Chapter 2 The poor prince

Half a year passed quickly. In June of the fourth year of Guanghe (AD 181), the scorching sun scorched the earth like flames, and the city of Luoyang in the afternoon was exceptionally quiet. The defense of the capital's land should have been extraordinarily strict, but even the well-trained gatekeepers couldn't stand it in such a hot weather.Under the big sun, there was no wind, and the armor was so hot that he would definitely suffer from heat stroke after a long time, so he had to pour cold water heavily, put his back against the city gate, and take advantage of the little shade under the city wall to avoid the heat.Even so, the hot air rising from the bottom of the feet is still uncomfortably hot, and the scenery in front of me is hazy.

Just when several city gate soldiers were drowsy, they heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance, and a white horse hurriedly came from the direction of Zhengdong Palace.The horse-riding man was tall and anxious, wearing a soap-colored official uniform and a sable crown. The most striking thing was that this man had no beard, and a bright yellow golden lacquered saber was tied under his ribs. It's bright and eye-catching—the imperial court has a system, and only eunuchs can wear yellow waist sabers. The eunuch was desperate. In the blink of an eye, he had galloped to the gate of the city.There are eleven city gates on all sides of Luoyang City, and there is absolutely no reason to pass by them on horseback.No matter how great the official is, he must dismount if he enters and exits without the king's order.But the eunuch was anxious and sweaty, and when he rushed to the edge of the city, he beat his horse without any intention of stopping.A soldier guarding the gate saw him and hurried to stop him with his halberd.Unexpectedly, the soldiers beside him pulled him away: "Don't stop! We can't afford to provoke this man!"

While speaking, the eunuch had already rode his horse into the city gate, and very quickly took out his official seal and waved it in front of everyone, shouting: "Someone is the yellow gate in front of the imperial court, and there is something important to do in the West Garden, please get out of the way quickly! "Before everyone could see clearly, he had already knocked down two soldiers, and the flying horse left Luoyang Yongmen, heading west all the way. "What the hell is that! What's so great about a stinky eunuch." The soldier who was knocked down got up and muttered a few words.

"Shut up, don't cause trouble for me." Bingtou glared at him, "You don't know him? That's Jian Shuo, the eunuch who guarded the emperor in front of him. He was so popular. If you make him angry, just say a word, eight generations The ancestral graves have been dug up for you!" The soldier was so frightened that he stuck out his tongue, patted the dirt on his body, and dared not speak any more. Since the power eunuch Wang Fu fell from power, and Cao Jie died of illness the next year, these two great eunuchs who had power and intervened in politics finally withdrew from the stage of history forever.However, due to Emperor Liu Hong's indulgence, other eunuchs rose up one after another, and those eunuchs were headed by Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong.Although these two people are not as domineering as Wang Fu, and not as cunning as Cao Jie, but they took care of the emperor himself and grew up.

Only Jian Shuo is an exception.Because he was born with a tall horse, a big horse, and a mighty appearance, he was quite relied on by the emperor Liu Hong. He was ordered to supervise the Habayashi Army to defend the palace, and he could even dispatch the soldiers and horses of the Weiwei and the Seventh Department. This is still unique among eunuchs since the Han Dynasty .Although Jian Shuo has military power, he is not a treacherous villain. Except that he had a dishonest uncle who was killed by Cao Cao, this man has no record of corruption and bribery.Jian Shuo is like Liu Hong's watchdog. His creed in life is to obey orders, and obey the emperor's orders completely.As for whether the emperor's orders were right or wrong, he never considered them.Driven by this pure belief, he indeed defended the palace like an iron bucket.

The reason why Emperor Liu Hong arranged this was because he always felt that the palace was not safe.The experience of his youth is the most memorable. When he was twelve years old, the struggle between Wang Fu and Dou Wu led to a coup. Grand Tutor Chen Fan led more than 80 imperial scholars to break into the palace without any effort. Some people left slanderous books on the palace without anyone noticing.Since they can come and go freely like this, how can they prevent the assassination of the king?For this reason, he specially found Jian Shuo, this absolutely loyal little Huangmen. But when the security problem of the palace was resolved, Liu Hong refused to live in it.The reason is simple. Since the completion of the construction of the West Garden, which he has always dreamed of, he has plunged into it in the name of escaping the summer heat, and never wants to come out again.

