When Zhu Hejian met and talked with the imperial concubine Wanshi, their expressions, movements, and performances were as if they were acting. They seemed to be a loving mother and a filial son, and they were harmonious, but in fact there was a feeling of alienation, indifference, and even mutual resentment.
However, facing the performance of Zhu Hejian and the imperial concubine Wanshi, the surrounding eunuchs and maids seemed to be used to it. No one was surprised. They just lowered their heads and lowered their eyes, not daring to look directly, for fear of being offended.
Imperial Concubine Wan is already in her forties, but she is well-maintained and looks like she is only in her early thirties. She has a plump figure, fair skin, dark eyebrows and almond-shaped eyes, and clear facial features. Not only is she still beautiful, but she also exudes the air of a mature woman.
People have various styles.
However, a pair of upturned eyebrows give people a decisive and assertive feeling.
Over the years, Imperial Concubine Wan has always been favored by Emperor Deqing, and is the biological mother of Crown Prince Zhu Heyu and Seventh Prince Zhu Hejian. This makes her status in the harem extremely noble, and she is still slightly above the current queen.
Although she is not like a queen, she is still better than a queen.
In fact, when the queen met the imperial concubine Wanshi, she always accompanied her carefully. In this harem, it is not an exaggeration to say that Wanshi can cover the sky with one hand.
At this time, after giving the seventh prince Zhu Hejian a seat, the imperial concubine Wan Shi said meaningfully: "I heard that your father scolded the prince again in the morning meeting at the court? Alas, the prince did act impulsively.
Some, but your father should not blame him in front of the civil and military officials of the court. This will damage the prestige of the prince and crown prince... I heard that you have often met with your father recently. I should also give your father some advice when I find the opportunity.
The dignity of the emperor and the prince must be carefully maintained, don’t you think?”
Zhu Hejian still looked respectful and lowered his eyebrows, and said: "My son thinks so too. I have tried to persuade my father secretly many times. Unfortunately, my father couldn't listen to me at all. As my son, I am about to be granted a vassal status."
As a prince, I can’t talk about government affairs frequently, I’m afraid it’s beyond my power.”
At this time, the imperial concubine Wan's face was still full of love and intimacy, but her eyes were cold. After staring at Zhu Hejian for a long time, she asked: "Are you really trying your best to help the prince? Prince
After all, he is your biological brother, and he has always treated you sincerely, so don’t do it perfunctorily."
Zhu Hejian's eyes flashed slightly, his tone became slightly stiffer, and he said: "Third brother, how does he treat his son? Of course he doesn't know it, but he has indeed tried his best where he should... However, mother and concubine
You have always been trusted by my father. Why can’t you, my concubine, tell my father about your third brother in person? If you, my concubine, can do your best to protect your third brother, I’m afraid my father will have to save some face. "
Hearing what Zhu Hejian said, the eyes of the imperial concubine Wan Shi became colder and colder. She looked at Zhu Hejian as if she was seeing a mortal enemy.
Then, Wan's tone became colder and said: "I am already old and yellow, how can I compete with those newcomers? In front of your father, my speech is not as good as before.
After your father's southern tour, he brought back a young woman named Li Jiamin from Jiangnan. She was the daughter of Li Xin, the former magistrate of Huaiyin. I heard that her father was imprisoned because of the "southern tour preparation fraud case" investigated by the prince.
, this woman went to His Majesty in person to complain, and after His Majesty saw her, he was so confused that he personally reversed Li Xin's case at the expense of the prince's prestige... Haha, this is
What a favor?
After the southern tour, Li Jiamin was recruited into the palace by His Majesty. In just over two months, he was promoted from a mere nobleman to a concubine. Your Majesty will sleep in her palace half the time! Now, this Li Jiamin's
The limelight has already overshadowed me. This woman has a grudge against the prince. Even if I speak for the prince, how can I be as good as her pillow?
The prince has been repeatedly scolded by his majesty during this period. In my opinion, it is all because of this bitch’s secret instigation!”
Speaking of the latter part, a hint of ferocity flashed across the beautiful face of Imperial Concubine Wan.
In fact, the matter was far more serious than Wan's description. Ever since Li Jiamin entered the palace, the imperial concubine Wan had been vaguely aware of the threat and had been trying to suppress Li Jiamin. However, she did not expect that Li Jiamin was actually quite scheming and endured it first.
After collecting evidence, the matter was finally brought to Emperor Deqing, who also severely reprimanded the imperial concubine Wan for this matter!
In so many years, Emperor Deqing reprimanded Wan for the first time!
