In the cold dungeon, it was stained with autumn frost.

Cen Mufeng was only locked up here for three days and nights, and he couldn't bear it. This dampness is like moldy moisture condensed in the air, and it is already uncomfortable from the moment you inhale it in your nose.

Until Zhuang Chenchen came in, he didn't know whether it was day or dark outside.

"Weichen greets the emperor." Cen Mufeng knelt on the ground with five bodies, and before the emperor said anything, his head had been sticking to the cold weeds, looking particularly tame.

Zhuang Chenchen took a long time before he said: "Your father came to beg me, begging me to let you go." ”

Cen Mufeng raised his head slightly and looked at the emperor's cold eyes: "It's all subordinates who are not doing well, and I ask the emperor to punish him." ”

"Reprimand?" Zhuang Chenchen sneered lightly: "When the mother and son of the abolished emperor wanted to punish you, it was because of my painstaking efforts to save you." Over the years, you have been staying in the barren land and practicing hard day and night, in order to share my worries. Who would have thought that if you only received the first errand, you would be screwed. Cen Mufeng, how much have you suffered enough? Still don't know how to plan for yourself? ”

"The emperor forgives the sin, it's all because Weichen couldn't hold back for a while......" Cen Mufeng gritted his teeth: "Cen Muning owes too much to his subordinates......"

"Bold." Yin Li walked in, holding a long whip in his hand: "How can you call the queen's maiden name." ”

Without waiting for Cen Mufeng to react, a whip fell firmly on his grief, and his clothes were torn to reveal blood. He gritted his teeth and said with difficulty: "It's the fault of my subordinates, and I shouldn't forget my subordinates' current identity." ”

"If you know, it's good." Zhuang Yanchen said coldly: "If you are not so anxious to provoke the queen, how can you be recognized by the queen." Until now, the turmoil in the harem has not been calmed, so that Yin Li and Qingli have suffered. Cen Mufeng, I never have useless people around me, do you want to go back? ”

"Nope." Cen Mufeng shook his head again and again, and said in a mournful voice: "The queen forgives her sins, and her subordinates will no longer dare to act arbitrarily." Ask the emperor to give his subordinates a chance, and his subordinates will definitely make up for their mistakes and share their worries for the emperor. ”

When his words fell, Yin Li whipped him again, listening to his dull moan, he said unhappily: "Where is it so cheap, if everyone comes to the emperor to plead, shouting that they will make up for their merits, there will be no punishment." Isn't it over-the-top? In the future, no one will remember the emperor's strict law enforcement and selflessness. ”

"Your Majesty." Cen Mufeng gritted his teeth and frowned: "My subordinates are willing to bear all the punishments, but I beg the emperor not to let my subordinates go back." His subordinates used their lives to guarantee that there would never be such a mistake again, and they would definitely carefully complete anything the emperor ordered, and never dare to make another mistake. I beg the emperor to read the loyalty of his subordinates and give his subordinates another chance. ”

"If I hadn't given you a chance to quibble, you would have died a long time ago." Zhuang Chen's tone was the majesty that an emperor should have. "It's just that I don't kill you for the sake of the queen's face. The enemy in your mouth is now my woman, the queen who can take care of the entire harem for me, if you dare to disrespect her again, I will make you more uncomfortable than death. ”

Cen Mufeng frowned slightly, not knowing how to answer for a while. He hated Cen Muning's mother and daughter, and he felt that to this day, all his tragedies were caused by them. This kind of hatred has long invaded the bone marrow, and he didn't do anything for the sake of revenge one day, which is impossible to resolve.

But......

"Yin Li, cut him off." Zhuang Chenchen only dropped this sentence, turned around and left.

Cen Mufeng jumped up violently and hugged the emperor's leg: "The emperor doesn't want it, the emperor, your subordinates are guilty, please give your subordinates a chance to atone for their crimes." The subordinates must remember the identity of the queen's mother, and they will never dare to make a mistake again. ”

Zhuang Chenchen kicked him away in disgust, and his tone was cold: "Your life was saved by the queen, I hope you remember her kindness." Cen Mufeng, I won't give you a second chance. ”

"Thank you, Emperor Longen, thank you...... Queen Grace. Cen Mufeng endured the pain and kowtowed respectfully.

After the emperor left, Yin Li said: "The master rewarded you with a hundred whips." It's just that I have something to ask you before I do it. That night, you said that Bingling, who was next to the queen, had been following you from my residence, and she only left knowing that you were going head-to-head with her? ”

"Yes." Cen Mufeng nodded: "Leaving from your residence, I went to see him, and at that time, I felt that there was a dark shadow behind me." Later, there was a period of black shadows that didn't follow, and I was a little relieved. But after seeing him, as I was leaving, the shadow followed. I wasn't sure who it was, and I didn't know if the situation of meeting him was noticed by the black shadow, so I deliberately lured her to show up and found out that it was Bingling. ”

"You shouldn't have seen him so late." Yin Li said angrily: "Do you know what kind of person he is." In such a situation, I am afraid that the green plough will fall into his hands. ”

"Where do you start?" Cen Mufeng's face was suspicious.

