Chapter seven hundred and seventeen: untie the knot
The atmosphere in Nuan Pavilion was a bit gloomy. After a while, Zhu Qiyu finally broke free from his emotions, sighed and said.
"Thank you, concubine. I sometimes don't care about the affairs of the harem. However, fortunately, the queen and the concubine are both good-tempered. If the concubine is willing to give them some advice, it will be a blessing to them."
Since ancient times, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has been difficult to get along with, especially in the Tian family.
Even if you are in the royal family, it is extremely luxurious to have the simple feelings of ordinary people. However, even if you cannot achieve that simple calmness, Zhu Qiyu does not want to have any bad feelings between the Wu family, the Wang family, and the Hang family.
.
Since the Wu family said that they would no longer care about the affairs of the Wang family and the Hang family, they would no longer target or plot against them. Zhu Qiyu naturally believed this.
However, he also did not want Wu to go to the other extreme and let their relationship become alienated and indifferent.
After hearing this, Wu smiled and said.
"Don't worry, the Ai family won't let it go. You have open and covert attacks in the outside world. Has there ever been peace in this palace? Well, the Ai family usually doesn't want to talk to you about these low-level affairs. You don't feel at ease, so follow
It doesn’t matter if you talk about it.”
As he spoke, Wu's eyes flashed with a sharp edge. He raised his hand and ordered the people serving around him to step back. Then he nodded to Qingzhu. The latter's face suddenly became stern. He turned around and took out a locked box, and then held it in his hand.
Put it down in front of Zhu Qiyu.
Then, she came to Wu's side and took a small key that Wu had found out from nowhere. Instead of touching the box, she placed the key next to the box and then stepped back.
This move surprised Zhu Qiyu. You should know that although Qingzhu is just a maid, she is an old man who has been with the Wu family for many years. To put it bluntly, Qingzhu has been with the Wu family longer than Zhu Qiyu's son.
Much more.
There shouldn't be any secrets in the entire Jingyang Palace that Qingzhu can't access. However, Qingzhu's move clearly means that she doesn't have the authority to open this box.
After taking a look at Mrs. Wu, Zhu Qiyu picked up the key, opened the box, and found a thick stack of documents inside.
After a quick glance, they seemed to be some records. After picking them up and looking at them carefully, Zhu Qiyu's face immediately darkened.
"These sleazebags!"
There isn't much written in this box, but every thing recorded in it is shocking.
"In April of the first year of Jingtai, saffron was found in the anti-fetal medicine of Kunning Palace. It was discovered before leaving the kitchen. The poisoner was found to be a member of the first palace. When the medicine was put into the jar, the person hanged himself."
"In the fifth month of the first year of Jingtai, some palace servants poured water on the road where Concubine Guo lived."
"In June of the first year of Jingtai, there was someone acting sneakily in the Changchun Palace. The empress dowager called the eldest prince to see him. Because she had no edict, she was blocked by the open channel of the palace. The person who sent the message disappeared inexplicably. Three days later, he was found in a place in the imperial city.
Found in a dry well."
"In September of the first year of Jingtai, Princess Gu'an was traveling and encountered a small blue snake with fine scales. The princess reached out to touch it, but was stopped by the accompanying guards. Later, the doctor identified the snake as Zhuyeqing, which is highly poisonous."
…………
The earliest record is from September of the 14th year of Orthodoxy, and the latest is about two months ago, around the Chinese New Year.
Some of these things are serious, some are inconspicuous, but without exception, the methods are extremely vicious, and the people who handle them are the most ordinary, humble and inconspicuous little palace servants in the palace.
More importantly, as long as something is done, no matter whether it is successful or not, the person doing it will die or disappear immediately, leaving no chance for further investigation.
After Zhu Qiyu read it, his hands were shaking a little. He didn't dare to think about what the consequences would be if even one of the things recorded in it really happened.
"Concubine, who did all this?"
Some of these things are deliberate at first glance, and some are "coincidences." However, since they are recorded, it can only mean that there must be someone behind them.
Wu was calm and waved her hand gently, so Qingzhu stepped forward and put the corresponding documents into the box, locked it again, and put it back to its original place.
Then, Wu Shifang sighed and said.
"What can't be found out? The people who did it are all little-known people. There are thousands of people in all places in the imperial city. How can we check them one by one? Those who feed the horses, those who help in the kitchen, and those who work
, As long as you want to do it, as long as you are willing to wait, there will always be a chance."
