It seems that it is really time to ask the queen mother for advice. The queen instructed Mama Song, who was waiting in the bright room: "Prepare your shoulders, I will go to Ciqing Palace to meet Empress Taishang." ”

It was the beginning of autumn, and the days were much shorter than in summer, and before the unitary time, the sky was already dreary.

The little elders held jujube poles, picked up the watermelon lanterns www.biquge.info the Fun Pavilion and hung them under the eaves of the main hall of Ciqing Palace. Hearing the report of the queen's arrival, they all hurriedly put away the poles, and knelt down to greet each other, their movements were uniform, and there was no movement at all.

The queen who got off her shoulders saw this detail in her eyes, and secretly sighed, how can there be such a style in Kunyu Palace? It seems that his talent for governing the family is indeed far worse than that of the queen mother, just comparing a few small actions of people, they are all superior judgments.

The queen has a living father-in-law, and the rules of this harem are different from those of the previous court. The mother-in-law has to be busy taking care of her father-in-law's illness, and the daughter-in-law has to take care of the affairs of the palace.

At this time, the two royal couples had just had dinner and were sitting and chatting in the apse, and they were deeply surprised when they heard that the queen was coming.

"She thought she was looking for something to tell you, so she said that I was going to rest early, and I didn't need her to come and see me." The Emperor Taishang explained, "You take her to the front hall to sit, and you can talk casually." ”

Empress Taishang agreed, and the palace maid went over to invite the queen to sit in the west room of the front hall, and carefully explained to the inner servant the matters of waiting for the emperor to sleep, and then got up and went to the front hall.

The house was burning with sandalwood, the south kang was covered with snow-white bamboo slivers, and the two most noble women of the dynasty were dressed in homely and casual clothes, sitting on the kang table and talking.

"I heard that my father's illness is getting better again, and if it is really auspicious, the emperor and I will be more relieved." Queen's Road.

Empress Taishang waited for the palace people to send them freezing points, so she waved her hand and retreated, and said, "You must not come here to ask for a chat." There are no outsiders left and right, so if you have something to say, just say it. ”

The queen frowned, and she couldn't open her mouth. In the past year, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law have not been in contact very often, but they are harmonious and harmonious, but there are some things that she can't think of even to her biological mother.

She wanted to share her husband's worries, and also wanted her in-laws to sit and enjoy leisure, but after doing something, she couldn't get her wish.

Empress Taishang observed the words and asked, "Is it because of the emperor?" It's the first day of the new year, and when you come here, he must not even have dinner at your place...... You also want to drive some, he is not aimed at you, but he treats everyone the same. ”

This is not the reason for coming here today, but it is also one of the queen's heartaches, as soon as she was comforted by her mother-in-law, the grievances in her heart became more and more intense, and the queen almost cried, and hurriedly held back and smiled: "What did mother say?" I understand this, and I actually want to ask my mother to mention the palace management matters when I came here today. It's the daughter-in-law who is incompetent, and she still can't take care of the affairs of the harem for a long time, and today she actually annoyed the emperor. I had no choice but to come to my mother for advice. ”

Empress Taishang held a porcelain spoon in her hand, slowly stirred the lotus seed bird's nest soup with ice ballast in the bowl, and sighed: "I have handed over all the palace affairs to you this year, firstly, because the Emperor Taishang is inseparable from someone to take care of me, and I am powerless to be distracted, and secondly, because since you are the queen, the authority of palace affairs should be handed over to you, and I don't want to be a wicked mother-in-law." Now that the emperor's illness has improved, and you have opened this mouth again, it is not good for me to continue to hide and be idle. In this way, tomorrow I will send Su Qing to Kunyu Palace, she knows my way of doing things, and she will help you with your advice on behalf of me for small things, and if you encounter major events, you can send her to discuss with me. ”

Aunt Su Qing Su is one of the henchmen of Queen Taishang, and in her early years, she often handled palace affairs for Queen Taishang and sent her out, which was not only able to handle things properly, but also to protect the queen's face. The queen suddenly showed joy, got up and saluted: "Then it will be arranged by Mother Lao." ”

Empress Taishang personally pulled her back to her seat, patted her hand and comforted her: "I know, you want to be a good queen, but this huge harem affairs are complicated, and it is nothing if you can't do it well for a while, just take your time." ”

The queen hung her head and said: "It must be much better to have my mother mention it." ”

Empress Taishang was silent for a moment before asking, "Your Majesty has ...... Or is it the same as before? ”

The queen knew what she was referring to, a red cloud floated on her face, and she lowered her head slightly and said: "Yes, the emperor stays in Longxi Pavilion every day, except for coming to Kunyu Palace to sit on the day of Shuowang, he has not even set foot in the harem, let alone overnight...... It's all daughters-in-law who are incompetent. ”

"How can you influence this?" Empress Taishang was deeply worried, put the freezing point she had just tasted back on the kang table, suppressed her irritability before she continued, "There are some things that I don't say and you know. The Emperor and I have been estranged from him for too many years, and he has a deep grudge against me as a mother. Actually, why don't I want to ease up with him and restore the family life of mother and son? It's just that after so many years, I can't even remember how to say to each other, and I have the heart to persuade him for you, but I don't know how to speak. ”

The queen lowered her head and said, "My daughter-in-law knows." ”

Empress Taishang muttered: "I thought you were young playmates, and I chose you to accompany him in the palace, and always found a caring person for him to be by his side, who knows, he is even cold to you, and he doesn't remember the love of his youth at all." Yuan Chen is indeed too individual. ”

In this last sentence, the irritability and dissatisfaction are already obvious.

