Chapter 459 Qingming (Part 1)
Qingming,
light rain.
During the continuous rain, like a passionate woman in soft water, she pauses, looks, pauses, looks forward and looks back;
It also seems to cover the sky with a thin layer of rain gauze,
Moisturizing a group of people and boring a city.
In the Jade Heart Palace of the Queen Mother, the green of the pond is already clear.
Unlike other nobles who like to be extravagant, the Queen Mother of Chu has always had a simple temperament. Every winter, there are always one or two courtyards for greenhouses in the mansions of many great nobles of Chu. The four seasons are like spring. However, the Queen Mother of Chu did not like this.
In her words,
This person,
As I get older,
I am more and more concerned about the changes of spring, summer, autumn and winter;
When I was young, I was ignorant, and when I became an adult, I was insensible. When I got older, I had no time. Until I am old, Looking back suddenly, I was shocked that I had missed so much.
This spring, summer, autumn and winter, every time the wheel swings, it is like an extra layer is carved on the bluestone pillar. One glance is missing, one glance is short, and the greenhouse is comfortable. , but it's like picking up sesame seeds and throwing away the watermelon, making yourself indistinguishable from all seasons, and turning yourself into a stupid creature imprisoned in a deep palace, why bother?
The Queen Mother sat under the eaves, holding a soup drink in her hand. From time to time, she picked up a spoon, took a few bites, and then looked at the mist in the yard.
Outside the Yuxin Palace, the Fifth Highness, Xiong Tingshan, was wearing a red python robe. He looked inside from time to time, but did not dare to go in. Behind him, there was a woman wearing gorgeous makeup.
Of the eunuchs and maids around, no one dared to talk or look, they all lowered their heads. It was broad daylight, but they seemed to have covered themselves in the drizzle.
The position of prince is certainly respected, but just being a newly promoted prince does not make these eunuchs and maids so cautious.
In fact, for all the years that His Highness the Fifth Prince has been guarding Wutong County, stories about His Highness have been circulating in Yingdu.
Some people say that he made a blood alliance with the Shanyue people, ate human flesh and drank human blood. His favorite thing was to cut the sharp liver of the sixteenth girl and drink it;
Some people also say that the Shanyue women around him have to find a Chu boy to marry him every night, and when they do, they have to do their job and make wine to pray for eternal youth.
In short, these rumors are so disgusting and frightening.
No one deliberately spreads this,
but in Dachu,
the Chu people’s contempt for the Shanyue people has long been engraved in their bones.
Just as the Yan people looked at barbarians and the Jin people looked at savages, in fact, what they looked at were not humans at all, but animals.
For this reason, His Highness the Fifth Prince, who is brothers to the Shanyue people and also married to the wife of the Shanyue people, naturally has an image among the people that is as scary as possible.
At this time, a young eunuch from the imperial court trotted over and saluted Xiong Tingshan:
"I see you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, Your Majesty ordered you to go in and see the Queen Mother first. Your Majesty is here. There is something delayed in the south study room."
"This..."
If Xiong Tingshan hadn't been in the palace at this moment, he would have really wanted to yell at his fourth brother.
But there was no other way,
Xiong Tingshan could only tidy up his clothes one last time, then turned around and helped his wife tidy them up himself.
Unlike her husband, who is "trembling with fear", his wife appears to be down-to-earth and generous. This woman named Wu Tingting in summer came from the Wujiang Tribe of Shanyue. The tribe has a population of 70,000 to 80,000, which is considered the strength of Wutong County. A relatively strong Shanyue tribe.
"When you meet the Queen Mother later, you have to behave yourself." Xiong Tingshan reminded carefully.
"Ms. sir, you've been saying this since last night."
"Haha."
Xiong Tingshan nodded, pointed to a eunuch next to him, and motioned for him to pass the message.
The eunuch trotted in immediately,
After a while,
A shout came from inside:
"The Queen Mother has a decree to announce the arrival of the prince."
Xiong Tingshan breathed a long sigh of relief and led his wife into the inner courtyard of Yuxin Palace.
On the steps of the inner courtyard, the Queen Mother could not wait to stand up and looked at Xiong Tingshan who was walking towards here.
“I, Xiong Tingshan, have met the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother is blessed!”
