Glory all the way

Chapter 270 Threat
"The Queen Mother fainted again? What's going on?"

Hearing Zhou Fu come in with a nervous expression, Emperor Jiayuan frowned, put down the imperial brush in his hand, stood up, and asked Zhou Fu in a deep voice as he walked out.

After hesitating for a while, Zhou Fu said vaguely, "The maidservant who was talking back and forth didn't speak too carefully, but only said that the Empress Dowager passed out, that she had chosen an imperial doctor, and..."

After hesitating for a while, Zhou Fu replied in a low voice: "Princess Qingcheng just left Shoukang Palace."

With a pause in his footsteps, Emperor Jiayuan's pace became more and more rapid, and his brows furrowed even tighter.

Zhou Fu took a sneak peek at his expression cautiously, not daring to say any more, and quickly followed.

After a cup of tea, they arrived at Shoukang Palace.

"How is the Queen Mother?"

After entering the main hall, he saw that the queen and others had already arrived, and heard a slight sound in the inner hall, Emperor Jiayuan waved his hand to signal them to silence, stepped forward and sat on the side of the soft couch, while looking back at the queen, he asked.

"The imperial doctor said that the weather has changed in the past few days, and the mother's depression has caused her old illness. As for the fainting just now, it was caused by the surge of blood energy, and a little rest is enough."

The queen replied worriedly.

Hearing those clichés again, Emperor Jiayuan waved his hands impatiently, and the Empress didn't say any more.

The hall gradually became quiet. Seeing the imperial doctor with the medicine box on his back and the servant girl with the copper basin exiting the inner hall in a file, Emperor Jiayuan sighed softly, got up and entered the inner hall.

I don't know if the queen mother fell asleep, or passed out and didn't wake up, but beside her, Nanny Lu gently kneaded her arm.

Seeing Emperor Jiayuan coming in, Nanny Lu got up and saluted, and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager just fell asleep."

"Ling'er, what did you say?"

Emperor Jiayuan asked straight to the point.

Glancing back at the Queen Mother, Nanny Lu hesitated for a moment, then shook her head, "The Queen Mother doesn't allow servants and maids to serve by her side. The servants are all outside the palace, so they don't really hear it. It's true that the Queen Mother is angry."

Frowning into a "Chuan" between the brows, Emperor Jiayuan's eyes slid across Nanny Lu's face, and landed on the Empress Dowager's face that looked a little older.

In an instant, the original so much resentment gradually dissipated.

After waving his hand to signal Nanny Lu to step back, Emperor Jiayuan stepped forward and sat on the side of the bed, picked up the Empress Dowager's hand, and kneaded a few acupuncture points on the palm.

After an unknown period of time, the Queen Mother faintly woke up.

"Xiao'er, you're here..."

Calling the emperor's name, the empress dowager's eyes gradually became moist. Emperor Jiayuan looked at it, and his heart suddenly became sore.

"Mother, you have to take care of yourself."

Speaking softly, Emperor Jiayuan seemed to be thinking of the past, and his expression became a little sad.

The Empress Dowager smiled, the wrinkles on her face became deeper and deeper, she reached out to touch Emperor Jiayuan's face, halfway through, she fell down weakly.

The queen mother moved her lips, and said in a low voice: "My son, the queen mother knows that you have a lot of resentment towards the queen mother in your heart, but the queen mother has no choice but to do so. If you don't be strict, how can you and my mother and son be so stable now?" day?"

Seeing that Emperor Jiayuan wanted to defend herself, the Empress Dowager shook her head and continued: "Since you were young, no matter how many times you have been sick, your mother's heart has been hurt as many times as you have. But Xi'er, do you know the pain in your mother's heart? You If father can treat me like you treat the queen, how can I have so much resentment?"

He already knew what the Empress Dowager wanted to say to him. Although Emperor Jiayuan was in every possible way, he still made up his mind and said: "Mother, I know, I know everything. Get well soon, I sent Ling'er far away, Don't let her make you angry again, okay?"

Smiling wryly, the Queen Mother looked away a little disappointed.

"Mother..."

Calling softly, Emperor Jiayuan's voice was full of puzzlement, as if he was silently asking: Empress, even this is not enough, what exactly do you want Zhen to do to Ling'er?
Seemingly helpless and lost, the Empress Dowager sighed softly, turned her head to look at Emperor Jiayuan and said, "Ji'er, the Ai family has no regrets for what they have done. Even if time goes back, the Ai family will still do it." The same choice. And that woman, the Ai family only hates, killed her before she entered the palace..."

What the queen mother said made Emperor Jiayuan stunned.

There was an indisputable anger in his eyes, and Emperor Jiayuan held back for a long time before he squeezed out a sentence, "In any case, Ling'er is innocent, mother, why can't you let her go, and also let you go?" What about yourself?"

"innocent?"

Muttering, the Empress Dowager's eyes were full of ironic smiles, "From the moment she chose to enter the palace, there is no such thing as innocent in this world."

As she said that, the Empress Dowager looked at Emperor Jiayuan with sharp arrows in her eyes, and she was full of questions, "Do you think she is innocent? Then, the Empress Dowager deserves what she deserves, and is it her own fault?"

Emperor Jiayuan recalled that on countless nights, Concubine Rou's dormitory was brightly lit, while his queen mother sat alone in the dim inner hall, looking at the dull faces in the bronze mirror in a daze. At that time, he always felt that, Concubine Rou always had a soft smile, just like her name, but her own mother was like the person in the painting, even though she was smiling, she didn't look angry.

