Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Witch Gu (Part 2)

After arriving outside the Yikun Palace, Mrs. Wei got off the sedan chair, thumped her legs and feet and said, "I'm used to sitting in the sedan chair, it's rare for me to stand still, my legs are really tired." After saying that, she stretched out her hand and reached Yuhu's arm very naturally. After the last ride, he stood up proudly. Yu Hu also smiled softly: "It must be that the concubine and the young master are filial to Madam, and you will enjoy everything." The little eunuchs who were carrying the sedan chair at the back looked at each other in fright, but when they saw the two talking and laughing at Yan Yan, they quickly waited outside with their tongues out.

Only after entering the open-carved pendant flower gate, I saw five main halls facing He He Lang Lang. The eaves, corners, beams, and squares were all decorated with gold-cut ink and Su paintings, and the powder was pasted with gold, like clouds steaming and clouds, and clouds stacked and dizzy.At this time, the full moon hangs like a silver plate in the blue-purple night sky, and the cool and faint light pours down, flows on the yellow glazed tiles, and jumps out with thorns, passing by the windows of brocade branches with Shouwen patterns. , falling on the copper phoenix and copper crane displayed under the jade steps, a large piece of glaring and sharp edge like needle felt appeared.

Mrs. Wei was stunned for a moment, as if she couldn't open her eyes, she rubbed the corners of her eyes with a silk cloth, and said, "Amitabha! I thought that the palace of the old daughter is like a dragon palace, but I didn't expect that the palace of the empress is the fairyland of the queen mother! It's strange that everyone is going to enter the palace, and everyone wants to be a queen." Seeing that she was speaking in a nonchalant manner, Yu Hu didn't bother to talk to her, and said directly: "The empress is waiting, let's not be late." Mrs. Wei was greedy for the scenery, her head was shaking her head, she was startled suddenly, she covered her heart and said, "Oh! Why is the eunuch standing in a row without even a smile, like a living corpse! It's better In the old daughter's palace, she looked at Xiqing with a smile on her face, she should ask the empress to train her well, how good it is to scare the emperor!"

Yuhu turned around and saw that there were only two palace servants standing there, standing like wooden puppets according to their duties, hearing her talk became more and more ugly, so she hurriedly dragged her into the palace. Mrs. Wei entered the Nuan Pavilion, still babbling to herself, and suddenly smelled the faint fragrance of lotus, filling the room with silence.The pavilion was so quiet that there was no one there.For some reason, she felt a little scared, and when she raised her head, she saw a pair of Bi people sitting on the warm couch, and several beautiful women in elegant clothes were lined up under the seats.Yu Hu suddenly let go of her hand, bent her knees and said: "My servant has seen the emperor and queen, and the two masters are blessed."

It was only then that Mrs. Wei realized that the man on the warm couch, wearing a lake-blue gold gown and a light robe, was the emperor's son-in-law whom she hadn't seen for a long time since entering the palace.And the woman sitting next to him has a tall cloud bun tied up with a square of white jade inlaid with green peach blossoms inlaid with gold, and a pair of jadeite seven-gold hairpins with silver tassels hanging on the bun, and the rest are only decorated with large pieces of jadeite and oriental pearls. .She was wearing a blue-and-purple ancient plum-patterned dress with silver thread. In fact, Mrs. Wei didn't quite know what kind of flower it was. The shadow was a lonely crimson plum blossom, but it also looked like apricot or peach blossom.But the moonlight fell on the woman's body through the window lattice, leaving traces and ripples of water-like shadows, which made people think for no reason that the faint cold breath should not be an intimate flower.

Because it was midsummer, no incense was used in the temple, and fresh ice cubes were placed in the big cloisonné urn, which meant to cool and relieve the heat.In the curling white mist, the woman sat with her face sideways, only to see that the gold earrings inlaid with pearl petals on the snow-white earlobe remained motionless, and her clear face shone like beautiful jade. Mrs. Wei deduced her identity from the color of her clothes, and couldn't help secretly slandering her. Compared with her daughter's youth and beauty, this queen in front of her obviously showed the signs of years of unwillingness to favor her for a long time.

