Prequel to the Red Chamber: I Am the Second Wife

Ever since the prince passed away suddenly, there was a strange atmosphere in the palace. The sad atmosphere was not very obvious after the prince passed away, although the rest of the people except the empress and the grieving princess had masks of sadness on their faces.But judging from their words and deeds, there is no sadness at all, but a look that is about to move in the future of spring.

The empress's bedroom was so quiet that it seemed that time had frozen, even the birds flapping their wings in the courtyard were silent. "What time is it? What is Your Majesty doing?" The Queen slowly opened her eyes, and the maid beside her hurriedly opened the curtain to help the Queen sit up: "It's time to report back to Your Majesty, Your Majesty didn't rest well last night. Still resting for a while." Said the maid was going to serve tea. "I asked you what your majesty is doing!" The queen's eyes suddenly became sharp, and her stern tone made the servant girl shudder and quickly kneel on the ground: "Your majesty, your majesty is still taking a lunch break."

Facing the servant girl's hesitation, the queen already understood everything: "Okay, you are looking at how long you can keep me. Is the king of Wei there? I can't just watch my son die!" The queen felt that the anger in her heart could not be vented, she grabbed the white jade beside her pillow and threw it heavily on the ground.Empress.This is what the crown prince dedicated to the empress!The maid caught Yu Ruyi quickly.The queen just remembered that this jade Ruyi was a birthday gift from her son, and immediately regretted taking it to Ruyi, hugged her son, and burst into tears.

The prince suddenly disappeared, and the white-haired person gave away the black-haired person. The queen aged more than ten years overnight, her well-maintained face was frighteningly haggard overnight, and her black hair was half gray.The emperor was also sad for the prince for a few days.But the emperor is the emperor after all, and soon the emperor came out of the pain of losing his son.Still presiding over the government calmly, except leaving officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Eastern Palace in Jinling to take care of the prince's death, the emperor still followed the original plan to serve the queen mother and brought a large team back to the capital.During this period, King Wei has been serving his father by the emperor's side every step of the way, acting as a filial piety instead of the prince.After returning to the capital, the voice of King Wei to be the prince became more and more popular, and even many officials who had been favored by the prince before began to send a lot of autumn spinach to King Wei.

The queen was exhausted physically and mentally from the pain of losing her son. Seeing the busy traffic in front of Concubine Dong Gui's door in the palace, there were many people who paid her respects and flattery all day long.The Queen already hated King Wei and Concubine Dong Gui to the bone, and wished that King Wei and his mother would be buried with his son.

"My son, if your heroic spirit is not far away, why don't you just take mother away!" The queen cried to the point of grief, grabbing Yu Ruyi and trying to hit her head against the carved red sandalwood pillar of the bed.Seeing that the queen was going to do something out of the ordinary, the servants panicked and rushed up to support the queen.The servants fell to their knees and cried, "The empress's concubine is mourning. I still have to think about my grandson!"

Huang Quan'an hurried in from the outside at this time. When he saw the kneeling servants and the crying queen, he knew that the queen was missing the prince and hated that King Wei and Concubine Dong Gui took the opportunity to compete for the crown prince.Huang Quan'an asked the little girl to get the towel, and knelt down to present it to the queen himself: "The empress is mourning. The prince is looking at the empress in the sky. The prince has always been benevolent and filial. When he sees the empress's excessive grief and damage to his body, his soul must be disturbed. If the soul is disturbed, he can't Climb to the Paradise of Paradise in the Western Paradise. The empress loves the prince dearly. It is time to cheer up. The prince has entrusted the grandson to the empress. If the empress has any good or bad, who will the grandson rely on. The prince has only his grandson left in the world Empress must take care of herself!"

Huang Quan'an deserved to be the most powerful person around the queen, and after a few words, the queen was brought back from the brink of collapse.The queen slowly regained her senses. She wiped away her tears and said, "This Palace has exhausted its last energy. Now His Majesty's thoughts have turned to King Wei's side. The grandson is young, but what should we do?"

"The empress dowager loves the prince and grandson deeply. Besides, the grandson is orthodox, so the empress dowager can't just stand by and watch. It's okay for the empress to ask the empress dowager to come out and speak." Huang Quanan gestured to the servants who were kneeling on the floor, everyone Feeling relieved, they went out quietly.The queen sighed helplessly and said: "It's not that you don't know that the queen mother has been too sad since the prince lost her body, and I can't disturb the queen mother. Besides, your majesty has always disliked the harem meddling in politics, and it is not good for the queen mother to directly talk to your majesty Say." After all, the queen mother is getting old, and she passed out intuitively when she heard the news of the prince's death.Waiting for everyone to rush to rescue the queen mother, the imperial doctor said that the queen mother had hurt her heart and could not be stimulated anymore.If the queen mother is stimulated again, she may not be able to recite it all at once.How dare the queen tell her mother-in-law that the emperor wants to make King Wei the crown prince?

