Crossing the East Palace

"Second brother forgot, the Ning family, and me."

When Ning Junyuan heard what Ning Junchi said, he was taken aback.

It took a long time before he looked at Ning Junchi complicatedly, and said, "Second brother thinks that Junchi is different from the rest of the Ning family and doesn't like to go to the battlefield."

Ning Junchi shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't like it. It's just that compared to some things and some people, the battlefield is not my favorite."

Moreover, when his father wrote in, he said that he and Ning Junyu were asked to compare each other, to see who would have more sons within a certain period of time, and who would be able to go to the battlefield.

Although he knew that what his father said at that time was just to let the Ning family have a descendant.

But to Ning Junchi, these words have another meaning of humiliation-they are not specially selected animals for breeding. Marrying a wife and having children may be the life choice of many people, but they are threatened by such threats. Children, and there is still a competition between the two of them who can conceive the most women... When Ning Junchi received the letter, he felt disgusted with his father for the first time.

So even though he didn't understand his own intentions at that time, he also refused to marry a wife and concubine and have children as quickly as Ning Junyu did.In the end, the concubine's room was haunted by ghosts, which caused Ning Junyu's wife to have a miscarriage.The child was gone, and Ning Junyu's wife also ran away.

Then he left behind seven children born in a row of concubines.

Ning Junchi shook his head slightly.

Ning Junyuan was silent for a while, and then said: "Father is getting old, and it is not impossible to go back to Chang'an now. But Junyu... the third younger brother is no better than Junyu. Junyu has been on the battlefield for three or four years, and the battle is also difficult. He fought countless times. He was taught by his father. With him at the border, my father and I can feel at ease. Of course, the second brother is not saying that Jun Chi should not go, but wants to say that it is fine for Jun Chi to go to the battlefield. Father is back, second brother is also in Chang'an, and there are Junyu's seven children in Chang'an city, if you want to come to the emperor, you can rest assured that you and fourth brother will defend Datang on the battlefield."

Ning Junyuan's idea is very simple.Father is indeed getting old, and he does have many hidden wounds left by years of fighting.Therefore, if the prince really wants his father to come back, it is all right for him.

After all, although Jun Yu is young, his talent on the battlefield is comparable to that of his deceased elder brother.With Jun Yu on the battlefield, and Jun Chi also going to assist Jun Yu on the battlefield, those soldiers, who are still soldiers of Datang, will still trust the Ning family even more.And the Ning family will stand more firmly in Datang because of the soldiers on the border.

As for why Ning Junchi said these words, Ning Junyuan had some guesses in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it.

Ning Junchi would not let Ning Junyuan escape like this.

"Second brother, don't you wonder why the fourth brother would make a move and let the old doctor who was treating the second brother go to the Zhuangzi to mislead the prince? Isn't the second brother surprised, why the prince made the father and the fourth brother when he made a move? Shall we go back to Chang'an together?" Jun Ning said slowly, "Father has dedicated himself to Datang for several years, and the crown prince is just asking father to return to Chang'an based on his resignation letter. But the fourth brother... the prince means that if the fourth brother is willing Come back by yourself, that's all. If the fourth brother refuses to come back by himself..."

Then the prince will resort to means to force Ning Junyu to come back.

"And at that time, even if Junchi arrived at the border, it would be too late."

Ning Junyuan looked at Ning Junchi firmly, without saying a word.

Ning Junchi said: "Second brother has always been resourceful and knowledgeable. He used to be far away on the border, and he would write letters to test how my second sister treats the prince and whether the prince respects my second sister. Now, second brother has returned to Chang'an City for a long time, and in Chang'an City Li has seen and heard more things with his own eyes, and thinking about it, there are some things that the second brother is not completely ignorant of."

Only then did Ning Junyuan look away, rubbed the teacup that Ning Junchi had lifted up, and sighed: "I don't know, it's just a guess. After all, as soon as the prince was born, the second sister asked Aunt Yu to hold him , when it was pouring rain, he rushed to kneel outside the Changle Palace. When the prince was a few months old, he fell ill several times just after he was carried to the Qingning Palace. The most serious one even made the prince a fool. The emperor was furious, Sending Princess Wu, the first child of Noble Concubine Xin, who was originally innocent, to the nunnery, and for the first time, in the booklet that was approved to father, he scolded father severely. Later, there are obviously many people who are more suitable than you, who can accompany the prince to Fujian, But the emperor chose you. Afterwards, not only me, but also my father may not have no doubts in his heart."

