The shadow of the country

In the early morning of the next day, all the ministers in the court expressed their opinions on the sentencing of the empress and prince, but the emperor just listened, frowning and not saying a word.After coming down to court, the emperor left Yi Lan alone to discuss this matter with him.But before we talked for a long time, a little eunuch hurried over, crying in a voice: "Your Majesty, something is wrong!"

The emperor was already irritated by the crown prince usurping the throne, but seeing this little eunuch barge in so unrulyly, he became even more annoyed: "Which palace are you a slave? What kind of place is this? How can you just come in casually?!"

"Returning to the emperor, the servant is the servant in the Liuhui Palace, and he came here to report to the emperor that the concubine Hui is dead!" The little eunuch was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed, tears streaming down his face as he spoke.

"What?!" The emperor suddenly stood up from the dragon chair, his face suddenly changed color, this news like a bolt from the blue made him unable to accept it for a while.

Yi Lan was next to the emperor, and she was also surprised when she heard this.But quickly calmed down again, and said in a deep voice: "When did this happen? Does anyone else know about this?"

The little eunuch had a look of fear on his face, "It happened last night, last night. The servants only found out this morning. Except for the emperor, the servants haven't dared...to disturb anyone else."

"No, no... Concubine Hui has only been with me for half a year. Concubine Hui is so young, she won't go before me. No, she won't go before me..." The emperor repeated mechanically Hearing these words, his voice trembled uncontrollably.

Yi Lan gathered herself together, and said to the little eunuch: "You go back first, don't spread the word about it." Then she looked at the emperor and said, "Father, do you want to go and see Concubine Hui first? What about dealing with the empress and prince?" Why don't you just let it go?"

"Go, go to Liuhui Palace. I don't believe it, I don't believe Concubine Hui will leave! She must be waiting for me in Liuhui Palace..." The emperor murmured and repeated, while moving towards the gate of the palace.Yi Lan sighed silently, and finally followed the emperor to Liuhui Palace together.

In Liuhui Palace, Concubine Hui was fully dressed and lying on a soft brocade couch, and a golden wine cup inlaid with precious stones rolled down on the couch to her right.She closed her eyes tightly, her black hair spread like a cloud, and her already smooth and fair face looked even paler.The brows were tightly furrowed, lingering like a cloud.There was still a trail of blood hanging from the corner of his mouth, which had condensed into a dark red after one night.A group of court ladies and eunuchs were standing on both sides of the hall, sobbing. Seeing the emperor and the fifth prince came, their crying became quieter.

When the emperor saw Concubine Hui on the couch with her eyes tightly closed, with blood on the corner of her mouth, her heart skipped a beat.Regardless of his status, he squatted halfway in front of the couch: "Concubine Hui, Concubine Hui, I'm here to see you... I have been busy with the affairs of the previous court recently, so I don't have time to come and see you. Now that I am here, open your eyes , open your eyes and look at me..."

At this time, Concubine Hui's personal maid who was standing beside the couch opened her mouth while crying: "Your Majesty, Concubine Hui has passed away. I wish the Emperor's condolences."

"Who did it?! Concubine Hui was fine when she was on tour with Zhennan last month, why did she suddenly die! Who killed Concubine Hui?!" The emperor stood up suddenly, staring at the maid and shouted angrily, his eyes staring at the maid. Swaying with manic rage.

The court lady was really startled by the frightening light in the emperor's eyes, "I don't know...but the Empress sent someone to Liuhui Palace last night to deliver a pot of high-quality Crane Nian tribute wine. It is said to be refreshing, refreshing, mellow and pleasant, especially I gave it to Concubine Hui to taste. I didn't think about it, I didn't think about it after I had just had a drink, and..." At the end, the maid couldn't continue, only sobbing for a while.

The emperor couldn't believe it when he heard this: "Impossible! I ordered the queen to be imprisoned last night. How could it be the queen who did it?..." He seemed to be denying the maid's words, and he seemed to be muttering to himself .

