The morning light filled the Jinshui River.

The river surface was frozen, as if a huge bronze mirror reflected a golden light. It fell last night, and the willow branches on the river bank were covered with ice and snowflakes, as if they were covered with a layer of silver scarf. This is Kaifeng Mansion in the winter of the first year of Yuanfu. Under the ice and snow, it still reveals that grace and luxury.

When the melodious bells of Daxiangguo Temple came, in the Cide Palace in the imperial city, Empress Dowager Xiang, 53 years old this year, had already used up her breakfast and walked in the yard with two charming palace maids.

The Empress Dowager has been blessed a few years ago. She has become fat, but her body is getting weaker and weaker, and she always feels chest tightness and shortness of breath. She asked the Hanlin Medical Officer to come and see it, saying that it is liver fire, phlegm and turbidity, and both qi and yin deficiency. After prescribing medicine, the old empress dowager also asked her to walk around more and not sit all day long.

So Empress Dowager Xiang developed the good habit of getting up to take a walk every morning. However, in Empress Dowager Xiang's own opinion, her problem was useless by walking and taking Chinese medicine... because this problem was caused by Zhao Xu, the foolish monarch of the Song Dynasty, and Zhang Dun, the treacherous minister who dominated the court.

As a woman from the Xiang family of Daming Mansion (who are fellow townsmen of Pan Qiaolian), Empress Dowager Xiang naturally had a supporter of the old party. Moreover, Empress Dowager Gao (the empress of Yingzong), who praised her as the throne of the empress, was also the leader of the old party. After Emperor Shenzong died, Empress Dowager Xiang took over as the empress dowager, as the empress dowager Tai, reprimanded the new laws, and reused the old party. After Empress Dowager Gao died, Empress Dowager Xiang replaced her as the general backstage of the old party figures.

However, what she didn't expect was that after Zhao Xu, who had always been weak and sick and seemed a little cowardly, dared to overturn Empress Dowager Gao's policy, re-activate the new party, restore the new law, and used troops for years and was very powerful and almost defeated the Western thieves... Well, it is of course a good thing to defeat the Western thieves, but the Liao Kingdom in the north would watch the Western thieves collapse?

It is definitely impossible! At that time, the 400,000 palace soldiers and 1.2 million Jingzhou soldiers from the Liao Dynasty will sweep south along the Yellow River, and the Song Dynasty will be destroyed!

The most hateful thing is that under the instigation of the treacherous prime minister Zhang Dun, the foolish king Zhao Xu deposed the virtuous and kind Empress Meng, despite the firm opposition of the queen mother, and also made Liu, who was humble and beautiful, but did not keep the courtesy of his concubines, the queen.

The Song Dynasty now has a demon queen inside and a treacherous minister outside. He practices new laws to harm the people and still uses rash weapons on the frontier. In the long run, the country will be in ruins.

However, there is still hope to get the Song Dynasty back on track, and it is not small... The foolish and incompetent official Zhao Xu is already suffering from a serious illness. The Hanlin medical officer's diagnosis was "indulgence indulgence, consuming qi and fluid, affecting the spleen and kidneys, causing spleen deficiency and loss of luck and kidney meridians" (probably chronic nephritis or something). In short, he was going to die young, and now he doesn't know how long he can last?

Zhao Xu has not left a son to inherit the throne, nor has a nephew. Once he dies, he will definitely choose an heir from his brothers. Empress Dowager Xiang can follow the convention of Empress Dowager Gao, obey the government in court, abolish all the new laws, and eliminate all the traitors.

Among Zhao Xu's younger brothers, the one whom Empress Dowager Xiang is undoubtedly Zhao Ji, the eleventh son of the Shenzong, is the Duan King.

This Duan King is not only talented, but also looks very handsome and has a strong body. He is not as strong as the prince of the Zhao family. If he is allowed to continue the throne, he will definitely not have to worry about the early death of the official family and the inability to give birth to a son to inherit the throne in the future. This is not the view of the Empress Dowager alone, but the unanimous recognition of the nobles and wealthy families of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Speaking of which, this is really because Zhao Ji is too outstanding. To put it in the evaluation of later generations, it is "Everything can be done, but I can't be the king alone!"

But now who can think of a prince who can do everything and can't be an emperor?

A hurried footsteps came, and then an elderly fat eunuch wearing a scarlet robe, holding a whisk in his hand and wearing a sable on his head trotting all the way into the yard.

The eunuch's surname is Pang and his name is Kuan. He was a rank of the provincial governor of Nei. He was a rank officer of Nei. He was a high-ranking eunuch. Because he was old, he was a little out of breath all the way. When Empress Dowager Xiang saw him fat and panting, he laughed: "Fatty, see you panting, take a breath first and say something slowly."

"Pang'er" is Pang Kuan's nickname. He is from Daming Mansion. He has been serving Empress Dowager Xiang since she married Zhao Xu, who was still the King of Ying. At that time, Pang Kuan was still a child. Because he was chubby, everyone called him Pang'er. But now only Empress Dowager Xiang still called him that.

The old "fat" breathed, and a fat face filled with smiles. He saluted the Queen Mother first, and then smiled: "Empress Dowager, both of them have come to observe and wait at the inner east gate."

The inner east gate is a particularly important gate in the palace, the main passage connecting the inner and outer halls, and it is also a passage for women inside and outside to enter the inner and outer halls to meet the queen mother. If there is a situation of governing the country behind the curtain, the place where the empress dowager and the ruling ministers discuss politics is also near the inner east gate.

