[Red Mansions] The Road to Empress Dowager

As an elder, Yu Nu would be ashamed enough to go to the Royal Academy to study and become the apprentice of his nieces. At this moment, he felt as if his nieces would overwhelm him, so he was very depressed.

Yu Nu said: "Yuanyuan, what uncle and your brother are doing are confidential things, you can't say anything about it."

Tu Chang and Tu Xu looked at Yu Nu and nodded hurriedly.

Xiao Pan'er said: "So you are also in the confidential room? What are your military ranks now?"

Military rank?They are the prince and the uncle of the country, how about it?

Tu Yuanyuan touched the rank badge on her shoulder, and said, "Speaking of which, we joined the army at the age of 11, and now we are 14 years old, and we are already majors. The queen mother said that we are still too young, and it is not good to be promoted too quickly. "

They are girls, so they don't need to go to the Royal Academy. After leaving the Shangshufang at the age of seven or eight, they study and practice martial arts in the noble girls' school, and they study with the queen for three months every year.Until the age of 11, he was officially appointed as a second lieutenant in the confidential office of the governor's mansion of the new army.The later trajectories of the boys were different. Before being admitted to the Royal Academy, they were still studying in the Shangshufang, and they had to practice martial arts for two hours a day.After enrolling in school, I also have a lot of homework, and the internship period has not yet come.

Xiao Pan'er said: "Did you join the army last year? Then we are your seniors." Seniors are also ranked according to seniority in the new army.

Tu Yuanyuan raised her eyebrows and said, "Are you a lieutenant or a captain now? Father will never let you be soldiers?"

Xiao Pan'er learned from Daiyu's sharp mouth, she is a proud daughter of the Hou family, and the queen treats her no differently from her own daughters, so she has never been so in awe of the princes.I have seen it when I have a runny nose and fight for cakes, and when I wet the bed, it is difficult to look up.

With a slightly exaggerated expression, Xiao Pan'er said, "Is it true that you started as a soldier? If you joined the army last year, you have just been promoted to first-class soldier this year."

Tu Yuanyuan sighed: "I'm sorry! We didn't wait for you, but we are already very slow."

Xiao Pan'er said with a smile: "Our new army upholds the fine tradition of the great governor."

"It's modesty!" Tu Yuanyuan continued with a bright smile.

I have been in the army for three or four years, and if I add the three months of probation every year before, I have six or seven years.They worked in the confidential room, but they also had a lot of opportunities to go to the grassroots level, and they learned a lot about being a soldier.

The Three Stooges: ...

Do girls hate it when they grow up?

Yu Nu said: "Tie Zhu and Da Zhu are princes, so they have to surrender their status to become captains?" Yu Nu also felt a little guilty.

Xiao Pan'er was full of disapproval, looked at Yu Nu and said, "Uncle, then you are still the uncle of the country, so you can't lower your status!"

Tu Yuanyuan said: "The identity of the princess was given to me by my father, the queen and the queen, but the identity of the major was created by myself. Can this be the same?"

Tu Chang also insisted that he would be the first heir of his father in the future, and Tu Xu didn't have such pressure to be graceful.

Tu Xu said sullenly: "You...girls, embroider, play the piano, compose poems in Kyoto, and occasionally do charity. Like you, do you want to get married in the future?"

Yu Nu agreed: "That's right, listen to my uncle's good words and learn some lady skills, so that you don't get married by then."

Tu Yuanyuan and Xiao Pan'er's pretty faces were flushed with anger, and Tu Yuanyuan said, "Who is going to get married?"

Xiao Pan'er also stomped her feet and said, "Who wants to marry? I don't want to marry a wimp!" In her opinion, a man who can only hold women back has nothing to do with it.

Tu Xu heard Xiao Pan'er say "a wimp", even though he didn't name him by name, he couldn't help feeling aggrieved in his heart.When he was a child, he also overheard the adults saying that his father and mother would let his eldest brother inherit the throne in the future, and marry Xiao Pan'er for him.Two brothers, one has a country and the other a beauty, fairness is tight.

Tu Xu still has the heart of a boy, except for his younger sister, who can compare to Xiao Pan'er in this world, who is still a childhood sweetheart.

But no one wants to be looked down upon by his future wife.

