He looked at the clan relatives: "Uncle Acting Wang? ”

Dai Wang Xin said that the old man is a big generation, but no matter how big the generation is, he can't open his mouth to dig up the tomb of the first emperor!

He looked embarrassed.

Ying Zheng looked at the prime minister again: "What do you think?" ”

The prime ministers are also quite difficult.

The temple was scorched for a moment.

In the end, it was Concubine Zhang who broke this situation.

She wiped away the tears on her face, and choked up: "The concubine was in the deep palace in the past, and I also heard the first emperor talk about courtiers, and if you don't distinguish between black and white, you can ask Wei Zhongzhi, this person is the first sincere person in the world, I don't know which one is Wei Lingjun in person?" ”

Wei Zhongzhi then came out of the ranks, first said, "The first emperor praised falsely, and the ministers were ashamed to be", and then respectfully asked the concubine.

Concubine Zhang sobbed and said: "The concubine dares to ask Lingjun, in accordance with the laws of our country, if a wife kills several heirs of her husband's family, causing her husband to die of pain and causing the heirs to be cut off, what crime should she be guilty of?!" ”

The Queen Mother breathed.

Wei Zhongzhi said without thinking: "The wife comes first, and the waist is cut last." ”

Concubine Zhang said again: "If someone kills several of the emperor's heirs, causing the first emperor to die with hatred, Jiuquan is uneasy, what crime should he be guilty of?!" ”

Feng Mingda shouted in a trembling voice: "Zhongzhi." ”

Wei Zhongzhi was stunned: "Such unheard-of evil deeds, Ling Chi should be executed and the nine clans should be killed." ”

Concubine Zhang then turned to the Empress Dowager and glared angrily: "If this is the case, why don't you kill this woman immediately?!" ”

Wei Zhongzhi said: "How can the queen mother be judged guilty just by the words of the concubine alone?" ”

Concubine Zhang didn't get angry but laughed: "Since this is the case, why don't you open the coffin to find evidence?" ”

Wei Zhongzhi went to see the Queen Mother again: "The Queen Mother ......"

The Empress Dowager's body trembled imperceptibly, almost holding back the urge to fall, but even so, she still held on and said resolutely: "This palace has already said that this palace has never harmed the emperor's heir, the death of Princess Chongqing has nothing to do with this palace, and the close attendants who served the princess died at the hands of the first emperor. ”

"As for the matter of opening the coffin - the princes and princesses are buried in the imperial mausoleum, although they are not in the same cave as the first emperor, but after all, they are in the imperial mausoleum, and the broken dragon stone has been put down.

The Empress Dowager closed her eyes a little tiredly: "If you wantonly stir up the earth and dig the imperial mausoleum, it will disturb the first emperor and the deceased, and at the worst, it will shake the feng shui of the country and chaos the world." The palace's own name is small, which alarms the ancestors, and it is a big matter to destroy the peace of the world. This must not be done. ”

After that, she sighed and wept incessantly, and was overwhelmed with sadness: "This palace also knows that it is like this, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to win the trust of others, even if this is the case, from now on, this palace will leave home, pray for the blessing of the dynasty and the first emperor, and will not return to Xingqing Palace until he dies. ”

Concubine Zhang said sharply: "You committed such a heinous crime, and you are just a monk, so you want to cancel it?" ”

The acting king and other members of the clan did not say a word, and their eyes wandered on the faces of the empress dowager and Concubine Zhang.

Ying Zheng was silent for a long time, and suddenly turned his head to look at Feng Mingda.

Feng Mingda was terrified, and a familiar shadow instantly descended on his head.

Immediately afterward, he heard the Son of Heaven call out gently and helplessly: "Uncle." ”

Feng Mingda: Help, help!!

Ying Zheng asked kindly: "Uncle, what do you think should be done about this matter?" ”

Feng Mingda sweated like pulp, lifted his clothes and knelt on the ground, and said in a loud voice: "The reason why Your Majesty calls her uncle a minister is because the Queen Mother is the mother of Your Majesty. Your Majesty, don't do it again! ”

He paused and said: "Since the Queen Mother has severed ties with the Feng family, please remove the title of Duke of Cheng'en, and hope that Your Majesty will approve it!" ”

Ying Zheng sighed and said, "How did you get to this point......

