Roufu Diji

Chapter 4
1. Daughter
The next day after taking Roufu back to the palace, Zhao Gou announced in the court hall that the emperor Jin Roufu was the eldest princess of Fuguo.

In the third year of Zhenghe, after Zhao Ji changed the name of the princess to Emperor Ji, there were many discussions among the people, saying that this would mean "there is no master in the world", and some people said that the sound of "Ji" is the same as "hungry", which is used by the emperor's country. Insufficient prophecy.Naturally, the courtiers would not tell Zhao Ji these statements at the time, but Zhao Gou has been traveling around these years, and he understands the people's livelihood, people's conditions and opinions much better than his father, and he is very concerned after hearing the subjects' discussions about "Emperor Ji".And another minister said that the reason why the queens of the Zhou Dynasty were called Wangji was because the Zhou royal family was named Ji, and the Song royal family did not have the surname of Ji, so they could not be called Ji.Therefore, not long after he ascended the throne in the first year of Jianyan, Zhao Gou ordered to restore the "Emperor Ji" to "Princess", and changed the title of Emperor Renzong's daughter Xian Deyixing Dachang Diji to Qin Lu Guo Dachang Princess, and Emperor Zhezong's daughter Shushenchang Diji Princess Wu.

These two imperial concubines are the only remaining two imperial daughters who escaped from the "Jingkang Incident".Zhao Gou's own sisters, except Zhao Ji's No. 30 fourth daughter Gong Fu Di Ji, who was the youngest at the time, none of them survived the disaster. They were all captured and went north, and Gong Fu died in Jianyan three years.Now Roufu is the only eldest princess who is promoted as the younger sister of the current emperor, and the officials naturally understand its importance. After Zhao Gou's edict, the officials immediately shouted long live and came out to speak congratulations.

Immediately after the dynasty was over, Zhao Gou went to Jiang'e Pavilion to visit Roufu, and gave her twelve new clothes, twelve sets of jewelry, some daily necessities and playthings.Rou Fu took a look, thanked lightly, but there was no joy on his face.Zhao Gou sighed, and said to her: "Yuan Yuan, don't you like these? What else do you want? Ninth Brother will definitely find it for you."

Rou Fu looked up at him: "Ninth brother, I want to go home."

Zhao Gou was startled, and said softly, "This is your home. Ninth brother's home is your home."

"No." Rou Fu shook his head, looking through the palace gate to the blue sky and white clouds: "My home is in Bianjing, and Ninth Brother's home is also in Bianjing, Ninth Brother, don't you remember?"

Zhao Gou was silent for a moment, but quickly changed the subject with a smile: "Ninth brother doesn't know what my sister likes. These things are bought for you after asking Yingfu. There may always be omissions. You can have some pocket money, and if you want anything else, send someone to buy it. How about I give you [-] yuan first?...It’s not right, it’s too little, maybe [-]...is it enough?"

Rou Fu said indifferently: "Ninth Brother can figure it out. Thank you Ninth Brother."

Zhao Gou's smile faded, his eyes dimmed, and he said after a long time, "Aren't you happy? Why is there no smile at all? Just giving my sister a mere [-] coins is really wronging my sister. But after the Jingkang Change, the national strength is not as good as before. A lot of waste is waiting to be done, and now [-] yuan can be used as one hundred thousand yuan in the Xuanhe period. Don't worry, my sister, in the future, Brother Jiu will pay you according to the standard when you were in Bianjing, and your monthly salary will also be the same as that of Qin Luguo. Like a princess."

Rou Fu smiled slightly, with a hint of sarcasm: "Why does Ninth Brother always mention money to me? In this way, it seems that a thousand dollars bought my smile."

Zhao Gou's face changed, and he was displeased.The maids serving on both sides also looked at each other, thinking that this eldest princess is really bold, how can anyone in the palace dare to speak rudely to the officials like this, let alone the officials clearly have good intentions, but they are ridiculed by her like this, they don't know how to react.

But Zhao Gou didn't lose his temper as they had guessed, he just sat with a dark face in silence for a while, got up and left.The palace people were busy saluting and sending each other off, but Rou Fu didn't get up according to the etiquette, and still sat upright, his face so indifferent that there was no trace of emotion.

This matter quickly spread throughout the palace.Concubine Pan Xian and Zhang Jieyu were chatting in Yingchi Pavilion in the afternoon, and Concubine Pan Xian's face was full of anger when she mentioned the matter of Roufu, "Princess Fuguo is so ignorant that she openly mocked the officials! I don't know what the officials think, it's not just a Why is my own sister who was born to my mother so kind to her?"

Yingfu explained: "The eldest princess has just returned from the Kingdom of Jin. She has suffered a lot in these years. It is only natural for the officials to take pity on her. As for what the eldest princess said, it must have been an unintentional joke, not a deliberate mockery."

Zhang Jieyu also apologized and said with a smile: "Sister Pan, although the eldest princess is not the same mother and sister of the official family, she is the only one in the Southern Dynasty who is the daughter of the Emperor Daojun. To the official family, how is she different from the same mother and sister? So the officials will naturally pay special attention to her."

Concubine Pan Xian was still furious: "There should be a degree of importance. The officials paid too much attention to her, right? During the Jingkang Incident, the golden men took away all the guards of honor in the palace. This time, the officials ordered her to take the princess back to the palace. The craftsman kept making Yunfeng shoulders for her day and night. When she came back, she gave her so many clothes and jewelry all at once, and even gave her [-] coins. Sister Zhang still remembers that you celebrated your birthday last month, I asked the official for [-] yuan for you, but he refused to agree, and even accused us of spending extravagantly!"

Zhang Jieyu laughed at herself when she heard the words: "I come from a humble background. After all, I am just a girl serving the officials. How can I compare with the golden branches and jade leaves like the eldest princess."

Concubine Pan Xian sneered and said: "Although we are all girls who serve the official family, we are the sister-in-law of the eldest princess since we have the status. Why can't we compare with her? We have been with the official family for many years. In the eyes of the official family, we are not as good as a fundamental Haven't you met the half-sister with the official family a few times?"

As soon as the words were finished, Concubine Pan Xian found that both Zhang and Wu were looking out the door, so she also turned her head to look, only to find that Rou Fu came quietly by the door at this moment, looking at her with a half-smile.

Yingchi and Zhang Jieyu hurriedly got up to greet her, then Yingchi frowned and asked the palace outside the door: "Why didn't you announce the eldest princess's arrival?"

Rou Fu first replied: "I heard that several sister-in-laws are chatting, and I don't want to interrupt the sister-in-law's elegant mood, so I asked them not to report, and I just came in by myself."

Concubine Pan Xian thought she had a higher status, so she just got up and stood, but she didn't come to see her.Rou Fu started to walk a few steps in the hall, looked around, pointed at Concubine Pan Xian and smiled and asked Yingfu, "Yingfu, who is this? I guess it should be your aunt or aunt?"

Concubine Pan Xian almost fainted when she heard what she said. When she said she was Yingchi's aunt and aunt, did she imply that she looked older than Yingchi in her teens or 20s?

Yingchi immediately introduced, "Eldest Princess, this elder sister is Concubine Pan Xian."

Rou Fu pretended to be surprised: "Really? Then I was really rude, please forgive me. My fault of judging people's identity by their appearance should be corrected. I have made jokes since I was a child. Fu, you know this. Just now I heard that Concubine Xian's sister-in-law was chatting with the two sister-in-laws, but I didn't see it when I came in, and it seems that the concubine Xian's sister-in-law has gone back..."

Concubine Pan Xian couldn't listen anymore, she said coldly: "Princess, sit down slowly, I should go back to the palace." Then she turned and went out.

Rou Fu laughed behind her and said: "Sister-in-law, go slowly, watch more operas when you have time."

Concubine Pan Xian was taken aback, then turned her head and asked, "What are you doing watching a hundred operas?"

Rou Fu replied: "Watching a hundred operas can entertain yourself and help improve your mood. Getting angry every now and then, with a sullen face, makes it easy to grow old."

Concubine Pan Xian was furious, she ignored her and left quickly.Zhang Jieyu called "Sister Pan" several times, and when she saw that she should not answer, she turned her head and smiled politely at Roufu, "Eldest Princess, I will go and persuade her, and I will come back later."

Rou Fu nodded, so Zhang Jieyu chased him out.

Yingfu asked Rou Fu to sit down, and then said softly, "You don't have to take what Elder Sister Pan said just now. Since the crown prince passed away last year, she has been in a bad mood, her temperament has changed drastically, and her speech has become more and more straight. I know that she is actually very kind.”

Rou Fu smiled lightly and asked, "Prince? Is it the son of Concubine Pan Xian? How did he die?"

Yingfu said: "The crown prince was born by Sister Pan in June of the first year of Jianyan, and the official family named him Yan. The crown prince has a relatively weak constitution and has been sick since childhood. The official family has been busy all these years, and it is not enough. In the autumn of the third year of Jianyan, the prince caught wind and cold again in the Jiankang palace, and the palace servant who served him the decoction accidentally kicked down a gold medal. The censer, the censer fell to the ground. When the prince heard it, his whole body convulsed with fright, and his condition deteriorated immediately, and he passed away in a few days. Both the officials and Sister Pan were deeply grieved, and finally beheaded the palace man who kicked the censer down."

Rou Fu listened silently, then said coldly for a moment: "Damn it."

Yingfu sighed: "It's an unforgivable crime for the palace man to kick down the censer and frighten the prince to death, but after all, it was an unintentional mistake, so it's a bit of an injustice to lose his life. As a maid, my life is worth nothing... "

"I'm not talking about her." Rou Fu interrupted her, "I'm saying the prince should die."

Hearing this at first, Yingchi stared at Roufu in astonishment and was speechless.

Rou Fu looked indifferent, and continued: "What's the use of a prince who is scared to death even at the slightest sound? If he doesn't die, he will be a cowardly master when he grows up. If such a person inherits the great rule, I'm afraid even today This half of the country can't be kept, it's better to die sooner."

Yingfu said urgently: "The eldest princess, don't say that! If the officials know about it, it will inevitably be misunderstood..."

"What is there to misunderstand?" Rou Fu sneered, "My meaning is very clear, did I say something wrong?"

2. Plain clothing
It is inconvenient for Yingfu to answer the question, so he said, "The swirl skirt worn by the eldest princess is really suitable today. The yellow color is dyed with tulip roots, it is pure and bright, and the embroidery is decorated with pearls, which really reflects the beauty of the eldest princess when she wears it." Brilliant and expensive. A few days ago, the officials ordered me to prepare clothes for the eldest princess, and I immediately chose this set. I wonder if the eldest princess is satisfied?"

Rou Fu said: "I made you bother. In fact, there is no need to choose carefully. I am no longer the pampered emperor in the past. What's the problem even if I wear a cloth skirt?" The skirt is covered with a light blue skirt, and the embroidered brocade pattern around the skirt is also slightly darker green. On the head, there is a plantain bun with a few scattered emerald bead flowers in between. It looks very plain, so she smiled. Leo: "Yingchi, your attire reminds me of someone."

