Compared with the hustle and bustle of the streets in the city, the desertedness of the Ouchi Imperial Palace is a bit scary. Several palaces are dimly lit, and the mottled and dim lights shine in between the flowers and trees in the passages and porches, making it look increasingly deserted and gloomy.
Several personal guards held lanterns in front of and behind, and the maid held Guo Caiwei's hand beside them. The group of people walked silently under the shadow of the tall palace. From time to time, someone would come out from the shadow of the corner of the palace and the passage of flowers and trees. , asking for the password in a low voice. After Shen Tan answered the password, these people quickly disappeared again.
After the incident that day, Shen Tan ordered the guards of the front hall to seal off the front hall of the palace. In order to prevent accidents, the level of vigilance in the front hall of the palace at this moment was higher than ever before. This is certainly not because Shen Tan was too cautious. This is where his sophistication lies. Shen Tan knows that after what happened that night, the news will inevitably spread. Knowing that Guo Kun is in a bad situation, someone will take the risk and come to rescue him. Don't say that Guo Kun is not popular. , without connections, just his status as emperor will attract countless speculators. There are countless people hiding in the shadows throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty, who want to take this opportunity to get Guo Kun, and then use Guo Kun's hand to raise his hand. The banner of rebellion. I don’t know how many ambitious people want to take advantage of Guo Kun.
In the past few days, several groups of martial arts masters have sneaked into the palace. These people all came for Guo Kun. Some wanted to kidnap Guo Kun, and some wanted to take the opportunity to assassinate Guo Kun, causing a tense situation. The great chaos made Lin Jue take the blame. Of course, all of this was ruthlessly shattered by Shen Tan. Having been in the arena for many years, Shen Tan was familiar with the tricks of these people, so they all had to return in defeat.
The group of people walked through tall palaces one after another until they came to the gate of Yanfu Palace, the harem on the northwest side of the palace. They were dozens of steps away from the palace gate. All the guards stopped and did not dare to take another step forward. Guo Caiwei saw this and secretly praised in her heart. Shen Tan obviously abided by the rules. In the harem, concubines and maids lived together here. If Shen Tan allowed the guards to go in and out of the harem, it meant that he was rude to a certain extent. The harem is a bottom line, and Shen Tan obviously understands the symbolic meaning of this bottom line.
"Princess, in front of us is Yanfu Palace. The Emperor and the Queen Mother are both in Yanfu Palace and live in Cuiwei Hall, the Queen Mother's bedroom. I can only escort the Princess here. Next, the female guards in the palace will be responsible for escorting the Princess. The Lord is going. I will wait here for the princess to come out, and then send the princess out of the palace." Shen Tan stopped and bowed and said.
Yanfu Palace is the harem, so Shen Tan naturally did not dare to be rude, but the emperor and the queen mother could not let it go, so they mobilized part of the female battalion of the Luoyan Army to act as female guards to ensure the safety of Yanfu Palace. Imperial Guards She was responsible for the protection of the front hall and the outer perimeter of the palace. This is how the female guard he referred to came to be.
Guo Caiwei nodded and returned the greeting softly: "Thank you."
Shen Tan waved, and more than ten women walked in front of the Yanfu Palace. They were dressed in
They are no different from palace maids, but Guo Caiwei recognizes them. These are female soldiers in the Luoyan Army's female battalion. Although the Luoyan Army has never been reduced to relying on these female soldiers on the battlefield, they were born out of the female guards around Gao Muqing. This women's camp has always had hundreds of people. Their duty is actually very simple, that is, to protect women and children, because it is much more convenient. Although Guo Caiwei is not involved in the women's camp, one of the female guards was once around He accompanied her to protect her, so Guo Caiwei recognized the female guard named Jin Mei at a glance.
"Jin Mei led the female guards to meet the eldest princess." The female guard did not conceal her identity and led the female guards to salute respectfully.
Guo Caiwei breathed a sigh of relief and nodded slightly. She felt speechless for some reason. All signs showed that her husband was prepared for all this. He seemed to have calculated today's situation, as if he had opened a big cage and waited. Guo Kun bumped in head first. But Guo Kun really bumped in. Guo Caiwei didn't know how to describe the feeling in her heart. Is her husband too smart, or is her brother too stupid? Is all this intentional or unintentional? In the end? Who is plotting against whom? Guo Caiwei really can’t figure it out.
"Princess, please come with us." Female guard Jin Mei said softly. After standing up and making a look, several female guards guarded their positions, surrounding Guo Caiwei in the middle. Under the illumination of several palace lanterns, Guo Caiwei and her entourage slowly entered Ruyanfu Palace.
