female concubine

After the emperor left Dali Temple, the case was continued to be tried by the third division, and finally the result was handed over to the emperor for adjudication.

What the crown prince did spread throughout Tokyo in just three days. The courtiers did not dare to speak, but it aroused heated discussions among the people.

After the prince returned to the East Palace, he locked him in the palace for three whole days and never came out. He didn't throw a tantrum and smashed things, but he didn't eat or drink.

"Why is your Highness torturing your body like this?" The Crown Princess brought a bowl of porridge and put it down gently.

Wei Shu hid in a corner of the hall disheveled, slowly raised his head to look at her, his eyes were blank, "Did the result come out?"

The princess nodded, picked up the porridge bowl and approached, "Qiu Zhan."

The person who heard the result immediately collapsed and knocked over the porridge in her hand, "You are also here to see Bengong's joke, so get out too!"

The Crown Princess looked down quietly, didn't say much, just sighed and turned to leave.

------

A few days later, the case was still under trial, and the news of the crown prince's illness came out from the East Palace. The impeachment and intercession memorials were handed over together. We all know that Zhao Ci went to visit.

The Hanlin medical officer arrived, and after the diagnosis, the pulse came out, and he had a false alarm, "His Royal Highness, there is nothing serious, but he has not eaten or drank for several days, and his body cannot take it."

Zhao Cichang sighed, "Oh, His Highness the Crown Prince is also stubborn. Doctor Sun has worked hard, the villain will go in and have a look at His Highness."

Seeing Zhao Ci enter, the Crown Prince dragged his emaciated body to get up.

"What is your Highness doing? You are already like this." Zhao Ci hurried forward.

The prince grasped the hand he was leaning over, and said with tears in his eyes: "Zhao Weng, I want to see your majesty, I want to see my father."

Zhao Ci had no choice but to shake his head, "Recently, Your Highness may not be able to see His Majesty, and the court is watching closely. Your Majesty has been angry for several days."

Knowing this would be the result, the prince immediately smiled tremblingly, turned his head and sat up with difficulty, and took out a crumpled letter from under the pillow.Throwing it into Zhao Ci's old wrinkled hand, he knelt down and begged: "I also ask Zhao Weng to help me hand this over to Father."

Zhao Ci took the crumpled letter paper, folded it and stuffed it into his sleeve, and nodded, "The villain will pass it on to the officials, but your highness, you have to take good care of yourself. Going to listen."

After the imperial physician and the servants left, the Crown Prince dragged his body and climbed down from the couch.

"Si."

"Your Highness, the villain is here."

"Where is the princess?"

"Her Royal Highness is taking care of Mr. Xiaolang in the West Pavilion."

"Help me over there."

"Yes."

The servant helped the pale man into the west pavilion, the princess was coaxing the child in her arms, when she saw someone coming, she gently put it into the bamboo basket, and smiled softly at the prince, "Isn't he cute? "

The prince stared at her blankly, then raised his trembling right hand slightly, Ah Si nodded and exited from the palace.

The prince did not reply to the princess's words, but glanced around, slowly moved his body and turned his back, "I know, you have hated this place from the first moment you stepped into the East Palace, since you don't like it, I don't like it." I force you to stay, I have asked Zhao Duzhi to hand over the memorial requesting dethronment, and you can leave when the edict comes down."

The concubine's teasing baby smile gradually calmed down, and she stood up slowly, looking at the prince's back, she just said a word, "Okay."

After hearing the answer, the crown prince lowered his head, walked out slowly, and said: "Second brother's death has nothing to do with me."

"I know."

The prince suddenly stopped in front of the vermilion lacquer threshold, looked at the gloomy sky above the courtyard, and smiled wryly, "I know you hate me, I can't make you like me, but at least, I can still make you hate me."

----------

Zhao Ci walked west quickly from the East Palace, not daring to delay for a moment, lest he be robbed by someone.

The memorial to the waste reserve has not stopped in the past few days, causing the emperor to break several teacups every day.

"His Majesty."

The Emperor leaned back in his chair and lamented, "How is he?"

"I didn't eat or drink for several days, my body couldn't take it anymore. When the villain passed by, how thin was he..." Zhao Ci twisted his white eyebrows, "Your Highness also said that he wanted to see you."

"He still has the face to see me?"

Zhao Ci approached and said in a low voice, "Your Highness knows that you will not see him, so he asked the villain to bring you this memorial."

The emperor sat up, glanced sideways at the crumpled memorial in Zhao Ci's hand, stretched out his hand to pick it up, and put it down again.

"Your Majesty won't watch?"

The emperor leaned on the chair, rested his forehead and closed his eyes, and said, "Read."

"Yes."

