Zhuo Qihua

Following the emperor's words, the queen stood up abruptly: "Your Majesty! This is not in compliance with the rules! Concubines and servants below the imperial concubine can only live with the palace!"

Emperor Yong'an raised his eyebrows and closed his smile: "The empress tells me how to behave? The empress, you come and tell me that I am the lord of the world, but I haven't learned that there is Zhuo Baolin in my harem for three years, and my empress He has never told me that I still have such a maid like him. His Baolin is not even sealed by me! Empress, is this in compliance with the rules!"

The queen is the master of the harem, and the emperor is the master of the world.No matter how powerful the empress is in the harem, the harem also belongs to the emperor, and the empress has no right to surpass the emperor's canonization as a concubine.The queen couldn't say anything to refute for a while, so she could only kill her in the end: "The concubine has indeed failed in this matter. It is also because the concubine's palace affairs are complicated, and I forgot for a while. Your Majesty, you want to blame the concubine, and the concubine has nothing to say But 'concubines and concubines below the lords and maids can only live with the palace', not only the rules of the harem, but also the ancestral rule! No matter how angry you are with your concubines, Your Majesty, you must not disobey the rules of the ancestors!"

The Empress Dowager was so angry that she was about to speak, but Emperor Yong'an was the first to speak: "Whose ancestral system? Whose rules? 'Concubines, concubines and concubines below 伃 can only live with the palace' was established by Emperor Zhongzong of the Liang Dynasty, and this system was followed in the next three dynasties. After Emperor Taizu established the country and ascended the throne, there were only three empresses Huixiao, Empress Shengli, and Empress Wenjia, so this system was not changed, and it continued. The empress said that I violated the ancestral system, did I violate the ancestral system of the Liang Dynasty The ancestral system of the dynasty?!"

The queen fell to her knees with a plop, and her face was devoid of any color: "The concubine must never dare! Your Majesty..."

Emperor Yong'an didn't listen to the queen's justification at all, and continued to reprimand: "I will talk to you about the rules again. You are the queen, the master of the middle palace. But you seem to have forgotten that your queen was given by me. You are in charge of the power of the harem. , similarly, it was given by me. Your rules are the rules I gave you. Are you trying to seek rebellion by repeating the rules in front of me?"

"Your Majesty!" The queen couldn't believe that the emperor would say such a thing!She lost her sense of proportion and shouted: "Your Majesty! This concubine is Emperor Mingzong..."

"Shut up!" Emperor Yong'an's face was livid, "Mr. Cheng, who gave you the courage to stand against me in the palace? You were given to me by Emperor Mingzong himself. I haven't punished you as a bully yet. Great treason and immorality! My harem can only be canonized by me personally! Not only did you dare to assign concubines for me! You also dared to lie to me for three full years! Mrs. Cheng, I am the emperor, the king of ninety-five, and the lord of the world! My Dragon Might cannot be provoked by anyone! Come here!"

"Your Majesty! The concubine knows it's wrong, the concubine knows it's wrong...you can't! You can't..." The queen knelt up to the emperor and grabbed the hem of the emperor's clothes. She was really scared, she never expected Things can get so serious.At this moment, the queen also understood what a stupid mistake she had made.She delivered a perfect butcher knife to the emperor with her own hands.Emperor Yong'an pulled out the hem of his clothes forcefully and took two steps back.The two nuns of the queen mother in the house stopped the queen who wanted to catch the emperor again.

Two father-in-laws in charge came in from outside: "Your Majesty."

Ignoring the Queen's cries and pleas, Emperor Yong'an ordered with a cold face: "The Cheng family formed a clique for personal gain, committed rebellion, conspired against the law, suspected of being a remnant of the previous dynasty. Take the Cheng family to the East Fourth Office! Zhang Xian!"

"The servant is here!"

"I order you to lead someone to search the Houde Palace immediately! You will inspect everything in it yourself!"

The queen obviously thought of something, her body trembled, and she bluffed and shouted: "Your Majesty! No concubine! No concubine! This concubine is not a remnant of the previous dynasty! This concubine is the queen! This concubine is the queen bestowed on you by Emperor Mingzong himself! You have slandered a queen of a country for the sake of Baolin, what will the historian write! What will the future generations say! Your Majesty! You can’t! You can’t!”

"Cover her mouth and take her away immediately!"

Four or five nuns and eunuchs rushed up, gagged the queen, and dragged her out.Zhang Xian also hurried to Houde Palace with his guards.The empress dowager was a little dumbfounded in her seat, apparently she never expected that things would develop to the point where the empress was actually a remnant of the previous dynasty!

"Feng Xi."

"The servant is here!"

"It is my oral order that the concubines and maids of each palace stay in their respective palaces, no one is allowed to go out and walk around at will, and those who violate the order will be punished as conspiracy!"