"Your Majesty, the wine was delivered at Xu time last night. After the people sent by the empress left, Concubine Hui ordered the servants to retreat, saying that no one was allowed to enter without her order. This morning... the servants came over this morning When I was about to wait for the empress to dress and wash, I realized that the empress had passed away!"

The emperor didn't pay any attention to the maid, but slowly sat on the side of the bed, touching Concubine Hui's cheek lightly with his finger, "I will accompany Concubine Hui for a while, you all step back."

Seeing her father like this, Yi Lan was worried, but she waved her hand and ordered the palace people in the room to retreat, and she walked out of the Liuhui Palace silently.

Yilan walked out of Liuhui Palace and returned to Lanling Palace.When Mu Yan saw him coming back, he immediately greeted him.But Yi Lan only sighed deeply, and the feeling of regret suddenly hit like a tide.I still remember the intelligence and agility of the Mongolian princess who shocked everyone with a word a few months ago in the Huangji Palace, accompanied by a bit of unrestrained boldness that is rare for women; I also remember her lively and excited appearance in the boat in Yanqi Lake... I never thought that Concubine Hui would die in such a beautiful way one day. How could such an intelligent woman be murdered to death so easily by others? ...

"Yilan? I called you many times and you didn't hear me. Is something wrong?" Mu Yan tentatively asked.

Yi Lan closed her eyes, and said softly: "Concubine Hui passed away, the year of the crane wine that the queen gave her was poisoned."

There was a trace of surprise in Mu Yan's eyes at first, and then he lowered his eyes.He knew that Princess Huimo had always been in love with Yilan before she was canonized as a concubine.But he really can't hate her, after all, she is such a kind woman who never plays tricks on her.Now that I heard the news of her passing away, I also felt a trace of regret and sadness in my heart.

In fact, there are still many things Yilan and Mu Yan don't know.In fact, Concubine Hui knew that she would not live long after she told Queen Yilan that the prince was about to usurp the throne.Concubine Hui is so smart, why doesn't she know that the pot of crane year tribute wine given by the queen is poisonous?The queen is suspicious, and she will definitely suspect that she knows other things besides usurping the throne, so she must be killed.Although she adores Yilan, but this love is so unattainable, like a wild crane entering the clouds, there are clouds in front of her and behind her, and she can't see the end.Now that she is a concubine, there is no possibility of being with Yilan in this life, so she no longer loves life, and drank the poisonous wine in one gulp.The emperor's favor never lasts long, and only by exchanging one's own life can the emperor always remember her and take care of the Turkic people... Clean it up, don't disperse the filth and sink into the ditch." Princess Huimo lives up to her name, but it's a pity that such a beautiful and blue-hearted woman can only end up alone.

Three days later, the emperor finally convicted the queen prince.The queen and prince colluded with foreign ministers to seek power and usurp the throne, and the queen gave him death; the prince was abolished in the East Palace, all titles and titles were cut off, exiled to the frontier, and he was never allowed to enter Beijing.The more than 160 ministers involved were either beheaded and ransacked their homes or sent to the army, and none of them were spared.

As for Concubine Hui, the emperor held an unprecedented funeral for her. The funeral ceremony even surpassed that of a noble concubine, reaching the level of a royal concubine, making Concubine Hui feel extremely honored after her death.

Since the crown prince was abolished, all the ministers wrote to the emperor one after another to ask the emperor to appoint a new crown prince. Most of the ministers in the court advocated that the fifth prince should be appointed as the crown prince of the East Palace.But the emperor seems to have no intention of establishing a prince again.This made all the loyal officials in the court very anxious. The memorial to persuade the establishment of the country was even more diligent and sincere, but the emperor was still indifferent.Only the fifth prince still went up and down as normal every day, and walked in a regular manner, without the slightest sense of urgency or doubt, as if this matter had nothing to do with him.

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☆, 24. Flat step