Thinking about it this way, Mrs. Wei only felt refreshed.When she met the emperor for the first time, she couldn't help laughing, and slapped her legs and shouted: "Your son-in-law————" Everyone in the pavilion was stunned and stunned for a moment.It was Li Yu who reacted quickly, grabbed Mrs. Wei and knelt down and said, "Madam, hurry up and salute, this is the palace, not the people, there is no way to be polite." Only then did Madam Wei remember the etiquette that Yuhu had instructed, she straightened her body in the soy red Wanfu gown with six-color fingers and wide colored velvet trim, picked up the dark blue chrysanthemum horse-face skirt with twigs with her fingers, twisted her body and said: "Concubine The Wei Yang family pays homage to the emperor and queen, the emperor is blessed with golden safety, and the queen is blessed with golden safety."

The emperor smiled, and stretched out his hand to signal Li Yu to help Mrs. Wei up. He slowly held a gold and green urn and sipped sweet tea with both hands, leaving a deep silhouette like an engraving. On the rosewood Qingluan Begonia chair on the left hand side of the emperor sat a young woman wearing a yellow-toothed pair of chests and a red Ruyi dress embroidered with apricot and pomegranate flowers and a silk flag. : "Madam and the emperor are indeed a family, and we are so affectionate when we meet, as if we are strangers to the emperor, not as close as we are with Lingfei's sister's family!"

Another older woman wore a light blue brocade gauze with flowered double-breasted gown, and green smoked willows embroidered on the skirt.Although he is a little older, his expression is extremely soft and amiable.She smiled and said: "What kind of family is not a family? The queen's mother and the queen mother's family are the emperor's decent family. We are all the emperor's concubines, and the family is also from the generation of slaves. Heart, what is it!" Mrs. Wei was not happy to hear it, but she dared to get angry, so she had to hold back and listened to Li Yu's introduction one by one: "This is the pure noble concubine, and this is the praying concubine." Madam Wei saw each one, but heard Ruyi, who was sitting upright, said softly: "Your Majesty, it's rare for Mrs. Wei to come into the palace. I heard that Mrs. Wei's mansion and Mrs. Koliette's mansion live in the east of the city, so they must often come and go?"

Mrs. Wei didn't expect Ruyi to ask this sentence, and quickly said: "I have no contact with Concubine Yu's family." Ruyi didn't seem to care, and just said: "Oh. Mrs. Wei has a wide knowledge of blogs, and there must be a lot of new things to tell us. Presumably Lingfei has been hearing about it all the time, and it's interesting!" Mrs. Wei opened her mouth happily to speak, but saw Concubine Qi raised her head.She pursed her lips and said, "Your Majesty, empress, what are you doing grinding your teeth like this, we'll find out after we ask her."

