Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

In the early morning, the sky is half cloudy, and the sun is thin and faint, if there is nothing.It was a night of wind and snow, and the red walls and yellow tiles of the imperial palace were covered with white snow.A long-bearded man wrapped in a crow-blue thick cotton cloak, breathing white mist, hurriedly rushed to the front of Xihuamen.

"Who is here?" A tall guard in front of the door shouted.

"Yang Tinglin, the editor of the Imperial Academy, needs to see His Majesty!" Yang Tinglin took off his cotton cap and reported his name.

"Yang Tinglin?" the tall guard muttered, hesitant.Another guard came up to him and whispered a few words in his ear, and he raised his brows, and immediately put on a half-smile expression. "Master Yang, I'm sorry, Lord Shangshu has an order to guard the frontline officials. Unless there is a letter written by Eunuch Gao, they are not allowed to enter the palace, especially... Yang Tinglin, Lord Yang."

"Why!" Yang Tinglin was startled, and said loudly, "I have an important memorial to present to His Majesty in person, how dare you stop me!"

"How dare the villain stop the adults without authorization, we are also following orders." Several guards looked at each other and smiled, "If Master Yang has no letter written by Eunuch Gao, please return it."

"Bold! If you miss a major event, you guys can afford it!" Yang Tinglin was furious, stepped forward and scolded.

"This..." The tall guard hesitated for a moment, "Lord Yang, don't make things difficult for the little people. If it's really a big deal, you might as well go to Ming Shangshu first, otherwise please forgive the little people for not daring to disobey the orders of Shangshu."

"You...!" Yang Tinglin was at a loss for words.Standing in front of me and the emperor is the Lord Shangshu, so what's the use of finding accommodation with him!It's better to see if there are opportunities in other guards.Thinking of this, he turned around and hurriedly left the Xihua Gate and walked south. Less than half an hour later, he came back dejectedly.

"My lord, there is no need to ask. We and the other brothers got the order together. It's the same when you go to ask your lord." The guard said, "Please go back, my lord."

Yang Tinglin didn't turn around, but glared at the tall guard, full of resentment.Yang Sichang, oh Yang Sichang, you really counted every step and every move, and you are so vicious!Inspector Lu has spent half his life working for the Great Ming Society, exhausting all his energy, so you just have the heart to force Instructor Lu into a desperate situation like this!What Dao Zhou said about pigs, dogs and human owls is really good when applied to you!Cursing inwardly, Yang Tinglin roughly kicked the snow away with his feet, sweeping out a small open space.Even though you did your infidelity and injustice, I, Yang Tinglin, had to do my best for Daming! "Go and tell your Lord Shangshu!" Yang Tinglin lifted his cloak and sat down on the wet ground, "If he doesn't let me in to see His Majesty, I, Yang Tinglin, will sit here and never leave!"

two

On this day, Yang Tinglin sat until the sky was completely dark, and Yang Sichang did not show up, nor did he show any sign of letting him in.Yang Tinglin looked at the dark night sky, stood up with difficulty, moved his frozen legs, and walked away from the palace gate step by step.And before dawn the next day, he appeared in front of Xihua Gate again, without saying a word, just like yesterday, and sat cross-legged on the ground again.

"Have you reported to Lord Shangshu?" The sky turned bright and dark, and Yang Tinglin just sat motionless a foot away from the door.The tall guard couldn't bear it, and quietly asked his companion next to him.

"Naturally."

"What did the lord say?"

"My lord just said three words and told him to wait."

"Oh..." The tall guard nodded, without further words.

Yang Tinglin vaguely heard the movement of the guards, and slightly opened his eyes.Not long ago, I also came to this Xihuamen with a memorial in my arms.This is the closest palace gate to the Hall of Martial Heroes. Go in and walk for a short distance, without even turning a corner, you can go straight to the emperor's place.If it wasn't blocked by the towering towers, perhaps looking up, one could see the gorgeous golden tiles and auspicious beasts on the roof of the Wuying Hall amidst the green pines.But it is so close, and it is so difficult to get closer to the emperor... How can this make people want to!

Yang Tinglin twitched his eyebrows, closed his eyes, got up, and continued to wait.

It went on like this for three days.In the early morning of the fourth day, Yang Tinglin still had no intention of retreating, so he came to the Xihua Gate early and closed his eyes to sit quietly.After more than an hour, about the time when the morning was leaving, a sound of footsteps came slowly from a distance, and finally stopped beside him.

"Hello, Editor-in-Chief."

Yang Tinglin suddenly opened his eyes, and the man in front of him, dressed in court clothes and with a square face and thick eyebrows, was indeed Yang Sichang.

"Master Yang, you are finally here!" Yang Tinglin sneered, patted his butt, stood up and said.

"You can't come if you don't come. It's been very cold these few days, but the editor insists on sitting here. I'm also afraid that you will freeze your body, so I won't be able to explain to His Majesty and Lord Lu." Yang Sichang smiled. .

"Hmph. Lord Yang, you don't have to be hypocritical. Your Excellency probably wants to let the official die." Yang Tinglin glared at Yang Sichang, "Dare to ask Lord Yang, why do you prevent the official from seeing His Majesty?"

"Hey, my lord editor misunderstood me. I'm doing it for my lord." Yang Sichang said with a smirk, "My lord was ordered by His Majesty to go to the front line to help Governor Lu retreat from the enemy. But if you go back to Beijing privately, His Majesty will be held accountable, which will be detrimental to your lord."

"Don't bother Mr. Yang!" Yang Tinglin said angrily, "I have seen Your Majesty, and I will have my own explanation."

