concubines

Mu'er was moved to Jing'er's house, and the arrival of the new brother eased the sadness in Jing'er's heart. He excitedly ordered people to decorate the house for his younger brother himself, Yan'er also came to help, and Mu'er stopped crying, Following behind his brother, he looked at his new bedroom curiously.

Qi Yunruo was relieved, Mu'er was indeed at the age of being curious about everything, and after the pain of parting from his mother gradually subsided, he jumped up and down excitedly in the new house. At night, Jing'er took his hand and gave it to his father. Greetings, Jing'er taught his younger brother to kneel properly, kowtowed and said, "Greetings to father."

Mu'er moved around, unwilling to kneel down, Jing'er said unhappily, "You have to listen to me! I'm the elder brother!"

Mu'er had already run around to Qi Yunruo's side, Jing'er angrily said to Qi Yunruo: "He can't even walk, he just runs."

Qi Yunruo smiled and said, "You are an older brother, so be patient with your younger brother."

Jing'er snorted, "If he is disobedient, I will beat him."

Mu'er heard this and said angrily, "I'll hit you!"

Jing'er said anxiously: "Uncle Xiao Qi, look at him!"

Qi Yunruo couldn't help laughing, Li Chen who was sitting had a smile on his face, there was nothing to do at Honglu Temple, he had been busy at the Tongzhengsi Yamen for a day today, and looked tired.

Yan'er laughed and said, "Brother can't fight with younger brother, what if you broke younger brother?"

Jing'er pouted and said, "If he wants to listen to me, I won't beat him."

Two months passed in a blink of an eye, and King Qing and King Yong rushed back years ago. After being severely reprimanded by the emperor in the palace, they each went to find their mother and concubine dejectedly.

In Jingyang Palace, the queen said coldly: "At that time, you disregarded my orders and fought against Prince Qing for meritorious service, now you are fine!"

King Yong said: "Mother, you don't know the situation at that time, do I want to watch King Qing make meritorious deeds?"

The queen said: "Northwest is a hard bone. If it is easy to chew, do you think that King Chun will let you take credit from him so easily?"

King Yong lowered his head and said bitterly: "Second brother Huang is too scheming!"

"You are stupid! You have achieved nothing in the past six months! You might as well stay in Beijing and have a son with your concubine. Now you are the only adult prince without a son."

Yong Wang said: "Didn't the second emperor have no sons?"

The queen said with a headache: "But his eldest son is already five years old."

King Yong hesitated for a long time before approaching, and said to the queen, "Actually, my son didn't get nothing during his stay in the northwest..."

In Concubine Yuan's palace, Concubine Yuan had a headache and said, "You should calm down and manage well in Beijing."

King Qing refused to accept it and said, "Brother Second Emperor did it on purpose. He didn't have the ability to suppress these two tribes, so he asked us to go. Now he is proud."

"Hmph, have you forgotten that now the emperor still asks people to deal with the two clans according to King Chun's wishes. It's not that he is incompetent."

"Mother and concubine... what do you think I should do? Will my father think that I am incompetent because of this matter..."

Concubine Yuan Gui chuckled, "In the past six months, I have seen some things clearly."

"Huh? What is it?"

Concubine Yuan Gui said indifferently: "For example, no matter how much King Jing jumps up and down, the emperor will not make him the prince. He should be the master behind Si De. The emperor has known it for a long time. There is a reason for the emperor not to dispose of him, but if Jing The king thought it was the emperor who forgave him, and it would be foolish to continue to give him a chance."

King Qing said: "But mother and concubine, the one who is winning the limelight is the second emperor brother, and the most qualified one in terms of status is also the second emperor brother..."

Concubine Yuan Gui said: "Back then, the Empress Dowager took King Chun away, so that King Chun would no longer have the support of the Empress Zhou's family... I can see clearly that the Empress has been holding back with Queen Mother Lan and wants to raise her own son Better than King Chun who was raised by the Queen Mother, at this moment, no one can stay out of the matter, just you, King Chun, and King Yong, let's see what the emperor wants to do."

After the new year, the emperor summoned several officials who had been eager to establish a crown prince. People in Beijing were boiling, as if the emperor really wanted to establish a crown prince.

Li Chen, who was in the center of the storm, went to the court on time and went to the government office on time to do errands. He didn't jump up and down to make friends with ministers like King Qing and King Jing. However, the back house of Prince Chun's mansion was gloomy and gloomy.

