The palace at the west end of Qingyang City is home to most of the concubines who had children of the third emperor of the previous dynasty. There are even old concubines left by the second emperor who still live here. The treatment in the palace is the same as that of Qingyang Palace. There is no difference, until he retires and is buried in the imperial mausoleum.
A separate courtyard away from the palace is home to the widows of Prince Ni and Prince Bai. After Prince Ni rebelled in Taiji Palace, his family was originally sent to Yunzhong County to guard the border by the late emperor. Unexpectedly, when Huo Cheng came to power, he wanted to find an excuse to abolish the palace. The Lord of An Guo and his son Xiu took them back to Qingyang. No one paid attention to them. They just lived here, as if they were forgotten by everyone in this inconspicuous corner.
Today, Prince Ni's biological mother, Mrs. Chen of the Chen family, is coaxing the crown prince's widow, a five-year-old girl, and a seven-year-old boy in the courtyard. She is telling stories about the past in the East Palace. Now they have been demoted to common people, and they have not been here until now. To restore the status of the clan, it can be said that Prime Minister Huo used the crown prince's widow to depose the young master Xiu and then abandoned them as if they had never existed. The upper echelons of the imperial court were constantly fighting among gods and gods and were busy fighting among themselves, and no one paid attention to them. They have been living in the palace like this. Anyway, their life is much better than going to the border to guard the border.
At this time, Cui, the wife of the reverse prince and the former princess, saw Mrs. Chen telling the two children about the East Palace. She stepped forward angrily and took the children's hands and said coldly: "I have told you so many times. Stop mentioning the past. Do you still want to be sent thousands of miles away to guard the border? Do you still think our life is not miserable enough? "
Mrs. Chen was furious with her daughter-in-law, and she didn't have a good face. She said, "If your grandfather Cui Yan hadn't instigated my son to rebel, how could I have fallen like this? It's all because of you, a bitch. Your Cui family killed my son, otherwise how could it be the turn of that bitch Zhao Ji’s child to take over in the world of Jin Dynasty now.”
Cui said sarcastically: "Old woman, you say whatever you want, you'd better go out and shout loudly. Can you try to see if the current emperor will let us go? Humph!"
Mrs. Chen cursed angrily: "Bitch, I was once the princess of the Chen Kingdom. I gave birth to a dragon son for the late emperor. I am your mother-in-law and the grandma of the children. You talk about an old woman all day long. How can you not even do it?" There is no distinction between superior and inferior?"
Ms. Cui sneered and said: "Old lady, why are you still putting on such a stinky airs in front of me? We have long been dismissed as common people. Even the old lady in the palace doesn't look down on us. Do you really think you are the queen mother?" ?You are not allowed to talk about things in the East Palace from now on. Don’t forget that your eldest grandson Mu Qi is still guarding the border and clearing up wasteland in Yunzhong County. I don’t want to cause trouble for myself. I just want to lead my children to live a peaceful life. "
Mu Qi is the eldest son of the former prince. He will be sixteen this year. The prince was defeated in the war and was not recalled to Qingyang because of his sensitive status. Mrs. Chen didn't say anything when she heard Cui mention her eldest grandson Mu Qi. He just thought about himself and sighed: "If my son could ascend the throne, how could Qier still be guarding the border and reclaiming wasteland now? Why is it like this? Why is it like this... Alas! This is all fate."
Right Prime Minister Zhao Chu, who had been standing outside the door and listened for a long time, nodded and motioned to the guards following him to open the door.
After the guards pushed open the courtyard door, they sang loudly: "Xiangguo Zhao has arrived."
Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Ji were shocked when they heard this. They did not expect that the dignified Prime Minister would come here to see them. They hurried forward and knelt down to greet them: "The daughter of the people pays homage to the Prime Minister."
They lost their status as members of the clan, and when the court officials arrived, they had no choice but to kneel down and greet them with a salute.
Zhao Chu said: "No courtesy."
