Empress Dowager Zhang's questioning made Emperor Dade feel embarrassed, especially in front of so many people, which made him, the emperor, unable to step down. Emperor Dade knew when to be weak and when to be tough, and he could show weakness to his mother in private, but he had to be tough when he was open to show the majesty of the emperor.

Emperor Dade knew that Empress Dowager Zhang was not a reasonable person, although his mother was born in a famous family, but she was arrogant by her grandfather since she was a child, and she was cared for by several uncles in every way, and she was a beautiful girl in the sky since she was a child, so she developed a domineering and unreasonable character. After the queen mother entered the palace, she crushed all the concubines of the former emperor with her momentum, and when the queen died of illness, the queen mother ruled the six palaces as a concubine. As for the rule that harem concubines are not allowed to leave the palace at will, the queen mother has also violated it several times, but no one dares to criticize the queen mother, and no one reminds her.

A few days ago, because she missed her son, Empress Dowager Zhang went out of the palace without permission and came to the palace of the king of Chu, talked and laughed with the mother and son of the king of Chu for a day, and pleaded with Emperor Dade after coming back. But Emperor Dade did not let go, he also had a headache for this seventh brother who caused trouble, and he was even more resentful of the ninth brother who was ambitious at a young age.

Emperor Dade got up, suppressed the anger in his heart and said: "Queen Mother, it's noon, it's time to eat, why don't you enter the palace for a snack?" ”

Empress Dowager Zhang didn't get up, but still aggressively said: "Emperor, you do this, do you care about the mother of the mourning family?" ”

Emperor Dade said: "Queen Mother, it is precisely because I care about you that my son lets you have a snack, don't starve your body." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang said angrily: "If you care about me, you won't drive away your ninth brother." ”

Emperor Dade raised his head and said slowly: "What is the ninth brother thinking in his heart, the queen mother doesn't know, the queen mother still doesn't interfere in major events in the court." It is necessary to know that it is a taboo for our dynasty to interfere in the harem, and the queen mother must not forget the harem case of Emperor Xiao. ”

Emperor Shengxiao is the grandfather's grandfather's father and great-great-great-grandfather, Emperor Shengxiao reigned for 16 years, during which except for a court case, that is, the harem was in politics, and Emperor Shengxiao's mother intervened in the court. So Emperor Shengxiao issued an edict to fast for three days as punishment, and Emperor Xiao's mother was in great pain after hearing this, and the mother and son were finally reconciled.

When Emperor Dade said this, how could Empress Dowager Zhang not hear the meaning, and suddenly said even more angrily: "The emperor is teaching me a lesson? ”

Emperor Dade said: "The son doesn't dare, the queen mother, let's have a snack." After that, he personally stepped forward to prepare to support the Queen Mother, but the old mother of the Queen Mother Zhang stopped in front of the Great De Emperor, this old mother took her to protect her when the Queen Mother Zhang was five years old, it can be said that she has deep qualifications, even in the palace, no one dares to disobey the words of the old mother. The Empress Dowager Zhang and the old lady have a strong relationship, and the Empress Dowager Zhang can deter the concubines in the harem, and the old lady has contributed a lot from it. Especially since Emperor Taiqian, there has only been one tenth prince who died early, and the other princes have all died or miscarried without exception, but also because of the old mother's vicious methods.

The harem people saw the old lady, more afraid than the Empress Dowager Zhang, the old lady also watched the Great Virtue Emperor grow up, and knew his temperament very well, but at this moment she had to teach the Great Virtue Emperor as an elder, and said: "Your Majesty, didn't you learn the truth that your brother is on the wall when you were a child?" How can my brother have such a big grievance, you also know that the King of Jin is young, and the Queen Mother did not recommend him to build a mansion, saying that he stayed in the prince's mansion to study more. He doesn't understand as a younger brother, you can teach him well as an elder brother, why bother to embarrass the Queen Mother. You don't know, just got the news, the Queen Mother's tears came down with a brush, and the last time she cried, it was the King of Chu who was demoted to guard the emperor's mausoleum. ”

Emperor Dade asked, "Is Mama teaching me to be a man?" ”

The old lady hurriedly said: "The old body doesn't dare, the old body is His Majesty's house slave, how dare he educate His Majesty, but the old body knows that loyalty is good for deeds." Your Majesty is an enlightened emperor, and will never punish the old man for one or two sentences of incorrect advice. "The old lady is highly respected in the palace, and she can't figure out her position at this time, but she does have this capital, even the Empress Dowager Zhang has to listen to the old lady more. The relationship between the old mother and the Empress Dowager Zhang is like a mother and daughter and sisters, especially when the Empress Dowager Zhang entered the palace, it was the old lady who protected her with all her might, and acted as a pawn to kill left and right, and made great contributions, and there were no less than three princes who died in her hands alone.