Qi Niqun fell seriously ill in the deep winter. When the imperial physician came to treat her, she didn't have enough time to recuperate between the two concubines of Princess Li Chen and Daochun. Her body was damaged in the first place, and then she was nervous and overwhelmed with thoughts every day. And for a long period of time, I drank the medicine that can restore the body and give birth to a boy. The Tai Hospital does not recognize the existence of such a medicine. The princess has been secretly visiting doctors. Those doctors have their own prescriptions. The princess drank one. The medicine, after a period of time, I felt bad, and I switched to another one. Those medicines had no clear effect, accumulated together, and dragged Qi Niqun's body down a bit-all of which broke out on a certain day in the middle of winter.

The concubines and concubines in the back house are sick every day, and logically the children of the palace should also stay in front of the princess's bed, but after Qi Niqun got sick, she hated boys even more, and when she saw Jing'er and Mu'er, she became sicker. The same is true for Yan'er, and her own two daughters are too young to be infected with illness, and it is not good to watch over her bed all the time.

The concubines in the back house are used to crying, and secondly, they are used to praying in front of the Buddha, praying for Qi Niqun to recover soon. Qi Niqun's situation is still getting worse day by day.

The eyes of the back house were all focused on Li Chen, what they thought was, if Qi Niqun really died, who would be Princess Chun in the future?

Scholar-bureaucrats do not take concubines as wives, but if the prince becomes the emperor, he can make his concubine the queen of the palace and no one dares to criticize him - the premise is that after Qi Niqun's death, the current emperor will not give Li Chen another marriage Once, another lady from a famous family was chosen as Princess Chun.

Aging frightened the emperor and made him regard every son as an enemy. He couldn't remember clearly what happened when he was young. As long as he could remember, he was the emperor and the monarch of a country... Even after he was crowned prince, he still The emperor, or the monarch of a country, would feel that his status was threatened, but when he finally realized that his body could not continue to work and he had to build a country, he was still afraid of his sons.

He now allows the ministers to elect the prince, but King Chun, he knows how to say, King Chun has no sons, the house is uneasy, a gentleman cultivates himself, governs the family, governs the country and the world, King Chun has not even done it.

To King Jing and King Qing, the emperor said, they are not even his sons.

To King Yong, the emperor said that King Yong was too young to be crowned prince.

This is the last struggle of a doomsday emperor. He doesn't want to watch power being taken away from him by those young and strong sons... Even if he has already made a plan in his heart, that candidate already exists in his heart.

As the situation between the DPRK and China became more and more tense, everyone was silent in the morning and did not dare to speak freely.Li Chen glanced at the old and dim-eyed emperor from a distance, he knew that he was the candidate, but he was still facing a protracted war, a war with his father instead of his brothers.

22 years ago, General Qi Ranqi's last big victory coincided with the emperor's 30th birthday, so he changed his year name to Yuanqing.In the 22nd year of Yuanqing, the case of King Chun collaborating with the enemy started in Beijing.

On that day when Li Chen entered the palace, Qi Yunruo waited in the mansion for an old imperial doctor who had retired from the imperial hospital to come to the mansion to treat Qi Niqun. Resigning from office and returning to his hometown to retire, Qi Yunruo took a lot of effort to invite him. Many people thought that Qi Yunruo wanted Qi Niqun to die, but Qi Yunruo had never thought about it before. Letting a young woman in her twenties die, even if she doesn't like Qi Niqun anymore, he still wants to save her as much as possible. This is the bottom line of his life.

Qi Yunruo was sitting in the Dongmei Courtyard, and suddenly he felt uneasy. He stood up and looked out, and said, "It's already this time, why hasn't the old doctor come over?"

Su Ge said: "The servant will ask someone to remind me again."

"Ah."

"My lord! My lord——" a guard ran in anxiously, "My lord! Someone has surrounded the palace with an imperial decree!"

"what happened?!"

The guard trembled and said, "It's a general from the Xishan Camp. He took the emperor's imperial decree and said that he wanted to go into the mansion to search for evidence that the prince communicated with the Xinyuan Kingdom."

"Absurd! How could the prince know how to communicate with the Xinyuan Kingdom!" Qi Yunruo stood up and strode out.

I don't know where the frame came from, the trick was too low, but I don't know why but asked the emperor's imperial decree, Qi Yunruo gritted his teeth, strode away from Dongmei courtyard, and walked towards the gate of the palace.

The main gate, side gate, and corner gate of the Wangfu were all surrounded, and no one could get out. Qi Yunruo walked to the main gate of the Wangfu and shouted: "Open the door!"

In the palace, Li Chen sat calmly with a cup of tea in his hand.

"...Cheng Lingjun's concubine has confessed that the master behind her is not only Cheng Sijie, but also King Chun. King Chun has controlled the household department in recent years, and has lost countless money. A large amount of money has flowed to Xinyuan Kingdom. The leader of Xinyuan Kingdom agreed. Hand over your power in Beijing to King Chun for use by King Chun."

