A Thousand Hills

Chapter 392

Empress Dowager Xie was quite capable of pinching and counting. Sure enough, after letting Empress Dowager Cao out of Shoukang Palace and honoring Empress Dowager Cao, the third thing Emperor Yuanning did was to restore the title of Cao family.

Sadly, though, this third thing didn't work out.

It wasn't that Empress Dowager Xie voted against it, but that Emperor Yuan Ning raised it, and Wei Xiang refused to agree.Moreover, Wei Xiang plausibly said, "Although the Cao family is a descendant family, the imperial court has already conferred titles. Back then, the Cao family had no way to teach women, which was contrary to the palace, so they were reduced to the people. I don't know, what is the contribution of the Cao family to restore the title?" "

Emperor Yuanning couldn't just say that this is my mother's natal family, right? Wei Xiang also said that the Cao family is a descendant, and it was given the title long ago. It was his family's inappropriateness, so Fang cut off the title.It is not so easy to want the title again.

Emperor Wuning had no choice but to say, "I think the Cao family already knew they were wrong."

Wei Xiangdao, "Every criminal in the Ministry of Punishment said they were convicted, so don't they need to be sentenced?"

Emperor Yuanning narrowly avoided being choked to death by Wei Xiang.

For the rejuvenation of the Cao family, we have to give up for the time being.

Wei Xiang was so dizzy with anger, he felt that His Majesty the Emperor was so incapable of doing things. The first three fires of other emperors ascension were either to appease the people, or to reward the ministers. Emperor Yuanning was lucky, and his mind was all on the person surnamed Cao up.Thinking of Empress Dowager Cao being honored, Wei Xiang felt very uncomfortable. He even secretly thought, why does the Palace of Mercy just sit and watch Empress Dowager Cao get the honor?The empress dowager, an old man, shouldn't have such a temper!
What kind of temper should the Empress Dowager Xie have? Anyway, many people gave the wrong information.

Including Emperor Yuanning's repeated rewards to the Cao family, some people have privately analyzed that Empress Dowager Xie must be holding back her big move, otherwise, according to Empress Dowager Xie's temperament, it is absolutely impossible to make the Cao family crazy.

However, according to how Emperor Ning Yuan rewarded Cao's family generously, there was no movement in the Ci'en Palace.

In the silent Palace of Mercy, many people speculated, could it be that the Empress Dowager is old, consciously old, and considering the future of her mother's family, she turned a blind eye to the Cao family?
There are not a few people who think this way.

After all, thinking about the Hu family back then, what else is there that you don't understand?

Dowager Cao is confused again, she is His Majesty's biological mother, this is enough.Even if Empress Dowager Xie embarrassed Empress Dowager Cao, she couldn't do anything to Empress Dowager Cao.

The Empress Dowager Xie didn't care what the unexpected leader said, because the Empress Dowager Xie was in a very good mood recently because of Princess Heshun's return to court.He personally ordered Honglu Temple to go to Xining Pass to meet Princess Heshun and return to court.

On the day Princess Heshun came back, Empress Dowager Xie personally hosted a banquet in the Palace of Mercy, and hosted the banquet for the eldest princesses, princesses, princesses, princesses, vassal princes and concubines, etc., to clean up the dust for Princess Heshun.

Princess Heshun was very flattered. Empress Dowager Xie ordered Princess Heshun to sit beside her and said, "You are the daughter of Emperor Taizong, my imperial sister. I know that you are safe in Ximan these years, so we can rest assured. You are still in court, so I should welcome you." As he spoke, he said to Concubine Qi Gui, "Ah Yi is the same age as the emperor, and is now sixteen. Even though he is still studying, he should learn to be an errand. This time, I will leave it to him. An errand, to supervise the construction of the mansion for Princess Heshun."

Concubine Qi Gui happily responded for her son, and said with a smile, "Mu Yi is just training."

Empress Dowager Cao always felt that Empress Dowager Xie favored Mu Yi, so she couldn't help interjecting, "Mother, now that the imperial capital has many mansions, wouldn't it be cheaper for the emperor to grant the eldest princess a mansion."

Empress Dowager Xie's face paled a few words, "Why didn't I hear that there is an extra Dachang Princess Mansion in the imperial capital?"

Empress Dowager Cao immediately became dumb. What she meant was that there are a lot of things in the Royal Courtyard.

Empress Dowager Xie said solemnly, "Princess Dachang is the same prince, and the mansion has its own regulations. He Shunyuan has been married to Ximan for more than 20 years, and has made great contributions to the country. Should she be allowed to use an ordinary house?"

Empress Dowager Cao blushed, and said hastily, "I'm also afraid that the Eldest Princess won't have a place to live for a while."

