"Also, everyone in this palace says I'm dead, not to mention how long you've been married, where can you know this? Come, you come. ”

Zhu Zhijie looked at her, listening to what she said was obviously incredible, but there was an undoubted firmness in her tone.

She had no choice but to walk obediently to the stone steps.

"Come, salute me, call me, Imperial Grandmother!"

The voice is kind, but it is extremely majestic.

"The Emperor...... Imperial grandmother. Zhu Zhijie was a little involuntarily, and reluctantly bowed.

But the old woman didn't care, her face suddenly flushed a lot, and she plucked a hairpin from her head. There were no ornaments on her head, but after she pulled it off, her snow-white hair bun was even more empty, and she looked more and more lonely.

"Come, this is my gift to my granddaughter-in-law, you have to take it."

Zhu Zhijie was about to refuse, but before the words came out, the old woman's stern eyes shot again, and she couldn't allow her to resist at all.

Zhu Zhijie had no choice but to thank and take it, and took the opportunity to get close and look at the old woman carefully.

I saw that although the clothes she was wearing were just coarse cloth from ordinary people's homes, they were indeed very clean and tidy, not like she was born poor, and the palace bun combed from the sideburns on her head was also similar to the buns of the two concubines she saw that day, both of which were combed by the elderly concubines.

Look at the phoenix hairpin again, the phoenix eye at the hairpin head is a little red agate, the gold phoenix feather is engraved very finely, and the feather is also inlaid with a red, purple and blue three-color tourmaline ring.

Bihai Country is rich in rare stones, and Zhu Zhijie has only seen a lot more since she was a child, but the phoenix hairpin in front of her is obviously the best of the best, and it is by no means an ordinary thing.

"I know you have a lot of questions in your mind at this time, but there are some things that I may not be willing to say, and you may not be willing to believe them. Seeing you and my grandchildren today, it is also pitiful to God, and I may be able to see the mother of my future great-grandchildren in my lifetime. ”

"You...... Are you really Chongyan's grandmother? ”

The old woman nodded, with tears in her eyes.

"But why do you live in such a desolate place?" Zhu Zhijie couldn't help but feel compassion, how could such a dilapidated palace live?

"When you ask like this, it shows that you are kind-hearted and a good boy who is filial. But today I didn't expect to see you for the first time, and my heart was really chaotic, and I didn't know where to start. If you want to know why I'm here to stay, I'll tell you the next time I come. I just wish you could come and see me every once in a while, and talk to me so that I don't have to live so lonely, would you be willing to say yes? ”

The old woman suddenly lost her previous majesty, and her eyes were gloomy, and there was a sense of pleading.

Zhu Zhijie saw that she was very emotional, and couldn't help but soften, and responded: "Okay, then I'll come to see you in a few days, Chongyan has gone to Jingzhou now, and when he comes back, I'll come with him." ”

"No!" The old woman suddenly asserted categorically.

"You must not mention to anyone about your encounter today. Now in the palace, everyone just says that I am dead. Only when the world thinks I'm dead can I quietly keep my life. If you leak the slightest rumor, then my old woman won't live long. Do you know? ”

Zhu Zhijie looked at her in disbelief, not knowing what kind of reason made a prominent queen mother have to hide so carefully in the deep palace in order to save her life. But in this situation, she couldn't shake her head and refuse, and immediately responded:

"Okay, I see, I won't tell anyone else."

"You remember, you must be alone when you come

Since he came, he has come in through the small door of the square. But don't come too often, otherwise it will be easy to be discovered. If you wish, I will be here for you at this hour every seven days. Next time, you can tell me about you and Chongyan, okay? ”

Zhu Zhijie looked at the longing in the old man's eyes, and couldn't help but nod and smile:

"Okay."

"Then go ahead, lest the palace ladies come looking for you after a long time. Remember, every seven days. ”

Zhu Zhijie stood up and walked out, didn't take a few steps, felt a little uneasy, turned around and asked, "Emperor...... Grandmother, next time I come over, do you want to bring you something? ”

The old woman smiled and shook her head.

"I don't want anything."

Zhu Zhijie returned to Zhaohua Palace, and the palace maid saw that she was sweating on her forehead, and hurriedly offered a black rock blue needle.

Zhu Zhijie took a sip uneasily, and said strangely: "Why is it cold?" ”

"Your Highness instructed that the slaves and maids should let this tea cool before it can be drunk...... "The palace maid was puzzled.

"Oh......" Zhu Zhijie was still thinking about the talented old woman in her mind, and she completely forgot about it, she waved her hand: "You all go down." ”

Zhu Zhijie sat down alone, her ten fingers gently clasped the jade ring on the tea cup, and the ring jingled.

Empress Dowager Jing.

Chongyan's imperial grandmother, Emperor Wen's biological mother.

How can he live alone in the long-abandoned Weiyang Palace.

If a member of the royal family commits a great crime of disobedience, he will either be given death, such as his own imperial grandfather. Either you will be confined for the rest of your life, which is also there. But this Empress Dowager Jing can not only come and go freely in and out of the inner garden of the palace, but also plant flowers and grass in her leisure, and no one is limited to her.

Judging from the complexion and appearance, he is already full of gorgeous hair, and he is still very well maintained, which shows that he should have no shortage of food and clothing on weekdays, and there is no disadvantage in life.

Zhu Zhijie couldn't help but take out the phoenix hairpin again and take a closer look.

