Consort Zhanzhao

Zhao Bijia is the only princess in the palace who lives alone.

Her Zhaoqing Palace is adjacent to the Imperial Garden on one side and Fenglan Palace where Concubine Zhang lives. It is more spacious and luxurious than the palaces of several concubines. One can imagine how favored Zhao Bijia is.

"The princess is back." The voice cheered happily.

As soon as Zhao Bijia entered Zhaoqing Palace, she saw her court lady Yue Ruo coming up to pay her respects, and eunuch Yang He'an coming up to say that she took the cat in her arms.

Zhao Bijia glanced at Yue Ruo, saw that she was smiling very sweetly, and even a little flattering, and said: "There is still half a month before the money is issued, and I have nothing to reward you."

Yue Ruo blushed and swayed twice, "Princess just went to Yaowu Building to watch the competition?"

Zhao Bijia thought for a while, Zhan Zhao just now was a demonstration of martial arts, and since it was a "competition", at least two people were needed, so no matter how you think about it, it has nothing to do with a martial arts competition.

So Zhao Bijia pretended to be serious and shook his head, "No, I didn't go to Yaowu Tower to watch the competition." It's just that the word "competition" was re-pronounced, and Zhao Bijia was still wearing men's clothes, so he was destined to go to the court.

Yue Ruo was stunned for a moment, then she knew that the princess was teasing her.

"It's spread all over the palace." Yue Ruo said: "The one in Yaowu Tower is a knight who has been famous for a long time in the Jianghu. Your Majesty chose the Yaowu Building just to let the people in the palace see clearly."

Zhao Bijia nodded, took a few sips of tea, and remembered that the maid who died under the Jinshui Bridge was still a child, so she called the eunuch Yang Hean over.

"A court lady died in the imperial garden." Zhao Bijia whispered, "I think the emperor means to leave it to Wu Chengye to take care of it. You should also inquire about it and find out what's going on."

Yang Anheren was very capable, but he didn't talk much, he just said "follow the princess's orders" and left Zhaoqing Palace.

Yue Ruo followed behind Zhao Bijia, and told all the news she had just heard from the Empress Dowager's palace.

He is tall, handsome, eager to help others, etc., and according to the Queen Mother's first-hand information, his voice is very pleasant.

Zhao Bijia listened in her heart and verified them one by one.

They are tall and tall, but they don't need to be short like those imperial guards selected from the family of meritorious service, at least 1.8 meters.

There is also a handsome face, and it is more comfortable to stand with other imperial guards.You must know that these imperial guards can be regarded as the face of the emperor, and there will never be any crooked people coming in. The qualifications for selection are as strict as a draft.

Enthusiasm to help others... It's not obvious at first glance, but according to Mr. Bao, Zhan Zhao saved his life several times along the way, so this is also there.

As for the good sound...

Zhao Bijia thought of the phrase "little prince", felt a little fever on his face for no reason, coughed twice and dared not think about it any more, and said: "The weather is so hot, let's bring a bowl of sour plum soup."

When Yueruo came back with sour plum soup, another person entered the hall.

The one who came in this time was the real little prince, Zhao Xuan, the younger brother of Zhao Bijia's mother and compatriot, who just turned 11 this year.

Although Zhao Xuan is not very old, he is the only prince of Emperor Renzong who has lived past the age of six, and is also the only surviving prince in the palace today. Without accident, the throne is his, so he has been placed with high hopes since he was a child, and he is very popular in front of people. Be calm and behave well.

But in front of her mother and sister, Zhao Xuan still maintained a childlike innocence.

"Sister put on men's clothes again and went out to cheat people."

Zhao Bijia was inexplicably guilty. Lord Bao knew her. The ministers and imperial guards in Yaowu Tower today all knew about it. Zhan Zhao...

Mr. Zhan has an outstanding talent and appearance, so he should know it.

Thinking of this made her feel good, Zhao Bijia smiled and said, "Have you finished your morning homework?"

This time it was Zhao Xuan's turn to lose face. Speaking of wishing their children Jackie Chan, the mentality that all parents have throughout the ages, was particularly evident in Emperor Renzong. He wished to invite all the great scholars from all over the world to teach Zhao Xuan.

Of course, as an emperor, he has this ability.

It's just that this made Zhao Xuan suffer, he was slightly shorter than the average child, and even his face was a little pale.

Zhao Bijia remembered that when her third uncle brought his family to Beijing last time, there were more than a dozen sons, each of whom looked healthier than the other.

Comparing with his peers, Father Huang relaxed a little, and Zhao Xuan's homework was not so tight.

As soon as the two sat down, the white cat Tuantuan, who was placed on the rug by Yang and An, felt a little uncomfortable.

It was basking in the sun on the soft couch, and its tail was wagging, as if it wanted to attract its owner to pet it, but when Zhao Xuan came in, it immediately stood up, and even the hair on its back stood up a little. .

As Zhao Xuan approached step by step, Tuantuan jumped out of the window with a "meow".

"Most likely you raised the dog." Zhao Bijia said, "Look, it scares Tuantuan."

"That's because it's timid." Zhao Xuan laughed and said, "Like my sister."

Zhao Bijia raised her hand and patted him lightly. As for the dog in Zhaoxuan Palace, although she was sure that it was a purebred Chinese pastoral dog in this day and age, its size could be regarded as the best among dogs. Tall and mighty.

Especially a mouthful of fangs, which makes people dizzy looking at people.

It is strange to say that although the two siblings are of the same mother, they are very different for this small animal.

