Thousands of Mountains

Emperor Chen Ze has not had a spring hunt for many years. Since Lin Moyan and Yun Jianqing went to the northwest and southeast respectively, the companionship of the three since childhood has gradually decreased. After Empress Chunhui passed away, she completely rested.

Now that Yun Jianqing and Yun Jianqing were riding on the road to Cuishan hunting ground again, both of them felt a little emotional.

Out of the city of Yanjing, to the northeast is the Cuishan hunting ground of more than 40 mu. The overlapping of primitive grasslands, wetlands, and forests, as well as large and small lakes, make this hunting ground full of vitality.

However, this is only a scenic spot in the past. As a long-abandoned royal hunting ground, the emperor himself stopped hunting, and outsiders naturally could not enter. Therefore, in the past ten years, except for a few forestry guards and the regular inspections of the forbidden army every half a month, No one else has ever set foot.

The wild animals in the woods are in paradise. They have grown wildly for ten years, and there are often news that the guards were injured by wild animals. Of course, as a forest farm that has been forgotten by the royal family, even if someone bury the mouth of the wild beast, it will not cause any harm. North Korea and China attach importance to it.

The news of this spring hunting came out suddenly, and the Ministry of Rites and the Supervisor of Rituals hurriedly ordered people to rearrange the hunting grounds. At least, the roads along the way had to be cleaned up a bit more smoothly.

Yun Jianqing only brought Shen Cang along. In addition, Prince Chen Ji brought his bodyguard Wu Ye'er, and other members of the royal family to accompany him. Gao Ren was naturally by Chen Ze's side, and Xin Shangyun led the imperial guards to escort him along the way.

A mighty group of people walked in the bright spring scenery.

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Yin Cen stayed in Beijing, so the spring hunt was of course nothing to him. Before Chen Ji left, he repeatedly told Wu Ye'er to take care of Chen Ji, and Qin Nianqin was also thinking about it. After saying "OK", he said blankly, "No one is worried about me?

Yin Cen looked at Qin Nianqin, coughed a few times on purpose, Master Qin stepped forward, blushed and said vaguely, "You... come back early."

Wu Ye'er lamented, when will such a proud and shy personality change...

As soon as Chen Ji left, Yin Cen appeared in the Prince's Mansion.

Everyone in the prince's mansion has long regarded Yin Cen as his own family, and since Yin Cen became an official in the court, they even regarded him as half master.

When Yin Cen found Eunuch Ai, he was reprimanding the new servants for watering the flowers in the yard. He stood tremblingly, and the wind leaked out when he spoke, "You have watered all the fluffy flowers to death! These, these," Ai said. The father-in-law pointed to the rows of roses that had been planted for many years, "They are all the most beloved flowers of His Royal Highness, they must be watered thoroughly once, but can't be watered every day, understand?"

A few girls with unfamiliar faces bowed their heads timidly and said "yes".

Yin Cen walked over and put his arms around Eunuch Ai's thin shoulders, "Eunuch Ai, you really scared them."

Eunuch Ai was startled, and found that it was Yin Cen, his snow-white eyebrows trembled with laughter, "You boy, I haven't come for a long time, and I don't miss you Eunuch Ai, at such an old age, if you don't pay attention, you will disappear."

Yin Cen also laughed, and pushed people towards the study in the inner courtyard, "How can you say that, father-in-law is a man with a long life."

Eunuch Ai looked up at Yin Cen, squinting his eyes halfway under the sun, thinking that when he was picked from the human traffickers in Nancheng, he was so smart and strong enough to protect the little prince.

Now Lao Huai is consoling, and he did not misunderstand the person. All these years, Yin Cen has not only regarded the prince's life more important than his own, but also... Thinking of this, Eunuch Ai raised his hand and covered his mouth with his sleeve. I slept in a room all day long, I really think I'm a fool all these years, I know everything.

In the study, Yin Cen closed the door and checked around to make sure that no one was safe and reliable.

Eunuch Ai sat on the red sandalwood high-backed chair behind the desk, and the sun hit his back from behind, making him feel warm.

He watched Yin Cen walk around busy with a smile, and finally Yin Cen sat down at the desk, and the two looked at each other with smiles.

Eunuch Ai said slowly, "Tell me, what's the matter with you, Eunuch Ai?"

Yin Cen tilted his head and thought about how to speak, "Eunuch Ai, you love His Royal Highness the most, don't you?"

