concubines

King Qing always kept his filial piety in the palace, no matter whether he was enthroned by Li Chen or after the Empress Dowager Zhou was proud of her party. Princess Zhang regained her vitality shortly after giving birth to his son. I have to do it again in a few days.

When someone came to report Qi Yunruo's arrival, King Qing immediately said: "No see!" This person is in a bloody storm, and he dare not mess with anyone now, so naturally he cannot see him.

But Princess Zhang said: "You don't see me? I want to see you!"

"you--"

"What's wrong with me? You bastard, you have no brains at all, and you still follow the trend to frame the emperor, hum!"

King Qing said angrily: "I used to have no brains! But now I have one. I just don't want to offend anyone now. Now that you have met Qi Yuze, Li Xu won't let me go after he ascends the throne."

Concubine Zhang said coldly: "That guy Li Xu who is more cowardly than you, if he can also ascend the throne and become emperor, I think it will be over for Dakang."

King Qing was so frightened that his face paled, but Concubine Zhang was very powerful in Prince Qing's mansion. After she gave an order, the housekeeper brought Qi Yunruo in. When Qi Yunruo saw King Qing, he said directly: "My lord knows what's going on in the palace right now. ?”

King Qing lowered his head and didn't say a word—he might be the second or fourth brother who will be the emperor in the future. He can't help Qi Yunruo, nor can he provoke Qi Yunruo.Concubine Zhang sneered at King Qing, asked Qi Yunruo to sit down, and said: "I don't know if he heard about it, but I did."

"Zhang Qiujie!" King Qing shouted.

Concubine Zhang glanced at him impatiently, and said to Qi Yunruo angrily: "This bastard has been frightened these days, just ignore him."

Qi Yunruo nodded, and also saw that Princess Zhang is the person in charge of the concubine, and said frankly: "I am here now, to ask the prince and concubine to give me a helping hand."

King Qing anxiously looked at his concubine, for fear that she would agree. Concubine Zhang looked at Qi Yunruo, frowned and said, "Qi Changshi, to be honest, I don't know if I should help you now."

Qi Yunruo said: "Now, you should see clearly that King Jing wants to help Queen Mother Zhou and King Yong usurp power, or in other words, King Jing also wants to usurp power."

Princess Zhang smiled and said, "We have also seen this clearly."

Qi Yunruo said: "According to what the princess sees, will they succeed?"

Before Princess Zhang could speak, King Qing murmured, "The Second Brother has been imprisoned by the Queen Mother now..."

Qi Yunruo said: "But I don't believe that the emperor will not be prepared at all, and he will not be captured by the Queen Mother honestly."

"What do you know..." King Qing asked suspiciously.

Qi Yunruo shook his head, "I don't know anything, I just believe him."

King Qing's face sank, clearly unwilling to get involved in this muddy water, Princess Zhang's expression was cold and stern, since she grew up in the family, although her father no longer leads the army, the Zhang family has not lost the martial arts habit, Concubine Zhang has a strong temper. From a young age, she would not even accept her husband's grievances. From a young age, she and the family behind her are unwilling to serve a usurping emperor. It's just that this matter is of great importance and is not fully grasped. , she would not agree to Qi Yunruo.

Qi Yunruo said: "Princess, how much do you know about the emperor, and how much do you know about King Jing and King Yong? At that time, these princes kept stumbling the emperor, but the first emperor still chose the emperor. The emperor can deploy in the northwest to kill the enemy. If I can solve this situation in the court, I can't believe that the emperor will be defeated by these defeated generals."

"But..." Princess Zhang hesitated, "If you guess wrong..."

Qi Yunruo looked at King Qing and said, "I know what you are worried about, King Qing, but you have to think clearly, if King Jing really fully supports King Yong's ascension to the throne, it's okay to say that King Yong is much weaker than him, and he It's true that he doesn't seem like someone who would attack his brothers, but if King Jing ascends the throne in the end, he will be ruthless, and he will not let anyone go in the end, but if you help me now, I can keep you and the princess safe and sound. "

King Qing and Princess Zhang looked at each other, Princess Zhang thought for a moment and said, "What do you want us to do?"