Just doubt and just doubt.The matter of changing sons is of great importance.If it was really the queen changing sons, he and his father could probably guess that the queen changing sons at that time was for the Ning family.However, no matter how much helplessness the queen feels in her heart when she changes sons, the crime of deceiving the emperor is true, it is true to confuse the concubine, and it is true to abuse the prince afterwards.

Under such circumstances, whether it is Ning Junyuan or Ningshan, they can only turn a blind eye and hope that their suspicions are wrong.The Queen didn't do anything like that at all.The relationship between the empress and the prince was not harmonious, and it was only because of the short time they spent together.

However, when Ning Junchi asked him this way today, Ning Junyuan just wanted to pretend to be ignorant, but he couldn't.

"Really, the second sister exchanged the child?" Ning Junyuan and the empress had a very small age difference, and the siblings spent much more time together than the empress and Ning Junchi, "Really not, other people did it? "

Ning Junchi said: "There is a folk saying that seven lives and eight deaths. The second sister gave birth to a daughter in July, and Concubine Xin gave birth to a child in August. Both of them were born prematurely, which made people suspicious. Besides, I checked carefully, that one One day, Second Sister was accompanied by five Aunt Yu and Concubine Xin had only two court ladies, one of whom had been entangled with the guards all the time, so Concubine Xin had only one maid by her side. Isn't it Second Sister, but Concubine Xin?"

Ning Junyuan fell silent.

That's right, Concubine Xin's natal family is the Shen family, and Concubine Xin was originally his cousin.This cousin is unknown to others, but Ning Junyuan knows it. Concubine Xin has always been innocent and sweet, and many men like such a woman.Although not smart, it is very pleasing to carry around.And how could such an unintelligent and cowardly Concubine Xin manage to change her son?And, if he remembers correctly, Concubine Xin in the past was extremely dependent on her cousin, Second Sister.

As for the prince's appearance, Ning Junyuan didn't even need to ask.Others may not have noticed, but the Ning family is their own business and they know it.The queens resembled their mother in appearance.And their mother, who is a cousin of Mrs. Shen of the Shen family, looks similar.It is not surprising that the prince's appearance is not like that of his biological mother, Concubine Xin, but his grandmother, Mrs. Shen.

But with the method of the second sister, and the importance she attaches to their family members... Ning Junyuan sighed deeply.

He thought that he could fully understand why the second sister did this.

"Second Sister is at fault, but..." Ning Junyuan couldn't continue.The queen is his blood relative.Even no matter who the queen is married to, as long as it is not the emperor, whoever dares not tolerate the queen, he can bring a group of personal guards to the door.

But the queen married the emperor.

The queen's change of son was to deceive the emperor, confuse the concubine, abuse the concubine, tried to kill the prince several times, although he failed, but the eldest princess's granddaughter and the prince's fiancée died because of this, and the prince was also physically tortured because of this. Damage...Under all kinds of circumstances, even Ning Junyuan couldn't say that he should let the queen go.

"The emperor spared her life, and sent the twelve princes to the Baifo Temple in Fujian, where they were really ordained as monks," Ning Junyuan said dryly, "It is obvious that the emperor has punished her and cut her off. As long as The crown prince does not want the lives of the two of them. The Ning family is naturally on the crown prince's side. But what does this have to do with the crown prince letting father and Jun Yu back?"

Ning Junchi narrowed his gaze slightly, and said sarcastically, "Half of the Ning family's staff in Chang'an City is in my hands, and the other half is in the hands of Second Sister, right?"

Ning Junyuan was startled, then smiled wryly.

When Ning Junchi was nine years old, he took on the important task of clearing up the Ning family's grievances. He fled all the way from the border, and hunted down the daughter of the former prefect of Shanxi along the way, so as to clear up the grievances of the Ning family and add another bargaining chip.At that time, in Ning Shan's hands, because of being framed, there were not many people to trust for a while, so Ning Junchi was only given thirty guards, and these people were asked to escort Ning Junchi from the border to Chang'an.

And when Ning Junchi brought the living daughter of the former magistrate of Shanxi to Chang'an City, only three of the thirty guards remained.

There are many difficulties and dangers along the way, and there is no need to think about it, you can guess it.

Ning Shan was originally optimistic about Ning Junchi, but at that time, the queen gave birth to a son, and the Ning family had to let the nine-year-old third son Ning Junchi and the four-year-old Ning Junyu stay as protons in Chang'an City.

Because Ning Junchi was still young at that time, fortunately he had the experience of fleeing all the way, which made Ning Shan pay more attention to him, so at that time, he gave Ning Junchi half of the power of the Ning family in Chang'an City, and the other half was given to Ning Junchi. to the Queen.

