It’s Better to be the Empress Dowager

Chapter 124 Shock

After Yang Shoufu said these words, the palace was silent. Queen Mother Yao dumbed her throat and asked, “What are you going to prepare for Aijia?”

Yang Shoufu lowered his eyes and stared at the seams in the gold bricks motionlessly. The bricks of the Qianqing Palace were not made of gold, but were fired in a special clay in the imperial kiln. Ten pieces were beaten, and only one piece was left. After this time, the cost of a brick is not less than the same size of gold. “It’s worthy of the name. I heard that such gold bricks are very hard, even if the people below dig tunnels and pry them with the sharpest dagger, they can’t move any of the cracks.

The people of the emperor’s family were so afraid of outsiders entering the palace to kill them, but they forgot that the killers were often their own. No matter how thick the bricks are, what good is it?

It is indeed a coincidence that the emperor fell into the water, but the emperor himself said that he went out to play. When he fell into the water, he was with his own people. After returning, the emperor became more and more sick under the eyelids of the hospital and cabinet. It was arranged by the Queen Mother. No matter how you look at it, this is a tragedy of accidentally falling into the water, contracting wind and cold, and finally getting worse and endangering your life. Such tragedies happen every day and everywhere, and the only unusual thing is that the emperor’s uncle Jing Wang is in the capital at this moment.

Coincidence? It’s a coincidence. But what is the evidence? Queen Mother Yao very much suspected that the emperor had been poisoned, so she changed waves of imperial doctors after another, and even secretly brought in private doctors to see her. However, without exception, everyone said that the emperor’s wind and cold attacked his lungs, and unfortunately pulled out the old diseases, whether he can survive it depends on God’s will.

It is very common for a wind chill to say that it is big or not to say that it is small. Queen Mother Yao just didn’t expect this kind of thing to happen to herself.

She has already prepared the funeral for her son. Now, is it the grandson’s turn again?

The white-haired person gave the black-haired person twice.

The Queen Mother held her forehead deeply. She was well maintained over the years, and she was graceful and calm no matter what time she was. Now, the spirit of the Queen Mother seemed to collapse suddenly, with deep wrinkles on her face. Yang Shoufu discovered at this time that it turned out that the Queen Mother Yao was so old.

Yang Shoufu is so old that he knows that he should retire. Yang Shoufu took two steps back gently, his footsteps stopped, and the crane on the hem of his official robes swayed leisurely twice. Yang Shoufu knew that it would be unpleasant to say these things, but the window paper always had to be pierced. If he didn’t say it, no one would be able to say it.

Yang Shoufu lowered his eyelids and whispered, “Empress Mother, my sorrow. The country cannot be ruled out for a day, you should also consider the future.”

It doesn’t matter if the emperor is dead, whoever inherits the throne next is the most important thing.

The emperor was young and playful, leaving no heirs, and the first emperor Xiaozong had no other sons. According to the etiquette, in this situation, you should look for it from Sejong’s generation.

Among the many sons of Sejong, the eldest son Xiaozong, the second son King Xiang, and the third son King Teng have all died. According to the order of succession, it is next to King Jing’s turn.

It just so happens that King Jing is now in Jinling.

Yang Shoufu clicked to the end. After speaking, regardless of whether the Queen Mother Yao heard or not, he quietly retired.

Master Tang originally thought that his life was to raise a baby in peace, teasing his son, and from time to time used Buddhist beads to pretend to be worried. I don’t know from which day her life changed suddenly.

The atmosphere in the capital became tense inexplicably, Zhao Chengjun became busier and busier, people in the palace walk faster and faster, and she and her children even began to add guards outside the yard. Master Tang hasn’t been out of the house these days, and she doesn’t know what’s going on outside, but she feels that something big is about to happen.

At this time, Master Tang thought with a horror that these days, it seems that he has not heard the news of the emperor’s recovery.

Master Tang shook her heart, thinking of the meaning behind this incident, her blood was cold. She took the risk of being discovered for the first time, and pulled out the original book from the bottom of the box and opened it to read the latest chapter.

It’s a pity that this book doesn’t have much reference meaning. According to the timeline in the book, they are still in Xiping Mansion. Zhou Shunhua just won the battle with Lu Yufei, and was diagnosed as pregnant, turned over with the child, and was promoted to the side concubine.

In addition, there is no disturbance from Master Tang in the book, and the Nuanxiangwan incident has not been investigated. Zhou Shunhua does not need to rely on false claims that she is pregnant. When she announced the news, she was really pregnant.

In reality, Nuanxiangwan was made public by Zhao Chengjun. At that time, Zhou Shunhua was alive and could only say that he was pregnant. If you tell a lie, you will have to make up for it with countless lies. Pretending to be pregnant with her completely flat belly is not a ridicule. When she is pregnant later, there will be no way to explain the truth.

Once you leave the impression of lying to everyone, you will no longer be able to reverse the word of mouth, and even Zhao Zixun’s image will be greatly damaged. It’s a wrong step, wrong step.

