The Grand Secretary’s Pampered Wife

Chapter 322 The truth is revealed (two more)

In the Renshou Palace, Empress Dowager Zhuang is dealing with the backlog of official business in recent days.

After all, she was getting old, and it took a long time to recover from a serious illness, and it was only now that she finally realized how difficult it was to recuperate in the countryside.

Leprosy is not an ordinary cold. The contagiousness alone makes everyone daunted. I don't know how the two Hanhan dared to take her in.

Besides, the conditions at home are already very poor, and I have eaten the last meal but not the next one, and I have to raise a sick number.

Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed.

"Queen Mother, do you remember your days in the countryside again?" Eunuch Qin asked with a smile.

"Well." Empress Dowager Zhuang did not deny it. "At that time, they lied to Ai's family that they had tuberculosis, and told Ai's family not to go out, so as not to get sick to the villagers."

Eunuch Qin was surprised: "You really believe it?"

Empress Dowager Zhuang sighed: "Can Aijia not believe it? Aijia doesn't remember anything at that time."

Eunuch Qin thought about it as well: "Then... what happened later?"

Empress Dowager Zhuang recalled: "After about ten days and a half months, they ate at the same table with Aijia."

"Ah..." Eunuch Qin was surprised, "It took half a month to heal?"

"No." Empress Dowager Zhuang shook her head, "It's just that it is no longer contagious. I continue to take the medicine for half a year."

Ordinary people don't do this. Even if the leprosy is cured, they will be avoided like snakes and scorpions.

"Miss Gu and Xiao Xiuzhuan are sincere towards you, and the slaves are happy for you." Eunuch Qin's words came from the bottom of his heart. He met the Queen Mother when the Queen Mother was put into the cold palace.

He is a little eunuch in the cold palace. He was taken by the virtuous queen and wanted to wait by his side.

After Xiande left the cold palace, he was also taken out. In the blink of an eye, he had accompanied the queen mother through ups and downs for decades.

There are many people who compliment the Queen Mother, but very few people really love the Queen Mother without asking for anything in return.

If the Queen Mother is not the Queen Mother, then they will not be what the Queen Mother saw them.

Miss Zhuang always complained that the Queen Mother loves Miss Gu more than her own family, but Miss Zhuang also doesn't think about it, does she really have half the sincerity of Miss Gu for the Queen Mother?

I have walked alone for most of my life, and the heights are very cold. Who would have thought that I would meet such a few caring people in my old age?

"It's Xiao Xiuzhuan..." Eunuch Qin also saw that there was something wrong between the Empress Dowager Zhuang and Xiao Xiuzhuan. Although he was the Queen Mother's confidant, the Queen Mother did not tell him everything.

Queen Mother's thoughts,

He guessed half of it, but the other half couldn't figure it out anyway.

"Is it because he looks like a deceased little prince?"

Eunuch Qin asked cautiously.

The queen mother never poisoned the little prince, but the emperor didn't believe it, Xuanping Hou didn't believe it, and everyone in the world didn't believe it. I'm afraid even the Zhuang family thought it was the work of the queen mother.

The difference is that the Zhuang family will not complain about the queen mother.

But being so wronged all the time, when the queen mother saw someone so similar to Xiaohou Ye, she was afraid that she would also have a pimple in her heart.

Of course, this is what Eunuch Qin thought. Whether the queen mother thinks so is unknown.

"Aijia..." Empress Dowager Zhuang was about to say something when a panicked voice came from the palace maid outside the study, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you can't go in!"

"I am the Son of Heaven! The whole world belongs to me! A mere benevolence palace has blocked me from the door once or twice. Are you trying to rebel!"

It was the emperor's wrath.

Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned impatiently and gave Eunuch Qin a wink.

Eunuch Qin insisted on whisking the dust and walked out, and said to the palace maid, "You all step back." He saluted the emperor again, "Please come in, Your Majesty."

"Humph!"

The emperor glared at everyone coldly, and rolled his sleeves into Empress Dowager Zhuang's study: "The empress dowager is really good! It's not idle to recuperate in Renshou Palace, so she has to make me look ugly! The empress dowager can't see me clean one day!"