"I have to wait for you to think about these things. The eldest princess is afraid that she will sleep out in the imperial capital." Empress Dowager Xie and the eldest princess Heshun said, "I have ordered people to clean up the Yuhua Palace. I will live in the palace first and wait for the princess mansion. After repairing it, it will not be too late to move to the Princess Mansion."

Princess Heshun naturally knew the identity of Empress Dowager Cao, but when Empress Dowager Xie confronted Empress Dowager Cao, Princess Heshun didn't say a word, she respectfully replied "Yes", as if she didn't see Empress Dowager Cao's embarrassment.

For some reason, Empress Dowager Cao loves to meddle in palace affairs, even if she is at the top of Empress Dowager Xie's place, she seems to be unaware of it, and she likes to express her opinions or something.Anyone with a discerning eye knows that Empress Dowager Cao is brazenly trying to compete with Empress Dowager Xie for the power of the harem.

It's just that it's easy to face it, but the IQ is a bit insufficient.

Of course, Empress Dowager Cao didn't just hit a wall, she also used tricks to buy people's hearts, for example, Xie Empress Dowager Xie promoted the concubines and concubines, Empress Dowager Cao also wanted to do the same, but, she People are naturally small-minded, and the Empress Dowager Xie promoted the concubines and concubines too hard, such as Concubine Qi Gui, there are only two seats to be promoted, that is, Empress Dowager Qi and Empress Dowager Qi.For these two seats, the queen mother has always been the emperor's aunt or birth mother. As for the imperial concubine, well, the empress dowager Cao and Qi Gui were deadly enemies back then, and she was depressed when Qi Gui was promoted to the imperial concubine last year Want to vomit blood.Let alone now?

Furthermore, because Empress Dowager Xie has always loved her grandchildren, Empress Dowager Cao has always disliked concubines and concubines with children. The status of concubines and concubines, their status is high enough, she promoted the status of those childless harem.Although Empress Dowager Xie also promoted these childless harems to a level at last year's birthday banquet, but these people are already at the bottom of their ranks, and even if they are promoted to another level, they will at most be beauty-level.

However, even such a proposal, Empress Dowager Xie did not agree, you said that Empress Dowager Cao was angry.Empress Dowager Cao also has a solution, she deliberately ordered people to let the wind out, saying that the Palace of Mercy is not allowed to give them a promotion.But Empress Dowager Cao didn't think about it either. These childless harems are not even qualified to meet the Empress Dowager on weekdays, so why would they have any resentment because the Empress Dowager did not allow them to be promoted?
Besides, it's useless for them to resent.

In the palace, there are no fools.

What's more, their status is low and they have no children, so why would they want to be involved in the dispute between the two palaces?

So, based on how the Empress Dowager Cao spread the news, these people remained respectful as always, and the Empress Dowager Cao was so angry that she scolded, "It's really mud that can't support the wall."

Cao Xuan caressed her heavy belly and said, "Auntie, why bother to be angry with these people, she exalts their identities in vain." Cao Xuan said, supporting a newly bloomed winter jasmine flower on her head, and said, "Auntie, instead of thinking about this, If you don't think about it, how to praise our own family."

Empress Dowager Cao sighed, "Don't think I've made up my mind. The emperor has nothing to do with it. He has always wanted to revoke your grandfather's title. It's just that Prime Minister Chaoli Wei didn't know what to think, so he just insisted on that little thing before, and the emperor didn't let go." way."

Cao Xuan smiled, served warm tea to her aunt, and persuaded her softly, "Look at what my aunt said, this matter of the title, if it is not possible, then it is not. If you want me to say, the title is nothing. Grandfather came to the imperial capital Didn't you get a title at first? There is no real job? To put it bluntly, my aunt doesn't like to hear it. It's not like being a big official in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It's just such a false title, and you can cut it when you say it. After all, it’s because our family doesn’t have a real shortage. It’s my elder brother’s marriage. Princess Yongfu first took the initiative to join in. When something happened to our family, Princess Yongfu didn’t mention it. It depends on whether our family is easy to bully."

Empress Dowager Cao frowned, "There is no vacancy in the Six Departments right now, hey, if there is a suitable place for this, your grandfather would have been settled long ago."

"Whether my grandfather will be an official or not, he is so old. The brothers in the family have studied and practiced martial arts since childhood, and have both civil and military skills." Cao Xuan smiled slightly, "Think about the Hu family back then. The Hu family is not a serious empress dowager. The Hu family has been prominent in the imperial capital for four or fifty years. What about the Su family?" When Empress Dowager Su was mentioned, seeing Empress Dowager Hu's expression darkened, Cao Xuan said in a soft voice, "There is no place to house my father, so is there no place to house my brother? Auntie, I heard that since Come on, the military has the most power. The six divisions are nothing more than civil servants. Someday they are not pleasing to the eye, so they will be arrested directly. But on this matter, Auntie might as well discuss it with His Majesty."

