Old Madam Shi has always lived in seclusion.
Because of a leg injury he suffered in his early years and had difficulty walking, he never even attended banquets held in the palace and only occasionally interacted with a few close families.
Most people in the capital have never seen her in person, so even if she was replaced by another "person", it went unnoticed.
When the news about Deputy Commander Ma reached the capital, the Second Prince frowned and Concubine Ling rolled her eyes.
"This Shi Zhiheng is really a stubborn person who doesn't know how to adapt!"
"Mother, do you think General Shi will surrender to us?"
"To join Qi Xu?" Imperial Concubine Ling laughed sarcastically and shook her head firmly, "He is a foolishly loyal man. Even if he favors Qi Xu in his heart, he will not transfer troops away from the North to help Qi Xu send troops to other states. There is nothing to worry about."
After a pause, his smile froze slightly, and he continued, "As for Qi Xu, it's not a good idea to let him mess around outside... We shouldn't have let him leave the capital in the first place."
I thought he was a defeated opponent who was already eliminated, but unexpectedly, he became a greater threat than before!
The Second Prince was even more worried than Concubine Ling.
He was not much older than his brother Qi Xu. When the emperor's grandfather passed away, he was already old enough to learn and could remember some things. In his memory, he was loved by his father and mother, but Qi Xu grew up with his grandfather in the imperial study!
There was even a commotion when my father ascended the throne. It seemed that someone suggested that the will left by my grandfather ordered the eldest grandson to ascend the throne...
The matter eventually came to nothing, but the second prince always had a deep fear of his brother Qi Xu.
Deputy Commander Ma was the one he specially selected to go to the North Gate to capture Qi Xu. When he learned that the other party was about to return empty-handed, he couldn't help but become more and more agitated.
"Mother, General Shi is unwilling to escort Qi Xu back to the capital. Are we going to keep Qi Xu outside like this?"
"Of course not."
Concubine Ling was much calmer than the Second Prince.
After giving his son a calming look, he raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Without General Shi, we still have your grandmother, right?"
"She has spoken personally, I don't believe Qi Xu would dare not reply!"
…
"I found it."
The Saker Falcon folded its wings and dived into the temporary camp of King You's army outside the Beiguan City.
The secret letter that was taken down from above was sent directly to the tent where King You was.
It was a letter from Beijing.
At this time, Wei Yunlan and Qi Xu were both in the tent. On the table between them, there was a letter sent from the northwestern countries. The letter was written by Queen Ji Yun of Qimeng, and it explained what they wanted to trade with Dayong this time.
The two had been discussing this before the secret letter from the capital was delivered.
Feng Ping handed over the letter and went back to the door.
Wei Yunlan stood up and prepared to leave.
Qi Xu called her over, "Miss Wei, there is no need to avoid us. This is the news that has just been found in the capital. Please stay and take a look together."
The news just found out in Beijing...
There is no doubt that the recent investigation must be about the Queen Mother!
Wei Yunlan took a deep breath and sat back in his seat.
Qi Xu took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms, opened the lid, and gently shook it a few times on the unfolded letter paper.
Then, lines of densely packed small characters gradually appeared on the blank paper.
Qi Xu glanced at them intently for a few times, holding his breath, his eyes becoming increasingly deep.
Then he handed the letter to Wei Yunlan.
Without even looking at it, just based on Qi Xu's current expression, one could guess that what was stated in the letter was definitely not simple.
As expected...
In addition to finding out the year when the Northern Barbarian Qiulin tribe's hostage was in Beijing, as well as major events and the actions of the previous emperor that matched the years, this letter also found an even more distant palace event!
In the second year of the late emperor’s reign, he personally led troops to war for the first time. When the victory report was brought back to the capital, good news also came from the harem. The empress and a talented woman named Liu from Yongfu Palace were diagnosed with pregnancy one after the other!
The late emperor did not value women, and he was used to seeing the harem fighting when he was young, so he did not like it. Therefore, in his harem, apart from the queen, there were only a few of them, and they were all of low status, giving the queen enough status and dignity.
At that time, there was no struggle in the palace of the late queen. The late emperor was away on a campaign, and the queen had the final say on almost all matters in the palace.
Both pregnancies went smoothly.
When the good news came again, the army was on its way back to the capital. The Queen and Concubine Liu gave birth to a prince and a frail little princess respectively in advance because of the good news that was reported.
The queen at that time is now the empress dowager, and the prince she gave birth to is the Emperor Xiaoming who has inherited the throne today.
The late emperor had only one legitimate son in his lifetime.
It can be said that he had no talent or virtue, but he was able to sit on the throne so smoothly. This was also thanks to the fact that Emperor Xiaoming had few offspring and he was the only legitimate son, so there was no one to compete with him.
Wei Yunlan had already started to have some guesses in his mind after reading half of it.
If there was nothing unusual about this matter, it would not have been mentioned in detail in the letter.
Now that it has been mentioned, it means there is something fishy going on.
They were pregnant at the same time, gave birth at the same time, and gave birth to a prince and a princess respectively...
At that time, the Empress Dowager, who was the Queen, held absolute power in the palace.
It couldn't be easier to replace one thing with another!
Suppressing the surprise in his heart, Wei Yunlan continued to read. The letter did not contain any speculations, but only listed the facts.
The frail little princess seemed to have a congenital deficiency. Even though Liu Cairen, who had been promoted to a concubine at that time, was very careful, she still could not raise her to the age of three.
She died before the age of three, which was considered premature. The little princess didn't even have a name when she died, and according to the rules she could not be buried in the imperial mausoleum.
It was the Empress Dowager who was the Queen at the time who felt sorry for him and sent his body to Xiantai Mountain, asking Master Gao to pray for his soul to be reborn.
These records cannot be found in the palace.
"I was able to find out about this thanks to Miss Wei who told me that some of the notes left by Master Gao were kept in Madam Wei's study."
This record about the salvation of the little princess was read from the notes left by Master Gao Tianshi.
Fortunately, the people who confiscated the Wei family mansion only took away gold, silver, treasures, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, as well as some writing brushes and ink from Lord Wei's study, and paid no attention to the collection of books by the female family members.
In addition to the matter of salvation, the letter also mentioned that among the letters left by Master Gao, there was a piece of paper that was burned to the point that only two pieces the size of a fingernail remained. On it, one could vaguely see the words "Yueming" written on it, which should be the name of a woman, but Tianshu Pavilion was unable to find the corresponding person.
The letter said that the handwriting on the paper matched the writing left by the Empress Dowager when she was young.
The incomplete piece of paper was also attached to the letter.
It was now placed on the table in front of Wei Yunlan and Qi Xu.
Wei Yunlan's gaze followed the letter in his hand, fell on the scraps of paper on the table, and then fell on Qi Xu's face.
Qi Xu just nodded with a heavy face.
The handwriting on the paper was really written by the Queen Mother!
The evidence has reached this point, so there is almost no need to guess.
The little princess who died young was the daughter of the Empress Dowager.
And Emperor Xiaoming was not the Empress Dowager’s biological son at all!
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