Eunuch Qin, who was chasing in, looked at the queen mother, and then at a room of palace servants with pale faces, their faces became ugly.

Empress Dowager Zhuang said indifferently: "You all step back."

"Yes." Eunuch Qin and the other palace servants withdrew.

Mrs. Zhuang glanced blankly at the emperor from behind, and threw the book in her hand on the table: "What are you doing crazy!"

The emperor sneered: "I should ask the empress dowager about this. What is the empress dowager? Isn't it enough for you to listen to the government? Are you still not satisfied with controlling half of the country? Are you not happy enough to force my mother and concubine to the nunnery? How vicious is it going to be? Do you have to kill everyone around me one by one!"

Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned and said, "Who did the Ai family kill again?"

"Heh!" The emperor stood in front of the desk, looking at the dignified and dignified Empress Dowager Zhuang sarcastically, "What is the Empress Dowager singing? Don't you dare to recognize it after you have done it? The face is torn, and there is no need for Xu and Wei Snake!"

Empress Dowager Zhuang's eyes flashed cold and cold, but her expression was still indifferent: "Aijia has done too much, I don't know which thing you are referring to."

The emperor laughed angrily: "Finally admit it, you are a mad and poisonous woman! Whatever you have, come at me! Why did you kill Zhang Zhangshi! How did she provoke you!"

"Zhang Zhangshi?" Empress Dowager Zhuang frowned strangely.

The emperor pointed angrily at Empress Zhuang: "Stop pretending! Last night, Zhang Zhang was summoned to Renshou Palace by the Empress Dowager, and when he returned, he committed suicide by hanging! The Empress Dowager dares to say that you did not kill people!"

Empress Dowager Zhuang sneered, raised her eyes lightly, and hooked the corners of her lips like a mockery: "So what if it was the Ai family who killed it?"

She stood up slowly, walked out from behind the desk, and walked towards the emperor step by step, "Can you abolish Aijia, or can you kill Aijia? Even if Aijia kills everyone around you, you take Aijia again. What can be done?"

"You poisonous woman!" The emperor raised his hand!

"His Majesty!"

Xiao Liulang walked in quickly, threw away the crutches, hugged the emperor's hand, and blocked Empress Dowager Zhuang behind him.

Seeing the young man suddenly standing in front of her, Empress Dowager Zhuang was startled.

The young man was thin and had poor legs, but he did not hesitate to stop the emperor's courage.

The emperor was furious: "Xiao Liulang, get out of the way!"

"It's not the queen mother." Xiao Liulang said solemnly, he didn't let it go, and he didn't let go. "It's not the queen mother, it's the minister. It was the minister who called Zhang Zhangshi last night, and it has nothing to do with the queen mother."

The emperor was so angry that his lungs would explode: "Even you speak for her! One or two of you... all face her! Xiao Liulang! You are the new champion of the new division!"

Xiao Liulang said sternly: "This minister is His Majesty's minister, and His Majesty's champion. Because of this, this minister does not want to see His Majesty make mistakes. His Majesty's actions today will be recorded by historians in the future. His Majesty is a Mingjun and deserves merit. Bamboo and silk are immortal and fragrant throughout the ages, and their reputation for centuries cannot be ruined by impulse."

The emperor asked sadly and aggrieved: "Is it wrong? Are I wrong!"

Xiao Liulang said: "Your Majesty is not wrong, and the Queen Mother is also right. It is the minister who is wrong. The minister should not come to Zhang Zhang. If His Majesty wants to blame, then blame the minister. It was the minister who killed her."

"You...you..." The emperor was so angry that his eyes were blood red and his body was trembling.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you have to listen to what's going on." Eunuch Wei went into the house to persuade.

His Majesty suppressed the emotions that might go berserk at any time and nodded: "Okay, tell me, what are you talking about with Zhang Zhang, why did you kill her!"

Xiao Liulang could not say that he was investigating a case fourteen years ago, the timing was wrong, and the evidence was insufficient.

Xiao Liulang thought for a while and said, "I gave her something for another person, and when I returned it to her, I realized that her mood was not right."

