Eunuch's Declaration of Loyalty

Chapter 47

After standing Qin Shu there in embarrassment and being speechless for a long time, Liu Qingtang was always in a good mood, and her attitude was always gentle during the emperor's Qianqiu Festival.But this good mood didn't last long, just after the banquet at night, when she returned to Ci'an Palace and was about to go to bed, a young eunuch who was working in the emperor's Chang'an Palace came in a hurry.

"You say it again?" Liu Qingtang sat on the head with a dark face, and the little eunuch who was still a little organized just now stuttered a little with fright.

"The emperor drank a lot of water and wine today, and a little maid in Chang'an Palace was tempted...to lure the emperor to do...to do that. Fu...Eunuch Fu didn't know what to do, so he asked the servant to report Empress Dowager, please... please make a decision."

"Nonsense." Liu Qingtang said coldly, knocking on the table with her fingers, her voice was not loud, but the little eunuch who answered below turned pale with fright.

The emperor usually arranged for a maid of honor from an innocent background to guide him in the rituals of the Duke of Zhou after he turned 15 years old.There is no shortage of this kind of ambitious woman in the palace. It is true that she wants to climb up, but she has to know how to measure. This kind of stupid person who can't see his own capital clearly and wants to climb into the emperor's bed and climb to the sky in one step, etc. There is only one death for her.

Like Eunuch Ning, Eunuch Fu served the late emperor earlier, but this time he was so careless, watching the emperor do such stupid things.He is only 13 years old today. Doing this kind of thing so early will cause great harm to his body. How many emperors have been exposed to this kind of thing too early to indulge in their sensuality, and finally broke their foundation, and died at the age of three or forty.

Liu Qingtang frowned angrily, and stood up to deal with this matter.

But when she stood up, she paused suddenly. If the emperor was obsessed with beauty, wouldn't it be a good thing for her to die so early?As long as the emperor has left a child, she can completely support another little emperor to ascend to the throne.Wouldn't that be much better than keeping him on guard all the time?At least that's a lot of time until the other kid grows up.Not only should she not stop it, but she should also guide the emperor on this road.

The anger in Liu Qingtang's heart was extinguished by this sudden thought.

But when she thought this way, she suddenly remembered that year when she first entered the palace, she saw the child in the Fengxian Hall wearing sackcloth and filial piety, looking at the mother's tablet in the hall with a blank face, his body was as thin as a gust of wind. Can blow down.There is also the appearance of him sitting in the court hall in high spirits and pointing Jiangshan many years later.

She used her best time as a woman to raise that child. At the very beginning, he would follow her and call her elder sister, but she corrected her to call her aunt, and he pouted unhappily.

Later, he couldn't remember when he started calling her queen mother affectionately and distinctly.At that time, she always thought that the child was sensible, but she didn't know that it was just that he had already understood how to be a qualified emperor.How could the imperial power be held by others, even if she had won this position for him to a large extent, she had no room to interfere.

The emperor gifted her to death in her previous life. In this life, she hated him and alienated him, but she was still unwilling to admit that he was still the child in her heart.It's like how even if a mother thinks that the child is a villain and has committed a heinous crime, how can she have the heart to kill him with her own hands and let him go to a dead end.

She has been convincing herself that what the emperor did was because of the slander and confusion of the two chief ministers, so she poured all her hatred on the two chief ministers and regarded them as thorns in the side.But... She had already guessed what the real situation was, but she just didn't want to believe it.

Liu Qingtang's face was frighteningly cold, she lowered her eyes to look at her plain white hands for a while, her froze figure finally moved and said, "Leave the peach leaves, and follow me to Chang'an Palace with the clothes." Then he walked out the door.

Just like what she said at the beginning, she would not do anything to the emperor unless it was absolutely necessary.For the sake of...he called her queen mother for so many years, the last love.

When Liu Qingtang walked out of the door, he saw Qin Shu waiting there.It was actually getting late at this time, but Qin Shu was still busy with some things and didn't have time to rest, so he rushed over as soon as he heard any movement here.Another eunuch from Chang'an Palace had already told him about the matter, and Qin Shu immediately had the Empress Dowager's sedan chair ready, and sure enough, Liu Qingtang came out of the palace just as he was ready.

Seeing him, Liu Qingtang breathed a sigh of relief, walked over and got on the sedan chair.Qin Shu glanced at her face, and wanted to say something, but there were people around who couldn't say anything, so he stretched out his hand to support her, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, be careful where you step."

