The prince saw Wanrong for the first time in Qingning Palace, and couldn't help but feel excited, and as soon as he returned to Yichun Palace that night, he asked Shang Jing to go to Ningxiangxuan to summon Wanrong to come to bed. For several days in a row, every day, even if the emperor was angry and ordered him to be claustrophobic in the East Palace, he didn't care, as if he had been accompanied by a beautiful woman overnight, and he had forgotten the world as if he had been cautious before.

Jing Xuan learned that his grandfather's tomb had been stolen, and he was upset, and turned a blind eye to the prince's cold and graceful Jiaofang pet after returning to the palace, and sat in Qixia Pavilion every day, hoping that his father would return to Beijing to see him as soon as possible. Wang Bao'er saw that the prince was inseparable from Wanrong after returning to the palace, and secretly regretted that he had done everything he could to drill the camp, and finally got the opportunity to go to Qixia Pavilion on an errand, full of hope that the servants would be able to earn a good future in the future by virtue of the lord, and he didn't want Qixia Pavilion to be like a cold palace now, so he quietly moved the idea of finding another place, and ran to Ning Xiangxuan whenever he had time. Wang Bao'er thought about it like this, which made Jing Xuan think about it every two days. Although the origin of this little ghost is suspicious, but the whole body is really cute, without a trace of the city and the world, if there is no mistake in this errand, maybe he can become a good playmate in this lonely palace in the future.

The emperor was suddenly furious, imprisoned the prince in the East Palace, and deprived his father of his military power. On the night of Qixi Festival, the prince told the queen that he wanted to transfer his father back to Beijing, and Jing Xuan faintly felt that the prince seemed to be deliberately jealous in this matter, and there must be another deep meaning. It's just that her mind is on her father, and she has no time to think about it seriously. In the next ten days, all kinds of news came one after another, first the rebels took advantage of the interval between the commanders of the official army and the change of people, and suddenly sent troops to attack Hezhong Mansion, Yu Chengen was caught off guard and abandoned the city and fled; Then the crown prince Zuowei led Fu Yi to be appointed by the emperor as the deputy envoy of Hebei Province, and led the prince Zuowei to lead 3,000 soldiers and horses to gallop to the river; Jing Yuncong returned to the capital, dressed in filial piety to see the emperor, since Chen killed the punishment too heavy, incurring the curse of heaven, imploring to return to his hometown to guard filial piety, the emperor was consoled and stayed, Jing Yuncong resigned without any official position, the emperor had no choice but to give the Duke of Dongyang County, give a house in the capital Quy Nhin, and ordered Jing Yuncong to stay in Beijing to maintain filial piety for advisers; The queen's biological son, Zhao Wang Li Pu, died of a violent illness, and the epidemic was epidemic in the capital, and people were panicked for a while.

In these days, although the prince has never stepped into Qixia Pavilion, he has obviously not forgotten Jing Xuan in his heart, and every evening he will send eunuchs from Yichun Palace to deliver all kinds of news outside the palace. Knowing that his father was safe and sound, and the whole family stayed in the capital, Jing Xuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and there was a rare flush on his cheeks. Jinping, who was standing on the side waiting, saw this and spat happily: "Phew, this stinky boy from Lai Xing'er doesn't know where to go, come back early to report the news, and Miss doesn't have to worry about it all day." ”

Jing Xuan secretly wondered in his heart: it is said that Fu Yi has fought two back and forth between the capital and the river, and Lai Xing'er, who went with him, should have returned to the palace to resume his life, why has this child not seen a shadow so far?

How did Jing Xuan know that as soon as Lai Xing'er returned to the capital with Jing Yuncong, he was detained by Li Jinzhong.

It turned out that since the rise of this rebellion, there have been palace people and eunuchs who have secretly descended on the rebels to act as internal responses and inform the rebels. After Li Jinzhong took charge of the province, he asked the emperor for permission to set up a special prosecutor's office in the province to investigate illegal matters in the palace. Before Yu Chengen was ordered to leave Beijing, he intended to reveal to Li Jinzhong that Jing Xuan sent Xing'er to meet Jing Yuncong in the river, and wanted to use Li Jinzhong's hand to cut off Jing Xuan's henchmen. The eunuchs of the East Palace did not follow the orders of the crown prince, nor did they ever investigate the prince's inner fang, and went out of Beijing without authorization. But he knew that Lai Xing'er was the eyeliner sent by the queen to Jing Xuan's side, once he disposed of this little eunuch, Jing Xuan said that the queen was to blame, and he couldn't afford it. It just so happened that these days Zhao Wang Li Pu was seriously ill and finally died, the queen was still immersed in the grief of losing her son, how could she be in the mood to listen to him report about Xing'er, so Li Jinzhong had to order Lu Guangting to send someone to temporarily detain Xing'er in the cell of the prosecutor's hall, and then report after Li Pu's funeral was over and the queen recovered. After Jing Yuncong saw the emperor leave the palace, he saw Luo San'er standing in his entourage stunned, and disappeared from Xing'er. Jing Yuncong thought that the eunuch of the East Palace had asked Xing'er to go back to his daughter, but he didn't think much about it, so he took Luo San'er back to Renli.