This is the truth, Zhang Zhangshi was really in a bad mood when he got the inkstone that was smashed, but Xiao Liulang didn't think too deeply at that time.

Now if I take a closer look, I am afraid that there is a deeper bond and relationship between Zhang Zhangshi and the old sacrifice wine than imagined.

"Who are you delivering for?" the emperor asked.

"I can't tell you." Xiao Liulang said.

Wouldn't he guess if he didn't say the emperor?

How many people in the world can work for him to personally go to the palace to deliver letters? Since it has a beginning and end with Zhang Zhang, it must be about the same age as Zhang Zhang.

A name is about to come out.

"Chuan Huo sacrifice wine!"

"Let go! Do you want me to send Huo Jijiu to the Queen Mother's bedroom? Follow me to the imperial study!"

"Yes." Xiao Liulang let go.

The old sacrificial wine was summoned into the palace.

The emperor did not give him and Xiao Liulang a chance to make a confession, and directly asked Xiao Liulang to be taken away, and then began to question Zhang Zhangshi's relationship with the old sacrificial wine.

The emperor did not tell the old sacrificial wine that Zhang Zhang was dead.

But what kind of person is the old sacrifice wine?

Guess what happened.

When ordinary people are questioned about their relationship with the female officials in the palace, they will try their best to clear them up. After all, blaspheming a female official is a serious crime, but Lao Jijiu thinks it is not easy.

Without thinking much, he said that he had an unknown past with Zhang Zhangshi, and there was a token of love between them. Last night, he entrusted someone to return the token to her, which was considered a relationship to each other. made a conclusion.

If what Lao Jijiu said was true, Zhang Xiu committed suicide for love.

The emperor squinted suspiciously: "Why did it end? Is it because of the queen mother?"

"I don't dare! This is because... I'm dying..." The old sacrificial wine began to pretend to be sick and sell miserably, all kinds of tears and white lotus tricks, "... If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can call the little genius doctor, she is the The old minister was diagnosed with a terminal illness."

...

After coming out of the imperial study, Lao Jijiu saw Xiao Liulang who had been waiting for a long time.

"I'm sorry, I have implicated the teacher." Xiao Liulang said guiltily.

The old sacrifice wine sighed: "It's not your fault, it's my ill-consideration."

"The teacher's reputation..."

The old sacrificial wine waved his hand: "I don't have a good reputation at all. Although I and her are not what I said to Your Majesty, in the end...it's me who lost her. She...is my wife and sister."

His wife's concubine sister was adopted from a young age to another village, and the two sisters didn't recognize each other until they grew up.

Before his death, his wife held his hand and told him to take good care of his only sister Zhang Xiu no matter what.

Zhang Xiu wanted to marry him, but he didn't want to marry her, so she entered the palace angrily.

He and Zhuang Jinse fought fiercely. In order not to implicate Zhang Xiu, he did not let people know their relationship, otherwise he was not the only one who was exiled back then, but also his wife and sister Zhang Xiu.

After all, the emperor's decree was to exile his whole family.

"She came to me when she was twenty-five years old when she could be released from the palace, and asked me again if I would marry her? I said, I will take care of her for the rest of my life, treat her as my own sister, and then she smashed me Afterwards, she regretted it so much that she paid me a new one, which is the one I asked you to return. When she gave it to me, I didn't hold it firmly and accidentally broke a piece... She said with a smile that this is nonsense draw."

Lao Jijiu said here and sighed, "Forget it, let's not mention the old things, she definitely didn't commit suicide out of love, her death is strange, I asked Your Majesty for grace to send her the last ride, you follow me Let's go."

Xiao Liulang: "Okay."

Lao Jijiu and Xiao Liulang went to Shanggong Bureau in the company of Eunuch Wei.

In the previous dynasties, people in the palace hanged themselves, which would bring harm to their families. The current dynasties abolished this law, but the deceased were not allowed to go to the ground for safety, and could only be thrown into the wilderness.

The old sacrifice wine gave Eunuch Wei a bag of silver.

Eunuch Wei refused for a long time and said, "I have already taken care of it. The body will be sent to the mass grave outside the West City Gate later. Just send someone to wait there."