Yingfu was a little embarrassed, lowered her head and said, "I mean Princess Yun? The government has always advocated that concubines in the harem live frugally, so I dress plainly, not because I intend to imitate others."

"You're overthinking again." Rou Fu said, "I just saw you wearing green clothes, and I couldn't help but think of my sister-in-law who likes to wear green and green dresses. I didn't think much about the reason for you to dress up like this."

Yingfu was speechless for a while, and asked softly after a while: "Is there any news about Princess Yun from the eldest princess? It's been a few years since she left, I don't know how she is now."

"She's dead." Rou Fu said lightly, without the expression of grief that should be felt when a loved one dies, and only stated the facts, "At the beginning we were escorted to the Jinjunzhai of Liujia Temple together, and there were constant conversations in those days. The women were harassed by the Jin soldiers, and everyone lived in fear and full of vigilance all day long. Most of the women deliberately unkempt and smeared their skin with mud, so as not to be seen by the gold men. But Lan Xuan's sister-in-law was not like this. She is a woman with icy muscles and bones, and she can't tolerate any dirt. As long as there is water, she will wash herself clean and spotless, and always maintain the elegance that a princess should have. But this also brought her inevitable disasters One day, the leader of the Jin army escorting us ordered someone to take Lan Xuan's sister-in-law to a banquet. As soon as Jin Bing approached her, she understood what they meant, and before they reached out to grab her, she sternly stopped, saying "I'll go with you, but don't touch me!" Jin Bing was restrained by her momentum and withdrew his hand. So Lan Xuan's sister-in-law turned her head and gave us a deep look, then raised her head and went out. Running towards the ancient well in a corner, before Jin Bing could react, she had already jumped into the well."

Tears welled up in Yingchi's eyes, and she sighed, "Didn't those golden soldiers manage to rescue her?"

Rou Fu continued: "The well is deep and the weather is cold. No one wants to jump down to save her. Someone found some bamboo poles and ropes and stretched them into the well to pull her up, but how could she survive? Just listen to her Struggling constantly in the water, but never grabbing any bamboo poles and ropes, in the end we watched the ripples of the water in the well disappear, and we could no longer hear a sound."

"Well, when she first wanted to maintain the dignity of the princess and insisted on keeping her face clean, she was determined to die." Yingfu said, "Everything that happened was within her expectations, suicide is only a matter of time. How can a person who can't stand even a little dirt on his face endure humiliation and steal his life in the Kingdom of Jin..." Speaking of this, he suddenly thought of Roufu, and secretly regretted that his words were inappropriate, as if mocking her face-to-face, he hurriedly explained: " Of course, I'm not saying that everyone should be as decisive as the princess, and it would be more appropriate to bear the humiliation and live strong until the day of returning home..."

The more he explained, the more he felt clumsy, Rou Fu's face didn't change, but Ying Chi's face turned red first.

Roufu looked at her indifferently, as if he was not annoyed or annoyed, but then he spit out words that were piercing: "Jingkang is shameless for a day, what is the difference between living in the Southern Dynasty and living in the Kingdom of Jin? But it's all about enduring humiliation. The only difference is between fifty steps and a hundred steps."

Yingfu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled gently and said, "That's fine, what are we talking about? It's my fault, I shouldn't bring up such unhappy things."

Rou Fu suddenly smiled again: "Yingfu, you seem to care about Lan Xuan's sister-in-law very much, but you don't ask any news about my elder brother Kai, thinking that he spent so much time teaching you back then, it was really wronged."

Yingfu felt even more uncomfortable hearing her mention Zhao Kai again, she lowered her head and stared at the tea color in the teacup, and said, "Of course, I also want to know about King Yun, and I am also very concerned about the situation of the Emperor Daojun, Empress Taishang and other palace masters. The reason why I asked Princess Yun first is because the eldest princess mentioned it first."

Not daring to meet the soft and oppressive eyes, Yingchi knew that her words were against her will, and to a certain extent she really cared more about Princess Yun than King Yun.She and Lan Xuan only met twice, but Lan Xuan had already imprinted her image of beauty and beauty in Yingchi's heart, making her always think of it in silence and in the middle of dreams.What kind of woman is that? Not only is she beautiful and elegant, but she also has a majestic aura. When she looks at you coldly, she seems to see through all your thoughts and disintegrate the defense force you had prepared.Lan Xuan has the purest noble temperament, and the natural demeanor of a queen who can be a mother to the world.

The mother is in the world.This word reminds Yingfu that when Zhao Kai was reading her palm, he said that she has the image of flying phoenix and flying clouds, that she will definitely serve the emperor in the future, if she knows how to seize the opportunity, it is not impossible for her to be the mother of the world.Several years later, looking back at Yingfu now, he fully understands what Zhao Kai said at the time, implying that he will inherit the throne in the future and make Yingchi his concubine, and even make her his empress in the future.But every time Yingfu recalls Lan Xuan, she always feels a little bit ashamed. What's more, watching the parting scene of their husband and wife outside the city that day, she feels that what Zhao Kai said at that time was just some frivolous nonsense, or after fighting with Lan Xuan. angry words.In fact, she can almost conclude that he and Lan Xuan must be in love, but she is not sure that Zhao Kai's feelings for her must be love.Perhaps, she thought a little sadly, it was her hard work and self-motivation that caught his attention at first, and then her resistance to him aroused his desire to conquer, so he was happy to visit her often to tease her, treating her as a As the target of hunting beauty and carving.If he was the one who came to the throne in the future, he would definitely accept her as his concubine, and he would love her, just like the Supreme Emperor loved Concubine Wang and Concubine Liu, but this kind of love would definitely not be as deep as the relationship between him and Lan Xuan. Their relationship often took the form of mutual coldness and alienation.

Therefore, she often rejoiced that her low self-esteem saved her when she was young. She dared not approach the dazzling and suave Zhao Kai for the purpose of self-protection, and did not let him enter her life. Now it seems that such an approach is so wise Correct, although the affection given to her by the man she married now may not be as she hoped, but that is another matter.

"King Yun... are you okay?" After a long silence, Yingfu finally asked.He has never been the person she cares about the most, but he has a meaning far beyond ordinary friends to her, but he is also very important.I don't know if the handsome and elegant young man in white clothes can still talk and smile in the Kingdom of Jin now.

"Since you regard him as the same as ordinary people, why should I bother to say more." Rou Fu said while getting up, "I'm a little tired, I have to go back."

Yingfu hurriedly stood up to see her off, seeing her displeasure, she didn't ask any more questions.

Rou Fu walked out the door, stood still for a while, then turned to Ying Chi and said, "He's okay, at least he's not dead yet."

Not long after Roufu entered the palace, the Jin army once again invaded the south on a large scale, targeting Zhao Gou’s Jiangnan court, and soon broke through the two towns of Yangzhou and Chengzhou, and Chuzhou was also in danger. .On the one hand, Zhao Gou issued an edict to urgently summon Tong and the governor of Taizhen, Yue Fei, to lead his troops to rescue Chuzhou, and on the other hand, he ordered to prepare chariots and horses to take the harem and family members to Yuezhou to seek refuge.

The concubines and maids immediately packed up their luggage and bustled together, but Rou Fu actually sat in the pavilion and did not move at all, and did not allow the maids and servants in the pavilion to pack her clothes and luggage for her.When Zhao Gou learned about it, he ordered Yingchi to go to persuade him, but Yingchi's visit didn't seem to have any effect. When the chariot was ready to set off, Roufu hadn't come out of the pavilion, so Zhao Gou couldn't hold back anymore. He strode forward to Jiang'e Pavilion to find Roufu.

I saw Rou Fu sitting in the hall and staring straight ahead, even if Ying Chi was on the sidelines, she would not hear her good words.Zhao Gou stepped forward and asked, "Yuan Yuan, why don't you want to leave? If there are any playthings you can't let go of, just order someone to take them away with you."

Rou Fu raised his head, and responded with eyes as clear as water: "Ninth Brother, I originally thought that after returning from the Kingdom of Jin, I would no longer live a life of wandering."

Zhao Gou was quite sad when he heard it, and gently persuaded him: "It's just a few months of luck in Yuezhou, and I will come back soon. I remember that my sister likes to go out for fun, and the scenery in Yuezhou is also very good. My sister doesn't want to see it." Do you see?"

Rou Fu pulled out a icy smile: "Lucky? This word is so familiar. Brother Jiu has not long been on the throne, but he has already learned all the methods of the father to be lucky."

Zhao Gou's face turned black in an instant, he pursed his lips and stared at Rou Fu fiercely, the surrounding air condensed in his silent anger.Ying Chi sneaked up to Rou Fu's side, reached behind her and tugged on her skirt, motioning for her to apologize.Rou Fu ignored him, instead he stood up and looked directly at Zhao Gou and said, "Ninth Brother, let's not retreat and run away, okay? Let's stay in Lin'an to meet the enemy, and then fight back to Bianjing, to the Kingdom of Jin, and take Father and elder brother are rescued..."

"What do you know!" Zhao Gou said angrily, "You think that national affairs are the same as your little girls playing house, you can do whatever you say? Temporarily retreating to avoid disaster is a necessary expedient measure. There is a huge difference in the strength of the enemy and us, blindly die In the second year of Jingkang, my father wanted to go south again, but my eldest brother accepted the advice of my ministers and continued to stay in Bianjing, so what happened?"

"That's different!" Rou Fu immediately retorted, "It was indeed a disparity in strength at the time, but now it's mainly a matter of attitude. The Song Dynasty was timid before the war. Ninth brother, Zongze once entered Bianjing in May of the second year of Jingkang. After stabilizing the situation, he later uploaded 24 episodes of "Beg Back to Luan Shu", begging Ninth Brother to return to Bianjing to rebuild the capital. Why didn't Ninth Brother agree? If Ninth Brother went back at that time to strengthen the defense of Bianjing, then in February this year Beijing will not fall again. Ninth Brother, how about your courage when you were sent to the Jinying? How about your arrogance when you look down on the enemy chief? Are you so afraid of the Jinbing now?"

Zhao Gou raised his hand angrily, as if he was about to fall on Rou Fu's face.Roufu was not afraid, looked up proudly, bit his lips slightly with jade teeth, and looked at Zhao Gou with half resentment and half annoyance.

Zhao Gou's hand fell heavily, but he slammed his palm on the table beside him. The cups and teapots on the table immediately bounced up, fell down and fell to the ground with crisp sounds.

Then he coldly glanced at the maids on both sides, and ordered: "You help Princess Fu to get into the car."

The maid understood that he wanted them to go out with Roufu, and she agreed and came over to "help each other".But Rou Fu glared at them and said, "I won't leave, who dares to come here?"

The maids were all stunned, wondering if they should continue to "invite" her.

Seeing this, Zhao Gou didn't say any more, he just stretched out his arms and hugged her by the waist, then ignored her struggle, went straight out and walked towards the chariot that had been prepared for a long time.Yingfu was startled at first, and then turned around calmly to order Roufu's maids to immediately pack the princess' luggage and put it in the car.

