The queen pretended to be sick and hid in Zhaoyang Palace for several days and did not go out, she was too lazy to deal with the harem concubines who came to visit her, so she simply exempted all the concubines from asking for peace.

Before officially canonizing Xiao Yu as the prince of the East Palace, Emperor Chu, who had not seen the queen since the last time the Duke of Zhenguo entered the palace and had a dispute with the queen. Thinking that Xiao Jin, as the adopted son of the queen, has been carried to Zhaoyang Palace to raise the queen since he was born, and now that the position of the prince of the East Palace has finally settled, Xiao Jin is completely out, and he thinks that he will at least talk to the queen before issuing a will.

The queen did not go out, and hid in her bedroom every day and did not want to see anyone.

Her temperament became even more obedient, and even the palace maids who usually served her daily life were not allowed to come near her now, and only Jinxiu was left in the dormitory to take care of her.

On this day, seeing that the weather was good outside, Jinxiu moved a chair for her and put it in front of the window, and persuaded her to sit by the window to breathe.

At this time, there was a gentle knock on the door of the palace, and Jinxiu saw that the queen sitting on the chair looked out of the window with blank eyes, and cautiously paced over and opened the temple door.

"Sister Jinxiu, the official Wu Nei of Lingyun Hall came to pass the word in person." Outside the palace gate was a small palace maid, and when she saw the palace door open, she hurriedly greeted Jinxiu and said. "Said that His Majesty would come to visit the queen in person in half an hour, and said that the queen could freshen up and prepare to see the queen."

"Okay, I got it."

Emperor Chu and the queen have an average relationship, but for the sake of the queen being his wife, Emperor Chu still respects the queen, and at least on the first or fifteenth day of the new year every month, he will come to Zhaoyang Palace to spend the night. In normal times, Emperor Chu would not come to Zhaoyang Palace if he had nothing to do.

Jinxiu held the open door of the palace with one hand, looked back at the queen, and sighed softly.

"I'll go and talk to the queen, you prepare hot water and soap, and come over to serve the queen to wash and change clothes." Jinxiu instructed the little palace maid. "Niangniang has been feeling unwell recently, and she is most afraid of being noisy, you must do things lightly, don't disturb Niangniang."

"Yes, Sister Jinxiu." The little palace maid knew that Jinxiu had served by the queen's side for many years, and she knew the queen's temperament best, and after listening to Jinxiu's instructions, she nodded busily and said. "Let's go get ready."

"Well, let's go." Jinxiu still said with some unease. "Don't rush in when you're ready, wait outside for news from me."

The little palace maid nodded, turned around and ran out.

Jinxiu closed the door of the palace again, and gently returned to the queen's back.

"Queen Mother, Wu Nei Shi officially came to pass the word in person." Jinxiu slowly bent down, leaned over and whispered in the queen's ear. "The waiter of Wu Nei said that His Majesty is concerned about Niangniang's illness, and he will come to Zhaoyang Palace to visit Niangniang in half a time."

"Your Majesty is coming?" The queen seemed to be a little surprised, she turned her head sluggishly, raised her eyes to look at Jinxiu, and asked slowly. "Did he say he was coming to visit me?"

"Yes, sis." Jinxiu whispered to the queen. "You have been saying that you can't get sick for a while, and you have been exempted from the invitation of the concubines of the six palaces, Your Majesty will definitely be worried about Niangniang's condition. Your Majesty will come over in half an hour, and the slaves and maids will wait for the maiden to wash and change clothes. ”

"Jinxiu, you go and get a mirror for me first, I want to look in the mirror." The queen raised her hand and stroked her cheek for a while, as if she had slowed down for half a beat, before she said to Jinxiu after a while.

Although Jinxiu was puzzled, she also found a target mirror in front of the queen's dressing table according to her words.

"Mother, the mirror slave has brought it for you." Jinxiu held the target scope in both hands and returned to the queen's side.

The queen turned sideways and took the mirror from Jinxiu's hand, and she held it up in front of her. Looking at herself reflected in the target glass, there were many fine lines in the corners of her eyes, and even her sideburns turned a little gray.

"I hadn't looked in the mirror in days, and I didn't even know I was so sloppy." The queen thought in her heart that Emperor Chu came to see her for the inheritance of the title of the Duke of Zhenguo. "Since Your Majesty is coming to Zhaoyang Palace, as the queen, I should wash and change my clothes to prepare for the ride. Jinxiu, help me up. ”

Jinxiu answered, and immediately carefully held the queen's arm and helped her up.

The palace maids, who had already prepared hot water and soaphorns outside the palace gate, heard the signal from Jinxiu, and hurriedly took all kinds of things in the basin in their hands, and walked into the hall.

"Queen Mother, are you wearing regular clothes or court clothes today?" Emperor Chu came today unusually, first asked Wu Chuan next to him to come over to report the news, Jinxiu couldn't help but have doubts in his heart, and he was entangled for a long time before he whispered to the queen.

"Put on the court clothes, and bring my seven-bead phoenix hairpin." The queen looked at herself who looked much more energetic with makeup on the mirror, and said slowly.

