Xie Xiang

Liu Zao observed the four palace servants who served her.Gong'e and the eunuch are wearing the same robes and have similar body shapes, tall, short, fat and thin, as if they were carved out of the same mold.Only in the face, there is a little difference, but their expressions are so similar, the same cautious, the same lowered eyebrows.

If you are not paying attention, you will not know who is who.

Liu Zao chose this Gong'e because she found that she was the only one who could be alone with her.

They have two opportunities to be alone in a day, one time is right now, after feeding, she enters the hall alone to collect the bowls and chopsticks.There was another time when she got up every morning, she would kneel down and bring the clean clothes to the bed alone, while the rest prepared the warm soup for meals and washing in the outer hall.

At other times, if there are people serving her, there must be many people.

It must be better to talk with only one palace official in private than with several palace officials.

Gong'e seemed to be frightened, she stayed there for a while, then she lowered her head and whispered back: "My maidservant's humble name is Gongsun Chuo."

Liu Zao asked, "Are you the queen of the palace?" During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the son of the monarch was called Gongzi, and the son of a prince was called Gongsun. Many descendants of Gongsun took Gongsun as their surname to identify their identities.

Gong'e lowered her head and said: "The poor family has no genealogy."

Liu Zao felt her cautiousness and alienation, but she was not discouraged, and asked again: "Why did you enter the palace? Did you serve the Queen Mother from the beginning?"

There were footsteps outside the door, an eunuch came to the door, Gong'e didn't answer, and went to move the food table, this time Liu Zao didn't press it again, and moved away.

Gong'e bowed and retreated holding the food table.

Liu Zao looked at the eunuch at the door.The eunuch met her eyes, hurriedly lowered his body to salute in fear, and then retreated together with Gong'e.

The people in the palace are really strange.Liu Zao became more and more confused.They imprisoned her in this small palace, and they also prevented her from talking to others, so that the four palace people watched each other, and no one dared to say a word to her.

But Liu Zao was unexpectedly not angry.She figured out one thing.She has a great use in the palace, so while the palace people respectfully serve her and dare not make mistakes, they also dare not talk too much with her for fear of causing trouble.

As long as she is useful, she can live and hope to return to her grandmother.

Every day in the palace, Liu Zao missed his grandmother very much.

The next morning, the maid serving the clothes was changed, and Gongsun Chuo was in the outer hall preparing the meal.Liu Zao didn't ask any questions, and stretched out her arms, allowing the maid to dress her.

After thinking that he was not in any danger for the time being, Liu Zao was not so panicked.She paid more attention to the four palace servants, thinking of ways to get out of trouble.

Another incident in the evening confirmed her guess.

At night, Gongsun Chuo entered the palace holding a bowl of hot soup, and this time there was another maid beside her.

Liu Zao glanced at the jade bowl in her hand and asked, "What is this?"

Gongsun Chuo held the bowl but did not speak. Gong'e beside her said: "This is ginger soup, which can drive away the cold. The weather is suddenly cold. The emperor and grandson have just recovered from a serious illness, and their bones are weak, so we have to take precautions."

After that rain, there was indeed a little chill, and Liu Zao put another layer of toga over his single shirt.But this weather is only refreshing and comfortable when autumn comes, far from being cold enough.

After Gong'e finished speaking, she was a little nervous, fearing that Liu Zao would take the opportunity to make trouble, or use it as a threat to ask them to say something they should not say, so she was willing to drink the ginger soup.Unexpectedly, she just smiled slightly, took the jade bowl over, and lowered her head to take a sip.

It was a little hot, so it was not easy to drink it all in one go, so Liu Zao sat down and drank it slowly.

The people in the palace not only don't want to harm her for the time being, but are also very worried about her poor health and illnesses.Since it was the Empress Dowager who wanted her to enter the palace, and she is currently trapped in Changle Palace, the person in the palace can be accurately determined to be the Empress Dowager.

Just thank you?Is she the queen mother's minion, or does she have other plans?Liu Zao couldn't think of it for the time being.

After taking a sip of ginger soup, the stomach is warm and comfortable, but it is not so relaxing to drink a whole bowl of ginger soup.The ginger soup was pungent, Liu Zao felt as if his body was on fire, and he was also sweating, soaking his clothes.She had to prepare warm soup for the palace staff, and she wanted to take a bath.

