On that day, Song Xiaofei accompanied Emperor Zhi to the Old Summer Palace, and as soon as the front foot arrived, Prince Yiyun came over with a gloomy face and asked Emperor Tongzhi: "Your Majesty, dare to ask, did you go to Qingyuanchun in Bada Hutong two days ago?" ”

Prince Alcohol has been more supportive of Emperor Tongzhi over the years, and after the pro-government, Emperor Tongzhi behaved diligently in front of him, which can be said to be a good impression. Seeing that Prince Alcohol said the time and place when he went to find the girl, Emperor Tongzhi hurriedly denied it: "No, who did the imperial uncle listen to." Could it be that Zai Cheng was imprisoned in the Zongren Mansion and spread rumors? ”

"And what's going on with this sapphire ring? I remember it as a gift from the Queen Mother. Prince Yi Xun took out a shiny diamond ring from his bag, which was given to Qing Yuanchun's proprietress and the Fengxian girl on the day Emperor Tongzhi's money bag was stolen. The proprietress took the diamond ring to the first-class pawnshop to cash out, the pawnshop of the Qing Dynasty Jingshi was developed, many of them were opened by high-ranking officials themselves or their families, this ring was too valuable, the man sent the ring to the pawnshop shopkeeper, the shopkeeper asked the "boss" to look at it, and recognized that this diamond ring was a royal item, and did not dare to hide it privately, and sent it to the Prince of Alcohol who was in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Emperor Tongzhi was quite embarrassed, his face was red, and he said: "This ring is mine, I accidentally lost it a few days ago, it may be which eunuch or palace maid picked it up, how could it be in your hand?" ”

"I hope so." After all, the Tongzhi Emperor was an adult, and he wanted to save some face for him, so he returned the ring to the Tongzhi Emperor and admonished: "If the emperor can cherish the holy bow, it will be a blessing for the people in the world." Otherwise, the minister will invite the queen mother of the two palaces to protect the country. ”

This is said very vaguely, which means that the Tongzhi Emperor should take care of his body and stop messing with flowers and grass, so as not to be contaminated with syphilis or something. Otherwise, he will stand on the side of the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces and focus on the overall situation of the country's society.

After Prince Alcohol left, Emperor Tongzhi touched the diamond on the ring, and the more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, if Prince Alcohol Yiyun told Cixi about this matter, and Cixi pursued it, maybe Song Xiaofei would be exposed, and his entire coup plan would be in vain. In another week, it will be Mulan Qiuqiu, he didn't want any accidents, and his heart was crossed, so he secretly sent someone to set fire to Qingyuanchun.

In the middle of the night that day, Qingyuanchun in Bada Hutong caught fire. Autumn is dry and dry, and the old houses are all wooden structures, as if they have been poured with pine oil, and they are stained with sparks. The fire started on the first floor of Qing Yuanchun, and the flames crackled, rising several feet high, lighting the oil-paper lanterns on the second floor. Then, the screens, doors, windows, and stairs were surrounded by raging flames. Some girls and men who drank flower wine did not have time to get dressed, so they ran out into the street naked. Someone ran outside the building, his clothes were carrying flames, and he jumped into the Yongding River with a thud in a hurry. The people who had seen Emperor Tongzhi in Qingyuan Chunli were not spared. The fire even stretched to the city, three days of not extinguished, the small half of the west city turned into scorched earth, dead and injured more than 500 people, this is Yanjing City after the Old Summer Palace after another shock fire at home and abroad, the fire also appeared in the United States "New York Times".

After Song Xiaofei heard about this, he knew that Emperor Tongzhi sent someone to do it, he was quite depressed, and he was a little disappointed in Emperor Tongzhi, this emperor was simply a foolish little kid, not even a kind-hearted Ming Jun. He said to Emperor Tongzhi: "Everyone has compassion. Did the emperor ever think that in this fire, how many innocent people would be burned to charcoal, and their families would be ruined! ”

Emperor Tongzhi reprimanded Song Xiaofei: "You are too kind a woman." Once our plans leak out, what will happen to the dead? Since ancient times, the walls of the Forbidden City have been dyed red with the blood of the people. ”

Song Xiaofei found that he didn't know the Tongzhi Emperor more and more, and gradually became suspicious of some records in the history books. Cixi loves power, so why not Emperor Tongzhi? Unscrupulous means for the sake of one's own power, is this a deep-rooted and stubborn disease of human surnames? What is the difference between them? Song Xiaofei was afraid that Emperor Tongzhi would be impulsive and would be unfavorable to the Fengxian girl, so he didn't quarrel with the Tongzhi Emperor anymore and quietly left the palace, wanting to find a safe place for the Fengxian girl to hide.

Song Xiao flew out of the Nangong Gate, passed by the Alcohol Palace, on the shore of the Taiping Lake in Xuanwu Gate, and saw a notice posted on the wall of the palace: Little Beile Aixin Jueluo Zaiyan, that is, the later Guangxu Emperor in history, was born sullen, and he couldn't laugh at the age of three, if anyone can make him laugh, the reward will be one hundred taels.

Song Xiaofei had an idea, so he bought a Swiss watch in the foreign goods market in Xuanwumen, and asked the phoenix girl to unveil the list and blend into the palace of the alcohol king.

