On the second day of February in the second year of Zhanghe, Emperor Zhang of Han died, and the crown prince Liu Zhao ascended the throne as Emperor of Han He at the age of ten. Respect the adoptive mother of Emperor Han Zhang, Empress Dou Hou as the empress dowager, ruled by the Empress Dowager Dou, since then the Han Dynasty from stability to chaos, into the period of relatives, eunuchs successively in power.

Chapter 1: Skepticism

In the Jiade Hall, eleven-year-old Liu Zhao knelt on the carpet with golden silk and red flowers, his round face, a pair of smart eyes flickered slightly, and a small brow furrowed.

In front of him is a long scroll corner bookcase with gold silk and black lacquer, on which the gold foil appliqué is appliquéd, and the four-leaf pedicle painted incense burner exudes a very strong fragrance. The fragrance was scattered throughout the temple, and the air seemed to be infected by the aroma, and those who smelled it were intoxicated.

On the soft couch behind the bookcase, a beautiful woman sat quietly on the couch, her long hair was tied into a bun, combed into a yaotai bun, and two hairpins inlaid with white jade, red and sapphire, and gold hairpins were very casually falling, which looked luxurious but unassuming, and had a place to appreciate the eyes.

She narrowed a pair of beautiful eyes, took the sharp gaze into her eyes, and said lightly, "Emperor, you have just ascended the throne, there are some things, everything is considered by the queen mother, you don't have to worry." As for the matter of King Qinghe, I will discuss it with the ministers, you just need to read every day and learn the principles of governing the country, can you remember? ”

Liu Zhao bit his lower lip and clenched his fists, anger made an inexplicable irritability rise in his heart, but he suppressed this irritability strongly. Bo nodded calmly, "Erchen knows, please think about what Erchen invited, Erchen will be obedient and study." He kowtowed again, "If the queen mother has no other instructions, the sons will retire first." ”

The beautiful woman smiled faintly, "Very good, you go!" ”

Liu Zhao stood up, stepped back beyond the curtain, turned around and walked out. When he walked to the bottom of the steps of His Highness, he glanced back and up, and a deep hatred flashed in his eyes, and he disappeared into the heavy palace without looking back.

The beautiful woman is the Empress Dowager Dou, after listening to the palace people's return, she still smiled faintly, and her slender fingers touched a ring with a delicate golden chrysanthemum pattern on her index finger, so that the rough touch rose a very comfortable pleasure in her heart.

Dou was born in a famous family, and his mother was Princess Yuyang, the daughter of Liu Qiang, King Gong of the East China Sea, and Dou was their eldest daughter. Dou grew up in such a prominent official family, and she was born beautiful since she was a child, and she was able to write very good articles at the age of six. She is not only knowledgeable, gentle and elegant, but also beautiful as jade. But in the court, no matter how beautiful the personality is, it will become associated with resentment, jealousy, and viciousness, otherwise, it will eventually become a victim.

Dou Shi deeply understands this truth, she knows how to use her beauty and her own means to play among the various characters of **. not only got the favor of Emperor Zhang, but also the love of the Empress Dowager Ma, and was more able to handle the relationship with the concubines, so that later, she took advantage of Emperor Zhang's weakness and began to interfere in court politics.

The palace man who was standing in front of her secretly glanced at the silent Empress Dowager Dou with her eyes, waiting for her next instructions, her heart began to beat wildly, and a dangerous and mysterious aura permeated all over the palace, as if something big was about to happen.

Empress Dowager Dou stretched out her arm lazily, and the steps of the purple gold jade phoenix and pearl shook with her swing.

"Go down, Zhao'er is extremely smart and measured, but I want to know at all times what he did, what he said, and who he met, do you understand?" Empress Dowager Dou's voice was soft and soft, but there was a frightening determination.

Chloe said, "No! He stepped back and let out a long sigh of relief. The emperor is still young, although he is the person next to the queen mother, but such a cute little emperor, who would bear to watch him suffer a little?

In the Deyang Palace, there is a black lacquered table with a golden dragon depicted at the four corners, six bright fire candles, shining a small figure sitting behind the table, and a small bow and arrow bag hanging nondescriptly on the side of the huge tapestry behind him. There were a few books on the table, but Liu Zhao did not open them to read, he held two thin silk cloths, the pieces of cloth had been crumpled, and they looked a little dirty, but he still held them tightly in his hands, that is, he did not open them to read, nor did he throw them away. The four eunuchs stood not far away, their heads bowed, and they looked indistinct in the light and shadow of the dark night.

Liu Zhao took over this thin silk from Zheng Zhong's hand yesterday, there are only five short words on it, "biological mother Liang Guiren", the words are very blurry, and the pen looks very weak, and even seems to be written in a panic.

Zheng Zhong is a eunuch who manages the palace river pond garden, when he was playing by the Cangchi yesterday, he ran away from the eunuchs and palace maids, Zheng Zhong suddenly appeared in front of him, and before he could reflect, he put this silk into his hand, and left in a panic.

He only glanced at it, and quickly put the silk cloth into his sleeve, and his heart beat wildly. The water light of Cangchi reflected his eyes, this is the weather in March, all kinds of small flowers by the Cangchi have opened, the purple and red are very good-looking, the grass is new and green, the boulder by the pool blocked the palace people who chased over, but he broke out in a cold sweat. Biological mother Liang Guiren, do you mean him?

Liu Zhao pressed down the doubts that rose in his heart, and it seemed that a large fog appeared in front of him, but he couldn't distinguish the direction in this fog.

For as long as he can remember, no one has ever told him that he had a mother besides the queen, and where is this mother now? Is the news that Zheng Zhong gave him true?