"Well——" Eunuch Ai raised his head and elongated his voice, "It hurts—of course it hurts, but what I can do, Eunuch, is to serve His Highness's daily life, and I can't help much when I am old. gone."

"That's not necessarily true." Yin Cen shook his head, "Eunuch Ai is the one who came over to Empress Dachunhui. He watched His Highness grow up. If you want to know the basics, who can compare with you, Eunuch Ai."

Eunuch Ai understood what he said, and pointed at Yin Cen, "You are the most cunning kid, what do you want to ask about His Royal Highness?"

Yin Cen smiled, took Eunuch Ai's hand and said, "How much do you remember about Ah Yue's mother, Empress Chunhui?"

Eunuch Ai's face changed suddenly, he pulled his hand back, and said in a hoarse voice, "Old slave... I'm getting old, and I don't remember anything."

Yin Cen looked serious, "Really?" He stood up and leaned over to Eunuch Ai, "If someone wants to abolish the crown prince, harm him, or even kill him, you just sit idly by and let them Did the treachery succeed and achieve its purpose?"

There was a trace of hesitation on Ai Gonggong's face, Yin Cen's eyes were sharp, and he found out.

But the father-in-law still said, "As long as the emperor has no second thoughts and does not abolish the prince, the others will have nothing to do."

Yin Cen said in a serious tone, "Elder-in-law has been away from the palace for a long time, so you don't know how tense the court is? The queen has drawn all forces, and now even the Funan camp is being pulled in. The cabinet and the ceremonial supervisor are used by the queen. Taking control of the government, thinking about the succession of the trash King Han, so that they can continue to do whatever they want, and now the emperor is just a decoration, Your Royal Highness, how long do you think he will be able to stay in this seat safely?"

These rebellious words had an effect, Eunuch Ai squeezed his wrinkled facial features together, and said earnestly, "It happened a long, long time ago, and I don't know everything, otherwise...they wouldn't let me live until now."

Yin Cen nodded, "You can tell me everything you know."

Eunuch Ai sighed, as if recalling memories from a long time ago.

Empress Chunhui and Emperor Chen Ze had known each other since childhood, fell in love with each other when they were young, and then became a princess. After Chen Ze succeeded to the throne, she became a queen. Pile of good talk.

The fly in the ointment is that Chunhui and the emperor Chen Ze have only one son, Chen Ji, who became the prince after birth.Chen Ze didn't think much of it, when he was a prince, he only needed a concubine as long as he was an emperor, and he had no intention of accepting a concubine.

However, as a queen, Chunhui couldn't let her be the only one in the harem, and bear the reputation of spoiling the country, so she picked a lively and bright woman Qiu Yi from the family of all the officials in the court. She entered the palace and was named Concubine Yu. One year later, Concubine Yu gave birth to the King of Han, Chen Yi.

Chunhui is a kind person. Even after she became a queen, she advocated diligence and thrift in housekeeping. Therefore, there was no one around her except Eunuch Ai, the eunuch who was in charge of ceremonies at the time, and a few court ladies. She also promoted this simple style in the harem. out.

Concubine Yu Qiu Yiren is completely different from Empress Chunhui. She is outgoing by nature and loves all kinds of extravagant items. However, in the harem where thrift is a virtue, she can only restrain herself.

Emperor Chen Ze treated her indifferently at the beginning, but after a long time, he got used to Chunhui's quiet temperament, but he also found Concubine Yu's bright and warm personality a bit interesting, and she collected some weird things to present to the emperor all the year round. Some really caught the eyes of the emperor.

Gradually, the Emperor and Concubine Yu stayed together longer and longer. This year, Concubine Yu introduced a person to the Emperor—the Taoist priest Fang Shoujing.

In the beginning, Fang Shoujing only came to the palace occasionally to preach the principles of Taoism to the emperor and concubine Yu, and then began to instill in the emperor the evil spirits of alchemy, immortality and immortality.

Everyone in the world wants to live forever, especially the emperor. Not long after, Fang Shoujing moved into the Guangming Palace. The emperor specially built an alchemy furnace and an alchemy room here, and stayed here every morning after the morning court.

After taking the pills, the emperor began to look pale, but sometimes flushed and hot, sometimes sweating profusely, and sometimes he was afraid of the cold and wind, his skin gradually could not wear ordinary dragon robes, and he could only wear extremely smooth silk every day. Quality toga with large sleeves.

