Although the empress dowager didn't say much, Qin Nuo could still hear from her words the story of a child, who was doted upon by the royal father, arduously growing up.
Ling Luo's birth mother was the Empress Dowager's twin sister, Empress Wan Chen at that time.
Other than Ling Luo, Grand Princess Ling Xi, who was seven years older than Ling Luo, was also very fond of him. As Ling Xi was a girl, her personality was also straightforward and lively, which was very likeable. Thus, it was hard to avoid the fact that she neglected her eldest son, Ling Han, who was already thirteen at the time.
When he was nine years old, Ling Luo's coughing sickness suddenly became worse. No matter how many medicines he used, they did not work, and in a single day he actually coughed out blood! Empress Ru Xin was terrified, she immediately ordered the imperial physicians to look for her, but it turned out that someone had poisoned Ling Luo's medicine slowly!
The Emperor was furious and ordered his men to investigate. Who would have thought that the poisoner would actually be the Eleventh Prince's bodyguard, Lan Jue, who had been accompanying him all day. At that time, besides Lan Yu, who refused to admit it no matter what, even Ling Han, who had already left his palace as a king, did his best to vouch for Lan Yu. Even the twenty-eight-year-old Grand Princess Ling Xi couldn't kneel down in his study, begging for Lan Yu's orders.
In the end, even Ling Luo, who was only nine years old, said he believed that Big Brother Lan would not do it. At that time, this matter had caused quite a stir within the palace. Other than that, many people were secretly saying that the method of lending the blue sword to Ling Luo to be his bodyguard and seducing the Grand Princess was something that could be done with a person's heart.
When the rumors spread to the emperor's ears, Long Yan flew into a rage. Even though the matter of the poison had not been settled, he still ordered for Lan Yu to be locked up in the Ministry of Justice's prison. Fortunately, not long after, Ling Han found out that the real mastermind was that time, Princess Su!
So it turned out that one of the Emperor's favorite two princes was Ling Luo, while the other one was the sixth prince of Imperial Concubine Su. Furthermore, Ling Luo was always in a small condition, if not for the power of the guards, who knows how many times he would have died. As a result, Consort Su felt that there were more than one person who wanted to harm Ling Luo. Furthermore, she usually treated Ling Luo extremely well.
After the truth was revealed, rumors about the Grand Princess were found out in the palace. It was also because Imperial Concubine Su ordered a few people to spread the rumours, such as people with noble etiquette, talents, and servants.
Imperial Concubine Fu was sentenced to death, and the Sixth Prince lost his power as well. The imperial concubines who had participated in the poison incident had also received the appropriate punishment, and the biggest winner of the poison incident this time, other than Ling Han who had found out the truth, was the person who had been wrongly accused of poisoning and luring the Grand Princess into it.
In order to pacify the old official, the Emperor immediately bestowed upon him the title of general of the cavalry battalion, a fourth rank official. He had been a bodyguard in the palace for a few years, and had always been a poverty-stricken person. In the future, he was not allowed to enter or leave the palace as he wanted to.
However, the next year, the Emperor still bestowed the marriage to the Grand Princess and Lan Yu, and even bestowed the title of Marquis An Qing, bestowing the direct daughter of the Lan family to Ling Han.
Almost everyone could tell that the person the Emperor wanted as the candidate to be the crown prince was the Second Prince, Ling Han. Not only did he give the second prince the position of Chief Consort as the direct daughter of a Venerable family, he also gave him the position of lateral consort as the direct daughter of a family member, and also bestowed the marriage to the Grand Princess and the young master of the Lan family. Moreover, the Emperor's eldest son had long since passed away, and he wasn't born by the Empress. Currently, the Second Prince was the equivalent of his eldest son, and not to mention that he was the legitimate son.
The Lan family had never had such honor.
It was a pity that the sons of the Lan family were thin and had been handed down through three generations. Now that she had married the Grand Princess, she was already somewhat unruly and unruly. It would probably not be easy for her to take in a concubine.
Fortunately, Lan Yu and Grand Princess had a deep affection for each other, and didn't have any intention of taking in a concubine.
Because the Grand Princess doted on her younger brother, Ling Luo started to enter and exit the Blue Palace since she was ten years old. A year later, the Grand Princess gave birth to a daughter. The eleven year old Ling Luo, on the other hand, accidentally fell from her horse due to following the Emperor to ride on the outskirts and passed out.
Ling Luo's body was weak since young, his martial arts skills were not deep. The reason for learning martial arts was to strengthen his body, and when he learned to ride a horse, he would fall from his horse from time to time. As a result, many people treated Ling Luo's fall as an accident, but Grand Princess insisted that for all these years, there had always been someone who wanted to harm his little brother.
Previously, after getting rid of Imperial Concubine Su, she thought that her little brother would be safe. But now, it seems that there was still a lot of people who wanted to harm little brother!
