in the sound of swallows

Chapter 123 Palace Dress
The Empress Dowager Nian ate melon seeds and said, "Anyone knows how to protect their own children. The emperor is not stupid, he knows how to protect Concubine Yan. Even if she can't protect Concubine Yan, Concubine Yan should know how to be careful. If these two people add up Aijia's grandson is hurt...that's because they are incompetent, Aijia doesn't need to be distressed."

Duanwen didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he used to snuggle up to the Empress Dowager Nian, and said in a low voice, "The Empress Dowager is too open-minded."

Even when her father passed away, the Empress Dowager Nian was not sad for a long time. At most, she placed a blank piece of wood in the house, set up an incense tripod, and kept offering it.Usually, she never even saw a sad look on her face, let alone cared about anything.

Sometimes Duanwen felt that the empress mother lived too carelessly.

The Empress Dowager Nian half-closed her eyes, listened to Duanwen's words, and only hummed softly after a long time.

"If you can't see it, isn't it just embarrassing yourself?"

Instead of thinking about those troublesome things every day, it's better to act as if nothing happened so that you can feel more at ease.Especially in this harem, whoever takes things to heart will have trouble with himself.

Duanwen seemed to understand a little bit, rolled his eyes for a while, and sat on the side without saying a word.

When Gu Chaobei brought Shen Guiyan to the North Palace, he didn't have many boring etiquettes as usual, but went straight in, knelt down neatly, and called out: "Mother's queen."

Shen Guiyan knelt down after him, always feeling that today's consonants were shouting differently than usual.

Is it because Gu Chaobei is too serious?

The Empress Dowager Nian was startled, and when she lowered her head, she saw Gu Chaobei's eyes. The expression in them was very similar to that of the former emperor.

"Really, I don't always have a normal shape on weekdays, but today it suddenly happens, Aijia is not used to it." Don't open the reddish eyes, the Empress Dowager Nian frowned and said: "What's wrong?"

Gu Chaobei smiled slightly, and said: "My son heard that there was a period of time in the harem, the style of palace dress with chest-length skirts was popular, and it was created by the queen mother."

The chest-length underskirt, not tied at the waist, has a wide and comfortable hem. It was popular in the harem because it was loved by the concubines of the year. The late emperor also admired it very much, so many concubines loved to wear it.

The Empress Dowager Nian was slightly taken aback when she heard this, looked at Gu Chaobei and said, "That's fine, why did you mention this matter?"

Gu Chaobei pursed his lips, looked deeply at the Empress Dowager Nian, and remained silent.

From his expression, the Empress Dowager Nian also knew what he wanted to say.This kid probably couldn't help himself, so he went to check his own background, right?

Sighing slightly, the Empress Dowager Nian took out a wooden hairpin from the box next to her and pinched it, looked at the emperor and said with a smile: "Get up, don't you have a child in the belly of Yan girl? Everyone knows how to protect the hairpin." My own child, that is a natural instinct, and there is nothing to be moved."

Shen Guiyan was a little confused when she heard it, so she stood up, Duanwen came down and pulled her back and said: "The empress mother and the emperor brother have something to say, so Duanwen will chat with the concubine Yan at the door."

Gu Chaobei looked over, nodded and said, "Don't leave the area of ​​the North Palace."

"No, don't worry, brother."

They are here, but Gu Chaobei and the Queen Mother Nian are not easy to talk to.Shen Guiyan's stomach full of questions can also be asked Duanwen.

Last time I asked half of it, Duanwen said that she didn't need to know that much.If you want to know now, you should be able to say it, right?

I always feel that just now when the emperor and the empress dowager met each other's eyes, many secrets have been unraveled.

"Do you know what the emperor's palace outfit looks like?" Duanwen asked Shen Guiyan with a smile.

Shen Guiyan shook her head, she hadn't been in the palace much, so naturally she didn't know.

"Let's go, I'll take you to see. The queen mother still has one in the palace. It's in a box in the backyard." Duanwen pulled her away, and said as he walked, "I was always worried about whether you would also see me." After being murdered, I didn't expect you to be clever and safe, so I don't have to worry about my little nephew."

Covering her belly, Shen Guiyan pursed her lips. Her child was quite firm. Last time, she had pain once. The imperial doctor said that the fetal image was unstable. After resting for a few days, there was no movement after that, and she was stable.

Duanwen dragged her to the backyard of the North Palace, went into a warehouse-like room to fiddle with for a long time, and dragged out a palace costume to show her.

"That's it."

Shen Guiyan's heart skipped a beat, the palace dress had a knot under the chest, and the place below it was extremely wide.She suddenly felt that if she wore such a palace dress, no one would be able to tell even if she was pregnant for ten months.

"It is said that this kind of palace dress was only popular in the palace for seven months. After seven months, the Empress Dowager Nian suffered a serious illness and never wore this palace dress again. Gradually, this style disappeared in the palace." Duan Wen looked at Shen Guiyan: "Do you understand what Brother Huang said just now?"

Shen Guiyan subconsciously reached out and covered her stomach.

Saying that Gu Chaobei is the son of a court lady next to the Empress Dowager Nian, and saying that the Empress Dowager Nian is at odds with Prime Minister Gu, are they all fake?Taking a deep breath, Shen Guiyan finally understood why the Empress Dowager Nian had been secluded in the harem and did nothing, and where did Gu Chaobei get the confidence to confront the Empress Dowager Wen head-on.

