Chapter 157: Bubble
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The Queen Mother's maiden name is Luan, from an obscure small family.
Luan's father used to be a local petty official, and there was almost no contact with the door of the powerful, after the only daughter was elected to the East Palace, he never had extravagant hopes, continued to be his own official in a down-to-earth manner, cut off the idea of having another son, and planned to wander between the mountains and rivers after the Zhishi, in order to raise the sky, but he died in office.
The death of Luan's father was a trivial matter for the entire imperial court, even if it did not cause waves in the local area, it was buried as usual and recorded as usual, nothing more.
Emperor Zhang Xi, the founder of the Tiancheng Dynasty – which was still the Dacheng Dynasty at that time – noticed this trivial matter when he was choosing a queen for the crown prince, and therefore made up his final decision.
The Emperor of All Things was only seventeen years old that year, gentle and elegant, young and old, quite emperorly, and deeply loved by his subjects, especially the powerful people of various families, who had begun to fight openly and secretly as early as a few years ago, and wanted their daughters to be the future queen.
Emperor Zhang Xi was so annoyed that he selected a daughter from each family to send to the East Palace, but he was reluctant to choose the crown princess, until he couldn't drag it out any longer, he wanted to come to the register to check the family history of the daughters of the East Palace, and the daughters of the powerful family were all denied, and the people with a grand family and many brothers were not in sight, and finally he chose the Luan family.
Luan was an orphan at this time, and her father's death was recorded, but she knew nothing, and no one had ever thought of notifying her.
Emperor Zhang Xi sent someone to inquire a little, and found that the Luan family was almost a transparent person, and many people in the East Palace didn't know her at all, and even if they did, they couldn't say anything.
Emperor Zhang Xi admired this woman more and more, and asked the queen to summon the Luan family, persuade her to return to the East Palace, and the smart and clever eunuchs and palace maids saw the clues, quietly congratulated the Luan family, and secretly notified the major powerful families.
The Luan family didn't believe it, and neither did the powerful families, and three days later, Emperor Zhang Xi issued a decree to select the crown princess, and the whole city was shocked.
How many years later, Luan's couldn't believe that this was true, she had been cautious, never dared to compete with other show girls, continued to be her invisible person, became the queen, and gave birth to the crown prince, but she didn't change her personality, and people who saw her said that the first emperor really had a vision.
The Empress Dowager Lan was also very satisfied with the queen, and had no fear of her, but she also had no confidence, so she kept the prince by her side to raise her, firstly, to avoid the jealousy of many noble concubines, and secondly, she was worried that her grandson would be too deeply influenced by Empress Luan, and his personality would be weak in the future and he would not be able to control the ministers.
In this way, Luan lived in the deep palace and enjoyed the treatment of the queen, like a jewel hidden in a box, and then buried ten feet underground, the owner occasionally thought of the existence of the jewel, but never opened it again.
The Emperor of All Things lost interest in the harem early on, and instead liked folk women, and three years before his death, he had never met the queen.
Luan's didn't care, she had heard about her father's death, sent someone to rebuild the tomb, worshiped every year, and often worshiped Buddha with the Queen Mother, planning to live her life like this.
When the news of the assassination of the Emperor of All Things came, Luan's heart was unwavering, and he tried hard to recall, but he couldn't remember the emperor's appearance.
The crown prince ascended the throne as emperor, treating his own mother like a stranger – they were indeed strangers, seeing each other only two or three times a year, and always accompanied by someone – and he was even closer to the empress dowager.
Luan's heart was like water, except for the title of the queen mother, he couldn't perceive any impact on himself from the death of the emperor of all things.
The world is getting more and more chaotic, losing one battle after another, the Luan family doesn't care at all, worships the Buddha more diligently, and does not fall for a day, begging for not the peace of the country and the people, nor the emperor is free of illness and disaster, but hopes that he can ascend to the Western Elysium as soon as possible and never enter the emperor's house again.
