In the temple in the northwest corner of the palace, the Empress Dowager Cining prayed for a pillar of incense in front of the pure gold Buddha statue, and then turned to the Taoist temple in the northeast corner, begging for peace from the Sanqing statue, and did not suffer from running around at all. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

After worshipping the gods and Buddhas, she still felt that it was not enough, and went to the Taimiao Temple in the southeast to ask for help from the ancestors of the Han family.

After this trip, several eunuchs carrying the sedan chair were so tired that their backs and legs hurt, but they didn't dare to complain.

The temple is usually not open, without the emperor's holy decree, accompanied by the Zongzheng Mansion, especially not open to women, the priest officials greet the queen mother, can not laugh, can not be bitter face, look a little embarrassed, embarrassed and said: "Weichen does not know that the queen mother has arrived, has not prepared, the palace is cold, I am afraid it is not good for the queen mother's health." ”

Empress Dowager Cining walked out of the sedan chair, looked up at the majestic Taimiao Hall, and sighed lightly, "The emperor is still here, and I can't enter the Taimiao anymore, I'm afraid that this is the last time I will see it, and I won't have a chance in the future." ”

The priest was so frightened that his face was like dirt, he couldn't afford such a big crime, so he hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, and respectfully invited the queen mother to enter the hall, but still did not open the main door, only opened the side door.

The inside of the hall is really cold, different from the cold outside, like a cotton coat soaked in ice water on the body, unable to break free or shake off, and the cold penetrates the bones.

The Empress Dowager Cining took the incense from the priest's hand, personally inserted it into the copper furnace in front of each tablet, then knelt down to pray silently, and finally knelt in front of the Taizu tablet in the middle.

The priest and the accompanying eunuchs and palace maids retreated with interest.

The Empress Dowager Cining muttered quietly at first, but slowly became louder, "The concubine Wang Chen is the wife of Emperor Huan and the biological mother of the current emperor. The emperor was unfortunately in distress, unconscious for several days, and begged Taizu to bless the emperor safely, and the concubines were willing to accept all punishments in place of the emperor. ”

The Empress Dowager Cining respectfully kowtowed three times, and then said: "My son likes the story of Taizu since he was a child, he is the descendant of Taizu, and he works day and night, just to protect the Han family. ”

After a pause, she continued: "Let the disaster befall the rebellious ministers and thieves, it is they who have harmed the emperor and want to give away the country that Taizu has single-handedly defeated." ”

Empress Dowager Cining lowered her voice again, said a series of names, and listed the "crimes" of these people.

After half an hour, she got up, slowly retreated, turned around after a dozen steps, walked out, suddenly stopped, and looked at the tablet of Emperor Huan on the side, which was her husband, the father of the current emperor, she had also offered incense before, but she didn't think to ask him for help.

"You have three sons." Empress Dowager Cining said coldly, without kneeling or praying, "One died, and there are two left, I know you are partial, but don't think about letting three sons become emperors one after another, if my son can't wake up, you will lose all your sons, and there will be no one left." ”

Back in the sun, the Empress Dowager Cining felt a burst of warmth and set her eyes on a newly arrived eunuch.

The eunuch shook his head, indicating that there was no change, the emperor was still in a coma, and the Empress Dowager Cining didn't say anything, and got into the sedan chair, "Cishun Palace." ”

After worshipping the gods and Buddhas, she also asked for a begging for the living.

The Empress Dowager Shangguan in Cishun Palace is not an immortal, nor is she an imperial doctor, and she knows nothing about saving people.

She only knows how to save the situation.

The Empress Dowager Cining always remained humble in the Cishun Palace, even if she was named the second Empress Dowager, she was not rude, except for a few formal occasions, she never dared to be juxtaposed with the former main mother.

"What should I do? What should I do? The Empress Dowager Cining knelt on the ground, sobbing on the lap of the Empress Dowager Shangguan, still a maid who had made a mistake.

There were no outsiders in the house, and the Empress Dowager Shangguan let out a long sigh, "The ordeal of Da Chu is not over yet, you can't do anything." ”

Empress Dowager Cining raised her head, "Could it be that I just watched the emperor unconscious?" If he is...... How am I going to live? ”

"You can always live." The Empress Dowager Shangguan is qualified to say such things because she has lost her own son.

The Empress Dowager Cining hung her head and continued to cry.

After waiting for a while, the Empress Dowager Shangguan said: "Life and death are up to heaven, and no one can interfere." How do you do that? If you want to save the emperor, you can't do anything but wait for a miracle to happen, and if you want to save yourself, there are some things you can do. ”

"Save yourself?" The Empress Dowager Cining raised her head again and stopped crying.

Empress Dowager Shangguan's gaze was cold and ruthless, "Do you expect me to say anything?" If you want to be a good person, don't ask for advice from 'wicked people' like me. ”

Empress Dowager Cining showed a hint of surprise, and then wiped away her tears, "I want to save myself and avenge the emperor." ”

The Empress Dowager Shangguan patted the position beside her, and the Empress Dowager Cining slowly stood up and sat on the chair.

"Saving yourself and taking revenge are the same thing, if the emperor has a case, and you have no power or power, what will you take revenge?"

"I can ...... right now"

Empress Dowager Shangguan sneered, "Do you think everyone's silence is obedience?" No, they are observing, and you can imprison some people, and that doesn't prevent them from observing, but when you want to kill someone and get revenge, there will be a lot of resistance, and even blatant disobedience. Unless the Emperor wakes up, your power will become less and less. ”

"What should I do?" The Empress Dowager Cining asked again, but the meaning was different, she asked for the emperor before, and now she asked for herself.