Since then, Wan's image in the eyes of Emperor Deqing has been stained, from a flawless concubine to a jealous wife who is unscrupulous. In this way, Emperor Deqing's love for Wan has also changed.
Not as good as before.
Because of this, after seeing the recent encounters between Prince Zhu and Yu, although Wan wanted to help, she was unable to do so.
On the other side, after hearing Wan's remarks, Zhu Hejian's eyes flashed with disdain.
With Emperor Deqing's imperial scheming, how could he treat his prince badly just because of a concubine's pillow? The reason why the prince fell into the situation he is in today is entirely his own fault! The Wan family has been addicted to competing for favors in the harem over the years, and his horizons
He also gradually became narrow-minded, and actually thought that Emperor Deqing repeatedly reprimanded the prince because of Li Jiamin's bewitchment, which was really ridiculous.
It's a pity that Wan's family is in the middle, but she still doesn't know it.
However, on the surface, Zhu Hejian still looked like he adhered to the principle of dignity and inferiority, and advised Wanshi: "Mother and concubine, it's best not to say such things in the future. If it spreads, I'm afraid my father will be unhappy.
Then you will be angry with Father again."
Wanshi snorted coldly, stared at Zhu Hejian, but changed the topic and said: "However, what makes me curious is that Li Jiamin just entered the harem for the first time. She was originally just the daughter of a county magistrate, but why did she
Do you know His Majesty’s character and preferences so well? It’s so easy to win His Majesty’s favor and favor. Coupled with her sudden appearance... it’s as if there’s someone behind her to give advice, specifically to compete with me for favor!”
Zhu Hejian's expression did not change, he just lowered his head and said: "Concubine, you are overthinking this. How can such a thing happen? It seems that this noble man is born with such a temper, and he just agrees with the father's temper."
*
In fact, when Emperor Deqing met Li Jiamin during his tour to the south, it was all because of arrangements made by the seventh prince Zhu Hejian. Li Jiamin was promoted to concubine so soon after entering the palace, and it was all because Zhu Hejian secretly instructed the inner court to provide full help.
!
And Zhu Hejian arranged for Li Jiamin to enter the palace just to shake Emperor Deqing's exclusive favor for Wan!
Otherwise, under the influence of the imperial concubine Wan, Emperor Deqing may not be able to make up his mind to depose the crown prince Zhu Heyu so quickly!
It can be said that in order to compete for the reserve position, Zhu Hejian took all factors into consideration!
In order to achieve his goal, Zhu Hejian even did not hesitate to instigate the relationship between Emperor Deqing and the Wan family, and shake his biological mother's status in the harem!
Regarding this, Zhu Hejian did not feel any guilt or regret.
In fact, Zhu Hejian's feelings towards the imperial concubine Wan Shi were mostly filled with resentment!
The imperial concubine Wan's feelings towards Zhu Hejian were probably the same!
In the eyes of the imperial concubine Wanshi, although Zhu Hejian and Zhu Heyu are both her sons, their statuses are completely different!
Wan's original status in the harem was not high, but after she became pregnant with Zhu Heyu, she gradually gained the honor of today's harem based on the value of her mother and her son! It can be said that the appearance of Zhu Heyu created the Wan family today!
Therefore, Mrs. Wan was extremely fond of Prince Zhu Heyu and had great expectations.
But Zhu Hejian was completely different. After giving birth to Zhu Heyu, the Wan family had not yet recovered their health and did not plan to have another child in the short term. However, the Wan family really could not resist the interest of Emperor Deqing.
Pregnant with Zhu Hejian! Therefore, Zhu Hejian is completely an "unplanned product" for Wan. In addition, Wan has been tortured since she was pregnant with Zhu Hejian. When she gave birth to Zhu Hejian, she also gave her body
It caused great harm, so she never liked Zhu Hejian very much!
In addition, Wan needed to recuperate, and Zhu Hejian was also in poor health after he was born, so he was raised by another concubine. Therefore, the mother and son really did not have much affection between each other, and a series of subsequent events such as Wan
The Wan family's blind favoritism towards Zhu Heyu, the Wan family's assassination of Zhu Hejian's adoptive mother, and Zhu Hejian's resistance also gradually changed the relationship between the two parties from indifference to hostility!
The funny thing is that although the two of them hate each other, they both need to maintain their image in front of Emperor Deqing, so they have been performing the drama of "mother is kind and son is filial". This drama has been going on for more than ten years, because this
Both mother and son are highly skilled in acting, and even the prince Zhu Heyu didn't notice too many abnormalities.
But now, as Prince Zhu Heyu's status as crown prince is gradually unstable, and Zhu Hejian will replace him at any time, both parties have lost the patience to continue acting.
