Tang Dynasty woman

Chapter 37 A Romance in the Early Tang Dynasty: The Eternal Empress (1) ([-])
10. The heart of a lizard, the nature of a wolf

Since Mrs. Han and Mrs. Wei passed away one after another, Emperor Gaozong sighed all day long, stopped talking and joking, and ate less food. He wanted to regain his glory, but because he had not asked about the government for a long time, he had no choice but to discuss with Empress Wu. manage.However, Empress Wu was used to monopolizing power, acting arbitrarily in everything, and Gaozong was not allowed to make decisions. The emperor and empress often had endless disputes over court affairs.

At the beginning, Gaozong tolerated Empress Wu in everything because he loved Empress Wu. Gradually, because of tolerance, it became fear; and later, because of fear, it became resentment.The more resentful Gaozong was, the more fearful he became.In this state of mind, it is natural for him to think of the Queen and Concubine Xiao Shu in the past, and think of how docile and virtuous the Queen and Concubine Xiao Shu were to serve the king, and now since they were demoted to the cold palace, it has been five or six years since they have not seen each other .

That day Gaozong took only two personal servants, and quietly found the palace where the king, empress and concubine Xiao Shu were imprisoned.As soon as I walked into the courtyard, I saw fallen leaves all over the ground, the corridor was covered with dust, and it was quiet and desolate, not even a single person was seen.Gaozong couldn't help feeling very sad, and called out "Queen Wang, Concubine Xiao Shu" a few times in a low voice, but there was no reply. After a long while, he saw a servant come out from the side door. Where is the house with Concubine Xiao Shu?

The little servant led the way and went around the back of the house, only to see two short houses, less than one and a half meters high, specially built for the Queen and Concubine Xiao by order of Empress Wu, except for a mud hole half a foot square dug in the wall , There are no doors or windows around the house.It happened that a court lady sent tea and rice in from the mud hole. Gaozong went up to see that the color of the tea was like soy sauce, and the food was rough and rough.A woman's hand stretched out from inside to touch it. Gaozong saw that the hand was black and thin, and it seemed to be covered with a layer of black scales. He probably hadn't bathed for several years.

Just at this time, the woman in the cave saw the emperor from the small opening, and immediately proclaimed long live, long live, and bowed down in the hut.Gao Zong hurriedly looked in from the mud hole, her brows and eyebrows were still vague enough for the emperor to recognize her as the concubine Xiao Shu who had skin as firm as fat and blue silk as clouds in the past.Looking at her face today, it has not been washed for a long time, a layer of shiny hard black shell is all over her past pink face and jade neck that can be seen.

Gaozong's heart ached so badly that he couldn't help the tears streaming down his face. He asked in a trembling voice, "Queen, Concubine Shu, are you all right?"

Then Queen Wang also came to the entrance of the cave. Her old pink face and jade neck were also covered with a layer of shiny, hard black shell. The river of tears washed away from her face could not see her original complexion, and she sobbed for a long time before saying: "The courtiers and concubines have been blessed by the Holy Grace, and they have been deposed as common people, how dare they have this honorary title again?" Before she finished speaking, Concubine Xiao Shu also sobbed and cried bitterly.Gao Zong repeatedly comforted them with regret and said, "You don't have to worry about waiting! I will try to make Qing wait for you to enjoy the honor again."

Queen Wang said: "If your majesty really sees mercy and brings my concubine back to life, and see the sun again, your majesty can give this house a name of Huixinyuan." Gaozong was so sad that he couldn't stand still. Covering his face with the sleeves of his robe, he could not bear to look at their miserable situation again, sobbing and saying: "Don't worry, Qing, I will deal with it myself." After speaking, he hurriedly left the place that made him sad.

Unexpectedly, someone reported to Empress Wu the news of the emperor's private fortune in the cold palace. Empress Wu immediately used the emperor's edict to send a few servants in the middle of the night, and opened the door that had been sealed with bricks and stones since Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu lived in. He dragged Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu up from their sleep, and knelt in the court to listen to the imperial edict.

Poor these two women who are about to die, at first they thought they were finally looking forward to the sun rising from the mountains, and they were able to leave this deep black dry well from then on.After listening to the imperial edict, the honest king and queen kowtowed and wished her majesty ten thousand years, but Concubine Xiao Shu stamped her feet and cursed: "Awu is a cunning, you have caused me to this point. I hope that in future generations I will be born as a cat and Awu's lowly maidservant will be a mouse. Time to bite off the throat of Ah Wu's lowly maidservant, so as to vent my hatred!"

