After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 919 Life is tough
Is there really still a need to argue about how to deal with Concubine Sun?
No, more importantly, is she still alive? !

Haitang was very surprised: "This Concubine Sun has angered the emperor to death, but she hasn't been punished yet? Is she still staying in the cold palace? If she knows some important secrets that can make the royal family angry and call the emperor a tyrant, shouldn't someone have killed her long ago?"

Haijiao laughed and said, "Do you think no one thinks so? It's just that no one expected her to be so tough."

When the late emperor fainted from anger, someone tried to take Concubine Sun back to the cold palace, and whispered in her ear that she had committed such a heinous crime, which was unforgivable, and that the Queen Mother and the Crown Prince would not let her off easily. Under the new and old hatreds, they might make her life worse than death, and implicate her entire family, and punish her entire clan, etc. The person who said this obviously wanted Concubine Sun to be frightened and end her life on her own, which would save a lot of trouble. But Concubine Sun turned a blind eye and did not take his threats to heart at all.

Seeing that she didn't move, the man wanted to help her, but she started making a big fuss on the spot, like a mad woman, which alarmed quite a few people. She was discovered and saved by two old princes of the royal family.

The old princes thought that Concubine Sun was the only witness of the past events, so they had to protect her life at all costs until the Queen Mother and the new emperor gave an explanation to the royal family. They also wanted to investigate the person who wanted to harm Concubine Sun, but unfortunately that person had already escaped.

The old princes insisted on protecting her. Seeing that the emperor had passed away, the crown prince had not yet ascended the throne, and the ministers had not yet arrived, the queen mother arranged for Concubine Sun to be escorted back to the cold palace and ordered people to keep a close watch on her so that she would not die. Later, when Prince Ji entered the palace and a coup occurred, Prince Ji's son led people to the East Palace to try to kill his brother. Prince Ji also sent a team of people to the cold palace to protect Concubine Sun. That was an important bargaining chip for him to ascend the throne.

When the coup was quelled, Tu Rong consulted the Queen Mother and led people to the cold palace. He also had a conflict with the imperial guards and it took a lot of effort to subdue everyone. It can be seen that the imperial guards responsible for protecting Concubine Sun are also loyal to the Sun family. This team of imperial guards did not participate in the coup, but was only responsible for Concubine Sun's safety. With their protection and care, Concubine Sun is not only alive and well, but also well fed and well slept, and her complexion is much better than before!

In short, Concubine Sun is still alive and well in the cold palace. Although there are many people who want to kill her and even more people who want her to commit suicide out of fear of crime, there are also many people who want to protect her. In addition to the stubborn civil servants who insist on obeying the will of the late emperor, the royal family is also the main force to protect her. The old princes have experienced the shock of the palace coup. They are obviously sad and scared. They are afraid that they will be implicated by Prince Ji and his son and become traitors. But on the issue of the treatment of Concubine Sun, they insist on saving her life. The Queen Mother couldn't do anything about them. With the support of her old merits and years of friendship, she had to respond vaguely, but did not publicly execute Concubine Sun.

Haitang frowned when she heard this. She seemed to have heard some rumors about the two old princes of the royal family. One of them spoke fair words for Queen Mother Zhou when the previous emperor wanted to depose the queen and establish another one. Although the other supported Prince Ji's bid for the throne, he persuaded Prince Ji to stop causing trouble when the late emperor ascended the throne and calmly accepted his fate of defeat. Both of these old princes had made contributions to Queen Mother Zhou and the late emperor. Even if they were angry and causing trouble now, Queen Mother Zhou and the new emperor could not easily punish them. They wanted to protect Concubine Sun, and the Queen Mother and the new emperor had no choice but to accept it.

However, not being able to execute her publicly does not mean that Concubine Sun can live forever. Judging from her attitude since the emperor's death, it is obviously not feasible to ask her to "commit suicide out of fear of crime". It will only arouse suspicion from outsiders. The most likely method to be used is to make her sick, right?
Now the temperature has dropped sharply and the weather is very cold. Concubine Sun's living conditions in the cold palace are definitely not as good as those in other palaces. She is old and has been pampered for many years. How can she bear this hardship? She will definitely fall ill if there is only a cold wind, a rain or snow, or if she is deprived of some food, clothing and charcoal. If she takes medicine too late after she gets sick, or if the medicine she takes is not suitable for her condition, her condition may worsen. The old princes of the royal family cannot enter the harem to watch over her, so how can they protect her from "dying of illness"?
Haitang raised her eyes to look at her brother Haijiao, thinking that the Empress Dowager, Imperial Noble Consort and concubines in the palace should know what's going on, right?

No matter what secrets Concubine Sun holds, it is certain that this secret will threaten Emperor Deguang's throne. Once his throne is shaken, his successor will be implicated.

This is not a good thing for the current situation in the court. To be safe, it is better for Concubine Sun, the so-called witness, to go down and accompany the late emperor as soon as possible. Anyway, the latter doted on her so much, and even though he was dying of illness, he still worried about her retirement arrangements. It would be better for them to die together as a pair of doomed mandarin ducks, sleep together in life, die together, live together, and stay together forever, so as not to harm other innocent people.

Hai Jiao continued to talk about the two old princes of the royal family: "They are both sick, and they are really sick. The Queen Mother sent the imperial physician to the palace every day for treatment, and the children and grandchildren all cried around. Even so, they still did not forget to send someone to bring a message to the palace every day, and they must protect Concubine Sun. Now the adults in the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites think that the will is more important, and they must act according to the will of the late emperor. They cannot openly punish Concubine Sun and execute her, so Concubine Sun is still alive and well. I heard that the Queen Mother did not intend to vent her anger on the old princes because of Prince Ji's matter, but she needed to deter the royal family to prevent anyone from causing trouble again, so she planned to demote the royal family who entered the palace that day. It was just a gesture, but it also prevented the old princes from really getting into trouble. When the new emperor ascended the throne, there would be no elders in the royal family to support them, which would be embarrassing."

For this reason, the Queen Mother could not let Concubine Sun's death be too obvious, so as not to anger the old princes and make their illnesses worse.

Haitang just felt that she had too many complaints to say. "Now it seems that the old princes of the royal family are stubborn and have their own opinions. We can only start with the cabinet. As long as there are parts of the will that must be changed, there is no need to stick to the other parts. As long as we start, everything will be easy to handle."

Haijiao seemed to be lost in thought.

Without waiting for him to finish his thoughts, Haitang asked him, "What about the new emperor and Imperial Concubine Xu? Is it only the Empress Dowager who, out of consideration for their years of friendship and respect for the opinions of the old princes, refuses to kill Concubine Sun?" Otherwise, with Empress Dowager Zhou having been in the palace for many years and having witnessed all kinds of shady tactics used by two generations of concubines, how could she be unable to deal with a concubine in the cold palace who had lost her power?
Hai Jiao said, "Noble Consort Xu has been ill for quite some time. The new emperor has to take care of his biological mother and perform filial piety in front of the late emperor's coffin. How can he take care of anything else? The important officials in the cabinet will not ask him for instructions on these trivial matters in the palace. Even the Seventh Prince stays away from them. How can they get involved in these shady matters?"

I guess Queen Mother Zhou didn't want the new emperor and his brothers to get involved in this kind of thing, right? Imperial Noble Consort Xu was smart and actually used illness as an excuse to avoid going. In fact, when encountering serious matters, she would not ignore them just because she was sick, and she would still show up when she had to.

What about the others? Are the late emperor's favorites all indifferent?