Reborn as King again

I stepped into Xia Zhirou's bedroom, and the inner eunuchs who were waiting on the side hurriedly greeted me. The queen mother was guarding Xia Zhirou's bed, and Xia Zhirou was sitting on the bed, her face was pale, and she kept wiping her face. tears.He Wenliu is also here, he just kneels on the open space in the middle of the dormitory, his grade is higher than Xia Zhirou, probably the empress made him kneel.

"Your Majesty." Seeing me coming, Xia Zhirou immediately stretched out her hand to me and cried, "Your Majesty, our child is gone, you have to be the master of my concubine."

I took her hand and asked the inner eunuch to move a chair for her to sit on the side of the couch, and comforted her: "Don't be sad, you can have the child after you're gone. You can take care of your body before we talk about it."

Seeing me for a long time, Xia Zhirou didn't ask the reason, but just said some good things, so she was naturally unhappy. She pointed to He Wenliu who was kneeling on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, it was all caused by Concubine Wen. He gave my concubine a pot of mint." , let the concubine have a miscarriage."

I turned around and looked at He Wenliu, He Wenliu didn't refute, it seems that he really gave Xia Zhirou the mint.I don't like He Wenliu kneeling in front of me very much. I always feel that I am superior to him. I just hope that He Wenliu will stand beside me in an equal posture and sit on an equal footing with me.

Thinking of this, I said, "Concubine Wen, stand up and speak."

He Wenliu is still kneeling there, motionless, I am a little angry, he is usually obedient, he will do whatever I ask him to do, why doesn't he listen to me now, I slapped the table next to the bed hard Going up, the voice rang loudly, "Are you deaf? I told you to stand up!" When I got angry, everyone in the dormitory knelt on the ground.

At this time, Xinyue, He Wenliu's maidservant, also knelt down, and said in tears, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. In fact, Concubine Wen didn't know that Madam Zhaoyi would have a miscarriage after eating peppermint." Xinyue kowtowed a few times and explained Said: "A few days ago in the back garden, the maidservant chatted with Guizhi, the maidservant next to Mistress Zhaoyi, she said that Mistress Zhaoyi has always been nauseated and vomited recently, and her mouth smelled bad, so I said chewing mint would be better, Zhaoyi After Madam Yi found out, she sent someone to the Qingluan Palace to ask Concubine Wen for a bowl of mint yesterday. Concubine Wen didn't think too much about it, so she gave it directly. Your Majesty, it's not that Concubine Wen forced Concubine Zhaoyi to eat it. The mint ones were ordered by Empress Zhaoyi herself, and Empress Wenfei doesn’t know what’s going on at all, please ask the emperor to look into it!”

Let me just say, He Wenliu doesn't know much about communication, so how could he give mints to people in a decent way, so I turned my head and asked Xia Zhirou who was lying on the bed: "Did you ask Concubine Wen for mints, or did you ask for mints?" Concubine Wen sent you a pot of mint."

"Chenqie..." Xia Zhirou was very guilty, and whispered: "But the concubine just ate the mint from Concubine Wen..."

I didn't bother to talk to her, so I asked He Wenliu who was kneeling on the ground, "Concubine Wen, what do you think?"

He Wenliu finally reacted this time, he raised his head slowly, looked at me with both eyes, and replied seriously: "Your Majesty, this mint is what Rou Zhaoyi asked me for, if I know that pregnant women can't eat mint leaves, No matter what the minister said, he would not give the mint to Rou Zhaoyi, please be enlightened by the emperor."

"You're just jealous that I'm pregnant with a dragon child." Xia Zhirou accidentally had a miscarriage, so she had to pull back anyway, and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial doctor said that it is common sense for pregnant women to fast mint. This is her first child, so it's fine if you don't know, but Concubine Wen has a daughter, how could she not know? But he also gave the mint to his concubine, it was intentional at all!"

After listening to Xia Zhirou's narration, I took a cold look at the eunuchs serving in her palace, and said with a sneer, "Yes, it's all common sense, you have so many experienced nuns in Wencui Garden serving you. , this can also make you have a miscarriage, could it be that they are all dead?!"

