Crossing the East Palace

"Cousin, because of this, blamed the palace and the prince? What a pity to blame the fifth princess in the nunnery?"

After the queen asked this sentence, she felt a little regretful in her heart.

Now Emperor Tianyuan has imprisoned her in a disguised form, and the surrounding palace people have been replaced by Emperor Tianyuan's people. If there is no serious matter on weekdays, no one else is allowed to go to her palace to see her, nor is she allowed to go out at will.Being able to attend the crown prince's birthday ceremony today is also thanks to her status as the "birth mother" of the crown prince.

But just now when she saw the eldest son of the Shen family, she thought of her lonely Fifth Princess.Even if the fifth princess killed the twelve princesses, even if the fifth princess did something wrong, she is still her daughter, isn't she?

Although the queen is cruel, she can't be cruel to her own children, especially the fifth princess who was replaced by her.

Concubine Xin was not the queen who thought she didn't know anything. Hearing this, she felt a shock in her heart, and when she was about to speak, she heard the Empress Dowager snort heavily. When she looked up, she saw that the Empress Dowager had a bad look on her face.

Tang Luojin was standing not far away. He didn't hear the Queen's words, and only happened to catch a glimpse of the Empress Dowager's face, and immediately said to Shen Xian, the eldest son of the Shen family, "I wonder if Cousin Shen knows the tattoo master? Yes, I can recommend it to Qing Huan."

As soon as these words came out, what else did Shen Xian not understand?Sighing in my heart, my face was still sly: "Yes. Wait a little longer, Your Highness. The family will definitely prepare someone for His Highness." After a pause, he continued, "If your Highness lacks anything, you can order it as you like."

Tang Luojin glanced at him, then nodded slightly: "Yeah. I'll go and see my great-grandmother alone. Cousin Shen can do as he pleases."

The two separated as a matter of course, outsiders looked at it, and no one found anything wrong between the two.

Tang Luojin walked to the table of a group of noble ladies, and saw the empress dowager getting angry.

"Fifth princess?" The Empress Dowager said angrily, "The fifth princess is because of the difference in the horoscope, and Aijia made her shave and practice for her own sake and for the fortune of the country. Accumulating blessings for herself? How can such accumulating blessings become a torture to the fifth princess in the mouth of the empress? Aijia looked at it, and the empress is often physically impaired. She has not seen outsiders for a long time, and her memory has also deteriorated. , Do you even remember why the fifth princess went to the nunnery?"

The Queen's complexion suddenly changed.

Concubine Xin quietly swallowed back what she was going to say, and was about to stand aside when she saw Tang Luojin walking towards her.

Concubine Xin tightly clenched the handkerchief in her hand, staring blankly at the young man who was walking towards her step by step, all of a sudden, she lost all thoughts in her head, she just wanted to stand here and wait for the young man to come to her side , and gently called her "mother concubine".

"Your Majesty!" Zi Yan felt that something was wrong with her master, and hurriedly tugged at the corner of Concubine Xin's clothes, "Mother, the crown prince is going to visit the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, so don't stand in the middle."

Only then did Concubine Xin come back to her senses, her almond eyes were dazed for a moment, then she lowered her eyes and stood quietly aside.The handkerchief in his hand was crumpled in an instant.

Tang Luojin knew that the Shen family knew the truth because Shen Ting saw the birthmark on his lower back, so that Shen Xian, who looked the most out of place in the Shen family, came to him.The Shen family knew it, and Concubine Xin... Maybe she knew it too.

Tang Luojin didn't know when she knew the truth, and she didn't know how she suppressed herself so that she wouldn't show her feet.However, at this time, even if Tang Luojin found out that something was wrong with Concubine Xin, he couldn't say anything, and just walked towards the Empress Dowager.

After seeing the ceremony, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but reprimanded the Empress a few more words.

Hearing this, Tang Luojin's eyes were calm, she glanced at the twelve princes who were still being carried by the queen, and then at the stunned queen.