Mrs. Wei thought that the emperor was going to ask Yan Wan about her childbirth, and she was preparing a lot to say, so she could get some credit for her hard work first.But seeing the emperor tilting his head slightly, Li Yu at the side understood, and took out a small puppet from his sleeve, tied it in various colors, his face was also red, green and green, and his belly was round and protruding, which looked extraordinarily weird. Seeing Li Yu handing it to her, Mrs. Wei stretched her head to look at it for a while and said, "What kind of doll is made so ugly, could it be that it was reserved for Concubine Ling's little elder brother? This is impossible!" Ruyi sat at the head, with a clean face without makeup, said quietly: "Such things, of course, can't be left to Lingfei's little elder brother, but it's just right for my thirteenth elder brother!" Mrs. Wei was stunned for a moment, then said with a sneer, "How can that be!" Li Yu took out three thick silver needles from his sleeve, and pierced the puppet's belly with one needle, and another cloth strip as thick as a thumb, on which was written the Chinese character for birthday, which was the tenth day of the second month of the Wuxu Year, at You hour. Three quarters. Mrs. Wei blinked her eyes, quickly lowered her head and said, "This thing... I don't know what it is?" The emperor drank the tea slowly, looked at her, and said in a calm manner: "This is the queen's birthday. This doll has a swollen belly and a silver needle pierced on it. It was made for her when the palace was pregnant. It is decorated with witchcraft. I have already asked people to ask the deputy supervisor of Qintian Supervisor, and I know that this is folk witchcraft. The emperor didn't ask her if she knew, but just said it lightly, as if it was just a trivial matter.On the contrary, Lu Yun said with a look of unbearable: "Your Majesty, it is a heinous crime to harm your son, but if you kill your sons and grandchildren, it is not the emperor's descendants! His heart is poisonous, which is unheard of." The more Mrs. Wei heard it, the more frightened she became. She wanted to raise her head but she didn't dare to look at the faces of others, so she could only stammer: "Your Majesty, Empress Empress, why does this have the birth date of Empress Empress? I don't know, I am..." Concubine Qi gave her a disdainful glance, and said coldly: "Mrs. Wei really doesn't know that there are four puppets in total, and they are buried in the four corners of the Wei Mansion. Seeing this, you don't know? Could it be that you are not in charge of the private residence of the Wei Mansion?" The more Mrs. Wei heard it, the more frightened she became.The coolness in the pavilion was forced into the skin and flesh, and there were bursts of chills, and my beating heartbeat seemed to pop out of my mouth. She finally raised her head in panic, only to realize that although everyone around her was smiling serenely, the smiles were so forceful as to urge her soul to die, making her dazzled and heartbroken. Ruyi's expression was extremely cold, like frost, exuding the color of snow.She was sitting upright on the couch, Madam Wei looked at her with a clear complexion and shining eyebrows, only a few steps away, but she felt like a distant galaxy.She could only hear her words clearly: "I don't know how I offended Mrs. Wei, so I was cursed by her like this? But where did I offend Mrs. Wei with the thirteen elder brothers who were pregnant that day? That's it, I haven't seen it yet. What's wrong with the sun? Just now Madam Cai called a good son-in-law as soon as she entered the door, so she will also harm the emperor's descendants, so that Madam will be happy?" Ruyi's tone was gentle, but her words were like steel knives, which made it hard for Mrs. Wei to speak correctly. Concubine Qi tilted her head slightly, and smiled brightly at Mrs. Wei.That smile was clearly very sweet and well-behaved, but her tone followed closely: "Mrs. Don't say that you don't know the queen's birthday. This year is the queen's birthday, and the gift you entrusted to concubine Ling is still in the warehouse." Not allowing her to think for a moment, Concubine Qi raised her eyebrows and "giggled" with a smile: "Could it be that it was false to give gifts to the empress on her birthday that day, and it is true to deliberately curse and murder? Madam is really thoughtful!" Mrs. Wei was suddenly severely reprimanded, and for a moment cold sweat dripped down with grease, and she fainted on the gold brick floor with water, like small muddy and dirty blisters on a rainy day.With her chubby body, she kneaded into a ball on the ground, murmured weakly, and called out weakly: "I don't have a body! I don't have a body! Your Majesty's lesson!" "The emperor's lesson?" Lu Yun's voice was soft, full of helpless pity, "The evidence is conclusive. Concubine Yu's relative, Zhaqi, committed suicide by hitting a wall against the wall. He once went to your house and conspired with you to frame Concubine Yu." , I also saw with my own eyes that you made a puppet, pierced silver needles and cast spells, and buried them in the four corners of the mansion to curse the queen and the prince. Could it be that he will wrong you?" Mrs. Wei screamed in shock: "Damn Zhaqin that bastard, come to my house to eat and drink, and even chew nonsense! When did I get needles to make a puppet? God damn it! I don't even dare!" She cried and shouted, "Your Majesty, that boy Zhaqi must be envious of the pet in our house, who was unfair for her aunt Yu Concubine, so he buried a puppet