*
Not talking about the past relationship between Zhu Hejian and the imperial concubine Wan Shi, Wan Shi's eyes became colder after seeing that Zhu Hejian had been avoiding her questions.
Then, Wan waved to the eunuchs and maids around her and said, "You guys go down for now. I have something to discuss with the Seventh Prince."
After hearing Wan's instructions, the surrounding eunuchs and maids looked as if they had been granted amnesty and left quickly.
Once, when Zhu Hejian and Wanshi were talking, a certain palace maid accidentally overheard a few words, and Wanshi found a reason to kill her with a cane. No wonder these eunuchs and maids were all frightened.
After all the maids and eunuchs left, only the imperial concubine Wan Shi and the seventh prince Zhu Hejian were left in the palace.
Then, the mother and son also took off their disguises one after another, and no longer showed any appearance of "mother's kindness and son's filial piety". The expression of the imperial concubine Wan Shi was cold, while the expression of the seventh prince Zhu Hejian was indifferent.
"Zhu Hejian, tell me the truth! Is it really not you who arranged for that bitch named Li Jiamin to enter the palace? Also, His Majesty has repeatedly rebuked the prince recently. Is it really not you who is behind the scenes?"
Wan called Zhu Hejian by his name and asked coldly.
After no outsiders were present, Zhu Hejian also lost his respect for the Wan family and replied expressionlessly: "Back then, my third brother and I secretly went to play in my father's study room and accidentally broke my father's favorite vase. At that time,
I said that the third brother did this, and the third brother admitted it himself, but the mother-in-law didn’t believe it at all, insisting that it was me who broke it..."
Having said this, Zhu Hejian looked up at the imperial concubine Wan Shi, his eyes full of sarcasm, and asked: "Now, even if my son says that these things have nothing to do with him, will my mother and concubine believe it?"
Seeing that Zhu Hejian did not deny it at all, Wan couldn't help but became furious and said: "Not only does he covet his brother's position, but he also plots against his biological mother! Great! I really gave birth to a good son!"
Faced with Wan's accusation, Zhu Hejian remained expressionless and said slowly: "It's not the first time that I've done this to frame the prince and my mother. Why are you so angry, concubine? Erchen Di
When I did this kind of thing, it was entirely because of the teachings of my mother and concubine! Although my son is not a good person, but the third brother who you hold in the palm of my hand and cherish with all my heart, his reserve is so clean? He is just doing it for himself.
He just thought it was clean, and let his mother, concubine, and sons handle all the dirty things behind his back!"
After hearing Zhu Hejian's response, Wan fell into silence.
Zhu Heyu did not get the title of prince just after he was born. He was the third among the princes, and there were two princes in front of him. The second prince was the biological son of the current queen, so he was the legitimate heir to the throne.
However, after an unsolved case in the palace, the second prince suddenly drowned and died. All suspicions were pointed at the eldest prince. In the end, Zhu Heyu, the third eldest son, became the new prince.
Except for Zhu Hejian and the imperial concubine Wanshi, no one knows the truth of this matter!
In fact, all this is a conspiracy between the imperial concubine Wan Shi and the seventh prince Zhu Hejian!
Legally speaking, the queen is also Zhu Hejian's mother, so it is not wrong for Zhu Hejian to say that he "framed the prince and harmed his mother" more than once.
It was precisely because of this incident that the imperial concubine Wan Shi and the seventh prince Zhu Hejian were grasping each other's handles, so Wan Shi knew Zhu Hejian's cold nature very well, and Zhu Hejian would never hide his true ambitions from Wan Shi, so this
The relationship between mother and son has become even weaker, and most of the time the relationship is just one of mutual use.
After a long silence, Wan's tone was a little weak, and he whispered: "No matter what, your third brother has always been very kind to you, and he is sincere. Do you really have the heart to harm him?"
Zhu Hejian was silent this time and did not answer at all, but his eyes were still full of indifference without any change.
Seeing Zhu Hejian like this, Wan couldn't help but get angry again.
However, at this moment, a frightened young eunuch entered the palace and reported: "The Imperial Concubine, His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince, His Majesty just sent someone to deliver the news, saying that His Majesty the Seventh Prince is going to the imperial study to meet the emperor."
After hearing the little eunuch's report, Zhu Hejian's face returned to a respectful expression, but without any intention of stopping, he saluted the imperial concubine Wan and said: "Since it is the father who summoned me, I will go now. I hope my mother and concubine can come."
take care."
Wan looked at Zhu Hejian intently and said after a long time: "In that case, you can go ahead."
