Winner in life

Rui He waved his hand to let the servants who were following Zhuang Cheng retreat, and called Zhuang Cheng into the study: "I know." But is this worthy of Zhuang Cheng's excited inquiry?

Entering the study, Zhuang Cheng refused to sit down or drink tea, and asked directly: "Then do you know the reason why the fifth prince was demoted?"

Ruihe felt something was wrong, he frowned: "Didn't you say that you are unfilial and unvirtuous, and you don't respect your emperor and father?" He poured tea for Zhuangcheng and led him to sit down. Zhuangcheng stood there in a daze, almost biting. Yacai squeezed out a sentence: "Yes, he is unfilial, unvirtuous, and disrespectful of the king and his father. Then do you know how the fifth prince is unfilial, unvirtuous, and disrespectful of the king and his father?"

"I have no idea."

"How could you not know? Haven't you been keeping an eye on Yanjing City?"

Even a fool should have noticed that Zhuang Cheng was in a state of pain and depression before the explosion, and part of this emotion was directed at him. Ruihe didn't know the reason and looked directly at Zhuangcheng: "I really don't know. My family has no intention of interfering in seizing the reserve. The reason why I still inquire about the news of Yanjing City in the border town is because I don't want to be blind and don't know. I was caught up in the scandal in Yanjing City, but I only asked for information that could be found on the streets, but I didn't have the guts to pry into the Tian family's privacy. It’s private, I really don’t know.”

Zhuang Cheng was breathing heavily, and after a while he sat down heavily. All the strength in his body seemed to be gone.

"Cousin, what happened?"

Zhuang Cheng's bloodshot eyes shed tears: "Ms. Zhuang Bin, my aunt, is dead."

Seeing his appearance, Ruihe had an ominous premonition and asked in a low voice: "What's going on?!"

Concubine Zhuang was still alive when I died in my previous life. I heard that my cousin had a peaceful mind and loved eating fast and chanting Buddha's name, so she lived a long life and was rich.

"You really don't know?"

"I really don't know. I did get the news four days ago that the fifth prince was expelled from the capital. But cousin, you should also understand that my intelligence line cannot send me messages all the time." Raise an intelligence line How difficult is it? There is no urgent and important content, and using a carrier pigeon just for the death of Zhuang Concubine is a meaningless loss.

Only then did Zhuang Cheng exhale and said hoarsely.

It turned out that half a month ago, General Yong Ding's team of confidants finally arrived in Yanjing City, and they looked for an opportunity to give things to Concubine Zhuang in the palace on the pretext of sending Mid-Autumn Festival gifts. When her mother-in-law's family came, Zhuang Concubine naturally looked for an opportunity to contact her and sent her confidants to the west gate of the palace to talk to General Yongding's cronies. The confidant handed the palace a package of silver notes and a letter home written by General Yongding. Letters were not allowed inside or outside the palace. The confidant was still a little worried. Zhuang's confidant aunt who came to pick up the things said confidently: " Don’t worry, no one dares to search our concubine’s things.”

Sure enough, everything was taken in.

One day later, as promised, the confidant came to the west palace gate to pick up the mother's family letter. The confidant of the palace sent a message: "My wife asked you to tell your uncle and let him do his job well. Everything is fine with your mother."

This was similar to what he said in previous years. His confidants nodded quickly, saying that they would convey it word for word.

When you go back to Yanjing City, you can't just leave after giving the Tian family gifts, and you can't leave your relatives and friends behind. After a round of gifts, the news came that the fifth prince had been deposed. Before everyone could digest it, the fifth prince was packed up and thrown out of Yanjing City the next day. In the midst of uneasiness, the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet arrived, and the confidants planned to leave as soon as the banquet was over. However, the next day, news came from the palace that Concubine Zhuang had died of a sudden illness.

a bolt from the blue!

The cronies thought they were dreaming, or a horrific nightmare. Yesterday, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, my mother-in-law gave me something as a reward. How come it was gone in just one day?

Once you enter the palace, you feel as deep as the sea. After becoming a royal concubine, your life and death have nothing to do with your natal family. The whole family of General Yongding's mansion was not in Yanjing City, and they didn't even need to inform him.

The cronies looked around confused, not knowing what to do or how to do it. It was the old lady of the Marquis of Wu'an who sent someone to find him and asked them to deliver a message back to the border town first. The princess was not in Yanjing with her consort, so she went to see the elder of the Zhuang clan to see how the Zhuang clan would hold a memorial ceremony.

