84 Chapter 84
◎Two chapters in one◎
"Your Majesty, the Emperor sent a few boxes of autumn plums. None of them looked damaged, so I took them all." Chief Steward Qin An said from outside.
Huiyin opened the box and asked someone to wash a plate for her to taste. The plums were deep purple with a hint of red, and tasted sour and sweet. It was exactly what they tasted like. After her period was over, she became energetic again, and her skin became better. Now, with the food that Li Cheng had specially sent over, she was in a very good mood.
Seeing the spirit deer bringing tea over again, she hurriedly said, "I just ate plums, so I can't drink hot tea, or I'll get a stomachache. You can take it and eat it. And here's the box of plums, keep it for me."
Linglu smiled and replied, "Yes, His Majesty is really good to the Queen. He even remembered that the Queen loves to eat plums. We didn't even know that."
"I love to eat these, but I love them too much, so I get stomachaches easily. I usually don't let anyone send them to me, but I didn't expect the emperor to still remember them. I seem to remember that they were from Lingnan. It's a waste of money and labor to do this. I'll write a letter to tell him not to worry about me in the future." Huiyin shook her head.
Linglu said, "If it were any other monarch, I wouldn't be able to guarantee it, but our emperor truly loves the people like his own children and will never waste their labor and property."
Plums are a trivial matter. Winter is approaching, and the palace has started to make winter clothes. Huiyin asked the people in the clothing bureau to make clothes for the people in the palace first, including clothes for the Empress Dowager, the Princess of Wei, the Second Princess of Yin, the Princess Jianjia, the Prince of Yuzhang, and others, as well as Jing'er and Zhan'er, and even Guo Xing who lived in the palace with them.
At the same time, Huiyin sent some cold-weather clothes to the imperial mausoleum: "They are guarding the imperial mausoleum and cannot go out. It is very hard for them."
Cui Yuehuan had thought that Huiyin wanted to let the people in the imperial mausoleum fend for themselves, but she had never thought that she would send cotton clothes and bedding to them. Ji Shi at home said, "Your Majesty is really too kind, in my opinion."
Madam Xu sat at the head of the table and agreed for the first time: "If you don't remove the roots, they will grow again in the spring breeze. Those people are the descendants of the treacherous crown prince, and they have made life miserable for the people. If I say she is young, Madam should also say something."
Addressing the Empress as "her" was something that only Madam Xu did.
Ji had been able to tolerate it before, but now she had to speak out: "Madam, please be careful with your words. The Empress is extremely intelligent and has the heart of a bodhisattva. How can we interfere with her?"
Mrs. Xu almost blurted out that she was the elder, but she thought that she was the empress, so her face turned red and white. Deyin, who was sitting on the side, knew that her grandmother was helping her, so she hated these people in the palace so much. Who asked Li Heng to drug her?
Therefore, she tried to smooth things over: "Madam, this is the tea I ordered myself, please try it."
Ji also took the opportunity to praise Deyin: "You are really good at making tea."
Deyin said a few humble words, thinking only of her poor health. It was Ji who helped with the treatment. She was no longer as hostile to others as before. At least Ji did not deliberately deprive her of anything. She even had a desperate impulse now, but when she really wanted to die, she still felt that it was better to be alive.
What's the harm in being a little bullied when you're eating and living at someone else's place?
Xin said, "I remember that my eldest aunt had a maid who was very good at making tea and could perform thirty-six kinds of tea operas."
That was Yunzhi, but she betrayed her in the end. Deyin no longer wanted to mention this person.
Imperial Tomb
Yunzhi got up early and emptied the toilet, then hurried back to her room, helped her daughter dress, and opened her clothes for her son to feed. After finishing these tasks, she was sweating all over.
When she left the palace, she had some small change in her pocket that she used for gifts. Empress Zheng did not allow them to bring anything out, but money makes the world go round. She used the money to buy her daughter a snack and had someone bring her some rice porridge. She herself had cornmeal porridge, a small dish of pickled vegetables, and a palm-sized steamed bun, and she was already very satisfied.
