I returned to the Hanlin Painting Academy, as an ordinary chamberlain Huang Men, doing a similar job as when I was a teenager, silently sorting out the drawings every day, handling chores for the painters, everything seemed to be the same, except for the occasional finger and poke behind me by people who knew what I had experienced.

I haven't seen me since I returned to the former province, but in August of the seventh year of Jiayou, he suddenly came to the academy to look for me in person, as if he was walking here, with only two attendants with him.

He summoned me into a secluded studio, dismissed the attendants, and ordered me to close the door before he asked me, "Are you friends with Cui Bai?" ”

I said yes, and then he slowly took a scroll of paper from his sleeve and handed it to me, without saying a word.

I took it and took a look, and couldn't help but be shocked - it was a grass post that I passed to Qiuhe on behalf of Cui Bai back then, and it was used by the relatives, and there were three generations of Cui Bai's name and his birthday in the preface.

"Dong Niangzi is now very sick and bedridden, and an insider helped her sort out the box and found this grass post in the deepest part." Today said expressionlessly.

I immediately knelt down and kowtowed: "Although Dong Niangzi and Cui Bai had a marriage contract, it was before she served the official family, and they have never had any contact since then. ”

Jinshang looked at me and asked lightly, "This grass post, did you send it to the palace?" ”

I admitted, bowed my head and said: "The minister knows that this move violates the palace rules, and the crime is unforgivable, please punish the official family, I hope that the official family will forgive Dong Niangzi and Cui Bai, and do not pursue this matter." ”

Then I bowed to him and bowed to the ground.

He sighed and said, "You can get even." I have come here today only to find out what happened, not to hold anyone responsible. ”

He took the post from me, looked at it himself, and suddenly asked me, "When was this post given to her?" ”

I replied truthfully: "At the end of the seventh year of Qingli. ”

"The end of the seventh year of Qingli ......" is thoughtful today. Probably remembering the palace turmoil that happened later, his eyes were very melancholy, and the cause and effect were not difficult for him to understand.

"No wonder she has been unhappy for all these years...... he murmured, and then asked me to fetch the fire fold, light the grass, watch it in silence as it turns to ashes, and then get up and walk out.

Seeing him faltering, I stepped forward to help him, and he did not refuse, and walked to the vicinity of the west building of the art academy with my support, but I heard someone not far in front of me making noise, as if they were arguing about something.

The speakers are the two guards. The attendants who accompanied him wanted to step forward to remind them that the official had arrived, but Jinshang waved his hand first to stop, and he took two steps forward, hiding behind the pillars, and listened to the guards.

Guard A said: "Life is expensive and cheap. There are times in life that must be there, and there is no time in life when you don't force it, and this is even a famous saying, you must not believe it. ”

Guard B said, "That's not right. The nobility of the people in the world is determined by the official family. You are the prime minister today, and tomorrow the official family will come down with a holy decree, and you can be reduced to a commoner; Today you are rich and rival the country, and tomorrow if the official family is unhappy, they may confiscate your house. Therefore, the official family is the supreme in the world, and has the power to kill and take away this life. ”

The two continued to argue, but no one could convince anyone, and they fought until their faces were red. Looking at it in his eyes today, he didn't show up to judge, but turned back to the studio, and ordered me to get a pen and ink letter, and wrote a royal approval: "The first to come will play the matter, and there is Lao Tuien." "In duplicate, seal the letter separately, and then call two guards, and first order B to carry a letter to the Inner East Gate Division. After waiting for a while, it is estimated that B is about to reach the halfway point, and then he orders A to go with another letter.

Imakami stayed in the academy and waited. According to his arrangement, it should be B who arrived first, and after being confirmed by the Inner East Gate Division, he would be given Tui'en to supplement the official, but the Dongmen Division sent people back and forth, but it was Bao Jia Tui'en. Imakami was surprised and asked why, and the answer he got was that B ran too fast and sprained his foot halfway, but was overtaken by A, so A arrived first.