Grand Princess who had just come out of Tsukiko entered the palace several times and begged royal father to investigate the person who framed his younger brother. His Majesty, who liked Ling Luo a lot, had always been suspicious. After his beloved daughter cried for him day after day, he was even more determined to find out the truth for the Eleventh Prince.
After another round of commotion, the Imperial Consort, Consort De, and a few other officials revealed flaws one after another. It was as if any concubine with a son couldn't help but harbor malicious intentions. The imperial concubine was sent to the cold palace, and the emissary's Consort De was sentenced to death. The entire imperial harem was immersed in a storm of blood and gore.
If the imperial physicians in the palace were unable to do so, they would have to invite all the famous doctors in the world. Finally, after half a year, they would wake Ling Luo up and return him to the palace.
Ling Luo was still the same as before, living a leisurely life in the palace. He studied and practiced martial arts together with his brothers, and suddenly felt that there were a lot of people who were missing in the palace. It was as if he didn't care at all, and he didn't know that his brothers who were the same age as him, who had lost their mother, harbored hatred towards him in their hearts.
In the year that Ling Luo was twelve, something happened again in the palace. A few hate-filled princes blocked Ling Luo's path to the fake mountain in the imperial garden, severely injuring him, and almost losing his life. Fortunately, Grand Princess came to visit her that day and was accompanying Empress Ru Xin in the imperial garden. When Lan Yu heard the voice, he rushed over in time to save Ling Luo.
Several princes were demoted to the civilian population and demoted to the civilian population. At this point, of the Emperor's dozen or so princes, other than the second, third, and fifth princes who were kicked out of the palace by the empress dowager, only Ling Luo remained in the palace.
It was just that in Ling Luo's eyes, other than the previous ignorance and purity, from then on, there was an additional melancholy that could not be wiped away no matter how hard he tried.
The Grand Princess brought Ling Luo to the manor to recuperate, and at this time, Lan Yu had already performed battle merits many times at the border trial, so he would occasionally return to the manor.
This year, when Ling Luo was fifteen years old, he was already a second stage hussar general. He was allowed to return to the capital to visit his family. Just that, when the little gongzi was just one year old and Lan Ke came back to visit, Grand Princess and Lan Yu had a huge argument for some reason. In the following six months, the two of them continued to argue with each other day after day. Not to mention outsiders, even the empress, Empress Ru Xin, never asked about the reason.
After the Spring Festival, Lan Yu left the capital and never came back.
At that time, Ling Luo was seventeen years old and had married the Military Chief's daughter, the Jiang Clan, to the Chief Consort.
It was also during that time when the previous emperor passed away and the second prince Ling Han ascended the throne, that was the current emperor.
When the emperor ascended the throne, he bestowed the title 'Empress Wan-Chen' to the empress dowager for her filial piety, revering her as an empress dowager. However, other than the empress dowager, there wasn't even a grand imperial concubine or concubine in the palace! All the concubines had fallen in the open conflict that year, some had lost their lives, while others had fallen into the cold palace.
"As I watch the people around me leave one by one, I don't feel the slightest bit happy or happy. Instead, I feel exceptionally heavy. Originally, This Dowager's hand wasn't completely devoid of blood. However, there seemed to be a force behind it that was even bigger than This Dowager's, controlling everything in the imperial harem and its previous generation. Until now, This Dowager still doesn't know where this power came from, whether it was the Emperor, or some other person! "
The Empress said, and gave Qin Nuo a deep look. Qin Nuo was shocked, it was as if she knew too much!
"Since Grandmother has spoken so much to chenqie, it can't be that you're no longer treating chenqie as a living person, right?" Qin Nuo purposely looked at the empress dowager with fear in her eyes.
The empress dowager frowned at Qin Nuo, but there was a trace of a smile in her eyes.
"The words you said to This Dowager are half true, and half false. Naturally, the things This Dowager told you are also true and half false. After staying in the palace for so long, This Dowager knew that it was useless to pretend to be innocent. She might as well be a decisive person. Many things had nothing to do with right or wrong, but it was all because of their own selfishness. You're a smart person, smarter than anyone else I've ever met, and you don't have to say much to understand it. You know how to be someone who doesn't know anything. "
"After so many years have passed, even if chenqie were to be made aware of it, what can it change?" Qin Nuo's heart was already in turmoil, but her expression was abnormally calm. It was just that in this battle for power, the Prince Mu had still lost. The empress dowager's heart was filled with love for his son, but she didn't expect the Prince Mu's hand to be stained with blood. It's a pity that a wise person can misunderstand. The empress dowager's methods actually caused the Prince Mu to be even more uninterested in the throne, and caused the emperor to be on guard against the Prince Mu until now. " Qin Nuo sighed.
"How do you know that Prince Mu has no intention?" The empress dowager's smile was one of exhaustion. " Even if he did not do it on purpose, others might not be willing to do so either! "