At this time, in the palace of the eldest prince in the capital, the eldest prince Zhao Yuyu was standing in front of the window of the study, quietly looking at the scenery outside, and was silent for a long time.

Behind him, several of his henchmen stood, looking at their master with worried expressions.

I don't know how long it took, the eldest prince finally spoke, "You say, is Lone already defeated?" There was a rare sense of exhaustion and bitterness in his voice.

As soon as these words came out, the hearts of several staff members suddenly trembled.

There are smart people everywhere in the world, and what a layman like Chi Fei can imagine, the people around the eldest prince will naturally think of it, but sooner or later.

Soon, Mr. Pei, who was the mastermind, took a step forward and said, "Your Highness, the matter is far from this point, maybe the saint has another intention in this move." ”

The eldest prince did not answer, but bowed his head and remained silent.

After a while, he looked up again, his eyes full of confidence.

He turned to several staff members and instructed, "Gu must enter the palace to visit the queen mother and the princess, how to go this way in the future, you can discuss a charter and come out." ”

"Yes, Your Highness."

Seeing that the master cheered up so quickly, several staff members were relieved.

Since the day they followed the eldest prince, they had already given him their lives and their lives.

Once the Great Prince is defeated, they will not end well.

Although the current situation is unfavorable to the eldest prince, as long as the master persists and does not give up, there is not no chance to turn the tables.

…………………………

Legend has it that the phoenix does not fall without a sycamore, so the bedroom of the Empress of the Great Wei Dynasty was named the Wutong Hall by Taizu, and it is still used today.

In the Wutong Palace, the eldest prince met the sick queen Empress Xiao and her sister Princess Yanfang, who was in charge of taking care of her.

Empress Xiao was born in the Chengenhou Mansion, a traditional noble family.

Nearly 200 years have passed since the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, and many of the traditional noble families who followed the Great Ancestor to fight the country and receive the title have mostly declined or been marginalized due to reasons such as the disgrace of their descendants or the failure of court battles.

Chengenhou Mansion is also one of the declining families, by the time of Empress Xiao's generation, there was only one family name left in the mansion, and it was already an empty shell, not even as good as a medium-sized businessman.

When Empress Xiao was young, she often worked with other ladies in the palace to sell homemade embroidery to subsidize the family, and she was quite embarrassed and miserable.

At the age of sixteen, Empress Xiao participated in that year's draft in accordance with the rules of the palace like other noble ladies.

She knew that her appearance was mediocre and her talent was average, so she didn't think that she would be selected, but she just came to go through the motions.

However, for some reason, she was favored by Queen Xie at that time, that is, the later Empress Dowager Xie.

Empress Dowager Xie not only wanted her birthday, but also secretly gave it to Lord Liu, the Qintian Supervisor, to calculate.

Originally, Qin Tianjian's duty was to observe the celestial phenomena, calculate the solar terms, and formulate the calendar.

However, Lord Liu, the Qintianjian at that time, was not only proficient in astronomical solar terms, but also a well-known fortune master in private.

Empress Xiao learned many years later that it turned out that Lord Liu, the Qintianjian of the year, gave a four-character comment after seeing her birthday.

Because of these four-character criticisms, Empress Dowager Xie kept her and promised her to the seven princes who were raised under her knees.

Later, the development of things was really as judged by Lord Liu, the seventh prince became the emperor, and the Xiao family became the queen, which is really expensive.

Although you are the queen, it is a pity that Queen Xiao's maiden family is weak and has almost no foundation at all.

In addition, he has favored Concubine Xie for many years, and his relationship with Queen Xiao can only be said to be mediocre, at most, he only came to Wutong Hall once or twice a month.

There is no mother's family to rely on, and there is Empress Dowager Xie on her head, and her relationship with her husband is also mediocre, so Queen Xiao's status in the palace is not high, far inferior to Concubine Xie, who has been favored for many years.

Of course, even if she is not as good as Concubine Xie, she is the queen after all, and she is the biological mother of the eldest prince, so naturally no one in the palace dares to snub her.

Recently, Empress Xiao occasionally felt a cold and has been sick for a few days.

However, this is just an excuse for the outside world, and the real reason is related to Princess Yanfang's will to be married to the Anguo Mansion by the emperor.

After the selection of the concubine was announced in the court, Queen Xiao went to the Holy Lord to theorize that night, but the Holy Lord refused to see her, which made Queen Xiao fall ill in a hurry.

After a few days of treatment and recuperation by the imperial doctor, Empress Xiao finally gradually recovered, but she couldn't get out of bed for the time being, and her face also had obvious illness.

The eldest prince said with relief, "Queen Mother, I have already checked Xie Changting. Unlike his brother, he was a gentle reader. Now studying at Nanshan Academy, there is no bad record in his life.

My sister is married to such a person, but it is also worry-free.

And according to the royal regulations, the princess can marry separately. In other words, the younger sister can live in the princess's mansion with the concubine, and she doesn't have to live in the Anguo mansion, saving the trouble of morning and dusk. ”

Empress Xiao sighed and said, "Yu'er, you don't have to comfort me. I am an ignorant woman, but I know that you are in a difficult situation.

