Crossing the East Palace

A quincunx-shaped birthmark.

Miss Shen Er looked at the birthmark on Xiaowa's leg and was stunned.

The fourth young lady of the Shen family, the mother of the two little babies, looked at it, thinking that the sister-in-law was curious, she smiled and turned the other little baby around, pointed to the "plum blossom" on the little baby's buttocks and said: "These two The children are all married to the men of the Shen family, and they all have birthmarks of plum blossoms on their bodies. It can't be said that the second sister will marry someone in the future, and the children she will have will also have birthmarks of plum blossoms on her body."

The second girl Shen was stunned: "Is this the inheritance of the Shen family?"

The fourth young lady of the Shen family didn't expect that the second girl Shen didn't know about this, she was surprised for a moment, thinking that the second girl Shen and her elder brothers were very different in age, so she probably didn't know about this matter, so she smiled and said: "Yes. , seven out of ten will have this plum blossom birthmark on their body. Among the children born to the Shen family girl, two or three out of ten children will have a plum blossom birthmark on their body. But the birthmark usually does not grow on the face. Outsiders don't know about it. When the second sister was born, your older brothers all grew up, so the second sister has never seen this."

Second Miss Shen was stunned.

Shen Jiaerlang?A child born to the girl from the Shen family?

She thought for a moment of the plum blossom birthmark on the prince's waist that she saw that day, and then thought that the fifth princess and the prince were born in Qingning Palace in the same year, the same month and the same day, and the person who delivered her sister Concubine Xin was the queen's servant.Miss Shen Er felt her throat was dry and she couldn't speak a word.

"Didn't the second girl say that I'm going to get some good things for the two young masters and my wife?" The incense burner was originally calm and experienced in the palace for many years. But without showing any signs of expression, he just stretched out his hand to hold Miss Shen Er's arm, and squeezed it quietly, "I see that Madam is drying things today, we can't go now, it's too late, but let the two little girls Young master can't get good things!"

Miss Shen Er came back to her senses and bit the tip of her tongue. The slight pain shocked her, and said with a smile, "Aunt Xianglu said yes, you two." She squatted down and touched her two Looking at the head of a little baby, he said, "Just wait for Auntie to bring you something good."

Fourth Young Mistress Shen wanted to evade, but Second Miss Shen laughed and said a few words, she didn't say anything more, she just sent Second Miss Shen to the door herself.

The second girl Shen and the incense burner walked far away, the thoughts in her heart became more and more obvious, she couldn't help but feel what she wanted, she staggered on her feet, almost fell down.

The incense burner and another maid hurriedly helped her up.

The second girl Shen waved the maid back, but took the hand of the incense burner, and said: "Auntie, is it true? Is it really what I think? Queen's cousin... she, she really did it." The crime of deceiving the emperor? Does the prince really have the blood of our Shen family? Really, is the elder sister's own son?"

The incense burner hurriedly looked around and saw that no one was looking at this side, so he helped the second girl Shen to walk to the pavilion in the lake, and said in a low voice: "I originally thought that the queen used tricks. After all, Tianyuan Seven For the sake of the friendship between our Shen family and the Ning family, and for the "sisterhood" between her and the queen, the empress invited herself to accompany the queen when she was pregnant, in order to let the queen feel at ease, and wanted to tell the queen that no matter what, They all have a day to come out. However, although the queen was grateful at that time, she dismissed most of the servants around her and the empress on the grounds that the Qingning Palace was already like the Leng Palace and did not need so many servants. A aunt Yu and four first-class maids, our mother is sincere, but the slaves refused to listen to it for a long time, and finally only the slaves and Zi Yan were left by my side. And, "

The incense burner paused, and said: "And on the night of March 26, the empress was eight months pregnant and gave birth suddenly. The queen gave birth in July, and they were all premature. The slaves didn't understand what it meant before, but after thinking about it later, it was obvious that the queen was pregnant at the time. So he wanted to change his son. It’s just that there are only slaves and Ziyan around the empress. Ziyan went to invite the imperial doctor, and the slaves guarded the empress, but they were directed around by Yu Guu, who took the delivery of the empress. I also blame the slaves for being confused. At that time, they were anxious , I didn’t see the key to it.”

