Better to live forever [Rebirth]

The 21st year of Zhenyuan was destined to be an uneasy year.

Before the beginning of the first month of the new year, there was such an ominous event that Concubine Li gave birth to a stillborn baby.In February, the queen was convicted of poisoning the emperor's heir, deprived of the Phoenix Seal, and confined to Kunning Palace.

Three days later, the accident happened again.

Royal concubine Huang and Shu concubine Ruan were successively found to have sent cloth and medicinal materials to Concubine Li's unfavorable offspring, were reprimanded by the emperor, and were also confined in the palace.It was related to the heirs of the royal family, and involved the queen and the two first-rank concubines. The emperor had to do his best to investigate the matter thoroughly.

The emperor's thunderous anger made the courtiers feel more peaceful for a while.

The empress was convicted, and Emperor Zhenyuan's attitude was there, so the courtiers were able to distinguish clearly and dare to discuss right and wrong.But Concubine Concubine Shu and Concubine Shu are different. The emperor has always favored them both. Moreover, her natal family should not be touched lightly. The courtiers of Luojing understand the truth that one hair can affect the whole body, and no one will touch this. Mildew.

Zhenbeihou Mansion, study room in the front yard.

The old Hou Ye sighed at the map of the frontier defense, and after a while, he asked Zhu Sandao, the housekeeper who was guarding the door, loudly: "Is Changsheng asleep?"

Zhu Sangong said in a loud voice: "Young Lord Hou discussed with the old lady about renovating the store after dinner. At this time, he has already returned to the courtyard. The old slave will send someone to have a look."

The old Hou Ye is not old enough to lead troops to fight, but the old Hou Ye really can't get in the way of making a living in this shop.He thought to himself that he was a first-rank marshal, but he didn't leave any family property for his grandson to inherit, so he couldn't help but feel even more sad.Secretly cursing: The emperor is really full, why don't you give him a hereditary marquis to add to his family fortune?Isn't this deliberately embarrassing him? When did you hear that Lao Zhu's family can do other things besides fighting?

After a while, Zhu San said outside the door: "Marshal, the young master is coming this way."

The old Hou Ye looked at the time and felt a little relieved - since Ning Heng made a special confession, the old Hou Ye watched Zhu Dingbei's sleeping time every night, so he didn't dare to let him run amok in the yard again.

"What's the matter of urgency?"

Old Hou Ye opened the door, only to welcome him out, he saw Zhu Dingbei walking in two steps in three steps.

"Grandpa."

"What's the matter, little bastard, I'm in a hurry. The son of our old Zhu's family, the mountain collapsed in front of him, but his face didn't change. You should learn from me."

Old Hou Ye put away the look on his face, the old god said.

Zhu Dingbei didn't answer this, sat down and said: "I heard from my grandmother that when His Majesty the Emperor was still the prince, he once asked the Holy One to marry a woman, and then she died unexpectedly?"

The old Hou Ye didn't expect him to talk about such old things, and he muttered: "What nonsense are you talking about with your grandson?" He hurriedly asked Zhu San to close the door and stay outside.

"I didn't know this before your grandmother. When I was ordered back, Your Majesty had already been established as the crown prince, and I didn't hear that there were any female relatives. However, I heard that Your Majesty fell in love with a woman when he was still the prince. With the consent of the former emperor, we will marry her. Afterwards, there is no news of that person, and His Majesty seems to believe that her death is related to the empress, so he has been very indifferent to the empress these years."

Zhu Dingbei asked: "What is the identity of that woman, can Grandpa know?"

Old Hou Ye waved his hand, "I'm leading troops outside, and I can't even touch your grandmother's hands. Who cares about the affairs in the backyard of these princes and grandchildren?"

He snorted, feeling resentful about it.

"Is no one curious about that woman?"

The old lady only knew that there was such a person, but other than that, she didn't know anything about the woman's name and origin, so he wanted to ask the old master.

"At that time, who had the heart to be curious about a dead person. There were not enough dead children in their own family for them to cry."

Old Hou Ye said that when those people recover from the pain of bereavement, it will be enough for them to work hard to gain a firm foothold in the new dynasty.Even if someone thought of this mysterious woman later, the other party would have died long ago, and the few insiders would keep their mouths shut. This would become a case without a head.