If it was in the past, Emperor Dade would definitely obey his mother's wishes and not worry about anything with the old lady, but today is not the same as in the past, and the punishment of King Jin is related to his throne, the stability of the imperial power, and the future of the prince, so he must not only deal with it at a thunderous speed, but also leave no trouble. And the attitude of the old grandmother is obviously the opinion of the Empress Dowager Zhang, otherwise how dare a grandmother break the rules and prevent the emperor from moving forward.

Emperor Dade shouted: "Stand aside!" ”

The old lady smiled faintly and stepped aside, obviously not putting the emperor in her eyes, but the Empress Dowager Zhang deliberately said in the opposite tone: "Mama, come back!" The old lady stood back and stopped in front of the Great Emperor.

Emperor Dade was displeased, and said: "The son originally planned to say hello at night, but since the mother came here, the son told the queen mother directly. ”

"Do you want to tell me at night that you sent King Jin out of Longdu?"

"Definitely." Emperor Dade said, "Queen Mother, the war in Jiangnan is in danger, and my son needs to negotiate with the Ministry of War on the issue of grain and grass allocation." In addition, this year, 500,000 taels of silver will be allocated from the treasury of the palace for the war ahead, so the palace must cut down on food and clothing, and I will lay off half of the palace maids and return home, and this matter will be handed over to Gou Delu to handle. Gou Delu. ”

"Your Majesty, our family is here."

"Send some old and incompetent people home, and at the same time send some marriageable palace maids out of the palace early, so as not to delay others." Emperor Dade looked at Empress Dowager Zhang's support for more than 100 palace maids and eunuchs, sighed and said: "Queen Mother, everything in the palace from now on is mainly thrifty, I will take the lead, and I hope that the Queen Mother will support her son." ”

The old lady leaned on the old man and said: "Your Majesty, the old slave has a sentence that I don't know whether to say or not, but the old slave still has to say that there is a lack of concubines in the palace, and there is no need to cut down on food and clothing, and the queen mother is noble, how can she reduce the use?" Gou Delu, don't you say? Gou Delu looked at Emperor Dade helplessly, and the old lady asked sharply: "I'll ask you something, reply." ”

Although Gou Delu was majestic in front of others, he was like a mouse seeing a cat in the face of the old woman, and he was so frightened that he didn't dare to raise his head.

Emperor Dade looked around, only to see a little eunuch with twinkling eyes looking at the old lady with interest, so he became interested and beckoned: "You, come here." ”

The little eunuch walked over, it was Laixi, and Emperor Dade also recognized him, and said, "Laixi, do you think it is feasible to reduce the amount of money in the palace by half?" ”

Laixi was not small, and immediately said: "Back to Your Majesty's words, the palace uses the little slave to dare not say, but the little slave knows that the whole world is the emperor, but if the world is gone, others can turn around and kneel in front of others as slaves to serve the new master, but Your Majesty can't." ”

Emperor Dade's eyes lit up, this is a smart and clever guy, he was overjoyed, turned to look at the old mother, and said coldly: "Mother, you should be fifty-six years old this year, and it is time to return to your hometown, it is really hard to take care of my mother for so many years." That's it, you are allowed to return to your hometown, leave the palace today, leave Beijing tomorrow, never return to Beijing, go down. ”

The old lady sat on the ground, looked at the emperor in disbelief, and then immediately knelt on the ground and cried: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the old body knows that it is wrong, and the old body knows that it is wrong." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang screamed at this time: "Emperor, what are you talking about? ”

Emperor Dade said: "Queen Mother, I am concerned about an old and confused palace maid. ”

"The people around me haven't been able to teach you a lesson." Empress Dowager Zhang was furious.

Emperor Dade shook his head and said with a cold attitude:

When Empress Dowager Zhang heard this, she finally understood that the emperor was completely out of her control, and he not only wanted to reduce his henchmen, but also reduce his own living expenses, which was simply unusual! How could Empress Dowager Zhang be so angry with her son, she stepped down from the phoenix and said, "Emperor, are you trying to force your mother to death?" She helped the old lady up and said, "Stand up, did I make you kneel?" ”

The old lady wiped her tears and cried: "Thank you for the Queen Mother's compassion for the old slave, but the old body can't stay in this palace, even some pickled little eunuchs can arrange the old body in front of the emperor." The Queen Mother, like such a little eunuch, can't stay, can't stay. When did he make irresponsible remarks in front of the emperor, provoke the relationship between your mother and daughter, and cause chaos in the harem, why did the queen mother see the first emperor? ”

Empress Dowager Zhang asked, "Mama, what do you think should be done with this little eunuch?" ”

The old lady pointed at Laixi and said sharply: "Drag this villain out and steam him." ”

Lai Xi was so frightened that cold sweat flowed out, this old woman wanted to steam herself to death, it was like a beast, he looked helplessly at the emperor, the emperor was waiting for the old lady angrily, but the old woman was proud, as if she was demonstrating.