The West Garden is the most spectacular and unique royal garden since the Han Dynasty, and its scale far exceeds that of Hongde Garden and Lingkun Garden since ZTE.It was designed according to the mythical fairyland in the legend, and it was built by Liu Hong's confidant, the eunuch, and the skilled craftsmen from all over the world. In order to build this courtyard, Liu Hong did not hesitate to increase donations and taxes to promote corvee labor, he did not hesitate to abandon the renovation of important border defense areas, he did not hesitate to confiscate the properties of ministers such as Song Feng, Wang Fu, and Duan Jiong, and he even did not hesitate to sell officials on public scales to collect money.In this imperial garden, there are large man-made hunting grounds, as many as 1,000 houses for palace ladies and maids, Taiye lotus ponds made by digging canals, and Penglai, abbot, etc. made of precious stones. The three islands of Yingzhou, the Liuxiang Canal dyed red with rouge powder, the naked swimming pool for Liu Hong to play in the water for fun, and the entire West Garden is filled with a luxurious and lustful atmosphere...

The most exaggerated thing is that, in order to facilitate the sale of officials and nobles, Liu Hong built a Wanjin Hall in the West Garden, which means ten thousand taels of gold, and specially sent his confidant eunuchs to register and sell officials here. It can be said that the price is clearly marked.During the days when he lived in the West Garden, he even moved all the ministers and officials to the side hall of Wanjintang to handle affairs, so that he could "ingeniously" convey government orders at any time. Today, as usual, Liu Hong was lazily lying on the Wanjin Hall with carved beams and painted buildings. A court lady had fanned a palace fan for him, held an incense burner, and prepared iced seasonal fruits for him; Yiyi stands on the left and right.But Jia Hu, the waiter who sat across from him and played chess with him, was not so relaxed: the emperor wanted to play chess with him, and he dared not not accompany him, but his chess skills are ten thousand times stronger than the emperor, if he loses, it would be too fake and flattering. But winning can't be too easy, that would arouse Holy Wrath, and he was thinking hard about how to win with only one hand.

At the same time, Liu Hong's most admired Shangshu Liang Hu is showing off his calligraphy with splashed ink, Jiang Lan, who was born as a painter, is also showing off his wonderful brushwork, and Ren Zhi, a servant, is playing Yaoqin for fun. Jia Hu, Liang Hu, Jiang Lan, and Ren Zhi, although these people worshiped high-ranking officials such as Shangshu and Shizhong, they did not get promoted by virtue of their knowledge and political achievements. They were all from Hongdu School.These people are euphemistically called bachelors, but in fact they just have certain artistic expertise and are responsible for entertaining the emperor.

The four elegant events of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting were carried out at the same time, and Liu Hong was as carefree as a god, and he had long since left the sufferings of the people's livelihood and military and state affairs out of the blue.He was happy not only because of his sensuality, but also because his favorite Wang Meiren gave birth to a little prince for him not long ago.Now apart from indulging in pleasure, the mother and son are the only people he cares about. Suddenly, a loud noise broke the happy atmosphere, and Jian Shuo scrambled into the hall from outside the hall.