And what happened after that, Second Miss Shen didn't need to talk about it, she understood it in her heart.

Later, the Queen and Concubine Xin gave birth on the same night.Although some people suspected that this was a plan to exchange sons, there was nothing to be done. The description of the Seventh Prince did not look like Concubine Xin at all, but was somewhat similar to the Empress.And the fifth princess is female like her father, similar to Emperor Tianyuan's eyebrows and eyes, and her face is the same as that of the empress and concubine Xin.

In this way, even if some people guessed the queen's plan, they mistakenly thought that although the queen was useful, but by coincidence, she really gave birth to a son, and Concubine Xin did indeed give birth to a daughter. She was able to "collapse due to postpartum hemorrhage" that night, but survived smoothly.

Because of this, even though the empress made things difficult for the prince several times later, everyone only thought that it was because the sixth and seventh princesses both passed away on the day the prince returned to the palace at the age of three, and the empress angered the prince because of this, so sometimes she was not good enough to the prince .

As for the empress's kindness to the fifth princess... just looking at the attitude of the fifth princess to Concubine Xin and the Shen family, and the appearance of the "righteous speech" when she refused to marry the Shen family, outsiders all thought that this was the Shen family and the Ning family. Concubine Xin fell out, and the queen's kindness to the fifth princess was only to win over and coax the fifth princess to deal with Concubine Xin and the Shen family.

Even the Shen family never thought that there would be other reasons for the empress to treat the two differently.

"Then, what should I do?" The second girl Shen was frightened, her heart was shaken, and she finally came back to her senses, "This matter is of great importance, and I must tell my father, mother, and brothers. Whether it is necessary or not To tell this matter out, it is better for them to come up with a good idea."

The incense burner nodded heavily when he heard the words, and went to Mrs. Shen's yard with the help of the second girl Shen.But she thought in her heart that this matter really requires the head of the Shen family to make a decision, but the decision to make is not whether to tell this matter, but how to sweep the tail of this matter It was so thorough that everyone did not doubt the prince's orthodoxy.

——Even if the crown prince is Concubine Xin's biological son and the blood of the Shen family, so what?The Shen family and Concubine Xin cannot give the crown prince the status of a prince.But the crown prince has been different from others since he was born. He was stupid for a hundred days. At the age of one year, he caught the same thing as Emperor Wu. It was said that he was the reincarnation of Emperor Wu. Master Zhi Shan bows and thanks...

If such a prince is suddenly rumored to be a concubine, he will be an ordinary prince like other princes, and not only will he lose his title of "legacy", he will not even have the word "long".In this way, whether it is the real son in the queen's stomach, the second prince who is currently the eldest son, or any prince who can ascend the throne in the future, who can tolerate this "reincarnation of the Emperor Wu" and has already become a prince? Where is the Seventh Prince of Nine Years Prince?

The crown prince had no choice, neither did the Shen family and Concubine Xin.

They can't disclose this matter at all. Instead, they want to cover this matter tightly and never let anyone know.

It's just these things, the incense burner turned around in his heart, but he didn't say it out.How could the head of the Shen family and his wife not understand things that the second girl couldn't think of?In this way, there is no need for her slave to talk too much.

It was already July 23 when the Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother received the letter from Tang Luojin from Jiangnan.

The Empress Dowager finished reading the letter, squinted her eyes, and showed the letter to the Empress Dowager, and then asked Aunt An to hand it to Jiang Hanyi, who was in Changle Palace to her father.

Aunt An looked at Jiang Hanyi and smiled.

Jiang Hanyi took the letter with both hands, and hurriedly lowered her head.

The Empress Dowager pointed at Aunt An and scolded with a smile: "You have grown up, dare to laugh at our Crown Princess! Just wait and see, when Xiao Qi comes back, he will be the first to find you!"

Aunt An has followed the Empress Dowager for many years, looking at the future Crown Princess "smiles", she still has some face.Hearing that the Empress Dowager laughed and scolded her, she only smiled and bowed to Jiang Hanyi first, then turned around and saluted to the Empress Dowager.

