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==Chapter 1 Wedge==
In the first year of Yanxi, August 15th, the quarter of Hai hour.
In autumn, insects are humming thickly, and dark clouds cover the moon.
The birth of the legitimate prince was originally a great joy, but there was no trace of joy in Kunning Palace.
The palace door was closed tightly, the eunuchs and maids were as silent as cicadas, and the surroundings were as quiet as the night before a storm.
Normally in Taiyuan Hospital, Yafu knelt down beside the couch, his fingers trembling slightly, and large drops of sweat falling from his temples.
The anxiety and fear in this room are all due to the woman on the bed – Su Ling, the queen of the Zhou Dynasty.
Through the layers of gauze, Chang Lingfu said in a trembling voice: “Bring me another bowl of soup and medicine.”
The palace maid hurriedly said: “Yes.”
As the concoction passed through her throat, Su Ling’s breathing became weaker and weaker, her pupils gradually dilated, and she subconsciously murmured, “Father, brother.”
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone’s expressions suddenly changed.
Everyone knows that Queen Su came from a noble family. Her father was Su Jingbei, the Duke of Zhenguo, and her elder brother was Su Huaian, the young minister of Dali Temple. Her status was unrivaled in the harem.
But now, these two backers of Empress Su are already the two most unmentionable people in the Zhou Dynasty.
Many things need to be discussed from half a year ago——
Less than three months after the new emperor ascended the throne, the Qi army invaded the Sizhou border. The attack was unprecedented. General Su led his troops to the expedition, and 60,000 elite soldiers left.
However, a month ago, the governor of Langzhou came to report that on Saturday, thousands of soldiers were trapped in the dense river and were attacked from both sides. Su Jingbei actually entered the enemy’s camp and was never seen again.
The Su family has great military exploits and has the ability to follow the dragon. Without death certificate, no one dares to act rashly.
But then, someone found out the evidence that the Su family collaborated with the enemy and treason – there was a secret passage that had been built for ten years in the Zhenguo Palace.
Following the clues, the Criminal Department and Jinyiwei seized several brothels, restaurants, and teahouses in the capital overnight, and arrested more than a hundred people. Many of the stores here were related to the Su family.
All of the above are death certificates.
The general Zhenguo collaborated with the enemy and treason, and the whole court was in an uproar. When the elderly lady learned that her son and grandson died in the battle and could not come back, she bumped her head in front of the Zhenguo Duke’s mansion and died.
For a time, the whole capital was filled with complaints.
For the sake of the common people, Shaoxi Emperor Xiao Yu personally led the expedition.
It remains to be seen whether the century-old foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty can be continued.
How much medicine was poured in, and how much Su Ling spit out, the sweat on Chang Yafu’s forehead was dripping like more leaks. He slowly turned around, and after careful consideration, he said: “To the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother has been thinking about it recently. She was seriously injured, and she was overworked and injured her body, which led to premature birth. She has been struggling for two days in a row. Now, she may not be able to hold on anymore…”
When everyone was silent, the palace maid Fuying suddenly raised her head and said to the Queen Mother: “I dare you, I have something to say to the Queen Mother.”
The Queen Mother sat on a brown bamboo armchair inlaid with jade, fiddled with the beads for a moment, and said calmly: “You tell me.”
Fuying took a deep breath, glanced at the female officer Xu Shangyi, and said, “I just saw a **** handkerchief hidden in Xu Shangyi’s sleeve, and she was acting sneaky and suspicious.”
Xu Shangyi, who was pointed out, suddenly said angrily: “What nonsense are you talking about!”
The Queen Mother gathered her clothes and said seriously: “You mean, there is something wrong with that veil?”
“I don’t know. I only know that Xu Shangyi later threw the veil outside the palace.”
“Please ask the Queen Mother to be more careful! Please ask the Queen Mother to make the decision.”
Su Ling no longer had the strength to speak anymore, and she glanced at Fu Ying from the corner of her eye.
Idiot.
What’s the difference between saying something like this and giving away a life in vain?
There are so many people in this world who want her life, and no one can be her master.
After all, collaborating with the enemy and treason is a crime, holding a high position is a crime, and giving birth to a legitimate son is even more a crime.
