The old emperor knew that he had become ill from overwork, and coupled with the continuous stimulation, he was afraid that his time was running out. At the time of internal and external troubles, it was really not suitable to save money easily. And Qi Yushi was loyal to the imperial court, so he could not
The old minister's partial protection chilled the old minister's heart. After some reflection, he came up with a compromise, which was to let the prince marry Qi Yinshuang as a concubine.
Qi Xiang and his son were shocked when they heard this. The eyes they looked at the old emperor were not filled with gratitude, but more with chills. Their daughter and sister, who they had raised like pearls in their hands, suffered such insults in the palace.
, but it turned out that there was no way to apply. This is so ironic!
The prince understood the old emperor's good intentions, and immediately thanked the Lord for his kindness, saying that he would definitely marry Qi Yinshuang, and he would call Qi Yushi his father-in-law.
The Crown Princess is also very aware of current affairs and no longer openly or secretly ridicules Qi Yinshuang for seducing the Crown Prince. She also said that she will treat Qi Yinshuang like a biological sister in the future and will never let her suffer any injustice. She even lowered her status and promised Qi Yinshuang to marry her.
The concubine is a concubine in title, but her treatment is the same as that of a crown princess.
As the ancients said, if the king wants his minister to die, he must die. As a minister, Qi Xiang must be honored by the king; but as a father and head of the family, he has to protect not only his daughter, but also the honor of the entire family. After all, the face of the royal family is more important than the honor of the whole family.
Above all, he could not expect that the old emperor would depose the crown prince for the daughter of a minister, nor did he expect that the daughter he held in his palm would suffer such humiliation for nothing and become a laughing stock.
Since ancient times, there has been a dilemma between loyalty and filial piety. For Qi Xiang, the humiliation of his daughter has become an established fact. The news has spread throughout the capital. The old emperor's suggestion seems to be the most appropriate way to deal with it.
Before Qi Xiang could answer, he saw Qi Yinshuang slowly walking in from outside the hall, followed by Mrs. Qi who was crying so hard that she was about to lose her breath.
They were outside the palace just now. She could clearly hear the words of the prince and the princess, which were confusing right and wrong, word for word. She also heard the old emperor's will.
The clothes that Qi Yinshuang wore when she entered the palace had all been taken away by her grandmother during the body examination. She was now wearing a white palace dress, with only a silver hairpin holding her hair in a bun.
During the day, she followed her mother into the palace, and she behaved herself, not daring to run around. When the food was served, a palace maid accidentally spilled the soup on Mrs. Qi's skirt. She was so frightened that she kowtowed to apologize.
Mrs. Qi is not a difficult person, but unclean clothes at palace banquets are taboo, and it is disrespectful to the royal family. Moreover, their Qi family's clothes have always been known for their simplicity and elegance, and the soup stained on them will be particularly unpleasant.
Conspicuous.
While Mrs. Qi was worried, a nun in charge came. The nun reprimanded the little palace maid, and then took Mrs. Qi affectionately to the side hall to change clothes. At this time, several noble ladies from the capital came to chat with Qi Yinshuang.
.In front of the public, Qi Yinshuang drank some fruit wine with them without thinking too much. Then she felt that her head became dizzy and her body and limbs became inoperable...
When she woke up again, she found herself lying on a strange bed. The aroma in the room was fragrant, and her head was as heavy as paste. Her whole body was sore, and her clothes had disappeared.
She realized something big had happened and immediately woke up. Then she saw a shirtless, strange man lying next to her. The man was half-supporting himself with one arm and looking at her with a sly look on his face.
Qi Yinshuang screamed almost subconsciously, got up, grabbed a piece of clothing from the ground, wrapped it up and ran out, whereupon she met the Crown Princess who was taking everyone to the garden to enjoy the laurel flowers...
Qi Yinshuang endured the pain in her heart, and first knelt down to the old emperor in a polite manner, thanking him for the plan he had planned for her. Then she kowtowed three times to Qi Xiang and Mrs. Qi.