However, winter is coming soon, the bedding is too thin, and the jackets are just padded jackets, which don't keep out the cold at all.
If the girl could send her some, it would be great. She is the elder sister of Queen Zheng, and she will definitely be treated well. At first, she did betray the girl, but she never hurt her, and even took the initiative to help her several times when she was in trouble.
But she was disappointed, because it was Empress Zheng, and her brother at that, who sent her the cotton-padded clothes.
When Huiyin asked Pei Shuo to send cotton-padded clothes, he had a task, which was to see how the Wei family girl was living. If she got these treasures, it meant that she was not used to it, and there was no one to help her during this period, but if she looked indifferent , dismissive, and there is even a better one in the room, which means that she is being helped secretly.
Wei Liangdi gave birth to the eldest son of the crown prince, so how could Wei Duo completely abandon him? It's not that Wei Duo loves his daughter and grandson so much. But now that he is emperor, the forces attacking him will be even greater, so he must use the name of Li's descendants. Wei Liangdi's son is the most important one to be monitored.
Yunzhi was already very happy to see the mattress, but she didn't expect to get a cotton-padded jacket. You know, cotton-padded jackets are not cheap. Although the cloth is indigo linen, it is already very good. She held her daughter's hand and said happily, "That's great, it's really great. We can have a good winter."
Wei Liangdi, who was standing by, saw this and her eyes were full of mockery.
The maid handing out the cotton-padded clothes said, "Mr. Wei, come and get it quickly."
Wei Liangdi was originally the daughter of a prime minister like Wei Duo, and the most important person under the Eastern Palace. Now she was treated like this. She angrily took the cotton clothes and mattress, went into the room, threw them on the floor and stomped on them: "One day, when my son becomes the emperor, I will beat you until you scream."
…
Pei Shuo really admired his sister. After getting the so-called investigation list, she did not immediately check these people according to the list, but took another approach, letting herself come first and investigate Wei Liangdi, and she actually gained something.
He pretended to lead the group back, but turned back halfway to observe the area.
However, after Huiyin got the list, she certainly couldn't believe it completely, just like the two items Huiyin asked them to verify this time, the first was whether it was consistent with the background they said, and the second was to see if there were any signs of an outbreak in their family recently.
However, these two items can also be falsified. She is just following them and does not trust them completely.
"Your Majesty, Madam Ma has brought in another sign." said Mother Nan.
This Madam Ma was Xun Rou. After Xun Rou returned to the capital, her father thought she was useless and wanted to marry her off to someone else as a successor because she did not have much dowry. However, her father passed away that year, and Xun Rou asked to observe mourning for three years. Later, the news came that the King of Huaiyin was annexing Qingzhou, Yanzhou and other places. Xun Rou used the tiger skin as a banner to make her stepmother dare not marry her casually, so she chose a promising young man, Ma Sichu, the then Linzhou Sihu Canjun.
Actually, Xun Rou's life was not bad. Huiyin just made her taste the bitter fruit of her own scheme. However, her reputation was not spread back to her hometown. She was just sent back to her family on the grounds that she was old and needed to be engaged.
Since Li Cheng ascended the throne, Xun Rou had submitted petitions several times to enter the palace to visit the Grand Empress Dowager, but the palace affairs were all managed by Huiyin, who had the right to decide who could be seen and who could not be seen.
The Empress Dowager is a confused person to begin with, and Xun Rou is full of evil spirits. It is bound to be bad if these two are together.
"Leave the sign in the middle, don't pay attention to it." Huiyin said.
The Empress Dowager is also old, just like Madam Xu. She does not hold power, but has a high seniority. Everyone knows that they are old, so it is difficult to do anything to them.
Nan's mother was relieved to hear Huiyin say this: "That's how it should be. Xun Rou is not a good person. She has many tricks and many schemes."
Huiyin smiled and said, "I'm not stupid, why should I ask her to come? She is just the wife of a military officer, what qualifications does she have to ask for an audience? Oh, by the way, I saw that the prince's clothes were very well made yesterday, you can give me four taels of silver to reward the clothesman of the Shangfu Bureau for me."