In the next few days, Liu Zao chatted with the palace people from time to time.She changed her strategy, not just to one of them, but to everyone, asking her name, where she lived, why she entered the palace, who else was in the family, how they were doing in the palace, etc. Don't mention the Queen Mother anymore.

The palace people were vigilant at first, and they would not speak if they could not speak. Later, seeing that the emperor and grandson did not just talk to a certain person, but everyone took care of them, and the questions they asked were not embarrassing questions, they gradually became bolder and dared to speak. Say a word or two.

Liu Zao also told them about the days outside the palace.The palace people were obviously quite curious about this.What does it look like for the incomparably noble descendants of the Liu family, the direct blood of Emperor Xiaowu, to become ordinary people.They all guessed that they must be extremely resentful.

Don't want to let Liu Zao say that her life outside the palace is not bad, and she is even quite happy.

She has no airs, is approachable, and is completely different from those noble people in the palace.The palace people gradually became familiar with her, they still refused to say unnecessary words, but they were not so trembling.

Gongsun Chuo secretly looked at her several times, Liu Zao saw her, but pretended not to.She is waiting, waiting for a turning point.Sweet words can't bring you real intimacy, something has to happen to make people look her squarely.

Liu Zao wants to leave the palace, wants to go back, but right now she has no control over life or death, let alone freedom.She had to do something so that people could see her instead of just leaving her here.

After another three days like this, on the seventh day of Liu Zao's entry into the palace, a turning point came.

In the morning, Liu Zao used the court food, and walked around the courtyard twice as usual. She became more and more familiar with this palace day by day, sometimes she would stand under the palace wall to listen to the movement outside, and sometimes she could hear people passing by The sound of footsteps, sometimes it is quiet, nothing.

Based on this, she judged that this place should not be remote, and it should not be far from the Empress Dowager's Changxin Hall.

The empress dowager's place must be heavily guarded, except for the four palace men in the courtyard, there must be more guards outside.

Walking through the courtyard, Liu Zao returned to the room, and just as he sat down, there was a sudden commotion outside the courtyard door.

Liu Zaoteng stood up, and the four palace servants immediately rushed to the outside of the hall, looking at the courtyard gate and Liu Zao vigilantly.

After a while, the gate of the courtyard was knocked open with a bang, and many servants poured in outside the door. After entering the courtyard, they rushed straight to the hall, as if they wanted to catch Liu Zao.Liu Zao was startled, but did not move.The four palace servants were terrified, and stopped in front of Liu Zao, and the eunuch in charge shouted without confidence: "You, who are you? Do you know where this is? How dare you come here to act presumptuously!"

"They are my people, and I am the emperor of a big man. Is there any place in this world that I can't go to?" A young man in brocade clothes walked in from outside the door.

Without his order, the attendants took down all four palace servants, took them aside, and forced them to kneel down.

The eunuch who spoke just now was pushed to the ground, he was actually very scared, his voice was trembling, he still said: "The queen mother ordered that no one is allowed to visit the emperor's grandson, your majesty, is your majesty going to disobey the empress dowager?"

The young man's face immediately darkened, the attendant kicked the eunuch hard a few times, removed the purse from his waist, and stuffed it into his mouth, making him speechless.

Liu Zao remembered that this eunuch was named Hu Ao, and he was the least talkative on weekdays. He didn't think he had such courage.

The young man had already walked in front of Liu Zao, stared at her and said, "You are Liu Zao, the prince's orphan who was raised outside the palace?"

He looked a few years older than Liu Zao, taller, and his eyes were full of contempt.

Liu Zao remembered that her maid once said at home that the new emperor was named Liu He, who, like her, was the grandson of Emperor Wu and was the king of Changyi before he took the throne.She replied, "Yes."

Liu He sneered twice, walked to the couch in the middle and sat down.Liu Zao turned around and faced him, she was thinking what the emperor wanted to do when he came to her place?I don't know why, although the emperor came aggressively and showed his power, Liu Zao was not very afraid of her.

