In Huilin Palace, an old woman was sitting on a futon and reciting scriptures silently.
The candlelight flickered, reflecting on the woman's smooth face. It was vaguely visible that she had delicate eyebrows and soft features. She must have been a beauty when she was young!
Suddenly, a shadow flashed, and a man in black was standing in front of the old woman.
The old woman didn't seem to be aware of it, her eyes were slightly closed, and she was mumbling something to herself.
The man was not in a hurry and just stood aside silently.
After a while, the old woman opened her eyes, saw the person in front of her, and smiled slightly,
"The cold wind on winter nights is biting, and Eunuch Wu has worked tirelessly. I am sorry that I have missed you so much, but I hope you will forgive me!"
Father-in-law Wu Xue from Xichang was complaining in his heart at this moment, knowing that I was freezing in the middle of the night, you still had to finish reciting the scriptures. Can't you continue reading after I have finished speaking?
Wu Xue put away her usual aura of solemnity and gloom, and a kind smile appeared on her face.
"The empress defeated the old slave, but the empress dedicated herself to the Buddha, which made the old slave admirable. She was able to recite the Diamond Sutra backwards and forwards. This shows that the empress devoted herself to the Buddha. The Buddha will definitely bless the empress to fulfill her wishes!"
The old woman smiled faintly,
"Thank you, father-in-law! I am an old man, but I am no more relied upon by your majesty than your father-in-law. I have a lot of work. I wish I could spend all my time eating and sleeping helping your majesty take care of things. I am lonely in the palace, and I always have to find something to kill my time."
Eunuch Wu laughed dryly, a hint of sarcasm slipped through his eyes, and dissipated in an instant. He still said respectfully,
"My dearest lady, you are a blessed person. This old slave has a hard life and is valued by the saints. He is just supporting this old bone and doing it with difficulty."
The old woman put down the beads in her hand and raised her eyes to look at Wu Xue, with ridicule and exploration in her eyes.
"Is it difficult to do so? Eunuch Wu is too self-effacing to make Concubine Jiao Xian and Chen Zhuoxin play around!"
Wu Xue's expression remained as usual,
"This old slave is working for the Holy One. Concubine Xian and Duke Chen are bent on preparing the throne for the Thirteenth Prince. Unfortunately, the Holy One has no intention of setting up a heir at the moment. I can only make Concubine Xian and Duke Chen busy in vain."
Wu Xue raised her eyebrows and inadvertently raised her voice and said,
"You, on the other hand, brought up the death of Chen Meiren in the palace, and encouraged the second prince to start fighting for the position of crown prince outside the palace. Tell me, you ignored the good concubine and disturbed the second prince's thoughts. , a good and wealthy prince is gone, and an ambitious prince has appeared, you are not idle, are you?"
The old woman's face darkened slightly.
"Eunuch Wu, although I am different from you and do not collude with you, I have never revealed anything about you, father-in-law. Why do you need to interfere with my affairs?"
Wu Xue also put away her smile,
"I would like to ask my empress, do you really think that the fifth prince can inherit the throne? I advise you to calm down."
The old woman didn't take it seriously;
"If Eunuch Wu is here as a lobbyist, please come back. Don't wait until I can't help but dig out the poison you are carrying. It will make everyone lose face."
Wu Xue sneered,
"Since I dare to use poison in the palace, I am not afraid of being known by others. But you, Mrs. Chen, poisoned the wife of General Ji and the eldest daughter of Duke Li. Later, you encouraged Concubine Jiao Xian to poison Duke Li and his son. Poisoning, and now, we are doing everything we can to protect the two girls of the Ji family. The good guys and the bad guys are all done by the queen alone. Why don't you leave some way for us, don't you eat alone?"
The old woman was not angry at all. She raised her hand and stroked her temple, where two locks of black and white hair were hanging down. She smiled calmly and said,
"Eunuch, here, please call me Concubine Bai!"
Wu Xue felt a little sullen, and then smiled again, very playfully.
"Your Majesty is also afraid. I don't understand. Why would your Majesty put a treasure as big as Ji Min's in the Marquis of Huai'an?"
Concubine Bai looked at Wu Xue with deep meaning in her eyes,
"You really want to know?"
Wu Xue nodded!
This was indeed something that puzzled him.
The person in front of me is actually Chen Meiren, the biological mother of the fifth prince!
The one who really died that year was Concubine Bai.
Concubine White and Beauty Chen were very similar in height and figure. After Chen Meiren "committed suicide", she hid in the palace as "Concubine White".
Chen Meiren once helped the Lord do many shady things, one of which was poisoning Princess Herui.
When the emperor succeeded to the throne, he was wary of the power and prestige of Princess Herui, so he thought of letting Princess Herui "recuperate all the year round."
Unexpectedly, the poisoning was revealed, and the most bizarre thing was that Princess Ruichang and Concubine Shangguan Shu were poisoned at the same time. However, this poison was not the poison given to Chen Meiren by the emperor, but another "gu" that had been slipped out. poison"!
Princess Herui was furious, and the emperor had no choice but to hand over Chen Meiren.
However, Chen Meiren is not willing to die!
When the emperor was still the sixth prince, Chen Meiren worked as a maid in the prince's mansion.
The emperor was very kind to Chen Meiren at that time. Chen Meiren also thought that the emperor was a trustworthy person and was loyal to the emperor. She also secretly helped the emperor to do many shady things.