Xu Shangyi knelt down with a pop and said loudly: “The Queen Mother clearly knows that this servant has never seen any veil.”
“Here comes.” The Queen Mother looked at Xu Shangyi and said, “Take him down and torture him. If there is anything suspicious, send him directly to the Chief of Ceremonies.”
“This slave is wronged!”
The two eunuchs dragged Xu Shangyi away directly,
The dull thunder pierced the air, the wind whistled, the lanterns under the eaves swayed back and forth in the miserable wind and rain, and heavy rain poured down.
I don’t know how long it took, but intermittent crying sounded in the hall.
Su Ling slowly closed her eyes, memories came flooding back——
In the spring of the thirty-sixth year of Yongchang.
That year, she was seventeen years old and waiting to be married.
I thought I could marry a well-matched husband who would love her and love her, but I didn’t expect an imperial edict to make her the royal concubine of the Jin Dynasty. Jin Wang Xiao Yu was not favored by the emperor, his biological mother died young, and he was not a direct descendant. Although he grew up next to the queen, he still had little chance of winning in the battle for the throne.
This imperial edict is clearly intended to drag the Zhenguo Palace into the pit of fire.
At that time, she felt that the sky was falling.
When a general’s daughter is young, she always has a lot of courage that she doesn’t know where to come from.
After inquiring about Xiao Yu’s whereabouts, she dressed up like a dandy, wearing a long white train, waving her fan, and entered Qingfeng Tower, the most crowded place in the capital.
She turned over her cuffs and handed Shopkeeper Yu a large sum of money.
Shopkeeper Yu took her up to the second floor with a smile on his face, turned left, and she sat down in the private room on the west side. Qingfeng Tower is a place for watching operas and listening to music. It is said to be a box, but in fact there is only a screen between the front and back.
She leaned against the screen, held her breath, and began to eavesdrop on the sounds coming from next door.
The emperor’s health is much worse than before, and the battle for the crown prince is imminent. Su Ling guessed that these people talking loudly at the moment should be the aides of the Jin Palace.
Sure enough, she heard her name.
Daughter of the Su family.
The sound of silk and bamboo downstairs gradually faded, and someone poured Xiao Yu a glass of wine. “His Royal Highness is getting married to the Duke of Zhenguo. King Cheng and King Yan are probably going to be anxious.”
Another person sighed and said: “It’s good to win over the Duke of Zhen, but the daughter of the Su family has a bad reputation and is not clearly related to He Zichen. This is also a troublesome matter.”
Nowadays, the family is prosperous, and the four families of Xue, He, Chu, and Mu are the most respected in the capital. Everyone knows that He Zichen, the legitimate son of the He family, has been in love with the daughter of the Su family for a long time, and he knows how to hang around the Duke’s mansion all day long.
But the troublesome things that officials and powerful people talk about are not as simple as an affair between children.
The He family is the iron-clad faction of King Yan.
Su Ling’s heart was pounding, and she turned around to look through the screen——
The lights in Qingfeng Tower were bright, and there were shadows behind the screen. She saw Xiao Yu at a glance.
The man had a sharp profile and half-lowered eyes. He was playing with a small cup, shaking it, and suddenly smiled coldly, “So what’s the trouble? Su Jingbei doesn’t have any other daughters.”
His voice was extremely deep, and every word struck her heart like beads falling from a jade plate.
Su Ling’s heart dropped like lead.
The seventeen-year-old girl stared at the folding fan in her hand for a long time.
So what if a noble girl from a noble family has become a sharp arrow for others to seize power?
She absolutely does not want to marry him.
However, the emperor’s order must not be violated. No matter how unwilling she was, she could only put on her wedding dress and marry Xiao Yu, who her father said was talented in literature and military, brave and good at fighting.
On the wedding day, she cried all morning.
While she was crying, Su Huaian wiped her face. The tears mixed with snot covered Su Shaoqing’s hands.
As the eldest brother, Su Huaian wanted to carry her out of the Zhenguo Palace. He laughed, sighed, and sighed again, “Aling, stop crying, can you do it?”
She couldn’t help but look back before getting on the sedan.
I still remember that the boy who was as tall as jade looked at her, his lips pursed tightly, and his eyes suddenly turned red.
