the demeanor of the eldest daughter of your Shenfu Yanguan in the capital."

Shen Zhuangzhao raised his head suddenly, "But...... The Queen Mother, the Emperor ...... I don't love concubines! ”

"So what?" The Queen Mother replied lightly, and she stared at her coldly, as if she had said something very ridiculous, "The king does not have to love you, it is enough for him to favor you." ”

Shen Zhuangzhao, who heard this, felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured on his face, and he felt cold from head to toe. At that time, the heavy rain outside the hall became more and more irritable, knocking on the eaves of the roof of the hall roughly, and the wind and spicy hands destroyed the tiny and helpless flowers and plants, bent the weeping willow waist, and blew the oblique dense cross rain outside. It was the heaviest rain since the new emperor ascended the throne.

"So what?"

The Queen Mother's words have been lingering in her ears, and they continue to echo after Shen Zhuangzhao left the Yongshou Palace, she walked in the empty corridor in despair, outside it was raining heavily, thunder was repeated, and several beams of snowy white light instantly hit the sky, and then the terrible huge thunder explosion of the battlefield battle broke out, very terrifying, and she, walking alone on the corridor, this back looked lonely and small against the background of lightning and thunder.