sick princess

Emperor Zhaode almost wrongly blamed Empress Xu, and it was not without benefits.I don't know if it was out of guilt, Emperor Zhaode was unprecedentedly kind to Empress Xu at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, and gave Empress Xu a lot of face.

However, if she had a choice, Queen Xu would rather not have this "gift".Looking at Emperor Zhaode's face now, and thinking about why he didn't question her indiscriminately just now, Empress Xu only felt that Emperor Zhaode's hypocrisy was disgusting.

After the song ended, Baoluo, Queen Xu, and the prince dragged their exhausted bodies back to the palace.

As soon as he entered the palace, the prince waved away the eunuchs and maids serving around him, and asked Empress Xu: "Queen mother, do you believe that concubine Hui manipulated this matter?"

This time, it was Empress Xu who was almost stepping on the throne. The prince thought, no matter what, Empress Xu had to know what to do.

Although Emperor Zhaode had already given an answer, that answer may not be credible.

Empress Xu hesitated for a moment, and said: "Although the emperor said that all of this is Concubine Hui's conspiracy, I feel that what Concubine Hui said last is very likely to be true."

Seeing the crown prince and Baoluo looking at her with encouraging eyes, Empress Xu's heart warmed slightly, and her thoughts became more and more smooth: "Concubine Hui is ambitious, but her temper is not like Zhuang's, and she is not the kind of person who dares to do it directly. She will be charged for directly framing Bengong. However, if it is the imperial concubine's people who do it, she is very likely to stand by and even contribute to the flames."

"Thus, the queen mother felt that it was the imperial concubine who destroyed Aunt Changtai's glazed vase to blame the queen. Concubine Hui wanted to be the fisherman who said 'the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman wins'. Unexpectedly, after the incident failed, But being treated as a scapegoat by the imperial concubine?"

"Yes, this seems to be the work of the imperial concubine. Although concubine Hui is a little clever, she has only been in charge of the sixth palace for a short time. Her foundation in the palace is far from being comparable to that of the imperial concubine, and she is not as sophisticated as the imperial concubine. Naturally, she cannot match the imperial concubine. Concubine Xu." Empress Xu sighed: "Although I am not a smart person, I know that dealing with imperial concubines is tantamount to seeking skins from tigers. With the lessons learned by the Zhuang family, I really don't know why Concubine Hui would commit such a crime. mistake."

The Zhuang family has already been abolished by the imperial concubine. She is the best example of being used instead of using the imperial concubine.How long has it been since Concubine Hui made the same mistake again.

"Perhaps they are too conceited." Baoluo said, "Usually, people tend to underestimate their opponents and overestimate themselves."

"If this matter is really done by the imperial concubine, then she will not lose if there is no way to succeed. If it succeeds, the queen mother will be reprimanded by the queen mother and father, and she will lose face in front of everyone. In the future Naturally, he can no longer hold the power of the Sixth Palace. If he loses, as he is doing now, Concubine Hui will bear all the sins and be rejected by her father, and it will be difficult for her to do anything in the future. As far as I know, Concubine Hui is determined to replace the emperor. Concubine, for the concubine, she is also a potential enemy."

Empress Xu was silent for a while, before she said: "The imperial concubine is really good at calculating." No wonder she has been able to favor the sixth palace for so many years, and she still controls the palace affairs to death.

If a person with no tricks came to her position, he might be kicked out before his butt was hot.

"I'm thinking, we can't take the loss this time in vain, and we should let the imperial concubine taste the taste of stealing the chicken and not losing the rice." Baoluo has never been a person who is bullied. Especially in front of Zhou Minglan!The imperial concubine dared to plot against her mother, she had to make the imperial concubine pay some price, so that the imperial concubine knew that they were not soft persimmons and could be manipulated by her.

"Sister, what are your thoughts?" The prince looked at Baoluo.

"Bao Luo, don't act recklessly. The imperial concubine's position in the palace is stable and cannot be easily shaken. The Zhuang family and Concubine Hui have suffered one after another when they tried to scheme against her. You must not go head-on with her." Empress Xu looked worried.

"Don't worry, Queen Mother, I never do anything that I'm not sure about. If this matter is handled properly, maybe we can still use the imperial concubine and concubine Hui as our stepping stones to strengthen the Queen Mother's position in the palace."

The prince listened to her words, thoughtfully: "You mean..."

"Why is there so much chaos in the palace? It's because of the abuse of power by the concubines. The father favors the concubines and neglects the queen in the palace, which is the source of the chaos. This incident has taught us a lesson: this phenomenon, It's time to change." Baoluo and the prince looked at each other, their faces full of seriousness and earnestness.

"That's right, it's time for everything to return to orthodoxy. At the emperor's grandmother's birthday banquet today, many censors saw the chaos in the palace. Presumably, they must have a lot of thoughts in their hearts. I should enlighten them so that they They are better at admonishing the father."

"Exactly. I don't know much about the outside world, so I'll trouble Brother Prince to worry about it."

"My sister is humble. If my sister is a man, she must be stronger than me. My sister is my little lucky star."

Perhaps because he felt that this plan was feasible, the prince hastily consulted with his staff.This incident has just passed, the sooner you prepare, the more you will be able to catch Emperor Zhaode and the imperial concubine by surprise.

