After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 468 Old events from those days
The Duke of Zhenguo was filled with sighs.

He understood what the old palace man Sufang meant.

The Empress Dowager Zhou took a big risk by sheltering the newly born seventh prince. However, the seventh prince is a direct descendant of the middle palace, and is the only surviving bloodline of the Zhou family's granddaughter, Queen Wu, so his status is unusual. As long as the emperor did not plan to kill his aunt, the Empress Dowager Zhou was willing to take this risk.

It's just that the seventh prince was born with a weak body and might die at an early age. And once he dies, anything Empress Dowager Zhou does for him will become meaningless. This risk is greater than the risk posed by Concubine Sun discovering the existence of the Seventh Prince and secretly assassinating him.

So Empress Dowager Zhou simply blocked the news and prioritized ensuring that the seventh prince could grow up healthily, but she did not intend to reveal the news to her natal brothers and let them bear the risk. In this way, if the seventh prince dies before he reaches adulthood, Cining Palace can bury him quietly, and Duke Zhenguo and Marquis Chengen will not have to suffer the consequences of supporting this child who died in their fight for the throne. The emperor and the Sun family were making things difficult.

The old palace lady Su Fang said: "The Queen Mother initially hoped that the Emperor would change his mind and distance himself from the traitorous concubine. As long as the Emperor has the intention to repent, the Queen Mother can rest assured to inform the Emperor of the news about the Seventh Highness. Unexpectedly, there were many incidents in the palace one after another. The emperor's heir died, and everything was pointed at Concubine Sun. However, the emperor's love for Concubine Sun has not diminished by half. The Queen Mother is very disappointed with this, and no longer expects His Highness to get involved. "

In fact, this is also because the seventh prince's health is indeed very bad and he suffers from major and minor illnesses. It was already very difficult for the Queen Mother to cover up the sudden increase in the number of calls for imperial doctors and the amount of medicines used in Cining Palace. Fortunately, Gongren Xu, who was the wet nurse of the Seventh Prince, taught herself some simple medical skills and the art of making medicinal food, and was able to deal with some minor illnesses and pains, which made the Queen Mother feel more relaxed. But as the old doctor whom the Queen Mother trusted left, and the new doctor's background was unreliable, the Queen Mother began to worry about the seventh prince's health again.

The Queen Mother decided to send the Seventh Prince quietly out of the palace. The Marquis of Cheng'en has not participated in the social circles of the capital's distinguished circles for many years. Outsiders do not know how many juniors have been added to his family. The addition of an inconspicuous child in his backyard will not arouse the suspicion of outsiders. The seventh prince grew up in Chengenhou Mansion, and was much more comfortable living and studying than in Cining Palace. Even if the news leaked one day, it would be easier for him to escape.

At this time, the Queen Mother no longer planned to disclose the identity of the Seventh Prince. She only hoped that after he left the palace, he could live out his life safely as a descendant of the Chengen Marquis Mansion. If he didn't get involved in the fight for the reserve, the seventh prince might still live a little longer. As for the ownership of the reserve, it is up to the emperor to decide.

The Queen Mother knew in her heart that the Emperor loved Concubine Sun, but Concubine Sun had her sons killed one by one, leaving only the six princes. Elder Sun Ge was becoming more and more disobedient, and the Emperor was not unhappy. of. When the day comes when he can no longer endure it and is willing to be cruel to his beloved concubine and favorite ministers, the ownership of this reserve will naturally bring order to things. Even if the emperor had no biological son to succeed him, there would be no shortage of children in the clan. No matter who was eventually appointed as the crown prince, he was not her flesh and blood anyway. She just had to be a high-ranking queen mother and accept the prince's worship.

For this reason, the Queen Mother sent an envoy to contact her younger brother, Marquis Chengen, and asked his wife to enter the palace, intending to discuss how to quietly send the seventh prince out of the palace without arousing anyone's suspicion. In order to fish in troubled waters, Mrs. Chengenhou also sent several maids of different ages to the palace under various names. On the surface, they were to relieve the Queen Mother's boredom, but in fact, they were just to facilitate the replacement of people out of the palace.

But before they could let the seventh prince disguise himself as a little girl and follow Mrs. Chengenhou out of the palace, the seventh prince fell ill first and became seriously ill. Only the emperor's most trusted physician could treat this disease in the imperial hospital. But if the imperial doctor was really called over, the seventh prince's existence could no longer be concealed.