Mother Nan took the order and left. It was said that this Zhong Siyi was the daughter of a wealthy family. Her elder sister had recently bought a three-story house, and her nephew had also married with a generous betrothal gift. The Cui family believed that there was something wrong with Zhong Siyi.
Moreover, Zhong Siyi used to be Empress He's man, so there were always problems with him. Ever since he was reprimanded last time, he has been working very hard in the Shangfu Bureau.
But Huiyin did not punish Zhong Siyi directly. Instead, she went to reward him with great fanfare. Was she trying to see what kind of person was behind the scenes?
If Zhong Siyi is not a spy, and someone knows that Zhong Siyi is on their list, will they send a blackmail? If something happens to Zhong Siyi at this time, or if she is reported and exposed, then Zhong Siyi's position is likely to be taken by a real spy.
However, Zhong Siyi was very happy to receive the reward from Huiyin, not because of the money, but because it represented the Empress' trust in her.
At their age, especially her, she had never married and had entered the palace to be a female official. She had finally made it to the position of Si Yi, so how could she bear to leave? People in the palace even respectfully called her Shang Gong, which meant she had all the face. In fact, she had a bad relationship with her elder sister. Her fiancé was taken away by her elder sister. However, female officials in the palace usually accepted widows. She lied that she was a widow and entered the palace to serve. She could not leave the palace to live with her elder sister.
Now that the new queen trusted her, Zhong Siyi received the reward money and asked someone to go to the kitchen to get some silver and prepare a few dishes of wine and drinks to treat the people from the Shangfu Bureau to a drink.
"The Queen gave me a reward today and said it was all my contribution, but it was also inseparable from the help of you all."