"What's wrong?" Liu Hong sat up all of a sudden. The weather was too hot, and Jian Shuo came all the way on horseback. His clothes were already soaked in sweat, as if he had just been fished out of the water.He was out of breath, feeling dizzy, but still forced himself to kneel down on the ground: "I tell Your Majesty, Beauty Wang died suddenly." Ren Zhi, who was playing the qin, was startled. He made a wrong move in his hand and made a piercing high-pitched sound, and the strings snapped.Liang Hu and Jiang Lan stopped writing in fright, and the chess piece in Jia Hu's hand also fell to the ground, and everyone's eyes turned to the emperor. The corners of Liu Hong's mouth trembled twice, and he remained silent for a long time.He couldn't believe the fact that if the emperor could forget his identity and devote himself wholeheartedly to a woman, Wang Meiren was just such a woman.He fell in love with Liu Hong from the first time he met her. This kind of desire from the heart and the feeling of flying together are far from what he can compare with the couple's covenant with Song Hou and He Hou.In the palace, in the West Garden, in the Lingkun Garden, every place bears the feelings between them. In his mind, she is not only a symbol of beauty, but a kind of support that a woman gives to a man. The passage of time, the fading of appearance and diluting.Liu Hong sat there blankly, with his mouth half open and his eyes glazed over. The first question that popped up in his mind was - what about the little prince?The mother was gone at birth... After silent thinking, tears flowed down unconsciously. "Your Majesty, take care of the dragon's body." Everyone fell to their knees. Liu Hong wiped away his tears: "She, she... why did she leave me suddenly?" "The slave will return the favor." Jian Shuo knelt and crawled two steps forward. Liu Hong's eyes lit up, knowing that there was a lot to be said, and immediately stopped crying: "Could it be... why did Wang Meiren collapse suddenly?" Jian Shuo hesitated for a moment, and lowered his head: "This matter is shocking, please long live Back off left and right." "Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong stay here, and everyone else goes out." After Jia Hu and other four people and all the court ladies had left the palace, Liu Hong got up and approached Jian Shuo, "Say it!" "No." Jian Shuo took a deep breath, "At two quarters in the afternoon, the empress sent his confidants and eunuchs to dismiss the imperial doctor and give the beauty Wang a meal, and the beauty Wang died after eating." Liu Hong was fine, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong turned pale with fright.Empress He was the daughter of a butcher, her background was humble, and she was admitted to the palace on their recommendation. In order to help He win the harem, they did not hesitate to collude with Wang Fu to create an injustice case of witchcraft, which killed the former Empress Song. Today's He family can be said to be both damaged and prosperous with them. If they are unlucky in the future, their end will not be far away.It was obvious that Wang Meiren was more favored than the queen now, and gave birth to a little prince, which directly threatened her status.Empress He herself is taking her predecessor and replacing her, so how can she not know how to be prepared for danger in times of peace?To poison Wang Meiren is to kill the grass and prevent it from happening.Unfortunately, Jian Shuo exposed all the secrets. Liu Hong turned from sadness to anger, but after all, he couldn't speak ill of the queen in front of his servants, so he just gritted his teeth and said, "How is my little prince?" kill. Jian Shuo handled the matter quite properly: "The little prince is still in the Palace of the Queen of Beauty, and is being taken care of by the wet nurse. The little one has repeatedly instructed the palace servants not to allow anyone to approach him, but please come back quickly..." He didn't finish his speech , Just listen to the warrior outside the hall calling: "Long live Qi, the queen sent the yellow gate to ask for an audience." "The queen's job? Huh!" Liu Hong sneered, "Call him in immediately." In a blink of an eye, a little yellow door covered his face and ran in with a dry cry, pretending to panic and knelt down on the ground: "Report to the emperor, Miss Wang died of a postpartum stroke, and the empress sent a young lady to report to the emperor. Long live you! Don't be sad, take care of your dragon body..." "What did you say?" Liu Hong couldn't hold back his anger any longer, he left the throne, stepped forward and grabbed the clothes of the little yellow door: "Tell me again! How did Wang Meiren die?" The eunuch saw the emperor's expression No, with a quick glance, I saw Jian Shuo kneeling beside her, knowing