"That's all. After all, the empress has raised the fifth emperor sister for several years. If the mother really misses the fifth emperor girl, she can take advantage of tonight and send someone a bowl of longevity noodles for the fifth emperor girl."

This matter was the easiest thing for the former queen.As long as the order goes on, someone will do it diligently.But for the current empress, the people around her were replaced by Emperor Tianyuan's people. Except for her own food, clothing and housing, even if she gave orders, those people might not listen to her.

Therefore, upon hearing what Tang Luojin said, the queen's eyes brightened slightly, and she immediately seized the opportunity: "This is very good. For the fifth princess's birthday, the palace prepared a lot of things, and sent them along with the bowl of longevity noodles." Give it to the fifth princess."

The expressions of the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager remained unchanged, but they did not refuse either.

Tang Luojin nodded directly: "The fifth emperor sister and the son minister were born in the same year, the same month, and the same day. It is fate. If you can help the mother and give things to the fifth emperor sister, the son minister is willing."

This is settled.

Although the empress dowager and the queen dowager don't like the fifth princess.But no matter what, the fifth princess is of royal blood, so it would be fine to give her something on her 13th birthday.So the two also symbolically rewarded some things that can be used in the nunnery.

The Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager rewarded things, the Empress gave things, and the other concubines and Gao Ming immediately took off the things in their purses, and asked the little eunuch sent by the Prince to take them to the Fifth Princess.

Yu Tang Luojin said that although the fifth princess killed the twelve princesses, although she was guilty, the fifth princess is only 13 years old now, and she is still a child after all.Moreover, it is the real royal blood, whether the fifth princess is dead or alive, it doesn't matter to him.

——After all, for the fifth princess who had to shave her hair after seeing the rich and luxurious life in the palace, and recite scriptures to the ancient Buddha every day, the morning class and evening class every day are not so different a punishment?

Although Emperor Tianyuan, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager allowed her to live, it was true that the Fifth Princess killed the Twelve Princess who was only two years old at such a young age.The fifth princess is of royal blood, so why not the twelve princesses?They can keep the fifth princess alive, but they will never allow her to have the dignity and wealth of a princess.

The matter of the fifth princess was just a small episode of the prince's birthday banquet.

The queen was thinking about the fifth princess, but the others were thinking about being able to talk more with the prince, and showing more face in front of Emperor Tianyuan, the empress dowager, and the empress dowager.

Those who have daughters need to think more about it—although there are private rumors that the original crown princess died for the crown prince, and because the crown prince remembers the old days, she plans to stand by for the original crown princess for a year, talking about marriage, Let's not mention it for now.However, the Empress Dowager's health was declining day by day. Although she was not in good health, she often summoned noble ladies from various families. It was obvious that she still wanted to choose a new concubine for the Crown Prince before she died.Everyone knew the elegant meaning after hearing the string song, so they brought their own girls to the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager.

As for the queen...the queen is sick, and has long ignored many things, and usually does not see outsiders.All the wives are most good at looking at people's faces. Seeing the Queen like this, it is obvious that Emperor Tianyuan has left him in the cold, so why are they willing to "trouble" the Queen with the Prince's marriage?

Tang Luojin was also very busy that night.

He is the protagonist of today's birthday banquet, so everyone wants to say a few words in front of him.And he is only 13 years old now, he is not too old, he is not too young.Those courtiers wanted to talk to him with their sons, and those eunuchs wanted to talk to him with their daughters.Although Tang Luojin didn't have to drink too much because of her status, she was quite overwhelmed.

Ning Junyu was Tang Luojin's companion, and he had a good capacity for alcohol. When he saw this, he smiled: "But bored? Let's go, there are few people over there, let's walk over there." He pointed at the willow tree by the lake.

Seeing Ning Junyu's face flushed from drinking, Tang Luojin nodded, planning to go to the lake to blow some air, wake up for a while, and then come back to deal with everyone.

Unexpectedly, the wind was blowing between the two of them, and they saw and heard people and things they shouldn't have heard here.

