Zhang Tingyu had been watching from the sidelines, adopting the strategy of avoiding and staying away from the prince's struggle. After all these years, respectful and diligent, not afraid of hard work to serve the emperor, Kangxi's trust in him is increasing day by day, he is in power to the government and the opposition, and his reputation is far above Tong Guowei, Ma Qi, Xiao Yongzao, and the ambitious emperor's brothers have secretly sent him Qiubo, and frequently come to the Prime Minister's Mansion to express closeness and warmth, and his wife and concubine Zitong are often invited by the prince Fujin and the princess to go to the palace as a guest. Zitong and the princesses of the Yongwang Mansion, Niu Hulu, and the Fujin have simply become irreversible friends. She doesn't have to go to the Yongwang Mansion, and she is also the only Han minister who can enter the back room of Fujin and the princesses.

And her title is just a three-grade lady.

One night, Zitong came to Zhang Tingyu's study, grabbed his shoulders, and said mysteriously while rubbing:

"Master, the Niu Hulu clan of the Yongwang Mansion has finally given birth to a child!"

"Oh, yes." Zhang Tingyu was concentrating on reading a memo given to the saint by the prime minister of cloth, Fang Bao, who was written very long and very important, and he agreed absentmindedly, but his eyes were still fixed on the recital.

"Master—" Zitong turned around coquettishly, simply sat on the master's lap, and moved the fold aside.

The purple tung is the longer and more beautiful, the more watery. She is no longer a fifteen or sixteen-year-old little girl, a little wife, a little woman, she is twenty years old, in the eyes of Zhang Tingyu, who has passed the age of confusion, she is simply a flower covered with morning dew and budding flowers, exuding the fragrance, purity and passion of a seductive mature woman everywhere. Since the old father-in-law Wang Wenjian died in his hometown in Shandong New Town and came back from the funeral, his wife's health has not been very good. She always pushed Zitong to wait for the master, and Zitong almost became his full-time wife.

He kissed Zitong on the face, picked up the fold again, turned his head sideways and asked:

"What did you just say?"

"What do you say I say!" Zitong kissed her husband's clear but angular face again and again, and she was already fearless.

"Hmm," he thought for a moment, deliberately teasing her, "you seem to have a baby in someone's family, don't you?" ”

"yes, who's in the house?"

"It's a royal house!" He doesn't remember clearly.

"Which palace?"

"Is it Prince Cheng's Mansion?"

She shook her head: "No! ”

"Prince Heng?"

"It's not!"

"That's the king of Chunjun, the king of Dunjun, and the king of Anjun......"

"What are you guessing about?" She fell into his arms, opened her two squid-like arms, grabbed his neck, and after a wild kiss, she smacked her lips that were as red as red coral beads, and said shyly, "It's Niu Hulu of Yongwangfu, who has never given birth to a child, but this time I gave birth!" ”

"Ahh

"What are you 'ah' about?"

Zhang Tingyu knew that Zitong wanted a child very much. But they have been in the round house for six or seven years, and the child should have been born a long time ago, but Zitong has not even hit the buds. Originally, I thought that she was too young to get married and didn't care, but now she is a woman in her early twenties, and if she doesn't have children, she must be anxious. Zhang Tingyu comforted him empathetically:

"Zitong, if you have a child or not, the master doesn't care. I already have three boys and one girl...... I'm glad you can have a few more, of course. What if you don't have children? ”

"I'm alive!"

"It's good to have a good life."

"Or do you want to give birth?"

"If you can't have a baby, and you want to have a child, wouldn't it be nice to adopt one outside......"

Zitong said mischievously:

"Then I'll take a little flower cat and go to change someone else's dragon son and grandson?"

"Who wants you to do something 'subcontracting' to change other people's children!" Zhang Tingyu still thinks that Zitong's "little lady" has not grown up, just like a little girl who is so childish, innocent, and cute.

"I mean," Zitong sat up, and said seriously, "The Niu Hulu clan of the Yongwang Mansion uses the 'package adjustment plan'. ”

"What did you say?" Zhang Tingyu was slightly taken aback.

