box of hearts

Chapter 274 Looking at My Hometown (18)
The two pretended to be very humiliated, reluctantly unloaded the burden, and slowly opened the food box.Zhou Dun bent down to examine it, and it turned out that it was a festive pastry: those with fillings and printed double sheep, those with lions and barbarian kings, those with five-color flags, and those with sweet-scented rhinoceros flowers... one by one, one by one, he can clearly see the details Glide under the eyes.If he had the same two eyes on his back, he would see at the same time: a shadow, like a Chongyang cake with various patterns, slipping through the screen in front of the second gate, across the courtyard, up the corridor, and into the side of the hall. ——

"Cover it." Zhou Dun straightened his back; the shadow behind him disappeared.

The little fire fighters on the opposite side quickly looked back, and one of them smiled honestly, "Hey, it's such a coincidence that the Queen Mother asked the servants to go out of the palace to deliver cakes to the Prince Regent. Anyone who wants to walk halfway will see the prince's The sedan chair came to the Kunning Palace, and the servants took a shortcut and brought it here directly. Please, Mr. Zhou, please don’t mention it to the Empress Dowager, or she will scold us for being lazy again.”

Zhou Dun snorted, took out two ingots of broken silver and threw them away, "Said the prince thanked the Queen Mother for her kindness, and just put the things here. These are for you, go buy some new pairs of shoes."

The two little fire fighters thanked each other with great joy, bypassed the screen and left.The colored paintings on the powder-coated and gilded screen have peeled off for a long time, and have been eaten away by wind and frost beyond recognition. Only by carefully distinguishing can one tell that the paintings were originally extremely auspicious and happy dragons, phoenixes and seals.

When Zhou Dun stood back in front of the hall again, there was already one more person in the back of the hall. Naturally, it was Qiao Yunze.

And when Qiao Yun tiptoed close to the base of the wall, the first voice he heard was Qi She - even if he was killed, he would never forget that man's cold and arrogant voice. There whispered:

"On the ninth day of next month, when Gubeikou is walking on the mountain, there will be a big fire and five corpses. The dead are the regent Qi She, his concubine Duan Qingtian, and their attendants; what will be left behind will be a secular couple ..."

But hearing this, Qiao Yun shuddered.He seemed to see the intertwined blood vessels in his own body and a heart hanging between them, and the heart jumped violently, like a spider hanging in a blood web waiting for its own prey.

He pressed one ear more tightly to the window paper, and slowly bowed his knees to prevent the shadow from appearing.

A wall apart, is a pair of knees completely on the ground.There is gold under the man's knees, and what makes men like Qi She kneel down is an old phoenix couch, with a golden incense burner and a god's amulet placed on the head of the couch by himself.Cigarettes covered the long posthumous title on the spirit card, Qi She fixed his eyes and spoke devoutly: "The queen mother, the son and minister are gone, wandering around, making their home all over the world, and never returning. I am really ashamed of my ancestors. But the son knows that the mother must understand the son and will not blame the son. From now on, no matter where the son is, he will still set up a god for the mother and worship day and night." He passed his hand to his side after a moment of desolation. , "Come, Qingtian." Supporting Qingtian, he also knelt on the worship mat, and smiled a little shyly at the altar, "Mother, this is your concubine, and Erchente brought it for you to see. It's just that she is like this now. Don’t be offended that I can’t give you a big gift.”

Qingtian stroked his protruding belly, and called out softly: "Empress Empress." Under Qi She's meaningful eyes, he changed his words shyly, "Mother, mother queen, daughter-in-law is a vulgar person in the market, don't you?" I understand the rules of the palace, and I can't speak, so I thank my mother for giving birth to such a good husband for my daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law can't repay you, so I can only turn around and give birth to a white and fat grandson. The mother's queen is alive in heaven, please Please bless this child."

These words were neither fish nor fowl, but there was something that touched the heartstrings, and Qi She smiled openly.As his mood calmed down, he soon became talkative, gathered Qingtian, took her hand and walked around the hall for a while, pointing there for a while, his eyes were dark and hazy at times, "I remember one time, I ran to the abandoned garden for fun, but was bitten on the head by a mosquito. I was so itchy that I couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night, crying and making noise. The nurse couldn’t coax me, so the queen asked someone to bring me to her. This bed personally coaxed me to sleep. I want her to sing to me like a nanny. The queen mother said that she is a queen, and she can't sing. This is against the law. I don't care, I just act like a baby with her. first, and sang it till I fell asleep...

"After I went to the study, I spent much less time here, but I often came over after school to show my mother the homework I did today. Our gentleman at the time was from Shandong and had a strong accent. I always imitated him behind my back. Talking, my queen mother scolded me for disrespecting the teacher, but smiled and hugged me into her arms...

"Later my leg was broken, and I lay there for several months without being able to move. The queen mother stayed here all the time, taking care of me personally. In the past, she and the emperor quarreled, and I always caught her crying secretly, but that time She didn't cry from the beginning to the end, so she asked me to recite the passage from "Mencius" over and over again: "Heaven will send a great mission, so people must first suffer their minds and minds, work their muscles and bones, starve their bodies, and be empty." Her body and behavior messed with her actions, so she moved her heart and patience, and once benefited what she couldn't do." Every time I finished reciting, she would kiss me. To this day, I can still feel the thousands of tears she left on my face. Thousands of kisses, I miss her so much..."