Liu He sat on the couch, looked at Liu Zao several times, and suddenly said something surprising: "If I were the queen mother, I'm afraid I would also make you emperor. Look at you, there is no mother to help you, and no courtiers to help you. She is still the daughter of Prince Wei, the most orthodox bloodline, no one can say anything about you. A person like you is really suitable to be a puppet emperor, and you can handle it as you want."

This remark was like a thunderbolt, which solved Liu Zao's doubts for the past few days, and she finally understood why the queen mother accepted her into the palace.

Liu He looked at her triumphantly, wanting to see her lose her composure.Liu Zao didn't say anything, nor was he angry at Liu He's words of humiliation and contempt.Liu He looked at it for a while, then felt bored, snorted, and said: "When the first emperor passed away, he had no heirs and no successor. The court was divided into two factions, the empress dowager and her father Liang Ji, and the general Sun Ciqing. They all have their own thoughts, and they all want to take advantage of this to control the court and cover the sky with one hand. The Empress Dowager wants to support Liu Jian as the heir, and the general wants to make me the new king. Liu Jian is the grandson of Emperor Wu just like you and me."

Liu Zao still didn't speak, she silently wrote down what Liu He revealed, which she had never heard of before.He tried hard to keep all the people he mentioned in mind.

The queen mother, her father Liang Ji, the general Sun Ciqing, and her grandfather Liu Jian.

Liu Zao was keenly aware that the emperor did not mention the prime minister, the head of all officials.There is no king in the court, and the courtiers of the two factions fight each other to help the favored clan to the throne.Can Xie Yi, who is the prime minister, stay out of it?

Liu He was still chattering: "In the end, of course the general won. The imperial court sent envoys to welcome me into Beijing and enshrine me as the new emperor. The Queen Mother and Liang Ji were defeated, and they dared not make a sound with their tails between their legs. Poor Liu Jianbai was so happy." field."

When he said this, he gave Liu Zao a cold look, as if to say, you are too happy for nothing.

Liu Zao finally opened her mouth. She didn't care about the emperor's attitude, but asked: "Since the emperor's throne has been confirmed, why did you accept me into the palace?"

"Because of Xie Yi." Liu He said indignantly, "This rebellious minister has joined the Queen Mother's camp, and the Queen Mother has strong support. If she wants to stand up, she will naturally throw me off the throne."

It turned out to be like this.Liu Zao was puzzled again, it was only two months since the death of the late emperor, why did Xie Yi change his position in this short two months?Could it be that the queen mother promised her enough benefits?

Liu Zao shook her head secretly, she had met Prime Minister Xie, and although she didn't speak much and got along with her not long ago, she already had an intuition that Prime Minister Xie was not someone who could be easily wooed, not to mention if the Empress Dowager really had the bargaining chip to impress Prime Minister Xie, how could she It will not be shown at the beginning, but will be brought out when the king of Changyi enters the capital and becomes the emperor.

You must know that it is much more difficult to dethrone the emperor and install others than to support the new emperor at the beginning.

While Liu Zao was thinking, he did not forget Liu He, and kept an eye on his movements.

Liu He was angry for a while, then he calmed down, and he looked excited again, and asked, "Do you know why I want you to know this?"

After a few words, he knew Liu Zao's dull temperament, and he didn't expect her to answer, so he continued: "Because whether you know or not, it has no effect on the overall situation. It is not up to you to decide who will be the emperor of the Han Dynasty. It is not up to me to decide. It is decided by those ministers who have always talked about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. They want to seek benefits, they want to support the clan close to them to become emperor, and it is best to turn the new emperor into a puppet. They are at the mercy of others. In the final analysis, they are all cunning and treacherous ministers."

His eyes were full of mischief: "Earlier, the empress dowager was fighting with the general. After all, the former emperor suddenly collapsed and the court was at a loss. A new emperor was always needed, so there is no need to be too harsh on the empress dowager."

When he said that there is no need to criticize the Queen Mother too harshly, there was a trace of sarcasm on his face.

"However, right now, the throne has been confirmed, and the situation in the court has stabilized. All the officials should work together to assist me in governing the world. But Xie Yi, as a minister, planned to abolish the establishment for his own selfishness."

"She is the biggest traitor!"

Liu He was able to maintain a calm tone at first, but when it came to Xie Yi, he couldn't restrain the anger in his heart anymore, he obviously hated Xie Yi to the core.

Liu Zao couldn't help laughing.