"Many thanks to Eunuch Wei." Lao Jijiu thanked him.

Xiao Liulang examined Zhang Xiu's corpse, and it was true that he hanged himself, and there was no sign of any fighting or struggle.

Then Xiao Liulang discovered a situation, and he stopped.

"What's wrong?" Lao Jijiu came over and asked.

Xiao Liulang didn't speak, but raised Zhang Xiu's left wrist, there was a mole on it.

Lao Jijiu was stunned: "How could..."

yes?

How could it be Zhang Xiu?

Many details that were ignored last night flashed through Xiao Liulang's mind one by one.

When Zhang Xiu saw him for the first time, he was so frightened that he almost fell. He thought she, like Eunuch Qin and others, thought he had seen a ghost, but after thinking about it carefully, he and Zhang Xiu didn't seem to have met.

She shouldn't know him.

Even if she knew her, her reaction was a little too big.

When he told her that he was investigating a palace maid with a mole on his wrist, she knew what happened back then.

But she didn't know that Xiao Liulang was investigating, and only thought that the person investigating the truth was her brother-in-law Lao Jijiu.

The old sacrificial wine was Xiao Heng's teacher, and it made sense for him to investigate Xiao Heng's death.

The reason why she was so desolate and lonely was probably because she had already decided to die at that moment.

He used death to atone for his brother-in-law and his apprentice, and also used death to escape to report this to the master behind the scenes.

What kind of mood did she have when she framed Zhuang Jinse? What kind of mood did he have when he found out that Xiao Heng, who had been poisoned by him, became his brother-in-law's closed disciple one day?

The old sacrifice wine has a sore throat: "It's all for me..."

Zhang Xiu blamed Zhuang Jinse because Zhuang Jinse didn't get along with him, which caused him to be exiled and almost died.

But who would have guessed that he and Zhuang Jinse did not become enemies in the end, but Zhang Xiu took his own life in vain.

After Eunuch Wei had checked, they could take away Zhang Xiu's relics.

Zhang Xiu's relics are very simple, a few sets of clothes and a makeup box. The box contains a few pieces of jewelry that are too old to be old. There are dozens of silver notes hidden in the mezzanine of the box.

There is also the inkstone that Xiao Liulang gave her yesterday.

The eyes of the old sacrifice wine are red.

"Teacher." Xiao Liulang said softly.

"I'm fine." Lao Jijiu wiped away his tears, packed up Zhang Xiu's belongings, and packed them in a bag. When he walked out, he stumbled a bit.

Xiao Liulang supported him.

The old sacrifice wine's voice trembled: "I... I'm really fine."

Clang!

The inkstone slipped out of the bag and hit the ground.

The old sacrificial wine bowed to pick it up.

Xiao Liulang said, "I'll come."

He picked up the inkstone first, "I'll take it."

The old sacrifice wine did not insist.

His mood was very complicated, and his mind was in chaos. He felt that he had harmed Zhang Xiu, and he also felt that he had harmed Xiao Heng.

He choked and said, "You...you don't blame her...you blame me...it's me...she is for me..."

Xiao Liulang sighed: "It wasn't her who would have other people. What's really hateful is the mastermind behind the scenes. Teacher, don't blame yourself. What happened back then has nothing to do with you, and what happened last night didn't matter."

Since he wants to check, he will check this step no matter what.

The relationship between Lao Jijiu and Zhang Xiu only accelerated the process and did not change the result.

Zhang Xiu's ending was doomed from the moment she reached out to an innocent four-year-old child.

He can forgive, but God does not.

The old sacrificial wine went to collect Zhang Xiu's corpse, but Xiao Liulang didn't follow him. Forgiveness was his greatest kindness, and he would not prepare funerals for her.

Xiao Liulang went to Renshou Palace.

Empress Dowager Zhuang continued to read the booklet presented by Master Zhuang in the study. The booklet was passed through her hand before returning it to the minister and presented it to the emperor in the courtroom.

Eunuch Qin stood aside, his eyes lit up when he saw Xiao Liulang, and he said to the Queen Mother Zhuang: "The tea is cold, the servant will go and make a pot of hot tea."