Princess Ruichang lost her hand this time, and Chen Meiren felt that she could not be completely blamed.
If the emperor had not had evil thoughts towards Princess Herui, he would not have been taken advantage of.
However, there was no way to reason with the emperor, and the poison was indeed his own doing. In order to give an explanation to Princess Ruichang, the emperor had no choice but to let go of Chen Meiren!
Having been doing secret things for the emperor all year round, Chen Meiren was forced and took the initiative to learn some techniques, including disguise, and self-defense skills.
Of course, the more important thing is that Chen Meiren is no longer the little maid who obeys orders. She has learned how to complete tasks better while preserving herself through years of obeying orders.
At the same time, she began to find a way out for herself step by step.
After entering the palace, she has found several suitable "replacements".
Concubine Bai accidentally broke her secret. Concubine Bai must die!
But Chen Meiren still has a clear conscience and allows Mrs. Bai to make a request, and Chen Meiren can try to satisfy it.
Concubine Bai smiled bitterly and said,
"There is almost no one in my natal family. There was a flood at home when I was young, and I was the only one who was saved. Later, I went to the capital to seek refuge with my distant relatives and survived. Later, in order to repay the kindness of my relatives and to find a way out, I entered the palace. It was so helpless. It's okay to live my whole life without a companion. But I don't feel at ease because I haven't repaid the kindness of the family who adopted me."
Wu Xue asked tentatively,
"The relative of Concubine Bai is the Marquis of Huai'an?"
Chen Meiren nodded,
"Talk about it, Concubine Bai wants to call Mrs. Hong her cousin. Mrs. Hong took in Concubine Bai, but she never thought that a kind thought would give her descendants such an opportunity to gain wealth."
Wu Xue sighed inexplicably. People like them were basically walking on the edge of a knife. If they were not protected, they would not be able to see the sun tomorrow.
It's good for Princess Bai. She knows why she died and can fulfill one wish before she dies.
How many guilty or innocent people have lost their lives inexplicably!
The emperor's treatment of Chen Meiren will indeed chill Meiren's heart.
However, working one's life for the master and taking the blame for the master seems to be an inevitable outcome!
Chen Meiren saw what Wu Xue was thinking and said,
"Do you think I'm blaming the emperor?"
Wu Xue was noncommittal.
Wu Xue couldn't say whether Chen Meiren blamed the emperor or not.
However, the emperor really dislikes the fifth prince born to Chen Meiren!
Also, when I see the fifth prince, I will think of his "missing" mother. The key is that the "missing" mother offended the eldest princess!
Or, what the emperor is unwilling to face is his own failure!
The majestic king of a country is actually controlled by his own sister-in-law!
But ask yourself, Princess Herui did not overly exercise power or interfere in government affairs. Is it just because of Princess Herui's status as the "concubine" that the emperor was displeased?
The emperor's mother had a low status and had been raised by Princess Lu.
Neither the biological mother nor the adoptive mother is the father’s real wife!
Forget it, this is the emperor's family matter, he doesn't need to worry about it.
Chen Meiren shook her head,
"From the first day I did these shady things for the emperor, I was prepared to be abandoned by the emperor at any time and at any time. Moreover, it was true that I failed to do the job well and messed up the matter. Not only did I not weaken Chang The power of the princess, on the contrary, aroused the anger of the eldest princess, who once wanted the emperor to abdicate and become the overlord, so that the prince could inherit the throne."
This matter is unknown to the outside world, but Wu Xue knows it.
Later, the Prince of Guangning County and the Prince of Jiangxia County strongly objected, saying that the previous battles between several princes had seriously damaged the vitality of the court, and there were also floods in the Yellow River, a severe drought in the south of the Yangtze River, troops from the north, and no troops from the south. Peace.
If there is a change of throne at this time, the Great Zhou Dynasty will be in turmoil.
Once the great Zhou Dynasty is unstable, how can you, the eldest princess, face your ancestors?
You and Rui, whose family will you be the "eldest princess"?
The eldest princess accused the emperor of "taking the throne improperly" and accused the princes of Guangning and Jiangxia of "aiding the evil".
Wu Xue was guarding him at that time, but he was not the emperor's most important confidant at that time. He didn't know whether the eldest princess's accusation was justified, but he didn't care.
Whether he was in the right position or not, the emperor was also the prince and grandson of Zhou Dynasty, and had nothing to do with Wu Xue.
And all Wu Xue's glory and power were given by the current Holy Emperor, and that's enough!
The Holy One has always suspected that the prince is not dead. At least some people are deliberately obstructing the investigation of the truth of the prince's disappearance. They even think that the prince's disappearance is related to Princess Ruichang!
The military expenditures consumed in suppressing the "Green Tea Cult" far exceeded the actual cost of suppressing the bandits.
The emperor suspected that someone was taking advantage of the rise and annihilation of the "Green Tea Cult" to secretly transfer money from the treasury.
The "Green Tea Sect" is an attempt to test the reality of Da Zhou.
And some people hiding in the dark want to take advantage of the jealousy of the kings and ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the natural and man-made disasters to overthrow the throne of the Holy Emperor, and even subvert the power of the Great Zhou Dynasty!
Chen Meiren continued,
"The emperor is very suspicious, so the prince has become a fish in the pond. I have no ill intentions towards the prince. You go to find your prince, and it does not prevent me from paving the way for the fifth prince. It's just to see which of us has faster feet. Why do you need to be aggressive, father-in-law?"
