The news of Consort Wen's death did not reach Emperor Longfeng until after the Wanshou Festival, three days after the Qianqiu Banquet. It is said that the body was hung in the house for three days before it was discovered.
When he first heard the news of his death, Emperor Longfeng was stunned for a moment, his face visibly turned ugly, and he even looked a little angry: "How could a healthy person suddenly die?"
Sparing Concubine Wen Gui's life shows that he still had some feelings for this woman. Now that he heard the news of her death, he still felt a little bit sorry for her. He was also angry with the palace maids who didn't think highly of her.
The eunuch who came to report lowered his head even more and answered carefully: "On the day of your majesty's longevity, Concubine Wen said that she wanted to copy Buddhist scriptures to pray for your majesty, and did not allow the palace maids who delivered meals to enter the palace to disturb it. She only asked people to put all the meals at the door. The palace maids who delivered meals put the meals in the outer room for three consecutive days. The meals were eaten by mice in the cold palace, and the palace maids did not see the problem. After delivering meals for three consecutive days, they did not hear any movement in the inner room, so they became suspicious and went in to check, and then they found that the person was gone."
Hearing that Concubine Wen was still thinking about copying scriptures and praying for him before her death, Emperor Longfeng was even more moved. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end he couldn't bear to see the only woman he had ever loved die so sadly, so he walked out and said, "Drive, I'll go and see Concubine off."
Upon hearing this, Gao Xian immediately asked someone to call Yuqie over. He then gave a look and a young eunuch who was serving him quietly went to the side hall.
When Yin Ci Guang received the news, Emperor Longfeng's army had already headed towards Changchun Palace.
From where he was, he could vaguely see the bright yellow chariot and procession.
He stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, a calm expression on his face.
This was probably the difference between being favored and not being favored. Emperor Longfeng had never visited his mother until she was buried. Now that an abandoned concubine had hanged herself in the cold palace, he had to rush to see her off.
Yin Ci Guang lowered his eyes, with a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.
I hope that the emperor will see the gift he prepared and still think of his beloved concubine.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Emperor Longfeng's parade stopped in front of Changchun Palace.
The cold palace was desolate and had been deserted for a long time. The eunuchs accompanying him were afraid of offending the emperor, so they opened the door and cleared the dust before respectfully inviting Emperor Longfeng to enter.
This was the first time that Emperor Longfeng entered the Changchun Palace, but it was not his first time to enter the cold palace.
When he was young, his mother was of low status and not favored, so the Dongzi Palace where he lived was a cold palace. Later, when he ascended the throne, no one lived in Dongzi Palace anymore, but there were people to take care of it.
On the contrary, the Changchun Palace gradually became a cold palace because of its bad luck.
Perhaps it was the difficult life in the cold palace when he was young that touched him. Before Emperor Longfeng even stepped into the main hall, his expression was already filled with sorrow.
He knew how miserable life was in the cold palace, and when he thought of the pampered women who had been locked up there and suffered so much, he felt a little regretful. Perhaps it was because he could not stand the coldness of the cold palace that the noble concubine chose to hang herself.
With every step he took closer to the main hall, Emperor Longfeng felt more regretful.
Before stepping over the threshold, he stood there for a long time, sighed deeply, and instructed Gao Xian beside him: "After I have seen it, tell someone to take good care of the body of the noble concubine. She died in misery, and she must be treated with some dignity after her death."
Gao Xian naturally agreed, and personally cleaned the stool outside. After asking Emperor Longfeng to sit down, he said, "I will go in first to tidy up the queen's face, so as not to alarm your majesty."
Emperor Longfeng nodded slightly, sat down and waited.
Not long after, Gao Xian came out from inside, with an expression as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Emperor Longfeng frowned upon seeing this: "What's wrong?"
Gao Xian said in embarrassment: "Your Majesty, please don't go in."
Emperor Longfeng would not listen to this nonsense. His brows knitted tighter and he stood up and walked inside. "Is there anything I cannot bear to see?"
As they were talking, they had already entered the inner room, but before they got close, they were startled by the mess of papers all over the floor.
