Chapter Ninety-Ninth Twists and Turns
Yuan Zhiniang was not very valued in the palace. She was pregnant before, and she was registered as one of the four concubines at the insistence of the Empress Dowager Yuan, which caused a lot of trouble.
But because there are a lot of things this year, no one cares even if she returns to the womb after giving birth.
Even if he once paid attention to her Yun Fenghuang, he only remembered that she seemed a little haggard when she came back.
But this is also understandable, after all, she just gave birth not long ago and hasn't recovered yet, and Wannian County is not as convenient as the palace, and the concubine Xian is not used to living in it, so it's normal that she didn't return to the palace in a glamorous way.
In the end, it's only been a few days, so it won't work?
Yun Fenghuang asked suspiciously: "I haven't heard of it before, how can someone at such a young age say no?"
"...Yanhong Palace is also in chaos now." Chen Jing bowed slightly and said, "It seems to be suddenly bad. Although I have been sick for a few days ago, but because the imperial doctor is on every day Medicine is taking care of her, and she is still recovering slowly."
"What about the imperial physician? What does the imperial physician say now?" Yun Fenghuang raised his eyebrows, leaned back, and said lazily, "This is the niece of the empress dowager, if you really can't make it through, it may not be that simple , take it easy!"
Chen Jing nodded her head to express her understanding: "The maidservant has sent someone to ask the imperial physician, and the imperial physician can't explain clearly. I just think that there may be something wrong with it during childbirth?"
Yun Fenghuang snorted and said with a smile: "This is not true, it must be nonsense!"
"The maidservant also thinks so, but the imperial physicians are all serving in Taoli Hall now, so it is not easy for the maidservant to ask more questions."
"Continue to keep an eye on it. Also, thoroughly investigate the people in our palace. What is the relationship with the Taoli Palace recently?" Yun Fenghuang thought for a while and ordered, "The Qu family and the Yi family are also involved. They should be smarter, Concubine Xian will live or die depending on her own destiny, don't let the loving mother Empress Dowager take this opportunity to make trouble and create trouble for the palace!"
Anyway, if she were the Empress Dowager Yuan, no matter what the reason for the absence of a concubine, she would definitely take the opportunity to plant a few disliked concubines, lest this niece die in vain.
To judge others by himself, Yun Fenghuang naturally had to guard against Empress Dowager Yuan cheating himself.
She just finished instructing the servants here, and the empress over there sent a maid to invite her, saying that she had something to discuss.
When they arrived at the Chongchang Palace, they saw Gu Zhen's expression was very bad, and there were several disheveled palace servants kneeling underneath.
The two had a quarrel because they were the heirs of the emperor. Although Yun Fenghuang didn't think there was anything wrong with it, Gu Zhen was not happy after all, so he didn't bother to talk about it at the moment, so he directly lifted the chins of the palace servants and said to Yun Fenghuang: " These are the ones serving the concubine Xian's meals at Taoli Hall."
Yun Fenghuang sat down with some surprise: "What is it? Concubine Xian's illness?"
"The imperial doctor said that he seemed to have eaten something that shouldn't be eaten." Gu Zhen said with a cold face, "So I brought all the relevant people here...but none of them admitted it."
"Who would recognize such a big matter?" Yun Fenghuang glanced at the queen, "If your empress is merciful, why don't you ask Your Majesty if you want to invite the Imperial City Secretary?"
Gu Zhen snorted, "That's unnecessary."
Calling Huangcheng Secretary for everything, what is she, a queen?
So I ordered people to drag those palace people down to take care of it, learn some rules and then pull them back to talk.
In the end, the idler stepped back, frowned, and looked at Yun Fenghuang, "What you said before...is it true?"
"What's true?" Yun Fenghuang asked knowingly, "What did the empress say?"
Gu Zhen stared at her for a moment, then snorted: "If Concubine Xian can't get through this, we are the only ones who are qualified to adopt her son!"
"That's not necessarily the empress's middle palace." Yun Fenghuang thought about whether he could push her forward and confirmed her nonsense. At this moment, she smiled slightly and said deliberately, "Don't forget about my concubine's identity." Since there are three emperors under her knees, it doesn't matter if there is one more. Moreover, Concubine Shu is pregnant, but counting the days, her child is not much different from the eighth prince when it is born. This is not ready-made for the eighth prince Do you want to be a companion? Oh, and Concubine De, Concubine De has only one daughter, if she can adopt the Eighth Prince, wouldn't it just be enough for the word 'good'?"
