Force a good concubine

Different from the Li Palace built in Dingjiangkou, in order to make it convenient for the descendants of the clan to worship from time to time, and also worried that the emperor would go out to patrol and disturb the people in the future, when Emperor Gaozu established the capital, he deliberately located the ancestral temple in the suburbs not far from the capital. It only takes three days for the carriage to slow down. This time, the Empress Dowager did not need the cumbersome carriage, but only used a four-horse-drawn phoenix chariot to drive fast, and arrived at the fasting palace in just one night and one day.

The Luan Yi Bureau has been in charge of the palace for a long time, and the news has been sealed tightly. The clan members outside only know that the emperor is fasting quietly in the fasting palace, and no outsiders are seen. Seeing the queen mother come out of Beijing to pay homage to the late emperor and Emperor Ai, they all thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to flatter them, and they were all in high spirits. He knelt down in front of the gate of the fasting palace to greet Feng, and when Feng arrived, they kowtowed together according to their ranks to say hello.

The more time passed, the more she had to pretend that nothing had happened to outsiders. The Empress Dowager suppressed her anxiety and sat on the chariot, seeing all the people in the clan, young and old, and letting these people cry to herself and settle their old accounts before she turned to Madam Xu nodded.The female master of ceremonies sang "get up", and the phoenix chariot entered the fasting palace steadily.

Lin Yuan and Cui Chengxiu had been waiting under the corridor for more than half an hour. Both of them had a thin layer of snow on their bodies. When they saw the Empress Dowager, they rushed up to salute from left to right.

"You don't need to talk about etiquette like this." The Empress Dowager supported Nanny Xu's hand to get off the chariot. Although her face was calm, because her mind was not in the right place, she almost staggered when her crested shoes stepped on the bluestone road, and she was careful to hold her hand. Holding Xu Nanny's hand, she calmed down and said again, "You two are here, so who is serving the emperor now?"

Lin Yuan took a look at Cui Chengxiu, who shrank his head and said, "Your Majesty's pulse has stabilized a little bit now. Master Wei Wei and Chen Duan of the Tai Hospital have prescribed a new prescription. Wei Fengchun and Hu Ruanniang are waiting to take the medicine and return to the old man. Your Majesty, the first Hu Nu Shi is also waiting here with the minister, but His Majesty really cannot do without and has no choice but to go back to serve, so the minister summoned her here."

"How can there be only two people around the emperor?" The queen mother heard Lin Yuan's intention of defending her, and looked back at Madam Xu, "You and Cui Xi both go, let them come here, the Ai family has something to say " She paused for a while, and then said, "It's not convenient for the Ai family to go directly to the bedroom right now, you two should take a good look at how the emperor is doing, and if it gets better, let the Wei family come here as well."

After all, it is an ashram for worshiping heaven and fasting, and the land is not very big. The emperor’s palace is only a narrow road away from here. Seeing that Nanny Xu and Cui Xi are leading the way, Cui Chengxiu is sweating secretly, and has never thought of procrastinating. Way, Cui Xi has already led Gu Yan and others into the Moon Gate, so he can only sigh helplessly in his heart.

"There is only one thing to call you here." The queen mother was worried about the emperor, so she didn't enter the palace, but set up a seat in the shelter under the corridor, looked at the few people kneeling in the courtyard, and said to Wei's mansion: "Leaving the palace first again. Hunting and banquets, Ai's family is also worried, the guards who return to Beijing to deliver the booklets all say the same thing, they keep saying that the emperor looks very energetic, why is he suddenly ill at this moment?"

"Reporting to the old lady," Wei Fu pondered for a moment, "I looked at your majesty's pulse, I was exhausted, and my mind was too exhausted. Now that I think about it, I'm afraid it's because your majesty was too tired when he was camping. It's just that his body is so strong that it's hard to detect it. , and young and competitive, blindly persevering, and then burst out in a fit of anger."

"Is it important?"

"Fortunately, Your Majesty is young and not afraid of wear and tear." Wei Fu saw that the Queen Mother was a little dazed, and after a slight pause in his voice, he found his words, without quoting scriptures, and just said, "It's like a small tree. It is when the yang qi is growing and transpiring, it is the occasional frost and snow, and when the spring wind and rain are cultivated, it will naturally return to its original state."

"So, the emperor's illness is all right?" The queen mother breathed a sigh of relief, clasped her palms together and murmured a few Buddhist names, promised a few incense coins for the emperor, and then looked at Wei's mansion with a pleasing expression, "So mourning family The emperor entrusted it to Mr. Wei, Mr. Wei and Mr. Chen have worked hard these few days, and they don’t have to go out of the palace, so they rest in this side hall. After the emperor is well, the Ai family asked her to pay for it in person.”

This is the contribution of Xu Wei's family to rescue him. The people in Wei's mansion were overjoyed. Fortunately, he has been working in the imperial hospital for many years, and he can still maintain a mature and prudent demeanor. He kowtowed and followed Cui Xi Back to the emperor's bedroom, his steps were barely considered calm, but his cuffs were secretly clenched into two crumpled balls with both hands.

If there is something to be rewarded, naturally there is also something to be punished. Cui Chengxiu and Wei Fengchun were bound by their responsibilities. They knelt at the front and tremblingly searched for their opinions. Unexpectedly, the queen mother passed them and pointed the finger directly at Gu Yuan: "Gu Yuan, Do you remember what the Ai family told you when they promised you to stay in front of the imperial court to redeem your sins in the name of secretary?"

"Yes." The night was getting darker, Gu Yuan was wearing thin clothes, and was blown cold by the cold wind, but he still managed to say every word very clearly, "The old lady wants the slaves to serve the young master with all their heart, and don't let the young master live without Festival, food and drink are deserted."

