"Although your mother is married to someone else, I'm afraid Mu Lingqing still can't rest assured..."
Qin Zeng nodded slowly, "My mother is full of energy, but too naive. She thinks that what has passed should be in the past. But Mu Lingqing doesn't seem to think so."
"Sir, do you suspect that the Prince of Zhenbei's rebellion is related to her?"
"Not only the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, but also most of the corruption cases involving my maternal grandfather's Xiao family were secretly carried out by her."
Li Qingyi was horrified when he heard this, "Mu Lingqing put a lot of thought into the sixth prince, but in the end, the sixth prince ended up sleeping with your mother. For her who has a strong self-esteem, it is tantamount to a great shame and humiliation. From this perspective, She will definitely not allow your mother to successfully become the sixth prince’s concubine.”
Qin Zengdao: "My mother had an accident not long before she got married. The candidate for the sixth prince's main concubine was finally vacant, and Mu Lingqing became his concubine."
"In order to marry the sixth prince, Mu Lingqing will inevitably take advantage of her friendship with your mother. This may not be a good experience for her."
Mu Lingqing never felt that she was inferior to Xiao Lanyu, but he had to borrow her face even to become the sixth prince's concubine. This was undoubtedly an extremely angry thing for Mu Lingqing.
"But why is she still taking action against the Xiao family? Isn't your mother already..."
"Because she didn't find my mother's body. It's always unsettling to see her alive and dead and not her body. And not long after, the sixth prince succeeded to the throne and ruled the world. In addition to her, there were several other lurkers in the harem. My old friends include the eldest girl who has served me since childhood, and my childhood sweetheart cousin. Mu Lingqing is nothing special to the emperor. She can become a concubine because she relies on my mother. She is unwilling to be angry, but she I had no choice but to fall into deep resentment every day, and would even insult my mother in my dreams. I was afraid that she would come back one day and steal everything from her."
Li Qingyi believed deeply, "Given the emperor's preference for your mother, if she comes back, I'm afraid the emperor will immediately welcome her into the palace. Not only will he take away everything Mu Lingqing has, but he may also become the queen and always be above her."
"You are right, so Mu Lingqing came up with an extremely sinister idea."
Li Qingyi understood, "The Xiao family has been labeled as corrupt and bribery. Even the emperor can't save them. This will destroy the roots of the Xiao family and leave your mother with no one to rely on even if she comes back. In addition, the daughter of the guilty minister, You can’t become a queen either.”
"Hmph, this was Concubine Mu's way of preventing trouble before it happened, and it was also a way to vent her hatred for my mother, but she probably didn't expect that my mother would really come back. At that time, Concubine Mu had been in the palace for more than two years, except for I failed to give birth to a son and a half, but everything else went smoothly. Suddenly, I heard that my mother was still alive and was welcomed into the palace by the emperor. She fell into madness and mobilized all the power of the Mu family to stop my mother. Enter the palace."
"Then does your mother want to enter the palace?"
Qin Zeng shook his head, "My mother was disheartened when she learned that the Xiao family was destroyed. She went to the palace to see the emperor because she just wanted to know what happened to the Xiao family. The emperor wanted to welcome her into the palace as his queen, but was blocked, and my mother did not She didn't fight, but my father, who was the then General Zhenbei, married her. Of course, given my mother's situation at the time, the General Zhenbei Palace did not agree with the marriage. It was my father who insisted and finally married my mother. .”
Li Qingyi felt that there should be another encounter between his parents, but now was not the time to ask about this. She calculated the time in her mind and asked: "Your mother disappeared unexpectedly, and the Xiao family was later involved in a corruption case. After that, your mother returned Jingcheng...haven't you asked her where she went?"
Qin Zeng's eyes seemed to be stagnant in the night outside the window. He shook his head and said, "My mother was deeply shocked when she found out that something happened to the Xiao family. She was depressed day and night, and her health became very poor. When she passed away, I was still How could I know how to ask such a question when I was young? Moreover, at that time, I had no idea about the entanglement between the three of them. I had never even entered the palace before."
"It seems that your mother intentionally kept you away from people in the palace, whether it was the emperor who had a relationship with her or her old friend Mu Lingqing when she was young..."
"It's probably like this. Later, my mother died of a serious illness, and my father was away at war. My grandmother didn't like me very much because of my mother. Only the wet nurse my father arranged for me stayed with me every day. When I was six years old, someone She wanted to assassinate me, so she tried her best to escape with me, but she was seriously injured and died soon after. She had a daughter, two years older than me, who was very courageous and took me to hide among beggars. For a while, until the emperor found me."
"After that, you arrived in the palace? Why didn't the emperor send you to your father?"
"The emperor did have someone contact my father immediately. When my father learned that someone was attacking me, he was frightened and asked the emperor to take care of me temporarily until he returned to Beijing to take me back. Not long after, my father resisted the enemy's invasion. He made great achievements in war and was granted the title of King of the North, but not long after, someone came up with evidence that my father collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country, saying that my father was treasonous."
Most of the ministers who performed meritorious service were conferred as county kings, while Gongsun Changfeng was named the King of Zhenbei. Li Qingyi guessed that this may not be because of Qin Zeng's mother.
