In the autumn of the second year of Linde, the emperor and queen strategized in the Ziwei Palace in Luoyang to prepare for the sealing of Mount Tai. Empress Wu planned to sacrifice to the earth in person, and sent Liu Zichang, a permanent attendant of Hua and a prisoner of internal counsel, out of the palace to summon Wei Qi, the concubine of Ji Guo, and Yan Ping, the concubine of Yueguo, to come to Luoyang to participate in the grand event!

The two concubines had participated in the Martial Queen's Silkworm Ceremony ten years ago, and they were very honored, and the Divine Ceremony was a rare occurrence in a hundred years, and the Martial Empress certainly would not forget these two old bosses!

At that time, the two concubines had already taken up their own feudal domains with their sons and recuperated in their fiefdoms. Hua Changshou and Liu Zichang led the retinue soldiers to divide into two roads and rushed to the fiefdom in a carriage.

In the mansion of the Jingzhou Governor's Mansion, a mother-in-law with a lot of white hair on her head is watering flowers in the yard, which is very large and wide, and colorful chrysanthemums are planted in it, exuding fragrance.

There are still two rows of osmanthus trees on the edge of the courtyard, which have already bloomed, and the rich fragrance of osmanthus wafts in the courtyard. Two gorgeously dressed palace maids cautiously followed the mother-in-law, ready to support the old man at any time, waiting for the dispatch.

A middle-aged official wearing a purple official uniform, a gold leather belt around his waist, a golden hook, and a jade and a golden silk sac appeared, he walked up to the old man lightly, and said respectfully: "Shen'er respectfully invites A-Niang Wanfu Jin'an!" ”

The mother-in-law turned around and smiled: "It's been decades, and you're still so polite as always!" What a filial child! ”

The middle-aged official said: "If life is only as it first sees, what is the autumn wind and sad fan?" It's easy to say hello once, but it's hard to say hello for a lifetime. Shen'er will always persevere, from the beginning to the end! ”

The mother-in-law said: "When my son lived in the palace, he was called Shilang, and he was born in the same year as Jiulang, that is, the current emperor, and he also has great virtue!" My two daughters, the lord of Dingxiang County, married the Turkic nobleman Ashina Zhong, and went away, and the princess of Linchuan married Zhou Daowu, the son of Zhou Shaofan, the general of Zuotunwei, and guarded Yingzhou with her husband, and they all suffered from the wind and cold over there. Fortunately, I am very relieved to have the filial Shiro stay by my side and avoid loneliness! ”

Mother and son are harmonious, mother and son are filial, and the scene is very warm.

The mother-in-law is the famous concubine of Ji Guo, named Wei Qi, in the first year of Zhenguan, she was canonized as a concubine by Taizong. Her biggest feature is one word: high, how tall? Two meters high, scary! Standing out among the women, eye-catching, there are few taller than her in the sixteen guards, and most people have to look up to her!

Her son, King Ji Li Shen, was not as tall as her, and the palace maids who served her were also below her shoulders.

At this time, she is sixty-eight years old, her body has shrunk a little, and judging from her height, the burden of internal organs and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases must be heavier than that of ordinary people, and it is already a very long life to live to this age.

At noon, the family eats together. A large table is decorated with gold-inlaid ivory chopsticks, silver-inlaid gourd bowls, gold spoons, silver plates and other court supplies, and the family sits around the stool, and the palace ladies serve the food.

There are vegetarian scales, vegetarian assortment, red silk cakes, jujube mud cakes, crystal chicken breasts, rock sugar duck, bird's nest duck shreds, three fresh pigeon eggs, purple dragon cakes and other delicacies, drink eight treasures porridge, black plum milk, and eat the rice of the Yellow Queen Mother.

After finishing the meal, Li Shen said: "I heard that when the emperor was in charge of the government, the queen also hung the curtain behind, participated in political affairs together, and was called the second saint with the emperor, which is probably not a good sign!" The queen was A-Niang's subordinate back then, what does A-Niang think of the queen? ”

Wei Jue said solemnly: "Although the old body is outside the palace, he still has to strictly abide by the palace rules, and it is a big crime to leak the forbidden Chinese." Seeing that the surroundings were quiet, the atmosphere was a little awkward, and he said slowly: "You are all my family and close people, it's okay to chat, but you are not allowed to disclose it to outsiders!" ”

Li Shen and his wife Concubine Cui nodded, and the personal maid also stood quietly.

