Yongzheng period

The wind howling outside is like—even my heart is cold.

"...The heart is vicious, cruel to the emperor's heir, the Ulanara family should be repaired! How can you be the empress!" Yongzheng clenched the Buddhist beads in his hand, stared at the queen's well-maintained face, finally couldn't hold back, and said angrily When it fell on her face, the queen immediately let out a cry of pain.

Seeing the appearance of the empress who has been majestic for many years, the concubine Xiang was really happy, but Jianqiu fell to his knees at the feet of Yongzheng with a plop, and kowtowed desperately, arguing, "Your Majesty, please! The empress is really innocent! The Buddha statue sent to Changchun Palace is indeed It is soaked in cinnabar, but it was sent by the empress after she heard that Concubine Hui could not sleep at night, and the cinnabar can only soothe the nerves—the empress has absolutely no intention of harming anyone!"

Sun Zhiding kowtowed and said, "Your majesty, the redness of Concubine Hui's body is caused by the long-term infusion of cinnabar and schisandra, two contradictory medicines. Schisandra also has the effect of calming the nerves. Among the whole palace, only the empress's Because of the empress's head disease, Kunning Palace has a lot of schisandra in stock. When I thoroughly checked the Kunning Palace that day, I found that only the tea bowls commonly used by the empress and concubine Hui had remnants of schisandra."

"Your Majesty, my concubine would like to swear by the name of the ancestors of the Ulanara clan: this concubine has never done anything to harm the imperial heir in Concubine Hui's womb." The queen managed to calm down, "What's more, this concubine didn't know that Concubine Hui was pregnant. How about murdering the emperor’s heir? And the schisandra, the concubine’s tea was indeed soaked in medicine in order to prevent headaches, but why the concubine Hui’s tea was mixed with schisandra, the concubine really didn’t know! The concubine is Be framed!"

"You should save your oath to tell the gods of the ancestors of the Ulanara clan." Yongzheng snorted coldly, "Although you don't know that Yu'er is pregnant, but the heart of trying to harm her is really to be punished." ! Sun Zhiding!"

"My minister is here," Sun Zhiding replied, "the combination of schisandra and cinnabar is not only harmful to pregnant women, but also fatal to ordinary people who take it from time to time. That person will gradually become sleepy and lethargic, and finally can't sleep."

"Your Majesty is really good at planning. Everyone knows that Concubine Hui's body is weaker, and the medicines that can counteract it are scattered in two places. At that time, no one will suspect her." The concubine Xiang said with a smile, "As for Hui Of course, you can say you don’t know the schisandra in the concubine’s tea bowl, after all, it’s just an unworthy tea eunuch in Kunning Palace who did such a thing.”

Concubine Xiang then said to Yongzheng, "The tea eunuch is a gambler, and his fellow countryman is the cousin of Yinxiu in the concubine's palace. A while ago, that little Chengzi suddenly became rich, and Yinxiu should be a Telling an anecdote to my concubines once, it turned out that I was rewarded for doing my master a favor."

"Xiangfei, don't talk nonsense here!" The empress looked at Yongzheng with a sad voice, "The slaves of Kunning Palace are not too few, how can all the concubines know them all? What's more, the concubines have always valued Jiang Fuhai Yes, if the concubine really wanted to harm Concubine Hui, why didn't she send her most trusted servant? The concubine is really innocent, Your Majesty, you trust the concubine!"

"Don't use the people around me, isn't that the empress's brilliance?" Concubine Xiang pressed her every step of the way.

"Okay!" Yongzheng said impatiently, "Su Peisheng, pass on Xiao Chengzi."

"Hey." Su Peisheng agreed, but unexpectedly turned back quickly and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, Xiao Chengzi hanged himself, and this is the jewelry found on his body—according to regulations, it is indeed from the Queen's Palace. "

The concubine Xiang raised the corner of her mouth when she heard the words, she was sure of winning, but the concubine Nian never said a word.

Yongzheng glanced at the jewelry and the dull-looking empress, and said coldly, "Empress, do you still want to argue?"

The queen couldn't help but slumped to the ground, silent.Now she can't argue with a hundred words, what she says is wrong, she only hopes that Yongzheng can still care about her sister's well-being and have more affection for her.

As if seeing through the last ceremonies in the Queen's heart, the concubine Nian slowly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty does not know, but the Empress's crimes are more than that - such as using plantains and cold almonds as an excuse to murder the former Empress!"

The queen's expression changed in vain. Just as she was about to stop her, Nian concubine had already continued with the pleasure of revenge, "The queen is proficient in medicine. Back then, the queen took care of her when she was pregnant. The queen first induced her to drink it every day. Almond tea caused the empress to be depressed, and Dosdomin was difficult to stabilize during pregnancy. Later, plantain was used as an aid to the empress to give birth to a stillborn baby and died of exhaustion. Do you still remember the bruised and breathless man you saw back then? Unborn baby? That’s the evidence! It’s just that the imperial physician back then was afraid to tell the truth because of the emperor’s anger.”

Concubine Nian suppressed the hatred for the Queen in her heart, and her voice was raised in vain, "Concubine asks the emperor to decree that Jiang Fuhai, Qiu Xiuxia and the others should be sent to the Punishment Department to torture and extract confessions! Let the concubine's words be true!"

