Chapter 12: The Backstage of the Clear Stream
In the late Qing Dynasty, he dared to fool around in broad daylight, and ordered the domestic slaves to arrest people at the feet of the Son of Heaven, except for Prince Gong's eldest son Zai, there was only Prince Gong's daughter Princess Rongshou. It was Princess Rongshou who caught Song Xiaofei this time. After she saw Song Xiaofei in the Rong family's compound, she felt that he was very familiar, so she wanted to arrest him and ask him.
Princess Rongshou not only arrested Song Xiaofei, but also asked people to bring him into the Yongfu Palace in the Forbidden City, where she and the widowed Concubine Hui lived.
After Song Xiaofei was released from the sack, he saw that the beams in the room were painted gold and sky blue, the chairs were beautifully carved with dragon patterns, and there was a tall long-necked porcelain bottle on the left side, which was painted with luxurious red peonies, and he knew that the place he came from was not ordinary. He had been to Yongfu Palace, and he remembered that this was it.
Princess Rongshou was like a judge, with a serious face, and stood up from the chair, and the gold silk embroidered phoenix on the cushion was lifelike. She was holding a white curly dog in her arms, called Ben's poodle, and ordered Song Xiaofei to raise his head, his eyes seemed to see through his heart, and said, "To be honest, did you go to the Linhai Snow Field in the Mulan Enclosure the winter before last, and you are the son of Orion?" Dare to tell a lie, chop you up and throw you to the vegetable market to feed the wild dogs. ”
At this time, the poodle "Wangwang" barked twice, and Princess Rongshou said: "Good, it's not for you to eat, I know you only eat French veal steak." ”
Song Xiaofei lied to Princess Rongshou that he was the son of Orion near the Mulan Enclosure and strayed into the hot spring, but at this moment, seeing that Princess Rongshou's tone was not so sure, he pretended to be surprised and said, "The princess recognized the wrong person, right?" We haven't seen each other before, am I similar to a friend of the princess? ”
"How dare you lie to me! Take a closer look, this jade pendant is yours? Princess Rongshou threw an emerald jade pendant on Song Xiaofei's body.
That jade pendant was the heirloom that Yuan Shikai grabbed Zhou, and it was just worn on Song Xiaofei's neck, and Princess Rongshou's subordinates had just knocked him unconscious, took it off and handed it to the princess. Song Xiaofei picked up the jade pendant and wanted to find a crack in the ground to get into, but he couldn't avoid it. knew that he couldn't deny it, so he admitted Yuan Shikai's identity, but he thought about it and made up another story, saying that he was indeed hunting with his friends that day, and he got lost before he strayed into the Mulan paddock, but he didn't tell the truth for fear of affecting his uncle Yuan Baoheng.
Princess Rongshou said: "You dare to deceive this princess, I will punish you." ”
Song Xiaofei saw that Princess Rongshou didn't ask any further, and only then did he put back his heart when he mentioned his throat and eyes, and said, "I am willing to accept the punishment." ”
Princess Rongshou said: "You will be punished for three years, and you will not be allowed to marry." Otherwise, I will not spare you and your uncle. ”
"What kind of punishment is this?" Song Xiaofei thought to himself, oh no, is this ugly princess taking a fancy to herself, do you have to accompany her for the past three years? I can't help but be terrified.
Princess Rongshou said, "I don't care, I'm willing, that's all, if you don't keep the contract, you will bear the consequences." ”
Song Xiaofei was afraid that things would make a big fuss, so he had to agree, and asked in a panic: "The princess has no other requirements, right?" ”
After asking this question, Song Xiaofei held his breath, deeply afraid that Rong Shougong would untally rule himself.
But fortunately, Princess Rongshou shook her head and said it's okay, you can go. It turned out that she had been completely conquered by Zhang Peilun's eloquence today, and decided to untact him! It's just curiosity that Song Xiaofei was arrested and asked, it was "Mo Dao women's hearts are changeable, but they are old people's hearts when they are idle!" ”
There was no danger, Song Xiaofei walked out of the palace under the leadership of a little eunuch. When passing by Yuqing Palace, I saw the Phoenix Fairy girl from a distance, she was in the square pavilion of the imperial garden, the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, smiling cleanly, holding a small rattle, coaxing the Guangxu Emperor who was wiping her tears with the sleeve of the dragon robe, the sun was shining on her body, she was still a beautiful little fairy who fell into the dust. Emperor Guangxu went from the palace to the palace, according to the rules of the Qing Dynasty, his mother could not enter the palace together, so he was carried into the palace by his maid Fengxian girl, and stayed in the palace as a companion.
On the same day, the five-year-old Emperor Guangxu took a half-day class in the study of Yuqing Palace, read "University" again, Weng Tonggong punished him twice, Emperor Guangxu resisted by not reading, crying loudly, Weng Tonggong recorded what Emperor Guangxu did, and played the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Empress Dowager Cixi scolded Emperor Guangxu again, he cried non-stop, and the Empress Dowager Cixi had no choice, so she had to let the Fengxian girl comfort him.
