[Red Mansions] The Road to Empress Dowager

Yang's death was secretly reported to Tai Chi Palace by the eunuch on the second day of the first lunar month.Tu Yuanyi heard the eunuch report yesterday about her conversation with one son and one daughter, and felt extremely disgusted and hated for her instigating the children to take revenge on Xing Xiuyan.Only then did he realize that maybe he had fulfilled his own humanity by rescuing her before, but it was the most wrong thing.

And the most shameful thing in his life is that he had to marry such a woman as his wife when he was young.Marriage was bestowed by the imperial decree, under the filial piety of the monarch and his ministers, father and son, he could not resist, the so-called grace decree from the emperor at will, but the price they paid was too high.

Because of this, Tu Yuanyi was not keen on giving marriages to his sons after they grew up, and asked them to find a woman they really liked, and not to harm others or themselves.Even when there were people who were older and unmarried, he was anxious and didn't force them, because he and Xing Xiuyan were quite different in age, so he only sent them a message that before they were 40 years old, he must see his grandson.

According to the palace rules, hanging a concubine is a serious crime, and the family would be punished, but the Yang family has already collapsed, and the Yang family can hang herself as she pleases.Tu Yuanyi also felt that it was unlucky for Mrs. Yang to hang himself on the first day of the first lunar month, and he was afraid that someone who cared about him would say some sour words like "new and old" which would affect Xing Xiuyan's mood, and it would also affect the Queen's Closure Ceremony and the second day of the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. On the first day of the first lunar month, the emperor and empress sacrifice to heaven.

Tu Yuanyi ordered Zhao Gui to completely seal the news in the harem, and secretly ordered people to cremate Yang. It was not until the April Palace that it was calmly reported that the commoner Yang had died.Then, she casually buried her ashes on a hill.This is something.

But she said that although Yang Shi was full of resentment, in fact, except for these days when she was abolished, she had never suffered a lot in her life.As soon as she hanged herself, she couldn't bear the feeling of being strangled and unable to breathe, and she regretted it on the spot.She hadn't thought that death would be such an excruciating pain, but by then it was too late, and she couldn't get up and down the rope.

Also because she endured the pain of hanging herself, she felt that that bitch of the Xing family had caused her all these pains.She was already insane, she wouldn't think that she was going to hang herself.Whenever she suffers a little bit, even if she asks for it, she will remember it on Xing Xiu's cigarette butts.

She died with a sky-high resentment and hatred. After her death, her ghost wandered. She wanted to get close to Tai Chi Palace to kill Xing Xiuyan.But that is the place of kingly spirit, she is not Empress Xiao'an who bears the incense of the Tu family, but the resentful soul of the common man Yang family, who is blown away by the kingly righteousness.

Yang's resentful spirit lost consciousness for a while, and wandered around to a place where no one was there before regaining consciousness.But see where:

Zhulan Baishi - broken; green trees and clear streams - dried up.

This place is misty and desolate, but it is like a cold palace.Yang felt a sense in her heart and went forward again. Seeing a palace in the distance, she couldn't see it clearly. Yang also said that it was the Imperial Palace of Kyoto in the human world. One thought and Xing Xiuyan were still living in the human world, with her beloved The water/milk/blends with each other day in and day out, and being entangled with him, longing for and loving him, Yang's heart is like a knife being twisted, hating and jealous.

Yang seemed to have a telepathy, turned around the archway, went into the palace, saw the dilapidated images everywhere, felt wrong, this is not the Imperial Palace of Kyoto.

But seeing a large plaque on the ground of the palace gate broken into two pieces, Yang went up to look, and although she was not a talented woman, she could still recognize the words on it, which said: "Niehaiqingtian".

I also saw a crooked pair facing me on the broken pillar, saying:

The land is high and the sky is high

Foolish men and women, poor Fengyue debts are hard to pay

When Mrs. Yang saw this plaque and this couplet, she felt sentimental immediately, and wanted to see it even more, so she went into the palace and entered the second-floor gate. "Department of Resentment", "Department of Morning Cry", "Department of Night Resentment", "Department of Spring Feeling", and "Department of Autumn Sadness" all have matching associations.

Yang looked at one of these couplets on a plaque, and she cried in one place, and hated one in another.

Suddenly, I came to a bright place, which is different from the desolation outside, but there are bead curtains embroidered, painted pillars and carved beams, flowers paved the ground, and exotic grasses are fragrant.

Yang's heart is full of love, but she thinks it would be great if she fell in love with Tu Yuanyi when she was a teenager, and could live here with her every day, with endless love.Just when her heart was shaking, the face of the imaginary woman changed from her to Xing Xiuyan, her heart ached, and hatred burst forth.