He said softly, “Aling, the Zhenguo Palace will always be your home.”
She thought there would be no end forever.
In fact, after marrying Xiao Yu, despite the initial tit-for-tat confrontation, life was not as bad as she thought.
Although she always reminds herself that behind the words “valiant and good at fighting” is not romance, but piles of bones, what should I say?
The interactions day after day and the intimacy night after night finally made her let go of her guard.
The candlelight flickered that day, and his eyes were deep and clear, like mountain spring water, clearly reflecting her flushed body.
He leaned into her ear and said: “Aling, I know what you blame me for. You blame me for marrying you out of calculation, and you blame me for ruining your marriage.”
“How about I compensate you?”
At that time, when I was young, my love was just like a spark igniting a prairie fire, igniting at the first touch.
She was moved and took it seriously.
Times have passed, and even at this moment, she still admits that Xiao Yu was too fascinated by her that year.
He taught her archery and horseback riding, taught her how to be happy, and taught her how to be his wife.
She loved the way he looked heroic when he stretched out his arms to draw the bow, loved the way he whispered her name when he was deeply in love, and loved the words he said when he left Beijing to investigate the case, “Aling, come with me.” Bar.
His eyebrows are not always smiling, and when he smiles, he is more than handsome.
She once thought that she would always live like this with him.
However, on the third day of October in the thirty-eighth year of Yongchang, Emperor Jiaxuan died suddenly. The throne was finally passed to the third prince Xiao Yu.
At the time of the change from old to new, chaos reigned in Beijing.
When it comes to political achievements, it is not an exaggeration to say that the late emperor was mediocre and ignorant during his thirty-eight years in office. The imperial court was fighting for years, but he was busy building palaces, pampering officials, and delegating power to his relatives in the harem to interfere in politics. Taxes were getting higher year by year, and the wealthy families were rich, but the total revenue of the imperial court was less than 5,000 taels a year.
Even the money to relieve the victims of the drought in Henan was scrapped together.
It wasn’t until Xiao Yu sat on the dragon chair that she suddenly understood that the country of Great Zhou was already riddled with holes.
He was busy with government affairs day and night, and she often couldn’t see his people.
Not long after, she was diagnosed as being two months pregnant. The courtiers were busy congratulating her, but they were also busy urging the new emperor to expand his harem by inviting her to a wider harem.
As a result, Xue Lanyi, the sister of Xue Xiangyang, the Minister of War, Liu Guyang, the daughter of Liu Wenshi, the chief assistant of the cabinet, and Li Yuan, the princess of the Li family of Goryeo, entered the palace one after another.
She knew that as long as he became emperor, such a day would come.
Time goes by, and my mind goes back to a month ago, when something happened at the Zhenguo Palace.
The evidence of the Su family’s collaboration with the enemy and treason is conclusive, and she has nothing to say. But even if a knife was placed on her neck, she still didn’t believe that Su Huaian was involved in this matter.
Otherwise the secret passage is there, why would Su Huaian still stay in Beijing?
She knelt down outside the Yangxin Hall and waited for him. In the end, it was Eunuch Sheng who helped her up.
“Your Majesty is pregnant with a dragon heir, what are you doing?” Eunuch Sheng sighed and said, “I always remember how your Majesty treats me, and today I have the courage to give you a piece of advice.”
“Your Majesty is the emperor’s first wife, so the affection is naturally deep, but no matter how deep the friendship is, it can’t withstand the torment. If your Majesty comes here because of the Su family’s affairs, you might as well think about the crime of treason. Whose country is it? Do you really want this love?”
“If you don’t think about yourself, why don’t you think about the child in your belly?”
Children.
Xiao Yun, she called him Yun’er for nine months…
Maybe.
Life is full of regrets.
Su Ling felt her body gradually become lighter, as if it had turned into a wisp of smoke, getting higher and higher, and she didn’t know where it was going.
At this moment, the little prince on the couch seemed to sense something and suddenly started crying.
The baby’s voice is very thin, but each one is louder and louder, as if it can break a person’s heart.
The moon sets and the stars sink, and the bells ring——
On August 15th, the first year of Yanxi, Queen Chunyi died.