和鐘司衣一同用飯的有兩位典衣、兩位掌衣還有四位女史，這幾位都是司衣司的，現下尚服局一共有四司，鐘司衣代理過尚服局的尚服，資歷又最深，很有可能是下一屆尚服局的尚宮。
但這個決定權在皇後娘娘手中，因此這次的衣裳怎麽做都是事必躬親。
“都是司衣的功勞，我們不過是做些邊角料的活兒罷了。”
衆人都笑。
又有坐在邊上的一位掌衣道：“我聽說司飾司的司飾也有意做尚宮呢，前日進了個什麽沐浴的香方，娘娘很是歡喜呢。”
鐘司衣看了這蔡掌衣一眼，心想這個蔡掌衣當年是她招進來的，只是資歷尚淺，但每次為她留心打探的也都是蔡掌衣，相當于一個心腹了，不比底下那兩個典衣，對她這個位置虎視眈眈的。
殊不知蔡掌衣是衛家安排進來的暗樁，當年衛良娣進宮之前，宮裏招女官，蔡掌衣就此進來，只是她現在還只是掌衣，連典衣都不是。鐘司衣是個非常認真仔細的人，事必躬親，且把個尚服局管的水洩不通，她想做些什麽就很難了。
這幾日收到風，說皇後娘娘開始懷疑鐘司衣了，只要她加一把火，鐘司衣離開了，再等上來的兩位典衣都不甚仔細，且都有些急功近利，有些事情就好辦了。
小孩子的皮膚嬌弱，若用些毒浸泡過，再穿在身上，死的不明不白，這不像廚房還有人試毒才吃飯，衣服上課沒有人會試毒。
蔡掌衣暗自挑撥着，期待鐘司衣和另一位司飾鬥起來才好。
又說過了三日，裴朔求見，徽音在偏殿和自己哥哥見面，并讓心腹守着門。
“哥哥，如何？”徽音問道。
裴朔道：“回娘娘的話，您猜的一點兒也不錯，那衛氏表面和別的女子看起來沒有區別，但內有裘衣暖被，所食之物更是精心烹調所制。臣怕自己誤判，若是那衛氏用錢了如何，特地趁其不備，讓人潛入她房裏搜了，并無銀錢，且那狐裘來自錦州等地。入夜，常有一倒夜香的婆子潛入送飯，那婆子我跟了兩天，才發現她是喬裝的，已經抓起來了。”
“好，我這裏還有些時日就有眉目了，若是能找到他們老窩，興許還有別的用處。”徽音道。
裴朔則道：“此事可要禀明聖上？”
徽音搖頭：“先不必告訴聖上，聖上如今在打仗，恐他分心。”
兄妹二人又說了幾句閑篇，才叫散。
接着徽音便去了荀太後處請安，特特道：“這是廚房做的奶餅，兒臣嘗着暄軟，味兒也不錯，特進獻給老祖宗。”
荀太後這樣年紀大的人喜歡吃好克化的食物，見那匣子打開，露出雪白軟嫩的糕點，不免道：“太子和二皇子可有，他們小孩子喜歡吃這些。”
“您放心，她們那裏都有。不知老祖宗近來身體如何？如今天氣日漸變冷，您可要好生保重才是。”徽音笑道。
荀太後颔首。
二人也就這麽客氣幾句，徽音就告退了，等她離開了，荀太後還嘀咕道：“她們鄭家的人倒是總來看她，我們荀家的人卻沒幾個進宮來，就是進宮也随大流。”
這範嬷嬷早就是徽音的人了，她心道荀柔之前奉你的命做出那等事情，你現在又惦記上她了，還有荀家的侯夫人，都是荀太後的孫輩了，這些人和太皇太後又有什麽感情。
但話不能這麽說，範嬷嬷道：“奴婢聽說皇後娘娘那裏每次來人都要打賞，連皇後都私下抱怨庫房的東西不夠用了，荀家都是因為您現在成了侯爺，進宮了若是讨賞或者求官，您都不好應。即便您應了，也要等皇上回來，才好說話。”
荀太後的注意點卻很奇怪：“你是說皇後那裏也缺錢了？”
範嬷嬷點頭：“可不是，皇上在外打仗要錢，之前內庫都用光了，現下進宮裏來。這宮裏的人多，都得發份例，外頭的功臣們要賞，就連咱們這兒住的魏王妃她們，還得幫着她們建房子。冬日，滿宮做冬衣，為了表新朝堂仁善，聽聞皇後娘娘還說讓她娘家人近期不必進宮呢。”
荀太後的私庫倒是頗豐，賞一些給娘家倒是無妨，但若是皇後手頭緊，自己這裏卻大肆賞賜娘家，萬一皇後跟她讨錢？那怎麽辦？
一時間，荀太後就偃旗息鼓了。
**
半夜，徽音看着名單，鐘司衣、蔣司膳，功德殿的彭內侍，麟德殿花房宮女，這五個前四個都是家中突然暴富的，後面一個則是原籍完全不對。
“福桂，花房的宮女那叫柔兒的，仿佛已經二十歲了吧。”徽音問起。
福桂道：“正是，此人今年二十歲。”
“平日活兒幹的如何？”
“還挺細致的，看起來溫柔沉默，并不多話，上下都很喜歡她。”
“明日你讓人尋個機會，去她屋子裏翻一翻，有重金或者藥包藥粉直接拿人送出去。”
她得先按照名單發作一個最明顯的，讓那些人以為她信了崔月環的名單，就自然而然的開始把所謂的證據送到她的面前，而這些送證據的人都有一條關系鏈，這條關系鏈上的人一個都跑不脫。
福桂動作也很快，她先讓那柔兒送幾盆花去荀太後處，接着便在她住處翻找一通，倒是什麽都沒找到。她讓靈鹫把東西恢複原狀，又抹去了腳印，讓她在這裏守着。
又說那柔兒送了花回來，身上沾了泥，只要換一身衣裳，靈鹫躲在房梁上，見她褪去外頭的衣裳換了一身，她趁着柔兒離開又摸了摸，還是一無所獲。