"So we can only prevent this kind of thing, don't think that we can prevent it. As for who did it behind the scenes, it's just those individuals, maybe Cining Palace, maybe those aristocratic families outside, maybe Nangong, maybe, it's
No one can tell for sure about the concubines of the Supreme Emperor."
"However, you don't need to be too anxious. There are many methods in the palace. However, fortunately, when you ascended the throne, most of them have been eliminated. Now at least Kunning Palace, Changchun Palace, Jingyang Palace and several other important ones
Every one of them is a reliable person personally selected by the Aijia."
"Be careful on weekdays and nothing will happen."
After saying these words, Zhu Qiyu gradually calmed down. He was actually concerned and confused, but he could indeed understand this truth.
There are too many people of all kinds in the imperial city, and it is impossible to find out the details one by one, but...
"Why didn't my mother and concubine tell me these things before?"
"What's the point of telling you? Let you go on a killing spree? Kill a group of people in the palace, and then replace them with a group of people who look innocent, but don't know how many craftsmen are hidden?"
Wu glanced at him, but her words were not polite at all.
Zhu Qiyu tilted his head. He wanted to refute but had nothing to say. Indeed, other than replacing all the palace members on a large scale, he had no other good solution for this kind of matter.
But after all, the imperial city is too big. If you even check all the people who help cooks, wash clothes, and wash dishes, then you really don't want to do anything else.
Besides, these low-level palace people are very mobile. After entering the palace, they may have done things in many places. Even if they are checked, nothing may be found.
Even if new people come in, there is no guarantee that there will be no disloyal people among them with such a large number of replacements.
"Your two daughters-in-law, it's not that the Ai family wants to say that they are not good. Although one is dignified and solemn, she is more than capable of managing the palace, but not enough to manage the harem. The other... is not as good as the first one. The reason why the Ai family arranges these people in the palace is , I also keep an eye on the troubles in this palace for you."
"You have enough troubles dealing with court affairs every day. There are so many things happening in the harem every day. Some things are big, some are small. In fact, no one knows the size of the matter until the results are found out."
"Take Sister Hui's time as an example. She has a wild temperament and likes to run into the flower jungle. She will also encounter some squirrels, cats and dogs on weekdays. That little green snake is a palace person after all. I didn’t pay attention when cleaning it, but someone still put it there intentionally, and I couldn’t find out at all.”
"There is no conclusive evidence for these things, and you know clearly that nothing can be found. Why bother you with this?"
Zhu Qiyu lost his temper after what he said, because this is also true. In this life, he is already familiar with the business, and he has also strengthened the cabinet voting process and tried his best to decentralize government affairs.
But even so, there were still many affairs in the imperial court, and he would still be busy without touching the ground. He would often stay directly in the Qianqing Palace. It was really beyond his power to devote his energy to taking care of these things in the harem.
So, he recalled the time in his previous life. As Wu said, maybe it was better now. After all, when he first ascended the throne, he had already screened many people in the inner palace.
But in his previous life, he was really serious and focused on government affairs. He directly used many people in the inner palace who were left by Zhu Qizhen, and only promoted Tao in a few key places. An old member of the royal family.
Nowadays, there are so many methods used in this situation. It is conceivable that in the past life, many embarrassing things happened.
Think about it again, at that time Brother Ji's health was getting worse and worse, the relationship between the Wang family and him was getting worse and worse, and Xina's concubine's stomach had not moved for a long time. If he had paid careful attention to all these things in his previous life, There are actually a lot of strange things.
More importantly, the Wu family now has much stronger control over the inner palace because they have promoted a large number of their own people.
But in his previous life, because he had never thought about this at all, Wu was afraid that he had no intention of taking care of these things.
After thinking about it, Zhu Qiyu suddenly remembered that in his previous life, Mrs. Wu had actually told him overtly and secretly that he could not trust the slaves in the palace too much, but at that time he always felt that they were just slaves and could not cause any trouble, but result……
Looking at Zhu Qiyu's appearance, Wu sighed and said.
"I'm telling you this, not to make you worry. After these things happened, the Ai family deployed manpower everywhere, and there were many thoughtful old people around the children to look after them all the time. Stay here, nothing will happen."
"I am telling you now because I want you to know that the Ai family will take care of things in the harem. The Ai family still knows clearly what matters are big and what are small."
These words were naturally intended to dispel Zhu Qiyu's concerns and tell him that although Wu often scolded Wang and pinched Hang and others, Wu would still protect them when speaking to the outside world.