The East Palace family does not need Emperor Zhaode's illusory apology, they only need Emperor Zhaode's real promise to consolidate Empress Xu's position and restore the dignity that Empress Xu lost due to public scolding by Emperor Zhaode and the Empress Dowager.

On the second day, several officials mentioned this matter in their notes.

Ge Yushi impeached all the concubines such as the Zhuang family, concubines Hui, and the imperial concubine who had gone wrong, and said: "There are demon concubines who make chaos and corrupt the court. If you don't punish them severely, you won't be able to convince the public. If you don't Take this as a warning, this matter cannot be banned, please the emperor severely punish the three demon concubines, so as to imitate others. Now that the Zhuang family has been relegated to common people, I wonder how the emperor plans to deal with the imperial concubine and concubine Hui?"

Emperor Zhaode had a headache when he heard this, but the Zhuang family had already been relegated to the rank of a commoner and thrown into limbo.

Emperor Zhaode had already dealt with Concubine Hui's place, and she was downgraded from concubine to concubine. For Concubine Hui, this punishment was not too light. What's more, Concubine Hui's confinement still had no set period, no three to five years. If she can't get out, how can she be punished?Is it possible to compare it with Zhuang's?However, the crimes committed by concubine Hui are not as serious as Zhuang's murder of the emperor's daughter and spying on the emperor. Besides, she has a prince, even if she is concerned about the sixth prince, it is not good to just abolish her.

As for the imperial concubine, she was indeed the one who received the lightest punishment among the three.However, it was the fifth princess who was directly involved in the murder of Baoluo, and the imperial concubine could at most bear the responsibility of teaching disadvantage. She was mainly charged with spying on the emperor's trace.This crime is naturally less serious than the multiple overlapping crimes of Concubine Hui and Zhuang's.

The situation of the three people is different, how can we generalize?

Seeing Emperor Zhaode's expression, Ge Yushi added: "Of course, if the emperor wants to favor a demon concubine, I have nothing to say. However, Mr. Zhuang next to me must have something to say. "

Emperor Zhaode glanced at Mr. Zhuang who was standing below, and said nothing more.Several concubines made mistakes, and the Zhuang family was directly abolished. I always feel that when facing Master Zhuang, I feel a little sorry.

After a while, he said: "I heard that Mrs. Zhuang changed her past in the cold palace and prayed for me and Baoluo every day. It is quite sincere. After a while, I will release her and give her the title of Zhuang." Concubine." This treatment is at least similar to Concubine Hui's.

Mr. Zhuang said expressionlessly: "My humble minister thanked the emperor on behalf of the unfilial daughter of my minister, and thanked the emperor for giving her a chance to reform herself."

Ge Yushi looked at Emperor Zhaode with disappointment.He did not expect that Emperor Zhaode would rather lighten the punishment on the Zhuang family than further punish the imperial concubine and concubine Hui.That's all for concubine Hui, the key is the imperial concubine, how can she be in the position of deputy queen!

The imperial concubine's position in this position for a day is the biggest challenge to the orthodoxy of the Central Palace. Confucian scholars like Ge Yushi naturally dislike her.Even if the imperial concubine is right, Ge Yushi can pick out some mistakes for her.Not to mention, she was really caught in the wrong place now.

"Your Majesty, the old minister also has something to say." Zheng Yushi stood up with a straight face.

This is a rather old-fashioned minister. He doesn't eat oil or salt, and doesn't eat soft and hard. He became famous in the first battle because he remonstrated with the regent to return to Emperor Zhaode.Because of his achievements back then, even Emperor Zhaode would give him three points of face on weekdays. At this time, Emperor Zhaode felt a headache when he saw Zheng Yushi stand up.Looking at Zheng Yushi's face, he knew that Zheng Yushi would not say anything good.

Zheng Yushi didn't care what Emperor Zhaode was thinking. As an orthodox Confucian scholar, he had long been displeased with the status quo in Emperor Zhaode's harem, where no distinction was made between superiors and inferiors, and the kinship and concubines were unknown.In the past, nothing happened in the harem, and he could barely pretend to be deaf and dumb.But now, the fire in the harem has reached the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, so what's the point?

"The courtiers participated in the emperor's color-order-wisdom-faint, favored concubines and killed his wives, did not cultivate the inner circle, and lost personal morality, and eventually the demon concubine became the ruler, the backyard caught fire, and the monarch's prestige was swept away!"

These words caused an uproar.

It has been known for a long time that Zheng Yushi is a man who accepts death and refuses to die, but no one would have expected that Zheng Yushi would be so courageous that he would join the emperor!

Emperor Zhaode thought that Zheng Yushi might persuade him like Ge Yushi, and his words might be more radical than Ge Yushi.But he never expected that Zheng Yushi didn't mention the matter of concubines in the harem, and even pointed the finger at him directly!

"Cultivate one's body, regulate one's family, govern one's country, and bring peace to the world. Your majesty can't even cultivate one's self and regulate one's family. How can one talk about governing the country and leveling the world!"

"At the beginning, when the emperor succeeded to the throne, he once said that he wanted to be a wise king. But the emperor looks at you now, you are obsessed with women, and you listen and believe. Is this something a wise king would do?"

Zheng Yushi was heartbroken below, and Emperor Zhaode was livid above.