Lai Xing'er has been imprisoned in the cell of the Provincial Prosecutor's Office for six or seven days. These days, he had not seen anyone except an old eunuch who came to bring him food every morning and evening. When he was in the idle stable, whenever he was naughty and didn't listen to the call, Su Fuzhong would scare him: "If you are disobedient, I will send you to the prosecutor's office." "Lai Xing'er has nothing to do in the room alone, and often thinks: Is this the inspection hall that Master said? Why are they locking themselves up here?

I don't know how many days later, on this day, Xing'er was sleeping on the bed, and heard someone calling for him in a haze, he opened his sleepy eyes, and saw three or four people standing in front of the bed, led by a female official who seemed to have seen him somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

Furong saw Lai Xing'er staring at her blankly, and couldn't help laughing: "This kid is so forgetful!" Don't recognize your sister? ”

As soon as Lai Xing'er said this, she suddenly remembered that the person in front of her was Furong who wanted to recognize her as her sister in the queen's palace that night. He got up from the bed with a grunt, grabbed Fleur's sleeve, and shouted, "Sister save me, sister save me." ”

Fleur was taken aback by his sudden move, instinctively took two steps back, steadied herself, and said softly, "Don't be afraid, with my sister here, it's okay." She has been accompanying the queen who was a little delirious due to the death of her own son for the past few days, and she was a little exhausted.

Lai Xing'er saw at a glance that in addition to the two chamberlains who had brought him to this room a few days ago, there was also a black-clothed eunuch with a thin body and a hooked nose, he couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, and shouted at several people regardless of it: "Why did you lie to me? Why are you keeping me here? ”

The two chamberlains had long been accustomed to this, and only glanced at Fleur without saying a word. Furong smiled at the black-clothed eunuch and asked, "Uncle Lusi, can you allow our sister and brother to talk alone?" ”

Lu Guangting had already received Li Jinzhong's hint in advance, and knew that Lai Xing'er was not small, and now he saw that the queen was commensurate with Furong, the first powerful person in front of him, and his sister and brother, so he nodded and withdrew from the room with two chamberlains. Furong stepped forward and pulled Lai Xing'er to sit side by side on the bed, and asked with concern, "How are you doing these days?" They didn't do you any wrong. ”

Lai Xing'er was still in anger, and she didn't hear what Furong said, so she asked, "Sister, what is this place?" ”

Furong didn't want to say anything to him, so she had to answer vaguely: "This is the Yamen of the Inner Servant Province." This morning, I heard from the steward that a few days ago I caught a little eunuch who went out of Beijing without permission and checked my identity in the palaces, I saw that it was your name, so I hurried here, I didn't want it to be you, tell my sister quickly, what is going on? ”

Lai Xing'er told Furong about the fact that he was ordered to deliver a letter in the river, and finally asked Furong anxiously: "I am on an errand on the orders of Concubine Jing, why do they care about me?" ”

Furong knew that there had been hundreds of palace maids and eunuchs like Lai Xing'er who had been sent by the queen to do eyeliner all over the palace in the past year or two, and most of them did not know their true identities, and only when the queen felt that they needed to be activated, she would convey specific tasks to these people. Jing Xuan's entry into the East Palace was hand-picked by the emperor, and the empress attached great importance to the people sent to her, especially breaking the convention, and directly handed it over to Li Jinzhong to personally select, not only to show her trust in him, but also to take the opportunity to test whether he would tell the prince. Although Furong had heard a report on the reason for the detention of Lai Xing'er before she came, now that she heard Lai Xing'er say this in person, she couldn't help but secretly have two questions in her heart: Lai Xing'er waited in front of Jing Xuan for less than a hundred days, why did Jing Xuan hand over such an important errand to him? Li Jinzhong obviously knew the details of Lai Xing'er, why did he send someone to detain him for so long?

Furong was suspicious in her heart, but on the surface, she said with disgust: "My stupid brother, you have been playing in the idle yard for more than a year, and you don't know anything about the rules in the palace. You went out of Beijing without permission behind the prince's back, this is a serious crime. Did you know or not? ”

Lai Xing'er rushed out: "When I was in the stable, I had to go out of the city every day to walk the horse, and no one wanted to arrest me. ”

Fleur was amused by him, she was burdened with an errand, and she couldn't stay here longer, so she said directly: "Okay, now is not the time to be reasonable. If you want to get out of here, you have to do it according to me. ”

Lai Xing'er hurriedly said: "I'll go out with my sister now, don't say one, three or five will do." ”

Furong Zhengse said: "It's not possible now, to take you out, you have to come forward with the prince Neifang and Concubine Jing, I can only report for you." It's just that no matter who asks me in the future, you are not allowed to talk about my coming here today, remember? "Then get up and leave.

Lai Xing'er didn't want to stay in this kind of place for a day, and asked, "Then how many days do I have to stay here?" ”

Furong had no choice but to comfort him: "Don't worry, if you really do an errand on the orders of Concubine Jing's mother, Niangniang will come forward to save you, at most five days, at least three or two days, and there will be results." ”

As soon as Fleur left, only Lai Xing'er was left alone in this small cell, sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze. He has been raising horses in the stable yard since he entered the palace, and he does not know anything about the various intrigues in the palace, where would he have thought that he has become a small chess piece on the chessboard of the queen and the prince. Now, where his chess piece is placed will change as the game changes.