"Not only that, there are many aristocratic families related to the previous dynasty who have always been Cheng Sijie's secret supporters, and now they also support King Chun."

"While in the northwest, King Chun used his male favorite to contact Cheng Sijie..."

"Cheng Sijie and King Chun have frequently exchanged letters..."

Li Chen was just sitting, and he didn't mean to kneel down to plead guilty. He didn't even argue for himself. To bring down the second brother is just to make the father completely tired of the second brother, then he is the one with the best chance.

"Prince Chun, what do you have to say?" the emperor said.

The gate of Prince Chun's Mansion slowly opened in front of Qi Yunruo. Qi Yunruo calmly watched the army outside the gate. The leading general held the reins of the horse and looked down at him proudly.

Qi Yunruo said indifferently: "So it's Deputy General Su, long time no see."

Su Yuan didn't expect it to be him, and suddenly new and old hatred came to his heart, and he said with a sneer, "No wonder I searched all over the capital for that 'Mr. Li' but I couldn't find it. It turns out that you are actually the young master of the Li family. Well, Qi Changshi, Lord Qi, please get out of the way of the Chun Palace now, this general came with an imperial decree, the emperor ordered me to lead his subordinates to search the Chun Palace."

Li Chen said: "My son has nothing to say."

"Oh?"

"If you want to commit a crime, there is no excuse. No matter what I say now, some people think that I am sophistry. What else can I say?"

King Qing sneered and said, "Since there is nothing to say, Brother Second Huang wants to confess his guilt?"

Li Chen smiled, "Why should I admit it?"

King Qing said: "Second Brother, do you really think that you have nothing to reveal? Li Xiuqi, an aide in your mansion, said that you often complained in the mansion that your father did not make you the crown prince, and you often complained. You also said that no matter what means you use , you will ascend to the position of prince."

When Li Xiuqi walked out slowly, Qi Yunruo frowned fiercely. He really didn't expect that the person who repeatedly spread the news would be Li Xiuqi. Qi Yunruo suspected many people, but found no doubts after checking them one by one. Later, he suspected Cao Manjin. I feel that Cao Manjin is greedy for money. If someone uses money to move him, he will definitely betray the prince. Li Xiuqi even dared to impeach his superiors. He worked hard to get promoted, but was demoted to nothing. possible official.

Li Xiuqi lowered his head and said: "Master Qi, now that the evidence is convincing, why do you need to block the door and not let anyone in?"

Qi Yunruo said with a smile: "Is there any evidence, why don't I know?"

Li Xiuqi raised his head, as if he wanted to hide the uneasiness in his heart, and said loudly: "In the prince's study, there is a secret letter between him and the new Yuan Kingdom lord Cheng Sijie. Also contact him a lot!"

Li Chen looked at King Qing, smiled slightly and said, "Third brother and the staff members in Brother Wei's mansion seem to be friendly."

King Qing said loudly: "Li Xiuqi doesn't admire the powerful, and is loyal to his father, so when he found out that you wanted to rebel, he contacted me. We didn't have any friendship at all, and it is because of you that we have an intersection."

Li Chen nodded and said, "Dare to ask third brother, when did you know about this? How did you contact Li Xiuqi?"

This incident was not initiated by King Qing, but by King Yong. However, King Qing also sensitively felt that this was a good opportunity to bring down King Chun, so he exposed his secret contact with Li Xiuqi, and his contact with Li Xiuqi began. Yu Chun Wang Li Chen won the victory and returned to the court. When Li Chen was in the northwest, Li Xiuqi kept inquiring about him in Beijing, and he thought he had made the most of the credit. However, Li Chen appointed his male favorite Qi Yunruo as the chief history of Chun Wang's residence. At that time, he was constantly infiltrating the Chun Palace. The Yuan family saw an opportunity, and sure enough, they became allies with Li Xiuqi.Li Xiuqi studied hard for ten years. He was a poor student, but he had an arrogance. But after losing his official position, he realized that his arrogance was useless in front of the powerful. He wholeheartedly worked for King Chun, but King Chun would rather take He didn't need him for an official position to coax his male favorite, and he, Li Xiuqi, didn't want to work under a male favorite, so he fell to the Yuan family. Later, many of the filth of King Chun and Princess Wang in the palace was passed on to the market by him.

Qi Yunruo looked at Li Xiuqi, and after a long time, Qi Yunruo said: "Mr. Li, the prince treats you well."