Therefore, in the palace of the Northern Song Dynasty, an Inner East Gate appeared, which belonged to the Inner Nei Provincial Department of Attendance. There were usually two officials, one of whom must be the confidant of the Empress Dowager. Pang Kuan, who was called "Pang'er" by the Empress Dowager Xiang, was one of the two Inner East Gate officials.

The two observers he mentioned were Xiang Zongliang and Xiang Zonghui. Because the Northern Song Dynasty had a political tradition of suppressing nobles and relatives, the Xiang family brothers who were relatives could only be nominal officials and had no real power. So one of these two is the Lizhou Observer and the other is the Xiangzhou Observer. They are both the fifth-rank official. They have no real positions and live in Kaifeng Prefecture to eat, drink and have fun. They often go to the palace to visit the Empress Dowager Xiang.

However, they could not go to the Cide Palace to visit the Empress Dowager, and could only meet with the Empress Dowager in the small hall near the Neidong Gate.

"They are both here?" Xiang Gong smiled, "It must be something, right? Fat, ask them to wait at Zishantang."

"Here."

Pang Kuan responded, turned around and was about to run to the Nei East Gate, but was stopped by the Empress Dowager Xiang.

"Fatty, go slowly... I'm getting older, so I can't do it like before."

"Mrs. Xie, I'll just leave slowly."

Pang Pang'er then slowed down and went slowly. Empress Dowager Xiang smiled and ordered her to go around and said, "Set up the Zishan Hall."

...

Zishan Hall is a small hall on the side of the inner east gate. If the Song Dynasty is now the empress dowager, then this is the place where the empress dowager meets the priest. However, Zhao Xu, the official in the Song Dynasty, is still at the helm of the Song Dynasty, and Zishan Hall is the place where the empress dowager and the empress and the inner wife meet with relatives.

Painters like Wu Haogu, the painting academy painters, sometimes they are placed in Zishan Hall for photos of the empress dowager, queen and inner women.

To give photos of women in the palace is more troublesome than painting the emperor. It is necessary to be familiar with a lot of red tape. This is also the reason why Wu Haogu has not seen Empress Dowager Xiang until now - he was recruited by Empress Dowager Xiang to Kaifeng Prefecture.

However, Wu Haogu is not qualified to meet the Empress Dowager for the time being, which does not prevent his works from entering the palace. Today, the two observers of the Xiang family were entrusted by others and brought two works by Wu Haogu to Empress Dowager Xiang.

They are all portraits, and they are all drawn by women.

One is "The Queen of Talents" and the other is "Pan Suer's Smile". The former is not bad, but although it is painted in a real way, it is just a traditional fine brushwork. The latter makes Queen Mother Xiang, who saw it at first, look at it and treats Pan Suer in the painting as a real person.

"Whose girl from my family has come to Zishantang..." Empress Dowager Xiang entered Zishantang with the help of the palace maid. She didn't see the two brothers, but saw a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl who was smiling at her. After a moment of stunnedness, she actually waved, "Come here quickly and take a closer look for the Ai family."

"Hahaha……"

Then Empress Dowager Xiang heard his two brothers laughing.

"Big brother, second brother, why are you laughing?"

Queen Mother Xiang looked at her two brothers a little blankly. They were both older and had always been serious and should not be "misatisfied".

The Xiang family was not a real noble playboy, but a scholarly family. The ancestor Xiang Yu was just a small civil servant when the founding of the Song Dynasty and was not considered a meritorious official.

Xiang Minzhong, who made the Xiang family prosperous, was a Jinshi during the Taizong period. Later, the descendants of the Xiang family also went on the route of studying and becoming officials. They were not necessarily Jinshi, but they must be scholars.

However, Xiang Zongliang and Xiang Zonghui were "implicated" by Empress Dowager Xiang and lost the opportunity to make progress in the imperial examination. They could only be a relative who enjoys happiness for the rest of their lives. It is precisely for this reason that when Empress Dowager Xiang chose concubines for the sons of Shenzong, she said: Xiang clan should not be selected as a woman.

"Sister, you're dazzled. There's no daughter here, there, only one painting."

The Empress Dowager Xiang's younger brother, Xiang Zonghui, the Xiangzhou Observer, smiled and explained to his sister.

"painting?"

The old lady looked at it carefully and seemed to be a painting in a wooden frame.

"It's really a painting?" Empress Dowager Xiang took two steps forward and finally confirmed. "This is too real, right? The painting is even better than that, Wu Haogu."

"Sister, this painting is from Wu Hao's ancient painting." Lizhou Observer Xiang Zongliang smiled, "It's really vivid. When Zifa and I first saw it, we thought we had met the real person."

Queen Mother Xiang asked again: "Who is this child?"

"She is the Pan family, the daughter of the governor of Enzhou, the sister of the prince-in-law, Xingqi, Xiaozi Suer."

"How old is it?" the queen mother asked again.

"Twelve, it will be thirteen soon."

"It's too small, and the rations of King Duan are a little small, but you can keep it for King Yue, so I'll send this painting to the King Yue Mansion." Empress Dowager Xiang frowned, and then turned her eyes to another picture. There was a pretty woman holding a scroll in her hand. She looked very likable, about fourteen or fifteen years old. "Who is she? Is she also the daughter of the Pan family?"

"No, he belongs to the Wang family."

"That Wang family?"
Chapter completed!