MTL - Pihanjin-Chapter 11
The empty hall was dimly lit and silent.
A fourteen-year-old boy, dressed in filial piety like snow, with a pale face and a thin and thin figure, quietly knelt before the immortal seat of his mother who died ten years ago.
In front of the tablet, there is a long bright and clear lamp, a little light, which will not go out day and night. In front is Zhang Shen's case, a small cauldron with incense sticks in it, a pot of wine and a plate of fruit nearby.
The boy's eyes, staring at the ever-bright light, remained motionless.
At the entrance of the hall, there was a sound of footsteps from far to near.
The founding emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, his father emperor, stepped on the snow late at night and finally came to his mother's spiritual palace.
But he did not come in, but stopped outside the hall.
The emperor was in his prime, the most vigorous age in a man's life. Although he is serving filial piety for the queen mother, and his face is tired, but the honor of the ninety-five, the majesty of the emperor, still makes people dare not look directly.
He glanced at the dark inner hall, turned to Mu's mother, and asked, "What's the matter?"
Mu's mother, who has been with Xi'er all these years, knelt on the threshold and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, tomorrow will be the tenth anniversary of the Yuan Dynasty, so Your Highness is bold and asks Your Majesty to move here tonight."
The gust of wind roared behind him, wrapped in snow from the dark night sky, and rushed towards the open door of the hall from above the tall eaves. The wind lifted the emperor's robe, and under the filial attire, a corner of the Huang Tuan dragon robe was revealed.
His figure froze for a moment, and finally took a step and stepped over the threshold.
"You all go out."
Mother Mu kowtowed, got up, and backed out.
A palace gate shut the wind and snow from the sky outside the palace.
The emperor followed the guidance of the dimly dazzling lights in the depths of the hall, walked slowly behind the boy, and stopped.
The young man got up from his mother's immortal seat, turned to face the emperor, knelt down again, and bowed.
He can't speak.
Ten years ago, after he escaped from Pucheng, he could not speak.
Once such a smart and lively child, overnight, completely lost the ability to speak and became a mute.
Later, even though the imperial doctor tried his best, it was all in vain.
The palace people secretly rumored that His Highness, the eldest son of Emperor Dao, was so frightened when he was young that he lost his voice and could not speak.
The emperor glanced at the tablet of longevity, was silent for a moment, and said to the thin figure in front of him who was bowing to the ground: "Tomorrow, the emperor will ask someone to come here to pay homage to your mother and queen."
The young man was still prostrate on the ground, as if he had never heard of it.
The emperor walked in front of the young man, bent down, and reached out to gently hold his shoulders, trying to lift him up from the ground.
The boy raised his face slowly.
This face is pale and thin, but the facial features are really handsome and beautiful.
The emperor started from Wei, and immediately seized the world, and was regarded by the ministers as the unsurpassed Mingjun Emperor. But it is said that when he was young, he was handsome and had the demeanor of a scribe.
The young man's face was very like a portrait of the emperor, and his eyebrows, according to the rumors of the palace people, were actually more like the Queen of Yuan.
He died ten years ago. According to the biography of people who have seen her, after the Yuan Dynasty, she was known as the most beautiful woman in Changsha.
The appearance of His Royal Highness the eldest son, combined with the strengths of his parents, dragon blood and phoenix marrow, is naturally outstanding.
The only regret is that he lost the ability to speak.
The emperor stared at the pair of clear eyes in front of him that seemed to look at him, a complex look flashed across his eyes, and said in a low voice: "Xi'er, I know that you should be a little uneasy in your heart. You don't blame the father and the emperor. You He is my eldest son, and I also know that you are very smart, if it wasn't for your inability to speak, why wouldn't I let you be the crown prince?"
He paused.
"Although you can't be a prince, I will definitely keep you happy all your life. If your mother has a spirit, she should be relieved."
The young man stared at the emperor, with a smile on his lips, he kowtowed to the emperor, then got up, came to the altar table, picked up the jug, turned up the three upside-down cups, and poured the wine one by one.
He took the first cup and sprinkled it on the ground to pay homage to his deceased mother, and the second cup, respectfully respecting the tablet of longevity, and drank it himself.
After doing this, he stepped aside, knelt on the ground again, looked at the emperor with both eyes, and bowed solemnly to him.
The emperor hesitated for a while, but finally he stepped forward, took up the third cup of wine, and drank it after paying homage to the dead.
He put down the glass, turned and said, "Get up. It's cold on the ground."
At this moment, if there are outsiders on the side, they will be surprised.
The tone of the emperor's words was a gentleness that is rarely seen in normal times.
The young man did not get up, his eyes still looked at the emperor.
"Father, son, thank you for your attention. But I don't want to be the crown prince."