"Master's words are right. His Royal Highness is back, and he must come to find slaves, but ah, His Royal Highness must look for slaves to send some good things to slaves, and then come to inquire about the master's body, and... ...Did Miss Jiang's family suffer wronged in the palace? Slaves, you are not afraid that the crown prince will come to find your servants!"

The Empress Dowager smiled while pointing at Aunt An.

Jiang Hanyi's head hung lower, and her cheeks were flushed.

The queen mother hurriedly took her hand and said: "It's so easy to blush, hey, it's still Xiaoqi who has good eyesight, knowing that she has no expression on her face, so she found a shy princess, and in the future, I will be able to live It has to be tasty."

"..." Jiang Hanyi could only continue to lower her head.

After the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager finished talking and laughing, Jiang Hanyi was asked to read the letter in the next ear room.

Before Tang Luojin left, she begged them specially, saying that if the empress had a hard pregnancy, the young lady of the Jiang family might offend the empress, so she asked them to pay attention, and if the young lady of the Jiang family entered the palace, she would take her to the palace. Come to Changle Palace to honor them.

The queen mother thought that the queen was stingy and couldn't tolerate her daughter-in-law, so she resorted to many means to torment Miss Jiang's family. Although she felt it was unnecessary, she agreed.

But the empress dowager knew that the empress was really embarrassing Miss Jiang, so she agreed.Xiao Qi has always attached great importance to love, and he has always been filial to her and the Queen Mother the most. Now that there is one more person who cares about her, they naturally want to protect her.

only……

The Empress Dowager glanced at the ear room, and frowned slightly.

Before the prince set off, the emperor told Ning Junchi that it would not be easy for Ning Junchi to leave Chang'an. This time, he and the prince will have a good time in the south of the Yangtze River. It is inevitable that Ning Junchi and the prince will have some fun again, which can be regarded as allowing the prince to "travel" and increase his knowledge.

The empress dowager also knew about this matter.It's just that she didn't understand why the emperor had opened his mouth. It's not even August yet, why did the two suddenly turn back?

Although the emperor didn't tell the crown prince what he said, didn't Ning Junchi say it?Even if you don't talk about that, the crown prince has always been close to Ning Junchi, even if it wasn't for young people's curiosity, for Ning Junchi, the crown prince shouldn't have returned to Chang'an so early.

The Empress Dowager thought for a while, until she saw Jiang Hanyi coming out of the ear room calmly, she put the matter aside temporarily.

Forget it, let's call the emperor to ask while we are having dinner.

Tang Luojin didn't know anything about Chang'an City.

He told Ning Junchi to walk slowly on the road, and to see all the interesting towns or places with good views on the road, so that he would not walk too fast.

They set off on July [-]th. At that time, the queen was just seven months pregnant. Jiangnan and Chang'an were connected by a canal, and they walked fast on the water. No matter how slow they walked, they could reach Chang'an before September. .

For Tang Luojin, this time is enough.

Of course, even if it was really a few days at night, he would not be too anxious.

On this day, the boat happened to arrive at a bustling town and stopped at the ferry.

Tang Luojin had heard of this town before. After looking at it on the deck for a while, she said to Ning Junchi behind her: "I heard that there are a few dishes here that are very well cooked, and the town is still famous. It’s the hometown of soy sauce, so I’ll buy some soy sauce and send it back.”

Ning Junchi: "..." The dignified prince, why are you so stingy?

He also bought some soy sauce and gave it away... Ning Junchi felt that Tang Luojin was ashamed to give it away, but those who were given it were too embarrassed to accept it.

However, even so, when Ning Junchi heard Tang Luojin's request, he answered "yes" as it should be.

So a group of people watched the boat, those looking for the inn looked for the inn, those who followed Tang Luojin followed Tang Luojin, and they dispersed in such a lively manner.

Although Tang Luojin has heard of this small town, she is not familiar with it after all, and Ning Junchi has never been here before. The two were walking in the busy market. When they stopped and walked, Ning Junchi suddenly heard Someone called him.

"Junchi! Junchi! Little Sanzi!"

Ning Junchi turned his head and looked up, only to find a young man in rich clothes standing on the third floor of a restaurant, waving vigorously at him.

Ning Junchi was slightly taken aback, wondering who it was, when he saw a middle-aged man with empty arms coming out from behind the young man.

