The white-headed palace maid is here, sitting around talking about Xuanzong.
——"The Palace" Yuan Zhen
…
At the third watch, Li Qiu put on his night clothes and took the flying tiger claws used for climbing over walls. He avoided the patrol officers and soldiers, climbed over the wall of the square, and secretly came to a courtyard.
Seeing that there was no one around, Li Qiu threw a piece of rubble into the courtyard. It landed on the bluestone and made a crisp sound, which was particularly harsh in the silent night.
However, although the sound is harsh, it will not attract the attention of the neighbors. Those who are woken up will only think that it is a civet cat chasing a mouse, stepping on the eaves and tiles, scolding a few times, and then turning over and falling asleep.
At this moment, the courtyard door opened slightly. Li Qiu once again looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and then ducked into the courtyard. A person in the courtyard wearing a hooded hat brought Li Qiu into the room.
Li Qiu said: "Grandma Peng, I'm finally waiting for you. I'll be here every night for the past two days."
Entering the house, the man still covered his face and his head, and said in a hoarse voice: "Your Highness, I saw the mark you left three days ago. I finally found a chance to leave the palace today. I wonder what's urgent, Your Highness?"
Li Qiu said: "Grandma, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the emperor wants to change the crown prince. My father, the eldest son, is the best candidate to become the crown prince. Now there are support from the Jiedushi externally, and recommendations from Li Xiang and hundreds of officials internally, but my father has not
I am undecided and I am really anxious. Please ask grandma for advice."
Granny Peng said: "King Qing and the prince have a deep love for each other. If the prince had not been deposed, King Qing would never have planned to become the heir apparent. But if the prince had been deposed, and King Qing had no worries, why wouldn't he fight? This is not only a matter of concern.
Prince Qing himself is also related to the future of the five of you brothers?"
Li Qiu said: "Who says it's not the case, but my father is stubborn and thinks that the saint may not have the intention to change his wealth, so he advises us not to think too much about it."
Granny Peng said: "Prince Qing's move must have a profound meaning. The prince is humble and benevolent, and the emperor has not taken any action. Could it be that he has no intention of changing the crown prince?"
Li Qiu said: "It should be possible to change the crown prince. In recent years, the emperor has allowed Li Linfu to persecute the prince. In the Wei Zhuang case, he killed the prince's best friends Wei Zhuang and Huangfu Weiming, took away the military power of Wang Zhongsi and his descendants, and reviled the distant places. He forced the prince to divorce the crown princess Wei.
.
In the case of Du Youlin, Du Youlin, the father of Du Liangdi, was killed and the prince was forced to divorce Du Liangdi.
The grievances between the Crown Prince and His Majesty are too deep, there are many conflicts, and it is difficult to reconcile them. Once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, he will inevitably liquidate the actions of His Majesty. It is difficult for His Majesty to safely allow the Prince to ascend the throne smoothly."
Li Qiu said: "The matter of changing the crown prince should be a foregone conclusion. But who will be the crown prince is unpredictable. The worst fear is that the saint has already made arrangements. The saint is wise and far-reaching. Maybe he already has a candidate for crown prince in his heart. Let Prince Li Heng stand in front of him and attract the prince.
All the kings will pay attention. Then they secretly prepare the way for the new crown prince to ascend the throne. After enjoying the immortal blessings, a hundred years ago, find a suitable opportunity and pass the throne to this person in one fell swoop."
Granny Peng said: "The saint has a deep scheming mind. If he acts like this, it is also his style."
Li Qiu said: "Power is something that has been fought for since ancient times. If Emperor Taizong had not been brave and decisive, and launched the Xuanwumen Revolution first, his head would have been lost long ago. How could he have the reputation of the Zhenguan Emperor and the one emperor throughout the ages.
"
Granny Peng sighed. Then she asked, "What does Your Highness need me to do?"
Li Qiu said: "The five members of the Yang family are extremely powerful and domineering. Once the saint is a hundred years old, the Yang family will be annihilated. The saint is old, and it is unlikely that the imperial concubine will be pregnant. In order to ensure peace, the Yang family will follow the example of Mrs. Huayang of the Qin State during the Warring States Period and
According to Ying Yiren’s allusion, find one of the princes to adopt as your concubine. This person is the candidate for the crown prince. I will ask my grandma to help me again at that time!”
Li Qiu said this, smiled cruelly, and wiped his throat with his fingers.
Granny Peng nodded. The two of them understood each other tacitly.
After talking about important matters, Li Qiu knelt down on the ground, kowtowed to Granny Peng three times, and said: "If my father is honored with a great title, Qiu will definitely take my grandma into the East Palace and serve her for the rest of my life to support her until old age."
Granny Peng smiled lovingly and said: "Good boy, grandma understands what you want. Grandma will not leave the palace, but she will watch you rule the world in the palace!"
After Li Qiu left, Granny Peng looked at the dark night sky and smiled strangely.
…
Granny Peng was originally a low-level medical woman from the East Palace.
During the Xuanzong Dynasty, gynecological diseases among the royal family members and women in the palace who were too shy to be examined by male medical officers or were inconvenient for male imperial doctors to diagnose and treat in person were mostly examined by female doctors, and then diagnosed and prescribed by medical officers.