"The person who followed you at first should have been Qingli. She has been hiding downstairs in the echo of your meeting, and it must have been after you left, and he found his traces, so she disappeared for so many days and still couldn't find it. As for the person who followed you later, it was indeed Bingling, I also asked her, she went to get Buddhist scriptures for the queen that night, and the servants of the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion could testify, that time, she had just left not long ago. ”

"Then ......" Cen Mufeng frowned: "As long as you find him, you won't be able to find Qingli." ”

"Is it that easy?" Yin Li's face darkened: "He is a cannibal who doesn't spit out bones, can he still live if the green plow falls into his hands?" ”

Cen Mufeng frowned slightly: "Can ...... I really didn't know that night, it was Qingli who followed me......"

"That's it." Yin Li frowned and called someone in: "Fang has already rewarded two whips, and there are still ninety-eight, you come." ”

"Yes." The man took the whip from his hand.

"I hope that Qingli can turn evil into good fortune, otherwise you and I won't be able to eat and walk around. You should also know what kind of character the master is. What's more, now Qingli is the maid of the queen. The grievances between the queen mother and you, you know better than me. After Yin Li finished speaking, he turned around quickly: "I'll go to him and see if he's still in the imperial city." ”

Cen Mufeng looked at his eager figure, a little uneasy. This Cen Muning, how could she become the queen so smoothly, and she could make the emperor care so much. Because of her words, she forgave herself for not saying it, and did not allow him to offend in the slightest. It's really not as good as a woman.

A woman, as long as she has the means to entrap the powerful man, is equivalent to getting everything. And he, working desperately and going through all the hardships, wanted to hold his heart to serve allegiance, and in the end he only got a whip. "What are you still doing in a daze, hurry up, smoke early and rest early."

"Yes, my subordinates have been offended."

Cen Muning has been waiting for Zhuang Chenchen to come back, and after waiting for a long time, she has waited for a pregnant concubine.

"The concubine didn't know that the queen was there, so she only prepared a cup of simmered firewood chicken with wolfberries in Huaishan, and asked the queen to forgive her sins." Ruan Er's eyes smiled, a little embarrassed. "Otherwise, the concubine will let people go back to the palace and bring another cup over, and ask the queen to enjoy it later."

"No need." Where did Cen Muning have the heart to eat her things. "Concubine Ying is pregnant, so you don't have to toss about these things. Just sit down. ”

"Thank you for your kindness." Ruan Er said beautifully: "If the queen mother likes it, let the concubines prepare more." In addition to sending them to Fengluan Hall and Qingxuan Palace, they also sent them to Fengling Palace. It's just that the concubines rarely serve the queen's mother, and the mother's body is often not good, the emperor saves the red palace from harassing the mother, and the concubines don't even know the mother's appetite, so they don't dare to do their best. ”

This well-behaved, supple, and considerate appearance is what Zhuang Chenchen likes, right?

Cen Muning thought so, and her smile revealed a little warmth: "As long as Concubine Ying takes care of the Queen Mother, the Emperor and herself, the palace will have no worries." There are no worries, and this palace can naturally recuperate with peace of mind. It works better than how much chai chicken soup you drink. ”

"Yes." Ruan Er smiled and said, "The concubine will definitely try her best to share her worries for her mother." ”

At this time, Zhuang Chenchen happened to come in and frowned when he saw the two people waiting with the slaves and maids in the main hall. "Why did you come here at this time?"

Cen Muning and Ruan Er saluted, and walked forward: "The concubine is worried about the emperor, so come and have a look." I don't want Concubine Ying to come too. It's not too early, and it's inconvenient to toss Concubine Ying when she is pregnant......"

"Yin Li." Zhuang Chenchen said with deep eyes: "What the queen said is right, Concubine Ying is pregnant and should not be tossed, you let people lead the soft sedan chair and send Concubine Ying back to Piaoying Garden to rest." ”

"Yes." Yin Li immediately complied.

Cen Muning and Ruan Er both had slight surprise on their faces.

Ruan was surprised that the emperor would not let her stay. Cen Muning was surprised that Yin Li actually appeared.

In the past three days, the palace has been silent, and the concubines don't even know about Cen Mufeng pretending to be Yin Li. I haven't heard the news of Yin Li's disappearance. But she has been staring at this piece cautiously, but she didn't expect the emperor to be so careful that she didn't have a word of it. She's really out of reach.

