The eunuch Wang Dehua, the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, got the emergency documents of six hundred miles, Fengyang was trapped, the ancestral tomb was burned, and he was stunned for a while, he stumbled a little and trotted to the front of the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, and his heart was frightened, ignoring the Qianqing Palace steward Ma Yuancheng and the palace maid Wei Qinghui and others asking for peace, thinking about how angry the emperor would be if he knew. It was an embarrassing errand, but the stakes were so high that I had to go into the temple to report it. Chongzhen took the document and read it, it was like a thunderbolt exploding above his head, and he stood up suddenly, and then seemed to be unable to support it, and fell down on the couch, speechless, and his hands trembled. Such silence was much to Wang Dehua's expectation, and he was so frightened that he fell to the ground and didn't dare to look up. After a long time, I finally couldn't help it, my heart was pounding and I peeked at it, and saw Chongzhen's face pale, his eyes were closed, he couldn't stop crying, and persuaded in a trembling voice: "The emperor, the emperor is angry, and you still need to cherish the dragon body!" ”

"Anger? Something so big happened, how can I be angry! You, all of you, go out and go away, I don't want to see you! Chongzhen slowly opened his eyes, his tone was a little angry, but he was still very stern.

Wang Dehua hurriedly waved his hand to the eunuchs and palace maids serving on the left and right, and retreated carefully. Hurriedly walked down the stone steps outside the hall, and turned back uneasily, only to the eaves of the corridor, he heard a howl: "Ancestor, ----" He was frightened, three steps and two steps, peeking in against the crack in the door. I saw stacks of documents scattered around the imperial case, and a few pieces of shredded paper fell from the air, Chongzhen stomped his feet and cried: "Ancestors, ancestors---- children and grandchildren are not filial......" Chongzhen leaned on the imperial case and choked up, panting in his mouth. Since Gao Shiming left his post due to old illness, Wang Dehua took over as the master of ceremonies and the palm seal for six years, and he had never seen Chongzhen crying, not to mention the Qianqing Palace, which was talking about military affairs, he couldn't help but be a little panicked, and when he turned around and looked around, most of those eunuchs and palace maids were standing with bated breath outside the curtain and under the eaves, and a few timid ones had already knelt on the ground and trembled. A few steps away, Ma Yuancheng stood with red eyes, Wei Qinghui's face changed color, and her shoulders shrugged with tears.

Wang Dehua stepped forward and gave Ma Yuancheng a kick, and scolded in a low voice: "Are you a dead man?" Don't send a letter to the girls yet! ”

Ma Yuancheng came to his senses, rubbed his waist with one hand, and ran away in agreement. More than a dozen little eunuchs from Shang Shan Jian came over carrying the vermilion lacquer food box, and saw Wang Dehua from a distance, and the eunuch led by him hurriedly saluted and said: "Master Zong, I haven't seen you for a few days, and the little good student misses ......."

"Silence!" Wang Dehua pointed to the temple door behind him and scolded: "I miss your mother's stinky feet!" The noise doesn't look at the time. ”

"When?" The eunuch was panicked and replied, "In the past, it was this time to pass the meal, yes!" ”

"If you can fucking eat a few mouthfuls of food from the Pope, our family will reward you heavily!"

"At that time, the small part......" The eunuch didn't know that something had changed, his eyebrows were smiling, and he was about to thank him, when two tall eunuchs carried a bright yellow shoulder, rushed over, climbed the steps, followed by Ma Yuancheng and a few palace maids, running out of breath.

Wang Dehua hurriedly grabbed it, and the first-class shoulders were stable, and he hurriedly came over to give a salute, and carefully reported: "Long live the lord, the queen mother is here." ”

There was silence inside, and Queen Zhou said with tears in her eyes: "Your Majesty, the concubine is here......"

"If you go back, I don't want to see anyone, only the ancestors and ancestors I want to see."

