Prince Heng [Qing wear]

The fourth elder brother approached Chengqian Palace step by step with heavy steps.

He looked at the tree with falling yellow leaves in the yard, as if it had been dead for a long time.In the past, he loved to read books under the shade of the lush trees, and the imperial concubine accompanied him, handling official duties in the palace.The two looked at each other and smiled, which was warm.The imperial concubine would gently ask him to stop and have a rest, and prepare some refreshments for him.

And all these warm memories have long seemed like a lifetime away.

How long has it been since he returned to Chengqian Palace?

He couldn't remember, suddenly there was a period of time, it should be after the sixth brother was born.

What he felt in Chengqian Palace was deathly oppression and the disgust of the imperial concubine towards the concubine De.

He was caught between his adoptive mother and his biological mother, and he was so oppressed that he couldn't breathe, so when he reached the age where he could go to Shang's study, Fei Ye seemed to move to elder brother's house.He dared not look back, nor could he turn back.

In these years, he has not entered Chengqian Palace for a long time, except for the rules of greetings that he must abide by during the New Year's Eve.The imperial concubine also seemed to acquiesce in this matter and never called him.In fact, every time he saw Xiao Wu going to Yikun Palace, he always felt envious in his heart, and he also hoped that some nanny would invite him to have dinner, no matter whether that nanny came from Chengqian Palace or Yonghe Palace.

The fourth elder brother pointed to the nearly withered tree: "Why is the leaf yellow? But you didn't take care of it?"

The little eunuch who led the way quickly explained: "My brother, it's nothing. The tree just started to turn yellow according to the solar terms. It's just that this year, for some reason, the time for the leaves of this tree to turn yellow is earlier. The manager has already called People came to see it, and they only said that the tree is getting old, and it’s not a big deal if the leaves turn yellow occasionally, I wanted to ask someone to change it, but the empress refused, so the tree was left like this.”

I heard that this is the tree that the Empress Dowager planted together with the Lord Long Live when she entered the palace. Now the Empress Dowager is seriously ill, but the Lord Long Live is still living outside the palace with the Empress Dowager Empress Dowager in Changchun Garden. It's not worth it for the empress.

"Let's go, let's go in." The fourth elder brother raised his feet and walked slowly into the hall.

The fourth elder brother walked into the hall.

The hall was dimly yellow, and the light from the candles was indistinct, making one's scalp numb.There was a strong smell of medicine in the air, the fourth elder brother couldn't smell what kind of medicine it was, he only knew that this medicine should be much bitterer than the medicine juice he was coaxed to drink by the imperial concubine when he was a child.

"My son, Yinzhen, pays respects to the imperial mother and concubine, and may the mother and concubine be in good health as soon as possible."

"Get up, Yinzhen. Stand closer and let me take a closer look. Since I got sick, my eyesight is getting worse and worse." The imperial concubine waved to the fourth elder brother.

Back then, she was poor and had no children of her own.So when Lord Long Live suggested that she adopt Wu Ya's elder brother, she agreed.She was born noble, she is the daughter of the Minister of the Guards, Cheng Engong, and the uncle Tong Guowei, and the niece of the ancestor Xiaokangzhang Empress, she does not need children to be a firm favorite.

It's just that this deep palace is lonely after all, and the Long Live Lord who made a promise to her back then is no longer hers alone, and it would be nice to have a child.How stupid she was back then to believe in the promise of the Long Live God, a couple for life, half drunk, half awake and half floating, and I don't know how many women the Long Live God has made this promise.

She looked at the child in front of her, who had grown so tall all of a sudden. The thin and small child in the swaddling baby seemed to have grown up in the blink of an eye.

"What are you guys playing in Changchun Garden, can you tell me something interesting?" Tong said with a smile, "I have been lying on the couch for half a year, drinking bitter medicine every day, It was a really boring day.”

The fourth elder brother was stunned for a while, this was not the scene he had imagined before.He thought that even if the imperial concubine would not severely reprimand him, she would ignore him coldly.

"The imperial concubine...I..."

"What's the matter?" Mrs. Tong reached out and touched the fourth elder brother's head, "Didn't the fourth elder brother like to call me Er Niang when I was a child? Why did I become estranged from Er Niang when I grew up? I really had a rough time in Chengqian Palace. It’s very boring, Si elder brother tell me something interesting.” She pushed the dim sum plate towards Si elder brother, “I remember you loved this kind of dim sum when you were young, don’t want anything else, Si elder brother will try again Try it, is it the taste of your childhood?"

"Okay, thank you, Mother, it's delicious." The fourth elder brother hurriedly stuffed the snack into his mouth, trying to control himself not to let the tears flow out of his eyes, "cough-cough-cough-cough!"

"Look at you child, you can't run away with snacks, why are you eating in such a hurry? Drink your saliva quickly." Tong Shi handed the tea cup to the fourth elder brother, pretending not to see the fourth elder brother's tears, "Okay, now I have eaten snacks and drank tea, so it’s time to tell me something interesting.”

"Yes, Er Niang." The fourth elder brother drank a big mouthful of tea and swallowed the snacks stuffed into his mouth, "Just a few days ago, Xiao Wu took a group of younger elder brothers to catch grasshoppers in the garden. The smell of grasshoppers on people Sensitive, so in order to catch grasshoppers, none of them brought insect repellent sachets. When they came back, they were all bitten by mosquitoes, covering their arms and legs. Among them, Xiao Wu was the worst. Even the face was covered with bumps, and the next day, the face swelled up a circle, and it was swollen like a pig's head..."

