In the early morning of April 8, 1881, Zhongcui Palace in Beijing!

The little palace maid Jingyi walked around the courtyard, and finally gritted her teeth and opened the palace gate to break out.

Many guards outside the palace gate stopped him, and the eunuch Li Guizheng came from a distance with a food box, and when he saw this situation, he hurriedly rushed forward, and pulled Jing Yi, who was holding the guards in his hands, behind him.

"Jingyi! You are a, you don't take good care of the Queen Mother in the palace, what are you going to do? ”

Jing Yi glanced at Li Gui very awkwardly, and Li Gui hurriedly glanced at Jing Yi with his back to the guard.

Jing Yi fell to her knees in desperation and said to Li Gui Shili:

"Father-in-law Li, the Queen Mother is seriously ill, I want to go to the imperial doctor to take a look!"

"Presumptuous! How could the Imperial Physician heed the call of your lowly slave? After a slight pause, Li Gui said again: "I am serving by the side of the Queen Mother today, the Queen Mother and her old family already know the condition of the Queen Mother, they have a deep sisterhood, and they will naturally arrange a suitable doctor to check it at that time, you go back quickly, take good care of the Queen Mother for the miscellaneous family, if there is a mistake, be careful of your life!" ”

After speaking, Li Gui quickly stepped forward and directly pulled Jingyi back to Zhongcui Palace, and closed the palace door tightly!

"Grandma, why are you so stupid? Outside are all the people of the Queen Mother of the West Palace, and now the walls of this palace are already the world of the Yehenala clan, she has made a secret call, anyone in the Zhongcui Palace wants to leave, and the guards can kill them, and the crime is theft! Li Gui leaned on Jingyi's ear and whispered a reprimand.

Jingyi is only fifteen years old this year, and she is also a smart and clever maid.

She naturally knows the situation of her side, but now that the Empress Dowager of the East Palace is terminally ill, if she doesn't find someone to treat her, she may really die!

At this moment, someone outside the palace gate suddenly shouted:

"The Queen Mother of the West has arrived!"

Li Gui and Jingyi's faces turned pale all of a sudden, and they hurriedly opened the palace gate and knelt down to greet each other!

The future Cixi, today's Empress Dowager of the West is forty-seven years old this year, and she is in the prime of life.

She strolled into the small courtyard of Zhongcui Palace, followed by two guards with knives and Li Lianying, the chief eunuch.

Speaking of which, the eunuch Li Gui and Li Lianying still have some relatives, but Li Gui usually follows the Eastern Empress Dowager Ci'an, and Li Lianying is Cixi's personal servant!

The two have a hostile relationship on the surface, but in private they have a very harmonious and close relationship!

Life in the court is not easy for eunuchs, and if there is no network in secret, it is difficult to mix.

Masters are enemies with each other, but minions can become friends with each other, and reporting information to each other enables each other to ask for credit in front of their masters, which is also a way of survival.

At this time, Li Gui and Jingyi both knelt on the ground, and Cixi walked directly into the bedroom of Zhong Cui Palace without even looking at them.

Jing Yi was nervous for a while after seeing it, and hurriedly got up and followed!

Seeing this, the chief manager Li Lianying hurriedly shouted angrily: "Bold slave, who made you get up!" ”

At this time, several eunuchs and palace maids from the Zhongcui Palace all ran to the courtyard to meet Cixi, they were already kneeling on the ground, and when they heard Li Lianying's roar, they were so frightened that they fell directly to the ground, and they didn't even dare to come out.

Only the little palace maid Jingyi was not afraid of danger and still stood there stubbornly.

Empress Dowager Xi turned around, glanced at Jing Yi, and then smiled slightly: "Lianying, my sister is recuperating, you will disturb her Qing Xiu by yelling like this, don't you shut up?" ”

Li Lianying listened to her master's words, and hurriedly knelt on the ground, saying that the slave should die.

Cixi didn't pay attention to him, and said to Jingyi: "You are Jingyi, the personal maid next to your sister, right?" Come in with me, my sister's condition is deteriorating now, and there is no one to take care of her, so I'm not at ease! ”

After the words fell, Cixi pushed open the door and walked in directly, ignoring the people kneeling outside.

Jing Yi gritted her teeth, and finally followed her into the door!

The bedroom was a little dim, and a woman lay frail on the big bed, and beside her was a baby who looked to be a few days old.

Jingyi entered the room and quickly lit the candle, then ran to the side of the bed and stood with her head bowed without saying a word.

The Empress Dowager Xi slowly walked around the room, and finally sat down on the chair, sighed before saying:

"I haven't come for a few days, and I feel that the bedroom where my sister lives seems to be a lot more down, it's a pity!"

"I've handed over all the power in the palace to you, what else do you want?" The woman on the bed coughed weakly a few times, and then said weakly.

"I don't want to do anything, I just feel sorry! Sister, I seem to be two years older than you, but I have called you sister for so many years! In the future, my sister is gone, and I may be alone when I am left alone! My sister has been hiding in this Zhongcui Palace for the past few months and has not come out to see anyone, and the ministers have already suspected it! Hey, after all, you are the Queen Mother of the East Palace, and you should be respected in this harem, but unfortunately you are unsightly now! Sister, I'm a little scared, I'm afraid that your affairs will leak out and you will lose the face of the emperor, what do you say? The tone of the Empress Dowager Cixi was sad, and she seemed to be really worried.