Sure enough, on the third day after Furong left, Wang Bao'er took the official certificate issued by the prince's inner fang to take Xing'er back to the East Palace. The palace concubines sent eunuchs out of Beijing without permission, and they were supposed to be deprived of their positions. The queen was particularly gracious this time, and did not do anything to Jing Xuan, but only instructed the prince to pass on the inner fang that the little eunuch who went out of Beijing should not stay with Jing Xuan, and must be resettled. Shang Jing received the queen's dictation, and almost without thinking, he sent Xing'er to the stable of the East Palace.

Lai Xing'er wanted to go back to Qixia Pavilion to meet Jing Xuan and return to his life, but Wang Bao'er was directly led to the stable in the southwest corner of the East Palace with a wicked smile. When the old horse saw Lai Xing'er, he was quite happy, and said again and again: "Alas, I didn't expect that our two masters were really fateful. After that, they scooped it in a trough. ”

Lai Xing'er was assigned to the stable, which was an unexpected surprise. It's just that he remembered Jing Xuan, and regardless of the previous disagreement with Wang Bao'er, he pleaded: "Princess, the messenger ordered by Niangniang has not replied yet, can I go back to Qixia Pavilion to see Niangniang first, and then come here." ”

Wang Bao'er looked at Lai Xing'er with strange eyes: "What do you have to do to return?" After your mission, the prince is studying behind closed doors, what else do you have to reply, it's ridiculous! ”

Lai Xing'er was scratched by him, and thought: Hasn't the prince been waiting in front of the emperor, and he didn't bring back his daughter-in-law, why is he studying behind closed doors? When the words came to his lips, he finally endured it, and only said: "In this case, please ask your father-in-law to return to my mother's mother, and say that I am back." If my mother is called, I will be on call. ”

Wang Bao'er's face was full of disdain: "Concubine Jing doesn't speak for you, can you get out of the prosecutor's hall?" As for the future, if she wants to see you, she will send someone to pass it on. I'll go to Ning Xiangxuan on an errand tomorrow, and if Dugu Niangniang has any instructions in the future, we may be able to meet again. ”

Lai Xing'er was very tired of Wang Bao'er's pampered and arrogant face, although there were still many things he didn't understand, but he didn't bother to say more to him, so he gave a salute and said, "In that case, thank you father-in-law." ”

After Wang Bao'er left, Lai Xing'er suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly asked the old horseman: "Old man, has the horse I rode away come back?" ”

The old horse patted Lai Xing'er's little brain melon and said with a smile: "You kid, everyone has been to the prosecutor's hall for a while, and they are still thinking about the horse." I came back early, what kind of military academy was in Marshal Jing's mansion, and I still brought a man with me when I came. The man inquired about you. "Lai Xing'er thinks that the man must be Luo San'er. He ate and lived with Luo San'er in the river, played and made trouble, and after a few days, they got along very well. Although Luo San'er's wife is a mountain village woman, she is quite bold, and on the night of the incident, she went to the Hezhong Marshal's Mansion alone to ask to see Jing Yuncong, and I don't know what she said to Jing Yuncong, so Jing Yuncong not only promised not to blame the past, but also accepted Luo San'er as his own personal soldier. On the day when he set off from Hezhong to return to Beijing, the old lady came to see off her son, pointing at Lai Xing'er and scolding her son, insisting that Lai Xing'er and Luo San'er form brothers with different surnames on the spot, and the elder brother should learn from his younger brother. Lai Xing'er looked down on Luo San'er a little in his heart, but he couldn't stand Luo San's old lady's shouting, and all the military schools also coaxed, and the two of them picked up soil and burned incense on the side of the road, bowed three times, and became brothers.

Lai Xing'er returned to the courtyard with the old stable, and sure enough, he saw that the horse he rode when he went to the river was drinking water by the trough. The horse seemed to recognize Lai Xing'er, and when he saw him, he snapped his nose and let out a low neighing of joy. Lai Xing'er galloped to it, rubbed the golden and shiny mane on the back of its neck affectionately, and turned back to the old stableman and said, "I named it Chasing the Wind, is it good?" ”

"A thousand bells of wine are not intoxicating, and Hu'er can ride a horse at the age of ten. This trip can be regarded as a trip back to the far door with you, how about it, the leg strength is good, right? The old horse sat on a bluestone in the courtyard, and asked with a smile as he rubbed the hay with a guillotine.

"If you talk about foot strength, it's a little worse than 'Xue Liqing', just look at the mouth, it's only seven or eight years old, and it runs more than 300 miles in one night, and it's hard to worry about it." Lai Xing'er came over and squatted down to help the old horse herd stack the well-ordered hay neatly.

"I heard from the people in the inner fang, you were originally on an errand in the idle stable, and the old Su Tou'er is still strong now?"

"Old man, do you know Lao Su?" Lai Xing'er asked in surprise.