Suddenly, I heard an empty fairy voice sighing in a low voice: "Fool, fool!"

But seeing a graceful woman stepping out in front of her, she looks different from others, even the stunning beauty of Xing Xiuyan is a little inferior to this person.But I saw her wearing a Huazhang fairy robe, with a slim waist, dancing in the wind and snow, icy and jade-like.

Yang Shi has always been jealous of the woman's youth and good looks, but at this time there is no jealousy, the woman looked at her with a look of tolerance.

Yang asked, "Who are you? Where is this place?"

The fairy girl smiled and said: "I live above the sky of Lihen, in the sea of ​​sorrow, and it is the Fangchun Mountain Sending Fragrance Cave, which is too illusory and illusory to police the illusion. The fairy girl is also: she is in charge of the customs and debts of the world, and the girl who handles the world complains about men and idiots. "

Yang murmured: "Leaving to hate the sky, pouring into the sea of ​​sorrow, women resenting men and being idiots..."

She was crazy.

This fairy is none other than Jinghuan Fairy.To say that this Fairy Jing Huan also suffered eight lifetimes of bad luck. On that day a few years ago, the gate of time and space opened, and the gate of time and space in the human world was right next to Lihentian.Li Hentian is just a dojo for little monks outside the Linghe Immortal Realm.She lives here because she just wants to get a little bit of Linghe's aura, and she also hopes to deceive the simple fairy who has just cultivated in Linghe and seek her cultivation.

Those fairies lived in Linghe all the year round. Although they took advantage of the talents of heaven and earth, they were not common in the world, and their temperament was so simple that they were stupid.

Stealing their cultivation bases for her own use, and then controlling them as slaves and servants, strengthened her Guanchou Haitai Illusory Dojo.

That year, she was proud of the fact that she was about to acquire the skill of "Crimson Pearl Fairy", so she was in a favorable location here, so she was attracted here.She is the moon debt of the world, and she obtains Tao through this. Fairy Crimson Pearl drank her worry-inducing sea water and went down to earth. As long as she was exhausted by the love between men and women in the world, and she was emotional and sad, all the skills she vented were absorbed by her.

There is a reason why the Crimson Pearl Fairy was born a fairy.The great disciple of Antarctic Zhenjun, Baihe Xianjun, was ordered by his teacher to send 3000-year-old fairy grass to the heaven to celebrate the birthday of the Queen Mother, but because he was resting by the Ling River, the fairy grass was washed away by the Ling River.

At the beginning, the fairy grass hadn't fully developed spiritual consciousness, but it had been in the Antarctic Zhenjun Daochang Shenxiao Yuqing Mansion for 3000 years-it would be embarrassing to give it to the Queen Mother without this year, and it was the head of the Twelve Golden Immortals!

The 3000-year-old grass jelly has not changed its form because it is a plant, and the harder it is to get rid of the plant, the more it shows that it is not a mortal thing.

It is dispensable to a great god like the Queen Mother who sits in a peach garden, but it is the wish of the Antarctic True Monarch.

Linghe is the opportunity for the crimson pearl fairy grass, and it is also her doom.

Anyone who achieves immortality must go through many calamities, and Jing Huan is the key figure in her calamity, and the other is the waiter Shenying of Chixia Palace.

If we rank according to the common teacher of Nanji Zhenjun and Lingxu Daoist Yuanshi Tianzun, the waiter of Shenying and Jiangzhu Xiancao can be regarded as brothers and sisters.

The crimson bead fairy grass was entrusted to the bank of Juling River, and after absorbing the essence of Linghe, her consciousness gradually became clear, and at this time the waiter of Shenying was also attracted by it.

He felt that it was graceful and graceful, with a jade-like aura, which was different from the vegetation beside the Ling River, so he watered it with nectar every day.

Although Shenying's waiter is kind-hearted, he is also an idiot. He doesn't know that the most indispensable thing for growing up by the Ling River is water.

Moreover, the most important thing to achieve a breakthrough in skill is a pure word.It took the crimson grass thousands of years to fuse her 3000-year-old aura in the Antarctic True Monarch with the essence given to her by Linghe, who has a sympathetic relationship with her, and cultivated her unique skill.

The nectar essence is of no use to her, it is just poured over her head every day.

Crimson Pearl Immortal Grass has spiritual consciousness but can't speak. She hates him for being troublesome, but she also thinks he is kind.Moreover, she lives alone in Linghe, without any company, and seeing him often, she feels that he is more like a relative, so she doesn't complain about him anymore.

