The Empress Dowager angrily said, "How dare you!" Hearing her arrogant words, even daring to point fingers at the Emperor, the Empress Dowager was actually mocking her, the Empress Dowager, for her dereliction of duty, her countenance turned even gloomier. She originally wanted to reprimand her, but seeing that they had already arrived at the Snow Song Palace, she remembered the purpose of her visit and had no choice but to suppress her anger for the time being. She said, "Noble Consort Yun, Aijia came here not only to see the Xuan Shuang, but also to have a chat with you."
Shen Shiyun understood and said, "Xiao Xuan, take the Xuan Shuang somewhere else to play." "Yes, Niangniang," Cheng Jiaxuan complied. Supporting the Xuan Shuang, he said, "Lord Baylor, let's not disturb Niangniang's conversation. Your servant will take you to admire the flowers, okay?" The Xuan Shuang called out in a childish voice, "Okay, let's go admire the flowers, let's go admire the flowers!" Pretending that he was limping, he slowed down. Hearing the two doors close behind him with a 'bang' sound, he followed several steps. Suddenly he stood still and pulled Cheng Jiaxuan, saying crossly, "Hey, you're really leaving?"
Cheng Jiaxuan was surprised, "What else do you want? You want to sit in a sedan chair? "The Xuan Shuang cursed," Stupid! Stupid Xiao Xuan! " Playing with his fingers, he said, "Let me ask you, my plan was flawless, how did Empress find out that I was not in the Snow Song Palace?" Cheng Jiaxuan said, "Didn't Niangniang just say that she analyzed it herself?" With a cold laugh the Xuan Shuang said, "Just because she said so, you take it seriously? First, she flaunted her intelligence, and then she warned me that no matter what I did behind her back, she would have a way to find out. She wanted me to know how to exercise restraint. Humph, I am not that obedient. "
Cheng Jiaxuan angrily said, "Who said you can't analyze it? Just now, you clearly intended to frame Master Li, and you didn't hesitate to hurt yourself to deceive the Empress Dowager's sympathy, making him unable to defend himself. Don't think I didn't see it. To be honest, this method is not honorable at all, it's a bit shameless. Master Li has treated you quite well, and this is how you repay him? "Xuan Shuang said," It's none of your business. Why don't you become his disciple? "
Cheng Jiaxuan said, "Stupid, I'm just reminding you. Even I can see it so clearly, how could Niangniang not see it? She just didn't want to embarrass you in front of the Empress Dowager, so she didn't point it out. "
Xuan Shuang sneered, "So what? Er Niang only cares about whether or not I can become a talent. As for whether or not I follow Jianghu principles, she doesn't care at all. Moreover, the origin of this person surnamed Li was unknown. He was willing to give up his position as the Wulin Alliance Head and lurked in the palace as a lowly Commander, but he seemed to be very happy about it. Nobody knew what he was up to. It was even harder to say how many secrets he and his mother had. They have hidden so many things from me, why should I be honest with them? "
Cheng Jiaxuan bit his lip. He felt so wronged that he was about to cry. Xuan Shuang's heart softened. This was his dispute with Li Yijie, there was no need for him to vent his anger on her. He said warmly, "Xiao Xuan, don't you want to know what Imperial Grandmother and my mother were talking about in that room, sneakily?" Cheng Jiaxuan's eyes were still brimming with tears, but he was the first to laugh. He said, "You are going to anger Tang Shaoshi to death. How could he have a disciple like you? How can you use the word 'sneaky' to describe it? "Xuan Shuang sternly said," The doors and windows are tightly closed, how can that not be called 'sneaky'? Tang Shaoshi must also praise me for putting what I have learned into practice. My choice of words is very appropriate. "
Cheng Jiaxuan said, "I already said we were just chatting about daily life. What's so good about it? You spent a lot of effort to escape. Now that Her Highness finally doesn't care, I'll accompany you to see the horses. Won't that be a lot more interesting? "
Xuan Shuang pursed his lips and said, "Idiot Xiao Xuan, what do you know? I just taught you not to listen and believe only one person, but you forgot again. If there's nothing good to hear, why did you deliberately avoid us? "
He also saw that several palace maids serving tea were also driven out, which further verified his words. He proudly said, "'Daily life', 'Daily life', it's just a vague way of saying it. To put it bluntly, it's just a private matter that can't be seen by others! A small matter in the imperial family is related to the lives of hundreds of people, especially those important people with power and influence. If they stomp their feet, they can immediately separate your head from your body. Do you think it's a joke? If you want to have a foothold in the palace, you must have sharp eyes and ears. Everything around you must be under your control. On the surface, you must pretend to be pure of heart and few desires. You must not compete with others in order to protect yourself. "
Cheng Jiaxuan was dizzy after listening to his reasoning. Xuan Shuang had already walked to the window, leaned over, and waved at Cheng Jiaxuan. Cheng Jiaxuan hesitated for a moment, then quickly followed.