Zhao Ci opened it carefully, and read: "Fu Weiqi, father, my lord father, my son Wei Shu kowtowed, and I have lived in the world for thirty years. The kindness of nurturing is beyond the sky, and my son will have nothing to repay in this life. May father My lord is holy and blessed, I have been in the mansion for ten years, worrying about my son and 20 years of panic, my son has been studying hard all day and night, never slacking off for a moment, not afraid of the courtiers' finger, the people scolded, lest my father find my son useless, lest my father abandon my son, weeping Book, my son knows that his crimes are serious, and he dare not extravagantly ask his father for mercy and pardon. However, Weng Weng is old and has no children and grandchildren under his knees. I hope that my father will recite the merits of his assistance in opening the dynasty, and forgive him for his death crimes. Concubine Donggong I have been serving my son for ten years, virtuous and virtuous, ten years like a day, my son has failed her some times, and some have failed my mother, I only hope that my father can think of my mother's love for her, show mercy and forgive her , all the crimes shall be borne by the son alone."

Zhao Cixuan was about to put down the memorandum, and went to the emperor's table and knelt down on his knees, "Before leaving, His Highness even asked the villain to tell His Majesty that before the abolition of the crown prince, the East Palace requested that the Crown Prince and Concubine be abolished first."

The emperor sat up, picked up the memorial with trembling hands, and looked at every word, his eyes instantly turned red.

After a long time, the emperor took a deep breath and sighed: "Let the minister of Zongzheng Temple and the officials of the Ministry of Officials come to see me."

"Yes."

------------

At the end of May in the ninth year of Jianping, Tong Zhongshu's subordinate Pingzhang was imprisoned for the crime of assassinating his wife for leaking questions in the imperial examination.

The imperial edict to abolish the crown prince did not arrive, but news spread from the palace that the emperor wanted to abolish the crown prince and concubine.

"Is the news confirmed?"

"I'm sure. Not long after Zhao Duzhi returned from the East Palace, His Majesty summoned the Minister of Zongzheng Temple and the Ministry of Officials."

Xiao Youqing looked down at the morning newspaper published by the Tongjin Division today, which printed the guilt and verdict of the former Tongping Zhangshi, "Zongzheng Temple is the royal family's book, and there is a Sifeng Division under the Ministry of Officials. It seems that the prince and the emperor said What." She suddenly understood what the Crown Princess said to her, and she couldn't empathize with her, so she couldn't understand why she hated or didn't hate.

"Now there are rumors spreading outside, saying that the East Palace is unvirtuous and unworthy to be a king."

"Even if the emperor wants to protect it, he can't win the hearts of the people. I'm afraid the matter of abolishing the reserve will only happen overnight." Xiao Youqing sat up, "Prepare the car and go back to the founding mansion."

The maid bowed slightly, "Yes."

It was night, a woman wearing a dark cloak walked into the gloomy prison of the Ministry of Justice with dim candlelight.

Light footsteps stepped on the damp bluestone slabs, and finally stood at the door of a prison. The oil lamp on the wall swayed slightly. The old man who had taken off his official uniform was lying on the grass-covered prison bed. Hearing the sound of footsteps, he stopped and turned over immediately. , with blurred old eyes, "You are?"

The veil was removed, and the candlelight swayed slightly, which allowed him to see the true face of the person who came, and asked with sunken eyes, "Princess Chu?"

Xiao Youqing curled the corner of his mouth shallowly, "It turns out that the right minister still remembers me."

"Hmph, as soon as I saw you, I knew you were her daughter. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here, of course to give advice to Prime Minister Right."

"Hahaha, Princess Chu is a woman, so she is not afraid of knocking her teeth when she says this?" After finishing speaking, the old man turned his head with a face full of disdain.

Xiao Youqing lowered his head and smiled, "You don't want to listen to me, and I don't want to waste my tongue with you."

Xiao Youqing's face gradually turned cold, and he looked at the old man very viciously, "Aren't you willing to speak out about Tong Ping Zhang?"

"I don't know what you're going to say!"

Xiao Youqing smiled very sinisterly, "The Zhongshu has fallen, there is no Zhongshu to rely on, but Zhao Wang's master is still the Privy Council, oh, the new subject champion of the participant who leaked the question turned out to be Zhao Wang's person, Not only was he not convicted, but he also succeeded Zhou Shinan as a Hanlin scholar, oh yes, the second place in the past earned His Majesty's trust, and Tong Pingzhang should know about it? I heard that His Majesty intends to cultivate him to succeed you."

The old man looked at Xiao Youqing with a stiff expression, and narrowed his eyes, "What exactly do you want to say?"