"Hmph, Yehenara clan, do you still have the face of the emperor in your eyes? I heard that Nazen Jize had signed the "Ili Treaty" and the "Revision of the Overland Trade Regulations" with Tsarist Russia more than two months ago. According to these two treaties, although we can recover Ili and no longer cede the Tiks River, the area west of the Khorgos River will be occupied by Tsarist Russia; The imperial court even had to pay 50,000 taels of silver to Tsarist Russia? Are you so cowardly and worthy of the emperor? The Empress Dowager Ci'an's tone was a little excited, and there was another cough.

Cixi's gaze was indifferent, and after a long time, she said softly:

"I have no choice, I can't fight and fight, in order to calm the war, I can only cede the land and pay compensation! I did this to protect the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. Sister, don't take the topic away and tell you one thing, I have already punished the nine clans for the guards who committed adultery with you, and now no one in this world knows about your ugly deeds except for the people in the palace of this clock! The reason why I came here today is to say goodbye to you! Lian Ying is my person, he will definitely help you keep this secret for the rest of his life by my side, do you have anything else to say before you are temporary? ”

Ci'an sat up from the bed tremblingly, she finally understood, it seemed that Cixi had controlled a lot of power in the past few months, and this time she came to kill her.

The east and west palaces have been listening to politics for several years, and Ci'an, as the queen of Xianfeng, has been suppressing Cixi, the Xianfeng concubine.

Now everything has changed, she made a mistake, was caught by others, and she can only give up power in order to save face.

didn't have the heart to pay attention to the affairs of Jiangshan Sheji, Ci'an looked at the baby sleeping next to him, and tears slipped down his eyes!

After a long time, Ci'an raised his head to look at Cixi and said in a hoarse voice:

"Sister, can you spare this child? You can let Li Lianying adopt him, he is innocent, and he doesn't know anything! In the future, let him be an ordinary guard in the palace, okay? Or simply send him to the folk and be an ordinary person? ”

Cixi frowned slightly and did not speak.

Ci'an slowly climbed down from the bed, knelt on the ground and crawled in front of Cixi, kowtowed and said:

"Sister, you and I have been widowed for more than twenty years! I know that you should have had some infidelity in the palace over the years, but I didn't send anyone to investigate you, so I couldn't catch your handle!

Now I'm losing! I admit it!

But can you look at Jae-chun's face and open up to me?

I used to treat your child sincerely, but now can you spare my child too? ”

Looking at Ci'an, who had already cried into tears, Cixi's brows furrowed even tighter, recalling the past.

After entering the palace, he was given the title of Yi nobleman, and the following year he was promoted to Yi Concubine, and four years later, the emperor's eldest son Aixin Jueluo Zaichun was born.

After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Zaichun succeeded to the throne, that is, Emperor Tongzhi.

As Tongzhi's biological mother, she became the Queen Mother, and Ci'an became the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother of Heaven was formed, and the situation between the Queen Mother of the East and West Palaces was formed, and the open and secret struggle between the Queen Mother of the East and West Palaces began!

Now Prince Alcohol's son Zai Chun has entered the unification, and his own son Zai Chun has been dead for a few years.

At that time, Ci'an really loved Jaechun and regarded it as his own.

Speaking of which, Ci'an is a qualified queen mother, she is virtuous and virtuous, and she also has the talent to govern the country!

It's just that she is a person who has a great desire for power, and Cixi has to admit that she has been looking forward to the day when she can take power alone!

And when this day was really in front of her, Cixi was a little lonely.

She doesn't like Ci'an, because she has always been a woman who has pressed on top of her rights.

She also likes Ci'an a little, because since Emperor Xianfeng died, she and this woman have been with each other for more than 20 years!

After pondering for a long time, Cixi finally nodded, she stood up and prepared to leave, and when she walked to the door, she stopped and said:

"Sister, sister has retired!

At dusk, I'll ask Yeon-young to take the baby away and bring you one last meal!

Lian Ying is a slave by my side, too dazzling.

He seems to have some relatives with the minion Li Gui next to you, I heard that Li Gui already has two adopted sons, so it's better to let Li Gui have one more adopted son, called Li Guisan!

In the Zhongcui Palace tonight, the Queen Mother of the East Palace will die violently, and all the eunuchs and palace maids serving in the Zhongcui Palace need to accompany the funeral to apologize!

Li Lianying will adopt Li Gui's three adopted sons, and after that, there will be no deeds and legends of the Empress Dowager of the East Palace!

Sister, do you think such a story? ”

The Empress Dowager Ci'an's face showed a happy color, and she knelt on the ground behind Cixi, and said in a trembling voice:

"Niu Hulu Refin, send off the Queen Mother!"

Cixi's face finally showed a triumphant smile, and she strolled out of the bedroom, and then walked out of the Zhongcui Palace with Li Lianying.

"From now on, no one is allowed to enter, and no one is allowed to come out.

This was Cixi's last words to a group of guards when she left Zhongcui Palace!

From today onwards, all of them are over.

And from today, it is also a new beginning!