Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

Although Wang Chengen did not agree to go to the emperor to file a complaint, in the past few days, suspicions about Zhang Dexiu being a fake eunuch suddenly spread in the palace.Zhou Xi naturally knew where the rumors came from - he not only revealed the matter, but also kept himself from getting involved. Sure enough, Jiang was still old and spicy.

Soon, the news reached the Hall of Martial Arts as expected.Just when Xi Zhao was still puzzled by other people's strange eyes, he was screened away by Chongzhen and left alone in the Nuan Pavilion.

"The emperor, where did the emperor hear such rumors?" Hearing the emperor's question, Xi Zhao's nerves tensed suddenly, and his heart beat like a war drum.After so many years of hiding it, is it finally possible that paper can't hold fire... Although I have simulated this moment of life and death countless times in my heart, and I have prepared thousands of defenses to deal with it, but in such a real situation In the atmosphere, the flustered mood was still hard to suppress.Xi Zhao lowered his eyes, tried to calm down his heartbeat, thought for a while, and continued to speak: "Your Majesty, don't believe these nonsense, the villain has faced the Emperor day and night all these years, and Fengyang and his party have eaten and lived with the Emperor. The villain is a fake, how could the emperor not notice it?"

"Well..." Chongzhen nodded without much hesitation, as if he didn't take this rumor too seriously, "There are many people in the palace, and the palace people like to spread gossip, so I don't believe it. It's just this time Without evidence, why did it spread such strange things as you as a fake eunuch?"

"I'm afraid that the villain has been living alone for so many years, making people suspicious?" Xizhao secretly observed Chongzhen's expression, and his beating heart finally calmed down, "According to the villain's title, he is not qualified to live alone. Yes, being favored by the emperor, he gave him a special gift, which may actually arouse the suspicion of good people."

Although the reason is far-fetched, the effect is not bad.I saw Chongzhen frowned slightly, slightly displeased: "I promised you to live alone, if this is the basis, wouldn't even I be suspected of covering up."

"The villain is just guessing, but if the discussion continues, the villain should move to live with others..."

"Hey~ Why is this necessary. Let's stop this matter. I will pass on the decree. Anyone who chews their tongues will be severely punished." Chongzhen waved his hand and made lightly for this seemingly ridiculous disturbance. Finished.Xizhao heaved a sigh of relief, and was about to thank her, but saw the messenger eunuch bowing at the door of the Nuan Pavilion.

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Gao Qiqian has arrived in Beijing today, and is waiting outside the palace for the emperor's summons."

"Well. Pass."

Gold is easy to get, but trust is hard to find.Xizhao followed Chongzhen to the main hall, watching Gao Qi, who had not been back to the palace for many years, sneak into the hall, saluted and met with the emperor, chatted and greeted the emperor back and forth, but his mood was always involved in the incident just now. In fact, it was in a trance, and it was not very pleasant.The emperor believed it so easily, without asking or investigating, and apparently, he didn't even have much doubt.To the emperor, I may be really different from others; the emperor trusts me so much, but at least in this matter, I have already betrayed the emperor's heart.Hey... I just hope that the years to come will be safe and sound, this secret can be kept a secret for the rest of my life, never let the emperor know.

two

"Gao Qiqian is back?" Wang Chengen closed his fan in the Li supervisor, with a look of disgust, "He has been supervising the army outside all these years, why come back when he has nothing to do?"

Li Quan sat down on the side seat, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeves. "I originally came back to report on my work, but it is said that he has an eye disease and it is inconvenient to go outside. During this period, he will be recuperating in the palace, so he will not leave for the time being."

"Not leaving for now?!" Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen slammed the table, and his voice suddenly rose, "Hey! I just settled a new enemy and came back with an old enemy. Why can't our family have a peaceful day!"

"Don't be impatient, father-in-law." Li Quan hurriedly comforted him, "He is born with eye disease and is half-blind, so it probably won't bother father-in-law. As long as he is gone, father-in-law will be fine."

"Hmph." Wang Chengen glanced at him and snorted coldly, "Our family can treat him as if he wasn't there, but we can't guarantee that shameless self will come to the door."

"Eunuch is worrying too much..."

The two were talking, when they heard footsteps at the door, there was a burst of noise.One person strode into the Prison of Rituals, glanced around, and finally landed on Wang Chengen.

"Hey, Eunuch Wang, I haven't seen you for many years, how is everything going?"

When Wang Chengen heard that person greeted him, he turned his head away and met the eyes of the visitor.I saw the thin-faced and light-browed eunuch standing at the door, who looked like an eunuch with a faintly sick face. Wasn't it the old enemy Gao Qiqian?I haven't seen him for many years, but that face has not changed at all, it is still so annoying.Wang Chengen closed his eyes, twitched the corner of his mouth, and sat still.

"With Eunuch Gao worried about it, how can our family be bad?"

"Hehe, looking at you with a rosy face, I think it's not bad. Our family has been away for a few years, and the life of Wang Gonggong must be smooth and smooth, as you like." Gao Qiqian was not polite, he shook his clothes, Sitting on the chair opposite Wang Chengen.

"No matter how smooth the wind is, it can't compare to Eunuch Gao." Gao Qiqian said a few words, and Wang Chengen's heart was aroused, but for a while, he couldn't find any excuse for the attack, so he had to suppress it anyway. He answered nonchalantly, "Our family is just gesticulating indiscriminately in the three-acre area of ​​the Supervisor of Rituals. It can't be compared with Eunuch Gao who supervises tens of thousands of troops outside. That is called majestic. Today Gao Father-in-law condescends to come here in his busy schedule, what advice do you have?"