Empress Dowager Cao said, "Military power is no small matter. The cabinet is still in the hands of Prime Minister Wei. I'm afraid this matter will not be easy."

"It doesn't work, that doesn't work. It turns out that the country is not decided by His Majesty, not by Auntie, but by the cabinet. If this is the case, what kind of government will His Majesty care about? Why not call Wei Xiang the emperor?" All right."

Cao Xuan gave advice to Empress Dowager Cao, and then Empress Dowager Cao went to discuss with Emperor Yuanning, and, in advance, Empress Dowager Cao used the servants around Emperor Yuanning to get through with her natal family. Cao Bin was very experienced in officialdom, so Cao Bin directly drew up the list , or close relatives or clan members or own nephews, in Cao Bin's words, they are all extremely capable and loyal people.Also, Cao Bin's in-laws and military generals who are close to Cao's family also have a group. It's not that Cao Bin wants to arrange for these people to have six real shortages. In Cao Bin's words, they can go to various places to practice.

Emperor Yuanning had his mother, Empress Dowager Cao, and his cousin Cao Xuan, so he naturally regarded the Cao family as close friends.It's just that most of the Cao family seeks official positions below the third rank, and those below the third rank must go through the Ministry of Officials.

Who is the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Li Jiujiang.

Emperor Yuanning declared Li Jiujiang to see him, and told Li Jiujiang about it. Li Jiujiang was not like Wei Xiang who rejected Emperor Yuanning's proposal at all. Li Jiujiang smiled slightly and said, "Since your Majesty proposed these people, That must be good, the minister will arrange for them a superior place."

Emperor Yuanning also pointed to Cao Ting's name and said, "Cao Ting can be called a strong general, and now he has reached the third rank of General Zhaowu. I want to call him back to serve in the imperial guards. What do you think?"

Li Jiujiang thought for a while, and said, "There is a vacancy for a third-rank deputy general in the imperial guards, but the dispatch of third-rank and above officials has to be discussed by the cabinet, and I dare not make decisions."

In the past, Emperor Yuanning relied heavily on Xiang Wei. Thinking that what Wei Xiang had done recently was not very satisfactory, Emperor Yuanning sighed, "It is becoming more and more difficult for Xiang Wei to speak."

And with such a hard-to-talk Wei Xiang, Li Jiujiang's thoughtfulness was even more highlighted. Emperor Yuan Ning said, "Those people I mentioned earlier, Li Qing will give me a book after they are settled."

Li Jiujiang respectfully agreed.

Li Jiujiang arranged a large number of people surnamed Cao, and the dispatch of people below the third rank was the responsibility of the Ministry of Officials, but the Ministry of Officials would also send a document to the cabinet after the dispatch was completed.When Wei Xiang saw this document, he didn't feel dizzy, so he went to Li Jiujiang directly, and Li Jiujiang said, "The kindness comes from above, and the minister obeys the order." He blocked Wei Xiang half to death, and Wei Xiang sighed, " Li Shangshu has been a veteran for many years, he should know that this matter is wrong."

Li Jiujiang looked as if he could not get in, "I think there is nothing wrong with it." These words really choked Wei Xiang to death, Wei Xiang went to find Emperor Yuanning, and Emperor Yuanning said, "They are all talented people. Sir, I have already talked to Jiujiang. Wei Xiang said that this action is inappropriate, but he just said that most of them are members of the Cao family. Although the Cao family is my external family, I am also a bowl of water, just like the Su family They are also from my natal family, and many of the Su family’s children are officials outside. What Xiang Wei said is wrong, who is wrong and what is wrong, tell me, and I will change it.”

Who is wrong?

What's wrong?

Wei Xiang hasn't investigated yet, Wei Xiang just thinks that there are rules for being an official, how can there be such a large number of officials directly arranged by the Ministry of Officials?But in the face of Emperor Yuanning's words, Wei Xiang was also speechless.Emperor Yuanning said, "There is one more thing. Zhaowu General Cao Ting's term of office has expired. He is quite brave. I want to transfer him to serve in the Imperial Guard. Wei will discuss it with the cabinet and give me an answer."

As soon as Wei Xiang heard that his surname was Cao, he wanted to directly object, but Emperor Yuanning was only discussing with the high cabinet, so he hesitated for a while, and first responded respectfully.Emperor Yuanning insisted on letting Cao Ting serve in the Imperial Guard, even if the cabinet disagreed, and Emperor Yuanning refused to let go, there was nothing the cabinet could do. After all, Jiangshan's surname was Mu.

