In Jinling City, there was no festive atmosphere after the new emperor ascended the throne, and even the people did not respect a child emperor who was pushed to the throne by the ministers, Zhu Tong coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, in fact, the national politics of the Southern Dynasty were crumbling at this time.

Jinling City was nominally the capital of the Southern Dynasties, but the area that the Jinling court could actually control was only less than 500 miles from Jiangjiang to Jinling, and 300 miles to the south came into contact with the forward battalion of Sima's Northern Expedition.

After entering October, the city of Jinling has lost its former vitality, and the capital of the Southern Dynasty, which was originally rich and peaceful, has suddenly become a desolate and lonely area like a dead city. Because the materials and grain transported to Jinling City for sale in previous years were completely cut off in this year, several major grain producing areas of the Southern Dynasties were looted by the soldiers and horses of the Northern Dynasties, and even the materials in Lingnan could not be transported north because of Sima's Northern Expedition.

Jinling City mainly relies on materials from all over the country to maintain its operation, even if Zhu Tongjing can maintain high pressure on the city militarily, he still cannot alleviate the suffering of the people in the city from the perspective of people's livelihood.

On October 24, in the palace of Jinling City, Zhu Tongjing had just finished discussing military affairs with his generals, and what he was going to was not the main hall of the palace, but the side courtyard of the palace, where there was a memory of him, and it was the place where he lived when he was the head of Empress Ho. And now, he imprisoned the mother and son of the Empress Dowager He in this very deserted palace.

Zhu Tongjing asked himself to be talented, but unfortunately he could not get the appreciation of those who claimed to be famous ministers, the method he adopted was very simple, that is, by being the head of Empress Dowager He, he gradually rose from the court, taking advantage of Xie Rumo and Empress Dowager He to compete for control of the imperial court, why the Empress Dowager gave advice, and later Empress Dowager He completely trusted him and appointed him as a teacher. He even went to the Northern Dynasty as a state envoy......

When Zhu Tongjing was thinking about this, a heavy snow suddenly came. This is the first snow in Jinling Castle after the beginning of winter, and after autumn, Jinling Castle has been cold, but it is not until late October that the first snow comes. Compared to normal years, this snow did not come sooner.

"Lord Wang, I have prepared wine and food for you, please go in and enjoy it." It was the old eunuch Shan Lin who came out to deliver a message to Zhu Tongjing, who had been in the palace for forty years, and it can be said that he had experienced the change of emperors of the three dynasties. At the beginning, Zhu Tongjing wanted to have some contact with the Empress Dowager He, and Shan Lin threaded the needle from it, and after Zhu Tongjing made his career, he has been concealing his relationship with Shan Lin. But secretly, there was a lot of feedback to this old eunuch.

Zhu Tongjing lost his parents since he was a child, although he participated in the imperial examination, but he did not make any achievements in the imperial examination, but this old eunuch Shan Lin, has always wanted him to enter the palace as a eunuch, which is also what makes Zhu Tongjing feel ironic, the best person for him is an old eunuch. The old eunuch's way of treating him well was to almost let him enter the palace. But it's also this old eunuch. helped him realize his ambition, when King Hui Xiao Ling launched a military coup d'état in Jinling City, it was also Shan Lin who used the relationship of the Imperial Forest Army to send Empress Dowager He and Emperor Min mother and son out of the palace, and directed a good scene of disappearance, so that Zhu Tongjing always held these two trump cards in his hands.

"Father-in-law. Great work. ”

Zhu Tongjing nodded to Shan Lin to express his slight gratitude, Zhu Tongjing has not come to this side courtyard in person after waving his troops to retake Jinling City, because he has too many not very good memories in this place, and he was the head of the latter during this time. It was the most unbearable period of his life. So he imprisoned the Empress Dowager He here just to let the Empress Dowager He taste the humiliation he suffered back then.

And when he came over today, he didn't discuss anything with the Empress Dowager He, he wanted to come to see the Empress Dowager He wagging his tail and begging in front of him as a lord high in the world.

Shan Lin knew very well the hatred in Zhu Tongjing's heart, so when he got Zhu Tongjing's message and knew that Zhu Tongjing was coming in the evening, he had already arranged it in advance, and even came out in advance to greet him.

Shan Lin personally accompanied Zhu Tongjing to the inside of the palace, because it was located in the most remote corner of the palace, and it was also the place where the emperor of the Southern Dynasty fell out of favor and the princess lived. When Zhu Tongjing lived in the deserted place of the palace as the head of the palace and waited for the Empress Dowager He to be "lucky", Zhu Tongjing had been to the corner of the palace to see the woman, which was a very shocking thing for Zhu Tongjing, even if the woman was in the cold winter, she only had a single dress on her body, and the woman had mental problems, but she was not crazy, but she didn't remember anything before, even if the woman was only forty years old, she was already full of white hair, and her face was full of wrinkles.

