Bianjing Palace, just after Zishi.
The sky was slowly falling with light snow. Zhao Zhen read the memorial about the situation in the northwest all night, pulled on the fox velvet robe on his body, and heard an inaudible growl from his stomach.
The internal official standing by was very attentive and immediately asked softly, although he remained calm: "Official, it's freezing cold. If you want to eat something, please tell your servants. The younger one can go to the royal kitchen." Prepare."
If Liang Chuan were present, he would definitely recognize this internal official. He was actually Eunuch Wei who went to Qingyuan to purchase tributes for the imperial court.
This guy took a lot of bribes from Liangchuan in Qingyuan, but it was not useless. He brought the white sugar and brown sugar produced in Liangchuan in Fengshan to the capital, letting the powerful people in Bianjing know that there is such good stuff in the south!
Eunuchs have always been the embodiment of evil in movies and TV shows, but in the eyes of ancient emperors, these rootless people were closer than the emperor's relatives!
Because they have no offspring, there is no need to worry about them rebelling, and everything they have is given by the royal family. Who would think of having trouble with their parents for food and clothing?
Scholars are full of bad ideas, warriors are disobedient, and after thousands of years of torment, eunuchs are the best slaves!
After conquering Qingyuan, Eunuch Wei returned to the palace and won the favor of Empress Dowager Liu and the officials. He was promoted from Neizangtang to Zhao Zhen to serve him. He was also flattered and served Zhao Zhen comfortably, which was a great pleasure. Favor.
The emperor's daily life is generally fixed. As the saying goes, the dragon body is important, otherwise it will be the internal officials like them who have failed in their duties. But the front line was tight. Zhao Zhen had been paying attention to the movements of the Western bandits for days. Memorials like snowflakes were coming to Bianjing. It was snowing again in the dead of night. Although there was a blazing charcoal fire in the palace, his knees were still cold after standing for a long time.
Zhao Zhen could only click his tongue. What he wanted to say was already known to Eunuch Wei.
The soft candlelight could be seen through the window sill and the snowflakes falling outside the palace. Zhao Zhen slowly put down Han Qi's memorial. This scene aroused his endless thoughts.
After a quarrel with Queen Guo that night, he rode straight out of the west gate and arrived at Zhangjiazhuang. The village was so strange that there was a sense of freshness in everything. Even Aguo, the envoy of the Japanese country, was there.
Especially the taste of the mutton soup was so strong and exciting that it made me choke with tears and cough. But after I got used to it, I almost swallowed my tongue. The whole table ate meat and drank wine. It was so enjoyable!
I really miss the taste of red mutton soup.
Zhao Zhen couldn't help but ask: "Is there mutton soup in the dining room?"
This mutton soup is an unusual mutton soup. Zhao Zhen wanted to try the spicy mutton soup he had in Zhangjiazhuang that day again, but he regretted it as soon as he said it. Dauchi rarely raised live sheep in captivity and had to eat mutton. We also need to tell the dining room to prepare it in advance. Where can we eat mutton in the dead of night?
Eunuch Wei gave full play to his talent of being a bitch. When he heard that his master was hungry, he was more anxious than anyone else to get angry. Isn't it just a bowl of mutton soup?
The servants will go to the royal kitchen and cook for the officials right away! If the officials want to eat mutton soup, that is their blessing! Presumably the servants in the imperial dining room did not prepare anything for the officials. The officials will wait for a while and the servants will go and come back! "
Zhao Zhen called to Eunuch Wei and asked, "Can the dining room make hot pot?"
Eunuch Wei had never heard of hot pot before, so he stopped and asked blankly: "The official family... what kind of pot...?"
Zhao Zhen sighed in disappointment and said: "Forget it, don't bother them. If I decree to eat mutton today, it will become a routine in the future. Fresh mutton will have to be slaughtered and prepared in the kitchen every night. In the long run, this loss will I don’t know how much it will cost, so let’s skip it.”