The phoenix girl didn't know the identity of Emperor Tongzhi, she only knew that he was the third master of the emperor, and she was still stupidly waiting for Emperor Tongzhi to come to see her. At first, she said that she would not leave the Xiangtai Inn where she was temporarily sojourning, Song Xiaofei looked at her spring-like eyes and asked, "What do you think of the third emperor?" ”

Fengxian said: "He is very good, kind-hearted. I met him, and at first I pretended to be blind to lie to him and chat with him. When he found out, he didn't blame it. He was very knowledgeable and well-bred, and he was not rude to me like ordinary guests, but he was a gentleman of good manners, but sometimes he felt that he was more of a surname. ”

Song Xiaofei asked, "What is blind memorization?" ”

The fairy girl replied: "In the Qinglou of the capital, because some high-ranking officials and nobles in the late Qing Dynasty had special statuses and did not want the girls to see them, blind memorization was more popular. In order to cater to these high-end guests, the proprietress bought some blind girls to train since she was a child, and she really couldn't greet them, so she asked her daughter to pretend to be it, but some proprietress were very cruel and would blind the girl's eyes alive. ”

Song Xiaofei smiled as soon as she heard that Fengxian girl mentioned Emperor Tongzhi, it seemed that she really liked him, so she lied that she was entrusted by the third emperor to let Fengxian bring Swiss clocks to the palace of the alcohol.

Fengxian agreed, she gave the Swiss clock to Zai Xiang to play, the clock pulled the handle, every half an hour will automatically tell the time, and will play a Western music, the three-year-old Zai Xiang can't put it down, was amused, grinning and smirking.

The housekeeper of the alcohol palace took out a hundred gold as promised, but the Fengxian girl didn't want it, and also took out the deed of sale, saying that her parents were dead, and asked the palace to take her in as a maidservant. Princess Alcohol, that is, the sister of the Empress Dowager Cixi, Yehenara Wanzhen, saw that the Fengxian girl was smart and clever, and Xiao Zaiyan and the Fengxian girl were very happy to play together, so she left her in the house and became Zai Xiang's maid.

The snow in the winter of 1874 was later than usual. It's like the "Mulan Autumn Season" of the Qing Dynasty that year. The Empress Dowager Cixi repeatedly postponed it, and the "Autumn Hunt" almost became a "Winter Hunt" before going to Chengde in northeastern Hebei Province to hold it.

There is a magnolia paddock in Chengde, which borders the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. In 1681, in order to train the army, the Kangxi Emperor opened up a royal hunting garden of more than 10,000 square kilometers here. After Daoguang succeeded to the throne, the Qing Dynasty's Autumn Ceremony was abolished, and in 1826, that is, the third year of Daoguang, the Mulan Enclosure in Chengde was opened, allowing the people to enter the reclamation. For this hunt, Emperor Tongzhi sent people to demolish and relocate the common people among them, which also delayed some time.

In that year, the princes and nobles of Mongolia and Xinjiang provinces, as well as the British Minister to China, the French Minister to China, Luo Shuya, and the Acting Minister of the United States, Williams, were invited to participate in the "Mulan Autumn Festival". 50,000 people hunted at the same time, and the scene was quite grand, with 5,000 horses alone, 100 chariots, and 20,000 cavalry.

In the center of the hunting ground, the sergeants set up the royal hoove, 20 meters high, 40 meters wide, more than two zhang high, the top is the dome, supported by a bamboo pole, the Tongzhi Emperor lived in the imperial hoove, Song Xiaofei followed by the side to serve. There is a round hoop of the same size on the left and right of the royal hoove, and the queen mother of the two palaces live.

The outside of the royal hooves with a yellow knot rope encircled a net city, with 275 tents inside, for the inner city, the ministers of various countries, the Manchu prince and the princess Baylor, the military aircraft office, the affairs office, the military department, the household department of the people all live in the inner city, and there are flag soldiers guarding outside each tent. There are 550 tents outside the inner city, which are the outer city and are occupied by soldiers. Hundreds of miles of company camp, banner hunting, the scene is magnificent.

The white snow covered the land on the grassland, and the soldiers guarding the camp were all wearing thick rouge robes, black horseshoe sleeve short coats, cool hats, cyan flower feathers, black boots, and simple knives, and the cold wind blew the corners of their robes.

On the first night when Song Xiao flew to the Mulan enclosure, he walked out of the imperial hoove, he glanced at the curtain of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and found that something was wrong: the banner outside the curtain was high, the guards were strict, the guns and knives were dense, and the guards were almost twice as many as those of the Tongzhi Emperor. Seven or eight of them were armed with the latest French Chasebo rifles, the long bayonets longer and sharper than ordinary daggers. Song Xiao flew out in a cold sweat, he knew that although the Huai Army inherited the Hunan army system, it hired Western officers as teachers, each battalion of 500 people, trained foreign soldiers, and had a foreign gun team and a flowering artillery team, because the use of new weapons required more people, so the combat effectiveness was very strong. Moreover, the Huai army is generally stationed outside the Beijing Division, how can it be transferred to the pro-military camp to escort it? Could it be that the Empress Dowager Cixi had been prepared for the coup d'état of the Tongzhi Emperor?