"Mother, my daughter has made up her mind." A familiar female voice came, "If my daughter's child is a son, my daughter will guard him until he is 12 years old, and then we will be separated from the son. If this child is a daughter, I just ask my parents Brothers and sisters-in-law feel sorry for their daughter, and let her take the child home to live with her, and she will be separated from the son immediately."

Tang Luojin and Ning Junyu were stunned at the same time.

"Sister, why bother?" A young female voice persuaded, "Although the son is confused, his title is there, his status is there, and he is young. If this child is not a son, when he comes back in the future, he will be with you again." Wouldn’t it be complete to give birth to a concubine? If the family background of our family is here, even if the son of Duke Cheng’en is out of tune, it’s impossible for the concubine to inherit the title in the future. My sister, you married into Duke Cheng’s mansion back then. At that time, I knew that the son was going to the battlefield, and you had to guard the empty boudoir alone. You could bear it back then, why can't you bear it now?"

The woman who spoke first said: "Forbearance? If it is my husband, he is fighting for the country and working hard. No matter how lonely at home, I can bear it, and I am willing to take care of family affairs for him, so that he has no worries. However, my husband is not a good man. I have only been married to him for a few months, and he has already taken seven concubines and six concubines. And all the seven concubines are pregnant now. Six concubines In the room, two of them also have symptoms of nausea, whether they are pregnant or not is unknown."

Tang Luojin looked at Ning Junyu quietly: "..." He only knew that Ning Junyu's concubine was pregnant, but he didn't know that all seven concubines were pregnant.This is still when the first wife is pregnant and has not yet given birth to a first son.

Ning Junyu was still a little dazed.

"Which family in Chang'an city will let concubines and concubine girls be ahead of their legitimate sons? Who would let their concubines and their first relatives get pregnant almost at the same time when their first wife was pregnant? Who would When none of these children were born, he directly asked his relatives to tolerate him and his sons and daughters. When he went to the battlefield and did not come back for a few years, take good care of his family. Sharing a room with a concubine?"

"Sister-in-law, aside from other things, if it were my brother who did this, would you be able to bear it? Don't do to others what you don't want to be done to others. How can you let me endure things that my sister-in-law can't bear? Although I am a woman, I am also pampered by my parents. Big one, how can I endure these decades of suffering in vain? I thought that when I got married, I married a hero, a young hero who would cut off his head and bleed on the battlefield. But I never thought, what about a hero? ? He is Datang's hero, but he may not be my Xue Zhenniang's lover!"

Xue Zhenniang had obviously made up her mind, she spoke with a firm and authentic tone with her big belly.

Mrs. Xue couldn't persuade my little sister, her face was green and white, which was really ugly; Mrs. Xue felt sorry for her daughter in the end, and sighed: "Since Zhenniang is determined to do so, then wait, if you really give birth to a daughter, then go home Come and live. If it's a boy..."

Before Mrs. Xue finished speaking, Ning Junyu rushed over hastily.

"Zhenniang, Zhenniang! I won't be separated from you! I don't know whether it's a boy or a girl! The first one isn't a boy, and there will always be one behind. At that time, I will go home after a few years Once, we can always give birth to a son. And, there are those housemates, I don't know that you don't like them. If you don't like them, then let's go back and send them away. In short, you can't go. You are My wife, I am your beloved, you and I should live and die together in the same bed in this life!"

Ning Junyu rushed over, Xue Zhenniang and the three of them were all stunned.

And as soon as he said these seemingly affectionate words, Mrs. Xue immediately wiped her eyes and persuaded: "How can my sister live up to such a man?"

Xue Zhenniang: "..."

Tang Luojin: "..." Although Ning Junyu is indeed a good person and treats him very well, with a heart of loyalty to serve the country and great righteousness in his heart, he will definitely be a true hero in the future as Xue Zhenniang said.

However, the hero is only about 17 years old now, the most playful and foolish age.Although I was taught by my elder brother since I was a child, it is better to have my parents by my side and know etiquette and respect.He only received a letter from his father telling him that he would be able to go to the battlefield if he had more sons, so he confusedly married wives, took concubines and had children, and made eight women pregnant in one fell swoop... Rao Tang Luojin didn't Dare to have the cheek to say that his fourth uncle is a good man who should not be let down.