Counting carefully, the Empress Dowager Nian is Gu Chaobei's biological mother, Prime Minister Gu is Gu Chaobei's adoptive father, the Minister of the Household Department, the Nanying soldiers and horses, and many people in black that she doesn't know are all Gu Chaobei's. In terms of power...

Shen Guiyan pursed her lips, and tomorrow morning, there will really be a good show to watch.

In the eyes of Empress Dowager Wen, she has military power and is backed by the Empress Dowager.Yuwen Changqing and Fu Xueshi are her right-hand men, and the deputy commander of the Imperial Forest Army in the palace and others also obey her orders, so she can control half of the country.

So what if Yuwen Changqing also turns against each other?
From the moment Gu Chaobei ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Wen seemed to be passive, but she never noticed it.Even if he didn't know the inside story, Shen Guiyan felt that Gu Chaobei's fight with Queen Mother Wen was beyond his control.

But after hearing Duanwen's words and knowing Yuwen Changqing's position, Shen Guiyan understood.Gu Chaobei's game of chess, I am afraid that since he knew the truth, he has slowly laid it out step by step, and only waited for a certain day to close the net and completely remove the screen that the previous emperor could not get rid of from the court hall. .

Just, a little bit.Annoyed the Queen Mother today, and the Queen Mother was able to wash the Xiuzhuang Palace with blood.What if the Empress Dowager knows that the emperor is the Empress Dowager Nian's own birth, and even the one who killed the sixth prince?

Shen Guiyan frowned, thinking.

The emperor came out of the Empress Dowager Nian's Palace at dusk, and left holding Shen Guiyan's hand.

It seemed that he had said everything that needed to be said, Gu Chaobei looked a lot more relaxed, but there was still a trace of worry in his brows, as if he was worried about whether tomorrow would be smooth.

"Your Majesty." There was a woman wearing a concubine's palace attire standing on the palace road ahead, smiling and waving towards this side.

Shen Guiyan and Gu Chaobei raised their eyes, their eyes were in a daze, as if they saw Concubine Zhuang.But upon closer inspection, that person was Concubine Shen.

Shen Hanlu was released from the cold palace by Empress Dowager Wen, she probably suffered a lot, and she became restrained.After waving, she came over to salute, very well-behaved: "My concubine greets the emperor."

Shen Guiyan pursed her lips, followed by saluting to her: "Concubine Shen."

"Sister, you don't need to be too polite, just be careful." The voice was much gentler, if it wasn't for this face not changing, Shen Guiyan would still feel that it wasn't her.

Gu Chaobei glanced at her and said, "If there's nothing wrong, I'll go back first."

"Your Majesty, go slowly." Shen Hanlu didn't stop her, she saluted respectfully and said nothing, raised her head and gave Shen Guiyan a friendly smile.

Taking the wrong medicine?Shen Guiyan pursed her lips and saluted her back, and followed Gu Chaobei to continue walking.

"You don't need to pay attention to others, Yan'er. You can just wear the clothes of a court lady and follow me these few days. You don't need to listen to anyone except what I say." The gold medal in the room was released: "I will not let you out of my sight, but just in case, you should take it with you."

Having lost Concubine Zhuang, Gu Chaobei will not let Shen Guiyan get hurt again no matter what.Shen Guiyan took the token and tied it around her waist, squeezed his hand and said with a smile: "I will do my best to protect myself and my stomach. The emperor can rest assured."

She has the blood debt of Concubine Zhuang and Sixi's family, her life is too valuable to be taken away easily.

In the East Palace, Empress Dowager Wen couldn't sleep, so she brought Fu Xueshi and Yuwen Changqing into the palace in the middle of the night.

"Is there anything unusual in Chaoli recently?" Empress Dowager Wen asked, looking at Fu Xueshi.

Fu Xueshi cupped his hands and said: "Queen Mother, the old minister is also about to report the recent affairs in the court. Prime Minister Gu seems to intend to form a party for personal gain, win over a lot of people, and want to implement a new policy. The emperor gave his consent this morning, and the decree will be formulated in the afternoon. Now, it is still being tried in the Ministry of Punishments and the Ministry of Households, completely ignoring the intention of the Queen Mother to stop it, and it is a heart to punish."

Empress Dowager Wen's face darkened, and she snorted coldly: "The Ai family has long felt that something is wrong, and it really is tricky. Such a Prime Minister Gu, when he took care of the prince for the late emperor, he might have been ambitious. Now that the time is ripe, So I want to instigate the emperor to fight against the Ai family. Hmph."

"Yuwen, why haven't you spoken?" Queen Mother Wen thought for a while, then turned her head and looked over.

Yuwen Changqing rubbed his chin and said: "There is nothing to worry about in the barracks. I still have a hundred thousand troops stationed in Beijing in my hand, and I can send troops from the nearby military town at any time."

Empress Dowager Wen pondered for a while, and said: "Uncle Wen Guo still has scattered military power in his hands, and there is Aijia's father, who will retire and return to his hometown in two years, and he still has 20 military power in his hands. The one who trusts you the most, General Yuwen, who do you think can be promoted to be a marshal?"

Yuwen Changqing lowered his eyes and said with a smile: "Speaking of candidates, I met someone before returning to Beijing, so I really can help Wen Guozhang."

"Oh? Who is it?" Mrs. Wen became interested.

"The queen mother should be familiar." Yuwen Changqing said with a smile: "He is also from the Shen family, and his name is Shen Guiwu."

(End of this chapter)