Wu Tingting also knelt down and said: "The Queen Mother is blessed."
"Come in and talk, don't let the rain get your clothes wet."
The Queen Mother didn't say much and went straight in In the hall, Xiong Tingshan stood up and everyone entered the hall;
The Queen Mother sat in the first seat, and Xiong Tingshan and Wu Tingting sat in the lower right seat.
The maid of honor served tea and snacks.
Wu Tingting had been waiting outside with her husband for a long time. She entered the palace early and didn't even eat a few bites of lunch. Now she was really hungry, so she didn't hesitate to reach out and pick up the snacks on the plate and started eating.
This kind of behavior is somewhat disrespectful.
After all,
the food served and placed on some occasions is not for eating, but for use. To make decorations.
Seeing this, the Queen Mother smiled and said: "Seeing how delicious the food of the Wuzi family is, the Ai family is also a little greedy."
Immediately,
The Queen Mother reached out and picked up a piece of snack and took a small bite.
After sitting down, Xiong Tingshan’s eyes turned red and he said;
“The Queen Mother, I miss you.”
The Queen Mother picked up the handkerchief and wiped it He raised his lips and cursed with a smile:
"What do you want to do to Aijia? Do you want to be beaten?"
"I really want to be beaten by you."
"You are a bitch, just like when I was a child."
>"That's right."
When she was a child, Xiong Tingshan's mother-in-law had a humble status. She usually didn't talk about disciplining her children. Sometimes she didn't even dare to speak louder.
At that time, the Queen Mother was a noble concubine, and her status was respected in the harem. She often whipped Xiong Tingshan.
This is not a form of abuse,
but sometimes when Xiong Tingshan and his fourth brother go to the Queen Mother's Palace to eat together, and see Xiong Tingshan sitting there obediently, the Queen Mother will order the eunuch Use the cane to whip him. As a prince, how can he be so cowardly sitting in this posture?
Another example is that when I heard a servant’s arrangement in other places, I felt wronged and hid by the rockery to cry. I was seen by the Queen Mother who was passing by. After asking about the reason, the Queen Mother asked the eunuchs around to Xiong Tingshan was thrown into the cold winter pond nearby.
"Cry, cry, cry, just cry. You are the prince, and you have the blood of Fire Phoenix, and you can actually let the servants bully you to your head. Don't you like crying? You are here Cry freely in this pool! ”
The next day, the fifth prince beat up the maids and eunuchs who had spoken ill of himself and his mother and concubine, and threw them into the pool.
As a result, word of this incident spread, and a foreign minister copied it, saying that His Highness was unworthy of a prince when he abused his subordinates.
The Emperor of Chu did not like his son very much, so he punished him heavily. At the same time, his mother and concubine had their expenses reduced for half a year because they were unable to educate their son.
Then,
His Fifth Highness was called over by the Queen Mother again, tied to a big tree in Yuxin Palace and whipped more than ten times.
"Idiot, you can end up in this situation by just dealing with a few servants, and your mother and concubine are also implicated. Are you filled with mud!"
For a long time,
The fifth prince is actually a transparent person in the palace.
There were rumors in the palace that the then imperial concubine, who was now the Queen Mother, was the most displeased with the fifth prince, who came from a humble background, and often used lessons and corporal punishment on him.
But only the fifth prince himself knew how difficult it was for an elder at that time to be willing to teach him a lesson, teach him, or even... be willing to beat him.
Later, after being crowned, the Emperor of Chu directly sent his son, whom he was disgusted with, to Wutong County. At that time, the Shanyue people in Wutong County often rebelled, and would often attack the county, throwing the fifth prince over. , that is, letting him fend for himself.
The so-called tiger poison cannot eat its children is not true in the royal family, because excluding some special circumstances, the emperor generally has many sons.
Everything follows the law that rare things are more valuable. If you have more sons, they will become less valuable.
After arriving in Wutong County, the fifth prince would send someone to send Wutong County’s local specialties carefully prepared by him to Yingdu every year. Each time there would be two copies, one for his mother-in-law and one for his wife. It's the Queen Mother.
