Without Xiao Jiuchen in the palace, Luo Qingqing's life suddenly became boring.
Although she didn't want to admit it, she really missed Xiao Jiuchen.
Apart from taking care of her pregnancy, her daily routine was to read the reports submitted by the previous dynasty.
Xiao Jiuchen has been on his way to the border for more than three months.
A daily report constantly describes the war situation on the border.
The two countries fought for two months, with both large and small battles, and both countries won and lost.
The war remained at a stalemate.
Today is New Year's Eve. Since the emperor is away, the empress dowager only held a simple palace banquet and invited the female relatives in Beijing to come to the palace to reminisce about the past.
The palace was decorated with lights and colorful lanterns everywhere, and the atmosphere of New Year reunion was lingering everywhere.
Luo Qingqing looked at the festive red lanterns and felt a sudden palpitation for no reason.
Suddenly, Xiao Guizi's trembling cry came from the door: "Empress, Empress, it's bad! It's bad! It's bad! The emperor has passed away! The emperor has passed away!"
Luo Qingqing stood up suddenly, and the bowl of cheese in her hand slipped unconsciously and broke into pieces on the ground.
Xiao Guizi rushed in, crawling and kneeling. He knelt on the ground and presented a report.
Luo Qingqing opened the report with trembling hands.
The report did not mention the battle situation at all, but only recorded in detail the process of the emperor's death.
The Jin Dynasty and the Western Rong people fought a fierce battle in Niancheng, and Emperor Qing Le took the rest of the troops to garrison in the rear.
The Western Rong people came around to the camp from somewhere, set fire to the camp and killed people indiscriminately.
When other Jin Dynasty troops arrived, the camp had been burned to ashes.
The corpse found in the emperor's tent had been burned beyond recognition and the face could not be identified. The only way to identify which corpse belonged to the emperor was by looking at some of the clothes.
"The number of people in the tent matches each other, and there is no one missing." This sentence in the report was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Luo Qingqing clenched the report tightly, slowly fell into the chair, and two lines of tears slowly flowed down.
The secret guard disguised himself as the emperor, and Xiao Jiuchen pretended to be a servant and mixed in. This was something Xiao Jiuchen had planned long ago.
In order not to miss any important military events, he would definitely stay by the side of the fake Emperor Qing Le.
The number of people matched, which meant that Xiao Jiuchen was also among those killed.
Luo Qingqing's eyes rolled back and she fainted.
*
Emperor Le of Qing passed away!
On New Year's Eve, the news made the whole country mourn.
The joy of the New Year was shattered and the people were heartbroken.
The big red lanterns hung in the palace and among the people were taken down and replaced with white lanterns.
The court was in turmoil.
The court officials did not even take their annual leave. They gathered in the Huagai Palace, all of them with dazed eyes and confused faces.
A country cannot be without a king for a day!
Some court officials proposed to establish a new king!
No one objected to this proposal.
But the selection is a problem.
The royal family is dwindling, and few of the descendants from the side branches have any prospects.
At this time, the Queen Mother mentioned "Xiao Muzhe".
"He's from a branch of the Xiao family. He enjoys chicken-walking and dog-fighting, and is a bit playful, but he's very intelligent. Looking at the entire imperial family, he's the only one who's barely qualified to be emperor. If he were to become emperor, with the guidance of a few veteran ministers in the cabinet, he might be able to succeed."
A group of civil servants led by Shen Ruhai immediately seconded the motion.
Some Qingliu civil servants seconded the motion, while others raised objections. "The Empress is pregnant with a prince. If she can give birth to a prince, he will be the candidate for Crown Prince. I suggest that we first appoint the Prince of the County as Regent, allowing him to manage state affairs and wait for the Crown Prince to grow up."
The prince they were talking about was Xiao Muzhe.
Shen Ruhai and others immediately objected, "The Empress has not given birth yet, and it has not yet been decided whether it will be a prince or a princess. It is too early to talk about the prince now."
The Qingliu faction of civil servants naturally refused to accept this.
Everyone has their own political opinions. You don’t agree with me, and I don’t agree with you. The whole Huagai Hall is full of endless arguments.
After the Queen Mother returned to the palace, she looked towards the direction of Yunkun Palace and sighed softly, "Queen, you can't stay."
An hour later, the Queen Mother, accompanied by a group of palace maids, arrived at Yunkun Palace in a grand procession.
The servants of Yunkun Palace saw that something was wrong and some of them wanted to run back to the palace to report, but they were immediately controlled by the people led by the Queen Mother.
The people brought by the Queen Mother were like hunting dogs among a flock of chickens.
In less than a cup of tea, all the servants in Yunkun Palace had been taken away by the Queen Mother's men.
When the news of Xiao Jiuchen's death came, Luo Qingqing was in a trance all day.
For the sake of her unborn child, she forced herself to eat and sleep every day, trying her best not to affect the child.
When the empress dowager entered the palace with her servants, Luo Qingqing was leaning against the head of the bed in a daze.
The Queen Mother sat down expressionlessly. Without waiting for Luo Qingqing to salute, she coldly ordered the maid, "Give her the drink!"
Three maids came forward, and one of them took out a porcelain bottle from her arms.
"What are you doing?!" The maids who served Luo Qingqing closely saw that something was wrong and shouted in horror.
Their cries were in vain, and the Queen Mother's servants immediately dragged them away.
Luo Qingqing took out a dagger from the bedside, pointed it at the maids who were pressing forward, and asked coldly, "Empress Dowager, what do you mean?"
The Queen Mother said expressionlessly, "Emperor Qingle is dead, and the Jin Dynasty needs a new ruler, but the child in your belly is blocking the way for the new ruler.
Queen, as the mother of a country, you should know how to advance and retreat. Your death today will not be in vain. You are paving the way for the new monarch.
Don't worry, after you die, the new emperor will definitely posthumously confer upon you the title of Yi and give you a grand funeral."
Luo Qingqing's face was cold, and she said angrily: "Don't even think about hurting my child!"
Although she has difficulty in moving, it does not hinder her ability to launch sneak attacks.
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