Rou Fu was still struggling, pushing and beating Zhao Gou with both hands, and Zhao Gou increased the strength of his arms, holding her in his arms.This action miraculously made Roufu quiet down instantly.She leaned quietly in Zhao Gou's arms. When he felt her obedience and looked down at her in surprise, her smile slowly spread like ripples in autumn water, and a hazy and coquettish layer even appeared in her eyes. of mist.

Zhao Gou's heart fluttered, and the embarrassing memories of him carrying her into the Xiaoxian Pavilion in Huayang Palace that day swept over, followed by bitter joy mixed with a lot of guilt.But he wouldn't let his strange reaction be visible, he maintained an indifferent expression, continued to play the role of his hijacker, and walked methodically step by step, the destination was where the chariot was parked.Knowing that the girl in his arms is more dangerous than the little girl at the cardamom age, and she has grown into a enchanting woman, he no longer looks down at her.

"Brother Nine," Rou Fu suddenly stretched out his hands to wrap his arms around his neck, "I don't want to leave, I just want to see if you will stay and use all your strength to fight against the Jin army—to protect me."

"What a silly idea." Zhao Gou said softly to her, his eyes still looking forward instead of falling on her face: "Ninth brother will protect you for the rest of his life, so he will take you to the safest place and not let you face any possible danger."

3. Queen Mother
After arriving at the Yuezhou Palace, Rou Fu remained the same, with an indifferent attitude and harsh words. Concubine Pan Xian ignored her. Although Zhang Jieyu was kind and cheerful, she also kept a respectful distance from her. Zhao Gou and Yingchi often went there Look at her, but every time she is stabbed by her intentional or unintentional words, she will return unhappy.Once when Yingfu's maid was chatting with Concubine Pan Xian's maid, she accidentally slipped the tongue and told her what Rou Fu said in Yingchi Pavilion last time that the prince should die. Angry, he immediately ran to Zhao Gou crying and shouting, saying that someone in the palace hated the prince so much that they were still cursing him viciously after his death, and repeated Roufu's words with embellishment.

Zhao Gou was also furious after hearing this, and asked who was so presumptuous and vicious, Concubine Pan Xian winked, so the maid Chunli behind her knelt down and said in a low voice, "It was said by Princess Fuguo in Wu Cairen Pavilion in Lin'an."

Zhao Gou fell silent immediately when he heard the words, then stared at Chunli and asked slowly, "How do you know about this?"

Chunli replied: "Huanliu in Wu Cairen's Pavilion told the slaves."

Zhao Gou thought for a moment, and then ordered coldly: "I pass on my oral order: Palace servants Huanliu and Chunli fabricate rumors, tell stories, and attempt to slander Princess Fuguo. Each will be punished twenty times. If they commit the crime again, they will be severely punished."

Upon hearing the punishment, Chunli burst into tears and repeatedly complained about being wronged, while Concubine Pan Xian turned blue with anger, and asked Zhao Gou why she was so protective of Roufu, even she could tolerate her cursing her own son.

Zhao Gou ignored her and ordered the servants on the left and right to say, "Concubine Xian, please go back to the pavilion to rest." After the servants carried Concubine Pan Xian back, they ordered Wu Cairen to be summoned.

As soon as Yingfu entered Zhao Gou's bedroom, she immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty: "The concubine's lack of discipline has caused the palace people to wantonly slander and slander Princess Fuguo. Please punish the officials."

Zhao Gou sighed, "Get up. Actually, I know that Yuan Yuan must have said that."

Yingfu concealed: "The eldest princess never said that, we only mentioned the prince, maybe Huanliu heard it wrong..."

Zhao Gou interrupted her with a wave of his hand: "You don't have to cover up for her. If you mentioned the death of the prince, it would be strange if she didn't say such a thing... Sigh, I think she was such a lively and lovely little girl back then. In just three years, she Her heart can become so hard, her words can be so vicious. She doesn't appreciate us treating her so sincerely, and no one seems to be able to impress her anymore."

Yingchi thought for a while and said, "Perhaps someone can persuade the eldest princess to become gentler."

Zhao Gou opened his eyes and asked, "Who?"

Yingchi replied, "Empress Longyou."

Longyou Empress Dowager Meng is the original consort of Zhao Ji's elder brother Zhezong Zhao Xu.A few years after Zhao Xu ascended the throne, his grandmother, the Empress Dowager Xuan Rengao, and his aunt, the Empress Dowager Qin Shengxiang, selected more than a hundred daughters from aristocratic families to enter the palace for him. She has a delicate temperament and a natural beauty. The two empress dowagers loved her very much, so they focused on cultivating her, and stayed with her forever to teach female manners. She was canonized as empress in the seventh year of Yuanyou.

In the early days of marriage, the young couple got along well. Zhao Xu doted on the empress very much, and his eyebrows and lips were inseparable every day. He was very happy to see the empress dowager. Bo Zhixiang, if there are any changes in the country in the future, it is very likely that this person will suffer."

After the death of Empress Dowager Gao, who was listening to politics behind a curtain, Zhao Xu took charge of the government.Zhao Xu has been living under the shadow of the Empress Dowager since he ascended the throne when he was less than ten years old. The Empress Dowager was very strict with him, controlling both government affairs and life arrangements, so Zhao Xu was suppressed after the Empress Dowager passed away. His rebellious mentality erupted in an instant, and he carried out drastic political reforms. He dismissed the old school officials appointed by the Empress Dowager Gao, appointed the new school officials Zhang Dun as prime minister, and reused the brothers Cai Jing and Cai Bian. It shows the determination to overthrow the previous case and inherit the reform of his father Emperor Shenzong Zhao Xu's behest.

However, Zhao Xu was young and impulsive and easy to be exploited by others. After the villains such as Zhang Dun and Cai Jing gained power, they attacked the old party officials violently. During the Yuanyou period, almost all the officials who were reused by the Empress Dowager Gao were dismissed and demoted. Zhang Dun and Cai Bian even persuaded him to demote his late grandmother, the Empress Dowager Gao, to a commoner. Zhao Xu almost followed suit. Later, he gave up this unfilial idea after crying to the Queen Mother. .

Empress Meng was raised by the two empress dowagers. Naturally, she can't understand Zhao Xu's rebellious behavior and often speaks out to persuade her. Zhao Xu could listen to a few words at first, but gradually became bored with the queen's advice after more times. Thinking about it carefully, the marriage with the queen was also arranged by the empress dowager, so he felt even more unhappy. In addition, he began to recruit concubines again, and he became more and more alienated from the queen.

At that time, there was a Jieyu surnamed Liu in Zhao Xu's harem. She was beautiful, articulate and eloquent.She also wooed the eunuch Hao Sui internally, and colluded with the prime minister Zhang Dun externally. After she gradually gained wings, she ignored the queen and plotted all day long how to abolish the queen and seize the throne.She also had an arrogant attitude in front of Empress Meng, unlike other concubines who stood by her side in order, but often stood proudly with their backs to her.The queen's palace people couldn't bear to see it, and couldn't help scolding her, but the queen was quite tolerant and didn't care about her.

One winter solstice festival, Empress Meng led all the concubines to Jingling Palace to pay homage to the Queen Mother. At that time, the Queen Mother had not yet entered the palace, and the concubines sat aside and waited quietly.The concubine's seat is made according to the grade, and there are strict restrictions on the identity of the user.But Liu Jieyu deliberately asked the servant to move her the kind of chair used by the queen for her to sit on.The servant asked the queen for instructions, but the queen nodded in agreement without arguing with her, so Liu Jieyu sat on the queen's chair as she wished.Complacent, she looked left and right, very arrogantly, seeing that the concubines and palace people around her were quite angry, so someone deliberately designed to play tricks on her.I only heard someone singing: "The Empress Dowager is coming out!" Empress Meng immediately stood up to greet her, and Liu Jieyu and all the concubines also got up together, but after waiting for a while, the Empress Dowager did not appear, so everyone sat down again, not wanting to suddenly "plop" "There was a sound, everyone turned their heads and found that it was Liu Jieyu who fell to the ground - it turned out that someone quietly removed the chair behind her when she stood up, she didn't know it, she sat down suddenly and found nothing.Seeing this, the people around burst into laughter, and Empress Meng couldn't help covering her lips into a smile. When Liu Jieyu saw it, she held a grudge, and decided that it was the empress who was playing tricks on her to make her embarrassing in public.

Looking back, when Liu Jieyu saw Zhao Xu, she burst into tears, saying how the queen bullied her.Although Zhao Xu dotes on her, he also knows that she is more polite than before, and there is no evidence to prove that this matter is the Queen's instigator, so he can only comfort her, and did not trouble the Queen.

Liu Jieyu was still full of resentment, her confidant Hao casually advised her: "Jieyu doesn't have to mourn over this matter anymore, as long as she can give birth to a prince for the official family as soon as possible, the queen will belong to Jieyu sooner or later."

Later, Princess Fuqing, the daughter of Empress Meng, fell ill, and after a long time of treatment, she never recovered.Empress Meng's elder sister was quite knowledgeable in medicine, so she went to the palace to treat the princess, but unfortunately it still didn't work. She went to the doctor in a hurry and asked for Taoist amulet water to bring into the palace for the princess to drink.When Empress Meng saw it, she was shocked and said, "Don't my sister know that practicing witchcraft and asking for talismans is a violation of the forbidden in the palace?" She hurriedly ordered the palace people to hide the talisman water.When Zhao Xu went to see his daughter in the palace, the queen took the initiative to tell him about it.Zhao Xu didn't mind it, and said, "Your sister did this because she was eager to heal the princess, and it's only human. I won't blame you."

But soon after Empress Meng's adoptive mother heard that Mrs. Xuan's wife Yan, nun Faduan, and priest Wang Jian prayed for the queen's temple, Hao Sui learned that Hao Sui told Zhao Xu that Empress Meng practiced witches in the palace, and even intentionally created internal affairs. Change.So Zhao Xu ordered Liang Congzheng, Guan Dang Yuyaoyuan Su Gui and others to go into the prison to investigate and arrest more than 30 eunuchs and maids in the Queen's Palace. They were tortured and tortured. Tongue.In September of the third year of Shaosheng, after Zhao Xu finally issued an edict to abolish, he ordered Empress Meng to leave the Yaohua Palace where the abolished concubine lived as a monk.Then Zhao Xujin named Liu Jieyu a virtuous concubine, and in the second year of Yuanfu, after Liu Xianfei gave birth to a prince, he made her a queen.

But this prince, Zhao Mao, was too short-lived, he died within a short time.Zhao Xu also died at the age of 25 in the third year of Yuanfu, and the queen mother chose Zhao Xu's younger brother Zhao Ji as emperor.

Both Zhao Ji and the Queen Wang at that time respected Queen Meng, the sister-in-law. Zhao Ji issued an edict to welcome Queen Meng back from Yaohua Palace in May of the year when Zhao Ji came to the throne, respecting her as Queen Yuanyou, and Queen Liu as Yuanyuan. Fu Queen.