The Queen Mother knew that the emperor was about to issue an order to appoint the sixth prince as his heir. At this juncture, Concubine Sun would not allow the appearance of a legitimate prince to hinder the sixth prince's future. She couldn't alert the imperial doctor, so she could only ask Palace Master Xu to look through medical books to find a prescription for the disease, and first grab the medicine for the Seventh Prince to try. Xu Gongren successfully found the prescription, and also managed to obtain the medicinal materials, and boiled the medicine for the seventh prince to take. The seventh prince's condition improved, and everyone was relieved when another bad news came: something happened to the sixth prince born to Concubine Sun, and the seventh prince's maid Lihua disappeared at this time.

The old palace lady Su Fang said to Zhen Guogong and his wife: "No one knows how Liuhua came up with this idea, and how he took advantage of the loophole to sneak out of Cining Palace, approach His Highness the Sixth Prince, and do such things. The Empress Dowager inquired later and found out that Lihua and Mrs. Wu were closest to each other at that time, and they often talked to each other while avoiding people. Her Highness was sick or fell down and was injured. Thinking of the pitiable situation of Second Grandma Wu, who had lost her husband and son, and Lihua was a savior, she could not bear to scold them more, and simply scolded them a few times to stop talking nonsense in front of others. That’s all. I never expected that the Queen Mother’s moment of weakness would cause them to get into great trouble!”

Duke Zhenguo said with a sullen face: "Since Liuhua killed the sixth prince, did she leave traces and implicate Cining Palace?!"

The old palace man shook his head: "After Liu Hua accomplished what she did, she knew she could not escape, so she ran to the imperial garden, tied stones to her body, and jumped into the water to commit suicide. She was fished out a few days later, and her body had changed greatly. She didn't show her true face, and the clothes she wore had been changed in advance, and she looked very much like the uniforms worn by Concubine Sun in the palace. No one recognized her as coming from Cining Palace, but some people suspected that Concubine Sun treated her maids harshly and took revenge on the Sixth Prince. On the body. The emperor quickly blocked the news and no one was allowed to discuss the matter. It was just that Concubine Sun was counting the people in her palace. How could she not know that Lihua was not from the palace?

"She almost went crazy at the time. She was suspicious of everyone in the palace. Because the Marquis of Cheng'en sent several maids to Cining Palace, she began to suspect the Queen Mother, thinking that even if the Queen Mother did not harm her, The son, Second Grandma Wu, who was under the protection of the Queen Mother, may have had a grudge against the Sun family and ordered the new maid to take revenge on the Sixth Prince. However, when Second Grandma Wu helped Liuhua harm others, she left some traces and failed to deal with the aftermath. When Sun Guifei found out, she became more and more convinced that the evidence was conclusive. She was furious and wanted to break into Cining Palace with a sword to kill her. The Queen Mother ordered someone to stop her and asked the emperor to come and take her away. With her love and the traces of Mistress Wu’s careless behavior, the Emperor may be persuaded at some point..."

Worried that Concubine Sun would break into Cining Palace again, or that the emperor would be affected by the pillow wind, she sent people to search Cining Palace regardless of her face. The presence of the seventh prince was discovered, and it became more and more obvious that Cining Palace was related to the murder of the sixth prince. The Queen Mother decided He wanted to send off the three Gui clan members on an excuse and take the Seventh Prince out along the way.

Unfortunately it didn't work out.

Gui Shiming has been complaining that she is trapped in the palace and cannot be free, but the Queen Mother is sending her out of the palace, and she is afraid that the Marquis Chengen Mansion cannot protect her, and her mother and daughter will be harmed by the Sun family. They are making a fuss. He refused to leave and asked Concubine Sun's men who had been watching Cining Palace to find out. The Queen Mother had no choice but to tell her about the Seventh Prince, asking her to understand the seriousness of the matter and obey orders honestly.

However, at this time, the emperor had already deployed additional personnel at the palace gate to strictly check everyone entering and exiting. The Queen Mother had no way to bring out a "little palace maid" dressed as a man, so she had to send Gui's mother, daughter and Wu Ke away first. As for the seventh prince, he can only look for another opportunity.

Mrs. Zhen Guogong was surprised when she heard this: "Gui Shi didn't know about His Highness Seventh Prince? But why do I feel...she usually speaks with confidence, and seems to have a deep friendship with His Highness?!"

(End of this chapter)