&nbEmperor Tianwu and this queen have always been the best partners. Over the years, the two of them, one in the front court and the other in the harem, have managed the affairs in a stable and proper manner. The queen is very good at guessing Emperor Tianwu's thoughts. Often, she knows what to say and what to do with just a glance from the other party. Emperor Tianwu also used to think that this queen was very much to his liking. Except for the lack of love, there was still affection. As the mother of a country, there was nothing to complain about.
&nbBut both of them clearly understood one thing, but no one pointed it out. They were both waiting, waiting for the other party to come forward and lure the fish into the trap. Then whether the queen could still be the queen depended on her luck.
&nbOf course, these were all Emperor Tianwu's previous thoughts. Since he restored his favor to Concubine Yuan Shu, he had forgotten all of this. Sometimes when he was a little more sober, he would remember that he was still waiting for someone to appear, and this person must be brought out by the Queen, so the Queen could not be deposed. He also knew that touching the Queen was equivalent to touching the foundation of the country, and it was not something that could be easily resolved by deposing the Queen, so the position of the Queen was retained.
&nbBut Emperor Tianwu was not in a good mood tonight, his mind was much clearer, not that he remembered anything, nor that he woke up to anything, he just began to doubt and began to have some doubts about the current situation. Especially when he heard that he had actually demoted Zhang Yuan to the Criminal Slave Division, he was even more shocked.
&nbHe asked the Queen: "Do you know why I sent Xiao Yuanzi to the Criminal Slave Department? Why can't I remember what he did wrong? Moreover, even if he did, I would never treat him like that. Xiao Yuanzi has made more than one or two mistakes since he was a child. I'm used to it."
&nbThe Queen was delighted to hear this. No matter what, the Emperor was willing to think about the truth, which showed that he was not completely confused and did not completely follow the words of Concubine Yuan Shu and her son. This gave her hope, hope that Emperor Tianwu would recover. She said to Emperor Tianwu, "Does the Emperor feel that something is wrong recently?"
&nbEmperor Tianwu nodded, "Yes, something is wrong, but I can't figure out what's wrong. Apart from the matter of Xiaoyuanzi, Queen, can you tell me what else is wrong?"
&nb"There are many." The Queen said calmly, "For example, Concubine Yuan Shu. For example, the Eighth Prince. Does the Emperor think that his recent condition is normal?"
&nbEmperor Tianwu thought about it seriously, then shook his head, "I don't think it's abnormal! Shufei is my beloved concubine, Mo'er is my beloved son, and it's nothing for me to be close to them."
&nb"Beloved concubine and beloved son? Then why have they been neglected for more than twenty years? Has Your Majesty never thought about the reason?" The Queen pointed out the truth in one sentence, but Emperor Tianwu was stunned again.
&nbEvery time he mentioned such a topic, he would have a headache. Emperor Tianwu raised his hands and hugged his head, with a painful expression, looking at the emperor with a little resentment in his eyes. He said: "Queen, I just asked you about Xiaoyuanzi, why did you mention Shufei and Mo'er? I feel a headache when I hear your words, you'd better not say it."
&nbThe Queen was helpless, but seeing the Emperor Tianwu like this, she really couldn't say anything else, so she turned the topic back to Zhang Yuan and asked, "Your Majesty, do you want me to take Zhang Yuan back from the Criminal Slave Division?" She shook her head as she spoke, "It's not easy! Now I can't take a single step in this palace, and I'm restricted by Concubine Yuan Shu everywhere. Your Majesty thinks that I have the ability to bring Zhang Yuan out? Thanks to you, Concubine Yuan Shu is now the master of this harem."
"You are the queen." Emperor Tianwu raised his voice a little, and said unhappily: "Why are you still unable to move an inch? How could a good person like Concubine Shu restrict you?"
&nb"Since Your Majesty thinks so, why didn't you just ask Concubine Yuan Shu to get Zhang Yuan out, but instead called me here?" She asked back, "By calling me here, doesn't it mean that Your Majesty subconsciously feels that there are some things that cannot be told to Concubine Yuan Shu?"
&nbWhen she said this, Emperor Tianwu also remembered, yes! Just now, he was dizzy and felt that there were many things he couldn't figure out, such as how did he spend the New Year's Eve in the past twenty years? Why didn't he see Concubine Shu for so many years? Why did he always feel that he had forgotten a lot of things? And also distorted a lot of things? For a moment, he had a particularly strong consciousness and wanted to clarify all these questions, but at the same time, he felt that he couldn't ask Concubine Yuan Shu, and he had to ask a reliable person. After thinking about it, the only reliable person was the queen, so he called the queen.
&nb"Yes!" Emperor Tianwu murmured, "I called you here to guard against Concubine Shu. But... why?" He couldn't figure it out again.
&nbThe Queen sighed softly, patted the back of Emperor Tianwu's hand and said: "Since His Majesty wants to see Zhang Yuan, then I will try my best to make His Majesty's wish come true." After she said that, she glanced at Fang Yi who was standing outside the door. Fang Yi nodded at the Queen, but did not act immediately because Concubine Yuan Shu and the Eighth Prince were still standing outside.
