Empress Dowager Empress Dowager

Chapter 1
"Tick-tick-tick-"

The underground imperial mausoleum is empty and dark, and there is no sound, only the water on the rocks falls into the cracks of the rocks, recording the time like an hourglass.Surrounded by a group of dead people, there was also the faint sound of Huo Mingzhu's breathing.

The first emperor passed away. As a sinful concubine, Huo Mingzhu has been sealed in the sarcophagus for three days. She can clearly smell the putrid smell from her body, which is getting stronger every day. Her body is dead, but her consciousness is still alive. Every inch feels clearly identifiable.

She wanted to move and scratch her itch, but the tendons in her hands and feet were severed, so she couldn't move. She wanted to call someone to kill her and let her die happily, but she was poisoned and dumb, her throat seemed dry. There was a fire, and a word could not be said.Her eyeballs were gone, filled with quicksilver, and she had only false eyes, and she figured that if she could see, she could see nothing but the dark coffin ceiling.

Counting the days, today is the time when the new emperor ascends the throne. The person she loves most is going to be the emperor, her spoiled and grown-up sister is named queen, and her father becomes the head of the state... Everyone is stepping on her foot The bones climbed up, but she, Huo Mingzhu, was sealed in the sarcophagus and became the late emperor's funeral concubine, making every day unbearable!
……

On the sixth day of April in the 28th year of Dayong Tianyou, the palace at the west end of the capital was extremely lively. Today, the Holy Master's younger brother, Prince Duan, married the daughter of General Huo's mansion.

The newlywed Huo Mingzhu is putting on makeup in the boudoir. The beauty in the mirror has an alluring appearance, and is even more stunning because of the happy event.There was a lot of blowing and beating outside, and the sound of firecrackers was also bursting. Maybe the people who greeted the relatives came, Huo Mingzhu turned her head anxiously and looked out the window.

"Oh, sister, look at how impatient you are! The auspicious time has not arrived yet, and the sky is still dark! Is it because you are afraid that your brother-in-law will not be able to wait?" Huo Huaiyu, the two-year-old younger sister of Xiao Huo Mingzhu, pressed Huo Mingzhu's shoulder jokingly, Get her up.

Huo Mingzhu blushed, tapped Huo Huaiyu's head lightly, and said angrily, "Kid, what do you know!"

Huo Huaiyu stuck out her tongue, her appearance was pretty and cute, with a touch of innocence, her hair was wrapped around her hands, she was short and smiled at Huo Mingzhu in the mirror: "Sister, who said I am young? I am already 16 years old, In the future, I want to marry a hero like my brother-in-law!"

When she said this, her eyes sparkled, but Huo Mingzhu took her as a joke, nodded helplessly and said: "Okay, okay, you also marry a hero like brother-in-law, how about we compare the two heroes?"

Huo Huaiyu turned around lightly, and hummed: "Sister, you're teasing me again." After a while, she turned and walked back to Huo Mingzhu, handed over the teacup in her hand, and whispered softly: "Good sister! , you are about to get married, and from now on, you can’t play with me often and mess around with me. After drinking my sister’s cup of tea, just treat me as my sister’s practice, right?”

Seeing tears in her eyes suddenly, Huo Mingzhu said angrily: "Huaiyu, why don't you practice it? My sister just married into Prince Duan's Mansion, which is only two streets away from our General's Mansion." But she still He took the cup of hot tea and drank it down. After drinking it, he smiled at Huo Huaiyu and said, "Are you satisfied now? Little ancestor."

Huo Huaiyu looked at her in a daze, and murmured: "Sister, you are so beautiful, you are so beautiful, you should be the fate of the Phoenix, why do you want to marry Duan Wang? You should be the Phoenix, and I will marry Brother Jiu , why is the best always yours?"

Huo Mingzhu didn't know what she meant, this "Nine Brothers" was her usual nickname for Duan Wang Baili Zonglu, logically, Huo Huaiyu shouldn't be calling her.

"Huaiyu..." Huo Mingzhu stroked her forehead and shook her head lightly, "My head suddenly hurts..."

Huo Huaiyu smiled: "It's just right if it hurts."

Huo Mingzhu couldn't open her eyes from the stupor, her body softened and she lay down on the dressing table.Although she couldn't move, but her mind was clear, she heard that someone opened the door and came in, and someone started to pick up her wedding clothes.

"Hurry up, even if Prince Duan's mansion can wait, His Majesty can't delay it. Hurry up, put on the wedding dress for the second lady, and the phoenix crown for the eldest lady! Hurry up! You have delayed the important event of Prince Duan, your heads Not enough to chop!"

It was her father, the loyal and brave General Huo Zhengde, who spoke. He did not have the majesty of the past, but was mixed with a trace of unusual excitement and trembling.

"Daddy, I knew you loved me the most, so I didn't want to enter the palace to celebrate the old emperor. My sister and I have five points of similar looks, and they look about the same age. It is perfect for her to replace me. It's the Huo family's daughter, same." Huo Huaiyu's voice was joyful and bright, as if playing a game.

Amidst the sound of joy, two wedding sedan chairs were carried out of the General's Mansion at the same time, one to the east and the other to the west.When Huo Mingzhu woke up, she was on the old emperor's bed, and the old emperor had already passed away.

