startled autumn

"Ah Xuan, you are so heavy, you can't eat candy from tomorrow on." Han Jue carried his younger brother on his shoulders, and lifted him up vigorously, until he saw him grabbing the fence, and then let go of his hand out of breath .

Han Bi is only a little over four years old this year, but his stature is already much taller than that of his peers, and his face is even more delicate and handsome. He has just shown the clues of Zhilan Yushu in the future, and he snorted coldly: "It's my sister. Too little strength, blame me?"

"Yes, it's my sister's fault." Han Jue always pampered him, but he just smiled softly, then nimbly climbed up the wall, looked into the distance, and asked doubtfully, "Which one do you think is the emperor?"

Han Bi was originally dragged by Han Jue to watch the excitement. He was young and didn't know what the emperor represented, so he just perfunctorily said: "The most beautiful one."

Han Jue felt that this remark was very unreasonable, so he taught: "Ah Xuan, you can't judge people by their cover."

"Sister, do you mean that the emperor is not good-looking?" Han Bi pouted.

Han Jue: "Where did I mean that, Ah Xuan, you're talking nonsense again."

The two siblings were arguing endlessly, but in the end they were discovered by someone chatting in the garden, and they only heard a shout: "Who is it?!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Han Jue quickly carried Han Bi down the fence, but unfortunately he was still caught on the spot.

Their father's name was Han Xun, who had served as the crown prince's tutor. After the crown prince ascended the throne, the new emperor became closer to the Han family, and even visited the Han residence in person to show his favor.

Han Xun bowed and said: "Your Majesty, forgive the sin, the sons and daughters are stubborn, and it is because the ministers have no way to teach them."

Han Jue pulled Han Bi to kneel down, lowered his head, and said softly: "This matter is all due to the temporary curiosity of the Minnen. If it offends His Majesty, the Minnen is willing to be punished. It's just that the youngest brother Axuan is only four years old, and my father is even more so." If you don’t know about this, please forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Emperor Nanjiang said, "Are you Han Jue?"

Han Jue looked up at him, and replied, "It's the girl."

"It's not a good name if it's like a ring but it's not connected." Emperor Nanjiang laughed.

However, Han Xun said at this time: "I tell your Majesty, the name of the minister's daughter was calculated by the eminent monk, her fate has been determined, and she cannot change a single word."

Emperor Nanjiang had always been kind to Han Xun, and upon hearing this, he just shook his head, forgave their sins, and drove back to the palace.

Han Bi tugged at the corner of her sister's skirt and asked, "Sister, why are you in a daze?"

"Ah Xuan, what you said is right." Han Jue bent his eyes and smiled, his face burning like a flower, "The emperor is indeed the best-looking one."

At that time, Han Bi was only four years old, ignorant and ignorant, he didn't know what an affair was, and just laughed with Han Jue, very happy.

soon after.

"Ah Xuan, I'm going to be a queen."

Han Bi lay on her sister's back, drowsy and about to fall asleep, and said lazily, "What is a queen?"

Han Jue waved his fan for him, and said with a smile, "The empress is the emperor's wife."

Han Bi nodded, it turned out that her sister was getting married.

"However, my father disagreed. He said that the deep palace is difficult." Han Jue sighed, "Ah Xuan, what do you think I should do?"

Han Bi hated his sister for throwing him difficult questions all day long, so he yawned and asked casually, "What's so good about being a queen?"

"It's good to see him every day." Han Jue blushed slightly.

"I don't know."

"Ah Xuan, when you grow up, you will definitely meet such a person. Even though the mountain is difficult to cross, you are still lucky to meet him by chance."

"I don't care about it." After Han Bi finished speaking, he fell into a deep sleep.

In the following year, Emperor Nanjiang appointed Han Xun's eldest daughter as the empress, with red makeup ten miles away, flying magpies coming to the door, and white jade shining brightly.

Since then, the Han family's holy family has grown stronger.

In the same year, the Empress Dowager Song died.

Since Emperor Nanjiang ascended the throne at the age of 25, he has been under the control of his mother's clan. For five years, he has been holding back and accumulating power in secret. The Yingchuan Song family headed by the queen mother has exhausted its vitality.

On the other hand, Han Xun became the prime minister, and his eldest son, Han Yuan, returned triumphantly from Northern Liao.

Little did he know that happiness is here tonight, like water without a trace, he will never remember it.

Han Bi was already eight years old at the time, and often went to the palace to accompany his elder sister.

