Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

After Yang Sichang left, Chongzhen held the Shangfang sword that faintly exuded blood, looked at it carefully, and remained silent for a long time.

"There are still many doubts, why doesn't your majesty continue to ask more questions?" Xi Zhao beside him asked softly.

"Didn't he explain everything I asked?" Chongzhen answered without taking his eyes off the sword in his hand, "Every item is reasonable, so I don't even have room for questioning. In the end, what urged Lu Qing to go to Huangquan Road was the hand letter issued by me personally, which also taught me what to ask him."

"But those two handwritten orders were all due to Master Yang's strong remonstrance." Xi Zhao looked at the door that Yang Sichang had just left, with a trace of coldness in his eyes, "Although there is no evidence yet, the villain always feels that the defeat of this battle , Lord Yang must be inseparably involved in Lord Lu's death."

Chongzhen shook his head when he heard the words, put down his sword, looked out the window quietly, and said after a while:

"It was I who harmed Lu Qing."

"Your Majesty..." Xi Zhao was slightly taken aback, "Your Majesty really doesn't need to blame himself for the handwriting."

"It's not about the handbook." Chongzhen said slowly, "I know that the soldiers are coming to the city, and I have to fight, but I still don't get rid of the peace in my heart. I know that Yang Sichang..." When Chongzhen said this, he didn't know why he said After a pause, he sighed softly, with a trace of exhaustion in his eyes, "Hey... Anyway, I can't blame others for this matter. In the final analysis, it was I who betrayed Lu Qing..."

Xi Zhao frowned, and couldn't help being puzzled: "...the villain doesn't understand. From the villain's point of view, the emperor allocates supplies, bestows a sword, and quells everyone's opinions. He is already enough to support Mr. Lu. Does the emperor still sincerely hope to negotiate a peace? "

Chongzhen waved his hand, closed his eyelids, and did not explain further.Allocating supplies, bestowing swords, and pacifying public opinion are just actions that follow the situation.Knowing that the two people's political views are at odds, they are incompatible, but let them wrestle with each other and do nothing; knowing that they can't be so vacillating and ambiguous, but they still have expectations for both parties, and at the same time, they don't dare to rest assured. party.The daily stream of memorials came and went, and everyone concealed their selfish desires, and rushed forward with densely packed lower regular script, just wanting to win the emperor's eyes and ears with their high-sounding remarks.In this court, no one can be trusted.But not trusting, not relying on, in the end, they drifted here in a chaotic way, dragging things to the worst situation in vain, and finally indulged one party's reckless behavior, and betrayed the other party's loyalty.The inside story of Lu Xiangsheng's death is actually not difficult to speculate, but I can't really track down and hold him accountable—what has been lost is already irreparable. , who can I rely on in the future.What's more, to be held accountable to the end is obviously the fault of my connivance and inaction, and I want to push this crime to someone else.The sense of powerlessness deep in his body gradually crept into his heart, Chongzhen raised his forehead and gently rubbed his temples.

——No matter how chaotic and noisy, one should also distinguish the way from the turbulent water. This is a matter of course for the king of a country.How did I become the emperor...

The snow kept falling, and the sky was overcast and gray like thin ink.

"It's sunny and warm today..." After a long silence, the man behind the dragon case suddenly said.Xi Zhao turned her head and looked at the window.On the hexagonal windows, the window paper is as dull gray as the sky.

"My Majesty, today is very sunny." Xi Zhao replied knowingly.

"Okay...you go and clean up, and accompany me out of the palace to relax."

two

White snow covers the city of Beijing and never melts all day long.The end of the new year is approaching, and it is the season of freezing weather, and today's snowflakes are even more cold.There are very few pedestrians on the road in the alley, and occasionally a few people come and go in a hurry, no one pays attention to the two young men who are tightly covered by lint cloaks.The two of them didn't seem to mind the cold, they just walked forward slowly, letting the snowflakes fall on their heads, hang on their shoulders, float into the gap between the hat and their cheeks, and be melted into cold water droplets by body heat.

"Do you still remember the four sentences that the fortune teller in Baozhu Hutong said?"

Chongzhen said to Xizhao while walking.

"Your Excellency, do you mean that dutiful son is loyal, hard to take on a big job, and can defend himself against the enemy?" Xi Zhao asked after thinking about it.

"That's right." Chongzhen nodded, "Now these four sentences have finally come true..."

"Oh? My lord thinks the loyal and filial son in the words is...?" Xi Zhao stopped talking, hesitated for a moment, and didn't continue.

"You should be thinking of the same person as I am." Chongzhen picked up Xizhao's words, but the name of the person had not been uttered, but the two had already tacitly agreed.Snowflakes grazed his cheeks, and there was a tingle of coolness. Chongzhen tightened his cloak, looked at the empty long street with no end in sight, and sighed, "The fortune teller may be so holy, the prophecy is actually Every sentence has come true. Could it be that Daming's future has already been determined by God's will, and can't be forced?"

"Your Majesty, don't be discouraged. The fortune teller has never asserted the future of Ming Dynasty in several words." Xizhao said softly, "If it is really difficult for the loyal and filial son to take on a big responsibility, the Emperor will not use him. There are hundreds of courtiers in the court. , there must be capable ministers who can work with the emperor to help Daming survive the catastrophe."

"It's probably the same whether you use him or not." Chongzhen said lightly, "So what if there are thousands of courtiers, I'm afraid you are the only one who can treat me with sincerity."

"Your majesty..." Xi Zhao was naturally happy to have the emperor say that, but despite her joy, she still couldn't hide her helplessness—no matter how much the emperor trusted herself, no matter how sincerely she treated the emperor, she would never be able to treat Daming's love. Crisis, there is a little bit of help.A gorgeous carriage came oncoming, hula la passed by the two of them, and made two ruts on the snow.After two more streets, you will find Baozhu Hutong.

