The pine trees stood verdantly in the white snow, swaying upright in the cold wind, and making a sharp and piercing whistling, as if deliberately despising the lack of warmth.

On this day, Deng Shichang's wife entered the Forbidden City to be sealed, wearing a white plum blossom dark pattern brocade satin shirt, only a mutton fat hosta was obliquely inserted between the temples, and the powder was lightly applied, and the delicate and elegant face was a little more frosty and sad.

I never thought that she would come to Jingren Palace directly after being sealed. What happened these days is too sad, and the whole person has been stunned and can't lift his spirits, as if everyone's heart is covered with a layer of shadow, of course, I am also dressed plainly, just came out of the main hall and saw Mrs. Deng standing there, she saw me wanting to salute, I hurriedly stopped, "Madame, what is this doing?" ”

Mrs. Deng smiled lightly at me, but still knelt down, "Niangniang is already a concubine, and the slave should do this when she sees Niangniang." ”

I hurriedly helped her up, "Zhuangjie Gong is the pioneer of the country, and he is extremely loyal, how can this palace receive a great gift from his wife." ”

Mrs. Deng said: "Slaves can't abolish the number of etiquette because of the merits of adults, if they don't kneel when they see their mothers, others will say that slaves don't understand the rules, wouldn't it be more embarrassing for adults?" ”

"Someone else? Which one? There will never be such a bystander in Jingren Palace! ”

After saying that, I took her into the hall with her, and after Ying'er served tea, she saw that Mrs. Deng and I still had something to say, so I withdrew with interest. Behind closed doors, I said: "Speaking of the martyrdom of the Zhuang Jie Gong and the palace, it can't escape the relationship, if the palace didn't match, maybe the Zhuang Jie Gong wouldn't have had an accident in the Battle of the Yellow Sea," I said, I glanced at Mrs. Deng and asked, "Madame has complained about the palace in her heart?" ”

Mrs. Deng smiled lightly and shook her head, "Niangniang, if the slave really complains about Niangniang, the slave will not come to Jingren Palace to talk to Niangniang today." ”

"But Hongu is deeply sorry in his heart."

Mrs. Deng opened the lid of the tea cup in her hand, and a fresh fragrance of tea gradually spread, "Niangniang, do you want to know why the slave didn't complain about the little master?" ”

I asked, "Why?" ”

Mrs. Deng looked at the tea soup in the teacup with her eyes, and sighed: "Because even if there is no matchmaking from the mother, the adults will still do this, he often said to the slaves before his death: 'My generation served in the army to defend the country, and life and death were out of the way. 'Words, the slave also knew the heart of the adult, and even expected that there would be this day," halfway through the words, she looked at me, her eyes were not completely sad, but more of a kind of calmness to accept reality, "Regardless of whether Niangniang is matchmaking or not, the result is the same, in fact, the slave is very grateful to Niangniang for giving the adults the opportunity to meet the emperor in private that day, and spit out the heartfelt words that have been hidden in her heart for many years," for a moment, and said, "Let the emperor see the real situation of the Beiyang Naval Division, and let the emperor recognize the real situation faced by the Qing Dynasty, It has been a long-cherished wish of adults for many years. ”

It turns out that history will not change substantially because of my small actions, everything is already doomed. After a while, I said: "The emperor has been very sad about the affairs of the Zhuang Festival these days, and he always said that the Zhuang Festival Gong was martyred. ”

Mrs. Deng took a sip of tea, "The officers and soldiers rescued from the 'Zhiyuan' ship have already seen it, and they told the servants a lot of scenes at that time, not only heroic, but also tragic and disappointing," after a pause, she said again, "The emperor probably doesn't know these detailed things. ”

I really don't know, because I can't bear to tell him all these tragic things, he's sad enough lately. I sighed and said, "The emperor really doesn't know. ”

Mrs. Deng pursed her lips and chuckled, slowly put down the teacup, and said to me: "They said that the 'Zhiyuan' ship where the lord was located was on fire all over the body, and the lord saw that Yoshino was relying on his ship and gunnery and was unscrupulous, so he only said angrily: 'The Japanese ship is dedicated to Yoshino, and if the ship is sunk, then our army can gather things. And he decided to confront it, and he was doomed together. The Japanese officers and men were shocked when they saw this, and concentrated their artillery fire on Zhiyuan, and the torpedo tube on the right side of the 'Zhiyuan' was hit, causing a large explosion. ”

This is the scene before the sinking of "Zhiyuan", I have seen it in books before, and I don't have any special feelings, but I sigh: It's too miserable!

So much for.

But at this moment, when I heard Mrs. Deng talk about it with my own ears, I just lowered my eyes and said nothing, and suddenly felt that my eyes were slightly hot.

Mrs. Deng said: "It's all due to be done, but the slave is just puzzled, after the sinking of 'Zhiyuan', why did the 'Jiyuan' pipe belt Fang Boqian and the 'Guangjia' pipe belt Wu Jingrong escape?" ”

Hearing the words "escape", I was stunned, "Really? ”

Mrs. Deng said firmly: "Naturally, it's true, is it possible that the officers and soldiers who came back are so indignant as they talk about this matter to the minions, or do they pretend to be impossible?" As she spoke, Mrs. Deng got up and knelt in front of me, "Those officers and soldiers who came back could not meet the emperor in person, but could only find the minions, and asked Niangniang to convey Fang Cai's words to the emperor on her behalf, so that the emperor could make a decision, so that the heart of the martyr can be appeased!" ”

It turned out that he came to Jingren Palace to find me today to tell me about it.

