The sandalwood smell of the Buddhist hall is strong, the rhythm of the wooden fish and the rosary is even, and Mama Chen waited for the old lady in front of the hall to read enough hours before she stepped forward to help the old man up.

"The Emperor has come to say goodbye?" The old lady slowly raised her hand and put it on the back of Mama Chen's hand and walked, asking questions as she walked, and then sat down at the dining table.

A few ordinary vegetarian dishes were steaming, Mama Chen handed over the spoon and lifted the lid of a bowl of white porridge, the rice grains were snow-white and fine, and the original rice porridge was fragrant.

"Back to the Queen Mother, I have already left here, and I guess it's almost there." Mama Chen replied.

"Then don't eat for now, and then use it together when the emperor comes, let people add an extra breakfast." The Queen Mother put down the snow-white white porcelain spoon in her hand and waited quietly.

It didn't take long for the emperor to come in with a body of wind.

"The emperor is here, come over to roast the fire, if you haven't eaten yet, how many mouthfuls will you accompany the old woman to deal with?" The queen mother did not let the emperor salute, and when she saw him coming early in the morning, she was worried that he would catch a cold, so she hurriedly asked someone to move the stove over.

"Greetings to the emperor! Let the emperor worry about it, is it the son's. The plague matter, there is also half a month, my son took care of state affairs, and he couldn't give you a greeting for a long time, and his son was ashamed. As soon as the emperor entered the door, he naturally roasted the fire while talking, and then sat down opposite the queen mother, and took Mama Chen's tableware with his hand.

"It's been a long time since I've eaten here at Huang Eniang, and it's still so simple." The emperor smiled and scooped a few mouthfuls of crystal clear white porridge, "It's still comfortable to eat at the emperor's mother." ”

"You should be unhappy to hear what the imperial dining room said, the good dishes you have worked so hard to cook are not as comfortable as a bowl of hot porridge in my wife's small kitchen." The Queen Mother smiled.

"The emperor knows that her son doesn't mean that." The emperor hummed a few more bites, emptied a bowl of porridge, and didn't even use much side dishes, he was really hungry.

Seeing this, Mama Chen hurriedly served a new bowl.

The emperor took a look at it and didn't move again.

"Don't be restrained, eat casually at the old woman's place, no one will say, and no one will know." The queen mother knew at a glance that the emperor was restraining herself again, and persuaded her, the early years were not easy, the emperor was not at ease where to eat, and she was afraid that she would not dare to eat more for fear of being guessed, and only she could eat more good food.

The emperor shook his head and said again: "Add a bowl of hot soy milk, I haven't tasted Mama's craftsmanship for a long time, and I'm still thinking about it." ”

Mama Chen was immediately very happy, and she was in a hurry to go to the small kitchen to cook soy milk herself, the emperor came suddenly today, and she didn't prepare in advance.

The Queen Mother shook her head with a smile, and as soon as Mama left, she asked the palace people to retreat.

"What are you doing with Ah Yue? She doesn't know anything, and she still needs to hide it from her? The Queen Mother asked curiously.

Mama Chen's real name is Chen Yue, and she has been serving the Queen Mother for more than 30 years, and the emperor can be said to have grown up under Mama Chen's nose.

"It's nothing, it's just that there is something I want to ask the emperor's opinion, but I haven't decided on it, and I don't want too many people to know."

The queen mother has not given the emperor ideas for a long time, worried that she will interfere too much, the emperor will not be independent, and she is afraid that people who will be close to her after a long time will also have opinions, so she doesn't care what the emperor does, only when it comes to the safety of the country and the harem, she only occasionally talks about it, to prevent the emperor from going off the rails and losing his heart.

"What's the matter, can you come over and listen to the mourning family?" The queen mother was not in a hurry, seeing that the emperor's face was calm, she knew that this matter was special but not urgent, otherwise the emperor would not be so calm.

The emperor sat down and said solemnly: "My son wants people to re-investigate the case of the concubine. ”

The queen mother's hand of scooping porridge paused, put down the spoon in her hand into the bowl, raised her eyes to look at the emperor, and saw that he didn't seem to be temporary, so she asked, "Why?" Isn't that the case already decided? What can be found out now, the emperor is not afraid of another wave in the harem? ”

"Wei Zongtang, director of the Department of Prudent Punishment, has found the source of the plague in the palace." The emperor rubbed a red wrench on his index finger and turned it back and forth.

"Artificial?" The Queen Mother asked.

"Artificial. It came in from outside the palace, but there was an answer from inside the palace. ”

The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows and sighed, "I can really take advantage of loopholes, five years ago, I still couldn't fully control the palace." ”

The emperor sneered, "Even if it was cleaned up before, after a long time, it can still be poked out, but I didn't expect that there would be such a deep response hidden in the palace, and this matter can't be done by one person, and even those with low status can't do it." ”

"How did it get in? The food and water sources, after the last time, were strictly guarded and inspected layer by layer, and the palace people were as strict as the little masters, how could it still be transmitted to the palace people? Didn't someone get infected and not be checked out and let it in? In that case, the guards will have to be cleaned up. "The Queen Mother is angry, it's only been a few years of peace, can't you live in peace?