"Niu Hulu, the princess of Yongwangfu, gave birth to a girl a few days ago, and she exchanged the girl for a boy born to Mrs. Chen Shiqi Chen." Zitong finally said a big anecdote she wanted to tell her husband in one breath, "This matter is impenetrable, except for Mrs. Chen, who understands in her heart that a dumb person eats coptis and can't do it, no one outside knows about this trick of 'stealing dragons for phoenixes'." ”

"You, you-" Zhang Tingyu pushed Zitong away, stood up, walked to the window to look, and reflexively closed the door of the study, returned to Zitong's side, and whispered, "You must not say it, this is a matter of cutting off your head!" ”

"I know this," Zitong said aggrievedly, "I'll just tell you, what's the big deal, aren't you my lord, husband?" ”

"You didn't tell the second person?"

"Nope!"

"We must never talk about it again in the future."

"Yes."

"Hey," Zhang Tingyu sat down, "Since it's airtight, how do you know?" ”

"Am I not a bosom friend of the Niu Hulu clan?" Zitong showed off with a bit of innocence, "Ever since she was pregnant with a child, she has been talking every day, just give birth to a child, just give birth to a child." For this reason, she worships the Buddha every day, and when I accompany her to worship the Buddha, I listen to her prayers to pray to the gods, asking for the Buddha, Tsongkhapa, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and give the concubine a dragon root and dragon son. I saw that she wanted a boy to be crazy and crazy, and she was afraid of hurting her body, so I persuaded her, didn't Lord Yong have a boy Hongshi? You just gave birth to a girl for the prince, and the prince must be very happy. Niu Hulu's tears flowed down for a long time, and King Yong just wanted to give birth to a dragon. Because Hongshi, who was born in Dafu Jinsheng, was naughty and mischievous since he was a child, he was not good at reading, and now he is in his teens and has not made any progress, and King Yong believes that he is a wreck who can't become a climate. I often sighed beside Niu Hulu's pillow and said, this king is thirty-five or sixteen, and there are groups of wives and concubines, but there are few who are angry, and they don't listen to a son. My father is to pass the throne to this king, can I pass the throne to the indisputable Hongshi? Ask the Buddha to bless me, this time you give me a 'dragon son' who can succeed the great unification. Then I will naturally crown you queen......"

Zitong talked eloquently, but Zhang Tingyu had already heard it sweating profusely, and he was terrified.

"With this layer. On the day Niu Hulu gave birth, I happened to be in the harem of the palace again," Zitong ignored the severity of this matter, and said to herself, "The princess screamed a few times, the child fell to the ground, and the midwife wrapped the slippery baby and handed it to me, and she took care of it and cleaned it up." I took the baby and saw that it was a girl, and carried it to the princess's pillow, and she almost closed her breath when she saw that the eldest was unhappy. It happened that the prince was ordered by Qin to go on a business trip a few days ago, and the princess sent the midwife out of the palace. Holding the baby and cursing his life. I heard that the princess was born, and she was commensurate with the princess's sisters on weekdays, and a group of ministers' wives and concubines who often came and went came to visit the palace one after another. Some people said that Chen Shiqi and Lord Chen's wife happened to give birth to a brother on the same month and day, and some people asked Niu Hulu's family, Princess Mo also gave birth to a 'little prince'? Niu Hulu's eyes rolled, and he said again and again that he was a little brother. I listened to it on the sidelines, and I was amused, but I didn't break it, I just thought that the princess wanted her brother to come up with something......"

Zhang Tingyu, who was as fine as silk, suddenly interrupted Zitong's words and asked:

"She doesn't know you know the details?"

"Of course." Zitong shook his head like a splashing drum, "At that time, I didn't take a look at the baby seriously, I only touched it under the crotch, and I knew it when I found that there was no little cock, where would the princess notice that I knew the mystery?" ”

"If that's the case, you're still worry-free."

