Chapter 36
Due to the calculation of the officials of the Qin Tianjian, the Queen Mother gave up the trip to Changbai Mountain. After the news of many entourages learned about it, their emotions changed a lot.Take our female officials as examples. After knowing that the trip to Changbai Mountain was in vain, they couldn’t settle down and wanted to rush back to Beijing.Under the pressure of this kind of thinking, we became very irritable and lost patience with the things around us. We all carefully stuck to our posts, lest there would be any mistakes at the last moment.

When my heart began to change, I thought it was because my nerves were too sensitive. When everyone expressed this idea one after another, I began to be surprised at the source of this sense of pressure.What is it that compels us to rush back?In this regard, everyone has speculated.Of course, these are just our secret conversations in private, and we absolutely dare not let the queen mother know.In the end, rumors came from who knows where, and everyone commented: "Maybe in the next few days, there will be a big disturbance in the capital, and even the gates of Shanhaiguan will be locked, and we may stay in the city for a long time." God."

How much we longed for this place before we came to Fengtian!But now, Fengtian has hardly aroused our interest.Having already been to all the interesting places nearby, coupled with the rumors coming from nowhere, everyone was very panicked. After all, no one wanted to stay in Fengtian for a long time.If the rumors are true, it's a sad thing, and I can't help shivering just thinking about the possibility.At this time, the Queen Mother summoned eight of our female officials and conveyed a message to us: "The day after tomorrow we set off to return to the capital, the Taimiao Grand Ceremony is about to begin, the emperor must go back before then, there is nothing more important than this Besides, we raised some spring silkworms before we came here, so we should go back and take care of them anyway.”

After listening to the queen mother's words, our hearts suddenly opened up a lot, and we each dispersed to prepare for returning to the capital.From now to leaving Fengtian, it is only two days, and it is only 40 to [-] hours, but these [-] to [-] hours make me feel as long as [-] to [-] years.In the last thirty or forty hours, we seemed to be racing against bad luck, and no one dared to breathe a sigh of relief.To some extent, we regard this last time as something closely related to our own lives: either the so-called bad luck won, or we defeated it and returned to Beijing smoothly.The more time goes by, the stronger our feeling of impending disaster. We don't know whether the disaster will come within these two days, or whether we can use the last two days to escape the bad luck.Although the queen mother didn't say how irritable she was, we can feel from her actions that there must be many things suppressed in her heart.Once, the Queen Mother suddenly said: "We must not delay our return to Beijing, and the train returning must not stop at any station along the way. If the local guard wants to pick up the driver, he must go to the platform. Our train will never stop halfway Moment." From the Queen Mother's words, I have tasted her extreme anxiety.Probably the mental tension in the past few days has made her lose her inner balance and peace, as if she had a premonition of some danger.At that time, I mistakenly thought that I was supercilious, and I asked other people present afterwards, and they unanimously expressed the same thoughts as me.In any case, the ancient Fengtian Palace is too gloomy, and anyone who lives in it will feel uneasy.

No matter how hard it was, the two days passed quickly, and the time to leave for Beijing finally arrived.Although the Queen Mother repeatedly told us that she was anxious to go back and did not want to be greeted by officials, big and small, the local officials didn't know her thoughts, and even if they knew, they dared not come to the station to see them off.On the morning of departure, as usual, Fengtian Station was crowded with a large number of officials who came from all over the country to see the Queen Mother off.It's a pity that the queen mother has no intention of being attached to this place. As soon as she got off the sedan chair, she supported our shoulders and walked directly towards the train. It seemed that there were many pursuers chasing behind, and if we didn't leave quickly, we would be killed.

As soon as the queen mother sat down, she ordered people to pass the decree and drive, regardless of whether others came up or whether all the things had been loaded on the train.The Empress Dowager appeared to be in such a hurry, and this was the first time I had seen it since I had been in the palace for so long.No matter what happens on weekdays, she can always show a calm side, but now she looks a bit like a deserter.Thinking back how calm and calm the Empress Dowager was when she left Beijing, but now she is so urgent when she leaves, this is ridiculous to outsiders.We sitting in the car had the same idea as the Queen Mother, so naturally we didn’t find this incident funny, but it’s unknown whether those officials who came to see us off thought so, unless they could see what the Queen Mother was thinking, they would definitely Can't understand why we left Fengtian in such a hurry.

Everyone on the train is eager to return to Beijing, it can be said that they are returning home.Even after boarding the train, we were sweating, fearful of what might happen in the next few minutes.People's psychology is often very contradictory. On the one hand, they are very worried and anxious, and on the other hand, they are eager for something to happen. This may be the so-called curiosity.Most of us can't bear to look behind, because this is also considered unlucky by Lafayette.I was once scolded by Lafayette for being too curious.At that time, I was fascinated by looking back, and Lafayette became unhappy and reprimanded me severely.Although I felt uncomfortable in my heart, I didn't dare to ask Lafayette too much. To this day, I don't know why it is unlucky to look backward. Is there any connection between the two?
Everything was the same as when it came. Under the cover of night, the train moved forward silently, without blowing the whistle or sounding the alarm bell.We took a special train. As early as three hours before our departure, the trains on the entire Jingfeng Railway stopped operating. At various stations along the line, local officials have sent armed forces to protect them.All of this seems to be a replay of the scene when they arrived, the only difference is that the speed of the car has increased a lot.When going back, Lafayette gave the driver the instruction that the faster the better, this is the opposite of the instruction that the slower the better.Although Lafayette gave such an order, the driver dared not obey it, because Lafayette also gave a priority order, that is, keep the carriage from violent vibrations.If you rush forward with full horsepower, the severe vibration of the carriage will be unavoidable.I recalled that when Fengtian, Lafayette observed the scenery along the way with great interest, and joked to us from time to time. Now she has completely lost that kind of thought, and only hopes that the train will arrive in Beijing as soon as possible.