Just go.

Don't forget who the current commander of the imperial guards is, he is the son of Princess Wenkang and the son-in-law of Princess Changtai, Marquis of Yong'an Li Xuan.Li Xuan didn't show any displeasure at all, he even praised Cao Ting a few words in front of the emperor, he was a good general and a good general, Emperor Yuanning was also very happy when he heard that, he felt that he had good vision and that his mother clan had promise.

Unexpectedly, Cao Ting died of wind in a famous brothel in the imperial capital after only two months of work.

This cause of death is too disgraceful.

The location of the accident has caused a lot of discussion in the court. You must know that the court has a law that officials in office are not allowed to have sex with prostitutes.

Cao Ting died in a brothel, first of all he violated the court regulations!
Because of this, after the death of a high-ranking member of the court, the court will give some pensions and so on, and there are more than three grades. Cao Ting barely got the edge of the liberty, but because he died on the bed of a prostitute in a brothel Well, the Ministry of Rites didn't mention the matter of laying silver at all, it's not shameful enough.

Emperor Yuanning was ashamed, because at the beginning the cabinet was unwilling for Cao Ting to serve in the Imperial Guard, but Emperor Yuanning insisted on insisting. It turned out that this was a fast-moving guy.

Emperor Yuanning even complained to Cao Xuan when he returned to the harem, "Didn't you tell me that Cao Ting was brave and loyal, and he was brave on the bed of a prostitute?"

Cao Ting is Cao Xuan's uncle. Hearing that her uncle died, Cao Xuan was sad. Hearing Emperor Yuan Ning's words sounded reproachful. , she sobbed softly, "Uncle Tang died in vain, His Majesty didn't even investigate, so he came to accuse me of the crime. Your Majesty is a sincere person, and always only looks at the surface. Who knows if someone framed Uncle?"

Fortunately, Emperor Yuanning still has some IQ. Hearing this, Emperor Yuanning became more and more unhappy, and said coldly, "Yes, my Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment are all fools. I can't see that someone framed him? He She was framed in a brothel and died on the bed of a whore!"

Seeing that Emperor Yuanning was going to turn his back on Cao Xuan, she became anxious and felt uncomfortable holding her stomach.She was about to give birth, and at this moment, her fetal gas was activated in a hurry, and Emperor Yuan Ning didn't care about being angry, and hurriedly ordered the midwife to be the doctor, and then ordered the palace servants to attend Cao Xuan's delivery.

Cao Xuan struggled for three hours and gave birth to a son.

Emperor Yuanning was overjoyed, and Empress Dowager Cao was even more delighted, and said with a smile, "The emperor should go to the Palace of Mercy first to announce the good news to Empress Dowager Tai and Empress Dowager Su."

Emperor Yuanning was in a hurry to go, Empress Dowager Xie was not as happy as Emperor Yuanning at all, but after hearing what Emperor Yuanning had said, she ordered the wisteria to be rewarded according to the routine of the concubine prince, neither more nor less.The same is true of Queen Mother Su.

Emperor Yuanning thanked the child for the reward. Seeing that Empress Dowager Xie was not very happy, and thinking of Empress Dowager Xie's dislike for Cao Xuan, he dared not mention Cao Xuan's promotion, so he obediently resigned.Empress Dowager Su's face was even more worried. Now that Cao Xuan gave birth to her eldest son, Liu Yue was praying for the country in the nunnery. She couldn't marry Emperor Yuanning and ascend to the throne for a while. What will happen in the long run?

Emperor Yuanning went back to see his son, Emperor Yuanning dared not mention the matter of promoting Liu Xuan, but it was Empress Dowager Cao who brought it up in the Palace of Mercy.Empress Dowager Xie's face darkened, and said to Empress Dowager Cao, "Come forward."

Empress Dowager Cao trembled, but she dared not move.

Empress Dowager Xie's tone became even lighter, and said, "It seems that you didn't listen to what I said."

Empress Dowager Cao was afraid of being slapped by Empress Dowager Xie again. After all, there were only Empress Dowager Xie, Emperor Yuanning, and Empress Dowager Cao before, and today the Ci'en Palace was not cleared.It was precisely because the Ci'en Palace did not clear the venue that the Empress Dowager Cao wanted to mention this matter in front of everyone, and she couldn't say anything about you. After everyone persuaded her, the Empress Dowager agreed.Who knew that Empress Dowager Xie had no room for negotiation at all, and if she directly asked her to come forward, Empress Dowager Cao would be able to face it, but she was still afraid of being beaten.Empress Dowager Cao showed a look of pleading, and said, "Madam, after all, Axuan gave birth to the emperor's eldest son, no matter what, I should give her a place! Just for the prince's sake."