"The slaves obey the orders!"

Zhang Xian's apprentice, Feng Xi, the second personal eunuch beside Emperor Yong'an, trotted out all the way to deliver the decree.Immediately afterwards, Emperor Yong'an issued two more verbal orders to search Concubine Shu's Palace of Praying for Cherry Blossoms and Concubine Hui's Palace of Yihui.At the same time, an order was issued to seal the gate of Tianshou Palace, and no one was allowed to enter but not to exit.Anyone who disobeys orders will be killed on the spot without mercy.All the gates of Tianshou Palace are guarded by Emperor Yong'an's imperial guards, and all the news to be passed out of the palace are blocked inside the palace gates.

A series of imperial edicts issued by Emperor Yong'an completely caught the Queen and the forces behind her by surprise.If Emperor Yong'an revealed his intention of abolishing the empress first, and then made plans, then with the Queen's ten-year management and the power of the Cheng family, the matter of abolishing the empress is likely to go unnoticed, and it will also make the empress and the Cheng family jealous of the emperor. .If Emperor Yong'an didn't make a move, he would just pinch the Empress and the Cheng family by seven inches, without giving them any chance to react.

After Emperor Yong'an stopped issuing orders, the queen mother hurriedly asked: "My son, what did you find out?" Otherwise, the emperor would not have said such a thing.

Emperor Yong'an picked up the tea bowl again, his face condensed: "Mother, you will know in a while." Then, Emperor Yong'an said inexplicably: "I am the only ruler of this world." Let Cheng have it.

The empress dowager's heart skipped a beat.Looking at her son sipping tea with downcast eyes in front of her, the Empress Dowager seemed to suddenly see the still alive Emperor Mingzong.

Ten years after Emperor Yong'an ruled the Mata Kingdom, he, who was already full-fledged, raised the Emperor's Blade to the Empress Cheng, who had no longer to endure.Rather than saying that the existence of Zhuo Ji was the trigger for Emperor Yong'an to tolerate the Cheng family from the time he was the emperor's great-grandson until now.Rather, Zhuo Ji's existence gave Emperor Yong'an the most perfect entry point to attack the queen.Everyone said that he could not abolish the queen, because the queen was hand-picked by his grandfather, Emperor Mingzong.As an emperor, such words are an absolute provocation to his dignity and position as emperor.Even though that person is his grandfather, the person sitting on the dragon chair is not Emperor Mingzong, but him!No emperor with real power could bear such a threat.Everyone thought that he could not abolish the queen, so he decided to abolish it, and he wanted to tell those people that the current world of Mata country belongs to him, not Emperor Mingzong.

■

"What did you say?"

The Buddhist bead in Jia Guixie's hand fell to the ground, and her eyes were opened to the limit because of the extreme shock.Chang'an looked anxious and suppressed his ecstasy and said: "Master, you heard me right. Your Majesty ordered people to take the Queen into the East Fourth Institute, and also sent Director Zhang to search the Houde Palace. It seems that the Queen is plotting treason."

Jia Guixie blinked a few times, his mind went blank for a moment.After a while, he sat down slowly.Changan hurriedly picked up the Buddhist beads on the ground and handed them to the master.Holding the Buddha beads again, Jia Guixie said, "Has Your Majesty found out the evidence of the queen's treason?"

Chang'an shook his head: "I didn't find out about the specific slaves and maidservants. Now the noble masters of the palaces are not allowed to go out. I heard that all the palaces in Danyang Palace are guarded by the guards of the Imperial Army. Your Majesty is still in Shoukang Palace, and the empress is going to The Shoukang Palace approached His Majesty, and after some unknowing words, His Majesty sent the Empress to the East Fourth Office. All the people around the Empress were arrested, and it was not easy for the servants to inquire about the news."

"Then don't do anything." Jiaguixie's mood was very complicated, and in the complexity was the excitement and joy of the death of his enemy that he had suppressed for more than ten years.Where is Dongsi Institute?It was the place where princes and royal family members who committed serious crimes were imprisoned.The reason why it is the East Fourth Institute is because it is in the northeast corner of Daxing Palace.There is a South Third Courtyard in Danyang Palace, which is a small cold palace.There is an East Fourth Institute in Daxing Palace, which is even more terrifying than Lenggong.

"Hehe...hahahaha...hahahahahaha..." Jia Guixie raised his head and laughed loudly. There was a cry in his laughter, and then he put his forehead against the prayer beads in his hand and wept sadly up.

"Master, the queen is finished, no one can bully the master anymore..."

Jia Guixie wept loudly, clutching the prayer beads in his hand tightly.That poisonous woman is finally finished, that poisonous woman has finally received her retribution, hehehe, hahahaha——!

