Dongyue, Xukun Palace, the residence of the Queen Mother.

"Empress Dowager Qi, the decoction has been delivered, and the slave maid saw Concubine Wu drink the decoction with her own eyes." The Queen Mother's personal maidservant Liuli prayed to the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother sat on a chair with a gourd cat lying on her lap and asked, "Is there anything unusual?" ”

Liuli thought for a moment and said, "There is nothing abnormal, Concubine Wu heard that it was a tonic sent by the Queen Mother, and she drank it without the slightest hesitation as usual." ”

"In the future, as long as the emperor stays in the Sunny Palace, this tonic will be sent forever." The Queen Mother instructed again.

"Mother, what tonic are you talking about? Is the queen mother's body defective, can the imperial doctor see it? Qian Chengjing came to Xukun Palace when he came out of the upper study and listened to the conversation between the Queen Mother and Liuli.

When the Queen Mother saw her son, her face was overjoyed, and she said, "Jing'er is here, I haven't seen you for a few days, let the Queen Mother take a look." ”

"Erchen is very good, but I just heard Liuli say the word tonic, I don't know if the queen mother has not been in good health recently."

"Yes, when people are old, there will inevitably be some problems with their bodies, but the doctor has seen it and said that it doesn't matter, just drink some tonic medicine to make up for it."

I didn't say a word about the conversation between the two, but now my stepmother has changed her words, and it seems that she intends to hide it from herself. Although he had doubts in his heart, Qian Chengjing did not show it on his face and listened to the words of the Queen Mother. "That's good. The sons can't always accompany the queen mother, and the queen mother herself should pay attention to it. ”

"Jing'er rest assured, Liuli has been following her mother since she was a child, and she has done her best."

"That's right." Qian Chengjing agreed.

"Not to mention the queen mother, you just came from the upper study?"

"Exactly, Erchen has just finished discussing things with the imperial brother."

"The queen mother heard that the emperor was furious in the upper study, but what is the difficulty?"

The queen mother's news is really well-informed, "Actually, it's nothing, it's not still those things in Yunbohou Mansion." ”

"This matter needs to be thought out slowly, not in a hurry." Although the Queen Mother hated the first emperor and concubine Liang and was dissatisfied with the power of Yun Bohou's mansion, she also understood that this matter could not be resolved in a day or two.

"Erchen understands."

"It's good to understand. You and the emperor are both the hearts and minds of the queen mother, and they are brothers, and the two of you need to support each other. The emperor is in a bad mood, and sometimes he can't control his emotions, so don't take it to heart. ”

"The queen mother is overly worried."

The Queen Mother slowly smoothed the gourd cat with one hand, and sighed: "Alas~ In the blink of an eye, more than 20 years have passed, and you have all grown up." ”

"The queen mother raised her sons and royal brothers to adulthood, and she was fortunate to be miserable."

"Silly child, how can it be more difficult to be an accountant for a mother than to raise your own children. The stepmother just sighed that time was in a hurry, and to this day, the three of us mother and son are also one step at a time, and they are very fortunate, but now when they look back, they seem to be in a trance. ”

Qian Chengjing understood the meaning of the Queen Mother's words, when his father was alive, he only focused on Qian Chengyue's mother and son, but he was lukewarm to them, as a woman who could not get her husband's love, the queen mother was inevitably cold. "But in the end, the queen mother is the real winner, and the concubine has already turned into a handful of dust, and her son is also separated from heaven and earth."

The Queen Mother smiled desolate and said, "That's it, the Queen Mother is tired and needs to rest." ”

"The minister is gone."

"Go ahead."

……

Coming out of Xukun Palace, Qian Chengjing did not leave the palace directly, but came to the Imperial Doctor's Office.

Today, the Imperial Physician's Department is an errand for Imperial Physician Kong. Doctor Kong is 60 years old and has been on duty in the Imperial Medical Department for more than 30 years.

When Imperial Physician Kong saw Qian Chengjing enter the door, he got up and saluted. "The old minister sees the prince."

"Imperial Doctor Kong doesn't need to be polite."

"Thank you, Lord Wang." Imperial Physician Kong straightened up and asked, "I don't know why the prince suddenly came to the Imperial Doctor's Office?" ”

Qian Chengjing sat down on the chair and said, "Imperial Doctor Kong sat down and said." ”

"Thank you, Lord Wang."

"Actually, it's not a big deal, it's just that this king just came out of Xukun Palace. I heard that the queen mother was in some discomfort and was taking tonic medicine, so I wanted to ask about the specific situation. ”

When Imperial Doctor Kong heard this, he stroked his gray beard and said, "The prince is so hearted, the queen mother must be pleased." However, in recent years, the condition of Xukun Palace is mainly responsible for the imperial doctor, and he is not on duty today, if the prince wants to understand the situation, he needs to wait for a while, and wait for the old minister to turn over the records. ”

Doctor Wang? Qian Chengjing's eyes narrowed imperceptibly, and said, "Then the king is waiting here, there is a doctor Lao Kong." ”

"The prince is serious."

After about a cup of tea, Imperial Doctor Kong finished reading it.

"Lord Qiqi, the old minister looked through the medical records of Xukun Palace, and did not find anything in the health of the Queen Mother in the past half a month, and the Imperial Doctor did not prescribe any tonic medicine. However, the day before yesterday, the imperial physician prescribed some soothing decoction to the queen mother, which was mainly to help sleep. ”

"Are you sure?"

"That's what the doctor's record says."