— — —
The Empress Dowager took a sip of tea. If one looked carefully, one could see that her arms were slightly trembling. Then she put the teacup on the table and said, "Noble Consort Yun, don't be too proud too early. If Aijia wasn't at her wit's end, Aijia would never come to you for help. " Shen Shiyun smiled and said, "Of course. Otherwise, how could chenqie's small Snow Song Palace invite Empress Dowager to come? Although Xuan Shuang is loved by you, he doesn't have that much face. It's my great honor to be able to think of chenqie in time when you're in trouble. "
The Empress Dowager snorted and said, "Aijia came to you not because Aijia acknowledged you. It's just that I can't find a more suitable candidate for this matter other than you. Whatever I'm about to tell you, regardless of whether you agree to help or not, you must not reveal it to a third person. Do you hear me? " Shen Shiyun said, "Empress Dowager trusts chenqie so much to help you share your worries. Chenqie will certainly obey your orders in public, but in private, chenqie is also duty-bound."
The Empress Dowager sighed and was silent for a long time. Then she said, "What has His Majesty been busy with recently? Did he leak any information to you?" Shen Shiyun said, "His Majesty is busy with state affairs. chenqie hasn't seen him for some time." The Empress Dowager looked at her and saw her expression was normal, she couldn't tell whether she was faking it or not. Still, she wanted to find out how much she knew, so she asked, "Do you know how Emperor Taizong passed away that year?"
Shen Shiyun's expression was calm as she replied, "He 'died without any illness' in Qing Ning Palace." The Empress Dowager was still unwilling to give up. "Before entering the Great Wall, have you heard about the many secrets in the palace?" Shen Shiyun said indifferently, "Empress Dowager must be joking. Before entering the Great Wall, chenqie had not met His Majesty, how could I know?"
Thinking about the past, the Empress Dowager always felt uneasy and really didn't want to repeat it. But listening to her flawless answer, it was obvious she was pretending to be ignorant, yet she couldn't find any flaw. Since she had asked for her help, she had no choice but to say, "Actually, I don't want to talk about these past events … I was born in Mongolia's Horqin tribe. Later I became Emperor Taizong's West Palace's Fujin. Then I was conferred the title of Consort Zhuang, and now I'm the Empress Dowager. Other people see me walking step by step to the top, living a good life and being pampered, they are very envious. But they don't know that I didn't marry him willingly. "
"That's right," Shen Shiyun said, "Marriage in the palace involves political interests, not many of them are voluntary." The Empress Dowager seemed to have a deep feeling. She sighed faintly, her eyes seemed to drift to a faraway place, her thoughts also returned to the eleventh year of Tianming.
"That year, Gu Gu and I were filial to Empress Duanwen and accompanied Emperor Taizong to visit home. In the imperial capital, Shengjing, I fell in love with his younger brother at first sight. That man was Dorgon. At that time, his official position was not as high as it is now. We did have a period of sweet days. We were in love with each other and promised to each other for the rest of our lives. However, the situation was getting tense. Taizu fought with Yuan Chonghuan in Ningyuan City. He was defeated and injured. Not long after, his injury worsened. Because of the depression in his heart, he vomited blood and died. Before he died, he ordered Dorgon to succeed the throne.
In fact, I was willing to be with him, but it had nothing to do with whether or not he could succeed the throne. Gu Gu Ertai and Ah Min supported Emperor Taizong to succeed the throne. They wanted to kill Dorgon and force her to be buried with him. They also put him and Dodo under house arrest in the Four Bailey Palace, making Emperor Taizong the new Great Khan of the Jin.
