A group of knights escorted two well-covered felt carts to the south gate of the Chu Palace. A group of important people lived in the Chu Palace, which was always heavily guarded. However, the garrison general Zhou Zhong who guarded the south gate just looked at the seal.
The vehicle was inspected and immediately released. There were people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the army, and they had no objections to this. Zhou Zhong was the son of General Zhou Mengxiong. He was only a teenager. He was appointed as a guard general at the palace gate, and his experience was second to none.
, mainly because he is Zhou Mengxiong's son, which can have a certain comfort effect on Jianwen's ministers. Zhou Mengxiong used to be a general under Jianwen.
The person sitting in the car in front was Queen Ma. She was found by people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in a Taoist temple in Guizhou, and then brought to Wuchang after many twists and turns. After being found, she naturally had no power to resist.
Empress Ma specially put on a red shirt and a phoenix crown today because she was told to meet Emperor Jianwen and others. Her dress was very different from that of the royal ladies of the current dynasty (Xuande), mainly because the empress Jianwen followed the imperial concubine Taizu.
According to the style of the period, the concubines' costumes were mainly red; but after Emperor Yongle's reform, the royal ladies mostly wore yellow and green blouses. So Empress Ma dressed in bright red, like a bride.
However, she is already a woman in her forties, and she is not as special as Yao Ji. She looks like an ordinary middle-aged woman;
It wasn't because of her appearance. At this time, the skin on her face began to loosen, and the stains and blemishes that could not be covered up by makeup and powder were like traces left by the years, all showing that her color had faded.
When she entered the palace gate, she heard the movement outside and guessed that she had entered the Chu Palace. She picked up the curtain on the car with her fingers and looked out. The tall palace buildings and the wide and clean avenues immediately attracted her attention.
Although the Chu Palace was not as large as the Nanjing Palace, and its standards were also lower, the solemn and noble style was similar. For a moment, she was in a trance and returned to the past, with groups of maids and courtiers singing.
All in all, I haven't seen this kind of place for more than 20 years. For many years, it has been nothing but green lantern statues, white clouds and green mountains, sparse people, and lonely figures.
But she really didn't feel any joy when she returned to the palace. Although she and Emperor Jianwen had been separated for a long time, she had no expectation of meeting again after a long absence, because even when they were together day and night in the past, the couple had no longer slept together. In her heart,
Old couples tend to hate each other and even reject each other; the good thing is that they understand and are familiar with each other enough, they trust each other more than ordinary people, and they can rely on them in many things.
It is an age when she no longer has too many expectations. What Empress Ma is most concerned about at this time is her son Zhu Wenkui. Last year, she persuaded Wenkui not to live in peace and go out to raise an army. Later, she heard that it had failed. A few months later, she still has no news about it.
No life or death is unknown.
She was suddenly arrested in Guizhou, and someone came to advertise that she should be taken to Wuchang to meet Emperor Jianwen. She had already guessed that the people who came were members of Yao Ji's mother and son, and she always had a question in her mind: How did these people find that remote and hidden place?
The reason? It is most likely that Wen Kui was secretly caught by them after the army failed, and then he found the place by following the clues.
At this time, the carriage stopped, and a eunuch stepped forward to open the wooden door at the back of the carriage for Queen Ma, and bowed to ask her to get out of the carriage. Queen Ma stood up and bent down before walking out of the door, when she suddenly saw a noble lady in a formal dress.
Standing there, the woman immediately attracted Queen Ma's attention. Not only because of her dress, but also because of the many attendants surrounding the woman, which immediately highlighted her status.
Queen Ma soon recognized that this woman was Yao Ji.
"It is inconvenient for me to leave the palace, so I have to wait here to greet the queen. I hope the queen will forgive me." Yao Ji held her hands in front of her belly, looked down, bowed slightly and gave a salute. Her posture not only showed elegance, but also carried a
A kind of humility without any pretense at all.
Empress Ma had no choice but to stand up straight and said: "Concubine Yao is so polite, please stay flat." She was not willing to show weakness in person.
Yao Ji then said softly in a calm and casual tone: "If my concubine's daughter-in-law, Zhou Niang, hadn't mentioned where the queen lives, we wouldn't have known where to find you. Fortunately, we finally brought the queen here."
The content contained in this sentence made Queen Ma suddenly realize that it was Zhou Mengxiong's daughter who had told the secret. She thought that this woman was really just a waste of water after she got married, and she immediately turned her thoughts to someone else... Yao Ji is unlikely
Lying in public, Zhou Mengxiong and Zhou Niang were both named acquaintances, so the confrontation was too simple. And after thinking about it for a while, it is reasonable and reasonable that Yao Ji's people were able to find Guizhou because Zhou Zui Niang said it.
As a result, Empress Ma felt a little relieved and felt that Zhu Wenkui's hope of escape was a little higher. However, there was still no news.