Only then did he remember who these two people were here, he raised his hand upstairs and cupped his hands, he pulled Tang Luojin and said: "Xiaoqi, come with uncle, and meet our former guarding general of Datang!"

Tang Luojin saw what happened earlier in the morning, nodded when she heard the words, and let Ning Junchi lead her to the restaurant.

Guard general?Still missing an arm?

Tang Luojin's eyes flashed, then this person should be Zuo Qian who was as talented as Ning Junchi's father Ning Shan in the past, but because he lost his arm on the battlefield, he had to return to his hometown in advance and left the battlefield General Left.

I just don't know if General Zuo Qian has cultivated the same talents as him in the small town for several years.

Chang'an City, Shen family.

Second Miss Shen hesitated for a while, but finally realized that the matter was serious, and she could neither hide it nor postpone it any longer, not telling her family the truth.Although she didn't know how her family would make a decision, she obviously had to tell her family about this matter soon.

Tang Luojin was the crown prince, and he grew up in a state of gold and jade since he was a child. Things like bathing and changing clothes must be done by the palace servants.In this way, how many people in the palace saw Tang Luojin's birthmark?Even if those palace people have only seen Tang Luojin's birthmark but not those of the Shen family, there is no guarantee that no one will happen to know both of these two things. If that person is smarter, he thinks of something that is not good for the Shen family and the crown prince. Things, that are all possible.

Besides, that's all for the rest, that day, on the bank, the person who dressed the prince was the younger brother of the queen's direct relative, Duke Xin.

Lord Xin Guo has always acted carefully, and lived with the crown prince in Fujian for two years before, how could he not see the birthmark on the crown prince's waist?If he saw it, and occasionally talked about it with people who are close friends of Shen Jiaerlang, then this matter is really unavoidable.

Second Miss Shen took a deep breath, walked into Mrs. Shen's room, and then seriously asked Mrs. Shen to invite her father and several brothers back. She had something to say.

Mrs. Shen has suffered from her stepmother since she was a child. Although she was taken care of by her aunt and cousin, she was able to marry into the Shen family smoothly and gave birth to four sons, two daughters and six children, but she still couldn't help giving away the love she didn't receive when she was a child. For her two daughters, the younger daughter is still okay, but the eldest daughter is really raised too naively by her.

However, even so, Mrs. Shen could not avoid pampering her daughter more.

"Important things?" Mrs. Shen laughed, "Mother's Ting'er, besides daily meals and refreshments, clothes and jewelry, playing polo and Cuju, what other important things do you want to talk about? And not only do you want to tell your mother, Do you want to call your father and elder brothers over?"

Shen Ting's face was flushed slightly by her mother's words, and she stomped her feet, but she still leaned into her mother's ear, and whispered seriously: "It's really important, mother, if you don't believe me, you should also believe in Aunt Xianglu. "

Although the incense burner is the maidservant of the Shen family, she has been in the palace for several years, and because of Concubine Xin's disaster, she is crippled in one leg.Now she is out of the palace and taking care of Shen Ting, the entire Shen family value her very much.

When Madam Shen heard the words, she couldn't help but look at the incense burner—important thing?Or is the incense burner also considered important?Could it be related to the eldest daughter in the palace?

Seeing Mrs. Shen's gaze, the incense burner withdrew her expression and knelt down, "Ma'am, you don't have to call Master and the others right away, but it's hot today, Madam may have suffered from some heat, it's time to take a rest, and it's time to send a message to Master. them."

Mrs. Shen originally thought it was her fault for raising her eldest daughter too naively.Although at the beginning, she planned to marry her eldest daughter to the handkerchief family. The handkerchief family is simple and rich, and the family is well-off, so it is the right family.It's a pity that things in this world are not arranged well, so they will definitely come true.

At that time, Mrs. Shen tore up the letter for her naive eldest daughter. The dowry, dowry, and husband-in-law who were to be married were chosen again and again. After passing away, the matter of Xiao Ding had to be postponed again and again.When the eldest daughter was 15 years old this year during the Lantern Festival, the eldest daughter went out with her elder brother to watch the lanterns, only to run into Emperor Tianyuan who left the palace in micro-clothes.