Tong Shi watched with a smile on the fourth elder brother telling interesting stories in Changchun Garden.

This child looks three parts like his mother-in-law and five parts like Long Live God.Let her love him and hate him.

When raising the fourth elder brother back then, she once felt that she might not have children in the future.Not only because of her cold body, but also because the Long Live Lord is suppressing the Tong family.The Tong family is the mother clan of the Long Live Lord, and has already had a queen. The Long Live Lord will definitely not let the Tong family have another younger brother.So she willingly accepted the fourth elder brother and raised him as her own flesh and blood.

It's just that Changshengtian took pity on her later and made her pregnant, even though it was just a princess.But she is very happy to have Ge Ge, Ge Ge is good, Ge Ge will not cause trouble, and can grow up peacefully.

Her little Gege, who is still so young and doesn't know how to call Ama Erniang, left in less than a month.As for Concubine De, she was pregnant again and again, giving birth to children one after another, she hated it so much!Why did God want to take away her little princess, but dote on that woman so much.Back then, she shouldn't have shown mercy to Sixth Brother.

She can't hate Long Live Lord, she can only hate Concubine De, and she can't love this fourth elder brother who looks a lot like Concubine De...

"Er Niang, Er Niang, are you tired?" The fourth elder brother asked the imperial concubine Tong carefully.

Tong Shi nodded: "I'm a little tired. Brother Si, go back and rest first. Come to Chengqian Palace tomorrow to chat with me."

"Yes, Er Niang, Yinzhen is retiring."

After watching the fourth elder brother walk away, the nanny who had served Tong Shi since childhood quickly dressed Tong Shi, helped Tong Shi to the bed, and asked her to lie down and rest.

"Your Majesty, the imperial doctor said, you can't bother yourself, you have to take good care of it. The fourth elder brother was raised by you. Next time the elder brother comes again, you don't have to get up, just lie down. The elder brother must be right. I'll take care of it. Come here, make up, cleanse and change clothes, don't worry about it." Mammy persuaded.

"I know, Nanny, don't talk about it." Tong turned her back.

Seeing Tong's meaning, Mammy knew that she would not listen to persuasion, so she sighed helplessly, hoping that the fourth elder brother would stop coming a few times, and turned around to watch the little maid decocting medicine.

Tong Shi turned over and listened to the movement from outside the hall.

It's so quiet.

She didn't want to show a weak look in front of that woman's son. This was her pride and her persistence throughout her life.She heard what the imperial physician said quietly to the nanny, her days are numbered.

She smiled.

After hearing what she said, the fourth elder brother would still think of his cruel mother-in-law.It was a joyful thing to be blocked by that woman every day before she died.After all, she is not a good person. In this deep palace, which woman has not had blood on her hands?

The fourth elder brother returned to the elder brother's office, but the elder brother's office was deserted.But it's not that there are no people, there are plenty of eunuchs, big and small.It's just that Xiaowu and Xiaoliu are missing, this elder brother's place is another cage for fourth elder brother.

Back at my elder brother's office, there was nothing to do.Khan Ama and his elder brothers and younger brothers are all in Changchun Garden, and the Empress Dowager is also in Changchun Garden, so there is no need for him to pay his respects.The fourth elder brother had no choice but to review the homework assigned by the masters a few days ago, and wrote a few big characters fiercely.Only then did the fourth elder brother calm down, and began to pick up the book on the table and read it.

On the seventh day of July in the 28th year of Kangxi, the Empress Dowager returned to the palace from Changchun Garden.

The seventh day of July is the Qixi Festival, which is a beautiful day.In the traditional stories of the Han people, this day is the day when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet at the Magpie Bridge.Han girls will pray to Zhinu for skillful hands on this day, and pray for a good marriage.There are many Han Chinese concubines in the Forbidden City, trapped in this deep palace, life is really boring, so I will go to the Imperial Garden at night on this day, maybe I can meet Long Live God.

It's just that this year's Qixi Festival, there is no more festive atmosphere in the Forbidden City.Because the imperial concubine Tong is seriously ill, according to the words of the imperial physician, it may be within a few days.

In Chengqian Palace, Kangxi held Tong's hand tightly. He never thought that he would face the death of his relatives so soon again. It was only two years since the emperor's grandmother passed away. Could it be that the cousin who grew up with him would also be so soon Have you left him?

"Cousin, I'm sorry for you..." Kangxi didn't know what to say, for this cousin who grew up together since childhood, at the very beginning, he had no affection for her.It was only in order to stabilize the government that he followed the advice of the emperor's grandmother and accepted his cousin into the palace.Back then, such a delicate little girl was completely changed by the big dye vat of the deep palace.

He and her little Princess died, and he was also very sad.But it is also impossible for him to doubt the woman who gave birth to two elder brothers for a little Gege who has died.The cousin cried all day long, washing her face with tears.As a last resort, he had no choice but to go outside the Great Wall early to avoid these disputes.When he came back, the imperial grandmother reprimanded him severely, and he accepted it willingly.After all, he was the one who was sorry for his cousin.It's just that he doesn't want to investigate whether Xiao Gege's death has anything to do with Concubine De.

"Long live... Since you feel sorry for me, please grant my last wish." Tong said with a weak smile.

"Okay, tell me, cousin." Kangxi lowered his head and sighed.

"Since the 20th year of Kangxi, I have been promoted to be the imperial concubine and act as the queen. I have held the power of the empress and have been the imperial concubine for eight years. Long live, you, let me really be the empress once." Regardless of life or death, she You must always hold that woman under your body.

Kangxi was silent for a long time, and said: "Okay, I promise you."