As for the serious crime of conspiracy, there have been many cases throughout the ages, and many people were wrongly accused. However, under the circumstances at the time, it may not have been possible to find out clearly. Many of the cases were vindicated only after more than ten years or even decades.
Li Qingyi knew that the matter was complicated, so he temporarily put aside the affairs of Zhenbei Palace and asked: "Is that why you entered the palace and hid with the prince?"
"Yes, the emperor asked me to take the place of a young eunuch, and the wet nurse's daughter went to the queen's palace, which is the eldest maid Xirong beside the queen."
Li Qingyi was surprised.
But Qin Zeng did not say much about this matter, but continued to talk about Concubine Mu: "Before I was fifteen years old, no one had discovered my identity. But as I got older, my eyebrows became more and more... I look like my mother, even if the emperor has done his best to bury the clues of the past, Concubine Mu will inevitably notice me."
"Has she guessed your identity? Then...she has remained calm?"
"How is it possible? Over the years, she has tried every means to get rid of me."
Li Qingyi's throat froze when he heard this.
"If your parents and the Xiao family were all caused by her, with such deep hatred, of course she would not dare to keep you."
For such a young child, he had no protection from his biological mother, and his father was no longer around. He was hiding in Tibet during the hunt in the Middle East. Then his father was wrongly accused of rebellion, and he had no choice but to go to the palace to seek protection from the emperor.
Li Qingyi didn't need to think about it to know that his invulnerable mind should have been sharpened bit by bit from worries and fears at that time.
Li Qingyi almost felt the same way. In an environment that he had absolutely no control over, he felt that kind of fear, that kind of helplessness, and wanted to quickly annihilate himself in the darkness and wake up from the nightmare.
"I walked on thin ice in the palace and was cautious. When I was able to touch the darkness, the truth became farther and farther away from me. All doubts disappeared in time and became more and more difficult to figure out."
"So, what the lord said before, she will be controlled by others for the rest of her life, is it Concubine Mu? What tricks did she come up with to make lord such a difficult situation?"
Qin Zeng raised his eyes and glanced at Li Qingyi, "Do you know what to eat?"
Li Qingyi was stunned.
Duishi originally refers to eating face to face, that is, eating together. The situation in the palace when eunuchs and maids formed a nominal couple was known as duishi.
"Concubine Mu wants to find you a match?"
"It's still the clear matchmaker who is getting married."
Li Qingyi suddenly felt a small fire in his heart, "Is there something wrong with her?"
Qin Zeng was pleased by her slightly angry look and said: "She has already made it clear to the emperor. What she said is nothing more than that I have served the emperor for many years and have made great achievements. She said that I am still so young and cannot bear to be alone for the rest of my life. She even wants to Sacrifice a daughter of the Mu family to fulfill my wish."
Li Qingyi simply didn't know what to say. Concubine Mu's behavior was really disgusting!
But then she thought of something, "Wait! When Mu Ying was so crazy... obsessed with you, why didn't Concubine Mu, as her biological mother, fulfill her wishes?"
Qin Zeng sneered, "She hates my mother so much, how can she let her daughter love her son? Besides, she will kill me sooner or later, so how can she sacrifice her daughter."
Li Qingyi was speechless.
Therefore, it doesn't matter to Concubine Mu that she sacrifices other members of her clan.
"She must have told the Mu family secretly that you are not a real eunuch. Otherwise, how could the daughter of the Mu family be forced to marry a eunuch?"
No matter how high and powerful Qin Zeng is, if he is really a eunuch, marrying him will mean you will be a widow.
"But they definitely don't know that whoever Concubine Mu chooses is equivalent to abandoning someone. She will kill you one day. Will your food be cured?"
Qin Zeng was noncommittal. He had long been accustomed to Concubine Mu's many tricks over the years.
Li Qingyi was silent and asked: "My lord, if you want to vindicate the Xiao family and the Zhenbei Palace, you must first capture Concubine Mu and even the Mu family. This is not easy. The Mu family has grown into a towering tree. Does the emperor... know all this? ?”
Qin Zeng lowered his eyes, "Of course I know, but there are many things that cannot be controlled by one's own control. For an emperor, the people of the country should always come first."
Li Qingyi felt that Qin Zeng treated the emperor as his father's relative, and couldn't bear the knot in his heart. He explained: "I think the emperor may not have done nothing. People like Concubine Mu who want to climb to the highest place will never get the lower position." , the inner suffering and anxiety, isn’t it a kind of torture? Furthermore, when the Mu family collapses at its peak in the future, it will be the biggest blow and punishment to her. "
The emperor wanted to take advantage of the Mu family to the extreme, and then tear them from their high birth like bones and cramps. This was probably an emperor's way of revenge.
Qin Zeng's face gradually softened, and he looked at Li Qingyi and said, "A woman must be able to hit the point more directly when dealing with a woman. You helped me deal with the candidates selected by the Mu family. I helped you before, so it's even."
The corners of Li Qingyi's mouth twitched and he said he didn't want to repay...
