[Red Mansions] The Road to Empress Dowager

In the 41st year of Qianzheng, the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

If you want to say what is the most popular thing in Beijing recently, it is the emperor's seat. Two months ago, the emperor had a stroke.

Ten years ago, the former prince who was posthumously named Prince Yizhong rebelled against him. Since then, Emperor Qianzheng has stated that he will never establish a prince, but will write down a letter of succession before his death, so as to avoid the chaos of Prince Yizhong reproduce.

In the past ten years, the several grown-up princes have all fought openly and secretly for this position, wooing courtiers and currying favor with the emperor, and the emperor enjoyed playing the balance between his several sons.It turned out that the third prince, Prince Cheng, and the fifth prince, Prince Lian, were the two most powerful factions in the court. The emperors also turned a blind eye, but when the emperor had a physical problem, the two factions were competing with each other. It broke the heart of the sensitive old emperor in the sick center.

In this extraordinary period, the seventh prince, Prince Su, only quietly copied Buddhist scriptures at home, often went to the palace to serve the sick, and personally served soup and medicine.The Seventh Prince had offended many dignitaries and courtiers when he investigated corruption and inspected the embankment in the south of the Yangtze River two years ago.These days, the emperor also listened to the reports given to him by the hidden guards every day. Several adult princes were either fighting on their own or cronies, and only the seventh prince was "out of the mud without being stained".

Zhenzong of the Great Zhou Dynasty was only emperor for three months, while Emperor Gaozong Qianzheng succeeded to the throne as a young man. After decades of imperial career, although he wanted to abdicate the throne due to physical reasons, how could people who have held power for decades be willing to withdraw from history like this? stage?Instead of choosing a prince who can't wait for him to die long ago and who has great power in his hands to succeed, it is better to choose no party and be filial. After succeeding to the throne, what you want to do in the court still depends on the safety of his father. The docile next emperor.

Therefore, Emperor Qianzheng summoned him at the beginning of December, and appointed the seventh prince, Tu Yuanyi, as the crown prince. On the first day of the new year next year, a surrender ceremony was held, and the new emperor ascended the throne.

This summoning letter was worth [-] tons of TNT bombs, and everyone in the Great Zhou Dynasty Hall was stunned, including the Seventh Prince.

Tu Yuanyi, the Seventh Prince, got the news and knelt for a day and a night outside the Liangyi Hall of the Taiji Palace, without a drop of rice, begging his father to take back his life, and finally fainted from hunger, and Emperor Qianzheng was carried down for treatment.

Two days later, the Seventh Prince was able to go down to the ground, and he came to the Liangyi Hall of the Taiji Palace to beg again, saying, "I have little talent and learning, and I am unpopular. It is the heart of the old emperor in the most sensitive period.

It is said that the seventh prince kowtowed until his head turned blue, and then passed out again.

When he came back three days later, after kneeling for a while, the emperor was finally willing to see him, and said to him gently, knowing that he is filial and honest, brotherly and respectful, he can entrust the community, and if he doesn't understand the government, he can learn slowly in the future .

So the royal father and son, the kind son, Xiaoxiao, cried, and then the seventh prince was persuaded to go back by the emperor in fear.

On the first day of the first lunar month in the 42nd year of Qianzheng, Emperor Qianzheng went to the Seventh Prince in the Zichen Hall of the Dachaohui in the Daming Palace.The seventh prince, Prince Su, ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor under the eyes of several adult brothers who could kill people, and entered the Daming Palace and Taiji Palace, while the old sage moved to the Yang Palace to rest.The official palace of the Great Zhou was in the Daming Palace, and the emperor lived in the old Taiji Palace. These two palaces were the main "sites" of the emperor, and the emperor abdicated to move to Shangyang Palace, which was suitable for recuperation.

In the study room of the Taiji Palace, Tu Yuanyi finally sat here again in such a real way, with a lot of emotion in his heart.It has been three months since he traveled back, and he heard that when his father woke up from a stroke, he was no longer the 20-year-old kid in his heart.He knew that this was a critical time, and he didn't want Die Die to lose his fate with the throne.

Zhao Gui suddenly entered the Shang study, looking at the more handsome and suave master, light and carefree, he used to hear how handsome the Ninth Prince was, but Zhao Gui felt that others didn't see the master's true demeanor.

At the age of 20, Zhao Gui bribed the chief eunuch at the time, and was assigned to be one of the personal eunuchs next to the seventh prince who was only 5 years old and wanted to study in the study.At that time, the Seventh Prince was surrounded by four personal eunuchs. He stood out because of his cleverness and good reading skills. The personal eunuchs had to be able to read and write.

Zhao Gui felt that the master had changed a lot in the past few months. He may have hidden well outside, but when there was no one in private, his majestic atmosphere was more like an emperor than the Supreme Emperor.

Zhao Gui reported: "Master, Qin Qichang has returned and is now in Prince Su's mansion." The Seventh Prince was Prince Su before he ascended the throne.

Tu Yuanyi suddenly raised his head from the memorial, his phoenix eyes shined brightly, and asked: "How is the investigation?" Qin Qichang is one of his confidantes in the hidden mansion, and Qin Qichang is not favored on the surface, but he is inquiring about the news. A good hand.

Zhao Guidao: "Qin Qichang didn't find anyone, but he kept Sima Xiao and Wei Cheng there. If there is news, report back immediately."