to frame his concubine!" Ruyi sighed faintly, with a faint smile swirling on her face, against the candlelight all over the hall, there was a hint of sarcasm: "Really? Didn't Mrs. Wei just say that she had no contact with the Keliette family? Why did Zhaqi go to your mansion to eat and drink again?" Mrs. Wei was startled, before she recovered her senses, Concubine Qi said sharply again: "The empress only asked you if you had any contact with the Keliyet family's mansion, but you said that you have no relationship with Concubine Yu's little lord's mansion without thinking about it." From future contacts, it can be seen that the only Keliyet family you know is Concubine Yu's family. If the preface is inconsistent, how dare you deny that you don't know Zhaqi?" Mrs. Wei was tongue-tied and bowed in panic: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Zhaqi is already dead! He was wronging my concubine by talking nonsense before he died! I don't know anything about witchcraft or plotting to frame Concubine Yu! " "I don't know?" Concubine Qi was full of disbelief, "Zhaqi murdered her aunt Concubine Yu, and even colluded with the midwife Tian Shi to kill the thirteenth elder brother of the empress! Zhaqi was recruited before he died. You discussed this, didn't you?" Even though Mrs. Wei was flustered, she understood a thing or two now, and swore: "That bastard Zhaqi, who only eats wine and gambles every day, how can he believe what he said? Your majesty, it is a serious crime to accuse the royal family! How dare you concubine?" Curse the gods, never have you ever murdered the Empress, Concubine Yu, and Elder Brother Thirteen!" Mrs. Wei's voice was high and straight, shaking her fat body, her momentum remained undiminished for a while.Luyun wears a necklace of bright pearls on her chest, and underneath is a thumb-sized broken amethyst inlaid water green emerald Guanyin statue.She fell out of favor since she was old, and suffered repeated setbacks. She only focused on the gods and Buddhas, and worshiped devoutly every day. At this time, she heard Mrs. Wei swearing to the gods, and she couldn't get angry for a while. She took off her necklace and laid it heavily on the dark purple brocade felt. Duan Ran sternly said: "Since you want to cast a curse on the god, you might as well swear a poisonous oath on it. If you have a good heart and have never hurt anyone, then go ahead, otherwise you will fall into the 18th hell and suffer the pain of reincarnation forever." .” Mrs. Wei's eyes flashed, she twisted her neck and said in a stubborn voice: "I swear, I swear, I am not afraid of myself!" After she finished speaking, she wanted to raise two fingers to swear.Concubine Qi chuckled lightly, and said coldly: "Madam wants to swear, and there is no need to talk about the behind-the-scenes matter. If it is true, it is better to swear on your children. I have never done anything about you, otherwise, you Your son Zuolu was reduced to a lowly slave, and he was killed by a knife, and your daughter was deposed as a lowly maidservant of Xin Zheku, and she became the ghost of the Forbidden City for life. How about it?" Concubine Qi's smile was narrow and cruel, which did not match her sweet and delicate face.The emperor was slightly displeased when he heard the words: "Concubine Qi, you are from a big family, why should you have the same knowledge as her?" Mrs. Wei was also calm at first, but when she heard that her son was used as a curse, she couldn't help but flushed with anger, her eyes were flickering, and she heard the emperor's words, and she suddenly became bolder and said: "Even if my concubine doesn't like my concubine, but After all, it is also the lord of the first palace, commensurate with the concubines and sisters, why is it so vicious, using people's children as curses, does it mean that the concubine Qi has no children?" It's okay not to say this, the death of a concubine's young daughter in her arms is a lifelong pain.Immediately knelt down and said: "The emperor's house is thick, so I inquired carefully, but the ministers and concubines deeply feel that this matter should not be tried. Who can be wronged because the witchcraft came out of Wei's house? And Zha Qi went in and out of Wei's mansion, and there are also people who come and go." People saw it. On the other hand, Eunuch Li led people to search the Wei Mansion, and most of the gold, silver and jewels in the mansion came from the palace, so it can be seen that although the concubine Ling is in the palace, she is very close to the family, and she is also involved in this matter!" Luyun couldn't help feeling sorry, took the silk and wiped her tears and said: "Your Majesty, I have pity on the parents of the world. What kind of enmity does Mrs. Wei have with the Empress and Concubine Yu? The courtiers and concubines don't really believe it either." The emperor pondered for a while, put Ruyi's hand comfortingly, and said softly: "Concubine Ling is pregnant, so she is very careful in everything, and she doesn't even dare to step on an ant. Besides, she has never been pregnant, so she was pregnant with the first baby with great difficulty." She will do evil if she worships Buddha every day, and she dare not do it at this time." Ruyi suppressed her anger, and with a hint of sadness, she tried her best to smile and said, "The emperor is at ease. The concubine respects Mrs. Wei for her age and her concubine's pregnancy, so she doesn't dare to ask too much, so as not to alarm them. Asking Ling Yunche to bring Zuo Lu into the palace for interrogation, it