After Mrs. Chen got up, she felt a little panicked when she saw Zhao Chu. It turned out that Prime Minister Zhao was actually Zhao Ji's biological brother.
Zhao Chu glanced at the former Crown Princess Cui and said, "Ms. Cui, can you take the children and retreat?"
"Yes, the daughter of the people is leaving now." Mrs. Cui took the two children to another courtyard.
Seeing this, Zhao Chu sighed in his heart, the crown princess who was so glorious back then has actually become like this.
Seeing that there were no outsiders at the scene, Zhao Chu pointed to the imperial physician beside him, Li Chai, and said, "Mrs. Chen, do you still remember the imperial physician Li?"
Mrs. Chen pretended to be calm and said: "I don't remember the civilian woman. Do you have any advice, Mr. Zhao?"
Zhao Chu said: "I don't take advice seriously. Does Mrs. Chen know why the late emperor sent you to the cold palace?"
Mrs. Chen's expression changed slightly and she said, "I don't know."
Zhao Chu saw that Mrs. Chen was stubborn, so he changed the question and asked: "Mrs. Chen, do you know why Prince Bai wanted to remonstrate with troops?"
When Mrs. Chen heard this, she thought of her son, and felt a twinge of pain in her heart. She also thought that Zhao Ji's son was now in charge of the country. She stared at Zhao Chu for a long time, and she felt something clear in her heart.
Her lips trembled, she pointed at Zhao Chu and yelled: "Is it you? Are you the one behind this? Did you kill my son?"
Zhao Chu sneered and said, "Mrs. Chen, you are talking nonsense. The rebel prince has rebelled against his superiors. He is seeking death himself. How can he be lazy about his true nature?"
Mrs. Chen's eyes were filled with resentment. She stared at Zhao Chu and laughed miserably: "What an empty talk? Do you think I will believe it? Zhao Chu! Zhao Chu, I have to admire you. After more than twenty years, I never expected that Even the late Emperor looked away..."
She glanced at the imperial doctor Ling Li Chai again. She knew that it was impossible to pretend to be stupid, so she simply showed her cards and said: "That's right, Li Chai, your master, the imperial physician Zhang, did secretly poison Zhao Zhao under the pressure of me." That bitch Ji.”
Li Mo's eyes changed and he cursed angrily: "You poisonous woman, you are so cruel. When the Dongchuang Incident happened, the late emperor was so angry that he executed my master's entire family. You poisonous woman is still alive now. Why don't you go?" die?"
Although Zhao Chu had known the truth for a long time, he was still so angry that he was trembling slightly when he heard Mrs. Chen admit that he had killed his own sister.
Zhao Chu asked in a deep voice: "Why?"
Mrs. Chen said in a solemn tone: "Then you still need to ask? Of course it is for my son's position as the crown prince. Back then, the late emperor loved that bitch Zhao Ji to an unreasonable level, and he actually wanted to make her a queen? What if she became the queen? , can my son keep his position as prince?"
Zhao Chu said in a deep voice: "The late emperor was just on a whim at that time. The late emperor knew very well what was important in the country and the country. I, Zhao, and Cui Xiangguo also wrote a letter together with Cui Xiangguo to persuade the late emperor not to make my sister the queen. My sister also refused in every possible way. The late emperor only Let's leave it at that, but I didn't expect that you, a poisonous woman with a vicious heart, would actually attack my sister. Later, after the late emperor found out the truth, he did not pursue you further because you, a poisonous woman, were the biological mother of the prince. Otherwise, he would have You are a poisonous woman who can be cut into pieces with a thousand cuts."
Mrs. Chen sneered and said: "What's the use of your admonitions? The late emperor has long been obsessed with that bitch. Even if he wakes up for a moment, he will still have to think about it sooner or later. If she doesn't have an heir, it's okay, but she happens to have another child." A son, so she must die.”
Zhao Chu sneered and said: "Okay, very good, Mrs. Chen, if you are in the first year of junior high school, don't blame me for being in the fifteenth year. Mr. Bai is indeed a good prince. It's a pity, what a pity. He became Prince Li. From now on, in the history books It will only be recorded that the rebellious prince attempted regicide, he is really a person who will be infamy for thousands of years!"
