Even though he was in the palace, Yuanchun could still feel various uneasy atmospheres from the outside world.
Although the palace is separated from the outside world by a palace wall, theoretically people pay more attention to the affairs inside the palace. The emperor, the emperor's concubine, the concubine, the emperor, the concubine, and the princes, these should constitute the discourse in the palace. focus, but Yuanchun discovered that it was far from that.
After being in the palace for so long, the influence of the Supreme Emperor and the Dowager Concubine is gradually fading. This can be seen from the focus of everyone's words. It turns out that the Supreme Emperor and the Dowager Concubine often appear in the topic, and everyone is still in awe, but Since this year, this topic has been discussed less and less.
Of course, this did not disappear all of a sudden, but it was an almost imperceptible weakening. Only people like Jia Yuanchun who have a special relationship with the concubine can detect it.
The same names of some people were mentioned more and more in everyone's mouths, such as King Shou, King Fu, King Li and even King Lu, and their mothers were also mentioned a lot more often.
The emperor is always the eternal center of discussion, but King Shou has replaced the emperor, the concubine and even the imperial concubine Xu, becoming the second focus of discussion. This is inseparable from the contribution of the imperial concubine Xu.
Of course, King Fu and King Li also mentioned it frequently. This was "thanks" to the constant showing off of his mother, Concubine Su. In the past year, even Concubine Mei, who had always been relatively low-key, became active as her son, Prince Lu, came of age.
At first, Yuanchun didn't quite understand why Concubine Su and Concubine Mei suddenly became so high-profile, but later he realized that this might have something to do with the emperor's poor health.
The emperor's frequency of attending court has dropped significantly, and he has been frequently bedridden since last year, which has made people feel many differences.
There is no queen in the palace, and the late queen has no children, which means that the emperor does not have a legitimate son. The absence of a legitimate son means that many princes are standing on the same starting line, and the longevity king is not any more noble than anyone else.
In terms of age, King Fu is only two or three years younger than King Shou, and even King Li is only five or six years younger than King Shou. Even King Lu is already an adult, which means that no one can be ignored or neglected. of.
Yuanchun couldn't help but let out a sigh. Yuanchun felt even more lonely in his heart. Everyone still had sons to compete with, but what about him?
Yuanchun did not dare to think about his future life. No matter which prince came to the throne in the future, the ultimate ending of a useless concubine like herself would be to spend her whole life in the lonely courtyard behind Cining Palace.
Thinking of this, Yuanchun couldn't help but feel sad. Why did he end up with such a result?
At this time, she has become more and more aware of how ridiculous the wish the concubine made to her back then was, how naive she was back then, and what can she do now?
Inadvertently, her mind was on Feng Ziying again.
Recalling that he had just met his uncle, he had never approved of his entry into the palace. He had not approved of it since he was a female historian, and then he was even more opposed to entering the palace. Although he was not sure what the purpose of this uncle's objection was, it may not be true. It was for his own good, but in any case, my uncle's objection proved to be right.
When he was visiting for relatives, his father once inadvertently said that his uncle had sighed and said that it would be better if he did not enter the palace, and promised Feng Ziying a stable wife and a wife, which was far better than the days spent in the palace.
It seemed that he still didn't quite understand what his uncle meant, and he didn't know much about his life in the palace, but his uncle already understood his situation.
Now even Xue Baochai can marry into the Feng family and become a legitimate wife. How can this contrast not make Yuan Chun feel unspeakably aggrieved and uncomfortable?
Now in the palace, in addition to talking about the rivalry between these princes, it is inevitable to also mention some of the new elites in the court. Several princes are trying their best to show off their reputations, and they are trying to win over these new elites in every possible way.
Princes such as Lian Guoshi, Huang Zunsu, Yang Sichang, Xu Xie, Hou Xun, Wang Xiangchun, Han Jing, Zuo Guangdou, Ma Shiying, Zhou Yanru, etc. were often invited to hold literary and poetry gatherings, and Feng Ziying was certainly no exception.
.
But now that Feng Ziying has left Beijing, and everyone thought he would gradually fade away, they heard that he had caused public resentment in Yongping Mansion and was slandered all over the world. However, the government and the government seemed to have different views on him, and there seemed to be no
What action to take.
But as Imperial Concubine Xu said, no matter what, Feng Ziying is a figure that cannot be ignored. No matter whether they criticize him or praise him, as long as his reputation remains intact, no one will dare to despise him.
For such a person, if he had not entered the palace, given the good relationship between Jia and Feng's family, perhaps he would have been his first choice as the eldest wife's legitimate wife, right?
Until he returned to his Fengzao Palace, Yuanchun was thinking silently.
Baoqin beside her also noticed that the empress was in a low mood. In the past, the empress would not be in a good mood after delivering soup to the emperor, but she was not as obviously depressed as she was today. She didn’t know if it was because she had met her uncle before.