As soon as my words came out, all the nuns kowtowed and begged for mercy, saying: "This servant always thought that Lady Zhaoyi just kept mint for fun, and I don't know if she wanted to take it. Your Majesty, please forgive me." Will anyone believe me when I say this? , how many pregnant concubines have been served by the old nuns in the palace, how could they not notice this little thing?

Seeing me protecting He Wenliu like this, Xia Zhirou said with red eyes and tears: "Does the emperor love Concubine Wen so much? You don't care about our child's death, and don't seek justice for him? Our child will meet in heaven." How do you think about his father? How do you think about his murderous enemy?"

The more Xia Zhirou said, the more she went too far, and even said that He Wenliu was a "killing enemy".How could He Wenliu have stayed in the palace longer than her, and had a higher rank than her, and when they met outside, Xia Zhirou had to salute him.But now Xia Zhirou's words are harsh, no matter how good-tempered He Wenliu is, he is also a tempered person, how can he not resist when others step on his head.

"Rou Zhaoyi, I have never had any grievances with you in the palace." He Wenliu's voice was not loud, but very clear, and very cold, without any emotion.As soon as He Wenliu made a sound, Xia Zhirou stopped talking in a daze, because in her memory, He Wenliu had always been a resigned and bullied person, and she never expected to refute.He Wenliu turned his gaze to me, and said: "Your Majesty, the Emperor should be very clear about what kind of person this humble minister is. I never get involved in the right and wrong in the harem. Besides, let a little concubine who doesn't know who she is There are so many methods, how could it be possible to use mere peppermint, isn't it afraid of being found out? This is really just a misunderstanding, Weichen really didn't intend to give the mint to Rou Zhaoyi."

He Wenliu didn't say much to defend himself, but every sentence was reasonable, and there was silence in the dormitory for a while.

The queen mother, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked, "Emperor, how do you think about this matter?"

I glanced at the queen mother and replied: "This is a matter of the harem. Since the phoenix seal is in the hands of the queen mother, of course everything is decided by the queen mother." It would be too embarrassing for them."

I've talked about this point, how can the queen mother not know the reason, she has stopped expressing any opinions since I entered the room, but she doesn't know whether my heart is towards He Wenliu or towards Xia Zhirou.Although the queen mother loves Xia Zhirou of their Xia family very much, she also understands that even if I am filial to her, it does not mean that I will listen to her in everything. Since I want to protect He Wenliu, she will definitely sell me this noodle.

The queen mother thought for a while, and said: "The Ai family understands Concubine Wen's temperament and knows that he is not a person who intends to harm others, but the imperial doctor also said that Rou'er had a miscarriage after eating mint. After all, this mint came from Concubine Wen. The one who gave it to Rou'er can't escape the punishment. How about this, the Ai family will punish Concubine Wen three days later, that is, on the sixteenth day of this month, to kneel down outside the Changting hall for twelve hours, not to eat or drink , and no one else can intercede." After finishing speaking, the queen mother turned her head and asked me what I meant, "What do you think, the emperor?"

I nodded and said nothing more.The empress dowager's punishment was not heavy, it was just a kneeling punishment. Although the punishment for kneeling was longer, it was better than being demoted and relegated to the cold palace.

Three days later, He Wenliu was fined to kneel outside the gate of the Changting Hall.The outside of the Changting Hall is very empty, and every sacrificial activity and previous elections for beautiful girls are held here.

I went to the imperial study room to revise the memorial after I went to the morning court and had breakfast as usual.By the way, I asked Wanfu to send two young eunuchs to wait outside the Changting Hall, sending a message every half an hour.I haven't looked at Xia Zhirou for the past three days. Anyone with a discerning eye in the palace understands that Xia Zhirou has been kicked on the iron plate this time. It's okay for her to compete for favor in the harem but not Concubine Wan. I didn't expect that she has a weak personality. The concubine Wen is not as good as her, and she didn't even keep the child in her stomach, so everyone laughed at her. In the past, Xia Zhirou offended many people in the harem. Now that she has lost power, everyone wants to step on her, let alone help her.