"From that day to today, how far have you achieved?"

If I didn't stay in the apse in a regular manner because I was worried that the officials would look sideways, but ignored the words of others and followed the emperor, wouldn't I be able to find out that the emperor's situation was wrong earlier?Gu Yan felt pain in his heart, and said in a low voice: "The servant has never done it."

Her words were full of sadness, and she didn't mean to defend herself, but it made the Queen Mother startled. "Listen to you, you seem to know what is important, how can you do things so upside down? Forget it," she sighed inaudibly, "Since you still have a bit of shame, Aijia also takes care of your face—now in winter The matter is over, and the emperor has cleared your innocence for a long time, so you can go home!"

Gu Yan had already been prepared to be punished, but unexpectedly, the queen mother wanted to send herself out of the palace if she didn't beat her or punish her. She was surprised for a while, but before she could speak, the queen mother said again: "I heard that your family will come to Beijing soon, and they are coming from afar. It's not easy, the Ai family rewards you 200 taels of silver to live in peace, remember, when you leave the palace, you are not allowed to mention a word about the affairs of the palace until you die, do you understand?"

This news made Gu Yuan even more at a loss than the last sentence. Seeing that the Queen Mother was like frost, he obviously didn't want to talk to him any more, so he had to kowtow and retreat with the maid. The Emperor Xindao once said that his mother and brother were far away. Jiangnan is safe and sound, why did he suddenly enter Beijing?

This time the Empress Dowager seemed to be determined to make Gu Yuan and the emperor a clean break, and dealt with it extremely vigorously, so that the maid watched Gu Yuan pack her luggage, and immediately ordered her to be sent back to Beijing.Cui Chengxiu grinned secretly, thinking for a moment in her heart, but in the end she still didn't speak, but Wei Fengchun cautiously pleaded with the queen mother: "Returning to the old lady, although she bears the name of Hu Ruanniang, but now, Gu Nvshi has already passed away." I won the favor of the young master, so I sent it back to the people—"

As expected, the Empress Dowager didn't know about this, so she was taken aback. Immediately, someone summoned Tong Shi to read the internal living notes carefully, but she was not happy. Instead, her face changed color with anger. Come on, Ai's family sent her out of the palace, it was really wrong!"

According to the daily life note, except for the emperor, empress dowager, and empress, only the female officials of Tongshi can read it. Wei Fengchun didn't know why. They kowtowed together like garlic, but in their hearts they hated him very much: If this matter could be said, he would rush to mention it just now, how could it be the turn of this idiot to speak?

He went to the Tongshi Museum to pass on the emperor’s intention to give Gu Yuan’s bedtime record. From the beginning to the end, only he and Tongshi’s female officer knew the details: Although the emperor had no time to spare, he was still worried that Gu Yuan would have a dissertation with Prince Gong’s son when he had time to spare. The female official who passed the decree in charge of the history, no matter whether Gu Yuan served the bed that night or not, she will record it on file. Except for the people in Taisu Hall, if anyone asks about Gu Yuan, they will always be with the emperor. Unknowingly, he continued to "serve the bed" for more than ten days, until the day before the emperor fell ill-wouldn't it be more convincing for Gu Yuan to be accused of flirting with the emperor by letting the queen mother read such a daily life note?

It was already dusk on the second day when Gu Yuan entered Beijing. Because of the strict order of the Empress Dowager, he did not even enter the gate of the palace. He only changed into ordinary people's clothes at the Shangyi Bureau and went out of the palace directly to receive the reward.At some point in the Shangyi Bureau, all the newcomers had been replaced, not even a familiar face was seen, and they always looked away when they saw Gu Yan, obviously very defensive.

Gu Yan's heart sank, he had already understood the general idea, and couldn't help but smiled wryly again.When you first entered the palace with your spirit, did you ever think that when you leave the palace, you will be in such a dazed state of mind like a lifetime ago?

It is clear that there is a vast sea and sky that I have been longing for for a long time, why did I feel unbearable pain when I took that step, as if I cut off the care in my heart?After stepping through the tall threshold, Gu Yan couldn't help but turn her head back, and looked into the depths of the glazed cornice again. She felt a sense of loss in her heart. After standing for a long time, she turned around and was about to take a step when she heard a laughing voice coming with the wind. The tone was neither high nor low, and the tone was neither fast nor slow, and it perfectly combined with the master's calm manner: "I once taught you etiquette. When you resign from the palace, you must be respectful and respectful. Kowtow repeatedly, why did you forget?"

Gu Yuan suddenly turned around, only to see a middle-aged woman standing under the palace wall, with a blue shirt and black hair, a wide forehead and long eyebrows, dignified and tidy with an air of flair, which makes people forget the commonplace.The woman held a horn lamp in her hand and looked at her with a smile. Her brows were filled with the joy of reunion after a long absence, but Gu Yan felt as if his internal organs had been blown cold by the night wind. He felt disgusted for a moment, and in the pain and disgust, But a gleam of clarity emerged in her mind, which made her restrain her trembling, and pulled the corners of her lips with difficulty: "So, it's all because of you—"

"After so many years, I have been in the palace again. I should have gained some knowledge. Why can't I talk?" Cheng Su smiled even more cheerfully, and his long eyebrows were raised, showing an air of reluctance to let the young people. "The empress dowager and His Majesty today have insight into the evils, so why should I wait for my ministers to say more?" She laughed, and walked a few steps towards Gu Yan, her voice was lowered, but the malice inside was even more innocent. Without concealment, "Little A Yuan, I said earlier that you do what I want, needless to say about your future, if you don't do what I want, there will be no hope of success in this life—why do you always refuse to listen to me?"