Chapter 18 Mother’s partiality
The wide-sleeved robe of inky and purple colors unfolded and fell down. Queen Mother Ji Man had already knelt down and sat beside Chang'an Lord Zhao Jiao.
She tied up her sleeves and took off her armor. She held the splint on Zhao Jiao's calf with both hands and looked at it carefully.
"Mother, it hurts! Don't move!"
Zhao Jiao wailed and shrank back, saying repeatedly: "The imperial doctor has already seen it, and he will be fine within a hundred days. Brother Wang was setting my bones, and almost killed my son. Ouch, it hurts!"
The Queen Mother's hand touched the splint lightly for a moment, then retracted it.
The hall was quiet.
Zhao Jiao's whining voice gradually became quieter due to pain, and the Queen Mother raised her head and looked outside.
The chamberlain who was standing at the door immediately withdrew, closed the door and left. The servants who were sweeping the courtyard also withdrew. Even the number of doctors and commanders who had increased in number in the palace due to the fire were forced to go out.
Zhao Jiao raised his head and looked at the Queen Mother, his shoulders trembling in shock.
The pity and distress in the Queen Mother's expression were no longer there, replaced by rapidly rising stared at Zhao Jiao's face in silence. Her snow-white skin gradually turned red. She seemed not to be breathing. A breath of turbid air was held in her chest and lungs, and finally exploded like thunder.
"I don't know what to do!"
The Queen Mother raised her sleeves and waved at Zhao Jiao. The uneven seaweed pattern embroidered with gold and silver threads on the edge of her wide sleeves left no trace on Zhao Jiao's face, but it caused him burning pain.
"Queen Mother, Queen Mother!" Zhao Jiao only took a step away, then cried and leaned forward at the Queen Mother's feet, hugging the hem of her skirt.
"My son is in pain. My son is wrong. Mother, please don't hit me."
Like when he made a mistake as a child, he cried and asked for his mother's forgiveness.
Other children in the palace always ran away when they made mistakes, or stubbornly allowed themselves to be beaten and Zhao Jiao was different. He would cry, hug his mother, and beg for mercy, saying that he was in pain and that he was wrong.
His tears and cries often made the Queen Mother soften.
However, this time, the Queen Mother allowed him to plead and hit him more than 20 times on the back of the head and back, until she was tired and then stopped.
Zhao Jiao's exposed skin was red and swollen.
"You know you're wrong, why do you still do it?"
The Queen Mother pushed him away, looked at Zhao Jiao's tearful face, and asked.
That night, Zhao Jiao ordered his cronies in the Queen Mother's Palace to set fire to Zhiyang Palace.
The chamberlain set the fire and fled back to Da Zheng Palace, where he was caught by the guards of the Queen Mother's Palace.
Just after he was interrogated about what he had done and who ordered him, he heard the news of the guards blocking the palaces.
The Queen Mother made a decisive decision and first killed the eunuch to cover up the scandal, and then ordered people to put the fire starter brought back by the eunuch into the side hall where Wei Nanxu lived.
She knew that Zhao Zheng was someone who wouldn't give up. If he couldn't find out who it was, he would keep investigating.
Wei Nanxu happened to live in the palace, so he became the best candidate to frame him.
As for the friendship between her and Wei Zhangde, who met as a young boy and helped the late king succeed to the throne, we have no time to pay attention to it for the time being.
But it was obvious that Zhao Zheng did not completely believe it.
He let Wei Nanxu go, ordered Wei Zhangde to await his punishment in the mansion, and asked Wei Weijun to continue investigating clues.
Zhao Jiao came back today. Even if he made various attempts to clear away the suspicion, the Queen Mother was extremely angry.
"Mother," Zhao Jiao answered with tears when faced with the Queen Mother's question, "My son is unwilling to give in."
"Children are the most filial. During the days when my father was seriously ill, my children served me with soup and medicine. I never left my mother, and I never stopped greeting my mother every day. My greatest wish in my life is that my mother can live forever, so that my children can live forever." I am filial to my knees. But why did everything change when Brother Wang came back? My father wanted to establish a direct heir, and the Queen Mother and the Prime Minister also praised Brother Wang! He is just a few years younger, and his son is not qualified to be me. The king of Dayong is not qualified to accompany his mother, so he can only go to the fiefdom to suffer?"
Because of his sadness, Zhao Jiao's tone was sad and his words were confused. He burst into tears, lowered his head and sobbed.
"Unwilling?" The Queen Mother did not relent at all and said sternly, "Do you think your brother became the king of Dayong just because he was a few years older than you? Your brother has been sent away by the late king since he was six years old. Foreign countries were used as pledges. Within 12 years, he traveled to six countries, learned the languages of the six countries, investigated the folk customs of the six countries, understood the affairs of the six countries, and got to know the kings and ministers of the six countries! He returned to the capital, answered the questions with the courtiers, and the late king was so happy that he said "Zong" "You can die with peace of mind." And what about you, Lord Chang'an? Have you ever suffered any hardships since you were a child? Have you ever experienced a narrow escape from being favored and doted on? Have you ever searched all over Jiuzhou for seeing stars in a well? "
These words were spoken in one breath, making the Queen Mother unable to breathe and had to slap her chest waited for a long time before sighing again: "Mr. Chang'an, how can you not be willing to give in?"