For the Luan family, what happened next was too sudden, and before she could see the rubble fall, the whole mountain collapsed in front of her eyes: the empress dowager did not appear for several days, and rumors said that the Lan family had been taken away by the two kings of Xiangdong and Jibei, and within a few days, the emperor also disappeared with the Liang family.
When he fled, no one thought of the Queen Mother, and Luan had no resentment in his heart, but he just wondered, the ancestors and grandchildren used to depend on each other, closer than mother and son, why did they go their separate ways when the catastrophe came? As a result, she became more and more convinced of what the Buddhist scriptures say, that everything in the world is "like a dream bubble".
But the "dream bubble" also came true, one day, the Empress Dowager Luan suddenly found that there seemed to be a few fewer eunuchs around her, and within a few days, a group of ministers suddenly broke into the palace and shouted.
Empress Dowager Luan has never seen so many ordinary men, let alone such a large formation, and the meditation skills that have been practiced by worshipping the Buddha for many years have been broken up, and she is so frightened that she cried bitterly.
The ministers had another explanation for the crying, comforted them, and retreated, but Empress Dowager Luan didn't know that her nod had appointed a minister to guard the city.
The days seem to have returned to their original state, although there are a few fewer eunuchs, many palace maids are still there, and the service of the queen mother is still as strict as before.
There is only one change, Empress Dowager Luan has been a vegetarian for many years, and after winter, the conservatory provides fresh vegetables every day, but this morning there is no more, and the palace maid brings a bowl of porridge and a plate of pickles.
Empress Dowager Luan was easy-going, without accusation, ate a small half bowl, ordered someone to withdraw the meal, and sat in the house in a daze.
Lunch was equally simple, the Queen Mother recited Buddhist scriptures for an afternoon, and when it was almost dusk, she asked the female officials beside her, "What's going on outside?" ”
"Back to the Queen Mother, it's sunny outside, but it's a little cold."
"I mean, outside the palace, the ministers shouted and shouted two days ago, and I didn't hear what they were saying, which doesn't seem to be a good thing."
"Outside......" The female official couldn't bear it anymore, knelt down, and cried: "Queen Mother, the eastern capital has been surrounded by anti-thieves, and sooner or later it will attack in." ”
"Oh, no wonder the Emperor and the Empress Dowager are leaving." The Queen Mother picked up the teacup, tasted it gently, and thought to herself, it turned out that such a big thing happened outside.
The female palace was so surprised that she stopped crying, "Queen Mother, when the thieves enter the city, it is inevitable to burn and loot, the Queen Mother will quickly think of a way?" ”
"What can I do? Isn't there a minister? ”
"The ministers have all run away, leaving only Lord Fei Fei to support ...... alone"
Saying who arrived, a palace maid ran in in a panic, "Queen Mother, Lord Fei asked to see me, I had the courage to call the shots and brought Lord Fei in." ”
Thinking of the shouting of the ministers, the Queen Mother had palpitations and put down the teacup, "Let him talk outside, I'm here...... Inconvenience. ”
The palace maid went out, and Fei Xun's voice soon came from outside, "Queen Mother, the situation is critical, the traitor is about to enter the city, please move the Queen Mother and take shelter from the city for a while." ”
"I'm not leaving." Empress Dowager Luan sat in the house, able to maintain her calm and calm, "If someone enters the city, let them in." ”
"A traitor is a rebellion, and after entering the city, he has to enter the palace, how can the Queen Mother fall into the hands of a traitor? If the queen mother is humiliated a little, the ministers will not be able to excuse their crimes. ”
"Alas, everything has its own providence, 'everything is the law, like a dream bubble, like dew and electricity', Lord Fei will go out of the city by himself, I want to stay. Rather than suffer from that rush, I would rather stay in the palace, and the Buddha has his own arrangements for me. ”
Fei Yu persuaded hard, but Empress Dowager Luan was unmoved.