Feng Mingda clenched his teeth, and his forehead slammed into the gold bricks on the ground, again and again, until his head broke and blood flowed: "The minister is ashamed, the minister is terrified!" I hope that Your Majesty will allow it! ”

The rest of the people were silent.

Only Concubine Zhang sneered and said faintly: "Empress Dowager, you have left home, and there are no relatives in the world, does the death of Old Madam Feng still have anything to do with you?" ”

The Empress Dowager's eyes burned, and hot tears slowly flowed down her cheeks, but her heart was full of headaches, and how could she describe it in words: "People outside the square, where are there parents and brothers? ”

Concubine Zhang chuckled twice, and in the briskness, she couldn't hide her freedom: "Feng Fujiao, Lingtang's case, how do you think it should be judged?" ”

Feng Mingda's forehead was especially close to the ground, the overflowing tears and the warm blood fused together, and he said word by word: "The courtier's mother has to enjoy a long life and die without illness, what is it like with others?" ”

Concubine Zhang's laughter suddenly became louder, and she didn't look at the rest of the people in the hall, stood up, laughed, and walked out.

After a while, the strange laughter that seemed to be desolate in the midst of joy disappeared from everyone's ears.

……

After the Son of Heaven ascended the throne, the first grand palace banquet ended hastily.

Headed by King Dai and King Cheng, they sent the members of the clan, the prime ministers persuaded the nobles and ministers, and the concubines of King Zheng and the concubines of the same order exchanged a few words of greetings, and everyone hurriedly ate the banquet, and many of them did not even see the face of the birthday star himself, so they left the palace in a daze.

The guests of Anfu Palace have all dispersed, but the Queen Mother has not returned to Xingqing Palace, and someone went to get scissors and razors, and she left her home here.

Ying Zheng is still here, still sitting on the same chair he sat on before.

At that time, the hall was silent, and the palace and the chamberlains were like living puppets, walking back and forth without making a sound.

The Empress Dowager seemed to have aged in an instant, and her sideburns were dyed with silver frost.

She sat down on the top in a gloomy manner, but she lost her earlier vigor, and even the clothes on her body seemed to have lost their luster in an instant, and became gray.

The Empress Dowager raised her eyes, looked at the majestic young man in front of her, and called softly: "Your Majesty." ”

Her mind worked slowly and calmly, slowly connecting the things she had ignored in the past like silk threads: "The West Pavilion checks the old accounts in the palace, and the two palaces are repaired ......."

Ying Zheng picked up the bowl of cold lotus seed soup in front of him and took a bite slowly: "Yes, Queen Mother." ”

After swallowing, he raised his eyes and looked squarely at the old Empress Dowager: "Your conjectures are all right. ”

I ordered the concubine to inspect the accounts and personnel transactions in the palace for nearly 20 years, just to force you into a corner and let you take the initiative to attack.

You pretend to be kind and frequently show favor to Taiji Palace, why can't I push the boat down the river, so that the concubine can contact the concubine of the first emperor and talk about filial piety?

Sure enough, you never thought that the defeated men left behind by the first emperor would jump out one day and give you a fatal blow.

What Concubine Zhang has lost is a prince, the hope of the Zhang family, and the top glory in the second half of her life, how can she be willing?

You have been a queen for decades, and you have renovated Xingqing Palace like an iron bucket, the wind can't blow in, the water can't splash in, I can't help it, but those strong cities in the world are often broken from the inside.

Concubine Zhang was the most favored palace concubine during the lifetime of the first emperor, and once carried the hope of giving birth to the prince, when the momentum was the strongest, even compared to the middle palace, until the death of the first emperor, she and the rest of the concubines retreated to the side hall of Xingqing Palace, I can't do it, she can do it!

"You," the Empress Dowager looked at him in disbelief: "You know that the palace is going to ...... today."

"I know, of course I do."

Ying Zheng said: "I know that you are going to poison me today, because today is the birthday of the Queen Mother, and the guests are like clouds, no matter how cautious you are, there will inevitably be loopholes, and for you, this is the best time." I was even worried that you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the loophole, so I took the initiative to propose to hold your birthday banquet in front of Feng Fushu. ”

The Empress Dowager stared at him in amazement for a long time as if she had seen him for the first time, and then said, "How do you know that the death of the son of the Zhang family has something to do with me?" ”

"Oh, I really don't know about that."