But now, the empress dowager complained in general, so that Emperor Jiayuan couldn't answer a single word.

Yes, all this, whose fault is it?
Thinking of how the queen mother had done so much in obscurity behind her for her smooth ascension to the throne, supporting herself like a pillar all the time, but for so long, she felt that she was cruel and ruthless, with a lot of innocent blood on her hands. With so much resentment, Emperor Jiayuan's heart trembled uncontrollably.

"Mother, the son knows his mistake, he knows his mistake..."

Whispering, Emperor Jiayuan replied with firm eyes: "Mother, as long as you recover, my son will promise you whatever you say."

You are not joking, what's more, the queen mother knows better than anyone what her son's temperament is. For a moment, the queen mother felt that the huge stone in her heart suddenly fell to the ground.

"Let her get rid of the princess mansion, look like a princess, and then recruit a son-in-law for her to live in peace. In this way, even if the Ai family sees your father a hundred years later, they will have an explanation."

The queen mother said decisively.

If Princess Qingcheng was the Empress Dowager's biological daughter, it would probably be nothing more than that, right?
Seeing that the Empress Dowager didn't have any excessive demands, Emperor Jiayuan heaved a sigh of relief, and nodded his head repeatedly.

The queen mother smiled with satisfaction, and closed her eyes tiredly.

Only when the queen mother breathed evenly did Emperor Jiayuan let go of her hand, stood up and walked out of the inner hall slowly.

Instructing all the concubines to kneel down, Emperor Jiayuan looked at the queen and said, "Everyone in the harem, you are the only one who can have a few words with Ling'er. You can send her into the palace some other day and ask her what she thinks." .”

"Yes, the concubine knows."

Responding softly, the queen got up and followed Emperor Jiayuan out of Shoukang Palace.

The haze in the sky gradually dissipated.

Not long after Emperor Jiayuan left, the Empress Dowager woke up. Although her face was still pale, there was already some light in her eyes.

Standing up and leaning on the soft pillow, the Queen Mother asked Nanny Lu, "Is everything ready?"

Nanny Lu nodded, and took out a palm-sized brochure from the armband, "Queen Mother, this is copied from the House of Internal Affairs by servants. In the capital, all the candidates who lost their wives and no children are here."

Taking it over and looking it over for a few times, the queen mother pondered for a long time with a look of reminiscence, and asked with some hesitation: "Ai Jia remembers that Zhou Guogong's son has a younger brother, and he is more than 30 years old now?"

Nanny Lu has been with the Empress Dowager for many years, so these relationships are naturally firmly in her heart, when she heard the Empress Dowager's inquiry, she nodded and replied: "Yes, Mr. Zhou is 38 years old now, leading the commander of the army and horse battalion. However, although his first wife died early, there are many concubines in the mansion, and the eldest son is already in his teens, and I heard that there are several concubines."

The queen mother smiled kindly, "It hasn't been renewed for so many years, so it can be seen that he is a person who values ​​love, and it is appropriate to match Qingcheng. As for the heir, the title of Duke Zhou is not his turn after all. After marrying, even if she gives birth to another child, there will only be one eldest brother, and when her child grows up, that child will be promoted to a noble, and there is nothing to fight between brothers."

Seeing that the Queen Mother had a good candidate, Nanny Lu nodded in response, and put the booklet back in her bosom.

On the second day, when Princess Qingcheng entered the palace to serve the sick again, she was invited to Ninghua Palace by the maid who had been waiting early.

Coming out of Ninghua Palace, although Princess Qingcheng's face was calm, there was cold smoke that could not go away in her eyes.

"Princess, can you still go to Shoukang Palace to greet the Queen Mother?"

Seeing that Princess Qingcheng was not going in the direction of Shoukang Palace, Chi Ji, who was following behind, asked.

Princess Qingcheng was silent, but the steps under her feet became more and more hurried.

When approaching the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Princess Qingcheng stopped abruptly.

Looking back at Chiji, she ordered in a deep voice: "You go out of the palace on your own and go back to the mansion first, I will go back in a while."

"Yes."

Responding neatly, Chiji turned and left.

Princess Qingcheng looked back at the gleaming red gold characters on the gate of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and stepped in.

No one knew what happened in the hall, but that day, a whole set of gold-painted tea bowls was broken, which was obvious to everyone in His Highness Taihe. For a while, everyone spoke and walked more and more carefully, for fear of being angry if they did not do well.

In the evening, the Queen Mother knew what happened in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

With a sarcastic smile on her lips, the queen mother said coldly: "Threatening to become a aunt and not marry? Well, I haven't had such an ambitious princess in Song Dynasty for a long time. As long as she dares to do it, the Ai family will immediately order the housekeeper." The government will build a royal nunnery for her outside the city, so that she will have no worries about food and clothing in her life, and devote herself to the Buddha."

The joy of having a baby in the East Palace lasted less than a month before it was broken by the undercurrent between the Queen Mother and Princess Qingcheng. For a while, everyone in the entire harem was in danger. The concubine who was originally flattering Princess Qingcheng, It was like avoiding snakes and scorpions immediately, and the most difficult one was Emperor Jiayuan and the Empress.

After that day, Princess Qingcheng never went to the palace to pay her respects, but the Empress Dowager's condition worsened day by day.

(End of this chapter)