"Of course, there is no problem." Zitong continued triumphantly, "On the day I washed the child in the three dynasties, I was by the princess's side again. It just so happened that Prince Yong returned home, and when he heard that the princess gave birth to a 'little dragon species', the prince was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth with a smile. The palace was so lively that day, and almost all the relatives of some royal families and ministers who were usually close to Niu Hulu came. However, Chen Shiqi's wife did not come, and she was naturally in confinement like Niu Hulu. The princess pestered the prince and said that she must take the newborn baby to the house by Chen Shiqi's family to take a look, and compare the two brothers born on the same month and day. Prince Yong didn't know that this was the princess's plan to 'steal the dragon for the phoenix', thinking that the woman had given birth to a child, and it was reasonable to compare them with each other. He also sent the chief of the palace to Chen Shangshu's house to pass the decree. How dare Chen Shiqian slack off? In a hurry, the nurse was ordered to hold the baby and come to the palace with Changshi. The princess ordered a palace maid to go out and said that the princess was afraid of the wind and saw the living after giving birth, and the nurse of the Chen family did not have to go in, just hand her brother over to the palace maid to take a look. When the nurse heard this, she was defenseless, handed over her brother, and was accompanied by the domestic servant to drink. The princess took a look at the little brother, who was beautiful and beautiful, strong and lovely, and couldn't put it down, so she couldn't put it down, and took her own daughter out and handed it over to the nurse, and ordered to reward the Chen family with jewelry......"

"The nurse didn't notice it?" Zhang Tingyu was also attracted by the legendary stories of the present and the ancient.

"That nurse poured a few cups of yellow soup, half-drunk, where will she check whether there are any small cocks under the child," Zitong smiled, "Besides, the baby fell asleep sweetly, and her face was covered with a thin silk scarf, how could she find that she had changed the bag." It was carried back to Chen's house, put it on Mrs. Chen's kang, and lay down next to the confinement woman for a night, and her biological mother didn't notice it......"

After Zitong's story was finished, she pulled the old man to go back to the room and go to bed, but she was afraid that she wanted to give birth to him as a little brother. Zhang Tingyu didn't feel sleepy at all, after he took the little lady away, he stood alone in front of the study window, looking at the night sky, pondering for a long time, thinking about it.

If it is really as Zitong listened to what Niu Hulu said, the fourth son of the emperor, Yinzhen, does have such great ambitions, not only wants to compete for the throne and inherit the unification, but also thinks of the question of who will inherit the children. Then, Yinzhen's "Renjun Technique" is no brother who can compare with it. So far-sighted, hidden, and resourceful Niu Hulu clan helps each other, the so-called time, place, and people are occupied, who can fight the four princes?

Chen Shiqi is a native of Haining, Zhejiang, and the son of Chen Xu, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry. Chen Shu was raised in the eleventh year of Kangxi, awarded the middle school scholar, once patrolled Guizhou, and served as the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Officials after returning to Beijing, until he died in the same year as Kangxi in 61 years, and he was also a very senior cabinet elder in the imperial court. Chen Gelao's son Chen Shiqi is now a scholar again, just like Zhang Tingyu's father and son, two generations of prime ministers, and two generations of Shangshu in the Chen family. However, it is such an old qualified Shangshu, the boy born to Mrs. was replaced by Prince Yong's Mansion just three days ago, what can he do?

According to Zitong, Chen Shiqi's wife woke up from a daze asleep with the child in her arms, the child cried, fed milk, and the child slept until daylight. Until dawn the next day, the nurse who had woken up from the wine entered the room to change the baby's diaper, holding the child and pouting "ho-ho-ho" to let the baby pee. She habitually teased the little cock in the baby's crotch while teasing the pee, and this flick was not tight, and the nurse suddenly bounced up in shock.

"What's wrong? Why did the little brother's cock fly all of a sudden? ”

She didn't believe it, so she lay the baby on her back on the rocking bed, opened her two calves and looked carefully, and the place where the little cock grew collapsed into a red and tender "little mouth", from which urine spilled out. The nurse suddenly howled as if she had changed into a monster:

"Madame, aaaaa

Mrs. Chen sat up from the kang and asked reproachfully:

"What nerves? Don't freak out little brother! ”

"It's my brother who suddenly became a young lady......"

"Nonsense!"

