Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 62 Ominous Omen (1)
Autumn came earlier this year and is a little colder.For those of us who live in the palace all year round, the change of seasons doesn't make much sense, and we haven't paid much attention to this issue.After September, the autumn wind comes and goes, and the leaves of various trees begin to fall.For some unknown reason, this year the entire palace is affected by a strange feeling, which has not been seen for many years.Including the Queen Mother, none of us knew what happened, only that we felt uncomfortable.Some people may say that because autumn is here and the weather is cool, the feeling on the skin will affect a person's mood.There may be some truth to these words, but why didn't there be such a sharp feeling in previous years?Besides, why do we have the feeling that catastrophe is coming?These are our personal feelings, and no one dared to mention them in front of the Queen Mother. We didn't know that this feeling was just a precursor until that incident happened.As for the context of that incident, I also sorted it out after the fact.

It all started with a magnolia flower.Among the many flowers and trees planted in the Summer Palace, Magnolia is not a rare species, so we rarely notice their existence.There are dozens of magnolias in the Summer Palace, but I don't know where they are planted.Every early summer, these magnolias will always bloom a lot of flowers, most of which are fried by the queen mother.We don't pay attention to magnolias in the early summer when they are blooming, and we will not pay attention to them in summer and autumn when the flowers are in full bloom.The Empress Dowager was very suspicious, and had to be reported to others for every detail. Everyone had different thoughts, and no one knew what the Empress Dowager was thinking. Therefore, if there was anything serious in the Summer Palace, everyone would immediately report it to her.It is because of this habit of the queen mother that we are able to know the wonders about the magnolia flower.Everyone knows that the flowering season of magnolia is early summer, but in late autumn this year, a gardener was surprised to find that a magnolia had bloomed a gorgeous flower.We eight female officials often walk in the Summer Palace, and none of us noticed this phenomenon, which is really strange.After discovering this strange incident, the eunuch naturally knew that he would report it to the Queen Mother.Because he didn't know the nature of the Queen Mother, he didn't dare to act rashly, lest an accident would bring disaster.Having said that, it cannot be concealed.In desperation, he had no choice but to go to see Li Lianying, the chief eunuch, to ask his opinion on this matter.

"Director Li, I want to ask how the Queen Mother is feeling now." The eunuch said tentatively. "I don't know about this issue. I only know that the queen mother is not happy now. If you accidentally offend her, I'm afraid your head will move." Li Lianying seemed a little impatient, "If you really have something to play, after the play I don't know exactly what the queen mother thinks and what kind of reaction she will have." "I also know this truth, but such a big thing happened in the garden, and I wouldn't dare not report it even if I had the guts to lend me two more. If the Empress Dowager finds out or hears about this in the future, I will lose my mind." The eunuch's face had changed. "What you said is not bad at all. At that time, the queen mother will really be angry. If you annoy her, you must have nothing good to eat." Li Lianying laughed triumphantly after saying this.Li Lianying was vicious and cruel. Although he was an eunuch himself, he had never been polite to other eunuchs.If any eunuch made a mistake, not only would he not help to plead, but he would hide and watch Lafayette punish that person, maybe he would even laugh while watching.If the Queen Mother really dragged a certain eunuch out to kill, Li Lianying would have to be happy for a few days.

Li Lianying is treacherous, and always weighs things up and down by himself, so he asked the eunuch, "Don't talk about anything else, what do you want to report to the Queen Mother?" After listening to Li Lianying's previous words, the eunuch was so scared , I wanted to just shut up and pretend nothing happened, but when Li Lianying asked him like this, he had to tell the truth.If he didn't speak, Li Lianying would definitely force him to speak by lynching.In desperation, the gardener had no choice but to bite the bullet and said tremblingly: "Report to the chief manager, a... magnolia... in the garden...has bloomed." The gardener's voice became hoarse and he stuttered. "It's impossible. Magnolia has already passed its flowering season. Are you blind?" Li Lianying asked after listening. "It's really strange, but I saw it with my own eyes. That magnolia plant did bloom." "This is an anecdote. Have you seen this phenomenon before?" Li Lianying asked a new question. "Back to Chief Manager, I have never seen this kind of phenomenon before. According to me, this is an ominous omen." The eunuch replied. "Bad omen? Why do you say that?" "Because the magnolia should have bloomed a few months ago, but now there is a magnolia blooming, and only one blooms. The flower looks lonely, against the backdrop of many magnolia trees , looks a bit evil." The eunuch stammered.When he mentioned Yaoqi, the noise was too hoarse to speak.

Li Lianying didn't doubt what the eunuch said, he knew everyone in the palace and knew that no eunuch would dare to deceive him.After knowing the whole story, Li Lianying couldn't help thinking secretly.A solitary magnolia blooming in late autumn is indeed a bad omen.It doesn't matter if the Queen Mother is an open-minded person, but it's a pity that the Queen Mother is very superstitious, and everything depends on the auspicious time.For this reason, the Queen Mother likes to hear the sound of praise, or see the characters "Fu" and "Shou".If this ominous news gets out, I don't know how much trouble the Queen Mother will cause.Li Lianying is a man of the world, and there are few things in the world that can defeat him. After thinking about it for a while, he came up with a countermeasure. "Since there is such a strange thing, our courtiers can only report it to the Queen Mother. I have nothing to do with you. If the Queen Mother wants to know anything, I will let you know." After Li Lianying said these words to the eunuch, Just waved him out.