He actually opened his mouth to speak.
"I just want to ask the emperor, tomorrow, the tenth anniversary ceremony, such an important day, why don't you come to pay homage to my mother?"
The boy's voice was a little low, but every word was very clear.
The air in the hall instantly seemed to be frozen by ice and snow.
The light in front of the immortal seat swayed suddenly, on and off.
The emperor looked at the young man for a while, as if he had just come back to his senses.
"Hee! Can you speak?"
"When can you speak?"
For a while, he ignored the disrespect to himself implied in the young man's words, and stepped forward with a look of incomparable surprise on his face.
"I was able to talk years ago. I just didn't want to."
The young man said, glanced at the longevity tablet.
"Father, if your son remembers correctly, you have never been here in these years! Tonight, if it wasn't for your son's request, you probably wouldn't have come here, right?"
The emperor looked at the indifferent young man, the only joy on his face disappeared, and he didn't make a sound.
"Father, are you disdainful of coming here, or did you not care about my mother's death at all, even if it was a penny?"
The young man suddenly raised his voice, every word and every word, like a question.
The emperor frowned as if he had been pricked by a needle.
"Bold! How dare you speak like that?"
The boy looked at the emperor and smiled.
"Yes, you are the founding emperor of Dazhou. This new dynasty, under your governance, is thriving, and the people are safe. In the future, the country will be prosperous and the country will continue. The son can foresee that many years later, when When the historian writes the records of the emperors for you, even if the merit is not as good as that of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Qin emperor and Hanwu are comparable."
"You are not only an emperor, but also my biological father. If you don't have your essence and blood, where would I be today?"
"But I tell you, no matter how they praise you and worship you, in my eyes, Father, you are a cold-blooded person without a conscience!"
The young man in front of the emperor stared at, his face gloomy, and there was a faint flow of anger in his eyes.
There was no sign of fear on the boy's face, he slowly stood up from the ground, and straightened his thin but steep waist.
"When the Hanlin editors were cultivating ancestral genealogy for you, they carefully avoided your youth. They only said that you had great ambitions from childhood and were outstanding in martial arts. They did not dare to say that you were not good. You came from a robber from Jiangyang! You borrowed my grandfather to enter the official career, and since then you have been on the rise. Saying that my mother married at that time, should not have wronged you at all, right? But how did you treat her? The first year she married you, You can't wait to put other women in the door!"
"In those few years, I couldn't remember what my father looked like. When I was a little older, I just remembered that every morning, regardless of whether it was cold or hot, my mother had to get up early to serve my grandmother tea and food. And that The Qi family, called the concubine, was able to accompany my grandmother, smiling at my originally noble mother, and enduring all kinds of nitpicking from my grandmother under her eyes!"
The emperor's brows were still tightly wrinkled, but the anger on his face just now seemed to gradually subside, and he silently looked at the young man without interrupting his words.
"That's all. Father, then my mother died! After she sent me away, she didn't want to be a burden to you, and she knew that you couldn't step back for her. She committed suicide!"
"I will never forget that day, when General Yuan took me to escape, I broke free of his hand covering my eyes, and I saw the scene when I turned back!"
The boy's eyes were red and his voice trembled slightly.
"She is the princess of Changsha, such a beautiful and noble woman. She shouldn't be treated like that! She died, and those people didn't let her go. The weather was so cold, but she didn't even have a decent dress on her body. Yes, just the scars left after being slashed with a sword by an enemy who hated you. Blood, covered in blood! With her head down, ropes tied to her feet, she was hung upside down above the city head, the wind blew She kept shaking, she was so helpless and miserable in the unbridled humiliating laughter of those soldiers..."
The boy shed tears, and his slender figure was as stiff as a rock.
The emperor looked stiff, closed his eyes, opened them, walked slowly towards the young man, raised his hand, and took his arm.
"Xi'er..." He called the boy's nickname, his voice astringent.
There was a trace of disgust in the boy's eyes, he broke free from his father's palm, and took a few steps back.
"Father, it's been ten years, and you should have forgotten my mother. But I can't forget her! I always dream of her. I'll never forget the scene where she was hanged from the head of the city!"
"I don't dare to accuse you of trying your best to save us during your one-year captivity, when you were fighting for your world. I am even less qualified to ask you to save us for the sake of your mother and me. Give up the city that was exchanged for the sacrifice of soldiers. You have your considerations and trade-offs, I understand! But father, what I can't forgive is, what did you do after that? How did you treat my mother?"
"You give her a false name of Empress Yuan. Before her name, add a series of posthumous titles with beautiful words, and then build a place for her to put a tablet. From now on, you think you can feel at ease, don't you?"
The boy's tone became fierce, and a blush appeared on his pale face.
