Xie Xiang

In the third year of Yuanfeng, Liu Zao fell seriously ill on the first day of April.

During his illness, a major event happened in the court, and the eighteen-year-old emperor passed away due to illness.The Son of Heaven has no heirs, and no crown prince has been established. The princes in the court are arguing endlessly about the successor.

Although this generation of emperors is only eighteen years old, they have been in power for ten years.He is the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty, the youngest son of Emperor Wu, and the uncle of Liu Zao.

Liu Zao's father was the prince of Emperor Wu's dynasty. Because the prince's mother's surname was Wei, after his death, he was called Prince Wei both inside and outside the court and in the field.

Prince Wei's death was not due to illness, but a conspiracy. Sixteen years ago, the disaster of witchcraft that made people panic in the court was finally implicated in the crown prince under the manipulation of treacherous ministers.At that time, Emperor Wu was convalescing in Ganquan Palace, and Prince Wei raised troops in Chang'an to punish the courtiers.After the defeat, Prince Wei and his mother Queen Wei committed suicide one after another.

Half a year later, Emperor Wu came to his senses and realized the prince's grievances. He issued an order to thoroughly investigate the prince's grievances and punish the ministers who framed the prince.It was too late at that time, the prince died, all the grandsons and great-grandsons of the emperor died in the war, none of the prince's guests and concubines survived, and even Queen Wei, the mother of a country, committed suicide to prove the prince's innocence Mingzhi.

Terrible to the extreme, there is no way to make up for it.

When Emperor Wu repented and mourned, a palace maid in the original Tai's womb gave birth to a baby girl, who was reported to Emperor Wu by Ye Ting's order. This was the blood of Prince Wei.Emperor Wu was overjoyed, and issued an edict to check. It was found that what the palace people said was true, and they regarded the emperor's daughter and grandson in Yeting.

The baby girl is Liu Zao.

The subsequent political situation has nothing to do with Liu Zao, who is still in his infancy.She learned to speak and walk in Yeting, she grew teeth, and gradually changed from a soft baby to a child who could understand human language.During this period, in the court, there were endless quarrels over the candidate for the new crown prince. Several princes who went to the fief wrote letters one after another, requesting to return to Beijing to serve the emperor, and the ministers formed their own cliques to support the selected prince.The court has been in turmoil for several years.

When Liu Zao was four years old in peace, Emperor Wu died, and before he died, he passed the world to his youngest son who was only eight years old.

The new king practiced Zuo, and the court and the prefecture were settled down.Liu Zao has to bear the first twists and turns since she was born.

The daughter of Prince Wei's status is embarrassing, and it is inconvenient to live in the palace.Fortunately, at this time, her grandmother wrote a letter, pleading to take the granddaughter of the emperor to her family to raise her. Seeing this, the court was relieved and agreed.

From then on, my grandmother raised Liu Zao for ten years.

Until today.

In Mengxia in April, the temperature warms up and the Sophora japonica flowers are in full bloom.Liu Zao suddenly contracted a cold and became seriously ill.

The wind and cold seemed to be contagious. In mid-April, the emperor, who had been in the palace for a long time, also fell ill, and the disease was so severe that medicine and stones were useless. In just three days, before the medical officials and ministers could react, the emperor abandoned all the officials and the clan.

When the emperor passed away, the whole country mourned, and the city of Chang'an was filled with sorrow.According to the etiquette system, the emperor is Liu Zao's uncle, and she is his nephew. She is going to mourn for the emperor, but the palace seems to have forgotten that she is there.Regardless of the respected clan or high-ranking officials, no one mentioned the granddaughter of the emperor who was raised outside the palace, and Liu Zao was deliberately forgotten.

In the hot summer of June, the heat wave hit, and the heat was unbearable. Liu Zao finally got out of the serious illness.

This illness was very serious, first with wind and cold, then with fever, which made her lie on the sickbed all day long.Her room is full of bitter medicine smell, and it is hot and dull.

Liu Zao walked out of the room and enjoyed the coolness under the verandah.