"Who doesn't know who keeps horses in the palace? At the time of the first emperor, Li Jinzhong, Su Fuzhong, and I, Wu Xiaozhong, were all serving the imperial horses. The first emperor and his old man also praised us for our good name, all with the meaning of loyalty. Li Jinzhong can be regarded as having an adventure, and now Lao Su and the two of us are still running this old business. The old stableman sighed softly.

"Lao Su is my master, and since he entered the palace, he took me to raise horses. He was fine, but every rainy day, his knees ached, and he could hardly walk. Old man, since you are familiar with my master, you are my uncle, and if there is anything that the little one can't do in the future, you will have to take care of it more. Lai Xing'er knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the old stable, and before he could react, he got up and laid out the hay neatly.

The old horse boy laughed and said, "What kind of master and uncle, the old style is just a small style." I'm the only one here, and you just happened to add me a companion, and I can't ask for it. ”

"Uncle Shi, I heard when I was in the stable courtyard that the Son of Heaven set up six gardens to herd horses and use flying dragons to lead them. Why is there a separate stable in the East Palace, and the horses raised are different from those raised in the Six Gardens? ”

The old horse was stunned by his question, thought about it, and said slowly: "I can only tell you that these dozen or so horses are all sweaty horses from the Western Regions. When the East Palace was rebuilt two years ago, the prince took care of the Shaofu supervisor to build this stable, and only transferred me here on an errand. Otherwise, if you've been here for a long time, you'll understand. ”

Lai Xing'er heard him say vaguely and mysteriously, and knew that he had something unspeakable, so he didn't ask any more. The two of them carried the hay and sprinkled it in the manger, and then stood aside with a smile and watched the horses "crunch" and gnaw on the hay.

The crown prince was imprisoned by the emperor in the East Palace, Yu Chengen took over the military power from Jing Yuncong, and the queen had not yet recovered from the surprise brought by these two good news, and the death of Zhao Wang Li Pu immediately threw her emotions from the peak to the bottom.

The emperor made an exception for the first time in more than half a year and left Hanliang Palace and drove to Qingning Palace to bid farewell to his only son-in-law. The couple hugged their heads and cried in the mourning hall, and the palace maids and eunuchs waiting on the side were all moved. The emperor has always been weak, and almost fainted on the spot under grief, so frightened that the queen and Li Jinzhong hurriedly ordered someone to move the emperor to the queen's bedroom to rest, and sent the imperial doctor to diagnose the pulse, adjust the medicine, and wait for the emperor to drink a dose of decoction, the pulse is slightly stable, and it is time to hold the lamp. The emperor took the empress's hand, looked at her tear-stained face, and said softly, "I'll stay with you tonight, okay?" ”

The empress nodded tearfully, she vaguely remembered that since returning to the capital, this was the first time the emperor stayed in Qingning Palace for the night.

On that night, the emperor and empress hardly slept all night. The emperor told the empress that when he was claustrophobic a few days ago, he had already moved his mind to abolish the prince, but he was worried that King Zhao was young and weak, so he did not make a final decision. I didn't want Li Pu to pass away suddenly after a few days, so that he was not sad. The queen didn't expect the emperor to say such a thing to her, and the heart that had been suppressed for many years was suddenly revealed, and she couldn't help crying bitterly when she thought of her lifeless son.

However, when the funeral was over and the Empress gradually woke up from the grief of losing her son, she revisited the Emperor's words, and she vaguely felt that the Emperor seemed to be intent on easing the already tense relationship between her and the Crown Prince. Thinking about it this way, even the claustrophobic prince, Yu Chengen took over the military power as if he did it on purpose for himself, thinking about this, the queen couldn't help but shiver: if this is the case, the emperor's suspicion and defense of her outweigh the grief of parting, how unfathomable it is!

She married into the East Palace at the age of fourteen, relying on her clan shade and outstanding talent to win favor, and was promoted to Liangdi at the age of seventeen. When the rebels broke through the capital, the prince fled with only one of them. During those turbulent days, she used her strength and decisiveness to inspire her cowardly husband, and was ordered to ascend the throne in the face of danger, calling on the world's soldiers and horses to quell the rebellion. At that time, she was five or six months pregnant, and she was still personally sewing clothes for her soldiers, who thanked her for her kindness and did not hesitate to fight to the death in many encounters with the rebels to protect them from danger. After the emperor recovered the capital, he broke the rules of not standing in the palace of the Three Dynasties and promoted her from a concubine to an empress. What a glory she was at that time, and how loving she was to her husband! In just a few years, the emperor has been frail and sickly, and no new people have been added to the harem, but the estrangement between them has deepened day by day. What is the reason for this? Is it because she forced the prince to divorce the crown princess from the Yang family, or a year ago she provoked the emperor to kill the king of Jianning, and the queen sat alone in the Qingning Palace, puzzled. The resentment between the Zhang family and the Yang family originated from the fact that the Yang family framed and killed his grandmother when the Yang family gained power, and the emperor was clear about this, and he was able to tolerate the son born to the Wu family, who was a close relative of the Yang family, to be the prince for so many years, the queen asked herself if she was worthy of her husband's family, but her husband had such a deep suspicion of himself for no reason, thinking of this, the queen felt a chill in her heart. Originally, with a son under her knees, whether he deserves to be the prince or not, after the emperor's funeral, she has a person to rely on, but now this only hope is gone, and when she thinks of her son who died young, tears can't stop flowing.