"...You are willing to adopt the eighth prince, can the loving empress dowager trust you?" Gu Zhen sneered, "Concubine De has been with you since she entered the palace, and the loving empress dowager will not trust her either! Oh, Concubine Shu In the past two years, I have also advanced and retreated with you, do you think that once something happens to the concubine Xian, the eighth prince can find someone else to take care of him?"
Yun Fenghuang said: "Your Majesty, be careful, Concubine Xian has suddenly become seriously ill, and she hasn't said that something will happen to her? She is young, and she is not in her seventies or eighties, so why can't she hold on? Even if it is true She couldn't hold it any longer, for the sake of the Eighth Prince, could she not grit her teeth and endure it? This is the prince she gave birth to through hard work, isn't it the guarantee of the prosperity of the Xingningbo Mansion in the future?"
The more she said this, the more irritated Gu Zhen became: "Concubine Xian's haggardness before is nothing more than the fact that she suffered a lot during childbirth. She is the first child, which is a reasonable thing. Originally, she will be raised these days. , It’s all much better. It’s not like you didn’t miss it at the banquet two days ago. After putting on makeup, you didn’t actually look closely, and you couldn’t see anything wrong with her at all. It’s not good if you say it right now Well, who knows what's going on?"
"That's not necessarily true." Yun Fenghuang didn't feel pain in her waist while standing and talking, anyway, the life and death of Concubine Xian is not very important to her, and the Eighth Prince will not bother her if he takes care of anyone. This time, things were done well Gu Zhen will fight with the Queen Mother Yuan, if not, she will not lose anything, and she will really feel relaxed.
At this moment, she said with a smile, "Perhaps the concubine Xian has some kind of chronic disease, and it suddenly broke out? The noble daughters and noble sons who were raised by the servants and maidservants in the rich clothes and jade food in the family, suddenly disappeared at a young age Not a few?"
Gu Zhen said with a cold face, "Stop being sloppy here! Ben Gong asks you, what else do you know about this matter?"
"What do you know?" Yun Fenghuang said lazily, "Don't you think that this concubine is lying to you? How can I dare to provoke the Central Palace to discord with the empress dowager?"
"You dared to reveal your words at that time, what are you afraid to do now?" Gu Zhen sneered and said, "Besides, I don't care about His Majesty's wishes, even if I have the title of queen, I can't do anything about you. Not to mention suppressing you. But that one is the empress dowager, who is closer to your majesty than your own mother. Didn't you tell me what is there and what is not, just to let me help you? Why, Now Ben Gong sounds like it, what kind of Joe do you have?"
Yun Fenghuang said with a smile: "What can we do? The empress is preconceived and does not believe in the concubine's body. When the concubine's heart and soul were exhausted before, the empress was just listening to the wind. Now she is angry, but she is forcing the concubine to do the same. You confess. But after you calm down, you must feel that the loving mother Empress Dowager can’t offend her. At that time, the concubine’s body will be in vain. , but I can't tolerate this concubine doing such a thing, right?"
Gu Zhen was expressionless: "Don't make things difficult here, you should understand what I value most when sitting in this seat! If the kind mother Empress Dowager really wants to use this palace to seek the East Palace, this is what this palace should do. The palace is something that even the Gu family can't tolerate! For this reason, even if the palace is willing to calm down, the Gu family behind the palace will not compromise! This palace understands these principles, but you, Concubine Min, don't know?"
"Your Majesty really thinks too highly of my concubine." Yun Fenghuang just smiled, "Although my concubine is not favored by my loving mother, the empress dowager, in order not to anger her, she usually pays attention to the Spring Palace. Uncle Ning's mansion, but after all, he was born in a humble background, and there are very few news that can be found out. The reason why we can know about this matter is because the concubine Xian has only been in the palace for a short time, and there are not many trustworthy people around him. But that is just Before, since she was pregnant and was determined to be a boy, you all know how much the loving mother Empress Dowager and the Xingningbo Mansion have cared about her. Now even if the concubine is by her side, she can't put any eyeliner, at most she can find a few The rough envoy is just inquiring about the movement."
