Linque

The fold was as heavy as a weight, and it made him prostrate on the ground. Xu Shao's eyes turned black, and he said incoherently: "Your Majesty, I dare not, I am guilty, I..."

What responded to him was the silence of the whole hall.

The heavy and terrifying imperial coercion filled the hall in the long silence, and every inch of time was extremely difficult.

Ling Ye remained silent for a long time with a sullen face. He gently tapped the table with his knuckles, and it fell into the ears of the kneeling man. Every sound was particularly heart-warming.

After a long time, when the voice stopped, the person lying on the ground held his breath in panic, his heart jumped into his throat, but he suddenly picked up the ink pen on the desk and wrote the memorial directly.

Kneeling in front of the imperial court is as hard as cutting flesh with a blunt knife.

Time passed very slowly, Chu Heng sat in the back and ate the fruit, his eyes fell on the soft and thick carpet under his feet.

Here the brocade cashmere rug is the same as that in the cella study.From the first time he came to the imperial court until now, he has never saluted in places other than the study.

"It's comfortable to kneel in the main hall." Recalling Ling Ye's irony just now, Chu Heng couldn't help squatting down and touching the blanket.

Really eccentric.

A smile appeared in his eyes, as if a flower bloomed in his heart, shaking and shaking, very happy.Just as he was about to get up, he caught a glimpse of a few books that were scattered on the bottom of the Bogu shelf facing him.

Chu Heng was slightly surprised, and when he got up and got closer, he realized that it was actually a stack of scriptures, a corner of the volume was slightly rolled up, and it was obvious that it had been read many times.

Xu Shao's face was as white as paper, kneeling in front of the imperial case, and the cold sweat on his forehead dried again after being wet, and then condensed into fine drops of water hanging on his forehead hair.A long time had passed, and the emperor still did not speak. He knelt like needles and waited for the Holy Judgment to arrive in panic.

The handwriting on the book under the nose is very familiar. It was after the winter solstice last year that his father, Jiayonghou Xu Ao, asked for posthumous posthumous titles for the deceased prince's biological mother, Xu's daughter.

This is the emperor's Nilin, and it is also the knife that has been hanging on Jiazhao Xu's head.

In the fourth year of Xuanxi, Empress Dowager Zhong ordered to choose a good concubine for the emperor from among the noble daughters of the Kyushu family.

Although the emperor's harem has been vacant for a long time, everyone in the Kyushu family knows that this is not a good opportunity for the phoenix to ascend to the branch and win the emperor's heart alone.

The Empress Dowager is in charge of the court, and the King of Qi is ambitious.The power of the Son of Heaven has been left behind for a long time, the emperor has declined, and there is no name for the emperor, but the emperor's mother's home in the northern border of Taxue City should not be underestimated, and it is not yet known who will die.Most of the aristocratic families in Kyushu are onlookers, and no one is willing to send their daughters to gamble.

Jiazhao Xu, who was at the bottom of the family of Dayin, recommended himself. Xu Ao, the Marquis of Jiayong, secretly expressed his loyalty to the queen mother and sent his eldest daughter into the palace, willing to become a chess piece for the queen mother to control the inner court.

Ling Ye raised his eyes, looked indifferently at the Xu family's children who were kneeling on the ground, soaked in sweat, and suddenly remembered something from the long past.

Xuanxi's four years were the most difficult years in his career as emperor.

In that year, according to Dayin's ancestral system, he was supposed to get married and then rule in person, but the eldest son of the Empress Dowager, King Qi, became more and more powerful, and his wings were growing day by day.

The queen mother tried her best to obstruct the emperor's wedding on the grounds that he was still young, saying that Dayin's empress and the emperor had the same respect as the emperor. Inappropriate, so Linchao called the system and refused to return the power.The government and the opposition were arguing about this, and hundreds of officials were in dispute.

At this time, a sudden riot broke out on the border of Shuozhou, and his mother's family, the Gu family from the northern border, led the army to fight. For a while, the limelight was unparalleled, and the few royalists in the court took this opportunity to put pressure on the Queen Mother.At that time, Ling Ye thought that the point of re-dividing the power of the empire had come.

Everything that happened after that also confirmed that the battle in the northern border was indeed an opportunity, but it was not his.

His uncle Shuozhou Governor Gu Chongshan "accidentally" died on the battlefield under the secret action of King Qi, and the Gu family in the northern border suffered heavy losses.His most solid backing, Dayin's sharpest weapon, the Shuozhou cavalry, is about to fall into the hands of others.