After Empress Meng entered the palace again, she was still the same as when she was in Yaohua Palace, living a life of innocence and asceticism, getting along well with the queen and knowing each other.However, Empress Liu and Hao Sui were quite disturbed by this. Hao Suan tried his best to encourage Cai Jing, the assistant minister, to try to abolish Empress Meng again.Cai Jing also ordered the party members to be sparse, and all the ministers seconded the proposal. In desperation, Zhao Ji had no choice but to agree to abolish the title of Empress Meng and make her live in Yaohua Palace again.

On the day of departure, Queen Wang and Queen saw each other with tears, and Queen Meng persuaded her with a smile: "It's a good thing for me to finally leave this place, why is my sister so sad?"

However, Empress Liu of Yuanfu was still restless after Zhao Ji ascended the throne, colluding with foreign ministers from time to time to interfere in the government affairs.Zhao Ji looked down on her at first, so he took the opportunity to discuss with his ministers about abolishing her. In the end, even the attendants around her ignored her and treated her coldly.Seeing that all the people had betrayed their relatives and had no interest in living anymore, Mrs. Liu hanged herself with a curtain hook.

During the Jingkang change, Empress Meng was not listed on the list of palace dependents because she was deposed, so she escaped a disaster.Later, Zhao Gou took her to her side and respected her as Queen Mother Yuanyou. Because Shang Shusheng said that the word "Yuan" violated the taboo of the queen mother's grandfather, she was renamed Queen Mother Longyou.

Concubine Wei Xian, Zhao Gou's birth mother, was still in the Kingdom of Jin, and the Empress Dowager Longyou was gentle, generous and loving, and her husband's cold reception was similar to that of Concubine Wei Xian. As an emperor, Zhao Gou had a great favor, and Zhao Gou treated him like a mother, took good care of his daily life, went to the Empress Dowager's Palace day and night to pay his respects, and treated him with great filial piety.The queen mother had no son, and her only daughter died young, and now seeing that this picked-up son served her as if she were his biological mother, naturally she also treated Zhao Gou as her own son, caring for everything.

Now Zhao Goujing also feels that Roufu should be handed over to Empress Dowager Longyou for enlightenment.The empress dowager had a rough life, with two conflicts, and experienced the Jingkang change and the ups and downs of the previous few years, but she always maintained a gentle temperament, a kind attitude and a state of mind that was not surprised by favor or insult.Perhaps only she can use herself as an example to enlighten Roufu and free Roufu from the deep resentment and hostility.

4. Moon Hidden
When Rou Fu was sent to the West Hall of the palace where the Empress Dowager Longyou lived, the Empress Dowager was cultivating soil for chrysanthemums in the courtyard garden with a flower hoe in her hand.Rou Fu didn't go over to say hello to her for a while, but only leaned halfway by the door to observe her.

The queen mother is already 58 years old, but her eyebrows are stretched, her expression is peaceful, and the smile on her lips is more obvious than the marks left on her face by the years.Probably because she was afraid of hurting the flower roots, her movements of cultivating the soil were gentle and meticulous, little by little, calm and unhurried. Combined with her gentle expression, her elegance is indescribable.

It took a while before she stopped, stood up with the hoe, looked at the well-growing chrysanthemums in the garden and smiled, felt someone turned around, and found that it was Rou Fu, she waved with a smile: "Come, Yuan Yuan."

Rou Fu came to her side and put on his hands to salute: "May the Queen Mother be blessed and safe."

The queen mother stretched out her hand to support her, and He Yan said to her: "You are like an official, call me the queen mother."

Rou Fu said indifferently: "I am different from Brother Jiu, I don't have the habit of casually recognizing people as mothers."

After hearing this, the Empress Dowager was not angry, she still smiled and said: "It's fine if Yuan Yuan thinks it's inappropriate, it's just a title, it doesn't matter."

The corners of Rou Fu's lips twitched, and he responded with a smile: "Growing flowers and cultivating soil should be the work of gardeners. The Queen Mother has a noble status, so why do you need to do it yourself?"

The queen mother said: "If you don't do it yourself, how can you taste the fun. I have done this kind of thing for decades. Almost every flower and tree in the Yaohua Palace has been cultivated by me. Now I can't change it in the south of the Yangtze River." Get out of this habit."

"I understand." Rou Fu looked coldly at the chrysanthemums at his feet, "Ninth Brother asked me to live in the West Palace, because he wanted me to learn how to grow flowers from the Queen Mother."

"Isn't it good to learn how to grow flowers?" The Queen Mother also bowed her head to look at the chrysanthemums, but her eyes were as gentle as gazing at her own children. "After dusk, when the willows are on the top of the moon, rest in the courtyard to enjoy the moon, drink a pot of tea, and cut the breeze a few times. Occasionally, there is a dark fragrance filling the sleeves, what a leisurely thing."

Rou Fu sneered and said, "Didn't the Queen Mother notice it? It's been raining so much recently, how can there be a moon at night?"

The Empress Dowager shook her head slowly and said: "The sun, moon and stars are always hanging in the sky. Now, because of the dark clouds covering the upper part and the lower part, the world cannot see them. When the wind blows away the clouds and mists, all the phenomena of the world will be revealed." It will be revealed in its entirety. Wait quietly, and believe that the stars are undefeated, and the sun and the moon are always bright."

"This is the lesson the queen mother wants to teach me, right?" Rou Fu said with a look of disdain, "Ninth Brother thinks I have changed, and wants to ask the queen mother to change me back to the Huayang Palace before. A careless little girl."

"I don't want to change you." The Empress Dowager took Rou Fu's hand, her tone was very gentle, "There is no need to change, your nature has not changed so far. Your temperament is as pure as clear sky and cold water. It's just that Now I am obsessed with anger, ignorance, grievances, and overly strong emotions surround me like floating clouds, making my sex not as clear as before. Perhaps what the officials want me to do is to wipe away the clouds that cover the sun and the moon for you."

Rou Fu resolutely withdrew his hand from the Empress Dowager's hand, and said: "Now there are no clouds and mist entangled me, but the peace and beauty of Huayang Palace in the past covered my sight, making me naive and ignorant. Now I see clearly, I I don’t like the world in front of me, so I want to say it out. The Queen Mother has experienced a lot of hardships in her life, why just endure it blindly and make peace with the situation instead of trying to change it?”

The queen mother sighed softly: "As a woman, her role is limited, and it is impossible to change the whole world with her own power. If so, why not take care of yourself?"

Rou Fu raised his eyebrows and said, "If you don't try, how will you know it's impossible?"

"Oh?" The Queen Mother stared at her and asked thoughtfully, "How does Yuan Yuan want to try?"

Rou Fu shook his head and said, "I'm still thinking about it, but there must be a way."

The queen mother smiled: "I'm old, and I don't have the courage of Yuan Yuan. Even when I was young, I couldn't compare with you. I just know how to watch the flowers bloom and fall in the loneliness day after day, year after year, and learn to turn my anger into joy." , the ability to smile at the haze. Gradually, the heart also faded away, and the wealth, honor and disgrace no longer care too much. I spend my leisure time on the flowers and the fragrance, listening to the rain and admiring the moon, but I hope that the mountains and the mountains will have a stream of water, flowing water and white clouds. comfortable."

Rou Fu sneered and said: "In recent years, the Queen Mother has been running around to avoid national disasters. Can she still maintain the ease of enjoying flowers and enjoying the fragrance, listening to the rain and admiring the moon in the ups and downs?"

The queen mother smiled unchanged, and replied: "Wild flowers are blooming all over the road, and the ground is full of fragrance."

Afterwards, Rou Fu lived in the West Palace of Empress Dowager Longyou. At the beginning, she was indifferent and rude, and often contradicted the Empress Dowager, but the Empress Dowager did not take it as a disobedience, and was still very gentle and loving to her. She cared the most, and gradually Rou Fu also eased up, and she became a little closer to the Queen Mother, and when she was in a better mood, she would go to plant flowers with the Queen Mother.Zhao Gou was also very happy when he heard about it, and would often go to the West Hall to watch them digging soil and pruning branches together, but he didn't want to disturb them, so he just stood and watched from a distance, and turned around and left before Rou Fu noticed.

In December, Jimao is the 59th birthday of the Empress Dowager, and Zhao Goute ordered the Ministry of Households to send in money and money to celebrate Daqing.On that day, Zhao Gou set up a wine palace to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday with all the palace family members. During the chat, the Queen Mother said: "I am nearly sixty years old. Fortunately, I escaped the national calamity and gathered here with the officials. The officials are like this." Filial piety, I will have nothing to worry about in the future, but there is one thing that I should tell the officials. When I was young, I was selected into the palace by the grace of the Empress Xuanren Shenglie. See the comparison. It is a pity that the treacherous ministers later slandered the Queen Mother because of their personal anger, which tarnished Shengde. Although the officials issued an edict in the early years of Jianyan to discern the Queen Mother’s injustice, the words recorded in the historical records have not been deleted. How can I pass on the message to future generations? If the official family can fulfill my wish, it will be the greatest filial piety to my mother."

When Zhao Gou heard the words, he immediately responded: "The mother's words are reasonable. I have long intended to change the historical records and declare the reputation of the Empress Dowager Ren Shenglie, but because there have been a lot of state affairs recently, I put it on hold for the time being. Today, the queen mother reminded me that the minister really Ashamed, tomorrow I will order people to revise the "Real Records" of the emperors of Shenzong and Zhezong, please rest assured, mother."

The queen mother smiled and said: "So I thank the official family on behalf of the Queen Mother Xuanren Shenglie. By the way, I heard that a few days ago, a Bianjing Taixue student named Qin Hui fled from the Kingdom of Jin and had already met the official family. Then he should bring Did you get some news from the two emperors and queens?"

Qin Hui returned from the Kingdom of Jin two months ago. He was accompanied by his wife, Wang, and entered the Song Army camp in Lianshui. They refitted and fled back, hoping that the soldiers of the garrison could help them hire a boat and send them to Yuezhou to meet the emperor.The garrison believed their words and hired a boat for them to reach Yuezhou smoothly.At that time, Fan Zongyin, a political adviser, and Li Hui, a member of the Privy Council, were old friends with Qin Hui, so they spoke well of Qin Hui in front of Zhao Gou, saying that he was loyal and worthy of reuse.So Zhao Gou summoned Qin Hui, heard many details about the second emperor and empress from him, and after having a deep talk with him, he said to the ministers: "Qin Hui is very loyal, and I have another good man, one night. Happy but sleepless." Soon after, he was named Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Zhao Gou did not immediately tell the Queen Mother about the recent situation of the Second Emperor and others in the Kingdom of Jin. He wept when she asked her about it, and said: "I am afraid that the Queen will be sad when I hear about it, so I have been daring to hide it. Now the father and the elder brother live together. The Wuguo City in Wuguo City is about a thousand miles northeast of Yanjing, and it is extremely desolate and cold. The father and elder brother are very uncomfortable, and daily life is becoming more and more difficult. However, Empress Zhu and Empress Taishang have passed away one after another due to unbearable torture. The father is deeply saddened by this. , weeping all day long, and now one eye is becoming blind."