The imperial edict said that the two sluts were to be hit a hundred times with sticks. When the poor two were tortured, they wailed and wailed until their waist bones and thigh bones were all rotten to pieces. They stopped after a hundred blows, and then four warriors came up and grabbed them. Queen Wang's hair fell to the ground, she pulled out the bright steel knife, and with a few clicks, poor Queen Wang's hands and feet were cut off bloody, and Queen Wang let out a miserable howl and passed out from pain.Then the warriors tied the arms and legs of the fainted king and queen tightly behind their backs with thick hemp ropes, and lifted a large jar full of wine, and put the queen's body on the wine jar inside.

After dealing with Queen Wang, concubine Xiao Shu was arrested and tortured as usual.Pitiful for these two beautiful and beautiful women who were once noble concubines, it took several days before they died one after another.

At that time, the servant returned to the main palace to restore the order, and Empress Wu was still worried, so she came to the cold palace in person, and saw that the Queen and Concubine Xiao Shu were tied tightly, stripped naked, and immersed in the wine tank. At that time, their faces were green , the eyes were severely congested, and where the limbs were cut off, there were still bursts of dark red blood rushing up.

Empress Wu looked at the wine jar containing Concubine Xiao Shu, suddenly laughed loudly, pointed at Concubine Xiao Shu and said, "You seductive whore, can you still dance as Chang'e in the moon? Now your bones are drunk to death!" The wine tank said, "You ignorant stupid woman, today you are shooting yourself in the foot, you have led wolves into the house, and you have suffered yourself. Now you dare to come to me again? I will still be in charge of the court, and you Just like that whore, she was drunk to the bone!"

Unexpectedly, Empress Wu's wild laughter hadn't finished yet, suddenly Concubine Xiao Shu stared at her drooping eyelids, and the two blood-red eyeballs shot a strong light at her, so frightened that Empress Wu's wild laughter stopped immediately, and then Concubine Xiao Shu's head fell Hanging to one side, unable to move again.At this time, a shrill and loud cry came from nowhere in the air: "Meow!" Suddenly a big mouthful of black, red and dirty blood was sprayed all over Empress Wu's face, and she also fainted on the spot.

11. Parents and children can still kill
Empress Wu did not expect that since she brutally killed Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu, when she sat up and down in the palace during the day, she could be seen following her in a daze, her face was green, her eyes were blood red, and her limbs were bleeding all the time. At night, these two people appeared very clearly around her, accompanied by miserable and stern cries. Empress Wu was so frightened that she dared not live in the main palace. After moving to Penglai Palace, the ghosts still haunted her.

Empress Wu also heard rumors that Concubine Xiao Shu said, "I will be a cat in the next life, and Ah Wu will be a mouse" when she was about to be executed. Ever since a meow came out of nowhere in the middle of the sky and a big mouthful of black and red blood was sprayed all over her face, she firmly believed in this statement. Undoubtedly, cats have been banned in the palace since then.But what's the use of it, she was still so scared that she couldn't sleep at night and couldn't eat.Later, I heard from the servants that there was a Taoist priest named Guo Xingzhen in Luoyang, who had boundless magic power and could suppress evil spirits and expel ghosts.Empress Wu hurriedly summoned Guo Xingzhen into the inner palace, performed rituals for seven days and seven nights, and handed it to Empress Wu with Gu poison and dharma water, and let the emperor drink it secretly. Everything is in order.

Gaozong heard that Empress Wu had killed Queen Wang and Concubine Xiao Shu so viciously. From then on, when he saw Empress Wu, he was both resentful and afraid. Sexual, femme fatale-oriented woman's murderous hands secretly; when no one is around, she sheds tears secretly.Eunuch Wang Fusheng was originally Gaozong's most trusted servant. After hearing about Guo Xingzhen's Fashui incident, he was very angry and quietly reported it to Gaozong.

Wang Fusheng repeatedly kowtowed and said: "Long live this disturbance, the slave's life will be over. Long live must be preemptive, and it is right to subdue the queen." Gaozong sighed and said: "Nowadays, the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty are all the minions of the Empress Wu. Who is the queen?" My confidant?" Wang Fusheng said: "Shangguanyi, the servant of Xitai, has always been loyal, long live you can call him into the palace, and have a secret discussion with him."

Wang Fusheng held a secret edict and quietly led Shangguanyi into the palace. Gaozong asked, "How is the queen?" " Gao Zong stamped his feet and exclaimed: "A minister who is truly loyal and righteous!" So he immediately ordered Shangguan Yi to write an imperial edict to abolish the empress.

Empress Wu deceived Gaozong to be weak and incompetent, and sooner or later the handsome Taoist Guo was called into the palace to serve her alone.Guo Xingzhen relied on the power of the queen, and he would make fun of the beautiful Gong'e at will.One day, he was in the aisle, reaching out to touch the neck of a court lady, and happened to be bumped into by Wang Fusheng who was coming from behind. He was furious, and pulled out his sword from his waist. Go, the head had already fallen to the ground, and the palace maid was so panicked that she ran away.