Fortunately, his grandfather, Gu Han, who is nearly sixty years old, went into battle, frightened a lot of families who wanted to share the military power in the northern border, and regained control of the Shuozhou Iron Cavalry with a thunderous force. Before the funeral was over, he brought his cousin Brother, Gu Yanshi, the young son of the Duke of Zhenguo, went to the battlefield with filial piety and armor.

Although King Qi failed to get involved in the military power in the northern border, this time, he still won.

In the imperial capital, Empress Dowager Zhong suddenly backed down and decided to take the lead in choosing a concubine for the emperor.As soon as this move came out, the royalists who were furious at the court because of the emperor's unmarriage were temporarily pacified by the empress dowager.

Now that the queen mother has acted like the emperor's mother, even if the Gu family in the north has objections to the concubine's non-marriage, as long as the person sitting on the dragon chair remains the same, Feihua will be able to step on the snow city when the enemy is in front of her. He didn't dare to do anything else, and would only willingly continue to work on the front line to ensure the stability of Dayin's border, and to ensure that the emperor with half of Gu's blood in his body ruled the country without any danger.

At the same time, because the emperor's mother's uncle, Gu Chongshan, was newly mourned, and the Gu's family kept their filial piety, and the principles of heaven always prevailed, the Empress Dowager logically excluded Gu's daughter from the list of concubines, directly cutting off the possibility of the emperor's mother's family entering the palace to protect her.So Xu's daughter selected by the queen mother was able to become a concubine without any accident.

As for whether he, the emperor, was willing or not, his opinion really didn't matter at all during the four years of Xuanxi, which was the most difficult and forbearing period.

From this, three birds with one stone, the Empress Dowager has everything inside and out, holding most of the former court and the entire inner court firmly in the palm of her hand.King Qi's arrogance reached the extreme, and his throne became more and more unstable.

In the fifth year of Xuanxi, Qingyan, the eldest son of the emperor, was born.

Ling Ye has always known that at least before he regained power, Qingyan was more or less a pawn as well.Both for him and the queen mother, whether he wants to or not.

He plotted secretly, accumulated strength, and waited for the right time to kill with one blow. Qingyan became the reassurance of the royalists in the imperial court.

The Empress Dowager must have a biological mother to control the child in her hands, to deal with the emperor's mother's family and the royalist party in the court, so as to temporarily suppress the constant voices in the court to marry the emperor and concubine, and extend the heirs, and provide for her eldest son, King Qi. Fight for another day to change the time.

Was it sad at that time?Every day is difficult, and it is extremely difficult. If you make a mistake, you will lose, and there is a last resort everywhere.

Can you not argue?If you don't fight, you have to die, if you can't fight, you have to die. There are three thousand paths in the world, and there is only one path for him to walk.

Fate and power have always been linked between the members of the Tian family and the sons-in-law.

This Jiuchong Que is so big, and there are only a few people living there, but it happens that it is life and death, and no one can tolerate anyone.Everyone has their own goals, only Qingyan is a pure piece on the chessboard.

It is often said that tigers are poisonous and do not eat their offspring, but humans are even more vicious than birds and beasts.Qingyan was only so old at that time, a small ball, unable to speak, only knew to wave his little hands with tears in his eyes, whooping.At first he thought it was Qingyan who was crying, but later he realized that it was a child suffering.

The medicine was given by the Empress Dowager, but concubine Xu fed it.

The Empress Dowager just needs a chess piece to prevaricate the courtiers, and she is not happy to see a smart and healthy eldest son of the emperor. She needs Jiazhao Xu's loyalty, and Qingyan is the test stone——

At first he thought so, until the shadow guards of the Son of Heaven secretly interrogated Qingyan's wet nurse, and he didn't know that the queen mother gave it to her on her own initiative.

That's right, he, the emperor, is nothing to be afraid of in the eyes of the queen mother, let alone a child who can't walk a single way and can be manipulated by others.The Empress Dowager wanted to ensure Jiazhao Xu's loyalty, but she did not use Qingyan, but Concubine Xu herself.Concubine Xu turned her head and went to the Chonghua Palace, and fed all the medicine to Qingyan, to show that she would die.

The queen mother also knew.

"The Ai family said that as long as she doesn't do what she shouldn't do, her life will be safe and her family will be safe, and she will never break her promise. This medicine won't do anything to her, but it's just a way to show her loyalty. It's nothing at all. The powerful medicine will not cause people to suffer a little bit on weekdays, it is just a knock or two, and the Ai family is not stingy with the antidote."