The queen mother was surprised: "Why didn't you tell me this important matter earlier?" Then she burst into tears, "The two emperors and empresses are so precious, how can they endure such suffering! Poor two empresses, you are the mother of the country, but your soul is broken A foreign country. The officials should come up with a good plan to bring back the two saints as soon as possible, so as to relieve the suffering of the two saints, and at the same time, they should welcome the coffins of the two empresses back for a dignified burial."

Zhao Gou nodded and said, "I know. Qin Hui is fleeing back at the order of his father this time, and passed on his father's oral instructions to his face, asking him to try to reach a peace agreement with the Kingdom of Jin and welcome back the two sages as soon as possible."

"Peace negotiation?!" At this moment, a clear female voice suddenly sounded from the side, with a tone full of doubt, disdain and undisguised anger.

When everyone heard the reputation, they saw that the words were made by Roufu.Just now when Zhao Gou described the situation of the Second Emperor and others, Yingfu and other concubines and family members all lowered their heads and wiped their tears frequently, but Rou Fu looked indifferent and unmoved.At this time, she was sitting sideways, staring at Zhao Gou coldly, expressing her resistance to the word with a challenging and uncompromising expression.

5. Game
"Ninth Brother, do you believe what Qin Hui says?" Rou Fu stared and said, "Is there any evidence for him to say that he followed his father's oral order? I think the process of Qin Hui's escape is very suspicious. I heard that he was with He He at the beginning. Li, Sun Fu and others were imprisoned together, but why was he the only one who escaped and returned with his wife? Brother Jiu should at least ask clearly first, why did he obey him without even thinking about it, and was busy Considering the issue of peace?"

Zhao Goumeifeng frowned and was about to answer, but Concubine Pan Xian was the first to speak to her and said: "Eldest princess, since Qin Hui and his wife returned to the country under the order of the Taoist emperor, the escape plan must be carefully planned by everyone, so they can escape smoothly. He, Sun and the others must have obeyed the plan if they failed to accompany them, if so many people fled together, would there be any reason not to be discovered?"

Rou Fu gave her a cold look, and said: "This journey is [-] miles from Yan to Chu, and you have to cross rivers and Huai Rivers. There are many barriers. If you don't have the gold medal or documents from the Kingdom of Jin, how can you come back so smoothly? "

"Golden soldiers are so careful in guarding the customs. Is it possible that even seeing a beggar in ragged clothes insists on passing the gold medal document?" Concubine Pan Xian smiled mockingly, "I don't know about it. Details. By the way, did someone give you the gold medal for clearing the country of Jin? Why don't you take it out and let everyone see it?"

"Concubine Xian!" Zhao Gou was furious when he heard the words, and stabbed at Concubine Pan Xian with a piercing gaze.Concubine Pan Xian only felt a chill, she was unavoidably afraid, but also a little resentful, so she lowered her head resentfully.

Rou Fu's face was pale, and he sat silently without saying a word.Zhao Gou felt pity in his eyes, and the unhappiness she had brought to him just now quietly disappeared. He wanted to comfort him with words for a while but couldn't find the right words, so he just called softly: " Yuan Yuan..."

Rou Fu didn't respond, and the concubines didn't dare to say anything, the hall was awkwardly silent, only the musicians were still playing with silk and bamboo, but the festive music played gradually became cautious and weak.At this time, the queen mother stood up slowly, and said to Zhao Gou, "I'm a little tired, let Yuan Yuan accompany me back."

Zhao Gou nodded in agreement, and supported the Queen Mother with both hands.Rou Fu also got up, and while supporting the Queen Mother, he turned his head and smiled at Zhao Gouqiao: "Won't Ninth Brother send the Queen Mother to the West Palace?"

Zhao Gou replied: "I want to send my mother back in person."

All the concubines immediately left the table to salute and send them off.Rou Fu and Zhao Gou supported the Queen Mother out on both sides. When they reached the door of the main hall, Rou Fu leisurely looked back at Concubine Pan Xian, and suddenly smiled at her. The smile that bloomed on her pale face was strangely charming.

Concubine Pan Xian was furious again, she turned her head to the side and stopped looking at her.

After Zhao Gou sent the queen mother to the west hall, he sat down and chatted with the queen mother, then got up to leave, but he didn't want Roufu to come and pull his sleeve and said: "Ninth brother, it's still early, can you play chess with me?" it is good?"

Zhao Gou was a little hesitant, and the queen mother persuaded him from the side: "The government will go to court early tomorrow, so it's better to go back early and rest."

"Just play for a while, it won't drag on for too long." Rou Fu shook his sleeves and begged, "Ninth brother, I have been studying chess recently, and I don't know if my chess skills have improved now. You are a master. How about playing a game with me and pointing me out?"

Zhao Gou saw that she was pulling his sleeves with an extremely cute and naive look, his eyes shining in the candlelight, and his eyes were full of hope. In an instant, he suddenly remembered that when he met her under the cherry blossom tree in Huayang Palace, she raised her delicately. Picking up the shuttlecock, he said to him: "Your Majesty, let's kick it with us." Because of the hope in her eyes, he immediately agreed to her, and it is the same at this moment. Faced with such a situation, he is really powerless to refuse.

So he smiled and said, "Okay."

She smiled happily again, and told the maid to prepare the chess set quickly.After the two of them settled down on both sides of the chessboard in the study, she suggested with a smile: "If you just play like this, Brother Nine might be careless and perfunctory to me, and won't show your real strength to play against me, so we'd better use chess In a game, the loser must promise to do one thing for the winner.”

"What's the matter?" Zhao Gou asked, his face suddenly serious.

Rou Fu smiled and said: "Don't worry, Brother Nine, what I ask you to do will definitely be something easy to do. For example, plant a few cherry blossoms in the Yuezhou Palace for me, or plant a few swings in the yard for me What. But if Ninth Brother really wins, I don’t need to make any tricky requests to embarrass me.”

Zhao Gou smiled and said, "If Ninth Brother wins, I will only ask you not to bicker with others."

"Well, if I lose, I will definitely listen to Brother Nine." Rou Fu looked at the chessboard, and suddenly said, "Hey, Brother Nine is much stronger than me in chess, so it's only fair to let me play a few moves."

"We have never played chess before, so how do you know how big the gap is between us?" Zhao Gou took a sip of the tea next to him, and then said, "Alright, I will let you be the third son, and let you hold the black and go first." how? "

Rou Fu glanced at him for a moment, looked sideways at him and said, "Let Jiuzi go!"

Zhao Gou shook his head slowly and said, "Don't push yourself too hard."

Rou Fu pouted, stopped talking, and after setting up the third hand, the two began to play chess one by one.

Zhao Gou thought that his level was very good, and he didn't believe that a little girl like Rou Fu could have much strength, so at the beginning he was really careless and not very serious.I don't want to gradually discover that Roufu's layout is quite subtle, and quickly occupied a larger territory with a smaller number of chess pieces, but I have to give way to the third piece first, and with the advantage of going first, the more I play, the smoother the chess style becomes. .Hao Hao has repeatedly eliminated Zhao Gou's Bai Ziti during his wrist lifts.

Zhao Gou no longer underestimated her, and immediately sat up straight and raised his brows to think about how to deal with it.Helpless, he lost too much power in the past, and it is very difficult to recover now.After thinking hard for a long time, I reluctantly dropped another piece, but this move seems to have been expected by Roufu, and a black piece was quickly answered, and the place where it landed left a large piece of white stone in a state of no air, and she was leisurely one by one. propose.

"Ninth Brother," she said with a light smile, "It's almost the end, it seems that you are the one who lost."

Zhao Gou also raised his head and smiled and said, "Well, my situation is very bad. It seems that I can only hope that my sister will show mercy and let me do something easy."

"Of course it's easy to do." Rou Fu said, "I would like to ask Ninth Brother to remove Qin Hui from his position as Minister of Rites."

As expected, she had a purpose.Zhao Gou was very displeased, but his expression didn't change, he just said calmly: "Yuan Yuan, do you know that Brother Ninth is the last person to listen to you mentioning political matters? A good daughter's family, why do you care about so many important national affairs? This is what men do and has nothing to do with you women."

Rou Fu bit his lips slightly, and his smile lost its warmth: "It has nothing to do with us women? If one day, you have to fold us into gold and silver like your elder brother and give them to the gold man, then you can still say that national affairs have nothing to do with us Is it?"

"Shut up!" Zhao Gou scolded angrily, "You are getting more and more presumptuous, it seems that I have indulged you too much!"

His sound was very loud, which alarmed the Queen Mother in the hall outside, and immediately moved over to check.Baby Chi came in with her.

"It's fine, why did you start arguing?" the Queen Mother asked with a frown.

Zhao Gou didn't answer, looked at Yingfu, and asked indifferently, "Why are you here?"

Yingfu hurriedly came over to salute, and replied: "The concubine is here to greet the queen mother, and the queen mother asked the concubine to accompany her to talk."

Rou Fu smiled, and said to the Queen Mother: "Queen Mother, it's nothing, I just wanted to regret the game, so I was scolded by Brother Nine. If you have nothing to do, why not come to watch the game, Brother Nine promised me that if I lose, he will do something for me, you guys Just to be a witness, but a real gentleman who watches chess without saying a word, don't give him any advice."

"Really?" The queen mother looked at Rou Fu, and then at Zhao Gou who was opposite her.

Ying Chi glanced at the chessboard, and said softly to the queen mother: "The eldest princess must be right, you see this game is not finished yet. Please sit down, queen mother, let's take a look."

The queen mother nodded and sat down beside her.A court lady also brought a stool for the baby, but she shook her head and refused to sit, insisting on standing behind the queen mother.

Rou Fu smiled leisurely at Zhao Gou again and said, "Ninth Brother, it's your turn."

Zhao Gou looked at the chess game for a while, then picked up a piece and said indifferently: "This game of chess is really mysterious, and I don't know who is the winner until the end." In the place where Rou Fu had painstakingly managed, it was as if life was saved from a desperate situation. One son broke the situation that Rou Fu had painstakingly managed, and killed a large part of her sunspot.

In this way, the situation of Baizi suddenly becomes clear, and anyone who knows a little bit of chess theory can see that if the game continues, Baizi will definitely have the upper hand.Rou Fu was taken aback, stretched out his hand to take back the bee he had placed just now, and said angrily: "No, I played too fast just now, I won't play like this!"

Zhao Gou blocked her hand and said seriously: "Didn't Brother Nine say that just now? You have no regrets in playing chess, and you want to be scolded by Brother Nine?"

Yingfu also laughed beside her and said, "Princess, winning or losing is a common matter in military affairs, and it's not a big deal to lose a round once in a while, why bother to take the result so seriously."

