The last rays of light disappeared from the sky.

Mingzhu rubbed her eyebrows and walked into the queen mother's bedroom.

It was destined to be a sleepless night. So although the palace people laid another couch for her under the window, she didn't plan to rest. She just sat down quietly on the couch and read some letters by the light.

The letters she wrote to the Empress Dowager outside the palace in the past were all fairy tales, such as what she ate delicious today, and asked people to send some to the Empress Dowager to taste; Or maybe she got something fun and brought it into the palace another day to show the Queen Mother; There is also what the Queen Mother rewarded her, she liked it very much, and wrote a thank you to the Queen Mother; The last letter was the violent death of Emperor Zhengqian, and she wrote to comfort the Empress Dowager and implore her to enter the palace to take care of the Empress Dowager.

It was obviously many years ago, but these letters made Mingzhu feel as if it had happened yesterday. She picked up a letter, lit it on the candle, and watched it turn to ashes, green smoke, floating to the depths of the hall, the Empress Dowager, who had been sleeping with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes and said angrily: "What are you doing! ”

Mingzhu continued to burn the letters, and said calmly: "It's useless to keep these letters, it's better to burn them clean and make room." "After this night, there will be no reason for them to be close to each other, the past is gone, and there is no need to stay.

The Empress Dowager was furious, she wanted to jump out of bed and snatch the remaining letters in Mingzhu's hand, but she couldn't, she could only drag her stump and throw the pillow at Mingzhu: "You wicked thing! Who told you to touch my stuff? ”

Mingzhu stopped, in fact, she didn't understand what the Queen Mother was thinking. Why do you want to keep her things while hating her and breaking with her?

The Empress Dowager snorted and gasped angrily: "Put my things down and get out!" Don't force me to do anything to your sweetheart! ”

Mulberry said in a gaffe: "Niangniang! ”

Mingzhu stood up suddenly, picked up the stack of letters and prepared to throw them into the copper basin and burn them again, but she didn't do that after all, she put the letter back on the table, and said lightly: "Tang Chunlai will be here later, I hope the Empress Dowager can cooperate with him in diagnosis and treatment." ”

The Empress Dowager sneered and motioned for Mulberry to bring the stack of letters to her.

Mulberry hurriedly ran to get the letter and sent it back, but the Empress Dowager lit all the letters, watched with a blank face as these letters burst into flames and then turned into ashes, and said coldly: "This is my thing, even if I don't want it anymore and can't take it away, I have to be willing to give it." If I don't want to, it's my freedom to destroy it or not. ”

Mingzhu turned her head to the window and decided to give up talking to her again.

Concubine Min brought someone to bring food over, in order to prevent her from being abused by the Empress Dowager again, Mingzhu decided to go outside to eat, Concubine Min waited anxiously for her to eat before whispering: "You tell me, is something wrong with His Royal Highness?" ”

Mingzhu suppressed the anxiety in her heart and tried to squeeze out a smile: "No, there is no news now, no news is good news." ”

Concubine Min's eyes suddenly turned red: "I had a nightmare last night, and I was very worried. ”

Mingzhu smiled: "Unfortunately, I had a good dream last night, and I will definitely be fine." ”

Concubine Min was skeptical: "Really? ”

Mingzhu nodded affirmatively: "Really." I stayed here not because something happened to His Royal Highness, but because the Empress Dowager's illness had recurred, and I was not at ease, afraid that something would happen, so I deliberately stayed and guarded. When the concubine goes back, someone will definitely ask you about it, and you will answer it like this. "Yu Wenchu is not in the capital, she must have a reasonable explanation if she wants to stay in the palace overnight, otherwise it will cause people's hearts to be shaken, and some people will be ready to move. She believed that her father and brother would do their best to stabilize the situation and take care of the Regent's Mansion and two children for her, but Concubine Min and Fu Ning also had to stabilize here.

Concubine Min still doesn't believe it, she has been in the palace for so many years, and she still has points.

At this time, Dong Hui happened to lead Tang Chun here, and Mingzhu instructed Tang Chun to come: "I think the Empress Dowager's face is not very good, and Jiang Zhouzi just happened to be absent, so you should hurry up and ask for a pulse." ”

When Concubine Min saw this, she had to believe it, and ordered someone to pack up her things, walk to the door of the Empress Dowager and salute according to etiquette. Mingzhu took advantage of the time to call Aunt Liu over, and whispered: "Cheer up, be cautious, be optimistic about the door, close the palace door once you find something wrong, and protect the concubine and the princess." The rest of the things don't need to be asked and said, so that the concubine and the princess can rest assured. ”

Aunt Liu is the person carefully selected by Yu Wenchu to take care of Concubine Min, calm and capable, without a word of superfluous words, she just said neatly: "Yes, princess, please rest assured." ”

With the departure of Concubine Min, everyone in the palace knew that the Empress Dowager's illness had recurred, and they also figured out why Mingzhu stayed, so the panicked hearts settled down again. As for the few people who knew the inside story, they didn't dare to talk nonsense until the news of the Jishan camp was fed back.

When the news came back, Mingzhu breathed a sigh of relief. But the matter was far from over, and the Empress Dowager refused Tang Chun to come to check her pulse. In her capacity, she doesn't need a reason to refuse someone to treat her, it's enough to just refuse, and she can't be forced to come.

Mingzhu motioned for Tang Chunlai to go outside with her, and asked her the most worried question in her heart: "How long do you think the Empress Dowager can live?" ”

Tang Chunlai was silent.

"You said it boldly, and I don't blame you for saying it wrong." Mingzhu felt that she was about to guess the queen mother's backhand.

Tang Chunlai said softly: "Judging from my subordinates, it has been in these few days recently, and it is no more than a month at most. ”

Mingzhu took a breath, and sure enough, it was about the same as she guessed. The Empress Dowager is indeed due to physical reasons, so she can't wait. People who are about to die, because they don't need a way back, must be very crazy and terrible. She motioned to Tang Chunlai: "Shut your mouth, pretend you don't know anything, if someone asks, you will tell the truth." ”

Tang Chunlai retreated silently.

Mingzhu took a few deep breaths in succession, adjusted her mood, and then walked into the queen mother's bedroom. The Empress Dowager was lying on her back, in the dim light, she looked very old, tired and fragile, and also extremely pitiful, she quietly looked at Mingzhu with a strange expression.

Mingzhu's mood at the moment is very complicated, is everything about to end? This old man who loved her, spoiled her, protected her, and calculated her was leaving, and everyone was about to be freed, and it was not an easy task to calculate and fight day and night.