Concubine's true colors

Chapter 178

Hearing Concubine Liang's words were full of pity and intolerance when she mentioned Zhou Xianyu, Xiao Jinxuan's heart tightened immediately, knowing that she shouldn't ask more questions, but she still couldn't help the worry in her heart, frowning and asked slowly:
"Your Majesty, what do you mean by your words? His Royal Highness is a nobleman of the royal family. He has been extremely noble since birth. In addition to his great military exploits and your protection, there should be nothing to worry about. Bar."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Liang sighed, and then patted Xiao Jinxuan's hand twice, the pity in the depths of her eyes became more intense.

"Jinxuan, what you see is only the glorious side of Yu'er now, but you must not know about his childhood experience. But it's no wonder, after all, that part of the past was the biggest pain in Yu'er's heart , He values ​​you so much, and he doesn't want you to know the other side of his weakness and helplessness."

Feeling Xiao Jinxuan in her palm, the bare hand that was still warm just now is already icy cold, with a thin layer of sweat oozing out. Concubine Liang looked at the other party with a still calm face, but she knew very well in her heart that this Fourth Miss Xiao, in fact Didn't show such calmness.

But just hearing that Zhou Xianyu's past was not all smooth sailing, Xiao Jinxuan's hands were already trembling with nervousness, only then did Concubine Liang understand why Zhou Xianrui wanted to facilitate this marriage so much.

The love between Xiao Jinxuan and Zhou Xianyu is so deep that Concubine Liang, who has lived in the deep palace for a long time and has seen all kinds of things, can't help being a little moved.

Immediately Concubine Liang took a sip of tea, and didn't take Xiao Jinxuan's silence to heart, and told about Zhou Xianyu's past Shanshan.

Speaking of Zhou Xianyu's past, we have to mention his biological mother Concubine Rou first.

In fact, Concubine Rou is not from the Great Zhou Kingdom, but a princess of Daliang Kingdom, named Huangfu Yingyue. Later, when the two countries formed an alliance, Daliang married this princess to Emperor Ming as a show of sincerity, and only then did Concubine Rou come into being.

Although Concubine Rou is the Princess of Daliang, but because she is not a direct descendant, after coming to Dazhou, she was only entrusted with a third-rank concubine.

But Emperor Ming loved her very much, it can even be said that the love of Emperor Ming's life was Concubine Rou.

At the beginning, Concubine Rou was known as the number one beauty in Daliang. After Emperor Ming saw her for the first time, this king of a country was completely conquered.

Even in disregard of the civil and military opposition of the Manchu Dynasty, Emperor Ming spent a lot of manpower and material resources. Before marrying Huangfu Yingyue, he artificially excavated a lake in Changping City, and named the lake after the other party's name, and this is now The origin of Yingyue Lake.

Later, after Huangfu Yingyue was welcomed into the harem of the Great Zhou Dynasty, until she died, she was all loved by three thousand people, and there was no one in the Six Palaces of Fendai.

In this huge imperial palace, she and Emperor Ming stayed together for several years, living a nearly monogamous life, and this was also the happiest time for Concubine Rou, and Zhou Xianyu was born at that time .

Therefore, Zhou Xianyu's childhood was spent in the extreme love of his father and mother, and this state lasted until he was five years old, but it changed completely without warning.

Among the hundreds of kingdoms in conflict and chaos, the three most powerful countries, apart from Da Zhou and Daliang, are the Bei Rong Kingdom standing on the snowy land.

Between countries, there has always been only eternal interests. When Zhou Xianyu was five years old, that is, in the 27th year of Emperor Ming, Daliang, who was allied with Da Zhou, suddenly turned against him, and together with Bei Rong attacked Da Zhou,
The Great Zhou was attacked by the two great powers, plus there was no preparation in advance, countless cities were captured immediately, and the war was in a hurry.

The Xiao family's army, who was the fierce tiger of the Great Zhou Dynasty, had always guarded the Beirong's frontier, and they were beyond the reach of Daliang's attack. In addition, they had to resist the Beirong's invading division, so they couldn't spare any troops to rush to support them.

At this time, the court of the Great Zhou fell into extreme panic, and after successive defeats against Daliang, there were ministers who shirked their responsibilities and pushed all these mistakes on the head of Concubine Rou.

He also bluntly stated that Huangfu Yingyue was deliberately arranged by Daliang for many years. The reason why Dazhou was defeated like a mountain was the result of the other party's tip-off.

Emperor Ming loved Concubine Rou very much, and she was a woman he loved with deep confidence, and did not betray him, but as an emperor, he could not do everything he wanted.

With the call to abolish Concubine Rou and suppress her to sacrifice the flag, it was time for all civil and military forces in the Manchu Dynasty to respond. Beloved lives saved.

But Huangfu Yingyue, in addition to being talented and beautiful, is also a woman who is gentle on the outside and strong on the inside, and values ​​love and righteousness. Seeing her mother country treacherous and pointing the sharp sword at Da Zhou, she is in a dilemma, and her heart feels like colic every day.

But now she has become the princess of the enemy country of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but Emperor Ming still believed in her and guarded her with all his strength. Huangfu Yingyue was moved, but he did not want her beloved husband to compete with the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty for her. contend.

Therefore, Concubine Rou was forced to die in the cold palace, forcing Emperor Ming to release her, then she came to the top of the imperial city, stood on the city gate, said goodbye to Emperor Ming one by one, and smiled He jumped off the city wall.