"Oh." Zhu Dingbei responded, rubbing his thumb against his index finger, wondering what he was thinking.

Old Hou Ye sat beside him, squeezed his thin shoulders, and sighed: "Changsheng, what are you thinking? These things have nothing to do with us."

Zhu Dingbei came back to his senses, and looked up at him, full of jokes.

"I can't be like you old bachelor. I have to figure out the muddy waters in Luojing for my son. If everyone is blind like me, don't make people laugh."

Old Hou Ye blushed, patted him on the head angrily, and said with a stern face: "You son of a bitch dare to make fun of me, you are so courageous!"

But because of Zhu Dingbei's words, his heart was uneasy.

Yes, he can no longer use the family rules passed down from generation to generation to look at the current situation.As long as the Zhu family's army is in one day and the Zhenbeihou's mansion is in one day, the position of first-rank military marquis will continue forever.He was old and retired from the battlefield, and he didn't have a good life for a few years. He could turn a blind eye to the situation in the court, but the descendants below had to bear this karma, and gave the emperor this reassurance.

The blood of their old Zhu's family must be trapped in the four directions of Luo Jing.In such a situation, what confidence does he have to stay out of it?

Old Hou Ye thought for a while, and asked him: "What have you been thinking about, tell me about it for Grandpa's staff."

Zhu Dingbei sighed seriously: "People in Luojing have too many eyes."

"Take the loss of Concubine Li's son this time as an example. So many imperial doctors ask for peace of mind every day, and no one says that her pregnancy is not good. If she gave birth to a stillborn baby, someone must have played tricks. I said it was the queen before, so that's not a big deal. Oops. Now that Concubine Concubine Gui and Concubine Shu are involved, wouldn't things be messed up?"

Zhu Dingbei said.

"Empress, I dare not say, but Concubine Huang Gui and Concubine Ruan Shu, one is the daughter of Liangzhou Zhoumu, and the other is from Ningzhou Zhoumu's family. No one can touch them."

Old Hou Ye didn't expect him to have thought so deeply, and praised: "As expected of my grandson, he still has a little vision."

He proudly patted Zhu Dingbei's shoulder, and when he saw his grandson showing pain, he withdrew his hand embarrassingly.

After coughing, Old Hou Ye continued, "Let's talk about the queen first."

"Actually, Concubine Li was murdered during childbirth. The possibility of the empress doing this is extremely slim. You probably don't know that all the empresses of the Dajing Dynasty were born in the Ning family, but except for a few empresses who were loved by the emperor, almost no one conceived. .Even if you give birth to a child, you will not be crowned prince."

"One is that it is taboo that the royal family's bloodline is disturbed by the Ning family. Furthermore, once the prince is established as a prince, no matter who his biological mother is, he must first adopt the empress's name. The empress dowager is in the empress' pocket. Empress Ning passed away early, and the emperor will not establish another empress. The crown prince's jade plate should also be recorded in the empress's name. The same is true in the past, and his biological mother is not the empress dowager. Although our current empress is not named Ning, but The rules won't change because of that. She doesn't have to make things difficult for others."

"Let's talk about the two imperial concubines."

"Before the Xianbei Mansion, Liangzhou and Ningzhou were the two key places on the border of Dajing, surrounded by foreigners on three sides. Especially the Xianbei Huns in the east of Liangzhou and the Qiang in the west were fierce and warlike barbarians. I used to Just stationed troops in Liangzhou for ten years."

"Now the Xianbei people have been defeated, but the Xiongnu and the Qiang are not vegetarians either. These two prefectures are related to the safety of the Dajing state, and the prefects are still candidates nominated by local prominent families in the prefecture, not selected by His Majesty. Therefore, although the state shepherd is a second-rank official, our Emperor Dajing, in addition to Queen Ning, will also include the daughters of the state shepherds of these two states in the harem and make them high-ranking concubines. Speaking of the current emperor, the great-grandmother was born The Huang family of Liangzhou."

This is the case in Liangzhou. In addition to the Qiang people, Ningzhou has three border countries, big and small. Facing hundreds of barbarian tribes, there are constant wars every year.Generally, the courtiers who passed the imperial examination and the courtiers who were born in Luo Jing's family were really incapable of handling the situation.