"Hey, although our family has been away for many years, we are still members of the Sili Supervisor. Since we have returned to the palace, why not come back to share the worries of our colleagues." Gao Qiqian half smiled, glanced at Wang Chengen, He took a piece of dim sum on a high plate, threw it into his mouth and chewed it, "After returning to the palace, I hurried to the Supervisor of Rites to see if everything is going well, Mr. Wang, but what else do we need?" Where does it work?"

"Oh, don't dare to be responsible. How dare you work on such trivial matters as the supervisor of ceremonies?" Wang Chengen said eccentrically, "I heard that Eunuch Gao suffered from an eye disease, so he just came back for a while to recuperate. Since he came to recuperate, Just take care of Eunuch Gao with peace of mind. Although our ceremonial supervisor has complicated affairs, there is never a shortage of manpower. Look at this room, even the chairs are almost out of place, so don’t worry about Eunuch Gao. Come to trouble God again."

Gao Qiqian smiled calmly, as if he had expected Wang Chengen's reaction. "Hey, what's the problem with our eye disease, it's just that one eye is blurred, and it doesn't hinder anything." He wiped off the snacks on his hands, cleared his throat, and arched his hands toward the empty space, "Your Majesty Caring, I asked about the condition in detail, and I must teach our family to recover in the capital before returning to the army. Hey... In fact, our family has nothing to do. It is also because of my heart that I have been working alone for so many years. I can't bear it, but since the prince is so polite, then our family will not refuse, and when he recovers from his illness, he will be able to serve the emperor." He stood up, straightened his clothes, and put on a contrived smirk , "Then our family will leave here, and the prince will take care of himself." Then he left the Supervisor of Rituals with great strides.

"What on earth is he here for..." Looking at Gao Qiqian's back, Li Quan muttered in a low voice. When he looked back, Wang Chengen stared at Fang Cai with a dark face and said nothing. The plate of snacks that Gao Qi had moved looked as if he was about to pick up the plate at the next moment and throw it on the ground to smash it to pieces.Li Quan was startled, and just about to say something to comfort him, Wang Chengen slowed down, looked away, and beckoned Zhou Xi over.

"This, throw it away." Wang Chengen said in a muffled voice, pointing to the dim sum plate on the table, "Together with the plate, throw it as far away as possible, and don't let our family see it again."

three

In June, midsummer is coming, and the scorching sun seems to melt everything in the world.Sunset looked at the glazed yellow tiles reflecting the glare of the sun outside the window, and recalled the past in a random way.Since entering the palace in December of the first year of Chongzhen, this is already the tenth summer spent in the palace.Time flies, not bad at all.Although I think about it carefully, the past ten years have been full of twists and turns, and it was not plain and simple, but looking back at that time, the long ten years seemed to be only in an instant, in the blink of an eye, in the blink of an eye, in the cold night. The dilapidated cabbage shed turned into this magnificent and bright imperial palace. Market vendors and storytellers suddenly disappeared, replaced by well-dressed court ladies and eunuchs, and the emperor quietly approving memorials.The heat in the afternoon blinded my mind. For a moment, I was afraid that all this was just a fairy dream. When I woke up after a while, I would still see the old furnishings in the old houses in Baozhu Hutong, and the dyed in the sun. At the door of the house, on the edge of the window, the setting sun is soaking in the summer heat.

"Greetings to the emperor." Wang Chengen's arrival broke the tranquility of the room and also interrupted Xi Zhao's thoughts.Seeing him bow and salute, he took out a copy from his bosom and presented it up. "This is a new book written by Lord Yang, Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Please have a look at it, Your Majesty."

"Oh? But it's about yesterday's incident?" Chongzhen asked, but before Wang Chengen could answer, he unfolded the notebook and read it.

"Exactly, Lord Yang advocated agreeing to the request made by the Qing army in his booklet. Huang Taiji has always followed his word. If the peace talks he said before cannot be achieved, Xia Qiu will definitely take action. It is definitely not false. If it really reaches that point, then With the current force, it may be very difficult to fight on two fronts to suppress bandits and Qing prisoners..."

"Hmm..." Chongzhen half-dripped his eyelids, frowned slightly, and remained silent for a long time.

Xizhao had also heard about Huang Taiji's threat.Ten years of turmoil and foreign invasion, three times the army forced the capital, when Ling Xizhao heard the news, she was no longer as frightened and flustered as before.Daming is no longer the peaceful Daming that he knew as a child. Seeing the emperor's efforts to maintain it for the past ten years, anyone can clearly know that it will be difficult for the current Daming to return to the prosperity of the past.And despite the constant crises, every time the crisis is turned into peace, this also makes Xizhao inexplicably veiled with a hint of peace of mind besides worrying. It seems that ten years of ups and downs have not completely changed the fate of Daming. Reluctantly, Daming Ying can go on like this forever, there will be no end day.So this accident is just another storm that will eventually turn the crisis into safety.Xizhao thought in the depths of her heart without any basis, but she thought so with great certainty.

Cicada outside the window sang tirelessly, as if desperately trying to compose an indelible melody for this summer. "To fight against the outside world, we must first secure the inside..." Chongzhen murmured the words in Yang Sichang's memorandum, closed the notebook, noncommittal, and just looked out the window thoughtfully.