All of this was seen by Jing Huan from a distance, she just didn't have a high rank, and she couldn't get close to Linghe, otherwise she would have taken the crimson bead grass and used it when it was just about to transform into a Taoist body.

She also wanted to hook up with Shenying's waiter, and Yuan Yang, the authentic disciple of Yuqing, was also of great use to her, but he was a fool, and she couldn't see it.

Later, for some reason, Shenying's waiter was about to go down to the mortal world, and he also came to see the fairy grass once, and Jing Huan also came up with some schemes.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he left, the crimson bead fairy grass would shed its womb and transform into a beautiful fairy that Jing Huan was jealous of.

Jing Huan tricked her into Li Guan's sea of ​​sorrow, and planned to do those deeds.

The rest of the fairies who were controlled by Jing Huan didn't dare to remind Fairy Jiangzhu, they could only watch her drink Guanchou sea water, and the originally pure fairy felt a lingering feeling in her heart.

And Jing Huan brought up the matter of Shenying's waiter going down to earth. Originally, Fairy Jiangzhu only thought that he was a fool like a relative. After drinking Guanchou sea water, she felt lovesick.

She also went to the lower realm to repay her kindness because of this, but she didn't know that she had mistakenly believed in the words of the warning, and wanted to repay the "favor" of Shenying's waiter, but met a noble person who was lucky, and was able to truly repay her kindness.

How powerful is Immortal Baihe, the eldest disciple of the "Antarctic Eternal Life Emperor", why did he have to rest by the Ling River halfway to deliver medicine to the Queen Mother of the West?

I really can't bear to hurt the life of the romantic and lovely Crimson Pearl Immortal Grass that has been guarding for 3000 years. I hope it will give birth to complete spiritual consciousness and have the opportunity to cultivate into a positive fruit. She survives.

But losing the Queen Mother's birthday gift to the master is also a serious crime, so she was demoted to the lower world for a long time, and once Fairy Jiangzhu met him, wouldn't she repay the kindness of her life thousands of years ago?

Speaking of Fairy Jing Huan, originally Fairy Jing Huan was just a little fairy who cultivated a low-level "human immortal" in this time and space with the spirit of love and resentment, but she learned to find a loophole in this time to plunder the benefits of opportunity.

"Human Immortal" is just an ordinary monk who became immortal after enlightening to a heresy path, even worse than "Earth Immortal".

The "immortals" are above the "earth immortals". "Immortals" also include: Fanxian, Tianxian, Jinxian, Daluo Jinxian, Xuanxian, Xianjun, Xianzun, and Xiandi.

The opportunity for a monk to attain enlightenment is not fair, it really depends on the root of the foot and the teacher.In the past, Jing Huan was just a female cultivator who practiced the art of harvesting and repairing, and she caused a lot of love, but she got the wrong way by mistake.

Jing Huan doesn't know much about the human world except for the love affair with the moon, the debt of men, the sluts and women's grievances, but Shenying's waiter (belonging to the gods) is always tracking.

So, there was a big arrangement, and after this time, Yuanyang, who was the waiter of Duo Shenying, and Xian'e by the Linghe River, headed by Fairy Duo Jiangzhu (both are immortals who were naively deceived shortly after they took shape, belong to The power of the pure feet of the fairy world).

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I am afraid that I can rise from the "human immortal" who became a "human immortal" in one step, and become an "earth immortal" or even "immortal" on the grounds of a breakthrough in skills.

Jing Huan is a scheming woman. She originally hired the two demons to run errands for her, so that they could share the karmic evil karma among them.Think about waking up with a smile every day.

Unexpectedly, time and space were torn apart at that time, and the impact of the fluctuations of the other world's stellar energy caused her small dojo in the Guanchou Sea to trigger a magnitude [-] earthquake.The restrictions she arranged in the past, the magic weapon to torture those naive and deceived little fairies with the control practiced by resentment, all of a sudden failed.

She was originally practicing kung fu in the spiritual cave, but the earthquake happened, and the cave suddenly collapsed. She was hit by boulders back and forth and her bones were broken, and she was seriously injured and disabled.

Moreover, the entrance to the spiritual cave was blocked.If she was a mortal, she would have died long ago.

Fortunately, there is a ray of life for everything, and there was originally a green lotus planted in the cave that was supported by a small spiritual vein.

Jing Huan dragged his stumped body, and continued his life by feeding on the lotus seeds and lotus root of the Bilian plant.

Her magic power was destroyed, it took three years to open the cave door, her broken leg was not healed, so she crawled out in embarrassment.

By the time she climbed out, the Illusory Realm had long since been barren and useless, and because of the failure of the restraining formations and magic weapons, none of the little fairies had left.