In the sixth year of Xuanxi, the victory and defeat had been decided, and the emperor and the empress dowager had the only private conversation in Zengli of the Cihe Palace. The Ai family never thought that she would feed the eldest son of the emperor who is not yet one year old, the child is too young to withstand the effects of the medicine, although he will not die, he will just suffer - this Ai family reminded her."

"Did the emperor find out about this later? But it doesn't matter. With Concubine Xu's medicine, the Jiazhao Xu family has no room to change, and the purpose of mourning the family has also been achieved. Concubine Xu's move is really amazing. It's the second time to sacrifice yourself and express your loyalty. The most important thing is that Jiazhao Xu never thought that you would win, so he took the eldest son of the "old emperor" to sell to the future "new emperor" in advance , Forge a great good relationship. Concubine Xu is really beautiful in doing this, and it really makes people feel ironic." The queen mother looked at the face in front of her that was very similar to the former emperor and empress Gu Huiyin, and said so.

"Although you don't have any relationship with her, and you don't even respect each other like ice on weekdays, the emperor is still not cruel enough. If you are in mourning, don't say that you are honorable and decent after knowing this, and you will lose your life." I will keep it for her, and it is justified to hang it immediately. You have done your best to a woman who only said a few words on the day of being a concubine. Mercy, once you touch your bottom line, there will be a second time."

"However, the Ai family also thought about it carefully later. In fact, in the final analysis, I can't blame others. I can only blame the emperor. You hide your thoughts too deeply. You can't bear everything, and you don't show your sharpness. Jiazhao Xu can't see you. Well, this is what makes Qing Yan suffer alive. Emperor, do you think this is the reason?" The Empress Dowager spoke very slowly, full of malice, as if she was afraid that he would not be able to hear clearly, and said every word extremely Clear and slow. ①

Ling Ye remembered that at that time, Qingyan always had headaches, fever and symptoms, and he came and went, and he became suspicious.After the shadow guards of the Son of Heaven conducted a secret investigation, he couldn't help but bring Qing Yan back to the Mingcheng Hall, saying that he wanted to raise and educate him himself, and let the shadow guards detoxify him in secret.

It's not that he doesn't want to deal with the Xu family, but that the time hasn't come yet. Once he strikes rashly, the queen mother will notice the power of the secret gathering in an instant, and years of planning will turn into dust if he is not careful.

The Empress Dowager and King Qi lost in his accumulation of forbearance and their underestimation of the enemy who thought they had a chance of winning.

On the Dragon Boat Festival in the sixth year of Xuanxi, on a heavy rainy night, the palace of the imperial capital was changed, and the king of Qi forced the palace to rebel.Ling Ye sat on the Kowloon Chair in the Tai Chi Hall, which symbolized the supreme imperial power. In the first half of the night, he witnessed the blood-stained Nine Layers Palace, and in the second half of the night, he watched the heavy rain wash away the blood.

After one night, King Qi was defeated and fled, the Queen Mother retreated to the Palace of Mercy and Harmony, Xu's daughter assisted King Qi's palace to change, and committed suicide in fear of crime that night when the incident failed.

One month later, Gu Yanshi, the eldest son of the Duke of Zhenguo, beheaded the King of Qi on the shore of Chengshui, avenged his father Gu Chongshan's blood hatred with his own hands, and became famous in the first battle.

In the next three months, those who should be relegated will be relegated, those who should be promoted will be promoted, and those who should be liquidated will be liquidated.After the joint trial of the three divisions, the Yanxi Zhong family of the queen mother of Qi was punished for the crime of treason, and the barbarians punished the three clans.

As for the Xu family of Jiazhao, feeding medicine to Qingyan is one thing, and assisting the palace change is the second. The two things he can't tolerate, the concubine Xu committed suicide for one, and he gave a glass of poisoned wine to let the people of Jiayonghou's mansion Choose yourself.

So three days later, when Mrs. Jiayong Hou heard that her daughter had been murdered by the rebellious party of King Qi, she was overwhelmed with grief and anger, and then died.As for the rest of Jiazhao Xu's family, Ling Ye only hung a knife and did not move for the time being.It has nothing to do with anything else, it's just because Qingyan can't have a biological mother who is a conspiracy against the rebellious party, otherwise it will be difficult to correct her position.

But that doesn't mean everything can be treated as if it never happened.