When Empress Wu heard that Guo Xingzhen had been killed, she was very distressed and wanted to go out of the palace to see it for herself. Suddenly, another servant came to report: "Shangguanyi is drafting an edict to abolish the queen in the palace." Empress Wu was shocked and angry, and hurried to Shangguan study.

Gao Zong was caught off guard that Empress Mei Niang came in person, and hurriedly stuffed the edict into the sleeve of his robe in a panic.Empress Wu stepped forward to grab it with her hands, then grabbed Gaozong's belt, wailed and slammed into the emperor's arms, and immediately the cloud bun was loosened, tears were scattered, and she shouted: "Long live, let me die! I knew it earlier!" Today the concubine is going to be abolished. At the beginning, the concubine was a talented person of the late emperor, and he also inherited the fortune of the late emperor. Why should His Majesty coax the concubine into losing his integrity with sweet words? It took a lot of thought to get the position of the prince, and it is the supreme honor of today. The concubines also knew that their fate was poor, they could not enjoy the glory, they could not bear the wealth, and they could just cut their hair in the nunnery. Who knows that your majesty will All kinds of tricks to lure ministers and concubines into the palace, to deceive them to sit in the main palace, but now they are going to be abolished! Alas, I have lost both integrity and position, and I really can't live..."

After hearing these words, Emperor Gaozong's heart was half softened, and he was ashamed by her talking about her past private affairs, so he got down from his seat and took Empress Wu's hand, and said in a low voice, "I didn't mean it at the beginning, it's all about Shangguan. It was instigated by Yi."

Hearing this, Shangguanyi panicked and kowtowed to the side.Empress Wu immediately lowered her face and shouted: "There is a decree from the sage, and Shangguanyi has a draft order!" Shangguanyi hurriedly took the pen in his hand, and listened to Empress Wu's mouth: "Shangguanyi divorced the court. The crime is unforgivable, and I will hand it over to the Ministry of Punishment." put to death."

Shangguanyi finished writing the edict with trembling hands, Empress Wu forced Gaozong to add a seal, and then the warriors came up, tied Shangguanyi and Wang Fusheng out of the palace, and handed them over to the Ministry of punishment to hang.The next day, the imperial edict came down, saying that Li Zhong, the former prince, conspired with Shangguanyi, and ordered Li Zhong to commit suicide;In this way, Empress Wu took this opportunity to dismiss all the ministers who were usually loyal to Emperor Gaozong, and used all her cronies.He also issued an edict to change the surname of the queen to Mang, and concubine Xiao Shu's surname to Xiao.From then on, all the power of the imperial court was in the hands of Empress Wu, who gave orders and did not discuss with Gaozong, and Gaozong did not dare to intervene.Empress Wu secretly envoy Xu Jingzong to take the lead, and together with a group of ministers of civil and military affairs, presented a memorial, respecting Gaozong as the emperor and Empress Wu as the queen of heaven.

The first thing the Wu family did when they became the Queen of Heaven was to abolish the prince Li Hong and make Li Xian the prince.Although Li Hong was born of Empress Wu, his natural disposition was not like his mother's. He treated others with humility and kindness, and he treated his brothers and sisters with deep affection.Gaozong and Empress Wu traveled to Luoyang, and the prince supervised the country.The prince checked the suffering of the people and helped the victims.

It's a pity that the two princesses Yiyang and Xuancheng born to Concubine Xiao Shu are beautiful, beautiful and chaste, but because of their mother's crimes, they were also imprisoned in Yeting by Empress Wu, and Prince Li Hong often visited them.Poor these two princesses were imprisoned until they were 40 years old, and they were not allowed to release the Enzhao. Seeing the beauty of flowers, the years are like water, and they just pass by year after year, never to return.

Although Princess Yiyang and Crown Prince Li Hong are considered siblings, but in the midst of sorrow and hardship, a young man is gentle and considerate, and she has a sense of confidant without knowing it. Or a jade pendant, or a fan pendant, hidden under the pillow mat, and sleep with those small things like sweat towels at night.

The well-behaved prince didn't feel what was on Princess Yiyang's mind, he just watched Princess Yiyang's pink face getting thinner day by day, and that day she saw Princess Yiyang standing alone under the flowers, staring at a pair of pink butterflies , Flying up and down among the flowers, chasing and lingering, two lines of tears fell on Princess Yiyang's pink cheeks, dripping wet the skirt, and Princess Yiyang will never be able to get sick again.

After Princess Yiyang died, Princess Xuancheng took out a sweat scarf from Prince Hong from her bosom, and whispered to Prince Hong quietly.Prince Hong Fu lay next to Princess Yiyang's body, wept bitterly, and ordered to use a high-quality coffin to collect it.Then Prince Hongchao, after seeing his mother, boldly said that Princess Xuancheng was forty years old, and she was still under confinement in Yeting, and she was not allowed to marry. His dissatisfaction made his expression cold.

(End of this chapter)