Tu Chang felt that he was the uncrowned prince, which was really embarrassing.

Yu Nu's elder's prestige has never been full of blood, so it is difficult to regain his respect at this time.

"We're not wimps!"

——We just debuted relatively late, and the theoretical study time is long.

……

Li Dequan and the eunuchs were waiting outside the emperor's bedroom in the temporary palace villa. It was late, and the emperor did not have a problem with lazy beds, but he had no intention of getting up until now.

Xing Xiuyan lay on Tu Yuanyi's chest, her face full of tenderness.

"Qilang, is it time to get up? Do you want to deal with government affairs?"

Tu Yuanyi stroked her hair with a smile, and said, "It's not easy for us to be together, and it's rare for me to be lazy."

Xing Xiuyan leaned over him, touched his face, and asked: "You have been guarding the north for a year, and there is no subordinate here to give you a woman?"

Tu Yuanyi smiled and said, "You have been marching south for so long, did someone give you a man?"

Xing Xiuyan couldn't help laughing: "There must be someone in this world who dares to do such a thing!" Sending a male favorite to the queen, is it when the emperor is dead or dead?

Tu Yuanyi laughed until his chest trembled, and said: "So, there must be someone in the world who dares to give me a woman. If someone dares, the eunuch of the East and West Factory will stop it."

Xing Xiuyan laughed and said: "If you don't send it away, the Holy One must take care of the dragon's body!"

Tu Yuanyi listened carefully and felt that there was something else, so he put his arms around her to hold her down, and said, "Zhenlong is recovering!"

Xing Xiuyan grabbed his neck and said with a smile, "Why are you so sensitive?"

"Which elf is sensitive?" He stroked her body with his hand, and lowered his head to kiss her.

The torrential rain and strong wind hit, and the sounds of flirting and gasping between men and women could be faintly heard again.

It was not until the sun was three poles that the two of them got up to take a bath and freshen up.

Today Xing Xiuyan didn't wear men's robes either, but a fox fur jacket and a gorgeous red horse-faced skirt with brocade and dragon pattern, and let Gong'e wear a bun near the cloud.Nine-tailed golden phoenix hairpins with pearls are worn on the hair bun, and twelve exquisite tassels made in the inner circle are inserted, pearls are worn on the forehead to wipe the forehead, and pearl earrings are also matched with the yellow ears.

A woman is a person who pleases herself, and she only knows how to dress up when she is around Tu Yuanyi, and Tu Yuanyi takes her eyebrows to make light of her.

"Do you want one-word eyebrows or willow-leaf eyebrows?" Tu Yuanyi was quite confident in his craftsmanship.

Tu Yuanyi looked at her bun, and decided to draw slightly raised eyebrows. The husband and wife were laughing in the room, but Li Dequan reported outside the door that the children had come to pay their respects.

……

At this time, the children had already finished their exercises, and after bathing and changing their clothes, they were so hungry that they screamed.The emperor didn't have the word "shy" at first, but Xing Xiuyan had been an empress for a long time, letting eunuchs and maids listen to the corners for a long time, and his face was also refined into an iron wall.They didn't feel bad about having breakfast at this time.

Breakfast was set up in the side hall, today's imperial meal was exquisite and rich, unlike their usual thriftiness, worthy of the status of Queen of God.

Twelve meats, eight vegetarian dishes, eight pastries, four fresh fruits, four candied fruit, four soups, and the mixed grains and soybean milk that the queen used to drink.

The long table was full, and the emperor and empress were seated before the children came in to pay their respects. Xing Xiuyan smiled gently and kindly like all mothers.

"Get up."

"Thank you, Father/Emperor, and Mother/Empress!"

The five children got up together, and at this moment, they felt that they were all grown up, and Xing Xiuyan couldn't help feeling a little bit like time was passing by.

"Are you hungry? Sit down and eat."

After the children all thanked them, they entered the table according to their status and age, and the eunuchs and maids put the dishes and chopsticks.

Before it started, Xing Xiuyan asked, "Why isn't the stone with you?"

Tan Shitou was the same age as the princes, and he grew up with them in Cheng'en Gong's mansion, and he was also brought to experience the Northern Expedition, so there is no reason why he was not there.