Furong quietly walked into the hall, saw the queen sitting alone and weeping, knowing that she thought of her son again, so she stepped forward and persuaded: "Niangniang should also go out to relax, stuffy in the palace all day long, don't get sick." I heard that there is a big osmanthus tree in the house of the emperor's new Dongyang County Duke, known as the 'Gui King' in the capital, the flowers are blooming densely in the past two days, do you want to go and take a look? "She is the female Zhuge next to the queen, and she is very loved and trusted by the queen, and she is naturally not as restrained as an ordinary palace maid when she speaks.

"Dongyang County Prince? How I haven't heard of it. The queen glanced at Fleur suspiciously.

"It's Jing Yuncong, the deputy marshal of the world's soldiers and horses, the prince of Dongyang County, who was only awarded by the emperor, and the mansion is returned to Renli, not far from us."

The queen stiffened her face: "Furong, are you talking about going to Jingyun Cong's house?" ”

Furong didn't seem to see the queen's gloomy face, and calmly explained: "A few days ago, the prince of Dongyang County and Concubine Jing were going to enter the palace to pay respects in front of the spirit, and they were returned by the maidservant. Now it is to ask the mother to reward this grace to his family. ”

The queen listened to her words and asked impatiently, "If you have something to say, why is this?" ”

"The maidservant girl heard that Jing Yuncong had a life-saving grace to the emperor and his mother back then. Some time ago, his ancestral grave was dug up, Jing Yuncong focused on filial piety into Beijing to face the saint, was robbed of military power by the emperor and lived in Beijing, now his family and our palace can be said to be the same disease, Niangniang has forgiven Jing Concubine sent people out of Beijing, why not go further, one can enjoy the flowers and relax, the other is a little comfort to the Jing family, the emperor knows, presumably will not blame Niangniang or anything. Although Furong's words were a little tactful, the queen already understood what she meant: Yu Chengen secretly made trouble, although he did not instruct him, but the emperor pushed the boat down the river and did not send another general, but ordered Yu Chengen to temporarily take charge of the army, and at the same time sent the prince's henchmen to the front line, which was obviously an expedient measure taken out of suspicion that he was related to the excavation of the Jing family's ancestral grave; Jing Xuan sent to the river to deliver the message, but it was the eyeliner that he planted beside her, Li Jinzhong had already taken action to detain the little eunuch for a few days, the emperor knew about it, once Li Jinzhong leaked the matter of the eyeliner to the emperor, I was afraid that the account of the prince would also be counted on his head, rather than being passively suspected, it was better to take the initiative to confuse, just take the opportunity to show the emperor the sincerity of easing with the prince.

Thinking of this, the queen glanced at Fleur with appreciative eyes, and ordered, "Swing and return to Renli." ”

Jing Yuncong's family is in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and has not yet moved over, and a huge house is temporarily only inhabited by him and a dozen retinues brought from the river. Luo San'er was arranged to be an errand in the concierge, because Jing Yuncong resigned all his official positions, and currently only lives in Beijing as the Duke of Dongyang County to keep filial piety, except for some former subordinates who came to visit, there is no official contact, and the concierge's errand is particularly leisurely.

On this day, Luo San'er was sitting in the porter napping when he was suddenly awakened by a rapid knock on the door. He opened the door, only to see a little eunuch standing in the door of the mansion, before he could speak, the little eunuch shouted at him urgently: "Go and report to your master, the queen's phoenix has gone out of the Wangxian Gate and is ready to welcome him." With that, he turned around and ran away. Luo San'er had never seen this formation, he stood there in a daze, and then there was a sound of weapons colliding in his ears, he glanced into the alley, and was startled: from the mouth of the alley to the end of the alley, I don't know when there were two rows of sergeants in bright armor and armed with knives and guns. He didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly turned back to enter the hospital. Jing Yuncong got up from a nap and was sitting in the hall drinking tea, and after listening to Luo San'er's report, he was also taken aback, and hurriedly ordered the door of the house to be opened to greet him.

The queen walked out of Feng Yuan with the support of Furong and Yang Quanyi, and ordered to help Jing Yuncong who was kneeling at the door left and right, looked up and down, and said with emotion: "Feng Xiang has been away for a few years, and General Jing has added a lot of gray hair to his sideburns, which is really urging people to grow old!" ”

Jing Yuncong bowed and said, "The old minister also misses the emperor and his mother very much. King Zhao is newly mourned, the mother should take care of the phoenix body, the festival mourns by the way, if there is a call, the old minister can enter the palace at any time to see, He Lao Niangniang moved to the house. ”

Under the guidance of Jing Yuncong, the queen walked into the courtyard and said: "You are different from others, but now that Xuan'er has married into the East Palace, you and I are even more in-laws." A few days ago, there was a funeral in the palace, you and Xuan'er wanted to enter the palace to pay respects, and the palace people did not know the intimacy and kept your father and daughter out of the door. ”

When Jing Yuncong heard the queen say this, he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground with a "plop", and kowtowed again and again: "Niangniang's words are serious, and the old minister's family will not dare to bear it." ”

