Qianqing Palace is located in the middle of the harem. Yongning Palace and Zhongcui Palace are the two closest to Qianqing Palace in the East Sixth Palace. Therefore, Concubine Li and the prince were the first to hear the news, followed closely by those who temporarily resided in Xianfu Palace. Queen.
Logically speaking, the queen should live in the Kunning Palace. This palace is located to the north of the Qianqing Palace. There is one hall in it, called the Jiaotai Palace. Qian refers to heaven, and Kun refers to earth, which means that the emperor and queen heaven and earth communicate with each other. But two years ago The queen asked herself to live in seclusion due to illness, so she moved to Xianfu Palace. Because of this, even the emperor was criticized by the officials for a period of time.
Xianfu Palace is one of the Sixth Western Palace, located at the northwest corner of the Western Sixth Palace, but it does not reach the edge of the Forbidden City. Further west, there are Zhongzheng Hall, Xian'an Palace, etc. before reaching the palace wall.
When Huang Mengyu rushed to Xianfu Palace, the palace was as quiet as ever. It was not that the emperor really abused the queen and did not even provide arrangements for palace maids and eunuchs, but that the queen originally liked peace and quiet, and after she became ill, she disliked making noise even more, so in Xianfu The palace attendants gradually developed the habit of being gentle and gentle.
When Huang Mengyu came, the servants in Xianfu Palace, both the maids and the eunuchs, behaved very indifferently. They just saluted him calmly and whispered greetings. Huang Mengyu didn't seem to regard himself as an outsider, casually A wave or nod is considered a response.
Walking through the front hall to the backyard, there are three characters written on the plaque in the main hall of the backyard: Tongdaotang.
The name Tongdaotang will be understood by those who are familiar with Qing history in later generations. When Emperor Xianfeng died, because his only son was young, he gave the later Ci'an and Cixi a seal each to temporarily represent the imperial power. Ci'an's one was engraved with "Imperial reward", Cixi's one is engraved with "Tongdaotang" [Wufeng's note: Cixi's one was theoretically given to his son, Emperor Tongzhi, but it was in charge of Cixi's behalf].
Of course, Huang Mengyu obviously didn't know that Tongdaotang had such a glorious day in its original history. To him, this was the backyard of Xianfu Palace, where the queen temporarily lived.
"Huang Yuma is here again?" A eunuch wearing a young eunuch's uniform trotted forward, nodded and bowed to see Huang Mengyu.
Since the previous Gao Gong Shangshu, Feng Bao had been given the power to write the pen. Feng Bao gave up his part-time job as the imperial eunuch. This part-time job was handed over to Huang Mengyu by Meng Chong on the grounds that Huang Mengyu was originally the eunuch guarding Datong. , familiar with military affairs. Therefore, most people in the inner court now call Huang Mengyu Huang Yuma - there are five Bingbi after all, but there is only one Yuma supervisor and eunuch.
Although Huang Mengyu's attitude was kind, his face was very serious and he asked him: "Where is the Queen? The emperor's illness has worsened. Please ask the Queen to visit Qianqing Palace immediately."
The Young Master of Xianfu Palace listened and was shocked. He knew that the emperor must be critically ill, so Huang Mengyu came in such a hurry and went straight to the back hall. He did not dare to neglect at the moment and said quickly: "Huang Yuma, please wait a moment. I'm here." Report."
Huang Mengyu waved his hand, and the eunuch left immediately.
Not long after, there was a sound of footsteps, and a woman in red palace clothes came out from behind the screen. Her face was a little pale, and she asked Huang Mengyu: "How is the emperor?"
Huang Mengyu said with a mournful face: "The Queen, you are the imperial physician...please ask the emperor to summon the prince, ministers of the cabinet, the queen, the noble concubine, etc. to the Qianqing Palace."
This woman in palace attire is Empress Chen of the Ming Dynasty today.
As soon as Empress Chen heard Huang Mengyu's words, she knew that the emperor might not be able to survive. The imperial doctor asked the emperor to summon the prince and cabinet ministers. This clearly meant that the emperor should hurry up and explain his funeral arrangements.