Tu Chang said: "After returning to mother, brother Shitou was transferred by his uncle to repair Jinzhou City."

Jinzhou is an important gateway to Liaodong. Last year, Jinzhou City almost fell into the enemy's hands. After the Xianglan Banner was wiped out, Jin, who originally wanted to take Jinzhou City in one go to increase negotiations, was afraid and lost his footsteps.

But Da Zhou put more emphasis on frontline defense. Tu Yuanyi was handing over the responsibility of Jinzhou defense repairs to Tan Qian. When father and son went into battle, Tan Qian forced his son to go.Shi Shi is the most stable among several children of the same age, compared with Yu Nu, he seems to be the uncle.

Tu Yuanyuan smiled and said, "Brother Shitou has gone to Jinzhou, are the brothers in the rear?"

Tu Xu thought to himself: My sister is too much, ignore her for three days, and don't give her any food or fun.

Tu Yuanyi said: "On weekdays, your brothers often study in the army, and they are also very busy."

Xing Xiuyan asked, "What position do you hold now?"

Loving father disciple Yuanyi: ...

In the end, Xing Xiuyan also guessed from the clichés that the emperor Tu Yuanyi was both ruthless and knowledgeable, able to allow the queen to take power, and he could continue to be filial to the Supreme Emperor who once cheated him, which also shows his heart.But everyone has shortcomings, and Tu Yuanyi's problem is that he is soft-hearted towards children.

When the empress disappeared, although he kept the children in Cheng'en Gong's residence on weekdays, he held them in his palms for fear of falling, and held them in his mouth for fear of melting.Back then, these children seemed to be given to him by the gods, and they were different from the children who broke the heart of his old father in his previous life.

He knew that their upbringing had to be strict, but he couldn't help being tolerant.In fact, when Xing Xiuyan was his leg pendant back then, he was hard-spoken, but in fact he loved him very much.Let him pay attention to and feel caring for the child, he has this problem.

Xing Xiuyan, after listening to some old couples, guessed most of them.

Hearing the child's stomach growling, she let out a long breath: "Let's eat first."

After the quiet meal, they left the side hall, and the empress took the children for a walk in the small garden. Now it's the third month of the lunar calendar, and even the Jiliao area has begun to recover.

Young buds sprouted from the branches in the garden, early peaches and red apricots were all over the branches, which made people happy to see them.

Xing Xiuyan looked at his sons and said, "The emperor should trust the children and let them take responsibility."

Brothers Tu Chang and Tu Xu lowered their heads slightly, while Tu Yuanyuan puffed out her chest.

Tu Yuanyi smiled and said: "I don't disbelieve the children. It happened that the winter was over and the war was temporarily suspended, so I left them by my side to teach."

After Tu Yuanyi said it, he ordered the children to pick off apricot and peach blossoms for her, but Xing Xiuyan couldn't say bluntly that he doted on the children.

The children gladly went to fold it, which pleased the queen mother, and the queen mother was not so cold-faced.

Xing Xiuyan held the flower branch and sighed: "I met an old man by chance in the early years, and I once listened to his words, and it was like enlightenment."

The princes are also very smart, and they also feel that they can't hold their heads up in front of their younger sister, and they are afraid that the queen mother will also be dissatisfied.

Tu Chang clasped his hands and asked, "I respectfully invite my mother to teach me."

Xing Xiuyan smiled slightly and said, "When people say 'the rise and fall of the world', what do you think of?"

Yu Nu said: "Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world." He is a scumbag among a group of top academics, but of course he knows what he said.

Xing Xiuyan said, "Who does 'every man' refer to?"

Tu Chang said, "It's the sons and daughters of the world."

Tu Yuanyuan said: "Brother Huang, you are sexist!"

Tu Chang had no choice but to change his words: "It's the son of the world... and the girl." The mother's queen's administration was supported by his father, and his father also analyzed with him why the mother's queen was able to take power when he was educating him as an emperor, which also made him much more interested. study.

Xing Xiuyan said: "It's the people of the world, right?"

The children said yes, Xing Xiuyan shook her head and said, "No."

Tu Yuanyuan asked, "Queen, what's wrong with this?"

