Chapter 0919 The Secret History of the Qing Palace

In the early morning of April 8, 1881 AD, Zhongcui Palace in Beijing

The little palace maid Jingyi walked around in the courtyard, finally gritted her teeth, opened the palace door and tried to break out.

Many guards outside the palace gate stopped him. Eunuch Li Guizheng was coming from a distance with a food box. Seeing this situation, he rushed forward and pulled Jingyi behind him, who was caught by the guards.

"Jingyi, you cheap maid, if you don't take good care of the Queen Mother in the palace, what are you going to do?"

Jingyi glanced at Li Gui awkwardly, and Li Gui turned his back to the guard and winked hurriedly at Jingyi.

Jingyi had no choice but to kneel down on the ground and salute Li Gui:

"Eunuch Li, the Queen Mother is seriously ill. I want to see the imperial doctor."

"How could the impudent imperial doctor listen to the call of a humble servant like you?" After a slight pause, Li Gui added: "I am serving the Queen Mother today. The Queen Mother has already learned about the Queen Mother's illness. They have a deep sisterly love. , when the time comes, we will naturally arrange for a suitable imperial doctor to check. You should go back quickly and take good care of the Queen Mother for the Za family. If something goes wrong, be careful about your life."

After saying that, Li Gui quickly stepped forward, pulled Jingyi directly back to Zhongcui Palace, and closed the palace door tightly.

"Sister-in-law, why are you so stupid? The people outside are all from the Queen Mother of the West Palace. Now within the palace walls, the Yehenala family has ruled. She has issued a secret summons. Anyone in the Zhongcui Palace wants to leave. , the guards can kill without mercy, the crime is theft." Li Gui scolded softly in Jingyi's ear.

Jingyi is only fifteen years old this year, and she is also a smart maid.

She naturally knows her own situation, but now the Queen Mother of the East Palace is extremely ill. If she doesn't find someone to treat her, she may really die.

At this moment, someone outside the palace gate suddenly shouted:

"The Queen Mother of the West has arrived"

Li Gui and Jingyi's faces suddenly turned pale. They hurriedly opened the palace door and knelt down to greet them.

The future Empress Dowager Cixi and today's Empress Dowager are forty-seven years old, in their prime.

She strolled into the small courtyard of Zhongcui Palace, followed by two guards with swords and the chief eunuch Li Lianying.

Speaking of which, eunuchs Li Gui and Li Lianying are somewhat related, but Li Gui usually stays with the Eastern Empress Dowager Ci'an, while Li Lianying is Cixi's personal servant.

On the surface, the two have a hostile relationship, but privately they have a harmonious and close relationship.

Life in the palace is not easy for eunuchs. If there is no network of connections secretly, it will be difficult to get along.

Masters are enemies, but slaves can become friends. Reporting information to each other allows the other party to claim credit in front of his master. This is also a way of survival.

At this time, both Li Gui and Jingyi were kneeling on the ground, and Cixi walked directly into the bedroom of Zhongcui Palace without even looking at them.

Jingyi felt nervous after seeing it, and hurriedly got up and followed her.

Upon seeing this, the chief steward Li Lianying hurriedly shouted angrily: "Bold slave, who told you to get up?"

At this time, several eunuchs and maids from Zhongcuigong all ran to the courtyard to meet Cixi. They were kneeling on the ground, but when they heard Li Lianying's roar, they were so frightened that they fell to the ground and did not even dare to breathe.

Only the little palace maid Jingyi was not afraid in the face of danger and still stood there stubbornly.

The Queen Mother of the West turned around, glanced at Jingyi, then smiled slightly and said: "Lianying, my sister is recuperating. You will disturb her peace of mind by yelling like this, why don't you shut up?"

After hearing her master's words, Li Lianying hurriedly knelt on the ground and said that the slave deserved to die.

Cixi ignored him and said to Jingyi: "You are my sister's personal maid Jingyi. Come in with me. My sister's condition is getting worse now and there is no one to take care of me. I'm not worried yet."

After saying this, Cixi opened the door and walked directly in, ignoring the people kneeling outside.

Jingyi gritted her teeth and finally followed her through the door.

The bedroom was a little dim. A woman was lying weakly on the big bed, and beside her was a baby that looked to be just a few days old.

Jingyi entered the room and quickly lit the candle, then ran to the bed and stood with her head bowed without saying a word.

The Queen Mother of the West slowly walked around the room, finally sat on a chair, sighed and said:

"I haven't been here for a few days, and I feel that the bedroom where my sister lives seems to be in a much poorer condition. It's such a pity."

"I have handed over all the power in the palace to you, what else do you want?" The woman on the bed coughed weakly a few times, and then said weakly.

"I don't want to do anything, I just feel that it's a pity sister. I seem to be two years older than you, but I have called you sister for so many years. Now that sister is gone, I am left alone and may be lonely for the past few months. You are hiding in Zhongcui Palace and don't come out to see anyone. The ministers are already suspicious. After all, you are the Queen Mother of the East Palace. You should be respected in this harem, but unfortunately you are not visible to anyone now. Sister, I have some doubts. I'm afraid, I'm afraid that your matter will be exposed and the emperor will lose face. What do you think we should do?" The Empress Dowager Cixi's tone was sad, as if she was really worried.