"Idiot!" Emperor Dade secretly thought in his heart, "It seems that you can't be left behind." He turned his head to look at Zhang Xiaowu, and Zhang Xiaowu understood.

At this time, the old lady pointed to Laixi and instructed left and right: "The Queen Mother has ordered, what are you still stunned about, drive this little eunuch away!" ”

Several eunuchs from the West Palace immediately rushed up, and seeing that they were about to arrest Laixi, Laixi was also so frightened that he didn't know what to do, and collapsed to the ground, without the composure he had just had.

Zhang Xiaowu rushed forward at this time, kicked one eunuch down, and kicked another eunuch back two or three steps, the remaining two eunuchs were at a loss when they saw this, Zhang Xiaowu stepped forward and grabbed their collars, and then lifted them up, threw them hard, threw them two feet away, and smashed them on the stone ground and wailed.

The old lady shouted, "Escort! Escort! He stopped in front of the Empress Dowager Zhang, pointed at Zhang Xiaowu and said: "Royal Forest Army, come and take down this person who assassinated the Empress Dowager, take it!" ”

Zhang Xiaowu didn't talk nonsense, rushed up and grabbed the old grandmother's collar and lifted her over, and then struggled to fall to the ground, the old grandmother screamed and got up.

Zhang Xiaowu pulled out the sword of the Son of Heaven, only to see a flash of white light, and the old mother's head and body were separated. Her head rolled to the side like a ball, and her body struggled stiffly for a while, and finally fell to the ground outside the blood-stained Heart Cultivation Temple.

The palace maids and eunuchs were so frightened that they were ready to scatter and flee, and even the eunuchs who carried the sedan chair were weak in their hands and feet. Although there are few dead people in the palace battles, it is the first time to kill people in front of the queen mother and the emperor.

Zhang Xiaowu shouted: "Everyone stands in place, and if there are any more rioters, there will be no forgiveness, and they will be decided!" The palace maids and eunuchs were so frightened that they didn't dare to move, and now they finally saw what a ruthless person is, this ghost general is really a murderer who doesn't blink an eye, and even the Empress Dowager Zhang is so frightened that she can't speak.

However, Zhang Xiaowu naturally couldn't intimidate the Empress Dowager Zhang, and ordered: "You three little eunuchs, dispose of the corpse of this dog that offended the emperor, so as not to frighten Your Majesty and the Queen Mother." Three little eunuchs came forward tremblingly, two held the corpse, one held back the vomiting and carried the old woman's head, glanced at the emperor and the queen mother, turned around and ran.

After killing the old mother, Zhang Xiaowu saluted and said: "Zhang Xiaowu, the guard with a knife in front of the emperor, has seen the Queen Mother's mother Chitose Chitose Chitose Chitose. With that, he resolutely retreated behind the emperor.

Empress Dowager Zhang was completely dumbfounded at this time, she didn't think that she would encounter today's encounter, let alone see a dead person, and it was her closest old lady who died.

Emperor Dade squinted his eyes, and the indescribable happiness in his heart, this old lady was like a stone pressing on his heart, and said: "The Queen Mother is too frightened, she needs to go back to the West Palace to rest, send her back." After I have taken care of state affairs, I will visit my mother. ”

Gou Delu immediately shouted: "Please go back to the West Palace to recuperate!" ”

The eunuchs suddenly carried the queen mother's phoenix chariot away, and their steps were much faster than when they came, and it could be said that there was wind under their feet, and they didn't want to stay for a moment. Everyone speculates that the treatment of this West Palace will definitely be worse in the future, especially the palace maids and eunuchs.

Emperor Dade sighed, knowing that the order he gave today would cause discord between mother and son, and he would have to be talked about in the future, but if he wanted to take power, he would definitely make such a cruel decision. His ferocity is because the ninth brother has become interested in imperial power, and he will never keep a person who wants to take away his throne. Empress Dowager Zhang's protection and connivance were the reasons for the final disharmony between mother and son.

"Gou Delu, come here." Great German Emperor.

"Yes."

Gou Delu whispered, Emperor Dade commanded, Gou Delu was startled at first, and then his eyes flashed, and he nodded and retreated. Emperor Dade then returned to the Palace of Nourishing Hearts, Zhang Xiaowu and others also followed, and Emperor Dade said: "Pass the commander of the Golden Clothes Guard into the palace." ”

"Yes." Gou Delu's face was full of excitement, after the death of the old lady, no one in the palace could give him a face, and his future path to being the chief eunuch was smoother.