Ning Shan originally thought that when Ning Junchi was older, he would give those people to Ning Junchi.Unexpectedly, in the city of Chang'an, there were frequent news that the queen lost her daughter one after another, and the queen and the prince were at odds.Ningshan can fight for a lifetime, so he is obviously capable.Although he was not sure, he had doubts in his heart and knew that the third and fourth sons had long been arranged by the emperor to be very close to the prince, so he never took back the hands of the queen.Instead, Ning Junchi was only given half of the manpower, and Ning Junchi was asked to do what the double manpower should do.

Ning Junyuan obviously knew about this.

He felt guilty towards Ning Junchi at the beginning, but his father insisted on going his own way. He didn't like Ning Junchi's refusal to marry a wife and have children, and he didn't want to wrong the queen, so he could only keep silent about this matter.

"Father, my father is always in trouble." Ning Junyuan had no choice but to explain dryly, "You and the crown prince have always been close, and the second sister...father always takes care of the second sister...and also in the palace. of the third sister."

Ning Junchi pulled the corner of his lips slightly.Third sister?Ning Yueer?If his father really remembered him as the third sister, he shouldn't have entrusted Ning Yue'er's marriage to the second sister. As a result, Ning Yue'er had no choice but to hook up with Emperor Tianyuan when he didn't want to marry someone who was not at all satisfactory.

However, those things are not what Ning Junchi wants to talk about now.

"I don't care about those people." Ning Jun said slowly, "It's just that if the second brother still wants to keep Junyu, he should quickly write a letter to his father and ask him to find an excuse to let Junyu come back with him; If you want to keep the other half of the Ning family in Chang'an, you have to do it quickly. It's best to do it now, and take over those people and those who Junyu left for the second sister."

Ning Junyuan was slightly solemn.

Ning Junchi continued: "In the past, the prince didn't care about those people, and he was more or less concerned about the Ning family and the emperor. But now, the queen and Junyu are confused, and they have been let off by the prince more than once, and they continue to plot against the prince and let the prince... ..." Ning Junchi clenched his fists, "How can the crown prince bear such an insult? If the second elder brother doesn't act quickly, I'm afraid that the manpower of Chang'an City will not only be damaged a lot, even the fourth younger brother... I'm afraid it won't be able to completely My son is back."

Ning Jun looked at him suddenly.

Ning Junyuan said: "Since Junyu dared to plot against the prince, there should be the consciousness that the prince would plot against him. Besides, didn't the second brother know from the old doctor how Junyu plotted against the prince? Junyu is confused, how could the prince Will it be confused? The thing that caused the prince to be recruited has been guarded long ago, and now I’m afraid that I don’t know how many doctors have been called to identify that kind of thing.”

Ning Junyuan still refused to give up: "Junyu and the prince grew up together, and he was also the prince's companion. The Ning family has paid a lot for Datang, and the soldiers on the border have always only recognized the marshal tiger charm and nothing else. The Ning family is like this, the prince dares to do it?"

Ning Junyuan patted his clothes, got up, and said expressionlessly: "Second brother, don't forget that the second sister wanted to kill the prince several times, and the prince let her go several times because of the Ning family's face. Face has been completely used by the second sister in the process of trying to kill the prince several times. Besides, I don't know about the other side, but I accompanied the prince all the way from the border of Tubo to Chang'an. How many times have there been assassinations, and among them, is there no handwriting by the second sister? Miss Jiang's death, and the prince was plotted against yesterday, it is undoubtedly the second sister who did it. All these things, the face of the Ning family , where is enough?"

Ning Junyuan's face turned slightly pale: "Father's intention is to save some manpower, so that the second sister will not live too hard in the Mingshui Palace like a cold palace."

"Second brother should persuade father early, don't think like this anymore. Otherwise, if the second sister loses her life, I don't know."

Seeing that Ning Junyuan was still hesitating, Ning Junchi added, "Second brother, did you forget that since a few years ago, the crown prince proposed that the soldiers could be divided into two teams to fight against each other in their spare time to win the rankings?" Time. The emperor and the crown prince are selecting generals who can lead the army step by step. My father has always valued generals and soldiers, and I am afraid that he has trained them a lot in the past few years. In this way... the frontier is really serious. Without the Ning family, even if the border is chaotic for three or four years, stability will surely be restored. Perhaps, among those soldiers, some of them will stand out and become heroes in the chaos. At that time, what is the use of the Ning family?"

A few words made Ning Junyuan's face turn pale.