, while thanking her parents for their upbringing, she blamed herself for being unfilial. Such a scandal caused shame to the family at the palace banquet. Then she gave a big gift to Qi Zhirui, thanking him for the brotherhood of caring for him for many years.
The old emperor sighed heavily.
Qi Xiang and Mrs. Qi hid their faces and cried bitterly, and were speechless for a long time.
Qi Zhirui's teeth clenched and his hands clenched tightly into fists.
Qi Yinshuang stood up slowly, and then turned to where Prince Duguheng was. Looking at the person who had ruined her innocence, she suddenly stared angrily, raised her hand and scratched her neck, and bright red blood suddenly sprayed on her neck.
The prince's face also splashed on the princess next to him, causing her to scream loudly.
"But, I don't want to".
After speaking, Qi Yinshuang slowly fell to the ground, like a feather falling from a height, making no sound.
Qi Zhirui rushed over and hugged his sister tightly. He saw blood pouring from her neck, and she was holding a blood-stained silver hairpin in her hand. It was worn by her grandmother herself when she was a hairpin girl.
Qi Zhirui finally lost his mind and wailed loudly, attracting the guards guarding outside the palace.
Everything happened so suddenly that no one expected it, including the ninety-five-year-old emperor, who staggered back a few steps in shock and began to wonder if his decision was wrong.
Qi Yinshuang held her brother's hand with her last breath, and spat out a few words intermittently: "Yinshuang has never done anything beyond the rules. He is willing to die to make his will clear. Please take care of your mother."
Qi Yinshuang gradually lost her breath, but the blood from the wound was still flowing out. The guards who rushed in didn't know what happened, so they had to take precautions while waiting for the old emperor's order.
Qi Zhirui slowly laid Qi Yinshuang flat on the ground and stood up slowly. He looked up at the solemn dragon chair in the hall, feeling disappointed, lonely, and more angry. Suddenly, he turned around and was already frightened.
The prince rushed over, grabbed him by the collar of his clothes, raised his fist and hit him without hesitation.
The air seemed to freeze suddenly, but it only took a moment for the prince's screams to wake up the guards next to him. Even if the emperor was immoral and did something worse than a pig or a dog, as the imperial guards in the palace, they still used their lightning speed to cover up the situation.
The force of the ear first subdued Qi Zhirui.
Qi Zhirui took advantage of the situation and sat on the ground, laughing loudly and saying: "What a noble person, with so much grace from the emperor, he did such a thing to cover up the dirty things. It just makes me laugh that the entire Qi family is loyal to the court, and in exchange for this
It’s such a humiliation. Yinshuang, it’s okay if you leave, and you will never have to associate with these dirty people again..."
Early the next morning, all the official family members who stayed in the East Palace were escorted home safely. Qi Xiang, his wife and Qi Zhirui, who were still in their thoughts, also returned to the Yushi Mansion.
Less than an hour after Qi Xiang returned to the Yushi Mansion, he sent someone to submit a statement, saying that he was old and weak in knowledge, and requested to resign and return to his hometown. However, the old emperor did not agree and issued an imperial edict to confer a title on him.
Qi Xiang's daughter Qi Yinshuang is the crown prince's concubine and will enter the East Palace today.
At this point, no one in Beijing dared to discuss this matter openly, but this matter spread like a plague among the people.
Although Qi Yinshuang would rather die than suffer further humiliation, what happened after her death did not go as she wished.
According to the old emperor's will, Qi Yinshuang was canonized as the crown prince's concubine, which not only saved the royal family's face, but also fulfilled the reputation of the Qi family. In order to cover up the lie, Qi Yinshuang's body was placed in the East Palace, and the funeral will not be announced for the time being.
After finding the right time, he announced that Qi Yinshuang had died of illness and was buried as a concubine.
However, no one expected that the body that had been parked in the East Palace would suddenly disappear on the night of the seventh day after the incident. Also missing on the same night was Qi Zhirui, the third son of Qi Xiang.
