She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

"Why haven't you arrived yet?"

Jin Zhaoyi paced back and forth in front of the palace gate with a bulging belly.

It is already the middle of July, and the hot weather makes people irritable. In addition, she is pregnant, so her mood swings are even greater.

"You won't be able to enter the palace for a while." Xu Tingzhou stood far away in the corridor. He said he was not in a hurry, but he was uneasy in his heart.

"I have already found the things, but she said she was in a hurry, so I thought she would come." Her beautiful eyes drooped, and she looked a little lonely. "I wanted to scold her for being cruel and leaving without even sending a letter. But I didn't expect her to come back so soon. I don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing."

Xu Tingzhou looked at her calmly.

This woman in gorgeous clothes was the indirect murderer of his sister.

But when he found out that this was his enemy, she was already pregnant. The books Xu Tingzhou had learned since childhood made it impossible for him to bring himself to kill a pregnant woman.

If it weren't for the fact that he had unfinished business, he wouldn't want to stay any longer.

It would be best to stand far away at the bottom of the stairs, neither seeing her too clearly nor getting involved in irrelevant public opinion.

But the favor I received from that prince must be repaid.

In fact, it is just a simple task, but he is willing to expand it again and again in his heart, so that it can become "favor".

"The Alchemy Palace in the southern suburbs will be completed soon. I am too busy to spare time, so Your Majesty, please don't call me again. When I am free outside the palace, I will bring the things to her." Xu Tingzhou bowed coldly and distantly, and left without looking back.

This man is so strange.

Jin Zhaoyi looked at his back and thought.

She was about to give birth in a month or two, and although the date was a little closer, she could still get away with it by claiming she was in premature labor. Anyway, the old emperor was now seeking immortality and asking for advice every day, so he probably wouldn't remember such things.

So Shen Yu often found excuses to come over during this period, which comforted her a lot.

By virtue of being Shen Zhuo's attendant, Shen Yu finally got the right to walk around the palace. When his brother woke up from his illness, he heard that his brother, who had always been unfavored, and his pregnant concubine had been drinking medicine every day without taking off their clothes, and he was deeply moved.

This touched her, and she felt that she had treated her brother badly by letting him tend to the flowers and plants in the other palace. Shen Yu was still pretty and didn't look ambitious, so what was wrong with him coming to the palace more often to accompany this lonely man?
Little did he know that this respectful brother and the pregnant concubine had been secretly in love for a long time. Under his nose, they could also exchange glances.

Jin Zhaoyi didn't know whether Shen Yu still had ambitions, but he also had royal blood, so he also had the possibility of succeeding to the throne.

The political situation was in chaos, and she was just a weak pregnant woman. No matter who won the fight among these people, the outcome would not change much for her.

But, it is better to be a queen mother than a queen.

Xu Tingzhou left the palace before the gate was locked.

The real reason for him to enter the palace today was that Jin Zhaoyi asked to customize a small cradle for the unborn prince.

Now Xu Tingzhou is in the Ministry of Works, in charge of supervising the construction. Logically speaking, it is impossible to trouble the officials of the Ministry of Works to make a cradle, but Jin Zhaoyi is pregnant, and all her ideas have been approved by Shen Zhuo, who dares to say no?

"Your Excellency, please stay."

When he reached the palace gate, Xu Tingzhou was about to get on the carriage when he was stopped by a voice.

"Who are you?" Xu Tingzhou waved away his servants and took a closer look. He saw that he had a badge hanging on his waist, and it seemed that he was from a family in the court.

After Jin Feng became the prime minister, he was fearless and suppressed officials who were not on good terms with him. In recent days, the northern border and Youbei were negotiating peace, and there were more voices of dissatisfaction with him in the court.

The former Taiyuan Assistant Censor Kong Jiu was a top three Jinshi during the reign of Emperor Wu'an. After he submitted a memorial of impeachment, he suddenly died of an illness at home. The court is still trembling with fear now.

Xu Tingzhou was afraid that at this critical moment, Jin Feng might find out something and something might go wrong, so he cautiously took half a step back.

Seeing this, the visitor smiled and took out the token, "Don't worry, sir. I am from the residence of Lord Lu, the Minister of the Central Secretariat. My lord has returned to the court after finishing his business trip, and would like to meet you in the Tianzihao private room of Yanqing Tower."

He then took out a piece of letter, and Xu Tingzhou took it. There was indeed Lu Zhongting's private seal at the signature.

"My master also said that there is another noble person who wants to see you. Please bring a small gift with you."

Another one, honorable person?

Xu Tingzhou thought for a moment and immediately said, "I'll go now."

Yanqinglou is a good place. Not only is the food good, but the location of the restaurant is also good.

Ah'an opened the window of the side room and, standing on a high place, could see half of the capital city from afar.

The last time I stood here leaning on the railing was when I was still in my teens.

"I wonder if Lord Lu has ever been to the Chongwen Pagoda..." Ah'ao raised her hand and pointed to the tall tower in the distance, with its back against the clouds in the setting sun.

Chongwen Tower was built during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen. The names of the wise officials of all dynasties were engraved in the tower and worshipped in order of rank. When a civil official first entered the officialdom, who had not thought of being listed in Chongwen?

Lu Zhongting looked in the direction she directed.

In fact, he didn't need to see it, because he had already had the appearance of the tower in his mind. The year he just passed the imperial examination, he went to visit the Chongwen Tower under the guidance of his teacher Yan Tongjun. When he climbed to the top of the tower, he seemed to be able to see the mountains and rivers for thousands of miles.