After Empress Dowager Cao finished speaking, Empress Dowager Xie continued, "Come forward."

Instead of stepping forward, Empress Dowager Cao took a step back.

At this time, the concubine who came here every day in the Palace of Mercy, and the four eldest princesses Changtai, Yongfu, Shouyang, and Shouwan who often came to the palace to pay their respects, the eldest princess Heshun who lived in the palace, and Princess Jiachun , the princes and concubines of various vassals in the imperial capital often come here.Seeing that the atmosphere in Mercy Palace was not good, they didn't dare to mention the matter of the little prince, and they felt uneasy.

Empress Dowager Xie was wearing a smoky purple summer dress, with only a purple jade phoenix hairpin in her hair. Empress Dowager Xie stood up suddenly, and everyone couldn't sit still anymore. Not what to show.Seeing that Empress Dowager Xie approached Empress Dowager Cao with two steps, she slapped her across the face.

This slap is no less serious than the previous one.

Empress Dowager Cao screamed and fell to the ground, Empress Dowager Su hurried over to help Empress Dowager Xie, and Princess Changtai stepped forward to persuade her, saying, "Your Majesty, just give orders if you have something to do, why get so angry."

Empress Dowager Xie snorted, turned around and sat back on the throne, and said coldly, "Orders must be given to those who can understand human language." Empress Dowager Xie stared at Empress Cao coldly and said, "Don't you Face, I don’t need to give you face. Back then, your Cao’s daughter seduced the emperor in your Shoukang Palace shamelessly. I sent her to become a monk. I didn’t want her to have the emperor’s flesh and blood. The day I took her back to the palace , I told the emperor that no matter whether a daughter of the Cao family gave birth to a prince or a concubine, her status could only be a palace servant for the rest of her life. The face of a prince, with such a biological mother, what face does he have! Let me tell you Even if I close my eyes one day, I will write this sentence into the will, and I want to see if the emperor obeys or not!"

"Even if you want to imitate the Hu family, you have to die after I die! You don't even want to think about it!" After finishing speaking, people took out the letter of apology written by Empress Dowager Cao that day, and ordered Wisteria to recite it aloud. The Empress Dowager Cao was expelled from the Palace of Mercy.

Dongmu opened the dynasty, and Empress Dowager Cao was the first empress dowager to be expelled from the Palace of Mercy.

After driving away Empress Dowager Cao, Empress Dowager Xie and everyone said with emotion, "I am no better than Empress Shizu. I think back then, when she was alive, how could the Hu family dare to be so arrogant."

Princess Changtai was also shocked by the fact that Empress Dowager Xie slapped Empress Dowager Cao, but she immediately returned to her usual color and said with a smile, "Your Majesty is self-effacing. Your Majesty has gone through four dynasties and assisted the Three Emperors. Not under the Empress Shizu."

Empress Dowager Xie smiled slightly, "Don't mention this disappointing thing, where did you just talk about, is Yongfu's family going to marry a granddaughter?"

Princess Yongfu was immediately embarrassed, the Cao family was deposed earlier, she was not very happy about this marriage.But who would have thought that since Emperor Yuanning ascended the throne, the Cao family suddenly rose up again, so Princess Yongfu also agreed.Today coincided with the joy of the royal family having a son, Princess Yongfu mentioned the marriage of the two families, and as a result, as soon as she said this, Empress Dowager Cao violated Xie Moru's taboo and received Xie Moru's slap in the face .Xie Moru suddenly mentioned the marriage between the two families, Princess Yongfu had no choice but to say "yes" with a smile.

Empress Dowager Xie didn't say anything more.

Empress Dowager Xie slapped Empress Dowager Cao half of her face in front of the princesses, princesses and concubines, and there was no sympathy left in her words.As soon as this incident happened, the noble ladies ordered them to go home and thought about it, and this incident happened in the Palace of Mercy, in front of many people, it is impossible to hide it.Immediately, most of the elite circle also knew about it.

There was a lot of discussion among the powerful circles, and they felt that Empress Dowager Xie's behavior was even more unpredictable. Letting Emperor Yuanning take charge in advance, it can be seen that she has no intention of arrogating power.However, at this moment, the face of the emperor's biological mother was directly stepped on the soles of his feet, which was the rhythm of tearing the face apart.Everyone was wondering, what is Empress Dowager Xie going to do?