that the matter had been revealed, but it was hard to stop, so I had to bite the bullet and insist: "Beauty Wang is... a postpartum stroke." "Crash" - Liu Hong picked up the chessboard that he played just now, and hit the eunuch hard on the head.In an instant, the emerald chessboard was shattered, and the eunuch was beaten to the ground, his face covered with blood.Where did Liu Hong allow him to say anything, his eye sockets were almost cracked, and he shouted to Jian Shuo: "You take this bastard slave out and chop it up!" "You are wronged! This slave is wronged... Your Majesty's mercy... It's nothing to do with slaves, it's the empress who asked me to say this... Your grace..." The eunuch struggled desperately, but was still dragged away by Jian Shuo and his guards . Liu Hong is not in the mood to care about his injustice at the moment, his grief has completely turned into anger at Empress He: I have indulged you for too long, and the empress asked you to become an official. I have no objection to letting your brother be an official. I want to transfer your elder brother to the capital again, and I have changed my face when I see you. I don’t need to believe the rumors that you killed the Empress Song, but now I am going to attack the person I love the most. This time, I will definitely not let you live again! While thinking about it, he rushed out of the Wanjin Hall, not caring about the majesty of the royal family, he casually pulled a royal horse, rode on it and led a team of guards to the palace.The dead don't take care of the living first, although Jian Shuo has ordered someone to protect the prince, but the queen can do anything, he has to hold the child in his arms to feel at ease.When Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong understood, the emperor had already gone two miles away. They hurriedly mounted their horses together with Jian Shuo, shouting and yelling to chase after Sheng Jia. Liu Hong turned a deaf ear and led the galloping horse team out of the West Garden, into the Yongmen Gate, and into the imperial palace without stopping for a moment.Until the Royal Court got off the horse, Liu Hong was the first to go through the corridor and across the building to the side hall of Wang Meiren.As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw a palace maid sneaking out with a yellow satin swaddle. Liu Hong knew that she was the Queen's person.He stepped forward, reached out and snatched the swaddle, and opened it - it was the little prince Liu Xie!Liu Hong hugged the child, and slapped the maid in return.The palace maid knew that the situation was not good, she quickly covered her face and knelt down and explained: "My Majesty, it is the empress who is afraid that the little prince will not be good if he stays with the dead for a long time, so she asked the servant to take him to Changqiu Palace to take care of him." Liu Hong didn't bother to talk to her: "It's a bunch of nonsense... Come here! Stretch this bitch to death!" After saying that, he entered the hall with his son in his arms.At this moment, the palace is in a mess, Gao Wang, the eunuch of the Shangyao Supervisor, is busy with all the eunuchs, maids, and imperial doctors.Suddenly seeing the emperor rushing in angrily with the child in his arms without anyone notifying him, everyone was startled, they knelt down sparsely, and greeted him unevenly.Those who don't know what's going on are still feeling sorry for the emperor, and those who know the details have raised their hearts in their throats - this mess is no small matter! Liu Hong ignored anyone, and walked to the bed of Wang Meiren in two or three steps. "Concubine Ai... Originally said that I would take your mother and child into the garden after the general was raised. Why did you leave aggrieved?" He stared blankly at the dead body for a while, and his eyes recovered in an instant. Mingliang suddenly turned his head and asked, "Where is the imperial doctor?" "Your servant is waiting!" The three gray-bearded old men knelt and crawled two steps forward. Liu Hong asked coldly: "Why did Beauty Wang die?" The three gasped, lowered their heads, and no one dared to make a sound. "Say it!" Liu Hong urged. The three of them moved their mouths without making a sound—of course the emperor must not be deceived, but the queen must not be offended either! "I'll ask you one last time, why did Beauty Wang die?" Liu Hong's voice was already a little off. The old imperial doctor in charge boldly said: "She is...postpartum disorder...Suddenly she died of a stroke, and became ill..."