Chapter Four Condolences

"Your Majesty is so kind and virtuous, this concubine is unforgettable, from now on..."

Yun Fenghuang interrupted Concubine Shu impatiently: "Don't say these words, I ask you, what's the matter with the second prince this time? Even if you don't like him, it's His Majesty's flesh and blood anyway, why don't you even look like him?" Don’t do it? If it wasn’t for the news from Shanyuan Temple just in time, the queen was worried that the empress dowager would make an excuse to play well and end badly, it would not be so easy for me to persuade the queen to make a big deal a small one!”

"...I don't dare to lie to my empress." Concubine Shu hesitated for a while holding the handkerchief, and let the left and right back out. Only the second concubine was left in the room, so she moved her body and said in a low voice, "I really can't I like the second prince very much, after all, his biological mother is a sinful minister, and His Majesty is not close to him. But the concubine did not take the initiative to harm him... The reason why I didn't let the dowry serve me is because I was worried... worried about the remnants of the Ji family!"

Yun Fenghuang frowned: "What?"

"The centipede is dead but not stiff. The Ji family was destroyed suddenly, so the party members it has recruited over the years are almost unscathed. There are also some people who are obsessed with obsession and stubbornness, and still want to be loyal to the Ji family... I am a concubine, so I am worried that the second prince, as Kang Jieyu's biological son, will be paid special attention to them." Concubine Shu bit her lip, "When the time comes, they don't care. Regardless of making things happen, the concubine and the concubine's children may be involved!"

This makes sense.

After all, the twin princes are not under his knees, Yun Fenghuang really didn't expect this taboo.

At this moment, after pondering for a while, he asked: "The thing happened in front of you, so you have no doubts?"

"...The concubine really can't think of who did it." Concubine Shu thought hard for a while, then said slowly, "Otherwise, I must have said it just now."

"Then this matter is a bit troublesome." Yun Fenghuang said slowly, "On the surface, the empress and concubine De have agreed to help cover it up. It is a rumor that the so-called palace servants threw the prince into the pool. The truth is that when the palace servants were playing with the prince by the pool, they accidentally fell and let the prince fall into the pool... In this way, there is no reason for the empress dowager to ask for a crime. But your majesty must know the truth of the matter. Well, after all, they still have royal blood, if His Majesty didn’t care about their lives at all, he wouldn’t have taken them back to the palace and entrusted them to the Holy Mother, the Empress Dowager, you and the queen to raise them.”

"Now that they are being murdered openly in broad daylight and under the watchful eyes of everyone, how can His Majesty not get to the bottom of it?"

Concubine Shu's expression changed when she heard this, she hurriedly leaned over and grabbed her sleeve, begging her for help.

Yun Fenghuang sat motionless, and said: "If I don't want to help you, I won't say these things to you. It's just that I haven't paid attention to the second prince before, let alone the people around him. It will be a while. So, where did Bengong go to find out the ins and outs? Think about it again, people have been raised by your side, even if you don’t care about them, you have asked them several times after raising them for so long, right? Why are you more familiar than Bengong? Are there really no suspicious signs at all?"

"..." Concubine Shu was very nervous when it was about her own interests. She bit her lip and thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "Could it be... the remnants of the Ji family? After all, there is no such thing as a coincidence. The second prince was murdered just after the news of those two came out? Could it be that they didn't want those two to go on quietly, and wanted to sacrifice the second prince in exchange for the empress dowager to bargain with His Majesty so as to save the former queen or Kang Jie? One of them?"

"I discussed this guess with Empress Defei just now." Yun Fenghuang shook his head and said, "Do you think His Majesty will agree?"

Concubine Shu said: "Yes, Your Majesty will not agree, but even if Your Majesty does not agree, if it is not for the great help of the Empress Dowager, the concubine will definitely not be able to escape the blame! When the Ji family was destroyed, it was certainly the regent's doing, but the family Grandfather also contributed in private. If the remnants of the Ji family resented, how could concubines, grandparents and grandchildren not be among them?"