Rou Fu glared at her, and said: "You are really a chicken and a chicken, you only care about talking for your husband, and you forget your former master."

Yingfu's smile froze immediately, she bowed her head and stopped talking.On the contrary, the queen mother took Yingchi's hand, patted it lightly, and then said to Roufu: "Yingchi is right, it is indeed wrong to regret chess, it is not the style of a dignified princess. Have you forgotten Yuan Yuan, you are already an adult Now, don't blame your ninth brother on the child's temper."

After hearing this, Rou Fu silently put the chess piece back, and then rested his hand on his chin and meditated with a sad face.

Zhao Gou saw that her frowning expression was very pleasant, and couldn't help but want to tease her, so he deliberately ordered someone to fetch a pot of Bianjing fine wine Bagui wine, poured himself a glass calmly, and then carefully As she tasted it, she picked up a chess piece with her left hand and tapped it on the table little by little to express her urging her to make a move as soon as possible.

Rou Fu managed to come up with a trick, and as soon as she fell, Zhao Gou immediately retaliated, forcing her to be unable to move even an inch.Rou Fu continued to think hard, and unconsciously brought the corner of the silk scarf in his hand to his lips, subconsciously biting it slowly.In this way, the two played a few more moves each, and then the situation in Roufu became more and more dangerous, and it was obvious that the defeat was a foregone conclusion. It was useless to allow her to bite through the silk scarf. When she was bored, she looked up and saw Zhao Gou leisurely playing chess and tasting wine , Roufu was angry and annoyed, and on a whim, he wiped the chessboard with both hands, disrupting the whole chess game, and said, "Bah! No way! I said Brother Nine is too good at chess, so I should let my nine players be fair. This game is not counted. Let's do it again!"

Zhao Gou laughed and said: "How can there be such a fool! Well, how about it, Brother Jiu will let you go, and tell you to fight against him later. If you can match before Brother Jiu finishes drinking this glass of wine, this chess will be counted." We make peace."

Roufu thought for a while, and finally nodded in agreement.

Zhao Gou filled the glass with wine while carrying the pot, and chanted casually: "Knock the chess pieces and pour wine." Then he raised his glass, stared at Roufu and began to drink with his lips open.

Rou Fu pondered for a while, and suddenly his starry eyes lit up in an instant, and said to him, "Chew the red antler lightly and laugh at the saliva!"

As soon as this sentence came out, everyone was shocked.Although her second couplet is right, the scene depicted in the sentence is very ambiguous.This sentence comes from the sentence Li Yu, the empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty, described flirting with him after the Zhou Dynasty: "The embroidered bed leans against Jiao Wuna, chews the red antler, and spits at Tan Lang with a smile", which is very fragrant and contains the love of husband and wife.If Rou Fu and Zhao Gou are not brother and sister, the combination of the above and the next sentence is very interesting, and it also coincides with her attitude towards Zhao Gou just now, but after all, they have special identities, and everyone who hears it will find it strange.

Zhao Gou put down the wine glass, first he didn't say a word for a long time, just looked at Rou Fu silently, his eyes became softer and softer, and finally smiled at her, and said: "My sister reacted very quickly. Well, then we have a draw."

Rou Fu smiled sweetly and said, "Ninth Brother, let's play another round."

"It's possible," Zhao Gou said, "but this time it's purely a competition, we don't gamble."

Rou Fu nodded: "That's fine, brother Jiu is really very prudent."

Yingchi watched from the side, but didn't make a sound during this period.The queen mother stood up, took her hand and said: "The moon is shining tonight, let's go to the courtyard to enjoy the moon and drink tea."

Ying Chi nodded in agreement, and gently helped the Queen Mother out of the study.

6. Arm cut
Although Yue Fei was ordered to do his best to command his subordinates to fight against the Jin army, but because the Jin army invaded too strongly, the strength of the two sides was quite different, and finally Chuzhou failed to hold.After the Jin people won Chuzhou, they crossed south and destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty even more, and continued to wave their troops down, and soon after they broke the two cities of Taizhou and Tongzhou.Zhao Gou ordered Xuanfu to dispose Zhang Jun to retreat from Qinzhou to Xingzhou, and mobilized troops to fight with Yue Fei. Not to mention the return to Lin'an, he lived with his family members in Yuezhou for a long time.

On New Year's Day in the first month of the spring of the following year, Zhao Gou led a hundred officials to pay homage to the two emperors outside the north gate of the palace.There has been no such case since Song Ting crossed the river. Last year, after Qin Hui came back to inform the two emperors, Zhao Gouyao paid homage once. This year, it became a routine after New Year's Day, and this ceremony will be held every New Year's Day in the first lunar month.Then Zhao Gou issued an edict to change Yuan to Shaoxing.In February of the first year of Shaoxing, Zhao Gou served as Minister of Rites and attended Qin Hui as a political adviser.

Empress Dowager Longyou is already in her prime, and has been traveling north and south for the past few years, and her health is getting worse and worse. In the middle of the first month of the first year of Shaoxing, she first suffered from some wind and cold, but her illness gradually worsened. Dizziness, chest tightness, fatigue, and fainting from time to time.Zhao Gou was very anxious, so he hurriedly summoned the imperial doctors to come for diagnosis and treatment. Those imperial doctors knew that Zhao Gou was the most filial to the queen mother, and they didn't dare to prescribe stronger medicines because they were afraid that something might go wrong, so they only prescribed it. He gave the queen mother some warming and tonic medicine.But after taking the medicine, the Empress Dowager not only did not feel better, but became more and more sad. She said to Zhao Gou, "Now I feel like a fire is burning in my chest and abdomen, and I feel more uncomfortable than when I have a cold or fever." The purpose was to blast out dozens of sticks from the imperial doctor, and then ordered people to visit famous doctors in Yuezhou to treat the queen mother, while he and Yingfu, Rou Fu and others served in front of the queen mother's sick bed for several nights, guarding the whole night with clothes on, lest the queen mother The condition worsened.

But things didn't go as expected, only two days later the Queen Mother had another attack of cold and fever, her condition was several times worse than before, the fever persisted day and night, her mind gradually became unconscious, and she babbled frequently.Zhao Gou finally found Xia Zhenguo, a famous doctor in the south of the Yangtze River. , to help the wind and cold to vent slowly, but all the medicines used before are warming and tonic, and the wind and cold are contained in the chest and abdomen, just like a wooden board is used to suppress the burning fire, and now the heat has entered the heart , has become extremely ill. The grassroots are not talented, and they have no power to recover."

Zhao Gou hurriedly took him by the arm, repeatedly persuading him to find a way to make a decision, and he must heal the Queen Mother.Xia Zhenguo shook his head and said: "It is the duty of doctors to cure diseases and save lives. If there is a glimmer of hope, how dare you try your best to save it? The grassroots doctors are not good at medicine, and they are really helpless. I can only offer you a precious pill that has been refined with the essence of herbs that has been painstakingly worked hard all my life. Please wait for the queen mother After waking up, dissolve this pill and let the Empress Dowager take it. If the Empress Dowager’s condition does not change drastically until tomorrow morning, there may be hope for a cure.”

After Xia Zhenguo resigned and refused to make any more promises, Zhao Gou had no choice but to order someone to open the palace door to let him out, then sat in front of the queen mother's bed with a sad face, staring at the treasure pill Xia Zhenguo gave him for a long time without saying a word.Several concubines and Rou Fu were also silent for a while, waiting for the Queen Mother to wake up.

At this time, a servant came running from outside the hall, and said: "Master Qin entered the palace late at night and said that he had an urgent military report and wanted to report it to the officials."

Zhao Gou hesitated for a moment, then stood up slowly, and said: "If the mother wakes up, please order someone to play the report." Then he went out of the hall with the servants to meet Qin Hui.

After he left, everyone continued to sit and wait. During this time, the Queen Mother's eyelids twitched a few times, and her lips moved slightly as if she was talking. Everyone hurriedly gathered around and whispered, but the Queen Mother didn't respond. It seemed that she was talking again, so they scattered again Come and sit down.After a while, Zhang Jieyu stared at the treasure pill on the table and suddenly sighed: "The Empress Dowager has always treated people generously, amiable, and is a rare and kind person. I don't want to be misled by a quack doctor and suffer such a catastrophe. I only hope Heaven has the virtue of good life, let the Empress Dowager take the Supreme Treasure Pill to escape this difficulty safely and live a long life."

Rou Fu quietly interjected from the side: "Ms. Jieyu seems to be wrong. The queen mother is a thousand years old, not only a long life of a hundred years."

Zhang Jieyu was stunned for a moment, then immediately apologized with a smile: "The eldest princess is right, the queen mother will live a thousand years, I made a slip of the tongue, I should slap her!"

Rou Fu ignored her and continued to turn her head to stare at the sleeping queen mother.Concubine Pan Xian sneered when she saw this, and said to everyone: "I heard that a filial son cuts the flesh of his arms and thighs to make a decoction for sick parents, which can move the gods and save the lives of dying parents. Now the queen mother is dying. If there are sons and daughters who are willing to make this sacrifice, if their arms and legs are cut and their thighs are boiled and boiled into a potion, the Empress Dowager’s illness will surely be cured.”

Ying Chi said softly from the side: "However, the Empress Dowager has no biological children..."

Concubine Pan Xian said: "It doesn't necessarily have to be the flesh and blood of your own children. The gods only look at the family relationship. As long as there is a mother-child relationship, it doesn't matter if it is not the flesh and blood."

Zhang Jieyu said in surprise: "Could it be that Sister Pan wants to be an official..."

"Of course not!" Concubine Pan Xian interrupted her, "The official family is the emperor of the real dragon. He's the only one..."

In this way, everyone understood that she meant Roufu, implying that Roufu should cut his arms and legs to save the Queen Mother, so the eyes of the rest of the people all turned to Roufu.

Rou Fu looked at her sideways and coldly for a long time, then got up and walked out slowly, and entered his own bedroom next to him.Concubine Pan Xian sneered again after seeing her disappear: "Look, she ran away as soon as she said she was going to cut her flesh. It's no use for the Empress Dowager to treat her like her own daughter..."

I don't want to say anything, but I saw Roufu walking back, and now there is a dagger in his right hand.

Concubine Pan Xian immediately fell silent in surprise.Rou Fu held a dagger and walked towards her step by step. The dagger was obviously carefully crafted. The handle was exquisitely carved and inlaid with seven-color gemstones.

Concubine Pan Xian saw her advancing step by step, her face expressionless, and the dagger was getting closer and closer to her. She couldn't understand her intention for a moment, so she couldn't help panicking, got up and backed away, and asked with a pale face: "Princess, what is it?" what are you doing?"

Rou Fu forced her to the wall, there was no way to retreat, then gently stretched out his hand, and pressed the dagger flat against her face.Concubine Pan Xian screamed out as if she was being burned, and Yingfu hurriedly brought two maids to persuade her: "Eldest Princess, don't scare Elder Sister Pan..."

Rou Fu smiled faintly, suddenly pulled up the sleeve of his left hand, and slashed at his left arm with the dagger.