At eight or nine o'clock the next morning, the queen mother had finished her grooming and was ready to go to court.At that time, several other female officers and I were accompanying us, when we suddenly saw Li Lianying walking in in a panic, we were all very astonished and cast our eyes on him.We usually don't care much when we see other people running over in a panic, but the things that make Li Lianying come running in a panic are definitely not small things.You must know that Li Lianying's residence is very deep, and he usually has no expression on his face. Unless he sees others being punished, he will never show the slightest smile.Except for that slight smile, he always has that kind of dead face without any expression.But today's situation is a bit different, perhaps because of the influence of the ominous magnolia flower, his expression has changed a lot.It was the look of panic and panic on his face that made every one of us, including the Queen Mother, nervous.When she woke up this morning, the queen mother was not in a very stable mood, and her behavior was much rougher than usual. I guess she must have had a premonition in her heart.Seeing Li Lianying like this again now, she probably felt that her premonition was about to become a reality.

At this moment, Li Lianying pretended to be calm, and when she came in, she knelt down slowly and respectfully kowtowed to the Queen Mother.Among all the people, he is the most favored by the queen mother, and he is vicious, so each of us fears him three points, just like ordinary people fear snakes and scorpions.I stared at him intently, and suddenly found a smirk slipping across his face, I knew he was going to repeat his old tricks.Sure enough, he said respectfully and in the most gentle tone: "Lafayette, my slave has something to do." The queen mother was already in a panic, and asked impatiently: "What's the matter? Tell me quickly." Hearing these words, I knew that the Empress Dowager was in a state of confusion. On the one hand, she wanted to know what happened, and on the other hand, she was afraid that something bad would happen. If possible, she really hoped that Li Lianying would stop talking.Although the Queen Mother was so anxious, Li Lianying just said coyly: "Reporting to Lafayette, what the servant wants to report is a great happy event. Now that this kind of thing happened in the Summer Palace, it is really a blessing for all the people and a blessing for the Queen Mother Fu." He rambled on for a long time, but we didn't get any useful information.The queen mother obviously couldn't bear it any longer: "Quickly tell the truth, who is patient to listen to your nonsense!" Seeing that the queen mother was so impatient, Li Lianying couldn't hide it any longer, so she said directly: "It's really the blessing of Lafayette, the magnolia flowers in our garden Open again." At that time, I was standing beside the Queen Mother with several other female officials, and I clearly saw the faces of the Queen Mother and those female officials twitch at the same time.Since I have been abroad all year round, I am not very clear about the so-called "abnormal omens" and "bad omens".Although it was strange that magnolias were blooming at this time, I didn't think much about it. Seeing their strange expressions at this moment, I couldn't help but wonder.The queen mother asked with a flustered expression: "What's going on? The magnolia is blooming again at this time? Tell me the details quickly. Seeing your hesitation, there must be something you haven't told me. Tell me quickly." !” The Queen Mother was almost ordering.Li Lianying pretended to be very flustered and replied: "How dare I deceive Lafayette? A gardener came to me just now and told me that a magnolia in the garden has bloomed a flower..." "What? Only one?" Queen Mother interrupted him. "Yes, Queen Mother. It is the oldest magnolia plant in the garden. It bloomed a full flower this morning. Queen Mother, this is an auspicious sign that is rare in a hundred years. Congratulations to Lafayette, congratulations to Mr. Lord Buddha!" ​​Li Lianying was still pretending to be acting there.

Although Li Lianying was full of auspiciousness and blessings, the queen mother didn't think so.Standing behind the empress dowager, I could see very clearly that there were many things hidden in her heart, but she was smoldering and unable to speak out.Her face became pale, her lips were trembling all the time, but she just couldn't say a word.Time seemed to stop suddenly, and the heavy air was suffocating. The Queen Mother seemed to have aged a lot in an instant, and the five fingers placed on her chest were shaking non-stop.After entering the palace for so long, this is the first time I have seen the queen mother like this.Except for Li Lianying, none of us knew what the news meant for the Empress Dowager.Because I don't know, I can't persuade the queen mother, I can only let her struggle slowly in the abyss of pain. "What nonsense are you talking about?" After a long pause, the queen mother finally said, "You are not allowed to talk nonsense here. Li Lianying, you clearly know that this is a bad omen, but what kind of auspicious omen are you talking nonsense to me?" , Are you trying to get angry with me? Huh, so you treat me like a three-year-old child, only a three-year-old child does not understand that it is a bad omen!" After finishing speaking, the queen mother pointed her hand out angrily, and Li Lianying hurriedly retreated. out.Li Lianying wished the Queen Mother could do this, he didn't want to stay here and listen to her scolding.

Perhaps seeing my stunned expression, the queen mother turned to me and said, "You have lived abroad for a long time, so you may not know these things, but you must not laugh at us because of this. This magnolia flower in full bloom is indeed a bit strange. If you don't take careful precautions, some disasters may really happen in the future." The Queen Mother spoke in a low voice, but her attitude was very solemn.I didn't believe in the so-called bad omens, good omens, etc., but I couldn't help shivering when I saw what the Queen Mother said so mysteriously.After following the Queen Mother for a long time, I gradually understood many things.The Empress Dowager has a high position and authority, and if something goes wrong, she may be blamed on others. Although I don't believe that God will bring disasters to people, I fully believe that the Empress Dowager will bring disasters to us.Because of this magnolia flower, the Empress Dowager is very unhappy now. If we have any irregularities, disasters will definitely come.Although it is different from what the queen mother worried about, the heart of worry has already been formed in my body.

(End of this chapter)