The queen hurriedly explained: "It's not what my mother thinks. The emperor still cares about me, and this time he saw that I was overstretched in managing the palace affairs, so he asked me to ask my mother for help. Just ......"

She didn't know what to attribute to this situation, she had been married for more than a year in a blink of an eye, and on the wedding night a year ago, the emperor accompanied her to lie down on the wide dragon bed in Qianyuan Palace, and only chatted with her about some trivial matters in the past and fell asleep, and did not come to touch her. She only thought he was a shy groom, and she didn't take it seriously for a while.

Unexpectedly, it was already the closest night to them.

After that, the emperor treated her with respect and affection, but in fact, he never even lowered his coat in front of her. is not the only one who is like this, the emperor ignores the concubines who came from the draft, and is far less affectionate to her. He didn't like those concubines, she knew that, but what about her? Where is his dissatisfaction?

He always looks cold and detached, refusing people, she has the heart to ask, but she can't find a chance. In the eyes of outsiders, she is already the most intimate person in the palace and the emperor, only she knows that she doesn't know him and can't get close to him.

He didn't look like he had a habit of breaking sleeves, but he didn't show the slightest interest in women. The ministers of the court and the central government advised him on the grounds of the emperor's heir, and the emperor and his wife also tactfully persuaded him, but they only made him indifferent and his style remained the same.

It's been a year, and today I said it here again in front of my mother-in-law, and the queen plucked up her courage and finally asked directly: "Can my mother make it clear why the emperor is like this?" How exactly do I do that...... Can he not continue like this? ”

Empress Taishang looked at her, and secretly made up her mind, before she said: "Have you heard of the incident that happened when Yuan Chen was fifteen years old?" ”

The queen was stunned: "What you said, but what provoked him to decide to leave Beijing early to become a vassal domain?" Oh, I'm not talking about my father's succession, it's ...... Another thing. ”

"Sure enough, even you heard about it in the Siguo Mansion." Queen Taishang said, "This child has been withdrawn and stubborn since he was a child, and he is arrogant, others don't like him, he will never take the initiative to please others, but hide far away; When others give good things to Yuan Ying, he never argues, and maybe he even throws away his share. Speaking of which, it is also my fault that he became like this......"

Thinking back to the past, a few days after she finished her confinement, she heard that Concubine Qi Shu of Yunzao Palace had passed away in childbirth, and the emperor hugged the third prince who had no biological mother to her, saying that it was just a companion with the second child who had just completed the moon. As soon as she saw that white and beautiful brother, she liked it very much, and decided to raise him well, and she should use it to the same extent as her own parents.

She wanted to be a virtuous queen, for fear of being accused of favoring her son, so she treated the third child slowly, so she paid attention everywhere, and poured more love into the third child than her own son. Whenever the two children have a discord, she is unbiased in favor of the third child without exception. Unconsciously, it seems to become a habit of nature.

Time flies, the two children are getting older day by day, she is not so confused that she forgets which one is her own, but there is always a clever and likable Yuan Ying on the side to compare, and it is becoming more and more difficult for her to give birth to a little more like that dull and dull son.

Almost everyone prefers Yuan Ying one-sidedly, but Empress Taishang knows that she is the only one in the world who should not be like this. She is Yuan Chen's biological mother, and there is no reason to favor Yuan Ying and snub him. She also blamed herself for this, and tried to get close to Yuan Chen and compensate him for some maternal love, but she always cared for her, but in exchange for her son's indifference.

She gradually understood that this son was both clever and aloof, and saw through her intention of making amends only out of mercy, and refused to accept it.

Sometimes there is a subtle reaction in the human psyche, the more guilty you feel about a person, the more you dislike that person, and even resentful of it.

After receiving the cold reception from her son, she had a grudge: I treated Yuan Ying more kindly, but are you resentful of me like this? I'm your biological mother, but I prefer Yuan Ying, isn't it your responsibility? Even if I want to compensate you for not appreciating it, don't blame me.

has been at such a stalemate year after year, they are the closest relatives of mother and son, but the distance is getting farther and farther. Today, both sides hardly know how to talk. Empress Taishang loved and feared this son, felt guilty and resentful, and admitted her mistakes reluctantly.

The queen listened to her words, and in connection with the secret she had heard many years ago, she vaguely understood something, and said in surprise: "So, that incident ......"