Wei Jue said: "The identity of the queen back then was a talented person, and I and Concubine Yang Shu, Concubine Yin De, and Concubine Yan Xian all called her Ah Wu. The overall impression I have of Ah Wu is that he is shrewd and capable, energetic, diligent and studious, and tireless! She is not afraid of hardships and losses, which is her strength and advantage! ”

She speaks in a slightly higher pitch, with a steady breath and flat emotions, and uses accurate pronunciation to deliver the words clearly to the ears of her listeners.

Wei Jue continued: "When a foreign woman came to the palace to see me, or the female dependents of the envoys from the Western Regions came to visit me, Ah Wu received me very well, and the banquet and accommodation were also arranged in an orderly manner, and the guests were very satisfied. ”

"Once I went to inspect the palace and saw that Ah Wu was learning the craft of drawing, weaving and pounding, I asked her why she wanted to learn this. She replied that if you want to be someone else's husband, you must first be someone else's student, and if you want to fulfill the duties of a talent, you must learn these crafts well. I applauded her in public! ”

"Another time, I was impressed. The Turkic nobles came to worship the Heavenly Khan, and a polo match was held after the banquet, but the Turkic nobles lost to the team of Li Ke, the king of Wu, and the Turks were not convinced, and sent their female dependents to challenge. I was crowned in the harem, and I led the team to fight, and Ah Wu resolutely asked for the battle, I had never seen her ride a horse, and politely refused, but she was resolute and emotional, so I asked her to join the polo team to participate in the war. ”

Wei Qi took a sip of autumn sake and continued: "The horses of the polo team are all royal six stable horses, all of which are rare breeds that are tributed from all over the world. Ah Wu wears a lapel robe and a hairy bun, a long hakama and boots, and after riding a big white horse, he gallops vertically and horizontally, heroically and fearlessly! ”

"Turkic women grew up in the steppes, and horseback riding was commonplace, so equestrianism was very exquisite. But most of the members of my polo team are well-trained and not afraid of the Turks. The two powerhouses competed with each other, galloping back and forth, and the people were turned over on their backs, and the dust was flying. My black horse ran to the front of the bow, I held the bow staff back to hit the bow, the other party came to grab, in the impact of a few bow sticks, the bow passed through the horse's feet, then Awu's white horse rushed forward, a beautiful semi-circular sweep, the bow across the goal, our team won! ”

At that time, the Turks were very depressed, and Taizong gave a standing ovation, and our soldiers jumped and cheered, and the scene was very enthusiastic! Afterwards, my polo team won a generous prize money and a pennant of heroines, and Taizong called on the harem to carry forward the spirit of polo forever! I recommended Ah Wu as the number one contributor to this competition, but she humbly refused and insisted on returning the prize money to me, of course I didn't want it. ”

Wei Jue recalled, smiling, immersed in the glory of the past.

After a while, the doorman came to report that the king of Jiangling County asked to see the concubine. This Jiangling County Jun is the wife of Jingzhou Thorn Shi, in her forties, wearing a crimson placket and a skirt, wearing a purple sara shawl, and walking with the wind.

Wei Jue agreed with her. After the county gentleman of Jiangling came in, he saluted the concubine, greeted the concubine, and then sent a basket of red fruits, saying that it was Lin Yu. The concubine was curious and asked, "Where did Ringo come from?" ”

The county gentleman replied: "There is a Linhuang village nearby, and the villager Wang Fangyan picked up a small tree on the river beach and took it home to plant. The concubine invited an expert to come and identify, saying that it was Lin Yi, also known as Zhu Ji. The concubine told him to breed with the strip method, and a few small trees have already grown! ”

The concubine said happily: "Wow, if Lin Yi is dedicated to His Majesty, His Majesty will be very happy!" ”

"After the concubine went back, she asked Wang Fangyan to dig out the small tree and dedicate it to the concubine!" The county gentleman said respectfully.

In the blink of an eye, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived, and Hua Changzhi and his entourage rushed to Jingzhou in a carriage with an edict, and Li Shen, the governor of Jingzhou and the king of Ji, went out to greet him. After the two sides exchanged pleasantries, Li Shen held a banquet for Hua Chang to wash the dust.

Hua Changzhi asked: "Did King Ji receive the edict of "Holding the Edict of the Si Jiyue of the Feng Zen Institute last autumn"? Li Shen replied: "Got it!" Hua Changzhi nodded and said: "It's good to receive it, today's ministers are not only to remind King Ji to gather in the Eastern Capital on time, but also to invite Lord Lingtang to go with him and praise the ceremony of descending to Zen!" ”

The next day, Hua Chang met with Concubine Ji Guo in the guest hall, and then read out the queen's decree, ordering the concubine and King Ji to gather in the eastern capital in October.