A cold light flashed, and blood flowed out immediately.The surrounding people all exclaimed in unison, Yingfu immediately held her arms together with the maid, and shouted again and again: "The eldest princess can't do it!"

Rou Fu ignored him, struggling to continue cutting his arms, but heard an angry shout from the door: "Stop!"

Everyone fell silent and looked towards the source of the sound.Zhao Gou stood there with his brows furrowed tightly, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was livid.

He walked quickly to Rou Fu, snatched the dagger in her hand neatly and threw it on the ground far away, and then pushed away the baby and the maid who were holding her, and put Rou Fu into his arms with one hand, and pulled it down with the other. Covering the bleeding wound with her sleeve, she ordered in a roar, "What are you all doing here in a daze? Hurry up and get the cloth to bandage the Eldest Princess!"

The surrounding maids and servants responded immediately, rushing to find Bubo.Rou Fu raised his head quietly in Zhao Gou's arms, smiled at him and said, "Ninth Brother, let me cut off a piece of meat. The concubine's sister-in-law said that if the meat of the dearest relatives of the sons and daughters is used to make the soup and make it into the treasure pill, it can be cured." Empress Dowager's illness."

Zhao Gou saw that her sleeves were soaked half wet by her blood, her face was so pale that she felt transparent, even the blood on her lips faded, and gradually turned pale, and she was even more angry under pity, and looked directly at Concubine Pan Xian and asked: "You said that?"

Concubine Pan Xian saw that his face was covered with frost, she didn't dare to meet his menacing eyes, she knelt down abruptly, lowered her head and said in a trembling voice: "The concubine just said that there are filial sons who cut off their arms and legs to save their parents. One way of saying it didn't make the eldest princess follow suit..."

Zhao Gou sneered, and said to her: "Although the queen mother and the eldest princess have the status of mother and daughter, they are not related by blood. If you say that you are close relatives, then you are the daughter-in-law of the queen mother, and the queen mother treats you as if she were her own. Like a daughter, I will now order you to cut up your flesh to make medicine for the queen mother, as for the arms or the butt, you can decide for yourself."

Concubine Pan Xian was so frightened that her face turned pale, she knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "The official family, it is the concubine who spoke nonsense and said something wrong, please forgive the concubine, the official family is willing to punish the concubine, whether it is to slap the mouth or deduct the monthly salary. I beg the officials to take it back..."

Zhao Gou looked at her silently for a moment, and then slowly said: "What you said just now reminded me that cutting flesh to save relatives may be a good way. It is such an honor to save the Queen Mother's life by oneself. Why does Xianfei refuse to agree? Woolen cloth?"

Concubine Pan Xian was already in tears, trembling, kowtowed repeatedly but was speechless.

Zhao Gou gave her a last contemptuous glance, then looked around at the other concubines, and said to them: "You are also the daughter-in-law of the queen mother, if anyone can cut the meat and fry the soup to make it into Baodan, and cure the queen mother's illness, if I have to in the future If another queen is established, she will be established."

For a while, there was complete silence in the palace, and no one dared to make a slight noise. Not only the concubines, but even ordinary court ladies were secretly worried about being chosen by Zhao Gou to cut their flesh.The position of empress is certainly very tempting, but how can the pain of cutting off a piece of flesh from one's own body be easily bearable?

After waiting for a long time and still no one answered, Zhao Gou first looked at Zhang Jieyu inquiringly, Zhang Jieyu couldn't help but moved back slightly, bowed his head and remained silent.

Zhao Gou then shifted his cold gaze to his talented Wu Yingfu.

7. Will
Ying Chi was standing with her eyes down, feeling that Zhao Gou was not panicked after looking at her, she slowly raised her head to meet Zhao Gou, she didn't speak for a while, but her expression was very calm and calm.

Zhao Gou asked her, "Would you like it?"

When she heard him ask this, she noticed a strange gleam in his eyes. She didn't have time to study whether it meant hope or temptation, but she knew that her fate that she couldn't refuse was doomed.So Yingchi bowed his knees and gave a blessing, and replied: "Yes. The concubine is willing to cut her shares to make soup for the Queen Mother."

After getting her answer, Zhao Gou's tightly pursed lips gradually loosened, and a satisfied smile cracked on his stern face.Before feeling the fear of cutting flesh, Yingchi couldn't help feeling sore.She kept her eyes wide open as much as possible to prevent the wet eyes from congealing into beads, and kept a calm expression. In the whispers that gradually sounded, he moved lightly, walked to another corner, picked up the dagger that Zhao Gou had thrown on the ground just now, then turned around and smiled and said to Zhao Gou: "Please allow the ministers and concubines to return to their residences." do this."

Zhao Gou nodded and said: "Okay, but speed is the most important." At the moment the maid was bandaging Roufu's wound, he sat down beside Roufu, not hugging her tightly as before, but his left hand was still resting on Roufu. On the back of the chair behind him, indescribable intimacy is inadvertently revealed from this posture.

Yingfu didn't look any further, she agreed and went back to the cabinet.

After returning to her own pavilion, Yingchi dismissed the maid, poured clean water into a pot and boiled it, then burned incense and lit candles with her own hands, knelt down and prayed to heaven with her hands together: "Wu Yingchi voluntarily cut her shares today to heal Empress Dowager Longyou. I beg God to observe the situation, so that the Empress Dowager can recover as soon as possible, I am extremely grateful." After bowing respectfully and repeatedly, she got up and undressed, and carefully washed the skin on her left leg.

The skin as far as the eye could see was as clean as jade, and the baby was gently wiped off with a clean cloth soaked in cold water. The sudden temperature difference made her legs and heart tremble at the same time, and tears gushed out.She finished the cleaning procedure in a sad cry, but when she held the dagger, her tears stopped in an instant.

From the moment the dagger pierced her leg, the heart-piercing pain burst and gradually raged into the bone marrow, blood gushed out, and the dazzling red that continued to spread made Baby Chi feel dizzy. She began to tremble, but she still insisted on the movement of her hands, trying to convince herself that what she was cutting was an ordinary piece of medicine, not a part of her own body.

The blade moved in the muscle, going deeper and cutting bit by bit.It was indeed a dagger that cut iron like mud, but it didn't make Yingchi feel that the long process of cutting the thigh was shortened.After finally cutting off the last vein connecting the cut thigh meat to the body, Yingchi threw it into the boiling water in the furnace, then wrapped the wound with the prepared cloth, and then faced the waiting outside. The maid said: "Okay, you can come in." Then she fell down on the blood-stained bed in relief.

When Yingfu's maid sent the boiling soup made of her butt meat to the Queen Mother's palace, the Queen Mother just woke up. Zhao Gou hurriedly ordered someone to pour it into the cup, melted the treasure pill, and then personally held it and served it to the Queen Mother.The Empress Dowager smelled it for a while, and said in surprise: "What kind of soup is this, how can it have a meaty smell?"

Zhang Jieyu briefly explained the situation just now, and praised Zhao Gou and Yingchi for their filial piety.

After hearing this, the queen mother sighed, shook her head and refused to drink.Zhao Gou persuaded urgently: "This treasure pill was made by Xia's genius doctor all his life, and it must have miraculous effects. What's more, Wu Cairen's filial piety can be learned from, and he voluntarily cut his shares to make medicine for his mother. Don't disappoint her mother's heart."

The Empress Dowager said to him: "I understand your thoughts, but I am very clear about my health. It is the same whether I take medicine or not. The theory of cutting flesh to save relatives is to persuade people in the world to be filial. First of all, as to whether using flesh as a lure is really effective, it is hard to say. The flesh and blood of the body is so precious, you must know how to cherish it, and don't make light of it because of people's false reputation. I don't know how to drink this soup today."

Zhao Gou refused to give up, and knelt down to persuade him repeatedly.Concubine Zhang Jieyu, Concubine Pan Xian and all the palace attendants also knelt down when they saw the emperor kneeling, and together they persuaded the queen mother to take the medicine.The Empress Dowager still insisted on not accepting it, and ordered people to withdraw. The maid serving the medicine didn't know what to do, and stood awkwardly, in a dilemma.

At this time, Rou Fu stood up from the Empress Dowager's bed, gently supported Zhao Gou, and said to him: "Ninth Brother, can you avoid it for a while? I will persuade the Empress Dowager to take this medicine."

Zhao Gou looked at her with some doubts, Rou Fu looked at him and nodded firmly.Zhao Gou also had no other choice, so he agreed, ordered the maid to hand the medicine to Rou Fu, and then led the rest of the people out of the Queen Mother's bedroom and waited in the hall.

Seeing that there were only two of them left in the hall, the Queen Mother smiled and asked Rou Fu: "How are you going to persuade me?"

Rou Fu smiled slightly, but did not answer, just held the cup of medicine, and then tilted his hand, the medicine soup poured to the ground.

The queen mother nodded and sighed: "Yuan Yuan understands my thoughts best."

Rou Fu said: "If I were the Queen Mother, I wouldn't drink this medicine either."

The Queen Mother smiled and sat on the head of the bed as hard as she could, beckoning to Roufu, "Come on, sit by my side, there are a few words I've been wanting to tell you, let's say it first while I have some energy now."

Rou Fu sat down beside her as promised.The queen mother held her hand and said: "Yuan Yuan, from now on you have to learn to get along with people more gently, don't fight with people everywhere, and speak tactfully, you must know that sometimes a careless word can have serious consequences of making enemies. "

"I'm not afraid." Roufu said stubbornly, "What I fight for must be the right thing, and what I scold is the person who deserves to be scolded, even if someone becomes my enemy because of this, but I am the eldest princess, what can they do to me? "

The queen mother looked at her sadly, and suddenly two tears fell, and she held her hand even tighter: "I am most worried about you now. If I leave, who will protect you in the future?"

"Ninth Brother." Rou Fu stared at the Queen Mother, his eyes were clear and bright, "Ninth Brother will protect me forever."

The queen mother sighed again, and said, "Yuan Yuan, there are a few points you must firmly remember: [-]. The official family is the emperor; [-]. The official family is your brother; [-]. The official family is the emperor first, and then you Elder brother, he will no longer be anyone else to you."

Rou Fu was silent after hearing this, neither expressing that he remembered nor refuting.The queen mother took another deep look at her, and said: "Thinking that you can change a man with your emotions is the most common mistake a woman makes. I have spent the best part of my life to understand this sentence. I hope you Don't make the same mistakes I did."

Rou Fu thought about it, and said after a while: "Maybe not every man can't change?"

The Queen Mother shook her head, and was about to say more, when Zhao Gou asked outside, "Queen Mother, have you taken the medicine? Can I come in?"

The Empress Dowager swallowed what she wanted to say, and said to the outside: "Officials, please come in. "

When Zhao Goufu entered the door, he saw the liquid medicine poured on the ground, his expression changed suddenly, and he asked, "Yuan Yuan, what's going on?"

The queen mother said first: "It's none of her business. She brought the medicine and persuaded me to drink it. When I pushed back, I threw the medicine too hard."