In front of her house, there is a small pond.It was evening, the valley breeze was blowing, and the heat in late summer was blown away.The fields of lotus leaves are fragrant, and it is the most refreshing and comfortable time of the day.

Liu Zao sat on a scale.

Ping is a seat, smaller than a couch, and only allows one person to sit alone.There were a lot of people sitting on the floor at that time, Liu Zao was just recovering from a serious illness, and my grandmother was afraid that the ground would be overwhelming, so she ordered her family to bring this scale for her to sit on while enjoying the cool air.

Beside her, there was a servant girl kneeling casually behind her.The maidservant was older than her, 16 years old, and was talking to her about what she had seen and heard a few days ago.

"The king of Changyi entered the capital, and the ministers all went out of the city to greet him. I heard that as soon as he entered the palace, he ascended the throne in front of His Majesty's spirit and became the new emperor."

When the palace maid gave birth to Liu Zao, Emperor Wu was overjoyed and bestowed on her generously. Apart from countless fertile fields and treasures, there was also this mansion in Shangguanli.Shangguanli is the place where the princes live together, and the neighbors are all nobles, so the news is very well-informed.

Liu Zao was admiring the lotus in the pond, and couldn't quite hear what the servant girl was saying.

What the servant girl knew was also heard from the servants of various families.She glanced at Liu Zao cautiously, and her tone became hesitant: "I heard that the King of Changyi, like Shaojun, is also the grandson of Emperor Wu."

Liu Zao was still looking at the lotus in the pond. She had been seriously ill for two months, lying on the couch, facing the dark walls every day, and was finally able to get out of the room to breathe, she just wanted to relax.

After the servant girl finished speaking, she didn't get a response from Liu Zao. Seeing her still looking at the lotus in the pond, she sighed secretly, with pity in her eyes.

Liu Zao's identity is not a secret. All the servants and women in the family know about it, as do the neighbors.Most of the people thought she was pitiful, she was clearly of Han blood, but she was living among the people and raised in the hands of the common people.

This time the late emperor passed away, she was supposed to go to the palace to wear mourning, but happened to be ill, and no one in the palace even cared about her, as if she had been completely forgotten.I'm afraid someone did it on purpose.

Liu Zao thought so too.

She intentionally ignored the servant girl's words and looked up at the sky. The sun had set on the other side of the mountain, and the clouds in the sky began to increase.

The maidservant finished nagging her knowledge and began to serve Liu Zao wholeheartedly. Seeing her looking up at the sky, she said, "Young Master, do you still feel the heat? It's already the beginning of June, and the heat has come to an end. Young Master, please endure it for a few more days." She said Then, he also looked at the sky, lowered his voice, and said: "It may rain today."

The rain in this season, after a while, will be cool for a while.

Liu Zao was tired from sitting, so he moved his body and adjusted his sitting posture.

The servant girl said courteously: "If the young master is tired, go into the house."

Liu Zao shook his head, wanting to sit down for a while.

In front of the front door, an old man came with a stick.Liu Zao saw it and stood up.

She is a little taller than an ordinary 14-year-old girl, and because of her thinness, her figure has been pulled out longer.It was her grandmother who came. Liu Zao went down the corridor, wanting to salute and help her.

Grandma walked faster than usual, and there was a sound of crutches hitting the ground. Although she looked old, she had an indescribable strength.

Liu Zao was about to bend over to salute, but was grabbed by the wrist instead.

Grandmother's hands were dry and skinny, tightly grasping Liu Zao's wrist, Liu Zao felt some pain.

"You are going back to the palace." The grandmother said.

Liu Zao was taken aback, her grandmother's eyes had never been so dim before, she continued: "The empress dowager misses you, and I summon you to the palace immediately. The minister who came to pick you up is in the vestibule, no delay is allowed."

After finishing speaking, she turned around and left, signaling Liu Zao to follow.

It happened so suddenly that Liu Zao didn't know anything.She followed behind her grandmother, step by step, gradually panicking in her heart.The word "gongzhong" was magnified in her heart like never before.