The dignitaries couldn't figure it out, the Empress Dowager Cao was already crying to the emperor's son, but even if the Empress Dowager Cao went blind from crying, Emperor Yuanning couldn't help it, he couldn't ask the emperor grandmother how to beat his mother for the sake of his biological mother?If the Empress Dowager got angry and said "I'd like to fight", Emperor Yuanning would probably not be able to do anything about it.

Emperor Yuanning sighed, "Mother, sister Xuan is not a vain woman. She said earlier that she just needs to be by my side. She doesn't care about status or anything."

Empress Dowager Cao cried, "But if you think about Da Lang, will his biological mother be a palace servant in the future?"

"Let's talk about it later."

Empress Dowager Cao cried for a long time, and said to Emperor Yuanning, "I don't have the face to go out anymore."

Emperor Yuanning sighed, but there was nothing he could do.

Empress Dowager Cao didn't go out, so few people came to her door, and everyone went to the Palace of Mercy.The more no one came to her to flatter her, the more grievances accumulated in her heart, and eventually caused a catastrophe, which is not unrelated to this.

Empress Dowager Xie never cared about Empress Dowager Cao. When Emperor Yuanning came to pay her respects at the Palace of Mercy, she said, "Jiachun is already eighteen this year. This is a marriage bestowed upon her by your imperial grandfather. Hu Lie also When it's time to get married, the emperor would like to announce that Feng Lie will come to the imperial capital and marry Jiachun."

Emperor Yuanning smiled, "I almost forgot, if General Xuanfeng and Earl Jiang came to court, after all, his family married his daughter-in-law. I also want to ask about the navy."

"That's very good." Empress Dowager Xie said with a smile, "I also told King Zhao that Jiachun is his daughter. I saved some of Jiachun's dowry here, and if I want to come to King Zhao, I have to have her .”

Emperor Yuanning smiled, "Don't worry, grandma, I will not wrong my cousin Jiachun."

The Empress Dowager Xie nodded slightly, seeing that the imperial grandmother was happy, Emperor Yuanning even eased the cheeks for his biological mother, he said, "The empress mother has such a temperament, the imperial grandmother should not be angry with her."

Empress Dowager Xie showed displeasure, "How can I have the same knowledge as her."

Emperor Yuanning didn't dare to say more, and retired respectfully.

After receiving the imperial edict, the Department of Internal Affairs began to prepare the dowry for Princess Jiachun.Knowing that the Princess is going to marry Earl Jiang as his daughter-in-law, Manager Xiao Tang is quite attentive.

Princess Jiachun's marriage has not yet been done, and the grand wedding of the granddaughter of Princess Yongfu and the grandson of Cao Bin will be held first.When the Empress Dowager Cao heard about it, she was quite rewarded.In the harem, only Empress Dowager Cao rewarded things, and for the rest, Empress Dowager Xie did not move, and Empress Dowager Su naturally did not dare to make any movement. The rest of the people depended on Empress Dowager Xie's face.

On the contrary, Emperor Yuanning also received one or two rewards, which were not generous, but decent enough.

When Princess Yongfu heard that Emperor Yuanning had rewarded the Cao family, she felt a little relieved and thought to herself, no matter how tough Xie Moru is, this world will eventually belong to His Majesty.

At this time, she didn't know that the biggest turmoil in Yuanning's three years came from the marriage of the Wu and Cao families.

This marriage was chosen by Princess Yongfu for her granddaughter, and the Cao family was also willing. Later, Princess Yongfu and Empress Dowager Cao, who still had a good face in the past, also invited Empress Dowager Xie to marry them.This year, finally married.

In this marriage, Wu's daughter is the granddaughter of Princess Dachang, and Cao Ting is the nephew of Empress Dowager Cao, so they are well matched.

Unexpectedly, Wu's daughter died suddenly after only one month of marriage to the Cao family.

Princess Yongfu couldn't give up, she immediately took people to the Cao family to reason, and Wu's forehead injury couldn't be concealed, she died because her forehead hit the sharp object.Princess Yongfu first tied Cao Ting and beat her up, and she needed the Cao family to give her an explanation.This matter involved Princess Dachang's mansion and Empress Dowager Cao's natal family, and the censor had always had a keen sense of smell, not to mention Princess Yongfu's direct report to the imperial court, which naturally alarmed the court.Emperor Yuanning ordered the three divisions to interrogate, and the third division was quite talented, so the trial soon understood.

