The Prosperity of Jingdi Chronicle

Under the leadership of the palace servants, Lvzhu passed through layers of guards and walked to the depths of the harem.

She has not been here for many years, and she suddenly remembered that when she came for the first time, she was still a girl in her teens. In the blink of an eye, more than 20 years have passed, and at this time, she revisited the old place, and the blurred scenes in her memory suddenly appeared again. back to the present.

Looking around, the entire palace didn't seem to have changed much, just like in her memory, the flowers were blooming like brocades with a sense of austerity.

The palace where the Empress Dowager lives is located in the center of the West Palace, which can only be reached through many palaces.

Along the way, apart from occasionally meeting a few maids in charge of sweeping and tidying up, I didn't meet a concubine in the harem.

In addition to the cold weather making it inconvenient to travel, the emperor's move to disband the harem is probably one of the reasons why the harem is so bleak today.Nowadays, in the East and West Zodiac Palaces, there are as many high-quality concubines as can be counted on two hands, and several palaces are vacant.

The palace guards led her all the way to the gate of the side hall of the Compassionate Ning Palace.She waited at the door for a while, and a female officer came out to announce her in.

The whole side hall is arranged in the shape of a Buddhist hall, dedicated to the Great Merciful and Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva.Lu Zhu greeted the queen mother amidst the Sanskrit sounds, and soon heard the queen mother's voice.

The Empress Dowager ordered someone to give her a seat and tea, and after she took her seat, she thanked her for her hard work.

"This is what your subordinates should do." How dare Luzhu receive such praise from the Queen Mother, she hurriedly stood up and answered.

"Sit down, don't be cautious. You haven't been in Beijing these years, and Xie Meng was thrown to the west by the emperor. There is not even a single person in Ai's house who can speak." The Queen Mother's voice seemed to be a little speechless. lonely.

Lu Zhu dared not answer such a topic lightly. The Empress Dowager had too many meanings in her words, and besides, outsiders could not meddle in the royal internal affairs, so she carefully changed the subject and talked about the great victory of the Southern Expedition that she had just won. .

The Empress Dowager listened carefully to her description of the various key points. Those things were listed in the military newspaper, but the most important points were always vague, and only those who experienced them would know the details.

During this period of time, the emperor was on the march, and all affairs in the court were decided by the three halls, three pavilions and six ministers. The urgent matters that could not be handled were decided by the queen mother, and the non-urgent matters were sent directly to the front line.In the past few days, the emperor was approaching the capital, and the memorial was hurriedly delivered to the imperial court.

Although the queen mother didn't worry about trivial matters, she still knew the general situation.

The emperor's ability to manage affairs is worthy of her affirmation, and she has lived up to her careful teaching over the years.It's a pity that the emperor's heart is too big, he wants to have too many things, and he likes to do things arbitrarily in his bones. Coupled with the person beside him, such an emperor is not sure whether it is a blessing or a curse for the dynasty.

The queen mother thought of this, and thought that her body was not getting better every year, and she was afraid that she would not be able to see what was going on so far, so she felt a little helpless.

"When the emperor returns, Aijia will remind him that he may summon you, so you must be prepared." After a moment of silence, the Queen Mother spoke again.

"Yes." Luzhu replied respectfully.

The emperor summoned her definitely not to gossip about family affairs. What the empress dowager said meant that she was going to hand over the most important power in her hands to the emperor.

While the two were talking, a female official came to report that the second prince was coming to pay his respects to the emperor's grandmother. It was too late for Luzhu to withdraw, so she stood aside.

This prince who was raised by the queen mother herself is said to be very fond of the queen mother. There are rumors that the queen mother has been teaching him as the heir of the emperor.

Luzhu took a careful look at him. The second prince is still young, and he already speaks and acts in front of the empress dowager, so the rumors are true.

After the second prince paid his respects, the queen mother smiled and asked him a few gossips, then sent him out and continued talking to Lu Zhu.

"Among the grandchildren of the Ai family, this child is the most pitiful, and the emperor often picks his nose and eyes at him, which is really hard for him." Like all grandparents who love grandchildren, grandsons are always good , only the son should be blamed, even if he is as honorable as the queen mother, he cannot be exempted.

"Your Majesty must be deeply in love to be responsible." Lu Zhu replied with a smile.

Everyone in the world said that the delay in deciding the reserve position was due to the fact that the emperor didn't want to see the second prince and preferred the third prince.

Lu Zhu can be sure now, it may not be the reason, not to say that the concubine cannot be discarded, the elders cannot be messed up, just because of the empress dowager's love for the second prince, as long as the empress dowager is alive, there will definitely be no other princes, Can surpass the second prince to ascend to the reserve position.

"The Ai family knows what the emperor is thinking. The emperor wants a generous and benevolent heir, but he doesn't think about it. This is the royal family..." The queen mother did not continue.

The word royal has already said everything.Such things as generosity and kindness generally exist as decorations for victors in the royal family.