"I always feel like she hasn't left here. She's looking at me, and she's looking at you, my father!"
"Hee! Enough!"
The emperor drank violently.
"It's far from enough! If you hadn't used her, married her, and killed her, how could she have ended up like this? Over the years, if you still harbor any guilt towards her, I'll be fine. But you Ruthless and unjust, you didn't even come to pay tribute to her tenth anniversary!"
"Xie, Chang, Geng!"
The boy's eyes were red as if stained with blood, staring at the emperor in front of him, calling out his name word by word.
"Not only are you not worthy of my mother, you are the culprit who killed her!"
"You are presumptuous! Give me nonsense again, and I will punish you for a serious crime!"
The emperor's face was ashen.
After a pause, he slowed down again.
"You still don't know that the person who brought your mother and son into the enemy's hands was the Qi family. It was this **** who leaked the news to the people of King Qi. I only learned about this later. It was just now that I came here. Before here, she was ordered to be brought to justice."
The young man looked at the emperor with a peculiar expression, and suddenly laughed.
"Father, do you think that if you do this, my mother will finally be able to rest her eyes, and even thank you for revenge for her?"
He laughed wildly, almost to the point of tears, and Fang stopped.
"Ten years! My mother has been dead for ten years, and you've only started now..."
"Father, let me ask you, are you really avenging my mother, or are you out of hatred for Qi's betrayal of you, did you wait until the queen mother went to do it?"
The emperor frowned and said coldly: "After your grandmother had a stroke, people became confused and couldn't be separated from her. She's just a living dead, why bother. It's getting late, you should go back and rest!"
After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked out of the spiritual hall. After only a few steps, his footsteps gradually froze, and his figure swayed.
He settled down and turned around slowly.
In the hands of the young man, at some point, there was a long sword.
The candles flickered, and the sword glowed.
The emperor quickly glanced at the pot of offering wine on the case, and then stared at the young man, with a look of disbelief and anger in his eyes.
"How dare you attack me?" He gritted his teeth.
The teenager laughed.
"Father, do you feel powerless now, have difficulty breathing, and can't even stand? Let me tell you, I often read the medical books left by my mother. One day, I saw a very powerful medicine in the book. The recipe, I will learn to make it by myself..."
"You bastard!"
The emperor's face twisted.
"Come on!"
He roared sharply towards the outside of the hall.
After shouting, the emperor suddenly remembered.
His eldest son, over the years, would never allow any outsider to step into the palace of his dead mother, considering it an offense to his mother.
How could he not know this? Therefore, when he just came, in order to avoid him, the eldest son, who always felt indebted to him, he deliberately left all his entourage outside the palace gate.
Until then, Emperor Fang had an epiphany.
In order to wait for this moment, my son must have been preparing for a long time.
His son's forbearance and scheming are so deep and terrifying!
The emperor's roar echoed in the spirit hall.
The door was pushed open, and Mother Mu ran in. Seeing the staggering back of the emperor, she was shocked, and she didn't know what happened.
The ever-bright lights were swaying violently by the night wind involved, and in the swaying figure, the emperor glared at his son, instead of retreating, he advanced, stumbled towards him, and forced him step by step.
"Nie Zhan! I don't believe it, you really dare to kill me!"
He walked in front of his son, couldn't hold it any longer, and fell to the ground.
The young man looked at him with cold eyes, as if he was looking at a lifeless sacrifice placed on the sacrificial table, and smiled until the emperor fell at his feet.
He raised his hand, and his slender fingers stroked the icy sword edge lightly.
"Father, do you still recognize this sword? This is the day you captured Pucheng, and after seeing me, you took it off your body and gave it to me. It has been stained with the blood of countless people, and you asked me to make one. A manly man."
The boy squatted down slowly, squatted in front of his father who was lying on the ground, and met his eyes.
The emperor glared angrily.
The smile on the boy's face disappeared, he raised his arm, and swung his sword towards the emperor.
In the screams of Mu's mother, the emperor felt a cold sword, passing his denomination.
No blood.
A "ding" sounded softly.
The crown of hair on the top of his head was broken in two.
His hair, which was tied in the crown, was broken and scattered on the ground.
The emperor did not move, looked at his son, and slowly stood up from the ground.
"Father, I heard that when you were the same age as me, you killed your father to avenge your father. It's useless for a son, but your desire to avenge your mother is not inferior to your father. If it were my own nature, I would have has killed you."
"But I can't take your life. If you die, the world will be in chaos again. I'm afraid that when I see my mother, she will blame her."
"Listen, if I cut off your hair right now, it's like killing you. Heaven's law does not allow a son to kill his father. From now on, I will have no father, and you will not have my son!"