Following every sentence, every word, Qingtian also saw what Qi She saw in the lonely few days in front of him: a little prince who is attached to his relatives and kindness, and a beautiful and mournful queen.Among these phantoms, she shared her husband's most precious childhood memories, the happiness and sentimentality of her heart.Unable to help herself, she pressed her lips to Qi She's arms, and kissed him lightly through his clothes, as gentle as water.

Outside the latticed window, there is a blazing jealousy burning a lonely and castrated eavesdropper more and more frantically.

The sky is gradually changing, and some are half cloudy, and the pointer of the sundial moves eastward one by one.When Qi She and Qingtian finally stepped out of the main hall of Kunning Palace, Zhou Dun pointed to the two snacks in the courtyard and reported them in detail.Qi She asked again and again, and confirmed that the two Huo Zhe had never been close to the front of the hall, so he didn't investigate further, and left in a sedan chair.

The palace people who were sent out returned to their respective positions. When the old supervisor in charge entered the courtyard, he met Qiao Yunze, who was a layman. The latter still put on the airs of a secret envoy, saying that the regent had ordered that today's affairs should not be leaked. Half a point, otherwise life will be lost.The old prisoner responded in panic, watching Eunuch Qiao's back flutteringly, disappearing behind a red wall.

Within a moment, Qiao Yun, like a messenger from heaven, returned to the Palace of Compassion and Ning with the wind on his feet, and solemnly gave a big gift, "The slave congratulates the master."

Xihe, the Empress Dowager, had already heard the general idea from the mouths of the two little firemen who turned back earlier, and she was burning with anxiety.Seeing Qiao Yun like this, he immediately dismissed the rest of the people and stamped his feet anxiously, "Don't be tricky, tell me quickly."

A smile appeared on Qiao Yun's pale face, revealing a mouthful of fine rice teeth, chewing up each word, and feeding it to Xi He's ears with a dense and moist mouth.

Xihe's bright gold crown was drooping, like a head full of wind and rain, pattering, "Can you really hear it?"

"It's true." Qiao Yun's face was slightly lowered, and he looked straight ahead, "Although it was just a few words, the regent and the Duan family are undoubtedly planning to feign death and escape in the Gubeikou Palace on the day of the Double Ninth Festival."

Xihe leaned back on the carved unicorn chair and meditated for what seemed to be a whole primordial time.Afterwards, she showed a look of deep guard but eager to try, "I'd like to see what kind of tricks the third child will play this time. If luck——"

"exist."

"Go to Qianqing Palace and tell the emperor that in order to ensure the smooth progress of the Double Ninth Festival he presides over this time, I will go to Dalongfu Temple to fast and pray for blessings. I will perform rituals for six days, and no one is allowed to disturb me during this period."

"Yes, slave is going now." Qiao Yun walked eagerly and then stopped, his person seemed to be a yellowed past, looking back under the bleak sunlight, "Master, are you really going?" Dalongfu Temple, right?"

After getting a pair of cold dimples at the corners of the other party's mouth, Qiao Yun also raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, "Oh, there is one more thing, the flower cakes sent to King Kang and Princess Wang today, the Queen Mother is still waiting for you!" I have to prepare another copy." He flicked his skirt lightly and walked out of the hall.

Xihe sat motionless in her seat, her skinny cheeks seemed to have passed the mourning cicada's melody, and then she seemed to stand still, a tree in the ruthless late autumn[8].

11.
September [-]th, Gubeikou.

There are three teams in total, marching towards these six characters.And the fate of each character will be like a piece of scattered singing, and finally on this day and this place, it will be completely pieced together into a distant ancient ballad.

The first team belongs to Qi She.In the early morning of September [-], I came to a mountain only a dozen miles away from the Great Wall at Gubeikou. There was a palace built for the military parade on the mountain, so it was called "walking on the mountain".Qi She ordered people to set up a shed in the mountains and make colorful decorations for the chrysanthemum appreciation party the next day.

The second team is Xi He.With a grand and ostentatious pomp, she went straight to the Dalongfu Temple on September 22, but she has been practicing in seclusion since she entered the meditation room, and the daily living and eating are only taken care of by a few court ladies.Needless to say, the real Empress Dowager had already gone out of the city in disguise and hid, and arrived at a private post at noon on September [-]th, which was in the shape of a corner with Xing Zaishan.That night, his confidant Qiao Yun drove his horse [-] miles away alone.It was supposed to be a barren open space, but at this moment, top camp tents were erected, dozens of Yeye torches were lit outside the tents, and Qiao Yun was stationed in a red light.It was here that he met the third team.

From the crowd lined up with two rows of wild goose wings, their leader walked out.Wearing blue cloth clothes and a large belt around his waist, he looks like a man walking in the rivers and lakes. With only one sleeve but tucked up empty, he is a one-armed man.He straightened his only arm to the ground and performed a big salute, "Teacher."

(End of this chapter)