--"Death" was not enough to be said, Liu Hong was furious: "Bastard! You take me Are you a fool? The child has been born for a few months, and you still have postpartum wind? Come here..." He hopped around with the child in his arms, and poked his finger on the forehead of the old imperial doctor, "Take the concubine Ai's leftover just now. Give the old man a gulp of his lunch, I think if he dies, it will be considered postpartum wind!" "Your Majesty, have mercy..." the old man shouted, and was immediately dragged out by the following warriors.The remaining two people were scared out of their wits, and one of the old men couldn't bear it any longer. He fell to the ground trembling and foaming at the mouth, and was scared to death.Liu Hong grabbed the other one and asked, "You're the only one left. Tell me! How did Beauty Wang die?" "Yes... yes... poisoned to death..." The man didn't dare to hide anymore. "Speak louder!" "Beauty Wang was poisoned and died." Liu Hong let go of his hand, and glanced back at the kneeling palace people: "Did you all hear it... did you hear it... did you hear it!?" Finally, it turned into a roar. Everyone was so frightened that they put their heads on the ground, trembling and dared not speak; the little prince's wet nurse boldly stepped forward to pick up the child, but was kicked to the ground by Liu Hong: "Get out of the way! No one wants to touch my son! "Everyone knelt and backed away, and suddenly no one dared to approach the emperor within ten feet. Like a hungry wolf, Liu Hong paced back and forth in the hall, holding the crying child in his arms. At this time, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong also rushed to the outside of the hall, seeing the scene inside, they slowed down.Zhang Rang felt that someone was pulling his lapel, and looked down, Gao Wang, the supervisor of Shangyao, was kneeling at his feet—Gao Wang was in charge of the medicinal materials, and even if he didn't know about such a thing, he couldn't escape his responsibility. Seeing the emperor pressuring the imperial doctor, he quickly retreated outside the palace.He pulled Zhang Rang's skirt, lowered his head and muttered in a low voice: "Be careful! One has been killed, and the other is scared to death." Zhang Rang thought: "How did you know that the two of you were already slaughtered before entering the palace!" He swallowed, he shouldn't have stepped forward at this juncture, but Empress He was pushed up by him alone, and he was involved here Interests.What's more, the witchcraft case of Empress Song was concocted by myself, Empress He and Wang Fu together. If she was really thrown out of the violent room, if the old things were brought up, I would have to move my head.Even if things are not guaranteed, they have to be guaranteed!Thinking of this, he took a deep breath and stepped into the hall, knelt down in front of the emperor and said, "Long live, calm down." Liu Hong turned his head: "You came just in time! Go and pass the queen to me!" "Slave...slave implores Long Live to be merciful." "You know I'm going to abolish her, don't you?" Liu Hong sneered, "Hey hey... what kind of favour? Why didn't she do so? What's wrong with Wang Meiren? Also, what happened to the witchcraft case of Empress Song? What's going on?" Fear of what will happen, the emperor knows everything in his heart, Zhang Rang's heart beat wildly.He still wanted to say something good for the queen, but his mouth was tightly blocked by reason. "Do you dare to resist the edict?" Liu Hong stared at him, "Go!" "Slaves...slaves are really..." Zhang Rang didn't know what to say. Liu Hong didn't get angry with him, raised his head and shouted: "Zhao Zhong! If he doesn't go, you go! Pass on my oral order, first abolish He and then become a picking girl, and put him in the violence room and detain him!" After making up his mind, he hugged Liu Hong's leg and said, "Your Majesty, you can't do this!" "Bold!" Liu Hong kicked his arms away, "Why do you keep her for such a bitch!" Zhang Rang stumbled, climbed two steps and hugged his legs tightly, and continued to remonstrate: "The emperor Think twice! How can the royal family have the reason to abolish the mother of the country repeatedly!" As soon as these words came out, Liu Hong's heart trembled slightly: Yes!The clan of Empress Song has already died, and now Empress He is going to be abolished. How can there be an emperor in the world who kills two empresses in a row? The palace scandal is spread, do you want to lose the face of the royal family?How will future generations of historians write about themselves?But if she hadn't been abolished, beauty Wang would have died in vain... Liu Hong was a little embarrassed, feeling as if his head was going to explode, he broke free from Zhang Rang, took two steps back and fell on the bed. Zhang Rang saw that he was moved, but he didn't dare to say anything casually, he just knocked his head loudly; the most pitiful thing was Zhao Zhong, who had already received the order of the emperor's abolished empress, seeing