Xianyue always felt that something was wrong, but she could never figure out what the problem was, so she had to put it aside for the time being.
Just when the Yanxi Palace returned to peace, Ling Ruo's exclamation rang out from the Cining Palace. She stared at Hongli in disbelief and said in shock: "What did you say, you want to make the imperial concubine your queen?
"
Hongli met her disbelieving gaze and said, "Yes, today in the morning court, hundreds of officials mentioned the matter of appointing a middle palace again. My son has thought about it and found no one suitable except the imperial concubine."
"Emperor, are you...are you crazy?" Ling Ruo didn't know what to say for a moment. After calming down, she said: "The Ai family is not saying that the imperial concubine is not good. In fact, as you said,
Except for the imperial concubine, no one is suitable for the position of the central palace, but...if your decision is known to the officials of the court, do you know how they will react?"
Hongli looked calmly and said: "My son knows."
Ling Ruo said coldly: "Now that I know, you still do this?"
"If they don't make the emperor's concubine their queen, they will force their son to choose one of the daughters of the princes and nobles to be his queen. His son won't want such a queen."
"The Ai family understands, but the imperial concubine..." Ling Ruo sighed and said: "Li Hou is different from the imperial concubine. They will definitely resist to the death and will never back down, unless... the imperial concubine has enough achievements to suppress them.
, it's a pity that there are none, not even heirs. Even if the Ai family comes forward, I'm afraid they won't be able to suppress them." After a pause, she said: "Emperor, please listen to the Ai family's advice and forget it."
Hongli was silent for a while and said: "My son is the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, not a puppet in their hands. They have no right to force his son to do things they don't like."
"They are not qualified, but if you conflict with them too deeply, it will affect the tranquility of the Qing Dynasty. Although it seems stable now, it is not really peaceful and worry-free."
Although Hongli didn't say anything, she could see that Hongli had no intention of giving up. She sighed and said, "Let's take it slow now and wait until there is a suitable opportunity to bring it up again. This way, the chance will be greater.
Without waiting for Hongli to say anything, she added: "By the way, the Ai family heard that He Zhuo and He Zhuo have arrived in the capital?"
"Yes, they arrived a few days ago, but because the epidemic was raging in the palace, my son did not summon them. My son has sent someone to pass the order for them to enter the palace tomorrow." Although Hongli was still a little unwilling, he also knew that Ling Ruo was like this
Saying that it is for his own good, setting up Xianyue will be more difficult than anything he has done before.
Ling Ruo nodded and said: "The folk customs in southern Xinjiang are strong and fierce. Men, women, old and young can serve as soldiers. This has always been a concern for our Qing Dynasty. It is rare that they are willing to take the initiative this time. The emperor must comfort them."
"My son will do it." Seeing Hongli's promise, Ling Ruo nodded and said, "Okay, the Ai family is a little tired. You can go back."
"Son, please retire." After bowing respectfully, Hongli turned and left. Looking at his back, Ling Ruo let out a long sigh, and Yang Hai said softly: "Don't worry too much, Queen Mother. After a while, the Emperor will
If you understand the difficulties involved, you will no longer mention the matter of making the imperial concubine your queen."
Ling Ruo smiled bitterly and said: "Is the emperor's temperament unclear to the Aijia? As long as it is something he believes in, he will definitely do it. Even nine oxen can't pull him back. If you don't talk about the far things, just talk about the near ones. Even though you know
He would be infected with the epidemic, and even though he knew that the epidemic might kill him, he still stayed in the Yanxi Palace for several days. Fortunately, he was fine in the end, otherwise the Ai family really wouldn’t know what to do."
Yang Hai nodded silently, and after a while, he suddenly said: "Queen Mother, there is actually someone who can persuade the emperor to give up this idea."
Ling Ruo's movement of turning the beads stagnated, and she said in a cold voice: "Are you talking about the imperial concubine?"
Yang Hai lowered his eyes and said: "Yes, the person who tied the bell needs to be untied. As long as the imperial concubine is willing, we can definitely convince the emperor. Why don't I help you to see the imperial concubine now?"
Ling Ruo shook his head and said, "There's no rush. We'll go back in a few days. With what Ai Jia said just now, the emperor probably won't mention the issue of establishing a queen again in the short term. By the way, what's the current epidemic situation?"
"When I return to the Queen Mother, most of the palace residents detained in Zhongcui Palace have recovered from the epidemic, and some of the remaining ones who are still serious are getting better. In addition, since Doctor Zhuang poured the medicine into the well water, no one has recovered.
The onset of the disease, it seems, is a real problem
It's from the well water." Speaking of this, Yang Hai said happily again: "Thanks to Dr. Zhuang this time, otherwise I would still be suffering from the epidemic to this day. I heard that the emperor sealed him because of this matter.
Dr. Zhuang is the deputy director."
Ling Ruo nodded slightly and said: "If you have a fault, you should be punished, and if you have merit, you should be rewarded. This is what he deserves. However, the Ai family still can't figure out how an epidemic could break out in the palace for no reason, and marry someone from the Ai family.
I have never heard of such a thing since the late Emperor."
Yang Hai tentatively said: "I heard from the imperial doctor that the problem is ninety-nine times caused by the well water. Could it be that the ground is unclean and there is some contamination that could cause the epidemic?"
"If this is the case, even if you are fine now, there is no guarantee that another epidemic will not break out in the future." She thought for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Yang Hai, immediately send people who are familiar with water properties to check every well. Aijia
You need to know for sure whether there is really anything dirty at the bottom of the well.”
Yang Hai said with some embarrassment: "But there are more than seventy wells in the palace. It will take several days to check them one by one."
Ling Ruo said: "It doesn't matter, don't pull it off even once."
From that day on, Yang Hai led his people from the wells in Duixiu Mountain to check one well after another. Each time he checked a well, he made a mark on it. Because Ling Ruo had ordered him to find out whether there was any filth at the bottom of the well, they
The inspection was very slow. At the end of the day, less than ten mouths were inspected.
After the news reached Zhuang Zheng's ears, he had been restless and absent-minded. On that day, he followed Wei Jingxuan's words and created an epidemic in the palace. He once threw a few rotting rats into a well to avoid being discovered.
, a stone was specially tied to the dead mice so that they could sink to the bottom of the water.
His plan was originally flawless, but now Yang Hai is leading his people to search the groundwater one by one. Sooner or later, they will find the two dead rats sunk at the bottom of the well. Then... they will know that this epidemic is not an accident, and that he, the former
The hero will become the first object of their suspicion.
The more Zhuang Zheng thought about it, the more frightened he became. He hurried to Yimeixuan while no one was paying attention to him, hoping to discuss countermeasures with Wei Jingxuan. Unexpectedly, Yehenala was also there. The latter said strangely: "Mr. Zhuang is coming here now."
,What’s the matter?”
Before Zhuang Zheng could answer, Wei Jingxuan already said: "I'd like to express my gratitude to you, my concubine, who invited Dr. Zhuang to come here."
"You?" Yehenala said in surprise: "I have been sitting here for so long, but I have never seen you ask for a doctor."