Later, when his mother-in-law passed away, the fifth prince asked for orders to return to Yingdu to attend the funeral. However, the Emperor of Chu used the excuse that the situation in Wutong County was unbreakable and deprived the fifth prince of his son-in-law's obligation to return to the capital to attend the funeral and observe filial piety.
In the end, the Queen Mother at that time asked the fourth prince to handle the funeral arrangements for the fifth prince's mother and concubine on the grounds that human relations cannot be abolished.
At the beginning of last month,
the fifth prince Xiong Tingshan personally presented to Wutong County to ask the regent to be crowned emperor and succeed him to the throne.
This move marks the recognition and support of Wutong County and the forces represented by Wutong County for the legitimacy of the Regent.
Among the Chu State’s court and public, some people thought that His Highness the Fifth Prince saw that the regent was now in a strong position, so he was unwilling to attack a stone with an egg, so he chose to surrender;
Some people also believe that the fifth prince is a descendant of the royal family after all, and he did not want the Chu State to continue to suffer from internal strife, so he chose the Gongxinti State.
Actually, it was both, and there was another one. Xiong Tingshan didn’t tell others that he had to pay back what he owed the Queen Mother.
“I can’t fight anymore, I can’t fight anymore.”
The Queen Mother smiled and waved her hand, and continued:
“Your brothers have grown up, so You are all married and have children. The Ai family just wants to fight. Firstly, I can’t fight. Secondly, the servants don’t dare to attack you.”
"Queen Mother, the fifth son is thinking about your whip."
"You bitch, bitch, look at what you said in front of your daughter-in-law, let your daughter-in-law listen to it, I thought the Ai family was so harsh to you when you were a child."
Hearing this, Wu Tingting put down the food in her hands and said:
"Empress Dowager, what can I do? How dare you think so? He was at home, but he kept talking about the Queen Mother's kindness to him, and even told the children that they had a grandma in Yingdu. "
The Queen Mother turned her eyes. It fell on Wu Tingting. This woman from the Shanyue tribe seemed so out of place in the royal palace where the rules were overwhelming. She exuded a wild and untamed nature.
It is said that if the fifth prince had not met this woman when he first arrived in Wutong County, he might have died long ago.
"But your name is Tingting?"
"Yes, my name."
The eunuchs and maids nearby all lowered their heads and did not dare to show any other expressions. .
Xiong Tingshan licked his lips. His wife was like this, she didn't like to follow rules.
"It's a good-natured air."
"Yes, my mother said the same about me."
The Queen Mother pointed at her and said:
< br>"When His Majesty chooses your girls to enter the palace, you have to help. It’s hard to choose, so I have to choose someone like you. My grandsons are all delicate and frail. The Ai family wants to have a strong grandson.”
Take Wujiang. The entry of all women into the palace was part of the agreement reached between the regent and the fifth prince.
Wu Tingting reached out and patted her chest, and said boldly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I'll give it to you. I will definitely choose someone with big and firm hips for Your Majesty the Regent."
"Yes, yes, that's how I choose. , just choose like this. "
The Chu people's aristocrats tend to prefer feminine women, preferably those with petite figures, slender waists and graceful waists.
"Where are your children? Why didn't you bring them into the palace to show the Ai family?" asked the Queen Mother.
Wu Tingting replied: "Queen Mother, they were all clamoring to come into the palace to see the grandma their father mentioned, but my family said they didn't understand the rules and disturbed the Queen Mother, so they didn't bring them with them. Come into the palace.”
Xiong Tingshan held his forehead,
It’s enough that you are the only mother who doesn’t understand the rules. If you add a few little ones like skinny monkeys, then the Jade Heart Palace will really have no rules at all.
The Queen Mother glared at Xiong Tingshan and said, "This man is old. He is elderly. He is most afraid of being deserted. Bring him to the palace next time and make my place lively."
< br>Xiong Tingshan smiled and said: "It's natural. The five sons also want to let them come to the Queen Mother and let the Queen Mother help teach them."
"No, no, no, no."
The Queen Mother hurriedly waved her hand,
and then covered her chest with the other hand and said:
"The Ai family has taught such a good girl, and we don't dare to mislead anyone else's children."< br>
Xiong Liqing, the princess of Da Chu, took the initiative to throw herself into the arms of the noble uncle of Yan State at the wedding of Qu family, and even rushed out of the other garden to enter Yan with him.