The two orders issued by Lafayette really made the driver embarrassed. After thinking twice, they could only drive the train faster than when they came, but not too fast, so as not to cause violent vibrations in the carriage.Watching the scenery sweeping back and forth, I knew that the speed of the train was slowly increasing.While the train was running, Lafayette didn't say a word, just sat so quietly.Seeing this situation, we had no choice but to shut up and stare blankly ahead.According to Lafayette's instructions, we can't look back, in order to avoid that ominous prophecy.I wonder where Lafayette heard this superstitious statement. Even if she can force herself not to look behind, can she force herself to control her heart and stop thinking about what happened in Fengtian?I don't think this is possible at all.

When I couldn't speak, my thoughts danced along with the sound of the train hitting the rails.I secretly wondered, what would those officials who stayed in Fengtian do?At this moment, maybe they have already dispersed from the station, and each performed their due duties. After all, the public and private affairs in the yamen are still waiting for them to deal with.In Fengtian Xinggong, the gloomy atmosphere may be even more intense. Without us people, the weeds inside may grow wildly again.The relics left by the ancestor emperors may have all been put into glass boxes and re-sealed, waiting for them will be the royal family members who do not know when they will arrive.I don't have much nostalgia for that old palace, after all, it doesn't leave me much happiness.

The scenery outside the window kept receding, and time moved forward slowly. I just thought about it in a trance for a long time. As for where the train went and how long it would take to get to Beijing, I had no idea at all. .When I woke up from my dream, the first thing I saw was the towering Great Wall.Gradually, the train arrived at the pass of Shanhaiguan, and seeing that the pass was not locked, we felt at ease immediately.As long as we can pass Shanhaiguan, we can return to Beijing city. This is probably the thought of each of us at that time.Since the Empress Dowager ordered the train not to stop on the way, it did not slow down when passing the Shanhaiguan Pass, and drove past with a roar.Through the window of the car, I saw a dark crowd. They were officials from all over the vicinity. At this moment, they all knelt on the ground to show their respect for Lafayette.

The queen mother sitting in the car naturally saw the kneeling officials below, but how could she care about them now?In her heart, apart from the urgency to return to Beijing, there is nothing else.During the entire return journey, the queen mother seldom spoke, and seemed not interested in everything around her, her only expectation was to return to Beijing as soon as possible.People are a very strange thing. When we lived in Beijing, we always felt that the imperial city was so rigid and disgusting, but now, we all yearn to fall into her embrace as soon as possible; there is no time to leave Beijing. , each of us hopes to get out of the narrow circle of Beijing and see everywhere, but now, it seems that apart from those rigid palaces, we can't find another place that suits us.It is almost certain that we all regard the Forbidden City as our home subconsciously, and we are afraid that something big will happen at home during the ten days when we are away.When we first went to Fengtian, our group was full of vigor, and everyone had very good expectations for this journey, but now these good expectations have disappeared at all.Take myself for example. When I first heard that I was going to Fengtian, I was full of longing and hope in my heart. I thought I could learn a lot of knowledge and gain a lot of knowledge there, but who would have thought that after arriving there, I have hardly any sweet memories of that place, other than the sight of many quaint corner lamps and the breathless scent of flowers.

When the car was about to arrive in Tianjin, Li Lianying came to Lafayette with a flattering smile and said, "To Lafayette, the car will arrive in Tianjin in a few minutes. Do you think we should stop for a few minutes and let the officials along the way do the last thing?" A brief gift." When she said this, Li Lianying kept her head down, as if this request was too much.On weekdays, the queen mother always gave Li Lianying face, but this time she refused Li Lianying's request without hesitation. The queen mother said: "No matter what, the car can't stop. The only way is to slow down as much as possible after entering the station. Now you Keep an eye out for me, and let me know when you get there." A few minutes later, the outline of Tianjin Station gradually emerged, and the driver had already slowed down the speed of the train because he had received instructions in advance.In order to meet Yuan Shikai who came to greet him, the queen mother got up and dressed up deliberately.For some reason, the Queen Mother always showed special favor to Yuan Shikai. She could ignore other officials, but she felt that slowing down the speed of the train was not enough for Yuan Shikai.In fact, with Lafayette's identity and status, just slowing down the speed of the car was considered preferential treatment for Yuan Shikai, but Lafayette had his own ideas and quickly gave further instructions to Li Lianying. "Which direction are Yuan Shikai and the others kneeling on the train?" Lafayette asked Li Lianying loudly. "On the left, they are all on the left, Queen Mother." Li Lianying replied hastily.

(End of this chapter)

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