Empress Dowager Zhuang glanced at Xiao Liulang: "Humph."

Eunuch Qin stepped back with a smile, and took the rest of the palace servants with him.

"What are you doing here?" Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at the memorial and asked lukewarmly.

"Passing by." Xiao Liulang said.

Both of them have the temperament that they will die if they explain one more sentence, and neither of them is willing to open their mouths to break the ice first.

"I'm leaving."

It's not a big deal, just come and see.

He has always known that the relationship between the emperor and the empress dowager is not on good terms, but he has not been able to face it like this.

Somewhat worried.

Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at him and turned around, cleared her throat, and asked, "Why do you speak for Aijia?"

Xiao Liulang said indifferently: "There is no reason, the salary of the king bears the worries of the king, and the duty of the minister."

Eunuch Qin, who was eavesdropping on the outside, was about to die of anxiety. It's the duty of a bullshit subject, does it scald your mouth when you say something human?

Anxious to death, anxious to death of a person!

He was not in such a hurry when the emperor and the queen mother were frozen three feet. After all, the emperor's child is really annoying, but Xiao Xiuzhuan is dedicated to the queen mother. They misunderstood that Eunuch Qin was really annoying!

He clearly cares about each other so much, why do they have to be strangers!

clack.

The inkstone in Xiao Liulang's hand slipped and hit the ground. He bent over to pick it up, and the purse in his arms fell out.

Seeing the purse, Empress Dowager Zhuang's eyes moved slightly.

It was the birthday gift that Empress Dowager Zhuang gave to Xiao Liulang on New Year's Eve, and Xiao Jingkong also had one.

Empress Dowager Zhuang embroidered orchid by herself, which was too ugly to look like weeds, so she asked Lao Jijiu to improve it, embroidered it into a piece of green bamboo, and added some stitches to the stitching.

But it's not that pretty after all.

Empress Dowager Zhuang snorted: "Why are you still wearing such an ugly thing? Isn't it ashamed? After all, he is a Hanlin official."

Xiao Liulang didn't say anything, took the purse back into his arms and continued to walk out.

return!

Empress Dowager Zhuang opened her mouth, but in the end she didn't say the words on her lips.

As long as she wasn't so awkward, she wouldn't take so many blames.

Although she did do a lot of bad things.

She threw the fold in her hand irritably, and she was in a bad mood!

Suddenly, Xiao Liulang, who had disappeared, turned back again.

He came back so fast that Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't even have time to restrain the irritability in her eyes.

He took a deep breath, as if gathering some courage, and asked in a low voice, "Why don't I?"

"Huh?" Empress Dowager Zhuang was taken aback.

Xiao Liulang squeezed his fingers, his face flushed, but he continued to summon up his courage to ask, "Why am I the only one without a token?"

Why didn't Renshou Palace prepare anything for me?

...you don't want me?

His tone was as usual, but the grievances in his eyes could not be hidden.

Empress Dowager Zhuang's heart twitched.

The grievance pokes her heart into pain.

She lowered her eyes and whispered, "Aijia...I thought you didn't want it."

"Why don't I want to..."

Before the words were finished, Xiao Liulang stopped.

Aijia thought you didn't want it.

The amount of information in this sentence is enormous.

My aunt's Xiao Liulang would not want it, but Xiao Heng would not want it.

Empress Dowager Zhuang knew who he was.

He also remembered that he once "poisoned" Xiao Heng, and knew that Xiao Heng had always been afraid of her, hated her, and wished he could stay away from her.

"You never thought about..." Ask me?

"Ai's family has thought about it, but Ai's family...is afraid." Empress Dowager Zhuang almost exhausted her life's courage and face to confess her emotions.

Because I care too much, I am afraid of being rejected, so I reject the possibility of being rejected first.

She would rather take the blame a thousand times than confess once.

Her self-esteem is so strong, it's so twisted.

But the trace of grievance in Xiao Liulang's eyes crushed the self-esteem she had accumulated over the decades.

"No, I don't want it." Xiao Liulang turned his face and said, his tone aggrieved and awkward.