This move caused an uproar in Chu State.
Chu people felt that this was a great shame and humiliation for themselves!
Of course, the biggest victim was Qu.
Although the royal family immediately married off another princess to another son of the Qu family, the Qu family immediately made an oath to continue supporting the regent. Together, they announced a political signal to continue cooperation. But everyone understands that Qu has really lost face this time.
When Wu Tingting heard this, she said directly:
"Queen Mother, this is wrong."
"Isn't it right?" The Queen Mother was a little confused.
“I think the princess did the right thing. Just imagine a man who dares to take great risks and run to an enemy country and take himself away at a wedding surrounded by heavy soldiers;
Such deep affection, such thoughtfulness,
How many women in this world can’t help but be moved by it?”
The Queen Mother was speechless for a moment, because she found that she didn’t seem to be very capable. Go and communicate with this woman from the Shanyue tribe.
Wu Tingting looked at her husband sitting next to her and continued:
"My father also wanted to betroth me to the young chief of a neighboring tribe. It was he who brought two of his men to break into me. The tribe asked my father to betroth me to him.”
Xiong Tingshan continued to hold his forehead.
Seeing the Queen Mother’s eyes falling on him again,
Xiong Tingshan could only say:
"This is youthful and frivolous, youthful and frivolous."
It's not just youthful and frivolous, but being young is really good.
Wu Tingting continued: "At that time, he was tied up by my father, but he still shouted my name and told me not to marry anyone else. At that time, the entire tribe, Everyone was shocked by him .
In the end, I had to cry and beg my father to spare him and let him go."
The Queen Mother nodded and asked, "What happened next?"
"Later I packed my bags, escaped from the tribe, and went to the county to look for him. His troubles made me famous in my tribe and the surrounding tribes. Besides him, I could marry Who?
So, after marrying him, I tried my best to give him babies to get revenge on him!”
“Hahaha”
The Queen Mother. I was really amused.
“Okay, it turns out the root cause lies with her fifth brother.”
The Prince Regent came from outside.
All the surrounding maids and eunuchs knelt down:
“See your Majesty the Regent.”
“My lord, please see your Majesty.”
“My dear minister. , I wish my mother good health.”
The Queen Mother glanced at her son and said: "The fifth family, please accompany the Ai family for a walk in the garden. Let them talk among themselves here."
"Yes, Queen Mother."
Soon, only the Prince Regent and the Fifth Highness were left in the hall, and even the maids and eunuchs consciously went outside to wait.
The Regent looked at His Royal Highnesses,
said:
"So, Li Qing learned from her fifth brother, right?"
Xiong Tingshan was submissive in front of the Queen Mother, but he was not as restrained as before in front of his fourth brother. Hearing this, he just smiled and said:< br>
“It’s not up to me. , I heard that you were with him back then, fourth brother. Didn’t he just watch from the side when we were competing against each other by the river?”
“Oh”
The Prince Regent sighed,
Said:
“Who knows.”
“Fourth brother is really unaware?”
The regent shook his head, nodded again, and said:
“I don’t think he looks like Su Mingzhe, but I thought he should be a real talent from Qian Kingdom, but I didn’t expect that he turned out to be Zheng Fan.
If I had known it was Zheng Fan,
I would have..."
"What should I do, fourth brother? "
"I directly regretted my marriage to Qu. If he likes Liqing and Liqing likes him, then let them get married in Dachu. "
"If sister Liqing hears this, tut tut..."
"I have appeased the Qu family, and nothing big will happen. If you lead Wutong County to surrender, the great power of Chu will be in my favor.
As a king, centralization of power must be the first priority. , Mr. Qu does not dare to take such a risk, and will not do so. "
" Mr. Qu does not need to care. Once Qu Tiannan disappeared, the status of Mr. Qu has actually been reduced to one level. Fourth brother, now. we What we need to do is to consolidate the royal imperial army. We can’t let the Yan people keep pressing us on us like before.”
“I also understand, but we have to do it step by step. Managing a big country is like cooking a small dish. , There is no need to rush. As for the Forbidden Army, I am determined to let you take charge of this task and start training first. I will figure out a solution for the rest.