Empress Zhou trembled and said in astonishment: "What, the emperor doesn't want to see his ministers and concubines?" ”

"Let's go, let's go! I am alone and quiet. Oh God! What should I do? ”

Empress Zhou's heart was sour, and she gritted her teeth and swallowed, "Then the concubine sent lunch in?" ”

"Hahaha......" Chongzhen smiled bitterly, "Where do I still have the heart to eat, how can I swallow it?" Reward you! I want to go to the Fengxian Hall to bow to my ancestors, and I have to ask for sin! "I pushed the door out of the hall by myself, and I didn't take it, but walked to the Fengxian Hall, kneeling in front of the ancestral god and crying.

"Take care, Your Majesty!" No trespass without a decree, Queen Zhou followed to kneel outside the Fengxian Palace, did not dare to go in to consol, tears passed on the Zhi Tian, Yuan Erfei, the prince and Yong, Ding two kings rushed together. Everyone knelt outside the temple gate in unison, and persuaded the emperor to think of the common people in the world, and not to be too sad and damage the Holy Body. Many of the eunuchs and palace maids who accompanied them saw that the queen, the concubine, the prince and the two little kings were crying sadly, and they all sobbed with red eyes, and there was a cry inside and outside the Fengxian Palace.

"Your Majesty, ----" An old and hoarse shout, from the Rijing Gate through the Yuehua Gate came a flower pear shoulder, and on it sat the white-haired Xuanyi Huikang Zhao Liu Taifei. She is eighty years old, and she is the oldest and the most respected among the concubines of the first dynasty. Chongzhen lost his mother when he was young and was raised by her for a long time. Chongzhen and Tianqi have no queen mother, and the jade seal of the queen mother in the palace is in charge of her. When Empress Zhou saw this, she hurriedly got up and helped: "Old ancestor, why did you alarm your old man?" ”

"O Queen! I'm not old and confused, my legs and feet can still move, I heard Concubine Tian say that the ancestral tomb was burned by thieves, the emperor was so angry that he cried, and he didn't eat a bite of rice, I, I feel distressed! Concubine Liu had red circles in her eyes, stepped forward with a dragon's head cane, and patted the door tremblingly: "Your Majesty, the ancestors and ancestors are all watching you here, they know your heart, and they still want you to take this breath for them!" How can you do without eating or drinking? Emperor Taizu Gao's Daming Dynasty still depends on you! ”

Queen Zhou seemed to be a little complaining when she heard the words, and she was a little annoyed in her heart, she glanced at Tian Guifei, and was a little grateful for her well-behaved and clever, and secretly blamed her for making her own decisions. was thinking about how to tell the difference, but heard Chongzhen shout in a hoarse voice: "Hand towels." Hurriedly took the soaked hand towel from Ma Yuancheng's hand, gently pushed open a corner of the door, and handed it over. Chongzhen wiped his face before ordering everyone to enter the hall.

After everyone saluted in front of the ancestral god, Chongzhen Hao sighed, stroked the prince's head and choked up: "The ancestors have never changed in the past three hundred years. Since the beginning of my reign, I have respected the heavens and ancestors, been diligent in government and loved the people, and have not lost morality. I didn't expect that the thieves were so rampant and difficult to control, and the disaster became more and more intense, until the ancestral tomb was destroyed and Zhongdu fell, how can I be worthy of my ancestors and ancestors! He forcibly suppressed his crying, closed his eyes and was silent for a while, and then said: "You don't need to be comforted, I know in my heart, I won't mess around without thinking, I will take the head of the thief and dedicate it to the Taimiao, comfort the spirit of the ancestors in the sky, and wash away this strange shame!" ”

Concubine Liu sighed and wept: "Child! It's hard for you. ”

Chongzhen said sadly: "The old ancestors are all children with thin virtue and little ability, and they have not received a good foundation for their ancestors. Grandmaster Shen ruled by inaction back then, and there were few things at home, how reassuring it was to be an emperor! When it came to Sun Tzu, he added so many disasters and disasters, which was really a bit at a loss, so that the ancestors could not live in peace, and they were ashamed and landless! ”