"If the fortune teller is here today, the emperor might as well make a divination." Xi Zhao said.

"Forget it." Chongzhen smiled wryly and shook his head, "Everything is always realized when it comes true. What's the use of predicting in advance, it just increases troubles."

Xizhao turned to look at Chongzhen, but he couldn't see Chongzhen's expression clearly from the wide cloak, only Chongzhen's voice was as calm as water, and slowly drifted away with the chill in the air.

three

The sky light passed by minute by minute.After Chongzhen and Xizhao had dinner at Xingde Restaurant, they walked towards Xizhao's old house.The sky was gloomy, and candles were lit in every household on the roadside, but the sky was not yet dark, making it hard to tell where the light was brighter inside and outside the house.The two turned a corner and walked into Baozhu Hutong. They saw a lantern burning under the wall in front of them. Looking carefully, there were familiar tables, stools and cloth banners beside the lantern. The person sitting behind the table was not the mysterious man Fortune teller?He turned his head to look at this direction, and looked away again, neither spoke nor greeted, but for some reason, there seemed to be a mysterious gravitational force, like a ghost song pulling the soul, and it was going to pull the relationship between Chongzhen and Xizhao. Step forward.

"Your majesty, didn't you say..." Xizhao asked softly seeing Chongzhen staring at that direction intently.

"The last time." Chongzhen said, then went straight to the fortune teller's table and sat down.

"What do you want, my lord?" The old man is still looking old, but it has been many years since I first met him, but I don't realize that the dense wrinkles on his face and the gray beard are not the same as when we first met him. Variety.The moment of gazing at this old face, the sense of time between Chongzhen and Xizhao suddenly became indifferent, as if after so many years of trekking, a dazed mind has become a dream of last night. In an instant.Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, lowered his brows and eyes, restrained his mind, thought for a while and replied:

"Even if it's just a family business."

"Okay." The old fortune teller stroked his beard, "May I ask you the horoscope of your birthday?"

Chongzhen nodded in agreement.The old man took out a piece of crumpled yellow paper from his arms, and Chongzhen did not hesitate much, and wrote the Chinese character horoscope on the paper handed over from that box.The old man took a rough look, and didn't seem to have any calculations, so he said calmly:

"Young master, do you want to hear the truth, or do you want to hear a lie?"

"How do you say that, sir?" Chongzhen asked.

The old fortune-teller chuckled, and the wrinkles on his cheeks formed deep furrows. "If the young master is willing to listen to lies, then the old man's flattering words can be chosen by the young master. If the young master wants to listen to the truth..." The old man paused, "I'm afraid the young master will hate the bad words of the old man... ..."

Chongzhen's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he still showed a humble smile: "Don't worry, sir, I know what's in my heart, but it's okay to say, sir."

"Hmm..." The old fortune-teller hesitated for a moment, and stretched out his hand to stroke his beard again, "Young master... was born in the most noble family, and his family business is so big that no one in the world can match it. But as time goes on, the grandeur of the past continues So far, it has already shown a state of decline. The worries in the vestibule, the troubles in the court, the difficulties in the hall, and the chaos in the hall. Disasters come and go, which makes the young master exhausted every day, but he dare not take the slightest slack. But please forgive the old man To put it bluntly, everything in the world has a limit, and what the young master pursues may be difficult to achieve, and although the young master's family is originally prosperous, but after the young master, the descendants are gradually withering, and it is even more difficult to glorify the ancestors. "

The words of the old fortune-teller made Chongzhen feel as if a basin of ice water had been poured on his head during the cold winter, making him feel cold from head to toe.Xi Zhao next to him was also dumbfounded, either because he was shocked by the sign that was suddenly thrown in front of the two of them, or because he was shocked by the unabashed directness of the old man when he said these words.Although I had a premonition, when the premonition really turned into a prophecy, the feeling of a blow to the head was still so unbearable... Chongzhen tried his best to stabilize his mood, but he couldn't stabilize the little girl hidden in the cotton cloak. Shaking fist.

"Hey..." Seeing that Chongzhen pursed his lips and remained silent for a while, the old fortune-teller put the yellow paper with Chongzhen's birth date on the table respectfully, pushed it forward, and sighed softly: "My lord, don't blame the old man for being speechless." Obstacles, but in this world, no matter how big a family business is, it cannot last forever and be invincible. There will be ups and downs, and there will be declines when there is prosperity. You still have to be careful."

"Mr. is very right. It's just that I am in my position and bear the ancestral life, so I can't take everything away..." Chongzhen forced a smile, stood up, and cupped his hands, "Thank you for your enlightenment, sir, and I will leave now."

"My lord, wait a minute." Chongzhen and Xizhao were about to leave, but they were stopped by the old man's words.The two turned their heads, but saw the old man's eyes wandering away from Xi Zhao for a moment, then turned to Chongzhen and said:

"The little brother next to you has an open sky and a broad and peaceful face. He is a sign of many sons and many blessings. He is destined to be full of children and grandchildren, and the incense will prosper. If he is with you every day, although it will not help the big things. Calamity, or it can be explained slightly."

Bang... bang!I don't know who set off the firecrackers for the New Year in advance.Xi Zhao's breath stopped, and for a moment, she was stunned on the spot as if being hit by the firecracker. "But he..." Chongzhen smiled and looked at Xizhao, but the words in his mouth stopped abruptly in an instant, then silently saluted the old man, pulled up his cotton cap, turned and walked to the depths of the alley.