"It's time to go back." Xue Zhenniang was the same age as Ning Junyu, but she was more stable than Ning Junyu, and she said calmly, "My son has something to say, we will discuss it when we return home. At this time, the son should be by the prince's side."

Ning Junyu was extremely excited at the moment, and pointed out: "The prince is right there! I'll be with you!"

Xue Zhenniang: "..."

The three women naturally visited Tang Luojin one by one.

Tang Luojin gave a "hmm", knowing that this matter is not easy to deal with, so after thinking about it, she said with a straight face: "I still have something to do. Fourth Uncle, ladies, please do what you want."

Then he left without looking back!

It's not that Tang Luojin couldn't guess that Ning Junyu might want him to stay there to support him at this moment.But that Xue Zhenniang, at such a young age, is indeed pitiful.Although Tang Luojin couldn't help her, she didn't want to harm her either.So he left confidently.

After Tang Luojin left, several other companions of his found him.

Seeing that no one came to toast at this moment, Zhu Keshan said: "The shantangs are all according to His Highness's orders. The two shantangs are separated. The children in the two shantangs are about the same age and body, and the one shantang is like Fujian. In another shantang, children drink a bowl of goat’s milk every day. Regardless of gender, they practice boxing and kicking every day. These children will record their weight and height every three days. Today, the shantang also Tete has assigned five people to be responsible for visiting the disabled soldiers in Chang'an City."

Tang Luojin nodded upon hearing this.

Ye Linying went on to say: "There is also the Banquet of Thousands of Seniors. Now we have found many elderly people over 70 years old, and they are willing to come to Chang'an City. It's just a matter of time..." He hesitated a little, "Your Highness, do you want to come to Chang'an City?" hold on?"

Many people now know about the poor health of the Empress Dowager.Ye Linying was the Prince's companion, and she often saw the Empress Dowager. Just by looking at her appearance, one could tell that the Empress Dowager was about to die.If the news about the Prince's Banquet for the Thousand Seniors is spread at this time, the Empress Dowager will lose her hind legs. This kind of matter, even if it has nothing to do with the Crown Prince or the Banquet of the Thousand Seniors, will always be discussed by others in private .

Tang Luojin paused slightly: "That's all for the feast of the thousand old men, wait a little longer. Just remember, it was not just for the feast of the thousand old men that you were asked to find those old men over 70 years old. Other things, Did Linying forget?"

Ye Linying hurriedly said: "His Royal Highness ordered, Linying will not forget. When looking for the old man, he not only asked them whether they would like to participate in the feast of thousands of old men, but also asked them about their health and way of life. If the old man He is a farmer, and asked about his experience in farming, etc. Because of His Highness's status and generous rewards, those old people know everything and talk endlessly, and the people sent by the minister also wrote down those words. After tidying up, give it to Your Highness."

Tang Luojin nodded.

Ning Jun saw Tang Luojin from a distance, and saw that no one was disturbing him except his companion reading, so he walked over directly, just in time to hear about the "Thousand Seniors Banquet".

"Thousand old man's banquet?" Ning Junchi said in surprise, "How did Xiao Qi think of this?"

With a wave of Tang Luojin's hand, the companions immediately took a few steps back, went to the side, and toasted with others, but they refused to leave Tang Luojin too far.

Tang Luojin then said: "These old people can live to be 70 years old, it may be due to luck, but they themselves should have some ways to maintain their own health. Great-grandmother is getting old, and it is always too late for me to do anything, but grandmother, Father is still alive, people in this world will one day grow old, I asked them about the methods of health preservation, compiled them into books and formulas, and let the world choose to study, so that they can live a few more years in good health."

What's more, the elderly will regulate the diet and health preservation methods of their children and grandchildren, so that the people of Datang will become healthier and the national strength of Datang will become more and more stable.

As for asking those old people about farming, Tang Luojin felt that Ning Jun would want to get the benefits later, so she didn't explain too much.