Eunuch Wei's eyes were filled with tears. He bowed to his commander and said, "The official family is so stingy with the people all over the world. It is really a blessing for us in the Song Dynasty. This servant did not pass the order and secretly cooked a mutton soup for the official family!"
Zhao Zhen thought to himself: Ordinary mutton soup is not very delicious, but it has earned a reputation as a greedy person, so forget it.
Zhao Zhen waved his hand to signal that Eunuch Wei would be excused.
Eunuch Wei stopped talking. Seeing Zhao Zhen pick up the memorial again, he hurriedly picked out the oil wick of the oil lamp, stood aside and began to grind the ink.
As an emperor, Zhao Zhen was extremely tolerant by nature, just like the name of his temple with the word Ren after his death. He once ate sand in his rice and chipped his teeth. This would have caused a family dispute for ordinary people, but he was able to tolerate it and spared the palace maids and internal officials from punishment. There are many similar things.
"The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun have not yet been liberated and the Western bandits are so rampant. Han Qi is taking charge of the battle and Fan Zhongyan is taking charge of the defense. There is some disagreement that the battle has not been defeated yet."
Zhao Zhen was a little depressed when he saw the memorial sent from the front line. There had been no military disasters in the north for decades. He never thought that Li Yuanhao would appear in the northwest this time, and he would be a difficult opponent.
Zhao Zhen was depressed when suddenly the palace maid came to report: "The official family is in trouble...!"
Eunuch Wei was furious: "What are you talking about, you bitch? Officials are good people, let's see if I don't smash your mouth!"
Eunuch Wei was about to take action. Zhao Zhen saw her hurried expression and asked, "What happened?"
The palace maid didn't dare to raise her head, but she was so anxious that she tugged at the corner of her clothes and said, "Go back to the palace, King Yong..."
Zhao Zhen stood up and shouted loudly: "What's wrong with King Yong?"
This was Zhao Zhen's life and foundation, the heir to the royal family of Zhao and Song Dynasties. Empress Dowager Liu had her eyes set on the throne, and it was only because of this prince that she could win the support of all the officials. Furthermore, there seemed to be a problem with fertility among the Taizong lineage. The eldest son, Zhao Fang, died immediately after birth. For this reason, he was absent from court for three days and lost his soul for several months. It took a few years before he and Concubine Miao gave birth to another dragon seed.
The second child, King Yong, Zhao Xin, was cared for like a treasure by Zhen. He held it in his mouth for fear of melting, and held it in his palm for fear of breaking. Recently, he had been troubled by state affairs and had not visited Concubine Miao. He did not expect bad news to come out today. !
"Back at the official house, the imperial concubine had just finished breastfeeding with the prince in the middle of the night and was sleeping soundly. Suddenly, after midnight, her face turned red and she was holding her breath and sweating violently. At first, she was crying. The imperial concubine hurriedly summoned the imperial doctor, but when the imperial doctor arrived, she couldn't help but The king's voice is like the buzzing of mosquitoes..."
"Why are you reporting now!" Zhao Zhen was so angry that his body was shaking slightly. He rushed out in the snow regardless of his thin robes. Zhao Xin's condition made him almost lose his mind.
Concubine Miao's palace was already in chaos. Concubine Miao burst into tears. When she saw Zhao Zhen coming, her soul was taken away and she collapsed directly to the ground.
When the imperial doctor saw the official coming, he immediately fell to his knees without raising his head, preparing to bear the emperor's wrath.
How could Zhao Zhen still have the mood to pay attention to these people? When he walked to Zhao Xin's bed, the palace maid said that Zhao Xin had difficulty breathing. Looking at it now, he saw that his poor son, who was not yet one month old, was originally lively and cute. How could he look as cute as before? Lying motionless on the bed, his son's face had no color at all and was as purple as a piece of pig liver, and he was still breathing.