He looked down and saw a waiter who understood and wanted to pick up the paper and present it to him. But before it was delivered to Emperor Longfeng, Gao Xian intercepted it and said, "There are dirty words on it. Don't pollute your majesty's eyes."
But the more he tried to hide it, the more Emperor Longfeng wanted to see it.
He snatched the paper, but saw that there was no scripture written on it, but curse words written in cinnabar! He even wrote his name on it in a treasonous way!
"What is this?!" Emperor Longfeng has always been wary of such things. His expression changed instantly.
Gao Xian ordered his men to pick up the papers scattered on the floor and said carefully: "These were all written by the imperial concubine before she died..." Seeing that Emperor Longfeng's expression was getting uglier and uglier, his expression also became hesitant, as if he had something else to say.
"What else?! Say it!" Emperor Longfeng was so angry that his hands were shaking.
Gao Xian then said with a stiff upper lip: "Just now, I had someone examine the body of the noble concubine. If it is correct, the concubine hanged herself on the day of the Qianqiu Banquet, and she was wearing a red dress when she hanged herself... It seems that she was practicing witchcraft."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Longfeng took a step back subconsciously and turned his gaze suddenly to the corpse placed in the inner room. As expected, he saw the bright red embroidered shoes and a piece of red skirt.
"Witchcraft?" Emperor Longfeng's expression changed from shock to anger: "She hanged herself on the day of her longevity. She is cursing me!"
All the pity and regret he had before coming in turned into rage. Now, when he looked at the corpse covered with white cloth, it was as if he saw the revenge of his life.
After leaving the house, Emperor Longfeng was still furious and said in a trembling voice, "Quick! Have the remains burned, including all the dirty things! And ask Master Ziyuan to perform a ritual to exorcise the evil spirits!"
Emperor Longfeng didn't want to stay here any longer, so he strode out, got on the carriage, and hurriedly drove back to the Qianqing Palace.
After returning home, he still felt it was bad luck, so he burned all the clothes he wore when he went to Changchun Palace. Only then did he feel a little better.
The noise in the Qianqing Palace was so loud that Yin Ciguang from the side hall came over with a freshly boiled medicine in his hand: "What happened to my father?"
He looked surprised and had no idea what happened in Changchun Palace.
Emperor Longfeng looked at him and couldn't help but think of the things in Changchun Palace again.
Just now, thinking of their past affection, he wanted to restore Wen Mouer's noble status and let her pass away in a dignified manner. But the woman cursed him on his birthday! On the contrary, his eldest son, whom he had neglected in the past, had no complaints about his treatment even though Wen Mouer had killed his mother. He is still doing his best to take care of him.
With some regret in his heart, Emperor Longfeng did not want to talk about the Changchun Palace anymore. He just said kindly, "Just now, the eunuchs came to report that Concubine Wen had hanged herself. I thought that she had killed your mother. She was immoral and vicious. I had her body burned. It was also a way to vent my anger for Concubine Rong."
Yin Ciguang raised his eyes in surprise: "Father..."
Emperor Longfeng raised his hand to signal him not to say anything more, patted his shoulder vigorously, and his expression became more kind: "You are a filial child, I see it all."
Yin Ci Guang lowered his eyes and presented the soup to him: "This is the new prescription that the imperial physician has improved. He said that this soup is more effective in regulating the body. Father, drink it while it's hot."
It was not known whether he dreamed about something at night or whether the curse had really come true, but the Emperor Longfeng had a nightmare the night he returned from Changchun Palace.
He was lying on the bed, his consciousness was very clear, but his limbs felt heavy and weak as if they were filled with lead, and he could not move!
Emperor Longfeng suffered in a trance for half the night, and finally got rid of the "sleep paralysis" at dawn. After hurriedly washing and changing clothes, he summoned Master Ziyuan.
Master Ziyuan had just gone to Changchun Palace yesterday to perform a ritual to exorcise evil spirits, so he naturally knew that Concubine Wen had cursed the emperor with her death on her birthday.
