Xiao Ce met Qin Zhao's bright eyes. His heart was throbbing and he couldn't help but want to kiss her. The moment a chamberlain came in hurriedly: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother has passed away!"
Xiao Ce's mind was empty for a moment. He remembered the bowl of dove wine that he personally delivered to the Queen Mother Guo in his previous life, and also recalled the scenes of him being humiliated by the Queen Mother again and again when he was a child.
On the night when the previous Queen Mother died, he felt that his heart was even colder.
But in this life, his wife is standing next to him...
Xiao Ce looked into Qin Zhao's clear, watery eyes, and felt warm in his heart, feeling that he had finally broken free from the deformed resentment.
Qin Zhao held Xiao Ce's hand tightly, his eyes so warm: "Will I, my concubine, accompany the emperor to handle the affairs behind the Queen Mother's death?"
After that, the solemn bell rang, striking twenty-seven times, and everyone in the harem knew that the Queen Mother had passed away.
Next comes the national mourning.
The funeral of Queen Mother Guo was handled by Queen Qin Zhao.
Since it is a national mourning, the court ceremony lasts for five days. Then marriages are suspended, music is played, soldiers and civilians take off their crowns and tassels, and women are ordered to decorate them, which lasts for twenty-seven days.
Empress Dowager Guo was finally buried in the imperial mausoleum together with the late emperor, and was promoted to her nephew's ancestral temple.
By the time I took it off, it was already May.
Since Queen Mother Guo passed away not long ago, this year's Dragon Boat Festival will not be held in a big way.
Recently, Qin Zhao was busy organizing the funeral of Queen Mother Guo, and was busy every day. Suddenly he was free, and he felt a little empty.
From the first day she entered the palace, she and Queen Mother Guo were at odds with each other.
It’s hard to say what it feels like to suddenly have an equal enemy like the Queen Mother Guo gone. Perhaps it’s because the Queen Mother Guo is Xiao Ce’s biological mother, so she never has such a strong love or hate for the Queen Mother Guo, at most she hates her.
I hate the way Empress Dowager Guo treated Xiao Ce for the sake of the late emperor, and I also detest Empress Dowager Guo for leaving Xiao Ce alone for so many years.
"Your Majesty, please read the clouds and ask for an audience." Xiao Linzi came in and asked.
Only then did Qin Zhao think of Nianyun. She thought back to the time when she promised to let Nianyun come and serve her. But having a person like Nianyun next to her was a time bomb, and she was worried.
"Let her come in." Qin Zhao opened his lips calmly.
Nianyun came in quickly and said hello to Qin Zhao.
Although the national mourning has passed, Nianyun is still dressed very plainly, with no other accessories on her body. She looks clean, refreshing and beautiful.
Qin Zhao looked at Nianyun for a moment, then asked everyone else to step back, leaving only one orb beside him.
"Does your Majesty have something to say to this slave?" Nianyun is the best at reading people's faces, and he immediately felt something was wrong.
Qin Zhao nodded slightly: "I do have something to ask you, and I hope you will answer truthfully."
"I know everything I know," Nianyun replied.
"The Queen Mother was poisoned, and it was you who did it." Qin Zhao said every word.
Nianyun did not expect that this was what Qin Zhao said, and Qin Zhao used an affirmative sentence.
No wonder Qin Zhao would push away the others. Looking at Baozhu's surprised look, you can tell that Baozhu also knew about this.
After a moment of silence, Nianyun asked: "How could the empress know about this?"
She thought she had done it without anyone noticing, and since the Empress Dowager Guo was already dead, this secret would become a secret forever as the Empress Dowager Guo was buried.
But Qin Zhao knew about this.
It was impossible for Qin Zhao to answer Nianyun's question, so she said quietly: "Prince Concubine Rong didn't tell you where your sister is before she passed away?"
Nianyun's pupils tightened, and she suddenly understood that it was Qin Zhao's people who overheard what she said to Queen Mother Guo before she died.
But she was the only one with Queen Mother Guo at that time, and she didn't speak loudly to Queen Mother Guo. In that case, how did the other party hear it?
"Before she passed away, Concubine Rong told this slave that someone had told this secretly. However, Concubine Rong only knew that slave's sister had entered the palace. As for who it was, she did not know who it was.
." Nianyun felt that there was nothing to hide, so he told the truth.
"This is interesting." Qin Zhao murmured to himself.
So, is there anyone behind Concubine Rong? That person thought Concubine Rong was a pawn that could be used, so he dragged Concubine Rong into it.
If she hadn't asked Nianyun today, she wouldn't have known that Concubine Rong was also being targeted.
Nianyun looked at Qin Zhao absentmindedly, thinking that Qin Zhao could never trust her again, right? Especially the fact that she poisoned Queen Mother Guo, if the emperor knew about it...
Qin Zhao was silent for a moment, then remembered that Nianyun was still in front of him, and said: "I have promised you before that when the Queen Mother passes away, you will be allowed to come to serve me. But after this battle, I cannot take risks. You
You should understand my concerns, right?"
Nianyun nodded slightly, of course she understood.
"I will not tell the emperor about this, and will also arrange your whereabouts. If possible, if there is news about your sister in the future, I will inform you specifically, so you can rest assured." Qin Zhao said again.
Naturally, she doesn't like Nian Yun, but there was a deal between Nian Yun and her, and she can't burn bridges by crossing the river, that's all.
Nianyun breathed a sigh of relief and knelt down on the ground: "I thank the Queen for her grace!"
"Okay, step back." Qin Zhao waved his hand.
Nianyun respectfully retreated.
Baozhu finally recovered and asked in a low voice: "The reason why the Queen Mother was poisoned was because of Nian Yun's poisonous hand? But isn't Nian Yun loyal to the Queen Mother?"
"For a loyal servant to betray her, it must be the Queen Mother's daily behavior that chills her heart." Qin Zhao thought of Queen Mother Guo's character, and she felt that this was not too unexpected.
Nianyun just made a choice between his biological sister and the Queen Mother Guo, and Nianyun chose his relatives, not the Queen Mother Guo.
What she is more curious about now is who Nian Yun's sister is. Could it be that Nian Yun's sister is also one of the people trained by the Hu family?
Otherwise, how could the person who was in contact with Concubine Rong know that Nianyun's sister was in the palace? And she was sure that the turbulent man in the harem was related to Prince An's palace.
In this way, she has a basis for her guess.
It happened that she was checking the details of the group of people sent to the palace by the Hu family, and maybe she could actually find out whether Nian Yun's sister was among that group of people.
Nianyun has been in the palace for more than ten years and is only thirty years old this year. In other words, Nianyun's sister cannot be a nun in the palace, but may be a palace servant or a concubine in the harem. In any case, she cannot be older than
Thirty years old.
Yes, she had forgotten to ask how old Nianyun's sister was.
"Nian Yun probably hasn't gone far yet, Baozhu, go and ask her how old her sister is this year." Qin Zhao told Baozhu.
Baozhu left in response and soon returned to Qin Zhao to report: "After asking, Nian Yun said that her sister is twenty-three this year. By the way, Nian Yun said that she once gave her sister a wooden hairpin. Then
It’s also a token. For some reason, I always feel that the wooden hairpin seems a bit familiar..."