Lu Zhongting took a sip of tea and seemed not to care much. "I went there when I was young, but I don't have much interest in ancient monuments."

Ah-yi smiled and said, "Of course. Judging from the way Lord Lu does things, he is not someone who cares about false reputation."

"Your Highness, do you think that entering the Chongwen Tower is just an empty title?" Lu Zhongting responded with the same kind smile, but it did not make people feel close to him. Instead, he wanted to find out something from A's words.

"Then I have to think about it carefully." Ah'ao didn't respond, but leaned against the window frame slowly. In the afterglow of the setting sun, in the view from the window, she and the tower in the distance were in the sunset, detached and calm.

"Before Lord Xu brings me what I want, I have a few words to say to Lord Lu." Ah-yi held a white porcelain glaze cup filled with sweet and sour bayberry soup and looked straight at Lu Zhongting. "Lord, I can join you. But I am a businessman. In order to prevent losing all my money, I have to put forward a few conditions."

When in Yuanzhou, Lu Zhongting was able to invite the attractive woman back without much nagging, and he thought that it might not be that simple. The princess had been in the market for several years, and she was no longer the only daughter of the previous emperor who was ignored and dispensable.

This is better, it is impossible for people to have nothing to desire.

"Your Highness, please tell me what you want." This time, there was more approval in Lu Zhongting's smile.

"First, before everything is ready, I have to stay in the dark. It is easier to do things in the dark and it is also convenient for surveillance. Second, you and Lord Yan, including all the ministers standing on your side, must have my participation in the planning. You cannot do anything you disagree with, and you cannot exceed your authority to do it."

"The third one." Ah-yi took a few steps forward and sat down at the table. "I want to recommend someone to serve us."

To Lu Zhongting's surprise, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Who is this person?"

Before Ah-yi could finish her words, there was a knock on the door. "Master Xu is here."

Xu Tingzhou walked in quickly, turned around and closed the door. He was wearing an official robe and was still hot from the summer outside.

"Tingzhou, I haven't seen you for a while, and I haven't wished you congratulations on your promotion yet." When Ah'ao saw him standing at the door, she thought they were strangers and tried to smooth things over.

Xu Tingzhou bowed and saluted, then walked over, not looking too happy, "It's too risky for Your Highness to come back now."

Although the new emperor suddenly fainted when he broke into the palace and had no time to do anything to her and Hengzhi, I am afraid that the current public opinion will also be unfavorable to her.

Ah-yi and Lu Zhongting looked at each other and comforted him, "Don't worry, His Majesty has no intention of caring about me." After a pause, he added, "Besides, Jin Feng is busy building up his prestige in the court, and he is also busy calculating. I don't know how much gold and silver the Youbei people gave him for the peace talks in the northern border. I'm afraid he still wants to thank me."

Lu Zhongting said nothing and ate the snacks on the table, but he also took it as a statement of his opinion.

"You have heard of the Taoist priest who made elixirs for His Majesty, and persuaded him to practice diligently to keep his dragon body safe, right? Now there are several magnificent fairy palaces in the suburbs, and he doesn't even have time to eat the elixir."

A'ao had no intention of doing this when she was in the capital. It was Hengzhi who did it secretly.

At first, they were worried that Shen Zhuo would have nothing to do in the palace, and would either torture the court officials or A'ao. Considering Shen Zhuo's age, it was time for him to seek immortality and medicine.

Unexpectedly, Shen Zhuo was like a handful of dry grass that became more and more fierce when it encountered a spark. The Taoist priests collected the silver allocated by the Ministry of Revenue and distributed it to various places to provide relief to the people, which was also a good thing.

"Did you bring what I wanted?"

Xu Tingzhou finally came to his senses and carefully took out a cloth bag from his sleeve and handed it to Ah'an, "Ah, I brought it. Your Highness, please take a look."

The three people's eyes all fell on the cloth bag.

Ah'ao started to open it and found another layer of cloth wrapped inside, and inside that, a long and thin wooden box was revealed.

The box was about the same width as an ordinary paperweight. When the wooden board on top was pulled out, two pieces of bright yellow cloth were revealed.

When Ah'ao took it out of the box, she felt mixed emotions.

This was one of the dowries her mother left her, hidden in the secret vault of Changsheng Palace. It contained two blank imperial edicts with Shen Cong's private seal and her own private seal.

Even if Lu Zhongting saw it with his own eyes, he still couldn't believe it.

Empress Chen strictly observed etiquette throughout her life. Even though Shen Cong treated her and the entire Chen family harshly, she never complained. However, a woman is strong as a mother, and the two silk books she left for the princess were enough for her to overturn the whole world.

"This, this is..." Xu Tingzhou was also shocked and speechless for a long time. He and Jin Zhaoyi only heard the news that they were asked to find an old item, but they didn't expect that the old item was actually an imperial edict with the seals of the previous emperor and empress!
When seeing the edict of the previous emperor, no matter it is a will or an old edict, one must kneel.

"Don't bother with that." Ah-yi stopped him immediately when she saw that he had become shorter. "Why don't you learn more from Lord Lu's calmness?"

Xu Tingzhou: “…”

"Now." Ah-yi looked at Lu Zhongting again and discussed, "Can we discuss the conditions I just mentioned with Lord Lu?"

When Lu Zhongting saw A's determined look, he knew that he had found the right person this time.

Not only did I find the right person, but I also got these two huge surprises.

"Your Highness, that's easy."

(End of this chapter)