After hearing what the concubine Nian said, the hall was silent for a while, only the sound of sparks from the lamp wick and the queen's desperate breathing could be heard.Su Peisheng didn't expect that what the concubine Nian brought up was this old incident, for a moment his eyes were on his nose, his nose was on his mind, but cold sweat was already on his forehead.

After a while, Yongzheng broke the silence and said in a normal tone, "I have already learned about it."

Concubine Nian was stunned when she heard the words, and even the queen couldn't help but look up at Yongzheng's expression at this time, suspecting that she had heard it wrong.

"You guys go down first," Yongzheng motioned to Concubine Nian and the others, "I want to have a private talk with the empress."

"Your Majesty—" Nian Shilan looked at him unwillingly. She wanted to see the Queen herself in despair, and even questioned Yongzheng word by word... In just an instant, all these thoughts dissipated in Yongzheng's eyes. Yongzheng looked at her without pity or anger, as if she was just an insignificant person, and said flatly, "Concubine Nian, you should know my temperament."

Nian Shilan seemed to be awakened by a basin of ice water, and retreated without saying a word.

*

After everyone retreated, the emperor and empress looked at each other speechlessly for a while.The queen made up her mind, and revealed the bracelet on her wrist that had not been taken off since the wedding, her expression was rare and sincerely gentle, "These jade bracelets were worn by the emperor himself for the concubines when they entered the palace. .'I hope to meet you day and night like this ring', but now the emperor thinks that the concubine made a mistake, so he probably doesn't want to see the concubine again."

"Back then, the emperor was also obsessed with this ring and told his concubine that if he gave birth to a prince, Fujin would be his concubine's." The queen said, but her heart was relieved, "But when the concubine gave birth to the prince, the emperor had already married The older sister is Fujin, and even the concubines' children are forced to become concubines, just like concubines -- they will never be able to get rid of their status as concubines."

The queen was already crying, "Your Majesty, do you ever know how painful it is for a concubine's daughter! The concubine and concubine have a clear distinction between superiority and inferiority, and concubines and concubines' mothers are rarely valued. How have you ever understood—"

Yongzheng closed his eyes, and the empress seemed to want to say all the words that had been accumulated in her heart for many years, her expression gradually became filled with hatred, "The position of Fujin that should belong to the concubine was taken away by others! It should have belonged to the minister The crown prince of the concubine's son also belongs to someone else! The concubine's husband has given her all the favors, what should the concubine do!"

"The concubine also wants to be satisfied, but my sister doesn't want to!" The queen said desperately, "The concubine has a long night, and I always dream that my son is crying to the concubine—when the child died, my sister was pregnant. Your majesty, you only care about the joy of your sister's pregnancy, but do you ever remember your concubine and your child!"

"He was not yet three years old, he had a high fever and burned his whole body, and he died--!" The queen cried bitterly, "I walked in the rain all night with his body in my arms, and wanted to go to the Hall of Yama to pray for the gods and Buddhas in the hall. If you want to take your life, take my life, don't take my son's life!"

"If it weren't for the longevity lock, how could my child have died!" The queen said angrily, "The longevity lock was sent by my sister. At that time, my sister was pregnant again. Didn't she claim it?" My child's life!"

The queen cried for a while, gradually calmed down, and laughed at herself, "The concubine never thought that you, the emperor, already knew about it, so why didn't you punish the concubine earlier?"

Yongzheng said indifferently, "I have given you many opportunities. I don't want to talk about how filial piety is. As for you - I have tolerated you again and again, but you have disappointed me time and time again! In my opinion, you are nothing more than It's just a clown trapped in his own stubbornness!"

The queen was completely denied, and immediately collapsed on the ground, and said for a long time, "Then what will the emperor do? Abolish the concubine?"

Yongzheng frowned and was about to answer, when he saw Zhu Xi coming with a decree in his hands, "Your maidservant will come late at night, to see the emperor."

Seeing this, Yongzheng didn't say a word, so Zhu Xi had no choice but to bite the bullet and continued, "I know that there is a big change in the palace today, and the emperor is worried, so I come here with the Queen Mother's order."

"Empress Dowager Yizhi: The emperor must keep in mind that the Ulanara family cannot be abandoned." Zhu Xi finished reading the Yizhi, and said, "The Empress Dowager also asked the slaves to ask the emperor: Before the Empress Xiaoding made her grand trip, the emperor asked the emperor to treat her kindly. My sister, the emperor personally agreed, does the emperor still remember?"

The queen closed her eyes when she heard the words, with mixed feelings in her heart, but she listened to Yongzheng's words, "The emperor's mother is really worried, and I don't want to abolish the empress." After he finished speaking, he looked at the queen again, and said in a deep voice, "Zier Fujin The Ulanala family, auspicious Zhong Huaxuan, a beautiful and famous family, gentle and intelligent, gentle and beautiful, well-prepared for the six elements, for a long time Zhao Shude, preached the four teachings in the palace, allowed the mother's ceremony to be in the world, and once worshiped the empress dowager Fate, with the treasure book, make you the queen, Qinzai. This is the imperial edict that I canonized you at the beginning, I think you still remember it."

Naturally she remembered, this passage had long been engraved in her bones and blood, it was her pride and her victory, she naturally memorized it in her heart freely, and recited it like a word.

Yongzheng finally said without emotion, "Ulanala family, in the future you will take this only thing you are obsessed with and move to Changchun Garden to live on your own."