"You grew up with my watch, and it's not easy to clean up this mess left to you by Sect God and your father and brother! You have to be good, ZTE can be hopeful. Concubine Liu said, couldn't help hiding her face and crying, Tian Guifei stepped forward to help, and persuaded: "Ancestor, isn't the emperor good, if your old man is sad again, won't you provoke him again?" None of us juniors agreed! ”

"I was sad to see that the emperor had lost weight again."

"Oops! Ancestor, have you forgotten that Liu Bei didn't ride a horse for a long time, his spleen and flesh were revived, he did nothing, and he cried with emotion? The emperor has reduced some of it, which is the proof of the state affairs and the promisingness of ZTE! ”

Chongzhen sent away Concubine Liu, did not leave anyone to accompany the meal, the lunch was much simpler, removed the usual music, reduced dozens of dishes to a dozen, and removed the music and reduced the meal, in order to show that the country was in misfortune and the emperor was sad and sorrowful. Chongzhen's lunch was very difficult, not only could he not eat any taste, but after eating two bites, he suddenly remembered the burning of the ancestral tomb, and the sorrow came from it, and he burst into tears, and his heart was in turmoil, and he had to take care of the etiquette of the king, and he could not bear the grief and anger to eat. So intermittently, after eating for half an hour, he tore off the sky blue napkin, waved away everyone, and wanted to rest on the imperial couch of the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, but he felt that his chest was bored, and he did not have the slightest sleep, and sat alone and pondered for a long time, and passed Wang Dehua in, and ordered: "Draft, Hong Chengchou quickly marched into the army, surrounded and suppressed the East Channeling Liukou, and must not be appeased." Zhu Dadian, the governor of Caoyun and the governor of Lu, Feng, Huai, and Yang, moved the town of Fengyang, and restored the imperial tomb. Dressed in brocade, Yiwei twisted Yang Yipeng and Wu Zhenying to come to Beijing to ask for the guilt. With the horse Duwei Ran Xing, let the generation go to the temple to pay tribute to the two ancestors. ”

Chongzhen said a few wills in one breath, and then let out a long breath and ordered: "The thieves are not peaceful, and they are shocked by the mausoleum, I want to move out of the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, clean up the wooden house next to the Wenhua Palace, and go there to live and meditate, and save my guilt." When it was not a ceremony, I wore black clothes on weekdays to manage the government, reduced food and entertainment, and shared joys and sorrows with the soldiers until the day of Kou Ping. ”

Wang Dehua was shocked and hurriedly stopped: "Long live what Lord said is to save sorrow? I can't help it! That wooden house can't make a fire, it's freezing ...... this day" He saw Chongzhen's eyes sweeping sharply, so he was so frightened that he stopped talking and changed his words: "Yes, yes, the slave and maid will go down and prepare." ”

Chongzhen bathed in the morning, Wei Qinghui waited for him to change into a blue pure silk clothes, first went to the Fengxian Hall to pray to the gods of the ancestors and ancestors, and then took the chariot to the provincial residence. The province lives in the northwest corner of the Wenhua Palace, but it is not attached to the main hall, isolated on all sides, like a volley of the attic, far away from the world. The foundation of the roof is laid with thick logs, three feet above the ground. The wooden house has been idle for a long time, and has not been used for many years, the railings and wooden steps are full of dust, cobwebs are hung in front of the eaves and windows, and there are wild grass growing along the south road in front of the house. No matter in terms of scale and decoration, it is very different from the Wenhua Palace, and it looks more and more short and cold, making people think that the magnificent palace has such a dilapidated place. Wang Dehua ordered people to clean up the provincial residence overnight, and tightly plugged the gaps that were ventilated. Chongzhen stepped into the provincial residence, kowtowed respectfully to the Jade Emperor, sat upright with his eyes closed, meditated, and thought about how to make a sinful edict.