"It's natural. I also thought that the editor worked so hard, he was not afraid to ask questions, or he really had something urgent to report, so I have already mentioned to His Majesty the matter of Lord Yang's request to see His Majesty..." Yang Sichang Deliberately stop talking.

Yang Tinglin's body froze, his eyes stared straight at Yang Sichang, half expectant, half suspicious. "really?"

"I mentioned it before, but Your Majesty..." Yang Sichang pulled the corner of his mouth and said in a long voice, "Your Majesty doesn't want to see the editor..."

"You're talking nonsense!" Yang Tinglin realized that he was being tricked, and suddenly a burst of anger rushed into his heart, and his words were less measured, "You didn't mention it to His Majesty at all, otherwise His Majesty would not want to see me!"

"Why doesn't the editor trust me?" Yang Tinglin spoke disrespectfully, but Yang Sichang still kept his hands behind his back, smiling unabated, calmly, as if he was waiting for Yang Tinglin's reaction, "I really mentioned it, but as for your majesty Why don't you want to see Mr. Editor, then I have no way of knowing, maybe it's because of Mr. Editor's comparison of Nan Zhong's latent goodness..."

"You...!" You, a villain, are obviously responsible for this, but you still shamelessly come here to pretend!The more calm Yang Sichang was, the more angry Yang Tinglin became. His eyes were wide open, his brows were raised horizontally, he pointed at Yang Sichang's nose and couldn't stop trembling, then he flicked his sleeves and rushed towards the gate.

"Let me in!" Yang Tinglin yelled at the guards, "If you don't let me into the palace today, I'll be bumped to death here!"

"Hold him quickly!" Yang Sichang hurriedly ordered the guards, and before Yang Sichang could finish his sentence, several guards had already restrained Yang Tinglin on the spot. "Let go of me! You let me go!" How could a civil servant be able to match the strength of the guards? Although Yang Tinglin struggled desperately, he still couldn't break free from the guards' grip.All of a sudden, there was a lot of noise and shouting in front of Xihua Gate, and it was in chaos.

"Yang Tinglin! Trespassing on the imperial palace, what is the crime? You have just been on the front line for a few days, and you have forgotten all the etiquette of the court!" Yang Sichang put away his smile, and instantly changed into a stern expression, "I think you are a first-time offender. I'm going to ask you about the crime. Come here and order the guards at the gates. Yang Tinglin acted recklessly, disobeyed the etiquette, and disrupted the order of the palace. Walk!"

"Yes!" The guards readily agreed, and dragged Yang Tinglin away.

"Yang Sichang! You traitor! Traitor! You will die!" Yang Tinglin was extremely angry, cursing fiercely in his mouth, while struggling, helplessly watching the tightly closed bright red palace door step by step away from him, As far away as the red sun on the other side, it is beyond reach...

three

"Your Excellency Yang is making quite a fuss."

"Yeah, I heard that he scratched Mr. Li's hands."

"You said he made such a fuss about wanting to see the emperor, what exactly is it?"

"Who knows..."

On the West Road, Xi Zhao had finished her work for the emperor and was about to rush back to the Hall of Martial Ying, when she suddenly heard someone whispering behind the bushes.He walked around the bushes and saw that there were two young eunuchs in Tsing Yi chatting lazily.

"Who do you think wants to see the emperor?" Xi Zhao asked suddenly behind her back, making the two young eunuchs tremble.

"Hello, Eunuch Zhang." "Hello, Eunuch Zhang." The two young eunuchs turned their heads and saw that the person who came was Zhang Dexiu, a celebrity beside the emperor.

"Hmm. Who were you talking about just now?" Xi Zhao asked again.

"It's...it's Master Yang..." A young eunuch replied hesitantly, "He has been sitting outside the Xihua Gate for several days. He wants to see the emperor. When we came here just now, I heard that he was at the palace gate The Foreign Monk, Master Yang, is making a fuss..."

"Oh? Is there such a thing?" Xi Zhao thought for a while, and said, "I'll go and see, which prison you two are in, go to work, or you have to pay attention to your monthly salary."

"Yes..." The two young eunuchs bowed to Zhao Xizhao, then quickly turned and left.Xi Zhao turned a corner, walked quickly to the Xihua gate, and ordered the guard to open the small gate.

"...Did something happen here just now?" Looking around in the sunset, it was warm and windy in front of the door, and there was no one there, only a lot of footprints scattered on the stone floor covered with white snow.

"Hey, why are you here, Eunuch Zhang?" The tall guard bowed his waist when he saw the sunset, and said with a smile on his face, "It's nothing, it's nothing, it's just that Editor Yang wants to enter the palace to see the emperor, Just sent away by Master Shangshu. Such a trivial matter has disturbed Eunuch Zhang’s cleanliness, the petty one deserves to die.”

"What does he need to see the emperor?" Xi Zhao asked directly, ignoring the tall guard's flattery.

"This... I don't know about the small ones. In short, Lord Shangshu has settled the matter, and he was also driven away by us. He will not disturb the emperor and Eunuch Zhang again."

Boom away... Xizhao was thinking about this word, and a trace of unbearableness suddenly flashed in his heart.He looked at the courteous and smiling guard beside him, and at the messy snow field in front of the door, changed his mind, and exhaled slowly.Worth mentioning.Ever since the incident of Huang Daozhou, the emperor has always been indifferent to the scholars of the Imperial Academy, maybe even if he reported to the emperor this time, the emperor would not want to see them. "If he comes again, send someone to tell me." Xi Zhao told the tall eunuch.If there is an important matter, he should come again, and it will not be too late to report back to the emperor at that time.Thinking about it, Xizhao looked at the empty, white expanse outside the Xihua Gate, turned around and entered the gate.