Zhang Kun sent away the young eunuch who came to report the news. He returned to the main hall, found an opportunity, leaned next to Liu Xiu, and whispered: "Your Majesty, the queen is not feeling well and has returned to Changqiu Palace."
Liu Xiu turned to look at Zhang Kun, and then nodded, indicating that he understood. He and the ministers in the hall exchanged cups and cups again, and then found an excuse to leave the hall and go to Changqiu Palace.
When Liu Xiu arrived, Guo Shengtong was lying on the bed, and Yin Lihua, Xu Xiling, Liu Huang, and Liu Boji were also here. In addition, there was another person kneeling in front of the bed, Li Xiu'e.
On the way to Changqiu Palace, Zhang Kun had already told Liu Xiu the whole story.
But in Liu Xiu's opinion, this matter was just a trivial matter. If Guo Shengtong was offended by such a painting, it would be too much to make a fuss out of a trivial matter.
Seeing Liu Xiu coming, everyone saluted, and Guo Shengtong, who was lying on the bed, was also about to get up.
Liu Huang held her down, turned to Liu Xiu and said, "Emperor, Yin Guiren's maid is so bold and reckless, she even made such a rebellious painting in public!"
While talking, Liu Huang picked up the painting painted by Li Xiu'e and shook it towards Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu walked up to Liu Huang, took the canvas over, lowered his head and looked at it. Not to mention, Li Xiu'e painted a dragon and two phoenixes.
It has charm and is lifelike.
He looked down at Li Xiu'e who was kneeling on the ground and asked, "Did you draw this?"
Li Xiu'e kowtowed forward and said, "My maid painted it."
"My painting skills are really good." Liu Xiu commented casually.
Hearing this, both Liu Huang and Guo Shengtong looked at him with wide eyes in disbelief. Liu Huang said angrily: "Emperor, how can a mere little palace maid be so bold? She must have been instructed by someone else!"
Liu Xiu glanced at her eldest sister helplessly and asked, "Who do you think Li Xiu'e is instigating?"
"Since this slave comes from the West Palace, naturally..."
Before Liu Huang finished speaking, Liu Xiu interrupted: "Li Xiu'e was implicated by her father and entered the military camp as a prostitute. I thought these women who were forced to be camp prostitutes were pitiful, so I issued an order to pardon them. It was I who asked Li Xiu'e to
Stay with Lihua and be a palace maid. If the imperial sister says that what Li Xiu'e did was instigated by others, then she can only be instigated by me."
His words not only blocked Liu Huang's mouth, but also surprised Yin Lihua and Li Xiu'e.
You must know that the person who insisted on keeping Li Xiu'e was not Liu Xiu, but Yin Lihua. On the contrary, Liu Xiu opposed Yin Lihua's selection of Li Xiu'e as a palace maid. Now, he has taken everything on himself.
At this time, anyone could see Liu Xiu's defense of Yin Lihua, which made Xu Xiling couldn't help but feel jealous. Liu Huang was unconvinced and wanted to speak, while Guo Shengtong weakly waved his hand to Liu Huang
, said: "Sister Huang, I'm not seriously ill, I'm just feeling a little unwell, and it has nothing to do with this palace lady..." Before she could finish her words, she suddenly felt her stomach churn and made a sound of retching.
Guo Shengtong's maids hurriedly came forward, patting her on the back and giving her water.
When Liu Huang saw this, he became even more angry and said in a deep voice: "The emperor can't be too kind to one and too unfair to the other!"
Liu Xiu secretly sighed, and just as he was about to speak, the imperial doctor finally arrived. After the imperial doctor came in, he put down the medicine box, knelt down and kowtowed. Liu Xiu waved his hand and said: "The queen is not feeling well, please diagnose and treat the queen quickly!"
"
The imperial doctor agreed, stood up, bowed, and walked to the bed. He first checked and then felt Guo Shengtong's pulse. This time, the room finally became quiet, and Liu Xiu paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back.