At dusk, Queen Zhou secretly came to visit, and after only one day's work, she saw that he seemed to have lost a lot of weight, retreated with red eyes, and secretly ordered to cook vegetarian meals in different ways. Early the next morning, Wang Chengen, the supervisor of Shangshan, personally went to the imperial kitchen to sit down, and the little eunuchs cooked mushrooms, mushrooms, tender bamboo shoots, monkey's head, tofu, gluten, radish and cabbage with precious condiments, poured chicken soup, and brought the little eunuch to the meat, fragrant and fragrant. Chongzhen smelled the fishy smell of chicken soup and scolded with a cold face: "I fasted and lived in sorrow, not meaty, in order to resolve the anger of the heavens and alleviate the resentment of the ancestors." You bastard dog, you have followed me in vain for many years, but you don't know my hardships, selling dog meat on a sheep's head, specializing in deception, luring me to break the vows, what is your intention! ”

Wang Chengen was discouraged, full of grievances but didn't know where to tell, and thought about how to return to Queen Zhou, dejectedly bypassed the high wall of the Wenhua Palace, and slowly walked back along the west road, but saw Tian Guifei coming down from the white stone bridge on her shoulder, and stepped forward to ask for peace. Tian Guifei stopped her shoulders and asked, "How is the emperor's diet?" ”

"I only drank half a bowl of white fungus bird's nest porridge, and the rest of the dishes were withdrawn."

Tian Guifei frowned and said, "What did the emperor say?" ”

"The emperor said that meat is a great disrespect to the ancestors and gods, and scolded the slave and maid."

"Yes, you deserve it! Knowing that the emperor is not easy to deceive, you still made these vegetarian meals with meat, aren't you begging for a beating! ”

"The slave is dizzy, she can't think of a good way, she can't teach Banzai to be so hungry!"

"I have a way, you might as well try it."

"Mother Niang made it clear." Wang Chengen was so grateful that he almost cried.

"You guys! It's just that you don't use your brain, you don't know how to adapt and make new, you just keep a muddy sheep and you can't grow up? ”

"The mother admonishes me."

"I ask you, what is meat and what is vegetarian?" Seeing that Wang Chengen was stunned, she didn't wait for him to answer, and said to herself: "You naturally have a clear distinction between this meat and vegetarian food, otherwise you won't be able to be a supervisor of Shangshan." It stands to reason that you have put a lot of thought into the dishes you have made with meat, but you are too honest to mix chicken soup with green vegetables so clearly, what kind of ability do you have? Even a three-year-old child can eat, can he pay a difference? ”

Wang Chengen has been practicing for a long time, and when he heard her make a big detour, he hurriedly said: "Niangniang's kindness, the slave maid remembers it in her heart." If there is a place for slaves and maids to contribute, but by the mother's words. ”

Tian Guifei smiled and said, "You are the palace who specializes in the emperor's meals, how important!" I don't dare to work you easily, but Huan'er is the easiest to get angry in spring and winter, and it is better to recuperate with fresh vegetables and fruits sometimes. ”

"Lord Ding is the heart of the Lord of Long Live Lord, and this matter is wrapped up in the slave maid."

"Good, good! In fact, the meat you make is not unreasonable, but it does not cover the fishy smell. ”

"How can you hide the fishy smell? Unless there's not a bit of meat in sight. ”

"It's not hard. Remove the feathers of a raw goose, remove the liver sausage and other filth from the tail hole, then stuff the vegetables in, put them in a pot and boil over high heat, take out the vegetables immediately, and the taste of the goose meat will be immersed in the dishes. Don't wait for the dish to cool, wash it with wine, the fishy smell will be almost gone, and then cook it with sesame oil, this is the meat in the vegetarian food! ”

Wang Chengen was overjoyed and said, "The slave and maid will go down to prepare." ”

"I'll prepare the dishes tomorrow, and I'll send them to the emperor."

