The Three Kingdoms of the Widow

Xun Yu was reading a book under the lamp, forgetting to eat and sleep. There were various utensils in his hand, some of which were filled with some kind of plants or minerals, and some of which were empty, making this room look a bit like a chemical laboratory.

He's been busy lately.

Because Cao Cao asked him to do less.

Less than when Guo Jia was there.

Xun Yu knew why.

Many people clearly realized the changes in Cao Cao at the end of the year before last.Hua Xin was the most sensitive of these people. He reported Cao Cao's achievements on the table and asked the Emperor Han to increase Cao Cao's fiefs, four counties, and [-] households.Xun Yu stood up to oppose it. It took more than ten days before Cao Cao came out to express his position. Let the three counties of the city be returned to Wuping, and only ten thousand households in Wuping. , no dissonance.

It's just trying to cover up.

In fact, everyone is trying to:

Hua Xin was trying to figure out what position Cao Cao wanted to achieve. The essence of increasing the fiefdom was to improve the status. An ordinary township lord was not worthy of owning so much land, unless he was one level higher than Hou and called the Duke.

One level higher is Wang Jue.

No matter how high it is, then...

Cao Cao is also testing, testing everyone's reaction to this matter.

As a result, Xun Yu didn't give everyone face very much.

Then Cao Cao relied more and more on Hua Xin, everyone could see clearly, and privately said that the prime minister had changed.

Xun Yu was not surprised at all: he didn't change at the beginning, he changed a few years ago, since the person who could restrain him left, he has been on the road of self-willedness forever.

I should be happy to hear about it, Xun Yu thought.

After Cao Cao came back from conquering Ma Chao, Hua Xin talked about the same thing as two years ago, but this time it was aboveboard.But he was more or less afraid of Xun Yu, the minister, and he didn't show up in person. He ordered Dong Zhao to come up and ask the Emperor of Han to make Cao Cao the Duke of Wei.

Duke Wei.Xun Yu took out the letter Guo Jia left behind: "Master Guo Jia pays homage to Duke Wei..."

Guo Fengxiao, you already knew that.

Nu Xin is right, Guo Jia is right, so Guo Jia's strategy is used to stabilize the country, and once it is reversed, it will change the situation.

"Jiangdong cannot be attacked" has been fulfilled, what about "Sima cannot be used"?

Xun Yu remembered that Guo Jia had said more than once to let him leave Cao Cao early, and now it seems that she was right.

She doesn't seem to miss it?

However, Xun Yu thought, I am deeply involved, and I can't get out.If it is God's will, I will just be myself and let what should come.

The Emperor of Han asked the ministers to discuss the matter of making Cao Cao the Duke of Wei. In front of Cao Cao, Xun Yu stood on the opposing side: "The prime minister helped the Han family, extended righteousness to the world, and saved all people from fire and water. How can we usurp rebellion for this?" Things?"

As soon as the word "usurping" came out, Cao Cao hated Xun Yu completely, and he further reduced Xun Yu's workload.Xun Yu didn't say anything, and in the extra time he intensified his reading practice and immersed himself in the fun of making spices.

However, I don't know whether it is the problem of the fragrance or the proportion. The finished product is far from the imagination.

Cao Cao couldn't forget about Chibi. Anyway, Zhou Yu was dead, so he raised his troops again and decided to conquer Soochow. It shouldn't be too difficult for him to take along Liu Bei by the way.

According to the usual practice, he let Xun Yu go to Qiao to work in the army. It is not surprising that logistics is Xun Yu's forte. Participate in the prime minister's military.

Xun Yu has been busy with internal affairs in Xudu for many years, and he no longer joins the army to help draw up strategies.Therefore, Cao Cao's arrangement is very abnormal.

Xun Yu had a good idea in his heart. When he reached Shouchun, he said he was sick and would not leave.

Cao Cao didn't force him either, so it can be seen that Cao Cao didn't intend to let him participate in any military affairs. He is not indispensable in the army. In this case, it is even more unbelievable for a country's prime minister to change his career to become a dispensable staff officer. matter.

Behind any abnormal behavior, there must be a reasonable explanation.

When Xun Yu's incense was about to be ready, Cao Cao ordered someone to send a food box.

The visitor opened the food boxes layer by layer in front of Xun Yu.

There is nothing inside.

Xun Yu just glanced at it, then nodded: You can go, my incense is almost ready.

The person who came was also thoughtful, and left without saying anything.

Xun Yu concentrated on making the balm. When he stirred all the ingredients together, he frowned at the paste in the box—it was still wrong, something was missing.

"Let's send Godson, Mr. Xun Ling." There was a voice at the door that I hadn't heard for several years but was still very familiar. Xun Yu raised his head and looked outside, and there stood a beautiful woman in plain clothes—an old acquaintance.

It's Nu Xin.