Zhao Bijia likes cats, and cats like them.

Zhao Xuan didn't see any likes and dislikes, but the big dog in his palace was obedient to him, as obedient as a cat, but in this way, the cats in the palace would avoid Zhao Xuan when they saw him.

That dog must not be an ordinary thing, Zhao Bijia often thought so, but every time I went to see her, the dog snored at her, which was scary.

So after all these years, she hasn't even touched a dog's hair.

Well, few people in the palace dared to touch that dog.

Yue Ruo brought another cup of sour plum soup, Zhao Xuan took it, took two sips and felt relieved, "It's really hot, why don't you go to Biezhuang to escape the summer heat this year?"

"Maybe it's only a few days."

The two chatted for a while, drank two cups of sour plum soup, and Yang and An came back.

Seeing that Zhao Xuan was there, he paused for a moment, and after Zhao Bijia gave a signal, he respectfully said: "I found out, that maid is called Ke'er, she is the newest maid in the Shang Palace, and she has only been in the palace for three months."

"Director Wu took the female officer in charge of teaching the new maids in the Shang Palace Bureau to ask. It seems that she was beaten up by the female officer yesterday because her hands and feet were too slow. Went to the imperial garden. The injury was too serious, and he fell into the river, so he lost his life."

Zhao Bijia's intuition was wrong, and she was trying to think carefully about what went wrong, when she suddenly heard Zhao Xuan say: "I said that there should be more eunuchs in the palace. The guards can only guard the exits of the harem. There are only two people in the huge harem." The eunuchs in their early years are all servants of the court ladies, if something happens to them, they will only know after they die."

There was anger and sympathy on Zhao Xuan's face, and Zhao Bijia hurriedly said calmly: "Don't be too angry... But I also think more people should come in, especially in the imperial garden. The place is big and empty, it's really not safe. "

Zhao Xuan nodded, stood up and said, "I'm going to find my father now."

Zhao Bijia didn't stop him, she also thought it was a good proposal, besides, as long as Zhao Xuan said it, the father would most likely agree.

After being interrupted by Zhao Xuan, Zhao Bijia couldn't remember what she felt was wrong.

After two days, the case was considered closed.

The female official who disciplined Ke'er was deprived of her official position and was fined half a year's salary, and several court ladies in the same room were beaten ten boards and also fined half a year's salary.

This disposition cannot but be said to be fair.

Two days later, Zhao Bijia was visiting the Imperial Garden to cool off from the summer heat, thinking that if he went to another village to escape the summer heat, his father would definitely bring Mrs. Bao, so would the Zhan guard also go with him?

Startled by a little court lady who suddenly jumped out of the bushes.

Yang and An leaped out from behind Zhao Bijia like ghosts and protected him. Just as they were about to cook the maid, they saw the maid kneeling in front of Zhao Bijia and crying.

"Thank you, princess." The man kowtowed while crying, "If the princess hadn't seen Ke'er...Mr. Wu would not have worked so hard, and she might have died so unjustly."

The palace maid sniffed, "... I paid money to Ke'er's parents, and finally left something..."

Zhao Bijia whispered a few words of comfort, while Yang and An kept their faces cold and pressed their lips tightly together, afraid that the court lady would make any moves.

Fortunately, she also knew that it was inappropriate to meet the princess in such a private manner, and said these things again, so she hurriedly left with her head down, and Zhao Bijia didn't see her face clearly during the whole process.

With such an interruption, Zhao Bijia didn't have the mood to continue shopping, so she turned around and planned to go back to the palace.

Yang Hean followed behind her, and said in a low voice, "The princess should bring more people next time."

Zhao Bijia originally thought that this was the end of the matter.

After all, the motives of various aspects sound very reasonable, but before they left the palace to escape the summer heat, two more court ladies died under the Jinshui Bridge, just like last time, lying face down on the river embankment, There were four wounds on his face, as if scratched by a cat.

Now no one can sit still.

Wu Chengye, who handled Ke'er's case earlier, has been disgraced in the past two days, and even his waist is bent much more than before.

Emperor Renzong didn't care about his concubines any more. Apart from the previous court, he went to the Empress Dowager's palace every day, and he didn't know what they were discussing.

"Emperor," Empress Dowager Li held Emperor Renzong's hand, "I've always felt uneasy these past two days, do you think it might be..."

Empress Dowager Li pursed her lips, "I always think it's the one who came back."

The emperor was puzzled, and Empress Dowager Li said again: "I heard from them that the court lady had marks on her face from being scratched by a cat, but there was no scar on her body... The first court lady died three days after I gave birth."

"The civet cat for the prince..." Empress Dowager Li showed pain on her face, "The skinned civet cat... I heard that it was also thrown under the Jinshui Bridge afterwards. Too many people died under the Jinshui Bridge. Will the civet cat...will come back for revenge?"

The emperor was taken aback, and hurriedly comforted him: "Mother, don't worry about it. The crimes of that day were all committed by Mrs. Liu. What do you have to do with the mother? If there is a grievance and a debtor, it can't be blamed on you. .”

Empress Dowager Li held the emperor's hand tightly, and seemed to be a little worried.

The emperor thought for a while and said, "What do you think of this? I'll invite Bao Zheng to investigate the case—"

Before the emperor could finish speaking, Empress Dowager Li hurriedly interrupted him, "Hello, Bao Zheng! Hello, Bao Zheng! He has a righteous face, and ghosts and gods do not invade."

"By the way, there is also that righteous man surnamed Zhan, who is very capable, and he is also called to investigate the case."