Zhang Erzhen didn't know how Xiangxiu would react when she saw Zhu You's flail with crippled legs, and she didn't care what her reaction would be anymore, because she was starting to get busy. The news of Zhang Erzhen's return to the palace flew all over the palace as if she had grown wings, and the originally silent ladies of the palace immediately sent their henchmen to invite Zhang Erzhen, and the first to arrive at Kunning Palace was the Empress Dowager's palace in the palace of Mama Chu, "Niangniang is fine, the Empress Dowager heard that Niangniang returned to the palace, and instructed the old slave to invite Niangniang to Renshou Palace." ”

Zhang Erzhen, who was promoted to a certain mother, went to Renshou Palace with Mama Chu. The Empress Dowager has been back to the palace for more than half a year, rarely goes out, and other ladies are not allowed to go to Renshou Palace to disturb, and when she sees the harem concubines, Zhang Erzhen is the first. Thinking of the kind-looking old lady, Zhang Erzhen was still embarrassed. The white-haired person sent the black-haired person, she should be quite sad. But when she saw the Empress Dowager, Zhang Erzhen was still slightly surprised, this silver-haired old lady was in excellent spirits, and asked her with a red face: "I returned to the palace yesterday, are you still used to living?"

Zhang Erzhen sat down and nodded, and replied: "The concubines are all good, and the Empress Dowager Lao is worried." ”

"It's good, the mourning family can rest assured, Fengyang's place is far away, but fortunately, it is the royal palace, and it will not treat you badly, how have you been in the past few years, you have gained some weight. The Empress Dowager looked at Zhang Erzhen with a smile, Mama Chu brought a cup of tea, Zhang Erzhen smiled and thanked her, and said: "The concubine doesn't feel wronged, Fengyang is very good there, and it is quiet, and the huge courtyard only lives with the concubine and a few girls, which is very light." On weekdays, the concubine also instructed the girl in the courtyard to open up a vegetable garden, and she planted whatever she wanted, and everything was neat, that is, there were a lot of lotus roots hidden under the lotus leaves of the pond, and the concubines also made a lot of lotus root powder to bring back, if the queen mother did not dislike it, the concubines had to sacrifice ugliness......"

In line with filial piety first, Zhang Erzhen picked up what the old man liked to listen to, looked at the Queen Mother and nodded while smiling and listening, and her heart was also warm, there is an old man in the family who is like a treasure, and the old man looks so cute......

"The mourning family is old, and they can't eat greasy things, so they like those that are lighter, and I will ask Mama Chu to follow you to get some of the lotus root flour later, and the mourning family likes to eat that, hehe. The Empress Dowager said kindly: "When the emperor ascends the throne, the mourning family is at ease, and now that you are back, the mourning family is happier." The throne is stable, and the Ming Dynasty has hope for the prosperity of the country and the strength of the people, and the mourning family is worthy of the Emperor Taizu. ”

"What the Empress Dowager said is that the emperor is wise and generous, and the people of the world can live and work in peace and contentment. On the way back to Beijing, the concubines met some villagers, and they all praised that today is a prosperous era, well-fed and warmly clothed, and that the saint is a good emperor and a blessing for the people. There are five or six-year-old dolls who know that it is good to study, and they don't want shoes or sugar, so they want silver to go to the school, and the concubine looks at him pitifully, and gives a few taels of silver, and his mother also brings it over to thank him. I also met an old man on the road, and when he saw the team, he came over with a basket of potatoes and said that he wanted to give us food, but the leader of the army Cao didn't want it, and he pulled it for a long time, and finally Cao accepted the potatoes and gave the old man money, and when the old man ran away......

"Oh, don't have shoes or sugar, I just want to go to school, so young children know that they want to study, it's really strange, haha, then the people of my Ming Dynasty are all talented people, and the emperor will have a lot of peace of mind, hehe." The Empress Dowager smiled and said: "The people live and work in peace and contentment, the emperor is busy with court affairs, what we can do is to keep to ourselves, reproduce the emperor's heirs for the royal family, and be considerate of the emperor, but there is no one in this harem who serves the emperor. The mourning family knows that you have a lot of grievances in your heart, but you are a royal person after all, and you need to consider the royal family, that is, the mourning family itself, and also worry a lot about this country. The mourning family knows the emperor's plan and wants to make you the queen, the mourning family does not object, but there is only one mourning family, and you can't be the only one in this harem, you ...... You know?"

The Empress Dowager rubbed her forehead a little tiredly, and Mama Chu helped the Empress Dowager rub her shoulders and said: "Forgive the old slave for talking too much, the Empress Dowager has always been unable to sleep and eat recently, so she shouldn't worry about it anymore." ”

Zhang Erzhen didn't believe that the Empress Dowager was not in good health, and looking at this spirit, it was much better than two years ago. But the Empress Dowager said very straightforward words and was very sincere, as a royal woman, even if Zhang Erzhen had fantasized about a lifetime with Zhu Youji, she also knew that this would never be realized, she replied to the Empress Dowager very neatly: "The concubines are saved, and the lessons of the past do not dare to be arrogant, and the Empress Dowager can rest assured." ”

"Well, it's good if you know it, the matter of the Ten Thousand Emperors and Concubines, there must not be a second one in this palace, and the mourning family is to give up this life, and also to ensure the stability of the Zhu family. ”

"Yes, the concubine understands. Zhang Erzhen bowed.