"It's true," the nurse hugged the baby over, "Madam, you see, yesterday was fine, how did you sleep all night, and it changed!" ”

Madame took the baby and looked at it, and was stunned for a moment, and muttered in fright:

"Good guy...... Good lady...... Good end-to-end ...... Why, how did it change......"

"Madam, ma'am," said the nurse who was trembling with fright, for fear of getting burned and washing herself, "I brought it back yesterday, and I saw it all, there was a little cock, why did I sleep all night The little cock disappeared and shrunk in?" ”

"You brought it back yesterday?"

"Looked."

"You're drunk, really?"

"It's touching ......"

"How can there be a reason for a boy to become a girl?" Mrs. Chen then went to look at the baby's round red face. Although the baby who has just been born for a few days, has a small nose and small eyes, and looks similar, after all, it is a piece of flesh that fell from the mother's body, and where can the mother not distinguish the authenticity? After seeing it clearly, she had a bottom in her heart, and shouted angrily: "Someone is coming!" ”

The servants didn't know what was going on, and they all hugged in. I saw Mrs. Chen put the baby on the warm kang, and pointed to the nurse angrily and shouted:

"Kneel down for me yet!"

The nurse knelt down.

Mrs. Chen was not afraid of hurting her body, grinded her buttocks and sat on the edge of the kang, patted the kang with her palm, and cursed:

"You all come and see, yesterday this prostitute took her little brother to Yongwang's mansion for a walk, and came back drunk, she, she ...... She was greedy for small profits, and teamed up with someone who poured her yellow urine to change her brother's ......"

"Madam, Madam......" The nurse was so frightened that the three souls lost their seven spirits, and kowtowed again and again, "The slave is not greedy, nor does he partner with anyone to transfer the contract, the slave knows that the brother is the heart and soul of the lord and the lady, and he can't love it, how dare he do that kind of thing that hurts the heavens and reason?" God, Mrs. Mingjian, the slave has to do this kind of black thing, and he can't die well......"

The servants and maids immediately picked up the baby and looked at it, and they all started talking:

"It's been replaced!"

"How can my brother become a young lady, how can a chicken become a hen!"

"It must have been changed by the dragon and phoenix who wanted to go crazy for a male baby."

“……”

The discussion of the servants reminded Mrs. Chen, because she often went to Yongwang's Mansion before giving birth, and she was a guest of Niu Hulu's family. And I often listen to the princess's words, the prince wants her to give birth to a "little prince", and she pretends to be incense and prays to the Buddha and the Bodhisattva also wants a boy. Mrs. Chen's brain suddenly turned: The nurse didn't have the courage to exchange babies with others, could it be that Niu Hulu's family gave birth to a daughter, and she specially asked Chen Fu to carry the baby who was only three days old, was she replaced?

After a while, she relieved herself and calmly asked the nurse:

"When you arrived at King Yong's Mansion yesterday, what was the situation, tell me quickly. This responsibility is on your shoulder, how did you be replaced by someone else! ”

When the nurse heard this, she suddenly recalled the situation at that time, and said one by one. How to get to the mansion, a palace maid came out, saying that the princess was afraid of the wind and afraid of seeing the living after giving birth, so she sent her brother in for the princess to watch. How did she hand over her brother to the palace maid, and was led to drink by her subordinates. After drinking a handful of wine, the maid returned the baby to her. He also gave some jewelry, saying that it was given to Mrs. Chen by the princess of the Niu Hulu clan. In the end, crying:

"Madame, I am guilty. At that time, I was a little drunk, and the slave was careless and didn't look closely, just now the slave lied, madam, you punish the minion! She slapped herself in the mouth and cried.

How did Mrs. Chen understand that it must be Niu Hulu who replaced her precious son, how can this be good? In addition to heartache, she hurriedly asked Yahuan to go to the master to discuss a way. Before Madame's words were finished, a maid had already rushed forward and reported everything she had heard to Master Chen Shiqi. And said that the lady invited the master to go in, and wanted to go to the Yongwang Mansion to get the child back.

When Chen Shiqi heard this, he knew in his heart, but he was afraid that his wife would be in a hurry, so he took three steps and two steps to the upper room. Seeing many maids and servants crowded in the room, whispering and whispering, the nurse knelt beside her and burst into tears. Chen Shangshu glanced at his wife and said to everyone:

"Don't be alarmed, you need to keep this matter a secret, and if anyone leaks it, I know about it, and I will be put to death immediately."