Brothers who fight tigers."
"My younger brother will not disappoint my fourth brother."
"Oh, by the way, Nian Yao is back. I met him in the south study room before, and he is waiting outside now.
Come on, bring General Nian in.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Soon,
Nian Yao walked in and said
"I would like to pay my respects to Your Majesty and to the Fifth Lord."
According to the rules, only people in the family are called slaves, and only outsiders call themselves ministers.
Although Nian Yao was an unparalleled general outside, in front of the regent, he had to call himself a slave because he was born as a domestic slave.
Of course, calling yourself a slave is not a simple term of contempt. In fact, many people want to be a "slave" but cannot get it.
The regent pointed at Nian Yao who was kneeling on the ground and said to His Highness the Fifth Prince:
"Fifth brother, do you know what kind of information this thing delivered to me last month? In the information, this slave actually dared to suggest to me Let Qu's Qingluan army move to Zhennanguan;
What else can I say, Qu will definitely do his best to ensure that Protect the south pass of the town."
Xiong Tingshan touched his head and laughed:
"Hahaha, you slave is too courageous to take it. You're so stupid, why don't you let Qu go to Zhennanguan to reunite with his family there?"
"I don't dare," Nian Yao said aggrievedly.
"Oh, there is also something that you, the young general, don't dare to do. What are your intentions in this statement? Do you know that if I really do this, then the Qu family will suffer such a great humiliation, because I don't want to retaliate. We must do the opposite!”
“It’s time for the slave to do so!” Death, slave!"
"Hey, hey, don't kowtow in a hurry, Nian Yao, let me ask you, how do you feel about playing chess with that Yan man, Nanhou?"
Nian Yao immediately cried and said:
"But it scared me to death."
"Humph."
The regent snorted coldly.
Xiong Tingshan smoothed things over and said: "Okay, okay, I can still make a crying face, which is quite comfortable."
The regent closed his eyes and said with emotion:
"Li Qing ran away with the man surnamed Zheng. Although I made Da Chu very passive, in the end it was impossible to shake the fundamentals. If our Da Chu could not leave Zhennanguan in the north, we would have to be beaten by Jingnan of Jin. The army is suppressing it.
< br>Although the Ganren people are having a good time, it is just a big thunder but a small raindrop. The Yan people are in a hurry. Now it actually depends on the Yan people themselves, how long they can hold on. "
"Four. Brother, don’t worry, since ancient times There is no constant strength. Eight hundred years ago, the Great Xia was like the sun rising in the east. Isn’t it also said that if it is destroyed, it will be destroyed? I think the Yan Kingdom is now so powerful that Xuhuo must account for four or five points. Let’s look at his How long can firewood last? ”
< br>"But after all, I was so upset that I actually invited Zheng Fan to drink."
"Hahaha, does this count as my uncle inviting my sister-in-law to a meeting drink in advance?"< br>
The regent glared at Xiong Tingshan, but Xiong Tingshan didn't take it seriously and continued to laugh.
Nian Yao, who was kneeling on the ground, also laughed in agreement with "hehehe".
Seeing this, the regent kicked him directly.
Nian Yao did not dare to accept it. He had no strength, and he didn't dare to mobilize the energy and blood in his body to bear the kick, so he was kicked and spun around on the ground, and then he immediately knelt back to the original place.
"Xiao Xiaoxiao, wasn't your Nian General, together with Zheng Fan, rated as the seed of the four most famous young generals of the current generation? Well, now Zheng Fan has come to my Da Chu to conquer my Da Chu Princess. You kidnapped me. When did you, General Nian, go to Yan State to kidnap me a princess?”
When Nian Yao heard this, he immediately showed a bitter face and said very aggrievedly:
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, slave, slave, I can't do it."
When the regent heard this, he kicked him again past.
General Nian made a circle of gourds on the spot again,
After kneeling down and returning, he continued:
"Your Majesty, slave, this slave really can't do it."
"Good-for-nothing." The regent scolded.
Nian Yao was very aggrieved,
said:
"Your Majesty, I have to abduct you if you want, but who said that Emperor Yan is his son? Give birth to a daughter.”
————
The next chapter is before 2 a.m. (End of this chapter)