"The prince treats me well?" Li Xiuqi blushed with excitement, "If the prince treats me well, why didn't you give me a chance? I have read sage books for more than 20 years, but the prince told me to obey you! Why! Born as a man, but you do all the shameful things, you have..."

"Enough!" Su Yuan interrupted them and sneered, "Qi Changshi, do you want to resist the order?"

Qi Yunruo said: "If you want to enter the mansion, you can. The back house of the palace is full of noble women. It's not like you miscellaneous soldiers can rush at will! Now I have to invite the women in the back house to the main courtyard, and you are not allowed to enter the main courtyard. "

"Dream!" Su Yuan said, "It's not written in the imperial decree that you can't search the main courtyard of the palace!"

"The imperial decree says that you can insult the family members of the palace at will? Deputy General Su, the first concubine and the second concubine of the palace are above you in rank, and there are two princesses who are personally appointed by the emperor in the palace. If you disturb any of them, How many lives do you have to pay?"

Su Yuan was dumbfounded for a while, Qi Yunruo said: "There is an old doctor who was stopped outside the palace by your brave soldiers. This doctor was invited by me to treat our concubine. You should ask someone to move away immediately! Bring the doctor in! "

Su Yuan said coldly: "Presumptuous, this general is here to search the palace! Not for you! At this moment, ordinary people are not allowed to enter the palace!"

King Jing seemed to think of something, and said: "At first, the envoys of the Xinyuan Kingdom proposed to withdraw the spies in Beijing. Later, a few people did go back to the Xinyuan Kingdom...Among the officials who were sent as envoys, The deputy envoy seems to have a very close relationship with the second brother, so at that time, the lord of the Xinyuan Kingdom discussed with the envoy Ji Huan who could be used by the second brother, so that he could stay in the capital?"

Li Chen glanced at him, now the Hall of Martial Arts is full of important ministers and princes, there are no irrelevant people.Although the matter of Ji Huan's previous stay in Prince Chun's mansion is a secret, it is not without trace. Ji Hansong knelt on the ground and hurriedly said: "It is true that the dog had made friends with King Chun before he became an official, but King Chun had already left Beijing when the dog passed the exam. Already!"

Li Chen said with a smile: "Brother Dahuang really cares about my younger brother too much. You know all the people I associate with. In fact, I also know a thing or two about the friends that Brother Dahuang made. It seems that I used to be the magistrate of Heluo County. Master He, and..."

King Jing's pupils shrank, but Li Chen stopped talking. He raised his head and glanced at the emperor. The emperor was sitting on the couch in the Hall of Martial Arts, as if he was watching a farce, but he wanted to make the farce intensify instead of giving it to him. At the end of this farce, he didn't care about Li Chen's questioning of King Jing, but said, "What else did that concubine of the Cheng family say?"

"My lord..." A servant ran over to Qi Yunruo's side, and said anxiously: "My concubine can't drink any medicine now, just now, just now..."

Qi Yunruo looked at Su Yuan coldly, "Deputy General Su, did you hear that? If you don't find the old doctor, what happened to the princess will be blamed on you!"

Su Yuan was a little hesitant. Inviting an old doctor to come over should have no effect on his errand, but now that he agrees, it seems like he has admitted defeat.

Qi Yunruo said: "I want to ask you, what is written in the imperial edict given to you by the emperor? Has King Chun been convicted? If not, the princess is still a first-class concubine, the daughter-in-law of the emperor and empress. Think about the consequences!"

Su Yuan said harshly: "Go and find that old doctor! What's his name?"

Qi Yunruo breathed a sigh of relief: "This doctor is already 70 years old, and he is riding in the carriage of the palace, which is also driven by the guards of the palace. The doctor's surname is Wu."

Su Yuan waved his hand to ask people to let them go, then sneered, and said: "What excuse do you have to stop us now, it has been delayed for so long, and this general is still going to the palace to face the saint, if you don't let go, don't blame Ben The general is not showing affection!"

"Reporting to the Holy Majesty, the concubine's mouth is very hard-headed, and she refuses to confess to other spies. She only says that she is working for King Chun. We have always been in close contact, and Cheng Wenjie refused to cooperate after His Royal Highness King Jing supervised the household department."

The speaker was Zongzheng Siqing, Beichanghou, and the father-in-law of King Qing.

Now these people are twisted into a rope, they want to pull King Chun down, completely lose the possibility of being crowned prince, and they will fight each other in the future.

Li Chen smiled, "So, just based on the words of this woman, the words of a traitor from Prince Chun's House, the brothers and adults will rush to convict me?"

King Yong said: "Whether the second emperor's brother is guilty or not, we will know when Vice General Su finishes searching Chunwang's residence."