Baili Zonglu, who was supposed to be her husband, rushed into the bedroom with his troops, his eyes were cold, and he saw no trace of past love, and said sharply: "Bold Huo Mingzhu, on the day of celebration, you dare to murder the Holy Majesty, intending to usurp Dayong Jiangshan!"

She asked: "Huo Mingzhu is a weak woman, how can she have the heart to kill the king?"

Baili Zonglu looked ruthless, and sneered: "With your own strength, it is impossible, but you and your uncle Pingyanghou have been planning for a long time, and just found the cloth army map in the imperial city on you, you Pretend to enter the palace to celebrate, but to do internal support for him! How can the Baili family's country fall into Lin's hands!"

Huo Mingzhu was so angry that he stepped forward and hugged his leg: "My uncle, Marquis Pingyang, is a close friend with you. The Lin family is a loyal family. In order to stabilize the Baili family, countless men died in battle. A year ago, my cousin Lin Yun Chi died in the First Battle of Chenzhou, and the only bloodline of the Lin family was severed. Now there are only old, weak and widowed mothers left. Among them, the eye disease remains after the illness, King Duan knows it best!"

Baili Zonglu kicked her hand away, and did not listen to her excuses: "Huo Mingzhu, even if you are eloquent, you will not escape your guilt today! Since this king owes you a pair of eyes, I will pay you back! Someone, dig me! Take out the eyes of the guilty concubine, fill them with mercury, cut off her veins, and lock them with black iron! Wait until the rebel Pingyang Houfu is wiped out, and then I will decide!"

Her father, Huo Zhengde, became Baili Zonglu's executioner. In order to show his favor to Baili Zonglu, he personally cut off her tendons. In the name of the ancestral hall of the Huo family of the Lin family, the two of them have nothing to do with the Huo family from now on! Pingyang Hou Lin conspired against Yue, and the old minister is willing to take the lead in capturing the rebels, and do his best for Dayong before he dies!"

With broken limbs and hollow eyes, she let the blood and tears flow out, and said with a miserable smile to her father: "Huo Zhengde, do you remember that you were born in the army, how did you become a loyal general today? It was your grandfather who promoted you. Do you remember how my mother Did you die? Because you were infected with the plague at the border, your mother took care of you for several months without sleep, and finally died of overwork. Today you will kill your benefactor, expel the spiritual seat of your deceased wife from the ancestral hall, cut off the veins of your daughter's limbs, and dig her out. eyes, how do you get rid of it?"

Her father is righteous: "I, Huo Zhengde, have been loyal to the court and Your Majesty all my life. If anyone dares to rebel and usurp the throne, even my wife, brother-in-law and daughter, I can kill you! Mingzhu, although I am no longer your father, you did something wrong When it’s over, you have to admit it.”

She laughed loudly, curled up in a pool of blood, her face was like a ghost, and she was terrified: "Hahahaha, if you do something wrong, you have to admit it? I was wrong because I didn't know that my father conspired with Duan Wang and used the power of my grandfather's family to ascend to heaven. Then use my marriage to achieve a great cause and call a thief! Now that I am a useless son, I am useless to my father and King Duan, so I don’t care about the relationship between family and love, and it has brought me to this point! Is my last use to tell the world? People confess the death of the Holy Majesty, so that they can step on me and Pingyang Houfu to be crowned the throne?!"

"The concubine is so bold that she can't hold back her words! Someone, give her dumb medicine! This king forbids her to continue talking!" Baili Zonglu became angry from embarrassment.

Such a god of war, King Duan, a hero of Dayong, such a benevolent father, who has both loyalty and filial piety!

Seven days later, the late emperor's coffin entered the imperial mausoleum, and Huo Mingzhu was sealed in a sarcophagus for burial. Before the coffin was closed, Huo Huaiyu, the younger sister of Concubine Duan, clung to her ear and said with a soft smile, "Sister, you have everything since you were a child, and your grandmother is also the worst." Loving you, everything about me is left over by you... But, look at what happens to those who love you! My grandmother and loyal uncle have all been beheaded, and my uncle's head is still hanging in the city. On the door, even the tomb of cousin Yunxi, who was devoted to you with all his heart, was dug up. Although he died early, his body will still be buried! Hahahaha, they love you no matter who makes them love you... and sister, you also end up with nothing , look at your ugly face, Brother Nine will never want to look at you again..."

Huo Mingzhu couldn't move, couldn't speak, so Huo Huaiyu could only continue to say, "Sister, do you remember? You loved me the most when you were young, and now I am very affectionate with Brother Ninth. Before, I have had his heir for two months, and I will marry him sooner or later. Just treat it as a good thing, and love me one last time. When Brother Nine proclaims himself emperor tomorrow, I will be the queen, and I will have Liner in my womb As the crown prince, as my sister, you set up a stele of merit and virtue, and we will remember you forever!"

Huo Mingzhu laughed silently, her eyes were empty, without tears or blood, what a merit monument!A good one to remember her forever!
She, Huo Mingzhu, lived for 18 years, was filial to her parents, loved her younger sister, and loved her infatuatedly, but she ended up in such a miserable end!If there is an afterlife, she will definitely make them repay what they taught her a thousand times and a hundred times—hypocrisy, human face and animal heart, and to achieve their goals, close relatives can be killed!

(End of this chapter)