Moreover, "Kang Jieyu gave birth to twins! Even if there is no second prince, there is still a third prince with the blood of Ji's blood! Especially the third prince is in front of the queen now. Even if he doesn't have the status of the first son like the fifth prince , but the empress is barren, and she treats the two princes as her own! Let the concubine say a word of hatred, perhaps in the eyes of the remnants of the Ji family, sacrificing a second prince can not only attack the concubine, but also take revenge on the grandfather. , and allow the third prince to win the sympathy and sympathy of His Majesty's empress, and in the situation of the third prince, it will be easier to be reused when he grows up in the future."

Sure enough, quick wits.

Yun Fenghuang never thought that Concubine Shu was so smart, but now she really made a lot of sense in order to atone for her sins.

Indeed, even though he is also the prince born of Ji Muzi, and the second prince is still an older brother, his situation is not as good as that of the third prince.

After all, Concubine Shu's status is not as high as that of the Empress. The most important thing is that Concubine Shu can give birth by herself, so she doesn't pay much attention to the Second Prince, and even has a little disgust.

It is conceivable that even if the second prince grows up in front of her, he will definitely be the kind of father who does not love his mother or loves him, and lives on his own.

The third prince is different, Gu Zhen can't give birth by himself, and he adopted him after ten years in the palace with nothing to do, so he has feelings for him. Even now that there is a fifth prince under his knees, Gu Zhen did not say that he should ignore the third prince, but he still treats him as his own flesh and blood, and hopes that Chunjia can treat this prince equally.

If the third prince and the fifth prince grew up under the guidance of Gu Zhen, the fifth prince, the nominal legitimate son, would have a considerable advantage when he became the crown prince, and the third prince would become his natural help and would be relied upon heavily.

If the Fifth Prince is also the successor in the future, then the Third Prince will definitely stand out from the brothers and come from behind, not to mention becoming the next Regent.

Looking at it this way, it seems that it is not impossible for the remnants of the Ji family to sacrifice the second prince...

"There is such a possibility, but there is no evidence. It is impossible to convince His Majesty with empty teeth." Yun Fenghuang pondered for a while, and said, "In this way, you are now pregnant, so you should not worry too much. You seven days, you give me an explanation that is at least acceptable on the scene, and I will go to His Majesty to explain it to you, how about it?"

This is actually implying Concubine Shu, if you can't do it yourself, you can ask your family for help. Seven days are enough for your Ouyang family to discuss and even make perjury.

... After leaving the Broken Bamboo Hall, Yun Fenghuang didn't tell Bu Nian to go back to Lanzhou Yeyu Pavilion, but ordered him to go to Xingxin Hall where Chunjia was.

"I heard that Concubine Shu is happy?" When they arrived at the place, Chunjia was reviewing the memorial when he entered the hall, when he saw Yun Fenghuang coming in, he yelled casually, and asked, "How is the second prince?"

His tone was very flat and casual, with no meaning of joy or anger.

"The second prince hadn't woken up when the concubine left. Concubine Shu did have a happy pulse. Seeing that she is in good spirits, she is very anxious about the matter of the second prince." Yun Fenghuang discussed with the queen and concubine De After repeating the speech, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

Chunjia had no objection, after all, although he was not afraid of the empress dowager and the regent taking advantage of the issue, but one more thing is worse than one less thing, so he nodded and agreed, let's do it like this.

But the emperor frowned and said to Concubine Shu: "I asked her to raise the prince, she is only pregnant now, didn't she care about it before?"

"I also feel that Concubine Shu's doing this is inappropriate." Yun Fenghuang said, "But she just happened to find out that she was pregnant, and I don't like to speak harshly, so I'm afraid she won't be able to bear it, and she will treat the emperor's heir. not good."

Chun Jia said disapprovingly: "When the concubine is pregnant, she has to set rules for the master, so she came here as usual? Since Concubine Shu has done something bad, she deserves to be punished. If she can't stand it, it's her own problem." .”

That is to say, since Concubine Shu doesn't care about the second prince, she won't let her take care of the second prince. Anyway, there are several childless princes in the palace, so I don't have to worry about finding someone who is willing to take over.