They walked out in silence, and in front of a small door leading to the front yard, the grandmother stopped, and Liu Zao also stopped, looking at the grandmother.

The old man raised his hand and touched Liu Zao's cheek, the same skinny hand, different from the cold worry when he grabbed her wrist just now, Liu Zao tasted warmth and distress.The grandmother looked at her carefully, the corners of her mouth trembled, and there were tears in her dry eyes.

"Be careful, the palace is dangerous, you have to protect yourself."

Liu Zao asked, "Can I still come back?"

The tears in the grandmother's eyes trembled, she didn't speak, she just withdrew her hand and pushed open the small door.

Outside the small gate, more than [-] soldiers stood in two rows orderly holding halberds. In the middle of the courtyard was a woman.The woman is wearing a simple and elegant toga, her hair is tied into a bun, which is incompatible with the awe-inspiring courtyard.

She heard the knock on the door and turned around to look over.

Liu Zao walked over with her grandmother.The grandmother stopped in front of the woman, brought Liu Zao to her side, looked around at everyone in the court, and said loudly: "This is the daughter of Prince Wei."

The woman's eyes kept falling on Liu Zao, and when she heard the words, she bowed and saluted: "I pay homage to the grandson of the emperor."

As soon as she took the lead, the twenty or so soldiers knelt down in unison and shouted in unison: "Greetings to the grandson of the emperor."

Liu Zao had never seen such a big battle, and his face turned pale.Grandmother said: "Dare to ask who is Junhou?"

Facing Liu Zao, the woman didn't seem to answer her grandmother, but said to her: "My minister, Xie Yi, occupies the position of prime minister."

Hearing this, Liu Zao couldn't help but look at Xie Yi several more times.It's not easy to be an official, let alone a woman.She can be an extremely human minister, and she must have something extraordinary.

Liu Zao was looking at Xie Yi, and Xie Yi was also looking at her.

Different from Liu Zao's pure curiosity, Xie Yi's eyes were thoughtful.Liu Zao immediately remembered the matter of entering the palace, and felt uneasy again.

Xie Yi withdrew her gaze and said, "It's getting late, please invite the emperor's grandson to accompany me into the palace."

Whether it's her official position or the twenty or so soldiers with halberds in the court, it shows that Liu Zao has no power to resist.Grandma closed her eyes and said nothing.

Liu Zao walked out, and she took the first step, her steps were so heavy that she couldn't lift them up.But she didn't stop, she walked towards Xie Yi step by step.

Xie Yi seemed very satisfied, and the halberd bearer she brought parted a path in the middle, giving way to the gate behind him, and Liu Zao passed through this path.

Walking to the door, she heard the sound of her knees touching the ground, and her grandmother's pleading: "This is the grandson of Emperor Wu, the blood of the Han Dynasty, I hope the prime minister will take care of him."

The old man's voice was even a little trembling due to old age, but she still muttered each word clearly, and she chiseled every word clearly into everyone's ears.

Liu Zao could feel that the meaning of grandma's saying that the grandson of Emperor Wu was different from the daughter of Prince Wei was different.Prince Wei has been dead for many years, and he has never even touched the side of the throne, and no one has been in awe for a long time.In the 56 years of Emperor Wu's reign, he conquered all directions and dismissed hundreds of schools.When he was alive, none of the ministers in the court dared to say no; when the imperial edict came out of Beijing, all the prefectures and countries listened respectfully.He died many years ago, and most of the ministers appointed by the court were veterans he promoted.

Grandmother mentioned Emperor Wu because she wanted to take advantage of Emperor Wu's power and kindness, and begged Xie Yi to take care of the emperor's grandson.

Liu Zao paid attention to Xie Yi who was walking beside her, Xie Yi didn't stop, she didn't even change her expression, and the soldier behind her was also calm, as if what her grandmother said was just Liu Zao's illusion.

Liu Zao suddenly thought that after this trip, he does not know when he will return.She turned her head, wanting to take a look at her grandmother, but the halberd-handlers on both sides merged into two rows again, blocking Liu Zao's gaze.

All she could see was the cold armor, which made her feel cold in the hot summer.