Chapter three hundred and thirty seventh: involuntarily
In the Cining Palace, watching her daughter run out crying, Queen Mother Sun leaned weakly on the couch, holding her temple with her right hand, her chest heaving, and she was obviously very angry.
The maids and chamberlains serving beside her were all cautious and did not dare to make any sound.
Only the eunuch in charge, Wang Jin, couldn't escape, so he bravely brought a new cup of tea to Queen Mother Sun and comforted her in a soft voice.
"Holy Mother, please calm down. Her Royal Highness, the eldest princess, is also in a hurry. It must be the incident involving the consort today that has frightened Your Highness. Your Highness has always been filial and will never have any intention of contradicting you."
Queen Mother Sun opened her eyes, picked up the tea cup and took a sip. The irritability in her heart slightly dissipated. She thought about it and asked.
"Wang Jin, apart from coming to Cining Palace, who else has Chang De been close to in recent days?"
Empress Dowager Sun understands her daughter fairly well and has never had any twists and turns.
But her behavior today was obviously dissatisfied, and it was not just a day or two.
The fact that Xue Heng was banned was probably just the trigger for Changde to finally behave, but the root cause was definitely not related to this matter.
Wang Jin frowned, thought for a while, and replied.
"Her Royal Highness the Princess always likes to be quiet and doesn't interact with many people. When she comes to the palace these days, in addition to paying greetings to Our Lady, she also goes to Changchun Palace twice to visit Her Royal Highness, and then goes to Yikun Palace.
I can chat with Queen Duanjing to relieve my boredom, and there is nothing else."
Changchun Palace is the residence of the Crown Prince's biological mother, Concubine Zhou. Originally, Empress Dowager Sun wanted to raise Zhu Jianshen in her palace.
But she couldn't bear Zhou's repeated crying, and the situation had stabilized, with people coming and going in Cining Palace, so it was not suitable for Zhu Jianshen to continue to stay with her.
Therefore, a few days ago, she sent Zhu Jianshen back to Changchun Palace and continued to be raised by the Zhou family.
As for Changle Palace, it was the residence of Empress Duanjing Qian. Since the new emperor ascended the throne, it was no longer suitable for her, the imperial sister-in-law, to continue living in the middle palace, but moved to Yikun Palace.
There shouldn't be any problems on Zhou's side.
Although the Empress Dowager Sun sent Zhu Jianshen back, because she was worried about her precious grandson, she specially allocated a lot of people to serve him closely. If there was any news, she would know it.
On the other hand, she didn't pay much attention to Yikun Palace.
So Queen Mother Sun continued to ask: "What's the latest news from Qian's side?"
When Queen Mother Sun asked about this, Wang Jin sighed, looking a little embarrassed and said.
"Queen Duanjing still enshrines a Buddha statue in the palace as before, and prays for the Supreme Emperor every day, day and night."
"A few days ago, the imperial doctor came to report that because of the cold air entering her body from kneeling for a long time, the empress's right leg was no longer able to move, her liver energy was stagnant, her mind was not smooth, and her left eye was also blurred."
"What?"
Queen Mother Sun immediately sat up, a dangerous light flashed in her eyes, and shouted in a low voice: "Why didn't you tell me about such a big thing earlier?"
Although she doesn't like Qian's cowardly temperament, she still approves of Qian's feelings for Zhu Qizhen.
Now that she heard that Qian's body was so ill, how could she not be anxious?
Wang Jin was so frightened that he immediately fell to his knees and said.
"Holy Mother, please forgive me. It's not that I deceived you, but that Queen Duanjing herself didn't allow it to be spread outside, let alone reported to you, saying she was afraid of worrying you."
"The imperial doctor has used all the medicines that should be used, but the empress herself can't relax and stays in front of the Buddha statue day and night, and the slaves have no choice."
Queen Mother Sun felt complicated in her heart. After thinking about it, she stood up from the couch, took two steps forward, stopped again, stood in a daze for a moment, let out a soft sigh, and sat back far away.
She should have expected this result.
Qian was the queen who was personally selected by Empress Dowager Zhang for Zhu Qizhen before she passed away.
To be honest, Queen Mother Sun doesn't like this daughter-in-law and thinks she is too cowardly.
But unexpectedly, she looked weak but was actually tough. This friendship alone was enough for Queen Mother Sun to recognize this daughter-in-law.
Leaning on the soft couch, Queen Mother Sun waved her hands feebly and said.
"If you order someone to deliver some good medicinal materials, the Ai family will stop visiting her."
Wang Jin responded and was about to retreat when he heard Queen Mother Sun's voice ringing again.
"Continue to investigate. Qian's temperament is not that of a gossip, but there is no smoke without fire. Let's send a message out and ask people outside the palace to investigate to see which family has recently become close to the princess's mansion. The Ai family wants to see who is here.
Talking nonsense in front of Changde!"
This time, Wang Jin did not leave in a hurry, but asked a little embarrassedly.
"Holy Mother, it's not difficult inside the palace, but outside the palace..."
Seeing his hesitant expression, Queen Mother Sun understood.
Since Jin Ying was sent to Nanjing, communication inside and outside the palace has been inconvenient. Because of this, she had to let Princess Changde be in charge of communicating inside and outside the palace.
But now, it is Changde himself who needs to be investigated, so how can he continue to ask her to pass on the message.
After figuring this section out, Queen Mother Sun couldn't help but have a headache.
"That's all, it won't be a problem if this continues. Chang De's temperament shouldn't be involved too deeply. From now on, don't ask her to send messages."
Wang Jin nodded and asked cautiously: "What about contact outside the palace after that?"
After pondering for a moment, Queen Mother Sun rubbed her forehead, sighed, and said: "Write a letter, seal it and ask Changde to take it out. If there is any news over there, write a letter and bring it in. Don't let Changde know the specific news.
Already."
The servants of Cining Palace retreated one after another, but Queen Mother Sun's mood was still quite uneasy.
Although she had just acted very firmly in front of Princess Changde, in fact, there was some hesitation in her heart.
Although Princess Changde's words were a bit naive, they were not completely unreasonable.
Empress Dowager Sun had no doubts about the loyalty of the British government. Their ties with Zhu Qizhen were too deep. Even if they wanted to change their families, the new emperor would not accept them. There was no doubt about this.
But ask yourself.
Today, Zhu Qizhen is no longer the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but an emperor in name only, and he is not yet in the capital.
The British government will indeed not betray Zhu Qizhen.
However, will they still sincerely regard Zhu Qizhen as their master as they did before the Civil War?
Empress Dowager Sun is not an ignorant woman who has never read a book.
She still knew the story of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and Cao Cao.
Even if you look closer, the allusion of wearing a yellow robe is widely circulated.
You know, in the past, when Zhu Qizhen was still the emperor, he gave the British government a lot of courage, but they did not dare to make a fuss about the Huichang Prefecture.
But now, Princess Changde's words sound unpleasant, but are they not the truth?
Huichang House is the mother clan of the Queen Mother Sun, so she felt most uncomfortable about this matter.
But now, what can be done?
The last thing Tianjia can talk about is family love.
Especially after seeing Zhu Qiyu's methods, Empress Dowager Sun was even more afraid to place the lives of her mother and son on Zhu Qiyu's thoughts.
So even though she knew that the British government was now focusing on foreign affairs, she could only accept that she couldn't help herself, which was vividly reflected at this moment.
After getting up and coming to the window, Queen Mother Sun looked at the gradually darkening sky, her eyes far away, condensing with unresolved melancholy...