After hearing this, he was silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "It's really fate!" ”

The next day, he ordered Wang Qi, a scholar from Hanlin, to draft an edict to officially establish his adopted son Zhao Zongshi as the prince and give the prince the name "Shu". It is said that Wang Jue once asked him if he could wait to see if the harem concubine could give birth to the prince, and now he said gloomily: "If the angel has a son, then King Yu will not die young." ”

After discovering the grass post, instead of blaming Qiuhe, Imakami promoted her to Chongyuan in mid-September. The prince has been established, and now he went to the Ming Hall in the suburbs according to the system to sacrifice and fast. During this period, Qiuhe's condition deteriorated, and he passed away before he returned to the palace today. When she was dying, she begged the queen not to send someone to tell Jinshang the news that she was critically ill, saying: "The concubine is unfortunately dead, and she is not blessed to continue to serve the official family and the queen." The official family has been working hard for state affairs for days, and he is in the middle of fasting, please do not tell the official family about this again, so as not to make him sad and sad, and damage his mind. ”

The queen obeyed it and did not pass the bad news to the palace.

When I returned to the palace today, I saw that Qiu He had died of incense and jade, and there was no way to return to the soul, and I was immediately very sad, and I personally dropped out of the court and hung up my clothes, and wept in front of the spirit. Two days later, the sadness and sorrow of the present day increased, and Qiuhe was given as a concubine, and her father and his brother and nephew were specially moved.

Perhaps this is still not enough to express his debt to Qiuhe, he ordered his subordinates to set a name for Qiuhe, which is an unprecedented thing, only the queen has a nickname in the dynasty, and the concubine has never had this treatment, and today also announced that he would perform a ceremony for Qiuhe, and on the day of the funeral, she was given a guard of honor that only those who have military merits can enjoy.

Since Wen Cheng, he had not expressed such deep sadness about the departure of a concubine, which attracted Sima Guang's attention again. He said that he urged the current dismissal of Concubine Dong Shu's name and canonization ceremony, and his funeral day will not be given a book, and all funeral needs should be derogated, and there is no need to do a good gift, "His Majesty is thinner than a female pet and thicker than Yuan Yuanye."

Jin Shang did not immediately accept Sima Guang's advice, so there was a lot of discussion inside and outside the palace, and they were all speculating about who would compromise this time. And when she heard that it was the queen who broke the deadlock later, she advised Jinshang: "Concubine Shu is gentle and kind, indifferent by nature, and has no quarrel with the world." During her lifetime, His Majesty wanted to make her rank many times, but she refused to do so, and it was also because she admired His Majesty's holy virtues, so she wholeheartedly adhered to His Majesty's style of frugality and few desires. Now that His Majesty has graced her here, Concubine Shu is virtuous, and she naturally deserves it, but Her Majesty's grace is too great, but it is not what she wants. The matter of the canonization ceremony, if Concubine Shu is alive, she will insist on resigning again, and the name of the book, Concubine Shu has knowledge under the spring, and it is even more difficult to feel at ease. ”

Imami recalled the behavior of Qiu Pingsheng and agreed with the queen's point of view, so he did not mention the matter of the book of rites.

After experiencing the princess, she is exhausted and old. Now Qiuhe's death is another heavy blow to him, destroying his health even more, not to mention, from the time he became a prince, he seems to have no hope in life. My health deteriorated, and others were depressed day by day, and once I saw him from a distance outside the Jiying Palace, and found him thin and haggard, with gray hair, and his body was completely like that of an old man, when in fact he was only fifty-three years old.

In November of this year, there was news in the palace that Li Wei had been reinstated as the captain of the horse. It is said that this was proposed to the princess on the sickbed, and he always hoped that his daughter would change her mind and still be the daughter-in-law of the Li family. And the princess also promised to reunite with Li Wei in name, but asked to continue to stay in the palace and not return to the princess's house to live with Li Wei.

I can guess what she thinks. She no longer hoped to be married to anyone, so it was not unacceptable to let Li Wei restore her status as a concubine, as long as his husband's identity continued to remain in name.

So Jinshang immediately issued an order to enshrine the princess of Yi as the princess of Qi country; Li Wei, the observer of Jianzhou and Zhiweizhou, was changed to the observer of Anzhou and reinstated as the commander of the horse.

In March of the eighth year of Jiayou, Xin Weiwei was not obscure, and now it collapsed in the Funing Palace.

On this daytime, the people in the palace did not feel that there was anything wrong with him, although he was sick, his diet and daily life were still peaceful. Soon after falling asleep at night, he suddenly got up, called for the medicine to be taken from the left and right, and urged the attendants to summon the queen quickly.

According to the attendants in the Funing Palace, when the queen arrived in the palace, she was now collapsed and powerless, and she couldn't even speak.