Zhao Jiao, who was red-faced after being scolded by the Queen Mother, was stunned for a moment, and then he said dejectedly: "Those things can be learned by children; if he can do it, children can also do it; children were raised by their father, queen and mother, how could they do that?" Are you so unworthy that you are incapable of becoming the king of a country?"
Seeing Lord Chang'an crying, ashamed and embarrassed, the Queen Mother couldn't help but reach out and touch his face.
"You can't do it." Her voice was cold, "I, Dayong, no longer need a king who protects the land. What I, Dayong, want is a king who opens up borders. A king who opens up borders wants to put an end to chaos, get rid of traitors, and The imperial commander personally conquered the six kingdoms, and conquered the Yue people in the south and attacked the Xiongnu in the north. This has been the wish of generations of royal families in the 500 years of our Dayong Dynasty. The late king said that only your brother can fulfill this wish."
Chang'an Jun opened his mouth in surprise, as if he thought what the Queen Mother said was too the Six Kingdoms?
How can it be?
When his father was still alive, Dayong encountered two alliances between the six they reached Hangu Pass, and once they entered Hangu Pass, they attacked Wucheng, which was only eighty miles away from the capital.
Although the country was not destroyed, Yong was defeated twice.
The Queen Mother nodded, with a trace of ridicule on her face. Looking at her most pampered son, she breathed a sigh of relief and said: "If you win, you will unify China and open up a territory larger than the Zhou Dynasty. If you lose, you will be like the Jin Kingdom." Divided by the remaining countries, Dayong no longer exists. Do you dare to do this?"
Chang'an Jun backed up with his hands on the ground.
He shook his head, the horror on his face seemed that he was already on a fierce battlefield, where he would die if he advanced or retreated.
"No, no, no, mother, why are you doing this? These countries have been at war or at peace for 500 years. Why do I, Dayong, want to come forward and unify China?"
The Queen Mother stood up, looked at Zhao Jiao with compassion and pity, and said softly and firmly: "The Queen Mother doesn't know why. Maybe it is to leave a name for Qingshi, or maybe it is to wash away the humiliation. The Queen Mother is telling you this, just to let you know, Don't be unwilling. Living well and enjoying the glory and wealth is the best ending for your life. If your mother saves you once, she will not save you for the rest of your life. Zhao Zheng is setting your bones today to warn you to take the right path and know how to advance and retreat."
Zhao Jiao was immediately stunned.
"Brother Wang knows...it's me?"
The Queen Mother shook her head.
"Wei Xiangguo is blocking you this time. You should take good care of your injuries."
After she finished speaking, she didn't stop. The hand that was stroking Zhao Jiao slowly fell down, and she stood up and left.
Zhao Zheng, who just squatted down to set Chang'an Jun's bones, returned to the table and sat down, was already sweating from the pain.
Originally, people had to sit on their knees to eat, but because of Zhao Zheng's injury, the waiter specially built a table for people to sit and knows that if a person does not cherish his own body, it will be useless no matter how thoughtful others think.
Jiang He sprinkled the chopped beans and fine salt into the sunflower soup, then used chopsticks to break up a piece of stewed mutton, then added it to the vegetable soup and fragrant smell spread. She scooped up a spoonful and smelled it, then added a few drops of sour vinegar and took a bite with satisfaction.
The mutton is fragrant, the sunflower sprouts are tender, the vinegar covers up the greasiness, and the taste is just right.
Jiang He then remembered to ask Zhao Zhengdao: "Why did your Majesty do it yourself when the imperial doctor was here?"
Zhao Zheng's eyes fell on her bowl of homemade mutton and vegetable soup, and he said calmly: "I am afraid that the imperial doctor will be too harsh, so I have to do it myself."
You just have to be serious!
Jiang He pursed his lips and continued to eat. After finishing the bowl of vegetable soup, he saw Zhao Zheng's chopsticks picking up the mutton, so he raised his chopsticks to stop him and said, "Your Majesty is injured. Mutton is fat and cannot be eaten."
"If you can't eat it, why should the royal chef do it?"
"Of course it's because I like to eat it."
Jiang He's chopsticks reached towards the mutton, and he skillfully peeled off the soft and lean meat from the mutton bones. He held it in front of his nose and took a deep breath before putting it in his mouth.
Eat with relish.
Zhao Zheng withdrew his chopsticks, looked down at Jiang He slightly, raised his brows and said, "How does the food in Dayong Palace compare to Qi's?"
"It can't compare." Jiang He replied without thinking, "Is there a sea in Dayong?"
"There is a river." Zhao Zheng replied.
"Are there any fish in the river?"
Jiang He glanced at him and shook his head with some disdain.
Zhao Zheng immediately dropped his chopsticks in frustration.
"There can also be a sea in Dayong." He said in his heart.
At this time, Commander Weijun asked for an audience outside the palace, interrupting the couple's argument.
"What's the matter?" Zhao Zheng asked.
Su Yu lowered his head and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, something happened to the Wei delegation that came to our capital to participate in the national ceremony. Wei Ji, the young master of Wei, was chased by assassins and disappeared."
With a "pop" sound, the chopsticks in Jiang He's hand fell to the ground.
……
(End of this chapter)