Xing Xiuyan: "The old man said that if the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of the people of the world, it means that no one is responsible. It's like...you want to take the Royal Academy. If everyone who takes the exam gets [-] points, it means that everyone has no responsibility. No. The rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of the people of the world, so if the world really falls, who should be held accountable? Mistakes have already been made, and everyone in the world is responsible, and the law does not blame everyone. It's not like this?"

Tu Yuanyi said, "I'm afraid it will become my responsibility."

Xing Xiuyan smiled slightly: "Of course the king is responsible. And you, the younger generation, must also understand that 'everyone is not necessarily responsible for the rise and fall of the world, but I am responsible'. You spend your whole life chasing down everyone's responsibilities, it is better to take yours. Responsibility, so that the people around you are also driven to take responsibility like you. Everyone thinks that the invasion of foreign enemies, the hardships of the people, the rampant corruption of officials, and the corruption of the military and government are my responsibility. It's really "responsibility for the rise and fall of the world". My son is an intern in the army, repairing defenses, feeding horses, maintaining fire/arms, and carrying artillery/bombs. Do you think that is the responsibility of their soldiers? Don't you bother you, noble man?"

Let them go to the grassroots level to study and see, that can only be learned and seen, irresponsible and not contributing to the collective.

Tu Chang bowed his hands and said, "My son, thank you for your mother's teaching!"

Tu Yuanyi said: "Does the queen want the emperor's sons to be soldiers directly?"

Xing Xiuyan said: "With their education level and martial arts, it is possible to be a second lieutenant platoon leader."

Tu Yuanyi said: "Could it be possible that you still want them to go to the front line? We only have these three children..."

Xing Xiuyan couldn't help but hehe, this really involved his beloved pimple, it hurts.

If you want to say distressed, who doesn't feel distressed?In the south, she also let the children go out to bask in the sun, so how could she be willing.

Tu Chang said: "Father, my son and minister are not afraid."

"I'm not afraid..." Tu Xu said, but hesitated again, "However, can I ask my uncle to do that first..."

"What's the matter?" Xing Xiuyan wondered.

Tu Yuanyi said: "I will tell you about this later, but you don't really want to..."

Xing Xiuyan said: "Let's go to the original Yellow Shirt Army. They have gone through all kinds of battles from north to south."

Tu Yuanyuan thought in her heart that the imperial brothers had become second lieutenants, which was three ranks lower than her, so she couldn't help touching her nose.

Tu Chang thought to himself that the Yellow Shirt Army was originally a forbidden army in the forbidden army, and in the past two years it has been under the jurisdiction of the queen mother, and is inextricably linked with the Sichuan new army.As the uncrowned prince himself, he must have command of the army in the future.The queen mother chose the yellow shirt army for him. With her foresight, there is no way she didn't understand.He is already 14 years old, ordinarily two years too early, but his younger sister can do it, so there is no way he can't do it.

"Your ministers are subject to the arrangement of the father and queen mother."

But Tu Xu said: "I have to finish my uncle's matter first, I don't understand, I am not reconciled."

Seeing her son being so persistent, Xing Xiuyan mentioned it twice, and couldn't help asking, "What's the matter?"

……

Xing Xiuyan listened to the reports of the three cobblers, and was surprised: "Is there any reason for this?"

Tu Xu said: "There may be a reason for the rumor. Maybe we can follow the vine and we can pull out another group like Fusheng Bank. Then the other party will definitely suffer heavy losses."

Xing Xiuyan looked at Tu Yuanyi: "The emperor also wants to do this?"

Tu Yuanyi said: "The two countries are at war at this time, if anyone really has the courage to be a traitor, I will never let them go in the future!" Tu Yuanyi is too obsessed with this. species of people.

But Xing Xiuyan said: "If there is such a thing, you must not startle the snake."

Tu Chang said: "I report to my father and mother that these people seem to covet my Great Zhou fire/armor. According to my son, I don't want to follow the plan, but I can prove it. If they have contact with Houjin, If we give them the fire/arms, the spies will definitely come to the door, and our Jin Yiwei will monitor and arrest them, and they will be caught dirty."

Tu Yuanyuan smiled and said, "This is a strategy of 'fishing for law enforcement'. Brother Huang and uncle are going to play chess."

But Tu Yuanyi was also noncommittal and remained silent, watching Xing Xiuyan.

