Yongzheng period

On the couch, she was covered with a brocade cloak of soft fur that was as red as the morning glow, and watched from a distance that Zicuckoo led people to pickle the picked fruits into candied fruit in the courtyard.Daiyu's thoughts have long drifted away, concentrating on the recent piles of piles, and finally pried Dianmo's mouth open with a ruthless hand on the sticky stick.

She used to be Ruan's personal court lady, but after being demoted by the Ruan family, she was forced to go to Fengmo in the cold palace, so she held a grudge and wanted to take revenge in order to repay the old master's kindness.Therefore, the spices specially prepared for the jubilee were mixed with the herbal medicine for fetal loss, which eroded the jubilee's body little by little, and the jubilee was finally frightened and dystocia in the Compassionate Palace. Jubilee's life.

After that, Dian Mo bit his tongue and committed suicide, and the clues Hebi provided about the connection between Dian Mo and the Empress Dowager also lost their meaning-it was just that it was not important to the current emperor and the Empress Dowager who was about to 'die of illness'.

Suddenly, Tong Huan's crisp voice sounded outside the door, mixed with the dissuading voice of the palace maid and inner eunuch, breaking the quietness of the leisure time.

Naturally, a eunuch opened the door to look, and it was eighth prince Hongzhan who came in.He stood there with a smile, his face was covered with sweat, and his sky-blue brocade robe was covered with dust.He was just five years old this year, the age when he moved to Zhaoxiang's office. He raised his head and looked at her curiously, and said innocently, "Why is Queen Mother here?"

In Daiyu's memory, the number of times she has seen Hongzhan is really very few.Concubine Qian was forced by the majesty of Concubine Duan, and both mother and son lived as transparent people.Although Hejia is a girl, she is very energetic and mischievous. Seeing Hongzhan's lively appearance, Daiyu can't help but kindly say, "This used to be my residence, so why did Eighth Brother come here?"

Hong Zhan pursed his lips, pointed at the flustered court ladies and eunuchs behind him and said, "They always say that there have been serious illnesses in the palace recently, so I can only stay in the East Fifth Institute to read silently, and I still smell a lot of them every day. Bad herbal smell."

His voice was immature and contained grievances, and he acted like a baby to Daiyu ignorantly, "Hong Zhan wants to go back to see Er Niang and the others are not allowed, Huang Er Niang will take Hong Zhan back to see Er Niang, okay?"

Daiyu knew that Concubine Duan had spoken in front of the emperor that she wanted Concubine Qian to accompany the Empress Dowager, so it was impossible to take him to see Concubine Qian, so she immediately ordered Chunxian to bring over a silver box containing some exquisite food.Daiyu signaled that he could take whatever food he wanted, and the child was indeed distracted by the exquisitely styled snacks, and grabbed his hands happily, but his eyes kept looking at her.

Hongzhan pouted suddenly and asked, "They said that I was not allowed to run around because of a serious illness in the palace. Now that I can come out, will everyone be cured?" He seemed to remember something Good thing, muttered, "Hongzhan had been ill before, he was so weak and uncomfortable, and Erniang had no choice but to hold me and cry."

"It's very boring to be sick." He finally concluded solemnly.

Daiyu couldn't help laughing, and said in a low voice, "Yes, being sick is a very bad thing, but no matter how bad it is, it will pass."

After Hongzhan had eaten, he played with the gadgets and kicked the cobblestones on the ground in disappointment, "It's not like everything can pass, I can't recite "The Analects of Confucius", and they don't allow me to catch crickets. He stuck out his tongue, looking very distressed, "Why didn't Master Kong catch the crickets? If he didn't write "The Analects of Confucius", I wouldn't have to memorize it."

The surrounding palace people laughed when they heard what he said, and Daiyu couldn't help laughing. He was annoyed when he saw others laughing, and he raised his chin and said, "You all think that I am young, so I don't understand anything. I don't know They know the fun of "The Analects of Confucius", but they can't understand the fun of catching crickets!"

Daiyu was horrified when she heard the words, but she felt that this child was very intelligent, so she didn't make fun of him, but ordered Zijuan to fetch water, wipe off the dirt on his face, and pat the dust off his clothes. .Hongzhan suddenly tilted his head and said, "Emiang is always like this too, and Emiang also told me to please her after seeing Huang'eniang."

While in a daze, she suddenly heard the sound of the death knell, just like a thousand birds breaking through a forest, Daiyu suddenly changed her face, and hastily knocked over the food box on the table—she turned her head to gaze at the direction of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, and felt relieved. Slowly, the Queen Mother collapsed and passed away.

【96】

On September 23rd, the tenth year of Yongzheng, the Empress Dowager Wu Ya died in the Cining Palace at the age of 59. The Empress Dowager Zigong was enshrined in the Ningshou Palace. On the 25th, the empress dowager's palace was respectfully moved, and enshrined in the Shouhuang hall.

On the 26th, Yongzheng decreed: "My mother's empress is promoted to the Taimiao Temple. The grand ceremony is very important. If you want to extend the filial piety of your ministers, you must approve the constitution of the previous generation. If you make a reasonable agreement, it will be clear for thousands of years. However, the empress dowager is frugal and simple by nature. , and still respectful, but Empress Xiaochengren was the first consort, Chenji, Empress Xiaozhaoren and Empress Xiaoyiren succeeded to the middle palace.