Medical women were originally maidservants of local government offices. After training, they were sent to the Chang'an Chief Medical Officer's Office for selection. Those who passed the exam could stay at the Chief Medical Officer's Office to continue their studies and become medical women. Those who were eliminated would be rejected and returned to their hometowns, and would become medical women again.
Official maids and medical girls. After completing their studies at the Imperial Medical Office, those with excellent results stayed in the palace to serve. The second ones were sent to the Jingzhao Prefecture Medical Office. The third ones were assigned to various government offices to serve as local medical girls.
Medical women were born as maidservants. Compared with medical officers, their medical skills were not high, so their status in the palace was not high. Low-level medical women were more humble than palace maids and were often manipulated by palace maids.
Granny Peng was young and ignorant. She was seduced by the medical officer of the East Palace and became pregnant. The medical officer of the palace had a transcendent status and earned a lot of money. The medical officer was afraid of losing this good job and was also greedy for the generous rewards from the palace, so he asked Granny Peng to hide it.
Pregnancy: When her daughter was born before a month old, the medical officer asked Granny Peng to give birth to the child in a toilet and drown her. Granny Peng couldn't bear to do it, and the two got into an argument, and that's when the incident came to light.
Afterwards, the two were sentenced to death with a cane.
At this time, it was the first month of the third year of Kaiyuan, and Li Ying, who was nine years old at the time, was made the prince by Li Longji. Concubine Zhao Life prayed for her son and did not want the East Palace to bleed and kill. She took advantage of Xuanzong's favor for her and begged Xuanzong and Queen Wang for mercy.
The two men were expelled from the palace at the cost of their lives.
The medical officer lost his official position because of Granny Peng. So he became angry with Granny Peng. He started to fight against her and finally abandoned her mother and daughter, and left Chang'an alone.
Granny Peng was helpless in Chang'an and was abandoned during her confinement. She was hungry and cold, seriously ill, and suffered from postpartum symptoms. Just when the lives of mother and daughter were hanging by a thread, they were accidentally discovered by Zhao Lifei's maid.
.Zhao Lifei was originally a singer from Luzhou with a humble background. She felt sorry for Granny Peng and her daughter, so she ordered the Master of Ceremonies and the Imperial Medical Office to take her in and keep her as a medical girl.
After this battle, Granny Peng escaped from death twice, as if she had lived in another world. She knew very well that in this world, mother and daughter could only survive if they had one skill. From then on, she forgot to sleep and eat, and worked hard to study medicine at the imperial doctor's office. Over time, she achieved a small success.
The medical girl grew up to be a well-known female medical officer in the palace.
Although Zhao Lifei did not have much contact with Granny Peng later on, Granny Peng regarded Zhao Lifei as her mother and vowed to work as a cow and a horse in her life to repay her for saving her life.
On July 14, the 14th year of Kaiyuan, the disgraced Concubine Zhao passed away in the Chunhua Palace in Dongdu. When Granny Peng heard about it, she burst into tears. She took her daughter with her and burned incense to pay homage, unable to kneel down.
On April 21, the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan, Xuanzong issued an edict to depose Prince Li Ying, King of E Li Yao, and King of Guang Li Ju to commoners, and exile Xue Xiu to Lingnan. Immediately, these four people were sentenced to death.
On the day when the four people were sentenced to death, Granny Peng passed by the gate of the East Palace and happened to see Concubine Wu Hui standing in front of the gate of the East Palace with the longevity king Li Hao. Concubine Wu Hui was so proud and arrogant that she pointed to the gate of the East Palace and said to the longevity king Li Hao: "
Son, before long, this will be your new home!"
Granny Peng watched this scene coldly from a distance, her heart weeping. She knew that if she could not avenge Zhao Lifei and Prince Li Ying, she would not be able to face Zhao Lifei's soul under the Nine Springs.
On the night when the three brothers of the prince died unjustly, Concubine Wu Hui had a nightmare. She dreamed of the three brothers with disheveled hair, standing upright beside her bed, glaring at her fiercely. Concubine Wu Hui woke up in a cold sweat.
On the second day, the imperial doctor felt the pulse and thought it was an imbalance of heart fire. Just take a few herbs. And the female medical officer in charge of decoction happened to be Granny Peng...
After that, Concubine Wu Hui's vitality and blood declined, and her nerves became weak. At first, she only had nightmares at night, and later she would also have hallucinations of ghosts demanding her life in broad daylight.
Concubine Wu Hui invited wizards, warlocks, monks, and Taoist priests one after another, and held one after another ghost exorcism ceremony day and night, but all of this was of no avail. The three evil spirits were still lingering unyieldingly in her.
In every night and day, Wu Huifei could even feel that their hostility and resentment not only always permeated her surroundings, but also seeped into her skin, blood and bone marrow bit by bit. Wu Huifei
First there was fear and fear, then hysteria, and finally despair and collapse.
One night in the late winter of the 25th year of Kaiyuan, eight months after the three prince brothers were killed, Concubine Wu Hui let out her last shrill scream in the recurring nightmare, and then never woke up again.
On the day that Concubine Wu Hui died, Granny Peng burned incense in a deserted place to pay homage to Concubine Zhao Life and Prince Li Ying. She couldn't help but kneel down and burst into tears!