In the summer of the sixth year of Xuanxi, Xu's mother, the eldest son of the emperor, died and was buried in a separate tomb. She was not given a posthumous posthumous title, was not enshrined in a jade certificate, was not attached to the emperor's mausoleum, was never given a posthumous posthumous title, and would never enter the underground palace.

The heavy imperial majesty in the Jingcheng Hall made people almost breathless, and every inch of time seemed extraordinarily long.

Xu Shao knelt for a long time, his face was pale, his whole body trembling, from the tingling pain in his legs at the beginning to kneeling, he could no longer feel the existence of his legs. cold.

Although Xu Shao didn't know exactly what his elder sister had done in the palace to make the emperor so cold, but he knew that this was enough for Jiazhao Xu's side to be King Qi.

The emperor did not liquidate it, but it was because the Jiayonghou Mansion was the home of the eldest son and his mother. In order to preserve the honor of the eldest son of the emperor, he left a line and did not label the Xu family as a rebellious party - because the eldest son of the emperor wanted to The crown prince.

In the new winter of the seventh year of Xuanxi, the emperor tried his best to overcome all opinions, worshiped heaven and earth, and paid homage to the Taimiao, and made Qingyan, the eldest son of the emperor, the heir of Dayin.

After the crown prince was established, there was a burst of calls in the court to ask for the posthumous title of the crown prince's biological mother.Everyone knows that Jiazhao Xu used to be the Empress Dowager's henchman, and no one dared to mention the word "Queen". Jiayonghou Xu Ao led the crowd to write a letter, requesting that the Chu Jun's biological mother be named the Royal Concubine.

Xu Shao clearly remembered that after his father handed over this copybook, the emperor kept it and never issued it, and never said a word about it.

Three days later, when the heavy snow stopped in the imperial capital, Ling Qi, the head of the shadow guard of the Son of Heaven, went to the Marquis of Jiayong's mansion and brought a glass of wine from the emperor.

When the snow was clear and the sun was clear, Ling Qi stood in the main hall of the Hou Mansion, looked indifferently at the people in the Hou Mansion who were kneeling on the ground like dead ashes, and said, "Your Majesty, Master Hou, do you understand?"

The wine in the marigold is clear and bright, with a slight reddish hue. Xu Shao has seen this kind of wine twice, the first time he took his mother away, and the second time, when his father was about to drink it with his hands shaking in despair. At the end of the day, Ling Qi kicked out a burst of energy with his fingers and knocked over the golden cup that Marquis Jiayong was pressing to his lips.

The poisonous wine flowed down Jiayonghou's fingers, and Ling Qi's voice did not fluctuate: "Master Hou, Your Majesty has already spared Jiazhao Xu twice, and there will be no third time. I hope Lord Hou will take care of himself." .”

The despair at that time, Xu Shao can still clearly remember now, no one in Jiayonghou Mansion will forget the cold aura emitted by the poisoned wine on the ground, and no one will be lucky to survive the catastrophe.Everyone knows that the snow in Jiazhao Xu's sky is hard to fall.

The next day, Xu Ao, Marquis of Jiayong, went to the Hall of Jingcheng, where the head of Ji prostrated himself on the ground to plead guilty, but failed to see the face of the sky.No one in the court dared to mention the matter of the crown prince's birth mother's recovery, and all the documents that were written in the letter were kept, and the emperor did not anger anyone because of this.

Since then, life has been going smoothly, and after a long time, no one mentions these old things, and they all treat them as retreads.

The harem has been vacant for a long time, and many aristocratic families have tried to find out, but the emperor has never planned to draft a concubine. There is only one prince, Qingyan, in the palace, and he is blessed by nature.

Everyone can see the situation on the bright side, and Jiazhao Xu's family of princes and mothers naturally also rises with the tide.Not counting the emperor's old scores for the time being, Xu Ao, the Marquis of Jiayong, continued to serve in the court, and most of the Xu family's children were regarded as up-to-date.

No matter what happened in the past, Jiazhao Xu's family must have been the most loyal supporter of the prince since the day the crown prince took the throne-this is obviously the emperor's acquiescence, otherwise the Xu family would not be released when the Qi king was defeated and the whole dynasty was liquidated. It's too late, and the Jiayonghou Mansion knows it well.

It's just that in the day after day of acquiescence, cups of flattering yellow soup are eaten, and as time goes by, the cup of poisonous wine that exudes yin and cold is suppressed by so many splendors, and even the Xu family themselves gradually begin to forget it. .

Until today, when the emperor threw this booklet from a year ago again, Xu Shao suddenly realized that the Xu family had lost its foundation long ago, and that life and death, honor and disgrace really depended on the emperor's thought.