Zhu Tongjing knew that if he was just a face, one day he would be abandoned by the Queen Mother, and the fate of that woman would be a portrayal of his tragic life in the future. So Zhu Tongjing never dared to relax his vigilance, and even when he had nightmares, he often dreamed of that woman. But this time, after returning to Jinling City and returning to the palace he was familiar with, after inquiring, he learned that the woman's whereabouts were unknown in the previous turmoil in Jinling City, and he didn't know whether she was alive or dead.

"He Guiren has rarely eaten and drunk these days, and wants to go on a hunger strike, but he doesn't seem to have that confidence." Shan Lin saw that Zhu Tongjing was about to go to the house in the courtyard, and couldn't help but explain, "This woman, if she wanted to die, she would have died long ago when she was in Zhennan, and she would not wait until today." The old slave also chose some old palace people, and their posture is very good, if the prince drinks to the fullest today, he might as well ......"

Shan Lin didn't go on, and many things were unspoken.

Men compete for the world, nothing more than power and women, Zhu Tongjing now has power in his hands, but there are almost never women around him, because he seems to have a fear of women. This fear comes from his unbearable experience, Zhu Tongjing used women to take power, and he was still an old woman as poisonous as a snake and scorpion, Zhu Tongjing was only thirty years old now, and the suffering he had suffered over the years was somewhat related to women.

But Zhu Tongjing always has a shadow of someone in his heart, that person is Xiao Zhan whom he once sent someone to assassinate, when Xiao Zhan was still the eldest princess, Zhu Tongjing very much hoped that he could one day become Xiao Zhan's concubine, but he just thought about it, he had never done anything arrogant, even if Xiao Zhan had to rely on him, he only dared to keep this idea in his heart, because he was full of respect and love for Xiao Zhan, and did not dare to have any blasphemy.

Zhu Tongjing didn't say anything, waiting for him to walk to the door of the house. The door had been opened from the inside, a cold wind blew, and the snowflakes were blown into the room, and the maids who were kneeling inside were the palace maids of the former Southern Dynasty Palace, and they were also the women specially arranged for him by Shan Lin, these women were both in appearance and etiquette. They are all superior, but Zhu Tongjing has no interest in glancing at them.

In the past few days, Zhu Tongjing has been waiting for the report of Jiang Jiang's generation, and he is also sending people to pay attention to every move in Yangzhou City, Jiangbei, when he learned that Su Tingxia led the troops eastward, and Han Jian, who was in Yangzhou, ordered to postpone the dispatch of troops, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, and he would have time to meet his "old lover" Empress Dowager He. Zhu Tongjing didn't dare to have too many expectations for the future, because of the soldiers and horses of the Northern Dynasty, he asked himself that he couldn't resist it. In his lifetime, he still hopes that there will be such a day when he will meet the Empress Dowager He in the posture of a superior person, and realize the grand wish he made when he was reading at night in this deserted palace.

"Lord ......"

When Zhu Tongjing entered the door, the warmth inside made Zhu Tongjing feel at home.

He lived in this palace for five years, from the age of seventeen to twenty-two. Zhu Tongjing thought about it, it was already a very distant past. Until the contradiction between Empress Dowager He and Xie Rumo gradually intensified, and most of his ideas were adopted by Empress Dowager He. Empress Dowager He no longer regarded him as a pure face, and only after giving him the status of a guru did he leave the palace and have his own mansion. But even after that, he had to go to the palace often, and even with He Taishou in other faces. Go to the Empress Dowager Ho's bedroom.

After Zhu Tongjing entered inside, he didn't say a word, but Shan Lin waved his hand and said: "Go to the side and wait, the prince is busy with business, and it is rare to come to the banquet today." Serve ...... well."

The palace maids seem to understand their situation, they are in the same situation as Zhu Tongjing at the beginning, a person with power can decide their life and death, and they can also decide that they may have glory and wealth, this person is Zhu Tongjing in front of him. And the emperor who was in the inner courtyard of the palace did not have such authority, and even Emperor Min, who was imprisoned by Zhu Tongjing in the next room, was just a puppet at all.

Zhu Tongjing walked inside, took off the cloak easily, and before the cloak landed, Shan Lin, who followed him, had already caught the cloak, and there would be little eunuchs and palace maids waiting behind him.