Zhao Gou immediately turned around and said in a loud voice: "Quickly call Xia Zhenguo into the palace and prescribe a prescription for the Queen Mother."

"No need," the queen mother waved her hand, "I'm tired and want to sleep for a while, you all go out."

Zhao Gou carefully examined the Empress Dowager's complexion again and again, and felt that she seemed to be a little better than before, so he agreed: "The minister will wait in the outer hall, and the queen mother will call the minister if there is something to do."

The queen mother nodded, and Zhao Gou asked Rou Fu to retreat together.Rou Fu walked a few steps, turned back to look at the Empress Dowager, and suddenly turned around and walked to the Empress Dowager's bed, knelt down, solemnly kowtowed, and then clearly called: "Mother Empress."

The Queen Mother smiled, looked at her tenderly, and said, "My dear boy, go and rest too...don't forget my words."

8. Selection of heirs
On Gengchen in April of the first year of Shaoxing, Empress Dowager Meng of Longyou collapsed in the west hall of the palace.

Zhao Gou mourned for a long time, and issued an edict: "Empress Dowager Longyou should perform the ceremony, and compare the story of Empress Qin Shengxiansu to discuss and hear. I take the body as the most important thing, and I should obey it." The scale of the funeral was for the Empress Dowager Longyou to attend the funeral, and I myself wore heavy clothes for the Empress Dowager's funeral, and stopped the court for a month and did not go to the main hall.

In May Guimao, after the meeting of attendants in the court and admonitions from Taiwan, the posthumous title of Empress Dowager Longyou was called Zhaocixian Empress.

The Empress Dowager is usually kind and generous to the concubines and maids, and the people in the palace respect and love her very much. She was already very sad because of her death, but seeing that the emperor mourned to the point of leaving the court for a month, she dared not Neglect, one after another wailed and kept watch, trying their best to show their grief.Concubine Pan Xian and Zhang Jieyu were deeply disturbed by the fact that they refused to cut their flesh to save the Queen Mother last time. They were afraid that Zhao Gou would pursue it again, so they consciously wore sackcloth and filial piety and knelt in front of the Queen Mother's spirit day and night. Every time Zhao Gou appeared, he carefully observed Then he covered his face with tears, let out a loud cry of grief or sobbed in a low voice, for fear that he would suspect that he was not sad enough and not filial enough.

On the second day after the circumcision, Yingchi felt hot all over his body. The high fever persisted.After waking up, when she heard the news of the Queen Mother's death, Yingfu immediately turned pale with fright. Regardless of the maid's persuasion, she struggled to get up and was supported by others. With a heavy body, he staggered and rushed to the Queen Mother's bedroom to cry and worship.

Seeing her like this, Zhao Gou sighed, and Wen Yan said to her: "Your body is not recovered, you should go back to bed and rest, this is enough."

Yingfu shook her head and said, "Don't say that the Queen Mother is the queen mother of an official family. Even if she is just the wife of an ordinary family, how can we, as daughter-in-laws, not come to guard the coffin and die when we die?"

She insisted on staying and knelt to watch the spirit, so Zhao Gou let her keep watch, but at night, he still ordered someone to help her back to her residence to rest.

Roufu couldn't help but shed a few lines of tears on the day of the Queen Mother's death, but she stopped crying soon, and did not cry anymore. The mourning and mourning also followed the custom, and did not deliberately emphasize her grief. She also went her own way and ignored it.

After Yuan Yi's crown prince Zhao Yan passed away, because Zhao Gou had no more princes to stand on, the crown prince position remained vacant.In June of the first year of Shaoxing, the right servant of Shangshu, Fan Zongyin, asked Zhao Gou to choose a qualified son from the clan to raise him in the palace. He said that the prince is the foundation of a country. Peace of mind.

Zhao Gou was silent at first, and only sighed after repeated inquiries from Fan Zongyin: "Emperor Yizu ruled the world with holy martial arts, but his descendants could not continue to enjoy it. Now that there are few descendants, his feelings are pitiful. Emperor Renzong has no sons. So he appointed his nephew as the heir, and he is the Yingzong. If I don’t make a living for the people of the world, and follow the example of Renzong, how can I comfort the ancestor’s spirit in heaven!"

The Great Song Dynasty was created by Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, but it was not his son Dezhao or Defang who succeeded to the throne, but his younger brother Jin Wang Zhao Guangyi.It is said that when Zhao Kuangyin was dying, he summoned the King of Jin into the palace at night, and dismissed all the palace people to have a secret talk with him. The content of the conversation was not heard from the left and right, and only saw the King of Jin leave the table from time to time under the shadow of candles, as if he was acting as if he was avoiding.In the end, the two of them did not know what Zhao Kuangyin said, but Zhao Kuangyin was furious. He grabbed the jade axe, a stationery tool beside him, and poked the ground vigorously.Zhao Guangyi came out with a sad face to announce the death of the emperor, and said that Taizu wanted him to succeed him as emperor before his death.Although everyone felt that this was quite strange, they didn't dare to say anything more, so they immediately changed their name to Zhao Guangyi as an official.There is another theory that when Taizu was dying, Empress Song ordered the eunuch Wang Jilong to call her son Defang into the palace, but Wang Jilong went to find Zhao Guangyi, who was then governor of Kaifeng, and invited him into the palace, saying that otherwise the throne would belong to someone else.After Zhao Guangyi entered the palace, Empress Song knew that he had been betrayed by Wang Jilong when she saw him, so she said sadly: "The fate of my mother and son is entrusted to the officials."

The truth about the "candle shadow and ax sound" has become an eternal mystery. The future emperors are all descendants of Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi. This is doubtful, and most of them suspect that this is actually a palace coup to seize the throne and usurp power. Although they don't say it, they sympathize with Zhao Kuangyin's descendants in private.Zhao Kuangyin's descendants had been unknown by this time, and they were hidden. Now the ministers heard that Zhao Gou had taken the initiative to bring up the matter of the descendants of the Taizu, and they immediately became energetic, and they wrote letters asking for the successor of the Taizu to be the crown prince.

Li Huishangshu, a member of the Privy Council, said: "Since ancient times, only Yao and Shun can make the world and the sages, and the ancestor of Yi (Zhao Kuangyin) can not pass on his son with a great position. The sage is arbitrarily determined. It comes out of sincerity. Your majesty has far-sighted considerations, and the heritage of the ancestors of the Shanghe art can really manifest the destiny." Another minister Zhang Shouze clearly praised Zhao Kuangyin and secretly urged Zhao Gou to make up his mind: "The sons of the art ancestors have not lost their virtue. He passed on the throne to Emperor Taizong, with a high character and integrity, several times better than Yao and Shun." Cheng Yinliang of Shangyu County petitioned more directly: "The descendants of Yizu are now lonely and unknown, and they are no different from the common people. Compatible. Your Majesty, please select the virtuous descendants of Yizu in the line of "Bo" for future selection. If the emperor's heir is born in the harem in the future, he will be ordered to retire from the vassal service. In this way, you can comfort Yizu The spirit in the sky can comfort the hearts of the people in the world."

After reading it, Zhao Gou was filled with emotions, so he discussed it with Qin Hui. Qin Hui said: "This matter is also feasible, but you must choose the son of a clan and boudoir with good manners." Zhao Gou nodded and said, "That's natural." Shifu Zhirou asked Zhao Gou again: "If you choose the prince to be raised in the palace, who can you entrust the prince to raise?" Zhao Gou replied, "I have already thought about the candidate." Zhao Lingchou of clan affairs visited the son of the clan who was born in the first year of Jianyan in the line of "Bo".

The news soon spread to the harem. One day, Zhang Jieyu, Yingchi and Roufu met in the palace garden by chance, and they chatted about it.Zhang Jieyu said to Yingchi: "The official said that he has already thought of a candidate, which probably refers to you and me. Sister Pan lost her beloved son, so she must not be willing to adopt someone else's child."

Yingfu smiled and said, "If that's the case, then I have something to do. Since the empress dowager passed away, the harem has become much more gloomy, and with one or two more children, the atmosphere will be more lively."

Rou Fu was listening, and suddenly interrupted: "If you want to adopt a prince, you should choose the one who has the closest relationship with the official family. Most of the father's descendants are in the Kingdom of Jin, and occasionally there are a few who live among the people and don't know where they are. Finally, I heard that Emperor Shenzong's two younger brothers, Wu Rong Wang Hao and Yi Duanxian Wang Kai, have several grandsons who escaped the disaster of Jingkang and are now in the south of the Yangtze River. The official family can choose their sons to be raised in the palace , why do you have to choose the descendants of Emperor Yizu?"

Before Zhang Jieyu and Yingchi could answer, someone interrupted: "What is the difference between the descendants of King Wu Rong and King Yiduanxian and the descendants of Emperor Yizu? Anyway, they are not the official sons, so why did they raise them?" use?"

Rou Fu looked back and saw that the person who was talking was Concubine Pan Xian who was approaching, so he smiled lightly and said, "That's right, the descendants of King Wu Rong and King Yiduanxian are no different from the descendants of Emperor Yizu. The selection of the prince should not be based on the theory of blood relationship, but the one who has courage and virtue. If you choose a child, it is enough to kiss, but you are as timid as a mouse, and the slightest noise can scare..."

"Eldest Princess, just now I ordered my girl to prepare iced sour plum soup for you. It should be ready now, please come back with me to drink the eldest princess." Ying Chi interrupted Rou Fu's words decisively, without letting her say the harsh words behind. Words, while pulling her away, smiled at Concubine Pan Xian and Zhang Jieyu: "Two sisters chat slowly, the princess and I will leave first."

Concubine Pan Xian naturally knew what Rou Fu wanted to say, her face was already pale with anger, she almost vomited blood.Rou Fu looked at her, smiled again, and left with Ying Chi.

Arriving at the Yingchi Pavilion, Yingchi asked her to sit down, and then went around asking the maids to fan Roufu, wash their hands, and serve sour plum soup.Rou Fu quietly watched her busy back and forth, and finally her eyes fell on her lower abdomen.Yingfu realized this in a blink of an eye, and wondered, "What is the eldest princess looking at?"

"Yingfu," Rou Fu asked slowly, "You have been serving my ninth brother for several years, why have you never been happy?"

Yingchi was stunned for a moment, bowed her head in embarrassment, and then said softly after a long while: "This matter is entirely up to God's will, it is Yingchi who has no blessing..."

Rou Fu shook his head and said: "No. Not only you, but after the death of the crown prince, Concubine Pan Xian and Zhang Jieyu have also been unable to conceive. Ninth brother is still very young, this is very abnormal."

"Princess..." Yingchi looked at the maids around her, and called her almost beggingly, implying that she should stop talking.

Rou Fu waved his hands and said to the maids on the left and right: "You all go down, you don't have to wait here anymore."

The maids came out in response.Roufu stared at Yingfu again, and asked again: "Yingfu, why did brother Jiu fail to regenerate a prince, but had to choose the son of the clan as the heir?"

(End of this chapter)