After the rebirth, I became the darling of the tyrant

Gu Chen opened the letter.

The handwriting of the Empress Dowager is very beautiful, with rounded strokes.She first briefly said that she already knew about the Empress Dowager Yizhi, and then wrote in the letter:

"The queen mother knows that you always like the child of the Gu family."

In fact, it is different from most people's cognition. As the closest parent, she is the first to notice that her child has someone she likes. Even though Xiao Tingshen never mentioned a word, she can still notice some small changes in him. ——When I wash up every morning, I will pay more attention to my appearance, and there will be some gadgets around me that I have never seen before, and I will suddenly cherish an item very much.

At that time, the Empress Dowager noticed these small changes in her son, and couldn't help but think in her heart, wondering what kind of girl Shen'er would like.It may be dignified and generous, or it may be considerate.The Empress Dowager did not spare her beautiful imagination, and she was willing to use all the compliments she knew on this girl who was cherished by her son.

Later she discovered that the name that often appeared in Xiao Tingshen's mouth was not a girl—she was studying in Hongwen Pavilion with her own son, and she was the second son of Hushi General Gu Yanshan. His brother is different, his temperament seems to be more gentle and quiet.

The Empress Dowager was really shocked for a while, and also tangled for a while.She never thought that her son would like a man. Although Dajing's folk customs are open and masculine is very popular, but after all, marrying a wife and having children is the "right way"-Xiao Tingshen was born in an emperor's family, would he allow him to be so willful?

She worries about their future.

Then Gu Chen's elder brother died, and he succeeded his elder brother, left Hongwen Pavilion, and went to Yanbei.

Xiao Tingshen was reading a book in her palace when she received the news.After the reporter finished speaking, she couldn't help being slightly startled, and then subconsciously went to see her son.He listened in silence, just like hearing any ordinary news, and replied succinctly: "Got it."

Then he turned a page of the book as if nothing had happened.

The Empress Dowager thought that he was going to let go, that he had already figured out that it was an ignorant emotion when he was young.The two will embark on a completely opposite path, and they will gradually drift apart from each other.But that night, she found Xiao Tingshen in a remote corner of the palace.He leaned on the pillars of the corridor, looking up at the bright moon in the sky, with two wine cups beside him, one of which was empty.

She saw him pick up the full glass and drink it down, whispering to himself.

"Cloud stop, take care."

At that moment, she suddenly felt sad, and suddenly seemed to let go of something.

She thought she shouldn't be the one to stop him.

Her children have suffered and suffered too much.She shouldn't be the one adding to his pain, she wants him to be happy.

"Yun Ting is a very good boy. He once saved my life." The Empress Dowager wrote in the letter, "Be kind to him and don't let him down."

"I used to be just a humble court lady, and I never wanted to compete with others, just to keep you and live together safely in the palace." The empress dowager's handwriting began to become intermittent, as if she was in a mood when she wrote this Not calmly, "I know that you are not willing to accept this decree, and I can also send out a decree to reject her intention."

Seeing this, Gu Chen couldn't help being startled, and felt moved and sour for a moment: He knew how cruel the struggle for power between the two palaces was. Rivers of blood flowed outward.In the end, Emperor Ai's birth mother failed in the previous dynasty, and the aunt forced Emperor Ai to abolish the title of birth mother and moved to the cold palace. The mother and son never saw each other again.

I heard that there are unofficial records that in the end Aidi's biological mother was poisoned and killed in the cold palace by his aunt, and she was tortured before she died, which was very miserable.

He never thought that the empress dowager, who has always been gentle, low-key, and almost cowardly, would stand up one day and express her willingness to actively participate in this battle—even if she knew she had failed and waited for her What kind of ending will it be? With the wrist of the Empress Dowager Wang, it is absolutely impossible for her to live again.

"The Empress Dowager, she..." Gu Chen's voice choked slightly, "...she..."

He couldn't say the following words.He just raised his head and stared at Xiao Tingshen.After a long time, he said softly: "Don't let her take risks."

"I know." Xiao Tingshen took back the letter from his hand and said in a low voice, "I will not put her in danger, nor will I let you in danger."

In the days that followed, Xiao Tingshen was not relentless at all, and almost completely cut off the wings of the Empress Dowager Wang in the court and palace.He stayed up late into the night every day, and several times Gu Chen even leaned back in his chair and fell asleep in a daze. When he woke up, he still saw him reviewing the memorial under the light.

Although the removal of the wings went smoothly, and the empress dowager had nothing to do with him for the time being, he still withered away at an alarming rate.He began to frown habitually again, reading various secret reports from the inner court guards every day, and there was always a shadow of irritability locked between his brows - Gu Chen knew why.