Xun Yu was not surprised to see Nu Xin, but he was curious about how Nu Xin could come in.

Nu Xin looked left and right to make sure that there was no maidservant nearby, so she closed the doors and windows and walked to Xun Yu.

"It's not difficult." Nu Xin's tone was cold, "There are old people in Xun Lingjun's house, and they haven't changed in these years. They still recognize me, and they don't recognize my face. When they see this hanging ornament on the back of my clothes Got it too."

The pendant on Nu Xin’s fingers is a bow made of a wide ribbon. Back then, Guo Jia took three maidservants to play and said on a whim that he would improve their clothes, and then decorated their waists with such a bow. .

"This is the style of the Baroque period. It is called 'hip decoration', which emphasizes the lines of women's buttocks, making it look sexy and charming." Guo Jia made one for Nu Xin, and asked Chun Chiu and Okra to try it too.

Spring leek and okra are shy, how can they emphasize lines so blatantly, except for women who are engaged in special careers, most of them can't wrap themselves up as tightly as they can.

"Oh, what are you afraid of, come here."

Nu Xin turned around and looked at the thing behind her. She thought it was novel and beautiful. No one had ever told her before that there could be something to decorate there.

Chunjiu and Qiukui were still shy, and Nu Xin glared at them: "Don't toast and not eat fine wine! Mister personally arranged it, don't come here yet!"

Then Xun Yu went to see Guo Jia, and saw that all the maids in Guo Jijiu's mansion were wearing a big bow tie behind their buttocks.

Xun Yu was dumbfounded: "Feng Xiao...you did this..."

"Ah, yes, isn't it beautiful? Let your servant girl come over another day, and I will make one for you." Guo Jia was triumphant.

"No, no." Xun Yu couldn't help it.

Spring leek and okra are more conservative, but Nu Xin is not such a person. She thinks it is good, and she even takes it with her when she goes out. Everyone around knows that Guo Jijiu's maidservants even have different clothes from other people's homes.

That was many years ago.

"I've already done what I promised you, so why are you here?" Xun Yu looked at Nu Xin. After all these years, Nu Xin had grown into a mature woman, and Xun Yu felt his own aging.

"When your job is done, it's my turn to do it."

"for example?"

"Give you this thing you need."

"How do you know what I need?"

"Why don't I know? Although I have stayed at the White Horse Temple in Luoyang these years, I have never given up my attention to Xudu. Xun Lingjun has recently fallen out of favor with the prime minister, and has been reduced to mixing incense all day—how could I not know such interesting news?" ? Mr. Xun Ling won't think that I don't know how to arrange eyeliner, right, the husband of spring leek and okra is not difficult to control."

"Then you also know what kind of incense I am mixing?" Xun Yu pointed to the box in front of him.

Nv Xin smiled sweetly: "Return Soul Fragrance."

Xun Yu heard some Confucian scholars and alchemists talking about spices by chance, and one of them who liked to tell anecdotes mentioned the incense of returning souls, saying that this incense could bring the dead back to life.Others laughed at him, so he became anxious at that time, and said that there was indeed this kind of incense. It was the three grains that the Yuezhi Kingdom in the Western Regions had paid tribute to during Emperor Xiaowu's time. They were as big as pigeon eggs and were very precious.Emperor Wu once used two pills after a blight, and one pill after Mrs. Wang died. After that, he never heard of this kind of incense again.

Others listened to it and listened to it, but Xun Yu kept it in his heart, the incense of returning to the soul, bringing the dead back to life, and used it before.

Then Xun Yu searched all the available materials with his convenient access to the treasury: According to the "Han Shu" and other records, there was indeed this spice in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and he used it twice before and after. A great plague broke out in the first year of hunting. At that time, the plague spread to the inner court. Huo Qubing, the favorite minister of Emperor Wu, also unfortunately died of illness in that plague, and passed away at a young age.Emperor Wu really had no other choice. Under the reminder of his followers, he decided to take out the soul-returning incense, which he hadn't thought of at the beginning, and try it out, using dead horse power as a living horse doctor.At that time, only two incense sticks were lit, but it was enough. The palace was full of fragrance, and in the smoke of the incense, everyone was surprised to see the dead or dying palace people walking freely in the palace as if they were alive. , Yan Xiao Yan Yan...

Although this scene did not last long, it was enough to shock the people who saw it with their own eyes. Although most of them died in the end, the legend of the incense of returning souls spread to the folk, and people rushed to tell that the incense of returning souls recalled the soul. It is a wonderful scene, and it is becoming more and more magical after being embellished.

The second time, because Emperor Wu missed Mrs. Wang, he summoned the alchemist to summon the soul. The alchemist proposed to use the incense of returning the soul. I didn't see Mrs. Wang's face like last time.