It is said that on the night when Qi Yinshuang's body disappeared, it was the seventh day of her life. There was a sudden strong wind in the mourning hall, and all the burning candles were blown out in an instant, frightening the palace maids and internal guards who were keeping watch.
Many people said that they saw a woman in white with disheveled hair getting up from the coffin and slowly walking out of the East Palace in the dark through the starlight...
Rumors are rumors, but it is true that Qi Yinshuang would rather die than surrender. His brother Qi Zhirui suddenly disappeared on the same night.
But this incident is just a trigger, and the real big thing is later.
After Qi Yinshuang's body disappeared mysteriously, the palace maids and internal guards in the East Palace were basically replaced. As for where those replaced went, no one knows.
Immediately afterwards, the palace announced that the crown prince's concubine Qi had died of illness, and the old emperor ordered a grand burial.
During this period, memorials were written to impeach the prince continuously, and the theory of easy storage was even proposed. The old emperor's health was deteriorating, and he was so angry that he vomited blood after reading those memorials.
In November, King Duguche of the Jin Dynasty led 5,000 elite troops deep into the Northern Plains and burned the enemy's rear supplies. This greatly boosted the morale of the king's army and took advantage of the situation to recapture five cities and kill 30,000 enemies.
When the good news came back to the capital, someone in the court wrote a letter asking to depose the crown prince Dugu Heng and replace him with Dugu Che, the king of the Jin Dynasty. After reading it, the old emperor pressed it all under the bookshelf in the imperial study.
As the news of Dugu Che's return to the imperial court spread back to the capital, the clamor for making the King of Jin the crown prince became even louder. The old emperor had no choice but to try his best to suppress public opinion.
On the eve of the return of King Duguche of Jin Dynasty, Princess Jin, who was about to give birth, was kidnapped on her way back from Huguo Temple. The old emperor ordered the city gates to be sealed, and the whole city was secretly searched.
When Dugu Che arrived at the gate of the city, he saw the old servants from the palace rushing towards him. What he received with high expectations was the news that his beloved wife, who was about to give birth, was missing. The furious Dugu Che didn't even change his armor, so he took the people with him.
Go to the section of road where Princess Jin disappeared to investigate.
Before setting off, Dugu Che was worried that Princess Jin's pregnancy in Liujia would be affected by the war ahead, so he specially sent a trusted person to protect her and prevent others from informing her of the battle report from the front, so that she could rest assured to raise her baby. Unexpectedly, Princess Jin
Not getting the exact information made me even more worried about Dugu Che's safety. For more than eight months, I insisted on going to Huguo Temple to offer incense and pray for blessings. Only then did someone with evil intentions take advantage of the loophole.
Here, Dugu Che was still searching for traces of his beloved wife. Over there, the palace announced that the old emperor was critically ill, and all officials of third rank and above were asked to enter the palace to pray for blessings.
The King of Jin has returned to the court, and the third-rank officials entered the palace without any doubts about him. However, as soon as they entered the palace, they were subdued one by one by the guards who did not know where they came from, and were locked up in the Tai'an Palace to wait for them.
After reacting, I realized that the prince was trying to force him into the palace.
The prince, who knew he was at the end of his rope, was grounded for three months, and his close associates were transferred out one after another. He could no longer bear it any longer. The impeachment of the courtiers, the illustrious military exploits of the King of Jin, and his safe return were all threats and provocations to him.
.With the instigation of the Crown Princess and the secret support of the Gao family of the Crown Princess's mother's family, they took advantage of the fact that the old emperor was seriously ill and secretly entered the palace with troops, so they decided to give it a try.
They first captured the Princess of Jin to restrain the King of Jin, Dugu Che, and prevent him from entering the palace to meet the saint. Then they occupied the palace and forced the old emperor to hand over the seal while killing the King of Jin. Later, they falsely passed on the imperial edict to the third-rank emperor.
Members entered the palace in an attempt to usurp the throne.
This plan was originally flawless and foolproof, but they underestimated Dugu Che's ability and the courtiers' support for him, and ultimately fell short.