"The concubine retired." Ruan Er asked Huan Pei to put down the soup and followed Yin Li in embarrassment.

Only then did Zhuang Chenchen take care of asking: "Is it for Cen Mufeng's business?" ”

"It's not." Cen Muning didn't bother to care about his life or death. "I'm worried about Qingli. There has been no news of her for so many days, and I suddenly feel that she is most likely no longer in the palace. The emperor and the concubines carefully checked the records of everyone who entered and left the palace on the night of Qingli's disappearance and the next day, and found that something was very strange. ”

"What?" Zhuang Chenchen stared into her eyes.

"There was a man who couldn't get in or out, and there was no follow-up. I haven't been back to the palace until now. This man happened to be serving the construction division to deliver materials. The concubine was afraid that Qingli would find out something, and she was coerced and lured by him, and even persecuted, so she had to be taken out of the palace. I was worried that the palace would track down his suspicions, so I was in a hurry to go out of the palace to hide, and I would not come back in order to save my life. The concubine wanted to ask the emperor to order to track down the whereabouts of this person, and be sure to bring him back to inquire clearly. ”

In fact, from the moment Cen Muning found out that Yin Li was impersonated by Cen Mufeng, he guessed that she would slowly find out a lot of things. Sure enough, it was only three or four days of work, and many things were excavated by her in this way. It can be described as meticulous as dust.

"Whether he will take the green plow, I don't know. However, he will definitely not be the one who will attack you. Zhuang Chenchen looked at Cen Muning's eyes firmly: "Because I won't do this to you." ”

This has already been said very obviously, how could Cen Muning still not understand. But because she understood, she became even more confused. "What does the emperor mean is that the person who left the palace is your person?"

Zhuang Chenchen pinched the tip of her nose: "Originally, I didn't want to say it, but the matter involves your family and the people around you, and I have to say it." ”

"Your Majesty." Cen Muning interrupted him: "If you don't want to say it, don't say it." What the concubine wants to know is never your secret. The concubine just wanted Qingli to come back safely. That's all. ”

"Don't worry, I have already instructed Yin Li to do it." Zhuang Chenchen held her hand: "I also told Cen Mufeng that it was your plea that made me tolerate him this time and spare his life." Even if he is not grateful to you, he will never dare to do anything rashly to you again, you can rest assured. ”

"Huh." Cen Mooning laughed dryly: "He was not the opponent of the concubine before, and now the concubine will not take him seriously." However, the emperor is willing to let us give up our grievances and live together peacefully, and the concubines will naturally follow the emperor's wishes. ”

In Zhuang Chen's opinion, Cen Muning is beautiful, knows how to advance and retreat, and is ruthless enough, but these are not what he appreciates the most. What she admires most is her empathy. Always know what to say and what not to ask, know what role he should play by his side, and become a help he can't live without.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Ying sent a stew cup, which should be just right for you to eat now. You enjoy it slowly, and the concubine retires first. Cen Mooning saluted him gently, but was pulled into his arms vigorously by him the moment he got up.

"I want you to stay." Zhuang Chenchen said directly. "Don't leave tonight."

Cen Mu's eyes reflected the warmth in his eyes, and he relaxed his lips slightly: "The emperor left his concubines, but let people send them away." Concubine Ying is pregnant, I'm afraid she wants to eat heart. ”

"Whether she likes it or not, it's her own choice." Zhuang Chenchen simply picked her up and watched her bright eyes walk into the inner room step by step. "It's you who care."

"The emperor has become flamboyant now." Cen Mu Ning looked at his eyes, and the fear in his heart did not decrease.

Every month, the construction department will purchase building materials used in the palace, and there will be a large amount of silver in and out. Such a person suddenly disappeared, and the emperor was not in a hurry at all. And in such a position, what is the purpose of the emperor to install his own people?

It may be difficult to figure this out just by thinking about it. But if Yin Li is substituted for others, and Cen Mufeng is secretly recruited back to the imperial city, these things are thought about together. That is what the emperor gave Yin Li to do only he can do, and his hand has reached the border, and he can use the name of the construction department to get a lot of silver in the treasury......

Cen Muning came to the conclusion that it would encroach on weak countries and expand its territory.

Such a thing, she, a queen sitting in the imperial city watching the four directions, really shouldn't care about it or listen to it.

Otherwise, once any news leaks out, she is likely to be suspicious and ruthlessly silenced by him.

Although his embrace was still so warm, Cen Muning's heart was cold.

The days of walking on the edge of the knife all day made it difficult for her to dispel her doubts and truly believe in her enemy's son, and he must have done the same.