The maids and servants were suddenly like mosquitoes pinching their brains, so frightened that no one dared to squeak. Master Chen waved his hand and shouted:

"Let's go! There's nothing to do here, so there's no need to crowd around in the room, just get out! ”

The servant woman and the maid reluctantly withdrew. Seeing that the old man was not in a hurry at all, the lady ordered everyone to keep the secret and not to divulge it, and she was very puzzled in her heart. Then he said to the master:

"My good boy has been replaced, why do you still keep a secret? Could it be that if you give a brother to someone for nothing, you won't make a sound? After that, tears of sadness dripped down.

"You," Chen Shiqi sighed, "After living at such an age, why don't you even know the severity of the matter?" Do you think, is it the children who matter, or the lives of the family? I advise you to be more energetic, and endure it if you can't bear it. Fortunately, we still have a few boys, so we don't have to worry about the heirs. ”

The lady cried, "You are so angry, I can't be like you." It's easy to conceive in October and give birth to a child, and if you want to be born a woman, it's just that. Now that I've been replaced in vain, how can I bear it? Could it be that they have done such a bad thing, and they still want to cut down the Chen family! ”

"Why don't you want to think about it," Chen Shangshu said anxiously, "If this matter is spread and the emperor knows about it, he will definitely be furious." I won't say that the fourth son of the emperor, Yinzhen, is not, but will say that we have Lu Buwei's trick and change our son into the palace to usurp the Qing Dynasty as the emperor, so what's the deal? Click-" He made a gesture of cutting off his head, and his face turned pale suddenly, "Not only will you be beheaded all over the house, but you will also be punished by the Nine Clans." Now not only is I dumb eating coptis, pinching my nose and making no sound, even I, the official, can't do it. You have to leave the capital as soon as possible, and run back to your hometown to stay away from the land of right and wrong. ”

When the lady heard this, she knew that the stakes were important, so she had to hide her tears and endure the heartache and say no more. Chen Shiqi carefully enlightened his wife again, returned to the study, repaired a watch seal for begging due to illness, and went to the court the next day, asking the Holy Grace to allow him to return home after illness.

Kangxi looked at Chen Shiqi, who was kneeling below, as if he had suddenly aged ten years old overnight, and even trembled when he walked, and asked puzzledly:

"Chen Aiqing, I remember that you are a few years younger than me, why do you have to beg for a rest?"

Chen Shiqian kowtowed and replied:

"Long live the dragon body of the Son of Heaven, long life is boundless. And the ministers are all in the body, and they are infected with wind and pain, and they are not as good as one day, and they can't serve the Holy Lord. ”

"Okay," Kangxi saw that he was sincere, and the imperial court had just selected more than 100 new scholars, and he didn't care about this old man, so he went to Zhang Tingyu, the minister of the study, to draft a decree and allowed Chen Shiqi to return to Haining, Zhejiang for retirement. And gave the chariots and horses five hundred taels of silver, and the post stations along the way were convenient to act. After discussing this matter, Kangxi was quite interested, and said to the ministers:

"Prince Yong's Mansion Niu Hulu clan has a new dragon son, and I give the name Hongli. Prince Cheng Yinzhi son Hongsheng, Prince Heng Yinqi son Hongsheng, Prince Yong Yinzhen son Hongshi, Hongli, the same as the son. ”

The ministers knelt down to congratulate and sang loudly:

"Congratulations to the Holy Saint on the new Dragon Sun Hongli!"

"Long live Hongfu, dragon son and dragon grandson Yongchang!"

"Hooray, hooray, hooray!"

Only when Zhang Tingyu knelt down, his heart seemed to overturn the five-flavor bottle. This Hongli, who was named the son of the world within a few days of his birth, really wants to become another generation of emperors of the Qing Dynasty? Then, in the battle between the princes and the princes, the fourth prince Yongzhen is bound to win. In the midst of the praise, he seemed to hear a little bit of "fate" in the dark.