Master, it made my wife miss her family.
"Mother, do you miss my wife and Mr. Bao?"
"Ah?" Yuan Chun woke up from his deep thoughts and shook his head, "So what if you want to, and what if you don't want to? It's like being in a cage. I don't know when I will have another chance to save the bride."
"Your Majesty, don't worry. I guess it won't work this year. Next year, maybe the Emperor will be merciful and let you go home to visit your relatives..."
Baoqin's words put a sad smile on Yuanchun's face. She did not refute Baoqin's comfort. Baoqin also wanted to relieve herself, but how could it be so easy to get the chance to return to nature?
Even when visiting relatives, there are various restrictions. When you see your family, all the maids and maids have to watch you from a distance. Even if you spend some money, you can't have such a short one or two hours of peace.
"Well, I hope." Yuanchun stood in front of the window with a desolate expression, looking at the palace wall in the distance, and said quietly: "Baoqin, you said that you and I have been trapped in this small place like a caged bird all our lives.
In the courtyard?"
Baoqin was startled and looked around subconsciously.
Fortunately, the little maids are all outside. The empress does not like these little girls in the palace. Who knows who is in charge of the chambermaids and has been bribed by which concubine? So in front of the little girls, the empress
Never talk much.
Only when the two of them are together can the empress say something intimate.
"Why did your Majesty say this?" Baoqin whispered.
"Isn't it? We can't see the end of the days at a glance, just like this day after day, year after year..." Yuanchun's tone was full of helplessness and misery, "Shouldn't I regret it?"
Baoqin also had a sore nose, and stepped forward and said: "My dear, the matter has come to this, what can be done?"
"Yes, what can be done about it?" Yuanchun laughed to himself, "There are a large family of Rongguo Mansion outside, and I don't know whether I will bring disaster or blessing to them."
Baoqin didn't dare to say anything anymore, and she didn't understand what the empress meant by saying this. It seemed to be related to King Shou, but wasn't it because of Uncle Feng's arrangement that King Shou hadn't been here for several months?
"Forget it, Baoqin, you can go back to the mansion in a few days and ask about Uncle Feng. I heard a lot of talk about him in the palace, and I don't know what he is like now." Yuanchun.
Quietly.
Baoqin hesitated for a moment and said, "Mother, is there anything else?"
"No, that's it." Yuanchun seemed to have noticed Baoqin's doubts, but was too lazy to explain.
Baoqin was secretly alarmed, the empress must not have other thoughts, that would be really troublesome, but she didn't dare to mention that she was a maid. Besides, they grew up together and were as close as sisters, but
But you cannot ask about such things unless the empress herself takes the initiative to say so.
"I understand. Then I will go to Miss Lin and Miss Xue and ask..."
Yuan Chun shook his head, "After you go back, you can ask Sister Lin and Sister Bao. In addition, you can ask Yuanyang or Ping'er to go to Feng's house, and ask Qingwen to come to the house. You can ask Qingwen.
By the way, please also convey my greetings to Mrs. Shen..."
*******
The fair face of the middle-aged man showed a sinister look. He stood in front of the window for a long time without saying a word.
Standing behind him were a strong military general about the same age as him and another young man in his early twenties. The young man murmured for a long time but never dared to speak.
"Yongfang,..." The strong man was a little impatient and couldn't help but interrupt, "Changchun has come back, and he has done everything you asked him to do,..."
The fair-skinned man turned his head and glanced at the strong general. The strong general did not dare to say anything and could only lower his head.
"Changchun, how are you going to see Shuerhaqi and his son?" The fair-skinned man spoke softly, rubbing his fingertips gently on his chin.
"Well, my son-in-law went to see him. The governor was very willing to give him a lot of support, including armor, bows and arrows, and some three-eyed fire guns and Lumi guns. However, Shuerhaqi still had too many people.
Less, my son-in-law has calculated, at most there are only seven or eight hundred horsemen, plus infantry, no more than one thousand, two hundred people." The young man was born with a lot of talent and quick vision.
"Twelve hundred people,..." the fair-skinned man murmured to himself, "It's not too much, not too much. The man named Feng is quite willing. It seems that he is determined to support Shuerhaqi and his son.
"
The strong man frowned and said, "Yongfang, be careful what you say. Don't let others hear it. It will be a disaster!"
The fair-skinned man ignored the burly general and only looked at his son-in-law, "Changchun, how did you feel when you went there?"
"My lord, my son-in-law can only see a little bit over there, but from the surface, my son-in-law made a rough estimate. At least there are more than 15,000 armored cavalry, and there are more than 20,000 various servants.
,..." The young man thought for a while before speaking in detail.
This chapter has been completed!