Empress Han has long been different from the naive girl in those days, with the flowery swaying, the phoenix crown and the lavender, but her smile is the same as before, shining like a pearl: "Ah Xuan, you have grown taller again."

"You say this every time." Han Bi held her hand, "Eldest sister, brother forces me to practice sword every day, and even said he would send me to Chipei, when will you go home and save me? "

Empress Han smiled wryly and said: "Just wait a little longer, my sister will visit you later."

Han Bi felt that she was lying to him again, so he snorted coldly and ran outside to play, leaving Madam Han alone to sit and talk with Empress Han.

It's just that he didn't take two steps to go out, and then turned back. After ordering the ladies in the palace to silence with gestures, he hid behind the door and eavesdropped.

Empress Han: "Mother, how is the situation at home?"

Mrs. Han sighed: "Your father asked me to tell you that the Han family seems to be blooming with flowers, but in fact it is a fire. I want you to be careful in your words and deeds, and don't arouse your majesty's suspicion. I respect you."

Empress Han chuckled and said, "As long as I'm not pregnant with the prince, His Majesty will treat me the same."

Mrs. Han choked up and said, "It's hard for you, I knew it earlier..."

Empress Han sighed: "Even if I knew this earlier, if I can't change it, it will only add to my sorrow."

……

Shen Zhiqiu was dumbfounded when he heard this.

In the middle of the night, the two sat on the floor. Han Bi was covered with a thick quilt, while the person suffering from the cold sat beside him as if nothing had happened. He took another quilt and threw it on Shen Zhiqiu's lap.

If there is light at this moment, you can see the two tightly wrapped quilt balls, which is really ridiculous, but Han Bi is too lazy to care about those, anyway, it is pitch black now, and no one can see anyone.

Shen Zhiqiu asked: "What does your eldest sister mean?"

"Your Majesty has suffered greatly from his relatives, so naturally he is the most jealous of them. The Song family in Yingchuan deserves to die, so shouldn't the Han family deserve to die?" Han Bi sneered, "When he first came to the throne, he was eager to win over powerful people. The prince and Taifu, loyal to him, devoted all his energy to him, thought that he had met a Mingjun, even though he knew it was wrong, he still allowed his daughter into the palace..."

Shen Zhiqiu moved, getting closer to him.

Han Bi: "At that time, anyone who looked at it would see that the Han family was a prosperous scene. However, everything in this world is full of water and overflows, and prosperity must decline."

Shen Zhiqiu: "What happened to your family?"

Han Bi: "You are finally smart for a while."

When Han Bi was ten years old, his elder brother Han Yuan, the General of Northern Liao Dynasty, was reprimanded by Nanjiang Emperor for privately training troops in the outskirts of Beijing, and ordered him to be suspended from his post and sent to prison.

In the Han residence, Madam Han asked with tears in her eyelashes: "Yuan'er is just hunting in the suburbs with a few soldiers, so he will be punished?"

Han Xun frowned and sighed: "Ma'am, do you know that being with you is like being with a tiger?" In the early morning of the next day, Han Xun resigned from the post of prime minister, but was helplessly refuted.

The wind and rain are about to come, and naturally it is more than that.A few days later, Han Xun was accused of being the remnant party of the Empress Dowager Song, supported by several letters as proof.

The decline of the Han family in the capital has already begun to emerge.

At the right time, Empress Han felt unwell, and the imperial doctor said it was caused by Yu's death. The empress begged Emperor Nanjiang to order Han Bi to accompany her in the palace to relieve her worries, and the emperor readily agreed.

"Ah Xuan, you are the smartest child, you know what to do." Empress Han said softly.

Han Bi nodded vigorously.

The court is already full of blood and rain, how can everyone in the palace be alone?One month later, the Empress Dowager Song died, and the remaining members of the Song family risked the world's disgrace by buying off the commander of the imperial army and entering the palace at night to assassinate.It was night, the sky was full of flames, the shadow of blood was heavy, the garrison in the capital had not yet arrived, there were many assassins with high martial arts skills, and the elite guards gathered beside the Tai Chi Hall to protect the emperor.

On the other hand, the Changqiu Palace where Empress Han lived is also in jeopardy.

……

Shen Zhiqiu: "I have never heard of this assassination."

Han Bi smiled and said: "It's not your fault, it's such a shame and humiliation, His Majesty should wish he didn't mention it again in his life."

Shen Zhiqiu asked: "Changqiu Palace was besieged, what happened afterwards?"

Han Bi sighed: "Before dawn, the rebel party was suppressed, and no one was left alive."