"I ask the prince to move Yuan's family and other courtiers who support King Qing to oppose the election of a new emperor," Qi Yunruo smiled. "If they are in trouble, it is okay to ask them to elect King Qing, but don't recommend King Yong. The prince sent someone to suppress all the words that smeared the emperor in the marketplace."

Concubine Zhang nodded, King Qing who had been silent all this time suddenly said, "I don't want anyone to recommend me now, why don't I ask my uncles to recommend King Jing."

Qi Yunruo's eyes lit up, the Empress Dowager Zhou is now arranging people to recommend a new emperor, most of them will recommend King Yong, if another group of people start to recommend King Jing, their alliance may collapse soon.

Qi Yunruo stood up and bowed to the ground, "I thank you both."

King Qing lowered his head and said: "Qi Changshi, I don't want to get involved in these disputes for a long time. In the future, please ask the emperor to assign us husband and wife to a good place."

Qi Yunruo nodded, took his leave and left.

In the palace, in the Zichen Palace, Li Chen was sitting on a low bench, pouring a cup of tea by himself, the room was quiet and there was no one else, the Empress Dowager Zhou wanted to cut him off from contact with others, so she transferred all the people who served him to other places. The Empress Dowager has been running the palace for decades, and her foundation is much more stable than that of Li Chen.

Now, it has been five days since he was imprisoned here by the Empress Dowager Zhou.

For five days, those people who were dormant in the dark and the light should all show their heads. Li Chen drank a pot of tea, walked leisurely to the window, and picked up the book he hadn't finished reading yesterday.

When the court began to elect a new emperor, the ministers were divided into two factions, one faction recommended Yongwang, the other promoted King Jing, and the last faction always disagreed with changing the new emperor.

After coming down to court, the Empress Dowager Zhou looked at King Jing coldly and said, "It turns out that you have this idea, and I will do the bad guys. In the end, you won the hearts of the people and aspired to the throne as the eldest son of the first emperor."

Jing Wangdao: "I didn't expect such a situation. Didn't the mother notice it? Most of the people who elected my son today were members of the Yuan family. It must be that King Qing secretly wanted to sabotage the election of the new emperor. provoked."

King Yong has always obeyed his mother's wishes in this incident, and did not appear in the court. His eyes were a little dark, and he looked at King Jing and said: "If Brother Dahuang refuses to accept me, why bother to say those things in the first place."

King Jing said: "I've already explained it, now the queen mother and fourth brother don't believe me anymore?"

The Empress Dowager Zhou has never trusted King Jing, and all she wanted was to find an opportunity to kick him away. After a while, the Empress Dowager Zhou said: "After three days, I will go to court, and the Ai family will announce that Xu'er will be enthroned. From tomorrow onwards, you don't have to." Come to court."

Li Xu's eyes lit up immediately, and he looked at King Jing vigilantly again. King Jing's expression remained unchanged, and he said indifferently, "I follow the mother's wishes."

……

Walking out of the palace, King Jing showed disdain, idiot!

When the Empress Dowager Zhou establishes a new emperor the day after tomorrow, her own troops will enter the palace in the name of rescue, and their swords and guns will have no eyes. If Li Chen is killed by mistake, there is nothing he can do about it.At that time, there is no need for the mother and son of the Empress Dowager Zhou to live. King Qing who framed him in the court today... Originally, he was planning to take his life.

Over the years, King Jing bought many villages in the suburbs of Beijing, and buried a lot of people in these villages. Some of the money he moved from the household department before was used to raise soldiers, and there was still a lot of money stored in his Yue family. , and invested in the businesses of many families in the south of the Yangtze River, profit made profit, and then the money was continuously transported back to the capital.

After several days of hard work by Princess Qing, the rumors in Beijing were indeed suppressed. When Qi Yunruo learned that the Empress Dowager Zhou would elect a new emperor in the court the next day, he walked around fidgeting. If he can't hold it down, if he doesn't see the emperor for a day, he can't rest assured for a day.After Li Chen ascended the throne, most of the guards in the mansion were awarded official positions. For example, Qu Qing was sent to the Xishan Camp to serve as an Israeli military officer. Now Fang Ge is the chief guard in the mansion, and Fang Ge has been accompanying Qi Yunruo in the mansion for the past few days. walk around.