But the emperor needs a generous and benevolent heir, because he is thinking about the Wei family and the families of all the important ministers and favorites around him after a hundred years, so although she was slightly dissatisfied with the emperor's delay in establishing a prince, she did not make it clear Express it.

"Your Highness is still young, so there is no need for the Empress Dowager to be in a hurry."

"Let's not talk about this. The Ai family has always forgotten to ask you one thing. What happened back then? Is that child really the heir of the Marquis of Yongning?"

Lu Zhu had known for a long time that the Queen Mother would definitely ask this question when she was summoned, and she was prepared for it, but she was still a little tongue-tied when the matter came to an end.

"Yes. It was an accident. The subordinate was incompetent and failed the Queen Mother's expectations. Please punish her." Many things cannot be explained, and sometimes too much explanation makes people suspicious. The way to deal with this matter is to admit the mistake directly.

"Forget it, you have done many things for Ai's family these years, and you have lived alone so far, so let's end this matter." The queen mother waved her hand, indicating that she would not pursue it any further.In fact, until now, there is no need to pursue it.Even if there is no such child, the emperor still has ways to get rid of Yongninghou. She just didn't expect that there would be such a child, "I'm tired of mourning, please leave."

"Yes, my subordinate will leave." Lu Zhu saluted again, then slowly retreated to the gate of the hall and walked out.

The warm winter sun outside was lazily shining on the earth, but she couldn't feel the slightest warmth.

Walking along the way she came, she walked again, and when she reached the gate of the palace, Lvzhu got on the carriage that brought her, and told the driver to go to Zhao Shi's mansion.

Zhao Shi's mansion is located in the southern area of ​​the capital, very close to the camp of the Guards, and the coachman walked for more than half an hour to arrive.

The disciples of the Zhao family had already been taken care of, and when they saw her, they welcomed her in.

"How is it?" After the host and guest sat down, Luzhu was not polite, and directly talked about the intention.

"The prince agreed to meet, but he needs to choose a secret prescription. When he confirms the place, he will send someone to deliver the letter." Zhao Shi didn't care about her directness, and told her exactly what he had received.

They had trained together and lived together and knew each other very well.It's just that Zhao Shi later turned from darkness to light, and with Marquis Yongning away for several years, Luzhu has been in charge of the affairs of Youzhou, and then hidden in darkness for many years, Zhao Shi never thought that they would meet again in the capital in their lifetime .

"Is it necessary?" Although Luzhu had enough estimates of the emperor's possible jealousy after she returned to Beijing, she still felt that there was no need to sneak around like this.

She asked Zhao Shi to deliver a letter on her behalf that day, the main purpose was to find out about her son, after all she used him so much, she really didn't have such a thick skin, and went directly to the door to meet.

"Believe me, it is absolutely necessary." Marquis Yongning staying in the mansion for one more day to accompany his son will make the emperor jealous, and the existence of a woman who may become the mistress of Marquis Yongning's mansion will make the emperor jealous To what extent, Zhao Shi could estimate with his eyes closed.

For everyone's life to be more peaceful, this mother-child meeting must be kept a secret.If the emperor can't hide it, at least Lord Hou must hide it, otherwise, there will be big troubles.

Is she so shameless?Then how many days will she be summoned by the emperor?

Luzhu didn't understand what Zhao Shi was worried about, and Zhao Shi also didn't know that the emperor might summon her. The two said goodbye and then divorced. Luzhu left the contact method before leaving.

The last place they met was in a villa rented from someone on the outskirts of the city. After the mother and son sat down, they looked at each other across the table, relatively silent.

Before meeting, Wei Minwen wanted to ask her a lot of questions, but at the moment of meeting, he didn't know what to say.

"Son, how have you been doing all these years?" No matter how capable a woman is, she is just a woman when she faces her son. As soon as Luzhu said a word, the circles of her eyes slowly turned red.

"Very good, everyone in the Wei family treated me very well." Wei Minwen replied seriously, but his tone was a bit cold.

Although his father couldn't use common sense to deduce it, there is no doubt that the whole Wei family treated him as a real Wei family child, and they hurt him to the bone. Wei Minwen never denied this.

"That's good, that's good, so Mother can rest assured." Lu Zhu's voice choked up, and tears began to glisten in the corners of her eyes.

Seeing her like this, no matter how many complaints Wei Minwen had, he couldn't speak ill of her for a while. He hesitated for a moment before taking out the Supa in his arms and handing it over.

Luzhu took it over, and wiped it while sobbing. After a while, she felt that the tense atmosphere just now eased, and the initial hostility from her son was slowly dissipating.

"I'm really his son?" Seeing that she finally calmed down, Wei Minwen asked the question he wanted to ask the most.

The him in his mouth naturally refers to the Marquis of Yongning.

