Chapter 434 Loyalty to the Wrong Place
Not long after leaving Chaoyang Palace, Zhaohua suddenly heard someone outside the sedan calling her.
She lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and looked out, and saw that the person blocking the way was Concubine Ying.
Zhao Hua asked her with a smile, "Empress Ying? You are carrying a food box. Are you going to look for the Emperor?"
Concubine Ying glanced at the attendant Xiao Fuzi, then smiled bitterly and said:
"Eunuch Fu is loyal to the Majesty. He may not tell others what I have told him, but he will definitely not hide it from the Majesty."
Concubine Ying has always been reckless, but she has never been a stupid person.
Zhao Huaguan likes to talk to smart people.
She nodded slightly, without saying anything, but just raised her eyebrows and looked at the road ahead, saying:
"After passing the Locust Gate, we will enter the Imperial Garden. Chrysanthemums are in full bloom in autumn, but I have not yet gone to see them. Concubine Ying, can you accompany me for a walk when you are free?"
Concubine Ying knelt down and said, "I am very pleased."
With her support, Zhaohua walked side by side with her after getting off the phoenix sedan chair.
The servants followed behind and waited from a distance. When they arrived at the Imperial Garden, Zhaohua glanced at the food box that Concubine Ying had been holding in her hand and asked:
"I see that you are reluctant to let your maid take this food box. Is the thing inside your gift to the emperor?"
Concubine Ying nodded, "My mother's family has just presented some high-quality yaks as tribute, and the emperor has given them all to me as a reward."
As he said this, he suddenly laughed bitterly.
“I thought the emperor understood my homesickness, but I heard that the Mongolian tribute was sixteen Ferghana horses… Yes, compared with the Ferghana horses, this little gift from my mother’s family is really nothing.
It is no wonder that the Emperor treats Noble Lady Ru much more intimately than I do. Noble Lady Ru has slept with me twice in the last month, and I cannot remember the last time the Emperor came to my palace.
Hearing her hurtful words, Zhaohua advised her,
"Don't be too sad. You have served the emperor for a long time, how could the emperor be willing to ignore you? It's just that the state affairs are busy recently, so..."
"I know exactly what the emperor means." Concubine Ying shook her head and interrupted Zhao Hua with a sigh. "I already knew it after the prince disappeared at the birthday party. I was just a chess piece used by the emperor to balance the Hu tribe. Now that the Hu tribe is completely weak, there is no need for the emperor to deal with me anymore."
Zhao Hua said, "Your Majesty, you misunderstood what I said. Your Majesty has treated all nations and tribes with respect, especially the Mongols and the Hu tribes, without any disrespect."
Ying Fei smiled, "The Emperor thinks I am a fool, and he also thinks the entire Adahu tribe is a fool. When the prince disappeared without a reason, the Emperor suspected that it was the Hu tribe's fault, so he ordered his men to lead the troops directly into the Hu tribe, and under the strong pressure, the Hu tribe was severely damaged. Queen, do you know why the tribute paid by the Hu tribe to the court every year is not as good as that of Mongolia?
It was because of that war... Qi Chao had plundered almost all of the valuables of the Hu tribe. Now the Hu tribe is starving and the people are living in misery... Doesn't the emperor know this situation?
Later, the prince returned to the palace and to your side. The emperor said that this was to protect the prince, but in order to protect the prince, does he have to sacrifice the loyalty of the entire Hu tribe to the Qi Dynasty?"
Zhaohua had already heard what Concubine Ying said from Xiao Jingyan.
On that day, Xiao Jingheng used the prince's disappearance as an excuse to attack the Hu tribe. Originally, people thought he was looking for an excuse to conceal the fact that he had buried his own son alive, but they didn't expect that his plan went far beyond that.
He took the opportunity to attack the Hu tribe, and during the violent attack, he burned, smashed and looted, almost turning the Hu tribe into a living hell.
Xiao Jingyan also asked Xiao Jingheng if it was inappropriate to treat Hu Bu in this way.
But Xiao Jingheng's answer was,
"The Hu tribe was originally a foreign race, and they submitted to the Qi Dynasty only to survive. I will use their abundant resources to support the millions of people in the Qi Dynasty, which is a great cause."
To put it bluntly, in Xiao Jingheng's eyes, except for Qi Dynasty, all foreign countries, even if they surrender, will be devoured by him sooner or later.
Zhao Hua remained silent and listened to Concubine Ying continue:
"The day the prince disappeared, everyone in the palace suspected that it was the work of the Hu tribe, and they felt that I was somehow responsible. Even the emperor treated me coldly. Only you, the queen, are willing to say the word 'faith' to me."
With tears in her eyes, she said excitedly:
"To use the words of the Han people, although we are barbarians, we have always been grateful for the kindness you have shown us, so I have never dared to betray your trust in me. And Your Majesty..."
Ying Fei slowly opened the food box and looked at the still warm roasted beef inside. She couldn't help but shed tears.
"My feelings are not worthy of him. That's all..."
After he finished speaking, he actually poured the entire tray of beef into the Imperial Lake.
Seeing her move, Zhao Hua first looked back at the palace servants who were serving behind him, then lowered his voice and said to Concubine Ying:
"Ying Fei, the Emperor is your husband no matter what. It's fine for you to vent your words and actions in front of me. But if you do it in front of the Emperor, it would be disrespectful. Not only will you get yourself into trouble, but it will also implicate your mother's family."
Concubine Ying raised her hand to wipe away her tears, took a deep breath, and said fearlessly:
"I know that everyone in the palace is acting with the emperor. After getting along for so long, how many people are still sincere to him? A relationship that is based on profit calculations, what else can it get except other people's calculations?"
She clenched her fists, gritted her teeth, and said fiercely:
"I only regret that my Hu tribe was loyal to the Qi Dynasty, but in the end, it was plundered and became a shell of itself!"
Zhao Hua heard her breathing getting heavier, and suddenly whispered in her ear,
"If I have a way to make the emperor return all the things he looted from your tribe, would you be willing to give it a try?"
Ying Fei was stunned and asked anxiously,
"What?"
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