The little eunuch on the side saw Song Xiaofei looking at him randomly, so he scolded: "What are you looking at? Be careful to gouge out your eyeballs. ”
When he met the fairy girl again, Song Xiaofei remembered his first girlfriend Ouyang Xiaoxue again. When he got home, he had mixed feelings, his heart was very entangled, and he didn't go out of the bedroom behind closed doors, he thought, Fengxian girl is now by the side of Emperor Guangxu, does she know that the third emperor she likes is Emperor Tongzhi, and he is dead? What a cruel thing this was for her! How do you talk to her about yourself? To tell her the truth, you have to wait until you have enough strength to protect her and yourself.
When it was time for dinner, the maid Qiuyi came and knocked on the door, and said outside the door: "There are guests at home, and the master invites the young master to attend the dinner." ”
Song Xiaofei said that he was not in a good mood and stopped eating dinner. After about a stick of incense, Yuan Baoheng personally came to invite and said, "Rong Fu asked someone to come to you, you can go out with me to meet guests, you can't be too rude." ”
Song Xiaofei heard the news, he felt that it was really a trick, he just promised Princess Rongshou not to get married within three years, and the person who proposed the Rong family came to the door, once he broke his promise, he didn't know what the consequences were, maybe the old accounts of the year would be turned out, so he was silent.
Yuan Baoheng saw that his nephew was a little abnormal today, and asked, "What's wrong?" You don't like it? I think Rong Rong is a very good child, and I can talk to you, and I am a good match with us, a match made in heaven. ”
Song Xiaofei said hesitantly, "I like... But..."
Yuan Baoheng said: "If you like it, what are you doing?" If you don't want to, say it early, marriage is not a child's play. ”
Song Xiaofei thought about it, and it was better not to let his uncle know about his affairs with Princess Rongshou, so he said: "The eldest husband has never established a business, why should he be at home?" The nephew is still young and aspires to serve the country, and before the age of twenty, he doesn't want to think about marriage, so he asks his uncle to understand. ”
Yuan Baoheng said: "I can understand this, but Lord Rong's thinking is more Westernized, and he may think that what you say is just a pretext." It's better for you to find a chance to explain to him and Rong Rong. ”
Sure enough, Rong Hong heard that Song Xiaofei was going to start a business first and then start a family, but he didn't understand, and mistakenly thought that he didn't have a crush on Rong Rong, and he couldn't hang his face, so he didn't allow Rong Rong and Song Xiaofei to interact again. Song Xiaofei wrote to Rong Rong several times to explain, but she didn't receive it.
Back then, Rong Hong's recruitment plan for young children in the United States was really disturbed by Zhang Peilun and other "clear streams", and none of the children of official eunuchs signed up, and the imperial court also decided that from the second year of Guangxu, it would no longer send students to the United States.
Career and family are not going well, Rong Hong was so angry that he returned to the United States in May of that year, and took Rong Rong away, Song Xiaofei hid in the dark and silently bid them off, gloomy and sad, with pain in his heart but nowhere to tell, and cried helplessly.
After Rong Hong left, Song Xiaofei realized that if he wanted to strengthen the country and vigorously promote the Westernization Movement, he must remove the ideological tumor of "Qingliu" from the imperial court.
Li Hongzhang listened, sighed and said, shook his head, and said: "It seems that you have just returned from North Korea, and you have not yet figured out the current situation of the imperial court. It is not easy to bring down these people, and Prince Gong also supports them. ”
Prince Gong Yixun, who advocated the Westernization Movement, actually supported the Qingliu Party, which surprised Song Xiaofei, it seems that history is really not so simple, he asked Li Hongzhang why?
Li Hongzhang said, "Since Prince Gong was limited in power by the Queen Mother, he has acted cautiously everywhere, and his enthusiasm for foreign affairs has gradually decreased. Moreover, Zhang Peilun and they stick to orthodoxy and turbidity, and Prince Gong wants to use them to contain the Queen Mother. ”
Song Xiaofei said: "Then we can use the empress dowager to eradicate them." ”
Li Hongzhang said: "This road will not work, and the Queen Mother also wants to use them to get rid of [***] and crack down on disobedient ministers." ”
Song Xiaofei finally understood what the phrase "what exists is reasonable" means, the existence of Qingliu has its value. He sorted out Li Hongzhang's "enemy", now in addition to Weng Tongyi, Li Hongzao, Zhang Peilun These clear streams, Prince Gong may also have to be counted, it is really not so easy to do things, which makes Song Xiaofei even more disappointed in the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, everyone is an actor, full of benevolence and morality, in fact, they only care about their own selfish interests, but he did not give up, he believes that as long as he persists, there will always be opportunities, even if his opponent is Prince Gong Yixun, is the Empress Dowager Cixi, he will not be afraid, he has to wait, to be patient and wise, It is necessary to be down-to-earth, step by step, dig a few more holes in the broken ship of the Qing Dynasty and sink it to the bottom of the sea.