Liu Boji came to Liu Xiu and whispered: "Third brother's partiality should not be too obvious." Liu Xiu now defended Yin Lihua, and even the maids around Yin Lihua had to defend her.
Unlike Liu Huang, she rarely walked around the palace on weekdays, and she never participated in the fights between the women in Liu Xiu's harem.
But now, even Liu Boji feels that Liu Xiu is too biased, and she also thinks that Li Xiu'e's painting is a bit excessive, and indeed too bold and arrogant.
The queen is the queen, the mother of a country. Drawing a dragon and two phoenixes in front of the queen, isn't this deliberately making the queen look bad and making her unable to step down?
Liu Xiu rolled her eyes at Liu Boji, looked around, and saw that everyone's eyes were on the imperial doctor. He raised his hand and poked Liu Boji on the forehead, and also whispered: "Little girl, what do you know?!"
Liu Boji covered her forehead and glared at Liu Xiu angrily.
The imperial doctor checked Guo Shengtong's pulse three times in a row, so the diagnosis took a little longer.
After he checked his pulse, he immediately stood up, walked to Liu Xiu, knelt on the ground with a bang, and could not hide the joy and excitement on his face, and said: "Your Majesty... I congratulate your Majesty, congratulations to your Majesty, Queen
So happy!"
The words of the imperial doctor made everyone present show expressions of surprise and surprise. Is the Queen happy? The Queen is actually happy again! People were stunned for a moment, and then they all saluted and said: "Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations to the Queen!"
Liu Xiu recovered from the shock and walked quickly to the bed. Looking at Guo Shengtong, whose face was a little pale, he held her hand and said with a smile: "Shengtong, did you hear that? The imperial doctor said you are pregnant.
!”
Guo Shengtong was also surprised. It took her a while to react. Looking at the excited Liu Xiu, a smile spread across her face.
Whether the emperor's heirs are prosperous or not also determines the stability of the country to a large extent. Now that Guo Shengtong is pregnant again, Liu Huang, Liu Boji and even Liu Xiu are all happy.
Xu Xiling glanced at Guo Shengtong quietly and couldn't help but sigh in her heart. Guo Shengtong was so lucky. Not long after giving birth to the prince, she was pregnant again. While Yin Lihua was happy for Guo Shengtong, she was also secretly sad.
Guo Shengtong is about to give birth to his second child. Even Xu Xiling, whose body is not easy to conceive, gave birth to a princess, but there was no movement in her belly.
Women in the harem are, to a large extent, valued by their mothers. Without heirs, it is like having no foundation, and they will lack a sense of security.
Liu Xiu asked Zhang Kun to reward the imperial doctor heavily. Before leaving, the imperial doctor specifically warned Guo Shengtong that she was just pregnant and her body was a little weak. Once the fetal force moved, it would be very easy for something unexpected to happen.
During this period, you must take a good rest and avoid getting angry.
The imperial doctor's advice made Liu Huang find something to talk about again. She said to Liu Xiu: "Your Majesty has also heard what the imperial doctor said. It is not appropriate for the queen to be angry now, but Li Xiu'e deliberately painted to annoy the queen. She deliberately wanted to kill Long.
Hey!"
Deliberately killing Long Si, this hat is big enough. Even Li Xiu'e, who was kneeling on the ground, was shaken, with a look of horror on her face. She raised her head, looked at Liu Xiu, and said urgently: "
The maid will never dare to harm Long Si. The maid...the maid is just..."
She just couldn't stand the Queen's arrogance. She not only laughed at her own background in public, but also used her own background to insinuate that the nobles were blind and incompetent in choosing people.
If she was just being humiliated by the queen, Li Xiu'e would not be so angry, but the queen humiliated the Yin nobles in public, and Li Xiu'e couldn't bear it, so she deliberately drew a dragon and two phoenixes.
But now Liu Huang wants to label her as deliberately harming Long Si, and she can't bear it even if she has ten heads.