The childless and sick queen's face turned a little pale, her shoulders slumped, and she seemed about to fall to the ground. Huang Mengyu and the young eunuch of Xianfu Palace saw her, and quickly stepped forward to support her.
Huang Mengyu said anxiously: "Queen, be careful... Madam, the matter is urgent. If you have anything to say, please wait until you see the Emperor."
Queen Chen's eyes were a little distracted, but after hearing these words, she gradually regained her focus. She glanced at Huang Mengyu, nodded, gently pushed away the two people supporting her, and said: "Quickly prepare the guard of honor and go to Qianqing Palace. .”
It was the young eunuch of Xianfu Palace's job to prepare the guard of honor, and he quickly went down to shout. Huang Mengyu glanced at the two maids beside Queen Chen, and hesitated to speak.
Empress Chen understood and ordered: "You step back." The two palace maids were blessed and quickly stepped away, just watching from a distance.
"Just say whatever you have to say...Does the emperor intend to depose him first?" Empress Chen asked calmly.
Huang Mengyu said hurriedly: "The queen is worrying too much. How could the emperor have such thoughts?"
Empress Chen stared at Huang Mengyu's eyes for a while, and then suddenly said: "If I have to abolish the queen, I'm afraid my husband will not let me see him."
"This..." Huang Mengyu was silent for a moment and said with a wry smile: "The emperor did not ask me to invite the queen."
Queen Chen's expression remained unchanged, but her pupils suddenly shrank, and she asked: "As expected... So, did you come here on your own, or did someone ask you to come here?"
Huang Mengyu said respectfully: "Yes... Gao Yude has explained it before."
"Gao Yude? Gao pragmatism?" Queen Chen narrowed her eyes slightly, showing a hint of amusement, and looked at Huang Mengyu and said: "He is the same age as the prince. He is only ten years old this year. You said he had made such an explanation before, asking you to come. Invite me?"
There was no surprise on Huang Mengyu's face, and he still looked respectful and replied: "Yes, your Majesty."
Empress Chen looked at him again for a while, then suddenly withdrew her gaze and said calmly: "If this palace is as expected, I guess he has something else to convey to you?"
"Queen Shengming." Huang Mengyu replied.
"Then let's talk." Queen Chen looked at Huang Mengyu again and said calmly: "What does he want and what can he give?"
Huang Mengyu was silent for a moment and replied: "Gao Yude said that he can guarantee two things: The first thing is that the Empress Dowager Baoniang will have no worries about her position and will serve in Xuan Palace in the future."
Empress Chen said noncommittally: "Since the emperor has no intention of deposing the queen, why do we need him to guarantee these things?"
This is indeed the truth, but Huang Mengyu smiled slightly: "The lessons from the great ceremony are not far away, the queen thinks there is no need to worry about the consequences?"
Queen Chen's expression changed, she was silent for a moment, and then asked: "What about the second thing?"
Huang Mengyu said: "The second thing is that the Chen family in Baotong Prefecture will be rich and worry-free within fifty years."
"Fifty years?" Queen Chen sneered: "I thought he was going to say that the Chen family in Tongzhou would be rich and worry-free from now on."
"Otherwise." Huang Mengyu said seriously: "Gao Yude said that human life has an end, and he thinks he can guarantee it for fifty years. As for what will happen after fifty years, no one can say for sure."
Empress Chen glanced at Huang Mengyu in surprise. Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, she thought about it and nodded: "It seems that he is quite sincere."
Huang Mengyu said: "If the queen has heard the story about Gao Yude's words that can be worth three hundred thousand taels, she should believe that the saying 'a promise of a thousand gold' is no child's play."
"I know that he fucked my father before. In recent times, you have been taking care of Xianfu Palace, which even a ghost like me doesn't want to come to. I also know that it is definitely not without purpose." Empress Chen nodded,
He said: "Okay, I believe his sincerity and am very satisfied with it. So... what does he want?"