Although Liu Zhao is only eleven years old, but this year, he has been sitting on the throne of the emperor, but he can only say that the people are flat, retreating from the dynasty, etc., although he is silent, his psychology has matured rapidly in this short year.

He knew that this silk was a shocking secret, and if this secret was true or revealed, then his future road would be extremely difficult and sinister. So no matter what, the secret of this silk can only be known by himself.

The eunuchs and palace ladies gasped and ran in front of him, "Alas, Your Majesty, you are running too fast! ”

He smiled slightly, revealing the innocence of a child, "Come and chase me, there will be a prize for catching up with me!" He turned around and ran towards the East Palace.

He used to live in the East Palace, where his only brother Liu Qing lived, and after he became the emperor, he did not move to the Yong'an Palace, where he was supposed to go, but lived in the Chongde Palace, where only the prince lived. As for why, he never thought about it.

And his brother Liu Qing, after he ascended the throne, still lived in the East Palace, which he asked the Empress Dowager Dou to dove. When he was a child, he had been eating, living and studying with Liu Qing. His father also often visited them in the East Palace, which was his happiest place. Today, he really wants to talk to his brother about it. He knew that his brother really loved him, and he would definitely tell him what to do.

But the East Palace was already empty, and in the spacious palace, several eunuchs and palace maids were cleaning, and Liu Qing's familiar figure had disappeared. Tears suddenly welled up in his eyes, and there seemed to be the sound of them running and playing together in the empty hall. But when it should have come, it still came, and the queen mother still drove her brother out of the palace and drove him back to the fiefdom.

"Your Majesty, King Qinghe has already returned to the fiefdom, and when he leaves, the Queen Mother instructs that there is no need to say goodbye to His Majesty!" A middle yellow door respectfully told him.

"Didn't he leave me anything?" Although he knew that this possibility was very small, Liu Zhao couldn't help but ask.

"When King Qinghe left, he only said that he would put all his playthings in a big box, and if His Majesty misses him, he can take them out and take a look." Zhonghuangmen said and pointed to a large box in the corner of the hall.

Liu Zhao nodded and walked towards the box, which was large enough to occupy more than half the height of his small body, but he still opened it with force. Inside were all their toys, most of which were damaged.

Liu Zhao smiled bitterly, he knew that these things had already been checked by those Yellow Gate eunuchs, and it was extremely unlikely that his brother would leave him anything. He picked up a wooden horse at random, which they had made together when they were children, and although it was very clumsy and ridiculous, it was their favorite at the time.

Suddenly, he felt that one of the legs of the wooden horse seemed to move, and his heart sank: no, this horse's leg can't move, is it broken? He saw that the yellow door seemed to have lost interest in this box, and he thought that he had checked it several times, and he believed that there would be no problem, and he was talking to another little yellow door at this time, and did not look in his direction.

So he quickly moved the horse's leg a few times, and sure enough, the horse's leg fell off, and the inside of the leg was hollowed out. A thin sheet of silk is rolled into a small roll and placed inside. He took out the silk and put it in the palm of his hand. Pretending to be careless, he looked through some other toys and ordered the box to be closed.

"The things in this box, are the things that my brother and I played with when we were young, although they have been damaged, but they are cherished by me, you must keep them in this East Palace, do not damage or throw them away, I will come to see them at any time, play with them, or have mistakes, be careful of your heads." After speaking, he put his hands behind his back and said to a group of little eunuchs who followed him, "Go to the Jiade Palace!" ”

Anyway, he decided to go to his mother to fight for Liu Qing, after all, with Liu Qing by his side, there always seemed to be a help, and at this time, he was alone, facing an unknowable future.

As he expected, Empress Dowager Dou just replied to him lightly, and there was no need for him to say anything at all. I don't know why, since he saw the thin silk, the feeling of closeness and love for his mother in his heart has faded a lot. Even the Garter Hall has a deep weariness and hatred from the bottom of my heart.

Back in the Deyang Palace, he secretly glanced at the thin silk left by Liu Qing, which read, "The Queen Mother is autocratic, the younger brother is talented, you still need to be patient, wait for time, don't rush forward, remember." ”

Liu Zhao took the two thin silks to the candle flame and lit them, and the two pieces of silk paper instantly turned into a small ball of black ash and disappeared. In the flash of the fire, several eunuchs secretly turned their heads to look, but they didn't know what was on fire. There was a foul smell in the air, and a palace maid couldn't help but walk in and ask, "Your Majesty, what have you burned, but be careful of the candles." ”

"Presumptuous!" Liu Zhao said angrily, "You still have to take care of what I want to do, come here, drag her out, and beat her with twenty sticks." ”

The palace maid was so frightened that she hurriedly knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty spares your life, the slave and maid are kind, I am afraid that Your Majesty will play something and cause trouble." Your Majesty spare me, I don't dare, I don't dare to come out again! ”

"Don't you dare? You're so bold, when I don't have a sense of proportion, let you bastards take care of it! Is the yellow door of the car there? Liu Zhao's eyes widened, and his face was angry.

A middle-aged eunuch immediately ran in, "What does Your Majesty command?" ”

"I don't want to see this maid again, you take her to other palaces, let me see her again, I won't be spared!" Liu Zhao's little face had a decisiveness different from that of a child, and a cold light flashed in his dark eyes.

The maidservant kowtowed and thanked her, and was taken out. Liu Zhao raised the corners of his mouth upward, he always knew that this maid was sent to him by the Queen Mother, although he knew that it was not one, but he got rid of one, but he was overjoyed in his heart, as if he had completed a big event.

He looked at the candle that had just burned the silk cloth, and fell into a deep contemplation that was not his age. In the jump of the candlelight, his small figure looked strangely lonely.