Ning Junchi listened, and said softly: "Xiao Qi is always different from others."

Tang Luojin thought in his heart, is this sentence a compliment?

It's just that before he had time to ask the reason, Tang Luojin was pestered to toast.

Ning Junchi stood aside, looking at Tang Luojin with a slight smile.

Ning Junyu came out with an ugly expression, just in time to see Ning Junchi, and said, "Which beauty is Third Brother looking at? Could it be that our family is going to have a wedding again?"

Ning Junchi immediately came back to his senses, reprimanded "nonsense", turned around and left.

The empress dowager left just after half of the banquet, and took the queen with her when she left, and made the queen kneel in the small Buddhist hall of Changle Palace overnight.

Since the birth of the twelve princes, the empress has been extremely weak. When she came out of the small Buddhist hall the next day, her knees were sore and weak, and she looked up at the rising sun, slightly dazed.

"Empress Empress, hurry up and see the Empress Dowager with your servants. She is an old man, and she is very upset now."

The queen was about to ask, but how could Aunt An dare to speak?Half-supporting the queen, she arrived at the inner room of the great empress dowager.

The Empress Dowager was lying on the couch, coughing repeatedly.

When the queen came in and kowtowed to the ground, the empress dowager threw a box of jewelry in front of the queen!

"Well, you Ning family, is it true that the royal family will never have peace if you don't disturb it, and you will not be happy for a day!" The empress dowager looked at the queen's eyes as if poisoned, "What did the emperor say that day? Ling Wu The princess went to the nunnery to practice, her hair was shaved, and all her old clothes and jewelry were lost, so she went to practice quietly! Others don’t know the reason, Ning, don’t you know that the fifth princess was punished to the nunnery for doing something wrong Did you go? After all, the fifth princess has now accepted her punishment, knowing that she was wrong, and is willing to practice and enlightenment. Fortunately, you mentioned her yesterday, not only interrupted the crown prince’s birthday banquet, but even gave these jewelry For the fifth princess? You are killing the fifth princess alive! Ning family, Ning family, Aijia really can't wait...cough cough..."

The queen was already stunned, and murmured: "The fifth princess was forced to death, the fifth princess was forced to death? What does this mean? The fifth princess...my Wu'er, isn't she alive?"

"Live well?" The Empress Dowager didn't like the fifth princess no matter how much she was. The fifth princess was also her great-granddaughter. How could she not be sad at all when the fifth princess died? Looking at the culprit in front of her, she immediately said sarcastically, "If it wasn't for You queen, when the fifth princess has gradually calmed down, on her birthday, Tete asked someone to give her those brocade clothes and various jewelry that she would never need as a monk, which made her feel very painful. How could she think that you, the vicious aunt, wanted to avenge the Twelve Princesses and use those clothes and jewelry to harm her, but she couldn't think about it for a while, and jumped into the well to die?"

The queen suddenly collapsed on the ground.

The Empress Dowager pointed at Aunt An and said, "Read the Fifth Princess' suicide note to her, read it to her!"

Aunt An sighed in her heart, and took the fifth princess's last suicide note and began to read: "Great-grandmother, grandmother, father-emperor, and mother-queen pay homage! My son knew that he had made a big mistake in the past. Because of his glory and wealth, his eyes were stained, and he didn't recognize it. The mother, who didn't know filial piety, was even more jealous and hurt the lives of the twelve emperors. The big mistake had already been made, and the son thought that if he avoided living in the nunnery, the mistakes he made for his son could be resolved by reciting scriptures for a hundred years. But he didn't want to Today, when I received the gift from my mother, I still feel greedy in my heart. I wish I could be like before. The glory and wealth are all in front of my eyes. I know that my heart is not quiet, and I dare not stain the eyes of the Buddha in front of the Buddha. I just want to die .Only before death, I pray that my great-grandmother, grandmother, father-emperor, mother, my sister-in-law and concubine will live in peace, and that my sister-in-law nine princesses will be happy forever..."