At that time, Zhou Xianyu, who was only five years old, rushed to the gate of the city after learning that his mother and concubine were in danger, and he just witnessed the scene of Concubine Rou jumping off the tower.

Crying and running to Concubine Rou, the dying Huangfu Yingyue, with a face full of reluctance, only had time to say goodbye to Zhou Xianyu, then closed his eyes with tears in the corners of his eyes, and died.

At that time, the father and son Ming Emperor and Zhou Xianyu felt as if the sky had fallen, especially the young Zhou Xianyu, who lived in the palace and had nightmares every day, and his originally lively and active personality also changed. Timid and dull.

As for Emperor Ming, he lost his beloved and was filled with anger so that he decided to conquer in person. For three years, countless small countries were also involved in the war between the three major countries. In the end, Da Zhou lost two cities. , dragged Daliang's army back to death.

As for the Xiao family's army, after gradually gaining the upper hand in the battle with the Beirong Kingdom, a steady stream of troops began to push towards the battlefield on Daliang's side.

It wasn't until this time that the battle fell into a stalemate. Emperor Ming saw that the situation had stabilized, so he returned to Changping, the capital, from the front battlefield.

The three-year battle had offset and tempered Emperor Ming's longing for Huangfu Yingyue a lot, but Zhou Xianyu, who was the most injured in this tragedy, suffered a lot during the period when his mother and concubine died and Emperor Ming left the palace. The harem concubines, as well as the bullying and insults of the palace eunuchs.

It is true that a child has no grievances or enmities with anyone, but who made his biological mother the soft concubine who has been the only favorite in the harem for many years.

Those concubines who had exhausted their years but were not favored naturally vented all their jealousy and hatred on Zhou Xianyu.

During that time, although Zhou Xianyu was a prince, he lived a life that was not as good as a pig or a dog.

Not only was he forcibly dragged out of the palace, but he was moved into an abandoned palace with broken walls and rubble. His original life of rich clothes and fine food was also replaced by pig food and rags.

Not counting all the hardships in life, he was also bullied and humiliated physically and mentally during that time, especially those young concubines who were of low rank and had no hope of being favored throughout their lives.

During the three years when Emperor Ming left the palace, he had to beat and insult Zhou Xianyu almost every day, just for fun and to vent his anger.

Not only did they throw Zhou Xianyu into the dug ice water lotus pond for three or nine days, but they also forcibly pulled off all the clothes on the other party in snowy days, and let the young Zhou Xianyu lie on the broken straw mat , Frozen, stiff and purple all over.

As for Zhou Xianyu, from the crying and panic at the beginning to the silent bearing later, in fact, at that time, his heart was also undergoing distorted changes.

Now Zhou Xianyu hates women, even to the point of avoiding snakes and scorpions, which is inseparable from this painful experience when he was young.

And when Emperor Ming came back, he saw that his most beloved child was being abused in such a way. In his rage, he almost washed half of the harem with blood. As long as it was someone Zhou Xianyu pointed out, Emperor Ming would not hesitate. Execute the opponent.

Zhou Xianyu, who was only eight years old back then, stretched out his fingers, looking at the concubines who were frightened and begging for mercy after he touched them.

At that time, he made up his mind in his heart that he would work hard to become stronger in this life, and not let anyone control his destiny, and he would use his own ability to protect all the people he cared about from any harm.

A full hour has passed, and Concubine Liang has also told Zhou Xianyu, the most unbearable past event, all of which can be considered finished.

Looking at Xiao Jinxuan who was sitting opposite her, her brows were already locked in one place, Concubine Liang smiled helplessly, and then said:
"Do you know that at that time the emperor gathered all the concubines together, and those who were pointed by Yu'er would never survive, and in the end, the child stretched out his hand and pointed at me. I was so frightened that I trembled all over."

Xiao Jinxuan, who was sighing because of Zhou Xianyu's tragic experience, looked at Concubine Liang in surprise, and after thinking for a while, she said with guesswork:
"His Royal Highness, I am so filial to you now. I think his appointment is not because you have abused and humiliated him. Jinxuan felt that when Yu Wang was young, he would be raised by his empress. This decision is considered to be the last consent of Emperor Ming." Yes, but it is probably inseparable from His Highness himself, did you ever help him when he was in trouble?"

Xiao Jinxuan is not a sentimental person, but Zhou Xianyu is the person she cares about, and the other person's experience is so similar to her previous life in Meizhuang, even compared to the abuse she suffered, Zhou Xianyu Even more miserable.

For a moment, the past events in my heart are all hooked out. People who have not experienced the tragedy of childhood will not be able to understand the pain in it.

Therefore, under empathy, Xiao Jinxuan felt very uncomfortable. Not only did she feel sorry for Zhou Xianyu, but she also mourned for her rough fate.

Concubine Liang saw Xiao Jinxuan, and after thinking about it, she revealed the truth of what happened back then. Immediately, Concubine Liang loved her a little more, and felt that the other party was not only stable, but also very intelligent.

"That's right, Jinxuan, you guessed it right. When Yu'er was in trouble, I wasn't even a concubine at that time. I was just a little concubine. Although I pitied him, I was unable to protect Yu'er, so I Give it to him when you have time, and quietly send some dry food to eat, but I didn't expect this child to keep this little bit of kindness in his heart. As for my current position as the fourth concubine, others say that I am the one who is expected by everyone, and that I was entrusted with the respect of the Holy One. , but in fact, I know in my heart that Yu'er helped me find this position."

(End of this chapter)