Then according to the rites of the Confucian Nai Temple: after one yuan, after one Jili, and one life, they are juxtaposed in order.The empress of the present mother was promoted to the rank of Empress Xiaochengren first, Empress Xiaozhaoren second, Empress Xiaoyiren second, and Empress Xiao Gongren second.Such a concubine conforms to the ancient etiquette, and my heart is at ease. "

It's about the emptiness of rest and sorrow, lovesickness for thousands of miles overnight, and it's the end of the year.

Looking back on the past year, after the conferment, Concubine Gong and Wei Guiren died of illness one after another, and the fourth elder brother got married and left the palace to build a mansion. After that, Zhen Huan gained power, the concubine had a difficult childbirth, and the queen mother died of the epidemic after her comeback.

Calculating carefully, there were only two happy events in the entire ten years of Yongzheng, the Queen's conferment and the wedding of the fourth elder brother.

*

The heavy snow in the middle of winter at the beginning of the year dispelled the haze caused by the epidemic at the end of the year. The snow was like catkins, but the wind was quiet and bleak.It caresses the green calyx slowly and shyly stretching its stamen in the air; sometimes it blows the red candle under the west window through the window gap;

In the silence of heaven and earth, only the sound of gargling and dripping when the snow melts is heard, which is light and crisp.

It's already so late at night, the midnight is just over, and the night is quiet.

In a trance, it is a magnificent place, filled with a very familiar, herbal bitterness mixed with the smell of precipitated sandalwood, like the slippery moss after the autumn rain, the tide makes people feel tired.

A cold wind leaked in, the green radish bed curtain swelled, and the candle shadow flickered.Concubine Duan looked up in a daze, and behind the curtain was the figure of a crooked woman curled up, whimpering in pain.

Concubine Duan managed to regain her composure, vaguely distinguishing that this place is not Jingyang Palace, she opened her mouth and scolded, "Who is playing tricks there!"

Suddenly, a wind came through the hall, and the candle flame struggled to go out with a 'puchi'.The figure on the bed didn't move, after a breath, Concubine Duan boldly stepped forward and raised the curtain, a skinny and withered face rushed in front of her eyes!

When Concubine Duan saw this face clearly, cold sweat broke out, and her horrified scalp was about to burst.

The Empress Dowager suddenly reached out and clenched her arm tightly, her sharp nails dug into the flesh fiercely, sobbing faintly, "Qi Jiashi, you also come down to accompany Aijia—"

Concubine Duan screamed, and suddenly woke up from the dream, fumbled wildly, grabbed the porcelain pillow behind her and threw it out of the curtain.The porcelain pillow rolled out and landed on the thick carpet on the floor, making a dull sound.

Soon, someone ran in in a panic and asked, "Ma'am?! Ma'am, what's wrong with you?"

There is still only the rustling of snow outside the window, and everything is completely silent.The white jade twigs and broken jade hanging on the bed curtain moved upon hearing the wind, and the sound of 'jingling' reminded her that she was still in the world.

Concubine Duan was gasping for breath, still in shock, "...it's just a nightmare."

Jixiang heaved a sigh of relief and stood by her bedside.A little lady-in-waiting went to fetch water and close the windows, and clean up the mess all over the floor.Ruyi took a new porcelain pillow and put it on, and replaced the benzoin in the green-glazed incense burner.

Concubine Duan collected herself for a while, and whispered in Ji Xiang's ear, "...I dreamed of the Queen Mother."

Ji Xiang was stunned for a moment, then she heard Concubine Duan ask her doubtfully, "...Have you dealt with everything about that matter?"

"Which time did the maidservant dissatisfy the mother?" Ji Xiang felt aggrieved, "It's just that the little master got involved in that matter... The servant girl didn't dare to interfere too much."

After Gao was awarded the title of side Fujin, Sifujin was also pregnant.Hongli still looked forward to this noble son, and his relationship with Concubine Duan was greatly eased.He made a big splash in the job of supervising the river engineering, showing that Hongshi became more and more mediocre. He also recommended Gao Bin, Gao's father, as the chief envoy of Guangdong.

Noticing that Concubine Duan's expression was different, Ji Xiang obediently hugged the bed and laid it under the bed, and whispered to the maids in the hall, "Mrs.

Everyone retreated, Concubine Duan was in a trance, she didn't know what she was thinking, and suddenly said, "... Are there not many children in this palace who died without reason? How come someone has such good luck?"

Of course she was talking about the ninth elder brother Hong Yang, but it was by chance that she was invited to leave Kunning Palace, and all calculations were in vain.What if the Queen Mother was brought down by the hands of the Emperor and Empress?As long as Brother Jiu is still alive for a day, he will naturally be on the side of the couch, how can he allow others to sleep peacefully.

Ji Xiang said softly, "When the empress first entered the palace, the palace privately said that she has such a character and appearance, and she was born in the blooming season. She is really a fairy-like character, and she is very lucky."

Concubine Duan listened intently, sneered, and said very slowly, "Ghosts and gods come from people's hearts, but they are just rumors from the world." She spoke firmly and forcefully, and she didn't know whether she was speaking to Ji Xiang or herself.

On the fifth day of February in the 11th year of Yongzheng, it is suitable for funerals.

Empress Dowager Zigong was moved to Fengshouhuang Palace three months later, and finally she was buried in Jingling Mausoleum today, with the posthumous title of "Xiao Gong Xuan Hui Wen Su Ding Yu Zan Tian Cheng Sheng Ren Queen".This woman who started from the Baoyi officer and was finally enshrined as the empress dowager is