This question has weighed on Wei Minwen's mind for many years.Sometimes that person tried to get close to him, but to no avail, and when his expression was gloomy, he forced himself to believe this, but many times, those questions hovered in his mind, so that when father and son got along, there was always some inexplicable awkwardness exist.

"Yes."

"Is there any evidence?" There are countless doubts about this matter, and the person in front of him has lied to him countless times, Wei Minwen has reason to suspect that she has not told him the truth.

"Son, you can doubt my words, but isn't your existence itself evidence? If you are really the 'remnant of King You', how could the emperor allow you to live? The emperor has countless methods to exonerate Marquis Yongning, but he uses The most stupid one is why, isn't it because you are the real son of Yongninghou? If the emperor still let you die as a "remnant of King You" without hesitation after knowing the truth, one day Yongninghou will find out The truth, even if it were an emergency, the emperor might not be able to face him, so he finally chose that method."

This matter has been an interlocking situation from the very beginning, and Xie Meng and her carried it out under the orders of the Queen Mother.

One is to try to see if the emperor will severely punish Wei Yan for making trouble outside, and just leave him alone, and the other is to let Wei Yan fall into the "Private Indulgence Case of the Remnants of King You".

If Wei Yan made a fuss outside, the emperor would just pretend that he had nothing to do and would not do anything. Then when he needed it in the future, he could use the reserved back-up.

There are some things that she didn't need to play in person, but Wei Yan really kept herself clean in Youzhou. She acted very carefully and had good skills. Two things become one.

At that time, she actually left a way out and wanted to send a favor to the emperor and the people close to the emperor, but for some reason, the emperor didn't know the cause and effect of this incident at all, and he didn't take any precautions. In the end, things turned into like that.

"Why?" Since he has nothing to do with You Wang, why put him in a dead end, he believes that she has countless ways to achieve her goal, why use the most stupid one.

"Your existence was an accident. I didn't expect it, but I never regretted it. At that time, you grew up in my belly day by day, and I gradually understood the feelings of a mother. My hands were stained with countless blood , but at that time I actually had compassion for an unknown mother who might lose her child. If it was an irrelevant child, he would surely die in such a situation, but if it was you, the emperor would let You live."

After Luzhu separated from Xie Meng that day, she went to the south to implement a fishing plan. What she wanted to catch was the real remnant of King You, and she needed a child as a prop. She originally wanted to buy a child to use on the way, but she accidentally had a child. Finally changed my mind.

In such a situation, the real "remnants of King You" will undoubtedly die, and irrelevant children will not survive, but the heirs of the Marquis of Yongning, even if the emperor is a little unhappy, he will not be ruthless.

"What if?" Wei Minwen didn't expect this answer.

His mother really dared to bet that if he had been a little careless at that time, he would not be here now.

"It won't happen."

Seeing that she was so sure, Wei Minwen didn't continue to ask.Obviously, their residence was leaked back then, and they were captured later, all of which were part of the scheme.This round, it seems that the game is really big enough.

"You don't want to see me today to ask me if I'm alright?" They are mother and son, and they know each other very well. Wei Minwen didn't believe that her purpose of coming to see him today would be so simple.

"I came to see you this time. First, I came to see how you are doing. Second, I wanted to ask you, what are your plans for the future? You will be 15 years old after the New Year. Have you considered this matter? The Wei family can indeed give you a stable and prosperous life, but the Wei family also has countless troubles. As a child of the Wei family, especially the son of Yongninghou, if you don't have any plans, you want to live a good life in the future , is not an easy task." Luzhu organized the words in her mind before expressing her real intention of coming today.

She was right, it was indeed not an easy task to be the son of the Marquis of Yongning.Wei Minwen closed his eyes, and when he thought about the trivial matters that he had to worry about when he was about to leave the house, his forehead began to ache.

"The Wei family is too favored now. It may not be so good when the emperor is here, but when the new emperor ascends the throne, he will inevitably be very afraid of a family of powerful officials like the Wei family. If you are an official, I am afraid it is not suitable, but if you do not If you don't, it will be hard to live in peace." Seeing that her son didn't respond to her words, Lu Zhu added another firewood.

"What advice do you have?" Wei Minwen is not an idiot. Now the purpose of the Wei family is to keep a low profile, but with his father around, this low profile cannot be maintained at all, because the emperor wants to grant favors from time to time. It is nothing when the emperor is there. is the source of disaster.

"My mother." Luzhu stopped talking and started making demands.

Wei Minwen was stunned, and then was speechless.

He has long been aware of being a member of the Wei family, and he really wants to know how to avoid disasters. In the end, he can only grit his teeth and bow his head: "May I ask what advice you have?"

Luzhu hooked her fingers, signaling her son to bring his head closer.

Wei Minwen was extremely dissatisfied with her gesture like greeting a cat or a dog, but in order to hear her suggestion, he obediently moved his head towards her.

Luzhu laughed as if she had succeeded in her trickery, and whispered in his ear for a while.