If you hadn't been born in my womb, there might be a way out. It's the mother who is useless and can't help you. ”

The eldest prince couldn't help but be a little moved, and said, "The queen mother is serious, you have helped the child a lot, and the child knows it in his heart."

Please rest assured, it's not really to the point where there is nothing to be done now, it's just that my sister has been wronged. ”

Empress Xiao looked up at her two biological children and said solemnly, "Now that the holy decree has been issued, there is no way to change it."

But you must always remember that you are brothers and sisters, and you are connected by blood. No matter what happens in the future, even if we can't help each other, we must not harm each other.

That's all I have to say, get out. ”

The eldest prince and the princess thought that the queen mother was tired, so they retired together and left the room.

After they left, tears of pain oozed from Empress Xiao's eyes.

After the two arrived at the side hall, the eldest prince looked at his silent sister, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

His younger sister Bing Xue is smart, and many things have long been seen clearly, and he can't comfort her with words to comfort the queen mother, which will only pale and weak.

The biggest problem in this marriage is not whether the future concubine Xie Changting's personality is suitable for his sister, but his identity as the second grandson of Duke Anguo.

Although Yan Fanggui is a princess, once the two get married, in the eyes of everyone, she is already the maiden family of the second prince.

The so-called marrying a chicken and marrying a dog with a dog, after Yan Fang became Xie Changting's wife, especially after the two parties had children, whether her mentality would change, this is also another place full of variables.

People change, especially when a woman becomes a mother.

Empress Xiao herself is also a person from the past, so she said such a thing just now, just to avoid infighting between the two brothers and sisters because of their respective positions or children in the future.

The eldest prince also knew very well in his heart that from the moment his father announced that he would marry his sister to Xie Changting, he would no longer be able to speak freely to her as before.

Because, now she is half of the Xie family, and the positions of both sides have changed, and he can't afford to take this risk.

Just when the two of them were silent, Princess Yanfang suddenly stood up slowly, and then walked up to the eldest prince and bowed very solemnly.

"Yan Fang, what are you ......" The eldest prince looked at her with some puzzlement.

Princess Yan Fang looked at him without blinking and said, "Brother Huang, Yan Fang hereby swears to you, no matter who I marry or where I am, Yan Fang is the daughter of the queen mother and the sister of the imperial brother." will only be towards the royal brother alone, and this ambition will never be swerving. If there is a defection, ten thousand arrows will pierce the heart, and it will not be good to die. ”

Looking at his sister's extremely firm eyes, the eldest prince was moved again.

This is the sister showing her loyalty to him and making up her will to die.

After taking a deep breath, the eldest prince asked in a deep voice, "Do you know what this means?" ”

"Brother Huang, Yan Fang has decided to become an inside chess piece for you to contribute to Brother Huang's ascension."

"Don't you really regret it?"

Princess Yanfang sneered, "I am a princess, and I am the queen's concubine, why do I have to look at people's faces." Instead of being aggrieved and surviving, it is better to give it a go. ”

After the eldest prince looked at her for a while, he said with some excitement, "Okay, as long as Yan Fang is unswerving, the royal brother will never fail you." Once the emperor brother succeeds in reaching the top, it will be the time for the eldest princess to be crowned by the eldest princess. ”

"Yan Fang will never dare to forget." Princess Yanfang solemnly saluted him again, but it was a courtier's courtesy.

Although there was some rebellion, the eldest prince still accepted her gift safely, and the originally gentle and elegant eyes burst into strong ambition for the first time.

……………………

Just when the officials in the capital were making a fuss about the formation of the cabinet, Chi Fei, who was far away in the northwest, received the latest instructions from his father-in-law, Ning Zhiyuan, and asked him to return to Beijing first.

The reason is to let him go back as soon as possible to vaccinate the Ning family in the capital against cowpox, so as not to change things.

It turned out that after severely torturing the recently captured Hu spies, it was learned that they not only wanted to cause an outbreak of smallpox plague in the entire northwest, but also planned to spread the epidemic to the area around the capital, so that the capital would also become a dead city.

Since he didn't know how many Hu people were doing this, in order to prevent any fish from slipping through the net, Ning Zhiyuan secretly ordered Chi Fei to rush back to the capital as soon as possible to inoculate the Ning family, so as not to be infected by smallpox.

As for the northwest side, firstly, there is a school doctor Lu Jing taking over Chi Fei's work, and secondly, it will take at least half a year to test the vaccination effect of the entire northwest, so even if Chi Fei stays here, it will have a limited effect, so it is better to go back to the capital and stand by.

After learning that he could return to Beijing, Chi Fei felt very happy.

Without further ado, he immediately picked two cows with smallpox and disguised them as cows pulling carts, and then set off in the direction of the capital with more than a dozen guards assigned to him by his father-in-law, Ning Zhiyuan.

After all, he hasn't seen his little wife Ah Zhi for almost four months, and I don't know how the girl is doing now.

Thinking of this, Chi Fei's heart was on fire, and he could finally go back to reunite with that girl.

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