Chapter 165 Zhao Xiaokun's Marriage 1
After Liu Rushi's reminder, Zhao Xiaofei also felt that something was wrong. Previously, Princess Kunxing had wanted to pass Princess Zhaoren off to her eldest brother out of fear that Zhaoren would always miss her. The couple had actively tried to mediate this matter in front of Empress Dowager Zhou.
It was Empress Dowager Zhou who refused to agree to this marriage! What do you, the Zhao brothers, want? You two brothers both command significant military forces and are both consorts of emperors! So is the Ming Dynasty still surnamed Zhu? Why not just change it to Zhao?
But she couldn't say it openly. Empress Dowager Zhou was worried that the Zhao brothers might be dissatisfied and rebel again. She would be letting down the ancestors of the Zhu family. While she was hesitating, Zhao Xiaofei and Princess Kunxing entered the palace to meet with her.
Inside Kunning Palace, Zhao Xiaofei said, "Empress Dowager! I've been thinking about this over and over again these past few days. It's really not right for my eldest brother to marry Princess Zhaoren. The age gap between them is indeed quite large. Princess Zhaoren should find another good match!"
Empress Dowager Zhou's eyes lit up, and she thought to herself: How come you've suddenly become sensible again? It's right not to marry Zhaoren! Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Zhou immediately backed down and said, "You think the same as I do. Zhaoren is indeed a little young! Even if she marries him, she won't be able to control the beauties in the family!"
"Yes, Queen Mother! I didn't think things through carefully. It's all my fault!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"Besides discussing this matter, does the Prince of Anqing have any other state affairs to discuss today?" asked Empress Dowager Zhou.
"That's right! In order to get Wu Sangui back to the Ming Dynasty, I hope the empress dowager can grant a marriage. Let my eldest brother marry Wu Sangui's sister, and make Wu Sanmei his legal wife. This will also let Wu Sangui know that the Ming Dynasty can still come back." Zhao Xiaofei said.
"Oh! The Wu family went from Beijing to Tianjin, and then to Nanjing. Wu Sangui didn't show any expression! Could it be that marrying his sister would move him?" said Empress Dowager Zhou.
"I have secretly sent someone to contact him. We must give it a try no matter what! Even if Wu Sangui is determined to be a traitor, we have to show our support!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
"Isn't this too lenient for the rebellious officials?" said Queen Mother Zhou.
"Empress Dowager, we are in a critical moment now, and we should govern the country with leniency. If we continue to be like the late emperor, I'm afraid no one will dare to surrender. We all want to achieve achievements, and I believe that doing this will also give those surrendered officials hope. Maybe one day we won't have to lose so many people when we go north, and the former Ming court officials will surrender at the sight of us." Zhao Xiaofei said.
Queen Mother Zhou thought for a while and said, "Okay! Let's do this! I..." Before Queen Mother Zhou finished speaking, a young eunuch ran in in a panic and knelt on the ground.
Queen Mother Zhou asked unhappily, "What happened? Why are you so flustered?"
"Your Majesty, Concubine Yuan..." The eunuch was so panicked that he was almost speechless.
"Hurry up and tell me! What happened to Concubine Yuan?" asked Empress Dowager Zhou.
"Empress Dowager Yuan has passed away!" the eunuch said, squeezing out a few tears.
"What? She's gone? What happened to Concubine Yuan? Tell me quickly!" asked Empress Dowager Zhou.
"There was water in Concubine Yuan's possession, and she burned down Yongchun Palace. Concubine Yuan died in the fire!" said the eunuch.
"What? A fire? Didn't the other palace maids and eunuchs in her palace rescue her?" asked Queen Mother Zhou.
Zhao Xiaofei, sitting nearby, thought to himself: "There's no way she can be saved! The palace maids and eunuchs have all been sent away, and the fire was lit with gasoline. Who can save her?" He thought, "I bet the female corpse they found is burned beyond recognition by now." Zhao Xiaofei wanted to laugh, but he didn't dare. He couldn't laugh, or he'd be seen through.
So Zhao Xiaofei stood up and said, "Queen Mother! Why don't we go and take a look!"
"Okay! Let's go to Yongchun Palace!" said Empress Dowager Zhou.
Speaking of Yongchun Palace, Zhao Xiaokun had previously found the body of a starving beggar woman outside the city, similar in size to Concubine Yuan. He cleaned her up and placed her in a wooden box. He gave her some money as a gift, but he didn't even open the box to look at her before sending her to Yongchun Palace.
Zhao Xiaokun came in person today, still wearing the same eunuch uniform. When Concubine Yuan saw him coming in, she immediately sent the other palace maids and eunuchs away. Together, they carried the corpse to the bed and began to change clothes. They changed the corpse's clothes first, and then Concubine Yuan changed into the palace maid's clothes herself.
Even at this time, Zhao Xiaokun did not forget to praise her and said, "My beauty, even if you change into the clothes of a palace maid, your beauty cannot be hidden!" After that, he kissed her twice more. Then his hands began to get naughty.
Concubine Yuan blushed and said, "What time is it? Are you still thinking about this?"
Zhao Xiaokun stopped after hearing this, and then began pouring gasoline into the room. When he was done, he immediately dragged Concubine Yuan outside. Zhao Xiaokun took out a match and threw it onto the bed. The fire suddenly shot up high, and Zhao Xiaokun immediately went out and took Concubine Yuan with him and left.
By the time the other palace maids and eunuchs discovered the fire in Yongchun Palace, it was too late to put out any trouble. They could only watch helplessly while a steward eunuch hurried to Kunning Palace to report the incident.
Just like that, Empress Dowager Zhou and Zhao Xiaofei arrived at Yongchun Palace together. When they arrived, the fire had subsided. A eunuch ran over and knelt down, saying, "Empress Dowager! The body of Concubine Yuan has been found!"
Queen Mother Zhou didn't say anything, but Zhao Xiaofei asked, "Where did you find it?"
The eunuch looked up and saw that it was the Prince of Anqing, so he said, "He's on the bed! He's already a charred corpse!"
Zhao Xiaofei quickly diverted Empress Dowager Zhou's attention and said, "Empress Dowager! I believe there must be something fishy about Concubine Yuan's death! She was most likely murdered!"
"Oh! Tell me the reason!" asked Queen Mother Zhou.
"Empress Dowager, I smell gasoline. This is the ignition material used by our army. It is not found anywhere else! A few days ago, the army took inventory of supplies and found that a barrel was missing. For this, I also punished the person in charge." Zhao Xiaofei said.
"Lock up all the palace maids and eunuchs in Yongchun Palace and hand them over to the Jinyiwei for interrogation!" said Empress Dowager Zhou.
"I think we should first check the palace maids and eunuchs around the emperor and the empress dowager to prevent anyone from doing anything bad to the emperor and the empress dowager!" said Zhao Xiaofei.
When Empress Dowager Zhou heard this, she was worried about the emperor's safety. She immediately said, "Bring him to Wenhua Palace!" The emperor usually studied there at this time!
Zhao Xiaofei stopped following and said, "Queen Dowager! I will return to the barracks and investigate this matter thoroughly!"
"Okay! Go!" Queen Mother Zhou said and left Yongchun Palace.
After returning to the mansion, Zhao Xiaofei changed his clothes and went to his eldest brother's governor's mansion. When he saw his eldest brother, he asked, "How is it going? Have you made all the arrangements?"
"Don't worry! I burned all the carriages that took us out of the city." Zhao Xiaokun said with a smile.
Why did Zhao Xiaofei feel that his elder brother's smile was so mean when he saw it? He was not like this before!
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