After hearing this, the queen still refused to believe it, and directly snatched the suicide note written by the fifth princess from Aunt An.

The Empress Dowager said angrily: "She already knew she was wrong and accepted her fate. Why do you bother to tease her again? She is not calm when you provoke her like this, and Wu'er is sensitive and thoughtful. I am afraid that you think you are still thinking about what she did I want to kill her for revenge. She is afraid that you will anger Concubine Xin and Princess Ninth because of her, that's why you simply thought of committing suicide."

The empress dowager closed her eyes and said: "Queen, queen, you only know that you are suffering, but you don't know that the world is suffering; you only know that everyone makes mistakes, but you don't know that some mistakes are either not allowed to be made, or once they are made, they will be punished." It can only go on like this forever.

If it wasn't for you not being able to let go of the fifth princess, how could the fifth princess be unhappy under the lap of Concubine Xin, who is gentle and peaceful?The eldest son of the Shen family has a good character, how can he not be worthy of her?The fifth princess has been harmed by you all her life.Now that she is banned in the nunnery, you have used those things that she shouldn't have at this time to tease her, empress, you killed her, you killed her! "

The queen was already in tears, and she lay limp on the ground in a daze.

It looked very pitiful and pathetic.

The Empress Dowager coughed several more times, waved her hands and said: "Aijia said long ago that you are pitiful, there are many people in this world who are more pitiful than you. You don't need to act like this in front of Aijia. You go back to the palace , and then get sick."

When Aunt An heard this, she immediately pulled out the fifth princess's suicide note from the queen's hand, put the suicide note away, and then reached out to help the queen to go out.

But the queen said infatuatedly: "Grandmother, can I, can I go and send one to the fifth princess? And that letter, the last letter left by the fifth princess, can you give me a thought?"

The Empress Dowager snorted, "For you? The Empress should continue to be ill. The person who sent the Fifth Princess on her last journey should be her biological mother, Concubine Xin, and the person who took her last letter as a thought should also be It's Concubine Xin. As for the empress, even though you are the aunt, you are the chief culprit who directly killed her, so you gave her things to you? Are you confused because you are going to go to hell?"

The queen was finally taken away half-supported and half-dragged.

No matter how painful she was, the Empress Dowager remained unmoved.

The news of the death of the fifth princess in the nunnery did not make the people in the harem sad.After all, the fifth princess has already entered the nunnery, and they are people from other places. Except for Concubine Xin who took the ninth princess out of the palace to send the fifth princess off, and the crown prince went there once on behalf of the emperor and brothers and sisters, no one else Mention the shaved fifth princess who died suddenly in the nunnery.

Don't tell others, Concubine Rong and Yue Chongyuan will naturally not speak to the Twelfth Prince who is still a baby.

It's just that the two of them didn't say anything, when Tang Luojin came to visit the Twelfth Prince every three days, when he saw the Twelfth Prince crawling back and forth on the couch, only pointing his butt towards him, he suddenly spoke.

"Speaking of which, after Wuhuangmei went to the nunnery, she often missed her brothers and sisters in the palace. Before she died, she put all the sachets she made during her lifetime on the couch. The suicide note said that she wanted to put these sachets Give it to brothers and sisters." Tang Luojin said lightly, "Why don't you see the sachet of the twelve emperors?"

The Twelfth Prince refused to turn his head at first, but at this moment he turned his head and looked at Tang Luojin in a daze.

Yue Chongyuan said: "The fifth princess died on the day of the prince's birthday... This is really unlucky. Although the emperor issued an order to postpone the death of the fifth princess for three days. But she was disrespectful to the prince after all. Such a sinner, how can her things be worn by Min'er? Before Min'er was born, the emperor made him the king of Shun, but what is the fifth princess in the nunnery? Her things have long been taken away. I let the servant cut it up and throw it away! I can't let that thing stain Min'er's eyes!"

Concubine Rong pushed her, and Yue Chongyuan stopped talking.

Tang Luojin looked at the Twelfth Prince who had been stunned in disbelief, her eyes flickered slightly, she pretended she didn't hear anything, and left.