"If you put it that way, it makes sense."

"Right, from the very beginning to now, the Empress Dowager has always played an important role in these cases." Shen Cha yawned and rested his head on Shen Haolin's shoulder, ""My mother left the Empress Dowager behind. The relics left behind, the dagger used by the empress to assassinate the late emperor, were not left casually. I thought it was attachment and nostalgia for the Empress Dowager, but now it seems that it is not."

"The late Emperor and his mother were from the same mother-in-law, not the Empress Dowager's biological children, and they did not have much interaction with the Empress Dowager. Maybe they may have had an attachment when they were young, but as they grow older, I'm afraid it will fade away. Quite a few.”

"Brother is right." Shen Cha thought for a while, "Brother, do you know what kind of person the Empress Dowager was when she was young, that is, before she entered the palace?"

"I don't know much about it, I just heard a little about it." Shen Haolin thought for a moment, "When the Empress Dowager was young, she was not particularly outstanding. She was neither particularly good-looking nor had any special literary talent. Seriously All in all, among the batch of girls who were ready to be sent to the East Palace, they could barely be considered average. At that time, the imperial grandfather was still the crown prince and had not ascended the throne. He was only selecting the crown prince and four concubines."

"In the end, only one crown prince and two concubines were chosen, and the Queen Mother was among them."

"Yes, the Empress Dowager will be eligible for selection. She is not the candidate for the Crown Princess. At that time, the Crown Princess has basically been decided, and she is our biological grandmother." Seeing Shen Cha nod, Shen Haolin continued, "Speaking of this, I once heard my mother and Aunt Xue say that the Empress Dowager was eliminated several times, but in the end she became one of the concubines."

"Why was she eliminated, and why did she eventually become a concubine? What's the secret behind this?"

"It's because of her brother." Seeing Shen Cha's confused look, Shen Haolin explained, "The censor who died for the emperor's grandfather."

Shen Cha thought about it seriously, but still didn't remember what was going on, and shook his head towards Shen Haolin.

"Can not remember."

"It's not that you don't remember, it's that you don't know. When the eldest son of the Bai family and a close disciple of Mrs. Yue passed away, he had just entered the Yushitai less than a month ago." Shen Haolin sighed softly, "At that time, The imperial grandfather went on a patrol incognito to inspect the salt affairs in the Jiangnan area. In the past few months, the Yushitai and the cabinet had received reports from different channels about the collusion between officials and merchants in the Salt Road. You also know that the imperial grandfather was very concerned about the salt affairs. It’s important to note that if only one or two people said there was a problem, he might send people to investigate secretly, but if so many people said there was a problem, he wouldn’t feel safe sending people to investigate, so he went there himself.”

"Where did the news about the emperor's grandfather going to Jiangnan leak out?"

Shen Haolin didn't speak, but gave Shen Cha a meaningful smile.

Shen Cha looked at the smile on his face, and after thinking about it for a moment, he showed an expression of disbelief.

"That's her biological brother. Why... No, no, no!" She waved her hand, "It can't really be the Empress Dowager. She was only thirteen or fourteen years old at that time, and she was also involved in private affairs... ?But, didn’t she harm her brother by spreading the news?”

"Where are you thinking?" Shen Haolin couldn't help but raise his forehead, "She's not the Empress Dowager, but she has something to do with her."

"Fortunately it's not her, otherwise she would be the culprit who killed her brother. But..." Shen Cha looked at Shen Haolin, "What does my brother mean by saying it's related to her? Is it Lu Yuantian? That's not right, right?" "

"It's not Lu Yuantian, it's his grandfather." Shen Haolin sneered, "His grandfather was in Imperial Hospital back then and heard that the emperor's grandfather was going to inspect the salt channel. Although the Lu family had no involvement, the Lu family's in-laws But it has something to do with this, so for fear of getting into trouble, the old lady of the Lu family sent news to her in-laws. The original intention was to let them stop their tails and prevent the imperial grandfather from getting caught, but the old lady Lu did not expect that he Those in-laws are so courageous that they actually want to eradicate it."

"Cut the grass and root out the roots?" Shen Cha sneered, "Why are there so many high-sounding reasons to assassinate the emperor? They are ambitious and want to do something extraordinary, right? Or is it that the old doctor Lu didn't tell them, Is it the imperial grandfather who went to investigate in person?"

"Then I don't know." Shen Haolin shook his head, "It was the Bai family member who sensed something was wrong and risked his life by going to the so-called Hongmen Banquet for the emperor's grandfather. As a result..." He sighed softly. , "Once you leave, you will never return. People go by themselves, but when they come back, they are carried back. When the emperor's grandfather saw his body, he was furious. Everyone involved in the salt road case, big and small, officials and businessmen In total, there were almost 3,000 people, and not one of them ran away."

"The Lu family actually ran away? Didn't the Hongmen Banquet originate from him?"

"His in-laws did not testify against him, and he swore that he had no knowledge of it."

"Those correspondence and such, have been burned a long time ago, right?"

"Yes." Shen Haolin nodded, "So they escaped. This is the main reason why they did not dare to take any action after hearing that the Empress Dowager was selected as a concubine. Because the Bai family lost an eldest son, the emperor My grandfather felt very guilty, so he asked the Bai family to send the Empress Dowager into the palace to be a concubine to the late Emperor, who was still the Crown Prince at the time."

"Understood!" Shen Cha yawned and rested his head on Shen Haolin's shoulder, "To make up for it, no matter what, I helped the young man who died for me to take care of his sister and his family, and ensured that his family Life is worry-free, right?”

"That's it." Shen Haolin lowered his head and looked at Shen Cha, who was about to close his eyes. "How about we come here today? See how sleepy you are. Let's go back and have a good sleep. We'll see you tomorrow. ,OK?"

"Hmm..." Shen Cha thought for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the drawers he had pulled out, "How about we open all these wooden boxes and take a look, and then we can go back after reading them. "Yeah." She yawned again, "I'm so curious about what the next few wooden boxes are. If I don't look at them, I'll be asleep..."

"You'll wake up too, right?" Shen Haolin rubbed Shen Cha's head, "Sit down for a moment and I'll get those wooden boxes, okay?"

"Brother, stop moving. I'll stay close." Shen Cha shook his head, moved his arms and legs, slowly moved to the cabinet, and placed the remaining ten wooden boxes on his desk. On the mat she was sitting on, she pushed the mat back and rubbed it back. When she got to Shen Haolin's side, she put all the wooden boxes on the ground and sat back down again. After sitting down, she swayed proudly towards Shen Haolin. Brain, "How about it, are you smart?"

"Smart." Shen Haolin stretched out his hand and pulled the person towards him to ensure that she would not get cold. "Open them all and see what's inside."

Shen Cha was too lazy to move, so he took the small stick that Shen Haolin had before and opened the lids of more than ten small wooden boxes on the ground.
Chapter completed!