With all the lights turned off, the palace looked dark, and all the splendor had disappeared at night.
The "maid" lowered her head and came out of the Queen's Palace. Sure enough, there was no other maid outside, and it was deserted.
She stood for a while, then turned around and left openly, taking a familiar path to the eldest prince's courtyard.
Ever since the Queen entered the palace, she has become familiar with every courtyard and corner of the palace. She has long known how to go through the unknown paths, and she also knows how to reach the eldest prince in a concealed and fast manner.
courtyard.
The eldest prince usually didn't like people guarding him, and tonight there was still no one in the courtyard.
But he was particularly keen. After hearing a slight noise in the yard, he immediately said in a deep voice: "Who?"
"I."
"Mother?" The eldest prince was extremely surprised. He carefully opened the door and saw that it was indeed the queen.
However, the queen was actually wearing the clothes of a palace maid at this moment, and her hair was hastily tied into a simple palace lady bun.
He immediately knew that his mother was here in disguise, so he opened the door and said, "Come in quickly."
The queen went in, and the eldest prince closed the door and said directly, "I don't have to worry about the ears on the partition wall here."
The queen glanced at the eldest prince appreciatively, and explained Mrs. Jiang's reminder and her own guess in a few words.
The eldest prince paused: "What does mother mean... Concubine Jing actually plans to make a fuss about what happened before you got married, so that your father will doubt you and me and use this to overthrow us?"
This was a bit tricky, and the eldest prince also frowned.
After all, every individual in Tianqi Kingdom knows the emperor's suspicious behavior.
Not only is he suspicious, he can't stand the slightest hint of betrayal.
If the emperor really suspected the mother and son, even if it was not true, the emperor would not dare to believe them.
Not to mention giving him the title of crown prince.
The queen said coldly, "But for some reason, Concubine Jing has not raised any objections until now..."
The eldest prince, however, was as clear as a mirror, "The prince is still fifteen. He is still only half a month old. Concubine Jing may not be able to bear her temper... Concubine, please read to me those words of Mrs. Jiang."
The queen said this, and the eldest prince walked around again, talking to himself several times.
The queen asked nervously: "Could it be that Eunuch Xie is also involved?"
The queen didn't know that Eunuch Xie had different thoughts.
The eldest prince had long had murderous intentions towards Eunuch Xie. Because he knew from Yu Wenyan that Eunuch Xie had conspired with Concubine Jing, so the so-called other palace people picked up the wooden sign that fell from the queen that day...
The eldest prince sneered: "Eunuch Xie directed and acted on his own!"
The queen was shocked, "But, my father-in-law Xie is the most loyal. So much is of no use to the emperor! Why would he do this!?"
"Loyalty?" The eldest prince sneered, "Mother, you are confused by the authorities. How can there be loyalty in this palace?"
The queen's shocked expression slowly faded away, and after a long while she said: "That's the case."
"Concubine Jing is not a patient person... My son has heard that she frequently goes in and out of the cold palace. Do you think she wants to take revenge? Can she really endure it?"
The Queen said: "I know about the incident in and out of the Leng Palace, and now I have sent people to guard the Leng Palace to prevent her from harming the concubine. According to Concubine Jing's temperament, it is indeed impossible for her to remain calm."
"So there is only one explanation. Eunuch Xie has colluded with her for a long time, and Eunuch Xie is pushing all this behind the scenes, but he doesn't ask her to take action at this time... Why?" The eldest prince pondered, and then said: "I think
He has only one purpose. I will close the net after I become the crown prince on the 15th. By then I will already be the crown prince. No matter how angry the emperor is, he cannot renege on his promise in a short period of time and make the world laugh. Mother, tell me when will you kill someone?
The most painful?"
The queen said slowly: "...when he knows he is safe."
"That's right... Eunuch Xie will deliberately wait until the emperor believes in us, then close this big net, give the emperor a knowing blow, and turn the forces in the palace into a puddle... Tell me, Eunuch Xie
Who is it that hates the emperor so much?"
The queen suddenly remembered something.
"When I was in Donglin, something did happen to the Xie family..."
When the Queen was not married, the Xie family among the eight aristocratic families in Donglin was in relatively good condition. Unfortunately, Taigong Xie suddenly died suddenly not long after, and then the main line of the Xie family gradually declined. At that time, the late emperor happened to be still on the throne.
At that time, several princes were still fighting openly and secretly, and the third prince had not shown his edge at that time.
What happened in it is unknown to the Queen, an outsider. But what can be seen with the naked eye is that the Xie family continued to decline after that, and the Xie family also split up under such a blow, and the development of its branches was not very good. It is even said that
There was also a family of a branch of the Xie family who was a minor local official and was exiled because of corruption and bribery. Fortunately, it did not affect the entire Xie family. A branch of the Xie family was exiled, which did not cause much backlash.
The queen said slowly, "You said... this Eunuch Xie, isn't he from the Xie family? That's not right... No matter how he is from the Xie family, he will not become a eunuch in the palace..."
Being a eunuch is a very disgraceful thing and requires you to be stabbed.
No matter how unpromising the Xie family is, there is no need to take such risks.
The eldest prince said: "That's not necessarily the case..."
He tapped the table with his fingers, "...Shi Kangning's son, Shi Jingshan, arrived in the capital today."
"What!?" The queen suddenly raised her eyes.
The eldest prince looked at her and said, "Concubine, please tell the truth, what do you mean to him..."
The queen said flatly: "It's just a past thing! What's more, it was nothing at that time, so how can it be anything now?"
She was a little anxious, "Why is he here at this time..."
"It is said that Mr. Shi is not in good health. He is a filial son, so he will not fail to come. It will not be easy for him to leave once he has come."
The queen knew, "It's their conspiracy again!"
The eldest prince said slowly, "Don't worry, mother, they can endure it, and so can we. Just wait for them to take action."
The queen looked at him: "Are you really sure?"
The eldest prince smiled, and under the moonlight, the side of his face was stained with a somewhat beautiful sinister look.
In such a daze, the queen could hardly tell that this was her eight-year-old son.
At the age of eight, he has already fallen into this state in the intrigues and intrigues.
He lowered his eyes to cover his eyes, and said softly: "My son is sensible, mother, you can just pretend that you don't know. When the emperor summons you later... Well, you can just find excuses to say you can't go. Occasionally you get sick."
"
Even though he knew that the emperor might be suspicious, he still didn't go... and it was at the time when Shi Jingshan was coming back...
The queen was a little frightened.
I feel that my son's hatred for the emperor is no less than that of others...