Xuanyuan Jue

Chapter 184 Chen Qiu's old grudge (3)
"When we got to the Yihexuan, the old lady had already been sitting there. At that time, the servant wondered, the place was empty, except for the old lady, why didn't there even be a maid accompanying her? After the servant returned the order, the empress went in and kowtowed, After saying the auspicious words, the empress kept her mouth shut and listened to the instruction. After a long while, the old lady raised her chin and opened her mouth and said, "The foreigners are about to break down the city, and the outside is in a mess. No one can keep the current situation in order. What if someone in the palace is injured?" If you don’t insult me, you will lose all the face of the royal family, and I’m sorry for the ancestors! Can you understand what I mean?” The slaves were shocked when they heard the old lady’s words were wrong, and they didn’t Madam Chengxiang, you raised your head and said, "I understand, but I never shamed my ancestors!" But you are in a lot of inconvenience." The empress also said: "Lafayette can go and avoid it, leaving the emperor to sit in the capital and maintain the overall situation!" Empress, it was your words that poked the heart of the old lady. When the old lady heard it, I turned my face on the spot and ordered the servant and Wang Dehuan to throw you into the well of Zhenshun Gate. When Wang Dehuan saw this situation, he was so frightened that he was stupid. Thinking that the old queen was on fire, she knelt down to beg for mercy, and said that we slaves should not touch the jade body of the empress. Unexpectedly, the old queen pointed at the slave's nose and scolded: "In order to punish her, I sent away the idlers on purpose." What are you waiting for if you don’t do it yet?’ At that time, the slave knew that the old queen was not just in a fit of temper. She had already planned to kill her! If you make up your mind, even ten cows will not be able to pull back. Seeing that if you continue to consume it, your mother will not escape death, and maybe you will be humiliated in vain, so the slave turned his heart away, picked up your mother, and threw you into the well …My lady, the reason why this slave threw you headfirst is because he knew that the well was not deep, and it would be more satisfying to let you crash your head against the rocks at the bottom of the well. ..."

When Cui Yugui said this, he burst into tears. "Your Majesty, I will never forget that scene. It was the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life... Looking back now, apart from remorse, I have more admiration for you. To be honest, this big slave For half your life, you easily disobey anyone, but from that day on, the servant admired your mother! At that time, you knew that your death was imminent, but you didn't fight at all, and your words were sharper than knives...'I never shamed my ancestors! ''I didn't commit a crime worthy of death!''Other people love to escape, but the emperor should not escape!' Listen, how reasonable are these words? The old lady couldn't answer a word, but You can play violently. The empress has been imprisoned in the Northeast No. [-] prison for more than three years, right? If it was Erxia, the edges and corners would have been worn away long ago. Only the empress has not lost her integrity, and she can still say such things to the old queen Come on, it's really amazing! Sigh, it's a pity that the empress wanted to see the emperor again until she died, but she couldn't do so in the end... Hey, empress, you don't know that even though the old empress said she wanted to go out to avoid it, she actually didn't. Just mentioning it like that, I didn't make any preparations at all. But in the middle of the night, Wang Dehuan came to look for the servant in a panic, saying that he heard wild cats screaming strangely on the ridge of the four outer halls, and he was afraid that your mother would die I was wronged, and the grievances came to her to settle accounts. At that time, the servant was on guard at night, and heard the movement. It is said that the palace is so big, it is not unusual to have cats meowing, but the servant has heard too much about cats. There was a long ending sound. After the incident during the day, both of us had ghosts in our hearts, and we listened tremblingly for a long time, but we didn't hear anything. When it was daylight, the screams not only stopped, On the contrary, it rang even louder from all directions!"

"Later, the old lady was also awakened. After ordering people to go out to inquire, it turned out that the foreign devils had entered the city and were shooting around the Temple of Heaven to demonstrate against the Forbidden City. The so-called wild cat screams were actually from foreign guns The sound of the bullets being fired was whistling through the wind. When the old lady heard the news, she didn't regain her composure for a long while, and she looked in the direction of Yihexuan from time to time. Slave I know, the old queen is out of her mind, she must have thought it was the empress's evil spirit, and she has repaid her in this world. Half a watch later, there was a sudden bang in the west side hall of Le Shou Hall, everyone went out to have a look, it was actually A stray bullet came in. It wasn't until that moment that the old lady really panicked. She was so frightened that her face was sallow, and she quickly ordered a few people, called the emperor, changed into Han Chinese clothes, and hurried out of the palace to escape ... Sigh, it's really unprecedented. Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, how have we ever been involved in such embarrassing things? Madam, you were killed on the front foot, and the foreign devils broke the city on the back foot. Not to mention the old queen, even the servants felt that the empress was showing off. What a magical power. After returning from Xi’an, the old queen changed her mind. Not only did she change her temper towards foreigners, but she also blamed the slave for killing her. The old queen said that she had no The heart that harms the empress is the slave who tried his best to throw the empress down the well. When he saw the slave, he became angry, so he drove the slave out of the palace. Hey, the bridge was demolished when the river was crossed, and the donkey was killed when the mill was unloaded! Although the slave It's not a donkey, but it also has the stubborn temper of that donkey. Grandpa Gui once asked the servant to find someone to accommodate him, and bowed his head to be soft, but the servant refused! The luck is bad, and we don't need to ask anyone! Having said that, from the beginning to the end, the servant never thought of harming the empress! If you slander people to intercede, wouldn’t it be true? Alas... Your empress, the servant is talking so much, isn’t it? In order to ask for forgiveness, I will pour out all my thoughts before I die, so that this servant can go on the road in safety... Your Majesty, do it! If there are still debts in this life, let this servant come down and make up for it together Bar!"