The Empress Dowager Shangguan looked ahead and said softly: "You know what to do, the methods are all ready-made, no one can think of new ideas, I can't, and you can't either." ”

Empress Dowager Cining pondered for a moment, "We must not let the King of the East China Sea succeed to the throne." ”

"Of course not, and the minister won't agree."

After several repeated seizures of the throne, there were too many ministers who offended the king of the East China Sea, and no one dared to support him as emperor anymore.

"There are many children in the clan, who should be chosen?"

"It's useless to ask me, you have to ask the minister, this is a tacit deal, in the end, you have to choose a person who is satisfactory to both parties, your son can be the emperor, on the surface it is my choice, but in fact, I have the tacit approval of the ministers, they were very jealous of the Cui family at that time, and they didn't want to see them stronger."

Empress Dowager Cining thought for a longer time, "As long as I am the Empress Dowager, you are the Empress Dowager, and you will always be above me." ”

Empress Dowager Shangguan smiled, "You are so lucky, there is still revenge to be avenged." ”

The Empress Dowager Cining got up and saluted, slowly retreated to the door, and finally said, "If I can't save my son, everything I do is for revenge." ”

The Empress Dowager Shangguan nodded, no longer interested.

In the courtyard, the Empress Dowager Cining looked up at the blue sky, bowed and begged, and then she had to do something practical.

First of all, she summoned Prime Minister Shen Mingzhi in the Guanghua Pavilion.

This is not the time to pay attention to etiquette, Shen Mingzhi arrived soon, and he also needed the cooperation of the palace.

"Are there any remnants of the Assassins?"

"There are definitely no more people in the city, and more than 1,300 people have been arrested so far."

"Hey, I said no before, and it turned out to be ...... What about Yun Mengze? Ready for war? ”

Shen Mingzhi hesitated slightly, "It's winter now, so it's not suitable for fighting, but the imperial court has ordered troops to be transferred from all over the country, just waiting for the beginning of spring, and annihilating the bandits in one fell swoop." ”

Spring is too far away for the Empress Dowager Cining, she hopes to see the corpses of enemies everywhere now, but she wants to be polite to the minister, so she nodded, "Women and Taoists, they don't understand military warfare, and the court is responsible for the suppression of bandits, I just hope that no one will be spared." ”

Shen Mingzhi breathed a sigh of relief, he was most afraid of meeting the unreasonable Queen Mother at this time, and immediately replied: "Queen Mother, please rest assured, the Chu army has a perfect strategy, and it will wipe out all the bandits of Yunmengze." ”

Empress Dowager Cining was silent for a moment, "I invited the prime minister to come, not just to inquire about the suppression of bandits. ”

Shen Mingzhi bowed his head and didn't dare to answer.

But there are some things that must be clarified after all, the Empress Dowager Cining said: "Now that the matter is now, there is no need to be taboo, if Your Majesty can wake up, everything will naturally be fine, if it is...... If it is unfortunate, Da Chu cannot be without a king for a day, and Prime Minister Shen can have the children of the clan he likes? ”

Shen Mingzhi bowed down in fear, "The minister only hopes for His Majesty's recovery, and he doesn't think about it." ”

"Well, now you can think about it, even if others don't want to, you are the prime minister, you should be prepared in advance."

"It's all up to the Queen Mother, and the ministers have nothing to say."

Empress Dowager Cining smiled slightly, she was still not very good at dealing with ministers, "The King of the East China Sea is the son of Emperor Huan and the younger brother of the emperor, is it okay?" ”

Shen Mingzhi couldn't be polite any longer, knelt on the ground and said, "The guilty minister seems to be unfit to ascend the throne. ”

Empress Dowager Cining nodded and continued to ask, "King Ying is the youngest son of Emperor Wu, is it okay?" ”

"It is not appropriate to be outcast, to lose the hearts of the people."

"When the emperor was besieged to Jincheng, didn't the imperial court set up a son of the clan?"

Shen Mingzhi shook his head, "That's just an expedient measure, it has not come true, and it can't be repeated." ”

Empress Dowager Cining even mentioned three people, but they were vetoed by the prime minister, she was not angry, but a lot more down-to-earth, as long as these three people did not succeed to the throne, there would be much fewer obstacles between her and the minister.

"Prime Minister Shen has to come up with one person in the end."

Shen Mingzhi thought for a long time, "The minister really can't think of a suitable person, but there is a person in the court, in terms of qualifications, who knows the clan better than the minister, and is closer than the minister, maybe he can share the worries of the queen mother." ”

"Who?"

"Zong Zhengqing Han Chou."

Empress Dowager Cining was silent for a moment, "There are rumors that he has something to do with the assassination. ”

"The rumors in the capital are raging, Han Zongzheng is not the only person who is suspected, but there is no solid evidence, if the queen mother judges loyalty and treachery based on this, I am afraid that most of the ministers in the court, including the ministers themselves, will not be available."

Empress Dowager Cining sighed, "Okay, tomorrow morning, please ask Shen Xiang and Han Zongzheng to come to Guanghua Pavilion again." ”

"Yes." Shen Mingzhi got up, did not retire immediately, and took the opportunity to ask, "What about the Cui family?" ”

Empress Dowager Cining's face turned cold, "There is no solid evidence for the rumors on others, the Cui family always has them, right?" Continue to be confined and not allowed to let go of anyone, including the empress, as well as the group of incompetent people around the emperor, as long as they enter the Cui Mansion, they are not allowed to be released. ”

"Yes." After receiving a clear answer from the Queen Mother, Shen Mingzhi was relieved. (To be continued.) )