He is also a jerk.

He was also ashamed to say it.

And he's still a kid.

in front of the elderly.

Empress Dowager Zhuang looked at him directly, her eyes brightened: "What did you say?"

"Nothing!" Xiao Liulang walked out with a blank expression.

Before he left the Renshou Palace, Eunuch Qin chased after him and said with a smile: "Xiao Xiuzhuan, please stay! You forgot something!"

Xiao Liulang: "I don't."

Eunuch Qin: "There are some! Please come with the servants to get it!"

Xiao Liulang was taken by Eunuch Qin to a side hall of Renshou Palace.

Eunuch Qin pushed open the door and said with a smile, "Please."

Xiao Liulang stepped inside.

The huge side hall, at a glance, is full of bookshelves, and the bookshelves are full of books on display.

On the window sill where the sun shines, there is a desk. The four treasures of the study on the table exude a faint scent of ink, and there is a brocade box in the center of the table.

Eunuch Qin brought the brocade box over: "Here."

Xiao Liulang opened it and found a token of Renshou Palace lying inside.

Eunuch Qin sighed and said: "The queen mother has prepared it long ago, but I don't know why I haven't brought it out. There is also this side hall, which was also transformed by the queen mother. At first, the servants did not understand what the queen mother did to transform such a large library, only today. I finally figured out how to use it.”

They just have a small house, or a small yard, but does he have such a big library?

Xiao Liulang was unbelievable and indescribable.

He didn't suspect that Qin Gonggong's words were fake. After all, the token can be given out, but the library can't be made. The paint smell is brand new and strong.

He stood there blankly, like a dumb little chicken.

It was at this moment that his youthful and mature breath faded from him, and there was a bit of innocence and innocence of a child.

Being forced to grow up is helpless, and being pampered as a child is a kind of luck and happiness.

"Xiao Xiuzhuan." Eunuch Qin found a bag and packed the brocade box and inkstone. When he turned his head, he saw Xiao Liulang's dazed expression, and shook his hand in front of him, "Don't be too happy."

"I'm not too happy either." Xiao Liulang said without changing his face, and walked out hand in hand with the burden.

Eunuch Qin with black lines on his face: "..."

Xiao Liulang, leaning on a cane in one hand and holding a brocade box in the other, walked most of the Renshou Palace with his hands and feet, stunned by the eunuchs and maids of Renshou Palace.

He looks like a dog, is he so mentally retarded when he walks? !

Xiao Liulang had already left the Renshou Palace, but he paused and turned back.

He was standing outside Empress Dowager Zhuang's study.

did not go in.

Empress Dowager Zhuang said indifferently: "It's unnecessary to thank you, Ai's family is numb."

Damn, what I said just now is enough to make her regret it, she was only defeated by this kid's grievances.

Give her another chance, she will stab him in the heart a hundred times with a knife, and she will never admit that she is afraid of being rejected by him.

Xiao Liulang pursed his lips, poked his head in from outside the door, and complained naively: "Auntie, Master Zhuang bullied me!"

After all, he ran away in a hurry!

Well, this was the first time I was so naive, I was so embarrassed that I forgot that I was still a lame man. As soon as I ran, I stumbled, rolled down the steps, and fell on the grass!

Everyone: "..."

They just didn't see it.

The corners of Empress Dowager Zhuang's lips twitched imperceptibly, and in the next second, she regained her indifference and said majestic and domineering: "Master Xuanzhuang!"

Maybe I stayed up too much late at night some time ago, people are very tired, and I can sleep directly in front of the computer desk.

This month's updates are more than last month. Basically, seven or eight thousand words are guaranteed every day, and sometimes nine thousand words are overdrafted.

In fact, on Monday, the editor informed me to reduce the update and prepare to save the manuscript. I told the editor that the update will not be reduced until the specific date comes out. Let the readers read more first, and the date is confirmed. I will increase the code word every day. Strength, should also be able to complete the task.

But I didn't expect to update seven or eight thousand every day and hand in two extra drafts at the same time, which was completely overdrawn.

There are not many updates today, please forgive me.

I will adjust as soon as possible, good night.