The next day, Luo Xi and the queen are going to leave the palace to pray for ten days in Jinsu Temple, before that, it is said that Luo Xi in the previous dynasty is more for this matter and many ministers had a big quarrel, for a time all kinds of gossip have come to come, but no matter what, almost all of them are secretly poking and prodding to accuse Luo Xi, one said that he was timid and afraid, and before the war had taken the queen to hide in the national temple for refuge, and said that he had no ambition and did not have the grand demeanor and imperial bearing of the king's hegemony, he only knew how to blindly pray to God and worship Buddha, and the first emperor was the same.

I know the inside story, and I just laughed at these rumors.

Early in the morning, the queen called me to the Kunji Hall and instructed me: "Yesterday I discussed with Your Majesty, this harem except for me is only your highest position, the Queen Mother's body is not very cheerful recently, when I go to the temple with Your Majesty to pray for blessings, I am afraid that the affairs of the harem will have to temporarily bother my sister to manage on my behalf." ”

I hurriedly shirked and said, "Queen Mother, you think too highly of me, I can't do it." ”

The queen smiled at me and said, "You can do it, Your Majesty and I both think you are the most suitable candidate." ”

I frowned, half-believing and half-questioning: "Did Your Majesty say the same thing?" ”

The queen nodded, very sure, "This is natural, Fang just said that it was decided after discussing with His Majesty, and my sister doesn't need to shirk it, but it's only ten days." ”

Of course I understand the meaning of Luo Xi's move, he wants to use his power to tie me up in the palace, so that I have no time to take care of things outside the palace, and it can be regarded as racking my brains, but I still have a little trepidation and resistance in my heart, "But the power of the six palaces is really a big responsibility, and I am afraid that if I don't do it well, there will be some chaos." ”

The queen smiled and took my hand and patted it, "Sister don't worry, in fact, it is very simple to be in charge of the six palaces, as long as you are fair and strict, you can be impartial, and you can give both grace and power, if you really don't understand something, you will go to Cining Palace to ask the queen mother." ”

I saw that the queen was in a good mood, not a little happy for her, but even more worried about her, the queen should think that this trip was just a simple prayer sacrifice, but I don't know what kind of danger she will face, "Thank you for the reminder of the queen, I will strive to live up to the trust of Your Majesty and the queen." ”

The queen nodded slowly.

I hesitated for a long time, but I still said the words, "Queen Mother, you must be careful and return safely." ”

The queen smiled and said: "Speaking of which, Jinsu Temple is not very far from the palace, and Jiankang City is in good order, so you don't have to worry about anything." ”

I said "um".

Walking on the way to Cining Palace, the sunlight above his head became more and more intense, as if a burning flame was about to burn people's souls.

Since Luo Xi and the queen are going to pray for blessings, and they have temporarily handed over the power to hold the six palaces to me, then why don't I make good use of it, Zhuang Jieyu has also helped me a lot since I entered the palace, before she met Prince Ning, we were very affectionate, since she has been happy with Prince Ning, then I will take this opportunity to repay her favor over the past year.

But I can't do this alone, I pondered for a long time before I decided to probe the queen mother's tone and beg her for help.

The Queen Mother was able to ask Aunt Jinyue to send me out of the palace back then, and now she will definitely be able to send Zhuang Jieyu out of the palace.

Entering the Cining Palace, the noon sunlight is reflected into the palace through the dark green cicada wing window screen, and the shadow of the lattice flower long window is cast on the ground, light and shallow, as if painting an ink bamboo branch on the ground.

I saw that the Queen Mother was still in good spirits, and she looked at a branch of phalaenopsis offered in the cloisonne porcelain bottle on the case with one hand.

Looking at it, the petals were like butterfly wings, soft and fragile, as if waiting for others to protect it, and I smiled: "The Queen Mother's spirit looks very good today." ”

The Queen Mother glanced at me, "In the end, I am old, I can't control it, look at the light outside, it should be noon, the emperor and the empress must have gone out of the palace to pray for blessings, the emperor and empress have temporarily given you the power of the six palaces as assistants, and it is probably a deliberate decision, you can't live up to the trust of the emperor and the empress in you." ”

I was terrified, and hurriedly knelt down and said: "I have no talent and no virtue, I am really embarrassed to be a big responsibility, and I still need to be taught by the Queen Mother." ”

The corner of the Queen Mother's mouth gently twitched, called me up, and said lightly: "What can I teach you, these keys should be realized by yourself, what to do, what not to do, where to give grace, and where to punish, there are many kinds of knowledge and teachings that cannot be taught, and it depends on your own understanding." ”

I listened dumbfounded, and felt more and more in my heart that the queen's hardship was not easy, "Queen Mother, I am just temporarily in charge of the power of the six palaces, and when the queen returns, I should return the ribbon seal, and I only want to be a rich idler and live a peaceful and peaceful life." ”

The Queen Mother sighed quietly and nodded, "You can give birth to this idea, which can be regarded as your blessing, but as everyone knows, the higher the height, the greater the power in your hands, the more troubles you will have, and the days will gradually become very boring, and you will lose the boudoir joy that a woman should have." ”

Speaking, Aunt Jinyue came forward to serve tea with a bowl of gold leaf ring pattern in Jingpora, the soup color is like a green bamboo leaf, the fragrance rises, I smiled politely at Aunt Jinyue, holding the tea bowl and my fingers trembled slightly, after a while, I bowed my head and said: "I have something I want to ask for the Queen Mother's grace, but this matter is really a little ......" I never thought that these words were so ashamed, and before I said it, I was so narrow that I didn't know how to phrase it.