Huang Quan'an frowned, and he said tentatively: "This servant has an idea, I don't know what the empress thinks."

"What's the way, come and listen to me." The queen is now sitting in a sad city, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, she will hold on to it and never let it go.

The grandson is the orthodox heir, and His Majesty valued King Wei first because Concubine Dong Gui flattered and flattered His Majesty, and His Majesty liked it very much.Furthermore, the king of Wei coveted the position of the crown prince, win over the courtiers, and a flattering villain created public opinion in front of your majesty, making your majesty think that the king of Wei is outstanding, so he will pay more attention to him.The current plan is to establish the orthodox position of the grandson in the hearts of the courtiers. Although His Royal Highness the crown prince is gone, the grandson has grown up.As long as the grandson can show his strength, he can change His Majesty's mind.But we still need to help Taisun and ask the courtiers to side with Taisun.Huang Quan'an's words brightened the Queen's eyes, and she seemed to see hope: "That's the only way to go. What did you hear?"

The servant girl heard today that someone sent a letter to His Majesty to appoint the King of Wei as the Crown Prince. His Majesty and the cabinet revealed their intentions a little bit. The elders in the cabinet all talked about him, but His Majesty didn't say anything more.The meaning of the slaves is that although they all read the books of sages and sages, it is a pity that the word "fame and interest rate" still cannot get rid of it.They dare not directly object in front of His Majesty, because they are afraid that His Majesty will be annoyed, or if His Majesty really favors King Wei, they will be hated by the new King in the future, which will affect their future.What's more, no one with reputation came out to raise his arms. It would be great if someone could come out to speak for the grandson.

Before Huang An'an's voice fell, the queen thought of something and hurriedly said: "Why didn't you remind me earlier, I was so sad and confused. The girls from the Wang family and the Zhen family are all in the palace." Zhen's family Both the Wang family and the Wang family are honorable, especially the Zhen family who can speak well in front of the emperor. Although the Wang family is not in the capital, but Wang Changchun is outside the pass with the army, the emperor cannot completely ignore the opinions of the generals.The queen said regretfully: "Da Lang is pitiful. He originally planned to announce the marriage when he returned to the capital. Who would have thought that his father would be able to properly deal with it—it would take three years before he could be canonized as grandson Liangdi. It would be great if the marriage could be settled now. "Huang Quan'an also sighed: "It's a pity, if it is clear, both the Wang family and the Zhen family will stand by the grandson's side without hesitation, and desperately persuade His Majesty. It's just that the two of them have other ideas now. up."

The tea is cold, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been doing well in the past few months. Even if the emperor likes the King of Wei, he will not easily abandon the Crown Prince and shake the foundation of the country.The Wang family and the Zhen family must be very happy that their girls can serve beside the grandson, but now, if the emperor appoints the king of Wei as the prince, the grandson's position will be awkward.Throughout the thousands of years of history, there has never been a prince who has been deposed and can survive alone.Whether the grandson can save his life is unknown. Will the Wang family and Zhen family send their daughter in as willingly as before?Can the parents of the two families continue to support the lineage of the prince and grandson?

Listening to Huang Quan'an's words, the queen was silent for a long time. After a long while, she sighed: "The icing on the cake is the icing on the cake. Taking this opportunity, I can see clearly who is loyal and who is a snob. The Wang family is not in the capital. Zili went to Liaodong with his family, but their old lady is still in the capital. Go and see the old lady of the Wang family, she and the queen mother have old friends." Huang Quanan immediately understood, and followed the queen's words: "If you are a slave, go I'm going to see the old lady of the Wang family at the order of the empress. If she is in good health, please ask her to enter the palace and talk to the queen mother to relieve the boredom. The Zhen family heard that the emperor appointed him as the censor of Zuodu, and he will enter the palace in a few days See Xie En. At that time, after he entered the palace and thanked His Majesty, he would come to the empress to pay his respects. Then we will know what the Zhen family means."

You and I get along day and night even closer than relatives.You still know my mind best.In the future, if the great-grandson can successfully inherit the great power, I will not treat you badly, and the great-grandson will not forget your contribution. "

Huang Quan'an hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed deeply: "This servant does not serve the empress for any reason of wealth and honor, but only hopes that everything will go well for the empress and her grandson and be healthy."