When the queen saw that the general who commanded the three armies was so sincere and frightened in front of her, a trace of pride flashed on her face, and she immediately comforted: "You are even." Today, let's only talk about the feelings of relatives and deceased people, and don't care about the name of the monarch and minister. The affairs of your family are already known to this palace, but Pu'er's sudden death has caused this palace to be in turmoil, and there is no time to take care of it for a while. Think about it carefully, being a parent and being a child, although one is kind and one is filial, but their feelings are no different, my son died, and your ancestors could not sleep under the nine springs, so we can be regarded as connected by the same fate. ”

Jing Yuncong had no choice but to say yes, and when he wanted to invite the queen to sit down in the main hall and reply, he didn't want the queen to continue: "I heard that there is an osmanthus tree in this house given to you by the emperor, which can be called the 'King of Gui in the capital', we might as well reminisce while enjoying the flowers, what does the general think?" ”

Jing Yuncong replied with a blank face: "Niangniang forgive the sin, the old minister has only lived here for more than ten days, I don't know what 'King Gui of the capital' is in this courtyard." Before he finished speaking, he could only hear Luo San'er shouting in the accompanying crowd: "Master, there is really an old laurel tree in our back garden, and the flowers are fragrant." ”

The queen knew that Jing Yuncong's family was like governing the army, and the family law was very strict, but today a Meng Lang disciple appeared out of nowhere, and she was very curious, so she ignored Jing Yuncong's scolding, beckoned Luo San'er to come to the front, and said: "Since you said that there is, then lead the way ahead." ”

Luo San'er only talked about the emperor and the queen when he listened to the stories told by the old people in the village in the past, but today he saw the queen with his own eyes, and felt that she not only looked as good-looking as the fairy in the painting, but also spoke in a very good voice, so he couldn't help but mix in the accompanying crowd, wanting to see a few more and listen to a few more words. When he heard that the queen was going to enjoy the osmanthus flowers, and Jing Yuncong didn't know that there was a laurel tree growing in this courtyard, he called out. The queen asked him to lead the way, but he did not know how to salute, so he pointed to the path leading to the back garden and said, "From here, you can reach it with your feet." ”

Jing Yuncong was afraid that Luo San'er would be rude in front of the queen and cause trouble, so he broke off and shouted: "Go back to the concierge and wait, Niangniang doesn't care about you, but I can't spare you." ”

Seeing that Luo San'er didn't understand the rules of the official family at all, and that he was born very strong and honest, she felt more and more novel, so she pointed to Luo San'er and said to Jing Yuncong: "And tell him to follow, and the palace will have something to ask him later." ”

When the group came to the back garden, they saw that there was a leafy osmanthus tree growing in the center of the garden, which was like an umbrella cover, and the fragrant fragrance of flowers came to the face, refreshing people's hearts. The queen quickened her pace and walked to the tree, but when she saw the thick shade covering the ground, it was extremely shady under the tree, and the haze of the past few days could not help but be much more cheerful. While instructing Furong to send someone to set up a few stools under the tree, she said to Jing Yuncong with a smile: "The general has such a blessing and doesn't know it, if it weren't for the palace coming today, I'm afraid it would be a pity to waste the fragrance of flowers in this garden?" ”

Jing Yuncong said with a smile: "The old minister is a rough man, he is used to seeing the swords, guns, swords and halberds in the military camp, and he has never paid attention to these flowers and plants. Let the mother see it and smile. ”

The queen sat down on a stool at the top, motioned for Jing Yuncong to sit down and speak, and asked with concern: "The general hasn't seen Xuan'er since he entered Beijing, right?" ”

Before Jing Yuncong returned to Beijing, he got the news that the prince was ordered to study behind closed doors. The prince privately summoned the general to Beijing, and the emperor punished the prince as he expected, but he didn't expect the punishment to be so severe. It is precisely because of this that he made a temporary decision to resign from all his duties to the emperor and return to his hometown to avoid causing trouble to himself. The queen and the prince have always been discordant, and today suddenly came, Jing Yuncong guessed that it was impossible to have nothing to do with the prince, and when he heard her ask about his daughter, he replied tentatively: "The prince and concubine don't understand the rules of the palace, and they sent the palace attendants to deliver family letters, and they were forgiven by the mother. The old minister has been planning the consolidation of his father's tomb for the past few days, and he has never seen the crown princess. ”

"The crown prince is now locked up in the East Palace by the emperor, and it is a little inconvenient for Xuan'er to enter and leave the palace gate. However, since you are ordered to stay in Beijing, sooner or later the father and daughter will meet, and they are not in a hurry. Although the crown prince's actions were a little hasty, this palace thought that he was worried that the front army would disturb the morale and create a favorable opportunity for the rebels, so he sent someone to summon you back to Beijing, and there was no ill intention. The emperor was angry for a while, and he was just locked up for a few days, could it be that he wanted to keep a prince in lockdown? The queen really mentioned the crown prince, and there was something to say, waiting for Jing Yuncong to explain.