This is equivalent to Zhao Chu admitting in front of her that the prince was killed by Zhao. Now not only has his sister's son been promoted to the emperor, I have also become the right prime minister. I have great power. Can you help it? What am I? The so-called murder is heart-breaking!
Mrs. Chen was stabbed in a painful spot. She was so angry that she trembled all over. She roared and rushed over with a ferocious expression: "Zhao Chu, I will fight with you. You are a thief and a traitor. You will not die in peace..."
Mrs. Chen just rushed forward, but was kicked to the ground by Zhao Chu. How could she, a female class, be able to fight against a man? She couldn't help but fell to the ground and cried loudly. She kept shouting "Prince Bai's" in her crazy mouth. Nickname...
Zhao Chu sneered and said: "A big thief who stole the country? I can't afford this. This country is still owned by the surname Jiang, and it has not changed for more than 800 years. Your son is the blood of the late emperor. Could it be that my sister's son is Isn’t it the blood of the late emperor? Why can only your son sit in this beautiful country? My sister’s son can’t sit in it?”
After Zhao Chu said this, he breathed a long sigh of relief. It seemed that the hatred that had been suppressed in his heart for more than twenty years had been released. He felt relieved when he looked at the crazy woman rolling on the ground in front of him.
Yang Jin, the chamber manager who had been following Zhao Chu on behalf of the emperor, saw all this and could not help but feel chills running down his spine. He never imagined that Zhao Chu, who seemed to be upright, could be such a vicious and vicious person?
He vaguely felt that the Taiji Palace Incident and the later power of Prime Minister Huo were actually part of Zhao Chu Bu Bu's shocking plan. However, he didn't know that this dignified Prime Minister Zhao had gone through many steps in order to dethrone Young Master Sheng to the throne of God. What kind of crazy thing did you do?
At this moment, Yang Jin looked at Zhao Chu with even more fear. This man was far-sighted and cunning. He was definitely a tyrant among lords and an old thief among old thieves. Fortunately, Zhao Chu was in his own camp.
Zhao Chu turned to Yang Jin and said, "Eunuch Yang, give this crazy woman your majesty's royal wine, and let this poisonous woman go down below to meet her good son."
"No!" Yang Jin stepped forward and came to Mrs. Chen to declare: "Your Majesty decreed that the criminal Mrs. Chen, because of jealousy, killed Queen Mother Zhao Ji and died unexpectedly. Her crimes are too numerous to be written down. Even if she is deposed as a commoner, she cannot be punished with death. Forgive me, thinking that the guilty woman Chen is the biological mother of Prince Li, I specially give her whole body to keep. I admire her here."
Yang Jin saw Mrs. Chen still rolling on the ground and going crazy. With a wave of his hand, three strong eunuchs rushed to hold Mrs. Chen. One eunuch stepped forward and pinched her mouth open and poured the poisonous wine into her throat.
Within a quarter of an hour, Mrs. Chen was trembling like a dead fish, curled up in a circle, and made a strange noise from her mouth. It was obvious that the poison had taken hold. As her whole body was in pain, she became silent after a while.
Yang Jin stepped forward and asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, you have full authority to handle this matter. Now that Chen is dead, can she be buried in the Lishan Emperor's mausoleum as a concubine of the late emperor?"
Zhao Chu said coldly: "How could such a poisonous woman go to see the late emperor? Abandon her body in the wilderness."
Hearing this, Yang Jin felt a chill in his heart and asked: "Master Xiangguo, what should we do with the Crown Prince's widow Cui?"
Zhao Chu said: "The Cui family still has some sense. Your Majesty has also explained that wrongs have their owners and debts have their owners. The Cui family has been demoted to a commoner and is not suitable to stay in the palace. Let's follow the old emperor's practice and send them to Yunzhong County to guard the border. .”
"No!" Yang Jin went to attend to his errands without mentioning anything.