Poor parents in the world, Zhao Zhen, who was in a state of chaos, could only hold his son and sob silently.
Concubine Miao cried and howled: "It was fine in the first half of the night, but suddenly it became like this. Oh my God, why does the child have to endure such pain when he is so young!"
Zhao Zhen came back to his senses and asked the imperial doctor: "What disease does Xin'er have?"
The imperial doctor knelt on the ground and was sweating profusely. King Yong seemed to be suffering from an emergency, but looking at the pathology, it looked more like he had eaten poison. However, this was not something he could say casually. He had no ability to prove what kind of poison caused it. , but as soon as these words were spoken, there was a bloody storm. He, a small imperial doctor, could not bear this responsibility.
"King Yong himself is ill, and his ministers are late..."
"Tell me what the disease is?"
"This disease may be similar to King Bao... I can't tell you the specific symptoms."
Anyway, imperial doctors describe premature death of children as a type of disease. Traditional Chinese medicine is not as clear-cut as Western medicine. The symptoms are described in a vague way, and laymen cannot understand them at all.
Zhao Zhen burst into tears. The poor boy turned out to be like his brother. Could it be that the second prince of the Zhao family was going to die young too.
The life of the praise king Zhao Fang was even more miserable. If Zhao Xin lived for half a year, Zhao Fang would have died as soon as he was born.
But after all, Zhao Fang lived for half a year, and Zhao Zhen's love for him had already penetrated deep into his bones. He originally hoped that his child would grow up healthily, but now he is sending a white-haired person to a black-haired person!
The possible death of Zhao Xin even alarmed Queen Mother Liu. She rushed to Concubine Miao's palace overnight and looked at Zhao Zhen's expression, and she already guessed it.
Although she wants to learn martial arts and taste the taste of being an emperor, the world is still dominated by Zhao and Song, and the people have been longing for it. She just thinks about it. If Zhao Xin dies, the inner palace will be moved again. Messy.
At this time, Queen Mother Liu also appeared, but Zhao Zhen did not connect her with the conspiracy theory. Empress Dowager Liu was also a mother herself and knew the pain of being separated from flesh and blood. She wanted to comfort Zhao Zhen but was afraid of the backlash.
Empress Dowager Liu looked at the motionless Zhao Xin, her motherly nature touched her heartstrings, and said: "The official family mourns, these quack doctors from the Taiyuan Hospital will be demoted to the common people and will never be used again. These maids and eunuchs who served King Yong will follow him." Let’s go together, Wang.”
All the maids and officials in Concubine Miao's palace knelt down and kowtowed to beg for their lives.
Zhao Zhen hates the murderous and capricious way. What crime did these palace ladies and internal officials have? The murder of two princes in the palace must be against heaven's morality. How can they hurt people's lives again and commit murder in vain?
"Mother, no, these people have done their best to take care of Xin'er. How can I be the master of indiscriminate killing? Mother, you should go and rest early. I want to spend some time with Xin'er for the last time."
Queen Mother Liu looked at these dog slaves with a stern look in her eyes, then sighed again, turned around and left without saying anything.
After taking two steps, she seemed to remember something, and said to Zhao Zhen with her back on her back: "Queen Guo has no heir, and there is no one to inherit the important affairs of Zongzui. The queen has really neglected her duty. The officials want to abolish the queen, but the Ai family has agreed."
Zhao Zhen showed no reaction, as if he couldn't hear anything. He looked at Zhao Xin, who was gradually becoming colder, with dull eyes. It didn't matter that the world belonged to him, and he had no successor. .
An urgent message sounded outside the hall: "Urgent report from the northwest!"
Empress Dowager Liu stopped the official who was reporting the news and asked, "How is the situation in the northwest?"
The official reported at the top of his lungs: "Ren Fu from the northwest led his army into the Central and Western Bandits to ambush him. He lost fifteen generals and lost 11,000 troops. The northwest is in danger!"