I know your heart, go out and do some business.When the weather is cold, be careful not to catch a cold.The queen waved to Huang Quan'an, and leaned on the back of one side with some fatigue.

When the empress was sad for her son and worried about her grandson, in Liaodong thousands of miles away, the entire Wang family was also bombarded by the news of Taishi's sudden death, unable to recover for a long time.Wang Ziteng looked at Zili nervously, he completely forgot that the soup in front of him was completely cold.Zili slowly ate the last bit of food on the plate, and glanced at his brother: "Aren't you hungry? It's not easy to eat water shield from the West Lake here. Don't you want to eat it?" To be able to eat delicious food outside the desolate cold The water shield soup is also a luxury thing.Wang Ziteng looked at the girl's face and squeezed out a smile: "You can still eat? Father and grandfather have been sighing and sighing for a few days because of that incident. Why are you so heartless?"

Zili glanced sideways at Wang Ziteng, and sighed helplessly: "Time is fate. Besides, what can I do as a girl? Even if I am sad, what's the use of it. I am embarrassed and sad, and I am indifferent." No, there are countless maids and mothers around me watching, people will know what I do, I think it's better to play dumb." Wang Ziteng listened to his sister's words and thought for a long time, but he had no words to refute, the whole family and relatives knew who Zili was. He wants to enter the palace to do the work of Grandson Liang Di.This is a great honor. I don't know how many pairs of eyes are staring at her. My grandfather and father came to Liaodong to avoid prying eyes and some people's envy and hatred.It's just that Zili couldn't justifiably meddle in royal affairs because he hasn't settled on his status.

People like them look dignified and dignified, but in fact, only the parties involved know about all the hard work inside.Like Zili and Ziqian and the girls.There are countless old ladies and maids around, and people will know about their actions.If she was too worried about her grandson, she would inevitably be laughed at by others.Fortunately, it was my younger sister who had the right idea. Although she was sad for a few days, it was not too much.She changed into plain clothes, which was also in accordance with the rules of the imperial court, without any arrogance.If you want to write about villains, you should have nothing to say. "I'm ashamed of my sister being so stable. It's just that you haven't heard the news these days? It seems that the Holy Majesty intends to make Wei Wang the crown prince. Grandfather and father are frowning. They must be worried about this matter." Wang Ziteng He lowered his voice and told Zili the situation in front of him.

Listening to his brother's words, Zili showed a look of distress on his face: "Grandfather and father must be in a more difficult situation. Your Majesty will really—"

If there is a new prince.Taisun must have suffered a miserable end.Zili thought of his grandson's face, and felt pity for a moment.Even though he was a precocious child who grew up in the political center, Taisun was a child who had just grown up deep in his heart.There is no warmth in the struggle for imperial power, even if King Wei promised in front of the emperor that he would pass the throne to his grandson in the future.But who would give up his son and choose his nephew as heir?That is to say, when the emperor was there, the grandson could still save his life, but when the emperor died on his front foot, he would die on his back foot.Zili couldn't help thinking about her future, and she was deeply worried about the future.

In the deep palace, there are not only women's intrigues, but also murderous battles for imperial power!It is very likely that she knew that she was on a ship that was going to sink, but she still set foot on it with all her heart.Marrying a philandering husband is still possible, but marrying a grandson who is about to die, she can only watch others sharpen their knives. "What did grandfather and father say?" Zili began to worry about his own safety.

"I was guarding outside the study yesterday, and my father and grandfather were discussing inside. I heard what they said intermittently. They must support the grandson. The grandson is the orthodox heir. The king of Wei has always coveted the crown prince. He is a greedy, arrogant and domineering person who usually wins people's hearts. How can such a person be a prince? Don't worry, sister, my grandfather has already contacted many friends to go to Shushu to persuade His Majesty." Wang Ziteng gave Zili a reassurance.

But Wang Ziteng's reassurance did not reassure Zili, on the contrary she became even more worried.The matter of seizing the heir is not that simple. According to the etiquette, the grandson should be the first heir to the throne.But if things in the world follow the etiquette, there will be no troubles.The grandfather and father supported the great-grandson, that is to say, the lives and wealth of the Wang family were betted. If they were in the wrong team, the entire Wang family would be buried with them.

Thousands of miles away, there are people in Jinling City who are as worried as Zili.Taking advantage of Jia Daishan's birthday, the Jia family's two houses are having wine in the garden of Rongguo Mansion.Jia Daishan was not in the mood to drink, he winked at his nephew, Jia Jing immediately understood what his uncle meant, and the two left the table to go to the study.