He walked around the Qianqing Palace muttering to himself, pinching his fingertips and thinking about what words to come up with to be foolproof, when he heard a sudden commotion coming from outside. He turned around and saw that the emperor, who had been fine just a moment ago, was now lying straight on the ground!
Emperor Longfeng fell down so suddenly that the eunuchs serving in the palace were shocked and rushed over, some to help him and some to call for the imperial physician.
Master Ziyuan strode out, pinched his fingertips and said solemnly: "It came true so quickly!"
At this point, the others no longer cared what he said and hurriedly lifted the man onto the dragon bed.
After the imperial physician hurried over and gave him acupuncture and medicine for an hour, Emperor Longfeng finally regained consciousness and opened his eyes.
He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but only mumbled words came out.
After trying several times, he finally managed to utter a few words: "I...what...is going on?"
Realizing that he was speaking incoherently, Emperor Longfeng was already startled. Fear made him subconsciously want to grab something, but then he found that he couldn't move at all!
The more this happened, the more frightened he became. After struggling for a long time, he raised his hand, grabbed the imperial physician's hand, and looked at him with bloodshot eyes.
Seeing that he was emotional, the captured imperial physician said hurriedly, "Your Majesty was just anxious and didn't get enough rest, so you have a slight stroke. With acupuncture, moxibustion and herbal medicine, you can recover a lot. Don't let your emotions fluctuate so much again!"
Hearing that he could recover, Emperor Longfeng was no longer so excited, and he spoke with difficulty: "Heal, heal!"
The imperial physician received the order tremblingly and immediately asked someone to bring the boiled medicine.
Yin Ci Guang personally brought the medicine to him and served it to him.
Seeing that Emperor Longfeng calmed down after drinking the medicine, the imperial doctors went to the outer room to discuss the future treatment plan. Only Gao Xian and other confidants and Ziyuan Zhenren stayed in the inner room.
Emperor Longfeng looked at Master Ziyuan with a gloomy face.
Master Ziyuan nodded, confirming his guess.
Emperor Longfeng gritted his teeth in hatred, cursed him in his heart, and said harshly: "Master... ritual... drive away evil spirits!"
He spoke briefly, but Master Ziyuan understood and nodded, saying, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will perform the ritual when I return."
The news of the emperor's stroke eventually spread, and several princes and important officials in the court came to visit him.
After four or five days of recuperation, Emperor Longfeng was able to stand up, but the stroke was irreversible. Although he could still move, his face could no longer make any expression, and his speech was still a little slurred. His body was far less flexible than before, and he even had difficulty holding things with his hands.
The imperial physician gave him acupuncture and medicine every day, but he was unable to do anything.
Emperor Longfeng was furious, but fearing that getting too excited would make his condition worse, he forced himself to endure it.
When he saw the Crown Prince leading the Third Prince and several old ministers coming over, his face twisted for a moment, but he knew that this matter could not be suppressed no matter what.
He deliberately summoned Yin Ciguang and Xue Shu to serve him.
The Crown Prince, the Third Prince, and several court officials stood in front of the couch. Although they looked peaceful, in fact, the two sides were clearly divided.
Emperor Longfeng considered his words and spoke slowly, "The imperial physician said that I need to rest and recuperate for my illness and should not worry about anything. From now on, all matters of the court will be handed over to the crown prince, who will oversee the country." He stared at Yin Chengyu closely, and seeing that his expression did not change at all, he could not tell what he felt in his heart, so he could only tell him a little bit about the arrangements he had thought of in the past few days: "But I also feel sorry for the crown prince, and the burden is too heavy and cannot be carried by the crown prince alone. So let Prince An and Xue Shu share some of the burden for the crown prince. Prince An will assist in all matters of the court, and the crown prince will decide. Finally, Xue Shu will report to me."
He had a good plan. He put the Crown Prince and Prince An against each other and let the two brothers fight for it, while Xue Shu, who had nothing to do with either side, supervised the situation.
In this way, even if the crown prince is allowed to supervise the country, the real power is still in his hands.