After listening to Liu Huang's words, Liu Xiu frowned and looked at Guo Shengtong. The latter closed his eyes and turned his head to the back of the bed, obviously unwilling to see Li Xiu'e again. Liu Xiu pondered for a moment and said: "Zhang
Kun!"
"My slave is here!" Zhang Kun hurriedly bowed and responded.
"Li Xiu'e and the following offenders will be fined for half a year and given twenty sticks to serve as a warning to others."
The punishment is given first, and then the rod is used. This means that the person should not be beaten to death.
Punishment with a stick is very particular. It is a wooden stick, and some of the wooden sticks are hollow inside. The beating makes a crackling sound, but it does not hurt the person at all.
Some wooden sticks are filled with lead. Let alone twenty sticks, even ten sticks. If they are rounded and hit to death, it is enough to break a person's spine and kill him on the spot.
After Liu Xiu finished speaking, she immediately looked at Yin Lihua, who lowered her head and said nothing. Obviously, she was dissatisfied with Liu Xiu's punishment and believed that Liu Xiu's punishment was too severe. She was also dissatisfied.
Liu Huang was also satisfied.
She said angrily: "Your Majesty, this cheap maid Li Xiu'e wants to kill Long Si. She is treasonous. She is only punished with half a year's salary and twenty canes. It is too easy for her!"
Liu Xiu said helplessly: "Sister Huang, even I don't know that Shengtong is pregnant, so how could Li Xiu'e know about it? Furthermore, Shengtong is pregnant, so she needs to save more for the baby in her belly."
That’s what benevolence is!”
Liu Huang thought for a while and felt that what Liu Xiu said was right. She gave Li Xiu'e a hard look and said to Zhang Kun: "Let the chamberlain who is executing the execution beat you severely, so that this cheap maid will have a long memory!"
"
"Yes, yes, what the eldest princess said is absolutely true!" Zhang Kun said with an apologetic smile. In fact, whether it was a heavy beating or a light beating, how could he listen to Liu Huang? It all depended on the emperor's wishes.
This time the turmoil came to an end, Li Xiu'e was punished, and Guo Shengtong was diagnosed by the imperial doctor to be pregnant again.
Liu Xiu returned to the banquet in the front palace and was in a good mood. He drank with Wu Han on the left and Deng Yu on the right.
Seeing that Liu Xiu was in high spirits, all the ministers present were also smiling. Ma Wu, who was flushed from drinking, all got up and left the table, came to Liu Xiu's throne and toasted to Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu didn't care at all. He got up and left the table, walked down, and had a drink with Ma Wu.
Ma Wu was already very drunk, but he still seemed to be in high spirits, so he insisted on performing a sword dance for Liu Xiu.
As soon as he opened his posture, Wang Ba also left the table and danced with Ma Wu. Both of them, holding a shield in one hand and a wooden sword in the other, started dancing in the center of the hall.
The shields of the two collided with each other from time to time, making a loud banging sound.
Liu Xiu and the military generals looked excited, while Fu Zhan, Song Hong and other literati shook their heads secretly, thinking that this was too inappropriate and was just messing around in the hall.
Liu Xiu had seen this kind of semi-performance and semi-gladiation sword dance in the army a lot. Sometimes when he got interested, he would get off the stage and dance with his subordinates. Therefore, in Liu Xiu's view, Ma Wu and Wang
There's nothing wrong with Ba's sword dance, it's just for fun.
Liu Xiu took the lead in cheering, and the generals present were even more carried away. They stood up one by one, raised their arms and shouted, or clapped their hands and shouted. Some cheered for Ma Wu, and some cheered for Wang Ba.
The atmosphere at the scene made Ma Wu and Wang Ba in the venue more and more excited. The sword dancing side began to weaken, and the wrestling side began to strengthen.
As a result, the atmosphere in the hall became more enthusiastic, and cheers broke out.