Fengqi crabapple

Chapter 173 Empress Wu

The Ji family has been eliminated. Although it has only blown away a dark cloud, at least it has given people hope of seeing the light of day again.In the harem, Concubine Ji has been acting as a substitute for many years. In order to protect herself, Empress Wu did not hesitate to hide and hide.Now that Concubine Ji has passed away, the "illness" of her, the empress of the palace, has miraculously healed.

"Kangtai, I have recovered from my illness. I will accompany me to the Hall of Martial Arts to meet the emperor." Even if the empress lived in the Chiyun Palace for a long time without seeing outsiders, she still dressed neatly every day and wore her luxurious phoenix crown, which symbolized the queen. No exception.

"Queen, your Majesty... we can't just meet if we want to. I have to report to Mr. Cao first. We can only go after Mr. Cao and others have made arrangements and the emperor summons us. Now the emperor's palace gate is opened by Wu Dezhong and Qiu Ning and the two adults will guard you." Kangtai said cautiously.

The queen was stunned, and sighed and said: "The emperor practices Taoism, why do you have to lock yourself up? It's not as good as when Ji was here. Then go and call all the concubines, Jingui Kai of Tianxiang Garden Yes, I will invite them over tomorrow to enjoy flowers and tea."

Kangtai sighed and went out to make arrangements.

It’s not surprising that the Queen summoned the concubines from all the palaces. The Queen was originally the master of the Sixth Palace. She had previously said that she was ill and the concubines were on the [-]st and [-]th day of the Lunar New Year. They went to the palace to pay their respects. Everyone went to the Green Shadow Palace instead to pay tribute to Ji, who was in charge of the affairs of the Sixth Palace. Greetings, concubine.Now that the queen has recovered from her illness, it is natural for the concubines to go to the queen's palace.

Tianxiang Garden is a small garden in Chiyun Palace. It is named after the various flowers of the four seasons. Now that the peony season has just passed, a row of golden osmanthus around the garden is in full bloom.As soon as the refreshments were placed in Tianxiang Pavilion, the concubines arrived.

"Queen, Jin An!" Concubine Ji, Concubine Su, Concubine Yuan and the three concubines said in unison.The emperor didn't have many concubines, only the few who had children were left. It was because they were small and the emperor could count them all, so it was difficult for Concubine Ji to take action.

"Sit down. I haven't seen you all for a long time. I feel relieved to see that you all look good." The Queen smiled and said, "The palace is less smoky. Even the flowers are blooming better than before. I’m calling all the sisters here today. Firstly, I haven’t seen you for a long time, and I miss you all very much. Secondly, the emperor’s birthday is coming soon. What do you think, sisters?”

"Thanks to my mother, the flowers in Tianxiang Garden have always bloomed better than other places. When I came here, I saw that the begonias outside Tingyu Pavilion were also blooming. It's a pity that the begonias have no fragrance, not as good as my mother's aura. As for the emperor Your birthday. Your Majesty, you haven’t seen the Emperor for a long time, you don’t know, the Emperor has changed his birthday to the ninth day of the first lunar month, which is the same day as the Jade Emperor’s birthday.” Concubine Su said with a smile.

Tingyu Pavilion was a place given by the emperor to Concubine Yi to show his affection. She had indeed not heard about the emperor changing his birthday.The queen was heartbroken after hearing this for a while, but pretended not to hear it and said calmly: "That's all. Now the emperor is obsessed with practicing Taoism and is indifferent to the previous harem. We in the harem only stick to our respective duties and do not cause trouble to the emperor. That’s it.”

"I have a happy event to report to the emperor. This morning, the chamberlain came to tell me that the emperor has summoned me. I will go to Wuying Hall soon. I also ask the Queen to forgive me." Concubine Su said, smiling. Stand up.

The Queen picked up the tea cup, used the cup lid to flick the tea leaves floating on the tea soup, and asked calmly: "What happy event does Concubine Su have? How can I just tell the Emperor? Telling it will also make the sisters happy." Concubine Su used Covering her mouth with a handkerchief, she said with a smile: "Mrs. Liu and Miss Zhou in the box are getting married. Both the government doctor and the imperial doctor have gone to see them. It has been confirmed that both of them are two months pregnant. This double happiness is not meant to be expected. Are you going to announce the good news? The emperor only has two grandsons, but one lives in the Shen mansion and no one mentions it, and the other is raised in Zhuangzi and no one cares about it. Hearing this news, the emperor must be happy!" After saying this, Concubine Su didn't wait. The queen signaled, twisting her waist and heading out.

"This is such a great joy!" The queen had a smile on her face, but she thought of her poor son and grandson in her heart: I also have children and grandsons, but why do I live so useless?An old woman with no children cannot compete with me. Is there anyone else who wants to imitate me?
Seeing that the Empress has a lot of love, Concubine Yuan poked the fire without thinking too much: "Concubine Su is so lucky, King Kang is not yet married, and there are two children in this concubine's room! Poor Pingkun that child is doing well. The eldest son gave birth to the eldest grandson of the emperor, but he has a family and cannot return."

"Concubine Su's move of beheading first and then showing off was originally used to deal with Concubine Ji, right? She wanted her eldest son to be older than her legitimate son. That's why she had such a method." The queen picked up the tea cup and took another sip, and said disdainfully: "But The emperor has only a few heirs, and having a child is a happy event after all, so I won’t care about her anymore.”

After leaving Tianxiang Garden, Concubine Ji couldn't help but say to Concubine Yuan: "Okay, why are you mentioning the emperor's eldest grandson? Do you still think there are not enough people in the palace?"

"If I don't tell you, do you think she won't think about it?" Concubine Yuan said with a smile: "Just wait and see, she will find a way to bring Ping Kun back to the palace. Hey! You should worry about your son when you have time. When the prince gets married, urge them to have a child as soon as possible. The queen is unwilling to be lonely and wants to stir up trouble."

As expected, after they left, the queen in Chiyun Palace began to think about how to bring Xie Pingkun back to the palace and raise her in a legitimate and legitimate manner.If the son is incompetent, can't he support his grandson?What if the prince never had children?Is there anything impossible in this palace?After making up her mind, the queen said:
"Kangtai, go and send a message to the second princess, asking her to go to the imperial mausoleum in person, send some food and clothes to Ji'er, and stay there to take care of her for a while. Kun'er will be taken to the palace to stay temporarily. He is the emperor’s eldest grandson, so it is not an exaggeration to live with the emperor’s grandmother.”

After hearing what Kang Taichuan said, Shen Shunhua in the Shen Mansion couldn't help but said angrily: "Master Kang, hasn't the Queen heard about what the second prince did in the imperial mausoleum? If I go there, will he know how to do it? Let me be by your side to take good care of him? Why let me humiliate myself!"

Kangtai sighed: "Since she is the empress, I cannot disobey, so I will take the emperor's grandson away first. Now that the prince has been deposed and ordered to guard the imperial mausoleum, he is still the second prince, and you are the second prince's concubine. It is only natural that you go to the imperial mausoleum to take care of him."

Shen Shunhua stayed there for a moment, looking at her son who was under six years old and being held by Kangtai, with tears streaming down her face.The reality she had been unwilling to face finally hit her in the face mercilessly.

Shen Congxi came over after hearing the news and punched the table in anger, but there was nothing he could do to change this reality.I had no choice but to help the eldest sister pack her luggage, load a carriage with food and clothing, and let her take it to the imperial mausoleum.

Shen An was worried and asked Shen Congxi to accompany her eldest sister.

(End of this chapter)