Yun Fenghuang thought about it, and said: "If there are several princes without heirs, but Concubine Wan is still young, she might not be able to have her own flesh and blood in the future. If the second prince is handed over to her, it will be difficult not to Repeat the mistakes of Concubine Shu. On the other hand, Mrs. Qing Shu entered the palace when His Majesty got married. She has not been out of the palace for these years. The imperial physician diagnosed that she was harmed by the three corpse insects. There is no hope for her in the future. Your Majesty thinks how?"

"Just Mrs. Cui." Chunjia nodded, and said, "The second prince is still young, so there is no need to wait for him to wake up. Concubine Shu didn't take good care of others before, and now she is pregnant, can it be more subtle? ? You ask Mrs. Cui to immediately go to the Broken Bamboo Hall to pick him up."

So Yun Fenghuang returned to Lanzhou Yeyu Pavilion, and sent someone to report the good news to Cui Lianye.

After a while, Chen Jing came over to report, saying that Concubine Shu was crying when she heard the news, and she said that she was just negligent for a while, and she definitely didn't mean not to care about the second prince... But the emperor's oral order has been issued, Cui Lianye finally got such an opportunity, Where are you willing to give up?

Without any explanation, he took the second prince away.

"Sure enough, after all, it is His Majesty's own flesh and blood. Even if Your Majesty doesn't pay much attention to it, he still feels distressed." Qing Du said to Yun Fenghuang, "Mrs. Mrs. Shu will not treat him badly either. It is much better for the second prince to follow Mrs. Qingshu than to follow Concubine Shu."

Yun Fenghuang sneered, "Isn't it?"

But the most important thing is that Chunjia is now planning to win over Cui Wan, right?

Back then when the emperor kept a low profile, the giants in the temple were the Ji family, the regent, Zheng Gu, and Cui Wan. Although there were differences in strength, the Ji family was the dominant family overall, and although the other three also had gaps with each other The battle with the Ji family is generally a grouping against the Ji family, which presents a delicate check and balance.

Later, when Chunjia was in charge, he joined forces with the regent and Zheng Gu to suppress the Ji family, but he ignored Cui Wan, and even poached Cui Wan's corner, and robbed her nephew and students...

At this moment, I don’t know if it’s time for the fire or if Cui Wan has finally learned the correct posture to be a loyal minister to Chunjia. In short, the second prince is transferred to Cui Lianye’s upbringing. It’s definitely not just the emperor who wants to find a reliable concubine for his own son. So simple.

So Yun Fenghuang was suspicious again, what happened this time...Could it be Chunjia who did it...

After all, there was a purpose in giving the prince to Concubine Shu to raise him. It was not simply to arrange a foster mother for the prince, but to take him away from Concubine Shu. The concubine, especially the Ouyang family behind her, explained.

But now, let alone taking the second prince away, and punishing Concubine Shu later, Concubine Shu has no right to complain.

Of course, this is just a guess, how can I say it is my own flesh and blood, maybe the emperor is not so cruel?

"We'll see what Ouyang's family has to say in two days." Yun Fenghuang pondered, "That old guy Ouyang Yanran is not a fuel-efficient lamp."

After three or four days like this, before the Ouyang family let Concubine Shu tell the "truth", Shanyuan Temple first sent the bad news, saying that the former queen and sister Kang Jieyu died of sudden illness.

After learning the news, Chunjia lightly ordered a generous burial, but did not enter the royal tomb.

The empress dowager, who was already ill, made a request to go to Shanyuan to see the two grandnieces for the last time.

Of course Chunjia didn't want to agree, after all, the old lady is so old, even if the palace is not far from Shanyuan Temple, and the mountain road is rugged, who knows if she can stand the bumps?

Even if he could bear it, when he saw the dead body, he might be agitated, and it might be a bad thing.

He also didn't really want the Empress Dowager to live, the problem was that the Ji sisters only went, and whether Ji's Empress Dowager followed, what kind of discussions would there be outside?

It's always going to take a while longer to wait for the limelight to pass, right?