In other words, their relationship is not as bad as Zhu Qiyu imagined.
"It's all the son's fault. It's the son's bad behavior that makes your life in the harem so difficult. Thank you for your hard work, mother and concubine!"
Although Wu said that he could not find out, Zhu Qiyu knew that the person behind it was most likely from Cining Palace.
Otherwise, she would not have picked up the prince so early and had someone follow him all the time. People always like to judge others by themselves. If she uses her own methods, she will always be afraid of being dealt with in the same way.
This is human nature.
From this perspective, it was actually Zhu Qiyu who caused these disasters.
In fact, as long as he was as cruel as Zhu Qizhen in his previous life, and asked Shu Liang to lead the imperial army to seal Cining Palace and Nangong Palace, find two eunuchs to go in and strangle the people inside, everything would be over.
Solve the problem at the source.
However, once this is done, it will be a bloody massacre no less than Jingnan.
In addition to the two most critical figures, Empress Dowager Sun and Zhu Qizhen, in order to prevent restoration, the princes and princesses of Zhu Qizhen's lineage were naturally not allowed to stay, and all of them would "die of a sudden illness."
If we want to completely eradicate the scourge and eliminate all sense of Zhu Qizhen's existence, then even Queen Qian and Zhu Qizhen's concubines will have to be "buried" along with them.
Zhu Qiyu does not think he is an overly kind person, but even without mentioning other consequences, he simply cannot get over the hurdle in his heart.
Call it cowardice or benevolent as a woman, Zhu Qiyu felt it was not worth it to have so many people bury Zhu Qizhen alone.
What's more, once he does this, the turmoil it will bring to the court, the impact on the inheritance of etiquette, and the possible turmoil in the country are all costs he cannot bear.
For his own absolute safety, doing such a thing is not what an emperor should do. Therefore, Zhu Qiyu chose a gentler and more aboveboard method to solve Zhu Qizhen's problem.
However, since you want to occupy a rational word, you are dancing with shackles, and it is difficult to do whatever you want.
In the outer court, no matter how many calculations and offences he encountered, Zhu Qiyu could calmly deal with it. However, when he saw the treacherous plots in the inner palace, he couldn't help but feel deeply guilty.
"You did the right thing!"
Wu naturally felt this emotion, but she shook her head, put down the beads in her hand, sat up straight, folded her hands, and said solemnly and seriously.
"As an emperor, it is your duty to put aside your family and care for everyone, put aside your personal affairs and focus on the country. You will be a better emperor than your father in the future."
"I still remember when the news of Tumu's defeat came. When you woke up, you went to the palace and said that you wanted to fight for the throne. At that time, mother made up her mind. Right or wrong, success or failure, you and I, mother and son, will share life and death."
"The Ai family believes that although Yun Niang and the Hang family don't know so many things, if they knew, they would make the same decision. So, do what you think you should do."
Zhu Qiyu raised his head and looked at Wu's solemn expression. After a moment, he finally let out a breath and said.
"Thank you, concubine!"
The warm sunshine outside the window shines on the couch, reflecting a magnificent light through the emerald beads on the table. On the treetops, there are birds chirping, and the breeze blows, everything seems quiet and leisurely.
In fact, Zhu Qiyu came to Jingyang Palace today for the sake of Brother Ji, but he never thought that it would resolve the long-standing grudge between mother and son.
At this moment, Zhu Qiyu suddenly didn't want to ask Brother Ji anymore, because just now, he wanted to understand something.
Since Wu was able to stay in the harem and silently block so many open and secret attacks, we can also understand the painstaking efforts he put into what he did.
Then, she would not have any inappropriate thoughts about her grandson.
However, he did not ask questions, but Wu took the initiative and said.
"The Ai family already knows what happened in the Royal Garden."
"During these days, Brother Ji was in Jingyang Palace, and the Ai family did teach him something. Now that you are here, it seems that you feel that what the Ai family did was not appropriate enough?"
Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but smile bitterly. Obviously, although he no longer wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, Wu did not want to suffer this grievance.
However, since the topic has been brought up, it would be good to talk about it, so Zhu Qiyu considered the words, and after a while, he said.
"It is his blessing that the mother-in-law is willing to teach this child herself. However, every time he looks at his sensible appearance, my son always feels that since he is a child, he should be as lively and lively as Sister Hui."
"Brother Ji...after all, he is still too young. It doesn't matter if he becomes sensible later!"