Xing Xiuyan understood Tu Yuanyi best, and asked, "Does the Emperor think the same way?"

Tu Yuanyi smiled and said, "I would like to hear the Queen's opinion."

Xing Xiuyan thought that he would not let him go in the future, so he said: "It would be best if they are all loyal and good citizens of our dynasty. If not, fishing and law enforcement is also a good strategy."

Tu Chang felt ashamed and asked, "What is the best policy?"

Xing Xiuyan asked: "Today we gathered in Jiliao, what did we do?"

Tu Chang said: "Naturally, it is to kill Houjin, to get rid of the troubles of my confidant... The removal of spies and traitors is also for this purpose."

Tu Yuanyi sighed: "Jurchens are dissatisfied with [-], and they can't fight. Although it was the slogan they shouted to frighten Liaodong back then, the bravery of Jurchen cavalry is not all in vain."

Tu Chang said: "At this time we have 20 troops, and the Jurchen Eight Banners have at most [-] elite soldiers. Even some Mongolian tribes flirt with them, but together, their strength is definitely not the opponent of Dazhou."

Xing Xiuyan said: "Our 20 army is true, but the number of elite cavalry is smaller than them. In the Battle of Jinzhou, the Liaodong Army was defeated first. in the pocket."

Tu Yuanyi said: "The country has been in war for a long time, and its national strength must be damaged. The war in the north has lasted for a year, how much money and food will it cost every day to mobilize 20 troops? In the current situation, it is not difficult to defeat the gold, but I want to destroy the gold If you don't die this year, the best thing to do in the Zhou Dynasty is to withdraw your troops. Seeing that the Sui and Liaodong conquests failed, I really don't want to repeat the same mistakes."

Tu Chang couldn't help thinking deeply.As the uncrowned prince, his cruel mother can let him be a platoon leader and second lieutenant, but he must also have the strategic layout of a quasi-emperor.

Xing Xiuyan said: "If what you discovered this time are really traitors and spies, then it's not so scary that they have been exposed/exposed. We caught them early, and they sent new spies over, but we don't know. If we can use them to help Killing gold is the best."

Tu Yuanyuan laughed and said, "Is the queen mother trying to lie to them, by releasing fake news to confuse them?"

Xing Xiuyan said: "Looking at the books of war and the examples of ancient and modern battles, the strategy to win or lose is only a tricky word and a cheating word. If you can, you can show that you can't, and you can show that you can't fight. Both Minghe and Zhanzhan have benefited, and the war and the war are deceitful tricks."

Tu Xu realized: "So arresting traitors and ransacking their homes is not what we should do now."

Xing Xiuyan smiled: "I don't know the details now, so I can't judge what to do. It's just that if there is such a thing in front of you, you have to learn to look at the problem from the perspective of the overall situation, and even from the perspective of history. Are you The royal family, and after my dignitary, you are more obliged than the common people to safeguard the overall interests of this country."

"My son/chen is taught!"

Tu Chang was a little ashamed that he could only see such a short distance in his realm, but fortunately, his father, queen and empress did not intend to blame him.

The husband and wife sang and the wife taught the children, and it came to an end.

Xing Xiuyan has just arrived, and he doesn't want to talk about these things seriously with the children today.

Xing Xiuyan smiled and said: "Pan'er hasn't seen your father for many years, your mother still has something for you to take with you. Your father is stationed in Huludao, I will let you take ten days off, you can go and see your father .”

Xiao Pan'er was excited for a while, and said: "Mr. Chen, thank you, Empress!"

But Tu Yuanyuan suddenly said: "Queen, I also want to go and have fun, so I can visit Uncle by the way."

Tu Yuanyi smiled and said: "You just saw your father, you want to see your uncle."

Tu Yuanyuan said shyly, "I heard that the Hubei new army led by my uncle is also very brave. I just want to see it."

Tu Xu murmured: "You want to brag, but you can't brag in front of uncle..."

Tu Yuanyuan said: "Who is bragging? I am the real thing!"

Tu Yuanyi let out a long sigh and said, "It's not early today, so you should prepare well. You can go in low clothes tomorrow morning, and I will send you a team of Jinyi guards to escort you."

