Mikago

Woke up early that day, Lu You personally took the horse-drawn carriage of the Ministry of Internal Affairs out of Zhaojing City, and arrived at Jixian Temple by Huiluan Ridge.

The temple received the notification a few days ago, and has already helped Ye Yueshan pack up and prepare for returning to the palace.

Counting the days, Ye Yueshan has been pregnant for more than three months.Fortunately, due to the generous winter clothes, there is no sign of pregnancy yet.

The carriage arrived in front of the temple, without any greetings, it just picked up Ye Yueshan and immediately turned around and returned to Zichen Palace.

In the bumpy and turbulent carriage, Lu You sat on one side.The expression on his face was uncertain, he hesitated for a while, but he only called out softly, "Sister."

Ye Yueshan responded with a bright smile.

"Look, I'm not wrong, he will come to pick me up."

"...But is this really a good thing?"

Lu You was still worried: "Rui Lang's sister is Zhao Jing's wife, and she is now the queen. Even if you enter the palace, do you still expect the Tang family to give you the queen's throne?"

"Who said there is no such possibility?"

Ye Yueshan straightened her robes, and stretched out her hand to gently hold the layer of short hair that had grown slowly over the past month.

"Tang Manhua has been a crown princess for many years. I haven't seen her give birth to a boy and a half girl. I'm afraid she has some inborn disease that is difficult to conceive. If I give birth to a prince, the emperor will naturally have something to say."

"Did you really think it would be that simple?"

Lu You sighed and said, "I may not be as clear as you about what Zhao Jing is thinking; but how could the Tang family watch the daughter of an official who had been persecuted in the past squeeze away the queen they had already obtained? "

"Because the Tang family won't sit idly by, so should I back down?"

Ye Yueshan stared at Lu You, as if looking at a stranger.

"Zoran, although I admit the relationship between you and Tang Ruilang, it doesn't mean that I have forgotten what the Tang family did. Back then...they took away our parents and left us displaced; could it be said that now, Do you want to give away the happiness that is already within my reach because of them?"

"If that's true happiness, I will support you at all costs to fight for it."

Lu You leaned forward and held her hand: "But if it's just a trap for moths to catch the fire, how can you let me feel at ease?

"You are not me, and you will never know how I feel."

Ye Yueshan struggled twice, and finally pulled her hand back.

"Zuo Lan, I just beg you, don't forget who you are because of Tang Ruilang, and instead stand by the Tang family."

"...how could I?"

Although that was just Ye Yueshan's assumption, Lu You seemed to have been misunderstood, and couldn't help feeling wronged.

----

Without stopping, a group of people had already entered Zichen Palace.The carriage was changed into a sedan chair, and they headed west all the way to the Yeting Palace.

Ye Yueshan was temporarily placed in the Kaijin Pavilion of Yeting Palace, which was the residence of Luo Zhaoyi who raised the big white cat back then.Today's Luo Zhaoyi has been sent out of the palace and has been a nun for the rest of her life.

Compared with the former East Palace, Yeting Palace is obviously closer to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Lu You settled his sister down, and briefly explained some daily matters that need attention.He was about to leave.Suddenly a eunuch came outside, announcing the arrival of Empress Tang Manhua.

Came to the door so soon?

Lu You and Ye Yueshan exchanged glances, changed their minds and stayed.

Calculated, this is also the first time that Lu You met Tang Ruilang's sister.The woman who walked slowly in front of her eyes did indeed have the shadow of Tang Ruilang in the corners of her eyes and brows.In terms of appearance, it can be called "beautiful and generous", and it is the type that makes people respect at first sight.

When the queen arrived, Lu You and Ye Yueshan hurriedly saluted.

Tang Manhua motioned for the two to excuse themselves, and the three of them sat down together in Mingjian.The maid came forward to order tea, and there was a complete silence in the hall, no one said a word.

In the end, Tang Manhua chuckled lightly, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

"I heard that the Kaijin Pavilion is welcoming a new owner today, so I came here specially to take a look. Seeing her at this moment, my sister is really beautiful, so it's no wonder the emperor always misses it."

After being praised, Ye Yueshan didn't dare to raise her eyebrows, and responded more humbly: "The queen empress is flattering you, and this concubine just came out of Jixian Temple. It's really embarrassing to be so filthy at this moment."

Tang Manhua also nodded slightly and said: "These days, you have been wronged in the temple. Now that you have entered the Yeting court, you will be raised by others. By the way, I also have a nourishing and hair-growing prescription here. Let the palace The people here prepare it accordingly, take it on time, and save time and worry when it comes to hair growth.”

Ye Yueshan thanked Tang Manhua and took over.The room was silent for a while, but Tang Manhua still let out a leisurely sigh.