In order to avenge his mother, Dorgon endured the humiliation and focused on learning military strategy. In the end, he finally got the chance to lead an army. I prayed day and night, waiting for his triumphant return. At that time, Gu Gu was pregnant and wanted Emperor Taizong to marry a new concubine. He actually named me. Gu Gu didn't know that my heart was already given to someone else. She happily agreed and came to propose marriage. I immediately refused.
Gu Gu tried her best to persuade me, saying that Emperor Taizong already had a grudge against him. If I didn't agree, I was afraid it would cause dissatisfaction and we would fall into a stalemate. Just as I was in a difficult position, Dodo suddenly came back with his golden helmet and reported his brother's death. At that time, I almost collapsed and tried to kill myself several times. In the end, I found out that he was framed by Gu Gu Gu and that it was Huang Taiji behind the scenes.
Without him, there was no reason for me to live. In order to protect Dodo's life, I agreed to marry him and become a concubine. I planned to kill myself after taking my revenge. Just before the wedding, I received news that he had returned injured. At that time, I felt a thousand emotions and melancholy. I was glad that he was fine, but also sad for myself. However, I couldn't let my efforts go to waste.
After the wedding, he came to find me and scolded me for not keeping my promise. I felt guilty and didn't explain. He also slowly calmed down. We talked for a long time and finally let go of the knot in our hearts. When we realized that we were not fated to love each other, we hugged and cried. Instead, he took the initiative to comfort me and said that he would come to see me often. He told me to persevere and that there would be a day when I would be able to succeed. After that, we kept in touch. This was the only thing that helped me survive in the palace.
Paper can't wrap fire. One time, we were being intimate when Huang Taiji went to the main hall to discuss military matters. For some reason, he came back especially early that day and happened to bump into me. He was extremely angry and paced back and forth in the room like a trapped beast. He said that he wasn't afraid of losing face and that he would expose our crimes to the public, so that we, a pair of … adulterers, would be punished according to national law. I begged him bitterly and asked him to spare his life on account of our relationship as husband and wife. However, this heartless man remained indifferent.
In order to protect ourselves, we had no choice but to kill Emperor Taizong. At that time, I was in a panic. He was much calmer and called in an imperial physician. He scared and coaxed him and used both soft and hard methods to get him to go out and tell the officials that the Emperor had died. After that, he naturally killed him and gave his family a lot of silver as compensation. After that, he pushed hard and Dai Shan and the other Palace Bearers supported it. After a discussion among the kings, they unanimously elected my son Fulin as the Crown Prince. After entering the pass, the coronation ceremony would be held.
Later, I became the Empress Dowager and he became the Regent. Our statuses were different from before and it wasn't appropriate for us to do anything. After so many years of peace, my heart gradually calmed down.
But last month, after Prince Yu's funeral, for some reason, His Majesty suddenly had a sudden impulse. He said that brothers were not reliable and could turn against each other for personal gain. He also said that he suspected the real cause of His Majesty's death and planned to thoroughly investigate the past. If there was a murderer, he would punish him severely. When he said that, his expression seemed to indicate that he already had some clues. In my heart … I was really panicking. "
After the Empress Dowager finished talking about the past, it was as if she was traveling through time and space. She experienced the unbearable memory again and felt mentally and physically exhausted. Shen Shiyun pretended not to notice her embarrassment. He sipped his tea and leisurely said, "His Majesty didn't have a sudden impulse, he had been planning for a long time. He had this kind of suspicion because six years ago he heard chenqie mention a story about fratricidal brothers. However, chenqie only wanted to explain the cause of Prince Yu's death. As for the fact that it would involve niangniang's old case, it was unexpected. "
The Empress Dowager suspiciously said, "Explain the cause of death? Didn't Dodo die of smallpox last month? Could it be that there is still some secret? "
Shen Shiyun smiled and said, "It's not like that. Speaking of this matter, you really have to admire our ability to cross the sea by deceiving the world. However, chenqie was thinking for my own sake. Niangniang, please judge clearly. "
Thereupon she narrated in detail how Taizu's brothers rebelled against the Ming, how they fought endlessly for power and position, how Schulhaqi was defeated and imprisoned, how he exchanged his newborn son with his older brother's son before his execution, how he ordered Dodo to avenge him (please refer to the 'Fanyin Zui' for details), and how Dodo raised his troops outside in the name of resisting the enemy, and so on.
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