But this time the Empress Dowager lost her temper and asked someone to clean up the phoenix chariot and leave. The emperor personally rushed over to persuade her, and she directly said that if she was not allowed to go, she would jump off the phoenix chariot right now!

As far as the height of the phoenix chariot is concerned, there may not be any good or bad things to fall, but with this attitude, it is obviously unwilling to compromise.

After weighing it over and over again, Chunjia finally stepped aside: "Grandmother, please wait a moment, grandson will go with you!"

So he put aside his government affairs and accompanied the Empress Dowager on the trip temporarily. Before he left, he told the Empress that the trip would take about three or four days. This is still considering that the Empress Dowager is old and not in good health, so she may need to rest in the Taoist temple It took two days to leave and return, otherwise, if you want to express your condolences, you can go there on the same day and return on the same day.

As a result, she didn't come back for five or six days after going there. The empress was worried, so she sent someone to inquire and found out that the empress dowager had finished her condolences.

Of course Chunjia disagreed, but the Empress Dowager refused to leave, he couldn't forcefully drag people back onto the phoenix chariot, so he was deadlocked.

"What's all this?" Gu Zhen frowned, and called Yun Fenghuang to discuss with him again, "How old is the Empress Dowager, why is she still like this? It's all right now, wake up How many troubles have been accumulated in the hall, but His Majesty can't get away! I decided to go to Shanyuan Temple to serve the Empress Dowager on behalf of His Majesty... What do you think?"

Yun Fenghuang said: "This move is very good. It's just that after the empress leaves, the third and fifth princes are still young, what should I do?"

"Of course it is entrusted to you." Gu Zhen said as a matter of course, "otherwise, who has the confidence to protect them in such a large palace? Besides, I did not go to the palace alone. Bring it, otherwise no one will take turns when I go, I'm afraid the service will not be thoughtful."

...Madam Rou Kun is fine, Concubine Wan and Xuan Zhaoyi may not hate you to death.

Both of these two are still able to give birth at a young age. Nowadays, the high positions in the palace, empresses and noble concubines are generally recognized as incapable of giving birth. Concubine Shu, Concubine Xian and Concubine Shao are all pregnant, and Concubine De has a daughter and is busy with palace affairs. Concubine Xie's low-keyness is often forgotten, and it is a good time for Concubine Wan and Xuan Zhaoyi to compete for the opportunity to serve the bed and try to conceive.

As a result, the empress was so virtuous, it was tantamount to cutting off the hope of these two people taking the opportunity to conceive.

How depressed should these two be?

But Yun Fenghuang also knew that Gu Zhen's move was not aimed at Concubine Wan and Xuan Jieyu, she just considered that after she left the palace, she needed someone to take charge of the overall situation: Yun Fenghuang.

Pregnant concubines are not good enough to take care of their elders, and those with young children, such as Concubine De, Concubine Xie, and Mrs. Qingshu, are not suitable to leave.

After all, if the third prince and the fifth prince were entrusted to Yun Fenghuang, the number of children that Yun Fenghuang needed to take care of at the same time would suddenly increase to six. We couldn't let the second prince, the third prince, and the fourth prince also go to Yunfenghuang, right?

Even Yun Fenghuang, who has three heads and six arms, can't see it.

Who is to blame when something goes wrong?

So I can only choose from those who have no children. Among them, Jia Pingye has now taken refuge in Yunfenghuang, which can be regarded as a betrayal of the former empress to a certain extent. Let her go to the empress dowager, and it is also the place where the former empress died. This is not for the empress. Does the Queen Mother add trouble?

Further down, Yi Xingen, Qu Hongzhuan, Ping Xianyi, etc., were all promoted from the palace concubines. Since they came from a humble background, and they only learned the rules of palace concubines, it might be difficult to get into the eyes of the Empress Dowager.

Maybe it will be misunderstood that the noble concubines are unwilling to go, and sent these few to fool.

In short, Gu Zhen's hatred this time is determined... Yun Fenghuang was amused in his heart, and he didn't remind him, he just said: "The concubine is following the orders of the mother."