Shen Zhiqiu nodded: "It should be so."

Han Bi continued: "Later, when His Majesty visited Changqiu Palace in person, he found that my elder sister had..."

After that night, the palace was in chaos, and Emperor Nanjiang hurried to Changqiu Palace.

There was a dead silence in the Changqiu Palace, the palace people were either dead or injured, fallen flowers were scattered all over the ground, and the smell of blood escaped.

He pushed open the palace door, only to see Empress Han lying on the ground with a bloodstain on her neck.

She is dead.

From the suitcase not far away, there was a slight cry.

The suitcase was not too big, but it could just fit a ten-year-old child. Han Bi gently lifted the opening of the suitcase, seeing that it was the emperor in person, he came out trembling.

"Axuan?" Emperor Nanjiang embraced the icy Empress Han in his arms, with a dazed expression, "What's wrong with your sister?"

"She, she is dead..." Han Bi finally cried bitterly, "Many people are coming to kill her and force her to kill herself."

Emperor Nanjiang squeezed Han Bi's shoulders hard, and shouted, "What happened?"

Han Bi had no choice but to choke with sobs, and gave an overview of the matter.

It turned out that the remnants of the Song Clan sneaked into the Changqiu Palace, intending to use Empress Han as a hostage to force Emperor Nanjiang out of the Taiji Hall;

During the crisis, Empress Han hid Han Bi in a suitcase and told him not to make any noise until dawn.

Han Bi curled up in the box, only to hear someone outside yelling: "Your Han family has done a lot of dirty things for the emperor, and now it's not the same as a dead dog?! Since the emperor didn't miss the old love, he wantonly killed me. The Song family's heroic lineage, how can your Han family get better? Maybe the next one to break into the palace will be your father and brother!"

"My father and brother treat His Majesty with absolute sincerity, and will not give up even if they die ten thousand times. Even when the birds are exhausted, they are what they want, especially if they have no regrets. You can't wait for a traitor, how can you compare?" Empress Han sneered. .

"As expected of a person with the surname Han, you are full of flattering words. I'm afraid it wasn't you who deceived your majesty and harmed my whole family of the Song family! Today we will use you as a hostage, so that we can go to the present majesty and complain about our grievances!"

Empress Han said loudly: "To prove the truth with death, it should start with me!"

Emperor Nanjiang clasped the empress Han's thin shoulders in his arms, only to feel the words "prove the way with death" still ringing in his ears, which made his heart groan, "What else did your sister say to you?"

"She said, if I am lucky enough to survive, I will tell my father and brother that Your Majesty is wise and will definitely treat my Han family well." Han Bi said blankly, as if his soul had already left his body, and the crying had been omitted, leaving only endless of numbness.

"anything else?"

"Let's say goodbye today, may Your Majesty have no regrets in the sky, no grievances to others, no dreams of distant nights, and no more lovesickness."

……

One night is like a ring, and the next night will become a jue.

Shen Zhiqiu had never seen Empress Han's grace before, but thought of the deep affection between the brothers and sisters of the Han family, yet Han Bi had to watch her sister commit suicide, and the sadness in her heart was beyond words, so she said: "No wonder Zhu Heng asked you When you had no brothers or sisters, you looked different, so there is such a reason behind it."

Han Bi suddenly asked, "Why do you think my eldest sister committed suicide?"

Shen Zhiqiu: "Being forced by the rebel party, I had to kill myself... Isn't it?"

Han Bi sneered, "Of course not."

Shen Zhiqiu opened his eyes wide: "Huh?"

Han Bi: "The imperial palace is strictly guarded. How could the Song family's tiny remnant party cause such an uproar?"

Shen Zhiqiu: "Didn't you say that they bribed the commander of the imperial army..."

Han Bi smiled and said, "The commander of the Imperial Army once received my brother's life-saving grace in the northwest."

Shen Zhiqiu couldn't figure it out at all.

"The imperial power and the aristocratic family, when they are close to each other, they are tolerant and win over each other, and when they are against each other, they will fight endlessly. It is like the current emperor who ascended the throne at a young age, so he can only make friends with his relatives, the Song family; Family is helping to suppress the arrogance of relatives." Han Bi said softly, his voice echoing in the silent night, "He is a wise king, and even a widow, he will not allow any family to stand side by side with him. Therefore, Empress Han has had no children for many years, it is not her Not being able to give birth, but not daring to give birth, if the Han family, which is extremely honored and favored, has a prince who can be justified and established as an emperor, how can your majesty bear it?"