Gu Zhen stared at her.
Yun Fenghuang looked at her calmly.
There was a moment of silence in the hall, and finally Yun Fenghuang got up directly, saying that he had nothing else to do and had to take care of the emperor's heir, so he resigned?
"..." Gu Zhen nodded sullenly.
After she left, the queen asked the left and right: "You said that the sudden and serious illness of Concubine Xian was accidental, or was it done by the concubine or the Yuan family?"
"... Your Majesty, why don't we wait and see what happens?" After thinking for a while, he persuaded the queen, "Although Xianfei is not the most beloved niece of the loving mother Empress Dowager, she is also valued by the loving mother Empress Dowager because she gave birth to the eighth prince. .She made a mistake, how could the loving mother Empress Dowager let it go?"
Moreover, "If your empress is worried that she will be asked to take over the eighth prince, why not call her sick first?"
"Actually, you don't need to worry too much. After all, Concubine Xian was fine when the Eighth Prince landed. Now the Eighth Prince is clearly recorded on the jade plate under the name of Concubine Xian. Even if His Majesty personally entrusted him to Your Majesty, At most, it is the concubine raised by the empress, who still belongs to the concubine born by the virtuous concubine." The attendant reminded the queen, "The mistake is not the empress's consent, otherwise how could it be possible to become a son? Besides, please think about it, your majesty may not in favor of this."
Gu Zhen felt relieved when he heard this, and sighed, "I don't know how long this day will last?"
If nothing happened to the king of Chu, she could still secretly curse Chunjia for her early ascension to bliss, and coerce the young master to ascend the throne herself, wouldn't she not need to worry about being angry at that time?
But now, she is the one who least wants Chunjia to have an accident.
After all, it is impossible for the clan's relatives, civil and military, to agree to the succession of a prince who has burned out his brain. If there is something wrong with Chunjia at the moment, it is hard to say that it will be cheaper, but she will definitely not have a good life in this middle palace.
So we still have to boil.
The news of Gu Zhen's illness came out in the evening of that day, and it was said to the outside world that it was because she had been too worried for the past two days. Yun Fenghuang knew her intentions clearly, and just smiled: "If this is a coincidence, the empress is not in vain. One match? If this was planned by someone with a heart, how could the empress dodge so lightly?"
After saying this, he asked again, "Those people in Taoli Palace, can the queen ask anything?"
"It seems not." Chen Jing said in a low voice, "Because the Empress hastily claimed to be sick, no one has mentioned this matter. But the servants are watching, the Empress will probably push people and matters to us?"
Yun Fenghuang said: "How is it possible? I don't mind taking over this hand. But can the empress dowager be at ease?"
She calmly waited for Empress Dowager Yuan to enter the arena, but on this day the palace gates were locked, and the Spring Palace was also silent, only hearing that Empress Dowager Yuan sent someone to see Concubine Xian, it seemed that there was no accident.
"This is impossible." Yun Fenghuang said to the left and right, "You just watch, or today, the loving mother and empress dowager will still pretend to be. Wait until tomorrow, if the concubine Xian is so good , that can still be said to be a coincidence, no one designed it. Otherwise, even if it wasn't done by the loving mother Empress Dowager, she must have done something."
Huanhua Highness fell asleep full of fighting spirit.
When I woke up the next day, I heard a big news, but it was not Chunlang Palace, but Yanfu Palace: the palace people who were brought from Taoli Palace to be interrogated before were all dead!
Not a single one of the night's work is left!
Gu Zhen: "..."
The attendants knelt down in panic and pleaded guilty: "... Yesterday, a lady ordered them to set rules, so the slaves dragged them to the back of the hall and moved the board... Later, some people couldn't bear it, and confessed some trivial things indiscriminately, but in the end no one Admitted to murdering Concubine Xian. It was already late at that time, and the slaves ordered them to be locked in the firewood room, waiting for the empress to show them how to deal with it. I don’t want to open the door today, and the people inside will lose their breath!"
"Could it be that you were too aggressive yesterday?" Seeing the empress' complexion, someone stood up and asked, "Didn't I tell you to set a rule, or continue to ask questions, why are you so aggressive?!"