"You are an understanding child, and the mourning family knows that because of the matter of the Ten Thousand Emperors and Concubines, you suffered a lot of grievances. Good boy, let's walk this way in this world, we didn't come to enjoy happiness in the first place, either to suffer sin, or to create evil, in this next life, we can be in danger, good and stable. The Empress Dowager sighed with emotion, stared at Zhang Erzhen and said word by word: "In the future, the emperor will have the final say in this palace, and the mourning family is old, and it is time to rest." ”

The Empress Dowager said sincerely, Zhang Erzhen knew that 80% of it was true, she could understand this old lady very well, after losing her husband and children, what supported her to continue to live was the foundation left by the ancestors of the Zhu family. The shadow left by Wan Guifei's experience was too deep, and everyone was afraid.

Zhang Erzhen said with a smile: "The Empress Dowager is young, how can she be old? Gai Ming'er concubine gave the emperor, and took the Empress Dowager south to enjoy the scenery and cruise, the concubine saw the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuchang when she was young, and she was really impressed, and she had to lean her neck hard to see the peak when she stood at the bottom of the Snake Mountain. There is also Wuchang's halva, the empress dowager can hold a piece in her mouth, tea and a piece of sugar, swallow and refresh, chew the beauty of osmanthus, sweet and crispy and leave hemp fragrance, this is a sentence handed down locally, the concubine likes that bite the most, I haven't eaten it for so many years, I really want to ......"

The Empress Dowager is a standard Beijing woman, who grew up in the courtyard when she was a child, and was fine in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and later entered the harem. The Empress Dowager patted Zhang Erzhen's hand and said, "...... The mourning family is waiting, waiting for the time to go south, you are a child with a heart, and you are also a blessed child, and you and the emperor will also have a double couple, and the sheng chime has the same sound. ”

Zhang Erzhen bowed her head shyly, really shy. can get the blessing of Zhu Youji's grandmother, Zhang Erzhen is much more down-to-earth.

Coming out of Renshou Palace, the palace maid of Cining Palace, who had been waiting for a long time, asked Zhang Erzhen to go to Cining Palace again, "The Queen Mother, please come over." Zhang Erzhen nodded, and sat down again to Cining Palace. The queen of the year is now a lot older, and her black hair is half white, and she is meticulously combed. The moment she saw Zhang Erzhen, the Queen Mother also stayed for a while, and said with some pity: "Pity you for being gone for so many years, and you have suffered a lot of sins." ”

Zhang Erzhen shook her head, "It's not about being offended, life is good, and the Empress Dowager Lao is worried." ”

"You, even if you have grievances, the mourning family can understand it. Things are over, and the mourning family doesn't want to get involved in the emperor and you anymore, and the mourning family is looking for you today because they want to ask you for something. The Queen Mother sighed first and motioned for Zhang Erzhen to sit down.

Zhang Erzhen is not stupid, who else in the palace can make the childless and daughterless Queen Mother care, so she said: "The concubine is afraid, the concubine knows what the Queen Mother entrusts, if it is Sister Qin's business, the concubine is willing to give it a try, and is willing to go to the emperor to speak." In the final analysis, Sister Qin has no bad intentions, and she has not harmed anyone, so ...... I can't bear it. ”

"Alas, the niece of the mourning family is spoiled, but how can the mourning family bear to ignore her, if the mourning family did not insist on sending her into the palace back then, it will not be a green lantern wooden fish all day long, and she is ten years old at the age of less than twenty years old, look pitiful. The Queen Mother's eyes were foggy, she didn't know what she was thinking, and after a while, she said: "The past few years have been like a dream, sometimes the mourning family still envy you, it doesn't matter if you are far away, you don't have to worry about anything." In the end, the emperor feels sorry for you, and it is your life. ”

Zhang Erzhen sighed with emotion and said sincerely: "Everything is fine now, and the queen mother's phoenix body is more important." You are the queen mother of the Ming Dynasty, you will enjoy endless blessings in the future, you should be happier, go out and walk around more, now the summer is just right, the imperial garden is beautiful, and it is good to scatter your heart. ”

"When I saw you, the mourning family really felt old. The Queen Mother chuckled: "What you said is also true, the mourning family still needs to take care of their bodies and wait for the palace to be lively." This year, the palace was quiet and scary, and the mourning family was really afraid that the emperor would ...... , fortunately, it's all good now. Ancestors bless, now everything is fine. The Queen Mother took the Buddha beads on the corner of the table, counted them and said: "The emperor is a good emperor who is diligent and loves the people, and it is time for the mourning family to live in peace." ”

Zhang Erzhen acquiesced, it seems that the accident had a great impact on them, what status, what wealth and glory, is not as good as now, if you don't die, there will be a blessing in the future.

"You should also go and see Concubine Shao, she has not been in good health in the past two years and has aged a lot. The Queen Mother finally smiled: "No matter what happened back then, you forgot not to care, which is the last wish of the mourning family." ”

Zhang Erzhen nodded: "The concubine knows, and the concubine also understands, if she has a grudge, the concubine would rather not come back." Now that I'm back, I naturally have to be calmer, and many things that should be forgotten will be forgotten, in the final analysis, the Queen Mother and Concubine Shao are all for the good of the entire Ming Dynasty. ”

The Queen Mother nodded slowly, watching Zhang Erzhen's slender back disappear at the door. In the past two years, two years, she feels longer than ten years.

The palace is not hot at noon, and the green and shaded bamboo paths will immediately feel a refreshing pleasure, the red dust is gone, and the fatigue is gone. Concubine Shao lives in Shoukang Palace on the east side of Cining Palace, and the fifth prince Zhu Youyu has gone to the fiefdom, but he did not take Concubine Shao away, Zhang Erzhen was puzzled, until she saw Concubine Shao lying on the bed, Zhang Erzhen understood, as far as Concubine Shao is now, she really wants to travel far, and she is afraid that she will die on the road.