Three months ago, the master suddenly asked Qin Qichang to find a woman in the Jinling area. The master said that it might be called "Xin Xiuyan", but it might be another name.He drew a portrait and asked Qin Qichang to go south to look for it secretly, and as long as he looked like her, he would secretly get it back first regardless of age, maybe she was a relative of this woman.It is very difficult for Qin Qichang to find someone without a clear goal, but the master said that this woman is very important.

The black sword eyebrows were slightly frowned, and Tu Yuanyi was a little upset in his heart. The pet that he had raised for more than 100 years suddenly disappeared, and his heart was empty.

In the past, in the name of listening to the "broken sleeve love story", he had been knocking out a lot of things from her. At least this woman is still very useful as long as she doesn't let her play tricks with women.In other words, in fact, she also understands scheming now, but she will understand it slowly, but once she understands it, she will be very thorough.

For 120 years, no one knows his pet better than him. He made her previous fake body, one a year, and he made it for 100 years.In her words, his craftsmanship has changed from "Taobao 9 yuan 9 free shipping" to "high imitation".

Tu Yuanyi was in a daze when suddenly the queen came.The empress is his Yuan empress, and his father is now Yang Huaigu, the deputy director of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. When he ascended the throne, his original wife, the concubine, did not make a big mistake, so he was naturally promoted to empress.The identities of his side concubine, concubine Liang, and concubine are still undecided, and they still live in Prince Su's mansion.

Empress Yang is one year older than him. He was accused of marrying her when he was 15 years old.Empress Yang has a thin face, with neatly trimmed willow-leaf eyebrows, but her complexion is not very good. A 16-year-old woman has already shown a bit of an old look.

After Empress Yang paid homage, she mentioned about concubine canonization and moving into the palace. The emperor's concubines have moved out of the main palace of the harem one after another.The birth mother of the Seventh Prince has passed away. She used to be raised under Concubine Shu. The Empress Dowager is the third successor of the Emperor and has moved into Ci’an Palace. The concubines live in the side halls or pavilions of the two major palaces.Concubine Zhengui is the most favored, she can live with the emperor in Shangyang Palace and serve her personally.

Tu Yuanyi knew that Empress Yang was in poor health and died in October of the second year of Chengqian. After a few years, the couple asked her to sit down and talk.

Empress Yang felt that the majesty of her husband was different from before. He only had a good-looking face before, but he was inferior to Lao Jiu, because his face was always stiff and pale, which made people feel He is cold and mean.But now it looks like a sword about to be unsheathed, with a pair of phoenix eyes shining brightly, and his spirit is flying high, and his once pale complexion and faint gray eyes are gone, and his posture has no sense of weakness. He is tall and straight. masculine power.

Empress Yang said: "The empress dowager and the concubines moved out of the palace. They should choose a good time to enshrine all the younger sisters in the mansion and move into the harem. I don't know if the emperor has any suggestions."

In his previous life, when Tu Yuanyi was a boy, he was as passionate about sex as all young men for a few months, but later he strictly controlled himself and worked hard for a greater goal, and sex was normal.Compared with the clans of the adult princes, the number of women in the mansion is relatively small.

In his previous life, Tu Yuanyi made two side concubines, one a noble concubine and the other a Shu concubine, the other two concubines a concubine, and four concubines a nobleman.But he thought of the two side concubines, one whose family later committed a serious corruption case, and the other who later gave birth to a son who was a jerk, and the two concubines, one with the blood of the emperor's heir on his hands, one with a bit of hypocrisy, and several concubines. A concubine is nothing more than a palace maid.

So, he thought about it and said: "The father has just abdicated, and the queen mother and concubine have just moved. The affairs of the harem should not be rushed, and it is not appropriate to be too limelight. Conferred the title of concubine of the second rank, and given the title 'Shun'. Let Li Liangdi and Zhao Liangdi be named concubines, as for the number of concubines, whether they are talents or beauties, it is up to the queen to decide."

Empress Yang was stunned, and asked: "Your Majesty, are these positions too light? After all, they are all old people in the hidden mansion."

Tu Yuanyi shook his head and said, "Once I ascend the throne, I will reward the harem, what will the emperor and queen dowager think? Let's talk about it in a while. The queen has full power to deal with the harem affairs."

Although Empress Yang said that, she was actually very happy to see her husband's attitude. The two side concubines in the mansion were actually equal wives, the so-called "three wives". Her concubine is also one level behind.Now it's different, she is the empress, let alone the imperial concubine, the noble concubine, the fourth concubine, they didn't even get the fourth wife, but she was just an ordinary concubine from the second rank, so she was not qualified to challenge her dignified concubine .And the emperor's sentence "She has full power to handle the harem" made her even more proud.And although she is not favored, she already has the eldest prince and the eldest princess under her knees. In the past, Prince Su was the most rigid person with the most rules. Without the birth of the eldest son, women in the backyard cannot give birth.

Empress Yang nodded, she was the only one in the harem now, but her husband didn't mean to be warm and caring as a husband and wife, so she felt lost, so she got up and said goodbye and went back to Qifeng Palace, saying: "Your Majesty, let's rest earlier."

Tu Yuanyi only hummed without raising his eyelids, Empress Yang had to go out.

Tu Yuanyi flipped through these memorials, actually read the beginning, and vaguely remembered his previous life, so he didn't need to read much, and quickly picked up a dozen "difficult to make decisions" memorials, and prepared to go to the Yang Palace tomorrow to ask for instructions of.

Now the whole play still needs to be performed, at least it's not the time for him to explode.