When Zhu Tongjing walked to the back room with the gauze tent and the bright lights, he saw a woman, dressed in luxurious clothes, sitting at the head of the bed, like a girl to be married out of the pavilion, and there was a very peaceful feeling. But when she glanced sideways slightly, that appearance made Zhu Tongjing feel a little disgusting.

Empress Dowager He, who had been in charge of the state in the Southern Dynasty for many years, had jointly eradicated the palace with Xie Rumo and others to command Fu Siqi and a group of people, some people had rumored that it was said that Empress Dowager He was her widowed mother, luring Fu Siqi, who was very lustful, to the palace, and killed Fu Siqi, who held great power with a knife, so that she could hold the power of the court. But Zhu Tongjing knew that it was just a rumor, although Fu Siqi was very lascivious, he still respected the Empress Dowager He, who had always been very dignified and noble, and the Empress Dowager He invited Fu Siqi to drink, and even complimented Fu Siqi in front of him, but in the end, Fu Siqi was poisoned in the wine, and then the Empress Dowager He stabbed Fu Siqi in the throat with a knife.

That was eleven years ago, when Zhu Tongjing was only nineteen years old, he also lived in this side hall, and even he was the face of the Empress Dowager He, just as a single "righteous son", waiting for a candidate eunuch to be purified at any time. But that was the starting point of Zhu Tongjing's career, because it was Zhu Tongjing who poisoned Fu Siqi's wine, and since then, Empress Dowager He kept Zhu Tongjing by her side, first "pampered" for a period of time, and then in the end it was also "empathy and love".

Empress Dowager He, who has power, also exposes her indecisive and courageous side, she dares to fight with a knife with a military general who holds great power, but she doesn't know how to prepare in advance, Zhu Tongjing believes that if it weren't for the poisoned wine, or Fu Siqi is still in power now, as for Xie Rumo, Xiao Ling, and himself, it is impossible to leave any traces in the history of the Southern Dynasty.

"Lord Wang."

When Zhu Tongjing lifted the curtain, a palace maid who was waiting to stand knelt down to salute him.

Now it is no longer the time for Zhu Tong to go to see the Empress Dowager He's bedroom, and the palace maids at that time will not even look at him squarely, because he is just a face of the Empress Dowager, and in terms of status, he may not be as good as a little eunuch. These palace maids seem to be subservient and obedient, but they are also snobbish.

Zhu Tongjing still did not pause, and when he walked in front of the Empress Dowager He, the Empress Dowager He lowered her head and was still sitting on the edge of the bed, and the dress she was wearing was the dress she wore to attend formal occasions as the Empress Dowager. Shan Lin arranged for Empress Dowager He to pass on this body, but also wanted her to succumb in front of Zhu Tongjing in her original identity.

"What a nobleman." Shan Lin saw Zhu Tongjing standing there without saying a word, and the Empress Dowager He lowered her head and didn't say anything, so she couldn't help but come forward and smile, "The old slave hasn't called you that for a long time, and when I think about it, when the first emperor was fortunate to be a nobleman, it was still the name that the old slave remembered for you." ”

Empress Dowager He raised her head slightly and glanced at Shan Lin, these were all more than thirty years ago.

His husband, who was also Emperor Mingzong of the Qi Dynasty, had many concubines himself, but none of them had any heirs. However, after having her, "He Guiren", she got a daughter and a son one after another, and He Guiren also successfully became a concubine, and then a concubine, and was even canonized as a queen. Among them, there is Shan Lin's credit, because Shan Lin knows very well that Mingzong can't have children, and secretly finds someone to "do" for her, in fact, before Empress Dowager He raised her face, she already had a lot of "wild men". And Shan Lin raised Zhu Tongjing in the palace, and he was also cultivated as a "wild man" of the future Empress Dowager He, but even Shan Lin didn't expect that Zhu Tongjing would use his wisdom and strategy to become a new star in the political arena of the Southern Dynasties, and even later he could fight against Xie Rumo and his party, and now he is back in Jinling, and even the emperor's affairs can be decided by Zhu Tongjing.

"The concubine has to thank Father-in-law Shan." Empress Dowager He's voice was gentle, which was also the reason why she was favored by Mingzong in the first place. Because she has a good voice and sings well, she was stunned to attract Mingzong.

Shan Lin said with a smile: "He Guiren thanked the wrong person, he should thank the prince." Today, it is rare for the prince to have time to come, so why don't you personally show your singing and dancing skills for the prince, so that the prince can see it? ”

Empress Dowager He's face changed slightly, in her former words, even if Zhu Tongjing has the ability, it is still a dog she raises.

Now she wants to wag her tail in front of Zhu Tongjing and beg for mercy, using her old and unmovable body in exchange for a trace of mercy from Zhu Tongjing and saving her and her son's lives. (To be continued.) )