For some reason today, the weather is only in May, but the sun is extremely hot. The little eunuch who was sent to guard at noon sent a message saying that He Wenliu was exposed to the sun and couldn't stand it. He passed out. Mammy watched under the shade of a tree outside the Changting Hall, and when she saw He Wenliu fell down, she stepped forward and splashed some water on his face to wake him up, and continued to kneel.

After I knew it, I didn't say much. I continued to criticize my memorial. It wasn't that I didn't want to help him, but that this was the punishment my mother had already decided on.

In the evening, I returned to my bedroom, the Qianlong Palace, and lay alone on a dragon bed carved from yew wood, waiting for the passage of time. I only hoped that time would pass quickly and that He Wenliu would not be punished again.

In the middle of the night, I heard a sudden thunder outside.I immediately sat up and called out, "Wanfu."

"The servant is here." Wanfu pushed the door open and entered.

"What's going on outside?" I asked as I stood up.

"Back to the emperor, it's raining outside." Wanfu said, walked to my side, put on my coat, and continued: "The rain outside is quite heavy, and it won't stop for a while."

When I heard it, I suddenly had an ominous premonition in my heart. This is too coincidental. Today is the day He Wenliu was punished. Why is it sunny during the day and raining heavily at night.I always feel that everything is not so simple, it is intentional.

After getting dressed, I said, "Show me, Changting Hall."

The imperial chariot stopped outside the Changting hall, Wanfu opened the curtain for me, held an oil-paper umbrella, and helped me down.After I got out of the car, I saw a few nuns sitting under the eaves of the Changting Hall to shelter from the rain. When they saw me coming, they were startled and immediately knelt on the ground.

I ignored them and looked for He Wenliu in the rain.It was night now, so it should be very dark, but the inside of the Changting hall was brightly lit, and the light was shining directly outside the hall.I clearly saw that He Wenliu was lying on his knees in the middle of the open space, motionless, letting the rain beat his thin body.It was probably because his body couldn't support him and fell down. No matter how the nuns called, they didn't respond, so they let him lie like this.

I walked slowly towards He Wenliu, and Wanfu followed carefully behind me, holding my umbrella very high for fear that I would be drenched in the rain.

I walked to He Wenliu's side and stopped, bent down, at this moment, a voice suddenly came, "Your Majesty!"

I turned around and saw that it was Lan Mei, my mother's personal maid. Lan Mei ran towards me with an umbrella. It turned out that she was also sent by my mother to monitor He Wenliu and be punished.She ran up to me, bowed to me, and said eagerly: "Your Majesty, you can't take away Concubine Wen, there are still two hours left and it will be twelve hours, if you take Concubine Wen away now , then the sufferings of Concubine Wen will be in vain."

I glanced at Lan Mei, and said indifferently, "I don't want to take Concubine Wen away, I just want to see if Concubine Wen is still angry."

Lan Mei breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what I said, and said: "Your Majesty, please don't worry, Concubine Wen has just passed out. As soon as the time comes, this slave will definitely send someone to send Concubine Wen back to Qingluan Palace." Then, Lan Mei took another two steps towards me, and whispered: "Your Majesty, you shouldn't be here tonight, leave quickly, the slaves will tell the nuns to keep secret about your appearance tonight. Let the empress dowager know."

Although Lan Mei belongs to the queen mother, she is actually my confidant who has been placed next to the queen mother. Usually, Lan Mei will report to me regularly what happens in the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility and every word and deed of the queen mother.

I glanced at Lan Mei, and asked calmly, "I've always wondered why the Queen Mother would specifically pick May [-]th, which is to punish Concubine Wen today, Lan Mei, you are the person I put by Mother Queen's side, You must know something."

After I finished speaking, Lan Mei's expression turned ugly. She was silent for a moment, nodded to me, and slowly told me what she knew.