Flipping hands, it is the crown prince's wings, relatives of the emperor.

Overthrowing the hand, it is the king of Qi who rebelled against the party and conspired against the rebellious ministers.

The entire Jiayonghou Mansion is like walking on ice dressed in brocade clothes. If the ice layer under your feet is broken, the beauty all over your body will become a reminder after falling into the water!

Xu Shao lay on the ground, his fingers turned white, and he shivered twice.

The earth dragon was burned in the Jingcheng Hall, and the smoked cage was lit in front of the imperial case, and the warm smoke curled up, but Xu Shao felt that he was in a glacier.

The gold bricks on the ground seemed to be exuding a cold breath, and the chill ran down his fingers and knees into his heart, making his teeth shiver uncontrollably.

For the first time, he realized so clearly that the entire Jiazhao Xu family is in the vast ocean, and the prince is the only driftwood they can touch.

Some time ago, Qing Yan and Gu Yanshi went to the northern border of the emperor's mother's house to visit Xuecheng, but they have not returned to the imperial capital yet.

When he was less than one year old, he was taken to Ming Cheng Palace by the emperor to be raised by himself, and he was the eyeball of the whole palace. In the past two years, the emperor rejected all the drafts for the selection of concubines, the reason was that the country had already been established, and the prince was still young.The holy family has come here with great solemnity. In the future, the prince will practice the emperor's pole, and the Jiazhao may be the next flying flower to step on the snow city.

Thinking of this, Xu Shao breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little warmth under his knees, and it was no longer so cold.

He lay down on the ground, his eyes fell on the notebook in front of him inadvertently, the handwriting on it was clearly visible, he remembered very clearly that it took his father Jiayonghou four or five days to forcefully write this notebook, and wandered again. After hesitating for two or three days, I dared to hand it in after a few times of courage.

He also said at the time that his father was too timid, and the crown prince was already on the throne, so could it be possible for the emperor to tamper with his bloodline?No one can make a mistake in asking for the posthumous posthumous title of imperial concubine for the birth mother of the crown prince.

Xu Shao remembered that at that time, Marquis Jiayong reprimanded him a few words, his father said... what did he say, Xu Shao thought for a long time, and suddenly there was a "thud" in his heart, and his expression changed a few times in an instant.

That's right, the crown prince was raised by the emperor's side, and he was not very close to the Jiazhao Xu family since he was a child, but was very close to the emperor's mother family, the Gu family.

At that time, he vaguely learned from his father that the elder sister was only planning for the family in the palace. Except for the concubine who had contact with the emperor on that day, the rest of the time was always by the queen mother's side, and she didn't even talk to the emperor. Can't say a few words.In order to show favor, the eldest sister was not kind to the prince, and even did a lot of abuse.

The child's mind is pure and ignorant, but most of all he recognizes good and bad, and he has long been resistant to Xu's heart.When the prince is the governor, the emperor will definitely tell these past events.Once the prince has a grudge in his heart, how can he trust the Xu family again in the future?

A basin of snow water was poured over his head, and Xu Shao suddenly felt as if he had fallen into a hole in the ice, his fingers were broken and his whole body was chilling.

That day in Mingzheng Martial Arts Hall, Xiao Gaomin's contemptuous and disdainful eyes, and Su Lang's words "self-righteousness is not a skill", only felt annoyed at that time, but today I realized that it was so.

That's it!

The greatness of the emperor's kindness is forgiveness. The Xu family was once a rebellious party of the king of Qi. The emperor did not liquidate it. He wanted them to be the crown prince's wings and pawns. Therefore, he gave the only way to survive. Jiazhao Xu's family You have no choice, you have to die if you don't leave.

Thunderbolt is hopeless, Jiayonghou's mansion made a big mistake from the very beginning, besides, Concubine Xu acted like this at the beginning, without any motherly heart, the crown prince would not be kind to Xu's family, Jiazhao Xu's family is afraid that they will never ascend to the cloud The day of resurrection.

It is said that rewards are not rewards, and punishments are not punished.Thunder, rain and dew are all the favor of the king, and their whole family can only kneel and thank. How terrible the lord of Kyushu who was able to fight from the encirclement of the Queen Mother Qi Wang back then, life and death are all in the hands of him alone on the dragon chair.

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Note ①The Queen Mother’s words were intentional. Of course she later knew that the emperor’s treatment of Xu was not cruel enough. The most injured Qing Yan stabbed the emperor in the heart.