"Based on Xun Lingjun's knowledge, after reading these two descriptions about Huihunxiang, don't you think there is anything wrong?"

Of course Xun Yu realized it.He was still puzzled by this: Why would the same spice behave differently twice before and after?But he didn't have time to think too much, he spent a lot of effort to find the ingredients of the soul-returning incense from some fragments of ancient books, he must try it.

"Do you know why it's different?" Xun Yu asked Nu Xin.

Nu Xin nodded: "Because the ingredients are different for the two times before and after, something called 'Godson' was added to the ingredients for the first time."

"how do you know?"

Nu Xin took out a bundle of bamboo slips from her sleeve and threw them in front of Xun Yu: ""Huainan Honglie"."

This is a coincidence.

Nu Xin has not been idle during these years at the White Horse Temple. The best way for her to pass the time is to read books.There are quite a lot of books in the temple. Apart from Buddhist scriptures, there are other classics, all of which were donated by some religious dignitaries.

During this process, Nv Xin accidentally discovered that "Huainan Honglie", also known as "Huainanzi" by later generations, was compiled by Liu An, the king of Huainan who was forced to commit suicide during Emperor Wu's time.It’s not that Nu Xin has never read it. Guo Jia’s book collection has this book, but Nu Xin simply read the first few chapters and found that the book in the White Horse Temple is different from the one in Guo Jia’s collection, and has some more content.Later, she asked the monks in every possible way, and found out that the central plains were not interested in Buddhism when it came to the East. Similarities.Later, King Huainan presided over the revision of the book "Huainan Honglie", some of which involved Emperor Wu. He was afraid of causing trouble, so he only published the fragmented copy, and he secretly hid the whole copy in the White Horse Temple. This is the one Nu Xin read.

In the complete "Huainan Honglie" read by Nu Xin, the King of Huainan recorded such a thing: after Empress Chen Gillian was abandoned by Emperor Wu to live in Nagato Palace, she made many efforts to restore the relationship between husband and wife. The most important thing is to present a thing called "Godson" to Emperor Wu. The powder taken out of it is mixed with the soul-returning incense tribute from the Western Regions, which is said to have the effect of bringing the dead soul back to the world, but at that time only two.

Empress Chen's move had no effect. Emperor Wu threw the specially treated incense back into the treasure house, and still ignored her.

Seeing this, Nu Xin suddenly thought of something. She dug out the "Supplementary Record" written by someone after the death of King Huainan that she had read a few days ago. After Emperor Wu abolished Empress Chen, he ordered people to ask Chu Fu to ask for the dragon core. Chu Fu resented Emperor Wu for being ruthless to Empress Chen and insisted on refusing to give it. Emperor Wu was furious and cut Chu Fu. The fire burned down, and Empress Chen himself was buried in the sea of ​​flames. Emperor Wu announced that Empress Chen had died in depression, but Godson was never found again.Then, there was the event of summoning Mrs. Wang's soul.

Nv Xin seemed to suddenly understand something. The dragon core was dedicated to Emperor Wu by Gillian. After a plague, Emperor Wu verified the efficacy of the soul-returning incense mixed with dragon core. After Chu Fu's death, Empress Chen also passed away, and Godson also disappeared.

Who is Chu Fu?

There is no record of Chu Fu's background, as if she came to Queen Chen's side as soon as she appeared, and her life for decades before was completely blank.

Nu Xin had a faint premonition, which was confirmed when she saw this record in "Supplementary Records": "There is an old woman who claims to be a member of the old palace of Chen Hou, and draws a picture of 'Godson'. I don't know whether it is true or not. , so that later generations can identify it."

There is no need to identify it at all, Nu Xin can be sure that it is true.

The author has something to say:

In fact, the author doesn't understand the job relationship between "Shizhong, Doctor Guanglu, Chijie, and participating in the prime minister's military affairs" and "Shangshuling", so the evaluation is taken for granted and made up.

There is a big bow on the back of the clothes - see the costume of Cao Zhi played by Yang Yang in "New Luoshen", it is quite beautiful.

There is no unified statement about the time when Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains, and it is also believed that it was introduced during the time of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty.But the White Horse Temple is a relic—it was built in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was impossible for Emperor Wu to have this temple, let alone the fact that Huainan King collected books in it.

"Huainanzi" written by Liu An, the king of Huainan, was originally called "Huainan Honglie".But there is no mention of Chen Ajiao and Chu Fu. That paragraph was edited by the author, and "Supplementary Records" was also edited.

The time of Huo Qubing's death is correct, but I don't know if he died of the plague. The plague happened in the inner court during Emperor Wu's time. The use of the soul-returning incense was not recorded in the "Hanshu", but "The Internal Biography of Emperor Wu" fabricated by later generations Among them, "Hanshu" only records three pieces of incense returned to the soul as a tribute from the Yuezhi Kingdom in the Western Regions.