Looking at all of that, Jing Huan felt sad, and a mouthful of blood spewed out from his chest.

The spiritual power in her body is limited even to protect the heart veins and heal the disabled body, and she is unable to go outside to trick Xiaoxian into pouring the sorrowful sea water, and she has no energy to find the lost person, and she is unable to contact even the monk. .

In this way, she lives here alone, after all, she has a daughter-in-law's heart, and after healing her wounds, she can arrange the square inch of the place in a decent way, and it doesn't take any magic power.

But Yang's strong resentment coincided with the path she had comprehended.She drifted to the illusory realm due to fate, and it was also a glimmer of life for Tiandao's warning.

When Jing Huan sees Yang Shi, it's like seeing a big baby. Her resentment will help her recover her skills, but she still pretends to be an expert, a fairy who doesn't touch fireworks.

Yang Shi muttered a few words, Jing Huan smiled gently and said: "It doesn't matter if you come here to be my company, if you have any grudges or difficulties, you can tell me, I will make the decision for you."

Hearing this sentence, Mrs. Yang seemed to see a confidant, much more confidant than her own mother, so she shed tears, thinking of Xing Xiuyan in her heart, and was mad with hatred.

When Yang heard that she was a fairy, she should be able to help her get close to Xing Xiuyan and avenge her unshakable revenge. Hope was born in her heart, and she became dependent upon seeing her.

Jing Huan welcomes her into the house, makes tea for her with Guanchou sea water, and slowly guides her to express her love and resentment, only to pick from it and deepen her resentment.

When Jing Huan heard that she was actually the Empress of Great Zhou, Jing Huan was startled, so he asked in detail, the more he heard, the more startled he became, the more shocked the more he hated.

Afterwards, Xiaoxian was accompanied by a grieving ghost, and Yang lived in the sky-shattering love and resentment every day. With this great help, Jinghuan gradually recovered, and then he will come back out of the world, which is another story.

……

It is said that it is the first month in the world.

The imperial mission headed by Jin Shiyue and Tan Qian, who had been going south to negotiate with Taiwan's Zhou family since last year, finally returned to Kyoto on the sixth day of the first lunar month.

They originally wanted to go back to Kyoto for the New Year, but it was always a little short. On the [-]th/[-]th of the twelfth lunar month, there was a lot of snow, blocking the official road, and they actually spent that year in Luoyang.

Fortunately, Xiao Kai's hometown is Luoyang. Although Xiao Kai's family is in the capital, Jin Shiyue was able to find him, and he unceremoniously entered Dingzhonghou's mansion to stay.Otherwise, they were going to celebrate the New Year at the inn, and it would have been a bit deserted. Luoyang Dingzhonghou's Mansion is the lair of the dandy Xiao Kai, but it is extremely comfortable.

It was also in Luoyang that they received the New Year's Eve hospitality from the local magistrate and Jiedu envoy, and learned about the Di Bao.Yang Huaigu's family colluded with foreign enemies and spies to treason the country, the Holy Majesty abolished the Yang family, and made the noble concubine Chen the queen.

Tan Qian was overjoyed when he heard that, he was originally a scholar in Qingliu, but he knew that his sister-in-law was not someone in the pool, and Xing Zhong treated him as his own son. Although Xing Zhong didn't understand stereotyped poetry and books, he made up for his lack of losing his father when he was young .

Jin Shiyue was also very happy. As the second son of the Xining Palace, he has no desire for power and is playful, but it doesn't mean that a man who has no desire for power will not want to become a scholar.

Empress Xing has the kindness to know him, other people don't think he can do serious things, but Empress Du Xing thinks he can do it, so she naturally thinks that it is better for her to be a queen.

Everyone was anxious to return to Beijing. The weather was fine on the third day of the first lunar month, so the group packed their bags and left Luoyang. After all, there was still a lot of snow on the road, and the fast horses traveled for three days.

At this time, the great anniversary has not yet passed, and there is no practical matter, and the saint is exempted from court.But when Jin Shiyue and his party came back, they didn't have time to go back to the mansion, so they went directly to the palace to face the saint.

Just when the Minister of Rites, the Minister of Honglu Temple, etc. were reporting the post-sealing ceremony and the ceremony of worshiping heaven, there was no other government affairs, so Tu Yuanyi personally grasped the "wedding details".

I heard Xin Xiuyan also said that modern weddings, of course, cannot be the same as modern ones, but Tu Yuanyi doesn't understand women anymore, and he also knows that although weddings are cumbersome, they are once in a lifetime for women, and they are still very important.