"Huh, Yehenala, do you still have the dignity of the late emperor in your eyes? I heard that Zeng Jize signed the Ili Treaty and revised the Overland Trade Regulations with Tsarist Russia more than two months ago. According to these two treaties, we Although Ili can be recovered and the Tikes River will no longer be ceded, the area west of the Horgos River will be occupied by Tsarist Russia; the imperial court even has to pay 50,000 taels of silver indemnity to Tsarist Russia. Are you so cowardly and worthy of the late emperor?" The Queen Mother of the East Ci'an's tone was a little excited, and he coughed again.

Cixi's eyes were indifferent, and after a long time she said softly:

"I have no choice. I can't fight again and again. In order to calm the war, I can only cede the land and pay compensation. I did this just to protect the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. Sister, don't take the topic too far. Let me tell you one thing. The guards who committed adultery with you have been killed by the nine clans. Now, except for the people in Zhongcui Palace, no one in the world knows about your scandal. The reason why I came here today is to say goodbye to you. Lianying is My man, if he stays with me, he will help you keep this secret for the rest of his life. Before you stop, do you have anything else to say?"

Ci'an sat up from the bed tremblingly. She finally understood. It seemed that Cixi had controlled a lot of power in the past few months, and this time he came to kill her.

For several years, the East and West palaces listened behind the curtain, and Ci'an, as the Queen of Xianfeng, suppressed Cixi, the noble concubine of Xianfeng.

Now everything has changed. She made a mistake and was caught by others. In order to save face, she had to give up power.

Ci'an had no intention of paying attention to the affairs of Jiangshan Sheji anymore. Ci'an looked at the baby sleeping next to him, tears falling from his eyes.

After a long time, Ci'an raised his head to look at Cixi and said in a hoarse voice:

"Sister, can you let this child go? You can let Li Lianying adopt him. He is innocent and he doesn't know anything. From now on, let him be an ordinary guard in the palace, or just send him to the private sector. Be a normal person”

Cixi frowned slightly and said nothing.

Ci'an slowly climbed out of bed, knelt on the ground and crawled to Cixi, kowtowed and said:

"Sister, you and I have been widowed for more than 20 years. I know that you must have had some infidelity in the palace during these years, but I didn't send anyone to investigate you deliberately, so I couldn't catch you.

Now I lose and I admit it

But for Zaichun’s sake, can you please go easy on me?

I treated your child sincerely back then, can you please let my child go now?"

Looking at Ci'an who was already crying, Cixi frowned even more tightly, recalling the past.

After entering the palace, she was given the title of Yiguiren, and the following year she was granted the title of Yipin. Four years later, she gave birth to the emperor's eldest son, Aixinjueluo Zaichun.

After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Zaichun succeeded him as Emperor Tongzhi.

As Tongzhi's biological mother, she became the Queen Mother, while Ci'an became the Mother Queen Mother. The situation was formed where the Queen Mothers of the Eastern and Western Palaces listened to politics behind the curtain, and the overt and covert fighting between the Eastern and Western Palace Queen Mothers began.

Now Prince Chun's son Zai Tan has entered Datong, and his biological son Zai Chun has passed away several years ago.

At that time, Ci'an really cared about Zai Chun and treated her as his own.

Speaking of which, Ci'an can be regarded as a qualified queen mother. She is virtuous and virtuous, and she also has the ability to govern the country.

It's just that she is a person who is very interested in power. Cixi has to admit that she has been looking forward to the day when she can monopolize power.

But when this day was really around the corner, Cixi felt a little lonely.

She doesn't really like Ci'an, because she has always been a woman who puts pressure on her rights.

She also likes Ci'an a little bit, because since the death of Emperor Xianfeng, she and this woman have been accompanying each other for more than 20 years.

After thinking for a long time, Cixi finally nodded. She stood up and was about to leave. When she walked to the door, she stopped and said:

"Sister, sister resigned

At dusk I will ask Lianying to take away the child and bring you the last meal

Lianying is the slave next to me, too eye-catching.

He seems to be somewhat related to the slave Li Gui next to you. I heard that Li Gui already has two adopted sons. How about this? Let Li Gui have one more adopted son, named Li Guisan.

Tonight in the Zhongcui Palace, the Queen Mother of the East Palace will die suddenly, and all the eunuchs and maids serving in the Zhongcui Palace will need to be buried with her to apologize.

Li Lianying will adopt Li Gui's three adopted sons. After this incident, there will be no more deeds and legends about the Empress Dowager of the East Palace.

Sister, would you like to read such a story?"

Empress Dowager Ci'an's face was filled with joy. She knelt down behind Ci Xi and said in a trembling voice:

"Niu Hulu Ruifen, I would like to send you to the Holy Mother Queen Mother"

Cixi's face finally showed a smile of victory. She strolled out of the bedroom, and then took Li Lianying out of Zhongcui Palace.

"From now on, no one is allowed to enter, and no one is allowed to come out. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed."

These were the last words Cixi said to the guards when she left Zhongcui Palace.

From today on, it's all over.

And starting today is also a new beginning

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