In addition, the time and place to seal the side concubine were wrong. In reality, Tang Shishi and Zhao Chengjun were suddenly called to Jinling. In order to provoke Zhou Shunhua’s infighting, Tang Shishi designated her as the side concubine early. The same is a side concubine, but one is won by strategy and children, and the other is passive acceptance, of course, the meaning is completely different.

Master Tang calculated the time and found that the time of pregnancy in Zhou Shunhua’s book was the same as in reality, and she was named a side concubine. Although there was a slight difference between the time before and after, the result was not wrong. The only difference is that this time Zhou Shunhua annoyed Zhao Chengjun and was accused of miscarriage.

Everything is traceable and unpredictable.

Master Tang looked back through the catalog and found that the catalog was full of wives and concubines fighting back and forth. Master Tang swept roughly, it was nothing more than that today the maid wanted to climb the bed, and tomorrow the beauty wanted to administer Zhou Shunhua’s medicine. It was all trivial matters of intrigue, without any reflection on the current situation.

Looking at the progress of Zhou Shunhua’s pregnancy, until her child was two years old, their family still lived in the northwest. Therefore, in the plot of the original book, Zhao Chengjun rebelled at least three years later.

Now, all of this is ahead of schedule, and the development trend is completely different. If the emperor in the book died of illness, according to the law of etiquette, the next heir to the throne is Zhao Chengjun, and Zhao Chengjun has no need to rebel. Therefore, the point of rebellion in the original book is most likely that the emperor has heirs.

Master Tang was completely stunned, she leaned on the cage, unable to recover for a long time. The maid outside hadn’t heard Master Tang’s movement for a long time, and was a little scared, and asked, “Wang Hao, are you inside?”

“I’m here.” Master Tang closed the book, tucked it back under his clothes, and said, “I’ll be quiet for a while, you don’t have to wait.”

The maids were relieved to see that Master Tang was okay, and promised: “Yes.”

Master Tang restored everything to its original condition. She walked up and down on the ground, really calm, so she went to the dressing mirror and combed her hair. She stared at the figure in the bronze mirror, and the light in her eyes faded from time to time.

In the original book, the emperor did not fall into the water, nor did he die of illness. So now, why did the emperor have a fever to death?

Master Tang didn’t dare to think about it. When she first got the book, she was ambitious and uttered a lot about becoming the queen mother. The ignorant is fearless, because she doesn’t understand what the words empress dowager and empress mean, so she is fearless and dare to say anything. As she got closer and closer to the center of the king’s power, Master Tang also understood more and more that one will become dead, and all the bones under the throne are exhausted. What is behind the supreme glory.

Master Tang picked up the comb. She originally wanted to tidy up her hair, but after trying for a long time, the comb teeth were stuck in the hair and her fingers kept trembling, and she couldn’t even comb it.

Master Tang used to eat well and sleep well, but he has never insomnia when he grows up. But after this day, she started to sleep at night. She often falls asleep and wakes up. Master Tang opened her eyes and realized that everything was just a dream. She breathed a long sigh of relief, but when she sat up, she found that the bedding beside her was cold.

Slowly, Zhao Chengjun even concealed his traces from Master Tang and tricked her into doing everything as usual. On the twenty-first day when the emperor fell into the water, Zhao Chengjun was away from home all day, and he did not come back when the key was dropped that night.

Master Tang gave a thud in his heart. The maids also felt that the atmosphere in the capital was not right. Seeing Master Tang’s face was not good, they comforted: “Wang Hao, the prince should be at the banquet outside, and there is no time to come back. The prince should not worry, wait until the prince will be back tomorrow.”

This is not so much that the maids are comforting Master Tang, as it is that they are comforting themselves. Master Tang knows that now that the emperor is seriously ill, which family in Jinling has the courage to hold a banquet?

Zhao Chengjun never leaves without saying goodbye, unless it is too late.

Master Tang’s hands were cold, but he smiled reluctantly, and nodded: “Yes. Let people watch it at the door. If the prince comes back, come in immediately to report. Instruct the kitchen to prepare sober soup and hot dishes, in case the prince comes back. , There are also things to warm the stomach.”

“Yes.”

After Master Tang gave his instructions, he looked at the dusky sky outside and felt that he had nothing to do for the first time. When there was Zhao Chengjun before, she never felt difficult at night. Take care of Zhao Zigao, say that the parents are short, arrange tomorrow’s menu… She always feels that time is gone in the blink of an eye.

Now, Master Tang has nothing to do and can only go to see the children. She played with Zhao Zigao for a while, and soon Zhao Zigao yawned, his eyes could not be opened anymore. Upon seeing this, Master Tang could only ask the nurse to hug Zhao Zigao to sleep.

Master Tang went around the room several times again, still panicking in his idleness. Seeing that Teacher Tang was in a low mood, the maids suggested: “Wang Hao, you have been tired for a day today. If you don’t want a slave maid waiting for you to take a shower, let’s rest early today.”

So far, it can only be so. Master Tang sighed and said, “Prepare water.”

After Master Tang took a bath, the maid brought a towel and wiped her hair. Teacher Tang was sitting on the couch, his mind drifting away.

Usually, Zhao Chengjun wiped her hair. After nightfall, there were not so many slaves in the main house.