Wei Jue was very excited, and began to prepare eastbound luggage and gifts on the same day. Because in history, the Taishan Feng Zen Ceremony is not only rare in a hundred years, rare in the Kuang Dynasty, and even if it is met by chance, there is no woman's share!

And now the Taishan Feng Zen Ceremony is planned by the Empress Wu, not only will it be held soon, but also women will participate in it, and participate in the sacrifice of the earth, which is an unprecedented historical feat to improve the social status of women!

Wei Jue saw this keenly with her old and spicy eyes, and she still clearly remembered that she had participated in the silkworm ceremony of the Empress Wu ten years ago, and it was also the envoy sent by the Empress Wu to come to announce it, and let her make a big gift and be honored.

So this time the Empress Wu was called again, she must actively participate in any matter what, and live up to her mission!

Li Shen issued a notice that he was about to travel to participate in the Feng Chan, and the officials and people of Jingzhou were very excited when they learned that the governor's mother and son were going to participate in the grand ceremony, and they went to the governor's mansion to offer precious local products, such as black plum, fritillary, sugar crab, white fish, gardenia, square silk, cloth, citrus and so on.

Wei Qi asked his son to buy it with money, and he couldn't take the people's tribute for nothing. Hearing that there is a local herb Shilongrui, which can treat incurable diseases such as scrofula, tuberculosis and malaria, and the prince may need it, Wei Jue sent people to inquire around and ask for it, but there was no one for a while.

The king of Jiangling County came with Wang Fangyan to offer Lin Ye saplings and fruits, and heard that the concubine wanted Shi Longrui, Wang Fangyan said: "This kind of herb is rare now, and the grass people have seen it on the cliff on the mountain in the south of our village. ”

Wei Jue told him to be careful and pay attention to the safety of his life. The next day, Wang Fangyan took the rope ladder up the mountain to collect medicine, carefully avoided poisonous insects and beasts along the way, climbed the mountain wall, found a stone dragon rui, and brought it to the concubine.

After half a month of preparation, at the beginning of September, Wei Qi and Li Shen set off in a Zhai car and a chariot. The travel honor guard is strictly orderly, with guards, guards, canopies, flags, and propaganda.

Along the way, the first few days were safe, and when it came to the Double Ninth Festival, the group walked to the road below the lofty mountains, and it was already evening, ready to continue to move forward to the town in front to rest.

Suddenly, there was a "whooshing" sound on the hill on the side of the road, and someone in the escort baggage team behind the convoy was hit by an arrow. King Ji Li Shen sat in the chariot and was taken aback, and hurriedly ordered his subordinate general Dong Yun to lead his own soldiers to arrest the thieves.

Wei Jue was squinting and dozing off in Zhai's car, and he woke up when he heard the sound, and said: "My Tang Dynasty has been politically harmonious since Zhenguan, Heqinghai banquet, no sorrow, no waves in the sea, where did the robbers come from?" ”

Li Shen loves literature, history and astrology, and is not good at riding and archery martial arts, so he did not ride a horse to lead the soldiers, but pulled out his ceremonial knife and got out of the car to guard in front of A-Niang's Zhai car.

Wei Jue opened the curtain and looked back, only to see his soldiers rushing to the back and running up the hill to find the robbers. At this time, another group of robbers rushed down from the other side of the mountain, ready to rob the property, and saw that they were dressed in the clothes of men in Hufu.

The pro-soldiers were tricked to divert the tiger from the mountain, and the escort baggage team lacked the protection of guards. In the midst of the crisis, a cavalry came on the road, all wearing black robes, with seven things pinned to their belts, bows and arrows in their hands, and galloping with their hooves.

There were a few more "whoosh" sounds, and the robbers who rushed down from the hill on the other side fell one after another, and those who were not hit looked at the cavalry in disbelief, and then turned and fled in a hurry.