He used the tip of his sword to pick up the black strands of broken hair on the ground, and without looking at the emperor again, he turned around and walked to the throne of the Empress Yuan, and placed it on the altar. Asked word by word: "Mum, is it right for my son to do this?"
There was no reply from the hall. There was only the suppressed choked sound of Mu's mother who was kneeling beside her.
The ever-bright lights flickered violently.
The teenager looked around slowly and said desolately: "Mum, these years, my son always feels that you are right next to me. I remember when I was young, he was always away. Sometimes my son wakes up in the middle of the night and sees you still awake. I'm so lonely. In fact, that day, you shouldn't have let General Yuan take me away. My son doesn't want you to leave alone. My son is here to accompany you. From now on, I will never be separated from you again. It's gone!"
He closed his eyes, raised his head sharply, swung his sword towards his neck, and slid across.
"Hee!"
The emperor let out a loud roar, his eyes were splitting, and he didn't know where the strength came from. He struggled from the ground, and together with Mu's mother, rushed towards the white-clothed boy in front.
But it's too late.
The sword edge slashed, blood splashed on the spirit platform, and the ever-bright lamp was extinguished at once.
The hall was instantly plunged into darkness, and only the heart-piercing roar from the emperor remained.
After a while, the palace servants who were finally disturbed rushed into the palace gate with lanterns, and were stunned by what they saw.
The emperor, with his hair disheveled, held His Highness the eldest son in his arms, and fell before Yuan Empress's immortal tablet, muttering: "Xi'er... It's not that I don't want to come because of my father... I don't dare to come..."
The sword was lying on the ground, and the two of them were all covered in blood.
…
That kind of pain that seemed like a thousand arrows pierced through the heart hit her again.
Mu Fulan's body slowly slid down.
She closed her eyes tightly, curled herself up tightly, lying on the couch, motionless.
Mu's mother was waiting outside, and when she was uneasy, she suddenly saw the door open, Xie Changgeng came out, hurried up to meet him, and was about to speak, but when he saw his face gloomy, he took big steps and walked out, not knowing what just happened. No matter what happened, I couldn't care about him for a while, so I turned around and entered, first to see how the Weng master was.
Xie Changgeng went straight out of the palace, returned to the post house, and ordered to leave overnight.
His entourage was amazed.
He was usually happy and angry, but at this moment, his face was quite ugly. Everyone was secretly shocked, and they didn't know what happened to the night banquet, which made him get to this point. But how dare they ask more, they are busy packing their luggage, and soon after finishing, the group left the post house and went to the city gate.
When approaching the city gate, there was the sound of chasing horses' hooves from behind.
The prime minister of Changsha, Lu Lin, ran after him on horseback and shouted loudly, "Thank you, Jiedu! Stay!"
Xie Changgeng stopped the horse slowly.
Lu Lin chased close, turned over and dismounted, and ran towards him panting.
He didn't wear an official hat, and he wore boots on his feet, which were reversed from left to right.
"Xie Jiedu, what's the matter? Why did you have to leave overnight?"
Xie Changgeng's expression had returned to normal, and he said with a smile, "Before Xie left, he had left a letter with the postmaster, and he was originally asked to submit it on my behalf tomorrow morning. The purpose of Xie's visit was to pay tribute to the late king, It is to pick up the lady. The previous king has already paid homage to the lady, because after she came to our Kuizhou, she was not acclimatized and her body was not well. Since she came back this time, she simply let her stay and recuperate for a while. I still have something to do, so I set off overnight. Many thanks to the King of Changsha and the Prime Minister for their hospitality, Xie Xie is very grateful.
Lu Lin had just returned to the house, and just after lying down for a while, she had to report that Xie Changgeng and his party were leaving overnight.
I was worried about where I offended him again, so I left at night in anger. Catching up at this moment, seeing him smiling Yan Yan, he was relieved. After making a speech to keep him, he gave up, saying that the king of Changsha was drunk at Yeyan, and he would do it for him to send him out of the city.
Xie Changgeng did not refuse, and let Lu Lin send him out.
The city gate opened, and Lu Lin sent him out, another courtesy. In the end, she watched his figure disappear into the night, and then he slowly let out a breath, dubious, and returned to the city without mentioning it.
Xie Changgeng galloped for a while and suddenly stopped.
Seeing that he seemed to be in trouble, the entourage also stopped the horse and looked at him together.
Xie Changgeng turned his head and looked at the city behind him that was outlined in black by the night. After a while, he turned his face and instructed an attendant named Zhu Liuhu who was good at tracking information: "You stay and hide your whereabouts. What is the state of Changsha? Send the news to me."
"Especially Wengzhu, pay attention to her movements. The more detailed everything is, the better."
Xie Changgeng commanded calmly.