"Yes, the slave knows." The queen's court clothes are usually worn only a few times a year, but they are carefully washed and ironed on weekdays. "Niangniang waited for a while, and the slave maid was sending someone to fetch it."

When Emperor Chu walked into Zhaoyang Palace, he was greeted by the queen wearing the queen's court dress and the palace people standing on her body.

"The concubine has seen Your Majesty." The queen was originally standing on the steps, and after seeing Emperor Chu walk in, she walked down the steps quickly under the support of Jinxiu, and when she walked in front of Emperor Chu about five or six steps away, the queen suddenly bowed her knees to Emperor Chu. "Greetings to Your Majesty."

"Since the last time I saw her, I heard that the queen has been sick for a long time, and the queen is weak, so there is no need to be polite." Emperor Chu stood in place and looked at the queen deeply, sighed and stepped forward and stretched out a hand to help the queen up. "But some time ago, I was busy with court affairs, so I really didn't bother to come and visit you. I don't have a lot of free time today, so I thought I'd come over to see you. ”

As soon as Emperor Chu's words fell, Wu Chuan walked over with more than a dozen chamberlains holding things.

"Not long ago, Yunnan paid tribute to a lot of excellent tonic and old ginseng, I specially asked the people from the Tai Hospital to choose a good one, and let people bring them to you today." Emperor Chu helped the queen to walk in the direction of the main hall, and Jinxiu immediately lowered his head and retreated a little. "I have asked the Imperial Doctor about your condition, and although your body is weaker, the Imperial Doctor assured me that as long as you are in a peaceful state of mind and have a good life, you will be fine."

"The concubine thanked Your Majesty for your care." The queen and Emperor Chu walked to the hall and sat down one after another. "Jinxiu, take everything for me."

Jinxiu nodded, and led people to accept all the tonic brought by Emperor Chu.

When the palace people brought tea and snacks again, Emperor Chu did not speak for a long time.

"Your Majesty should not have come here today just to visit the concubines, right?" After a long time of relative silence, the queen took the initiative to ask. "I think it's a matter of the title of the Zhenguo Mansion, Your Majesty has already made a decision, right?"

"I have come today not only to talk about the matter of the Zhenguo Mansion, but also a major event related to the foundation of the country to come and inform the queen."

"The foundation of the nation?" The queen subconsciously repeated. "Your Majesty is ...... right?"

"The queen should have guessed." Emperor Chu simply spread it out and said. "Regarding the candidate for the prince of the East Palace, I already have a suitable candidate in my heart, and the will to canonize the crown prince and Jin Jin'er as the prince will be issued at the same time in three days."

"Jin'er is about to be promoted to Prince Jin......" the queen muttered to herself, and her heart was also half cold, and for a while the queen only felt dizzy, and her body was unstable in the chair.

The canonization of the crown prince and Xiao Jin's promotion to the title of Prince Jin meant that Xiao Jin lost completely, and Emperor Chu's words hit the queen's heart like a boulder, and the queen felt that it was difficult to even breathe for a while.

"The queen must take care of her body." Looking at the queen's crumbling appearance, Emperor Chu looked away and continued unbearably. "When she becomes the prince of Jin, she will immediately go to the fiefdom to become a vassal. The Duchess of Liguo was seriously ill, and the Duke of Liguo-Shang-Shu-begged me to allow Jin'er's concubine Hu to stay in the imperial capital temporarily. I thought that Jin'er's children were still young and I was afraid that I would not be able to endure the long-distance bumps, so I decided to let Jin'er's main concubine Hu and side concubine Liao take their children to live temporarily at the site of the imperial capital. There is also a side concubine He, who accompanied Jin'er to the fiefdom to serve Jin'er and take care of family affairs. ”

"Ahem, cough, cough......" Emperor Chu's words really hit the queen, she coughed violently, and Jinxiu knelt on the side of the queen's chair and hurriedly stroked the queen's back. In the end, Jin'er is the adopted son of the concubine, and His Majesty wants to let him leave in a hurry at this time, did he do something wrong? ”

"He did something wrong to end up like this." After marrying a husband and wife, seeing the queen's cough almost exhausted, Emperor Chu inevitably became difficult. "But compared to what he did, I am willing to let him leave the imperial capital as Prince Jin, which is already a piece of my fatherly heart."

"Has Your Majesty already decided that Jin'er is guilty?" The queen pushed away Jinxiu's hand, and after trying to calm down her breath, she asked Emperor Chu. "Didn't Your Majesty give Jin'er a chance to defend herself?"

"The matter was found out by the Banner Guard, he is my biological son, and I gave him the opportunity to defend and explain in front of me." Emperor Chu said. "The pennant guard is powerful, and everything he has done is conclusively placed in front of him. He saw the evidence, witnesses, and exhibits, but he did not defend himself, but honestly confessed his guilt. It is precisely because he does not use strong words and quibbles that I will give him the last dignity, so that he can leave the imperial capital with dignity. ”

"In that case, Your Majesty has already made up your Sacred Heart, so why bother to come and tell me these things." When the queen heard this, she collapsed weakly on the back of her chair and said.