Li Shen turned over and rode on his horse, and stepped forward to express his gratitude, and the leader of the black-robed cavalry said: "Those robbers are from the Western Regions, they are exhausted, and their lives are in dire straits, so they want to get a vote to make a living, and they have been following Your Excellency for a few days!" ”

Li Shen thanked him and said, "Thank you to the general for saving me, I am grateful!" If you don't dislike it, let's go to the town ahead for a drink, how about it? ”

The leader smiled: "It's better to be respectful than to obey!" Coming from the Western Regions, I received the edict of the Tang Emperor and came to the Tang Dynasty to participate in the Taishan Sealing Zen Ceremony, and I happened to be on the same road with Your Excellency! Haha"

The two teams marched side by side, and it was already dark when they reached the town. Li Shen arranged for the black-robed cavalry to eat and lodging, and the next day he drank with the black-robed cavalry, and asked the name of the leader during the banquet.

The leader said: "Below is He Fu Diyan, the lord of the Immortal City, listen to the command of the Anxi Protectorate!" Li Shen also said: "The servant is the tenth son of the Heavenly Khan, Li Shen, the king of Ji, welcome the lord of the city of Boxian to the Tang Dynasty as a guest!" ”

The lord of the city of Boxian said: "Concubine Gao Shou, she may have been frightened yesterday, please ask King Ji to go down to visit him, prepare a little bow below, and talk about admiration!" "Okay!" King Ji agreed.

After seeing Wei Jue, the lord of the city of Broadcasting Immortals respectfully greeted the elders, presented the gift to Wei Jue, and said, "Yesterday, the robbers dared to frighten Niangniang, how can they be spared below?" They have all been driven away. Please rest assured, what is the Fu Diyan here, no thieves dare to disturb the driver! ”

Wei Jue glanced at the gift, which turned out to be a bag of beautifully made cheese, and then looked at the Western Regions warrior in front of him, although he was shorter than himself, he still looked very burly and strong. He wears a hat, a black crotch-laced robe and crotch trousers, long boots on his feet, and a handsome face with a beard, which looks very manly.

Wei Jue's originally nervous mood eased down, and said with a pleasant face: "The robbers have bows and arrows when they come, and the guests have good wine!" You are a distinguished guest from afar, a guest of the imperial court, Shen'er, entertain the guests with the best Sangluo wine in the royal family! ”

Li Shen agreed: "Only! "Send a servant to fetch the treasured Sangluo wine to entertain the lord of the city.

On the third day, the city lord of Boxian led the black-robed cavalry to say goodbye to Li Shen, saying: "If you have something to do, you have to rush to Luoyang first, there is a big road ahead, and there is no worry along the way." Farewell, honorable master! There will be a period later! ”

After He Fudi left, Wei Jue's heart also flew to Luoyang, she ignored her old age and frailty, and also ignored the bumps in the road, so that the servants quickly whipped their horses and galloped all the way.

Li Shen's chariot chased after him, and he couldn't catch up several times, and he didn't catch up until he stayed overnight to rest. Li Shen advised A-Niang to take care of her body, not to be impatient, to look at the scenery while walking, and to cherish it.

But Wei Jue didn't listen, worried that there would be no more complications on the road, and he was determined to reach Luoyang in front of Concubine Yan, so he continued to order the servant to drive Zhai's car and gallop wildly. What she didn't know was that Concubine Yan was getting on and off the car on another road and walking, watching the wind and admiring the moon.

After several days of galloping, Wei Jue finally got his wish and rushed to Luoyang first, resting in the house in Luoyang Dunxing. But the next day, Wei Jue became ill from overwork and fell out of bed.

When the emperor heard about it, he sent Shangyao to serve Jiang Xiaozhang and take the imperial doctor to visit and treat. During Wei Jue's serious illness, Empress Wu and Concubine Yan both came to visit her, and the three old friends shook hands and cried.

Wei Jue was seriously ill and did not forget to tell Li Shen to dedicate the Lin Ye saplings and Shi Longrui to Li Zhi.

On September 28, Wei Jue unfortunately passed away. The emperor and queen went to the gate of Luoyang City to mourn together, and sent an envoy to comfort the eldest princess of Linchuan and Li Shen, the king of Ji, saying: "I prepared a carriage and horses and clothes for Concubine Wei to travel eastward with me, and I look forward to her being able to go east with me to seal Zen, but I don't want her to die of illness halfway, which is sad." The chariots, horses, and clothes prepared for her will be placed in front of Concubine Wei's spirit! ”

The emperor arranged for Si Jia Zhengqing Yang Siqian to supervise the funeral, gave the East Garden a secret vessel to hang the sacrifice, and sent Si Ping's doctor Dou Xiaoci to guard the coffin of Concubine Wei back to Beijing, and went back and forth to advocate the honor guard, and accompanied the burial of Zhaoling in the following year.