Everyone could see that this decision was not right, but who dared to question the emperor's decision? So everyone could only accept the order and thank him.
Only Yin Chengjing, who had not been mentioned from beginning to end, clenched his fists with a gloomy look in his eyes.
After coming out of the Qianqing Palace, Yin Chengyu and Yin Ciguang said goodbye in front of the palace gate. Yin Ciguang bowed to him and seemed to want to say something, but finally said nothing.
Yin Chengyu returned the greeting and turned back to Ciqing Palace.
Not long after returning to Ciqing Palace, Xue Shu came looking for him.
Yin Chengyu was also waiting for him. When he saw him coming, he dismissed the eunuchs who were waiting for him and asked, "Did Master Ziyuan increase the strength of the medicine?"
Emperor Longfeng's stroke is really strange.
Since the Danxi winter hunting illness, Emperor Longfeng began to cherish his life. Not only did he stop calling beauties, he also began to cultivate his body and mind with Master Ziyuan. In addition, in order to make Master Ziyuan's words more credible, Yin Ciguang's daily massage for him when he was sick did have some benefits for his body.
Emperor Longfeng's health would not deteriorate so quickly.
Moreover, he was not interested in beauty, so the Suhexiang from Concubine De was useless. In addition, Concubine Wen Gui had an accident, so now only the pills he usually took were effective. Master Ziyuan was cautious, fearing that if the drug was too strong, the imperial physician would discover the poison and accuse him of regicide, so the progress was slower than they expected.
This time, Emperor Longfeng suddenly suffered a stroke, which was unexpected. Think about this time in the previous life, Emperor Longfeng was still energetic by taking elixirs.
Xue Shu shook his head. He did not ask Master Ziyuan to increase the potency of the medicine. Emperor Longfeng would die sooner or later. It would not make a big difference if he died earlier or later. There was no need to take risks.
"I have consulted the imperial physician, and he found nothing abnormal. Perhaps it is fate."
Yin Chengyu thought about it for a while, then let it go. Whether there was something fishy or not, it had nothing to do with them.
He then talked about another matter: "I think there will be some movement from Lao San. Is there any news from Wu Zhu?"
The emperor's arrangement today was clearly to set up Prince An to compete with him. The third prince Yin Chengjing's name wasn't even mentioned, and he must be going crazy with anxiety.
"She just passed on the news last night. She said that something was not right with Yao, and she seemed to have noticed it."
They pulled Wuzhu because they wanted her to secretly find out how Yao's baby came from. Yin Chengjing was injured like that, there must be no possibility of recovery, and Yao's pregnancy must be strange. But now relying on Yao's pregnancy, Yin Chengjing has clarified the rumors. This kind of thing cannot be just a matter of words, there must be evidence.
It is impossible for Yao to get pregnant out of thin air; the child's real father is the best evidence.
A prince who cannot be humane will never be able to inherit the throne. If he can find a way to get hold of Yin Chengjing when he is desperate, he will never have a chance to turn things around.
Yin Chengjing probably knew the impact of this incident on him, so he kept it very secret. It seemed that even Yao himself had been kept in the dark.
At first Yin Chengyu suspected that she was acting, but after having people follow her for a long time, he ruled out this possibility.
Now the news Wuzhu passed on made him curious: "Did Yao find out?"
Xue Shu hummed, "Wuzhu said that Yao had stayed indoors since the Qianqiu Banquet, and the news she got was that Yao had a miscarriage. But she found out that Yao had someone send a message back to the Yao family, asking them to secretly find out about the prince of Ziyang. She also sent her trusted maid to buy a lot of medicinal herbs from several pharmacies. The doctor looked at those herbs and said that they could be used to make a folk remedy for abortion."
"Why is the Prince of Ziyang involved?" Yin Chengyu frowned.
Xue Shu said: "We have asked someone to investigate, but there is no conclusion yet."
But when Yao asked people to investigate the Prince of Ziyang at this time, it was hard for people not to associate him with the child's biological father.
If this is true, we can only say that Yin Chengjing has really put all his eggs in one basket.