After all, Zhuang Concubine has been in the concubine position for twenty years and has never made any mistakes. Even if she was not as favored during her lifetime, after her death, the emperor should regard her years of service and the princess's face, as well as General Yongding's many years of garrisoning the border. According to the rules, Zhuang's concubines were given the title of concubine, and the funeral was treated with concubine etiquette. General Yong Ding is the son of the old lady's cousin, and Concubine Zhuang is her niece according to her seniority. There are many grandchildren in the border town who are under the care of General Yong Ding, so she has to go and see off Concubine Zhuang due to circumstances and reasons. The old lady ordered someone to take out the imperial edict and iron it, waiting for the decree to come out from the palace so that she could enter the palace and kowtow.

Unexpectedly, there was no intention of mourning in the palace, and the Department of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Rites were all quiet. This strange silence makes people confused and scared. The Zhuang family gave birth to a concubine. Even if the empress is not favored, it is an example of Zhuang family's ability to teach their daughters. It is also a decent and honorable thing to tell about it. Mr. Zhuang had to ask someone to ask, and only received the news that Concubine Zhuang had been buried in Qingfeng Nunnery.

Qinghoan? That was the place where the royal concubines who made mistakes were punished and banned. There were also many "empresses" buried in the back mountain who were not qualified to enter the concubine's mausoleum.

The dignified concubine was buried quietly in Qingfeng Nunnery without any title or funeral ceremony. The profound meaning in it is shocking.

What mistake did Zhuang Concubine make? Don't dare to ask, don't dare to think. Fortunately, Tianjia seems to have no intention of holding Zhuang to account. This is the only good news. The clan leader sent someone to send a message to General Yongding's cronies, asking them to leave the capital quickly and not stay any longer to avoid further troubles. The confidants hurried back to the border town with full of surprises and sorrows, arriving at Sanyu City one day later than the letter from the post station.

When General Yongding received the letter, he was filled with grief. Unexpectedly, the confidant who came back would bring about the death of his sister. His grief was compounded by suspicion and fear. The confidant presented the previous letter to the empress. After reading it, General Yongding had doubts in his eyes.

Why does the content of this letter seem like his sister has already predicted his death and is saying goodbye to him? If my sister had not died, this letter would seem to be just a bit sentimental, with the sadness of not being able to see my relatives after being apart for many years. "The relationship between brother and sister will continue in the next life, and they will be happy at the knees of their parents" can also be seen as the younger sister's memory of their deceased parents.

But my sister is dead! This letter looks like a suicide note!

General Yongding asked his confidant if anything strange had happened in the palace recently, which implicated the empress. The confidant shook his head and said that he could not find out, and there was nothing unusual in the palace. The Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was held as usual, and Empress Zhuang was also there on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Send rewards to your natal family according to the rules of the palace. Since there was no one living in General Yongding's mansion, the reward was sent to the Zhuang clan as in previous years.

"It can't be because of the fight in the palace. My aunt has devoted herself to Buddhism these years, and my cousin has been married long ago. Who can my aunt offend?" Zhuang Cheng read the letter and asked his trusted aide who was haggard and tired from the journey, "Uncle Wang, is Yanjing City a dangerous place?" What happened?"

Only then did the confidant tell the story about the fifth prince. Zhuang Cheng was stunned after hearing this, remembering the matter they had just discussed last month about the fight between the fifth prince and the second prince for the heir apparent. This time, my father's cronies returned to Yanjing City to bring a message to my aunt, reminding her not to participate in the fight for the heirloom.

The front and back foot skills are gone, and the aunt is gone? It was impossible for Zhuang Cheng not to connect these two things. He silently recited the charges against the fifth prince, and his eyes suddenly widened. He rushed out, grabbed a horse and rushed towards Qingyue City.

After finishing speaking, Zhuang Cheng looked at Rui He and said, "Do you really not know the inside story?"

"If I knew the inside story, how could I hide it from you and my cousin?" As he said this, an idea flashed through Rui He's mind.

He couldn't help but think of Xu Bin's death half a year ago. The eighth prince was angered by the scandal caused by his biological mother. His reputation was damaged and he lost the battle to seize the heir apparent.

Now the fifth prince has been expelled from the capital for being "unfilial and unvirtuous, and disrespectful to the emperor and his father." This is a moral crime. It happened that there was a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet three days later, and Concubine Zhuang died of illness the next day... These three days apart, if you think about it carefully, it looks like the style of the nobles in the palace. Don't let "trivial matters" disturb the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, and then let the banquet whitewash the peace, etc. After all the fun and festivities, we will prepare the "sinners".

This method is so similar to Xu Bin's experience. It's not a bloody battle, but it can make the emperor intolerable and unforgivable, like a stick in his throat. The eighth prince and the fifth prince were both eliminated because of this.