She remembered that there were also phoenix hairpins in the various hairpin ornaments presented by the Inner Court Division during the previous wedding, and Gonggong Li had mentioned to her the regulations of the Cangwu Kingdom, and the royal family members could wear phoenix hairpins, but there were differences.

The queen and the princess are the main palace, the phoenix hairpin is in the center, the phoenix eyes are Gu Dong, the queen's phoenix hairpin is a two-color ring tourmaline, and the princess's is a single-color treasure ring tourmaline. The princess is the descendant of the emperor, and can also be matched with a phoenix hairpin, the crested head is in the middle of Gu Xi, and the phoenix feather is a monochrome ring tourmaline.

The rest of the concubines' phoenix hairpin crested on the side, in order to show the meaning of the side room, the phoenix eyes looked down, and there was no tourmaline under the phoenix feather.

And this hairpin, not only the crested head is in the middle, the phoenix eyes are in the east, and there is a three-color ring tourmaline under the feather. It is clearly the most honorable thing that can be worn by the Queen Mother.

Is it really as she said, she is the Empress Dowager Jing, but for some reason, she can only change her identity incognito in order to retire in this palace safely?

Zhu Zhijie thought while looking at Feng Hai.

I heard my aunt say that Empress Dowager Jing is the eldest daughter of the lord of Yinmu Country and the sister of Li Taijun of Muyun Mansion. This Yin Mu country is very good at making poisons, only to see that the old woman seems to be very clear about the toxicity of herbs, and her age is indeed about the same as her grandmother's age, these details are right.

But she said that everyone in the world said that she was dead, did even her own sister Li Taijun think she was dead?

Zhu Zhijie became more and more puzzled in her heart, wanting to find someone to ask, and remembering that the old woman told her not to leak the news.

Indeed, if you ask those old people in the palace, not only will it be easy to cover the secret, but you will also be as vague as the prince last time, so it is better to ask

Ask those inconspicuous subordinates.

Thinking of this, Zhu Zhijie called: "Someone." ”

The palace maid who had served tea immediately walked in from the side of the hall and answered:

"Your Highness."

"I ask you, when I went to visit the two concubines that day, I passed by a fork in the road, and I looked very good to the right, what is that place?"

"That's the way to Weiyang Palace." The palace maid did not shy away from it at all.

"Weiyang Palace...... Whose dwelling house is that? ”

"Back to His Royal Highness, it is the residence of the Empress Dowager Zhuang Shunjing. Since the Queen Mother Immortal left, it has been uninhabited. ”

"Uninhabited? Isn't there anyone living there now? ”

The palace maid shook her head, "It has been abandoned for a long time, and it is full of vegetation and trees, and it is no longer inhabitable. I heard Gonggong Li say that His Majesty also said a few days ago that he planned to demolish Weiyang Palace and add a garden for His Royal Highness. ”

"Since it is the residence of the emperor's grandmother, if it is demolished for the sake of me and other juniors, wouldn't it be ......?"

The palace maid said with a smile: "Everyone says that His Royal Highness is kind-hearted, and he really thinks about others in everything." Your Royal Highness doesn't have to worry, the Queen Mother's spiritual seat has been moved to Rongqing Palace on the west side of the imperial capital, and the demolition of Weiyang Palace is not disrespectful, and it will not damage His Royal Highness's reputation. ”

Zhu Zhijie frowned, thinking to herself, this Cangwu country really attaches great importance to reputation, and everything takes reputation as the first place. It doesn't look like she's lying, but you can ask.

"Do you know what the imperial grandmother liked when she was alive?"

"This ...... The slave maid is not clear, after all, the queen mother died when the slave maid entered the palace. But...... I heard some old palace ladies mention that the queen mother has a quiet temperament, and she usually doesn't like to move around, but only likes to play with some flowers and plants in her own flower garden. It happened that the first emperor was also a gardener, so he often discussed flowers and plants with the queen mother in the Weiyang Palace. Oh yes, the slave maid also heard that even the name of the palace of the Evergreen Palace was taken by the Queen Mother, and then she planted an iron tree with the first emperor in front of the palace, taking the meaning of the evergreen fortune of the country. ”

"Oh, in this way, the relationship between the first emperor and the queen mother is very good, right?"

"That's natural," the little palace maid's eyebrows fluttered, "The first emperor of our Cangwu country ruled the country with benevolence, and this temper is too good to say, I heard that the first emperor was not in good health later, and the queen mother stayed in front of the bed day and night to serve it personally." Later, the first emperor died, and the queen mother was too sad to help herself, and within a month, she also followed the first emperor to ......"

"I see......" Zhu Zhijie listened quietly, she didn't feel that the little palace maid was deliberately deceiving, on the contrary, everything the palace maid said was very natural, as if the world had never had any doubts about the death of the Empress Dowager Jing.

"Go down, I only think of it occasionally today, so I'll ask. But speaking of which, I shouldn't have asked these elders about it, so you shouldn't mention it to others, lest I be misunderstood that I don't understand the rules. ”

The palace maid immediately replied: "Yes, the slave and maid don't dare to say much." But ......" said, carefully looking at Zhu Zhijie's face.

"But what?"

"But the slave maid thinks that this is not something that cannot be said, the first emperor and the queen mother and his wife are deeply affectionate, and the palace knows about it, otherwise the slave and maid will not dare to say it, Your Highness really doesn't have to worry too much."

"Got it."

Zhu Zhijie watched the palace maid retreat, and her doubts increased instead of decreasing.

Everyone in the palace knows it? So who did I just meet? Could it be that I am the only one in this palace who can see the Empress Dowager?

(End of chapter)