Fang Ge went out to inquire about the news and came back, and said: "I can't go out to the capital now, and I can't contact Qu Qing. Most of the rest of the emperor's trusted families are under surveillance."

Qi Yunruo nodded, and couldn't help but think, the prince will not have no arrangements outside the palace, where will these people be distributed?Can you find them yourself?Your Majesty...Qi Yunruo's eyes suddenly brightened, "Accompany me to Zhiyalou."

Fang Ge was startled, but still nodded and said, "I see."

During the National Filial Piety period, common people were not allowed to marry for a year, and officials and officials were not allowed to have banquets, but like the Qinlou Chu Pavilion, it was still open to the common people. Qi Yunruo changed into an inconspicuous dress, went into Zhiyalou and found Rong Sanniang .

Without asking a word, Rong Sanniang took him to a secret room, waiting for Qi Yunruo to speak.

Qi Yunruo said: "Sanniang, I know you are well-informed. I just want to know whether the Zhiyalou you represent and other forces I don't know support the emperor?"

Rong Sanniang was silent for a while and then said: "The late emperor has planted countless hidden stakes inside and outside the palace since he was young. Not long before the late emperor passed away, these forces have all pledged their allegiance to the current emperor."

Qi Yunruo said: "Now the emperor is detained in the palace, Sanniang, is there a way for me to see him?"

Rong Sanniang sighed lightly: "The situation is tense now, you better not get involved."

"Tomorrow, the Empress Dowager Zhou will elect a new emperor. I always feel that something else will happen... Sanniang, just tell me that the emperor can handle it!"

Rong Sanniang's eyes were complicated, "We know that Yalou is only in charge of listening to the news of the dignitaries in the capital, and doesn't know the situation in the palace, so I can't tell you anything."

Qi Yunruo was silent for a long time, and when he was about to leave, Rong Sanniang suddenly stopped him, Qi Yunruo was taken aback, and asked, "Is there anything else you need?"

Rong Sanniang said: "I heard that the emperor wants to make you queen."

Qi Yunruo nodded.

Rong Sanniang hesitated as if she didn't know how to speak: "You have to think clearly, even if the emperor succeeds in this matter, how will people think of you? It would be trivial to say that you are a disaster for the country and the people."

Qi Yunruo said: "Why should I care what others think of me? I am willing to be the empress, and so is the emperor. No one else can influence our decision."

Rong Sanniang forced a smile, and Qi Yunruo felt that she might be thinking of the late emperor. Rong Sanniang was never married and maintained the Zhiya Building for the late emperor for many years, but whether it was her or Shui Linglong, the new emperor would never put them in Let people know on the surface.

Qi Yunruo said: "I'll go first, take care of yourself."

Rong Sanniang nodded and watched Qi Yunruo leave.

Qi Yunruo was standing inside the gate of the Prince's Mansion, listening to the continuous noise from outside. The entire imperial city was surrounded by King Jing's troops. Today, King Jing led his troops into the palace. Surrounded by the imperial city, like the mansions of all the princes and dukes were surrounded by people.

Qi Yunruo looked at the sky, there were dark clouds, and he didn't know when it would rain heavily.

The fact that King Qing recommended King Jing passed away, which made the Queen Mother Zhou a little more vigilant about King Jing, so after King Jing sent troops, the Queen Mother Zhou also contacted many people, led by Zhou Lingyan, guarded outside the palace gate, and saw King Jing. The king can be killed directly.King Jing led his troops on the grounds of punishing rebels, while Zhou Lingyan wanted to take down King Jing, a traitor. Not long after the two groups of people started fighting, the queen mother who had been hiding in Ci'an Palace leisurely asked someone to open the gate of the palace. The maids and eunuchs walked towards Zichen Palace.

Many palace people in the palace fled in all directions. The Empress Dowager looked calm and unaffected at all. She walked slowly to the front of the Zichen Hall. Two guards stood at each other's halberds. The Empress Dowager said indifferently: "Get out."

The two guards looked at each other, then retreated silently. The Empress Dowager walked into the Zichen Hall holding Aunt Yunping's hand. Li Chen stood up and said with a smile, "Why is grandma here?"

The Empress Dowager said: "The commotion outside makes me uncomfortable."