This Cao Ting can be regarded as a young talent. He became a Jinshi at the age of 25, and was chosen by Princess Yongfu as his grandson-in-law.However, Princess Yongfu has a problem. This person is a bit snobbish. First, seeing that the Cao family was deposed, Princess Yongfu was a bit prevaricated in the marriage.Later, seeing that Emperor Yuanning was in charge, he was very kind to the Cao family, and Princess Yongfu became warm again.Cao Ting is a young and ambitious man with a lot of arrogance. He has some opinions on the power of the Wu family in his heart. Moreover, he has a friend outside.Let Mrs. Wu know about this. Mrs. Wu's temperament is quite similar to that of her grandmother.It's just that her grandmother is the eldest princess, but she is not.However, the Wu family has no shortage of means. Taking advantage of Cao Ting's work, she immediately sent someone to another courtyard, tied Cao Ting's good son to the house, and beat him to death with sticks.As soon as Cao Ting came home, he saw that his heart was almost beaten to pieces. During the dispute with Wu, he accidentally knocked Wu into the corner of the table. By coincidence, Wu was killed.

That's pretty cool!

Although Wu Shi is not the eldest princess, her grandmother is the eldest princess!

Princess Yongfu can't let it go. In the harem, Empress Dowager Cao and Cao Xuan cried and pleaded with Emperor Yuanning. Moreover, Empress Dowager Cao invented a trick. She, she wanted to force Emperor Yuanning to spare his nephew. He knelt down directly to his son.When Empress Dowager Cao knelt down, Cao Xuan also knelt down with her son in her arms.

Emperor Yuanning couldn't bear this, even though the verdict given by the third division was to spoil his concubine and kill his wife, kill the prisoner by mistake, and behead the prison marquis, Emperor Yuanning insisted on changing it to 20 years of exile.

Su Buyu, Du Zhi, and Tie Yushi are all high officials in the court, Su Buyu said, "It's really hard to convince the public with such a light sentence."

Emperor Yuanning said, "After all, Cao Ting didn't intend to kill his wife."

"Cao Ting lost his morality first, and then killed his wife. Even if it was not intentional, Wu's daughter is the eldest princess, so she should be punished by death." Du Zhi has always been straightforward, and said, "Your Majesty ordered us to change the sentence, but because of Cao's For the sake of His Majesty's mother's family. Today, Cao's sentence was changed to exile after killing the princess, so what will be done for rebellion in the future."

Emperor Yuanning had a mother begging for a concubine, and the imperial court was more difficult to deal with than the other, and he was furious, "In this court, you have the final say, or I have the final say!"

Emperor Yuanning insisted on changing the sentence to exile, but the three divisions disagreed, and there was a stalemate for a while, but the right servant of the Ministry of punishment suddenly turned up, saying that the trial of the third division was not complete and untrue. And participate, as a rule, once an official is involved, he must put down the business at hand and write a statement to defend himself.Emperor Yuanning simply handed over the case to You Shilang. You Shilang tried it very quickly and found out that Wu's daughter married into the Cao family and disrespected Weng's mother-in-law. Cao Ting was accidentally injured, so he woke up behind closed doors for three months.

This is of course too light, but Emperor Yuan Ning was fed up with the Sansi who ignored him, so he directly agreed to the right servant's request.Cao Ting thought about his mistakes behind closed doors, and was acquitted. It is said that when Princess Yongfu heard about this, she spit out a mouthful of blood and fell ill.

Wei Xiang went directly to the fold, and the servant on the right was favoritism, and Emperor Yuan Ning kept the fold and did not issue it.

Wei Xiang dismissed the court angrily.

The nephew was fine, but Empress Dowager Cao became more and more proud in the harem because of this.

After Jiang Xingyun came to the imperial capital, he was catching up with the excitement. Jiang Xingyun said, "I should be called to the imperial capital earlier. The previous imperial capitals were not as lively as this."

Empress Dowager Xie said, "It's very disturbing." She ordered people to give medicine to Princess Yongfu.

The lawsuit between the Cao family and the Wu family was not as simple as Emperor Yuanning imagined. Even the always gentle Princess Changtai entered the palace and said to the Empress Dowager Xie, "We are all princesses from the imperial family. , but my sons and daughters don’t have the title of a prince’s heir to attack. No title is enough, and today there is no justice. Today is the granddaughter of Yongfu’s sister who suffered this disaster. I also have a granddaughter. Ours The granddaughter, who is also of royal blood, died at the hands of her relatives today. I am still here, so I am so biased. Today is the granddaughter of the princesses, and tomorrow I am afraid that we princesses will be attacked. Our surname is Mu No, it’s not as good as someone with the surname Cao. Such a strange event happened in the court when the empress was still alive. I don’t know if the Mu family will pay respects to the Cao family when they go out in the future.”