"I don't understand, they are all officers of the Beiyang Naval Division, and Zhuangjie Gong was martyred, how could Fang Boqian and Wu Jingrong do such a foolish thing?"

"The slave thinks that if someone sees death as home, there must be someone who lives in secret."

I helped her up and said, "Madam, don't worry, this palace will definitely tell the emperor," and said, "If there is such a thing, this palace believes that the emperor will deal with it impartially." ”

After sending Mrs. Deng away, it was close to evening, and when I came to the Heart Nourishing Palace, the twilight had blurred, and the sky full of sunset had gradually flattened and lost its color. Fan Changlu was guarding outside the hall, his face was pale, I stepped forward, Fan Changlu opened the door of the temple for me, after entering, I saw that the person was not inside, I knew that he must have passed through the screen behind the two small doors of Tian Che and Andun to go to the apse.

Naturally, I also entered the past, with a carved dragon cabinet on the north wall of the apse and a carved dragon bed under the south window. A few remaining dim light was cast from the south window glass, and it hit Zai Xiang's eyes and eyes on the face, and it was quiet all around, Zai Xiang was lying on the carved dragon bed in his clothes, I approached and saw his slender eyelashes shaking up and down slightly, and I knew that he must not have fallen asleep, so I only squeezed it and lay down, and after a while, I said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the slave has something to say." ”

"Say."

I glanced at him sideways, his eyes were still closed, as if he wanted to escape something, "Mrs. Deng entered the palace today to be sealed?" ”

"Hmm."

I looked up at the ceiling and said quietly, "Mrs. Deng came to Jingren Palace this afternoon to find a minion. ”

"Let's talk," Seeing that I was puzzled, he slowly opened his eyes, turned sideways, looked at me quietly, and said, "Mrs. Deng went to Jingren Palace to talk to you, right?" ”

I understood what he meant, and nodded, "Yes." ”

He just said "um".

I then tugged at his sleeve and stared at him, saying, "It's just that Madame's words surprised the servant very much. ”

He asked me, "What words?" ”

I said seriously: "Does the emperor know the true process of the naval battle in the Yellow Sea?" ”

Jae-yan looked at me and didn't speak.

I continued: "In the end, the 'Zhiyuan' ship to which Zhuangjie Gong was located resolutely rammed into the starboard side of the Japanese capital ship 'Yoshino' at full speed, determined to die with the enemy. Seeing this, the officers and men of the Japanese warship were shocked and concentrated their artillery fire on the 'Zhiyuan', but unfortunately a shell hit the torpedo tube of the 'Zhiyuan', and the torpedo in the tube exploded, causing the 'Zhiyuan' to sink. After Zhuangjie Gong fell into the sea, his entourage rescued him with a lifebuoy, but he refused, and said: 'I am determined to kill the enemy to serve the country, and now I die in the sea, righteousness, why do I want to live!' The dog also swam to its side, and took its arm to save it, and swore to live and die with the warship, and resolutely entered the water according to the dog's head, and he also sank in the waves, and more than 250 officers and men of the ship died heroically. ”

After saying that, my nose was sore.

There was also something shiny in Zaiyan's eyes, and he stared at me in a daze: "How did you know this, as if you were on the spot?" ”

I also looked at him in a daze, and almost wanted to tell him who I really was and where I came from, but after a while, my reason still suppressed my impulse, and I just said slowly: "Mrs. Deng said," lowered his eyes slightly, and said, "It was also told to Mrs. Deng by the officers and soldiers who came back." ”

He let out a deep breath and nodded, "I finally lost them." ”

"But the emperor must not know that after the sinking of 'Zhiyuan', the 'Jiyuan' pipe belt Fang Boqian and the 'Guangjia' pipe belt Wu Jingrong escaped from the battle." As soon as I finished speaking, Zai Yan's body shook suddenly, sat up, grabbed my arm and asked, "Who said that?!" ”

I said, "Mrs. Deng." ”

After a while, Zai Yan sighed, and was speechless for a while, until it was dark outside, and when I got up to light the lamp, he said in a deep voice: "In addition to the 'Zhiyuan' ship, the 'Jingyuan ship' with one enemy and four enemies, resisted the battle for a long time, its pipe belt Lin Yongsheng unfortunately burst into a shell, brain splitting and died, the first mate Chen Rong and the second mate Chen Jingying also died in the gun, and finally hit a lot of bullets, the port side bow sank into the water, more than 200 officers and men on the ship, except for 16 people rescued, the rest were all killed. Speaking of which, everything is my fault, knowing that this will be a war that must be lost, but I still let these officers and soldiers charge into battle and die for their country, I ...... On what basis, on what basis is their life and death decided? He sighed again: "Escaping from the battle is probably also survival." ”

I frowned, put down the candle in my hand, turned around and approached Zai Yan and said: "But the emperor, they are Qing officers and soldiers, they lead the imperial court, this is their duty, in the words of Zhuang Jiegong, it is to die well, like the commander Ye Zhichao and the 'Jiyuan' pipe band Fang Boqian, and the 'Guangjia' pipe band Wu Jingrong If they are not strictly dealt with and do not use the army to anger the people, such small people are not worthy of coexisting with Zhuangjie Gong and others in the Beiyang Naval Division." ”

Zai Yan said in a deep voice: "But if Fang Boqian and Wu Jingrong are disposed of, the Beiyang Naval Division will really be left with an empty shell, and they are all the top talents in the Beiyang Naval Division who have returned from foreign training." ”

"Then start all over again."

Zai Yan was silent, accompanied by the swaying of the red candle, as if the candle handle was dripping with hot tears, and after a while, he suddenly said solemnly: "If you want to dispose of it, then none of the things that should be disposed of can run away." ”