Ning Junchi didn't care about anything else, after saying this, he left.Instead of going to his courtyard in Duke Cheng'en's mansion, he went directly back to Duke Xinguo's mansion.

There it is, his home.

Ning Junyuan was surprised when he heard Ning Junchi's words, but he didn't immediately take back the people around the queen.

After all, Mingshui Temple is surrounded by water, and ordinary people are not allowed to enter.In Mingshui Palace, apart from the palace servants, there are only two masters, the queen and the concubine Xian.

Concubine Xian is none other than Ning Yueer.

At this moment, Ning Junyuan didn't know that Ning Yue'er didn't like the queen, and he only thought that Ning Yue'er's actions were for the sake of sisterly love.And the people who spread the news in the palace, for some reason, did not spread the news that Concubine Xian abused the Queen.

It's just that even though he didn't know anything, Ning Junyuan cared about the relationship between his sister and brother, and still hesitated in his heart-after all, no matter how good the prince is, he is not the master of the harem, and he cannot keep people in the palace.

Thinking of this, Ning Junyuan started to integrate the people outside the palace. As for the people in the palace and around the twelve princes of Fujian, they did not move.

However, within two days, news came from the palace, saying that the Queen Mother suddenly saw the Empress Dowager and the late Emperor in her dream, both of them said that the population of Datang is too small now, so the women of the right age in the palace should be released from the palace to make them Get married early.There are also many people who were sentenced to castration by accident and stayed in the palace as eunuchs.For the peace of the world and the happiness of the common people, these people should be released from the palace as soon as possible.

For Emperor Tianyuan, his concubines in the harem were half the number of concubines of the late emperor. Now because of his health, he seldom visits concubines. .For Emperor Tianyuan, releasing some maids and eunuchs from the palace can reduce the expenditure in the palace and benefit the common people. He is naturally willing to do such things.

So the palace quickly released a group of maids over 20 years old, as well as many eunuchs.

Ning Junyuan discovered that two-thirds of the people arranged by the Ning family in the palace were sent out.Of the remaining one-third, some of them have already been dealt with directly in the palace due to "mistakes".

Only then did Ning Junyuan fall silent.

It is indeed inconvenient for the prince to dispose of the manpower in the harem, but the queen mother can.

Not only the Queen Mother can, but also Concubine Xin... Concubine Xin is the prince's biological mother, if she doesn't help the prince, who else will she help?

Look, if the prince wants to make a move, it's just a matter of one sentence, isn't it?

As for why the Ning family's staff was cleaned up so cleanly... On the one hand, it was because the queen was not careful, and on the other hand, it was also because the Ning family did not have many people in the harem.

But even so, Ning Junyuan was convinced that the crown prince could find these people accurately.

"I'll write a letter to my father right now, asking him and the fourth brother to come back as soon as possible. Even if it is kidnapping, the fourth brother must be tied back!" Ning Junyuan finally made up his mind, and then looked at Ning Junchi, "It's just Third brother, father and fourth brother are back, will the emperor really allow you to go to the border again?"

Ning Junchi is practicing sword.

After accepting the sword move, he said: "Naturally. The emperor and the crown prince are not confused. The Ning family has served as generals at the border for generations. Even the soldiers on the border have long been used to the matter of the Ning family as generals. Even if the emperor and the prince The crown prince can endure three or four years of turmoil at the border, but since someone can reduce the three or four years of turmoil, why do the emperor and the crown prince refuse?"

Ning Junyuan fell silent.

Ning Junchi said: "Second brother, don't often teach your nephews about the border. Otherwise, if they can't go to the border to fight in the future, isn't it because they have ambitions and can't pursue it, which will only cause sadness?"

He still didn't say a word, these nephews are all concubines.However, Ning Junyu is still young, and the matter of marrying a wife will definitely be on the agenda when he returns.

At that time, what kind of life will these nephews born out of concubines live?

Ning Junchi moved a little, stopped thinking about it, and started practicing sword again.

In the 24th year of Tianyuan, October.

The Empress Dowager Zhu, wantonly reduced the palace maids and eunuchs, ordered the maids to return to the common people, and gave birth to children for Datang, and ordered the palace to perform self-castrations outside the palace, reducing the number of eunuchs sent to the palace.And made specific regulations on the number of palace people in the palace.It is a good deed, which is recorded in the annals of history.

The queen mother originally did these things only for the sake of the prince.But after finishing this task, I realized that I had really done something extraordinary.

The queen mother couldn't help being happy.