Concubine Jiagui was crying and laughing in Huayang Palace, while Concubine Xigui was so happy in Yuxian Palace that she was almost beating gongs and drums.Some of the concubines and maidservants in the harem cried like a noble concubine, some laughed like a noble concubine, and some were panicked, fearing that they would be the next one to be sent to the East Fourth Institute.

At the gate of the South Third Courtyard, there were several imperial guards, all of them holding long knives, which made people feel flustered and frightened.Chang Jing carefully closed the door, hurriedly ran into the house through the small courtyard, closed the door again, then walked through a long corridor, opened a door and entered: "Master, the situation is not right."

"What's wrong?" The person in the room was drawing a sketch on white paper with a pencil.

"Master, all the palace people in the West Third Courtyard are gone. There are many more guards with knives on the outermost side. Something must have happened!"

"Huh?" Zhuo Ji put down his pen, and Xiaohui, who was acting as a model, jumped up in a hurry: "What happened?"

"I just don't know!"

Zhuo Ji's eyes twinkled, and he said: "You guys collect your things. Either someone died in the West Third Courtyard, or something major happened outside the West Third Courtyard. There is no one in the West Third Courtyard?"

"No! The servant said it out of curiosity, so I went out to have a look, but I saw a lot of guards with knives outside. The servant hurried back."

Zhuo Ji: "That's because something happened outside. Don't panic. We didn't do anything bad, so don't be guilty. Even if we knew about the monkey, we wouldn't make such a big move. Probably something big happened in the palace."

Chang Jing and Xiaohui also felt that they had overreacted when they heard what their master said.Xiaohui put away her master's brushes, drawing boards, and drawing paper, and Chang Jing was frowning again.

"Master, will the servants still go to the Lishantang to get the dinner meal?"

Xiaohui stared: "Why don't you go? That's the master's palace!"

Zhuo Ji: "You two go together."

"Yes."

Emperor Yong'an has been in Shoukang Palace all the time.An hour later, Zhang Xian hurried in from the outside with a pale face, and several guards who followed him to Houde Palace, some of them were holding things in their hands.As soon as Zhang Xian came in, he knelt down and said, "Long live, I found a few things in the Houde Palace. I don't dare to talk nonsense, so I ask Wan live to see it for myself!"

Emperor Yong'an: "Submit it!"

Zhang Xian looked at the empress dowager in embarrassment, and the empress dowager took a deep breath: "Bring it up. No matter what it is, my old bones can bear it!"

After receiving the emperor's approving look, Zhang Xian signaled to the guards behind him.Several guards stepped forward and put things on the ground one by one, and lifted the wrapped silk cloth.As soon as she saw the silk cloth, the Queen Mother's head was stunned.

Emperor Yong'an stood up with a livid face: "Help the Queen Mother in!"

The Empress Dowager refused the support from her personal nurse. She tried her best to suppress the shock in her heart, and said in a hoarse voice: "What else, bring it up! I want to see what else that poisonous woman has done!"

Zhang Xian begged: "Queen Mother, I beg you, please don't watch."

"take it out!"

■

"Master, it's really bad!"

Chang Jing and Xiao Hui ran in with two food boxes in panic.Zhuo Ji, who was in a daze, looked up: "What happened?"

Xiaohui said quickly: "The guards at the gate did not allow the slaves and Chang Jing to go out. They told us to wait at the gate, and a guard went to the Lishantang to pick up meals and brought them to us, and told us not to leave the West Third Courtyard."

Chang Jing: "And master, there are actually two food boxes, which are still very heavy!"

The habitual laziness in Zhuo Ji's eyes turned into thinking, and he asked, "Did they say anything?"

Xiaohui: "I just said that you are not allowed to go out. Nu Maid and Chang Jing didn't dare to inquire about it, they all looked scary."

Chang Jing: "Master, those guards did not embarrass the slaves, and their words were very polite. It's just that their aura is very scary."

Xiaohui also nodded in agreement: "That's right, the servant girl even told Chang Jing, is it true that all the guards in the palace are so polite?"

Zhuo Ji: "Let's see what to eat, I'm hungry."

The two of them didn't want the master to figure out why, since they can't figure it out, then let's not think about it.Xiaohui opened the food box and exclaimed "Wow".On the first layer of the food box, there is a plate of mouth-watering sweet and sour fish, surrounded by seven or eight kinds of exquisite side dishes, packed in seven or eight small plates.

The dishes in the two food boxes are placed on a table.There are fish, chicken, duck, eggs, and the freshest seasonal vegetables.Zhuo Ji picked up a piece of green vegetable with chopsticks and put it into his mouth, chewed it slowly a few times, and swallowed: "It tastes good."

"Master, Uncle Wang has brought us so much, will there be no accidents?" It was the first time Chang Jing and Xiao Hui had seen such exquisite food since entering the palace.