this situation now, he would either go or stay , Both left and right feet fought. "The empress dowager is here..." With a cry, Mrs. Dong strolled in from behind; Jian Shuo stood beside her, carefully supporting her.It turned out that Jian Shuo had killed the little Huangmen sent by the empress. Knowing that the emperor's return to the palace would be a big mess, he stopped chasing Shengjia and hurriedly moved to Yongle Palace to invite the empress dowager to preside over the overall situation. "Mother's queen!" Liu Hong saw his mother approaching slowly in annoyance, and suddenly lost the anger just now, like a child who just lost a beloved toy: "Wang Meiren is dead..." Empress Dowager Dong had already learned the whole story from Jian Shuo, but she didn't mention the Queen's matter, she just gently took the baby from Liu Hong's arms, patted the crying baby, and said: "Death cannot be resurrected, so don't be too sad. There is no reason for a man to cry over a woman? Besides, you are the emperor, you must restrain your grief! You and I don’t feel at ease with this child being raised elsewhere, I think it’s better for the Ai family to raise him.” She pinched the child’s cheeks as she spoke. The little hand sighed slightly. "I'm going to abolish the queen, what does the queen mother think?" Empress Dowager Dong frowned: Actually, she didn't like this Empress He from the bottom of her heart, just because she herself was born as a feudal concubine, so she couldn't be regarded as a real empress dowager, so she couldn't hold back Empress He.And what annoyed her the most was that after He Hou gave birth to the eldest prince Liu Bian, she even fostered the child in the home of Taoist Shi Zimiao in the name of praying for blessings, causing all civil and military officials to secretly call the eldest prince "Shihou".If she had followed her old man's wishes, Empress He should have been abolished a long time ago... But she had heard Zhang Rang's words outside just now. After all, it is not a good thing for an empress to be abolished again and again.Since she entered the palace as a feudal concubine, there have been endless scandals in the palace, and if such a big event happened again, the royal family would really lose its majesty.Now that this miserable little grandson is in her arms, her future life will no longer be boring with her grandson's company, and she doesn't bother to worry about anything else, so she sighed: "Oh... Your Majesty, the deposed empress... You make up your own mind, no matter how you deal with it, the Ai family will agree." "This..." Liu Hong was at a loss when he heard what his mother said, "Jian Shuo, what do you think?" Jian Shuo was startled, how dare he speak casually about such things?Quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "How dare a petty one talk too much about royal affairs? I'm a dull servant, and I don't know how to deal with this matter. Long live the dragon's will!" Seeing that he was evading it, Liu Hong hesitated even more.In ordinary government affairs, you can issue an edict to ask the ministers, but this kind of matter should not be publicized, so how can you ask the ministers?He frowned severely, shaking his head and sighing. When Zhang Rang heard that the Empress Dowager Dong and Jian Shuo were unwilling to interfere, his heart was finally more than half relieved, and he hurriedly said while the iron was hot: "Your servant thinks that the queen is wrong in every possible way, but you have to think about it for the eldest prince! Beauty Wang is dead, and the little prince has lost his mother. Do you want the eldest prince to lose his mother? What does it feel like for a child to leave his mother..." He stopped abruptly at this point, and only kowtowed repeatedly, "Please, Your Majesty. Forgive me!" This is too powerful!Emperor Liu Hong himself lost his father when he was young, and was unexpectedly welcomed into the palace and became the emperor.He was only twelve years old that year, and he had to leave his dependent mother and run to the palace to call Empress Dowager Dou his mother. He didn't take Empress Dowager Dong into the palace until he took office. He himself knew the pain of having a child without a mother.Thinking that the two princes would have to suffer the same in the future, he immediately softened his heart. At this moment, led by Zhao Zhong, Shangyao Supervisor Gao Wang, Goudun Ling Song Dian, Director of Yutang Cheng Kuang, Zhonggong Ling Duan Gui, Huangmen Ling Li Song, Yeting Ling Bi Lan, etc. The eunuchs of one party kowtowed and begged: "Long live, please rest the wrath of the thunder, and forgive the queen for now." Liu Hong didn't want to discuss this matter any more, so he just waved his hand: "Let's leave it to the queen, I won't kill her... I won't kill anyone..." Then he wandered