Rui He had long known that the second prince was a sinister and profound person. He could bear it for more than 20 years when others, especially his younger brothers, secretly laughed at him for "cutting off his descendants." He patiently hid in the darkness and secretly provoked her. He didn't feel weird that the death was his doing.

But how can this be done? The fifth prince is an adult prince and has long since moved out to live in a separate mansion... Then it can only be done voluntarily and with the cooperation of Concubine Zhuang! In order to protect himself, Rui He of course sent people to the princes. Knowing that the second prince almost succeeded in the end, he naturally tried his best to fight against the second prince, and it was quite effective in the past few years. After working in the Second Prince's Mansion for a few years, he got involved in the flower room. The princess liked love and her skill in flower cultivation was highly valued. Last month, the eldest maid next to the princess asked her to raise two pots of beautiful daylily flowers. They would be used for Empress Zhuang's birthday, so she took care of herself and naturally obeyed. It’s not surprising that the second prince’s palace sent flowers on the concubine’s birthday. What’s strange is the type of flowers. There are so many famous flowers, such as crabapples and chrysanthemums. You can’t go wrong no matter how you send them. Why send day lilies? The flower language of daylily means mother's love. Is it appropriate to give it to my concubine? The second prince's mother-in-law, Concubine Xian, is still alive. What does it mean to give daylilies to the concubine?

Xizuo became suspicious, so he inquired secretly, and learned that in the past years, he had never sent flowers to Concubine Zhuang, but only some ornaments, fabrics, and jewelry as usual. After further inquiry, he also found out that the second prince's concubine had never given birthday gifts to Concubine Zhuang before. , the gift-giving started three years ago. It is said that at a palace banquet, the second prince's concubine and Zhuang's concubine talked about Buddhist scriptures, and they had a good conversation, and they established a friendship from then on. That Xizuo felt something was wrong, so he reported the incident and gathered it together with other information about Xizuo into Ruihe's hands.

At that time, Ruihe guessed that three years ago was the time when the princess born by Zhuang Concubine was about to descend. Zhuang Concubine used the princess's marriage as a sign of sincerity to join the second prince and take sides in the fight for the crown prince.

Now it seems that it has nothing to do with seizing the concubine, but is it simply to find a good marriage for the princess, and the price is Zhuang Concubine's life?

But just for the marriage, is it worth it?

As thoughts surged in Ruihe's mind, Zhuang Cheng grabbed his hair: "Yeah, if you knew, you wouldn't just let your aunt die. It's me who is despicable and incompetent -" He raised his head, his eyes straightened, "I Why are I looking for you? I don’t have the nerve to look for you. We have never found anything wrong with our aunt. We have never suspected that there is a problem with my cousin’s marriage. Never. If you hadn’t hinted us, maybe we would have heard the news of our aunt’s death now. Still confused.”

He came from Sanyu City full of anger and pain, but he was just escaping. What did he expect to get from his cousin to help him escape?

It’s just a marriage, it’s just a marriage——

If General Yongding's mansion had the power and power to support his aunt, wouldn't he be where he is today?

Seeing the pain on Zhuang Cheng's face, Rui He comforted him: "Elder cousin, anything can happen in the deep palace. Accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. The emperor's heart is unpredictable. Some are just your guesses, and there may not be -"

"No, you don't have to comfort me. You guessed it, right?"

Ruihe said nothing.

"You must have guessed that my aunt's death must be related to the fight between the second prince and the fifth prince. Can you tell me how you found out about the relationship between my aunt and the second prince?"

After a moment of silence, Ruihe said: "On Empress Zhuang's birthday, the second prince's concubine gave her two pots of daylily flowers."

Zhuang Cheng stayed for a moment, tears kept falling. It is said that when a man sheds tears, he does not shed them lightly, but he has not yet reached the point of sadness. To Zhuang Cheng, Zhuang Concubine is not only an aunt, but also an eldest sister and even a mother. In fact, their age difference is only six years. Zhuang Bin is an old woman, twenty years younger than her eldest brother, General Yong Ding. When General Yong Ding received the military order to garrison in Sanyu City, Zhuang Cheng was only five years old, and his parents were there. When he moved to the border town, only his eleven-year-old aunt took care of him, giving him warmth like a mother and caring like an eldest sister. He was taken to the border town when he was fifteen years old and formed a deep relationship with his little aunt.

"Sure enough, Hemerocallis flower, the heart of a loving mother, is to remind aunt not to forget the promise. My cousin has already had a good marriage, and it's time for aunt to pay the price in return." Zhuang Cheng wiped his tears fiercely, the hatred in his eyes was like anger. The waves of the sea kept surging, "Shan'er, I want to go back to Yanjing City to seek justice for my aunt!" m., please remember:,.

"Winner in Life [Quick Travel]"