Xiaohui and Chang Jing were terrified.Zhuo Ji: "Since he dares to give it, nothing will happen to him. Eat it. Even if something happens, you can't be a starving ghost."

Xiaohui and Chang Jing looked at the master and saw that the master was eating seriously, so they didn't say anything, and picked up chopsticks to serve the master.Zhuo Ji has been in the palace for three years, this is the best time he has ever eaten.The people in the Lishantang will take care of him, but they dare not be too blatant, for fear that it will spread to the queen's ears and bring disaster to him.Zhuo Ji ate very satisfied, but Xiaohui and Chang Jing were worried.When they were full, Zhuo Ji asked Xiaohui and Chang Jing to go down to eat.The two took the rest of the meal away.

When Zhuo Ji first entered the palace, he was very unaccustomed to giving Xiaohui and Chang Jing his leftovers.But after three years, he got used to some things that he was not used to.This is also because of his low status.If he has a high status, Chang Jing and Xiao Hui can have their own meal quota.Because of this, Zhuo Ji developed a habit when eating, that is, only part of the dishes on the plate were touched, and the rest was left untouched by his chopsticks.

Wang Bao sent Xiao Linzi to tell him that he seldom went out recently, there were more guards with knives outside today, and the dinner dishes were extraordinarily rich... Zhuo Ji did not tell Xiaohui and Chang Jing that this meal did not come from Lishantang .It's so delicious, the chefs in Lishantang can't cook meals with this taste.

Zhuo Ji closed his eyes with the shaking of the rocking chair. The dinner was delicious, and he was a little drowsy now.As for the reason for this, Zhuo Ji has already guessed a bit.Wang Bao didn't tell him what happened, but the information he sent to him through Xiao Linzi was enough for him to guess something.Someone must have noticed him.It won't be the queen, it will be...

The entire West Third Courtyard was quiet, but outside the West Third Courtyard, everything was turned upside down.Zhang Xian led people to search the Houde Palace for witchcraft engraved with the birth date of the Empress Dowager, Jiaguixie and Xiguifei.What's even more frenzied is that in the dark room behind the Queen's bedchamber in Houde Palace, there are actually two mummies of fetuses hidden.After tortured and tortured the maids and eunuchs around the queen, it was found that the two mummy fetuses were actually made of the corpses of the queen's two aborted fetuses!And three of the princes who died early in the harem came from the hands of the queen!

When the queen was still a concubine, she had one child, and after she entered the palace and became a queen, she had two children.These two fetal mummies are the two fetuses that were miscarried after the queen entered the uterus.Seeing these two fetal mummies, the empress dowager fainted on the spot.There are not only these terrible things in Houde Palace, but also unknown medicine powder, talisman paper with the emperor’s birthday, the emperor’s hair and nails, and more than 20 taels of silver hidden in the empress’ private treasury of Houde Palace. There are countless famous paintings of antique jade wares, and even a lot of obscene utensils!

In Concubine Shu's bedroom, there is a witchcraft engraved with Jiaguixie's name and birth date, which is similar to the medicine powder found in Houde Palace.There is nothing suspicious in Concubine Hui's bedroom, but there are two big boxes of silver.The emperor was angry and laid down millions of corpses.Emperor Yong'an returned to Fengtian Hall and issued several imperial edicts.The imperial guards led the forbidden army to conduct a thorough search of the harem, and the imperial forest army arrested and confiscated Cheng (the empress), Na (the concubine Shu), and Zhou (the concubine Hui).

After this incident spread to Huayang Palace and Yuxian Palace, Jiaguixie and Xiguifei passed out from crying.Two of Concubine Xi's children died young, and one was miscarried eight years ago when the fetus was four months old. Since then, Concubine Xi has not been able to conceive a dragon heir.And two years ago, Jiaguixie lost her five-month-old prince in pain.After waking up, Jiaguixie and Xiguifei, regardless of the eunuch who was rummaging through boxes and cabinets in the palace, went straight to Fengtian Hall crying.

"Your Majesty... Mrs. Cheng killed my child... Mrs. Cheng killed my child..."

The grief-stricken Jiagui Xie didn't even care about the self-proclaiming she should have.All he knew was that it was Cheng who killed his emperor's son.That child is also a prince...

"Your Majesty... you have to make decisions for me, you have to make decisions for me. My child was killed like that, how can I live, how can I live..."

Concubine Xi Gui, who was as distraught as Jia Guixie, cried and fell at the emperor's feet.The two people who usually fight each other are just a sad mother who knows the truth at this time.It has been confirmed that among the children of Concubine Xi who died young, the prince was killed by being fed unclean food by the empress.

"Zhen, I will give you an explanation. My emperor's son can't just die like this." Emperor Yong'an comforted his concubine and concubine.He knew Cheng's madness, and knew that there must be something shameful in Houde Palace, but even though he was prepared, he never expected it to be something like that.