Ying Zheng calmly admitted: "You did a very clean job back then, I think, even the first emperor didn't catch a mistake." Before I gave the wind to Concubine Zhang, I fooled her. ”

The Empress Dowager sneered and said angrily: "Since this is the case, how dare you-"

Ying Zheng said indifferently: "I don't need to know how Concubine Zhang's son died. I only need to be sure of one thing. ”

The Queen Mother's pupils shrank suddenly.

Ying Zheng stared at her and laughed slowly: "You don't dare to open the imperial mausoleum, let alone conduct an autopsy!" ”

The Queen Mother's eyelashes trembled almost invisibly, but she was silent.

"Mother, why do you continue to pretend to be deaf and dumb when things are like this?"

Ying Zheng sneered: "You and I both know very well that after the coffin is opened, the body will not be examined at all, because everyone will find out that Princess Chongqing's coffin is empty!" ”

"So you know, you know?!"

The Empress Dowager was shocked, and when she looked at the Son of Heaven in front of her, she felt a chill down her spine and a chill on her spine: "Since this is the case, why don't you go along with the Zhang family and insist on opening ......the coffin?"

"Of course, it is because what the queen mother said also has a point."

Ying Zheng said lightly: "After all, I am the heir of the clan to the first emperor, how can there be a reason in the world to dig up the emperor's tomb as a son of man?" Furthermore, even if it is really found that Princess Chongqing's coffin is empty, what can it be? From the investigation to the analysis, and then to the arrest of the Feng family, the mastermind behind the scenes, how long did it take to pass the time? ”

He looked at the Empress Dowager, and raised his eyebrows slightly: "The Feng family is a first-class court in this dynasty, Zhong Ming Ding eats, and has been hairpins for generations, and I don't know how many high-ranking families are related to each other, if there is really no hope left to you, the Feng family's children are all attacked, although it is not enough to overthrow the dynasty, but it is annoying after all." ”

The Empress Dowager was stunned for a long time, and finally realized his purpose, and burst into tears: "No wonder, no wonder the Zhang family hates me the most, but they don't kill me." ”

"I am a married daughter to the Feng family, so what's the problem with death? But the mother she ...... is the oldest person in the Feng family, once she passes away, all the children of the Feng family will have to worry about filial piety and return to Beijing. ”

She turned her head to look at Ying Zheng, and there was no sarcasm in her voice: "If you kill me, how can you make me sit back and watch my biological mother die and my mother's family be wiped out?" Okay, what a poisonous ploy! ”

Ying Zheng smiled and did not comment on this.

He just slowly finished the bowl of lotus seed soup in his hand, and then praised it gently: "The queen mother's intentions are really good, and a bowl of lotus seed soup in the summer is really at ease." ”

Chapter 23

The Empress Dowager's 61st birthday banquet seemed to have come to an uneventful end.

It's just that everyone knows that this is just a façade.

On the day of the birthday banquet, why didn't the Queen Mother show up?

Old Madam Feng was still in good spirits before going out, why did she die suddenly?

The most important thing is that on the second day of the birthday banquet, the Empress Dowager issued an edict to leave her home to pray for the blessing of the country, and to regard herself as a foreigner, and never ask about the affairs of the world again.

And for all these doubts that are either hidden in the shadows or exposed to the light, whether it is the palace or the three provinces, there has never been a clear official comment.

It's just that after the queen mother and Feng Mingda resigned, the clan relatives and prime ministers headed by the acting king and the king Cheng successively praised the queen mother and praised them to show that there was no loss in sainthood.

Then the pressure was put on the side of the Queen Mother and the Feng family.

You know, Old Madam Feng is dead!

Although they all say that it will end without a problem, but who believes it!

What had to happen to make the Empress Dowager's mother die unexplained, and then the Feng family honestly behaved with their tails between their legs, and even the Empress Dowager herself was a living dead in the palace?!

People who don't know the truth guess out of thin air, and finally come up with the most reliable answer, that is, the Feng family united with the Empress Dowager to assassinate the Son of Heaven in Anfu Palace, not wanting to kill Old Madam Feng by mistake.

Otherwise, it can't be explained at all!

From beginning to end, the Son of Heaven did not make any response.