seems like there will be a result soon." The emperor heard about Zuolu, thought for a moment, and said, "Is it Lingfei's younger brother? I met him once, and he doesn't have the demeanor of a child of everyone, so I never talked to him." Ruyi calmed down a little, glanced at Concubine Qi lightly, suppressed the lingering joy from her lips, leaned forward and said: "No one has faults, it's only the size of the crime. Of course, the death of the concubine's child is unknown. But don’t let others be wronged. Please ask Zuolu to ask, firstly, so as not to scare the women, and secondly, I heard that Zuolu has been relying on his status as the uncle of the country, so it would be good to teach him a little lesson." Luyun was quite surprised, and said with a shake of her head, "What uncle? The empress's brother has not yet been called uncle, but he is putting on airs first." She glanced at Mrs. Wei who was kneeling on the ground, curled her lips Said: "There is no such thing as murdering the prince and the queen. You can't get rid of the witchcraft thing. And you have no way to teach your son, and let your son run rampant in the market, what kind of mother!" Mrs. Wei was still full of vigor, but when she heard that Zuolu had entered the palace, her expression changed drastically, so she had to bite the bullet and beg: "Your Majesty, Zuolu is young and ignorant, so I can't be frightened, I'm just afraid of talking nonsense. Hurt to hear." The emperor held the teacup in his hands, and said absently: "Nonsense is also nonsense, I want to hear what he can say!" Mrs. Wei knew that she couldn't do it, she only forced a fine cold sweat to break out from her head, but she didn't dare to reach out to wipe it off, she was extremely embarrassed. Within half a stick of incense time, Ling Yunche entered the room respectfully, handed a piece of cloth like a ghostly talisman into the hands of the emperor, and stood aside in awe.The emperor unfolded the cloth and stared intently, his face became greener the more he looked.Na Zuolu didn't know a few big characters, and his handwriting was crooked.The emperor only read a general idea, and saw that his words were confused, although he didn't say that the matter was tactful, he was always in the same place, and he also talked about the drinking and gambling with Zhaqi, but he could see the general idea. Seeing that the emperor was angry, Ling Yunche said respectfully: "I haven't had time to ask Zuolu in the future, but when he saw Zhaqi's body, he was so scared that he peed his pants, and his words didn't make sense. I asked a few words, witch gu He didn't know that the incident was probably done by women. But when it comes to drinking flowers and wine and betting on crickets with Zhaqi, there are places and people. It's true. When asked about his family's property, he said yes The concubine Ling gave it to Mrs. Wei." After hearing Zuolu's confession, Mrs. Wei was angry and annoyed, and even panicked, her face dripping with oil and sweat, and was about to argue, only to hear a sharp cry: "Er Niang! How could you do such a terrible thing behind your daughter's back? thing?" That voice was very sharp, with a mournful and surprised cry, piercing the tension in the hall sharply.Jin Zhong supported Yan Wan from behind, red eyebrows and white eyes anxiously said: "Young concubine Ling, be careful of your body!" Yan Wan stumbled in and threw herself down beside Mrs. Wei, tears streaming down her face, "Daughter doesn't know, you actually did such an outrageous thing, framed Concubine Yu, and killed the empress's child! Er Niang, daughter I can't believe it, why are you doing this?" Mrs. Wei was already panicked, but when she heard Yan Wan say this, she was so frightened that her face paled and her voice trembled: "Concubine Ling...Yan Wan...you say that about Er Niang! It's not me...not..." Yan Wan jumped in front of Mrs. Wei, holding her hand tightly: "Emiang, did you do this? You must understand that if you make a wrong step, it doesn't count if you hurt your daughter, and others will say You have no way to teach your son!" Mrs. Wei's face turned red and then blue, and she waved her hands in a panic: "Yan Wan...don't..." She gritted her teeth, eager to let go of Yan Wan's hand, "Don't wrong my mother!" Yan Wan pinched Mrs. Wei's hand tightly, and cried, "Emiang! My daughter knows, you can't just admit what you haven't done! But what is the truth about this matter, please don't harm your daughter and brother!" Yan Wan bit the word "younger brother" very hard, pulled Mrs. Wei's sleeves, her clear eyes were reddened, as if she wanted to see her pale and swollen face thoroughly, "Mother, my brother is still young, he I don't know anything. He was only confused for a moment, so he got involved with Zhaqi. Er Niang, don't hurt your brother, he can still be saved, as long as his daughter is in good control, and he is not like you blindly pampering him, his brother will be fine .” Yan Wan's emotions were too excited, and her face was blood red.Chunchan held her tightly and persuaded her with tears in her eyes: "My lord, don't worry, my lord! These days, my wife came to see you, but for the sake of my uncle, you fought with my wife several times, and you endured it all by yourself. Come on, don't show your family ugliness outside!" Mrs. Wei was panting heavily with her throat shut, as if otherwise, she would have killed History on the spot.I saw tears streaming down her face unstoppably, shaking her head vigorously in panic, even though her clothes were soaked with tears, she couldn't say a word.