&nbThe two were also extremely anxious. In the eyes of the palace people, they were so anxious because they were worried about the emperor's illness. However, what the Eighth Prince said in a low voice in Concubine Yuan Shu's ear was: "What should we do? What if the old man is out of control? Will this thing collapse?"
&nb Concubine Yuan Shu shook her head and said softly, "It won't collapse, it's just a little tricky. These situations were also within our initial expectations. Doing this kind of thing is like going through levels, obstacles will always appear, and when you get through them one by one, the matter will be done." After she finished speaking, she glanced at Xuan Tianmo and advised, "Don't worry, Mo'er, we still have time."
&nbAt that time, in the servants' yard of the Criminal Slave Department, everyone hid back in their houses to spend New Year's Eve. Even in such a place, the palace would not be too ruthless on New Year's Eve, and dumplings were still distributed so that the criminals could at least have a bite.
&nbThe sky was snowing again, but Zhang Yuan didn't get to enjoy the privilege of eating dumplings in the house. He was sitting in the yard washing clothes, and the water was still icy, which made his hands full of bloody cuts. He had to be careful not to get the blood from the cuts on his hands on his clothes while washing, and he had to rub them in the snow from time to time to freeze the wounds.
&nbZhang Yuan entered the palace when he was young. He was lucky to be with the emperor and had never suffered such hardships. During his time in the Criminal Slave Department, he experienced all the hardships he had not experienced in the past ten years. He had to do everything, such as cleaning toilets, washing clothes, fetching water, and washing the feet of the leaders here. If he did not do the work well or did not finish it, he would not be given food, and he was punished to stand in the ice and snow. His feet were all covered with frostbite, and his hands were now half useless. I am afraid that he can't recover.
But there were still so many tasks waiting for him. Almost all the tasks were pushed onto him alone. Those who were free didn't have to do such hard, dirty and tiring work as long as they massaged the shoulders and feet of the bosses here. In order to survive, he had thought of such tricks, but no one liked him. Even if he knelt down and begged, no one would pity him. He just wanted to massage the shoulders of the bosses, but they didn't want him. It was obvious that they were deliberately making things difficult for him, wanting him to suffer and get hurt, and wanting to humiliate him, a eunuch who was once so popular in the palace that even the powerful had to give him some face.
&nbThe banknotes and silver that Feng Yuheng had given him before also disappeared overnight. Before he could use the money to curry favor with anyone, the money was no longer his.
&nbZhang Yuan felt more and more frustrated the more he thought about it. He wiped away his tears and looked at the basins of clothes in front of him. He knew that he would not be able to sleep tonight. He was afraid that he would not be able to finish washing these clothes until tomorrow morning. It was snowing again. He didn't know if he would be frozen to death outside.
&nbWhen he thought about the possibility of freezing to death, he shuddered and quickly got up and went to the house to get some more clothes. He wanted to see the old emperor again in his lifetime, so he couldn't die like this.
But before he could take three steps, he heard someone coming from the other end of the yard, shouting, "Hey! Zhang Yuan, where are you going? Have you finished washing your clothes? Did they ask you to leave?"
&nbZhang Yuan turned around and saw that there were three people coming, all eunuchs in the palace, who had made mistakes and were punished to the Criminal Slave Division. They were obviously the same slaves, but these three people were very close to the boss here, fawning on him every day, and they didn't want to lick his feet. If they did a good job in this aspect, they would naturally not have to suffer like him every day. The lives of the three people seemed to be more comfortable than when they were with their previous masters. Of course, they also made trouble for Zhang Yuan.
&nbFor example, now, Zhang Yuan wanted to go back to the room to add a piece of clothing, and happened to be seen by these three people. Not only did they start yelling at the top of their lungs, but they also kicked over the two boxes of clothes that Zhang Yuan had just washed. Then they looked at Zhang Yuan with a smile and said, "In the past, you were a big celebrity around the emperor. We had to be humble when we met you, but we suffered a lot. But now, you are a slave who is worse than a dog. Do you still want to live the same life as before? Do you still want to be respected by others? Bah! No way!"
"That's right! A slave is a slave. If you don't do your laundry properly, where are you going to run to? Believe it or not, if we just shout that Zhang Yuan is trying to escape, the chief steward will come over and break your legs!"
&nb"If we in the Criminal Slave Division kill a criminal slave, we don't need to report it. You have to know who holds your life in their hands!"
&nbZhang Yuan watched the two basins of washed clothes become dirty again, and tears almost welled up again. But he knew that crying was useless, arguing was useless, and quarreling was even more useless. He had used all these tricks before, but in return, all he got was a new round of humiliation.
&nb Silently, he picked up the two basins of dirty clothes and refilled them with ice water. He did not expect to go back to the house to get clothes. He just sat on the small stool and started washing again. There were more and more blood cuts on his hands. He could only wipe them on the snow or on his own clothes, trying his best not to stain the clothes of the nobles.
&nbZhang Yuan thought, since they hated him so much, they must really want him to die, right? The Sinners' Division did not need to report the deaths of people, so this was a good opportunity to kill someone. But the reason why they had only tortured him but not let him die until now was that there must be someone behind him who did not want him to die, or in other words, they did not want him to die too quickly and wanted him to suffer more torture. This was the other party's real intention...
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