"Xu is the king wants to be left, and the queen mother didn't say it clearly. The king was too worried to find out what was going on. ”

"The prince's filial piety is commendable. Now that I confirm that the Queen Mother is well, I can rest assured. ”

"yes." Qian Chengjing didn't want to stay any longer, so he got up and left.

"Congratulations to the prince."

On the way out of the palace, Qian Chengjing has been preoccupied. The conversation between the queen mother and Liuli was obviously about sending tonic medicine to Concubine Wu, but she deliberately hid it from herself. I just went to the Imperial Medical Department to prove that I was thinking too much, but I didn't expect to confirm that the queen mother had indeed lied to her. Besides, in the past, the body of the queen mother had always been personally taken care of by Imperial Physician Kong, when did she become Imperial Physician? Why didn't the queen mother use the skilled Imperial Doctor Kong, but she wanted to use the Imperial Doctor Wang, who was not as good as the other party?

The sentence 'In the future, as long as the emperor stays in the Sunny Palace, this tonic will be sent all the time.' Let Qian Chengjing feel that the tonic given to Concubine Wu by the queen mother is not just as simple as a tonic.

The queen mother has always disliked Concubine Wu, how could she kindly send tonic medicine to the other party? It's not that he has to doubt the kindness of the queen mother, it's just that every woman in the deep palace is not simple, and he has to think about it more.

But listening to Liuli's meaning, Wu Guifei did not refuse the decoction sent by the queen mother. is still the same sentence, every woman in the deep palace is simple, he doesn't think that if the queen mother wants to harm Wu Guifei, the other party can let it go. Therefore, this made him feel that he was thinking too much.

Does the royal brother know about this?

However, until he returned to the palace, Qian Chengjing still didn't understand the reason.

……

In the northern desert, in the western Liangcheng, a carriage slowly drove into the gate of the palace.

Yu Wenchun, who was dressed in the official uniform of the prince, came to the destination unhurriedly, and his father summoned him at this moment, I don't know what his intentions were?

"Son-in-law, see father."

"Get up." Yuwen Tianba put down the pen in his hand, then took a piece of rice paper on the table and handed it to Yuwenchun, "Take a look at this." ”

Yuwen Chun didn't know why Yuwen Tianba would let an idler look at these events, and he had a bad premonition in his heart. took the rice paper, which said that the king of southern Xinjiang sent the king and princess of Nanqi to envoy Dongyue.

Seeing that Yuwen Chun was silent, Yuwen Tianba pursed his lips and asked, "What do you think about this?" ”

"Forgive the son's stupidity, the son's minister never asks about the court, and he can't understand the deep meaning."

Don't understand? If you really can't see through, I won't look for you. "Southern Xinjiang has always been neutral and does not want to participate in the struggle for power. This time, they sent a prince and a princess to envoy Dongyue in person, and it was inevitable that they would win over Dongyue. ”

Yuwen Chun was not surprised, and he was not the slightest interested in Yuwen Tianba's words. "I see."

The corners of Yuwen Tianba's eyes jumped, and he continued patiently: "If Southern Xinjiang and Dongyue form an alliance, then the balance of the four countries will be broken, which will be unfavorable to our country. ”

"The retainers are stupid, and there is no solution in their hearts. However, presumably his father had already made a decision, so Chun'er would not disturb his father to deal with state affairs. With that, Yu Wenchun saluted and prepared to leave.

"Stop!" Seeing this, Yuwen Tianba could no longer suppress his anger. "As the prince of a country, how can you stay out of the matter, I have let you go for so many years, and it is enough."

Hearing this, Yuwenchun stopped, turned to look at Yuwen Tianba, and then said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "It's a pity that Erchen is not willing to be the prince of a country. ”

Yuwen Tianba was even more angry, "You are my son, the prince of this Northern Desert, and you will be for the rest of your life." ”

Yu Wenchun sighed slightly and said, "What is innate, Erchen can't change." But Erchen just wants to be an idle person in this life. ”

"If it is not necessary, for the sake of your mother, I can spare you for the rest of your life. But when the Northern Desert needs you, you should take on the responsibility of being the prince. ”

Originally, Yu Wenchun's heart was still as calm as usual, but when Yuwen Tianba mentioned his mother, Yu Wenchun's could no longer be treated calmly, but he still held back his anger and persuaded: "It's better not to mention the mother concubine than the father." ”

"You ......" Yuwentian is domineering, real injustice.

"If nothing else, the son will retire." Yu Wenchun wanted to leave again.

"Stop! If you don't think about yourself, won't you think about your mother's family? ”

Yuwen Chun stopped when he heard this, and he understood the meaning of Yuwen Tianba's words. "Father, that's true."

"I'm also helpless."

Yuwen Chun turned his back to Yuwen Tianba and slowly closed his eyes and sighed deeply. After a long time, he asked unwillingly, "What does my father need me to do?" ”

Yuwen Tianba said word by word: "Take Xiang'er to envoy Dongyue." ”

Yu Wenchun opened his eyes in disbelief and turned to look at his father. In fact, he had already guessed Yuwen Tianba's purpose, but he never thought that the other party would ask him to take Xiang'er with him.

Xiang'er is his favorite daughter, how could he? But after thinking about it, he was no longer surprised that the royal people had nothing to do for the sake of profit.

Although he wanted to understand, Yu Wenchun still said a useless word. "Xiang'er won't agree."

"She had no choice." Same with you.

"Erchen understood." After saying that, Yu Wenchun saluted slightly, and left the palace without looking back.

Yuwen Tianba looked at the back of Yuwen Chun's resolute departure, and suddenly looked at the sky with some sadness. "Concubine Jing, I hope you can understand my difficulties and don't resent me."