It turned out that my husband didn’t come back to sleep, it was this feeling.

Master Tang couldn’t help sighing. When the maid heard it, she thought she was pulling Master Tang’s hair so she hurriedly knelt down and asked for sin: “Wang Hao, forgive me.”

“It’s okay.” Master Tang waved to the maid, and said, “I’ll come by myself, you all go down and rest.”

The maids looked at each other and hesitated: “The princess…”

Master Tang looked very determined, waved his hand and said, “Go down.”

“Yes.” The maids promised. They put the hair-wiping utensils on the sandalwood table and stepped back gently. Master Tang picked up the clean veil and felt tired after rubbing it twice. Why is her hair so long? When Zhao Chengjun wiped her hair before, didn’t she feel so tired?

She picked up her half-dry hair and looked at it for a while. She didn’t want to call the maid back, nor did she want to make herself tired. Then she threw her hair away and planned to sleep like this. Anyway, the window is closed in the room, so it won’t catch a cold.

Master Tang went to bed with her long hair. She was lying in the bedding and found that the whole bed was surprisingly big. She accidentally knocked her elbow just now, and no one came to comfort her. Master Tang didn’t know why she was so wronged, she tossed and rolled for a while, and slowly fell asleep.

Tonight, for some reason, Master Tang always felt very cold. She was suddenly awakened in the middle of the night, and when she opened her eyes, she found that everything was dark and there were shadows. Master Tang lay on the bed and reacted for a while before realizing that she was in the palace and Zhao Chengjun had not come back tonight.

Master Tang couldn’t help rubbing her arms, no wonder she said why it was so cold, because it turned out that her arms were outside. It turns out that she hadn’t been awakened from freezing before, all because Zhao Chengjun pulled the quilt for her.

Master Tang didn’t know why she was not drowsy, so she sat up slowly, staring at the drapery in the dark in a daze. The maid outside the night watch heard the movement and knocked gently on the door: “Princess, are you awake?”

“It’s me.” Master Tang replied, “I’m fine, wake up and drink some water, you can continue to rest.”

When the maid heard that it was Master Tang who had gotten up, she grabbed a small lamp and came in with a cloak to pour water on Master Tang. The maid put the water in the palm of Master Tang’s hand, and when she left, she touched Master Tang’s fingers and asked in surprise: “Why is your hand so cold, Princess Wang?”

“Just because I just woke up, it will be fine after a while.” Master Tang asked without taking it seriously, “Where’s Gu’er?”

“The little princess fell asleep well.” The maid stood up and said, “Wang Hao, wait, and the maidservant will go and find Mrs. Tang.”

Teacher Tang was about to say no, when suddenly he heard the sound of a child crying from the back hall. The child’s voice was sharp and the crying was extremely penetrating. Master Tang was startled and immediately lifted the quilt off the bed: “Gao’er is crying? What’s wrong, why did he cry suddenly?”

In order to facilitate care, Zhao Zigao lived in the side hall behind the main courtyard of Tang Shishi and Zhao Chengjun. Master Tang closed a cloak and hurried to the apse. The grandmother was holding Zhao Zijiao, and suddenly saw the front yard light turned on, the princess brought people over and said quickly: “See the princess. Didn’t the princess make you sleep? Damn the slave, but the little princess was fine before, tonight I don’t know why, suddenly crying.”

Master Tang took Zhao Zigao with his own hands, and coaxed softly: “Mother is here, Gao’er won’t cry.”

Master Tang hugged Zhao Zigao and walked twice, his crying slowly stopped, but he was still sobbing lightly. Seeing this, the nurse and the maid quickly took it over: “Princess, you still have one in your belly. Give the little princess to the slave.”

Master Tang is still having an fetus and can’t use force. She has no persistence, so she transfers Zhao Zigao to the nurse. Master Tang looked at Zhao Zigao’s blushing face and asked, “What’s the matter? He never cried at night before, did he catch a cold?”

“No.” The maids were puzzled. “The slaves have checked the doors and windows several times. There will never be any omissions. Everything is the same as usual.”

The nurse came from the folks. Seeing this, she lowered her voice and said divinely: “It’s possible that the princess was frightened by something.”

The speaker is unintentional and the listener is interested. Master Tang’s heart is tense, and without waiting for her to speak, the maid scolds with a cold face: “Laughter, at the feet of the emperor, how can there be weird power and chaos? You can tell the princess that there are none, Take care of your skin.”

The nanny just said casually, unexpectedly hitting the royal taboo. She dared not say a word with her head down.

Master Tang glanced at the maid, and said, “Okay, it will be more intense in the middle of the night, don’t say these irritating things. Now that Gao’er is asleep, then go back. You guys look at Gao’er and don’t let anything else. Wake him up.”

“Slaves obey orders.”

Master Tang saw that there was nothing wrong in the room, so he took the maid out. She tightened her cloak and just crossed the threshold when she heard a huge bell ringing from the northeast.

The bell is long, with a damp chill, spreading out layer by layer like water waves. Master Tang was stunned when he heard the first chime, and then the second chime came.

The bell rings in the middle of the night, and it is in the direction of the Forbidden City.

The emperor died.