to Wang Meiren's body in a trance, silently guarding his lover. Empress Dowager Dong also breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Majesty, please take a look at her again. The Ai family will bring the grandson back to the palace first, and come here when you are young...Jian Shuo, follow me." temple. "I'm sorry to trouble you today, but such things must not be spread out. If you talk about it, the consequences will be..." Empress Dowager Dong changed the subject and patted the grandson in her arms sadly, "Poor little girl!" Son, your mother is gone, from now on grandma will love you...your mother is pretty good, she is kind to the emperor, respectful to the Ai family, and good to the people below." Her words seemed to be to a child, but also like It was said to Jian Shuo, "Wang Meiren's grandfather is the late Wang Bao, a man of five senses. She sent it to the mausoleum as an example of a nobleman, and it turned out that the maids and eunuchs in her palace, together with the remaining imperial doctor, were all sent to the mausoleum, and they will continue to serve their master in the future, this is a kind of condolences." Then serve their master?Kill and silence!Jian Shuo understood her intention.Even though it was a scorching hot weather, the back of the neck kept getting chills, and he had to flatter: "This is the mercy of your old lady, the Empress Dowager." While talking, I saw Lu Qiang, the eunuch who usually assisted the emperor in handling government affairs, running happily holding two scrolls of bamboo slips.One can tell at a glance that he must have been busy in the province and has no idea what happened here. "My servant greets the Empress Dowager!" Lu Qiang saluted the Empress Dowager loudly. "Get up." Lu Qiang got up slowly, turned sideways and asked Jian Shuo: "Is the emperor in the palace? I have something to report." "No need!" Before Jian Shuo could reply, Empress Dong had already made the decision, "Beauty Wang died of a postpartum stroke, and the emperor is in grief. If you have anything to do with me, I will tell the emperor." "No. I'm telling the Queen Mother, there is a good news today. The governor Zhu Jun defeated tens of thousands of rebels with only five thousand miscellaneous soldiers. He has put down the rebellion in Jiaozhou." "What a Zhu Jun, Ai Jia will tell the emperor that he will definitely reward him." "Also," Lu Qiang reported again, "Uncle He Jin was appointed as a master craftsman①, and has arrived in the capital, please come to the palace to thank Sheng'en, and also to pay respects to the Queen Mother and Empress." "Hahaha..." Empress Dowager Dong thought it was a bit funny when He came in, "You advise He Jin on behalf of Ai's family and tell him to enter the palace another day. If he faces the emperor today, he will definitely die." After finishing speaking, she hugged the emperor's grandson , Leaving aside the bewildered Lu Qiang and the fearful Jian Shuo, they headed back to their own Yongle Palace three steps at a time. "Little grandson, good grandson, don't cry. Grandma will sing you a ballad..." Empress Dowager Dong loves this child, and she does not hand it over to the palace people, and always holds it by herself.Back in Yongle Palace, she unwrapped her baby and held her grandson's little hand.Maybe it was really fate that she was destined to have this grandson, but the little prince Liu Xie really stopped crying and fell asleep clutching his grandma's thumb. Empress Dowager Dong looked at the immature face of the poor grandson, and suddenly a flash of inspiration flashed in her mind: How wonderful it would be if such a cute child could inherit the throne in the future! Once this idea arises, it is as irresistible as a spark.Empress Dowager Dong then regretted it, why didn't she go down and kill Shi Zhihe just now?That would ensure that this little doll inherits the great treasure!Such a good opportunity was missed... But she didn't give up: What's the big deal if you abandon the elders and establish the younger ones?Since the ancestors Emperor Jing, Emperor Wu, and even Lord Guangwu have done it, why can't we abolish the elders and establish the younger?She also thought of He Jin and He Miao's relatives in the He family, and she wanted to call her nephew Dong Chong into the court, and the Dong family would support Xiao Liu Xie to inherit the imperial line... From then on, Liu Xie was raised in Empress Dowager Dong's palace. Compared with Liu Bian, the "Marquis of Shi" who grew up in Shi Dao's family, the little prince Liu Xie was secretly called "Dong Hou".Because of these two children, Empress Dowager Dong and Empress He went from seemingly close to each other to a complete break, and a new round of court struggles kicked off, which also laid a huge hidden danger for the Han Dynasty.