Jing Yuncong sighed, got up and knelt down in front of the queen: "It's all the old ministers who are immoral, causing God's curse, making the ancestors restless, and affecting the prince!" ”

The queen hurriedly ordered people to help Jing Yuncong up, and sneered: "What a curse! According to the palace, it is clear that there are thieves who are haunting them. ”

Jing Yun Cong knew the cause of the incident, although the digging of people's graves in the army to supplement military salaries happened from time to time, but digging the grave to the head of the commander's house, if it was not done by the rebels, someone must have instructed it to do it intentionally. It's just that he has no evidence in his hands, so in front of the emperor, he has to blame himself by the punishment of heaven to calm the army's heart. Now that the matter has been disposed of, what is the reason why the queen suddenly pierced this layer of window paper at this time? Since a few months ago, the emperor appointed Jing Xuan to marry into the East Palace, not only in the capital court, but also in the Hezhong army, the Jing family and the prince are regarded as one, and the queen is known to the whole dynasty because of the killing of the king of Jianning and the prince, Jing Yuncong has suspected that the main cause of the grave digging incident is Yu Chengen, and the person standing behind Yu Chengen is the queen in front of him. Jing Yuncong understood that once it was confirmed that his tomb was dug up on purpose, the prince had a sufficient reason to recruit him to return to Beijing. The queen's own son is newly mourned, could it be that she wants to take the initiative to show goodwill to the prince? Thinking about this, Rao is body of a hundred battles, and his hands couldn't help but tremble a little excitedly.

Jing Yuncong pointed to Luo San'er, who was standing in the entourage, and asked the queen: "Does Niangniang know the origin of this person?" ”

"Isn't he one of your housemates?" The queen didn't understand why Jing Yuncong suddenly mentioned a miscellaneous servant.

"Niangniang Rongyu, his name is Luo San'er, he is a native of Xiaopu Village, Balibao, Hezhong Prefecture, ten months ago, he led the villagers of his village to assassinate the prince's envoy outside Hezhong City, but was captured by the prince's envoy and handed over to the old minister. The old minister remembered that he had committed the assassination for a reason, and his circumstances were embarrassing, so he did not pursue it, and at the request of his wife, he took him with him as a personal soldier. The people of the mountains and wilderness do not know etiquette, and they are offended, and they ask the mother to forgive him. ”

"Oh? I wonder why he committed the assassination? ”

Jing Yuncong beckoned Luo San'er to kneel down when he approached, turned back to the queen and said, "Please ask Niangniang to ask him personally." ”

The queen said coldly to Luo San'er: "Then you can talk about it." ”

Luo San'er then recounted the theft of the ancestral graves of the people in the village, and finally said: "On the day of the child, I spent the night in the grove at the head of the village with a dozen men in the village, waiting for the thieves who robbed the tomb to come, so as to catch the two of them. I didn't plan to come to the capital, but my mother wanted me to come, so I followed my second brother with my master. ”

The queen heard it strangely and asked, "Since you are your second brother, how can you mistake him for a tomb robber?" ”

Luo San'er didn't know how to explain, Jing Yuncong interjected: "The second brother he said is the little father-in-law surnamed Xiaonu in front of him, just because the two don't know each other, they eat and sleep together in the river for a few days, and they get along very well, so they worship as brothers with different surnames." ”

Furong, who was standing next to the queen, heard this, her heart moved, she lent the queen the opportunity to serve tea, and whispered something close to the queen's ear, the queen nodded, smiled at Jing Yuncong, and said: "The general dared to know that someone in the army had stolen and dug up the people's tombs, and even brought the certificate into Beijing, I don't know if the emperor knows about it?" ”

Jing Yuncong said with a guilty face: "As the chief general of the whole army, the old minister is not well restrained, resulting in such an unscrupulous person in the army, how dare he be entrusted with the responsibility in front of the saint." If it weren't for Niangniang mentioning it today, the old minister could only bear the blame and retire, and never mention this matter again. ”

The queen knew that his retreat was really to avoid disaster and protect herself, but at this time it was inconvenient to say anything, so she only took the opportunity to say: "Since the palace has known the general's distress today, and this matter has affected the prince, there is no reason to ignore it." Li Jinzhong has a procurator's office, which specializes in correcting the lawlessness of internal and external officials, and he is also the errand of the marching Sima of the Marshal's Mansion, so he can talk to the emperor and the prince, and hand over the matter to him to visit and understand, what does the general think? ”

Jing Yuncong understood that once Li Jinzhong intervened in the tomb robbery case in the army, no matter what the result was, it would be extremely beneficial to the prince and himself, but he still didn't know why the queen would pursue this matter and reward him with a great favor. So he pretended to push back and said: "Niangniang, now that the rebels in front of you are making a comeback, their momentum is blazing, if the tomb robbery is thoroughly investigated at this time, the minister may cause turmoil in the army's heart." Please think again. ”

The queen suddenly asked: "I heard that after the general left the river, the emperor ordered Yu Chengen to take over the military power, does he know that there are people in the army who rob tombs?" ”

Jing Yuncong replied calmly: "Father-in-law Yu has been in the army for a long time, and the situation in the army is naturally well understood. ”

The queen pointed at Luo San'er and asked: "Then hand over this person to Yu Chengen, let him secretly visit the army, wait for the results, and then report to the emperor, what does the general think?" ”