"Absolutely nothing!" The valet in charge of the execution hurriedly denied, saying that those who did it all had years of experience, and they could hit whatever they wanted, and it was absolutely impossible for them to miss. They were still in good spirits when they were talking."
Gu Zhen sneered and said, "Don't ask them anymore! Even if you really missed, how could a group of people miss and none survived?! This must be because the palace was mixed with sand, deliberately planting the palace!!!"
What happened next was exactly as the queen had expected. The Queen Mother Yuan, who was still quiet yesterday, heard that this group of people had died in the Chongchang Palace, and immediately blew up. Hand: "It doesn't matter if the dog slave is dead, but if you can't find out who is murdering Concubine Xian because of this, what should you do?!"
"What the queen mother said is true." Gu Zhen's heart was cold, but there was a skillful look of guilt on his face, "Actually, my daughter-in-law didn't mean to kill them, but yesterday the imperial concubine said, who would plead guilty if you ask them carefully?" Therefore, I asked someone to pull her down to loosen her muscles and bones. Who knows that the daughter-in-law has such an unbelievable body, and soon after the imperial concubine left, she felt that she was not in good health, so she delayed the matter... But the villain took advantage of the situation and killed her! But even so, the daughter-in-law As the lord of the Six Palaces, I have failed to take good care of the inner chambers, I am ashamed of the trust I have placed in my mother and Your Majesty, and I am also sorry for Concubine Xian!"
Speaking dejectedly, crumbling.
Seeing this situation, Queen Mother Yuan also subconsciously slowed down her tone, and sighed: "It's no wonder you, you have always been a kind-hearted child..."
After he stopped talking for a while, he asked Yun Fenghuang, "When did the imperial concubine come, and what did she say and do? Why is it that when she comes, the people in Taoli Palace will be punished, and even the queen will be punished after a long while?" Sick? Like a disaster."
When Gu Zhen mentioned Yun Fenghuang, he wanted to drag the noble concubine into the water, so the wording at the moment was of course how to make the noble concubine suspicious.
After hearing this, Empress Dowager Yuan's expression fluctuated for a while, before she slowly said: "The Ai family knows, the Ai family is going to find the emperor, and ask him clearly!"
At this time, you can see the status of Concubine Xian in front of the emperor.
The Empress Dowager went to the Taichu Palace to talk to Chunjia about the ins and outs, and when she suspected that Yun Fenghuang had gone to the Chongchang Palace and was suspected of murdering the Queen, Chunjia found out that Concubine Xian's condition had worsened: "Didn't Concubine Xian return to the hospital two days ago?" Okay? Why are you suddenly seriously ill?"
After all, he has a lot of things to do now, and there are only a few people in the harem who are qualified to report to him immediately if there is any trouble.
Like a concubine who is not favored, even if she has a high status and gave birth to a prince, people like Yan Yin dare not disturb the emperor with this news, even if she is not sure that she is about to die.
Maybe it will make the emperor feel ignorant, and turn around and transfer away?
Empress Dowager Yuan didn't know about this, and she almost died of anger when she heard the words: "That's one of the four concubines, she's lying on the couch struggling for her life, and you don't know anything?! The imperial concubine has a slight headache, you Just leave the imperial court to accompany you, you...you just dismiss the six palaces and leave only the noble concubine!!!"
Chunjia got up to coax her: "Mother, don't be angry, it's because the child has been very busy these two days, maybe the people below didn't find a chance to report it."
Then he sullenly asked Yan Yin, "Why has no one reported such a big news to me?!"
Yan Yin took the blame, and immediately knelt down to plead guilty, saying that all this was her own fault, and asked the queen mother not to blame the emperor: "The government has been busy these two days, and your majesty buried his head in the papers all day long. The servant girl looked at her with distress, and was afraid that your majesty would hear this. The news will become more and more sad, thinking that maybe the virtuous concubine and empress will have their own destiny, and it will be fine in two days, then it is better to tell His Majesty... Slaves are convicted, please punish the empress dowager!"
Empress Dowager Yuan was too lazy to argue with Chunjia whether he didn't care about Concubine Xian or was really tricked by the underworld. She ignored Yan Yin and asked indifferently: "Then what is the emperor's plan now?"