"I don't want to say anything, but I just want to remind Prime Minister Right that once Zhongshu fell, there will be a helpless prince left. Do you think King Zhao will let him go?"

Xiao Youqing squatted down, looked at the old man with deep meaning, and said with a grin: "Actually, Tong Pingzhang knew that His Majesty wanted to pass the position to the crown prince, right?"

"However, if King Zhao gains power and the courtiers remonstrate with death, no matter how much His Majesty wants to protect him, he may not be able to resist."

"Think about it with Ping Zhang. Now many people outside the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice feel that the autumnal equinox is too long."

After Princess Chu left, the old man was left sitting there blankly, not knowing what he was thinking, his eyes dimmed.

A middle-aged man in a purple robe was waiting at the gate of the prison, and when he saw the woman coming out, he stepped forward and cupped his hands, "Princess."

"Change him to a hidden place and lock him up. He must be trusted so that people can watch him, and he needs to send more people. No matter who comes to visit, he can't let him in. If he wants to meet His Majesty, he must be escorted there immediately." .”

"Yes." Xiao Xianrong nodded, "Is the princess afraid that someone will kill someone to silence her?"

"I don't want to, but I will, and he will definitely want to see His Majesty, so before that," Xiao Youqing turned his head and looked at his father coldly, "I don't allow you to take personal revenge, let alone allow him to make mistakes!" After finishing speaking Then leave indifferently.

Xiao Xianrong was left standing there stunned, cupped his hands and said, "Yes."

----------

At the beginning of June in the ninth year of Jianping, the emperor issued an edict to depose the crown prince and concubine of the East Palace on the grounds of having no heirs, and ordered Zongzheng Temple to compile the royal genealogy, and to record her faults in Xianyuan. Because she was the daughter of the princess of Pingyang, she was ordered to move to her father. Located in the old house of Zhaoqingfang.

In Zhao Wang's mansion, Zhao Wang tore the mansion newspaper in his hand into several halves, picked up a cup and threw it towards the door.

"It's the abolished concubine, but not the prince. This is the old man. He takes sides every time, but he just refuses to..."

"Three Kings, walls have ears."

"The Zhongshu has fallen, and rumors are spreading in Tokyo. The jurors in the court have seen and heard it with their own eyes. The subordinates think that the abolition of the reserve will be a matter of time, but why the princess is suddenly abolished... there is no reason It's a fault of the heir, but the Crown Princess has been in the East Palace for ten years."

"Crown Princess?" Zhao Wang turned his head and thought carefully, "The Crown Princess' father has passed away for so many years, what power does she have besides her uncle Chengwang? Wasn't the Crown Prince and King Yan vying to marry her back then? But he promised her to the prince."

"Although she is a woman, she came out of the East Palace after all. The prince should be cautious."

------------

Xiao Xianrong changed Qiu Zhan's prisoner to a secluded place to detain him, and sent additional manpower to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice to guard him.

Several jailers who changed shifts at noon got together and discussed what happened today, "Have you heard that the government issued an edict to abolish Concubine Donggong?"

"Hey, it's written in the mansion newspaper, how could you not know about it?"

"I heard that Yushitai has been asking for the abolition of the crown prince, and the officials had no choice but to abolish the crown prince and concubine first. But judging from this, it is not far from the abolition of the crown prince."

"Shh, don't talk about it, the person Xianggong showed us is the prince's grandfather."

The old man, who had listened to the jailer's conversation, suddenly raised his hair, climbed up to the pillar holding the prison door, and shouted loudly: "I want to see Your Majesty, I want to see Your Majesty!"

--------

On every road from the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice to the inner city, there are many middle-aged men in coarse cloth and short clothes. Careful shopkeepers found that they were there at almost twelve hours in the past few days, but sometimes they changed faces, so they were so scared that they rushed to report to the police. , In the end, he only got a warning from the government.

The Imperial Guards were sent to patrol the city, and there were guards from the Imperial Guards at the palace gates in the imperial city to inspect in turn.

On the way from the Ministry of Criminal Justice to Da Nei, many yamen servants and sergeants escorted a prisoner with a black cloth covering his head. Looking at the messy white hair hanging down inside the black cloth, he should be an old man over seventy years old.

In the restaurants on both sides of the yamen servants and sergeants, Hanhan was facing the prisoner's head covered in black cloth.

In the scorching sun, the armor worn by the soldiers refracted the light into the pavilion and passed by in a flash.

--call out! ——With the sound of an arrow, a short and sharp spear pierced from the left side of the black cloth to the right side of the black cloth, and bright red blood immediately flowed down the thin and sharp triangular blade.

The sergeant drew out his waist knife, "There are assassins!"

All of a sudden, there was a commotion on the street, which frightened the people to flee in panic.