It's not that Mrs. Shen is boasting, Concubine Xin is delicate and innocent, and she is really a woman that many men love to take home.Emperor Tianyuan only saw Concubine Xin, and he became concerned.I asked Concubine Xin several times if she was engaged, which family she was engaged to, and when they got married.The Shen family couldn't bring trouble on the family who were still in their filial piety, so in the end they could only grit their teeth and send their innocent and charming daughter to the palace.

The Shen family originally thought that the queen's biological mother, Mrs. Ning, and Mrs. Shen were direct cousins, and Mrs. Ning took care of Mrs. Shen since she was a child, so she thought that these cousins ​​would also take care of each other when they were in the palace.result……

Not to mention.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Shen felt her heart tightened, and immediately recruited a few maidservants who were close to her, and sent messages to Mr. Shen and the masters of the Shen family respectively, saying that she was already lying down on the bed due to the sudden heat.

This day happened to be Xiu Mu, Master Shen happened to be at home, so he hurried over, and the four sons of the Shen family also rushed back an hour later than Master Shen.

When they arrived at Mrs. Shen's yard and saw their wives sitting in the gazebo in the yard, they became suspicious.

The brothers glanced at each other, and then walked into Mrs. Shen's room. As soon as they entered, they heard Master Shen knock a teacup heavily to the ground.

"Ridiculous! How dare An deceive me that there is no one in the Shen family?"

The brothers of the Shen family strode in immediately, closed the door, then knelt down towards Master Shen and said, "If something happens, father, even if it happens to his son, don't be angry and ruin your body."

At this moment, Master Shen was so angry that he couldn't speak, he stretched out his hand and pointed at Shen Ting, "Let your sister, tell you."

Shen Ting told the story that she fell into the water at Jiang's house that day, the prince rescued her, and she happened to see the birthmark on the prince's back waist.

The four brothers of the Shen family happened to have that quincunx-shaped birthmark on their bodies.Because the birthmark looks like a plum blossom and is too feminine, she seldom mentions it to others.At this moment, after hearing Shen Ting say that the prince who should have nothing to do with the Shen family has a plum blossom birthmark, the expressions of the four of them all changed.

The four brothers of the Shen family have all married and established businesses, and have entered the imperial court as officials.Shen Er and Shen San just happened to return to Chang'an to report on their duties, and they will go to the local government soon. Shen Da has been in the officialdom for many years and is shrewd and capable. Shen Si is also extremely intelligent. When Ting said this, everyone immediately thought of the fact that the Queen and Concubine Xin gave birth prematurely on the same night.

Thinking of the queen's vague dislike for the prince over the years, and when the prince was a few months old, another accident happened in the Ning family, and when no one in the court dared to speak for the Ning family, the prince happened to have a high fever, causing Emperor Tianyuan couldn't let go of the affairs of the Ning family.And after the prince had a high fever and was burned with some "stupid" words, the empress dowager suddenly issued an order to order the fifth princess, who was the same age as the prince, to go to the nunnery to practice. Wasting seven years... They didn't think about all kinds of incidents like this before, so they naturally didn't care.However, now that they thought about it this way, they found that those royal orders that they couldn't understand before now had reasonable reasons.

"However, my son often hears people say that the prince's appearance is extremely good, and he almost transferred all the benefits of the emperor and empress to his own face." Shen Si hesitated, "It's just a birthmark, it doesn't explain anything. At least, with this birthmark alone, we can't help Concubine Xin snatch the crown prince back."

Master Shen snorted immediately.

Mrs. Shen touched her face, and sighed after a long time: "Speaking of which, back then when I walked with my cousin, others thought we were real sisters. My appearance and my cousin are [-] to [-]% similar. The queen's appearance followed her cousin's, and Xin'er's appearance followed your father's, but unexpectedly, Xin'er's son's appearance changed around and followed me."

Then coincidentally, the Prince's appearance looks completely different from Concubine Xin's, but looks like a queen.

"Also, get the crown prince back?" Mrs. Shen sighed, "Once he is snatched back, he will no longer be the crown prince. So, how are we going to snatch it? How can we snatch it?"

They are close relatives by blood, but they cannot recognize each other.

It is imperative to admit a thief as a mother.