Seeing the sixth prince, he said with a smile: "It's rare for the emperor's grandmother to be so happy. You must know that when your grandson had his first child, you were not as happy as this. On the contrary, you helped the seventh prince with all your troubles. So happy."

The queen mother pointed at him, and said with a smile: "How can Aijia be unhappy? Aijia," she paused, before continuing to laugh, "Aijia is not as good as my aunt when it comes to talent. When it comes to childbearing, the emperor is not Ai's family was born. In the future, there will be only a few words about Tang Zhu's family in Qing History. Now the crown prince cares about Ai's family, and everyone in the court praises Ai's family. The people shout for the benevolence of Ai's family. The Ai family did this. How could the Ai family be unhappy?"

The sixth prince smiled and said: "Since the imperial grandmother likes the seventh emperor brother, then, I will follow the seventh emperor brother's intention and marry him later!"

The queen mother couldn't laugh or cry when she heard the words, pointed at him, and said: "The reason for Ai's family is that you have some free time, and you come to Ai's house to have fun. It was entrusted by the prince to come here to beg Ai's family."

The sixth prince was raised by the queen mother herself. He sat beside the queen mother, holding her arm, and said: "Grandmother, you should feel sorry for the seventh brother. The father found two concubines for the seventh brother. The Seventh Emperor found a concubine by himself, but among the three, only the one from the Jiang family married in intact, and the other two, before entering the house, all..." The sixth prince whispered, "Grandmother Jue'er knew that the emperor's grandmother wanted the seventh younger brother to marry a daughter of the Zhu family. However, Jue'er had already married a daughter of the Zhu family as his first wife. Jue'er was close to the seventh younger brother, and the Zhu family had always supported the seventh younger brother. Zhu In the future, nothing will happen!"

The queen mother hesitated slightly.

The sixth prince then whispered: "I see that the seventh brother likes Miss Jiang's temper, but none of the Zhu family's cousins... is suitable. Grandmother, the seventh brother is not at the mercy of others His temper. Since he is not willing to marry a wife and take a concubine now, why do you embarrass him? When the seventh brother really wants to marry a wife, he will definitely tell the emperor's grandmother. At that time, the emperor's grandmother will choose again People, let him choose, you can't go wrong! Brother Seventh doesn't like others to make decisions for him!"

The Empress Dowager listened to the Sixth Prince's persuasion, and her expression softened a little.After hearing that the sixth prince quietly told her about Tang Luojin's temper, the queen mother finally sighed: "Come on, since you came to pass the message on behalf of the prince, then you should pass the message to the prince on behalf of the Ai family. The Ai family won't ask questions for the time being, but if the emperor asks, then the Ai family really can't hold back!"

The sixth prince was overjoyed, bowed and thumped his back, coaxing the queen mother into joy, and kicked him out in a daze, before he left.

The sixth prince did what the prince entrusted, and was just happy when he found that there seemed to be someone in the rockery.

Still a kid.

The sixth prince frowned slightly.In this harem, even if it is a child, he still has to cheer up to deal with it.

But he didn't want to, he was thinking about how to get out, the child behind the rockery suddenly turned around, and knelt down towards him with a "bang".

"Brother Sixth, save me!" The Ninth Prince knelt down at the Sixth Prince, "Brother Sixth, save me!"

The sixth prince was shocked at first, and then vigorously helped the ninth prince up - he and the ninth prince are both princes, and the ninth prince shouldn't have given him such a big gift.If someone sees this situation, I'm afraid he will be in trouble.

"Ninth Emperor Brother, don't cry. If you have something to do, neither the Xia family nor your mother and concubine will leave it alone." The sixth prince gently shirked the responsibility, "No matter how bad it is, you can still ask the father. The father is the king of the world. Lord, nothing is impossible."

The Ninth Prince looked terrified, grabbed the sixth prince's hand and said: "No, I can't beg them! They..." The Ninth Prince didn't say anything bad about them after all, but said, "Brother Sixth Prince, take me to Would you like to meet Brother Seventh Emperor? My concubine, she wants me to go to the border to fight for military exploits, but I don't want to go!"

When he was still young, he probably really thought that, in his capacity, he was capable of competing for the crown prince's position.

However, after the master who taught him his homework told him little by little what the prince had done.After experiencing the Zichen Palace incident, the Ninth Prince now has no desire to win at all.

"I, I didn't think about that position again." The Ninth Prince murmured, "Father said, Brother Seventh Emperor is generous, if I behave well, I will be a virtuous king in the future, and I will be able to show off my talents and learn and do some practical things for the people." But... I would like to be a civil servant, but I don't want military power."

"Brother Sixth Emperor, help me."