The empress dowager's wings were broken and her vitality was severely injured, but she never wavered herself.She is too cautious, and too secretive, no matter what, no matter what crime, she can remove herself completely, everything has her shadow, but she has no direct involvement in everything evidence.Xiao Tingshen couldn't catch her evidence, so he had no reason to deal with his aunt.

Let alone knock her down.

He spends every day in the study, buried in a mountain of affairs.Seeing that Gu Chen really couldn't bear it, he would try his best to help him deal with some things, but there was still no progress.Seeing that the three-month deadline was getting closer and closer, Shen Jingzhong even had the first heavy snowfall since the beginning of winter, but he still hadn't caught any substantial evidence.

Occasionally, due to excessive anxiety, he would throw all the secret reports and notebooks on the desk on the ground, making a frighteningly loud noise.No one in the palace dared to come in to serve at this time, only Gu Chen would squat down silently at this time, pick up the things on the ground one by one, and put them back where they were.

And Xiao Tingshen would often find it hard to watch him do this, and then regret it, and then drive him aside to clean up the mess on the ground by himself.

After two months like this, they only had one short month left.On this day, Xiao Tingshen was in the study as usual to deal with the secret report sent by the inner court guard. When he read the last one, he suddenly paused.

This secret report is very concise, only two lines, but after scanning it, he suddenly got up, and even turned over a chair unconsciously: "The cloud stops."

Gu Chen came over with a look of surprise: "Your Majesty?"

"Look at it."

He handed the secret report to Gu Chen, Gu Chen glanced at it, and then showed a surprised expression: "Yun Shuang's family is actually in the hands of the Queen Mother?"

In the past two months, because they had made no progress in their investigation of the empress dowager, they had to turn to investigate Yunshuang, the eldest maid beside her.According to Xiao Tingshen's knowledge, Yunshuang has been with the empress dowager since she was the empress, and she is the most effective maid in her hands.After so many ups and downs, the people in Shoukang Palace changed from one batch to another, only Yunshuang remained the same, which shows her importance.

However, the investigation of Yunshuang, like the empress dowager, was almost deadlocked.She had no bad deeds in the palace, on the surface it seemed that she had just been by the empress dowager's side for many years, so Xiao Tingshen changed his mind and decided to check her family.

Unexpectedly, Nei Tingwei encountered unprecedented resistance when he closely investigated Yunshuang's family. The information he got was only some irrelevant fragments, and it was difficult to move forward after half a month.However, the inner court guard is worthy of being a spy directly under the emperor, after all, he still found some useful information - for example, Yunshuang's family members had disappeared decades ago, and they followed the clues all the way, and finally found it. Her family, however, found that she seemed to have been "taken in" by the Empress Dowager long ago.

It's called shelter, but it's actually withholding.The empress dowager also knew that once the grand lady turned her back, her situation would be in danger, so she took precautions early.Maybe what he said to Yunshuang was "Aijia will help you take care of your family" or something like that.

"She is really proficient in this way." Xiao Ting sneered deeply, "She treated me like this back then, and now she treats the big palace maid beside her like this."

Gu Chen closed the secret report: "What does Your Majesty plan to do?"

Xiao Ting pondered deeply for a while, then said: "What do you think?"

"Rescue her family first." Gu Chen said.

"But even if her family is rescued, she may not be used by us." Xiao Ting sneered deeply, "What if she is loyal to the Empress Dowager? Do I have to follow the example of the Empress Dowager and threaten her with her family members?"

Gu Chen blinked: "Your Majesty won't do that."

"My reputation is not very good, how do you know I won't do this?"

"Because I won't let His Majesty do this."

Xiao Ting was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but curled up his lips, and gave a low laugh: "Yes, how could I disobey the Queen's will."

Gu Chen glared at him: "Your Majesty—"

"Yes yes yes, I'm talking nonsense, it's inappropriate." Xiao Tingshen sighed helplessly before he started to preach, and then said seriously: "I plan to find a fault first, lock her up, and test her attitude before we talk. If She was just coerced by the empress dowager, so things would be much easier. But if she is loyal to the empress dowager..."

"His Majesty……?"

"...It's nothing, we'll figure out a way when the time comes."

Although Xiao Tingshen said so, he sneered in his heart.He said this just because he didn't want Gu Chen to know that there are many ways to torture a person in prison, and he thought he was not a benevolent king.Except for being soft-hearted towards Gu Chen and the queen mother, no one else has the qualifications to make him soft-hearted.

What's more, Yunshuang was the tiger's minion, and she must have participated in the murder of the empress back then.He and Gu Chen's benevolent temperament are different. Whoever bullies him, he will pay back ten times and a hundred times.

but……

Xiao Ting raised his eyes deeply, and gave Gu Chen a gentle look.

If he wanted to do this, he would have to hide it from Gu Chen.He is no longer willing to hide anything from Gu Chen, he can only hope that things will go well and not go to the worst step.