Liu Qingtang's hand tightened for a moment, and then he let it go naturally. The expression on his face was much normal when he was sitting on the sedan chair.

Inside the quiet palace walls, a group of people carried lanterns and sedan chairs and hurried towards Chang'an Palace, the emperor's residence, like ghosts.

At this time, in Chang'an Palace, Xiao Huaixu, who always had no eyes and a smile on weekdays, looked like a innocent and innocent young man, putting on his robe with a serious expression while being served by Eunuch Fu.He glanced at the woman who was kneeling at the head and clutching a skirt to wrap himself, and said lightly: "Someone will drag her down and kill her, before... the mother comes, don't let this humble thing stain the eyes of the queen mother." .”

When the woman heard this, an expression of disbelief appeared on her face, she raised her face with tears in her eyes and looked at Xiao Huaixu blankly, and after a long time, she burst into tears and begged: "Your Majesty, your servant is already yours, please Let me off the hook, it's my servant's whimsy, this servant's mistake, for the sake of this servant's dedication to take care of the emperor, your majesty, please spare this servant's life!"

"Pull it down, gag her, don't let her talk nonsense." Xiao Huaixu didn't even look at her, and glanced at the chaotic dragon bed, his eyes were a little worried.It's just a little thing, and if you give it a little more color on weekdays, you will forget what your identity is.How dare he plot against him, if it weren't for her face, how could he be willing to look at her more, disgusting stupid thing.

Hearing this, the guards gagged Ying Cai's mouth and dragged her out, but before reaching the door, someone blocked her in again.Liu Qingtang walked in with Zhui Yi and Qin Shu, and several servants and guards in the hall knelt on the floor.

Sitting there comfortably, Xiao Huaixu glanced at Ying Cai who hadn't had time to drag her out, and finally felt a little apprehensive on her face, and then forced a smile to greet her. "Mother, I'm sorry for your inconvenience at such a late hour, my son is not filial."

At this time, Ying Cai took the opportunity to break free from the hands of the two guards, and threw herself at Liu Qingtang's feet, crying for the empress dowager to spare her life, and stretched out her hand to grab the corner of her skirt.Qin Shu stood beside him, kicked her away without thinking about stretching out his foot, and saw her lying on the side with some blood in her mouth, her expression did not change at all.It's just that when he saw Ying Cai's raised face for a moment, he inexplicably felt his heart skip a beat, as if there was something strangely familiar about it.

Xiao Huaixu said to the two stunned guards again in a cold voice: "Don't push him down and execute him."

"Wait." Liu Qingtang straightened her sleeves and raised her eyes to look at Xiao Huaixu, "Don't rush to kill the emperor, it's still your birthday, so it's not appropriate to see blood. Besides, the matter of the harem must be heard by Aijia , ask this daring court lady personally, who gave her the courage to lure the emperor to do such a thing."

Under Liu Qingtang's gaze, Xiao Huaixu couldn't smile anymore, his face was indescribably ugly, perhaps mixed with a little anxiety, but it disappeared soon.Then he lowered his head and whispered like a child who has done something wrong: "Mother, Huai Xu knows his mistake."

Although Liu Qingtang was eight years older than Xiao Huaixu, as a child of the royal family, Xiao Huaixu matured precociously. In the first two years of Liu Qingtang's first entry into the palace, she and this nephew were more like sisters than elders.It was only later that as she experienced more and more things, she became less fond of laughing and being very strict with Xiao Huaixu, and the relationship between the two gradually became strange.

It may not be appropriate to say that he is unfamiliar, but Xiao Huaixu has become more and more like a young boy since he doesn't know when, he loves to laugh and is gentle, which is completely different from the precocious when he was a child.Seeing him like this at the beginning, Liu Qingtang was happy that he finally had the appearance he should have at this age, but after he was reborn, Liu Qingtang realized that this appearance was just a pretend for her to see.

Now seeing him admitting his mistake to her softly like when he was eight or nine years old, Liu Qingtang didn't feel softhearted, but tired.At any time, the child can pretend to be in front of her.

"Now that you know you made a mistake, don't make this mistake again next time. You are the emperor, so you have to learn to control yourself. Today such a little maid can make you mess up, so what will happen in the future? Don't disappoint Aijia. "Liu Qingtang's heart was cold, and her tone was extraordinarily cold.