After all, Cui Yugui fell to his knees in the mud with a "plop", closed his eyes, and stretched his neck to kill him.Concubine Zhen's ghost screamed and screamed, and rushed to Cui Yugui's body. I saw her left hand stretched out, scratching and beating, "slapping" several times on Cui Yugui's face.

Cui Yugui groaned, still gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.Seeing this, the ghost of Concubine Zhen slowly raised the dagger in her right hand again.The blade was like autumn frost, but she couldn't swing it down for a long time. Suddenly, the ghost of Concubine Zhen looked up to the sky and smiled sadly, as if there was infinite sorrow.It wasn't until there was a crying sound in the laughter that Concubine Zhen's ghost suddenly reversed the handle of the knife and slammed into the back of Cui Yugui's neck.Cui Yugui only felt a "buzz" in his head, and then collapsed on the ground, unconscious...

When the continuous autumn rain has completely stopped, the flowers and trees in Xiyuan that are not resistant to frost will almost all wither away.As the weather became colder every day, every household lit fires to keep warm.However, spending the winter in the palace is different from ordinary people. The palace is afraid of flooding, and the control of open fire is extremely strict. No firewood or coal is allowed, and they are all heated with charcoal.Under almost every hall, there are separate layers of kangs dug, and the rough envoy and eunuch pushes a cart with iron wheels, spreading the carts of red bamboo charcoal on the kangs.In this way, the people above stay in the house, as warm as on a hot kang.

The first fire on the first day of October, and the second day of the second day to withdraw the fire, this is the rule set by the ancestors of the royal family, even Cixi dare not disobey.But Cixi was old after all, no matter how warm the floor kang was, it was better to bake it with an open fire, and when she entered the quilt, the coolness still penetrated into the bones.Therefore, before going to bed, Cixi had to drink a cup of hot wine to warm up, and it became a habit over time.

That night, after Xiao Dezhang finished his errands, he withdrew from Yiluan Hall and quietly came to Shuqing Courtyard to listen to the sound of running water, looking forward to it.The sound of flowing water is a square pavilion, in which there are no tables and stools, but winding channels are dug out on the stone platform to attract the flowing water.Because it is a quiet and elegant place for leisure and appreciation, it is even less visited after nightfall.The pavilion is surrounded by rockery, surrounded by pines and cypresses, and only a narrow path connects to the outer garden.

After waiting for a while, a hand-held palace lantern was turned behind the rockery, Xiao Dezhang hurried out of the pavilion, and whispered to the lantern bearer: "Little Yezi!"

Ye He trembled in his hands and almost threw the lantern away. "Ouch! Eunuch Zhang, why don't you even turn on the light when you're so dark? You jumped out suddenly, which startled him..."

"Hush, don't shout!" Xiao Dezhang snatched the palace lantern from Ye He's hand, and quickly blew it out. "I still have the face to say that I want you to come here earlier, and I have to dawdle until now."

"The emperor hasn't rested, how can I come out?" Ye He shrank his neck, "Eunuch Zhang, you are too serious, where can't we meet? I have to choose this Shuqing courtyard. It's so desolate all the way, it's terrible. It made my heart jump in my throat.”

Xiao De Zhang said: "It's quiet here, so as to avoid people. Xiao Yezi, I called you this time to ask about my master."

"That's why?" Ye He curled his lips, "Don't worry, all the money has been handed over to Cui, and no one has seen it. I, Xiao Yezi, didn't even handle three cents of fat, so I ran away honestly for you, Eunuch Zhang." Legs."

"Can I still let you run for nothing?" Xiao Dezhang took out a hairpin and handed it over, "Come on, take it."

"Ah, is this gold?" Ye He happily took it, and hastily bit his teeth a few times. "Don't fool me with the brass..."

"Look at what you said, this hairpin is very thin, but it is definitely pure gold!" Xiao De rolled his eyes and said again: "Little Ye Zi, my master didn't say anything else? Hey, don't you If you gnaw it, if you gnaw it again, it will break!"

"Hmph, wouldn't it be impossible to break it if you give it a thick root?" Ye He muttered, and said, "Cui Baoji said that he was in your glory, praised you for being great, and said that he kept 100 taels of the money for himself, and the rest Some people are going to buy land and collect rent for the husbands in the temple to spend..."

(End of this chapter)