The queen hurriedly summoned the medical officer for consultation, and tried first aid methods such as medicine and burning wormwood, but there was still no way to recover. The queen was at a loss, and at last she sat at the head of his bed, half-embraced him, and whispered something in his ear that no one else could hear.

On the night of the third day, under the tearful gaze of the queen, I let go of her hand and passed away.

After the medical officer confirmed that Yan was driving, the ministers in the palace wanted to open the palace door to summon the auxiliary ministers, and the queen wiped away her tears at this time, stood up, and shouted: "How can the palace door be opened at night!" and the secret envoy Dawn is forbidden. ”

Then, she summoned the ministers who served the food and living today, and quietly ordered: "The official family wants to drink porridge at night, you go to the imperial kitchen to get it." ”

Looking around the hall, she found that the medical officer had left at this moment, and immediately ordered someone to summon him in again, and then asked several ministers to guard the medical officer, and did not allow him to leave the Funing Hall for half a step.

Later, she guided the thirteenth regiment to practice Zhao Shu's accession to the throne, and it became a legend inside and outside the court:

After the emperor's collapse, the queen did not mourn secretly, but only secretly summoned Zhao Shu into the forbidden. The next day, she ordered Xuan Fuchen to go to the Funing Hall to see him. Prime Minister Han Qi and others went to His Royal Highness Funing, buttoned the curtain and wanted to enter, but the chamberlain told them: "The queen is here." ”

Han Qi stopped and stood solemnly, and the queen cried behind the curtain and told the officials about the immortals, and the ministers immediately fell to the ground and cried. And the queen suppressed her sadness a little and asked Han Qi: "What should I do now, Xianggong?" Everyone knows that the official family has no children. ”

Han Qi responded: "The queen can't say this, the prince is in the East Palace, why is it inconvenient to announce it?" ”

The queen said: "He is only a clan, and he does not have the title of prince, he was established, will anyone fight for him in the future?" ”

Han Qi replied categorically: "The prince is the edict of Emperor Daxing, and he is also the only heir, what objections can others have!" ”

After getting this answer, the corners of the queen's lips raised slightly, signaled the attendant to roll up the blinds, and then said bluntly to Han Qi: "The prince is already here." ”

The curtain rolled up, and Han Qi and the others were surprised to find that the prince Zhao Shu was already standing beside the queen, the queen's expression was calm, and the prince looked worried.

With the unanimous support of the auxiliary ministers, Zhao Shu was enthroned as the emperor, and the empress Cao was honored as the empress dowager.

Zhao Shu is frail and sickly, and has always been sensitive and thoughtful, and suddenly took on this important task, it was difficult to bear such a heavy burden for a while, and he suffered from heart disease. After the auxiliary ministers discussed, they asked the queen mother to listen to the government. So, during the emperor's illness, the queen mother's small hall at the east gate of the palace, facing the important ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, sat behind the curtain.

The temple number of Emperor Daxing was set as "Renzong". On the first day of October in the eighth year of Jiayou, Emperor Renzong was buried in Yongzhao Mausoleum.

When I returned to the Xuande Gate, it was getting late, and the palace gate was about to close, but I saw an inner attendant hurrying from the palace and said to the envoy guarding the door: "The Queen Mother previously instructed that this gate should stay for a while longer, and wait for Mr. Zhang to come back." ”

After hearing this, I couldn't help but ask the waiter: "What you said about Mr. Zhang, but Mr. Zhang Pingfu?" ”

The chamberlain replied, "Of course it's him." Today, the Queen Mother issued an order to promote him to the rank of provincial attendant. A few days ago, he had sent for him, and he had come back today, so he ordered him to stay at the door and wait for him. ”

As soon as the words fell, I heard the sound of horses' hooves outside the door, and I looked back and saw a man with a vegetarian body galloping on a horse, with a long body and clear eyebrows, it was Mr. Zhang we just mentioned.

He dismounted in front of the Xuande Gate, and the attendants inside and outside the palace gate recognized that it was him, and immediately swarmed up, some asked for peace, some led the horse, and some dusted off the dust for him, all of them competed to flatter and show goodwill. He was as calm as usual, just smiled politely at them, and then raised his head and strode in the direction of the Rouyi Temple.

As the sun sets, the rows of green tiles and red walls are gilded with golden light. Hidden in the shadows under the palace walls, I watched Mr. Zhang walk into the golden glow that covered the nine-fold palace, and gradually realized that for the eunuchs in the imperial city, this was the beginning of Zhang Maoze's era.