Fei Xun had no choice but to retire, and when he left, he said: "The ministers are incompetent, and the queen mother is in danger, and I hope the queen mother will do it herself." Among the traitors, there was a king of Wu, who was originally the son of a general, changed his surname to Xu, and his name was Xu Ji, unlike other traitors, there were still three points left, and the queen mother might ask him for help if she was in an emergency. ”
"Understood, Master Fei walks slowly."
Fei Yu sighed, turned around and hurriedly ran out of the palace.
The queen mother summoned the palace maid, "No matter what happens outside, the rules inside still have to be observed, and if a man asks to see him in the future, don't bring it to me." ”
The palace maid replied blankly and exited the room, originally she only felt that the queen mother was easy-going and gentle, but now she wondered if the queen mother was a little ...... Foolish?
The maiden in the house asked, "Why does the queen mother refuse to go out of the city to take refuge?" ”
"Well, where can I go when I get out of the city? You say it's an evacuation, but what I see is a refuge. ”
"It is said that the Empress Dowager is in Yecheng, Jizhou, Your Majesty...... Maybe I went to Huaizhou, and the Queen Mother could go to the two palaces, and she could always ......"
"You didn't call me when you left, I went all the way to run, what did I get? Leave is also humiliated, stay is also humiliated, it is better to stay, wait and see what happens. If my life fails, then there should be this calamity, I have created sins in the past life, and I will repay them in this life, and I will be free of debts and light, so that I can be reborn in the Elysian World. ”
The female officer was dumbfounded.
Empress Dowager Luan said again: "It's you, you don't have to stay here, if you have a family outside, go and run away, you don't need to accompany me to be robbed." ”
The female official shook her head, "I don't have a family, and I am willing to live and die with the Queen Mother." ”
"It's okay, help me to rest, and you can rest early. Things are often like this, half a life is stable, and it often has to be repaid with a moment of turbulence. Do you think I'll cry again? ”
"The last time it happened suddenly, the Queen Mother was not prepared, so she ...... This time, the Queen Mother has been reminded, and it shouldn't be. ”
"Well, I don't want to cry anymore either, crying earlier, or ...... It was still many years ago, and I was only seven or eight years old......" The Queen Mother recalled the past and sighed.
The female official supported the Queen Mother, and it was hard to believe that this was just a woman who had just passed thirty years old, a few years younger than herself.
When she got to bed, Empress Dowager Luan remembered something, "Lord Fei said that there is a Lou family among the traitors?" ”
"Yes, the general, but he has changed his surname, called Xu Ji, and calls himself King Wu."
"Is it him?"
Empress Dowager Luan asked without a beginning or an end, but the female palace understood it, nodded and said, "It's him, he became a thief after escaping." ”
Empress Dowager Luan couldn't help laughing, "This person is really interesting, he assassinated my husband, scared my son away, and now he wants to take my place of residence, does he have a grudge against me?" ”
The female official replied: "He has no enmity with the Queen Mother, but his ambitions are too big and he wants to win the world." ”
"The world...... What is good in the world, everyone wants to take it? If you have fresh bamboo shoots tomorrow morning, it's best. ”
"Yes, Queen Mother." The female official covered the emperor with a quilt, and did not dare to say that the palace was about to run out of food.
Early the next morning, it was still porridge and pickles, Empress Dowager Luan didn't say anything, she still ate half a bowl, she should chant the scriptures, she should be in a daze, and she didn't go out of the house, and she didn't notice any changes.
In the afternoon, the "change" finally came, and the palace maid came in and said with a pale face: "Queen Mother, King Wu and King Wu ask to see you." ”
"Which King Wu?"
"Anti, anti...... The leader of the rebel army, the king of Wu, Xu Ji. ”
"Bring him in." The Queen Mother was very curious about what kind of person this person who was against her everywhere was, so she forgot the order that she was not allowed to bring people into the palace yesterday.
The female palace beside the Queen Mother is not curious at all, she only cares about one thing, and she must not let the Queen Mother be humiliated, even if she dies together.