Queen Ma's eyes swept over Yao Ji, pretending to be disapproving. However, she saw that Yao Ji was wearing a dark blue Zhai dress with red lining, a stand-up collar style, and a phoenix crown on her head and a ribbon around her waist. This kind of clothing not only showed the
Apart from their status, the accessories worn by women are not good-looking; because the big shirt and ribbon are like the "high crown and belt" style of a scholar-bureaucrat, the sleeves are large, the clothes are wide, and the hat is decorated with many pearls and jade. The shape alone looks a bit like a scholar.
That kind of futou, there are still two wings-like structures on both sides of the back.
Such a style of clothing cannot bring out the unique softness of women at all, but adds a lot of rigid and heavy burdens. But Yao Ji wears such clothes, but somehow she is still full of femininity.
A tall figure can hold up such a majestic coat, giving it a more dignified temperament; a truly graceful figure cannot be completely concealed by wide clothes. With a slight movement, the soft waist can be looming under the silk fabric; plump
Only her towering breasts can hold up such loose clothes. The most eye-catching thing is her fair, delicate and healthy skin. Her beautiful face is even more as fair as jade against the contrast of the dark green Zhai clothes. Even the color of the pearls on her head is suppressed.
One end has become a foil.
This dress is perfect for Yao Ji. It makes people think of something, like white jade in the fallen wood. The heavy clothes are like a dull wooden box, and her skin is the inside of the box.
A little bit of fine white jade is exposed.
When Queen Ma saw this woman again, she suddenly felt a sour feeling in her heart. She couldn't help but think of how she had bullied Yao Ji many years ago. No wonder Queen Ma and others... Back then, Queen Ma was a young woman with status and power.
, being compared to a little person like Yao Ji is like a basket of mud; and this conspicuous little woman not only has to compete with herself for men, but also has a vague threat. As a woman, isn't it clear at a glance what she wants to do?
I regret that I didn't think too far ahead and was satisfied just letting out my anger from time to time. If I had known about today's trouble, I should have killed Yao Ji directly.
"Queen, why don't you see the little princess?"
At this time, Yao Ji asked, with a smile on her face as she spoke. In Queen Ma's eyes, that smile seemed to be narcissistic and mocking... The comparison between men is to compare who is more powerful, powerful and wealthy.
, women condensed many things into one point: who is more beautiful and elegant. Empress Ma felt a strong sense of frustration for a while.
Although Queen Ma is a middle-aged woman and has lost her beauty, she thinks that Yao Ji is not much younger than her. The difference is less than ten years. When they were together in the palace in the past, Queen Ma was a young woman, Yao Ji
Ji is a little girl but she can seduce the same man, so comparing herself to Queen Ma in this aspect puts herself and Yao Ji on the same level.
Faced with the reality of people being cut off from each other, Queen Ma almost lost her mind. She immediately wanted to find some harsh words to irritate Yao Ji in person. She felt sulky in her heart, as if she could only hurt the person in front of her to make her unhappy.
Only then could he find an outlet with his words. The helpless thing was that he wanted to be desperate but couldn't find the focus. Yao Ji didn't say anything that could make people catch the topic at this time. You can't ramble and curse for no reason, right? In that case,
You can't hurt others, but make others laugh at you as a shrew.
Queen Ma's face turned red, as if she had trouble breathing. She had to suppress a breath of anger, raised her head and replied: "In the carriage behind."
The little princess they were talking about was the eldest daughter of Prince Zhu Wenkui, named Nanping, who was granted the title of Princess of Luocheng (Jianwenfeng) at birth. Zhu Nanping's biological mother had a dystocia and died after giving birth to a daughter. Wenkui later married on the spot.
He fell in love with a maid in a Taoist temple, and had affairs with several women while away from home, but did not have any children.
Yao Ji found out that Wen Kui only had a daughter, so she had no ill intentions for the time being. The situation of princesses and princesses in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was very sad. In the early days, these women were better, but they had no political effect; and the royal family in the Han and Tang Dynasties
The status of the eldest daughter is completely different. Just like the youngest sister of Emperor Jianwen, she fell into the hands of her uncle Zhu Di after the Battle of Jingnan. Zhu Di killed countless people, but he was too lazy to touch Jianwen's sister.
Yao Ji has the same mentality. She doesn't think Wen Kui's daughter is any threat at all.
Queen Ma asked her granddaughter to get out of the carriage. She saw a little girl in her early ten years. Her clear eyes only looked at Yao Ji and she remained silent. She seemed a little introverted. Queen Ma ordered: "This is Yao Ji."
Noble concubine."
In fact, members of the royal family can be called more affectionately because they are related to each other. However, after Empress Ma gave such instructions, Zhu Nanping only called her three words: "Yao Guifei."
Yao Ji didn't care, and showed a seemingly friendly smile: "When I was in the palace, I was only this old."
Empress Ma suddenly grasped the reason and said, "Concubine Yao is so concerned about Nanping. Does she miss her grandson? It depends on her own family." This was said abruptly, but Yao Ji was very smart and picked up on it immediately.
Erlai: Queen Ma finally found something better than herself, that is, she became a grandmother, but Yao Ji did not.
Yao Ji felt angry and laughed at the same time. She said she didn't want to be against Queen Ma, but she looked back at her.