In the early afternoon, Shoufu Wen Tiren led all the ministers to kneel and ask the emperor to return to the palace, Chongzhen was unmoved, and only ordered them to do their best. The sky is nearly late, the clouds are low, the frost and wind are terrible, several eunuchs are holding the palace lamp, slowly marching along the west sandwich road, each person has a red lacquer food box on his head, and a crank small yellow umbrella is inserted on it, and the umbrella is decorated with dozens of golden bells, and the sound of tinkling all the way is very crisp. Ma Yuancheng and the others shivered in the cold wind, and when the palace lights were near, they saw that the person was actually Tian Guifei of Chengqian Palace, and hurriedly bowed. Tian Guifei didn't wait for him to speak, and said: "Your Majesty, the concubine is making a few side dishes, please taste them." ”

Chongzhen sat alone around the sable big man, slept less all night, and had a vegetarian diet for many days, his cheeks became thinner and haggard day by day, his eye sockets collapsed, and his face was pale and dark. Tian Guifei's eyes were red with sadness, and she lowered her head and took out the dishes from the food box. Chongzhen asked, "How is Huan'er?" ”

"Okay! He clamored to come to see his father, and the concubines were afraid that he would be noisy, and the emperor would not be at ease. ”

"I usually work state affairs, flawlessly take care of a few children, and when the Quartet is too peaceful, I will take them down to the south of the Yangtze River, so that I can see the great rivers and mountains left by my ancestors."

"The concubine is also looking forward to that day, Jiangnan is the concubine's hometown!" Tian Guifei thought about how prominent and majestic the car was driving south, and watched Chongzhen put a green vegetable into his mouth, with a smile on his face.

"It tastes good!" Chongzhen was full of praise.

Tian Guifei saw that he was eating with great interest, burned ambergris, set up the great sage's relict piano, tuned the strings and rhyme, stroked it slightly, and the sad atmosphere immediately dispersed. The sound of the piano is desolate and sad, lingering with compassion, like a poor and troubled wanderer, dusk and twilight, the countryside is difficult to find, and sorrow is mixed. is like a girl in the deep lock of spring, sad and sentimental. Suddenly, it gradually became vigorous and high-pitched, like playing great music, like a boat on the river, the waves are surging, the waves are turbulent, the wind and rain are raging, the horses are galloping, sweeping away the dull and lonely feelings, bold and impassioned, as if there is a giant dragon churning in the sea of clouds in the nine heavens, sometimes rushing straight to the sky, sometimes looking down on the abyss...... Chongzhen listened to it and forgot his feelings, and when the tune was played for a long time, there was still a vague sound of wind and rain in his ears, and he chanted in his mouth: "The road is long, and I will go up and down and seek." At the beginning, it was depressed, and then it was bold, which made people feel refreshed, and it was worthy of the name of composing a wonderful song. You're a piano! ”

"The concubines should not admonish the words, as long as the emperor works hard to add meals, the Ming Dynasty will be prosperous, and the ancestors and ancestors will also turn their anger into joy, regardless of temporary gains and losses."

Chongzhen gritted his teeth and said: "I will definitely use the head of the thief to sue the Taimiao!" He put down the jade chopstick, got up and paced and wandered, and his heart couldn't help but be ruthless: if you don't wash away this humiliation, you will never return to the palace.

When Hong Chengchou left Tongguan, he received the news of the destruction of the imperial mausoleum, and urged the army to divide and rush into the encirclement and suppression. Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong divided their troops and left, Zhang Xianzhong went deep into the Jianghuai, and Gao Yingxiang went northwest to return to Germany, and after meeting with Luo Rucai and Hui Deng, he took advantage of the false killing to return to Shaanxi. Hong Chengchou was shocked, seeing that he couldn't catch up, he quickly flew and sent an urgent document to Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, to intercept him along the road.