Xiao Huaixu was shocked when he heard this, bowed his head and said nonuo again: "There will never be a next time."

"Then the emperor will rest well, and I will take him away and deal with him properly." Liu Qingtang finally gave a charity glance to Ying Cai who was pinned to the ground by two guards.Her disheveled clothes and hair fell down to cover most of her face, so she couldn't see clearly.

There was a trace of panic on Xiao Huaixu's drooping face, and he was immediately suppressed by him.She only raised her eyes and said with concern and guilt: "It's just a lowly court lady, just drag it out and deal with it. Don't be tired, the empress can't rest so late."

Liu Qingtang was about to leave, but suddenly thought of something, and said: "The Ai family intends to build a 'palace prison' in the palace to deal with these court ladies and eunuchs who have made mistakes. What does the emperor think?"

Xiao Huaixu turned around a few times in his heart, and still said modestly: "Isn't there a place like this in the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

Liu Qingtang snorted and said leisurely: "I'm afraid the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs can't handle so many things. In the past two years, it's really outrageous. Ai's family has received many impeachment papers, and they have been taught a lesson, but they are still like this." I don’t know how to restrain myself.”

It turned out that he wanted to divide the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Xiao Huaixu understood that he also disliked the group of servants in the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were becoming more and more blatant, but if he agreed, the Empress Dowager would have more power in her hands.

"This...about building a palace and prison, why not ask the families of the nobles in the early court?" Xiao Huaixu suggested as if he couldn't make a decision.

"For the affairs of the inner chamber, if the ministers have opinions, feel free to raise them with me. Although they are not within the scope of their duties, they may have better opinions. It's just that this is really not a big deal, but it is just through this matter. The ethos in this palace is to alert these servants who have different intentions." When Liu Qingtang said this, she smiled slightly, but she couldn't see it, and said: "The emperor must approve of such a trivial matter."

Xiao Huaixu was silent in his heart, with a smile on his face, he couldn't see any discomfort and said: "Of course I agree." He knew very well that when his mother smiled at him like this, it was telling him that there was no room for negotiation on this matter. .Heh, this person is always so strong, it's really... annoying.

When Liu Qingtang returned to Ci'an Palace with a group of people, a tired look appeared on his face.She stood there blowing the night wind for a while, and Qin Shu then stood silently at the vent to shield her from the wind.

Liu Qingtang noticed, rubbed her face and smiled at Qin Shu, "It's okay, you go to rest, and ask that maid tomorrow—I guess she was not specially sent by anyone, she should be just a silly woman who can't see the situation clearly. Just ask a few words and you will be dealt with, let her die in peace."

Qin Shu replied yes, and sent her all the way to the bedroom before leaving by himself.However, he did not go to rest as promised, but went to the place where the court lady Yingcai was detained.At that time, he accidentally caught a glimpse of her face, and always felt that something made him feel uncomfortable.

The eunuch guarding outside the room opened the door for Qin Shu, and he walked in with a young eunuch trained recently holding a lamp.The palace maid had passed out and fell to the ground unconscious.

Qin Shu turned over her body and saw that face clearly, and his face became extremely ugly in a split second.The face of this court lady looks quite similar to...the empress dowager.

She didn't look so much alike when her eyes were open, so Qin Shu couldn't figure out what was strange for a while.With her eyes closed now, it is easy to see the outline similar to the empress dowager.If he hadn't seen the empress dowager with his eyes closed, he probably wouldn't have paid attention to this resemblance, but Qin Shu had already deeply engraved Liu Qingtang in his heart, and was very familiar with her appearance. He is extremely sensitive to her affairs, how could he not notice.

Qin Shu thought of the emperor almost immediately. He has been able to observe words and demeanor for so many years, so he has some good eyesight. Except for the empress dowager, he is like a fool who knows nothing.

He loves the empress dowager, so he understands how it is to love someone but suppress it, and he is also used to observing everyone around him, capturing even the slightest unusual trace.He carefully recalled the emperor's attitude towards the empress dowager all the time, recalled every look in his eyes, and finally he got an outrageous answer.

Qin Shu squatted halfway, wondering what he was thinking, his expression uncertain under the dimly flickering light.The little eunuch who came with him saw that he didn't make a sound, and glanced at him quietly, trembling with fright from his gloomy eyes, the lamp in his hand shook.

He was afraid, so he heard Qin Shu say in a calm tone: "Use a dagger to scratch her face, and then send her on the road."

(End of this chapter)