"I heard that your father was the former envoy of Dushui. I know a little about the cause and effect of the family's decline... We can't interfere with the affairs of the court, but once you enter the harem, you and I It’s love with sisters. I hope my sister won’t hold grudges, and I will never embarrass my sister because of those old things.”

Ye Yueshan hurriedly bowed her head to show weakness when she heard the words; "The empress is generous and loving, and the concubine is very grateful... In fact, the concubine also understands in her heart that the reason why the emperor favors the concubine is precisely because the concubine is out of old age and cannot You are nothing compared to the empress. Please rest assured, the concubine will abide by the etiquette and live in peace."

"You don't have to be so cautious."

Tang Manhua shook her head, slowly moved her gaze away from Ye Yueshan, swept across Lu You's face, and finally looked towards the courtyard outside the hall.

"The door of decay also has the benefits of the gate of decay. Sometimes weakness is strength; only loss can be obtained. Only by understanding this truth can we maintain a sense of normalcy in this world .”

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

Not long after this day, Ye Yueshan was made Concubine Shu.

Although she used to be the woman of the abolished prince Zhao Yun, no one in the government and the opposition dared to object as soon as the news came out.This is nothing surprising—the heads of those noble and high-ranking officials are still hanging on the Mingde gate, and who would take the risk of disobeying Zhao Jing to offend a woman they have never met before.

On the other hand, Ye Yueshan's pregnancy was kept a secret from beginning to end.

Zhao Jing specially found a female doctor from the Imperial Medical Bureau to come to Kaijin Pavilion to protect Ye Yueshan's pregnancy.And Lu You also took advantage of the convenience of being close to the water, and slipped to the Kaijin Pavilion from time to time to check on her sister's condition.

A few days passed by in a hurry.Before the arrival of the heavy snow solar term, there was a heavy snowfall in Zhaojing City.

In the afternoon of that day in Lizao Hall, Lu You was holding the stove in his hands and Tang Ruilang hugged him in his arms.The eunuch on duty in Zichen Palace suddenly sent a letter saying that an envoy had come from Daliuquan Palace, which left the emperor speechless for a long time.

The messenger said, Duan Wang, Zhao Qing, is dead.

died?

Lu You shuddered and exchanged glances with Tang Ruilang, the two immediately left the Ministry of Internal Affairs and rushed to Zichen Hall.

Arriving in Zichen Hall, I saw that the well-endowed main hall was in a mess again.Memorial papers and vases were all over the floor.

Among all these messes, Zhao Jing sat on the dragon chair with red eyes.Lu You had never seen him so furious, so he couldn't help slowing down and looking around.

I saw a person standing five or six steps away from Zhao Jing, this person Lu You also knew - it was none other than Du Yuchou, the "Prince Friend" from Duanwangfu.

Lu You didn't meet Du Yuchou many times.However, the Du Yuchou in my impression is completely different from the dusty, restless man in my eyes at this moment.

There is no need to try hard to guess, Lu You knows that Zhao Qing and Du Yuchou are the only one who made Zhao Jing and Du Yuchou lose their composure.

Zhao Qing "died" at noon the day before.More precisely, he jumped into the river from the bridge in Liuquan City at that time.

In the middle of winter, the river is not full, and the speed of the water flow is very gentle.However, even though Du Yuchou jumped into the river immediately, no matter how many times he searched, he still found nothing.

Immediately afterwards, the guards of Liuquan Palace and all the good-natured people in the city were summoned.

Not only the water area under the bridge, but also the nearby rivers and even the ponds in Liuquan City were carefully salvaged, but nothing was found.

Zhao Qing seemed to have disappeared into this world out of thin air, leaving no trace behind.

Although almost everyone believed that Zhao Qing was dead, the body might have sunk into the mud and would not float up until a few days later.But Du Yuchou refused to believe anything she said.

After exhausting all kinds of methods, he had no choice but to come to Chaojing City and ask Zhao Jing for help.

At dusk that day, the imperial army sent by Zhao Jing arrived at Liuquan.All the gates in the city were blocked, the river was blocked, and the ground and the river were searched inch by inch.Even the wild forests, temples and waterways in the outskirts of the city were not spared.

The search went on for seven days, during which time many fugitives and remnants hiding among the people were found, but Duan Wang Zhao Qing's whereabouts were still unknown.

Fourteen days later, there was another heavy snowfall in Zhaojing and Liuquancheng respectively.The ice in the river is getting thicker and thicker.In Zichen Palace, a funeral ceremony was held for Duan Wang Zhao Qing.Then, with Zhao Jing's approval, Empress Tang Manhua adopted the young son Zhao Rongze into her own name, still inheriting the title of King Duan.

Unknowingly, this magnificent year is drawing to a close.