No worse than the queen's knees. Concubine Shu gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor, and Concubine Huang Gui had the fourth son and five princesses, all of whom were deeply loved by Emperor Zhenyuan.

If it weren't for the queen's status, these two first-rank concubines were much more respectable than her.

Zhu Dingbei pressed the finger cover, and said to himself: "The gun is pointed at three directions, who is going to do it? Or is it that the mantis catches the cicada and the oriole is behind?"

He thought it was the emperor's work, but it was about the frontier. No matter how confused the Emperor Zhenyuan was, he couldn't make fun of Dajing's safety.What's more, Xianbei Prefecture has only been established for two years, and it is far from being stable. Liangzhou and Ningzhou must not be chaotic.

But if it wasn't the emperor, who could turn the emperor's backyard upside down?

None of these things can be judged solely on the basis of pros and cons. The relationship here is intricate, and there are many people who seem to have no motive but cannot get rid of their suspicions.

That's why Zhu Dingbei lost the direction of judgment.

Old Hou Ye is not a fool, it can be said that in some respects he is more transparent than Zhu Dingbei, a young marshal who has lived a new life.

Hearing Zhu Dingbei's words, he immediately understood who the mantis his grandson was talking about.

Old Hou Ye frowned. He didn't know how Zhu Dingbei sensed Emperor Zhenyuan's fear of the Zhu family, but it would be inappropriate to judge the Emperor with such malice.Although...he himself had the same doubts.

He didn't want Zhu Dingbei to worry about these things, he just got sick because of overthinking.But thinking of Zhu Dingbei's seemingly joking but heavy words just now, he can no longer say what he warned his grandson.

There must always be someone in Zhenbeihou's mansion, and Zhu Dingbei can do better than this kid's elder brother.

The old Hou Ye looked at the border defense map on the screen again, and simply asked Zhu Dingbei to think less, and said his thoughts openly: "Maybe someone is in a hurry."

Zhu Dingbei looked at him suspiciously.

Old Hou Ye: "Think about it, how many years has the emperor not had a new prince born again? This year's youngest seventh prince is also six years old, right? Six years, His Majesty the emperor is only between thirty and six, and they are all men. How could the beauty in the yard endure it. But Leng did not kill anyone, it must have been done on purpose by himself."

Although Emperor Zhenyuan did not visit the harem frequently, he was absolutely impartial.

No dragon son was born in the past six years, so it must be that Emperor Zhenyuan intends to choose a candidate for the crown prince among the existing princes.

Zhu Dingbei immediately understood: "But the emperor still has no intention of establishing a prince. In other words, the empress who has a prince is suspected. Even Concubine Huang Gui and Concubine Ruan Shu may have directed this good show by themselves to put pressure on His Majesty? "

If they were involved, the relatives behind them would naturally not be able to stay out of it.

Then this matter is more complicated.

The old master Hou sighed: "So we Dajing founded the country to the generation of the first emperor, and there were not many concubines from the first-rank family in the harem. Didn't the previous dynasty be so famous because of the foreign relatives' interference in politics? Look at the present, when the first emperor wanted It’s not that there is nothing you can do, and you will definitely not let His Majesty bear such pressure.”

Zhu Dingbei closed his eyes.

In this way, the stillbirth in Concubine Li's womb may not have been caused by the emperor.

After all, not only Emperor Zhenyuan was afraid of Old Chen Ge, those princes would be even more afraid of him than Lao Tzu.How could the women in the harem allow the Chen family to give birth, adding more danger to their already difficult situation?

"Changsheng, no matter how big this incident is, it won't disturb the military. Old foxes like Luo Jing may not be able to figure it out, you little bastard, you can make a fool of yourself with such a god, stop thinking about it. "

Old Hou Ye said.

Zhu Dingbei nodded, "Grandfather, I understand, I just said a few words here."

Old Hou Ye laughed, patted his head, and suddenly said: "If it's really like what you said, someone made a dish for the emperor, then this Luo Jing will be very lively."

He couldn't hide the schadenfreude in his tone, which made Zhu Dingbei laugh too.

The emperor is just too busy, so it would be nice to find something for him to do, so as to reduce the number of times he thinks about the Zhu family.