Even Princess Wenkang, who had always lived in seclusion, went to Princess Yongfu's mansion in person to visit this niece.Then, Princess Wenkang hadn't entered the palace since the death of Emperor Renzong. At this time, she was wearing the court dress of Princess Wenkang and came to the Palace of Mercy to speak in person.Compared with many years ago, Princess Wenkang's temples are full of frost and snow, and her overall temperament is extraordinarily gentle, but her eyes are still sharp. She motioned to the Empress Dowager Xie to order the palace people to retreat. , Princess Wenkang Fang said, "Your Majesty wants to give us princesses an explanation."

Empress Dowager Xie said, "The case was decided by the Ministry of Criminal Justice. I don't know the government, how to explain it."

Princess Wenkang hooked the corners of her drooping lips, and said, "Your Majesty and I don't need to say these things."

Empress Dowager Xie looked at Princess Wenkang with prudent eyes, and Princess Wenkang said slowly, "I'm old and I can't control these many things. But this matter can't end like this. I Well, as long as the country is safe, as long as the Mu family is in charge of the country, that's enough." After saying this, the eldest princess Wenkang got up and left.

Princess Wenkang didn't believe that Xie Moru had no ambitions, and letting Emperor Yuanning take charge early did not mean that Xie Moru let go of the power in his hands. The Cao family just wanted to arrange for a member of the clan to enter the Imperial Guard Palace, and that person would die embarrassingly in two months. A brothel.Xie Moru is so ruthless because she will not let anyone touch her interests in the army.

What's more, even Jiang Xingyun is back.

Princess Wenkang looked slowly at the somewhat hazy sky, this country...

Princess Wenkang expected that Xie Moru would make a move, but she did not expect that it was not Xie Moru who made the move first, but Empress Dowager Cao.

On Xie Moru's Qianqiu Festival, Empress Dowager Cao personally poured a cup of wine and went up to celebrate her birthday. Empress Dowager Cao said softly, "Daughter-in-law has done something wrong all these years. Fortunately, mother-in-law did not give up, so daughter-in-law poured this wine herself , to congratulate the queen mother on her birthday."

Xie Moru didn't answer, she smiled, leaned on the phoenix couch, and said, "I'm a little drunk today, Emperor, can you drink for me?" This is also normal, the elders give the younger ones drinks or something.

Emperor Yuanning smiled, and stepped forward to take the wine in his mother's hand, but Empress Dowager Cao seemed to be unsteady, a cup of wine was shaken on her son's sleeve, Empress Dowager Cao hurriedly wiped the wine on his son's sleeve, facing Xie Moru Smiling apologetically, he said, "Look at me, I'm so careless. Since my mother is drunk, that's all."

Xie Moru looked at the Empress Dowager Cao with a pair of eyes, the corners of her lips curled up slightly, and the smile didn't reach her eyes, she said, "There is one thing that you young people definitely don't know. Not many people even the court knows about this matter .”

Empress Dowager Su made fun of it, "What's the matter, the Empress Mother told us to listen to it, and we will learn more after listening."

Xie Moru said slowly, "Back then, when Emperor Renzong pacified the south of the Yangtze River, there was an incident in the Jingjiang Palace. The son of Jingjiang went to the third son's mansion of Jingjiang to participate in a banquet. A cup was poured down, and the son died suddenly. This incident was later discussed by Emperor Renzong. No one knows about the interrogation of descendants of Jingjiang after the victory was over. You may be surprised that all the drinking vessels used by the prince have been strictly inspected. How could there be poisonous wine and the prince didn’t know it? On the jug. The matter of poisoning the prince has always been a mystery. But I know about the mandarin duck thousand machine pot. This pot was sold to Jingjiang at a high price in private by Xingyun. There are two layers, the handle of the pot has a mechanism, lightly press it down, and the poisoned wine secreted in the inner layer of the pot wall will pour out, and the drinker will be poisoned without any precautions."

As he said that, Xie Moru looked at Empress Dowager Cao who was shaking like chaff and her face was bloodless, and said lightly, "You used this pot to plot against me. You really used it wrong. The blueprint of this pot was originally treasured by the Fang family. Occasionally found it in the family collection, and later gave it to Xingyun. I am more familiar with this pot than you!"

Empress Dowager Cao passed away immediately, Xie Moru got up and uncovered the cases in front of her, how much juice and food poured on Empress Cao, she was in a mess.But soon, people discovered that Empress Dowager Xie had some ulterior motives for flipping the table, because in an instant, Jiang Xingyun in light armor rushed in with countless black armored guards, and Empress Dowager Xie didn't look at Yuan Ning again. The emperor glanced at him and said, "The emperor is sick, go and rest."

On the same day, Empress Dowager Cao was poisoned to death in Shoukang Palace.

The Cao family, the Yi family.

(End of this chapter)