靈鹫回來回話給徽音聽：“奴婢見沒什麽反常的，她身上竟然什麽也摸不到。”
“她頭上身上有戴首飾嗎？”徽音眯了眯眼。
靈鹫想了想：“有，是一根細細的銀簪，頭上是蜜蠟的。”
“那就把這根銀簪拆了，看裏面有沒有東西。”徽音道。
靈鹫颔首，不到一日的功夫，她回來覆命：“娘娘，您真的神了，那柔兒的釵子裏放的是枯藤粉。太醫說若是放在花上，大人吸了會嘔吐不止，小孩子吸了可能會致死。怪不得前些日子我們都說您平日最愛花的，怎麽不讓人送去，也不輕易讓人送花來。”
徽音嘆道：“防不勝防啊，我也并非萬能的，這柔兒還好沒有太喪心病狂，此人不能留了，把她的罪行公諸于衆，讓宮內司提審，最好是審出背後的人，沒吐出人來，別讓她自盡，但她自盡之後，要宣稱她自盡的太快。”
此事吩咐下去，宮內司很快用刑，但那柔兒名字是柔順的，性情卻剛硬，一直吐口不說。一直到徽音吩咐了一句，聽說她破防了，才吐口是管浣衣局那個常年被人欺負的肖內侍居中替她傳話。
肖內侍和柔兒以謀害皇嗣，又是衛氏細作之名被就地正法，枭首三日。
這一出，震驚宇內，之前皇後娘娘有仁德之名，現下又有雷霆手腕，看着城牆上挂着的腦袋，崔月環都縮了縮身子。
“皇後娘娘這下應該震懾住那些人了。”
連殷麗芳和魏王妃聽說此事，都跑來徽音宮中，一邊安慰徽音，一邊又有些心驚。殷麗芳不覺得意外，妹妹曾經說過鄭氏對荀柔那叫一個不客氣，完全沒有底線，那還只是對情敵，現在是對真正要毒害太子的人，她就更不會客氣了。
更別提荀柔了，本來日子過的好點，她還想進宮探望荀太後，趁機報複回去，但看到人頭直接就暈了，心髒狂跳不止。
乖乖，還是老老實實的在家待着吧。
徐太夫人也閉了嘴，德音平素不愛暴戾之人，李珩、徽音還有李澄都是心狠手辣之輩，也難怪前世李珩和徽音是一對，這輩子李澄和徽音也是一對。
……
蔡典衣在暗中窺測，見皇後對要害太子的宮婢如此對待，趁着這興頭上，她也開始利用自己的人脈，先寫了黑函，深夜讓人從麟德宮的宮門底下的縫隙扔進去，又把一包毒藥放在鐘司衣的褥子底下。
她想的明白，皇後娘娘即便要查，也查不到她的身上，現在她全身上下可什麽都沒有。
夜裏，她暗暗想着，此事若成，将來衛家絕對不會虧待她，也不會虧待她的家人。父親年逾五旬，一直郁郁不得志，将來若有衛家照拂，前途肯定不會再這般坎坷了。
沒想到天一亮，站在她門口的人是鐘司衣，鐘司衣冷冷的看着她：“想不到啊，你居然是衛家的眼線，還想陷害于我。”
蔡典衣衣裳還未穿好，只覺得混沌的很：“司衣，您在說什麽？”
皇後娘娘不是應該拿她的嗎？畢竟柔兒那裏只憑毒藥，皇後就把人給枭首了。
Zhong Siyi said, "Siyi Department has a person like you, and you want to frame me. Your accomplice has been arrested. The Queen Mother said that your family members have also been controlled by General Pei, and the woman Qiao you contacted outside has also been arrested. If you know what's interesting, the Queen Mother may let you meet your father. If you don't know what's interesting, your fate will be the same as Rou'er's."
Cai Dianyi's rank is higher than Rou'er's, and all the ten hidden stakes placed by the Wei family were pulled out.
…
Afterwards, Ji entered the palace and asked, "I didn't expect that Zhong Siyi was not the one. How did you know that there was something wrong with Cai Dianyi?"
Huiyin laughed and said, "The emperor reminded me of this, but I already knew what to do. It's ridiculous that Wei Duo has lost his wife and his army!"