Empress Chunhui saw it in her eyes and was anxious in her heart, but the emperor himself seemed to be in great spirits, and every time he took a pill, he felt that he was one step closer to becoming a fairy.

One day, Empress Chunhui, wearing a gown only for royal ceremonies, knelt in front of the Guangming Hall and asked the emperor to return to the court to handle government affairs. , I'm going to abolish her." Such words.

Empress Chunhui knelt for a day and a night until she passed out on the ground.

After waking up, nothing changed, the emperor still lingered in the Guangming Palace every day, and only Concubine Yu was kept by the emperor's side because of concocting alchemy and serving alchemy together in the harem.

It was Ningxi ten years later, the emperor had not been to Empress Chunhui's Shuanghua Palace for a long time, that day coincided with Empress Chunhui's birthday, the emperor thought for a long time, and still went to Shuanghua Palace.

Empress Chunhui was naturally happy. On that day, she seemed to see the emperor before he was obsessed with alchemy and medicine, and he was still the young and promising young monarch who cared about the world.

Then something happened that night.

The emperor stayed in Shuanghua Palace and slept with Empress Chunhui, but at night, a maid strangled her neck with silk. Killed on the spot.

This matter is still a mystery to this day, why a court lady would be so bold to assassinate the emperor, and at that time, the emperor, who was still in shock, could not help but believe that the mastermind behind the scenes was Empress Chunhui, and she was her close court lady. Who else.

However, this matter is too strange, full of doubts and disgraceful. The emperor ordered everyone in the palace not to publicize it, and did not abolish the queen and put her in the cold palace because of this. However, within a month of the assassination, Empress Chunhui Suffered from a sudden illness and died mysteriously.

After Eunuch Ai told this old story, Yin Cen didn't dare to blink his eyes, and finally asked, "Aren't you in the palace when the assassination incident and the empress died?"

Eunuch Ai nodded, and seemed to hesitate before speaking, "Speaking of which, it's all the old servant's fault. The most important thing is that I failed to look at the empress."

"What did the father-in-law do?"

"At that time, I had a court lady who was close to my empress, and she needed to go back when something happened at home, but she was not allowed to leave the palace. I was the only one who was qualified to leave the palace, so I represented her. She went home, and when she returned to the palace after helping her family deal with matters, she found that the empress had disappeared the night before."

Eunuch Ai regretted it very much when he talked about it, but Yin Cen remembered something again, "I heard that when Empress Chunhui was buried, all the maids around her would be buried with her?"

At this moment, Eunuch Ai's eyes flashed with hesitation, "Yes, there is no such rule in this dynasty. This is the emperor's order at that time. Maybe because he was assassinated by the maid next to the empress before, he ordered everyone to be buried in a fit of anger."

Yin Cen didn't let go of the hesitation, and asked, "Eunuch, don't you need to hide anything now?"

Eunuch Ai turned his head and sighed softly again, "I'm old now, and I guess I won't live for a few days, and people back then don't know if they are still alive...Ping Shan, you know this, what should you do? , make up your own mind."

Following him, he looked at Yin Cen and continued, "The little court lady who was in love with me back then came to beg me to save her life when she was about to be buried, and kowtowed until her face was covered with blood... How can I just refuse to save her? , I saved her from the palace after dissipating all the family wealth. Only she knew how the empress died back then, but after all these years, there was no news about her after she left the palace. I don't know whether she is dead or alive... "

Hearing this, Yin Cen also frowned, "Eunuch, do you still remember the name of that maid? Where does she live? What does she look like?"

Eunuch Ai seemed to see the charming and smiling face many years ago, "Her name is Zhuoxiang, and she lives in Qiantang County, Hangzhou Prefecture. At that time, she had white almond eyes and a small gap in her right earlobe. If she was still alive, she would be in her 30s by now."

Yin Cen thanked him, he knew that if Eunuch Ai hadn't lived to this age, and if Chen Ji's prince hadn't been coveted now, Eunuch Ai would never have revealed the secrets of the harem that could cause another bloodbath.

He prayed a thousand times and ten thousand times in his heart, hoping that the court lady would still be alive. The case of the Queen’s collusion with the enemy and the distribution of tea tax in the Kansai massacre has not yet been proved. Yin Cen's feeling was already driving him crazy.