Cuiwei Palace is located in the northwest corner of Yanfu Palace, close to the northwest lake. This is the palace with the highest terrain and the most beautiful scenery among the palaces. Therefore, Queen Mother Shen Akui occupied this palace when she entered the palace. Of course, in addition to the benefits of Cuiwei Palace In addition, another reason is that Cuiwei Palace was originally the palace where Lu Zhongtian's daughter and Guo Xu's mother, Mei Fei, lived. Shen Akui used this to show that she had occupied the throne of the harem in Dazhou. What was Mei Fei before? Concubine Rong has already passed away, but now she is the one who has the last laugh. In fact, anyone with a discerning eye can understand the purpose behind this behavior.
It is a pity that Shen Akui never expected that she would be completely trapped in this palace after living in Cuiwei Palace for less than half a month. It cannot be said that she was a prisoner, but she was She also lost her freedom of movement. In the early morning of that day, she was told that she could not step out of Cuiwei Palace because her plan to stab her son Guo Kun in the back completely failed.
Shen Akui was panicking, but on the one hand she was panicking, and on the other hand she was extremely arrogant. This was a contradictory state of mind, which was shown in extreme ways in the first few days. First of all, she made a big noise She made a big fuss and spoke nonsense to the female guards, threatening and intimidating her, saying that as the Queen Mother, they had no right to restrict her freedom and that she could go wherever she wanted. She provoked and even insulted the female guards guarding outside the palace in every possible way. But the female guards Although she did not talk back, she expressed her attitude with actions. When Shen Akui gathered a group of palace maids and tried to force their way out of Cuiwei Palace, the female guards used their whips to beat the aggressive palace maids mercilessly.
Their faces were covered in blood from the beating. Seeing this, Shen Akui, who was hiding behind, knew that they were serious about it, but he did not dare to test the whip with his own body.
Next, Shen Akui performed a hunger strike again. She threatened to die on hunger strike and would never compromise. The female guards did not interfere with her strong behavior. The female guards received an order not to allow the Queen Mother to leave Cuiwei Hall. Everything else has nothing to do with her. After two days and two nights of starvation, Shen Akui suddenly realized that even if she really starved to death, no one would know here, because the female guards had no intention of reporting the news. Of course, Shen Akui was not telling the truth. She wanted to die, otherwise there were many ways to die, but the female guards didn't look closely at her. No one stopped her from hanging herself against the wall, but Shen Akui didn't do it either. So Shen Akui found a step for herself. Next, eating resumed.
"The Ai family cannot die. The Ai family must see with their own eyes the fate of these rebellious ministers. The death of the Ai family will only fulfill their wishes." Shen Akui said as she drank the lotus seed soup fiercely.
Later, Guo Kun also moved to Cuiwei Palace. According to Guo Kun, he was worried about the safety of the Queen Mother, so he threatened her with death, and Shen Tan had to agree to let him move from the dormitory to Cuiwei Palace. Guo Kun's true intention was natural. He came to discuss countermeasures with his mother. He really had no good solution on his own. At this moment, his mother's situation was much better than his. After all, even if Lin Jue retaliated, he would not dare to touch the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was safe. . He can only follow the Queen Mother now, maybe there is some hope.
The mother and son faced each other all day long in Cuiwei Palace, sometimes cursing Lin Jue's treachery, Shen Tan's ungratefulness, and the ministers' ruthlessness. At other times, they looked at each other in sullen silence, panic, not knowing what to do. Or they stood still. They were yelling and cursing like crazy at the entrance of the palace. In short, in less than ten days, the mother and son lived like years, suffering like ants on a hot pot.
Guo Caiwei was escorted by the female guards to the door of Cuiwei Palace. After the female guards retreated, Guo Caiwei slowly walked into the palace accompanied by the maids. The front hall was dark, with the chambermaids and maids huddled in the corner and dozing off. When they suddenly spotted Guo Caiwei coming in from the entrance of the palace, they all screamed in surprise.
"The eldest princess is here, the eldest princess is here. Thank God, the eldest princess is finally here. Hurry, report to the emperor and the queen mother quickly, and say that the eldest princess is here." The chamberlains and maids rushed to tell each other, as if a great happy event was coming. Normally. The footsteps are jumbled, the light and shadow are swaying, and the noise can be heard far away in the lifeless palace.
Guo Caiwei frowned. She did not stop their actions. She only held the maid's hand and walked quickly to the back hall. After passing the atrium corridor, someone at the back hall door in front shouted in surprise: "Is she a girl? Is it a girl here? Is it my good girl here? Woo woo woo, woo woo woo.”
The scream of surprise quickly turned into a loud cry, and then Guo Kun, smelling of alcohol, stumbled over from the front corridor with his hair disheveled and dejected.