The Queen Mother's silver filament was slightly messy, and she only used a long-winged pine crane jasper hairpin to hold it, probably noticing my abnormality, and only said in a deep voice: "You say." ”

I got up and knelt on the hard colorful glazed floor tiles, my knees hurt, hesitated for a long time, and finally turned my heart sideways, and said slowly: "Zhuang Jieyu herself has not been favored by His Majesty, and her life is lonely and bleak, and Prince Ning entered the palace some time ago to report on her work," the more he spoke, the more his voice was silenced, and he couldn't help but look up at the Queen Mother, and he couldn't look at the Queen Mother's expression, so he continued, "The two fell in love at first sight, and the two were happy, and the evening before yesterday I happened to see Zhuang Jieyu and Prince Ning complaining to each other in the Void Garden, It's really emotional, I know that it is difficult to be stupid and dull, so I can only come to the Queen Mother...... came to beg the Queen Mother to see if there was a way to help the two of them. ”

The Queen Mother looked at me with a calm face, was silent for a moment, and suddenly clenched her fist and hammered the corner of the case, "Bold!" There was an irreducible anger in the corner of his eyes, and he turned his face to Aunt Jinyue and ordered: "Go and arrest Prince Ning and Zhuang Jieyu to Cining Palace for questioning!" ”

I hurriedly kowtowed, "The Queen Mother is angry." ”

Aunt Jinyue is not leaving, nor is she leaving, she is very embarrassed, and asked me: "Zhaoyi Niangniang, this matter is not trivial, are you sure?" ”

I watched Aunt Jinyue nod slowly, Aunt Jinyue held her hands tightly, and after a while, I had a flash of inspiration and frowned: "Does the Queen Mother know why I came to ask you to help them?" ”

The Queen Mother's anger was unabated, there seemed to be a fire in her eyes, and she asked in a deep voice, "Why?" ”

I lowered my eyes and said, "The Queen Mother never knew what I saw that evening. ”

The Queen Mother stroked her chest and smoothed her breath, "Then you can tell me about it." ”

I thought about it, "If you put aside the titles of Prince Ning and Zhuang Jieyu, what I see is a pair of lovers who love and know each other but can't stay together, the two of them actually agreed to die together, they can't sleep together in life, and they are in the same cave when they die, Zhuang Jieyu and Prince Ning have no fear in the face of death, just to maintain each other's true feelings, isn't this enough to move and admire," smiled and shook his head, "If it were me, I would definitely not be able to treat death like this, besides, Zhuang Jieyu and Prince Ning are also pitiful people." ”

The Queen Mother snorted angrily, "Glory and wealth are enjoyed, and a bright future is in hand, can you be regarded as a poor person?" So don't all the ordinary people in the world stop living? ”

I shook my head and said with a sour smile: "Although the common people live a hard life, they still have freedom, they can choose the person they like, the way they want to go, but Zhuang Jieyu and Prince Ning have been determined their fate as soon as they were born, as soon as they enter the palace gate, they will have to rise and fall in the palace all their lives, and they will be frightened, not to mention that Zhuang Jieyu is not favored by His Majesty, the palace is like a delicate cage with a dexterous thrush for Zhuang Jieyu, the thrush does not belong to the cage, it should have its own world, Although Prince Ning is said to be His Majesty's elder brother, but when he seized power and fought endlessly, he became the king and lost the king, and it was easy to escape, and he could only live a bitter life in Wenshan Prefecture, and he would be the prince who had always brought a little bit of waste, the so-called splendid future, but it was all an illusion, and outsiders didn't know it, and how much was lonely, sour, and unwilling to pile up, except for Prince Ning himself, no one would know, "paused, and said, "Now, the two have a heart-to-heart relationship, so please ask the Queen Mother to help them!" ”

The Queen Mother stared at me and said, "This is a great rebellion!" ”

I said admittedly, "I didn't know that this was a great rebellion, and when I knew, I didn't get angry, but then I thought about it, it's more meaningful to be fulfilled than to kill them, isn't it?" ”

The Queen Mother sighed, "This is a superfluous move," and waved her hand helplessly, "You tell them to break it." ”

I frowned and shook my head, my tone was a little excited, "I can't break it, if the Queen Mother doesn't help them, they will only have a dead end, and they will cause an irreparable uproar, and now it is an eventful season, and there really can't be any more incidents." ”

The Queen Mother pointed at me and asked, "What else do you have to hide?" A slight tremor in the fingertips.