At present, Jin, Tan, and Zhou Qing, the accompanying commander of Jinyiwei, met the saint together. The emperor received a report from Babaili three days earlier, and he still knew the brief result of the negotiation.

After the visit, Jin, Tan, and Zhou Zhou were relieved to see the emperor's holy face and joy, and prepared to report in detail about the trip to Fujian.

Tu Yuanyi asked, "Has the Prince of Nan'an not come back yet?"

Jin Shiyue said: "Zhou Shi let him back, he is still in Xiamen, his injury has not healed, and he is not suitable for a long journey, so let him rest there first."

Tu Yuanyi sneered slightly, this Huo Qi who was bitten by the enemy made him very uncomfortable, but the direction of Chaozhong's speech must be grasped.

In any case, Huo Qi still led the Fujian navy to fight against the Zhou family in Taiwan. Even if he was defeated, he also fought on behalf of the imperial court, and the lineage of the king of Nan'an County is still quite powerful, so he can't lose people's hearts and cause disaster and suffering. On the contrary, it is the people.

Tu Yuanyi said: "I have received an urgent report that you have not promised to give the Zhou family much benefit for this peace talk."

On behalf of the imperial court, Jin Shiyue and the two only gave Zhou 1 taels of silver. Tu Yuanyi remembered that in his previous life, it took a total of 120 million taels of silver and a "princess master" (Tanchun) to settle the matter.

Jin Shiyue said: "Your Majesty, they are the lions who opened their mouths, but I and the others did not agree. As for the matter of redeeming people, I feel that it is not good for the court."

Tu Yuanyi smiled and said, "So how do you say that?"

Jin Shiyue said: "The Zhou family belongs to the Dazhou vassal town anyway, and this matter is related to the country. The vassals 'knocked at the gates for rewards', and the court fulfilled his wish, which lost the prestige of the court. This trend must not last, this is one of them."

Tu Yuanyi nodded and asked, "What about the second?"

Jin Shiyue said: "Secondly, if the unbelievers of the Zhou family pay the ransom, they will do something cruel to the person who sent it back. If the court pays the money and can't get it, who can they ask for reason? Thirdly, if the Zhou family accepts the ransom Money, on the one hand, lures the surrendered soldiers and takes them for their own use. Didn’t the imperial court give Zhou’s blood transfusion so that he could raise his own soldiers to fight against the imperial court? This is a waste of money that must not be spent.”

Although Jin Shiyue is a dude and enjoys playing, he is very smart in his small calculations.

The last sentence touched Tu Yuanyi's heart, he couldn't help nodding his head, then frowned again, and said, "But the court doesn't pay to redeem the soldiers who fight for the country, isn't it chilling?"

Jin Shiyue said: "Weichen has asked people to issue an announcement on the coast of Fujian to treat the parents, wives and children of the soldiers generously, and has sent Jin Yiwei to hold banquets for the parents, wives and children of the soldiers in various places in Fujian, and to treat the parents, wives and children of the soldiers generously in the name of the court. And promise the parents, wives and children of the soldiers My son, if the soldiers who had to surrender were captured by the Zhou family, if they return to the imperial court to serve, the imperial court will let the past go, and will also issue a pension for suffering."

At this moment, Tu Yuanyi became more interested, and said with a smile: "This is true, thanks to your imagination."

Tan Qian stepped forward and said: "Shang Mingjian, the imperial court can't control Zhou's keeping promises for the time being. Sometimes money can't make people who value profits and disregard righteousness do what we want. We can only control what we do. Do the same. Is it better to send the money to feed the unloyal Zhou family, or is it more popular to distribute the money directly from the court to the wives and children of the soldiers who are fighting for the court?"

Tan Qian is from a poor family, so he thinks that the government's work should be carried out on the ground, and he came up with this method.

Tu Yuanyi smiled and said: "This is not a small sum, how can you get so much money temporarily?" Tu Yuanyi is also waiting for the report to "reward" the Zhou family with how much money.

Jin Shiyue said: "We put together things, the governor of Fujian and other local officials collected some, and borrowed some in the name of the court from the bank."

Tu Yuanyi thought to himself: This dude is bold. If he is a scholar, he should avoid suspicion. Others join him to make money by using his status as an imperial envoy, but it is enough to drink a pot.

Tu Yuanyi said: "How much money was spent, you go to the household department to get it, and then you are responsible for paying back the money. How did you negotiate it? Only give Zhou 1 taels of silver, how could they agree?"

Tan Qian said: "When we met for the first time, we broke up unhappy. However, after that, our subordinates followed things in an orderly manner, and their faces were calm. It was because they couldn't calm down and wanted to talk to us again... ..."