Empress Taishang suddenly came back to her senses and nodded: "That incident is the biggest blow to him, since then, he will inevitably feel that all women in the world love Yuan Ying in their hearts, even if they are forced to marry him, they still think about Yuan Ying in their hearts." He was so arrogant, how could he be willing to share a bed with such a woman? If it weren't for this, how could he, a prince, reach the age of his early twenties, and not even have a wife and concubine? This time, I tried hard to persuade him, saying that his father would die soon, and he should always watch him get married, so he reluctantly agreed. ”

Yuan Chen was fifteen years old when she had that incident, she knew that he had been wronged, but she chose to ignore it and didn't persuade him a word. Seeing him go away to a foreign country at a young age, she couldn't bear it either, and she also had concerns, but she was also relieved.

It was as if her son was gone, and no one reminded her of those mistakes.

She always loves and fears her son, and looks forward to his return, but is afraid that he will come back. Unexpectedly, once her husband was seriously ill, he not only recruited Yuan Chen back, but also had a whim, completely negating the foreshadowing that he wanted to pass on to Yuan Ying, and wanted to pass on the throne to Yuan Chen.

She went to ask the emperor the reason, but she couldn't ask why, she could only accept the facts, and she had to worry about the marriage for Yuan Chen.

Yuan Ying has been raised in front of her since she was a child, and her affection with her is deeper than that of Yuan Chen's own son, which son is the emperor, she doesn't mind so much. It's just that Yuan Chen became the emperor, and he still acted so awkwardly, he didn't even touch his wife and concubine, let alone when and when there was a prince, how could she feel at ease as a mother?

Empress Taishang looked at the curling green smoke on the incense burner, and tried her best to hide the depression in her heart: "I once said to the Emperor Taishang that since Yuan Chen believes that the people who love him in their hearts are Yuan Ying, only those who love him with all their hearts can be expected to enter his heart and heal him of that heartache." The women we have seen are really almost without exception who prefer Yuan Ying. You said that Concubine Ning and the others tried their best to curry favor with Yuan Chen on the surface, but because Yuan Chen was the emperor, if they could get the opportunity to choose between these two, would they choose Yuan Chen? I'm afraid it's hard to say, right? ”

She sighed, "With your background, you shouldn't have been selected to enter the palace. The Emperor Taishang and I saw that you often chatted with Yuan Chen back then, thinking that there was still one of you in the world, and he was blue-eyed and unmoved by Yuan Ying, so he violated the ancestral system and chose you as the queen. Who knows......"

To put it more strictly, she simply hated this son's awkward style. His temperament is arrogant when he says it's good, and isn't it intolerance and stubbornness when he says it's not good? If he could be as sensible as Yuan Ying, how could everything end up so embarrassing? How could she be so busy with so much leisure?

She even faintly thought that the throne was really better than giving it to Yuan Ying, who made Yuan Chen inferior everywhere? I really don't know what the Emperor thinks.

At this point, she couldn't say more bad things about her son in front of her daughter-in-law, so she comforted: "In my opinion, you might as well try to let him understand your mind and learn some ways to get along with young lovers to treat him, maybe it will be good." Yuan Chen...... After all, he is also a poor child. ”

It is said that she was persuaded by her mother-in-law to invite pets, and the queen should be shy and blush, but at this time, she saw that the queen's face was pale, and she was stunned for a while before nodding and responding: "What my mother said is that I think it is because I am not enthusiastic enough to come to the emperor." It may be better to keep an eye on it in the future. ”

Empress Taishang is much deeper than her city mansion, and when she saw her expression, she guessed that there was another hidden secret, and her heart suddenly moved-Yuan Chen snubbed the queen and didn't want to have sex with her, the reason was really only because her heart was cold for too long, and she couldn't warm up for a while?

Turning over the memories of the old days in my mind, several children of the princess read together with the heirs of the heavenly family, the youngest daughter of the Duke of Si Zhining is only eleven or twelve years old, and will be close to the age of needing to avoid suspicion, and the rest of the children are looking for opportunities to talk to Yuan Ying all day long, but this Miss Wu loves to get along with Yuan Chen. At that time, the emperor smiled at her and said: It is rare for a girl to surrender to Yuanchen, if it is not too tall, it is just right to ask her to be Yuanchen's daughter-in-law.

Empress Taishang has always believed that the girl is blue-eyed to Yuan Chen, and when I think about it today, when a group of young men and women coexisted, that girl often talked with Yuan Chen, it was really ...... Do you like what Yuanchen means?

This couldn't be asked directly, so Empress Taishang had to ask in a roundabout way: "Have you ever shown anything in front of Yuan Chen to mislead him?" ”

The queen didn't understand: "What misunderstanding do you mean?" ”

Empress Taishang had to order more thoroughly: "Think about it, has there ever been anything that will make him suspicious, suspecting that you are actually in love with Yuan Ying?" ”

The queen's heart trembled, and her face was even more white and bloody.