Shen Zhiqiu asked: "In that case, why did he bother to marry your eldest sister?"

"Your Majesty really likes her... My eldest sister has only been in the palace for six years, and she has been a favorite for six years, and there is no one else." Han Bi sighed, "That's why Your Majesty chose to sacrifice the Han family in order to weaken the power of her relatives in advance and let the queen With no one to rely on, you won’t be able to rely on the Han family and affect the court.”

Shen Zhiqiu: "But she died."

"You say, is it easier to design a successful forced palace, or to create a failed assassination?" Han Bi said lightly.

Shen Zhiqiu's heart suddenly sank: "This..."

"If there is no cooperation between the inside and the outside of the commander of the imperial army, no matter how high the martial arts of the rebels are, they may not even be able to break into the palace gate, let alone break into the Taiji Palace where the emperor is; but if their original goal is the Changqiu Palace where the empress is What about it? On the night of the assassination, the Forbidden Garden was in chaos, but the Changqiu Palace was in order, and the gates of the palace were wide open, waiting for the time to die."

Han Bi paused, "The people of the Song clan are self-righteous, but they don't know that without the secret support of the Han family, Empress Han would cooperate with outsiders in the palace, and the assassination would have been impossible; after that night, all the people in Changqiu Palace died under the sword of the rebels. , The queen committed suicide on the spot, and the only one who survived was the queen's younger brother, and I hid in the suitcase, and I was the only witness."

Empress Han proved the Tao with her death, which proved to be the loyalty of the Han family.

It's not that I never thought that it would be better to destroy the jade than to be whole, but the disaster of the Song family's extermination is especially in sight. When it is the turn of the Han family, the emperor has also secretly prepared for a long time. The matter was not ordered by the emperor.

Empress Han saw that the Han family was already in dire straits, and how she was willing to live alone, so she set up the Song family to rebel against the party, in order to end the emperor's suspicion forever.

The Han family will no longer have a queen, let alone support an unnecessary prince. Apart from the favor of the king, there is no other support.

Although this plan was dangerous, it bet on the life of Empress Han. No one would have thought that the empress of a country would set up a trap in person, just to force herself to death.

He even asked Han Bi, who was only ten years old, to hide in a suitcase as a witness, and uttered Empress Han's last words from the mouth of a child who didn't know how to lie. Every sentence was so sad and sincere that the emperor had no choice but to believe it.

After the death of Empress Han, her brother Han Yuan's military training in the suburbs of Beijing was proved to be a case of speculation. Even so, Han Yuan was still demoted to the south to control the flood, and has not returned to Beijing for 15 years; Reuse it as a phase.

Although the youngest brother Han Bi is deeply favored by the emperor, when he becomes an adult, he has no fame and no official career.

So far, the Han family in the capital has been out of favor, and there is no official in the capital except Han Xun.

Han Bi said in a low voice: "The Han family and her are not dependent on each other, but her life is exchanged for the whole family's life." The aristocratic family has a strong character, and there is nothing better than this.

Shen Zhiqiu also felt unbearably sad, he never knew there was such a story behind Han Bi.

Han Bi: "I only regret that I was too young to do anything for my eldest sister..."

But Shen Zhiqiu couldn't help but think of that little A Xuan who was only ten years old.

Empress Han slayed herself, naturally she didn't want her younger brother to see this scene, so she hid him in the suitcase and asked him not to come out no matter what he heard.

The young Ah Xuan hid in the suitcase. After a long and silent night, he may have cried secretly, but no one knew; he knew what was going to happen outside, but he couldn't stop it.

In the early morning of the next day, when the emperor walked into the Changqiu Palace, Ah Xuan had grown into Han Bi.

His sister was dead, and he said his sister's last words word by word, just as they had agreed at first.

"Ah Xuan, you are the smartest child, and I will leave the rest to you." Before hiding him in the suitcase, Empress Han said with a tearful smile.

In Changqiu Palace, by the emperor's side, Han Bi looked at Empress Han's body, and replied in a low voice: "Sister, I survived, when will you go home?"

Shen Zhiqiu suddenly put his hands around Han Bi's waist, and put his head on his shoulder: "Ah Xuan, you have done a good job."

Han Bi was suddenly hugged by him, and his back couldn't help but stiff for a while, and then he gradually relaxed and accepted the comfort from the people around him: "Yes."

His head was tilted slightly, his warm lips slightly touched the top of Shen Zhiqiu's hair, the movement was very light, but he moved away after staying for a while, the tenderness also dissipated with the wind, making people unable to grasp some clues.