Li Chen helped the Empress Dowager to sit down, and the Empress Dowager smiled and said: "But speaking of it, I really admire your Xiao Qi, he was able to find King Qing."

There was a smile on Li Chen's lips, and the Empress Dowager said, "When are you going to do it?"

Now all civil and military officials are also trapped in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, with anxious expressions. Both the Zhou family and the Yuan family are frightened. At this time, the Empress Dowager Zhou is still behind the curtain, her hands are shaking constantly. Yes, the sea and the sky are naturally bright, but if you lose...

The Empress Dowager Zhou had already announced that Li Xu was the emperor. Li Xu stood beside the dragon chair, but he didn't have the courage to sit on it.

"Report—King Jing's rebels have entered the palace!"

"Empress Dowager! King Jing's troops are coming to the Hall of Supreme Harmony..."

Some officials have good faces. No matter who ascends the throne, they cannot kill all the officials. Some of them are already ashamed. They are loyal to the Queen Mother Zhou. If King Jing wins...

Empress Dowager Zhou sternly said: "Where is the Qianniu Guard! Where are the guards in the palace! King Jing is a rebel, and everyone will punish him if he kills King Jing. If he kills King Jing, he will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver, and he will be made a third-class uncle!"

King Yong looked at his mother and said in a trembling voice: "Mother, if Brother Dahuang...will he stay..."

"Shut up!" The Empress Dowager Zhou looked at him coldly. She didn't understand why her son was so useless, and now he was so frightened. Can't live!"

King Jing has been dormant for many years, and his strength should not be underestimated. Some time ago, the Empress Dowager Zhou ordered the gates of the capital to be closed. Obviously, but as time went by, a trace of despair rose in my heart.

"What should I do..." Empress Dowager Zhou muttered to herself, and suddenly thought, since King Jing came in with the reason of killing rebels, if he let this reason disappear, can he force his subordinates to stop, Empress Dowager Zhou ordered Said: "Bring the emperor!"

"Mother..." King Yong's eyes widened.

"Idiot!" Empress Dowager Zhou looked at King Yong, "If King Jing doesn't stop after the emperor comes out, we can also use him to delay for a while. If King Jing hesitates a little, we can also plan other things."

"Yes, my son understands." The atmosphere here was too oppressive, Li Xu didn't assign anyone else, but ran out of the hall to look for Li Chen, but when he arrived at Zichen Hall, he realized that there was no one there.

The Empress Dowager returned to the Ci'an Palace, and Li Chen left the palace, but she was an old lady, neither the Empress Dowager Zhou nor King Jing had the guts to attack her, she just had to wait here for the final result.

The Xishan Camp was taken under Li Chen's command a long time ago. When the Empress Dowager Zhou thought that people from the Xishan Camp would not be able to enter the capital and that the central capital was under her control, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses were already outside the capital. They camped and waited for many days—what the Empress Dowager Zhou received was not the exact news.

The Zhengyang Gate opened, and the sergeants headed by Qu Qing saluted Li Chen in unison. Li Chen was dressed in a dragon robe and said indifferently: "You guys, today you will follow me to kill traitors and make an indelible contribution!"

"Long live the emperor, long live, long live—"

The autumn rain was bleak and cold, and Qi Yunruo's tightened heart gradually relaxed when he heard the thunderous shouts. This kind of people are not comparable to King Jing's mob. They are all after the baptism of the battlefield. An army that has passed the test of life and death.

On that day King Jing was put to death, Empress Dowager Zhou and Yong Wang Li Xu were captured in the palace, Empress Dowager Zhou was deprived of her title, she would be imprisoned in Jingyang Palace for the rest of her life, and Li Xu was also deprived of her title of Prince and imprisoned in the suburbs of Beijing.

One month later, Li Chen cleaned up the imperial court, set King Qing's fiefdom in Jinzhou, and then raised the matter of establishing a queen. This time, no one in the court dared to object.

Li Chen smiled and said, "On the sixth day of the second month of the coming year, I plan to hold a ceremony for the Empress Dowager, what do you think?"

Even the emperor had chosen the date, and Du Shangshu from the Ministry of Rites could only laugh and said: "I will live up to the entrustment, and there will be no inappropriateness in the grand ceremony."