Jing Yuncong clenched his fists: "The old minister is no longer in the army, and it is inconvenient to put a beak in the camp." ”

The queen saw that Jing Yuncong's answer was not leaky when she tried several times, and handed over Luo San'er's certificate to herself, obviously to see her attitude towards this matter. Now that she had found out that the emperor was not really dealing with the prince, she thought that if she wanted to do favors, wouldn't it be better if she did it herself? After making up her mind, she stopped going around in circles with Jing Yuncong, and said bluntly: "That's it, the general has unspeakable secrets in front of the emperor, and after returning to the palace, he will tell the emperor the truth for the general. ”

Jing Yuncong shook again: "It's so good, the whole family of the old minister is grateful for the queen's great kindness." ”

The queen ordered someone to carry over all kinds of things that were rewarded to Jing Yuncong, and the two of them talked about it for a while, seeing that the clouds were shining and the golden wuxi fell, Furong reminded the queen that it was time to return to the palace, and the queen stood up and said with a smile: "The emperor will give this house with 'King Gui' to the general, and the palace will also be happy, and ask the general for two things, I don't know if the general is willing?" ”

Jing Yuncong hurriedly said: "But according to the instructions of the mother, the old minister will try his best to flatter." ”

The queen looked at Furong, and Furong stepped forward to salute Jingyun Cong and said, "First, Niangniang wants to ask the general for a bag of flowers blooming on the 'King Gui' tree, and go back to the palace to soak in water and drink." ”

Jing Yuncong laughed loudly: "Is the girl making fun of the old man?" Don't say a pack, it is also the honor of the old man to pick the flowers on this tree and present them to Qingning Palace. But I don't know what the other is? Furong pointed at Luo San'er: "Niangniang wants this person to wait in the palace." ”

Jing Yuncong never imagined that the queen would fall in love with Luo San'er, and since Furong had already said it, he couldn't refuse, so he had to smile bitterly at the queen: "This guy is a lazy villager, and he didn't have to defile the place in the Niangniang's palace." ”

Before he finished speaking, Luo San'er jumped to his feet and shouted: "The old lady asked me to be a soldier, but I don't want to be a eunuch." One sentence caused everyone to laugh.

Furong stepped forward and grabbed Luo San'er's ear, and scolded with a smile: "You stupid, it is a blessing that you cultivated in your previous life to be able to enter the palace to serve your mother, and if you are so rude, you will be castrated tonight." ”

Luo San'er was suddenly frightened, staring at Jing Yuncong pitifully, almost crying.

The queen saw that his heart was so real, and she felt even more satisfied, and left a sentence: "Be a military man like you go to the palace." Then he drove back to the palace.

Almost at the same time as the queen went to the Jing Mansion, in the Hanliang Palace, the emperor took advantage of the time to get up from a nap, and left Li Jinzhong alone, asking in detail about the prince's reaction to being imprisoned in the past few days. When he heard Li Jinzhong say that the prince seemed to be completely indulged in the gentle countryside and grinding with Dugu's ears and temples all day long, the corners of his mouth were filled with a smile that others could not easily detect: This kid is really making Tao obscure, how can this little careful thinking hide from his eyes?

After listening to Li Jinzhong's recital, the emperor pondered for a moment and asked, "Tell me if I was too careful this time?" ”

Li Jinzhong mistakenly thought that the emperor was referring to the matter of imprisoning the prince, and replied with a smile: "The prince made a mistake first, and it is not too much to punish Your Majesty." It's just that the slave has been thinking about the cause of this matter all the time in the past two days, according to the prince's temperament, he would not have done such a reckless thing, and Jing Yuncong has no reason to pick on the son, because of a tomb robbery case that caused an uproar, this group of tomb robbers is afraid that it is not simple. ”

The emperor did not correct his misunderstanding, but followed his words and asked, "Do you mean that the crown prince deliberately transferred Jing Yuncong back to Beijing?" ”

Li Jinzhong was familiar with the emperor's temperament, and his reply at this time was not sloppy at all, so he replied cautiously: "Slaves don't dare to speak falsely. After all, the secluded prince is a big matter, and the slave is planning for His Majesty, so he has to think about it more. ”

The emperor felt a burst of anger, stood up from the imperial couch, put his hand on his chest and said, "No matter what the cause is, it is difficult for him to escape the responsibility of doing such a thing behind my back." I was wondering: did I cause some people to speculate that I was paving the way for the crown prince to ascend the throne, so I designed to use my hand to cut off Jing Yuncong's military power, so as to achieve their ulterior purpose? ”

Li Jinzhong then understood that the emperor had already thought about the events that had happened in the past few months, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped forward to help the emperor gently beat his back, while persuading: "In all dynasties, there are indispensable traitors to make trouble, as long as Your Majesty is good at protecting the dragon body, the minions think that they will not be able to achieve any climate." ”

The emperor suddenly half-turned around, looked directly at Li Jinzhong and asked, "If one day, the empress and the crown prince openly quarrel, which side will you stand on?" ”

Li Jinzhong replied almost without thinking: "Whoever the emperor wants the slave to follow, the slave is broken to pieces, and he will not hesitate to do it." ”