"Thank you, Father!" Tu Yuanyuan knelt down to thank Tu Yuanyi, and then acted like a spoiled child in front of Tu Yuanyi's knee, "Father, I also prepared a gift for you. I will bring it to you in the afternoon."

Tu Yuanyi fondled the little girl's head lovingly: "Could it be that Yuanyuan made a pair of shoes for the father?"

"..."

"Clothes?"

"..." Yuanyuan, who didn't learn three points of Xing Xiuyan's female celebrity skills, felt guilty.

She would rather die as a fellow Taoist than as a poor Taoist, Yuanyuan said, "Pan'er... also didn't make shoes and clothes for Uncle."

Xiao Pan'er saw their father and son reunited, and she also missed her father very much.

Xiao Pan'er smiled and said, "Yuanyuan, I made two pairs of socks and one pair of gloves for Daddy."

Tu Yuanyuan looked back at Xiao Pan'er in astonishment.

Are you serious?

Xiao Pan'er understood everything, and said: "In the first month, my mother pointed out that I am a female celebrity. Although it is a bit humble, I don't think Daddy will dislike it."

Tu Yuanyuan hurriedly hugged her father's thigh, and said, "Father, I will do it for you too, don't be disgusted."

"Don't go to Huludao anymore?" Tu Yuanyi thought to himself: Is this thigh hug hereditary?

"……not going."

Tu Yuanyi sighed: "If you want to go, you can go, and it's the same when you come back to embroider."

Both Tu Chang and Tu Xu thought: other people's sisters have already made shoes for their elder brothers, and they still received a handkerchief many years ago.Now my younger sister always feels that she is more capable than them, such a heart-wrenching girl, and her father, queen, and queen are eccentric.Since that year, my sister fell into the water and almost died. Anyway, she is the baby of the first echelon of her parents, and they recognized her.

The next day, Tu Yuanyuan and Xiao Pan'er came out of the other courtyard of the palace in men's attire, and twenty guards in brocade clothes dressed as attendants, together with people sent by the original Xiao family, went to Huludao.

Tu Xu is formally transferred to accompany Yu Nu to follow up on the traitor.

Tu Chang, on the other hand, was transferred by his cruel mother to the Yellow Shirt Army's Fire/Weapon Battalion as the artillery/platoon leader, under the pseudonym "Chang Tu".His enlistment treatment is worse than that of Tu Yuanyuan.Except for Lu Kun and a confidant Jinyiwei master who is close to protect him, no one knows his true identity.He has to bring a mortar/cannon/platoon, sleep in the same bunk as other soldiers, eat and do exercises, wash clothes by himself, and take a rest every five days before returning to pay his respects to his father, queen and queen.

Tu Chang bid farewell with a simple bundle, and Tu Yuanyi thought of sleeping in the bunk and washing clothes by himself, his heart ached, but he had to hold back his majesty.

Xing Xiuyan warned: "Tie Zhu, this grassroots soldier will never be easy, maybe you will be full of resentment. But, you are my eldest son, if you want to show your ambition like your father, you must learn to endure hardship first. Zhou Jiangshan has the surname of Tu, and you yourself would not suffer for the Tu family, so what qualifications do you have to let soldiers of common people throw their heads and blood for Jiangshan? If you want to wear the crown, you must suffer. If you tell us you No, we won't force you."

Tu Yuanyi really wanted to say: He had never experienced such hardships in his military training, but it would definitely not end well for tearing down his wife.

"I will always remember the teachings of my father, queen and queen! If I can't even be a second lieutenant, I would rather not inherit my father's clothes."

Tu Yuanyi watched his son leave, and finally said: "How could you be such a cruel mother. Who did you learn from to be so cruel?"

Xing Xiuyan rolled her eyes, shook her head and sighed: "A loving father often loses his sons." The children are so smart now, the thunder is loud and the rain is little, how can they teach their sons.

Tu Yuanyi said: "The children are so good, they are both civil and military, and they have a dignified appearance. Where are the losers?"

Xing Xiuyan asked back: "What is your standard of measurement? The second prince?"

"Then what's your standard?" Tu Yuanyi felt a stab in his heart.

Xing Xiuyan hit him with a stick and said, "You."

The corner of Tu Yuanyi's mouth rose slightly.