"Nope." The emperor shook his head and replied: "There is no problem with the food and water source, and there is no problem with the people, but there is a problem with the cloth provided by a workshop of the Imperial Merchants of Kampot Province." ”

"The cloth in the palace also has to go through the hands of the Knitting Bureau, how can there be a problem, didn't the Internal Affairs Department find anything in the acceptance? What is the fabric? The Queen Mother was puzzled.

The emperor spit out two words: "Clean cloth." ”

"Net cloth? What net cloth? The Queen Mother raised her eyes, obviously a little surprised, "You mean the kind used by the eunuchs?" ”

The emperor nodded.

"How can it be ......" The queen mother suddenly thought that the cloth inspection of the subordinates was not as cautious as the fabrics of the little lords in the palace, and there were thousands of palace people in the palace, and the common cloth of the net cloth was purchased thousands of pieces per month, and it was taken for granted.

"How is the net cloth contagious?"

The emperor explained the route of infection to the Queen Mother with difficulty.

The Queen Mother was silent after hearing this, holding the Buddha beads in her hand, not listening to the turn, and asked after a while: "Can the main envoy be caught?" ”

"Grab half." The emperor couldn't help but have a headache, "The head of the workshop committed suicide by taking poison with a family before Wei Zongtang brought people to arrive, and the president of the Imperial Merchants of Gongpot refused to admit the matter, and kept shouting injustice, even if this matter was not involved in them, it was also the responsibility of negligence, and I have put people in prison for trial." ”

"Since the mastermind is dead, and the culprits are imprisoned, why do you say that it is half? The inside of the palace should not be touched? The Queen Mother speculated after thinking about it.

"Well, as soon as the mastermind dies, the answering method, the answering person, and the clues of all parties are broken." The emperor's eyes turned cold.

"So you want to start from the palace? Then why is it a concubine, she has been crazy for a few years, don't you suspect her of fake madness? Does this have anything to do with her? "She didn't investigate the matter of the concubine back then, the evidence was conclusive, and she also had a motive, she went crazy afterwards, and she also suspected that she had sent someone to test her if she hadn't gotten rid of her doubts, and the crazy woman wouldn't have lived today.

"I don't know, Wei Zongtang said that among the first batch of people who started the plague this time was a eunuch who had served her, and the eunuch had died of illness, but he found a bottle of foul-smelling pus and a communication note hidden in a flower pot in his residence, which asked him to find a chance to leave the palace, and it is estimated that the owner of the note did not expect that he himself would die in the palace, so he wanted to check whether this matter was related to the concubine?"

"Since you're worried that the woman isn't really crazy, whether you're involved in it or not, you'll be executed first." The queen mother was impatient with her son's occasional soft-heartedness, and she said that this woman could not be kept and that she would be executed, so the emperor left people and relegated them to the cold palace, still waiting for things to turn around?

"My son is not, she ......" The emperor was dumbfounded, and replied in a deep voice: "My son always thinks that she shouldn't be that kind of person." ”

"As a monarch, don't be too merciful, you can pet and respect harem women, but there should be no love! Love will make you lose your impartiality, your judgment. The Queen Mother controlled her annoyance that she wanted to slap the table.

"The queen mother is too worried, her son understands, this time it is also to find out the truth, only by finding out the real mastermind behind the scenes in the palace, there will be a long peaceful life in the palace, and we can't afford to toss again and again, in the long run, as long as there is a loss of control, we don't need foreign rebels to do it, we have to kill ourselves."

The emperor didn't call the queen mother the queen mother when he was angry, and the queen mother also knew his temperament, knowing that her son could only persuade him, and he could only make the two of them freeze, so he took the initiative to accept the softness.

"And how are you going to find out?" The Queen Mother asked in a slow tone.

"My son wants to send someone to get close to the concubine, but in order not to startle the snake, I plan to find a harem woman, find someone to be relegated to the cold palace, and do this for me, no matter whether it succeeds or not, my son will allow her to be rich and worry-free for a lifetime."

"Listening to your tone, I'm afraid that the candidate has already been decided? Who can do this, if according to what you said, the plague is still related to the case of the concubine, and there are hidden stakes behind the scenes, who can you trust the harem woman? The Queen Mother is a little curious at the moment.

It's not that she looks down on the harem women of this generation, or she's hidden too deep and she can't even see it, or they're all a bunch of straight-hearted people who aren't motivated.

I don't know what the emperor's vision is, the most favored ones are either can't hide their words, and they love to be jealous, or they are addicted to raising flowers and grass and recuperating from diseases, the harem is like a pool of stagnant water, without any passion, but this has made her self-cultivation over the years, living calmly, even her temper is much calmer, people are not too worried, and her body is still a lot more comfortable, but I am looking forward to such a day to continue, although it is boring, but it is better to worry!

"Originally a palace maid, she was promoted to a female official during the plague, served as a special envoy for epidemic prevention, and assisted the Tai Hospital in controlling the epidemic,...... this epidemic was well controlled, thanks to her indispensable contributions, and her heart is kind and intelligent...... I like her very much, and she takes care of Xiao Wu very dedicatedly. ”

The Queen Mother remembered, and did hear that there was a female envoy in the palace this time who proposed a lot of methods to help control the epidemic, she rarely walked around the harem, and she didn't go out on weekdays, and she enjoyed her old age in this Cining Palace, but even if she didn't want to know, important things would come to her ears.