I bowed my head, my heart hardened, and I closed my eyes and said, "Zhuang Jieyu is already two months pregnant, and the child is Prince Ning's." ”

The queen mother's color was shocked, blue and white, and her body sitting on the crested five-bird chair seemed to fall, Aunt Jinyue hurriedly went over to support her, and the queen mother rested for a long time with her head in her hand, and said: "This matter...... Who else but you know? ”

I muttered, "Before I told the Queen Mother, no third person knew about this matter, not even Prince Ning. ”

The Queen Mother covered her forehead with her hands, and a worried look appeared between her eyebrows, "You did a good job." ”

I laughed, "It's true that Zhuang Jieyu is confused when things have developed to this point, and I don't dare to act without permission, for fear that things will worsen, so I came to ask the Queen Mother to think of ideas today, and the Queen Mother will not want to see Zhuang Jieyu and Prince Ning being beheaded by His Majesty, not to mention that Zhuang Jieyu is still one corpse and two lives." ”

The Queen Mother sighed slightly, "What can I do?" ”

I hurriedly said: "Since the Queen Mother was able to send me out of the palace back then, there must be a way to send Zhuang Jieyu out of the palace now." ”

The Queen Mother looked at me dumbfounded and said, "How is this the same! ”

I swept my eyes lightly over the Queen Mother and asked softly, "Why is it different?" ”

The Queen Mother stared at me and said, "I really had to send you out of the palace back then, I don't want you to miss the emperor and state affairs, so I have to send you out of the palace because of the big stake," she said, rubbing her temples, "Do you know how much it cost me to send you out of the palace." ”

I pursed my lips and said, "But no matter how you say that Prince Ning and His Majesty are brothers, the Queen Mother will not want to see the tragedy of fratricide," as I said, I glanced at Aunt Jinyue, "If this incident really happens, if it spreads, how will the royal face remain?" ”

Although Aunt Jinyue's expression could be seen to be very anxious, she didn't say anything.

The Queen Mother thought for a moment, her face was not good, and she waved her hand at me, "You go first, I'll think about it later." ”

I said softly: "If the Queen Mother wants to help them, now is the best time." The Queen Mother nodded, waved her hand at me again, and I had to ask An to leave.

I walked slowly on the corridor of Cining Palace step by step, my heart was in turmoil, I didn't know whether my words were for Zhuang Jieyu to fight for a piece of freedom and purity, or pushed her into the cliff with her own hands, and accidentally bumped into the little palace maid who gave medicine to the queen mother, the little palace maid looked up and saw that it was me, and hurriedly knelt on the ground and said: "The slave didn't pay attention to the person who came for a while, which disturbed the noble body of the mother, and asked the mother to forgive her sins!" ”

I asked her to get up and chuckled: "It's none of your business, it's me who has something on my mind and doesn't look at people when I walk, and it's easy to collide around the corner, you don't have to worry about it, I won't blame you." ”

The palace maid stood up tremblingly and saluted: "Thank you for your grace." ”

I glanced at the medicine bowl held on the wooden plate, the decoction in it was steaming, and the taste in my nose was very bitter, "This is the medicine presented to the Queen Mother?" ”

The palace maid nodded, "Yes." ”

I smiled and said, "The Queen Mother has been drinking medicine for a while, and her body looks better, I'm afraid she will be fine after a few more days." ”

The palace maid narrowed her eyes, and her expression was a little sad.

I hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?" ”

The palace maid sighed: "Niangniang doesn't know, the queen mother's situation is sometimes good and bad, when it is good, it is very good, and when it is bad, it is ......" The voice was quieter, "It's really scary." ”

I frowned and asked, "What the hell is going on?" ”

The palace maid shook her head, "The slave maid doesn't know, the queen mother drank the prescription prescribed by the imperial doctor at that time in the morning, and the effect was acceptable, and then the imperial doctor suddenly said goodbye to the old man when he came to his hometown to say goodbye to the queen mother, and added a few flavors to this prescription again. ”

I said, "Then Aunt Jinyue didn't invite the imperial doctor to come over and take a look at the prescription?" ”

The palace maid said: "Naturally, I was invited, but the imperial doctor saw that Fang Zi was in line with the temperament of the Queen Mother, and I was afraid that it was because the Queen Mother was weak, so he prescribed a pair of big tonic decoction medicine to regulate and replenish qi to the Queen Mother." ”

I asked, "Then do you have to boil the tonic to the Queen Mother every day?" ”

The palace maid nodded, "Yes, but it's still not good." ”

I smiled, "How the conditioning of the body is an overnight thing," lowered his eyes and thought about it, and said, "If the Cining Palace is empty in two days, you can send someone to me with the prescription to get some supplements, I am afraid that some of the supplements on the prescription have not been used very well in the past, and it is not the top grade that has missed the medicinal effect, just a few days ago, His Majesty gave me some, saying that it was offered by Waiyi, and I don't need it if I gave it to me, if it can be used for the Queen Mother, it is also good." ”

The palace maid had a pleading look on her face, "Yes." The slave will bring this to Aunt Jinyue. ”

I nodded and walked away.